Happy Day!

Today Eli turned three! Yes, you've heard it before but I'm going to say it... my baby is not a baby anymore. He's at the age where that baby face is turning into the face of a little boy. Oh me. Time is fleeting and may I relish every. single. moment.

Eli is such a fun little boy. He is mischievous, a sweetie, silly and a mamma's boy all rolled into one. He keeps us on our toes and keeps us laughing!

He requested a guitar cake for his birthday and he got one! He had so much fun! He loves to play his guitar and pretend to be a rock star! He's pretty good at it!

(Robby always asks me what I let them watch during the day when Eli plays his guitar. He's a little wild!)

He enjoys playing with his big brother! And they really play so well together. He is much better at sharing and 'letting things go' than his brother. Eli does like his alone time (don't we all!?) though and sometimes just wants to play by himself. We know he needs some time alone when he starts telling us "Luke is touching me!!!"But for the most part they love being with each other.. building towers for batman, playing police man and 'bad guy', pretending to go to school.. or the museum.. or to work!

Some of Eli's recent funnies:

~ Stripping down naked after we put him to bed and running out in the hall way grinning (or falling asleep with his brother!).

~ Spinning on the Sit -N- Spin while yelling, "My getting BIZZZZYYY!!"

~ Drawing all over the walls and being very proud of it!

~ Asking, "Did you hear that toot?"

~ Drawing mustaches on his face

~ Telling me to 'pretend' in situations where he doesn't want to do what I ask. For instance, Me: "Eli, go put on your shoes." ... Eli: "Just pretend they on!!"

Some of Eli's favorites:

~ Cheese!! He eats cheese every morning!

~ Hot Dogs on the "gill"

~ Being rocked to sleep by mommy (yes, he still wants to be rocked!)

~ Playing with his little trucks in my flower pots

~ Jumping off the end table to the couch! (no we don't allow it... but there is no telling how many times he's done it!)

~ Making messes

~ Helping mommy cook

~ Washing the car with Daddy

~ Playing with the "map" (iPad)

~ Cookies from Wright's Dairy

(result of a cookie from Wright's Dairy)

What a blessing and a joy Eli is to our family! And tonight I end this day praising God for my little guy....

"Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."

Sillyness

Things have been a little out of the ordinary around here (in many ways!) the past few days! So, in celebration here are a few silly pictures of the kids!

I was attempting to take some cute pictures of the boys in front of the tree...




I am busy at the stove just cooking away and then I turn around to find this:



(That, by the way, is a whole bottle of sage and a brand new bottle of basil!! He had been 'playing' with some tupperware... I guess he decided he wanted to cook too!)

Next, Luke asked me if he could dress up in his suit he wore for Aunt Kelsey's wedding. He said he was going to play preacher. Then he got a stool and preached to me! :)




And last, here are my two munchkins wearing two new vests that I got for Christmas early. I've never been into the puffy vests but I'm liking them this year. I haven't completely decided on the pink one. The boys look so funny in them!



Have a great Christmas week!

Family Friday

I thought I'd take a little time today to share a little about what's going on with each of us!

First Luke: Luke is a typical boy! He loves all things weapons, although the boys don't actually have any! Not that we are against them as toys.. just that we don't have any. Because, with boys, even if you don't have any.. they will make them. Luke makes guns and swords out of his Trio blocks all of the time! He can be really silly and get everyone to laughing, especially Eli! At the same time he can be really moody and need his space, but don't we all?! He loves playing soccer.. well, he loves going to soccer practice and games! He's not much of a player yet! He really likes to socialize and play (games, not soccer) with his teammates! He's not very big on going after the ball, he'd much rather it come right to him. And I mean, that's probably the only way he will ever make contact with it! It will have to land right in front of him... and then he still may not kick it! He's having fun though, and that's what matters! He LOVES to get dressed and likes to dress himself. He doesn't always match but most of the time I just let him do whatever. The only time I intervene is when we're going to church or somewhere special. He also loves to wear socks and shoes! He's not a big flip flop or sandal wearer. There have been times when I just had to make him wear sandals! Thank goodness colder weather is around the corner (I hope!). Luke is a great big brother (most of the time). He and Eli are starting to play more and more together. Luke is pretty protective of his brother and lets me know if Eli is doing something that might hurt him. The sweetest is when Luke steals a kiss from Eli and he doesn't know anyone is watching! Melts this mommy's heart! They do fight, of course, but they really are great friends!

