CHRISTmas Eve to a Merry CHRISTmas in the ER?

It was a long day, lots of driving---  we went from the lake to Kirk's grandmother's house (1 1/2 hrs away)  Sam had ( yet another) cold, Molly woke up with croup---  always fun to hear her without a voice and barking like a dog.

 Sam annoying Molly while we visit

 Sam trying to pass the time

 molly introduces her great grandmother to her new doll

 

  to Kirk's cousin's house (almost another 1 1/2 hours) for the big family celebration.  We visited with family, the kids enjoyed playing with their cousins (the boys enjoyed the wii, shooting the girls with a rubber band gun and just plain running around, the girls enjoyed watching a fairy barbie DVD in a room almost the same pepto bismol shade of pink as Molly's, and running away from the boys who were chasing them with a rubber band gun :) )

Molly met a new friend--

 

Showing Great grandmother her gift--always the helper

 great grandmother with my kiddos

 Sam and his cousin--- both up to no good, I got them to stop for a second

though :)

  We all enjoyed a yummy dinner and then it was time to head home---  a 3 1/2 hour drive.  It was a quiet drive home, Molly couldn't talk, and apparently it is no fun making noise by yourself, so Sam was quiet as well.  We got home, got the kids to bed and got everything ready for the am.  Then Molly woke up and barked and cried and barked.  She was working really hard to breathe so I gave her a treatment (it did not seem to work very well) I got her to calm down and she even went back to sleep, but continued to wheeze and have stridor... so off to the ER we go.... at 1:30 am.  Poor baby was tired, working hard to breathe and looked pathetic.  it was COLD and raining, but we made it.  Poor baby had to get a shot (steroid) 

 Best part of the night?  All the attention she got from the doctors and nurses on Christmas morning, the fact that she hung on to me so tight and sweet the whole time  we were there.  She even got 2 things of apple juice. ( these pics were taken when I put her down to get our coats on... the first time she let me go the whole time we were there).
Worst part of the night?  rectal temp AND shot in the bottom--- good thing she had on her cute Christmas undies!!!

CHRISTmas at the Glen

It was a night for all of the children's groups to sing etc for Christmas. Sam is now in the children's choir (1-4th grade) Molly sang with the M&M's.
Sam apparently had fleas, or Molly out itching powder in his sweater prior to singing ha.  My favorite part is when he looks over at us and smiles, then tries hard not to smile.  such a cute, sweet little guy!

The M&M's had some special friends show up---  the sheep, the cow and the donkey. 

Here is a synopsis of the videos----  the first song it is Madison who is screaming (jumping girl in red dress)  you can also tell when she sings as she doesn't say her" r's" or" l's"

the second song (silent night--- suppose to be sweet and silent) Molly decides to make her voice be heard.  toward the end of the song Molly finds the mic---  i think she is going to be a natural speaker when she is older ha!! 
This one is really blurry----  but don't fear, the best move of the night was clear as a bell...

now the second set---
molly is not shy in the screaming department for her favorite song (and the reason why she got to be the cow) she doesn't miss a beat even when her hat falls off, she continues singing.  she thinks trent (boy behind her is the reason for the hat to keep falling--- not the fact that she has a tiny head)  she does mess up the chorus a little once, but she just continues to belt it and doesn't miss a beat so all is well)  I think madison got some jumping beans prior to the event, and molly, well, she just can't stand still for a second.
Madison came back to life and drowned out Molly (what a competition these two have going) for the happy birthday Jesus song.  Molly needs a hat readjustment (yet again)
One of Molly's favorite things to do right now is change the real words with rhyming words, she managed to contain herself until the final song---  shortly after the sheep comes to life, Molly rhymes "way" with "pray"--- and seems to be quite proud of herself afterward.
and then, the event of all events... molly stares down the sheep, turns her head a little more and Madison starts jumping again---  maybe the jumping caught everyone,s eyes instead of the most disgusting part of the night---(at 4:22 on video)  yup, the pick and lick (or rather chew)  you can hear us in the background calling out her name and saying no.  the sweet little sheep hollers out-- giving Molly time enough to eat her prize and then, as though nothing ever happened, she continues on in song...makes a mother oh so proud..... YUCK!!!

So Molly and I were at the store the other day.  A man came up to her and said, "hey, I know you, you sang at my church on Sunday night"  Molly looked up at him and he continued on "you were a little cow.  You were the hit of the night, I loved your enthusiasm"  She quickly told him her name (as she pretty much expects everyone to know who she is)  and then wandered off down the row. (we happened to be in the toy section of the store).  She should have stayed though, as her ego would have grown-- for all of the sweet compliments that she was getting.   Thankfully he never mentioned the pick, maybe he never saw it, or maybe he was just thoughtful and realized I would just die knowing that my daughter was remembered for doing a disgusting deed ha ha!!!

Why bother...

