Chance to Win!

I don't do this very often, but here is my shameless plug for my home business :) If you haven't already, check out my webpage www.mysignaturehomestyles.ca/ellenb and click on the online catalogue link. I am doing an order TONIGHT by 8pm MTN time. I have a great sale flyer I can email out to you if you are interested as well. There are a lot of fantastic Christmas gift and decorating ideas! So much so that Signature is selling out on items fast, so get that one thing that catches your eye before it's gone! Anyone that puts in an order is going to be entered to win the "Weathered Wood Photo Gallery" (valued at $40). So if you are interested, please contact me, leave a post with your email address and I will get back to you :)

**Any orders not in my area (or an area I will be travelling through in the near future) will need to add an extra $7 for shipping directly to their door. Once you contact me I'll let you know if I'm in your area :)

Sickness..

So I'm pretty sure that we have now had THE flu virus in our home. My son ran a fever from Wednesday afternoon until Sunday, at one time spiking to 39.5C, so I am thankful that the fever is now gone! Even though the nasty cough he got is still sticking around. My daughter was about a day behind him with symptoms and her fever was never quite as high and she still has a slight fever but by tomorrow I think it should be gone. What a helpless feeling; to be a mom while your child is sick is not fun. All I could do is make sure they were comfortable and keep the Tylenol going to lower their fevers! Another thing to watch for is dehydration, my daughter had what I thought was teething diarrhea, but I think now it was actually an early sign of sickness (since she already has all her molars for now) and I kept giving her pedialite and "liquid" foods (like soups, fruit, etc). I think we are on the healing end of things, except for the lump in my throat :) In a way I'm glad that we've been through this as we will now have immunity to this flu, no more worry or bathing in sanitizer :) I opted not to vaccinate because I really didn't like how the government pushed through the approval for the vaccine just because of the flu threat. That's the short version, and my personal opinion. Either way, I'm especially glad that the kids got sick now and not at Christmas time!! Here's to hoping for a healthy Christmas!!
**I did consult with Healthlink nurses at the peak of TJ's fever just for confirmation of how high is too high and when to bring a child to ER. A temperature of 41C that is measured twice (with an hour in between) warrents a trip to the ER (this is while a child is on Tylenol and the temp does not go down) and a temp of 39.5C for 3 days also warrents a trip to the Dr.

COOKIES!!!

I am hoping to make yummy cookies and squares for Christmas baking. What are some of your favorites? (and recipes or link to recipes if you have time). Yesterday I baked some Monster cookies.. very yummy

Monster Cookies

1/2c butter

1-1/4c br. sugar

1c wht sugar

3 eggs

1-1/2c peanut butter

2 tsp baking soda

4-1/2c oatmeal

2 tsp vanilla

1/2c M&M's

1/2c chocolate chips

Mix butter, sugar and eggs; beat well. Add remaining ingrediants. Bake @ 350 for 12 min. Yield: about 4 dozen. (I added smarties & reese pieces)

My mom makes Snickerdoodles every year and my kids really like them so I think I will try them this year :)

Snickerdoodles

1c shortening

1-1/2c sugar

2 eggs

2-3/4c flour

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp sugar

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs; beat well. Stir in flour, salt and baking soda. Chill dough. Roll into balls. Roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes.

Learning New Things

A few weeks ago I took my son out to try and teach him how to skate. Now I've never attempted to teach a child how to skate, but one would think it shouldn't be that hard, at least with the aid of one of those push things :) Well, I guess I was wrong. It took all of my patience to try and get my son to stand up on his skates! The biggest problem was that he didn't want to push down with his feet (to stand) so he had 'limp leg' most of the time.. here is a picture of my success.. although this was the only time he actually would stand :)
We hope to go back again soon - hoping for better luck next time :)

Wordless Wednesday: My Weird Kids

I don't know what it is, but on two seperate occasions this week I discovered my kids weird sleeping habits :)

Family Portraits

I had our family take portraits in the end of October.. they turned out fantastic.. here's a sneak peak :)
I am sending our family picture out with my Christmas letters (not pictured here) and in the Christmas spirit if you would like your name and address to be added to my list, if you could let me know by posting a response :) I know there are a few of you that I would like to add!

Wonders in the Waiting Room!