Now Eli! Eli is a Mommy's boy! Seriously! Hmm, I feel like I've said this before! ;) Well, he still is! He is also much more go with the flow and relaxed, especially when Mommy is around! He's not near as moody as Luke! He loves to watch Luke practice and play soccer. He also loves to throw balls! He really has a good chest pass, so we may have a future basketball player on our hands! Eli also loves getting in to everything. Every. Thing. I know we saw this coming. We just knew he would be the child to strow everything out, get into stuff, make huge messes, never understand the meaning of "No" or "Don't Touch!" (see above picture!) I think it's more his little personality rather than just the 'terrible twos'. He's very independent! He thinks he can do anything and will try! And all the while he is a little love bug! He will gladly sit in your lap for hours or shower you with hugs and kisses!

The Hubs- The Hubs is in full swing school mode. He had his first Algebra test last week and made a 99! So proud of him! He started off the school semester doing homework in the kitchen and that did not work out! It's true that the kitchen is the hub of the household! So, we cleared out the treadmill in the bedroom (need a new place to hang clothes now!) and put a table that the Hubs mom had given us in it's place. It's worked out much better now, although wireless has been giving him problems! And since his school work is online (even his 'on campus' class has online homework, that's been trying for him.

And me- Well, my knee/upper thigh is still giving me problems. I went to the Dr a little over a month ago with it and was told after an X-ray that I had a tilted knee cap. I was told to take Rx ibuprofen and do some exercises. But I feel like there is much more going on. I haven't had the sharp pains in my thigh lately but I still have a place right above my knee that is swollen. I've tried this week to keep it up here and there but it really is hard when you're home with two boys all the time! I just had to let some housework go. My knee has felt better at night (when it usually starts throbbing) but the swelling hasn't changed. So, I'm not sure what to do. I haven't been exercising either, for fear of hurting it worse (I kind of feel like Jillian might have been part of my problem!). And I can totally tell! I haven't gained any weight but I just don't feel as good.. and I feel all stiff!

I just finished reading Intimate Issues. And all I'll say about that is that it's a good book for married, Christian women! I just started reading The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson. It's sooo good! I really wish I was reading it with a group of women, so I could discuss it! It would be a great group discussion book study! I didn't get any response with that idea though, but maybe in the future! I also just started reading Hebrews. I read Joshua, Judges and Ruth in a row and just thought it was time for some New Testament!

Well, there is a little bit of info on what's going on in our house!

Preschool 2010-2011

As most of you know Luke and I have been doing very unstructured preschool activities for the past year. Right now, he learns as we live... and I add a few neat crafts, experiments and activities to go with it all! We're 'officially' starting back to preschool this week and I am adding some new things to go along with what we've already been doing. So, just to share and keep a list of resources for myself, here is what we will be doing during our very unstructured preschool year:

1. Bible Time- Right now we're using this book (ok, well I can't find it online.. but I'll try to take a picture later and post it). The stories are really simple and the boys enjoy listening to the stories. It comes with a DVD of the stories being read to the pictures in the book and then there is a song after it that goes along with the story. They also like learning new songs about the stories too! I'm also hoping to purchase The Jesus Storybook Bible. Hopefully we can get it for later in the year! We will also be continuing Scripture memory (link below) to go along with our letter of the week.

Psalm 119: 9-16

"How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word."

