I'm a Turkey

Rachel wrote this at school the week before Thanksgiving. They were supposed to write a story about "I'm a Turkey." I thought Rachel's story was cute!

I've Been Tagged!!!

Okay - so I've been tagged by my friend Allison. Here's the deal - I'm supposed to post the fourth picture in the fourth folder on my computer, and then list four things about the picture. So here goes!

1. Katelyn is trying to catch snow flakes on her tongue.
2. Katelyn actually thought this was a lot of snow!!!
3. Rachel wore that hat for pictures she had made when she was 15 months old.
4. The snowsuit was a hand-me-down from a co-worker that I worked with at Taylor/Webster back in 2002!

Now I'm supposed to tag 4 other people. So here goes. I tag:
1. Becca W.
2. Amanda N.
3. Christy P.
4. Ashley Z.

Black Friday Shopping

It's become a family tradition for me, Mom, and Wendy to go shopping on Black Friday. We started out several years ago all going in one car, staying out all day, and coming back with the car so full that all three of us had to sit in the front seat!! We learned after that to take two cars so that we could haul more stuff and make it to more stores if we needed to be at two places at the same time!! We would have lunch at Chick-Fil-A and then shop some more before heading home where we'd all have supper together.

This year, however, was different. Mom had sinus surgery a couple of weeks ago and is not feeling 100% yet. So she knew she wasn't up to shopping all day long. Her main goal was to get some things at Wal-Mart that she needed for the kids she has adopted for Christmas. Wendy & Lloyd are having fun in Orlando! They're watching the UT men play in a basketball tournament and going to Disney!

So if I was going to get out in the craziness of Black Friday, it was going to be by myself. Yes - I did get up early and was at Wal-Mart around 4:30 am! And yes - I ran into Mom & Dad there!!! I also went to Kohl's, another Wal-Mart, LifeWay, Cedar Springs Christian Bookstore, Michael's, Ace Hardware, and Chick-Fil-A. It wasn't the same eating lunch there by myself though. And shopping wasn't nearly as fun either! On the way home, I stopped at the CVS MinuteClinic. I was home before noon. I think the early quitting time was due to several things - (1) I had already done some shopping, (2) some of the things I still need to buy weren't things that were on sale, (3) I wasn't feeling 100%, and (4) it's not as much fun by yourself!

Antibiotics Anyone?

Yes - the three girls here at our house are all on antibiotics! I took Katelyn to the doctor on Monday and she was put on steroids for 5 days for the croup. The doctor said if she was still having problems later in the week, congestion got worse, etc. to call back and she'd call in some antibiotics for her. Well, she finished up the steroids on Friday and her cough is quite a bit better (we're still using the albuterol though!), but she's still got quite a bit of drainage & congestion. So I called the doctor this morning and she called in antibiotics for Katelyn.

I've had a cold now for about 2 weeks. I thought I was better at the first of the week, but by Tuesday night, I was more congested than I had been and I started coughing. By Thursday I couldn't breathe through my nose at all and was coughing quite a bit. So in the midst of my Black Friday shopping, I stopped at the CVS MinuteClinic (which by the way is awesome!). I got some antibiotics for my sinus infection and some powerful cough medicine. So hopefully I'm on the mend too!!

Rachel has had a cold for about a week now, and the past 2 days it's gotten quite a bit worse. So Robert took her to the doctor this morning. She has a sinus infection also, and is on 2 weeks worth of antibiotics. We have sample packs of steroids here at the house, so if her cough gets too bad, we can use those!

Hopefully, this means we'll be well at Christmas!! Robert said his throat is getting scratchy, so he may be getting what the rest of us have. If so, I'm sure he'll be making a trip to the MinuteClinic too!!!

Overall though, it's not too bad. We made it through October without the girls being very sick. October is typically a bad month for them with their allergies and asthma. (Of course, both girls were on steroids and antibiotics in September!!) They can't just get a regular cold and get over it - Katelyn's colds usually turn into the croup and sinus infections, and Rachel's colds usually trigger asthma attacks and turn into sinus infections. We look like a regular pharmacy around here with all of our nebulizers, inhalers, and medications, but I'm just thankful for all the stuff we have to try & keep the girls well.

So if you see us, we'll probably be coughing, sniffing, sneezing, wiping our noses, etc. but we're getting better!!!

Winter Fun at Dollywood

The girls were out of school on Wednesday, and Robert only had to work 1/2 day, so we decided to go to Dollywood! The weather was very nice! It was sunny and around 50 degrees. When we got there we sent to Santa's Workshop first - which was a great idea!!! There was one family visiting Santa and then we were next in line!!! Evidently not too many people go to visit Santa at 1:30 in the afternoon!!! The girls hopped up on Santa's lap and he just talked & talked to them about what they wanted for Christmas.

