Prayers for my Mommy!

Hi friends & family...

This is a plea that everyone sends prayers for healing & pain control for my mom.  She had surgery Friday morning on her back.  She had a disk that was pinching a nerve that was causing all kinds of pain in her left hip, knee & she had a dropped foot.  During Surgery they accidentally nicked her spinal column, but stitched it up immediately.  Unfortunately that nick caused a major headache for her on Friday. 


Yesterday morning, Saturday, she was doing much better, no headache, no back pain & no pain on that left side.  She was walking up & down the hall with the nurse & even went up & down stairs!  She came home yesterday afternoon & was feeling good.


This morning she took her pain med at 730am & then went back to sleep.  When she woke up I checked on her & she had gone to the bathroom & almost fell from the dizziness & pain she had in her head.  I helped her back to bed, she slept some more & when I talked to her a bit later she had  excruciating pain in her head.  We called the hospital & they asked her to come back in right away because they're very concerned she is leaking spinal fluid causing the pain.


So, she is on her way back into the hospital.  Prayers that they can control the pain & if she is leaking fluid, fix it.  The kids are luckily at Barb & Darrell's this weekend, so they have no idea what is going on.  If she needs to go back into the O.R. I will head up to Regions to be with my dad.  Prayers for him too, as this has been a really hard week on him.

What a Seriously Crazy Week!

It has been a very crazy week this week, so I apologize for not blogging more!



My mom found out this afternoon that she will be having back surgery tomorrow morning @ 730am.  Please keep her in your prayers.  



We've been watching Cece all week & I will have her tomorrow all day too.  She really is the best baby, so easy to care for!  So, Rachael has school in the morning, Daniel has a modeling shoot for Target in the morning, then we hurry back to pick up Rachael from school, meet Grandma Barb & Papa Farm at home.  They will take them for the weekend & then Cecelia & I go to my medical appointment where I get my results from an ultrasound I had done earlier in the week.  Please say a prayer for me as well!

Daniel was telling people that Cece was his baby sister...when I corrected him, he got mad at me  & said "well she is MY Cece & she is MY baby."

Rachael LOVED coming home from school to Cece.  Twice she was able to come out & get in the car to her sweet face.  Cece would get so excited & coo at Rachael.  Her class heard A LOT about Cece too, as everyday Rachael would share with them something cute she had done the day before!


I ask Rachael before bed what her favorite part of her day is & then we thank God for whatever it was.  Every day this week, it was that Cece was with us.  We definitely thank God every single night for that beautiful blessing he has given our family.  Nothing more precious than a sweet little baby!

Holiday Ideas--Valentines & Easter

Valentine's day is quickly approaching & last week I realized I'd better get going on the Valentines Rachael will be handing out to her classmates!  

Initially I thought about doing the "I totally Dig You" theme with plastic shovels & candies, but since it's a peanut free classroom (because of my daughter) I thought we should try something else.  Plus, I kind of like the totally dig you theme for next year for Daniel's friends, and maybe get tiny trucks to put in with candy.  He'd love that!

So, Rachael & I thought up a few ideas but settled on 

"I'm a sucker for you."  I ordered some suckers for really cheap on Oriental Trading Company & then Rachael just had to stick on the label stickers.  So Easy!  We want to dress them up a bit with a Red or Pink bow & they'll be completed. Quick, Easy, Cheap & so cute!

This I made for Easter, since the flowers weren't popping through yet, just for a little color.  Started with a simple wooden circle from Joann Fabrics & a wooden dowel, I spray painted black, & a hot glue gun.  I bought a few boxes of Peeps to make this.  When you take the Peeps out of the box, they're stuck together in sets of 4.  You want to keep them that way, so don't separate them!  Start hot glue gunning the wood & hold the peeps tightly until it has time to dry.  You will want to work slowly & be sure the glue sets or otherwise when you set it upright, the weight of them will cause them to unpeel.  Just be patient & work around until you've filled the circle.  

We also used Peeps in our place cards.  My kids like to "help" me with everything, so this was easy for them to do. My daughter cut out all the place cards & my son (2 yrs) used a glue stick to paste the cards to the different color Popsicle stick.  Then, they just stuck them into the belly of the Peep.  Easy & cute for kids to do.