2. Letter of the Week- Yep, we are continuing the letter of the week. We're still mainly focusing on the Uppercase. We should finish the upper case right before Christmas and we'll start the lower case in January. We will be using Kumon Uppercase and Lowercase workbooks along with all of the fun activities I use online. We'll be reading lots of books that goes along with our letter projects. Here are some of the things I use online:

Totally Tots - Alphabet Crafts
Totally Tots - ABC Scripture Memory
(I also highly recommend Song's for Saplings that go along with Totally Tots Scripture memory... my boys LOVE it!)
Confessions of a Homeschooler - I get lots of ideas and do many downloads from her site!
ABC and 123 - Again, tons of ideas!
Mama Jenn - More and more ideas...

Ok, I could go on and on! There are so many great resources but these are a great place to start!

3. Math/Science- We'll start off the year doing Kumon Numbers 1-30 and go from there. I always incorporate math and science into our activities. We learn about different animals, places, etc along with our letter of the week. We count and sort and sequence and take away and add. It really is amazing what you can tie in! For instance this week we will be talking about our sense of taste and smell! Lemons anyone? We've also talked made ladybugs and counted spots, legs, etc.

4. Other skills, etc. We'll be working on mazes for pencil skills and lots of scissor work too! Of course we'll be in the kitchen a lot! And thank goodness the weather will be cooling off soon! He's four. I'm not stressing. He will learn as we live. And most importantly I want him to know God. So... that leads me to our last and newest addition:

5. House Rules and Character Traits: We are using Gregg Harris' 21 Rules of This House. I love each one of them and they will be good for the Hubs and I to remember as well! We will be going over one a week and reading Scripture that goes along with them during family time. I'll be incorporating these Character Qualities during the day as well. We'll just talk about them as we go about our day.. nothing formal. Also on my list is the the Westminster Shorter Catechism and the Ten Commandments. All of these things can be woven into daily life.

Duet 11:18-23 ~“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves."

Letter I

Letter I was so much fun! I usually try to start off the week a letter collage. This helps Luke to see the letter we're going to learn about and we also talk about all of the words that our letter starts with!





After naming off lots of letter I words, we did a fun science experiment! Luke had two bowls, one with hot water and one with cold water. Then he put two ice cubes in each bowl! Which ice cube melts faster? He had so much fun with this and it was a great way to talk about solids and liquids/hot and cold. Lots of learning!

Then, we took some Ice cubes outside and played with them on the hot pavement. We intended to do some ice drawing on the driveway but it had just rained. Luke still had fun watching the ice melt and playing with it!

When we came back in we compared one of our ice cubes we had been playing with with a fresh one from the freezer!

We also decided to make juice ice cubes! Luke poured the juice into the ice tray and we put them in the freezer!

The first thing he said when he got up was that we had to get the ice cubes from the freezer! I'm glad he remembered because I probably wouldn't have until later!!

Both boys got in on the action for this project! I took empty paper towel rolls and let the boys paint them. Once they were dried, I cut them into rings. You really only need half of a paper towel roll for each one (or one empty toilet paper roll per child). I left one circle for the head and then cut all of the other circles to staple together.

Then we glued eyes and and poked two holes on top and weaved pipe cleaner through for the feelers! Cute Inch Worms!

Next we learned all about Iguana's and did an alphabet craft from Totally Tots! Did you know iguanas can lose their tails just like smaller lizards and they will grow back?

We made yummy homemade Ice cream which I decided to do a whole post about. It was really fun and tasty!

Next, I cut out an igloo from white foam and then made it into a puzzle for Luke to piece together. It was actually harder than it looks! We used cotton balls for the snow and snow flakes!

And of course we did a letter I search! (Yep, there is the winter puffy vest again!)

Our verse was "May my prayer be set before you like Incense." Psalm 141:2. We had some great discussion on what it means to worship God and all of the different ways we can worship here!

"Sometimes I can't be good."

