January 15

 Morning snuggles are sweet

 Still making the kids do chore checklists. It REALLY helps me keep the house under control! And believe it or not, the kids like the bathrooms best!

We leave for Disney World in less than three weeks. I am determined to keep the kids healthy through those three weeks so we can all have fun on our trip and not be sick. One thing I have decided is that we will not be participating in anything 10 days prior to going (gymnastics, church activities). I am not even taking them to the grocery store. They will stay home as much as possible so they aren't exposed to all the germs out there. Also, we are going to be drinking green smoothies for lunch every day. I am going to pump their bodies full of as many vitamins and nutrients as I possibly can. Today's green smoothie had apples, strawberries, bananas, blueberries, pineapple juice, orange juice, and spinach in it.

January 14

 

Here are some pictures Mamaw Pat took of Kat's first basketball game Saturday.

January 13

Making good use of the library!  

The girls' science curriculum gave them a fun project to create a board game using questions about the sea creatures we have learned about. Kat didn't care for it much, but Julia made over 20 questions! She made these up without any help from me! I was very impressed. I am pretty sure that before long, they will be teaching me. See some of her questions below (The answer is in parenthesis at the bottom of each card):

 

 

January 12

We were having a rough morning with school yesterday. The girls were at each other's throats, were arguing with me alot, and Elliott was whiny too. I made everyone lay down for a nap. When we woke up, we took advantage of the 65 degree weather and went to a park. I think we all had a little cabin fever since we'd been cooped up all week with cooties.

 

 

 

January 11

 Last night Kat had basketball practice. She is on a new team - with Upward Basketball. We didn't have the best experience with the YMCA program, so Clay switched her to Upward. She has practices and is learning fundamental skills. She made a basket last night and had a huge smile on her face. She loves it!

 

Lucy is taking daily baths as she makes a HUGE mess every time she eats. For some reason she puts her hands in her hair when she eats, and every time she does this, she has food on her hands. See how her hair is sticking out? It's food gel. Maybe we could market this "new" product. If you close enough, you can see a chunk of cheese in her hair.

It is in the mid 60s so we plan to be outside this afternoon playing. And Elliott seems back to himself. Still a bit whiny, but he has his appetite back!

January 10

Clay left this morning for 2 weeks of work in Nevada, so I am a single Mom. Hoping all the kids get/stay healthy. Elliott had major tummy issues last night (not throwing up) and ended up in a diaper because he kept having accidents. He hated the diaper! He woke up this morning feeling better, but then overdid it with food and felt lousy again. Mamaw Pat ended up driving Clay to the airport because we were worried that Elliott might throw up in the car. He asked for a nap at 11am and slept 3 hours. He woke up and has been acting fine ever since. Praying that he stays this way!

This kid cracks me up! She's just silly.

January 9

Both Elliott and Kat woke up without fevers yesterday! Kat is acting 100% better. Elliott was pretty whiny and still doesn't have much of an appetite. While Julia had gymnastics yesterday, I stayed out in the car with the other three - thank goodness for portable movie players! When we got home from gymnastics, the weather was in the mid 50s and the sun was shining, so we played outside until dinner time and enjoyed the fresh air. It does a body good!

 

 

 

See that smile? He was loving it!

 

Even Gus is smiling! 

 We have started reading the Kitt Kittredge American Girl doll books. I have a Kitt recipe book and asked the girls to each write down three recipes they would like to make. Kat apparently loved this and even created a special notebook just for recipes. She says she is going to use this book someday when she is a chef. She wrote "Old Fashioned Food" on the cover because that is what she plans to name her restaurant. 

Grandpa and Lulu, Julia used the gift card you gave her to buy this guitar.

As I was writing this post, I noticed that Elliott was nowhere to be seen (or heard). I found him in my bathroom with the garbage can. For some reason, he prefers throwing up in the can instead of the toilet. He finally ate a decent breakfast (his first good meal in 4 days) and threw it back up! Here we go again...

January 8

We spent the day getting ready for Julia's birthday party. Julia is really into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles right now, but they don't sell party supplies for Ninja Turtles, so we had to make our own. Julia wanted to decorate her cupcakes, so she did it pretty much by herself, with minimal assistance from me. Then she wanted to decorate the house, so she went to town with balloons and crepe paper. We couldn't go anywhere because Elliott and Kat both still had fevers. Clay took the afternoon off work so he could take Kat to the doctor and she was diagnosed with strep throat.

Two things that made me proud:
1- Julia's birthday did not go as she had planned/hoped for. We had planned to go do something fun and then have the extended family over to celebrate in the evening. With cooties in the house, we stayed home all day and the family didn't come over. She made the best of it and didn't complain once.
2- Kat made Julia a birthday present without me even mentioning it to her. She printed Julia off some coloring sheets and even gave her $5 of her own money! She also had Elliott color Julia a picture. 

 

 As you can see by her green teeth, she sampled some of her creation while decorating.

Didn't these turn out cute? Ninja Turtle faces. All I did was cut the Fruit-by-the Foot. Julia iced them, put on the eyeballs, and the mouths.

 

 Julia got to open her present from Uncle Bob and Aunt Jessica early in the day. This craft kept her busy for awhile.

"8 is Turtley Awesome!"

Since we couldn't find Ninja Turtle decorations, I bought some poster board and made my own.

 

 

 We also made Ninja Turtle masks out of felt.

 

  The kids had a good time tearing down all the decorations.

Layla enjoyed her new clothes.

 

 

 Julia got a new, bigger bicycle

She is a turtley awesome kid!

January 7

Happy 8th Birthday Julia! 

Happy 28th Birthday Joe!

 

Julia requested a giant pancake for her birthday breakfast. Is she really 8!?! So proud of this girl. She is a well-rounded kid. She's smart, silly, and sweet!

Here are some pictures from yesterday. The kids and I sat around in our pajamas all day and watched ALOT of movies. Clay played paintball with his family to celebrate Joe's birthday. Both the sick patients (Kat and Elliott) are still running fevers. Elliott stopped throwing up and managed to eat some jello and crackers yesterday.

 Lucy Urkel

 Pitiful #1

 Pitiful #2

We're going to try and make the most of Julia's birthday. Since it doesn't look like we get to go anywhere, she has requested a tea party for her dolls.

January 6

 The girls spent awhile yesterday playing nicely together with their dolls. I took a picture of this because it is a rarity. 

Clay ran a few errands yesterday and stopped by the hospital to visit with Papaw G. He is being treated for pneumonia and also fluid on his heart. Please pray for him. I stayed home with the kids and was thinking how nice it was to have everyone home and healthy. That went out the window at 1:30 this morning when Elliott threw up in his bed! He threw up several more times throughout the night. He is already taking a nap today. Poor kid has had a rough cold and flu season (2 bouts of this stomach bug, fever on Christmas, bronchiolitis, and pneumonia), and we're only halfway there! I may keep him in a bubble until May. Kat woke up complaining that her throat hurt and she is running a temp of 101.4. And to top it off, Clay leaves Thursday for work for 2 weeks! Pray everyone gets healthy ASAP or I may be in over my head!

 Sick kiddo

The healthy ones- praying they stay healthy!

Our plans for today involve staying home and having a movie marathon.