O Christmas Tree, the kindness of a stranger, and one sick kid

Time for the annual let's-go-get-a-Christmas tree! We always go to Waffle House afterwards (Davey does not break tradition), but seeing that it was lunchtime, we made the smart parenting choice to go before. 

Lailey woke up early that morning complaining of not feeling good. Turned out she had a fever. She usually fares well with fevers without medicine, but this time she felt rotten. Tylenol perked her up so much that after letting her weigh in on the decision, we decided to still go get the tree since it was 5 minutes from home and she wasn't really going to be to close to anyone. 

At the Waffle House, she decided she wanted hot chocolate to warm up, so we obliged, splitting it with brother. 

When we were mostly done with our meal, our waitress came up and informed us that the man who had been sitting behind us earlier had paid out check! We were humbled and blessed and left her a generous tip to pay it forward, if you will. We wish we could have thanked him (you can see his head over Davey's shoulder in the first photo) but that wasn't what he wanted. Nice to know there are still kind people out there. 

While picking out the tree, the kids were having a ball steering and riding the small carts that are typically used for plants in the garden section. When you're 2 and your sister lets you pull her around on one because she is a good sport, you care nothing about picking out a tree! We rolled with it and while Davey selected the "perfect" one with a helpful employee, I followed the kids around with the video camera. Now that we're pros at finding the tree that 1) fits in our tree stand, 2) isn't too tall, and 3) isn't too wide for our small living room, it really didn't take very long. 

Lailey has started to really climb our tree. Now she just has to learn to get back down. 

Funny faces from Maddox as he holds on tightly!

It's a good thing we did get our tree that day because the next morning would be the start of 3 days of a stomach virus for Lailey. Really 4 days if you count the day she had the fever. She couldn't keep anything down, not even teaspoons of Pedialyte. 

She begged and cried for food and drinks, but I knew that not following the regimen recommended by our pediatrician would only make her stomach worse and could possibly send her into dehydration. 

When my extremely active, bouncy, energetic 4-year-old did not get out of the bed for a whole day and then only once or twice the next day, I knew it wasn't good. The picture above was when she had stopped with the worst of it and Maddox wanted to be with her and watch shows on the iPad. (That's him under his blanket. Silly kid.)

Lailey is back to normal now and feeling "Great, Mom! I'm better than great!" We are so thankful for many things, every day and on Thanksgiving, but we are extremely thankful that so far none of us have caught the bug from her. 

A Little of This, A Little of That, and a Lot of Cuteness

When Lailey was first born, I kept my small point-and-shoot camera on my kitchen counter at all times, always ready to capture a cute photo or video. Then when I got my dSLR camera a few years later, I stopped that because it was bigger and more expensive and the counter was not a safe place. Then I got a smart phone. Although not a necessity, I thoroughly enjoy using it to stay organized (okay, semi-organized), and capturing memories on the go. I am pretty good at photo storage and organization due to the photographer side of my brain, but sometimes my phone pictures are too good to delete but I don't have a place to put them and so they stay on my phone...indefinitely. I have waited long enough, and this post is the result of my cleaning off many good pictures and saving the memories in one place. After all, this blog is for me. Others enjoy it, yes, but I blog to remember all the wonderful moments that would otherwise be so easily forgotten in the fast pace of life and parenting. So here's to a year or so of random pictures...

This was last December, taken after we picked out our Christmas tree
and were about to enjoy our traditional post-tree-picking-meal at the good ol' Waf.

Lailey learning the very important skill of writing her name this past year. Go to  http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/ to print your own.

A common sight in our house. They love dressing up! Maddox will probably hate this picture someday since he's wearing his sister's dress shoes and carrying a purse. 

Crazy morning hair

This is what we called "redneck hot tub"

A ride at Granddad's house (Davey's grandfather)

"Mom! I just got baptized! In the bathroom sink!"
True story.

My little man loves to wear a tie

Lailey before ballet camp

Maddox learned to climb the ladder at the playground all by himself.
(Sniff) He's getting so big.

Just having a tea party, Mom

I don't think there's a kid who loves the Chick-Fil-A cow more than Maddox.

Makin' some bagel pizzas

On our Mommy-Lailey date - she was sneaking sips of my frappuchino

Love that helmet...and that face!

No words.

Family trip to Lowe's for...something. Not a riding mower, that's for sure.

