Thanksgiving Daily

Meet Me In St. Louis! Or About Four Hours South Of It.

We hit the road for an adventure this weekend. We saw the Gateway Arch in St. Louis from the road as we passed through and headed way down to South Missouri.

Our destination, Joplin.

 Del has a rep there (who is great, and has a great girlfriend,) and happens to be investigating our church. So we drove down, and the rep from Dallas (who is great, and has a great wife,) who is a member of our church, drove up, and we got to hang out and have fun, and show our support.
We were a big crazy group. We took Joplin by storm with our,  count em',  10 kids!

One of these things is not like the others.

Georgia was the only girl with nine boys. All age eight and under. And we actually ate at restaurants! And did not get kicked out!
This little group could get even the grumpiest of grumpies to smile. What a cute bunch of boys... and girl! The people in the Carthage, Missouri ward of our church, were SO nice. They even invited our kids to participate in their primary program, and squeezed them in to sing when the kids jumped at the invitation! So our boys put on their second show of the year, and the Carthage ward just rolled with it!

Here is the group. The tech in the area, his wife, and a rep from Arkansas joined us for dinner. It was fun, and I have never seen such fancy, and tasty, kids quesadillas! Or my boys get so many lemonade refills.

It was fun to have a weekend adventure, and come away from it with some new friends. I could really get used to hanging out with that Jill and Megan! We will have to do it again soon!

I will throw in one of Walker at the bouncy gym. He was a trooper on the long drive, and probably felt like he was in that car seat all weekend. We got home, packed Del up for his flight the next morning, and sent him off to Georgia. His Atlanta manager met him there with a gift of a brand new pair of Air Jordans! So worth it. Del has amazing people at Patient's Choice. What a blessing.
On to the next adventure!

The Big Ol' Frame

I found it while I was out running one Summer morning. I passed a garage sale and saw it peeking out from from the shadows inside. I liked it, and so I trotted home, and told Del I needed to go back and pick up a big ol' frame.
A what?
I was not kidding. We had to put it on the roof of the car and drive home with both of us holding on to it with one arm from inside.
I even did some minor haggling and got the lady to knock it down from $25 to $15.
And then it sat around while I decided what to do with it. Walker took a mighty interest in it, and hounded it from day one. Tipping it over, sitting on it, chewing on it. So finally I decided that I would make it a chalk board. I think chalk boards might be a little passe these days, but I decided two things...

1.  I don't care if chalk boards are passe.

And

2.  I don't care if my handwriting, (which I do not adore.) is  uneven in size, spacing, and that the lines are not straight. I think it adds to the character. And maybe when I switch out what is written on it, I'll straighten it out. Or not.

I put the 13th Article of Faith revealed through the first prophet of our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) on the board, because I read a talk by President Gordon B. Hinckley, (another prophet,) that this Article of Faith encompasses all that we should strive to be as Latter Day Saints. I really loved that thought, and decided it would be a good one to try to encourage my children to be familiar with. And it is not a bad reminder for me either, considering I stuck it on top of the piano, and it is the first thing I see when I walk down the stairs in the morning, maybe it will influence my day. And what better place for a garage sale frame, than on top of my hand-me-down, 1970's piano?

It was easy to make, so I can change my mind if a different idea comes along. I just had a piece of particle board cut to dimension, and painted it with chalkboard paint. So I am open to ideas on what it could morph into in the future. If I ever feel the urge to get a massive family portrait done, voila! We have a frame!
I am doubting that will happen.  My face alone would have to be several inches wide. No thanks.

 I have also thought about getting a piece of mirror cut someday.

Someday, we'll see!
I kind of like it, so just though I'd share. If you have any brilliant thoughts on it's future use, please feel free to fill me in!

Halloween

Here they are! Our ninjas, a geisha, and panda bear. We had a lot of fun this year at Trunk or Treat at the church, and Trick or Treat at a local retirement center that Del knows well from work. Plenty of candy, and plenty of fun to last us until next year.  Try to ignore the red hair hanging out of Georgia's wig. The girl won't wear anything in her hair, so it was all just stuffed up in there with nothing to hold it in place. At least she put the costume on this year!

From the back.

Trunck or Treat. I was manning the trunk. We invited several neighbors to this activity, and none of them had ever heard of a Trunck or Treat.  It is a cute concept.  We joined the Spanish Branch for this activity, and they know how to party! Look in the back ground to the right and you will see a traveling haunted house of sorts. The kids went in and chose something out of the box of mystery! They had smoke and lights coming out of their trunks! All I did to prepare was throw a bunch of stuff that was taking up space in my trunk off to the side in my garage. Maybe next year I can get more creative.

