Sickness Has Been Upon Us

We have all been sick with the stomach flu, but poor Abby seemed to have gotten the worst of it. Not only has she been throwing up, on and off, for the past 2-weeks, but she also got a severe ear infection. So bad in fact, that we thought her ear drum had ruptured.

This is Abby and how she looked for several straight days. She was so lethargic and just not up to her usual playful self. Here she is watching Dora on nickjr.com. So sad. :(

And here is what she woke up to this past Friday. Yuck! Not only was it all over her bed, but it was dried and crusted on the inside of her ear, the outside of her ear, her neck and her hair. I immediately took her to the doctor and discovered that not only did she have a very bad ear infection, she also had a pretty bad back-up of wax going on inside her ear. No wonder the poor girl hasn't felt well.

Abby is on an antibiotic now, and for the first time in several days, I can say with some level of confidence, that I think she is on the upswing.

Random

Micah LOVES the Bean Museum. It is probably one of his top 3 things to do (the other two being going to basketball with daddy and going to Mickey Dee's). Here are a few photos from our last trip there. We're going again tomorrow.

Look at the gigantic elephant behind them. Micah honestly believed it was alive. I could not convince him otherwise.

The crocodile. Micah's absolute favorite. That and the stick bug.

The stick bug. He keeps asking for a shirt with a picture of a stick bug on it. If anyone ever sees one, please pick it up for me. :)

Micah and Abby love hot chocolate. They love to stir it themselves. It cracks me up that they eat it with huge chunks of undissolved chocolate floating around on top. Don't their faces show exactly how much they love the stuff? :)

Abby's hair is finally getting long enough to do a few things with. She loves to wear "piggies" right now.

This style is a "pony".

For Valentine's Day, I decorated the kids' bedroom doors. They loved it and just barely let me take the decorations down.

Micah loves to play with his friends. Just about every day, he has someone over, or is over at someone else's house. The other day, Caden, Micah and Treddon (pictured above) were downstairs playing Batman. They were making up their own characters to go along with Batman and Robin. Micah's character was "Gogo Giki." When I asked him what kind of character that was, he replied, "He's a bad guy monkey."

Okay then. :)

So Sweet

This morning, I asked Micah to be especially quiet as he was getting ready for school. I told him that Abby still was not feeling well and I didn't want her to get woken up. I told him that sleep was very good for Abby and would help her feel better. To that, our sweet little Micah then said, "Mom, I don't want anything to happen to our baby."

I'm still wiping the tears away.

Micah Wants a Dog

Micah really wants a dog. I DO NOT. NOT AT ALL.

Yesterday, we were driving on center street and passed the pet store. Micah promptly shouted, "Mom! Let's go there. I want a dog!" I told him that dog's are a lot of responsibility and someone has to take care of them. He calmly told me that he would be glad to do that. I said, "What would you do if the dog went poopie on the grass?" His reply? "I would just scoop it up with the shovel and put it in the mud."

Unfortunately, he's still not getting a dog. :)

Abby's Princess Tea Party

I've been wanting to have a Princess Tea Party for Abby and her little friends for awhile now. We finally did it today and it was SO MUCH FUN!!!

Here is Abby all dressed up, waiting for her guests to arrive. She absolutely loved dressing up as Cinderella. She would spin around and watch her pretty dress flare out. She tapped her shoes on the floor and jumped up and down with excitement as she waited for her friends to get here.

Abby dancing around in her princess dress. It was so cute to see her so excited and to know that she felt so beautiful.

Cinderella (Abby), Snow White (Riley), and the beautiful Renaissance princess (Isabelle).

Playing "Pin the Tail on the Donkey"

Sleeping Beauty (Kierra)

All the beautiful princesses. All of these girls are 2-years-old and within just a few months of each other. It's so fun to have friends so close by.

Abby liked this game so much, she played it again and again and again after she woke up from her nap this afternoon.

Their prizes for being so good at "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" were their own finger nail polishes. As you can see, they were pretty independent and wanted to do it themselves. Abby chose the blue Cinderella polish and not only painted her nails blue, but she also painted an entire finger blue.

Kierra had pretty yellow nails.

Isabelle had beautiful pink nails.

And Riley had gorgeous hot pink fingernails.

I had never painted Abby's nails before this. She loved it! I'm sure it was the start of something we will be doing quite frequently.

The Princesses in their castle.

Awaiting their royal food. The mommies stayed and played too, so the princesses waited while they were served by their respected mommy.

The girls really worked up an appetite. We munched on heart shaped pb&j sandwiches, bananas, strawberries, string cheese, chocolate teddy grahams, and yummy chicken salad.

After eating, the little princesses played while the mommies enjoyed good conversation and watching.

The beautiful Renaissance princess, Isabelle.

Abby was so tired nearing the end of her big party. Do you recognize the tired stare? She crashed about an hour after the party ended. I think she would have gone to sleep earlier, but Micah came home from school, and she had a blast showing him all her fun party stuff.

Princess Riley munching on her candy necklace.

Getting a group picture proved to be very difficult.

Princess Kierra

Apparently, Princesses also like to play Foosball. :)

All in all, I would say that the party was a smashing success. Abby had a blast and I think her friends did too. They all played together very well and no one got hurt. In my book, those are definitely the success indicators.

This party will definitely be followed up by many more. Next up is Micah's turn. His 5th birthday is in April and he wants a Chuck-E-Cheese party.

He Just Says the Funniest Things

So the other day, Micah got into Heath's office and came out wearing daddy's swim goggles and swim fins. My parents were here, and knowing that daddy doesn't like the kids getting into the things in his office, my dad told Micah that he should probably take them off. In response, Micah said, "Just worry about yourself. Don't worry about me, grandpa."

The kids and I were watching a dvd the other day and one of the previews looked really cute. I said, "Have you ever seen that at the Redbox?" Micah said, "No, it's not there because it's coming soon to a theater near you."

Have I mentioned that I have the cutest kids ever?

Thoughts

Late last night, my good friend called and asked if I had seen the news. They were reporting that the man who invented the frisbee had passed away. She knew that this news would have impact on me and just wanted to know if I was okay. That man, was the man who, with alcohol in his system, ran a stop sign and hit and killed my sister.

For years, I have been bitter because I felt that he had never fully paid for what he did. I was bitter that he never apologized for what he did. I was bitter that the whole world knew that he had invented the frisbee, but they would never get the chance to know Valerie.

This morning, I was watching ESPN and they covered his death. Again, bitterness consumed me and has taken over my day a bit. But, something happened this afternoon that has left me with a softened heart. I laid down and took a nap with Micah and Abby. As they were sleeping, I looked at them and thought how sad I was that they never knew their aunt. And how mad I still was that I don't have a sister here. And then another thought creeped into my mind and heart. It was time to forgive. I'm sure he didn't mean to kill anyone that day. I'm sure he was just like any other person who has gotten careless at times. I'm sure that he is sorry and I'm sure he had feelings about this that I never knew about. For me to carry this bitterness inside for all these years was wrong. I need to forgive and now I think I can.