Pumpkins

We carved our pumpkin several weeks ago, before Cole left out of town. Unfortunatly it only lasted about one week so we didn't have it for Halloween, but it was fun while it lasted.

Cole decorated these pumpkins for a competition at the school. They weren't allowed to carve them. He and Macie did all the work together and I think they turned out awesome.

Our Favorite Cookies

I've always had trouble with making cookies that aren't flat and crunchy. This recipe from my friend Marissa is amazing. They are soft and turn out perfect every time. . . hopefully they will for you too.

(I forgot to take a picture the first day I made them - these are about 3 days old)

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup Butter

(just pull it out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you start)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 - 1 cup peanut butter chips

Cream together butter and sugars.

Add remaining ingredients.

Take a small spoon full of dough and gently roll it into a ball.

Bake at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes

Don't over cook.

Makes about 3 dozen

Sick with Swine Flu

* Update: It took 5 days for their fevers to break and every moment was miserable. They are feeling much better now and Dominic only has lingering cough. Claire, Cole and I haven't gotten sick and I hope it stays that way.

I can't believe it happened . . . my kids have the swine flu. Macie and Dominic were both sick with something about a week and a half ago, but it was not nearly as bad as what Dominic and Tessa have now. Tessa got a fever Thursday morning, started throwing up and then both she and Doms had a fever and throwing up that night and it hasn't stopped since.

I have never seen my kids so miserable. Their fevers are so high and so sudden and their little bodies are wasting away, but luckily they are willing to take in fluids. I'm so sad and scared for them at times. I know they'll be fine in time, but it's so hard not to worry when you feel like you can't do enough to make them feel better. I took them to the Dr first thing this morning and she said that they definitely have H1N1 (they've got tons of other symptoms too) and gave them prescriptions (unfortunately they have probably thrown up both of their doses today). It's crazy how many people are sick with this and I feel for every one of them.

Trying to keep Claire healthy is a challenge and I hope by some miracle she won't get sick. Macie isn't sick so she can help me with her when I'm tending to the others (did I mention that Cole is out of town at a Conference on the other side of the country? He left before it all started and feels terrible he isn't here to help, but it's probably better because he has a very busy and important week coming up. I'm hoping that we'll be fortunate enough to have better health in the morning so I can get the house sanitized before Cole returns home at midnight). I've been grateful for the help of friends bringing dinner and buying Tylenol for us since we ran out!! Tessa's birthday was yesterday and it was a miserable day for her . . . just glad we were able to celebrate before the illness set in.

Ok, the kids are all asleep. I'm going to try and get some sleep now - Goodnight.

Last week when Dominic was sick I had laid Claire on the floor to get her away from the sick ones who were on the couch. I left the room to do dishes and I when I came back I found that Dominic had pulled the comforter off his bed and covered he and Claire with it. It is so hard to keep him away from her. It really will be a miracle if she doesn't get sick.

When Macie was sick last week.

Still as darling as can be with a 103 fever.

Tessa is Two!

It's Tessa's birthday today, but we celebrated a few days ago because Cole is out of town at a conference this weekend and it's a good thing because she is quite sick with a stomach flu today. She's finally becoming a fun little gal (she went through about a year of not wanting anything to do with anyone) and we all love her so much!! Since we moved away from Portland she's become a different person and we love it!

Here are some things I don't want to forget about her at this stage:

She loves when Macie reads to her and colors with her

Loves to play all the games Dominic makes up

Loves to help with Claire.

Likes to play with playdough and color

Is always talking, singing or humming and speaks incredibly well for her age.

Some of my favorite things she says are:

Awesome!

I Have an idea!

Are you kidding me?

Are you grumpy today?

Do you want to play with me mom?

After throwing a fit or crying says "I'm happy now!"

Talks in funny voices, loves to be funny, crazy and try to make us laugh.

Is getting better at not being afraid of people (except the HUGE black guy that was trying to point her in my direction at the store the other day . . . she FREAKED out)

Sings the scobby doo song over and over again while running in circles.

Learning her letters and colors

Likes to do anything the big kids do, including soccer

Wants kisses for any and every owie

Gives a running commentary on Claire's status - "she needs a bottle, she's crying, she's talking to us, she's sad" all day long

Has crazy wild hair - it's fuzzy, wavy, and thin and she absolutely hates having it in her face.

Super little for her age. She's barely over 20 lbs (hopefully).

Gives super sweet soft kisses on the cheek and still likes to cuddle.

