Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Making Halloween Cupcakes
I'd had the cupcake box and stuff in my pantry for a few weeks, but with all the sickness in the house we never found time to make them. This weekend everyone was feeling well, so we got out the stuff to make the cupcakes (of course I couldn't find the Halloween cupcake liners until after we made the cupcakes). The girls had a lot of fun. For some reason Shelby decided to get naked again (which is why there aren't many photos of her making the cupcakes). Taylor did a really good job of putting the icing on. Of course there was a lot - and I really mean a lot - of licking and tasting.
At first the girls were pretty good about not overloading the cupcakes with sprinkles, but by the end the sprinkles were being heaped on. For the last few cupcakes we just took the cupcakes and stamped them upside down on their plates to pick up the extra sprinkles. It worked pretty nicely and was an easy way to decorate the cupcakes.
Of course afterwards came the best part . . . eating them. Taylor was so excited to finally get to take a bite. I'm sure she was holding back the whole time.
Shelby's not a fan of icing, but did enjoy the cake part.
Payden wasn't awake for the cupcake making, but got to have one the next day. I honestly think it was her first cupcake all by herself. I think she enjoyed it. Anyways, it was fun to make the cupcakes with the girls, and it's been nice to have all these fun little Halloween things to do throughout the month.
At first the girls were pretty good about not overloading the cupcakes with sprinkles, but by the end the sprinkles were being heaped on. For the last few cupcakes we just took the cupcakes and stamped them upside down on their plates to pick up the extra sprinkles. It worked pretty nicely and was an easy way to decorate the cupcakes.
Of course afterwards came the best part . . . eating them. Taylor was so excited to finally get to take a bite. I'm sure she was holding back the whole time.
Shelby's not a fan of icing, but did enjoy the cake part.
Payden wasn't awake for the cupcake making, but got to have one the next day. I honestly think it was her first cupcake all by herself. I think she enjoyed it. Anyways, it was fun to make the cupcakes with the girls, and it's been nice to have all these fun little Halloween things to do throughout the month.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Nana and Papa to the Rescue
After a month of taking care of sick kids, my mom offered to come to San Antonio and help me clean my house. I was actually pretty proud of myself because it wasn't too bad, but I definitely was willing to take her up on the offer. So Saturday morning my mom and dad came to help clean. The girls were so excited. They've been asking when we'd get to see them again (especially Taylor . . . she asks a few times a week). It only took a few hours, and we got it all cleaned up (plus Payden got her nap in).
Tom has been wanting to go see the Missions in San Antonio other than the Alamo, so after cleaning up we headed to Mission San Jose - the largest one, I think.
We got there about 15 minutes before closing. It would have been nice to stay a little longer, but with kids I think the 15 minutes was just about perfect. We took this picture on the way out. Tom's taking the picture and you can see my mom on the side snapping pictures too. My dad, the girls, and I are the small speck of people you see standing at the doorway.
A little bit after we got there we headed over to the little mill behind the mission. You can see how they use the river to turn the wheel which in turn spins the grinding stone and grinds the wheat into flour. We got to try some of the flour. Shelby really loved it and wanted more. It was interesting to hear the stories especially the real reason they built these missions . . . not for religious purposes but to claim the land before the French did.
Here's the water turning the real. It's amazing that it's only a little bit of water that's needed to make this all work.
Here's the mill spinning above to grind the flour.
Afterwards we headed to Target where my parents got us a new rug and some new pillows for the couch. We then headed to dinner at Chili's. I've forgotten how much I like their food. When we got home we rolled at the carpet. The girls were SOOOO excited that they immediately grabbed books and hopped on the rug to read. They are funny and boy do they LOVE books.
Cute girls!!! Anyways, thanks to Nana and Papa for coming to help out. We really appreciated it, and we always love the visit!!!
Tom has been wanting to go see the Missions in San Antonio other than the Alamo, so after cleaning up we headed to Mission San Jose - the largest one, I think.
We got there about 15 minutes before closing. It would have been nice to stay a little longer, but with kids I think the 15 minutes was just about perfect. We took this picture on the way out. Tom's taking the picture and you can see my mom on the side snapping pictures too. My dad, the girls, and I are the small speck of people you see standing at the doorway.
A little bit after we got there we headed over to the little mill behind the mission. You can see how they use the river to turn the wheel which in turn spins the grinding stone and grinds the wheat into flour. We got to try some of the flour. Shelby really loved it and wanted more. It was interesting to hear the stories especially the real reason they built these missions . . . not for religious purposes but to claim the land before the French did.
Here's the water turning the real. It's amazing that it's only a little bit of water that's needed to make this all work.