Walker as a little skeleton. I forgot all about these pajamas that I have had for years. I just have not had a baby that would fit into them at Halloween until now! Now will be too small, so if anyone wants them, let me know! I love my Mr. No Neck.

The Story Book Parade

Every year at Halloween Wally's school holds a Story Book Parade in the historic square in our city. The kids all do a book report the week before, and then dress up as one of the characters in the book. This has been a source of stress for me as a mom to try to get a book and costume that coincide. But after learning that none of the other nearby schools let the kids dress up at all, I have decided it is worth it. My friend Kathy saved the day this year after I could not find a good book to work with Wally's ninja costume. She brought over "The Magic Tree House: Night of the Ninjas," and Wally could not have been happier. Del was able to meet us for the parade, and I was so glad after we saw how excited Wally was to see us along the route they walked. It was COLD while we waited, and now I am dreading Winter, but at least the setting is cute. The square really is the pride and joy of our town, and I also love it there. Wally's school is within walking distance of the square, so the whole student body troops down the street to put on the show.

 Here are some pics of our little outing.

Del trying to distract Georgia and Walker from the cold.

My turn. Poor Georgia, not even hot chocolate from Cobblestones fought off the cold for her.

Wally spotted us. And Georgia forgot the chilly weather.

Wally was especially excited to see Walker.

Chatting while they waited for the back of the parade to catch up and head back to school. Don't you love the little girl dressed up as a fly, holding her "Diary of a Fly" book? Her glasses crack me up!

And they all lived happily ever after!

Our Kids In Pictures

Well, it worked out! We actually managed to get our family pictures taken. And with only a few minor melt downs. We drove down to the city on a pretty chilly day, and made it happen. Here are the individuals of the kids. I can't decide just yet what the family picture choice will be for the Christmas card. It took Georgia an hour to warm up to the photographer, and after that hour was up, so was Walker, he was zonked.
The photographer expressed surprise at how capable Georgia is of lengthy conversation once she did decide to cooperate. Georgia told her, "Well, I was checking you." Everything with her is calculated.

 Always an adventure. At least we got some of it captured on film!

We used Momoko Fritz of Momoko Photography.

Handsome Wally.

And handsome Will.

Our sassy, Georiga.

Our baby guy, Walker.

Oh, and you may have noticed it on my sidebar, but I will throw one of me and Del in.

Another Lake Geneva Adventure

The kids had some time off of school for parent teacher conferences, so we made another trip up to the lovely Lake Geneva to stay at the indoor water park at the Grand Geneva Hotel. I must admit that these Midwest anomalies are not my favorite destinations on Earth. All day chasing kids around to make sure they don't drown, and cold water. For some reason, always cold water. But this one did have warmer water than the Wisconsin Dells, so that was a plus. And our kids LOVE, LOVE, them! So it is fun to make some memories. Before we went swimming we did walk around a bit in the little shopping district by the lake. I like looking at the cute, well cared for streets and old buildings.  We had planned on a big trip to New York City, but I was ill the entire week before and planned absolutely nothing for the trip. We felt too unprepared and too tired to go. Sometime soon we will make that trip.

I only pulled my camera out for a minute. I was not feeling it.

Four bears in the bed.

Will is so funny. He would not go near the big water slides. He wanted to hang out in the kiddie area and float in the lazy river the entire time. When he would see Del coming he would get all paranoid that he was going to force him to go on a slide.  Unfortunately, he is the type that has to be forced to do things, and then he loves them. Wally on the other hand was non-stop the whole time, and even Georgia went down the big slides.

Don't Worry, This Won't Hurt A Bit

Poor Will has had quit the week. We have learned that when the doctor tells you a little poke for an vaccination won't hurt a bit, it there are no guarantees. I took Will in on Monday to get his kindergarten physical and vaccination. I know I am way behind on this, and even got a note saying that Will won't be able to come to school if they did not have the form by the 15th. But we have been crazy, and apparently so has the doctor because they could not get us in for this for almost two weeks.  On Tuesday evening, I was putting Will in his pajamas when I discovered his arm was swollen, angry red, and hot. I immediately panicked and told Del I was taking him in to instacare. And started praying. I am very cautious about immunizations for personal reasons. I thought this could get bad.