Loves to hide from Cole when he comes in the door from work. When he finds her she squeals like it's the best thing in the world.

"My Stuffs" is a phrase that we hear a lot from her. Lately she's been getting attached to different things for a days or two and has to have her "stuffs" with her at all times. Some of these "stuffs" include piles of books, baby dolls and accessories, her purse filled with dinosaurs and cars etc. . .

She was thrilled with her gifts! She was so dang cute with the little tinkerbell cell phone she got. She would walk around the house with her hand on her hip talking on the phone saying "Hi, how are you today? (pause) Fine. (pause) Coloring. (pause) Dominic. Ok, bye" You really would have thought she was talking to someone because her pauses were all in the right place. She's such a funny little gal!

She liked the cake, was scared of the candle so Macie blew it out for her, and then she just liked eating the frosting with her fingers.

Happy 2nd Birthday Tessa!!

Two Months Old

Claire @ 2 Months:

• Smiling and cooing a lot, especially for Cole
• Doesn't have dimples
• Sleeping about 9 hours at night
• Surviving continual kisses and hugs from her siblings
• Nicknames: Claire Bear, Clairey Berry, Claire Claire, Claire Baby, Baby Claire
• 11 lbs, 11 oz (75%) 23.5 in (90%) our biggest baby yet

Time Away

After work on Friday we left the kids with a co-worker of Cole's and headed to Williamsburg for a little time together. It was so nice to not have any interruptions in conversation, no schedule to be on and to enjoy a meal without cleaning up spilled milk.

We checked into our hotel, then went to a nice dinner at Ruby Tuesday. After dinner we did a quick shopping trip to the outlets and then picked up more goodies to eat while we watched a movie.

After a nice uninterrupted nights sleep we went to Colonial Williamsburg. What a fun atmosphere, great history, and place to visit. We didn't have a lot of time so we just strolled through town and took it all in. We have our annual passes and will be visiting it many more times (hopefully taking some of you with us).

Learning about slavery on the tobacco farms

The baker said that from start to finish is took about 7 hours to bake one loaf of

bread in his mud and manure made oven.

No explanation needed.

The actors would speak in either 3rd or 1st person. I was fascinated by their costumes - different hats and some costumes represented which state they were from.

Changing of the guard at the Courthouse

Me by the woman folk who said they would prepare one meal, cook it, then clean it up and start all over again. Although I have a gas stove and oven and am not cooking over an open fire I sometimes

feel like that is what I do all day too.

Listening to the fifes and drums.

Soccer Saturdays

We are well into the soccer season out here and with both Macie and Dominic on teams we spend several consecutive hours out on the fields each Satuday Morning (what's it going to be like when we have 4+ kids playing?!!!)

Macie is on a girls team named Elephants. Her first game Cole was out of town so I coached her up as best I could with my main goal of just getting her shy little self out on the field to play and have fun. She ran fast, but didn't even touch the ball. Now that Cole has been able to go to her games she has scored 4 goals in the past 3 games. She seems to be having fun and is making a lot more contact with the ball.

Cole's been teaching her to be aggressive when they practice by having her kinda push up against him with her forearm, but she's been using that tactic in the game and it doesn't look too good having her be the only one kinda pushing the girls around so we've made a retraction on that point of advice. She's fun to watch because she smiles as she runs and is always looking over at us for approval - she likes to be a pleaser.

Dominic is on a 3 year old team - the Hares. He was quite apprehensive to start the season. He is a fast runner on the field, but he's lacking focus on where the ball is during the game. Now most of us think of 3 year old ball as "bunch ball", but Dominic apparently likes his own space as he is usually the one farthest away from the ball, not looking at it, with his arms up like he is flying - or he is distracted looking for bugs in the dirt. I guess we're glad that he's getting some experience in "team" sports, but I'm not sure if I'll waste my money on 3 year-old sports again.

(Tessa and I passing time in between games)

Kitchen & Bath Remodel

When we signed our lease back in June the manager told us that the kitchen would be remodeled within about 3 months. That was fabulous to hear, but I didn't even think much of it until I saw workers starting on the other side of the complex back in August. So a few weeks ago we got our new kitchen and bathrooms! It's beautiful and so nice to have something clean that no one else has used before! No more warped kitchen cabinets and no more gapping holes in the bathroom sinks for the kids to put their rocks down.

It only took one day which made the whole thing even better!

Before:

After:

Before:

After: