Crafty

It was party weekend. Ryan went to a dinosaur party on Saturday and then a tractor party yesterday.

They had this cute craft, then they had to get greasy pigs into the pen (pink oiled balloons), cows into theirs, and then the balloons became eggs and they had to sit on them and crack them. It was too cute. I love seeing the fun ideas creative moms come up with.

This boy loves to climb in anything!

First pancake

It doesn't look like he liked them, but he ate three so I think he did. They were Ryan's allergy pancakes so not quite as fluffy.

It was a cool and cloudy day, and that means crafts! We were on it today. Ryan made himself this lovely headband...

this pink dinosaur picture,

worked on his lacing dinosaurs skills,

and a little painting.

So tonight it's the playhouse. He said he is going to sleep in it for ten nights.

Erik update:

The doctor called and said Erik's x-ray looked great and the bloodwork that had come back was fine too. Tomorrow is his first day at gym class!

Orphan Sunday

November is National Adoption Month and today is Orphan Sunday. This video gives a glimpse of the need around the world for hurting children. There are 143,000,000 orphans in the world. We are called to love, pray and care for them.

Getting Organized!

So after I missed Ryan's picture day and soccer (twice) I decided I better get myself a big visual. Up went the calendar along with some shelves for all Ryan's crafts and school stuff. Hope it works! Ryan loves it because he can get to all of his supplies now. If we can keep a certain little one out of it, we should be good!

Back to the Doctor's

We headed back to the doctor office today. (Plan: 11:15 appointment, 12:15 lunch, followed by nap for Erik and playtime with Ryan. Perfect!). We finally got Erik switched to our pediatrician and I wanted her to meet Erik and to check his bumps. We've taken him in twice to check these little bumps all over his back. He came with them. She confirmed that it's molluscum. It's caused by a virus and goes away by itself, but it can take up to a year or more. It hadn't been bothering him, but now it has spread to his legs and he's scratching them. He has so many that she wanted him to see the dermatologist. She called over and got him in later this afternoon. She also felt that he should have a few more tests that our family doctor hadn't done...which made Mommy a big liar because I had already told Erik no shots today! As expected, the nurse took about 2 seconds (not the minute and a half at our last doctor's). Then the doctor said he should have a chest x-ray because his tb score was borderline and he came from another country. So you can probably see where my plan was headed. After we left the doctor's office we played on the playground for a little while (my pediatrician didn't even have a fish tank!). Then headed to the registration to get our paperwork all updated. Down to x-ray. Stripped Erik again and held him down again. Since we had to wait for an hour for the dermatologist we walked over to the shopping center for lunch. Went to the dermatologist and stripped Erik down for the third time and changed a poopy doctor while the doctor examined him. I'm putting off the treatment since it doesn't always work and can be painful. Since it doesn't hurt him in any way, I would like to see if his body can fight it on its own. Then, we went home. Just kidding! Then we got to go to get Erik's blood drawn. So not only am I a liar about shots, he had to get a big 'ol vial of blood drawn. Didn't have to strip him down, but sure had to hold him down. At this point it is 3 something, no nap, a shot, an x-ray, a dermatologist, and blood drawn. Mommy was pooped! Ryan was a star! He never complained and was a great helper. (The lollipop, candy corns and smoothie may have helped a little). Erik did great too. Never really got a nap but hopefully he'll make up for it tonight! (I hope this every night).

Pre-shot

Super, every doctor office should have, playground

dermatologist's

pre-blood draw

Oh, how I sighed with relief when I saw Cars in the waiting room!

So after our 5 hour trip to the doctor's office to simply meet the pediatrician, it was time to work on Christmas boxes. We go through all of the boxes that are donated to make sure they include basic toiletries, candy, toys...so Samaritan's Purse doesn't need to add anything later. Yep, that's my bathtub on the left. I had to rush to pick it out two years ago so it would be ready to go in the bathroom. I think it's ready!

Our helper

Aunties G.G. and Tessie are the pros

A good but exhausting day!

First Pillbug!

Looking for cocoa?



Erik's first pillbug

We love pillbugs at our house. What a great bug. They roll up in a ball, they tickle your hand when they walk, and they can survive a fall.

Carrying a pillbug

Dropping a pillbug

Digging for more pillbugs

Eating a pillbug

(don't worry, I retrieved it and I set him free. I felt he deserved it after the near death experience).

This morning we made binoculars and a canteen. Too much fun for about 25 cents worth of material.

" Let no puddle go untouched"

(One of our mottos)

Around the yard

We've been vacuuming again! I just feel this need to share our acorn problem:

Large yard waste can...

filled only with acorns

(of only a portion of the front yard)

Erik's sick about it too!

But he's been here for 2 1/2 months so it's time to get to work!

Okay, what a relief. Guess who he used to pull! There are upsides and downsides to being a little mommy. He can pull me all around the yard in the wagon!

Gramma and Grandpa sent Ryan Halloween money so he bought some clay. It is the new hot item in our house!

A Whale of a Time!

What a fun day we had! We were on the go most of the day. We went to a 1st birthday party for our special friend who came home from Korea on the same day as Erik. It was a wonderful celebration. As soon as we got home we changed Ryan into his costume and headed for our church's harvest party:

First he made a frame,

then a candy corn necklace


threw a few hoops


tossed a few bean bags


tossed for some O's


and then it was time to get some candy.
We went to some of the local stores and his costume was quite a hit. In case you can't tell, he's a Shamu trainer. That's a bucket of fish for Shamu. Every since we went to Sea World last year that is what he has talked about.


And we had a chicken. I didn't think he would wear the hood, so as soon as I put it on I took him to the mirror so he could see it. He loved it and never took it off.

Looking for eggs!

Shamu show

Okay, about six people asked me if I made Shamu. Really? The last time I sewed was in high school. You know, when they actually had home economics. I tried to make a Brooke Shields blouse. I actually got my finger stuck upside down with the needle stuck in the pad of my pointer finger. If you know your way around a sewing machine, which obviously I didn't, you know the needle has to go down before it will go up again. Since the teacher had never seen this happen "in my whole time teaching this class", I had to drag my finger out with the needle scraping across my finger. So I ended up with a bandaged finger and button holes on the wrong side of the cuffs! I got a C.

I don't think trainers are supposed to eat the fish!

After the photo shoot, we went over to Auntie Tessie and Auntie G.G.'s house. They made special bags for each of us: allergy free for Ryan, all M&Ms for Harv and all Snickers for me!! Then we headed over to our old neighborhood. It was so fun to see our old neighbors and introduce Erik to them. There isn't a friendlier or prettier street than our old one.

A night I'll never forget. He had such fun and was so fun to be with.

Even the teenagers were stopping to see his costume.

When we got home, he went through his loot and then took over our door. We got about a 5 times the traffic (which would be about 15 kids) so we have a full bag and a half left.

A Ryan moment:

So after our big day I asked Ryan what the best part of the day was: the party, the harvest festival at church, visiting our friends, trick or treating... and without missing a beat he said, "being with you all day." This boy knows how to melt his momma's heart!!

Bummer of the day:

As we unloaded the car last night my new camera lens fell out of the camera bag. It sounds similar to a box of Christmas ornaments that fell from the top shelf. Very sad, but I have to say I couldn't have gotten more use out of it during its short time with us. Glad we bought it used! The closeups aren't going to be what they used to be!