While waiting at the emergency care Del got a hold of the on- call doctor from the pediatrician's office.  She said to give him some Tylenol, and a cold compress. I had a feeling this would be the same advice the instacare would give. Let's just say our little town's instacare is not world renowned for its treatment. So I took Will home and called to make an appointment for the next morning with the office that gave him the shot.

Turns out, that was a good thing. His doctor took one look at his arm, and jumped into action. He marked the rash and the swelling with a permanent marker, gave our skinny guy two HUGE shots of antibiotic in both legs, Will could hardly walk after that he was so miserable, prescribed an eleven day antibiotic, and told me if it didn't start going down almost immediately, to bring him to the E.R.

WHAT IS IT?

...was my obvious question. It is a staph infection from the kindergarten vaccination needle! And not only that, but the second child in one week to get this after getting a shot from our pediatrician's office. I almost could not believe he divulged this to me, but he said that the other little boy had the same initial reaction. His parents took him to the instacare where they got lots of false reassurances, and a prescription for an antibiotic that was not strong enough. Within 48 hours of that, the little boy was admitted to the hospital where, as we were speaking, they were doing surgery to try to remove the infection from his incredibly swollen arm. I was sick. And mad. And looking at one alarmed doctor. I am betting he called a "staff" meeting right away to get to the bottom of this. But if not, I will be trying to find out if any steps are being taken to deal with this. Half my friends and the people in my ward go to this man.

So to all you medical profession people. Where could this come from? The nursing staff, the needle, could it be traced to the manufacturing plant? I am so glad we took action right away. His arm is already showing much improvement, and thankfully this particular infection was not contagious. This has opened my eyes to the incredible importance to disinfected facilities and instruments.

 As soon as they told me they had to give him more shots I said, "Make sure everything is disinfected this time." Yes, I am a jerk. I wanted to tell them we would be getting those shots elsewhere, but so far, so good. I think it may be time to switch doctor's yet again! I have amazing luck with pediatricians! If they don't pass away, they tell me to watch reality t.v. for parenting tips, or keep me waiting in a tiny room for an hour, and if not that, it is staph from vaccinations! We are on a roll!  At least our Will is going to be okay, and I am praying for the little boy that unfortunately set the precedent for this doctor's office. Let's hope for the medical network's sake, that family is not the suing type.

Will was tired of me following him around with the camera. We call him our muscle man. At least as far as his right arm is concerned. Yet another lesson in caution learned.

THAT Phone Call

I don't usually call Del very often when he is at work. He is just too busy to talk, and in all reality, I am too distracted. But if I do call, you can bet it is THAT phone call. The one that goes like this:

"Ummmm.... so .....when do you think you'll be home?"

Today is one of those days.

- - -

Unfortunately for me, one of Del's new reps from  Michigan is in town. So I don't even want to know the answer.

Here's hoping you will have better luck tonight.

A Day In The Life- Georgia Style

Georgia told me that she wanted me to put pictures of her up. So we found some on the computer that I took recently, and I am following orders. This girl needs to be the CEO of something one day. She has got a lot of pent up energy to run something. And I would prefer that one day it is not me.
Georgia's life has changed quit a bit recently. When she is not at school, she is left with only Walker for a playmate.  She has found ways to adjust to this. It involves following him around and yelling at me whenever he goes anywhere near something she does not see fit to have him touch.

Georgia is an early riser. I can count on her to be out of bed even before me when the alarm goes off. She can hear it from my room. Or maybe she is in there awake until it does go off, and thinks that is permission to come out. She then goes to the kitchen where she would like to be served a buffet style breakfast. I will just finish putting the finishing touches on her whole wheat waffle with syrup AND peanut butter, when her mind will change and she would like eggs instead please. This does not go over well. Especially because it is in the midst of getting Wally and Will out the door.

We then get dressed and head out to the bus stop. Or not. Lately she has decided on many a morning that she would rather stay inside and watch a show instead. I was not so sure about this arrangement at first, but because the bus stop is right across the street, we were able to do a test run without me going more than a few steps from the door. And now I admit it is nice to have the option.

On this particular morning, she came along.

That means a bike ride while we wait.

And more than likely, a snack.

Then it is off to school for this girl. Three days a week.  She has been trying to negotiate getting out of her naps lately. I am not ready to give them up yet!  
So that means more play time with this guy.

He is a keeper.

And he is a blankie loving boy.

So there you have it. Throw in a doctor's appointment, a trip to one of the boy's schools, an appointment for church, or a trip to the store, and it is a full life for a three year old.

Back to the nap thing. At what age did you let the naps stop with your kids?