Trick or treat?

I have to be honest, I wasn't really feeling it this year for trick or treating. In the past we've gone to visit family and since this was our first free weekend in a long time we decided to just stay home this year. We couldn't decide what to do so at the last minute, we decided that I would take Wendell out trick or treating in our neighborhood and Phil and Harlie would stay back and hand out some treats. So at 6pm, I was at HyVee buying 5 bags of candy to hand out and then we rushed home to get started. But I have to say, this was one of the best times I have ever had with Wendell. He did a great job of walking up to each house, saying trick or treat and thank you, showing great enthusiasm with lots of smiles, being careful while walking around the streets, holding my hand when asked and knowing when it was time to go home. We went around our block to our neighbors (most who we sadly don't know) and then down the block to a "haunted yard" which he was excited about the blowing bubbles and "christmas tree lights". Everyone seemed to love his costume, which is hard to see in the pictures but he's a train. One of the first houses we went too had a guy answer the door in a mask. The mask had long grey hair and pasty, wrinkly, skin and some googly eyes... but Wendell so engrossed with the bowl of candy being handed to him, he didn't look up right away. When he did, Wendell just stared at the guy and I believe his thoughts were "hmm.. you are a strange looking fellow.. thanks for the candy" and we walked away. Another funny story was one person handing out candy had one of those bowls with a hand in it that will grab at your hand when you go for candy which is kind of scary when you don't know what to expect. I'm not sure if Wendell was scared or just stunned, but he just stood there frozen for a minute before he finally shook his head no and walked away. It was kind of cute but sad too... as kids can really get scared at this age. Anyways, we walked a block, trick and treated at our house and then did another block. We got enough candy to keep our whole family on a sugar high for the night (and probably the next week). When we were done then we hung out at home for awhile and two treaters came to the door. Wendell was outside looking at the pumpkins and all of sudden we heard his little voice say "come on in, you can have candy from here". Phil and I laughed at our little solicitor. So Wendell got to hand out some candy too. No one else came for awhile so we hopped in the car and went over to Phil's Aunt Mary Lou and Janice's house to show off the kids costumes. In the end, both kids were very excited to see and then eat so much candy. And of course, Phil and I indulged as well. Next year, I will be more excited... as I can't wait to see the smiles on my little pumpkins' faces.

good books

Last year I posted some of the books that I enjoyed reading and it's kind of nice to go back to see what made the list. Since then I have been keeping a list of books since then that I have read and enjoyed. Apparently this list is pretty old because I don't remember some of them, but, I had written them down so at some point I've read and enjoyed these books.

The Myth & Me by Leah Stewart (yep, don't remember this one)
The Nine Lessons by Kevin Alan Milne (Sarah - I think you might like this one)
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist (a very unique yet odd book - a bit disturbing)

And more recently...
Eve: a novel of the first woman by Elissa Elliott (a fiction book based on the Bible, culture and other history sources - mixed feelings on this one but it makes you think)
By Searching by Isobel Kuhn (this is a book in my possession that someone suggested I read about 20 years ago and I never gave back.. oopps!! Sorry about that... I'd give it back if I knew where she lived or could even remember her name... anyways, this is a book written by someone who was challenged by a professor in college who told this lady "you only believe in God because your mama and papa told you so".. or something like that. So it's her process of "searching" for God.
The Bible (ongoing) - I'm currently reading Acts and am really fascinated by the beginning works of the church and how it went from 12 disciples to spread like wild flowers across to places like Ethiopia.. and some of the decisions they made and why they made them - like whether or not to make non Jewish people get circumcised when they became believer or who should even be accepted into the "church".

What's next? Glad you asked! I have a stack of about 5-6 books on my basement steps that are either getting read and put back in storage, sent to Goodwill, or thrown in the burn pile. I love books but have determined that I really don't have to keep every book that was ever given to me...especially if it takes 20 years to read it. : )

on the mend.. and off to more exciting things

I'm happy to say that I think we are on the mend. After my last depressing post, I am happy to report that I think Harlie is teething. I feel bad as I think it's been rough on her but at least it's not contagious so we can get out of the house to get some fresh air.

So we were VERY happy to get out to our good friend Mieke's birthday party on Saturday. The theme was pirates and princesses so here we are in our best last minute costumes. Wendell was a little unsure as he was worried as he told me that "people will laugh at me". Interesting comment, where did this come from? So I had to put a mustache on myself as well but self consciously wiped it off before getting to the party... was that wrong of me? I debated in my head what to do and in the end wiped it off.. because I didn't want people to laugh at me. Please note: I was NOT dressed up like a pirate before you judge my decision.






















So onto other exciting things! Like carving pumpkins.. personally, I love carving pumpkins and so does Wendell. Although I did most of the cutting and digging out, he loved helping me design, watching me work, and (taking pictures of) the finished product.

fever II

That's what I'm calling it. Fever II. We have had a sick child the last 5 weekends in a row... and I'm loosing my patience. Week 1 was the triathlon and Harlie was vomiting all night, week 2 was Wendell vomiting 3 times in a night, week 3 was Wendell having a bad cough and running nose (requiring we use the nebulizer), week 4 (last weekend) Wendell had a fever, and now this weekend week 5, Harlie has a fever. Erggggg.......