Here's the mill spinning above to grind the flour.
Afterwards we headed to Target where my parents got us a new rug and some new pillows for the couch. We then headed to dinner at Chili's. I've forgotten how much I like their food. When we got home we rolled at the carpet. The girls were SOOOO excited that they immediately grabbed books and hopped on the rug to read. They are funny and boy do they LOVE books.
Cute girls!!! Anyways, thanks to Nana and Papa for coming to help out. We really appreciated it, and we always love the visit!!!
Friday, October 26, 2007
Funny Girl
Here's another round of Payden being goofy.
We constantly find her with other people's shoes on. She really seems to like Crocs. In fact I put her shoes on today (11-1-07) because I was going to be working outside for a bit. A few minutes later I looked up and her shoes were in her hand and she had Shelby's Crocs on.
After trying on my Crocs, we noticed she had turned this container into a chair. It definitely can't be comfy, but she enjoyed sitting there . . . until she lost her balance and fell off.
This is a common face. She always makes this face to try and get us to laugh, and it works.
She is a funny girl . . . our goofball. According to Shelby, there must have been a clown school in my tummy when I was pregnant with Payden. Ha ha!!
We constantly find her with other people's shoes on. She really seems to like Crocs. In fact I put her shoes on today (11-1-07) because I was going to be working outside for a bit. A few minutes later I looked up and her shoes were in her hand and she had Shelby's Crocs on.
After trying on my Crocs, we noticed she had turned this container into a chair. It definitely can't be comfy, but she enjoyed sitting there . . . until she lost her balance and fell off.
This is a common face. She always makes this face to try and get us to laugh, and it works.
She is a funny girl . . . our goofball. According to Shelby, there must have been a clown school in my tummy when I was pregnant with Payden. Ha ha!!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Poor Sick Kids!!!
What a month this has been!!!! It all started Tuesday 10/3. Shelby came home with 103+ fever. She looked awful. With it came headaches, a sore throat, and an upset tummy. Fortunately, she never threw up, but it took 2 1/2 days for the fever to go away. We had the weekend free of illness . . . yeah!
Then on Monday 10/9 Taylor came down after going to bed complaining of a headache. I knew immediately that she'd gotten what Shelby had gotten. Unfortunately, Taylor's little body has a much harder time with fevers and getting over illnesses. She was sick for 3 1/2 days with fevers from 103 to 105. It was awful. She was on medicine round the clock, but even then it wasn't enough. She'd have Ibuprofen, 3 hours later she'd have Tylenol, and 2 hours later her fever would start going up, and she'd have to sit in the bath for an hour until we could give her more Ibuprofen. Fortunately during the days the medicine would last okay, but the late afternoon to midnight was always a hard time for her. Meanwhile, the entire time Taylor was sick, Payden had gotten a cold. At nights I'd end up bouncing back and forth between the 2. We went to the doctor to confirm that everything was okay, and she said Taylor just had a stomach virus and that we had to let it run its course. Payden got checked out too. She just had a cold, but we did get some nice prescriped medicine for her congestion, runny nose, and cough.
Finally on Friday Taylor's fever broke, but then her nose started running. Payden started to get a fever at that point too. I figured they'd just flip-flopped illnesses. Taylor had congestion, runny nose, a REALLY sore throat, and a cough. Payden's cough was getting a little worse and continued her congestion and runny nose. The nights got worse and worse, so on Monday 10/16 I took them to the doctor. They both had ear infections and bronchiolitis. I was just glad there was an answer. Hooray!!! We left the doctor with antibiotics, medicine for the bronchiolitis, and breathing treatment medication. That night they were LOADED with meds. Of course things didn't drastically improve, but little by little the girls got better and the nights got better.
Then Shelby started getting a stuffy nose. It wasn't too bad and usually she doesn't get that sick with respiratory illnesses, so I wasn't too worried. Well on Sunday 10/21 she woke up and felt miserable. Stuffy nose, cough, sore throat . . . the same sickness Taylor had. Shelby was also fatigued, too, and ended up taking many naps over the next few days. By Sunday evening she was complaining about her ear. We went to the doctor Monday morning and she had an ear infection. We left with an antibiotic and more cold medication. Unfortunately she was in TONS of pain and Ibuprofen and Tylenol only lasted for 2 hours, so she'd be in pain for an hour until we could give her more meds. We got some ear drops, which helped, and a warm compress, but she was in tears a lot. Poor thing. Finally by the next morning the antibiotics had started to kick in. The pain was almost gone, but she still had headaches and a little fever.
