Stone Mountain Sickness

Steven was scheduled to work for several days in Conyers, Georgia and it happened to fall during Elle's Fall Break from school. We decided to make a little family trip out of the business travel. My mom and sister drove up and we met in Atlanta for a long weekend. The kids were all a little under the weather before we left. I'd taken Reese to the doctor and she said it was "just allergies" so he was on his third week of a wet, terrible sounding cough. Grady had some allergy driven coughing. Elle was beginning to get some congestion and cough, but the normal symptomatic medicines we do were handling it. Off to Atlanta we went! 

We planned to visit Stone Mountain since it was on the east side of Atlanta close to the hotel in Conyers. We got to Atlanta mid-afternoon on Saturday. It was a beautiful day. The sun was bright but it was definitely chilly and windy in the shade. We rode the cable car up the mountain and explored the top:

We ate dinner in the park and prepared for the spectacular laser light show. Elle was feeling pretty bad at this point and just generally not acting like herself. The laser show kind of made me feel bad too:). It was not quite as spectacular as advertised, but the adults got some serious laughs out of it! Elle and Grady planned to stay with Mom and Maddie at their hotel in the park, but because she was feeling so bad, she left with us, and Grady {since he was the least sick!} got to spend some one on one time with Mom and Maddie. 

Elle was running fever by the time we got back to the hotel and the night was not great. She was having some difficulty breathing, but we had her inhaler and it gave her at least some relief. Her fever broke during the night and she really felt better the next morning. We decided to go through with the original plans and went back to Stone Mountain after a leisurely breakfast and met Mom, Maddie and Grady there. The tweak in the plan was to take it easy, ride the train and do our best to not let Elle get really active and out of breath, literally. 

The kids enjoyed the Camp Highland Outpost that had a low ropes course, rock climbing wall and zip line. Elle wanted to do the "Sky Hike" which was the adult version with nothing low about it?! They harnessed you in and you walked across boards and tight ropes and moving bridges lots of feet up in the air. There were 3 levels but I headed back down to solid ground after level one. It was a little scarier than I thought, but a fun example of "faith"! Elle and Steven completed Levels 1 & 2 and she loved it! 

Mom and Maddie stayed with us Sunday night in Conyers. It was a little worse than Saturday night. Lots of coughing and inhaler taking and crazy breathing sounds. Monday, Steven headed off to work and we were left to find something fun to do around the town of Conyers. Well, sister was not better and the inhaler was not helping and she was struggling to get a good breath. She obviously begins to get lethargic and that's when I know she needs more help than the inhaler is giving her. We found an immediate care place and went in. Thankfully, difficulty breathing is high up on the priority list {especially in a child!}, so we were back in a room really quickly. Mom and Maddie left in the car with the boys so they didn't have to wait with us. The doc came in and listened to Elle and said she had pneumonia. I was very thankful we decided to come to the doctor:). They gave her a breathing treatment and she was immediately much better. Meanwhile, I'm texting my sister that Elle has pneumonia and she sends this back: Reese just threw up all over the car.

Elle and I finish up with her treatment and the doctor. He tells us to come back and see him if we will be in town the next day and to see her pediatrician as soon as we get back home. Oh and if she got worse to go to the ER:). We go outside and Mom has the car parked on the side of the building with all the doors opened, trying to clean up vomit. I had no napkins or wipes or anything in the car?! We drove right up the road to CVS. While we waited on Elle's steroid and antibiotic to be filled, we Clorox wiped seats, doors, etc., etc. I had no extra clothes in the car either so my poor boy rode back to the hotel with a sweatshirt and sock and shoes on. Nothing on the bottom. 

Mom and Maddie were so glad they stayed to spend that day with us! Seriously, I was so thankful they were there to help me. And they were troopers to deal with vomit. After we all got settled back at the hotel, they bolted as fast as they could:). We started Elle's medicines and Reese didn't throw up again. The night was better but her lungs were still really tight. We packed up the next morning and got ready to head home but she was almost in the same position as the day before. I didn't have a good feeling about driving four hours by myself with her like that. So back to the immediate care place we went! The doctor wanted us to go see a local pediatrician. Her lungs sounded a little better but her oxygen saturation was still really low. {It should be 95-100% on room air and Elle's was 87%} After an hour at the immediate care place, we went to the pediatrician's office. He gave her another breathing treatment and her pulse ox came up to 93%. After 2 1/2 hours at various doctor's offices, we met Steven for lunch and then headed home. Her recovery was slow, but thankfully she was out of school and we just took it easy. And thankfully, she did not require hospitalization. The wet coughs are still lingering but I think that's due, in part, to the massive amount of peanut harvesting that's been going on. Hopefully, it's coming to an end and our coughs will as well!!