So I wasn't very happy this morning at 1:30am when Harlie was crying. I asked Phil to check on her and he found a dirty diaper that we both had to work together to change because she was fighting it so much. She had a terrible case of diaper rash which has been an ongoing issue the past week (I think it's teeth, again). But with the dirty diaper we also could tell she had a fever and sure enough, the thermometer read over about 101 degrees.

I am feeling at loss. We have missed so many fun things that it is starting to make me angry and very isolated. Wendell visiting my parents for the weekend, going to the Omaha Zoo, visiting Phil's parents, watching the Des Moines Marathon, MMO, Sunday church, and this weekend, a birthday party.

I feel like we've been stuck at home the past two weeks, although we did get out for a bit on Wednesday and Thursday this week. And Phil and I have been sleeping poorly with all this sickness so that doesn't help either. I feel bad because I work this weekend meaning Phil has night duty on his own (for tonight at least). His parents are coming up tomorrow so his mom or dad might help out the next two nights while they stay. Either way, it's not fun getting up in the middle of the night to dish out medicine for a fever.

A small part of me feels like I shouldn't complain because this is the first time she's had a fever since she was born. We made it the first year with hardly any sickness. I suspect that now that I'm done breastfeeding (yes, we are done!) that she will get sick more often now.

But I am curious as to this.. now that she's sick, Harlie has her tongue sticking out almost constantly.. causing excessive drool. Any thoughts? As this is very unusual for her.

sickness blues

We are going on almost four weeks of sickness around here. Harlie had the flu (vomiting) the weekend of the triathlon.. then I felt a small head cold and queasy that week but never really got sick. Then the next weekend Wendell got the flu (vomiting), then last Thursday Wendell started with a head cold and we had to cancel his plans to go stay at Grandma and Grandpa's for the weekend. He was coughing a lot and we had to give him some nebulizer treatments to help him breath. Then he seemed to be getting better when a fever kicked in this past Wednesday night. Thursday Phil stayed home from work as I was up part of the night coughing and couldn't sleep myself, and later had a head full of junk in the morning - hacking up flem (which totally grosses me out and makes me dry heave). Then I called in sick to work (you know I'm really sick when I call into work because I haven't called in sick in a very long time.. at least over a year.) At one point Wendell's fever got up over 104 and that is with medicine. He's already had two baths today so we tried an ice cream cone and not snuggling with mommy or a blanket. He has also run around 1/2 the day with only underwear on. Luckily for now, it went back down but one of us will have to get up in the middle of the night to check on him. (Phil my very loving husband volunteered to do this). So far Harlie only has a slight runny nose and Phil is not affected, lets hope that continues. I am starting to feel better but still not 100%. I did call the doctor today and they said this is going around and the fever could last 5 days... so two more days of this. So long story short, sorry not much blogging but we're just under the weather here. And quite frankly, sick of being sick.

The big bummer is that we had a big fun weekend planned. We were supposed to go to the Omaha Zoo with Phil's family this weekend. He had taken Friday off so we could drive to his parents in Guthrie Center, then go to the zoo on Saturday, then go watch the big Des Moines Marathon on Sunday and see Phil's Grandma who is in the hospital. But we are home some more.. we've been stuck at home since Wednesday. I'm hoping that we can at least go on a car ride this weekend, maybe out to Hickory Hills park or something to see leaves and get some fresh air. I figure as long as we're not in direct contact with people then we should be fine in our vehicle and maybe a little walking around. Phil might take Harlie down to Des Moines on Sunday to see his Grandma but we'll see, maybe by some miracle Wendell will be feeling better by then, but most likely not up for a long car ride. So we continue to watch tv, read books, play games and put puzzles together. And hope to not go stir crazy.. but more importantly not visit the hospital. Earlier today I was thinking of the people back in the 1800's who were helpless when this happened, at least I have a hospital that is close and easy to get to if needed. Anyways, enough depressing thoughts.... if you have a moment, please say a prayer for Wendell as this fever just doesn't want to go away.

**Sorry if there are proofing errors, I'm too tired to keep rereading...

Yummy in the tummy!

Phil and I took the kids to the newly opened Pizza Ranch in Cedar Falls on Saturday night and although we've been to them before, we still say we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!

Here's why:

• For buffet, they're is pretty much no wait. Food is ready instantly, which anyone that takes little kids to a restaurant knows that the wait can be torturous. Not only do you have to wait to get your food, you can go back and get more when you need it.
• They have good food and good options. The kids and I love pizza and cheese sticks. Phil loves chicken and mashed potatoes. We can drink anything we want (wish they had chocolate milk though) and get refills ourselves. They also have dessert pizza (YUM!) and soft serve ice cream. AND all their food is good, especially when it's fresh and hot. We also like that they have veggie options. Phil and I like salads but the kids don't really eat raw veggies yet so they could also eat green beans or corn.
• You can eat as much as you want, kids can try different things if they're being picky. I will admit I ate too much though.
• It only cost $20... you just can't beat that price. We did get a special 15% off for Phil being friends with them on Facebook but I don't think it'll cost too much more the next time we go. And for our healthy eating family of 4 that is a good price.
• For us, the location is good too.. just down the road.

So, if you're ever going out to eat at the PR, let us know.. and we'll try and join you! Yum... that dessert pizza was good!