This past week we've been learning about the letter I. I just posted our Letter H week. I usually post the crafts, etc from the week prior, but I wanted to share something that happened this week. Our scripture from this week is:

"May my prayer be set before you like incense." Psalm 141:2

Typically, at lunch time, we talk about our memory verse and what it means. Then we listen to our Songs for Saplings CD and sing our verse (and previous verses). The boys LOVE singing. I just wish there were more kids scripture CD's out there. It's great for them and for myself! It's so easy to learn verses set to music!

So, we were talking about what incense means. I told the boys that in the Bible incense was something that they used to worship God. They would burn spices to praise and worship God. So, we talked a lot about what it means to worship God. Worship is singing and praying to God, reading our Bible and obeying God. As we continued our talk we focused on obeying God being a form of worshipping Him. So, Luke was curious about what 'obey' meant. We use this word a lot in our home and I'm pretty sure he knows what it means but I was glad he was asking questions. So, I explained that it means to follow rules/instructions. We must obey God. We must obey our parents, which is a commandment from God. We continued talking about different ways we obey and disobey. During our discussion Luke said a very profound statement:

"Sometimes I can't be good."

This was music to my ears. Yes, son!! You are right! Now, many parents would have corrected their child. Oh, sure you can, we can all be good if we just try to do the right thing. But the Bible tells us that there are none good (Romans 3:10).

At that moment, I was just so thankful that he is learning that he can't be good on his own. So, I took the opportunity to share with him that the only way we can be good is through Jesus. I also took that opportunity to thank God that I am home with my children to take advantage of moments like that.

My prayer is that we will be diligent in teaching our boys the truths of the gospel and that God will give Luke & Eli wisdom to see themselves in great need of rescuing. And may we also be diligent in teaching them that there is only One who can rescue them!! Oh Lord, save their souls!

Thank You Dora and Diego!

Yesterday, we took Eli to have a place looked at on his leg. It's a sunken in place about the size of a nickle. I, of course, started freaking out, thinking the worst (and doing too much reading on the internet!)! Well, to make a long story short, Dr. C told me that what it is is called fat atrophy. It can happen from multiple injection in one place or from a steroid injection. And while it's not common, it does happen more than you would think. More than likely Eli's was caused by the steroid (decadron) shot that he got roughly 2 months ago when he had bronchitis. A side effect of steroid injections is fat atrophy. And since the time between when he got the shot to when I noticed the place was only about 3 weeks, it makes perfect sense. I've read that some fat atrophy's are permanent but most resolve themselves in a few months (which is what Dr C told us, 2-3 months). The only thing that we have to do is make sure that if he gets sick and needs an injection that he gets it in the other leg. I just love Dr C, he looked right at me and said, "I know when you notice something like this all kinds of things go through your head... but trust me, this is what it is." And he just rubbed Eli's head and kept saying, "I just love this little boy!" I feel truly blessed to have a pediatrician like him.

Now, on to the funny part! Luke went with us to the Dr's office. It's good for him to be at the Dr when it's not 'his turn' sometimes. Well, Dr C had an arm brace/sling on his right arm. Luke didn't say anything about it yesterday but today at lunch he said,

"Dr. C had a hurt arm yesterday and that thing on it."
Me: "He sure did. It was a special sling to keep him from moving his arm too much so it can heal."
Luke: "Oh. I know why he hurt his arm. It's because he's old!" (he's in his 50s)
Me: (laugh)
Luke: "And you know what? I think Dr C speaks some kind of Spanish."
Me: "You're right, Dr C does speak Spanish! Good job, Luke!"

And just from his accent Luke detected that! He's never spoken Spanish to us.. of course, because we couldn't understand him! So, thanks Dora and Diego!

Family Matters: Eli Edition

I guess most of you know by now that when I say, "I'll be posting this soon" it really means, "I might be posting this in the next month.. or maybe not." I had planned last week to do a post on the boys and then the Hubs and I just for journal purposes but it was busy.. and I didn't get around to it. Being a Mommy and a wife are tough jobs.. if you do them right. And sitting on the computer blogging, while I love it, is not always the best use of my time.

