Merry Christmas

All she wants for Christmas...

My Rosie lost her first tooth tonight at our candlelight service at church.

I remember sleepless nights when this tooth was brand new...

Christmas break

Today was the last day of school for the kids. They are very excited to be out and are looking forward to many days of playing endlessly. The boys have a wild idea that they will stay up until midnight every night. This strikes me as funny because Lake is usually asking me if he can go to bed at eight o'clock each night!

The picture above is one of 55 that we took trying to get one for our Christmas card. It's not the one we chose - I'll post it later.

A box of surprises

I probably should have taken a picture of the items in the box that arrived yesterday. TBird sent a box of goodies that included these two football jerseys (Lake in the Auburn and Tate in the Tennessee Titans), a pink t-shirt exclaiming "Tough Guys Wear Pink", an Auburn t-shirt, a box of cookies (one of which Daisy is having for breakfast - they have dark chocolate on them, so that makes them sort of healthy, right??) (John Henry, I promise she will eat something else more appropriate along with it ;)) Anyway, the list of contents goes on and on...

One quick note about yesterday. Lake was awarded Student of the Month for December. This month was chosen on "knowledge." The criteria was that the child had to be actively seeking knowledge in all things and not just accepting things as they are presented.

Daisy

At Daisy's four year check up she weighs 39 pounds and is 43 inches tall. She had to get four vaccinations and I did not prepare her - in fact, I hadn't even thought about them because it has been so busy here! She was a real trouper during the administration of them but afterwards she wasn't very happy with me. Finally last night before bed I explained to her why they are necessary and that I wasn't keeping the information from her - I had honestly forgotten that she was getting them! As she was getting very sleepy she said to me, "Mommy, I love you so much."

Oh, Daisy, I love you, too.

Lake

Yesterday I took Lake and Daisy to the pediatrician for their annual check up. Lake weighs 80 pounds and is 56.5 inches tall. He has 20/20 vision. None of his moles look suspicious (of course, one of my main concerns!) We are starting a head ache journal. In the past five months he has had four headaches that have made him nauseous to the point of vomiting. We are also trying a medication to see if it helps any. His head hurts several days out of the week. Other than that, he is a very healthy, growing, boy.

all over again

Rosie returned to school today. She's been home with me all week. She's battled a fever virus with fever reaching over 104 and just when we thought she was over it, she developed pink eye. The pediatrician said she could return to school today. Yesterday she was feeling much better but was still contagious. After we took everyone else to school, we stopped for some craft materials. We spent the morning making things - we made a crown, a photo frame and a book about the months of the year. She loved it. I loved it. I had determined that we would spend the day together - how often do I get her to myself (other than running errands or scheduled events?) Not very often.

All in all, it was a great time for us. However, it just made this morning that much harder. It was like the first day of school all over again. She had a few tears this morning until I reminder her that her friends at school missed her and would be so excited to have her back. That seemed to cheer her.

But my, oh my. My heart hurts. I miss her. I've cried for her. It's going to be a long six hours.

poetry

Tate's class is studying a unit on poetry. They spent several days reading poetry. Now they have moved on to writing their own.

A poem from yesterday, written by Tate:

I went to the lake
to look for the beach
I made a mistake
and found a peach.

Breathing

We are still here - it's just been very hectic!

Tate has been sick with strep throat. He's feeling better and went back to school today. Rosie either has strep or a stomach virus. She has a fever, severe stomach pain and vomiting. I took her to the pediatrician this morning. Her rapid strep test came back negative, we'll know for sure in the morning. Her fever has reached 103 but as of right now, she's unable to keep anything on her stomach.

Daisy and Lake are feeling fine, for the time being!

I did have a bit of good news last week. The secretary at Tate's school called to tell me that Tate was selected as 'Student of the Month.' On Friday, there was to be an assembly announcing this to the rest of the school. Also, on Friday, Tate's class was performing a play for the school. Tate had the lead role in the play. You've got to have the bad with the good, right? Well, Friday was when Tate woke with a fever and 'knives' in his throat. I called the teacher and explained the situation. Another child read his lines during the play. Tate was very disappointed about missing the play but understood that he was sick and he didn't want to get his friends sick.

I wish I could say the same for the girl that shared microphones with him....who had a fever the day before....but the mother sent her to school anyway so that she wouldn't miss out on the play. Sure, the girl only came for the play practice but that was enough to infect my child and possibly my entire family.