Sister Saturday

Sister Saturday, the things I don't want to forget:

• Mom and DaddyMan leaving early in the morning to go on their 35th wedding anniversary getaway to Dallas;


• Noah and Ellie's excitement at seeing Aunt BB and Aunt Jessie arrive at the house;


• Aunt Jessie's tears at Noah's tears when he realized that we were not staying with him for lunch at Aunt KK's {thanks again Aunt KK, for watching them while we dined out!};


• Aunt BB realizing that she forgot her wallet at home and the waiter telling her they had some dishes she could wash;


• skipping naptime for the kids and going to Grami and Papa's with the kids and Aunt BB to install their webcam;

• laughing with Aunt BB when she realized a text meant for Aunt Jessie somehow instead became her Facebook status, essentially inviting everyone over for game night;


• putting the kids to bed early since they were sleep-deprived and we were hungry;


• Aunt Jessie, the Scattergories Queen, being in last place at the halfway mark, only to win... by one point;


• Aunt BB staying the night!
  

♥

Keeping Busy

Ellie is on the uphill swing and feeling SO much better. So much so, that we even had a friend over this morning while her Mommy went to an appointment. The kids had a blast playing with her and we all took a little break from trains and dress-up for snacks and Signing Time.

Since Mom is on Fall Break, I took the opportunity to go see Stacy {ahh... nothing makes a girl feel better like a color and cut!} and then just before dinner, I snuck away again to try for another family shot of the Stanley's.

Pizza for dinner at Aunt BB's house and then back home for baths and bed!

♥

Visiting the Clydsadales

Fall Break officially began today for Mom and BB, so DaddyMan took the day off so we could all enjoy some time together. We started the day off with mini-dates for everyone! Mom, BB, and the kids all went to eat doughnuts and DaddyMan and I went to eat at Waffle House. It was nice to get to spend some time with just him without having to worry about picking up sippy cups or toys and making sure that something on the menu would please the kids.

Thanks for breakfast DaddyMan and thanks for the break, Mom and BB!

Originally, we had planned to go to the zoo today, but with everyone still getting well and with it really starting to act like fall weather-wise, we decided to forgo the zoo. Several options were thrown out and the one that we ultimately decided upon was to go see the Clydesdales at Express Ranch. None of us had been and all of us were kind of intrigued.

I'm so glad we went. The kids were a little scared of the Clydesdales at first, but were more than excited about the stage coaches, the smaller horses and zebra, the dogs, and, of course, the rocks.

The barn was fantastic. The upper portion can be rented out for parties!

While we were walking around the grounds outside, the gamekeeper {?} was taking each of the Clydesdales out of their stalls and putting them in fenced-in areas outside the barn. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time for an impromptu photo:

And then he asked if I wanted to hold the reigns and he'd take a picture. Ummm... of course! However, I clearly don't have the horse skills that he has because the entire time he was taking the photos for us, the Clydesdale kept nudging Nana! We're not sure if he just liked her or if he though her hair was food. Either way, he was after her!

The little statue horse, however, was much more Noah and Ellie's speed and size.

♥

Wordless Wednesday

Lately

With everyone a little under-the-weather, we've spent quite a bit of time just hanging out around the house. Which has left quite a bit of time for working on little projects. Projects like a new, fun winter hat for Ellie:

I was going for OU Sooner colors, but in the end, it reminds me a little of OSU colors!

And a sleepy owl hat for a friend {in Maryland! yeah!} who just had her first baby a couple of weeks ago. I can't wait to mail it off to her and I can't wait to meet the baby in person in a few months!

Poor Noah has been a little cooped up with Ellie and I both being sick, so he went outside for a little bit this afternoon...

but not for long! It was too chilly for Mommy AND Nana!

Morgan | Senior Photos

My little cousin Morgan is a senior in high school this year. Hard to believe! I still remember toting her around on my hip like I do Ellie now, when I was in high school! I also remember her calling me "Mommy" on purpose in stores, just to invoke mean looks from nearby shoppers. {Oh, I haven't forgotten, Morgan. And rest assured, one of these days, Noah or Ellie will help me pay you back. ;) }

BB and I took her downtown tonight to shoot her senior photos. We were a little concerned about the weather, but lucky for us, the rain mostly held off and we had an awesome time during the session... and a great dinner to top it off!

{This one, is probably my FAVORITE of the session!}

Morgan, you are beautiful, inside and out! We just love you to pieces! And thank you, BB, for all your help and great ideas! ♥

35 Years | Mom and DaddyMan

October 16th is always kind of a big deal around here. It's my parent's anniversary {more on that in a second}, it's the anniversary of the day I met Ben {nine years, Buddy! Here's to many, many more! And thanks BB!}, and it's even my blogiversary {one, two, three, FOUR YEARS!}!

We started the day off at home. With Ellie barely 36 hours into antibiotics and me still trying to get well myself, we skipped church this morning. And while Nana and Papa were out running an errand to WalMart, the kids and I made a little banner to help celebrate the day.

