Outside Mario Cart

The sun finally came out for a little bit this afternoon...and it is something we haven't seen around here in WAY too long! So we got off the couch, put away the wii and went outside for some real play. Daddy drew a race car track with chalk and Jalen raced around it over and over and over again. Of course it was a lot more fun when Daddy chased him with a big PVC pipe that was laying around the garage. I think it intended to be the finish line but it was way more fun to watch Daddy running after the super fast race car! I think the vitamin D did us all some good!

A dusting of snow!

Not exactly what we had hoped for but we woke up to white everywhere! They had predicted up to 7 inches which meant sledding and snowmen! Jamie even went and bought two new sleds (the other one got cracked from the kids "riding" down the staircase in it!) So the seven inches turned into two but hey no school, and the kids managed to have fun playing in it. I got a call from my mom this morning asking "do you know what your kids are doing?" I think that the polite way of saying "I can't believe you are letting your kids do this!" but yes, I knew they were in their bathing suits getting in and out of the hot tub and doing snow angels and running to the play structure for a swing in between. I wasn't about to ruin their fun...plus I was enjoying the quiet inside! After getting them dressed we did manage to make a few runs down the hill on the sled, but the grass and mud quickly made itself visible and the fun was over. I have to say snow days are way more fun when there is actually a lot of snow to play in!

Not your typical Valentines Day

Not that ours ever our "typical" but even for us this was out of the ordinary! We are used to kids Valentines parties at school, putting pepperoni on heart shaped pizza crusts and throw a basketball practice in there and that's our day. Not this year. Lily had been sick since Saturday night when she had a sleepover with Papa and Grandma. Grandma took good care of her on Sunday while we were in Salem for Ellie's volleyball tournament. She slept on the floor next to my bed Sunday night and while she usually likes me to run her tummy when she doesn't feel good she did not want me touching her. She yelled out in pain when I put my hand on her stomach or her back. I contemplated taking her to the ER but decided to try to get her to sleep and see how she was in the morning. It was a restless night and after getting Ellie off to school I came up to check on her. I tried to get her to drink some water, which she did but immediately started moaning that it hurt. I bundled her up and took her to the doctor to see what was going on. He did an quick exam and thought for sure it was her appendix and told us to go to Emanuel's Children's ER right away. Lily was scared, and I was upset because I felt so guilty for not taking her the night before. We got to the hospital, got checked in and they gave her an IV to get some fluids in her since she was so dehydrated, as well as some sugar since her blood sugar was low. The ER physician also suspected appendicitis and ordered an ultra sound to verify. We waited a LONG time to get into the ultra sound...and it was already 1:00 and neither Jamie or I had anything to eat the whole day and the chairs in those small ER rooms are not all that comfortable! Jamie finally found a cafe and brought us coffee to which we toasted happy valentines day! Finally they gave Lily some morphine to help with the pain of pressing on her stomach during the ultra sound and rolled her back into the US room. That also was a long process...and we were so nervous as we sat there trying to figure out what was on that screen. The tech left for a few minutes, then came back in and told us it was NOT her appendix. What?! Relieved as we were, we were also confused and worried what else it could be. The doctor came in and told us that it must just be a stomach virus and a lot of times when kids get that dehydrated there is a lymph node right next to the appendix that gets inflamed and can cause a lot of the same symptoms as appendicitis. Good news! We joked that it was a long expensive day for a stomach virus but so happy it was nothing more serious! We picked Ellie up, and headed home to let Lily relax. Jamie left for the pizza shack while the kids and I cuddled into bed. To top things off Jamie had a city league basketball game that night! Once the kids were asleep I turned on the Bachelor to end my not so romantic Valentines Day...at least I could watch someone else's scripted romantic getaways! Thank God Lily is okay...that in itself is a great Valentine's present! XOXO

Giddy Girls

Tonight was the night of the telethon for Children's Cancer Association with 105.1. Ellie, and her friends Rae and Marie were the only three kids amongst all the volunteers answering phones tonight. She sent out an email earlier in the week to friends and family explaining that she was trying to raise money for the CCA and asked if it would be okay if she called them. We went with a list of 18 people tonight and she raised over $600! All three girls combined raised over $2000 in one hour! When they were done making there calls they were giddy with excitement...they were so happy they had raised that much money. They wanted to see where Nelson and Terry talk on the radio so we wandered back and as we were watching through the window a guy came out and asked if we wanted to go in. The girls jumped at the chance and even got their picture taken. It was so good to see them get so excited about helping others...I hope that warm and fuzzy feeling sticks with them! For all of you that helped Ellie raise that money tonight THANK YOU!!!

How old is Jesus?