October

Wow, October. Where did you go? You were a fun, full month. I have to confess that I rarely pick up my good digital camera anymore. The phone is so convenient and I almost always have it with me to capture the moments here and there. And because of that, all of October will be phone pictures with no fancy editing. Here's a recap of the month:

We did a unit on apples in kindergarten and made applesauce while tasting several different kinds. And let me just say here that school is going well. It has a different feel than it did with Elle because they are different children and learn in different ways. He still has a positive attitude towards completing his work and learning. I was voicing some concerns to my mom the other day. She's a great resource for me, being a teacher herself for 30+ years, and I wanted to see if something was age appropriate or not. I know that Elle was a little ahead of the ball game and loved to read, so she's not a great standard for Grady in that respect. Anyway, I was telling mom that Grady seemed to struggle sometimes with picking out similar words on the page. For instance, I wanted him to find the word "tree" three times on the page while we were reading The Lorax. Mom said, "Well, did he find them all?" And I said yes, but it took him what seemed like forever! She said: He's doing great. Stop worrying!

Two days later, I was in my bedroom reading my Bible before the kids were up. Grady came in, climbed up in the chair with me, and proceeded to pick out the word "God" about 10 times on the page. And the print in the Bible is a lot smaller than the print in The Lorax:). And I just thought, Lord you are so kind to do that. It was His gentle reminder saying the same thing my mom did, He's doing great. Stop worrying! 

                                   

Steven and Grady went on a camping trip with some other men and their sons from our church. This was Grady's first ever experience camping and he was ecstatic! I politely asked Steven to please not give Grady more than a day's notice in the future about things of this nature, because the boy was beside himself with excitement and couldn't quit talking about it or asking questions about if it was time yet. There were lots of manly things involved like squirrel hunting, campfires, shooting guns at a shooting range, eating oatmeal out of a recycled water bottle with a hand carved wooden spoon. I texted Steven to send me a picture that night and this is what I got:

To which I replied, "Not of a squirrel head! Of my boy!!" (Just a disclaimer that the squirrel in the picture was eaten and not just killed for sport.) It really was a fun time for both of them and I'm thankful for a husband who wants to invest time in his kids. Fathers are so important for both sons and daughters and they are able to meet needs in children that mommies just can't. 

Elle participated in Fire Prevention Week at school. She wanted to turn in a poster. She worked hard and came up with the majority of the idea by herself. I really tried hard not to give any directions and just ask questions to get her to think. I did make her draw it first on a sheet of paper and make whatever changes and adjustments on there. And I made her use a ruler for the outline of the house. Other than that, she was on her own. She said something about the possibility of winning and so we talked about how many people would be entering and how it was fun to just participate and the chance of her winning was very slim. (**This picture was about 6:45 the morning she had to turn it in!)

You can imagine my surprise when her principal called a week later to tell me Elle's poster was chosen to represent her school in the city wide contest!! She received a hand written letter from the principal, a $15 gift card to Wal-Mart, had her picture featured on the school website in front of the firetruck and had her poster on display at the mall. She didn't win the overall contest but we were so thrilled and proud of her! 

Reese is convinced this is a Jedi robe. Grady got a dress-up Jedi robe back in August for his birthday and Reese came up with a creative way to play with him by wearing Elle's old pink polka-dotted fleece robe:). He gets on kicks where he will wear it non-stop for a day... or two... or three. Even to sleep in!

After CBS one Wednesday, we went out to the Botanical Gardens with a few friends to see the scarecrows and have a picnic lunch. I always forget about the gardens but they are so pretty and have so much room for boys to run and explore! And it's free! 

That's all I can manage for now. Hope to be back soon with our Fall Break fun and sick-filled week plus Halloween costumes!

Labor Day Beach trip

The past couple of years, we've been able to take a week's {or almost a week} vacation around Labor Day and spend it at the beach. This year, with Steven's job change and the fact that we had one in public school, we couldn't do a whole week. But we did manage to get away for the long Labor Day weekend for our summer family vacation. Even though this year's time was shorter, we treated ourselves to staying on the beach! We've never before been able to stay on the beach {since having kids and paying for things ourselves} so this was a very special treat for us. And we had a blast!

The weather was perfect, even though we worried earlier in the week what Hurricane Isaac might do. The water was beautiful without any seaweed or other potentially harmful sea creatures. Our place was not modernly updated, but it was very clean and nice and had two balconies with nothing but the white sand and water in view. I spent many an hour sitting out there...

