The Swine Flu makes its appearance...

The piggy flu has found its way through the doors of our home. No biggie. Jack came down with it Monday with the full run of symptoms-cough, sore throat, aches, fever, tired. By Tuesday he really didn't feel very good. Wednesday when Nathan came home from school he mentioned that he was really tired. Within an hour he had a full blown fever too and about 20 minutes later Dallen had joined the gang with a fever of his own.

Truthfully, I am glad-glad that we have it now. In the past month I have been on 2 trips and we have had 3 different sets of visitors (hence the lack of blogging). This Saturday Uncle Scott comes to visit. So having this sickness nestled nicely into this week with nothing going on is perfect.

When Nathan woke up this morning his fever was gone and he was feeling almost fine. Jack also is fever free and Dal seems mostly ok too. I figured I was getting off pretty easy as we all laid around watching movies but feeling mostly good.

But then, we had a ten minute period when all hell broke loose (am I a bad girl for saying hell?). Dal started to cry and act like he wasn't feeling good. He was sobbing and calling "mama mama" as I was trying to get his diaper changed and get him dressed and then get him some medicine and a blanket and snuggle him.

In the course of doing this (I only got through the diaper changing part) I heard a scream from downstairs. A long and prolonged painful scream. I ran downstairs to find Nathan laying half on the arm of the couch, half on the end table and sobbing and screaming. Apparently Jack kicked him over or something and somehow he managed to scrape his back from shoulder blades to tailbone on the table. And Nathan doesn't deal well with pain.

So, I grabbed him and carried him upstairs (meanwhile Dallen was still laying in his room crying and waiting for me to take care of him). I grabbed Dal and brought him to my bed where I put bandaids up and down Nathan's back, at his request. I then sent him downstairs to watch a movie again-the only thing that calms a sick or in pain Nathan down. (Oh, and Jack was in time out obviously.)

So then I turned my attentions to Dallen. I finished getting him dressed, wiped snot from his face, and gave him some grape Ibuprofen which he apparently hates. I had to force it down with him choking and gagging. I finished that, washed his face in the sink and brought him back to my bed where he promptly barfed. Nathan was still downstairs crying for me to come snuggle him.

Quick bath for a crying Dallen and a new set of clothes, pacifier, blankets and snuggle. I check in with Jack who certainly needs a good talking to and he announces that he has to go potty. I take Dallen downstairs where Nathan is waiting for a snuggle and as soon as I sit down Jack is calling my name needing ahem, assistance in the bathrooming process.

And now we are all watching movies peacefully again. Actually Dallen is playing quietly with trains. But that was quite the 10 minutes.

I am happy to say that I handled it with grace. In some ways I enjoy my kid's sickness this week because it means we have had relaxing time at home with each other and even better, I have really gotten to fulfill my divine roll as nurturer this week. And it feels good. It is sad to see your kids sick but it feels good to be able to take care of them, snuggle them and show them just how much you love them.

And hopefully everyone will be healthy before all the Halloween fun begins.

And the winner is...

I'm not telling yet! :) I did do the random.org drawing though. But since I want to keep this a suprise could all 4 of you who entered email me your address? (Of course I should know my own sister in law's address, and I do, but this would be easier than looking it up.) :) Then I will have it saved on my computer.

And Sarah-I have yours on the box that we got in the mail today I think! You ROCK! Wow. My boys were so excited. In fact, I just finished cleaning up pieces of confetti and remnants of the Halloween Box of Fun from the floor and was suprised to see quite a number of empty candy wrappers among the leavings. Hmm, apparently they got into more than I realized. Thank you so much!!! That was so incredible to get in the mail.

Happy Halloween...Giveaway!

Today I was declared the lucky winner of my cousin's blog giveaway (see post below in which I posted the winning entry! yeehaw!).

Anyway, she got the idea to do a giveaway from a friend of hers and I am loving the idea. I love Halloween stuff and I love crafting and I don't do it enough and Josh thinks I am nuts to do this because I have a to do list that is longer than I could possibly manage to do in like 3 months, but I am going to do this anyway. :)

So, you my friends, could be the lucky winner of a bag of Halloween fun! I would LOVE to take a picture of it, but since I haven't created it yet I can't. I know what I want to put in it though and it will be cool-oh so cool! (To me anyway.)

I think what I will do is post a picture of it before I give it away and before announcing the winner so that I can show it off but the winner is suprised by it showing up at their door (either in my hands or in a box that was mailed-depending on where the winner lives).

