H1N1 and Halloween Fun

Last week my oldest got sick, he had a fever up to 104F, missed almost a week of school, and has been coughing ever since. Luckily the high fever only lasted about 3 days, and he was better in time to attend the annual Cub Scouts Halloween Party. They played games and made crafts and ate lots of sweets! Unfortunately, my 2yr. old then got sick for a few days and he too has been coughing ever since. I'm hoping that their coughs will go away on their own within the next couple of days. When I had called the Dr. last week they said there was no need to bring them in, and that it likely was the H1N1 since that is really going around here right now.

I made a ghost bowling game for the Halloween party using pop bottles, white paint, and a sharpie. The kids used mini pumpkins as the "bowling balls". My husband made this cut out pumpkin a few years ago, and we use socks filled w/ beans or rice as the "bean bags" for a bean bag pumpkin toss. They also bobbed for apples, made a bat craft and a ghost craft, and got awards for their costumes. I made sandwiches cut out in Halloween shapes using cookie cutters and then I also made a veggie dip and carrots that look like "witches fingers" by attaching slivered almonds to them. It was really fun for everyone!

Winter came early this year

We got our first snowfall on Oct. 9th and its been pretty cool ever since. We did have a couple of nice days this past weekend though. Prior to that we had snow and cold for 2 weeks. Usually we don't get snow until around Halloween or later. I do NOT like winter and I am not really ready for it to be here. Luckily I had just got out all the kids winter stuff and washed that so it was ready to go when it did snow. We spent the time staying warm indoors, making carmel apples, doing a few crafts, and drinking some hot chocolate and apple cider.

Soccer Monster!

Well, Ryan has officially finished his first season of soccer and he loves it! He will play again in the spring on the same team. It is so fun to watch them when they first start out (age 5 here) because they don't know what to do, or which way to go. They get the hang of it pretty quickly though. He got his own soccer ball to practice with and he loves it when its his turn to hand out the snack after the game. He does really well and enjoys it which is what is most important!

First bee sting!

Andrew got stung by a bee over the weekend! :( Our zoo hosts a Chilli cook-off every fall, and for a few dollars you can go and taste all the different types of chili. Then you get to vote for your favorite. They also have music, kids entertainment, and games so its a lot of fun - usually! This year, it did not go very well.
My 5yr. old is extremely scared of bees, I think its part of his anxiety and other issues. We walked over to the zoo and we saw a couple of bees on the way there, and he freaked out! I got him calmed down and we go into the zoo, only to be surrounded by bees! You could not get away from them at all, they were everywhere. Ryan starts trying to run away from the bees, starts screaming, crying, and shaking. It was awful. We got to the 2nd chili booth before I told my husband that I would just take Ryan home, and that he and the other 2 boys could stay as long as they wanted. So I bring Ryan home, and not 5 minutes later he calls me saying that Andrew got stung! Argh, I was afraid that was going to happen! Apparently he had given Andrew some pop, and a bee landed on his hand and then Andrew tried to hit it or get it away and it stung him. I drove over to pick them up, to make sure he was okay and he was fine. We brought him home and applied first aid and I gave him some Motrin for the pain. By the next day you couldn't even tell he had got stung. I'm very thankful he is okay, but sad that we had to miss out on the fun at the chilli cook-off this year.

I'm going to be an Aunt!

I'm soo excited! I recently got the news that my brother and his wife are expecting a baby in May! My kids don't have any cousins yet, so they are excited too. My youngest and their oldest will be just a few months apart.

My "baby" is TWO!!

It's hard to believe that Andrew is two already. We had a very nice birthday weekend for him. My mom came out for a visit, and we went to an indoor playground, had pizza, rented a couple of movies, and baked a cake. My mom got Andrew a couple of playdough sets which the boys really enjoy playing with. I attempted to make him a b-day cake that looks like Elmo, but I just am not a decorator. He knew it was Elmo though. LOL.

You never know what you'll find

when you clean your house! So, we've spent the past 2 weeks giving our entire house a really good cleaning, organizing, etc. In our dining room we have this air vent that doesn't stay shut, and sometimes things can fall down in there if it is left open. My DH and boys took it off over the weekend and look what they found! All of this stuff was put there by the oh-so-adorable toddler with the devilish smile! Don't let his cuteness fool you! I was wondering where his shoes were! It's amazing what you can find when you clean!