Steven was out the door about 7 AM Saturday morning getting our beach stuff in the "perfect spot", least any of the other 20 people on the mile stretch get it. {**See the five colorful chairs and umbrella? That's ours:).} The kids loved the water and the sand and played hard. We came up for lunch and nap time while Steven and Elle went out for more beach time. The Maddoxs were down as well as our engaged friends, Tommy and Sarah. We enjoyed a little pool time that afternoon too. For dinner, there was a group effort to cook the meal at the Maddoxs' condo. I say group, but I really helped by not bringing my kids until almost time to eat, thus keeping them out of the kitchen and the way and by supplying the movie. It was delicious!

Sunday was similar with Steven getting up and out there a little later with our stuff and also moving our "perfect spot" down about 1/2 mile. We gave him a hard time, but it really was worth the hike because it was a spot where the water was very shallow for a long way out and the kids could play out in the water without waves knocking them down. Or without us having to stand right beside them! That night, we went out to dinner with the Maddoxs to a Mexican restaurant right down the road in Rosemary. The sun was down when we got back, and we let the kids go on to the beach with their headlamps and some glow sticks to play and search for crabs. I know we are terrible parents, but I think that is the first time we've ever let them do that (and we've made at least one trip a year to the beach since Elle was a year old?!). We love early bedtimes:). 

Monday we got out there early, but the kids were running out of steam. About 11:00, they were ready to call it. We had planned to stay until the afternoon, but they didn't want to stay down at the beach or go to the pool so we packed up. Steven was not out of steam and the blues hit him. The leaving vacation, back to reality, going home blues. I'm sure you know them. He pushed through and we said goodbye to the beautiful white sands. It wasn't as hard this year because my mom's family is spending Thanksgiving at the beach so we'll be back in a couple months!!

More Firsts

It seems a bit ridiculous to be writing about first days of school when we are now on week 4, but here is the post I started working on 3 weeks ago:)...

    

Grady learned to ride his bike without training wheels in about 5 minutes. One afternoon, I took them off and literally he was zooming along within minutes. Starting and stopping with ease!

And then my big girl started second grade. She's practically a pro now and it has truly been a blessing. We love her teacher. She has enjoyed each day, the work involved, P.E., and all the other fun and new things she's been able to do. I'd be lying if I said we didn't miss her terribly the first few days (or that we don't miss her still!) or that I already feel like I spend most of my time in a carpool line or another, or that I miss the excitement of teaching her and seeing her learn, but she is thriving and it's a joy to see. And I still get to do homework with her:). So far, the transition from homeschool to public school has been smooth sailing!             

Then, this little man had his first ever day of "school". He was so excited and walked straight in without looking back! I, on the other hand, stayed outside the room to watch him for just a few more seconds. He has two wonderful teachers. It seems as though all three are right where they need to be and I think it will be a great year for each of them individually. I'm so thankful for God's direction and wisdom as we made decisions for this school year.                      

The Year of the Danish

Oh my, has it been a busy couple of weeks. Such big milestones for our kids. The Lord has been so gracious and each milestone has been reached with smiles, enjoyment and happy hearts. I'll get to the others soon I hope, but today will start with this one...

Grady turned 5 years old last week! We had such a fun few days celebrating our little "big" man.

For Christmas last year, we received a danish kringle in the mail as a gift. To Grady, that was the best thing he had ever tasted. He has talked about it periodically since then and when I asked what he wanted for his birthday (specifically food), he said "DANISH!". Seriously, what 5 year old requests a mail-order pastry for his birthday?

Much of the actual day couldn't be about him: we had Elle's open house for school and she had gymnastics that afternoon. He also waited very patiently all day for Daddy to get home so he could open his presents. We gave him a Jedi robe and a baseball glove (in addition to the Kringle:). We met my dad for dinner that night at Chick-fil-A (my step-mom had to be with her dad who was having surgery on his fingers), and they gave him the Captain America shield that launches discs! Steven's parents sent him a fun card with lots of birthday money that he has yet to cash in?! 

After dinner, we went to Chill yogurt for dessert. Our sweet friends gave Grady a gift card earlier in the day and he wanted to go there. Well, were we in for a treat. Not only did the employee give Grady his yogurt for free, but Reese's and mine as well. And then, he made us all balloon animals. Even me and Steven. It was hilarious. Steven and I kept joking that this guy might not be around long because he freely gave away so much yogurt:). 

My mom and Madison came in that night around 9:00 to spend the weekend with us. The next morning, Grady got to open gifts from them, which included all things Spiderman. He was thrilled! Now, he can be a Jedi, Captain America, or Spiderman. He got the "web shooter" glove and although initially he thought he would be able to shoot actual webs, he accepted the fact that it was just silly string with grace. 