Today, I am going to dedicate this post to my littlest man, Eli. He is for sure my second child! He and Luke are so very different. Eli is much more laid back and 'go with the flow'... well, as long as Mommy is around. Yes, he is a Mommy's boy. All. the. way. He would be completely happy if I held him all day long. When he first wakes up, I typically hold him for about 20-30 minutes. He just will not have it any other way. We get some juice and sit on the couch watching whatever Luke has picked out (right now he's on a Dora kick). Once Eli's woken up, he gets down and plays a little before breakfast. (and I make a fast break before he realizes anything! Ha!) Speaking of playing, Eli is starting to pretend play more. I have caught him with the various Little People we have around the house, pretending. He and Luke do play some together but mainly they just play side by side. He loves to watch Blue's Clues with Luke, too. Otherwise he's not much into TV or movies.

Eli turned 20 months old at the end of April. He weighs right around 22 lbs! He's still a tiny little guy but he's growing just fine! He has a HUGE appetite. You would never guess it but most of the time he out eats Luke at the table. I am sometimes surprised at how much he can eat! He is not as picky as Luke either. He loves bananas, cheese, peanut butter crackers (that I make), cake and hot dogs! And I'm happy to say that he's been drinking whole cow's milk for about a week and a half now! No more goat's milk (um, which was about $3.50 for a quart!)! We tried cow's milk with him when he was about 15 months old and he had some stomach aches. I decided to try it at 20 months and he has been fine. The boys are only drinking Wright's Dairy though. Yum!

Eli is a little wild child! He can turn a room into a disaster in a matter of seconds! It's really frustrating for this Mommy too! It's so hard to clean when someone (ELI!) is going behind me making messes! He loves to get into things he's not suppose to. I know, I know, all kids do this. But he is much worse in this area than Luke ever was! He also loves to climb on things. Couches, tables, chairs.. if he can get on top, he will!

Eli is so funny! He finds ways to make us all laugh everyday. He has the sweetest 'cheese face' with his little scrunched up nose! He says the funniest things too! He already recognizes the 'golden arches' (which btw, we have greatly reduced from our/their diet). I call it the cancer nugget place now, but anyway. When we go to the grocery store and pass by Mickey D's, Eli shouts "Nonald's, Meeee!! Nonald's, Meeee!!" He gets this becuase throughout the day I'll ask something like, "Who wants a snack?" and they'll respond "meee!". Well, Eli just figures, I'll go ahead and say, "Nonald's Meee!" just in case you're wondering if I want to go! If he finds something silly, he says, "That's sil!" So cute!

He's also going through his 'scared' stage. Right now vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers and motorcycles are at the top of the list. Although, he is also fascinated with all three as long as they are not turned on! He wakes up a few times a week scared to death and I just absolutely hate it! But I know he's right at the stage for that to happen! We're still sleeping with the lamp on and that has seemed to help.

Oh and, he's still nursing. Before nap and before bed. No, I don't plan on nursing him past two. But if I wanted to, I could. :)

Here is my sweet love bug eating one of his favorite things, cake!

I can't imagine where he gets his love for sweets?? ;)

Whew, what a week!

