When will it end?

Uggggh!

Just as Chloe recovered from strep I got it.

Yesterday I started feeling better.

Tonight at soccer Chloe told me her throat and ear hurt.
(And I totally didn't believe her. I thought she just didn't wanna practice. So now I feel like an asshole)

We got home and her fever is 102+. :(
Her little face is red.
Poor kiddo.

She cried when I told her she has to miss school tomorrow.
Looks like we will be having a movie and rest day tomorrow.

It's weird, the words people search that bring them here.

I am bored today.
There are about 3.65 million other things I could do but I chose to log in to my statcounter instead.

It's funny, the words people search that bring them to my page.
Like:
"moms annoy me"
and
"paula deen pancakes"

I haven't ever even posted about Paula Deen's Pancakes.
And yeah, plenty of moms annoy me but I don't think I've put that anywhere in my blog. haha.

Also, there are lots of you who visit my page. I love that people are reading the fascinating things I have to say. It makes me feel slightly less crazy. Slightly.

Jump Rope, Bday, BB

I keep forgetting to post this...
Last week Chloe's school had the jump rope contest to conclude Jump Rope for Heart.
Chloe practiced *everyday*, sometimes even for hours. When she started out, the most she could do without tripping on the rope was 8. By the end of the week she was doing 55+. I love her determination.
She ended up winning 1st place in the Jump Rope Contest. She was sooo excited. Way to go Chloe!
And thanks to those of you who contributed to our Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser. We will be turning the money in tomorrow and she will be getting a few really cool prizes.


Also, Tuesday was Kaleb's 4th Birthday!
In some ways I can't believe it has been 4 years since Stef and Justin called us as they were trying to make it to Garland from Mt. Pleasant. They didn't make it past Greenville so Kaleb was born there.
And in other ways, it just seems like Kaleb has always been here. He is such a blessing and really an amazing child.
His party isn't for a few more days but we bought a little cake for him to have on Tuesday. We just gave all 3 kiddos a fork and let them dig in.





Big Brother sucked last night. I didn't want Alex to go home. Boo Hoo Hoo.

Teacher Conference

This morning was my teacher conference with Chloe's teacher.

Can I just say that I am so proud of my daughter?

**Lots of bragging ahead. hehe.

The first thing she asked me was if I had considered the Gifted and Talented Program for Chloe. (I highly doubt we will go this route. I am not a big fan of programs like this. UNLESS Chloe doesn't feel she is being challenged in school...in that case we will look into it.) It was nice to hear that she thought of her for this program.

I asked her if Chloe's reading is where it needs to be for 1st grade. She told me, "Chloe's reading was where it needed to be for first grade when she started Kindergarten." She said that yesterday she had Chloe read "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" to the class while they acted it out and she said Chloe didn't struggle with reading it at all. Yay!

A little back story...
Chloe could have started K last year. Her bday is 2 weeks before the cutoff so she is a little older than some of the kids in her class (though not the oldest and only older than some by 2-3 weeks). It is a decision I struggled with and went back and forth on. In the end I made the decision to start her "late". I have been very content with my decision and if I had to go back and do it again, I wouldn't change a thing.

She said that Chloe is so eager to learn and that she has done an amazing job in Kindergarten.

Before I left she told me "You are doing an amazing job with Chloe. Keep doing what you are doing." I don't think I have stopped smiling since then.

I am so proud of my little girl.

I Hate Strep Chapter 2

That's right. I have it now. :(
Koby too. UGH! I can't wait for this sickie season to end!

Friday was an awful day. Just lots of little things going on.
But it ended great. After school Chloe, Koby and I met Rena, McKinlee and Tanner at Bahama Bucks. And let me tell you, the Forbidden Fruit was fabulous! Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm.
Later, Hector took Chloe and McKinlee to the movies and Rena and I headed out for a much needed night out with some of our friends.

Saturday Chloe had her soccer game. Her team won 15-2! Woo Hoo! Chloe played hard but held back a little. I think she needs a little time to get back into the swing of it all but she did great! :)
Saturday afternoon we had a birthday party for one of her classmates. It was fun!
And we got to go over and have a nice visit with Grandma and Bop Bop!
But by Sat night my throat was really starting to hurt. Koby had been diagnosed with strep earlier in the day and I figured that was what I was coming down with.

Sunday morning I woke up miserable.
Thanks so much to my fabulous mom, Chloe didn't have to miss a birthday party she was really looking forward to going to. What a great Nana to take her!
And luckily my dad was around to take me to the Dr. And wow...CareNow isn't cheap!!! Sheesh!
They confirmed that I do have strep. Ugh. It's awful.
We'll have to miss a Birthday party tomorrow. :(

Sorry to be such a whiner today. Hopefully we will be past all of the illnesses soon!