Elle learned a lesson in waiting for an adult and not always trying to do it yourself when you're not sure what you are doing. Thanks to my sister's quick reflexes and Mom's silly string peeling skills, our ceiling is no longer blue.

That night, my two aunts and cousin came down to meet us for dinner and the after party at Adventureland. Unfortunately, there was a huge storm right before dinner and the go cart track was still wet and they were not running. Again, Grady was content to get a few tokens and play some video games, although we did promise to try again in the morning. They won several hundred tickets and cashed in on a bunch of junk, but they were happy and it was a fun time together. We did swing out to the batting cages where I may or may not have hit a few rounds of balls and had flashbacks to my high school glory days:). 

I have never in my life gone to Adventureland two consecutive days until last weekend. We were back up there in a little over 12 hours to ride the go carts. We had a blast! We had a few leftover arcade and batting cage tokens too. 

Grady and I started Kindergarten on Monday at home and it has been so much fun. It is such a joy to be able to see what he can do and what he knows without having a certain big sister answer or help or make him anxious. He has had such a good attitude about doing his work and has asked for more! (Trust me, I know everyday won't be like this so I am treasuring and recording these!) I am looking forward to this year and this special time with him. He is so wild and rambunctious (as are most boys his age!) but has such a tender big heart. I wish I could record some of his prayers right now. So sweet and compassionate. Just the other night, Steven was singing Give Me Jesus to the boys at bedtime. When he finished, Grady said, "Daddy, when you sing that song, it hurts in my throat."

Grady, you are one of our greatest joys. We love to see and hear your heart, to hear you hope for Jesus to come back. We are so proud of you and how brave and strong you are. What a great little and big brother you are (even though you still love to aggravate!). You are so emotional and passionate and we pray God will help you learn to control and use those for His glory. We are thankful you are in our family. It would not be the same without you. We love you buddy. Happy 5th birthday! 

The Last Day

We planned to spend most of our last day in Golden Gate Park. We walked down to the cable car turnaround at the end of Hyde Street, bought a "Muni" day pass and stood in line. There was nice entertainment provided by a street performer which helped pass the wait time. 

And of course, going over the safety tips provided entertainment. I thought some of these were silly and common sense, but after a short ride, I saw several people who failed to review the safety tips and did some of the silly things on there?! 

Elle and I rode standing up on the outside. Such a fun experience!

We stopped at Lombard Street and walked down to the bottom, then back up. The landscaping is beautiful but the cars are constant. I can't imagine actually living in the houses that line the street. 

The view's not bad though. If you can look past all the traffic!

Next we took the public transportation buses to Golden Gate Park. The last time I've taken buses like that was in Kazakhstan. Brought back great memories. And some not so great, when we were trying to get back to Fisherman's Wharf at 5:00?! Madison wanted to see an exhibit at the de Young Museum. I'm not much in to fashion design (surprise!) so I had no idea who this guy was but apparently he is a big deal in the fashion world. He's definitely creative and talented... in a very weird sort of way:). 

After the exhibit, we walked across the park to the California Academy of Sciences. We got in and grabbed some lunch first, then spent the next several hours enjoying the museum. We watched a movie in the planetarium about earthquakes, explored the live roof, walked through the rainforest and all of the aquarium. About 3:30 (5:30 Alabama time), I got a text from Steven that he'd just gotten to my dad and Sandi's house and Reese was running fever and had just thrown up everywhere?! It was hard to really enjoy myself after that, but I kept reminding myself that there was nothing I could do and he would be well cared for. The mommy and nurse in me wanted to be there. And thankfully, it happened at the end of our trip and not the beginning...

We finally made it back to Fisherman's Wharf and went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. We souvenir shopped our way back to the hotel, mingling with more street performers on the way. 

**Remember her "Transformers" 6th birthday?

We made it back to the hotel and got our bags packed and ready for the next morning. A shuttle picked Elle and I up at 7:45 AM and we headed to the San Francisco airport. Our trip home was fairly smooth with just a 30 minute delay and a couple gate changes in Dallas. We got in to Montgomery around 6:15 and made it to Dothan around 8:30. Mom and Madison weren't quite so fortunate and ended up having to spend the night in Chicago without their luggage, then fly to Dulles and finally arriving in Savannah Friday night--when they were supposed to get in Thursday night! Crazy?! 

Steven ended up taking Reese to the doctor Thursday afternoon, but they said it was just a virus (they'd thought he might have strep) and it had to run it's course. Well, it did, through Grady Saturday and Sunday, then Steven all last week (while he was out of town for work!) and Elle Tuesday through Friday. Steven ended up going to the doctor for some medicine yesterday, his throat was hurting so bad. 

I think the family is almost healthy now and we are gearing up to start school in a couple of weeks! We are all ready!!