BB, Jessie, and Bryan all came over after church for lunch and I'm certain that at least Noah and Bryan had a good time... putting together the new Legos that Daddy had sent him.

Since everybody got some rest during naptime, we decided to go ahead and go through with the previously planned photoshoot of the kids and Mom and DaddyMan. We took some photos of the SuperDuo at the skate park and then walked down to my favorite spot {and Mom's too!} by the lake.

Taking photos of my parents was, I'll admit, a lot of fun. And I definitely got some shots that we'll all love forever!

{Once back home, I showed this one to Mom and DaddyMan and Dad's exact response was: "Your Momma is hot!" and then promptly asked me if I could somehow put it on his phone as his wallpaper. True and deep love, folks. Even after 35 years. And hopefully putting the photo on his phone for him got me favorite daughter status for a couple of days. ♥}

Mom and DaddyMan, thanks for setting such an amazing example of love and friendship for us to follow. We love you! ♥

SuperHeroes

We went to the park this afternoon to get some photos of the kids in their Halloween costumes and some of Mom and Daddy-Man for their anniversary. Noah was REALLY excited to get dressed up and willingly posed, ran around and did his "superhero stance" for me.

Ellie was just happy to be out of the house for the first time since Friday's trip to the doctor. She wasn't quite as cooperative, but it was understandable... seeing how she still isn't feeling like her usual self.

And, it wasn't until we were home and I was clicking through the photos for a second time {first click through is obvious deletes... second is for not-so-obvious deletes} that I noticed what she was doing. In. every. single. super-duo. shot.

Deployment Gifts | Month 5

Almost. there.

Ben sent a package with a few goodies for the kids, so we combined those gifts with their actual month five deployments gifts today. {Pardon the pjs in the afternoon... we're sick.} Ellie wasn't too interested in opening the box, so we just let Noah go after it.

She came around though when she realized there were presents for her too!

Thank you Daddy! We love you and miss you and can't wait until you get home! ♥

Oi.

Ellie's fever was up this morning. As in, above the minimum that I call the doctor about. So before taking Noah to school, I called to try to secure an appointment for her at the base clinic. Only to find out that what the guy who gave me my new ID lied - I wasn't all set up and ready to go at the clinic at Tinker. They couldn't give me an appointment until after I got everything settled with Tricare. In person. With a sick baby. Ellie and I dropped Noah off at school and headed up there.

We spent far too long dealing with Tricare and Patient Administration... to be told that the only remaining appointments for the day were at 1:30 and 1:45 - far too late in the day since I had the carseats and would need to pick Noah up from school at 2:30. And a referral off-base wouldn't be given if there were appointments available. All the while, Ellie has a raging fever and a cough that scares the living crap out of me.

{{sigh.}}

We walked down to Pediatrics and I all but demanded that they either try to squeeze us in or give us a referral. Lucky for us {and them}, one of the doctors was willing to work us in. Fifteen minutes of waiting and we're called back... and wait another 20 in the room. During which time Ellie starts getting the shakes because her fever is spiking again.

({big sigh}}

Once the doctor takes a look at Ellie and declares her ears all clear, she swabs her for strep and then sends us down for blood work and a chest x-ray... she was concerned for either strep or pneumonia. We get the blood work done {torture} and three chest x-rays done after that {double torture}. Strep came back negative, but her blood work showed elevated white blood cells and the chest x-rays led her to believe that she was in the beginning stages of pneumonia. And since it was Friday and we couldn't come back in tomorrow for more tests, that's how she was going to treat it.

{{big. fat. sigh.}}

So, three prescriptions and nearly four hours later, we made it back home with just enough time to unload our things, change a diaper, and go back to pick up Brother from school.

And me? Still not feeling good. And in desperate need of some sleep.

Stanley Family Photos

Seriously. Long day. Ellie woke up still running a slight fever. A slight fever, but fever enough that she couldn't go to school. Which was a bummer, because really, all I wanted to do during my "day off" was sleep and get rested up for the evening's photo shoot.

Unfortunately, even a nap during her naptime didn't happen.

On the way home from dropping Noah off at school. Ellie got sick. While sitting in Noah's carseat.

I only have two carseats.

Luckily, Nana was able to leave work a little early so that she could stay home with a still sleeping Ellie so I could go pick Noah up from school in the one dry {and clean} carseat.

I didn't get to rest up, but lucky for me, my family is pretty easy to shoot.

Connie and Mickey just celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary on Tuesday. When Mom and Daddy-Man were celebrating their 20th and Connie and Mickey their 5th, they all went to Hawaii for a week. I'm fairly certain they wish they were there again!

{Andy wasn't quite in the mood for family photos, but I still like this one anyway!}

And, despite me not feeling too well still, the photos turned out pretty good - doesn't hurt that the kids are too cute! ♥