Trunk or Treat

Despite being unbelievably ill myself this week (more on that later!), I was feeling better and my Dad was with me to help with the kiddos (Stephen was traveling all week!).  After much begging, we decided to go to our church for the annual Trunk or Treat.  I didn't promise my car this year, because I knew S would be out of town, and heaven knows it would be hard to pass out candy and watch my 3.  But, we got the kiddos dressed (I'm talking, I pulled out some pseudo-Halloween costumes in all of 5 minutes) and headed over to hang out.  I couldn't believe how many people showed up- they estimated 1,750!  There were about 100 cars, plenty of costumes, and lots of fun.

Here are some pics:

The three amigos.

Could he BEE any cuter?

Parker's former little "girlfriend"- they haven't seen each other in almost a year, and he walked straight to her.  It was pretty cute, considering he just wants to tell everyone "NO!", hit them, and run away from them now.  

Raegan, the mermaid!

The cutest sisters.

Skies were getting dim as we were leaving.  The line was still wrapped around the church!

Fall break

Well, friends, my fall break has come to an end.  Back to the wind and grind tomorrow.  It was a good break in that I didn't have to work (!!!) but it was a bad break in that our house was completely infested with germs, viruses, and sickness.  Did I mention I love the fall??  I really do, just not the sicknesses that come with it!  Stephen was gone Monday-Thursday so it was just me.

I'll break the break down:

Saturday:

I had my Saturday class all morning, and when I got home, Stephen and the kiddos were playing outside.  It was a beautiful day!

Hanging some Halloween decorations by the door.  Stephen got a scary looking... thing?... on clearance last fall.  The kids loved it.

The rest of the day we just hung out.  It was so nice to have one of those kind of days!

Sunday:

We went to church this morning, and when we got home, we ate some lunch and then headed out to Six Flags.  We all crashed hard that night!

Monday:

I took all three kiddos to daycare.  I went room-by-room and decluttered, donated, cleaned, washed, reorganized, etc.  I timed it, and spent about 1 hour, 15 minutes per room.  I only managed to do the upstairs and one room downstairs when daycare called me and said Parker was sick. :(  So, off I went, picking up my puny fellow and his silly sisters, and made it home.  (but not before Parker threw up all in the car)   Poor guy.  He threw up all night.  (the stomach bug has been rampant at his daycare lately)  I slept on the floor by him and, needless to say, neither one of us slept much.  

Parker's favorite toys.  ;)

My organizing got real.  There are Christmas presents wrapped!

Tuesday:

My sweet mom came down Tuesday morning to watch Parker.  I had a hair appointment scheduled, and didn't think Parker would last in his stroller the 2+ hours at the salon.  Mom said Parker's sense of humor started to reappear.  We went to lunch after the appointment, and Parker and I hung out the rest of the afternoon, while the girls were at school.  (Sydney was on fall break this week, too, but went to daycare for a few hours each day).  Tuesday evening, Parker turned a major corner and was acting completely normal!  

Feeling better!

Wednesday:

Wednesday, I had a dentist appointment, and did a lot of running errands.  As good as Parker was feeling Tuesday evening and this morning/afternoon, he got sick again before going to bed.  He threw up everywhere and had a fever.  (let's just say I've washed more sheets this week than I have in probably all of 2014).  It was another sleepless night for both of us.  When he got sick on his bed, I moved his mattress to the floor of my room- he got sick there, so I moved him to my bed and he got sick there.  We ended up both sleeping on the floor.  

He just wanted me to hold him!  (and I didn't mind :)  I read a whole book- Gone Girl- in the couple of days while he was sick.

Thursday:

Sydney and Parker had their 6 and 2 year check ups, respectively, this morning.  I took Taylor to daycare so I could focus more on the other two.  Parker was feeling better but I was glad the doctor could check him out.  I had just assumed he still had the stomach bug.  She said his throat looked red, but it didn't look like strep.  Parker is growing well, with his height and weight in the 70th percentile.  (though I'm sure his weight would normally be more, if he hadn't thrown up so much this week! ;)  Sydney is also around the 60-70th percentile and looks very healthy, thank goodness.  We grabbed lunch at Chick Fil A before returning Sydney to daycare to play for a few hours.  Parker and I hung out, got him a haircut, went for a walk, and enjoyed our time together!  And, Stephen came home this evening, so I had an uninterrupted night's sleep!

Friday:

Parker still had a fever, and I had found out that 4 kids in his class had strep.  I decided to take Parker back to the doctor to get him checked out.  She did a strep test, and yep- it was positive.  Poor buddy.  Stomach bug and strep in a few days' time.  When we got home, Stephen told me to go to whatever I wanted, since Parker had been so sick and I didn't have a lot of free time.  He was so sweet.  He watched Parker for me for a few hours while I ran out, did stuff on my to-do list, and even walked for about an hour just to read my book more (I couldn't put the book down!!  Though I was disappointed in the ending...). :)  That night, we made breakfast for dinner.  Taylor woke up crying that night while she was sleeping, and she was on fire.  I took her temp and yep, she had a fever!  Her tonsils were almost swollen together as one.  Arrgh!

Being silly at the doc!