Last week was a doozy! It started with Eli being sick weekend before last. He began with running a fever and having a little congestion. Sunday he sounded worse and had a little cough. Monday he was worse, but I waited. Well Tuesday he woke up and was still worse, and had a little drainage coming from his ears (TMI, I know!) but that's not necessarily a bad thing. His tubes were made to do that. But it did give me a clue that he had a lot of gunk backed up in there! So, I called and set them up an apt for Wednesday afternoon. Well, they both got a shot and zpack. (Bronchitis/sinus infection) I was told to continue breathing treatments, too. I had started them Tuesday after speaking with the nurse. I'm so glad we bought the nebulizer and keep albuteral on hand! On Tuesday, I also started feeling yucky. And by Wednesday I knew I needed to see the Dr as well. I've told you all before when I get a sinus infection, it hits me like a ton of bricks! So by the time we got home Wed afternoon, I was miserable!! The Hubs had his last final Wed night so I couldn't go to the Dr until he got home. So, I got to the after hours Dr at 7pm! Well, I waited and waited and finally went back around 8pm. The nurse took a while getting my pulse and when she took me to my room she told me to lay down and wait on someone to check my pulse again.. because it was up around 120. This of course freaked me out, so I called the Hubs! I asked him to come sit with me! I knew he'd have to bring the boys but I really wanted him with me. I'm so glad he doesn't think my anxieties are silly! I hate going to the Dr by myself. I get so nervous! And that, along with me being a little dehydrated is probably what made my pulse go up. It did drop, still a little high but not as high. Anyway, on the way the Hubs called Gram and Grandad and they picked up the boys. (Thank you!) I just figured they would stay with us but it ended up being better because we didn't leave the Dr until 9:30pm! I got a shot and some strong antibiotics! I'm feeling much better but still not quite 100%! SO.. needless to say we didn't do anything last week! No cooking, no crafts.. just wiping snotty noses.. resting.. and watching movies. And my house.. oh me. It is starting to look better but it just went by the wayside!

Although I didn't cook after Monday night, what I did cook was a new 'recipe'. I made Italian Roast Wraps Monday night. They were so yummy and so easy!! What a great way to use a roast! I love the usual roast w/ carrots and potatoes but you have to admit that sometimes it's nice to do something different! Next time I'll try it with homemade taco seasoning mix for a different flavor!

In weight loss news, there isn't much. I didn't weigh Friday morning but I did get an 'official weigh' at the Drs Wednesday night and it was the same as last week. I'm just stuck but glad I haven't gained any back! With the bathroom remodel and being sick, it's been 3 weeks since I've done any kind of exercising! Hopefully this week I can get some in!!

Pollen!! (Oh and letter C crafts!)

Well, we're stuck inside on this beautiful day. Monday and Tuesday we stayed inside mainly to keep away from pollen. We got out yesterday for a while and had planned on today but Eli's running a fever! He woke up last night around 11pm and was warm. So, I gave him some tylenol. Then he was up at 3am, 6am and finally 9 am. Needless to say when my alarm went off at 7am, I turned of OFF! He's stuffy, so my guess is that he's developed a cold from the allergies. It seems like we can't get a break! I'm seriously hating pollen right now!! Maybe we should move! (Yeah, that' show much I'm hating it!)

I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer today! I just want my boys to be able to enjoy the weather!

So, while I'm sitting here and the kids are watching Toy Story, I'll share a few pictures of some of our crafts, mainly our alphabet crafts. (Here is the our previous alaphabet post)

At the end of March we worked on the letter C. Our Bible verse was, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." 1 Corinthians 5:17. Here is Luke practicing making his C.

We also had a fun caterpillar snack: Peanut butter on Ritz crackers, pretzels for feelers and raisins for eyes!

And from Confessions of a Homeschooler, I downloaded this cute caterpillar number sequence game! Luke had fun putting the numbers in order! He's also asked to play this game several times since then! I wish I had a laminator so we could use these for longer!

I found a cute letter C craft for our alphabet book that went with our caterpillar theme but when I saw this C is for Crab craft from Totally Tots, it was too cute to pass up!

Isn't it super cute?! We did do a few Easter themed crafts but I don't have pictures! It was the week we were staying at my mom's because of the bath remodel. I forgot my camera! I'll share our April crafts later. We're only doing two letters this month, also because of the bathroom remodel. It's technically not finished (just painting the door is left) but the majority of the work was finished yesterday. So, it took longer than expected and kind of threw our schedule off!

Ok, off to get lunch started!

