Our Week...

Carter wearing his Optimus Prime costume at home since he didn't get to wear it to school on Thursday due to school being cancelled. I love this picture! Kylah on our sledding trip Thursday morning.
Kylah is a 'Hula Girl' this year for Halloween.
Carter and I made spider Halloween cupcakes for the kids at daycare.

Kaitlin isn't sure what to be for Halloween. She was going to be a foreign exchange student but we weren't too sure how to go about a costume for that. Since it is so snowy and cold this year for trick-or-treating, I think she may just end up wearing a mask since a coat will cover the costume anyways.

Stay warm this weekend and have a great time!!

Carter's School and Carving Pumpkins!

CARVING PUMPKINS WITH UNCLE RUDY AND DAD. CARVING AWAY...
MAKING THE PERFECT DESIGN.

OUR FINISHED PRODUCT!

CARVING THE FIRST OF HER TWO PUMPKINS.

Last night was Carter's open house at the school for his preschool class. He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES going to school and takes pride in every single painting he brings home. (There are lots!!:) We did a few activities with him and he even got to see a few of his friends who were there with their parents. It's hard to believe my youngest is in preschool and the only gripe he has with school is that he doesn't get to go on Fridays since it's only a Monday-Thursday program.

CARTER LINING UP HIS TOYS.

HAMMERING INTO A BOX WITH GOLF TEES.

HIS GREAT FRIEND KYLER!

HELPING DAD POUND IN "NAILS."

PLAYING THE RING TOSS GAME.

Six Word Saturday

ENJOYED FAMILY TIME IN CHADRON TODAY!

Reading

This is the new book I ordered this week to read. Patrick Swayze was my 'crush' when I was younger and I always respected him as an actor who lead a very enduring, decent life, even in the eyes of the camera. I watched his documentary on tv after his death and it really got to me...so I ordered his book to read. If anyone would like to read it, let me know. :)(photo courtesy: amazon)

Halloween Games, Crafts, and Fun

Halloween Games

Here is a favorite website of mine for halloween ideas. Just click on the purple link above. Thought I would pass it along. =-)

More Fevers

Carter is back to having a fever again. He had it gone for 30 hours and then it returned... it is 101.6 so he took some tylenol and has fallen asleep on the couch with his dad. He still acts like a busy four-year-old boy. He needs to get better he said because his Uncle Rudy will be here late tomorrow afternoon or evening sometime!

Hope you all are feeling okay. Sickness is EVERYWHERE right now. I am thankful I have a very low daycare kid count this week to hopefully keep some of the kids healthy. I had thought of closing for the rest of the week but then decided not to since they had already been exposed to each other the past three days.

I am off to fold some clothes, read my book, and head to bed early for a change. Have a great night!

School Is Canceled

(taken off www.chadrad.com)

School has been canceled here for the rest of the week. There are so many students out sick with different types of illnesses so they decided to give the kids a five day break from school to hopefully get better.

Carter had a 103.1 fever last night. He has now been fever-free since noon. Yeah! What a big difference. He was burning up last night and just exhausted. We were really worried it would get higher in the night but it didn't. Carter took a two hour nap this afternoon and I am glad he did. His little body needed that rest to get him better. He hasn't taken naps for a year now, but yesterday and today he has just crashed. Now he is in the living room trying to convince his dad that he isn't tired, even though it is after 10pm...(His dad is winning this conversation.)

For all of you out there with sick kids....I hope they feel better soon! And for all of you who haven't gotten sick...I hope that luck stays with you!

Outdoors

It has been a very nice weekend here! We have taken full advantage of getting yardwork done in the nice warm sun. Yesterday we got our yard and our neighbor's mowed. Today Josh is currently tilling the garden and then we are off to winterize the grass. This will probably be our last really warm day this year. So off the computer I go to soak up more sun.

(I had to post these two pictures of our nephew Jayce. He is already 4 months old!) Thanks for letting me 'steal' them Tara!

The Flu..............h1n1

The flu has hit Crawford....hlnl has been confirmed here and a few Influenza A cases. h1n1 is a strain of Influenza A is what our pharmacist told me today. I am not looking forward to this outbreak of sick children and maybe even adults. I have always been consistent with my daycare kids and own children on keeping their hands washed often. Well now, it's even more of a need. I have three happy, healthy children at home who I have to send to school everyday with a chance they may come down with something. Kylah is my big concern for the fact she has had Influenza A twice in her life. Neither time was fun. She was burning up and totally lethargic. It was so sad to see her that way. Anyways...I talked to our pharmacist and she said to watch for any stuffy/runny noses, coughing, fevers, and body aches. If anyone has these symptoms, you have to get to the doctor and be diagnosed and have the first dose of medicine in your system with the first 72 hours of the symptoms occurring for the medicine to be effective.

My sisters three kids have h1n1 and it hit their house hard. Their oldest daughter Abbi has it the worst the way it sounds. Please keep their family in your prayers.

I am hoping and praying you all stay healthy. Good luck!!!

Happy Birthday Braxton!

Today is my dog's birthday. I know it's silly to even acknowledge this and post about it but I am because he is a big part of our lives in my family. All of our pets are. I am a firm believer that if you are a pet owner, you need to love and care for your pets and give them the attention they deserve. Braxton is our birthday boy today and he is 8 years old. He was five months old when he came to live with us. He was given to Kaitlin for her 4th birthday.

Sledding Sunday

Today we took the kids and two neighbor kids to the rodeo grounds to go sledding. We only have about 3 inches of snow but the kids thought that was enough so off we went. They found a trail and had a lot of fun going down it with their sleds, and even made a "jump" after awhile. The we went to get hot chocolate afterwards since it is very cold out today. Here are some of the pictures from our fun. (I even went down twice!!) I am sure Josh was cringing the whole time while he sat in the Durango keeping warm. Every time I try to have fun he worries about my back hurting. Today I didn't care. It was too fun to pass up! Keep warm and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Sledding Having fun!

Kylah :)

Parent patrol.

Josh and our neighbor boy.

Carter on his tummy.

Kaitlin using her sled as a snowboard. She has some of her mom in her! :)

Kylah again...it wouldn't delete for some reason.

Carter proud of his sledding abilities.

The gang.

WORDLESS WeDnEsDaY

Story....

Maggie loves to play with pant legs so one day this summer she got it caught on her head and Carter pushed it on further and asked me to take the picture, so I did. We have had Maggie for over five years and she is a big part of our family.

Our Time In Sidney

We went to Sidney this weekend to visit family and to experience Octoberfest. We had a wonderful time! We got to Sidney around noon on Saturday. A few of us went to the craft fair. There were a million things I wanted!

We were fortunate enough to have four out our five siblings get together. My oldest brother lives too far away so Carol, Chuck, Craig, myself, my mom, and our families spent the weekend together. A few of us went out Saturday night to the 'tent' to listen to the band and eat yummy food! The funnel cakes were SO GOOD! I didn't care for the brauts at all or the horrific smell of sourkraut, but other than that, the beer tasted good and the band was awesome. We had fun! Below are some pictures of our family.

CARTER AND BROOKLYNN

GRANDMA BETTY AND MADDI
MITCH AND BROOKLYNN

KYLAH, MITCH, BROOKLYNN

JAYCE AND ABBI

CARTER AND JAYCE

MADDI, JAYCE, AND KAITLINKAITLIN AND JAYCE

ABBI AND JAYCE

CARTER BEING GOOFY

We had a great time visiting family and hope to get back down there soon!