Week Recap

So Roc came down with something last Sunday night. Not sure what it was-he threw up but was totally acting fine so we figured it was just because Kevin had Ella and Roc all wound up earlier. Well then next day we went up to Abby's for a birthday party for Jesus, which was really fun and the kiddos had a great time, but then Roc decided to throw up all over Abby's carpet. I managed to catch some of it in my hand, but since you get no warning of this her carpet suffered some. For further details of the birthday party for Jesus click here. We made it home safely with no more incidents, but his throwing up continued -for days-we thought he was getting better, then he would throw up again. This was a very long week, as he was very tired and upset/fussy. Thankfully Kevin had 1/2 of Christmas Eve till today off so he and Roc bonded a lot and no one else seemed to catch it, so I don't think it was the flu-but who knows. I was set to call the doctor today but he seems to have perked up! He get his tubes tomorrow morning so we are anxious for that to be done with. I am no too worried about it since it is fairly routine, but they do put them totally out. Christmas was a bit of a bummer only because Roc was sick so we had to bag our Christmas Eve plans, but Ella and I did go to my parents for Christmas day. No point in having Ella miss out on the fun and the cousins, Kevin didn't mind missing it and I did bring him leftover Christmas dinner so that helped! Rachael and her man visited Kevin and brought him some snacks-and Roc threw up all over Rachael. ( this was the second incident of this as he threw up on her the previous day when she stopped by for a visit.- Rachael just goes with the flow so it did not seem to bother her too much) We did do gifts with the kiddos in the morning before we went to my parents and as much as Roc was able he opened his. He was thrilled with the fire truck and police car we got him as it makes noise and stuff. Kevin and I don't really exchange gifts but he did get me a rice cooker from the kiddos, something I have been wanting for a while so I was excited. Ella of course loves all her new bitty baby stuff-especially the backpack from my parents. Friday we attempted to have Roc and Kevin open their gifts from my parents and Grandma Ruby, but Roc did not last too long so we only stayed for a bit. Saturday my grandma had a party at her house. It was a buffet and games, the Kiddos played downstairs with Claudia, my grandma's helper and the adults had fun upstairs. I hung out with Roc downstairs as he was pretty fragile, but it was fun to visit with Claudia and the cousins always have fun together. It was a nice way to end the Christmas season. Sunday was a normal day, but we did skip church as I did not think it would be good to take Roc to the nursery and I am really not into going alone. I am just so glad Roc is feeling better and hopefully he will bounce back tomorrow quickly. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and has a Happy New Year.

Christmas Outfits

4th post of the day-blog slacker is catching up.
My parents got all the grand children matching Christmas outfits and they are so cute. Here are the kiddos in them. Some are at our church playing and jumping off the stage! (not during the service mind you, ha ha-and they weren't the only ones doing this so I figured it was ok)
In a couple of them Roc is making is cute scrunchy smiley face-so click on the picture for a close up.

Roc and Audrey

Third post of the day.

Roc and Audrey are not quite old enough to make and decorate cookies so they just watched, but since they are so cute I figured they needed a post of their own. Roc got a bag of gumballs and before we knew it he had them opened and was eating one. Oops!. He then decided he needed to see Audrey closer so he proceed to climb up her highchair for a closer look. I told him to give her a kiss and he did, it was so cute. Audrey is so cute who wouldn't want to kiss her!

Christmas Cookies.

Ok my second post of the day, wow-so scroll down far enough so you don't miss any.

Sadie invited Ella over to make Christmas cookies yesterday. The girls had a great time and I was really surprised at how well they did rolling the dough and cutting out their shapes. They went a little overboard on the sprinkles, but that is all part of the fun. Sadie dumped a ton on one and then told me -see it's not too much. It was really funny! Here are a few pictures of the fun.

Ella's Christmas Ballet Performance!

Ella had her first ever ballet performance today, and she did great. She was so cute and did so well. I am so proud of my little girl. I am going to post my videos here (ok got one dud on there but can't figure out how to delete-sorry) and my pictures here on facebook. Kevin, Roc, my Mom, Sadie and Grandma Ruby also came to watch. I was amazed at how well Ella was willing to do this in front of so many people. After the performance the girls had a gift exchange. Then my Mom, Grandma Ruby, Ella, Sadie and I went to Starbucks for Hot Chocolate and Cranberry Bliss Bars to celebrate. My Grandma Ruby is so cute, after one of Ella's dances she says to me "Ella was the best one!". She is not partial or anything so it must be true:)