After visiting Santa, we decided to ride a couple of rides. Katelyn was able to ride the bumper cars for the first time ever!!!! I think it was a combination of two things - she has grown a little bit since summer AND she had on boots!!! She was finally tall enough!!! She rode with me while Rachel rode with Robert. After the bumper cars, Katelyn & Robert headed over to the VeggieTales roller coaster while Rachel and I went to ride the Scrambler. We were first in line to ride it the next time when Rachel decided she wasn't sure if she liked it or not. We rode it several times this summer, but all of a sudden she wasn't too sure if she liked it or not. So we went to find Robert & Katelyn. After Robert & Katelyn rode the roller coaster, Rachel rode it with Katelyn a couple more times.

After the rides, it was time for a few shows. We got to see Babes in Toyland, O Holy Night, and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. We all agreed that our favorite was 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. The only thing that we didn't get to do that we would have liked to do was the Polar Express 4-D! But every time we walked over there, the wait was like a 2 hour wait!! We didn't have 2 hours to spend waiting in line, so we never were able to do that. Who knows - maybe we'll be back before the Christmas season is over. If not, we had a good day at Dollywood!!!

Here are some pictures from our day.

Santa talking to Rachel
Santa talking to Katelyn

Mrs. Claus giving the girls candy canes

Robert & Katelyn waving on the VeggieTales roller coaster. Poor Robert - he's just about too tall!!!

Katelyn waving

Rachel & Katelyn

I thought this next picture was really funny. You see, Katelyn screams at the top of her lungs on this roller coaster!! You can see Rachel covering her ears to try to minimize the noise!!!

Katelyn's Thanksgiving Program

On Tuesday, Katelyn's class, along with another class, performed a little Thanksgiving program for the parents. They sang 5 songs. Katelyn's class was dressed as Pilgrims, and the other class was dressed as Indians. I have the video, but not sure how long it will take to upload it. I may try, but if it doesn't work, here are some pictures.

This is Katelyn the Pilgrim with Christa the Indian. Christa is in the other class. She also lives next door to Lloyd & Wendy, so anytime we go over there, Christa runs out to give the girls hugs!!

Here is Katelyn with two of her friends from class - Stephanie and Haley.

Haley & Katelyn are buddies.

Sitting on stage

The entire class of Pilgrims

Rachel the Magician

Last Sunday night we had our Thanksgiving meal at church. Afterwards, we had a special program with a special speaker, Barry Mitchell. He is a Christian comedian/magician. At one point, he started to tell a story and needed some help on stage. Rachel raised her hand and he picked her to come up on stage. She would portray the part of the "penniless peasant." Whenever he tapped her on the shoulder she was supposed to say "I have a big heart." There were 3 others in this story also. The sultan was played by our worship pastor, and then two other kids played the parts of the pretty professor and the studly sportsman. The story itself was quite humorous and did involve some "magic." The other 2 kids were pretty funny. They both forgot their lines, but the funniest thing is that Barry also forgot one of the kid's lines for a second!!! I must brag and say that Rachel remembered her line and did so good getting up there on stage and speaking out so loudly and clearly!!! For being part of the show, she got a little magic kit! So this week Rachel has been practicing her magic tricks! She does pretty well on the tricks, but she still needs to work on her showmanship! But she's getting better. She has performed for her class at school, Robert's family, and Mamaw & Papaw. It's kind of neat because she realizes now that the "magic" is just a trick.

Sunday Afternoon Silliness

Last Sunday afternoon I was doing some work on the computer. I kept hearing lots of laughter and silliness coming from Katelyn's room. I went in there to see what was going on and this is what I found! Robert was in bed with both girls and they were listening to a silly songs CD and singing along with it. They were quite funny!!

Tooth #11

Yes - Rachel has lost yet another tooth! That makes number 11! She came downstairs after lunch with a kleenex and asked Robert to pull it for her. Robert told her that he didn't think it was ready to be pulled. She proceeded to then pull it herself!!!! Looks like the tooth fairy will be making a visit to our house tonight!!!

Happy Birthday to Lloyd! Happy Birthday to Laura!

My brother, Lloyd, turned the big 36 on Thursday and I turned the big 38 on Saturday! We all celebrated last night at Lloyd & Wendy's house with a spaghetti dinner and chocolate cake!! YUMMY!!!!

So What's Been Going On?

