Christmas Time!

Although I'm not yet house bound I feel like I am. Jackson got pink eye Friday and we took him into the ER yesterday for some meds (we just found out we have to get a new pediatrician due to our insurance change too). We stayed home from church again today because of this and because I can't tell if Abygail is getting it or not - her eyes look glassy - so rather than risking other children getting it we are home.

This week we gathered for book club at our house and discussed The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict by The Arbinger Institute. I didn't finish the book so I felt pretty left out of a lot of the discussion, I also was up and down most of the time rounding my kids back upstairs and opening the door for guests so even when I felt like I could contribute my chance was gone by the time I came back. O well, it was nice to have everyone here since I don't get out much anymore and the discussion went really well. I would recommend this book to pretty much everyone, it's a good book on showing us how to treat others and keeping our hearts at peace with the world around us. It's also an easy read (I was reading some other books and put off reading this one and wound up with no time to read it in the end with the sick kids so it's my own fault I didn't finish it).

Last night we missed the ward Christmas party due to pink eye as well. Instead we had our own party. We finally got our decorations out and the kids and Jason decorated the tree, I made cookies and then put out the rest of the decorations. There was only one ornament fatality (our Niagara Falls ornament - which we can replace) so I would say the kids did really well. They are currently in love with the "Choo Choo Train Movie" aka The Polar Express so it was on most of the day yesterday. Abygail is so into Christmas this year, she's already asking about Santa and she loves the Christmas lights. Whenever she sees anything Christmasy she says "Oh, mommy, it's Christmas time!!!" Last night we read "The real story of Santa Claus" as a family and explained that Santa lived a long time ago and now as part of Christmas we celebrate his giving spirit, among other things (Christ Birth). We've decided to be truthful about S.C. and let our kids decide if they believe in him or not. We've also decided that this will be part of our yearly tradition, reading the story. We still have lots of things to do before Christmas day: learning about the true meaning of Christmas, decorating their first Christmas ornaments, buying their yearly ornaments, doing a service project, etc. I'm sure this time will fly by faster than usual. Also, just in time for our festivities...We had our first REAL snow (enough that you have to shovel) last night!

As a side note...last year my stocking holder broke and so I went out and bought a new one. I love nut crackers and the only nut cracker stocking holder they had was a twin pair so I bought them...do you think I jinxed myself?

It's June Already?!

Here's just a few things that have happened since the last post.

~Abygail's friend James was over on Wednesday, I got some great film of them dancing.





~Jackson got a bloody nose from playing so hard on Friday at the Ward Activity

~Jackson bit his tongue last night

~I got a new calling, Activities Committee Chairman - now I have keys, is this a good thing or bad thing?

~More planting: Corn, Carrots, Lettuce, Zinnias, Peppers

~Garden growing like a weed, weeds are growing too :)



~"We're in the spinach", we've had spinach every day for the last 4 days. In eggs and salads.


(Before the first harvest of baby spinach leaves, The first dish with spinach in it)

~We rode to church today. Jason left me 2 miles behind...but I finally made it just in time for the announcements :)

~Jason sold his 2 month old bike and got a new one

~I've ridden to the store a few times with the kids. Here's a picture of Abygail after one of those rides :)



****UPDATE****
~And apparently my daughter got in a fight with one of her very good friends in nursery...what a crazy girl! Her father took care of it.

The Plague!

This week was the week of the Plague at our house. Ok, well maybe not the actual PLAGUE but it sure felt like it. First Jackson got sick, then the computer crashed, next Abygail got sick followed by Jason and then finally I too became ill. Wednesday Jason and I tagged each other about every hour to take turns taking care of the kids. By then Jackson was feeling better but still not eating and Abygail was in-between sick and feeling better. Thursday night we got our computer back from the repair shop - thank goodness it was repairable. We've learned our lesson ... nothing was backed up and ALL our photos were on the computer.

We've been holed up in the house watching the lovely weather through the windows and the birds that like our bird feeders. Now we are all itching to get outside, sure hope the rain just passes us by this weekend :)

Happy Birthday To Me!

Tuesday I celebrated my long awaited 25th Birthday (for the millionth time).

My sweet husband got me just what I wanted and more. Sewing Machine, Quilting supplies, socks, and cinnamon gum-yum!

Other things that happened on my birthday:
The gas company dug up our front lawn and repaired a leak in the gas line as well as moved our meter to the outside (now I don't have to let them in, yea!).

Jason and Jackson have both been sick but Jason was sick as a dog on my birthday. I wasn't very sympathetic, I must admit, darn it - it was my day and ... well birthdays are a day off and there are no make up days for your birthday. He took it well though and still made my birthday special. He got me a cake, which I shared with Abygail. (I was a bad mommy and gave her a pizza party but no cake for her birthday - which is probably a bigger deal for me than for her. I make a special cake that is 'Abygail's' cake-heavenly angel cake- and a special cake that is 'Jackson's' cake-lincoln log cake. I started this tradition before she was even born and we ate her cake just days after her birth. It makes me sad but there were several reasons why it didn't happen, the biggest reason was I couldn't find the whisk attachment for the kitchen-aid, which is mandatory for her particular cake.)