We're now halfway through Wednesday and at this point I think my kids are finally better. Yeah!!!!!! Hopefully we'll be well for a while. I'm definitely grateful for the strength to get through it and for all the meds!!!
This is after a few days. That's just way too many medicine syringes and cups!!
Shelby snuck this picture of us, but it certainly shows how we felt each morning. Fortunately it was Saturday morning, so the kids watched TV while we got some more sleep.
This is Payden's second breathing treatment. The first one she threw a HUGE fit and ended up having being pinned for the last half of the treatment.
This time she decided she'd be good and sit through me reading a book to her. She still put up a bit of a fight at the end, but at least didn't have to be pinned.
Then on Monday 10/9 Taylor came down after going to bed complaining of a headache. I knew immediately that she'd gotten what Shelby had gotten. Unfortunately, Taylor's little body has a much harder time with fevers and getting over illnesses. She was sick for 3 1/2 days with fevers from 103 to 105. It was awful. She was on medicine round the clock, but even then it wasn't enough. She'd have Ibuprofen, 3 hours later she'd have Tylenol, and 2 hours later her fever would start going up, and she'd have to sit in the bath for an hour until we could give her more Ibuprofen. Fortunately during the days the medicine would last okay, but the late afternoon to midnight was always a hard time for her. Meanwhile, the entire time Taylor was sick, Payden had gotten a cold. At nights I'd end up bouncing back and forth between the 2. We went to the doctor to confirm that everything was okay, and she said Taylor just had a stomach virus and that we had to let it run its course. Payden got checked out too. She just had a cold, but we did get some nice prescriped medicine for her congestion, runny nose, and cough.
Finally on Friday Taylor's fever broke, but then her nose started running. Payden started to get a fever at that point too. I figured they'd just flip-flopped illnesses. Taylor had congestion, runny nose, a REALLY sore throat, and a cough. Payden's cough was getting a little worse and continued her congestion and runny nose. The nights got worse and worse, so on Monday 10/16 I took them to the doctor. They both had ear infections and bronchiolitis. I was just glad there was an answer. Hooray!!! We left the doctor with antibiotics, medicine for the bronchiolitis, and breathing treatment medication. That night they were LOADED with meds. Of course things didn't drastically improve, but little by little the girls got better and the nights got better.
Then Shelby started getting a stuffy nose. It wasn't too bad and usually she doesn't get that sick with respiratory illnesses, so I wasn't too worried. Well on Sunday 10/21 she woke up and felt miserable. Stuffy nose, cough, sore throat . . . the same sickness Taylor had. Shelby was also fatigued, too, and ended up taking many naps over the next few days. By Sunday evening she was complaining about her ear. We went to the doctor Monday morning and she had an ear infection. We left with an antibiotic and more cold medication. Unfortunately she was in TONS of pain and Ibuprofen and Tylenol only lasted for 2 hours, so she'd be in pain for an hour until we could give her more meds. We got some ear drops, which helped, and a warm compress, but she was in tears a lot. Poor thing. Finally by the next morning the antibiotics had started to kick in. The pain was almost gone, but she still had headaches and a little fever.
We're now halfway through Wednesday and at this point I think my kids are finally better. Yeah!!!!!! Hopefully we'll be well for a while. I'm definitely grateful for the strength to get through it and for all the meds!!!
This is after a few days. That's just way too many medicine syringes and cups!!
Shelby snuck this picture of us, but it certainly shows how we felt each morning. Fortunately it was Saturday morning, so the kids watched TV while we got some more sleep.
This is Payden's second breathing treatment. The first one she threw a HUGE fit and ended up having being pinned for the last half of the treatment.
This time she decided she'd be good and sit through me reading a book to her. She still put up a bit of a fight at the end, but at least didn't have to be pinned.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
The Pumpkin Patch
I love going to the pumpkin patch each year. We weren't able to do something like this when I was a kid. Unfortunately, right now it's cheaper to get the pumpkins at HEB or Walmart, so we really just come to the pumpkin patch to look, take pictures, and do any of the activities they might have, but it's still fun.
On the way to the patch, Shelby and Taylor started holding hands. I love that they do this. They always do this when we're walking places. It's soooo sweet.
Tom and Payden joined up with them, which was sooo cute. I love this picture. I love that our girls love holding our hands and each other's hands. I hope they never stop!!
The first thing we did was stop to take pictures at these bales of hay they had setup. The sun was bright, so Shelby had a really hard time not squinting. We got a few pictures.
After about 2 of them, Payden left; apparently there were too many things to do and go see.
After the pictures, we decided to go look at the pumpkins. Shelby really seemed to contemplate this one. I wonder what she's thinking.
