3am

Yep, it's 3am. 3:00 in the morning. That can only mean one thing. Sickness has come to our house. I am sick. Emily and Abby are sick and getting worse by the minute. Thankfully Geoff and Sophie have been spared so far. To say that I'm scared would be the understatement of the century. I am so worried about Abby and how things are going to go with her. I have been praying and praying that her airway stays open enough for her to get the amount of air that she needs. She is watching Rio and drinking ice water and laying on her favorite fluffy pillow as I type. Please say a little prayer for her!

Sunday

We have a tradition on Sundays. We never miss it. Ever. Every single Sunday, we pop popcorn. Lately, we've been watching a movie, too. Tonight we watched Rio. I remember doing this when I was a little girl, too. In fact, my parents still have popcorn every Sunday night. And it can't be the cheater microwave popcorn! It's gotta be the real stuff with real butter!
Now, if only Geoff could join us. He's at work. But don't worry, I sent the cheater stuff with him so he can kind of join in on the tradition.

Saturday

I totally stacked off on Friday. Shame on me! I was having a hard time coming up with a picture for that day since we really didn't do much. Friday is our "recovery day." We have so much going on during the week and when Friday rolls around we just lounge around and don't accomplish much. I think Friday's are quickly becoming one of my favorite days! I will admit that I am liking having something to do each day. We aren't crazy busy, but we have enough to do to keep us on a good schedule. If we had more lazy days, then I think I'd go crazy! So, on to Saturday. Since Geoff didn't have to go in for work til the evening, we decided to head over to the Teddy Bear Clinic at the hospital. They do it once a year for kids. Kids can bring their favorite stuffed animal and the nurses do a check-up, height and weight, give shots, stitches, x-rays, casts, brush teeth....all sorts of stuff. Emily had a good time...except for when she ran into the man dressed as an elephant. She isn't a huge fan of costumes...and that totally freaked her out. And let's just say that she wasn't quiet about her feelings. Everyone in the building could hear her screaming. It was pretty embarassing! She got over it eventually and we were able to enjoy ourselves. I love this idea! I think it is so important for kids to see that the hospital isn't a scary place and that the nurses are so nice! We also enjoyed getting to see some of Abby's nurses in a friendlier setting. Abby wasn't thrilled to be there around all the stethoscopes, though.

This is our very favorite nurse that took care of Abby. She still remembers us and gives Emily big hugs everytime we see her. She tries to give Abby hugs...but she's not interested yet. We just love her! I always felt better when she was there taking care of my sweet baby.

Can you see the cast on Abby's kitty's tail. Pretty funny!
Emily got to prep her elephant for surgery and put him to sleep.

They also checked his blood pressure and heart rate.

It was a fun activity and I'm so glad we went. We are trying really hard to do more things like this instead of just sitting at home being bored.

After the hospital, we headed over to my parents house to celebrate my dad's birthday. One of my brother's and his family came down to celebrate with us. This picture is of Emily, Grandpa, and her cousin, Olivia.

It turned out to be a fun day and the kids were exhausted when we got home. I love that!! It means that I get to put them to bed extra early!!!

Thursday

I have the hardest time picking just one "picture of the day"!!! Once I get started taking pictures, I can't stop. (Much to the dismay of my family...except Emily, of course.) Geoff built Emily a gigantic fort. It took up the majority of the living room. Emily and Abby were thrilled with it and spent most of the afternoon in it.
We tried a new recipe for homemade pizza tonight and it turned out divine! It's going to be our new favorite pizza recipe for sure! I was pretty proud of myself for making the dough and sauce from scratch! We are excited to try out some different combinations.
(BTW, both recipes are from Our Best Bites)

This was one of my accomplishments today. I finally got all of the girls hair stuff (or crap, as Geoff would say) all organized. Well, I got the majority of it organized. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with all the headbands. I had plans to make a super cute holder, but I just don't have time for super cute projects right now. I'm pretty pleased with it, though. I like that I can see everything! And, I like that there's extra space for more stuff! (I'd better go shopping!)