I have been trying to figure out what I wanted to make people do in order to enter. I want it to be simple enough that lots of you will do it but still fun! So, all I am asking is for you to answer a series of questions and post them on your blog along with a Halloween picture of any sort, then comment on my blog to tell me you did it and be officially entered! I am just going to do a random pick from my entries to select the winner!

I really hope lots of you will do this. I am asking these questions mostly because I think it is fun to learn this sort of stuff about people.

1. What is your all time best Halloween costume?
2. What is your favorite Halloween tradition?
3. What is your favorite Fall tradition?
4. What is your favorite book?
5. Name 3 great things that happened to you today
6. What is your all time favorite dessert?
7. Tell me something you look forward to doing in the next month.
8. Tell me something you are going to give someone else for Christmas (I need ideas!)

That's it folks! Please do this! It will be fun.

Here are my answers:

1. What is your all time best Halloween costume? Hmm, the one that comes to mind is the purple dinosaur that my mom made me when I was about 9.

2. What is your favorite Halloween tradition? Baking pumpkin shaped cookies and frosting them and decorating with M & M's. First as a child and now with my own children.

3. What is your favorite Fall tradition? Baking. Way too much baking. Fall weather (albeit San Diego fall weather right now) makes me want to bake-cookies, cinnamon rolls, donuts, etc. Starts a string of bad habits that carries through the new year. Not good.

4. What is your favorite book? I think Jane Eyre but it is hard to decide.

5. Name 3 great things that happened to you today Someone showed up at my doorstep with mint chocolate brownies tonight, I read lots of stories with my boys (and I do mean lots), and I listened to some of Harry Potter 7 in CD.

6. What is your all time favorite dessert? I think Cookie Dough Eggrolls, but again, it is hard to decide.

7. Tell me something you look forward to doing in the next month. Lots of sewing-for Christmas and Halloween costumes. I haven't sewn much in a long time and it feels good to be doing it again.

8. Tell me something you are going to give someone else for Christmas (I need ideas!) Hmm, well now that I try to answer this I realize I can't really because most of the people I am giving things to read my blog. But I guess I can say that I am giving my neighbor a Flirty Apron. I already have it. :)

In the past 16 days...

In the past 16 days I have...

Been to Disneyland
Been to the World Famous San Diego Zoo
Been to Sea World
Been on a Cruise
Been Kayaking and Snorkeling
Been to Mexico

I know. My life is hard.

Halloween Costumes

My cousin is doing a giveaway on her blog so I figured what the heck, might as well post a few pics for her.

So, here is what I think is one of the most clever costumes we have ever done:



Get it? That's Jack...in the Box! Plus, is he not just adorable. I want to just kiss and squeeze those cheeks!

OK, now for a full family shot. I gotta say both my costume and Josh's are pretty great in this one. It would be better if Josh had his hood on and wasn't standing in front of a picture of the first vision, but anyway. Oh, and I painted his face:



And then the costume that I put the most work into. When Nathan announced he wanted to be Larry Boy for Halloween I said "are you kidding me?" But I pulled it off:



And just in case you don't know who Larry Boy is, this is him:


ps-I LOVE Halloween too!

Bodily Functions

The other night at dinner Nathan and Jack were repeatedly making gross body noises in typical boy fashion. I finally said "the next boy to make a bodily function noise is going up to his bed." They asked what a "bodily function noise" is and I explained that I meant burping or farting. The minute I finished saying this Dallen let one rip-a big one!

Happiness

Nathan drew a cute little picture of him and me with a heart between us that said "I love mommy, she loves me, we are a happy family." My favorite part was the big thing sticking up from my head that was supposed to be a ponytail.

But I gotta say, for the past month Josh and I have been really focusing on seeking out the positive in our lives-looking for what is right about a situation, not what has gone wrong. Looking for what the kids did well, instead of what they lack, and making sure to tell them. Seeing what is good in our lives instead of what we are missing. And now we are a really happy family.

I am shocked by the amount of happiness that has filled our home since we started this. Sure the boys still fight and whine, but we let it roll off our backs and tell them what we appreciate about them and the tone of our house is completely different than it was just over a month ago.

Nathan is no longer whining and complaining about his life-instead he is helping out around the house, being a great big brother, and I think he knows we are proud of him. Jack is making better choices and Dal, well, he still whines a lot but he is thrilled to be a part of this family-especially when his big brothers play games like naked superhero with him (yes, that really is a game they play-post bath-with their hooded towels on). Anyway, life is good at our house when we all seek out what is right, find Joy in the Journey or Be of Good Cheer.

That and reading the scriptures first thing in the morning...Josh and I have made a deal with each other to do that and wow-what a difference.