Strep throat x 3

Well, we got back from our vacation a week ago and was planning to spend the week unpacking, cleaning, and doing school shopping when 3 of us ended up with strep throat. Keslie got it on Wednesday, and then on Wednesday afternoon Riley started complaining that he wasn't feeling good, and a little later in the evening I started getting a little sore throat, and by the night I had the chills. On Thursday morning I felt so sick! Stefan had to take Riley to the dr.'s. I went later that day to the doctor and my strep test came back positive. It wasn't fair because Keslie and Riley were feeling better the next day after taking the antibiotic. I was down for an extra day. I was in bed for 2 days and was hoping that my kids were not getting into too much trouble. They enjoyed watching T.V. all day for those days, and Keslie enjoyed playing "mom". She was a great helper! My house is so trashed right now. I had not had a chance to finish unpacking before this hit me, and I had done laundry, but it was all piled on the couch, plus the mess that they made while I was in bed. Luckily, I was able to get most of the clean laundry put away yesterday. I am hoping that this week will go better that I can get my house back in order and get the kids ready to go back to school. Oh! I also hope to get caught up on my blog about our vacation. I would say check back in a couple of days, but I can't guarantee that. Maybe I will post a little at a time since there will be a lot of stuff to post.

Happy 9th Birthday Keslie!!

Yes, Keslie was born on the 4th of July. She does seem very independent, and is sometimes like a firecracker. :) My due date with her was the 5th of July. When people would ask when my due date was, I would say the 5th. Almost everyone's reply was, "Oh, a 4th of July baby". I really did not want to have my baby on the 4th of July. I started to go into labor on the 2nd of July. Unfortunately my contractions weren't close enough to go to the hospital, but I was in sooo much pain. Finally, about 7 p.m. on the 3rd of July my contractions were close enough to go to the hospital. Keslie entered the world on the 4th at 12:34 a.m. She must have really wanted to be born on the 4th. She was such a cute baby, and is still a cute girl, but not so little anymore. I wanted to post a baby picture of her, but she was born in the days before digital cameras, and I haven't scanned any photos in. Keslie is such a sweet girl. We are so glad that we have a girl in our family. She is so good to her brothers, and loves to share. She is an avid reader. Most of the time we find her in her room reading a book. A lot of times when she is at someone else's house she will find their books and start reading. She also has a creative imagination. She loves to make up stories.


So far she loves having her birthday on the 4th. It sure makes the day really busy each year. I feel like we are going all day long from sun up to sun down celebrating her birthday and Independence Day. She even likes having a red, white, and blue cake. We will see how much longer that will last. I do have to buy her a 4th of July shirt each year, which is fun.

Update disclaimer

I haven't posted for a few weeks so I had a lot to catch up on. I was trying as fast as I could to cover everything and get it all done. I really haven't read through everything so I'm not sure how it is. It is late and I need to go to bed. I might be doing some editing in the next day or two once I have had a chance to really go through what I have posted. You will have to scroll down quite a ways to start at the beginning of the new stuff. It starts with Garrett's 2nd birthday. Happy reading!

Another trip to the mountains

Last week Stefan went to scout camp. Again, like last year, I was not wanting to stay home in the heat so I went up to Eagar and Greer. Of course, we always go to the park there because the kids love it, but I will not post any pictures because you have seen plenty already (if you have been reading our blog). We went in the evening and the weather was nice. It was warm there in the day, but not too hot. Then next day, we went to one of the lakes in Greer and my brother took the 3 older kids on the boat to fish. My brother said that they didn't last very long. He cast out the line and just a couple minutes later they were saying that they were already bored.



Garrett hung out with me and my sister-in-law. He was entertaining himself with a camping chair.


When my brother brought the other kids back I had him take Garrett and I out in the boat for a few minutes. It didn't last long because I couldn't get Garrett to sit still.


The next day before we went to Greer we had a picnic at the park, and then I was wanting to go to DQ for some ice cream. The kids really enjoyed it, and you can
tell.


Last time we were up in Eager, my brother and his wife wanted to take us to this lookout place. We started driving up there, but the road was closed. This time the road was open so we were able to go. It was such a nice view.



When we got to Greer, the weather was a little bit cooler. It was so nice and relaxing there. There were chipmunk that would come right up and eat out of your hand. The kids even fed them. The first few times Garrett called the chipmunks - "chicky-monkies". It was so cute!