 On some of the place cards, there was a colored feather.  Those were for the kids for the Easter Egg Hunt after brunch.  I bought polka dotted plastic eggs in a variety of colors & filled them with age appropriate candy or toys.  This way each child was guaranteed to collect the same number of eggs & would pass the eggs that weren't theirs.  Plus, my son who couldn't have gumballs or small round objects, got things he could have & wasn't forced to give up anything.  It actually worked out really well because when the older kids were finished, they helped the little ones find theirs. 

my son had yellow, but the green polka dotted ones were "bonus eggs" that everyone could find 2 of...they had money in them :)

Birthday Parties

Since the "Sweet Shop" Birthday I threw for my daughter in June, I've had other mom's ask me about the party & others I've thrown.  Here are a few pictures.

These are the invitations I did, cupcake suckers with circle invites.  She loves Hot Pink & Lime Green Polka Dots, so that's what we went with!

 Here is the start of setting up the "Candy Shop."  Initially we weren't going to have the sun awning up, but it was almost 95 degrees, so we had to because the candy was melting!

The "Rachael's Sweet Shop" I handmade with felt in Pink, Lime Green & White, then stuck the letters on.  Super quick, simple & inexpensive to personalize it for her.  The table cloth was candy fabric, I just bought a few yards & stitched the ends to make it more festive.  

Because I knew I was going with hot pink & Lime Green, I was on the lookout at Joann Fabrics & Michael's for any metal buckets in those colors.  After spring, there were TONS of things on clearance racks.  Score!

We had hula hoop contests (pink & lime green) with hoops from the Dollar Store!  We also did the bounce house & had hot pink balls, lime green frisbees, jump ropes, etc. to play with. Lots of activities so no one was bored.

All of the kids guessed how many gumballs were in the "Paint Can" & the winner got to take the 374 gumballs home!

 Tradition in our family is that we ALWAYS have a pinata & since I couldn't find a candy pinata, we did a pink & lime green butterfly.  The kids LOVED it.

We had our small family birthday at home with this cute ladybug cake I made.  It was so easy to make & she loved it! Unfortunately, it was hot & the frosting was melting!








The year before, we had a big Madagascar 2 birthday party!

 This cake was super simple & turned out really cute!

My son's first birthday was a Monkey Party, obviously blue & yellow were the colors.  I got mini bananas to put out around the monkey, but the kids decided they wanted to eat them.  Cute & a healthy treat!

A Sad Day...RIP Joe Pa

If you know our family, you know that we are big Penn State Football Fans.  Joe Paterno is a legend, winning the most college games in History.  As Rachael, Daniel & I watched that game, the kids were dressed in their PSU gear & were jumping up & down screaming & cheering as they won.  They were so excited, they talked about it & prayed for Joe Pa that night.  

Joe Paterno built his program with the statement "Success with Honor."  He won 409 games & took the Nittany Lions to 37 bowl games & two National Championships.  More than 250 of the players he coached went on to play in the NFL.  His players had a 91% graduation rate. 

As he grew sicker, we prayed for him & his family each night.  As his cancer took hold, everyone knew it wouldn't be long until he passed.  Today it was announced that he has moved on to eternal life with God.  

When we got home from Church this morning, Boppa told us that Joe Paterno had passed.  Rachael was very sad & Daniel wanted to put on his Penn State clothes.  We said a prayer for his family & all those who love him.  Rachael is wearing her PSU Cheer outfit & wanted to talk about his life.  We wanted to share some pictures of our family, Boppa, Uncle Bob, Aunt Lynn, Uncle Bobby before PSU games.  Our love for the Nittany Lions won't waver, as we are forever fans.  Joe Pa will forever be in our hearts as we cheer his team on.

 Penn State Cheerleader for Halloween.  And her dream for college.

Practicing cheers outside in the back yard.

Dress Up

Rachael & Daniel LOVE playing dress up. 

Rach has every Disney Princess dress, 

this Wedding Dress & veil,
The Tangled Dress, & countless others.

In the basement, we have a hanging rack for all her dresses, drawers for shoes, heels, jewlery, purses, hats, crowns,etc.

Daniel wants to join in the fun & why shouldn't he?!  So, for Christmas, Nick & Becky bought him some fireman gear & some Knight gear, 

perfect for him to play dress up with Rachael!  

Nope.  

Daniel wants to be Tangled, but didn't want to wear the wig because "it's scratchy."  

So, here are my cuties, playing dress up.  A bride & her bridesmaid, Rapunzel. 


Some day I'm sure Daniel will LOVE this picture!!!

Sesame Street Live!

Last Thursday, January 12, Daniel & I went to see 

Sesame Street Live--Elmo Makes Music.

We had such a great time!

