Trick or Treat!

*D*O*N*E

I am DONE with my poor little Jacker being sick. He started this sick business on Thurs. night, and is NOT over it yet. Tim stayed home with him yesterday, and we thought surely he'd be better today. WRONG!

Tim and I got maybe three hours of combined sleep last night. I am like a zombie today!! He was up all night throwing up. Poor little thing just ended up dry heaving by the end....ouch! I'm home with him today, and he hasn't thrown up anymore, but still doesn't feel good. I can't get him to eat anything, and he will barely drink a little juice every now and then.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that this doesn't spread throughout my family. Yikes!!

1991

was the last time I heard these words, "All skate, skate slowly and carefully please, all skate." Do you know that they still say that?!? This weekend I took Caroline to the skating rink for her first time, and I took a trip down memory lane.

As a preteen and young teenager, I loved EVERYTHING about the skating rink.....Holding hands with a boy in a booth, Big Red, Pickle sickles, rockin music, dedications. I know all my fellow skating sisters are with me here. My favorite: the big round fountain like sink between the boys and girls bathroom. The sink is gone!!!!!! What a bummer.

Enough about me, Caroline had a great time at her skating party, although you wouldn't know it by the pictures. They were taken at the beginning of the party, when she was still warming up to the whole skating thing. She eventually got the hang of it, and I couldn't drag her away!

Caroline with her friends at the party.
This was right after we put skates on.......she was scared to death!

Finally getting the hang of it........still too nervous to smile yet!

Train Wreck!!!

I got the grand idea to get the train table out of storage this weekend. What was I thinking? It was fun and great for about the first 4 minutes, and after that it was a complete train wreck! Oh, the fighting. By the time it was all over with, I had three screaming and crying little ones who spent some quality time in time out.

After the initial competitiveness was done, they really have enjoyed playing with it this weekend. Hopefully soon daddy will set the track up the way it should be. We have a makeshift circle right now, but they don't seem to mind!

Checking things out....
See how eager they all look.....this is just before WWIII.

This was right before they ALL went to time out! She was just the one I happened to snap a shot of!

Sick.....AGAIN!!

After just getting over croup from last week, Jack now has a virus. Daycare called at about noon saying that he had been crying all morning that his throat hurt. I got him a dr. appt. at 2:30, so they said he could stay at school until then. Then they called me back just before 2 saying that he was throwing up. Poor little guy. He is just pitiful. We just left the doctor, and have settled in for an afternoon of lying around in our pj's watching Sponge Bob. Hopefully he'll be better soon!

New Balance.......

Okay, I know this sounds frivolous to most everyone else except me......but.....New Balance brand tennis shoes have changed my life!! I just found out that SELECT styles in these shoes come in an extra wide.

I am constantly looking for shoes that Wills braces will fit comfortably in -- and strap somehow. Let me tell you, not an easy feat! We have been settling for a wide shoe that is just not wide enough. The only other shoes wide enough for his braces are Stride rite (which are a fortune!), and orthopedic shoes that my insurance does not cover (which are even more expensive!)

I ordered these shoes for a very reasonable price at zappos.com, and they work perfectly with the braces. They just slide right into the shoe......no struggle whatsoever! I'm not a big fan of Velcro--but they fasten, so I can't complain! It's just the little things in life that make a big difference!!!!!
Here are Will's "chunky" new shoes with the braces in them. Of course, Jack got matching ones too.....just not in an extra wide!!

This is what I found.......

when I went to check on the kids. They were eerily quiet as they were all scrunched up in this ball watching Sponge Bob. This is a nice reprieve from "Tasmanian Jacker"(see previous post)!

RAGING ROIDS!

Has anyone ever had a toddler on steroids? Jack is on his 2nd round of steroids in about a month. He is absolutely wild, and eating me out of house and home. We started the meds on Wednesday, for respiratory issues. It has worked wonders, but at the same time replaced my sweet mama's boy with a raging toddler who is climbing the walls..........literally.

Here he's climbing on top of the play kitchen. He has gotten multiple spankings for this. When he did it today, I grabbed the camera and told him that I was taking a picture to show his daddy that he is in trouble. He thought it was quite funny.

Here, he's trying to climb up the door jam. He has been trying this all weekend. He desperately wants to make it to the top. Yesterday he obsessively tried to climb a tree outside. I'm telling you, he is in HIGH gear all the time. A complete wild banshee..........who, in turn, makes the other two wild! I'll be glad when this round of medicine is over!!!

We love Karsen!

My mom had baby Karsen on Saturday, and they came over for a visit. My kids were so excited to see him, and waller all over him. Jack is obsessed with him, and often tried to pick him up by himself, Yikes!! We had to keep a close eye on little Jacker! They had so much fun with him, but were a little competitive for Pootie's attention. Here are some precious pictures from the afternoon.

The one with him munching on the table absolutely cracks me up!

Sitting up like a big boy eating his lunch.
G
Yes, my kids are on top of the table....Well behaved, huh? I think it was an attempt to get Pootie's attention. ***PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE BLUE PACIFIER IN THE FOREGROUND.......YOU'LL SEE WHY LATER!

Such a little mommy and helper.




Heather, I promise we cleaned and sanitized the paci after they all tried it out. Jack stole it first and checked it out, then they all took a turn. Too funny!!!

Our version of memory verses..........

At my kids preschool, they learn a bible memory verse for each letter of the alphabet. Will came home today reciting a verse, so I decide to take some video of them. Will was very serious about his verse. I'll translate for each video:

Will is saying: "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23

Caroline: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right" Ephesians 6:1

And now for the grand finalle.....Jacker.......Oh Jacker. He decided early on in the video that the memory verse was too much work, so he stuck with what he knew. A precious little chant about Capital 'A' and Little 'A'. I caught something about apples and acorns too!

Pumpkin painting

The kids painted pumpkins this morning. They had a great time, but the cleanup was a big job. As you can see from the pictures, things progressively got messier and messier! Oh well, it was fun anyway. The kids are very proud of their masterpieces!

Caroline was very careful and meticulous!
Will was just so happy to be painting!
Jack couldn't slow down enough to even enjoy the painting. He was in high gear!
And then it got messy!
Yep, messy!
Yes, that's right, paint in the hair!
Caroline's finished product!
Will (left) and Jack's finished product!

Kistler Kids Day

Saturday was Kistler Kids day at the Oktoberfest. It is a day where all the families of children who receive services at the Kistler Center come together for a day of fun and excitement. There were pony rides, bounce arounds, and many carnival like games. The kids had a blast. It was a good opportunity for us to go and support all of the wonderful things that the center does for many families, including mine. Jack received therapy there for about 1 year, and Will has been receiving therapy there for about 2.5 years.

When I was a teenager I used to take a little girl I babysat to the center for therapy. I was always in awe of how cool the place was, and how caring all the therapists were. It always struck me as a fun place for the kids to do their work necessary for them to be healthy, happy, and functioning as normally as possible. Little did I know, I would have my own child who goes there twice per week, learning the skills necessary to be a happy, healthy little boy!

This is Will bowling. He was very serious about knocking those pins down!!
Caroline loved the ponies. The boys DID NOT.
Jacker was "fishing" for a prize. He was pleased with his catch.
Eating lunch after a busy fun filled morning!

~Photo Shoot~

We took the kids to the airport today to snap some updated photos of the kids. Let's just say, I now know why it is so expensive to have pictures professionally taken. My BUSY children make photography a little complicated. All that being said, I did get some good shots.