We didn't give Jackson any cake but he just couldn't help himself - he loved it finger full!

All in all it was an eventful and nice 25th birthday for the Xth time!

Just When You Think It's Safe

Yesterday was a great day weather wise. Sure it was still in the 30s but it was partly cloudy and little wind so it felt great. The kids and I went to the zoo. They were both bundled up and I was in a t-shirt with a hoodie over it - again, it felt great. (we all wore hats to help keep our heat in)

There were some people there but it wasn't very crowded. Abygail walked most of the way and by the end she was so tired she wanted to crawl, then just sit on the ground. We finally got back in the car and she fell fast asleep.

This morning we woke up to this:

Just when you think the snow is pretty much over, you've got to shovel again! O well, it's really beautiful.

Another first happened yesterday morning. Just when we were starting to think the McFallville tragedies were over...Jackson fell down the stairs. He got some bumps and a scratch but he seems none the worse for it.

Some other milestones: Abygail counts to 10 now, she loves playing hide-n-go-seek. Jackson waves good-bye, he was doing this at the zoo when we would say bye-bye to the animals and it was too cute.

Stranded

Abygail is sick. She started running a fever last night and has continued to run one. She is losing her voice and is very congested. Since she is sick I canceled our plans for yesterday evening, an appointment this morning and decided we would not be going to playgroup. Also it's raining outside so I encouraged Jason to take the car to school today so...now we are stranded, in a good way. (Jason is enjoying riding the bus. He likes not having to drive, fight/look for a parking space, walk 1/2 mile or more just to get from parking space to the building. He also comes home with funny stories all the time of 'what happened on the bus today', and he reads while he's on the bus so his time is more productive. He's already half way through a book he just got last week and he's only reading it on bus time. I rarely use the car but it's nice to have it just in case. Currently it comes out of the garage on the weekends for grocery shopping, the library and going to church. It will be interesting to see how long our tank of gas lasts and how much we spend on gas this year vs. last year.)

Aby is very cuddly and just wants to sit in my lap or lay next to me. Jackson is pretty self sufficient when it comes to playing now so it's easy to let him just do his thing while I take care of Abygail. She has been enjoying lots of popcicles (which she loves) and lots of cuddle time with mom and dad.

As for me, I picked up a few new books at the library on Saturday so I'm reading while cuddling. As I finish them I'll update my book review posts. Books I'm reading:

Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally

by Alisa Smith & J.B. Mackinnon

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

by Michael Pollan

Preserving Nature's Bounty

by Frances Bissell

All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space

by Mel Bartholomew

A Pain In The Neck

It snowed last night and this morning. The first REAL snow, we have about 4 inches on the ground and it is so pretty and white.

This morning while getting ready for church Jason fell. Not on the snow, not even outside. He fell out of the rocking chair. Well actually he fell back and hurt his neck really bad. He immediately went to the couch and laid down because he couldn't move his neck at all. So we stayed home and pampered daddy. It hasn't gotten much better and he is teaching tomorrow so we've decided that I'll need to take him to work (could you imagine him driving without the use of his neck?!?!). I hope that he gets better soon, it's very sad but also SOOO VERY FUNNY!

Last week and this weekend has just been crazy, Jason has been gone all week studying, teaching and he just had to start working a new lab rotation. So the research begins - he'll be working in the lab during the Winter Break as well. This week he'll be super busy again, he's got a final on Friday and then he has a test to write over the up coming weekend and then he's done (except for the research) until mid January when school starts up again.

For now we will just enjoy the fabulous weather and start getting ready to pack and move.

It Was Not Food Poisoning

Both kids have been sick with colds this last week and coughing like they are going to spew all their insides out. Jason had an extra long week of study and work trying to catch up for a test on Friday. This left me most of the week with the kids all by myself which is normal and fine because he is working/studying hard to provide for our family ... but it wore me out. By Saturday night I too was sick as a dog ... but it was not food poisoning.

I'm not sure how it happened but somehow it got around that I had food poisoning. No, we did not go to church, I really don't like taking the kids when they are sick because I would prefer that germs not be passed around and since Abygail is in nursery now it seems like we are constantly sick. Since I was also sick and it was the one day that Jason was home and could watch the kids he graciously let me sleep in on Sunday (thank you so much!).

Although we are all still sick (Jason seems to have missed the full wrath of this one - lucky duck) we are fine and still kicking. In fact, we even got out this morning to sign up for story time again - this time we were there when the library opened so we are officially in the class instead of 'illegal immigrants'. And I've got some fun cookies ready for Abygail and I to decorate later this afternoon after she wakes up from her nap.Jason and Abygail did some painting, Jason and Jacksons' pumpkins finally got painted. They had so much fun.