She liked this one. Unfortunately she wouldn't stop squinting her eyes (her eyes tend to be really sensitive to light) or making silly faces so this is the best shot we got of her.
Taylor of course had to do some silly faces for the camera. Here's #1.
Silly face #2.
Silly face #3.
Silly face #4.
Silly face #5.
Finally she went over and picked this one up and gave me a cute face. I love her belly in this one. She's getting sooo big now, but she's still got this cute toddler belly. It's fun to rub.
While Shelby and Taylor were looking at pumpkins, Payden found this picnic table, which she just had to climb. She's become quite the climber and climbs up EVERYTHING. I have to move our chairs away from the table, so she won't climb up them and get into things.
She did decide to join us for a second, but did not seem at all interested in the pumpkins.
For the most part, this is all we saw of her the whole time - her backside. She was on the move the WHOLE time. Man I couldn't believe how busy she was.
Of course, we had to try this out. The girls had fun sticking their faces through. I love this one because it shows their personalities. Shelby will look at us as asked so that we can take the picture. Taylor and Payden have to check things out first, find each other, and do whatever else their little minds come up with before they're willing to let us take their pictures.
They are too cute!!
We found this area with a whole bunch of little pumpkins (which were for field trip students). The girls loved the small ones. Taylor found this white one, which she thought was really cool.
Of course, Shelby liked it too. Who wouldn't?
Payden was interested in the small pumpkins and even picked up a few, but as you can tell, she was still on the go and didn't stop for long to look at the pumpkins.
I love this picture of Shelby. I think it's such a cute little stance.
Payden of course didn't last long and was off on another adventure before too long.
As Tom, Shelby, and Taylor left for the car, Payden found this wagon that was meant for carrying pumpkins around. Of course being my climbing little girl, she climbed right in and sat down. Too cute! She's just sitting there like that's what it was meant for.
It was nice to go and be outside (yes we could enjoy the weather a bit). I love this time of year. It is my favorite, and I love all the things I get to do with my family.
On the way to the patch, Shelby and Taylor started holding hands. I love that they do this. They always do this when we're walking places. It's soooo sweet.
Tom and Payden joined up with them, which was sooo cute. I love this picture. I love that our girls love holding our hands and each other's hands. I hope they never stop!!
The first thing we did was stop to take pictures at these bales of hay they had setup. The sun was bright, so Shelby had a really hard time not squinting. We got a few pictures.
After about 2 of them, Payden left; apparently there were too many things to do and go see.
After the pictures, we decided to go look at the pumpkins. Shelby really seemed to contemplate this one. I wonder what she's thinking.
She liked this one. Unfortunately she wouldn't stop squinting her eyes (her eyes tend to be really sensitive to light) or making silly faces so this is the best shot we got of her.
Taylor of course had to do some silly faces for the camera. Here's #1.
Silly face #2.
Silly face #3.
Silly face #4.
Silly face #5.
Finally she went over and picked this one up and gave me a cute face. I love her belly in this one. She's getting sooo big now, but she's still got this cute toddler belly. It's fun to rub.
While Shelby and Taylor were looking at pumpkins, Payden found this picnic table, which she just had to climb. She's become quite the climber and climbs up EVERYTHING. I have to move our chairs away from the table, so she won't climb up them and get into things.
She did decide to join us for a second, but did not seem at all interested in the pumpkins.
For the most part, this is all we saw of her the whole time - her backside. She was on the move the WHOLE time. Man I couldn't believe how busy she was.
Of course, we had to try this out. The girls had fun sticking their faces through. I love this one because it shows their personalities. Shelby will look at us as asked so that we can take the picture. Taylor and Payden have to check things out first, find each other, and do whatever else their little minds come up with before they're willing to let us take their pictures.
They are too cute!!
We found this area with a whole bunch of little pumpkins (which were for field trip students). The girls loved the small ones. Taylor found this white one, which she thought was really cool.
Of course, Shelby liked it too. Who wouldn't?
Payden was interested in the small pumpkins and even picked up a few, but as you can tell, she was still on the go and didn't stop for long to look at the pumpkins.
I love this picture of Shelby. I think it's such a cute little stance.
Payden of course didn't last long and was off on another adventure before too long.
As Tom, Shelby, and Taylor left for the car, Payden found this wagon that was meant for carrying pumpkins around. Of course being my climbing little girl, she climbed right in and sat down. Too cute! She's just sitting there like that's what it was meant for.
It was nice to go and be outside (yes we could enjoy the weather a bit). I love this time of year. It is my favorite, and I love all the things I get to do with my family.
