Simply Stylin'

I was getting ready for the day when Alison came in my room to ask me to do her hair.

This is how she was dressed for school:

I had this outfit stashed away for Christmas in the back of her closet, but she couldn't resist the sparkles.

She asked me to put her hair in a bun and then added a sparkle headband.

She was beautiful...slightly overdressed for 1st grade, but simply beautiful.

I told her to get her shoes on so we could head out to the bus stop.

She came back like this...

Tennis shoes.

I tried to hide my giggle and asked her why she chose tennis shoes (with purple socks!).

"It's gym day."

Of course.

So off she went to school, in a Christmas outfit, purple socks and tennis shoes.

The Verdict is...

We're both winners!

Well, kind of.

We both reached our goals and ran personal best 5k's...that's what's important.

Ben...23:30

Jen...25:05

Apparently there was some fierce out of town competition and Ben didn't place for his division.  I'm bummed because he did amazing and definitely deserves a medal.

I got third place for my division and ran my fastest mile to date (1st mile was a 7:30 pace).

It misted the whole morning and it made the path slick, but we had fun and got to spend the morning with some really great friends. 

New smiles

The kids were playing together one evening and I realized that they all have new smiles.

Eli is starting to look like a little boy and not a toddler.

Alison smiles like a chipmunk to show off her missing tooth.

And Colin gives the cutest, tooth filled smile I've ever seen.

Love seeing them play together and love watching them grow.

Lost tooth

After months of longing for a tooth to fall out, Alison finally lost one!

Since she's young for her grade, she's one of the last to join the toothless club-

last year, she watched kid after kid loose teeth and wondered incessantly when it would be her turn.

Sunday morning, she woke up missing a tooth and thankfully wasn't freaked out by the fact that she most likely swallowed it in her sleep (we weren't able to find the tooth).

Bout of Croup

 Friday, I knew Colin wasn't feeling super great, but didn't think much of it.  

But then he woke up a few hours after being in bed, barely able to breath.

I googled answers and called Beth and we spent the night trying every remedy there is.  Ben was away on a trip and I wanted to make it through the night so I didn't have to wake up the kids...but I knew I was going to have to get help.  By morning, he still was working hard to breath and we headed to the ER.  They were quick to get us back and immediately diagnosed him with croup.  He was given steroids and a breathing treatment and they took x-rays to make sure he didn't have pneumonia.

waiting for the meds to kick in

I could tell an immediate difference once he got the medicine.  Praise the Lord!

But then they told me we had to wait for 3 hours to see if he continued to improve and I realized that I had all of my kids in the ER.  

Do you know what happens in the ER?  Emergencies...and my kids were watching.  Praise the Lord for friends who can get on base!  Katie quickly came to get the kids and took care of them the rest of the day.

Finally asleep after a LONG night

We ended the day with a movie/pizza night and ate lots of junk food...chocolate solves everything :)

Colin has continued to get better each day.  He hasn't had any wheezing since Saturday and only has a slight cough.

I'm so thankful that it's over and I am so sorry I haven't been more sympathetic to other momma's that have been through it.

Preschool-Letter 'A'

This week, Eli cut out a letter A, made an alligator and ate Ants on a log for a snack.  Then he made an apple garland craft with the fruit of the spirit on it.