I want Molly to have curls in her hair, Her hair doesn't want them.  we work hard to get them.  She sleeps in these soft, funny curler things...  only to pull out half of them in the middle of the night---  That leaves for half straight, half curled hair in the am---  which does not look very well. Why do I bother?!  Oh, the price of beauty :)

here is the end result---  still has to be pulled back 9to help hide the pathetic straight/curly hair

From HOT to FREEZING

It was 78 degrees just a few days before, then BOOM--- we woke up to THIS:

 SNOW

I know... it is not very much, but around here it is a lot--- especially on December 8th!!

I ran to get my camera prior to leaving for school, I knew it wouldn't last long (and it didn't)  But it sure was a fun thing to see!
Both kids felt the need to TASTE the snow (just to be sure that that is what it really was!!)

 oh, and the clothing choice of my son on his way to school---  it was Pajama day (really, it was).  Molly wakes up to join us for the ride to school---  she had just gotten up--- pj's, medusa hair and of course, silver sparkly shoes :)

see it?

What is wrong with this picture?

Can you see it?

It is a pink heart on my car.  Sweet, but not so nice on the front of my car...

now, to figure out...  who could have done such a thing?  I wonder...

IT'S HEEERE...

It came today...

 It is very exciting...

The toys r us Christmas toy catalog.

We are VERY happy around here.  Makes for a good hour of entertainment---Many dreams and hopeful wishes have been taking place :)

TWO-thless

It was exactly 2 weeks later, same scenario, different day, different tooth.

I am not sure why it was so stressful this time around, he had just done it 2 weeks before, but apparently it was...

and then as soon as it was over....  nothing but grins

not sure if he is excited because he is now TWO-thless or because that fairy will come yet again and he is gonna be RICH ha ha

check out that hole!!!!   so fun!!!  Congrats Sam!

releasing of Kemp's ridley sea turtles

One of the things I had seen when i was looking for things to do in Corpus Christi was the release of the the sea turtles.  Here is the wiki  and the Padre Island info page.  Apparently there are not very many releases and only a few open to public viewing.  What are the odds that we just happened to be there when it was both a release and open to the public?  I was very excited.  I really wanted to go, Kirk was rather uninterested and the kids, well, they were not really aware of the whole event.

 It was early, very early, too early to be up and about while on vacation, so I was planning on going either by myself or with the kids. But what a good sport Kirk is... he was planning on coming all along :)  See the darkness in the picture above?

We got up, got dressed (in clothes and shoes other than white per the rules) and piled into the car for the 20 minute drive.  We were able to get an ok spot...  thankfully some older people allowed the kids to get in front of them so that they could see.  I could see ok, but not great.  Kirk was able to look over the heads of people...  so that meant it was then his job to take the pictures/video.  He had 1 job to do, and little did I know, he did his job VERY,  VERY well.  He filmed almost the whole time we were there...  Way to go Kirk!!!  so, I will give you a little of what we saw...

It was fun even though it was early.

We saw the sun come up, we felt the warm water splash up on our legs (a little more disturbing to the littles than for me...  but I guess it was going up higher on them than me) and we found sand crabs.

 It was Friday, we had been going long days all day long all week, so it was only natural to have a melt down or 5 before breakfast...  so we all went back home, took a short nap and were able to regroup in order to have a fantastic last day at the beach !!!

see---  check out those precious smiles

toothless

 We have been waiting, and waiting and waiting for this day.  Sam has been claiming that his teeth have been loose for months now, though it was not true ~~but if you believe, it WILL happen... just ask him!
You see, all of his friends have lost several teeth by now.  And Sam, well, not a wiggle, not a twitch... and then it happened...  Not just 1, not 2, but 4 teeth had a little give to them.  We were so excited and thought he was gonna lose them all right away.  But they just hung on and then 3 teeth had firmed back up again.  Sam had a trip to visit his grandparents for several days and I was sure he would lose that first special tooth there.  Everyone knew not to touch that puppy, and thankfully for me (I know, I am a little selfish)  it remained in his mouth, very loose.  and on Thursday June 21st all of the waiting came to an end.

It was ready.   It was practically wiggling all by itself.

 Kirk was "wiggling" it, and Sam got very, very nervous.  For it seemed the time had come, but had apparently grown fond of this tooth and had decided he wanted to keep it.  So while he was in a mild  panic, and trying to convince Kirk why he should not pull it, Kirk had pulled it and I was dabbing away the blood.  It took him a while to realize that the said tooth was out, gone, vamoosed.

 But he was pretty excited about it once he realized it.  We had to make the calls to the grandparents, he was all grins.

