Here's some photos from yesterday. They finished the new playground by our house and last night it was not as hot (notice I can't say "cooler") so we took the kids to go try it out. And a few from our dip in the pool too.

I see it!!!! Christopher is back to normal! Well, I'd say 90%. Everything is staying in. Sophie's still loose as can be, but I'm just glad he recovered within a week. I was starting to get worried. We missed church this morning b/c yesterday they both were not well and I want to make very sure they are over this before we go anywhere. Christopher and I did have a little date this morning. He has to take a bucket to school with his clothes and lunch in it now and we had to go buy one. He picked out a blue bucket at Walmart and Tiffany told me that A.C. Moore had construction stencils and so we went and got those too. Then he wanted to go to "Make-on-Donald's" to get an ice cream. I told him he had to eat some french fries too. (Not concerned about healthy now, just keeping it in) He ended up just eating fries and I had his ice cream. We actually ran into the mother of a friend of ours who was taking their son to lunch and we ended up visiting with them. They are moving to VA this week and she was pulling grandparents duties by keeping him out of the way and the house.

When we got home Brandon told us that he and Sophie had filled up the pool, so we all put our suits on and heaed out back. I swapped some plants around and then jumped in (the best you can with a baby pool) and "cooled" off. I'm not completely happy with my plants in the back, but they are bought and I have to use them. It's just to sunny back there that some of them aren't working as well as I'd hoped. I dug up my $1 wildflowers b/c they looked more like weeds and planted some of the flowers that were wilting. I bought some new one yesterday that need lots of sun and put them right smack in the middle of it. Hopefully they will do ok in the ground b/c they look like the type that should be hanging over the side of a pot. I don't care. There are flowers out there.

And an update on yesterday's party. Apparently it went off perfectly! Brandon sounded so excited when I talked to him and said everyone had a great time! Brandon said that as people showed up they started helping out and 2 of the guys just stood there and grilled food for hours. (thanks everyone for helping out!) They actually stayed longer than planned, ate tons of food, rode in the boats, played volleyball, demolished the ice cream sundaes and finally went home. We were both very tired from our day and had the kids and ourselves in the bed by 8:30. It was fabulous! I'm off to relax some more while the kids nap and Brandon is off to a going away party.

I keep wondering when the sickness in our house will end. It has been almost a week now for Christopher, but he seemed well for 2 days in the middle. then he started up again. Now Sophie has diarrhea. And you can hear it from across the house when it happens. I am so thankful I got a heated steam cleaner for Christmas b/c I have used it more this week than ever! I'm not mad or complaining, just wondering how long can it really last? It's not like they are lying around miserable, they play like normal part of the day, but every now and then Christopher lies on the floor with no energy. I drug the kids to the garden center on base to get more dirt, but that wiped them out completely. At least they are staying hydrated. Not eating much, but you almost don't want to force food in their little tummies. Brandon got some medicine, but we aren't sure how we are going to get them to take it b/c it tastes absolutely horrible!

Speaking of Brandon, poor guy has had to deal with this silly party and the only available person in his class to help him got paged by labor and delivery right as they were walking out the door to take everything! The rest of the class is post call, on call, sick or has company in town (and she's helping as much as she can). The guy just can't catch a break. I think this party doesn't need to happen anyway. You already have one party for the new residents, plus they spend a month just learning about what they are going to be doing the next few years, they have families that are trying to get settled in and then we decide to throw 2 parties at them on top of everything else! This one is supposed to include all the techs, etc. who the doctors work with and Brandon didn't realize that HE was supposed to send out and email to invite them. They have enough food for 150 people and only about 50-60 showing up. Did I mention that he didn't ask to be in charge of this party? He was told he was in charge a month after it was decided. Who did the deciding I don't know, but they need to learn how to ask people of favors instead of telling them later. And by the way, when you put someone in charge of something they've never done before, make sure you give them all the details of what the job requires, don't assume they'll just figure it out. (I will stop here b/c I could go on and on about the bad luck my sweet husband has had.)