Presidents, Tv, Stuff

So Grandpa went home from the hospital on Monday! Yay! They said that the infection was responding to the antibiotics. But he still isn't feeling good. :(

Not too much exciting going on.
Chloe and Koby are learning about the Presidents this week in school.
Chloe came home the other day and told me tons of stuff about Abraham Lincoln. She knew that he was the 16th President, that he was shot in a theater, that he was a lawyer (and that he kept letters in his hat), that his wife's name was Mary, that he ended slavery and that he was born in a log cabin.
Friday they will learn about George Washington.
(Fri is G.Washington's birthay)
She is pretty fascinated with all of it.

Yesterday she and Koby found a slug in the backyard and called it Abra-snail Lincoln. They were cracking up at their witty little selves.
Then Justin showed them how to kill Abra-snail Lincoln with salt.
And I won't even share with you their evil little plan to capture birds. Because it's just plain disturbing.

Yesterday Chloe got one of these cute little Ty 2.0 beenie babies. You can play games online. I think I am having more fun with the games than she is. It's cheaper than a Webkinz and pretty darn cute. I Chloe still wants to get a Webkinz, though.

Have you been watching Big Brother?
If you have never watched it before, don't start now. You'll be totally lost and ask obnoxious questions like "Wait, WHO already knew each other?" or "What is a POV and HOH?" or "HOW is Alex so damn hot?" Okay, so maybe I was the one asking the last one.
I have watched all but the first 2 (or maybe 3?) seasons.
It's addicting and dramatic and stupid. I love it.
I was flipping between this and American Idol last night. While also going outside several times to try to catch a glimpse of the lunar eclipse (that was being totally hidden behind clouds) and dancing with Chloe to her Greg and Steve CD.
Anyhow, I am glad Jen and Parker got evicted. She was reaaaaaly starting to get on my nerves. And Parker was just too much for me. I was super excited that Chelsia (it feels weird typing that) and James got HOH. I adore James. (And besides, have you HEARD about his "inches"??? I'm just sayin') I am hoping to see Shelia and Adam go, but I am thinking they will be around for a while. They are weak players (so far). I would love to see Amanda go but I'm not done drooling over Alex just yet.
And American Idol...
I thought the guys did way better than the girls this week. I have no idea who will go home but I hope the guy in the skinny jeans who looks like Jessica Alba (per Linz) goes. He's a bitch.

K, enough tv talk.
Chloe has a soccer game this weekend! Yay! And there is only a 10% chance of rain so it looks like we'll be good to go!
She said she was a little nauseaus this morning and her temp was 99. Hopefully she is feeling better now though.

AND I am getting a night out tomorrow night. OH how I need it!

Have a Happy George Washington's Birthday Day tomorrow. Because I love you that much.

No Soccer, Sick Gpa & an Anniversary Party

Well, as I suspected, Chloe's soccer game was rained out.
I wasn't too upset because we both stayed up late the night before and we were really tired Sat morning.

Grandpa went into the hospital this weekend with complications from pneumonia. :( After visiting with Gpa for a little bit, I met up with Hector and Chloe to try to find something to wear to my other grandparents' 50th Anniversary Party.
Heh. I tried on about 1,493 different outfits before giving up and deciding to wear something that was hanging in my closet. It was pouring rain and Grandpa was on my mind and I just wasn't in the mood for trying on more clothes. We did get Chloe a really pretty dress, though. She looked beautiful!
I wasn't looking forward to going to the party, knowing my Grandpa was sick in the hospital. I didn't feel like celebrating. But I am glad I went. Dad did a great job of getting things ready and his slideshow and toast were perfect.

Here are a few pics from the party.



Chloe with her cousin Ashley.



Chloe and Koby having cake!



Clyde and Dolores.



Chloe pouting about something. hehe



And dancing with PawPaw.




Sunday we went to visit Grandpa in the hospital again. He said he was feeling a little better than the day before. :) Please send him prayers and good thoughts.

And Chloe and I have been so excited that the new season of Big Brother started! It's ridiculously fabulous!

I'm not a crafty mom

AT ALL.
But occasionally I try.
For Chloe's school Valentine's Day party she wanted to make these cute Strawberry Mice.
We couldn't find "mini chocolate chips" or "black icing" so we used regular sized chocolate chips and white icing. But they turned out pretty cute.





Chloe said the kids in her class really liked them. :)

She said her class party (parents weren't invited to this one) was fun and she had TONS of valentines and goodies.
When she got home she got the "Eloise Springtime" DVD from Nana and Pawpaw. And these roses from her daddy. He was nice enough to send me roses too. :) Thanks Hec.



