Pictures pictures pictures!!!

We got these done at the Target Portrait Studio in Hulen. This is our 3rd time to go there and I am always so pleased with the pictures. Plus, with the coupon, it is only $4 a sheet. Such a deal! The photographer did such a good job just capturing them being themselves.

Here they are - Riley age 6 and Victoria age 2:

Ballerina and Swine Flu

Wow ... what a week we had last week. By the time we got to the end of it I was spent. Carey was out of town in Wyoming (so jealous) for a couple of days and then spent almost every other waking moment working on the deck (the project that just keeps going and going and going and never seems to end) and helping me get the house ready for my Pampered Chef party on Thursday night.

Amidst all this work that Carey and I tackled this past week, we definitely had one high point and one low point of the week:

Ballerina

This was no doubt the high point of the week. Victoria was invited by one of her little friends to Bring a Friend Week at a dance studio here in Saginaw. So, we of course got all the necessities to attend the class ... pink leotard, pink tights and pink ballet shoes. He he he. This just makes me so giddy. I mentioned in my last post that Carey has been looking forward to Scouts for Riley since birth. Well, I distinctly remember getting all excited about dance class for Victoria once all the medication wore off after her birth.


And can I tell you it was the most precious thing ever!! I was prepared for the worst ... ya know, tears, screaming, begging, pleading ... for both her and I, but she did fantastic! Her little friend grabbed her hand and they walked together down the hall into the studio. She did most of the moves and participated as well as you could expect a 2 year old with a short attention span to participate. The cutest was when they were doing Chasse' across the floor. Victoria was last in line and by the time it was her turn, she was so excited to go to the other side of the room, that she just ran! It was hilarious!! Seeing her in her little pinkness, chubby toddler body running so excitedly across the floor ... I loved it! As the lesson went on, she was getting a little restless and I saw her running around the teacher a couple of times, but all in all she did so well. The jury is still out on whether we will put her in lessons this Spring or wait until next fall. We'll see. My vote is now, but the checkbook doesn't agree as of yet.

Swine Flu

And this was no doubt the low point of the week. Riley's school called Thursday afternoon saying that he had a fever of 101. So, I went to get him, gave him some advil and he rested for about ... an hour. Then he was bored and wanted to play. He had been having a cough on and off all week, so I was thinking that he probably had a sinus infection. The plan was to see how he did that night and take him to the doc in the morning. Well, somewhere around 8PM, he came downstairs during the Pampered Chef party, and seriously people, he looked terrible. His eyes looked awful. That night he ran a temp of about 103 - 104. He was sooooo sick.

That next morning we went to the doctor and as soon as he walked in the room and looked at Riley, he told me it was the flu ... the swine flu. Well, I just about fainted. Pretty sure you could have knocked me over with a feather. He did the test and sure enough he was right. He spent about 10 minutes with me explaining that it wasn't gonna be as bad as I thought it was. He even said that the seasonal flu is much worse. He hadn't had any of his patients hospitalized and most were fine to go back to school in 4 -5 days. By the time we left, I felt a little better. I really trust my doctor. He was my pediatrician growing up. He is smart and a good man.

So, we got the tamiflu prescription filled (which is not covered by insurance, urgh) and within about 12 hours of his first dose, his fever was down and within 24 hours he was fever free. Yay!! We are on day 4 and he is fine. He still has a cough, but no fever for 48 hours now. Phew! So glad it wasn't as bad as they were thinking it would be. The incubation period is 1-4 days and so far only Victoria has had any symptoms. Hers are very mild (cold and fever of 100) and we have a script for tamiflu at CVS that we are gonna start her on today.

Another side effect of the swine flu is that it is driving us stir crazy. The kids have not been out of this house for 3 days now. I ventured out yesterday for about an hour to run a few errands. That wasn't enough. Needless to say, I am looking forward to going to the cleaners, blockbuster and CVS today. I got all dressed up for it and everything.

Scouts

Riley started cub scouts this week. Yay! I do believe that Carey has been waiting for this since the doctor exclaimed "It's a boy!" in the operating room 6 1/2 years ago. This should be right up his alley. I think that Riley is really going to like it ... and Carey too. He is going to serve as a den leader since there are so many boys signed up. However, Victoria was not too happy about Riley getting to go to scouts ...

Victoria: "Where going, Riley?"
Riley: "I am going to boy scouts."
Victoria: "Me too!"
Mommy: "You have to be a boy to go to boy scouts. That is why Daddy is going too. The girls, you and me, will stay here."
Victoria: "I wanna be boy! Boy, boy, boy, boy!!" At this point she is jumping up and down.

The "I wanna be boy" went on until the boys left ... and then some. Mommy fixed it with some Dora and a snack of some sort (probably chocolate).


Now that we have added scouts to our calendar, our plate is officially full. Sunday night is Awanas, Wednesday night is Children's and Adult Choir and now Thursday night is cub scouts. There is no room for anything else. Amidst all this activity there is also dinner to be made and eaten, homework to be done, bikes to be ridden, a backyard to be played in, baths to be taken, books to be read, toys to be played with, and a faith to be taught and encouraged. So no more activities on school nights. We have plenty to do. That's enough. No more.

Well, until dance lessons for Miss Victoria next fall
... or maybe even sooner :)!!!!!

Good-bye Training Wheels

Well after about a month or so of practicing and encouraging, Riley can ride his bike without training wheels!! YAY! We are SO proud of him. He wanted to give up most of the time. I am so glad Riley has a Daddy that did not give in to his pleas to quit (his Momma probably would have caved). I am also SO VERY glad that he has a Daddy that did not mind running next to him as he rode past the house about a dozen times or so. Momma would definitely have not been up for that.