That is the question Jalen asked as we left church on Christmas Eve. I told him we were celebrating Jesus's birthday and that's what he came back with. From a 3 year old's perspective I suppose that is a legitimate question...like we have Christmas every year and every year he is just being born? He sees the same baby Jesus in the beautifully lit manger at church every year. At least he is starting to grasp the true meaning of Christmas right? Better than thinking it's only about Santa! But thank goodness for Santa...for the whole month of December I have a built in bribe...Santa's watching. And the amazing thing is it works. I think we should create a character every month that visits on the last day. All in all it was another special Christmas...we stuck to our usual traditions which is was makes it the best. We drove to see the Christmas lights on the same little street we always go to in Gladstone. We went to visit Santa (although we happen to be there on "pet" night so that didn't go as smooth as usual!...seriously like a dog wants to sit on Santa's lap.), we got tags off the giving tree, we did all the choir performances, and finally the day came. Even though both our parents are still together we call it the "Four Christmas's" around here. We do both families...both days. We are so lucky to have so many of our grandparents still around that we have to keep these old traditions alive! Santa brought the girls a 4 foot tall doll house that they use for all their pet shops (they claim to have 87 now!) and Jalen got a bat cave with Batman and Robin and some bat cars and bat motorcycles. Grandma got the girls dolls, and then MADE them clothes...like sewed them clothes...and also made the girls pj's that matched the dolls. Oh and she also made a bag for them to be kept in. Such a special gift...Lily has taken the doll everywhere, and finds clothes that match the dolls. Nana got the girls some cute clothes, and a karaoke machine that they can record themselves on...and got Jalen a whole collection of superheroes. Now if I hear the words "I'm bored" or "there's nothing to do" I think I just might lose it! These kids have enough to keep them occupies for months...or at least for a week until they are back in school! So to all our family and friends that we got to see and celebrate with over this season...thank you for making it so special...we are grateful to have you in our lives!

So much to be thankful for...

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Foelker side of the family tonight. We normally celebrate the Sunday after Thanksgiving but my lucky sister and her family are going to Hawaii and we didn't want them to miss our dinner. We had it at our house and everyone contributed so it wasn't too much work (except for my mom who had to haul over the turkey and potatoes from next door!) She also made cute little place settings for everyone, conversation starters and fun word searches and games for the kids to work on. Before we started through the buffet line Ellie said grace and then everyone said one thing that they were thankful for. Lily said her family and house. Ellie said the food and her home. Robin said the snow...yes it snowed today! Papa said the three great grandparents that we have here that are healthy. Jamie said me...so sweeet! Aaron said the great elk hunting season he had. And the funniest of them all...Jalen said his swords...obviously we need to work on the meaning of Thanksgiving! My mom had the good idea of sitting the kids in between the great grandparents and aunts and uncles so they would have a good chance to talk with each other. The girls took the conversation starters quite literally and actually wrote down answers...it was more like an interview than easy flowing conversation but I don't think the grandparents minded! Here are a couple of the answers that were left on the table...

"What is the funniest or most embarrassing thing that happened to you?"
Papa Ben: "When I was late for a basketball game because I locked my keys in the car"
Papa Bill: "When a monkey spit at me"
Aunt Robin: "When I said AMEN at church really loud at the wrong time"

"What do you want me to know that will help me grow up to be a good, kind, responsible person?"
Papa Ben: "Obey all adults mom-dad-teachers.
Papa Bill: "Be kind and look for the goodness in everyone. Respect everybody...except monkeys"
Robin: "Be kind no matter what"

After dinner and dessert (pumpkin pie and berry cream cheese pie in memory of Grandma June!) we put the camera on timer in an attempt to get a big family photo. It was pretty comical...almost like something you would see in a movie...it's pretty much impossible with 6 kids and 3 great grandparents to get a good picture but we came close! We took a family picture too...which would have been great except for the fact that Jalen is wearing a red checkered soccer jersey! Seriously, its a cute picture and then your eye is drawn to this loud shirt right in the middle of the picture. The funniest part about this shirt is that before everyone got here I told him he had to go change (he was wearing swim trunks!) into something nice for our Thanksgiving dinner...and that's what he came down in. Apparently he thinks that jersey is really nice!

We really do have so much to be thankful this year...most importantly our family and friends that we love so much!

And the best part of the night...my sister gets aunt of the year award because ALL 3 kids went to her house for a sleepover! I doubt Jalen will last...considering he doesn't even sleep in his own bed at our house! But if he does they are in for a real treat when he wakes up yelling for "JUICE" at 5 in the morning!

So Happy early Thanksgiving...we are lucky enough to get another one on Thursday with the Snook's...so stay tuned!

Ghost Pumpkins

We picked the girls up from school and headed for the pumpkin patch...it was such a beautiful day and we weren't sure how many more of these we would get! We have gone to the same pumpkin patch every year...we take the Canby Ferry across the river, and it's just down the street. We always get a wheelbarrow which the kids immediately climb into (it's getting harder and harder for Daddy to push every year!).

Then we get out to the pumpkin patch and they going running for the hay maze. Jalen even followed them in this year! I personally hate the maze...its pitch black...I mean you can't see anything! I guess maybe I'm a little claustrophobic, or I really just don't like the dark! Then they run up the haystack and all jump down one bale at a time. I wasn't about to tell them to stop...maybe just maybe they will be so tired they will go to sleep at a normal time!
We went over to pet the goat and the bunny, watch the train go by and then went back to load up our wheelbarrow with our picks. Everyone gets their own, the only rule is they have to be able to pick it up! The big thing this year was the "ghost pumpkins"...those cool white ones. We had already got a few from when Jalen's class went to the pumpkin patch so we agreed to stick with boring orange. At check out the kids threw in some kettle corn, licorice and those great sugary strawberry soda that we get once a year at the pumpkin patch...I love it! Now let's see if we get around to carving them this year!