Grandpa and Grandma came by with lots of goodies and books.

She's rotten.

Koby was loving all of the candy.



And here is what I got from Chloe.
She had told me that her teacher's MIL came in one day to help them make surprises for the parents. She said it was a secret and I could have it on Valentine's Day.
It was this adorable pink painted heart box. I love it! :)



There were 2 chocolates inside. One for mommy and one for daddy. (Hec, you have to act surprised when you see it! ;) )



And she made this for me a few days ago.



(Happy Valentines Day 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10200 <-- that's how much I love you)

She's so sweet!

Tomorrow is supposed to be our first soccer game. And we found out today at lunch that a few girls from her school are on the team she will be playing. BUT this is all if the game doesn't get rained out.
Have a fabulous weekend!

It's Almost Valentines Day - Woo flippin Hoo

Yay! Chloe is feeling much better!
But now I'm not feeling well. :(
I don't think I have strep though. We've been spending LOTS of time outside in the beautiful weather and I think my allergies are just being obnoxious.

This past weekend we celebrated my Grandpa's 69th Birthday.
There were 12 of us here and we sat together and watched a DVD Slideshow of the last 69 years that Dad made. We were all crying happy tears, watching all of the incredible memories and thinking about how much one single person can impact each of our lives. An incredible, warm, fuzzy feeling.



I have to share this pic of Chloe. The sun was in her face and she wasn't feeling well but she picked out her outfit and I thought she looked so cute. She has such a fun sense of style.



Kaleb's been writing some more. Only with sidewalk chalk. And only the fat kind.
But check this out:



So tomorrow is Valentines Day. One of my least favorite holidays. Not beacuse I don't have a Valentine, but just because I think it's a cheesy holiday. But what else is Hallmark supposed to do between Christmas and Easter? ;)
So Chloe will have her class Valentines party. We are going to make some treats and she has valentines and suckers ready to hand out. She even bought a few of the Val-o-grams that her school sells for a few friends and her teacher. (So I went one day and bought one for her. Shhh...she's gonna be surprised!)

We have our first soccer game of the season on Saturday. I can't flippin wait!!! And we have my paternal grandparents 50th Anniversary party on Saturday. It'll be a busy few days.

I Hate Strep.

Poor Chloe.

At about 1:30 the school called and told me Chloe was in the clinic with a 101.2 fever. :(
I could tell at lunch that she really wasn't feeling well but I didn't know she would spike a fever. Poor baby.
She didn't even tell the teacher she was feeling bad. The teacher noticed on her own and sent her.
Anyway, we headed straight to the Dr and got a positive strep test. She is MISERABLE. My poor punkin.

And have I ever mentioned that I fricking hate the people who work in the Target Pharmacy????????????????????????????? Because I do. Very much.
Don't have a nasty attitude when I am standing there with my sick baby! The manager will be hearing from me very soon. Grrrrrr.

So, that cancelled my plans for tonight. And her soccer practice tomorrow. Hopefully these antibiotics will kick in soon and she will feel better fast.

It's the most helpless feeling when your child is sick. I wish I could take the sickness from her. :(

Yay! It's Friday!!

Woo Hoo! Chloe had her first soccer practice of the season last night!
She is on a team with 7 other girls. This is her first time to play on an all girls team and she is a little bummed that she won't get to play against any boy teams. She said, "It would be more fair if the girl teams could play the boy teams." hehe
She had a TON of fun at practice last night. And she did GREAT! She even scored her teams goal in the mini game they played. When we got home she said that she wished she had soccer practice every night. She has 3 more practices before her first game next weekend.
I am so happy that she is back into a sport. And one she is so good at. I love being a "soccer mom" and I always feel so proud watching her play. She is so determined and focused and she gives it her all. Some of the other girls were goofing off at practice and on the way home she said, "I hope those other girls are going to chill out because we are supposed to be playing soccer." LOL.

We have a busy weekend planned, as usual. I am supposed to go to a GNO/baby shower tonight. When I had lunch with Chloe she said her throat hurt and she had even written me a letter that said, "I don't fell good". :( But hopefully she will be better after school and I can still go. Cross your fingers for me!!
Tomorrow morning we have another soccer practice.
And Sunday we are supposed to meet some friends at the park (again, depends on how she is feeling) and then we will have Grandpa's birthday party. He is turning 69 years old on Tuesday.

Did you know that this week is Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week?
Congenital Heart Disease is considered to be the most common birth defect, and is a leading cause of birth-defect related deaths worldwide, affecting approx. 40,000 babies each year in the US alone.
Visit this link for more information. http://tchin.org/aware/index.htm

Have a fabulous weekend!!