I want to end on a good note and tell you that he "graduated" from being an intern and is now a second year resident. I am so proud of him and hate that I had to miss the little ceremony that they had yesterday, but mommy duties were calling and unfortunately they take top priority. I'm so proud of him and can't believe we got one year down! It wasn't nearly as bad as they said it would be. That's not to say we didn't have our bad days, he did more than us, but we survived and they say it only gets better. I love you and I'm so proud of you doc!

Here's what we've been up to at our house this week:

Last night the residents had their annual banquet honoring the 3rd years who are moving on and give awards out to those in the residency who stood out. I'd heard about how great this banquet was, but you don't go until you finish your first year. With Christopher being sick, I wasn't sure if I'd be going, but thankfully he was well enough for school, so I was in the clear. It was so fun to see everyone dressed up and not have to worry about watching our children. It was also great b/c we found a babysitter and she was wonderful! The kids loved her and she said she'd love to come back, so now we may have the chance to go out with other couples instead of swapping nights with them. Yippeeee!!!!

That's what I said as I dropped the kids off at Mother's day out this morning. Christopher is better and Sophie never got sick (fingers crossed) and as I left the last kid I just stretched out my arms in relief. I don't think I'd normally feel that way, but since we have been stuck inside for 3 days straight we were all ready for a break from each other! I went to the grocery store and was very surprised at how quickly I was done. I've had lunch and now ironing clothes while watching So You Think You Can Dance. I think I'm really going to like this! I better get back to work!

Poor Christopher got sick Monday night out of the blue, then ran a fever all day yesterday. He did perk up after the Motrin that we went around the corner (stayed in the van with A/C on) to watch the front loader and roller work on the street. When Brandon got home from work, he got sick again. I had JUST put away the towels we'd been lying on all day thinking we were in the clear. (Thankfully I hadn't passed on our steam cleaner like I'd promised!) He started to feel better then got sick right before we put him to bed. This is a kid that is always hot, but he was cold from the fever and had on pants, long sleeves, a hoodie and socks yesterday. He woke up at 5:15 this morning and wanted to watch a movie. So, towels came back out on the floor and we watched the rest of our movie. He fell asleep and is still out. The kids missed their first day at mother's day out together and Tiffany and I didn't get the pedicures we'd planned to have to celebrate us both being child free for a few hours. But that's fine, she wasn't feeling well either and I'd give up anything to help my sick child feel better. Tomorrow night we have a banquet to go to and it's the highlight of the year for the residents and their spouses. The one time we will all be together no kids and have fun. I really hope I don't have to miss it, but am willing to if either child (b/c I'm counting on Sophie catching it, she drank after him twice yesterday and never does that) is sick. I'll add photos later of the little bit of fun we did have yesterday.

Here are some photos from the week. I didn't take very many b/c we were either at church or napping, but I did happen to get a few.

Sophie's looking cute in the new bubble that Grammie made her. She has another outfit she wore to church this week that Grammie made for her and it's adorable, but I never got a photo of it. Don't worry, she will be wearing it a lot and I will get a photo next time!


She loves to copy everything the person she is playing with does and the latest thing is lying on her tummy and kicking her feet. It's so adorable I think I actually squeak when I see her doing it. Here she is coloring with her daddy on our bedroom floor.


Christopher woke up later and she gets so excited as soon as she sees him, whether it's him or her that has just woken up. She immediately jumped up saying "yeeeeaaaahhhhh!!!!" and ran with open arms to him to give him a huge hug. (I think a tear started coming up in my eye.) This photo shows just how much she adores him, she wears his t's and underwear (over her diaper) as much as I will let her. She can almost get them on by herself now. Don't worry, I bought some girly underwear for her, but she still wants his most of the time.

and your kids can now dig inside and won't get a drop of sweat on them and just a very minimal amount of dirt on their hands. Just make sure you get big beans so that cleanup won't drive you bonkers. It was either pinto beans or a massive bag of rice and well, I never fix rice in our house unless it's in a casserole b/c of the clean up.



Finally, I'd filled up the pool the other day for the kids, but they napped so long that it was dinner time when they woke up and we were going out with friends. I left it for the next day and when we got home from church this is what we found in our now hot tub. Even Christopher said it was too hot to be outside and this kid is never bothered by temperature.

At least something enjoyed the water! It was too hot for us. He eventually jumped away. Hope you all find ways to stay cool this week! If you have any fun ideas, feel free to share them.