This was just Mommy-Daniel time, since I took Rachael to see Cinderella @ the Ordway.  Rachael has also attended Sesame Street Live two other times & said she was too big for the show :)

                                                                                                         

This is the Sesame Street Play Area before the show.  It was at the Target Center (Home of the Timberwolves) & we sort of took a wrong turn, so instead of having an hour to play, we had half an hour!  No big deal though, there were so many kids running around, Daniel was a little unsure of everything. 

He was very pleased that he got to pose with the Characters, including Grover, Cookie Monster, Zoe & he played Elmo's         

Piano from Elmo's World!  I forgot the camera, so I took pictures with my phone, so not all of them turned out.  Plus with all the kids, it was tough to take the time to pose in front of everything!

While walking in, we saw the head of the preschool Rachael went to, so we stopped to say hi to her.  She apologized again for what happened with Daniel & his pullup accident in the fall.  We said it was no big  
deal & we told her to enjoy the show,                             then headed down the stairs to our seats.  I forgot how many steps there are to get all the way down, it took FOREVER!

Here is Daniel sitting in his seat, waiting for the show.  He was so excited for the show to start.  His shirt says:                            "Everything I know, I learned on the Street!"

                 I thought that was pretty cute & was inexpensive on the clearance rack at Target. We saved it especially for the show, so he was proud to put it on in the morning.

When the lights dimmed & the music began, Daniel started clapping & bouncing in his seat.  I'm not sure I've ever seen him so excited about anything!  He stood & danced for a lot of the show & then sat on my lap for a bit.  At intermission we ran up to find a cash machine so I could buy him some cotton candy.  

All in all, it was a pretty fun show.  Two rows in front of us, was a College Teammate of mine & her son.  She asked me when we had gotten so old that this was where we were running into each other!  Great memories & I was glad to know Daniel enjoyed it.

Snow Cuties

Sunday--January 15, 2012

Rachael & Daniel wanted to put on all their snow gear & head outside for a snow ball fight.  So, I gathered up their winter things, dressed them & sent them out to play in the quarter inch of snow we have.  Not quite enough snow to have a snowball fight, make a snow angel (see Rachael below), or make a snowman!   

 Daniel was excited to have his snowsuit on, although he would've been fine in just a jacket.  He looked pretty cute all bundled up.  

Rachael threw her handful of snow, which disintegrated as she threw it.  The dusting just blew back at her as the wind blew!  Daniel below sure tried to throw his "snowball" at Rachael, but it too fell apart.

I love this picture of Daniel...the colors are so vibrant & boy was he happy outside.  Cozy boy too!

Outside!

Today is January 9, 2012.

Typically we have a TON of snow outside, single digit temperatures, with a dangerous wind chill.  Usually I have to run out, start the van up & then go back inside to wait for it to heat up.  Rachael's asthma isn't great in cold weather, so January is the month I dislike most.

Today is a completely different story!  Below is a picture of the kids riding their bikes (or scooter) outside, around the court!  It is sunny & warm with a high around 47 Degrees!

I did make them cover their ears under the bike helmets, but they weren't cold after 20 minutes of riding & definitely didn't want to come inside yet!

They were also excited to wear their new North Face Jackets that they got for Christmas.  Both a tad big, but that way they can wear them longer! 

 Below Rachael is laughing because she was trying to scoot past me quickly, so I couldn't get a picture, but I said "Got You!"  She died laughing.  What a big girl she is getting to be.

I really feel bad for the people who have moved to MN this year & think this is what a MN Winter is all about.  They will have a rude awakening when the snow piles are higher than the van & we have -30 temps!

Sick Sick Sick

It has been, by far, the mildest MN winter I can ever remember.  Temperatures have been in the high 40's lately, no snow & it is January 7!  Unfortunately, my kids have been sick so much this year.  I feel like we get a week where we're all healthy & then the next flu, cold, etc. hits.


Rachael was first diagnosed in the ER with croup, having trouble breathing & a seal bark cough.  The other night, Daniel woke up sounding very bad as he tried to breathe.  My dad decided that he would take us to the ER to get Daniel help breathing & I would be able to be in the back of the car with him.  We got there & he had a fever & also croup.  He had a shot of steroids & another medicine & was sent home with instructions to nebulize just like Rachael.  So now, I get to fight TWO kids with the nebulizer, which gives them steroids.  These steroids make them VERY aggressive & angry, which is loads of fun to deal with.

Rachael, not so happy about nebulizing, look at those eyes! 
Daniel really not happy, sticking his tongue out at the camera!

Yesterday, I woke up with a bad cold & cough, which is what croup looks like in Adults.  Not a fun winter but LOVING this weather!!!