This is me feeding the chipmunk. My mom told me that sometimes when the chipmunks come to you to get food, and if you don't give them any that they will purposefully pee on you. I didn't want that to happen so I thought that I had better feed the chipmunk.


This is just a close up of the chipmunk eating.




We also hiked up a mountain behind where we were staying. I hadn't planned on Garrett coming, but he didn't want to stay behind. It was a pretty steep hill, but he did pretty good. I walked right behind him and pushed him up some of the way. After we hiked up a hill we walked a little ways to a little road. It took us right to the entrance to my grandparents place. It was funny because Carson realized that we kind of went in a circle and he said "We climbed up the mountain and then on to the road, and it camed us back." I'm glad that my kids like to hike because I do too.


The kids also enjoy going on quad rides with my dad.


The last day we were there the kids were playing on the trampoline. Two of my uncles were standing on the ground by the trampoline trying to grab their legs and pull them down. I guess that one of my uncles pulled Carson down and while Carson was laying down my uncle was pushing him back and forth while holding on to Carson's legs. I don't know what Carson did, but somehow his hand must have gone underneath his back. I don't know if I am explaining this the right way, but anyways, he ended up hurting his hand really bad. I wasn't sure at first if it was broken. He wouldn't let anyone touch it.

This is Carson temporarily bandaged up.


The next day that we got home I took him to urgent care. They x-rayed his wrist and said that it wasn't broken. They splinted it anyways.



A guy that Stefan works with drew a little dragon on the splint.


The trip was sure a lot of fun, despite Carson hurting his hand. Garrett was sure worn out by the end!

Riley looses his 3rd tooth

One night, a couple of weeks ago, Riley's tooth was getting pretty loose. He kept wiggling it and tried to get it out. He seems to have a low tolerance for pain so he wasn't trying very hard to get it out.

He climbed on his dresser to try to get it out.


He seemed to be in a lot of pain trying to get it out. He finally gave up trying to
pull it out.


Two day later it just fell out.

He was excited because this would be his first tooth that he would have to put under his pillow for the tooth fairy. His first tooth he lost while eating an apple and he didn't even realize that it came out. We are pretty sure that he swallowed it because we couldn't ever find it. His second tooth he lost at school and when he was out in the field walking to the car and he dropped it. We looked for it an couldn't find it. The tooth fairy still came both times. This time the tooth fairy didn't come the first night. It was probably because the tooth fairy was so busy!

Happy 2nd Birthday Garrett!!

A couple of weeks ago Garrett turned 2. I can't believe that my baby is that old now! It went by so fast!! I'm sorry, but I have to say that I think he is smart. Sometimes the kids eat breakfast on colored plastic plates. Garrett knows where everyone sits, and what color plate they usually have. I will give him the plates and he will go set the table. He is a better helper than Carson is. He loves to help clean out the dishwasher. I just hope that he will continue to enjoy helping out. He also loves to look at books, and to sing. On his birthday we went to a park in Chandler in the morning, and then we went to the Hamilton Pool. He loves to swim! They had a lot of fun at the park. This is a fun park!



Garrett likes to scare me. He would stand up at the top and lean out. Oh, it scared me to death!




He loved being sung to, and it took him a few tries to blow out his candles. It was fun to watch.




For his birthday, Stefan's parents gave him this little car thing with a chicken on it. You shake it then put it on the ground and it goes. It clucks like a chicken and plays music. It's pretty annoying, but he loves it! Leave it to the grandparents to give those kinds of gifts. They don't have to be around to hear it all the time. :)

Not again!

Well, it looks like the flu bug decided to visit our house again. So far everyone except Stefan and Keslie got it. First, Carson started out with a fever for a couple of days, then he seemed better for about one day and then the next day he started throwing up. He finally seemed better on Thursday. From the time he got the fever until he started feeling better was one week. He lost 5 pounds. He was looking so skinny. Garrett got sick a couple days later and he still isn't over it. He sleeps a lot and just lays around. Riley was sick for a couple of days. He didn't throw up, but he felt like he was going to. Then I was the lucky one to get it, but it hasn't hit me as hard. I think that once we are moms we should be immune from getting sick. Since we have to go through morning sickness and labor, and have to take care of our kids & husband when they are sick and throwing up. Isn't that enough? This has been a bad start to the summer. We haven't been able to do much yet. I was so excited for school to get out so we could start going swimming and going to the library, and other things, but haven't been able to do that yet. Hopefully by Monday we will all be better and will be able to get out of the house!