Sick Kiddos

Ok-my second post of the day----wow. Poor Ella has not been doing too well. Last Saturday she came down with an ear infection-first one ever-. The on call doc put her on amoxicillin, but this little girl refused to take it. So after throwing it up I said forget it. Which was probably not the best choice (lesson learned). She seemed to be doing better thought but then last Tuesday she has a horrid fever (103 ish) and both ears were infected. My dad said get her the medicine-so we tried to disguise it in a milkshake,but no fooling this girl. She did not see us put it in but would not drink it as it tasted yucky. So we finally managed to get it down her-no easy task with this one, and you have to give them 20 doses over 10 days-not fun. Once we got some Advil and amoxicillin in her she seemed to do better and slept all night, but her fever kept coming back in the evenings. Thank goodness for children's Advil though. Then a few days later she was fine, but on Sunday she started to get a horrid rash that rapidly spread through out her whole body-So off to the doctor we headed on Monday. He assured me it was not contagious (whew!) (I was imagining calling ballet and Church to tell everyone she exposed them to some horrid disease :)) He took her off the amoxicillin saying it was a strep rash-I think a combo of the ear infection and reaction to the medicine? He put her on a different antibiotic and told me to bathe her in Aveeno bath stuff. This seemed to work and she has no rash but last night her ears were bothering her again. Since we were headed to the ear doctor for Roc today I figured he could check her ears too. He said she has lots of fluid and to give her dimeatap and that should clear it up. Roc on the other had has tons of fluid and defiantly needs tubes. He said he is probably not very comfortable and hears us in muffled sounds. I think his hearing seems ok as he can follow commands but he does not say much so maybe the doctor is right....We can't get in till the 30th but I am really really hoping this helps improve his mood-and mine :)

Christmas Tree

Saturday we headed up to the woods to get our tree. For only five bucks you can get a permit to cut any tree, in the woods, that you want. There was no snow at all (other than a slight amount in a very tiny section of the road)! It seems weird that we have no snow yet, even in the mountains! Anyway we drove and drove and finally reached the end of a road and got out. Kevin had us truck up a very steep hill, but we could not find one we liked, so back down we headed and drove till we found a clearing. We found a great one there (I'm all for choosing one quickly and getting outta there, but Kevin's more into finding one that looks good-but we managed to find one we agreed on in not too long of time). Ella was not too found of the whole thing and just wanted to go back home and watch cartoons! Roc had fun though-however since he slept for about 30 minutes in the car he would not nap when we got home. (lesson learned there!). Here are a few pictures of the event.

Long Time No Blog....

Ok Katie has informed me that my blog is getting boring and Kevin says I better hurry up and do a new post or I will lose my subscribers! ha ha.

Not much going on here but Roc has been fighting a cold off and on for a while now and I am beginning to wonder if his ears are bothering him more so we have an appointment with the ear Doctor next Wed. This sounds bad, but I kinda do hope it is his ears as I think I have listened to enough whining to last a lifetime these past few weeks....So if it is his ears at least we can treat this and move on!

We headed out to get our Christmas Tree on Saturday and made it not further than the store to get the permit when Roc threw up! We decided a bumpy truck ride through the woods, in the cold, would not help so we turned around and went back home. He was totally fine after he had a bath and did not throw up again, so it may have just been a combination of a cold and riding in a bumpy truck. For some reason my kids tend to throw up when they cough. We are going to make a second attempt this Saturday.

I did actually do some Black Friday shopping, first time in a long time. I am not a die-hard and did not get up super early or anything. But I did hit Rite Aid, Fred Meyer (1/2 price socks!) and Jo-Ann's. I need some new scissors and since they were 50% off plus an additional 20% I wanted to get some. Got them and a few other things too....

We did start the advent calendar last night though and the kiddos enjoyed that. Ok so that is it for now....Hopefully I can come up with some more posts so I won't lose all my "subscribers!"

"Jesus Knows!"

I got the kiddos in the car and headed to Safeway this morning. We got there and park and I then realized I didn't have my wallet, and then remember that I had placed it on the roof of the car when getting the kiddos in. I get out, but unfortunately no wallet sitting on the roof. I turn around to drive home explaining to Ella why and then proceed to pray out loud that I will find the wallet. I am scanning the road and praying. I am telling Ella I am looking on the road for the wallet while I am driving (and praying) and she declares "Mom, Jesus knows where it is!" Yes he does and we need to pray he shows us where it is I say. Up 66th I go and down Prospect Way around the corner and there it is, in the middle of the road. Open but in tact. It appears to have been driven over but nothing was missing! Wow. After I get it and we head back to the store Ella says "Mom you should have just put the wallet in the car before we left" Thank you Ella for the words of advice!

