To close out January...

...a video. Of my girlies dancing. I dare you not to giggle.

Forgot to take a picture today. :/

Sunday, Jan. 27th
Making cookies with Erin.

Jan. 28
My bed got stolen

Jan. 29
My big boy playing in the snow while I shoveled the driveway

And then sitting in the big seat while I put the van back in the clean driveway.

Fish!

A few weeks ago we went as a family out to run some errands and decided to stop in and look around the new Whole Foods that recently opened nearby.  We past the seafood counter and Erin saw some cuts of salmon behind the glass.  Because it was pink and still had sparkly scales, she decided it was pretty and wanted to try some.  (If you know her, you know that's really weird for her).  So anyway, yesterday we were out and stopped for dinner at Wahoo's Fish Taco (they obviously have other meats, or I wouldn't eat there!)  Anyway, we got a side of salmon to go along with her chicken tacos so she could try it.  And she liked it.  lol  Anyway, here she is, waiting excitedly for her salmon to arrive.

And today I bought some new itty bitty angel fish for my tank.  Erin named them Midnight and Star.

Laundry "helper"

Well, more like sock puppet entertainer, but it made my morning.

I'll get better at posting every day eventually...

Jan. 20th
We had another stay-at-home-Sunday.  I woke up with a migraine, Matt still felt sick and Allison started coughing.  But she found the balloon Erin brought home from a birthday party, and in Christopher Robin's words, "No one can be un-cheered with a balloon."

Jan 21st
Erin and Allison fought ALL MORNING over Erin's baby doll.  Apparently my cabbage patch kids weren't good enough.  So I went to walmart and found a $5 dolly.  And she adores it.

Jan. 22
The weather was beautiful! So we went to the park.

Jan. 23
I spent all day grocery shopping, so taking pictures wasn't really on my mind.  But I had Matt take a pic of Allison in her new piggy PJs for Aunt Dawn.  Aren't they cute?  ((Look, I'm in a picture!!))

Proud mama moment

I love that Erin wants to do the things that I love to do.  It makes me so happy.  She been asking to learn to crochet for a while now, so I finally got around to buying her her own hook and yarn (I have plenty of extra of both, but it seemed more exciting for her to have her own) and we sat down together today.  She actually caught on quite quickly.

the best moments...

...have no pictures.  I'm realizing that as much as I love taking pictures of my kids, when I'm really participating with them, the camera is the furthest from my thoughts.  Like during our dance party during the credits of Happy Feet yesterday.  We are all dancing and grooving (and it triggered a coughing fit that nearly made me throw up, so I had to stop), and taking a picture just didn't occur to me.

So I missed the 15th.

16th
Allison wearing my sunglasses

17th
Allison again....lol She's cuddling a doll and a little giraffe. Her "babies"

and the 18th, today.
Erin tied her own shoes!  They're a new pair (the last pair had velcro and she needed new ones and I got laced ones on purpose), and we we've been practicing.  She got really frustrated so I decided to just let it be and try again later.  Well, today she surprised me.  Apparently she absorbed more than I thought from trying yesterday!

January 14th

Family Home Evening means....

....gathered around Daddy's computer watching a live action remake of Toy Story off the internet...

Allison will probably be going to bed early.

Catch up

Nothing happens when mom is sick!  I did take pictures though.

Jan. 10th Patrick got sick and we let him play Wii all day

Jan. 11th Patrick again, with his calendar.  We got one for Erin because she was learning the days of the week and the months at school, and he felt left out.  We found him a LEGO one.

Jan. 12th My medications.  I've been very sick and my doctor wants me to breathe.  So here they are, and antibiotic, and inhaler and a cough syrup (which tastes surprisingly good, actually)

And Jan. 13th.  My big girl scrapbooking with me.  It's nice to have a scrappy friend.

fishing!

I think the Wii may be as close as Erin gets to fishing....lol

okay, so I missed a day.

I have been pretty sick lately.  I didn't think to take a picture as I was cocooned on my couch yesterday.

I contemplated making up for it by doing a "day in the life of" post, but I only managed to take pictures up to (not including) lunch.

So, for today you have this one: What happens when both Mom and Dad are sick? Movies. Lots of movies.

And Coco, because he's cute.

5 & 6

It's been a rough few days.  Allison has been sick and has been waking up in the middle of the night screaming and ended up in my bed.  Now I don't sleep well with a baby in my bed on a good night.  But when they're sick and thrashing and kicking and sitting on my head?

Anyway, yesterday morning she felt really warm in spite of thermometer insisting that her temp was only 99.8 or thereabouts, and she just seemed really off balance and not herself, so I called the doctor.  She's there in the mornings on Saturdays, thankfully, so I was able to take Allison in.  And according to Dr. M.'s thermometer her temp was 103.2.  !!!!  That's a fairly big difference (and confirmed my suspicions that my thermometer was crap).   So with all tests returning negative (flu, RSV, strep) and her ears and throat clear, Dr. M. and I decided it was a virus that I needed to wait out.  So my instructions were to alternate dosages of ibuprofin and acetamenaphin, keep her hydrated, and get a new thermometer.  So I went straight to Walmart after.

There a McDonald's in that Walmart, and Allison still felt fairly warm (in spite of the dose of ibuprofin Dr. M. gave her about an hour earlier), so I decided a milkshake might help.  Allison liked that idea.

And we didn't go to church today.  Erin has still be coughing, Allison is still kind of feverish, and I decided to take a turn for the worse (coughing HURTS).  So while the girls were in with me, doing something (I don't remember), Patrick decided to watch Howl's Moving Castle.  I think he made it through 3 times.

Singing along...

And, it's Allison again.  This has actually been a pretty hard day.  The girls and I have been sick, so I only took one picture.  I guess I should take more of my other kids, huh?

Anyway, Allison woke up insanely early (6:00, the sun wasn't even up yet!) with a fever, so I went downstairs and laid on the couch with her with Dora on.  She loves Dora.  Anyway, I guess she was a little cold because she saw Erin's jacket and wanted to put it on.  And then she started singing along.  So she's wearing Sister's jacket, singing along to Dora while sick.  It's the only thing that's made her happy today.

A day late!

I forgot to post yesterday, though I did take a picture.  To make up, you get two!

Allison has figured out closed-mouth kisses.  She even says "Muah!"  I tried to take a picture when she was bombarding me, but this is the best I got

and our poor bare tree.  The room looks so boring now!  But look at all those needles (and there will be more before I'm done getting the thing in the box! Not to mention that I've already swept several times over the last month and a half!)  Hopefully we can get a new one next year.

Best friends. Even when she doesn't feel good, she has time to cuddle with Brother.

A picture a day?

I often say that when Cora died, I came to the sudden realization that you can't be happy living only for the future.  I was miserable throughout that pregnancy (but come on, pregnancy really sucks for me), and told myself that "I will be happy when the baby gets here."  And then, of course, she wasn't.  And I've always felt a little guilty for not appreciating the time with her that I had when I had it.  Which is why the subtitle of my blog is "trying to find a miracle in each new day."  But lately I've been wondering if I really have been trying to find a miracle every day.  I think I've become very complacent.  I mean, I really am truly grateful for what I have and this life I've got, but I've just been, I don't know, coasting.

So I've decided that this year, I'm going to try to take a picture every day.  Just one.  It'll be "trying to photograph a miracle in each new day."

So today? My little Allison, checking out the Joann's add.  Apparently my craftiness has been passed on.