Yes - it's been a while since I've blogged. Has anyone even noticed besides Mom and Wendy? Not sure why I haven't been blogging - guess I just needed a little break! In case you're wondering, here's a list of some of what has been going on around here:

1. Upward basketball evaluations (Rachel is playing and Robert is coaching)
2. Report cards - Rachel made straight A's and Katelyn made all perfect scores too (they don't get letter grades in kindergarten)
3. Girl's week-end with all my FBC Smyrna buddies
4. Lots of mornings spent in the freezing cold opening car doors at school
5. Volunteering in the girls' classrooms
6. Rachel continuing to make perfect scores on every spelling, math, and vocabulary test
7. Katelyn doing double digit addition (like 43+54)
8. Working out
9. Playing tennis
10. Tutoring a high school junior in Algebra II
11. Rachel reading 7th grade level books!
12. Katelyn reading 1st grade level books!
13. My mom having sinus surgery
14. Celebrating mine & Lloyd's birthdays
15. Rachel pulling another tooth!
16. Katelyn wiggling a tooth that is slightly loose!
17. Church (KidStuf, choir, AWANA, UpStreet)
18. Online Christmas shopping
19. Cleaning out some toys
20. Selling SEC championship tickets (that Robert, Mark, and Lloyd won at the Gladiator Games back in August!)
21. Argued with Snapfish about the Oprah free photo book offer
22. Jumped up & down when I got an email from Leap Frog with a 30% off your purchase coupon!!!! YEAH!!!
23. Made a really cool gift for Rachel's teacher with an Uppercase Living expression and a ceramic tile
24. Put Mom's Uppercase Living expression (Wise Men Still Seek Him) on a tile for her
25. Helped Wendy put her Uppercase Living expression on a glass frame

Election Day

So what did you do on this Election Day? Well, I must say that I didn't vote today! Of course that's because I voted early a couple of weeks ago!

The girls were out of school today since many of the schools are used as polling places. But the girls didn't have a vacation day because they both had doctor's appointment today. Katelyn had a dermatologist appointment this morning to get a wart frozen off her face - again! We had it frozen off in March and it fell off, but it has grown back. The doctor warned us that it will probably come back again because he doesn't want to be too aggressive since it's on her face. He doesn't want to scar her face. So we'll hope this time will do the trick, but we know that it'll probably come back again.

Rachel had an appointment with the eye doctor this afternoon. When she had her 7 year check-up at the pediatrician's office, the doctor recommended we take her to the eye doctor for a real eye test since she had a few problems with the basic eye test. Rachel did well at the eye doctor. He said that she is slightly near-sighted, but it wasn't bad enough to worry about glasses at this point. He wants to re-check her again before school starts next August. Rachel did have her eyes dilated, so even though it was a gorgeous afternoon and we would've loved to have been outside playing, I knew that the bright sun would probably be too much for her, even with those lovely & stylish sunglasses they gave her at the eye doctor! Instead, we headed over to Mamaw & Papaw's house for a visit. The girls had a blast making things with construction paper & tape. They had us laughing at their creations!!!

Father-Daughter Hike

A friend of ours, Steven, has told Robert before that he knows some really good hiking trails that would be perfect for our girls - not too long and not too strenuous. So when it looked like the weather was going to be beautiful on Sunday afternoon, Robert and Steven decided to take the girls hiking. I had planned on going, but then was subtly told that maybe this could be just a father/daughter thing. So I agreed. We took clothes for everyone to change into after church, and the fathers & daughters were on their way! They had a really good time on a gorgeous day in the mountains! And they made it back in time to get cleaned up and head back to church! Here are some pictures from their hike. By the way, if you looked at the Halloween pictures from a previous post, you might recognize these girls as Rachel the doctor, Natalie aka Cleopatra, Suzanne the cowgirl, and Katelyn the nurse.

Oh, and if you're wondering what I did while they were gone, well I took a 2 hour nap and then cleaned the bathrooms and mopped the kitchen floor.

Day After Halloween Party

Saturday evening we were invited to an After Halloween Party at Kylee's house. Kylee is one of Katelyn's buddies. It was a costume party, and adults were encouraged to dress up too. Since Rachel & Katelyn were going as a doctor and a nurse, Robert & I decided to go as their patients! I was on crutches and had my leg bandaged, my arm in an arm brace, and a bandage on my neck. Robert had an ankle brace on, his arm in a brace and a sling, and he had a big bandage on his forehead!

Kylee's parents, Brian & Christy, had some fun stuff planned for the kids. They had an inflatable bounce house to play in, which the girls thoroughly enjoyed! They also had a white sheet hung up with a spotlight shining behind it so that the kids could "shadow dance." They had a blast with that! They played a game where you had to wrap your partner up in toilet paper! Katelyn was a little timid at first because she didn't understand what to do, but Christy convinced her to be her & Jacee's partner, and that seemed to work. They also had a dance contest which was hilarious!!! The kids had to choose an adult partner. Rachel chose Robert, and they did some great dancing! At the end of the contest, it was determined that Robert & Rachel were the winners! Rachel was very much into the dancing!!! We also got to roast hot dogs and decorate cupcakes. Thanks to the Poole's for inviting us for a fun evening!!!

Rachel wrapping Alyssa up in toilet paper

Katelyn wrapping up Christy and Jacee

Playing in the bounce house

Kylee being silly

Katelyn being goofy

Rachel playing on the swingset (notice Robert's sling!)

Katelyn & Kylee

What a crew!

Decorating cupcakes - not quite sure why Rachel looks so sad