Our Un-Retreat Weekend

Let me first start with a definition...
Retreat: a place of privacy; a place affording peace and quiet; retirement: withdrawal for prayer and study and meditation; "the religious retreat is a form of vacation activity"

I'm not really sure of the verbiage of this, (I'm sure Aimee will tell me) but we went on a Family "Retreat" this weekend. It was a Retreat in name only, however. I'm calling it an Un-retreat, or detreat!

We went to a camp not far from Robinson. Its actually a really cool camp. It is huge, has a zip line, a small lake with paddle boats, a gym, game rooms, etc. We didn't get to really enjoy any of this though because of the weather. It was FRIGID!!

We arrived Friday evening and had a great meal provided by the camp then spent some time in reflection. Later that night I took Sadie back to our room. We had two private rooms (two twin beds each) connected by a door (like a hotel). I put Sadie to bed and Beau put Elijah to bed around 10:30. I went to bed around 11:30. Beau woke me up around 12:30 to ask for a blanket. He had brought his own pillow and blanket in the van when he brought the kids. One of the kids must have mistaken his pillow and stuff for theirs because his was gone. I gave him a blanket off my bed and he used a sweater as a pillow. Poor Beau. Then Elijah fell off his bed at one point. Then Sadie woke up to eat at 3:30am. Then Elijah woke up around 5:45am whining and woke up Sadie at 6:15 who decided to just stay up. Breakfast was at 7:30 across the camp (remember, its about 20 degrees outside). We spent the day trying to stay warm playing games.

I just don't think that's a retreat! A retreat would be some one taking my kids with them and bringing me breakfast around 9am! And I'm sure there would be heat at my "retreat"! Ha! Oh well, we still had a great time with our church family (okay, not great, but really good!)

We left the "retreat" and drove straight to Ft Worth for the Livestock Show and Rodeo. Jannie bought every one tickets for Christmas. The Livestock Show was too cold and we weren't able to do any of the outdoor stuff, but the Rodeo was warm and Elijah loved it. We got home around midnight which is why we're pretty worthless today. Just resting. Elijah has already taken a 4 hour nap!

There are no pictures of our weekend. I did have my camera, but it was just too cold to even take my gloves off to be able to take a picture!! My toboggan didn't leave my head for 2 days!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I hope you're all staying warm and I'll try to pick back up tomorrow.

What's for dinner tonight

We've had a pretty good day. We got up this morning and I took the kids to Ladies' Bible Class. After class and lunch we came home. Sadie has been down for a nap for over 2 hours. Even though I've just been sitting and working on the computer I've don a lot. Elijah gets a C- for an attempt at a nap today, but he's been quietly playing with his animals in his room and that counts for rest time in my book.

To continue on my new topic of what I'll be cooking for dinner tonight...
Mini Meatloaves with Green Beans and Roasted Potatoes

Tomorrow night will probably just be left overs. I have something else planned, but I have to work and Beau doesn't really prefer to have to do anything. And since we'll be leaving town on Friday afternoon and not coming home til late Saturday night we'll probably just wing it tomorrow. Otherwise we'll pick back up on Monday with dinner plans.

Better go. My Wednesday evenings are busy. I need to get started packing bags and lunches and laying out clothes...

Snowflakes and Such

Elijah got a magazine subscription for his birthday. The magazine is My Big Backyard. Its all about animals...of course. He loves it. Inside every issue is a story about Ricky Raccoon and all his forest friends. This time the story was about the forest having a blizzard and the forest friends learning about snowflakes. So...after we read the story we made our own snowflakes.

This month's issue...

Ricky Raccoon...

First, fold it into a triangle...

Then fold it into a smaller triangle...

Cut, cut, cut...


Unfold...

Viola!!...

That's better...

We just had to hang them up!...

Conversation with Elijah after watching his new favorite show, Super Why. (Its a little boy who is a super hero. He and his friends, the Super Readers, solve mysteries by reading and spelling, Elijah loves it)

Elijah: Mama, R-T-E-E spells tree

Me: Yeah, T-R-E-E spells tree

Elijah: (gives me a look) Yeah, that's what I said

Me: Oh, sorry.

Sadie seems to be feeling much better. She's back to eating like a 16 year old boy again. She also got a new tooth today and that is bothering her a bit. She has another one coming thru right now too. We're sitting on the couch watching The Jungle Book, or Mowgli as Elijah calls it, just trying to relax a bit.