Rain Rain Go Away

The weather was so gorgeous for a few days!
I was loving that the kids could play out back.

Then yesterday the thunderstorms rolled in, accompanied by grape sized hail and lots of rain!
Last night was supposed to be Chloe's first soccer practice with her new team and she was soooo excited!
The rain had stopped in the late afternoon but as we pulled up for practice, it had just started up again! And the wind earlier in the day brought in some cooler temperatures. So, practice was cancelled. Bummer.

This was all after I realized one of Chloe's shin guards was missing and we made a mad dash for Target to get a new pair. (And we stopped by the movie section to pick up a copy of Snow Buddies. Cute movie!)

So we went and had dinner at Subway instead and played "I spy" while we ate. :)

This morning we woke up to a COLD house! I was hoping the nice weather would hold out longer than that! Oh well.

So we have another soccer practice this week. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't rain on us!

Also, I need to brag on Kaleb!
Remember when Chloe and Koby got the award at the beginning of the school year for being outstanding students? Well, Kaleb got one this six weeks!
I could gush about him all day. He is one of the most amazing people I know. And just 3 (almost 4) years old. He is smart, sweet, silly, loving, curious, fun, beautiful and so much more. He can't tell us (yet) how much he loves us. And he sometimes has a hard time verbally communicating his feelings. But we can feel his love in his kisses and smiles. He has made so much progress. I learn so much from him and I am always amazed by the things he does.
Kaleb is fascinated by letters. Right now as I type he has bath tub foamy letter and he is spelling words out. He does this often so we knew that he knew how to spell words.
But Monday afternoon I had Chloe, Koby and Kaleb out in the backyard. Kaleb found some sidewalk chalk and walked over to the fence and WROTE "Cat". I was in shock. We had no idea he could WRITE words! I grabbed my camera to snap a pic. And when I turned around he had written "Rocket". Then "pig" "cow" "duck" "Kaleb" "man".
Wow. I got pics of all of it, I just haven't uploaded them yet. I was amazed.
Later I tried giving him a pencil and some paper to write but he wasn't interested and got frustrated with holding the pencil. I think because the chalk was big and bulky it was easier for him to hold.
Anyway, I am one proud anut. I always am. My nephews are fabulous little people. Thanks for letting me gush!

And I should add that I am super proud of Chloe and Koby. They are so patient, loving, gentle and understanding with Kaleb. They adore him. And he adores them.

A fun, busy weekend!

Chloe and I had such a fun, busy weekend!
It flew by.

Friday after school mom and I set up a tea party for the kids.



Kaleb looooves to have a tea party but he was sleeping when I took pics. It's so cute. He will yell "Tea-licious" while he sips his tea.

Chloe loves tea parties too...



And so does Koby but I don't think he would admit it. He kept hiding his face...I don't think he wanted there to be any photographic evidence of his presence at the tea party. ;)



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Saturday morning Chloe and I met up with some of our friends at the park.



One of my friends, Rebecca, is a fabulous photographer and she took these pics of Chloe for Valentine's Day...











Aren't they gorgeous!?

Then we headed to the mall for lunch and to take advantage of Auntie M's 20th Anniversary Free Pretzel Day! YUUUUM! Chloe had fun hanging with the other kids and I enjoyed spending time with my friends too! :)

From there we headed to Firewheel. We ate aother free pretzel (haha.)

We also went to Build A Bear. (*sigh*)
Yes, we were supposed to be taking a BAB "break" for a while.

Chloe has TOO MANY. And they mostly just sit on a shelf in her room, looking cute. AND we are out of shelf space.

Well...apparently I need to have "Sucker" tattoed on my head...



*************************************************************************************

Sunday we had a birthday party to attend. Chloe's friend Carson turned 5.



The party was so much fun. It was a Princess dress-up party hosted by Belle.
The girls all go to dress up, put on make-up and play games.

Chloe changed many, many times. :)



Chloe as:

Cinderella...



Belle



Sleeping Beauty



AND..."Flapper Cinderella" ????



And of course, just like she does after every party, Chloe said, "That's what I want to do for my next birthday". lol

Sunday afternoon we met up with Chloe's soccer team at the "soccer store" to pick out uniforms. Chloe hit it off with the other girls right away and she is excited about starting a new season of soccer!

It was a busy and fun weekend!
I love when the weather cooperates and we can spend time outside.
But my allergies always kick in. :( It was slightly windy on Saturday. Just enough to give me the sniffles and a good headache/dry throat! Ugh. Good ole Nyquil helps though.

I hope your weekend was as fabulous as ours was!