Mason's Birthday Party!

Mason had a Build A Bear Birthday party last weekend. He had his top friends and had a wonderful time. The party went great and we had cupcakes in the food court. He opted for a puppy themed party.......shocker. Tomorrow is his official birthday.....check back for the picture of him in Tom's shirt.

Look what he can do and a Yummy Dinner!!

So Mason can blow a bubble and he is super pumped about it. Miles told him how to do it, the steps involved and he practiced and now has it. Since this picture was taken he has gotten better and can blow a bubble that if popped would cover most of his face. Oh Miles can not blow a bubble, so Mason is enjoying that.

I made the yummiest casserole tonight for dinner, even Tom liked it and he does not like casseroles. It is Shrimp and Wild Rice Casserole. I got the recipe from a blog I follow and I will be making it again, although the kids don't like it. Mason ate the shrimp out of it but I did not make Miles try it becasue it has a little kick to it. I will be making it again and will enjoy the left overs. ENJOY!

SHRIMP AND WILD RICE CASSEROLE
Ingredients:
1 package wild rice
1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and divined
2 tablespoon butter
1/2 green bell pepper chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 10 3/4 ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Cook the rice according to package directions minus 1/4 cup water. Let cool.
Bring 2 cups water and 1/2 tablespoon salt to a boil in a medium saucepan and cook the shrimp for 1 minute. Drain immediately and set aside.
Heat the butter in saucepan and saute the pepper and onion until soft, about 5 minutes.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the rice, soup, 1 1/2 cups of cheese, shrimp and vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Spray a 9 inch square aluminum cake pan or an 11 by 7 inch glass casserole dish with vegetable spray. Place the mixture in the pan and top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly.

A Denton Tradition

Miles went to work with Tom on Friday while Mason had a play date here. He helped Kurt paint a tank. All of Joe's (Tom's brothers) boys have painted things around the yard and signed their name to it. All the Denton kids (mostly the boys) work at the yard during the summer so Miles has been looking forward to this for a year or so now. He really did help paint and had a ton of fun. He will be going about 2 times a month this summer. I think it is just such a wonderful thing so have such a sense of family traditions and values at a young age. I love that he can go and work. Just one more sign that I no longer have a baby but a fine young man.

Oh and Anna has mastered pee pee but we are still having poop in panties and other places but not the potty. I am going to keep it up for at least another week. What a stubborn GIRL!

Camping Day 3 and Potty Training Day 3

Making Smores!

The sun came out the day we leftThe whole gang at Laurel Falls

Anna says its too loud

Grabbing a family photo during a rest

He made his plate higher with the bucket all by himself. Love the SMores!

Miles looks so big!

Anna just had to fish too!

While we were camping we decided to hike to Laurel Falls. It is an easy hike with paved trail and it is just a one mile walk. It was foggy and sprinkled the whole time but we had fun anyway. Of course Anna was scared of the noise from the water but she walked about half the way up and half the way down. The boys walked the whole way. Tom's parents camped with us and his brother came up for one night and brought Kurt. The boys really love Kurt and he is so great with them. He plays, digs in dirt, fishes, roasts marshmallows with them. Enjoy the pics. Miles kept stopping on the trail (for a break I am sure) and would say this would be a good spot to take my picture and Mason was not as interested so I have lots of pics of Miles.

Potty Training is going pretty good. She woke up dry yesterday morning and did not have any pee pee accidents yesterday. She did have a poopie accident. I am really hoping today we can make it to the potty. I think with her it will only take one poop and we will be in the good. So here we go another day! Miles was horrible about poop in potty and I am praying that she gets over this soon!

What a DAY!!!!!

Potty Training Day 2 has not gone well. I had to leave her to take Mason for his OT evaluation and she had 2 accidents. Then we came home, she napped and had another pee pee accident then pooped in her panties. She really did not care that she was dirty. She needs to pee again and is refusing to sit on the potty. Day 2 is bad..I am committed so I hope tomorrow is better.

Mason's Evaluation went really well today. She told me briefly today that I will get an official report week after next but that his biggest problem is that he had some reflexes that are under developed in his neck/upper body. With lots of exercises and work he will be good as new. She did tell me that she saw no sensory problems or attention issues. She did note that he uses his whole arm to write and that he can not move his arms without moving his body. I will let you know the official report week after next.