Family Matters

So, with all of the menu and craft postings that I've been doing I didn't have time to tell everyone about the other stuff that has been going on. Last Friday my littlest guy, Eli, started running a fever. It was low grade so I wasn't too concerned... until I saw little spots all over his belly! I, of course, start to think the worse and worry and obsess over it. I called the nurse Friday but our Ped was not in that morning. So, I called the on call nurse and after talking to her felt like we should just wait since he was eating well and playing just like normal. That night we went to my mom's for dinner and Eli played fine. When we got home and were getting the boys ready for bed, I mentioned to the Hubs that I wanted to check Eli's temp before he went to sleep, just to see what it was. When I did it was 103.2. Pretty high but I, thankfully, don't freak out over 103 temps.. I've never dealt with anything higher than about 103.3ish... and this was rectally so you can subtract almost a degree anyway. Not to mention that Eli was playing fine.. I mean he was literally running around the house giggling! He still had about 10-15 little spots on his tummy and upper back. The Hubs and I thought he might have chicken pox since he had been exposed to them about 2 weeks prior. Chicken pox = not a big deal. So... I didn't give him any Tylenol since he was fine. I dressed him loosely and he went right to bed.



Well, at 2 am the Hubs and I was woken up by a blood curdling scream.. I have never, ever heard my baby scream like that. I jumped out of bed and ran to his room and found him on his knees shaking, screaming in his bed. I picked him up and ran back to our bedroom. He was SO HOT! He had stopped screaming but he screamed again when we ran into his room. It was almost like he was hallucinating. I immediately told the Hubs we were going to the ER. I got the Hubs to get a lukewarm wash rag. I took off Eli's pj's, took of my shirt and just held him, skin to skin (the best way to quickly regulate temperature!!). After he was more relaxed I nursed him (yep, still nursing.. and thankful I had a good, comforting way to get some fluids into him!). I could tell that his temp had gone down and he was acting like himself, so I slipped away, while the Hubs distracted him with his cell phone. I called my mom, it was about 2:30am. She suggested we wait until the morning to see the on call pediatrician. By this time Eli was laughing and playing with the Hubs. And after talking about it with Hubs, we both decided we felt comfortable with waiting. So, the Hubs went to the couch and Eli and I went to our bed. I did give Eli some ibuprofen at around 3am and took his temp, which was 101.7... I'm positive that it was much higher an hour before. And honestly I don't even want to know how high it was! Eli slept restlessly and I did not sleep at all. I was too shook up! So, that morning we saw the on call pediatrician around 9:30am. They did blood work and basically ruled it as something viral. He thought it could possibly be chicken pox, like we did at first, but the high temp was not common with chicken pox. Either way he assured me that it wasn't serious and was viral. We were told to treat the fever and call Dr. C if things weren't better in 2-3 days. BTW, it's super hard to diagnose someone who has had the chicken pox vaccine with chicken pox because the case is usually so mild. We were told that they often don't blister and/or don't itch. So, we went home. I was finally starting to feel better... I can't even tell you how panicked I was from him waking up like that! I still occasionally have panic attacks and this just threw me for a loop! It literally made me sick! Anyway, Eli ran a low fever that afternoon but we kept him on tylenol/ibuprofen from about 2pm til the next morning. I kept him home from church that morning and didn't feel like he ran a fever at all. I never checked it Sunday afternoon so if he ran one it was very low. I did give him some med Sunday night for precautionary measures. The entire time he played fine and ate really well!

I started thinking Sunday afternoon about the whole thing and I was just not convinced that he had the chicken pox. All of a sudden I remembered that he had his MMR shot on Wednesday @ his 18mth check up! Hello! So, I started looking things up online (which can be a good thing.. or a very bad thing!) and sure enough rash and fever occur in 5-15% of children who get the vaccine. I found varying information on when they get the rash but basically anywhere from 3 days after the shot(and Friday would have been day three) up to 4 weeks after the shot. And after all of that, I'm almost positive that's what was wrong with him. I just wish I had thought of that before! Monday, he was fever free and his rash was beginning to fade.