 Plus he couldn't wait for the special person who would sneak into his room and leave him money--  kind of creepy if you ask me, shouldn't this scare a child?  I mean really, a fairy comes in while you are sleeping ---  how do they not have nightmares over this?!

oh well, I guess it was worth it, he made cash and now has a cool hole in his mouth :)

corpus--2012

One thing I LOVE about summer... VACATION!!  It was one of my favorite things growing up (well, unless we had to go somewhere "educational--  it might have been a bit boring for me as a child)  We always had fun (and typically something unusual and eventful would always occur) Then as an adult and living on my own, my best friend and I traveled all over.  Once I got married, Kirk and I were able to go on a few awesome adventures as well.  Then the kids came and for some reason we have not gone on many vacations-- though we did go to the beach 2 years ago.  we went to Destin with my parents, I looked, but could not find any posts about it?!  not sure why?  It was a great trip (all except for the fact that Molly was not a big fan of the ocean, or the sand, or the sun etc...)  Molly is 2 years older (and a much happier little girl), Sam is growing up, so it was time to once again have a vacation...  at the beach... in the hot sun of Texas...

What an awesome week!  It came and went so fast and we had a lot of fun in between.  I will warn you now, I have tried my best to restrict the photos in this post, but it was a FUN weeks worth of camera snapping so here ya go....

 We saw cotton growing in several fields, it was so neat to see these little cotton buds.  We pulled over in a parking lot and took a closer look at the cotton field.  We did pick 2 pieces from a plant in the weeds.  It actually felt like a cotton ball that you buy.

 We were able to go to the Texas State Aquarium.  It was really neat.  Very hands on and interactive.  we tried and tried to touch these sting rays...  They had apparently been handled too much already that morning.  BUT if you try and try and go deep enough in the water you can actually get one!

 And then we realized there was another place to touch them, it was shallower and they came closer to the edge...so much nicer and easier--- all 4 of us got to feel them.  The kids got to feel small sharks as well.

  The dolphins were so cool to see.  We were able to watch their show.  Then we went down below and were able to watch them "play"  they would come right up to the glass.  I like how this one looks like he is smiling at Sam.

 And what kind of place would it be without a giant dolphin mascot? 

 Then there was the ocean.  It was fun.  The kids loved the waves, the water, the sounds, smells and the sand.  (which made me love it all the more)  Molly was not a huge fan of the "salty water" smacking her in the face, but took it anyway.  Then there is Sam who LOVED when the waves would crash on him and get all in his face (odd child, I know---  he was like that in Destin 2 years ago as well)

 

For one who did not like to be splashed in the face, Molly loved laying down in the sand and having the waves roll right over her. (I know, did not make much sense to me either)

 We were fortunate to be in Corpus when they had a turtle hatch-ling release.  (I will write another post about that)  On our way out Kirk and Sam were able to spot some sand crabs---  so of course we had to hold them :)

And then last but certainly least (yes, I said least) was the "world's largest whataburger)  I had read about it when looking up "things to do in Corpus"  It was a "must see" on my list...  and well, I gotta say, it was 2 floors, but sis not seem all that big, the 2nd floor had a nice view to the beach, but well, let's be honest, it was still just a whataburger...  oh well, at least we can say "we went, we saw, we ate, but we did not buy the t-shirt"
Come to think of it, we did not buy 1 single thing on this trip (aside from food)  not a single thing... how did that happen? 

Awesome God- Amazing Power VBS

 July is in full swing and we had our VBS at church last week.  The kids were really so very excited about VBS this year.  Molly especially was looking forward to seeing her friend Nikki who was coming in from out of town like last year.  Molly remembered her from last year and was ecstatic to find out that she would be coming back again.  So cute how a friendship from  1 week at VBS has continued.  I can not wait to see is she continues to have lasting friendships with people as she grows older.
Since Sam just completed Kindergarten he was able to be with all of the 'big kids' again this year and he loved that.  Molly is still in with the little kids, and yet again, Sam loved that ha!
The theme was Awesome God, Amazing Power.  Sam really got into it more this year than years past,  It was neat to see how much he learned (and actually soaked in)  Unlike Sam, Molly usually always knows her stories etc. 
Sam was an active participant too.  Our Associate Pastor (Jody) spoke to the kids each day. Together we sang, said out pledges (to US flag, the Bible and the Christian flag) etc. Jody would then enforce the theme etc.  He would say " I say awesome, you say God..."  I could hear Sam yell God and Power clear across the church!!  It is so fun to see the kids chatter about the events of the day.  I was also corrected several times by Molly as I would accidentally say something like "when we go to church tomorrow..."  I would then hear (ever so sweetly) "No mommy, we are not going to church... we are going to cation Bible school."  Funny how she was able to differentiate the two even though she was in the same room that she is always in for Sunday school and M and M's.

I did not go all crazy with the pictures this year... in fact, I only took a few.  Crazy, I know!

 some video:  I did not go down to Molly's class at all this week (sorry Molly)  These are the songs Sam sang in church on Sunday:


and yet again, gotta have a blast from the past.  I love looking at the same event several years in a row.  I have been teaching VBS a this church since Sam was 1, I took the next year off since Molly was going to be just a couple of weeks old and I was recovering from a c-section.  I do not have any pictures from my first year.  I was sure I had blogged about each of these years, but could only find one from 2011.

2011  here and here

2010

 2009