What's for dinner tonight:

Rachael Ray's Cheeseburger Chili Mac and Cheese. If you like McDonald's cheeseburgers you will love this. However, don't let that put you off. It is not "bad for you". Rachael uses 93% lean beef to make it more "figure friendly". I step it up one notch and use ground turkey to make it even more lean. Also, by using whole wheat or Smart Balance pasta you add more nutrients and fiber. Finally, the sharper the cheddar cheese the less of it you have to use. So there you go.

For dinner tomorrow:

Homemade Italian Sausage and Peppers Pizza with Whole Wheat Crust and Salad

Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers said on our behalf. We REALLY appreciate it! Hopefully we're all on the up and up!!

Slowly But Surely

We're trying really hard to get back to normal around here. Sadie is still sick. For those of you who don't know, I took her temp on Tues night and it was 103.1. She hadn't eaten much of anything since Monday morning when her fever started. They told me to try and force her to drink pedialyte. I don't know how they expect you to "force feed" a 9 month old...not happening. They also said to take her to the doctor on Wednesday morning. On Wednesday morning I took her temp...99.4. By the time we go to the doctor and they checked her temp 45 minutes had passed and she was already 103.4 and miserable. The doctor said Sadie's throat was very red and covered with blisters...virus. She took some blood to test and see how dehydrated Sadie was. Her numbers were just good enough to keep her out of the hospital. We were sent home and told to try and get her to eat as much as possible, some new soothing medicine combinations, and to come back if she stops peeing or if her temp reaches 105. Beau stayed home with her yesterday while I worked and she seems to be (very slowly) getting better. She still has a temp, but not as high as its been. She's barely eating, but is eating some and I've never been so happy to see pee in all my life! She seems very weak and very tired, but she's still just as precious as ever.

Today we were able to spend some time outside and get our boost of Vitamin D. It was great!

Elijah having fun playing in his sandbox...

My subdued Sadie...

Making a quick call...

This is pretty much her face right now. I keep thinking of a dog with its tongue hanging out to cool itself. I almost think she's doing the same thing since she's got a fever all the time and you can just tell by her eyes she's tired...

In other news!! I keep forgetting to spread the good news. Zac went on a trip with Heather's family to Colorado and asked her to marry him! We're so excited. We kinda like Heather. She reminds me a lot of myself...totally stylish, hilarious, gorgeous, and a nurse (okay so at least the nurse thing reminds me of myself). We're so excited for y'all (did I say that already?)...

Misery Loves Company

Well, the inevitable has happened. Sadie is sick. She is not throwing up, but does seem to have a tummy ache. She will be lying in my arms and then just scream out in pain. She also has a temperature. Last night she was SO exhausted. She had slept all day, but needed to go to bed. Nothing I could do would soothe her. She wouldn't nurse, wouldn't take a bottle, wouldn't take a pacifier, wouldn't let Beau rock her, wouldn't do anything. At 11pm she was miserable. I was just about to put a jacket on and put her in the car for a drive. I had one last idea. I remembered that there is actually proven research behind Mary Popins' "just a spoonful of sugar". Sugar has some kind of effect on the brain that makes pain and discomfort more bearable. I took her pacifier and dipped it in a tiny bit of sugar. I put it in her mouth and she was asleep within a few minutes.


She has the cutest, saddest face when she cries. And crying is the only thing other than sleep she's done for the last two days...

I forgot how stressful it is to have a sick baby. I've become so used to Elijah being able to verbalize so well what he wants or needs for so long.

I was trying to capture a new thing she does in this picture. If you ask her something like "Where's Brother?" and she'll turn her palms up, say "huh?" and look around. My camera just wasn't fast enough to get the full affect...

Sadie also did her first dance move on Sunday at church. I'll have to remember the date so I can put it in her scrapbook.

Please keep my kids in your prayers. Elijah threw up again on Monday morning. I think he was just extremely exhausted. I let him watch two movies Monday morning and then gave him a dose of Benadryl to help make sure he took a nap (which is doctor-approved by the way). He took a 3 1/2 hour nap!