I can't tell you how thankful I am for a husband who understands me. My husband is just perfect for me. Yes, he was concerned about Eli but he handles things so much better than I do most of the time. He truly helps me to relax. I'm also so thankful for a mom that I can call at 2:30am!! And, although I totally get my nerves from her (you know I do!), she helped me calm down too!

Most importantly, I'm thankful for a God who put these people in my life! And even better than my husband or mom is a God I can go to any time or place I need! I am so thankful He is always there. I don't know how people make it without Him! I know it is that peace that passes all understanding that ultimately covers me and helps me to rest in Him when I am afraid. The Holy Spirit is such a beautiful and gracious gift from the Father. Praise Him!

Well, I was going to share more about my other little guy, Luke.. but this is long!

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

Philippians 4:4-9

PreK ~ March

We started back this month doing some PreK activities. We've been doing activities since we moved here but it's been more sporadic, less planned. Well, I decided to get on the ball and start planning again! There are so many great resources out there for doing preschool activities at home! There will be links throughout this post with some of them! Of course you all know that we've decided to homeschool the boys and I am still nervous about that! Luke still has a good 2 years before any 'real' school but he LOVES all of the things we've been doing! I encourage you to check the links out even if you don't plan on homeschooling. There are some great ideas on these websites that you can do with your children for different holidays, seasons, ect.


This month we've been focusing on all things about Spring. The first week we talked about the weather, plants, animals and bugs. We're also learning about the letters A, B and C. Our Bible verse for the past two weeks:

"We will be changed into His likeness." 2 Corinthians 3:18

It goes perfect with all of the spring changes we've been talking about and then applying that to the way that God changes our heart to be more like Him when we ask Him to! Totally Tots also has great Scripture printouts with verses for 'hiding God's Word in little hearts'. Here are two of the boys projects from the past weeks:



Spring Things Foam Sticker Collage:



And Eli's Spring Things Sticker Collage:

Next we made a Rainbow Pasta Craft. You can print the Rainbow out here. The craft came from this post over at Totally Tots. We also made rainbow jello with real whipped cream. Luke helped me put the rainbow snack together! We read the story of Noah's Ark and talked about how rainbows help us remember God's promises!

Here is Luke helping to dye the noodles!





Our colors: Red, Orange, Green, Blue and Yellow. The red and orange looked very similar! ;)






He is very meticulous about his gluing!

His finished craft! If we ever do something like that again, we're using bigger pasta! He started getting tired of gluing all the little macaroni, so I helped toward the end!







I wasn't going to let Eli in on this fun.. mainly because of all the gluing but... I was like who cares!! I put glue on his rainbow and let him do whatever he wanted! And he did great!

Also as a part of this month we're going to be doing the letters A, B and C. I saw this A is for Alligator craft on Totally Tots and fell in love with it! All of the alphabet crafts are so cute! The boys also got a set of Scholastic Alphatales books for Christmas from my aunt and I was so excited to see that the A book was about an Alligator named Abby!

After reading the book we made the craft and talked about all kinds of words that start with the letter A. Here is Luke with his finished alligator and his alligator face!

Great job, Luke!

This week we've been talking about all things that start with the letter B! Butterflies, bumblebees, bananas! We did this Bumblebee craft. We talked a little bit about what bumblebees do and that soon we will start to see lots of bees around flying from flower to flower!

Working on his B is for Bumblebee!

Finished product! I'm planning on making an Alphabet Book with all of his letter crafts!

We also worked on letter recognition by tracing the upper and lower case B. I'm not focusing on him getting everything correct when practicing his letters. This is just for fun! Since he still doesn't recognize all of the letters, we're mainly just focusing on recognition.

I know this post is long. This is 2.5 weeks worth of activities. And I didn't include what we did yesterday! Whew, I think from now on I'll just do a weekly craft post instead of waiting like I did!