Free Shipping

For those of you out there that have little girls American Girl is doing free shipping with no minimum purchase required! This is a great deal and perfect for Christmas Shopping. Also you don't pay sales tax either. For those interested just go here for the online store and when checking out put in GIFTSHIP as your shipping code for free standard shipping. I am so glad this happened as I have been wondering what to get Ella for Christmas! Now I am done, Yeah!

If any one is interested this is what I got her:
This,
This (for $8 why not)
This
This
For $3 who could pass these up!
and
This

Roller Skating!

The City had their annual employee skating party last night so we thought we would give it a try again this year. Ella was totally excited about it, but not so sure once she got the skates on. She was a bit hesitant but did manage to make it around the rink a few times with our help. I got to skate this year too since Roc is older. We even let him have a go at it. They only lasted for about an hour so we headed home after that, but the highlight was Ella won a hot-dog (and ate the whole thing) in one of the games! It was a thriller alright! The videos may be too dark but I thought I would try them anyway.

Ballet and Harvest Party

Ella went to her third ballet lesson this week and did great. She told me she did not want to go, but I made her anyway, knowing she really did want to go :) Well we got there and she started talking to her teacher and the other girls and did great. The teacher is so sweet and makes it fun for the girls. The teacher put the monitor on so I was able to see a bit of her dancing and she looked like she was catching on pretty well.

After ballet we headed up to the Hoefer's for Karis's fourth birthday party and the annual harvest party. We roasted marshmallows, decorated cookies, did crafts, had a pinata and a tractor ride for the kids. It was great fun and we all had a good time.

I have decided that rather than trying to post a few of my favorite pictures from stuff I am just posting them all to facebook. For those of you who have not joined the facebook world just click here and you can view them.

Halloween Recap

For Halloween Roc was a wild husky fan and Ella was a ladybug. I got them dressed up and we headed to Grandma Ruby's house, then my mom's and then to Kevin's work. They got lots of delicious candy. Then for dinner we went to my sister Hannah's house for the annual Halloween party. We ate some delicious home-made chili and cornbread and of course candy! Kevin took the kiddos out trick-or-treating for a while and then Ella helped hand out candy to the "Childrens" that came to the door. She was wound of course. It was fun that Roc was old enough this year to go trick-or-treating. They took along the cute felt bag I made for them.

Random Post

My little brother Mikey stopped by for a quick visit the other day and proceeded to wound the kiddos up as much as possible. Here are some videos of the fun and a picture of Ella cutting his hair. She was playing the hairdresser. Mikey is also famous for rummaging through the cupboards for whatever he can find to eat. Oh we love you Mikey.

Kevin has been working on a massive retaining wall on the side of our house, near the hill so he has been busy working on this and spent a good chunk of the weekend on this. Ella had her second ballet lesson on Saturday and seemed to really enjoy it, so I am relieved. She was not scared and went right to the teacher and started talking to her so I quickly made my exit before she could change her mind. I met a nice lady whose daughter was there for the first time and we had fun chatting while the girls danced away. Then our church had a cider press in the afternoon, we went for a little while, but then had to get Roc home for a nap. They had some children's activities and Ella had a great time with some of the girls her age. Sunday was just a normal Sunday not much going on. Now I really need to stop as I need to get ready for the Life Choices Banquet tonight. Writer Francine Rivers is speaking so it should be a good program.

Watch This

Ok I am copying my sister Abby but, you gotta watch this -it is too important not to. This was created by my brother Michael and it does go fast so be ready with the pause button. He also created this one so if you have time, watch it too (actually he has created quite a few so if you like these you can look up all videos done by him).

Tagged

Ok I was tagged by Hannah and have to say 6 things about me that you may or may not know, so here goes in no particular order of importance.

I am by far the most attractive of the girls in my family....ok totally kidding on that one.

here is the real list

1. I have to get ready each day (shower, do my hair, make-up, get dressed) everyday, even if I have no plans. For some reason it bugs me not to do this.

2. I am extremely frugal-not cheap-but frugal :) I love to bargain shop and stock up on good deals! One of my mottos at home is natural light is free light. I must have thoroughly ingrained this in Ella, as when she goes in her room to play she pulls up the shades so she does not have to turn the light on.

3. I can't stand a messy kitchen, while I do have stuff on my counters I do all the dishes and clean the kitchen while I am cooking and when each meal is over.