My poor, sick boy

Well, Elijah is still sick. If you scroll down a few posts you can read how it all started. He was sick Monday and Tuesday then started a low grade fever on Wednesday. On Friday I took him to the doctor and had some lab work done. Nothing showed up. Dr McDonald said to bring him back in on Monday if he wasn't better. Saturday he was about the same, but Sunday he seemed over it. No stomach ache, no fever (that I could tell) and he actually ate something. Monday he seemed to feel okay, but was being really mean to Sadie. He's usually so sweet, so I know when he's acting like that some thing's wrong. Then that night right before dinner he started throwing up again and his low fever came back. I was up with him till midnight! So this morning I called and made him another doctor appointment. So to the person who had the need to leave a comment last time telling me how bad of a mom I was for letting him go to school last week you'll be glad to know that I kept him home today. I would also like to say to you: 1) Thanks for the encouraging words and 2) I love that you feel comfortable telling me I'm a bad mom, but conveniently left your comment anonymous.

The doctor today was still stumped at the cause of his illness. He had a strep swab, which he did not like. He peed in a cup, which he thought was pretty cool. He also had blood work done, which involved him being stuck once in each arm, he really did not like that. Afterwards, while we were waiting on the results and I was trying to calm him down I was rocking him. He asked me to sing to him. I asked what song he wanted me to sing. He said "Here I am to worship". That's his new favorite song. He's been going around singing "here I am to worship, here I am to bow down". If you haven't heard a child singing a praise song to God you are really missing out on a huge blessing. Anyway, the doctor said she would call tonight if any of the lab work was abnormal. She also put him on Zantac to see if it will help. He has felt fine today, but still has the low grade fever. Please keep him in your prayers.

There are a few new posts below...

Breakfast Cookies

I tried these cookies the other day. They are good and good for you! Elijah and Sadie love them too. I was thinking of all the people I was going to email the recipe to and decided it would be easier to just blog it.

3 ripe, mashed bananas
2 1/2 cups quick oats
1/3 C honey or 1/2 C sugar
1/2 C applesauce or oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
* may add 1 C chopped dates (if so, reduce oats to 2 cups)

Mix and let sit for 15 mins. Spray cookie sheet. Drop by spoonful and flatten a little. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

A few notes:
* The recipe says to drop by teaspoons and it will make 3 dozen. I made them big (about the size of your palm) and only made 12 (and served them for breakfast to the kids with fruit).
* Next time I am going to add some ground up flax seed for fiber and consistency
* If you have to use oil I would not use as much as it calls for
* I may bake them a little longer than 20 mins.

Anyway, I really liked these. I thought they seemed very "good for you" and they tastes so good the kids eat them (hello healthy snack!!)

I've had a lot of people tell me I should add recipes to this blog. I love to cook and especially love to try new recipes. I'll think about it...

Happy Birthday Mamaw!!

We want to say Happy Birthday to one of our most favorite people. Mamaw is Beau's grandmother and we were able to spend Sunday with her and some of Beau's family.



Mamaw opening our gift (Dark Chocolate Sandwich Cookies) and Elijah's card (with the hand on it)...





Elijah singing Happy Birthday...

Helping Mamaw blow out her candles...

We had a great time. We love you, Mamaw!

Sadie's 9 Month Check Up

I took Sadie in for her 9 month well baby visit yesterday. It was a great visit since it was her first check up without shots!!

She played in the waiting room...

And she played in the exam room...

Peek-a-boo!!

Could you put that camera down and play with me some more!?!...

And played with one of her favorite toys, Mom's hair...

My precious baby is growing up!

She's had a runny nose for a few days. The doctor said her ears aren't clear, but they don't look infected enough to call it an ear infection. We're under orders to watch it and bring her back in if she starts acting like they're bothering her. The only problem is that they never seemed to bother her with her last 2 infections. I also asked why she keeps getting them since she doesn't go to daycare or anything. She said some babies are just more susceptible. She also said if she has 5+ infections in less than 6 months we start talking tubes.

9 month stats:

Head circumference: 17 cm = 50%

Weight: 17 lbs = 20%

Height: 27 in = 49%

Weight for Height: 17%

She said she wasn't worried about her weight because she is steadily gaining with each visit. She said breastfed babies usually weigh less and if she's not feeling well she may not be eating as much. She does want us to give more solids (including meat) and keep working on the bedtime routine.

