Keep It On The Sunny Side Of Life

I have not posted in forever it seems like. Life has been insanely busy and the times that I have been able to sit down and work on a blog, my computer has been acting ridiculous. This entry will not contain many (if any) pictures due to the fact that my computer acts up.

So much has been going on that I don't know where to start.
Olivia had bronchialitis a couple of weeks ago and she scared us to death! She ran a fever over 104 and it would spike all of a sudden. The nurse that I spoke to said that this was typical with bronchialitis and told me what to do to keep the fever from rising. She still has a bad sounding cough so I took her back to the doctor yesterday and was told that she more than likely has asthma. I was not really suprised to hear this due to her sister's both having asthma when they were younger. She is now on a liquid steriod and a steriod inhaler. They want her to continue to use the inhaler until spring and then re-evaluate from there. She does really well with medicine and the breathing treatments. She acts like she feels great but her cough sounds awful. Olivia got a visit from Santa Clause at Mrs. Lisa's earlier this week. He brought her a Cabbage Patch Doll that has hair extensions. The doll's hair is blond and curly. Olivia has been talking about how Santa brings presents all week. It sounds like he is her new best friend.

Makayla is doing great. She is loving school and has recently started cheerleading. I got to go watch her on Monday for the first time and she made me so proud! She was the only child that followed directions and yelled loud when it was time to cheer. I think she really enjoys the cheerleading too. She gets to wear her pajamas to school on Friday and watch "The Polar Express" at school. When I told her that she needed to bring $2 for snacks on that day, she ran straight to her piggy bank and dug out the money. She couldn't wait!

Abigail is doing good as well. She feels so grown now that she gets to cheer lead. I have to tell the story about her first week of cheer practice though. Both of the girls were very excited to get to go to their first cheer practice. Alex brought them home from school and told me that Abi had gotten in trouble at school. Abi was sitting by a little girl named Sophia and had written on a piece of paper that Sophia was a brat. Sophia began to cry and Abi quickly erased the sentence and wrote "I like Sophia". Sophia told on Abi and Abi's teacher sent a note home. As punishment, Alex decided that Abi could not attend her first cheer practice. Abi was really upset. Later that night, I was cleaning up the kids toys after they had gone to bed and I found a magna doodle that they play on all the time. Abi had written "I have not had a grate day". I laughed so hard! Alex posted a picture of it on facebook.  And the latest Abi story is so darn sweet. The Elementary school has "Santa Shop" where the kids can bring money and pick out a gift for their parents, grandparents, or siblings. Abi shopped on Tuesday and I had sent her $10 to pick out gifts. I asked her who she bought for and she said "mom and dad". I asked her if she spent $5 on each gift and she said, "No, I spent $9 on one and $1 on the other." This made me laugh. Later in the night, when it was just the two of us, I asked Abi what she bought for Daddy. She lit up and said, " I bought him this pen. And it says "Mom" on it." I giggled a little and gave her a puzzled look. I said, "Abi, why did you buy Daddy a pen that says "Mom" on it?" and she looked at me like I should have known the answer to that and said, "Because he loves you." She melts my heart.   And on top of all of that, I got a look at the pen tonight. It's flaming hot pink. I can not wait to see Alex taking notes at work with his hot pink Mom pen.

On another note, I have had a heavy heart this week. My job can be very demanding and it is showing me what I'm made of. Please pray for my family and that I will make good decisions when it comes to work and family. I know that God will guide me to where I belong and to accomplish what I am meant to do while on this earth.

A McBay Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family on Saturday. We had a good turn out and enjoyed being with everyone.  When we got home on Sunday, I let the girls put candy canes on the tree. My mom and dad kept the girls from Thrusday night until Alex and I came back in on Saturday. I put up the Christmas tree and got all of the decorating done except for candy canes.

Olivia woke up today sick to her stomach. I have been at home with her today. She is still sleeping a lot and not eating well. Alex will probably be at home with her tomorrow.

We are all getting excited about Christmas. Makayla woke up for school this morning talking about what Santa brought for her. I have had to explain several times that it will be a few weeks before Santa comes to visit.

A Branson Christmas

The girls were SO tired of being in the car. We let them go a little wild in the hotel room.

Afternoon siesta at the hotel room before heading to the Dixie Stampede.