And last but not least, sweet Sophie has started putting herself to sleep!! WAHOO!!!! We just layer her on her blanket and she kicks around for a bit and then passes out! We just have to swaddle her up and lay her in bed and she'll sleep until 5:30 or 6....sometimes 7! Isn't she THE BEST baby ever?!?!????

Picture of the Day and Stuff that made me happy today.....

In no particular order, here is what made me happy today:

The bestest friends...I sure hope you know who you are!

Grandparents

Sunny skies, but that fallish chill in the air.

This article about motherhood.

Getting to hang out with my sweet niece, Kelsey,

and my older brother, Mike.
This super yummalious place! Bring on the shredded pork salad! Oh yeah!



That the girls went to bed extra early and without any drama.

This beautiful quote:

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God come in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of--throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were gong to be made into a decent little cottage, but He is building a palace."

--C.S. Lewis


And now for my picture(s) of the day:
Geoff was finally able to talk Emily into getting her hair cut! She was super excited! I think it turned out so dang cute!! But, it sure makes she look big...and that makes me a little sad. She loves it, though, and that's all that matters. Her favorite thing about it is how bouncy it is....especially when she jumps on the tramp at gymnastics! (I think she also enjoys all the compliments, too!) Thanks Chris!! You're the best!

Picture of the Day

Awhile ago one of my cousins started posting a picture a day on her blog. I love this idea! I have a really hard time actually finding time to scrapbook and even write about our daily activities. So, hopefully this will help me keep up on things!!

Friday:

I can't even tell you how excited I am about this picture! Abby absolutely HATES getting her picture taken, so we have very few good ones of her. This isn't the best picture, but I love it! I love her sweet smile! This was taken right after nap time...maybe that's why she was so smiley!

Saturday:

We went to the Blackfoot Fair. The girls had such a good time....for the first 10 minutes. It went downhill pretty fast after that! I wish I would've taken a picture of each one of them bawling their eyes out!! We swore to never EVER take kids to the fair again!! I'm sure we'll feel guilty next year and take them. I love the first pciture of Abby! She's making sure it's okay to pet the goats. Sophie is as sweet as ever in the second one. And Emily is milking a pretend cow in the third one.

Sunday:

This one was taken during the crazy thunderstorm we had that day. This picture is shocking for two reasons.....one, the girls are acutally getting along....and two, they didn't freak out at the thunder! We have really been working with Emily and her fears. (Which are many!)

Monday:

This one describes how our day was!! Exhausting! Mondays are definately going to be our craziest day of the week! We babysit all day, get Geoff off to work, then rush to gymnastics, and it's home for dinner and bedtime stuf....which I have to do all alone. (I'm starting to get the hang of it, though)

Tuesday:

This makes me smile. Emily has been working so hard at learning how to write her name. We still need to work on the proper way to write some of her letters, but I think she's doing great for a 4 year old! I love her signature! I know it will change soon since she's in preschool. And her cute face is the very best!

I remember...

Emotions have been very close to the surface all day today. September 11, 2001 will be one of those days that will be etched in my mind forever. I was getting ready for work at Inkley's. I always watched the Today Show while I got ready. When I turned it, on the first plane had just hit the World Trade Center and nobody knew what was going on. I remember feeling instant fear, that something just wasn't right. I knew that this wasn't going to be an average day. As I continued getting ready and watching things unfold, my heart sank further and further. I headed into work and we all watched TV the rest of the day. Still trying to understand and soak it all in.

And now tonight, as I have watched interviews and videos of that day, I had my three beautiful daughters each by my side, I couldn't keep the tears inside. I have to admit that I fear for my girls and what things they will have to face in the future. I wish I could just keep them by my side and under my wing forever. However, I am so thankful that they were born into this amazing country! I love this country! I am thankful for our freedoms!