Our Happy Halloween

We started off the Halloween celebrations with Trunk or Treat at old church on the Sunday evening before Halloween. We had alot of fun and it was soooo great to see our long time friends over there. We miss that church dearly. It is the church where I accepted Christ at age 9, the church we met back in 1991 and got married in 6 years later. So many treasured relationships at that church!

I let Pops and Gigi borrow (haha) my 1965 Mustang Fastback
to use as there trunk. They got this car for me when I was 16.
Love it! Would drive it all the time if it had seatbelts in the back,
airbags and got better gas mileage.

The ballerina with Pops and Gigi (or a pumpkin and skeleton belly).

Get a load of this motley crew!
My older bro Kevin (on the the ground with the black wig)
brought his GF Shannon and her boys.

Later that week, we went to the Pumpkin Patch here in Saginaw and picked up our pumpkins and did a little hay maze with Riley.

Grandpa and Grandma sent a package from Michigan (love getting those!!)
with these pumpkin decorations. Too cute and so much fun to do!!

At school that week, Riley had dress up day on each day for drug-free stuff. Anyway, he was able to dress-up on Friday as his favorite storybook character. He picked out Curious George, but I didn't want to scurry around all week trying to get together a monkey costume, so I talked him into being Obi-Wan Kanobi. He jumped right on that. So we got out his costume from last year and he wore that to school on Halloween.

Riley so very precious. And then there is Victoria ... in all her splendor.

The only memories I have of Halloween as a child are the ones when my parents dressed up (and the one where I got a nose bleed like 30 seconds before we walked out the door). I can't remember what I was from year to year, but I can remember some of their costumes. I think it is just so much fun to go all out for your kids on some things. So this year we put a few decorations outside, made some Halloween cookies and I did dress up on Halloween. I dug around in some of my high school and college storage bins and found a shirt I wore at the HSU All-School Sing in 1996 when we performed our Hillbilly show. So, I was a hillbilly with pig-tails and freckles. Riley liked it when I picked him up from school and was all dressed up. I forgot to get a picture with me and the kids ... oh well.

It was finally here, time for Trick or Treating. Riley drove from house to house in his John Deere motorized tractor and Carey pulled Victoria in the wagon. We only did about 8 houses or so before Riley called it quits. He was so very sweet walking Victoria up to the door. However, he kept leaving her behind after he got his candy. "Go get your sister, Riley" was repeated every time.

Indiana Jones and the ballerina are ready to go.

Riley helping his sister trick or treat from house to house. I will never
forget the image of him holding her hand and walking up to the houses.
It was just absolutely precious.

The haul.

Fortunately for us, Carey and I were able to snatch most of the chocolate. There are some perks to this parenting stuff.

Our Little Texans

We met up at the stockyards with a good friend of ours that has this amazing talent and passion for photography. Even though little Miss Victoria had fever, she was able to capture this incredible picture of my babes. Isn't it just precious?! Somehow Riley's hair did not get combed before we left the house, so he has a bit of the bed-head-do. Oh well.

Thank you Nicole! Check out more on her blog Our Little Feet

And check out her website too Little Feet Designs Photography She is so very talented, wonderful to work with, loves kids, takes amazing pictures and is SO reasonably priced.

Room Mom 101

So I did my first official duty as Room Mom. Last Friday was Riley's teacher's birthday. The ISD only allows three parties a year, so this wasn't an official party ... "an opportunity for the children to wish Mrs. B a happy birthday all together" was how I put it in the parent note home. Anyway, we collected over $100 and were able to buy her alot of toys and games for the room. This is her first year to teach, so she hasn't built up her stash yet. We got Legos, Magna Doodles, book, games, Mr. Potato Head ... stuff like that. We let the kids open the gifts, which went over very well. Each child gave her the birthday card they made and had their picture taken with her. We sang Happy Birthday and had mini-cupcakes.

Not bad considering that Victoria had 102 degree fever, mine was about 100 and we were both on antibiotic. I had just taken Hydro codeine for my severe throat and ear pain, so I was a bit doped up. And on top of that, Mrs. B had just gotten back from the doc and she had bronchitis. She didn't want to miss her party, so she stuck around for it. What a trooper! And then, to make matters so much better (said with a hint of sarcasm), I brought balloons. Yes, the Rookie Room Mom brought in latex helium balloons. Well, for those of you not in the "know," those are a big no-no in the elementary school world. Latex allergies. Totally understand. But this did cause the party to end on a bad note ... which was totally a bummer. Oh well ... live and learn.

