Healthy Days are Hear Again!

Here is a picture of our LAST sick day of November. Well, hopefully! Kendall is sitting at the doctor's office waiting to get her cough checked out. She brought her cow pillow pet with her. It was a just a cold and she is all better.
The following day at school, Kendall awoke wanting to be called Princess Kendall. She told Terry that she didn't have to listen to him, because Princesses do not have to listen to adults. She also decided that she needed to wear a tiara to school. (Or crown as she calls it.) What a ham!
I love the new hat that she picked out for this winter. Well, we actually chose 2, but this will be her main hat. She has been wearing it everywhere. Kendall hates the cold weather. In fact, she has told me that it is too cold to play outside. I think it is more that she hates to wear coats, socks, and shoes. We had quite a few time outs or loss of privileges at the beginning of November because she would strip all three items off each time she got in the car. It is so frustrating! I think she is finally retrained to keep them on. I think we are going to have a long winter if she thinks that an unseasonable warm November is cold. She must just be a southern girl at heart.

Germs, Germs, and More Germs!

We have had a germy couple of weeks at our house. On Wednesday, November 2 Kendall stayed home from school with a cold and a low grade fever. So, Terry stayed home with her. She was feeling better the next day and went to school. Well on Thursday, I was called at school at lunch to pick up Caleb. He had a tummy ache and low grade fever. We hung out at home and he looked miserable. I figured stomach flu...he'll be better in a day or so.

Well, Terry took off Friday and he was still really uncomfy, but just a low grade fever. So, we continued to let this bug run its course. That night (Friday), Caleb woke up with night terrors and had temp of 104.6. Yikes! So, I got it down with some ibuprofen and he woke up the next morning fever free. So, of course I didn't make a doctor's appointment. By 3:00 his fever was back up to 104.5. I took him to urgent care. He was quickly diagnosed with a sinus infection. I questioned it because of his tummy was hurting him, but I am not a doctor. So, we filled the prescription and figured it would kick in within 24 hours.

So, we waited and waited...and his fever continued with vengeance. Kendall ended up getting the stomach flu on Monday. So, I thought...Caleb must have the flu as well. He got sick once, but nothing terrible like Kendall. By Tuesday morning, Kendall felt fine and Caleb's fever was still raging.

So, I made an appointment with our regular doctor on Tuesday. After chest x-rays he was quickly diagnosed with pneumonia. The doctor told me that he would need a shot of antibiotics to get these germs out of his system. The look on Caleb's face was priceless when they gave him the choice of which cheek he wanted his shot. The fact that you can get shots in your behind was eye opening for him. He wasn't happy, but was a good trooper. The nurse told me afterwards that the shot is very painful. So, I was really proud of him and the way he handled it.

So, on Wednesday I needed to take Caleb back to the doctor for a recheck. My parents took Kendall out to lunch. She was thrilled to get some extra attention. Caleb's fever had broke, and his oxygen level was up to 95. If it had been 94, he would have needed another shot. So, I was thrilled to see the improvement.

He was back to school on Thursday!!! Caleb had a week of no exercise of any kind. So, he was pretty bouncy by the end week. I am just so glad and thankful that we are all finally feeling better. Terry and I both ended up with the stomach flu, and I am guessing Caleb had both the stomach flu and pneumonia at the same time. Poor boy! Either Terry or I were home EVERY day from November 2-November 15 due to illnesses. That is just crazy! I am hoping that we got through all of the germs and will have a healthy holiday season!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween finally arrived. The kids were so excited about it. When I picked them up at Michelle's house we decided to let them trick or treat for a bit around her neighborhood. The kids literally ran from house to house. It was so cute! They had a blast and made it around a few blocks.

We then went to Chris' house. The kids were supposed to go trick-or-treating with their cousin Rachael. I have decided that Halloween and Rachael just don't mix. She was sick with an awful cold today. Last year she had stitches from an accident at outdoor ed, and the year before she had strep throat. That is craziness!
Kendall was hilarious. She was sleepy and would have preferred staying with Rachael. But, Rach asked her to get some candy, so Kendall complied. Kendall did a great job for about 15 minutes. She then declared her candy bucket to heavy. She convinced her Aunt Chris to carry her the remainder of the time. She also was able to get Caleb to take her bucket to each house and get candy for her.

Caleb was also funny. Dorothy taught him how to say trick or treat in sign language. So, that is what he did. He then had to explain to each person what he was doing and explain why he had to buckets for candy.

I finally got pictures of the kids with their jack-o-lanterns. Now it is time for bed!

It's Pumpkin Time!

Today we decided to carve our pumpkins. It is October 30th, so I guess it was now or never! Each of the kids chose a template to use. Kendall chose one with ghosts and Caleb chose one with a scary face. At first he wanted to draw it himself, but he quickly got frustrated. So, the template was a perfect alternative. Caleb in his normal picky fashion did not like any that came with our carving tools, so we had to look online. We quickly found one though.