We also went to see the Trail of Lights. Neat and expensive.

We took the girls to Branson last weekend. We have taken them to the Dixie Stampede before and they loved it, so we thought it would be a good idea to take them for the Christmas Program at the Dixie Stampede. Olivia wasn't too excited about the pre-show. She leaned over and said that she wanted to go home. But once we got inside where the horses were, she was enchanted. We sat on the bottom row right by the door where the horses entered and exited the arena. My first thought was, "crap, now the dirt is going to fly up in our food" And I was right.  It was a really neat show.  We did some shopping and the girls had their first trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop. Abi made a monkey and dressed it up in a cheerleader outfit. She named her Liz. Makayla made Frosty the Snowman and dressed him up in a St Louis Cardinals Jersey. We came home on Monday and Memaw came up to watch Abi and KayKay for a couple of days becasue they were out of school.

The girls had to take a break and ride the Arthur school bus while we were shopping.

Abi's request was to eat at Joe's Crab Shack because she loves getting the rice krispie treat that is shaped like a crab. It comes with caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, and strawberry sauce.

We went to Newhope for Thanksgiving on Wednesday. Alex's family had their get together on Thursday at his Granny's. His sister, Becky, and her family were up from Louisiana. It was so good to see them and her kids have gotten so big! Becky has three girls, Alyssa, Victoria, and Hannah, and one boy, Paul. We then went to my Memaw's that evening. We got to see a lot of family and it was wonderful. Memaw got to see all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren except for Josh and Josh Taylor. I think it meant a lot to her. Shirley and Coy were also in and we love seeing them!

Becky's two youngest daughters and our girls at Big Granny's for Turkey Day.

All of the grandaughters!

Playing at Memaw's

Sometimes the family gets a little too close.......

The girls stayed with Nana and Poppa while Alex and I came home Thursday night. We got some Christmas shopping done today but it has been very odd not having the kids home. I think this is probably the first time we have been child-free since the girls came to live with us. All of the Turkey Day decorations are gone and the Christmas decorations are up.

Alex and I are heading back to Newhope tomorrow for my Granny's Thanksgiving get together. We are ready to see the girls too. I know they had a great time with nana but life is just not the same withouth them around. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

A little bit o' this and a Little bit o' that

Just a few tid bits today.

We had a movie night planned for last night. Alex rented "Up" and I was going to pick up some burgers and fries at our local Garry's. BUT it didn't quite work out that way. I got home from work after the kids were in bed and Alex and I just spent some time catching up on how our days went.

Today has been great though. The girls have been outside playing with Andrew. Alex and I observed the girls playing with him outside and it was interesting to see how Abi reacted when Andrew showed more attention to KayKay. Abi started crying when Andrew left and sat on top of Andrew and KaKay when they were sitting by one another on the bench outside. Abi has been all about Andrew these days. Alex made a big pot of home made chili and we have been catching up on our shows that we recorded on the dvr this week.

Olivia has been sounding congested today but she acts like she feels good. She has been "playing play dohs", so she's content.
Mrs. Lisa told me the other day that Olivia had  a "Makayla Moment". She said that Olivia snatched a toy from another child, ran and hid, and then giggled while hiding.


These were before school Friday. Excuse the background messes.

P.S. Olivia just said she wants to go to Nanna's. :o)

A Day with KayKay

My middle child seems to have "middle child syndrome".  So I thought that it would be good to spend some quality time with her by going to her school field trip. She had a field trip to the Museum of Discovery and I was able to go with her. It was so fun to see her interact with her friends and be so independent. We had a great time together.

Makayla and her friend Skye ran around together throughout the museum. We then saw a demonstration by a Cherokee Indian family. It was interesting and Makayla volunteered to do a friendship dance around their drum. She was excited until she realized she realized that she was beside the father and she kept her distance. She kept trying to get the kids beside her to go faster so she wouldn't be so close to him. It was humorous.

We had lunch at the River Market and it was a gorgeous day. I enjoyed my time with my sweet middle child. She is always so happy and free.

I love you KayKay and had the best day with you today.

Happy 50th, Poppa!

We spent the weekend at Nana and Poppas for Poppa's 50th birthday. Poppa grilled steaks and hamburgers. We had a great time together.