Monday, December 31, 2012

Let's ride bikes.....please!

 having a good time....
 whew!

Let's race! GO!

 Jeff pushed Lucas down the hill towards the ditch. They raced to stop him...
 how do we get across? the bridge is too far.
I'll just jump back over.


Abbey let's take off the training wheels.......
 tears and fits were had - time to go inside.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Christmas day

 Stocking time!
 instant love with the a new nintendo ds - it's now a love/hate relationship as he gets quite frustrated some times, but it keeps him occupied.
 Mo got a beanbag and only made it to the candy on the top of the stocking. Jeff stepped in to help him get past that, but he would have been happy with just that!
 see? I got one too!
 Abbey and Mo got leapster 2's with lots of games. I didn't think she could handle the ds......turns out I was wrong and this little 4 year is smart! when it comes to technology.
 Jeff got a cover for the Nexus he got for his birthday.
 Mo the angry bird with Capt'n America
 A new and lovely shower head which Jeff installed for me - it has a great steam/sauna setting. Perfect for our little asthmatics.
 Love the support and joy - :) The other two were busy playing their ds games.
 sometimes I can surprise him with stuff he actually wants and not stuff I think he should have. :)
 ps: I got one too, but that wasn't a surprise. :)
 Transformers are awesome in theory.......pure torture trying to transform it from the car to the guy. But he loves it so we do it!
 I think we had some great gifts - check out the socks too.

And this is where I check out for the rest of the Christmas day and the next 3 days. I did make Christmas dinner and Jeff was the only one who ate - which is fine, he loved it. I ended up with the flu, Lucas had strep, Mo had the flu, Abbey had pink eye (not pink because it wasn't pink it was soupy/goopey eye.....) and the flu, Jeff got the beginning of everything but nothing more than a sore throat and need for sleep. Lea got nothing - lucky girl, but I'm sure bored out of her mind. 

Thursday I took both boys to the doctor, then dropped them off at home and took myself and my new sherpa blanket to Urgent Care (took a nap), then to the Pharmacy and took a nap in the waiting area. Jeff was at home with Lucas who couldn't stop coughing causing him to throw up (literally) buckets full of fluid......scary and sad - he was so tired. Told me at one point 'Mommy, I don't like today. I just want to go to sleep'. The next day I took Abbey in because she was coming down with flu symptoms and I just wanted her to be seen by someone. Our doctor was double booked the whole week as was every other doctor in the practice. Luckily the Nurse Practitioner had an opening. Poor Abbey was freezing and fell asleep in the room as we waited for the flu test to come back. I took her home and went back to the pharmacy. By this time I was finally feeling somewhat normal. I took some heavy ibuprofen and that cured my aches and pains, fever everything. 
Friday night I went to check on Abbey (concerned she went to bed in long pants, socks and long sleeve shirt). I felt her forehead, jumped up for the thermometer and immediately threw back all the blankets and dragged her from bed - temp was 105! I changed her clothes to shorts and a small blanket and took her to the living room to tell Jeff. He got the cold towels and we started trying to bring down the temp. Almost an hour later it was at 103.8, down, but still high. It was down far enough the after hours nurse said we were fine to keep her home and not rush to the hospital. (I had a bag ready) The fever finally came down and she was back to her old silly self and loving the popsicles.

Jeff was awesome! and took care of all of us. My visiting teacher Jessica brought over pizza on Thursday and popsicles. Lucas finally slept peacefully 2 nights in a row and slowly regained his appetite. We used the meds from the Pharmacy and essential oils (thank you Jackie Lee!) - whatever we could get our hands on. Saturday night, I sent Jeff to the store - he was ecstatic (he didn't hide is excitement very well. haha!) Then I suggested he go to a movie. He told me 'I don't think I should leave especially with sick kids.' ummmmmmm, what do you think I do when you're at work?? Which before that thought came, I thought oh, maybe he's right, I've been sick, no I'm fine. And after he left I realized I do this every night when he works late.......being sick made my brain dumb. haha!
 This was the after math in the kitchen sink......
 and we got really good at taking our temps

Friday, December 28, 2012

Christmas Eve

Winter Wonderland Concert at Vista
Lea's grade singing  - she's in the front row to the left gold 'jacket', white shirt
 Lucas is on the top row, third from the end. There were so many people there, I was just happy to have a seat and a place for my kids to be a little active.


CHRISTMAS EVE!
We're still working traditions and what works best for our family, but we're getting there. :) I'm sure every year will be different no matter what. So this year on Christmas eve, we read books, Luke 2 with puppets, sang hymns, and the kids were able to open one gift from a sibling. The kids followed Santa on the Santa tracking app Jeff found. The loved this. We thought Lucas was on board with the 'santa's not real' idea, but the Santa tracker brought him back to believing. :) Lea claims she only pretends to believe for her younger siblings. :)
 Twas the Night before Christmas
 It was Mo's turn this year to put the star on the tree - Lea keeps track for us.

 Finding Luke 2 or words to a hymn on the nexus.
 Mo likes to go old school and use a book. :)

Sibling gifts:
 
 Mo got a 'lukie-guy' (a lego-guy)
 a Lego car kit he had given a couple friends for their birthdays and he has always wanted for himself.
 a 'hello kitty' lamp
 it's a surprise!!
 Abbey made this sweet picture in preschool - her snowman family - so stinkin' cute!
 Good night!!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Tender moments

 Christmas ornaments from my sister.

One day, Lucas had been asking about cemeteries. He wanted to go to one and see what they were like. I told him the cemeteries in Phoenix would be different than any other, but I was wrong. The first one I had seen in Phoenix was all dirt, no grass. That was bizarre to me. This one we went to was beautiful. It being Christmas time, there were lots of headstones decorated for the holidays. The first people we saw were right near the entrance with 2 LARGE cases of beer. 3 friends celebrating? a lost friend. 

One gravestone, I loved. Said of the woman there, She lived to serve others. (How great is that to be remembered for always serving others!?) 

We drove around, saw the Korean portion - those were beautiful headstones. There were a couple of graveside services while we were there - we stayed away from them, but saw the long line of cars with police escort. One section was babies. Babies from the 1950's-1960's. So sad to see all those little markers with a single date or couple of months. There were markers for people from the 1800's!! Truly an amazing and sacred place to be. We saw several more families set up around loved ones having a little get together.

The kids love seeing the little Santas, Christmas trees and other holiday decorations. It was hard for them to understand why the holidays would be hard without their loved ones. They didn't quite grasp the concept and I hope they don't have to for a very long time.
 Our last stop was to the Vietnam wall.
 This statement applies to all who have passed on to the other side of Heaven.