Saturday:

Stephen took Taylor first thing in the morning to the doctor- they have Saturday hours- and yep, she has strep.  I stayed home with S and P. and sterilized all the toys, doorknobs, counter tops, etc. in their rooms.  Parker was no longer considered contagious after about noon that day, so I wouldn't let him touch his toys before then. ;)  I put all of Taylor's up high so she couldn't get them until tomorrow!  That afternoon, I took S and P to our neighbor's 3rd birthday party.  They had a bouncy house, games, a pinata, and more.  Taylor was SO sad that she couldn't go, but our sweet neighbor walked over two cupcakes for her, and promised she could bounce on Sunday when she's better.  That night was Six Flags for me and Stephen, and we had a sweet girl from daycare come babysit.  The kids love her! 

Random sweet moment!

And again!  I couldn't take enough pics!

Parker and Taylor with "Miss Kuskrina" (Kristina)

Sunday:

I stayed home from church with Taylor and worked on lesson plans, power points, etc. for this upcoming week.  Oh, boy!  Back to work I go!  How many days until Thanksgiving break?...

We have small group tonight, the girls are currently bouncing next door at the bouncy house, and we'll be settling in for the work week.  It'll be a fun week, with both me and Sydney having Red Ribbon (dress-up) week and Halloween on Friday!

Six Flags

So... I haven't been to Six Flags since I was in high school, over 15 years ago.  Ironically, I've now been twice in the past week!

Stephen found this crazy deal where you can get a season pass to Six Flags and they charge you $4.19 a month, per pass.  Well, if you visited Six Flags before 11/2, you automatically upgrade your pass to a Gold pass, which includes free parking and a season pass to White Water, with free parking as well.  What what??  So, for about $50 a year per person, we can go as many times to Six Flags and White Water.  We went to White Water this past year, and it was $30 per person just to go once, plus $15 parking.  

Last Sunday, we took the kiddos to Six Flags to upgrade our passes.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, because, again, it's been quite a while since I've been.  There were lots of new rides and the place was decked out in Halloween gear.  Luckily, there was a ton of stuff for kids.  There was Bugs Bunny world with little rides, the Mine Train, another little roller coaster, Merry Go Round, bumper cars, games, and more.  Sydney hated the Mine Train, but loved the second roller coaster she went on.  Taylor didn't do the Mine Train but hated the roller coaster that Sydney loved.  Those were their first roller coasters they've been on!

We ended up staying until about 6:30.  We grabbed a bite to eat on the way home and (gasp) had to skip baths because the kids all crashed in the car.  (and that gasp is real, if you know how germophobic I am).  

Then, this past Saturday night, I arranged a babysitter and surprised Stephen with a little date night.  I was trying to think of something fun and different that he would enjoy.  Stephen LOVES scary stuff- movies, haunted houses, etc.  So, I thought we could go back to Six Flags, since, hey- it's practically free, right?  We went to Fright Fest and did some of the scary things there.  The lines were crazy so we only got to do a few things before leaving at 10:30 PM.  But, it was fun!  There are all these creepy, dressed up people that walk around, don't say a word, and just try to scare you.  

Six Flags has a Christmas wonderland coming this winter, so we'll be sure to check that out!  It's pretty cool- Six Flags is not some place I would've thought much about, but with this deal, you really can't beat it.

Here are some pics!

Sunday, with the kiddos:

Saturday, with Stephen:

Fall pics

Taylor and Parker had their fall pictures taken at daycare a couple of weeks ago.  Here are the screen-shot copies of some of them.  It was weird not having Sydney in them!!

Parker @ 2:

Taylor @ 3.75:

Thing 2 and Thing 3:

TV Stars

Here is the little news clip they did on getting your flu shot, with me and my niece, Kerrigan, on it towards the end.  This makes me laugh!

Check it out!

Tired

I.  am.  tired.

And I know why.

This is the longest stretch of weeks in a row that I've ever had to teach in my ten years of teaching.  Every year, we seem to be the first district to report back (around the 20-something of July) but we get the benefit of having a full week of fall break.  This break has always been the first week of October.  This year, they bumped it back 2 weeks.  After this break (which was 12 weeks in the making), we get weeks off every 6-7 weeks.  So, I'm not used to this!  (I can hear my non-teacher friends saying- waah, wahh, poor thing doesn't get a break).  But... trust me... it is NEEDED!

Ok, next.  I am getting old.  I have had back pain for 5 months now, and I finally got it checked out.  Luckily it's nothing terrible, but I do have degenerated discs and compressed vertebrae.  I've been on 3 different types of medications (steroids/anti-histamines/pain killers + antibiotics for a sinus infection) for 2 weeks.  And ohhhh the side effects.  The steroids blew me up.  I couldn't button my pants.  It was terrible.  I was retaining so much water, I felt like I was pregnant!  The anti-histamines upset my stomach.  Together, I was just feeling bleh.  And tired.  Luckily, my back is feeling much better now.  But I'm still tired.

My students this year are a big challenge.  It is exhausting to teach and manage behavior.  Plus have the energy to do the other 1,000 things we have to do on a daily basis as teachers.

I'm taking a 4-hour Saturday class for an endorsement onto my certificate.  It's only 2 Saturdays a month, but there is also required homework.  It lasts until March.  My weekend time is really precious now.

Then, there's caring for, entertaining, and working with the kiddos.  I have literally fallen asleep on Sydney's bed as she's reading an AR book to me.  Isn't that terrible?

I know this will pass.  I am looking forward so much to next week, just sleeping in a bit and getting things accomplished.  And, most of all, not having to work. :)

I'll leave you with recent pictures.  Good night!

Visiting Sydney for lunch!

Sick day with Taylor.  Poor thing.  

Feeling better, we walked at the park.  She got to see her classmates!