Caleb loved cleaning out the pumpkin. Kendall did it, but wasn't thrilled with getting messy. It is funny how different their personalities are!
Terry got both of the pumpkin tops off. Then he carved out Kendall's pumpkin while I carved Caleb's pumpkin. Caleb's pumpkin was so THICK that apparently the knife I used didn't penetrate all the way through. So Terry finished it off.

I am not sure why I didn't get any photos of the finished pumpkins with the kids. So, I will have to take those tomorrow! They both turned out great.

After we cleaned up and did a house tidy the kids and I made pumpkin rice crispy treats. I dyed the marshmallow and butter mixture orange. We then formed balls with a Hershey kiss in the middle. We used a green gum drop for a stem on top. They turned out cute and yummy! The kids are planning on giving them to their teachers tomorrow.

Symphony and Frisbee Golf

My dad took Caleb to the symphony yesterday. The symphony puts on youth shows a few times throughout the year. The kids get to do different activities and then they listen to the symphony while the conductor explains what is happening. Caleb loves classical music. If I flip through radio stations and a classical song is playing he always asks me to stop. My dad also has a love for classical music, so it is wonderful that the two of them can share that together!
Caleb got to conduct, play a violin, trumpet, cello, flute, and snare drum. He of course liked playing the drum the best. Terry told Caleb that his first instrument will be the piano if he wants to play. I am not sure time wise how we can add that activity to our already very busy schedule.
While Caleb was at the symphony Terry and I decided to enjoy the warm sunshine. I can't believe what a great October this has ended up being. We only had to wear coats a few times. So, Jeff came over and we all went to play Frisbee golf. Kendall went as well. She gets her playing abilities from me. Luckily she has a great attitude while playing and knows it is just for fun. After one round she was done playing. Terry and Jeff decided to play another round, so Kendall and I headed off for the playground. She was being a ham and loved the 1-on-1 time with me. It was another fun day!

Sandwiches for Dinner!

Meijer's is now carrying Udi products...which are frozen wheat free products. They have bagels, bread, pizza crusts, and hamburger rolls. So, I splurged and bought 1 of each because I had heard as wheat free goes, they are the best there is. The reports I heard were true. The products smelled and tasted great.
So, we had a first in 5 years...we had sandwiches for dinner. I know, most people would think sandwiches for dinner? No big deal we do this often. Not us. Caleb is allergic to wheat, so bread has always been out for him. It is exciting to find a good alternative for him. He was beaming that he got to have a sandwich just like everyone else. He also at the bag of 4 bagels in 3 days. I wish the products were cheaper...$5 for 4 bagels or hamburger buns is pricey, but lately Caleb really wants to be able to eat what exactly what we eat. He has even told me quite a few times in the past month, "Don't get that it has wheat in it." So, I was thrilled to be able to serve us all sandwiches for dinner last week and hamburgers with buns!

October 22-23

We have had such a busy October! Last weekend we were jammed packed with fun activities. First we had gymnastics. Caleb and Kendall love it and are doing a great job. Caleb got his report card and has 10 skills mastered. He needs to gain 12 more skills to move up to the next level. Next we went to Aria's birthday party. Aria is a little girl in Caleb's class and the two of them have become great friends. We have had a few playdates together. Aria and Caleb do a great job including Kendall in the fun as well.

During the party there was a costume contest. Aria decided that Caleb had the best costume. He was beaming! It was very cute. Caleb is Shaggy this year and brought his pet Scooby with him.

After the party we went home and took quick naps, because we had big plans for the evening as well! I took the kids to a Hemmens to see the play Little Mermaid performed by the children's theater troupe. They LOVED it. Kendall is dressing up as Ariel this year, so she was super excited. On the way to the theater she marched along chanting, "Hip, hip hooray! I get to see Little Mermaid today!" The kids especially loved meeting the cast of characters after the play.

The next afternoon we went to Boo at the Zoo. This is a cute event that Brookfield Zoo puts on each year. The kids are able to dress up in costume and there are a few additional fun activities that they can do.
Here they are hugging the Fisher Price dog. They spotted him far away, and we just had to see him!

The kids also got to go in motorized jeeps. Caleb ended up with the pink jeep due to his spot in line, but he was a great sport about it. Unfortunately, he ran into and knocked over another little boy by accident. Oops! Luckily there were no injuries.

We also saw the dolphin show. Here is Kendall and I waiting for the show. The kids were very excited to see the show because we saw Dolphin Tails last month. I think that movie brought a whole new meaning to seeing the dolphins live. We were all pretty tired at the zoo because of our busy day, so we rode the tram to see all of the exhibits which was also fun for them. The driver and announcer were dressed up as well. All in all, a great weekend... but I need another to rest up from being so busy!