4. I work out every morning-no exceptions (unless I am totally sick-or we are out of town)

5. I am totally addicted to news right now. I constantly have FOX news on and then occasionally the other totally news channels. I love this political stuff and was bummed that I missed watching Bill O'Reilly on The View-only got to watch part of what he showed on is show the O'Reilly Factor.

6. I love to read (fiction) and read at least a book or two a week-I read while I work out and before I go to bed at night.

So there it is... I tag Stella, Kaitlen and Kristen....no pressure.

Can you get any cuter?

Need I say more....

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Very close to our house is a Fruit Stand (if you can call it that-it is really much more-gifts, fruit, fruit trees, etc.) and they do a few festivals throughout the Yakima fruit growing season. One is a Harvest Festival with Hay Rides, Pumpkin Patch, Hay Maze and Cider Making. The other day Katie, Hannah, and I took the kiddos to check it out. It is perfect as it is not too large and something you can do in about 30-45 minutes. The kiddos had a great time going through the maze and posing for pictures. They don't do the Hay Rides or the Cider Making on the weekends so Kevin and I took Ella and Roc today to do that. We had a great time and even decided to do some cider pressing. It is delicious. Our weather has been pretty good so we were able to enjoy it without being cold. I have posted my photos here for your viewing enjoyment.

When Daddy Dresses Me!

I asked Ella what Daddy put on her for church (since I was gone at WOF) and she said a polka dot dress. I couldn't think of what she met so thought she meant a pink polka dot summer shirt she has that is a bit long. I was thinking how could he have thought that was a dress? I hope he put something under it... So I asked her to show me and she opened her closest and showed me a summer dress that she wore when she was 1 or 2. I couldn't believe it so I had her put it on for me just to see how it would look. The pictures don't do total justice to how short it was. Kevin did say though that she did get some complements. I just hope they did not think I set this out for her to wear! (now i am not ridiculing Kevin in a way-he did a great job on his own for three days, I just think this is so funny I had to share).

Women of Faith

This past weekend my Mom, Abby and I headed down to Portland to meet up with Rachael and go to the Women of Faith Conference. I have never been to this and did not really know what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised (and would defiantly want to go again next year). I really enjoyed it and the speakers were not boring at all. And Nicole C Mullen was there (a great Christan singer)and I did not know she was a featured singer for the conference. She puts on a great show but is very humble and gives all the praise of her talent to God. We even got to sit in the box seating area as someone from Rachael's church knows the Pepsi people so they let us use their box, it was great. The conference was Friday and Saturday. On Sunday we did some marathon shopping and I got a great deal on a sweater-regularly $59 for only $4.99 and since we were in OR I did not have to pay sales tax!! I also managed to find a cute duvet cover for our bed, on clearance so it was an especially great deal. They were out of the sheets for it but I am on the hunt for these on ebay-since this stuff ends up there a lot of times.

Birthday Celebration

We met Kevin after work at Red Robin-Kevin had is free birthday burger coupon so we could not let this deal pass by- Ella remembered going there for her birthday and the Red Robin bird happened to be there that night so she was really hoping he could show up again, and much to her delight he did! Oh I wish I had brought my camera. She was thrilled to say the least. Roc had a great time entertaining people with his loud cooing and his cute hair. (now this has nothing to do with the birthday, but his hair is finally starting to grow and it is so soft and fuzzy, I love rubbing my face on it, and he must love it too as he will rub it up against my face-I treasure these moments as I know they won't last long). On the way into RR Ella sang Happy Birthday Daddy-o to him.
During the day Ella helped me make a cake. Whenever we bake her job is to look at the box and tell me how many eggs we need and then she helped me put in the other ingredients too. She did a great job. (When we were talking about the cake making on the way to RR ((as I was telling her not to tell Daddy so it would be a surprise when we got home)) I reminded her of what she did to help me and she said oh yeah mommy we were like a team. I thought that was cute.) Then she had the job of decorating it and putting the candles in. Then she decorated a card for him and I wrote on it what she told me too. It really was quite sweet. She was so excited to give him the card and blow out candles with him when we got home. I love how excited she gets about these things. When she was decorating the card she found a picture of Kevin and me before we were married so somehow she got the idea that this would be a surprise for him too, so she got it in a box to give to him :) Roc was just thrilled to look on and eat his cake.

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment :)

Happy Birthday

To my sweet husband or as he likes to be called "my man!". Hope you have a great day.
my man and his boy.