We Can't Catch A Break

No joke. I had something that sure felt like food poisoning ALL. DAY. YESTERDAY.

Bronwyn came down with our stomach bug on Monday night and then randomly yesterday morning

started screaming that her ear hurt SO. BAD.  Luckily I had begged Reed to stay home so he took her

to the doctor and turns out she had an ear infection so she gets medicine.

Mirren's bout of the stomach bug turned out to just be a combination of molars and not wanting to eat

so her stomach was hurting because she was hungry. I think.

I am so praying we get a break from being sick long enough to clean and sanitize this whole house, so as to

keep any other illnesses from getting in!

The Stomach Plague

The stomach plague struck our house 6 days ago. 

I finished my bout only yesterday, 

Reed's finished today, 

Aftyn's started only 2 days ago 

 if she's lucky

she'll be done tomorrow 

and well

Mirren's just started tonight. 

There is no rhyme or reason to this plague. 

It levels everyone it comes in contact with.

You've been warned.

Beware.

Merry Christmas

Ya filthy animals

Basketball

       Bronwyn's Team: The Blazers.  She had very nice, very dedicated coaches. They were
        a husband wife team and had both played basketball in college. Bronwyn learned a lot from them!
       We learned she dribbles better with her left hand then her right, even though
          she is right handed. Isn't that quirky! Ha ha!!

                                  Look at those red cheeks. That girl was running hard in her game!

         This is Aftyn completely caught up in her game. Her coach taught the kids to clap to let the player                   with the ball know they were open.

                                   Her team was The Magic. I couldn't get the whole team
                                                           into one picture. Ha ha!!

Mirren's Real 3 Year Old Birthday

 The best parts of Mirren's birthday: Waffles, sausages and scrambled eggs for dinner. (Her choice)
  It was still warm enough outside that I encouraged the girls to go outside and play on the new patio
while I made dinner (and decorated for her party that she didn't know anything about. Also I
decorated and made her cake without her knowing. She loved all the surprises!!) We actually
celebrated a day early since the next day we would be at Grandma and Grandpa Bishop's house
for our once a month dinner with his family.

                                              The balloons were a hit! They are kind of Mirren's thing. :)

                                           This was Lochlan's reaction to the balloons. Ha ha!!

        Mirren got such fun presents. Her favorites are probably the things I picked

        up at the DI, so I think I've learned my lesson. Always check the DI

        for newer toys before purchasing full price ones. I think I spent $3 and would

       have easily spent 7 times that amount for those 2 toys. A singing tea pot

        and a Minnie Mouse cell phone that both had TONS of battery life in them!

      Where did 3 years go? Mirren, in true Mirren fashion, is taking her sweet time
       growing up and is such a sweet girl.

      She cares about everyone, but also likes to have fun and will

      carelessly hurt you in the name of fun at any moment. Ha ha!!

       She gives the best hugs, but could break your ribs if she loves you enough.

      She has so many talents, but she loves to sing. She has an amazing

      memory and as her personality continues to truly emerge, I am

      thrilled and touched by her sweetness and goodness. She is just as

       sensitive and tender as a rose, so her middle name suits her well.

      We love love love our Mirren girl. What a fun and happy change she has

                                      made in our family!!

8 Years in the Making

                                               Waiting for the cement truck. . . .

                                              Here's the before:

                                           This was yesterday, only 12+ hours old
                                            with lots of little cement blobs
                                                needing to be taken off

                                             Today, 2 days after the initial pour.
                                               Notice how much lighter it is!

                                                     The transition point between slabs

                                          The box I built to put around the faucet for easy access.

The box has a lip on it so that when he pulls it out next week, there will be an inset for a grate to rest on.
I'm so pleased! This whole job came out SO awesome! I was worried that maybe it couldn't look like a professional job, even though Reed has had lots of experience working with concrete. He did GREAT! And Brian and I were pretty awesome helpers. :)

Birthdays and Glasses

Mirren's 3rd birthday is coming up in just a couple of weeks.
I can't believe how old she is! 
She is still our sweet hearted girl who loves to play with her big sisters and little brother and the cats.
I love her smile.
It lights up her face.

Yesterday, something happened that aged her. Let me show you with pictures what I mean.

Yup. My little 2 year old almost 3 year old got glasses. And now she looks like she should be in kindergarten. But at least she can see. And my little Mommy heart is just a little broken that my little Mirren looks so much older, and that she will be different now than other 3 year olds. And I think this is a totally normal thing to mourn. But really, she can see! As you can tell, I'm trying to focus on that. I'm happy for her that she can see better. Her glasses are a lot stronger than Aftyn's, and she keeps exclaiming over the things she can see. A lot of them are surprising, things I just took for granted that of course she could see, but I think I was wrong. She has been spending a lot more time just looking around at things since she got them. It's kind of comical.

Sunrise, Sunset

                  

I love sunrises in October.

Here's a picture of a harvest moon I caught a few weeks ago. 

This picture doesn't show any of the orangeness the moon had. 

It was beautiful.