This morning I had a Dr. appointment (due to complications that have arised from my miscarriage, not serious, but just something needing to be addressed) and after a short wait, we were informed that our Dr. was at the hospital dealing with an emergency and we could wait it out or make another appointment. We all decided to wait it out. I started talking to a woman that looked VERY pregnant - and was 4 days overdue! (as I discovered) Before you know it there were 4 of us, having never met before, chatting about all things children/babies. It was so refreshing to talk with these strangers and we could all encourage and empathize with each other. Such a base human experience of the goodness of 4 worlds colliding :) What stories of challenge, turmoil and yet sucess and strength! One woman had just lost her 4.5 month baby boy due to SIDS just 7 months ago!! She had also gone through 4-5 miscarriages in between her 3 live births. They adopted a little girl and talked about their open adoption with the girls birth mom. It was such an encouragement to me to see her love for her kids despite all the painful circumstances in her life. There was another lady who had had an abruption (internal bleeding) at 32 weeks, basically the baby was already dead but by the time she was at the hospital, the Dr's were fighting for her life! She is glad to be alive, and now has a 2.5yr old boy! I had to try my best to fight off tears, such sad stories, but at the same time what wonderful perspectives these women had in light of their grief and sadness that they had been through and continue to struggle with. I was reminded once again of fragility of life, and of giving life! These women were such an encouragement to me in the hour we all talked as we waited for the Dr. To think, if I hadn't started conversation with one woman, I may have missed this opportunity! Have you talked to a 'stranger' lately?

I miss my baby

I guess yesterday was just an emotional day. I just missed my baby. I would have been around 20 weeks or so.. I would have been half done my pregnancy. I miss not feeling the twirling and swirling and bumps and thumps from those little hands and feet within. Feeling the wonder and roundness and changes in my body. Going through my miscarriage I went through the initial grief although it was not a long time mostly because I was not pregnant for that long and tried to prepare myself because of the signs I was seeing that it might happen. I also have the comfort knowing that my baby is in the best possible care, in the arms of my dear Heavenly Father. Every now and then I remember, seeing a pregnant mother go by, seeing a newborn baby, and I feel the longing of what may have been. I think what brought on my feelings yesterday was the fact that I found my hospital bracelet. I have kept each hospital bracelet from when I delivered my babies, so I decided to keep the hospital bracelet from when I found out I had miscarried. A small reminder of my angel child. I think it's ok to have sad days, remembering days and dreaming days. I don't dwell on it (not that I really have time to with my two active children!) that may not be healthy - but just as everyone who has lost someone special, you have those days where you remember and ponder.
Just over 2 years ago, hours after my daughter was born :)

PMK

Have you ever seen PMK? Have your kids? PMK - Popular Mechanics for Kids :) Recently on a trip to the library, I found a kids dvd about space rockets, submarines, monster trucks and boats. My son LOVES this DVD and could watch it ALL DAY LONG (on repeat!). The best thing, I love it too, for him!! It is totally up his alley. TJ is very mechanically minded and likes to know how things work, he will destroy things (in my opinion) just to find out how something works (so really it's not destruction, it's a means to an end). Even though some of these concepts are probably geared more towards 6-8 yr olds, TJ just soaks it all in! There are fun cartoons explaining the ins and outs of a working motor, they do silly experiments and get to go into a lot of places we will probably never see!
It's great to see how a new world has openned up for him with these great education videos :) As the website recommends, "Encourage your child's inquisitive mind today."

Travel Tip Tuesday: Travelling with Children

I read this interesting article a while back about travelling with children - more particularly flying with small children. Although it had a few good suggestions, the biggest issue was whether or not giving Gravol to your children was a good idea or not. Have you ever 'drugged up' (tylenol or Gravol or anything the like) your kids for travelling purposes? What were the results?

Check out the article :)

Daylight Savings...

So we've just experienced daylight savings time once more... and the results are still the same. Somehow my kids just don't seem to get the memo. I prep my kids, let them stay up an hour later, and you know what time they got up... 6:45am!!!! Now remember that on there internal clocks that's 7:45am, which really isn't so bad for my kids. Let me tell you, we are all going to have a nap this afternoon!! Do your kids have adjustment issues with time change as well? Either way, Happy November :)