A Long Week... sick kids, projects, & adventures!

Thank goodness Tim will return on Monday! It has been a long week but it has gone relatively fast thanks to family, good weather, and movies! Last weekend we spent the weekend in Texarkana with Grandma and Grandpa O. The boys had a wonderful time playing baseball, tennis, doing art, and playing at the park. I even got to fit in some window shopping while Grandma and Grandpa did a little babysitting! Monday started the week off with a sick Nate and trip to the doctor's office. After missing 3 days of school Nate returned on Thursday. Then as luck would have it, Zacy got sick on Friday and Ben woke up snotty on Saturday! Ugh!

Well in the middle of all the sickness and in the absence of my husband, I decided to paint the big boy's room (this instead of going to Dallas - the trip we had to cancel because everyone was sick). I know it is crazy to tackle this project while Tim is gone... but that was kind of the point... I have a habit of changing things when he is gone... Anyway, I mentioned it to mom and thank goodness she and my dad came up to help! Well, mom watched the boys (harder than painting) and dad and I painted. Good thing the kiddos were not in the room we were painting or they may would've learned a new vocabulary! Dad hate's to paint and it was my first attempt at the activity! Thank goodness for good ole' dad. The room turned out great! I think Tim will be surprised! While daddy was gone, the most "cooking" I did was chocolate chip pancakes....

By Sunday afternoon the boys were all coughing and wiping their snot on everything. I think Ben managed to drink out of both Zac and Nate's sippy cup.... wonder why he's sick?! We were all driving each other crazy so I decided that after naps we would go on a little adventure.... a trip to Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs. For me this meant 2 hours of travel time (kids strapped in, hands to themselves, movie playing, peace and quiet) and 2 hours of looking at beautiful scenery. Even though the kids didn't feel great they were excited. They had a fabulous time exploring and stressing me out (they like to get really close to water... ponds, puddles, waterfalls, etc.)! Despite that they were really good. It is such a beautiful place and I highly recommend going there.

We left when the park closed at 5. By then the boys were hungry... I'm thinking McDonalds but Nate saw a sign for Cracker Barrel and begged to go... I must admit it was more appealing than Micky D's but was it appealing enough to risk taking 3 boys in by myself to eat????? YES! After threatening them and bribing them within an inch of their lives we entered! Luckily they seated us fast and the boys were being so good.... then Zac had to go potty.... this meant getting everyone up and taking everyone to the bathroom at one time... I reassured a waitress that we weren't leaving yet. The boys ate and were excellent during dinner. I'm not sure what I ate because I was trying to keep food in every one's mouth so they wouldn't yell to loud, say something rude or make an offensive sound at the dinner table! Again, I must say, the boys felt crummy but they behaved wonderfully for mommy today! Thank goodness for small miracles! And thank goodness daddy returns on Monday!

PICS FROM GARVAN GARDENS BELOW!

Tim is gone soooo.....

Tim left Friday after Trick-or Treating for Wisconsin to go hunting with his BFF William Mc. and to visit his grandfather in WI! He has been so excited about this trip. Of course, since N & Z are in school and Ben is relatively easy, this week was to be "a breeze"! Ha Ha! As usual, Tim leaves and one of the 3 gets sick! Nate has croup... terrible cough punctuated by 105 degree fever! Luckily fever is down and the medicine seems to be working. Most of all, at this point the two little ones seem to be well! Fingers are crossed! I'm sure there will be details posted of the great hunt during the next couple of weeks!

Quick Ben Update...

Little Ben is almost 14 months! He walks/runs everywhere and wrestles with N & Z! Seriously. He still babbles a lot and is making new sounds. Our words are limited to Mama, No No No, and Uh Oh! He knows the baby sign for "all done" and we are working on "more"! He likes to dance and clap his hands and he can definitely throw a fit on the floor (he comes by the later naturally)! He's a good eater.... if it is what HE WANTS to eat (fruit, crackers, donut holes, pizza, etc.) He is such a delight and is such a lovable little guy.

For those of you who are wondering.... we went to the Infectious Disease Clinic at Children's last week (the ENT the previous week) and got a good report from both. Ben has been running a fever for months now, 97 in the mornings and anywhere between 100 and 101 at night. All of the test to this point for an immunity disorder or cancer have come back negative (we are waiting on 2 more). The doctor expects for those to come back normal too. It will be such a relief to know that he is perfectly healthy and that I don't have to be worried any more about his rise in body temperature. Should get the results back for the last 2 tests by the end of the week. As for his ears, we are in "wait and see" mode... two more ear infections and we will do tubes.

Well that is all for now. Just thought I'd do a quick update.

Halloween - A Week Long Party!

I will combine all of the Halloween Festivities in to one blog. We kicked off the week with our church's fall festival. Somehow I managed not to get pictures of this event. The boys had fun dressed in their costumes playing various games for candy. However, some of the costume came off when the boys went crazy in the bouncy house!

The next event was the fall festival at the boys' school. Once again, we dressed in costume (batman, pirate & scarecrow) and played a lot of games. Nate liked the games where you had to toss something and Zac loved the train. Ben just loved running around outside whenever Tim would put him down. We were so excited to have Nana and Papa Doc attend the festival with us. It worked out nicely so that their was an adult with each child and I could roam around and help out with the kid's class booths.

Papa Doc and Ben before the event!


Nana hung out with Nate at the festival!


This was Zac's favorite thing! Glenwood's interpretation of a train!



Yep, that is a peanut warning sticker! Zac was such a trooper this year when it came to eating "safe candy"!

Then we had Trunk-or-Treat at AWANA on Wednesday. The boys dressed up again (this time as hunters in their camo)! They had fun getting more candy (as if they needed more).

Finally, the big event... HALLOWEEN! After carving the pumpkin and eating a yummy pizza (the only food my family can agree on), we dressed the boys in their costumes (pirate, scarecrow, batman) and headed out for a night of trick-or-treating! We went to our neighbors house, each of which were so sweet and had special Halloween treats, gift bags, etc. fixed for the boys. It was so much fun visiting with everyone and the boys really racked up on some loot! By the time we got home they were all tuckered out... despite the sugar high! It was a fun night!