Sadie had some testing done. It was a packet we filled out about communication, problem solving, and fine and gross motor skills. She passed all the sections even though she's not doing some of the skills. She seems to be a little slow on her gross motor skills, but advanced in her problem solving and fine motor. She also impressed the doctor at the end of the check-up. The doctor said "Bye Sadie" and Sadie waved and said "Bye Bye" So I guess its time for me to count that as her first word (same as Elijah). She says Mama and Papa, but I don't think she's saying it with much meaning. She mostly just repeats us if we say it. If you say "Where's Mama?" She'll turn and wave at me, so she's getting close.

She LOVES Elijah. He spent Friday night with Mimi and Pepaw (Janice and Frankie). When we picked him up she was so excited. She was just reaching for him and laughing.

Speaking of Elijah. He started complaining of a stomach ache yesterday morning. He didn't really eat breakfast, but that's not surprising. He asked for milk, then a little while later asked for water. Later he told me "When I drink milk my tummy hurts, but when I drink water it feels better." I thought that was a pretty complex statement so I believed him. Through out the day he kept complaining and even fell asleep while Beau was reading him a book and took a 2 hour nap! He didn't eat lunch or dinner. At the dinner table he started making a bad face and holding his stomach. I asked him if he was going to throw up, he nodded, we took off running for the bathroom and he threw up. He complained all evening and was up all night. He kept coming in to our room, crawling into bed with me and crying for me to hold him. It was so sad. This morning he woke up still complaining, but I sent him to school anyway. I thought school might take his mind off of it. Beau dropped him off at 9 and called me at 9:30 that he had thrown up in class and was bringing him home. So it looks like we'll be having another day or laying around watching movies!

More later.

Happy New Year!

Thursday night we went to a little party up at the church building. Sadie Bell was precious!! I couldn't get a very good picture since we got there about the time we're normally getting ready for bed. Don't you just love the tutu!!


Beau was gone all night Thursday to a lock-in so Friday morning I got the kids dressed and headed out to run some errands (mostly to stay out of the house so Beau could sleep). We had a very nutritious lunch at Burger King. Dude, don't judge. It was cold, they have an indoor playground and I got coupons in the mail!


Sadie was once again looking super sweet...


She got 3 french fries and they lasted her the whole hour. She also kept offering them to the elderly man sitting behind us...

Not sure why he feels the need to smile like this every time now...

He got milk and apple slices...a little better.

There are a gaggle of posts below. I'm now officially all caught up on the holidays. Tomorrow we get back to "normal". I hope your holidays were as great as ours and I pray your 2010 will be full of blessings.

Lost Pictures

A few weeks ago my memory card on my camera went bad and I thought I lost a bunch of pictures. I decided to try to salvage them one last time before I had to throw it away and it worked!! So here are a few I thought I'd share.


Elijah getting his first Elf Gift of December 2009...


Finally, his own pair of scissors!

Robinson had a Christmas Parade and we decided to go check it out. We parked, got out, and saw all the people had plastic bags. We thought "hmm..they must throw some candy" Oh yeah...it was like Candypalooza!

Waiving at the coming floats...

Running back with his handfuls of candy...

The fire trucks would turn on their sirens and it was a little much for him. He's always hated loud noises...

Our stash after a 30 minute parade!!

We had SOOO much candy. We ended up letting Elijah take a bunch of it (including 4 full sized Snickers bars) into the police station for the officers.

This one is from Thanksgiving. Elijah isn't looking at the camera, but I thought it was such a cute picture...

And this is the reason you didn't get a Christmas card this year. We tried and tried to take a good picture, but it just never happened. Then I was going to put a few of these "not so good ones" on a card and say "Hope your holidays were picture perfect!" Then we thought we lost these pictures. By the time I "saved" them it was too late. Oh well...

Can you tell she loves her big brother?

And the closest one...

Seriously.

Sunday's Randomness

Sunday morning Beau got up early and drove with my dad back to Robinson to preach. The kids and I went to church with mom, Jon, and Katy. Aimee bought Sadie this hat and flower for Christmas and she wore it to church. She was a hit! She is too cute.

"What? Most babies aren't this cute?"

Flirting...

She also used Cale's train. This picture is a little deceiving. When it would roll forward instead of walking with it she would leave her feet planted and go face first...

Playing with Brook's doll house...

Then I caught him doing this...

Its so hard to resist this face...

Then there's trying to resist this face...

impossible! If you want to see Cale "get excited" go to youtube and type in Cale Get Excited.