What 2-year-old refused to take off the birthday sombrero that was bigger than him? Mine!
He loved that hat and the sopapillas.

We painted random shelves we had and put them on our walls
for some MUCH needed movie and book storage.

Play time with puppy dogs

Riding in the "car cart" at the store and getting some snuggles.
Can I tell you how much I love the fact that these two adore each other?
MOST of the time. Don't worry, they're still normal and fight like siblings.

How I found him after nap. He loves his blanket.

Three little Akins at an Akins concert.
Maddox is never without pens for drumsticks.

Ballet camp was fun but Lailey decided on gymnastics instead for the fall. 

My children are rarely fully clothed at home.
Notice the dinosaur tattoo (upper right arm) and the boots.

I turned THIRTY!! 

This child can EAT. He continually amazes people with his ability to put food away.
And he is STILL so tiny!

For once, Maddox is not in on the dress-up action.

"Watch, Mommy!"

Lizard at the playground

No joke, Lailey was reciting her memory work for school this way!
We're all about kinesthetic learning around here.

Happy Hanky-Wanky

Lailey's new hat she picked out

There it is! Fun randomness from this year. Did you have a favorite? Leave it in the comments. :)

The Rock Ranch

After a few years of waiting until the kids were big enough, we finally got a chance to go to The Rock Ranch with Grandpa Jim, Amy (sister), Tim (bro-in-law), and Matthan (nephew). Wide open spaces, beautiful weather, a corn box, a giant slide, a huge jumping pillow, a kid-sized town, pumpkins being shot hundreds of feet...what more could this mom my kids want? Davey wasn't able to come because he was recovering from a root canal re-treat (read: getting a SECOND root canal because the first was done incorrectly). Yikes. Another story for another day, but praise the Lord it's getting better now.

To start our day we rode in a huge covered wagon behind a tractor. I love the variety of expressions in this photo. And yes, that's Maddox under "Miney Stripes."

The Corn Box!

Matthan was cracking up with all the action going on around him.

She couldn't get enough of the Corn Box

Somersaults

Maddox spent...oh, 5 seconds in the Corn Box and wanted OUT. Tricycles and time with Grandpa were much better.

Thanks to having a big sister, he loves all things pink!

Definitely one of our favorite things was the giant Jumping Pillow. What is this, one might ask? A giant air-filled trampoline that looks like a pillow. They gave us 10 minute turns and it was a blast. I'm sure my sister will love me for posting this video. (wink) I am proud to say that we two moms can still have fun and survive.



On to the tunnel slide. It is a rather long slide that goes through a hill. Maddox and Lailey both enjoyed riding with us and alone. This is my favorite video from the day!



"More Chicken!" Grandpa had been sharing his chicken fingers with Maddox prior to sliding. Food is always on his brain.

Pumpkin canon!

So big.

Lailey with her pumpkin

Uh oh, don't tell Lailey, but I have her pumpkin!! (thanks, Amy, for this adorable picture!)

I couldn't find any food info on the website and I decided to be all prepared (I'm not always) and actually packed a good lunch the night before we left, thinking we'd have a nice picnic lunch...until we got to the entrance and it said no coolers. Dun dun dun. Well, we had to head back out by riding on the wagon again, walking to the car, eating our lunch in the grass, and then heading back. I wish I had gotten a picture, but my kids ate in the huge trunk of my car. I think there are still some pretzel pieces back there.

After lunch it was on to Tiny Town, our last activity before the kids officially expired.

Lailey and the talking chickens. You press the button and they tell jokes.
"Knock knock." 
"Who's there?"
"Cows."
"Cows who?
"No no, owls who, and cows moo."
Gets me every time!

One of the many miniature buildings in Tiny Town. Don't beat a dead horse, Maddox.

He loved being a fireman.

Uh oh! Someone stuck Mommy in jail.

Not anymore!

Pitiful. (Again, thanks, Amy, for the great pic!)

She was beating her pretend gavel, saying "Order!"
She has since told me she wants to be a judge (her 3rd job choice, after veterinarian and photographer).
"Why?" I asked. "Because they have a cool hammer." True story. 

The Tiny Chapel

Preach it, Lailey.

Snuggling on the way back to the car.

(Taken by Amy)

Thanks again, Grandpa Jim, for the wonderful day of memories!