Avery and Quinn loved having Mommy and Daddy help them make these cute Christmas crafts. They each got to pick which one they wanted from the store and were thrilled when they were finally assembled!
Avery and her Angel :)
Quinney and his Snowman :)
They took a little bit longer than we had thought but it was well worth the effort! Except maybe those gluegun burns (and now blisters) on your fingers, right Honey? tee-hee!
I'm usually the one taking all of the pictures, therefore, I'm not in them. I decided I wanted my kids to have memories of me too! :)
Hayzen loves:
giggling @ his brother & sister
pat-a-cake & itsy bitsy spider
being tickled
putting anything & everything into his mouth
the ceiling fan
sitting up like a big boy
being thrown up into the air
smiling & squealing
rolling over
his little hand toys
&...
his exersauser, he loves his exersauser, where he can stand & jump & flop to his hearts content! :)
We usually alternate every year between families for Thanksgiving but this year ended up being a little different. A few, well, pretty much all of our little family was sick one way or another so we had to forgo Thanksgiving with our Smith family this year and have it here @ home with ourselves. I was determined to have a traditional Thanksgiving feast even if it was just us that would be eating it. I ran to the store Wednesday night to gather all the goods to make everything from scratch and our meal turned out perfect!
Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, candied yams, green bean casserole, warm rolls, jello pretzel salad and a delicious homemade banana cream pie for dessert! :)
It was DELICIOUS and tasted just like a traditional Thanksgiving dinner!
Avery wasn't feeling too well as you can probably tell by her forced smile. We had a couple of hairy moments, it was a rough morning!
During our meal we took turns saying what we were thankful for. Quinn went first and he had to say 3 things since he's 3 years old. Without any help from anyone he simply said, "Mommy to take care of us, the Temple where we together, and our house and our beds." I was practically in tears it was so sweet! Family Home Evening must be paying off! ha ha! Avery was next and she was equally as cute in her five things she was thankful for which were, our house, the temple, our family, Jesus and Heavenly Father.
Here's this cute little thing enjoying his first Thanksgiving!
Although Justin and I were sad we couldn't share in the traditions of Thanksgiving with our families we have much to be grateful for. We are so thankful for our little family and for the love that we share. We are so proud of our kids and they teach us everyday how to be more loving, kind, patient, faithful and happy. It was a Thanksgiving we'll always cherish and remember!
These last two weeks have been pretty interesting around here to say the least! Let me just record our happenings so maybe when I look back at this time I will remember just how THANKFUL I am for mine and my families HEALTH!!!
It all started on the weekend of Nov. 14th when I woke up with pain in my back. Unfortunately I knew exactly what it was, sadly this isn't the first time I've felt that pain. :( I felt horrible pain on and off that whole week.
Then, in the middle of that week, about Wednesday, Justin and Avery start feeling sick, soar throat, stuffiness/runny nose etc.
On Friday the 20th (Happy Birthday Dad!) Hayzen wakes up with a runny/stuffy nose.
The next day it's Quinn's turn to wake up with the gunk. Are you kidding me??? LOL! Keep in mind, my kids were up at least once or twice at night EACH the few days prier and the first few days they were sick! There were some interesting nights this week!
Sun. Nov. 22nd Justin woke up at 2 o'clock in the morning feeling VERY crappy. He started coughing and could not stop! I dug up a sucker from the kids' Halloween candy and it didn't help much. He took a trip to the store at 2am for some cough medicine and cough drops to see if he could feel better.
The weekend ended with a trip to the ER for me that evening, I couldn't take the pain anymore! I found out more yucky news, even though I had just passed the kidney stone that was in my system (thank goodness!) I still had one stone in each kidney. WHAT?!?!
Monday, it was a trip to the Urologist for me only to find out that they couldn't do anything at this point with the stones in my kidney's and I'd just have to wait 'til the stones passed on their own or grew large enough to cause a ruckus in my system. Sigh.....can't wait to be surprised with that excruciating pain again! Ugh!
Also on Monday I kept Avery home from school because she woke up that morning coughing, what a surprise! Ugh! She was so sad. With big tears in her eyes she said, "but I had a surprise for Mrs. Diamond, and it was a hug!" Poor thing!
Tuesday Nov. 24th (are ya still following me? haha!) it was a "squeeze me in" trip to the pediatrician because Avery had woke up with a fever of 102.6, no, I'm not kidding! Both a strep and a swine flu test had come back negative. Even though she was still coughing, had a runny/stuffy nose, her ears and lungs were clear so the doctor had no idea what was going on. Just "a really bad virus that her little body will have to fight off itself" was what I left the doctors office with. Alas, she had to stay home from school again. She was devastated! "But I want to learn Mom, I want to learn!" she sobbed. She's SO dramatic sometimes! haha!
Wednesday her fever had gone down to 100.9 but it was still in fact a fever. Great, there goes Thanksgiving dinner with the fam! Sigh :( That night I took a quick trip to the store for food so I could at least make us a Thanksgiving dinner at home, I was determined to make it a traditional Thanksgiving even if it was just my little family this year!!! The pain I was having in my bladder because of my kidney stone issues was FINALLY almost gone.
On Thanksgiving day Quinn woke up with a lovely cough and Avery was still not feeling up to par either, it was a rough morning to say the least! Keep in mind, this whole time Justin still is not feeling well but he is being a trooper, probably so I could keep my sanity in tact! :) That afternoon Quinn started getting hives all over his feet, legs, face and arms. We had no idea what caused his outbreak of hives but he was miserable. Poor little guy!
Friday morning Justin, Avery and Quinn are still coughing like crazy, Quinn still has hives on his feet, legs, cheeks and ears, and Hayzen still has a runny nose. I went to the store for some Benedryl for Quinn and was lucky enough to get myself a few great deals that I wanted on the Early Bird sales. Wahoo!
On Saturday (yesterday), everyone is feeling pretty good. Quinney's hives are gone and since we haven't done anything or gone anywhere for two solid weeks, we decide to go out to a quick lunch. It was so nice to be out together!!! We got the Christmas lights put up outside, Justin hauled up all my Christmas decor from the basement and we started decorating for Christmas.
7:00pm rolls around, I'm at Wal-mart trying to find some Christmas light replacement bulbs for the lights outside when I get a call from Justin.
"What was Avery's temperature when she started getting a fever?"
"102.6, why?"
"Because that's exactly what Quinn's is?"
"What?!!!"
So it looks like we're not quite done yet! I'm hoping with all my might that Hayzen doesn't get whatever it is that Avery and Quinn got and that it will all be over soon!!!
Fantastic couple of weeks, eh?
Thanks to everyone who came to my craft party! I don't know about you guys but I had a great time! :)
(I got my camera out a little late so I missed a few people, dang it!) :)
And just so I feel like my post is complete, here's a picture for ya!
My oh-so adorable and funny Quinney! :)