Can you believe Idol last night? I really did not think Alexis would be leaving so soon. I thought for sure that Michael was out. Anyway here is my top 5 in order of favorite to not so favorite......Matt Giraud, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen, Allison Iraheta, & Meghan Joy ( although she will probably leave before the final 5 and weirdo Adan will be in the top 5)

I will let you know how potty training day 3 goes tomorrow.

A Camping We Went!!

We went camping and had a great time....even in the rain! I confess that I really did not want to go. I was grumpy and thinking of all the work that I would have to do to go and really did not want to go, but the boys were so excited that I had to go and I had a fabulous time. We left Saturday afternoon in the rain. We stayed at the Jellystone Park outside of Gatlinburg and it was a great campground. It has a game room, daily kid activities, pool, putt-putt and lots of other kids.

When we got there Saturday evening we went and played candy bar BINGO and while we waited Anna sang "The Washing Machine" on stage in front of 15 people and was quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen. If you won a game of BINGO you had to do a dance on stage before you got your candy and when Miles heard this he quite playing....no stage dancing for Miles, but Anna did enough for all 5 of us. Sunday was still rainy so we went to the Aquarium in Gatlinburg.

Sorry the pictures are out of order, for some reason I can not move them around like usual. Check back tomorrow for more camping activities and Day 2 of Potty Training Anna. Today we have so far had 2 pee's in potty and 1 pee pee accident. Also tomorrow is Mason's OT evaluation.

The Indoor Water Park!

A couple of weekends ago, before the flu came for an extended unwelcome visit, we went to the indoor water park in Sevierville. We went with dad and Marga, we had a ton of fun. Miles really loved it, of course because he has no fear of anything that has to do with water. Mason of course did not like it at all except the hot tub.....he hates cold water, and for this being indoors the water was cold. Anna was terrified at first but warmed up after a while.

SO here is the low down on the place. There is one large slide, 2 medium slides, 1 small slide attached to a play area with a huge bucket that dumps water on you, a hot tub, a wave pool, a kiddie pool and a surf rider event.

Miles loved the big slide....look at his face.

Pops loved the slides!

There is this other thing there called the "Surf Rider" and you can attempt to surf. There is a lot of water generated at a rapid pace with lots of wipe-outs. Tom really wanted to stand up but you had to sign a waiver and he had already waited in line for about 30 minutes. Lots of people including Mason get thrown off the board and flop up to the top of the water. I must have stopped recording right before Mason got thrown like a rag doll. Call it mother intuition. Tom was bummed I did not get it on tape because he thought it was super funny.

As we were leaving! The boys are asking to go back so we will see!!

Another One Bites the Dust!!!!

Yes Anna has the flu! She woke up with a fever and lots of sneezing. Once at the Dr office her fever was 104, but the Motrin was wearing off. So Tamiflu and Mortin on board and hope for 2 days of illness like Mason.

Update on Flu!

Mason and Tom are looking better, As long as they have Motirn they are good. Mason woke up fever free today.....Hopefully the worst is behind him. I on the other hand am very ache and only want to lay around. I do not have a fever or a cough, yet. I am hoping I will only get a mild case of it. Anna and Miles seem great today.

The Flu!

Mason has the flu! Yes he has a high fever and a bad cough so we went to ped and he tested positive for Type A influenza. The tamiflu is used on Type B flu as is the shot that he received. We are taking Tamiflu, hoping it will help a little, it has a 50/50 chance. He is really felling lousy. I called Tom, who is out of town and he informed me that he thinks he is getting it. I am crossing my fingers Anna, Miles and myself don't get it. So I rescheduled his OT evaluation for March 19th.
Update: Tom definately has the flu. He just called and sounds awful and has the chills. His buddy is getting him some Tamiflu........SO 2 out of 5. Who's next?

Breakfast for Dinner!

With Tom gone lots these days we have been eating breakfast for dinner. All my kids eat it and love it but the only problem is the love of bacon. I have to limit the pieces that they can eat. They can't have any more than 3 pieces. As of lately the boys want there bacon cooked floppy and I can't even make it like that because I have to have mine crispy, but not burnt. Last week we had blueberry pancakes with bacon and tonight we had waffles and bacon. SO how do you like your bacon and do you limit the amount your kids eat?

Tomorrow I will have a diagnosis on Mason....check back.

Jessica