So, what did I learn from my first experience as a Room Mom ...

1. Latex balloons are a no-no.
2. Do not use the word "party" at any other time in an elementary school except at the deemed party times of the year ... also a big no-no, along with plates that read "Happy Birthday" ... it is enough to make you want to run screaming from the building pulling all your hair out, no?!
3. Hydro codeine can fix almost anything that ails you.
4. Mrs. B is totally my kind of people!
5. Even if things don't go as well as you had hoped, just make sure that you have a Christ-like attitude and demeanor and know that without a doubt that the Lord will take care of all the fall-out.
6. Next time ... D-E-L-E-G-A-T-E.

The Thompson Medical Ward (Part 2)

So here are the sickies:

According to the doc, they both have coxsackie virus, but with differing symptoms. Riley has very high fever (still has it now on day 6) and Victoria has blisters on her throat. On top of that, they both have secondary infections. Riley has an upper respiratory infection with a very wet cough and Victoria has a sinus infection. I am somewhat relieved to know what they have, but it is still no fun at the Thompsons.

They have been trained well ... always a smile when the camera is on them.

The Thompson Medical Ward

Nurse Kim here. It started Saturday evening with Riley having fever and a bit of an upset stomach. So I diagnosed it as just a stomach flu. I was also using one of those ear thermometers that happened to be broken. I would take my temp with it and it would read 94.6 (my normal is 97.1) and then take Riley's and it would read 98.5. Do the math and I figured he had about 100-101 temp. Well, he seemed alot hotter than that. I mean even his toes were hot. I was able to scoot out Monday late afternoon to get to the store and buy a new thermometer. It reads 103.9 ... ok in total freak-out mode now! That is crazy. Of course it is 6PM, so I can't call the doc. I send Carey to the computer to see what we should do and call my mom. Well, we just sit tight until the morning and try to keep him cool and doped up.

Go to the doctor ... maybe strep, maybe something else, not sure. URGH!!! But at least I walked away with some drugs. Started the antibiotic yesterday, little guy has 101.6 right now and is sleeping ... those antibiotics can start working any moment now.

Most of the morning, Miss Victoria has been a bit off. I thought it was because I was vacuuming (see earlier post), but once I finished I picked her up and she just went limp in my arms and was burning up .... 102.6. DOUBLE URGH!!

So now I have two columns to my sick notebook for each kiddo to keep up with the Tylenol/Advil regiment, antibiotic and decongestant and the fever numbers. I am pushing fluids like crazy.

I am a total basket case. Seriously, my mind goes to mush when my kids are sick. I am ready for some normalcy back in our home.

Gotta go ... hear Victoria crying. More later.

Tractors and Tutus

Loves the tractor drivin'.

Tolerates the tutu wearing.

One of our dearest friends made this tutu for Victoria. I finally got her to put it on. I told her how beautiful she was and just fussed over her. Well, it lasted about thirty seconds, then off with the tutu. I am hoping she will warm up more to it so that she will wear it on Halloween as a Ballerina. So excited!

Thanks for the tutu Kippy!

So Love to Sew

Ok, I just get so proud of myself when anything I sew turns out halfway decent. I bought a sewing machine with my birthday money two years ago. I read the manual cover to cover and got a very short tutorial from Carey (he grew up in a house with many sewing machines). The first thing I made was a closet curtain out of a bed sheet for Riley's room. Our rent house had those awful bi-fold doors that little fingers get caught in so easily. Anyway, it was surprisingly easy and I was pleased with the outcome. Since then, I have made pajamas, Victoria's baby bedding, our Halloween costumes last year and the maintenance of patches, hems, etc.

Well, I have discovered that I enjoy "free sewing" much more than using a pattern. The patterns stress me out a bit ... it feels more like work. I would rather just eye-ball it and figure it out than try to stick to all the notches and dots and such. It is fun to do. I really enjoy it.

Well, Mrs. Bush sent out a wish list of items and aprons were listed. So I thought that would be easy enough to make. I discovered some leftover western material I had (which is her theme in the room) and used that to make it:


She loved it. I saw her showing it to her other teacher friends. That makes me feel so good. I think everybody loves to get those handmade things. I know that some of the best gifts I got at my showers were handmade. It reminds me of my great-grandmother (Mama) and every Christmas she would give us new pajamas that she had made. Just full of time and love. There is something about someone taking the time to make something for you.