Strep Throat

Emma came home from school on Friday crying saying that her neck was hurting her really bad. She told me that she didn't injure it, it just hurt. So she pretty much went to bed and stayed there the rest of the night.

Saturday her neck was still hurting and she started to get a sore throat so I took her up to the ER. I was worried about her neck, paranoid about it being meningitis, which I have had and would not wish on my worst enemy!!! Giving birth to 3 children was a lot less painless.

Anyways, here is Emma in the car on the way to the hospital.

After waiting 2 hours, they finally took us to a room that had a tv so we chilled and watched Harry Potter. The triage nurse had given her some Tylenol since she had a fever of 102 degrees. Once her fever went down, she was all happy and smiling and ready to go home.

Unlucky for us, the doctor took like an hour and a half to come see us once we were in the room.

This is funny to me because we had the lights out and it was completely dark so the flash on my camera was pretty bright. I warned her I was taking another pic and she said "nooooo" lol She couldn't block it in time. hehehe

Well, it turned out that she only has strep throat. So she got to stay at home with me on Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday mainly because she had a terrible earache Monday and I was worried that she still had it, so I didn't even try to wake her Tuesday, I just let her sleep in.

But, she was nice enough to pass her strep throat on to me! yay! I have the headache, stomach pains, fever, sore throat and the tell-tell white patches on the back of my throat. But I have antibiotics for strep so it's all good.

Happy Birthday Dad

Happy Birthday Dad!

He would have been 60 this year, but he passed away in 1986 when I was 10 years old. What is crazy to me is that in 4 years I will be the same age as he was when he died. It just seems so young.

But I just wanted to share with y'all. I love him and I miss him very much and his birthday is important to me, I never miss it, I just usually keep it to myself.


Anyways, have a great day everyone!!

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Salt in His Shoes

I have to say that I have not read this book, so this isn't going to be any kind of review about what I thought of it. But after reading the review of the book on this blog, I can't wait to find it and share it with the kids. It's a childrens book about Michael Jordan and if you go by the review, it's sounds like a pretty good lesson to share with your kids.

my new picture wall

I have a little wall separating the kitchen from the beginning of the hallway near my living room. When we first moved in over a year ago I hung two pictures up that I got for $2.50 each at Albertsons one day like 4 years ago.

But I hate those pictures. They don't go with anything and I am at a point where I would rather have nothing than them hanging there.

I wanted more pictures hanging up but I'm cheap and don't want to go buy a bunch of picture frames. Then I had my brilliant idea! Tacks and binder clips! I actually have no decorations in my room and the other day I put up a bunch of tacks and binder clips to show off the kids artwork and wah lah....instead decorations!

So this is what the bookshelf and pictures looked like before I decided to change it up. Yes, the bookshelf is not centered....I actually did it that way because I have a huge monogram B that says "The Bagby Family" in vinyl that I bought to go there. And I have a cute candle holder that was going to go next to it and it would have looked great with the bookshelf off center. But I think I will keep that vinyl stored away until we buy a house instead of rent....anyways...

I love pictures (duh) but I don't have enough space or picture frames to hang up all of my favorite pics.

I had to spray paint the tacks red to match my living room since red is the accent color. So here they are stuck to cardboard bottom of a package of bottled water.

And here is my tack and binder clip formation.

And the pictures!! Seriously, how cute is that? Yes it is obviously homemade but I think it's different and unique and it serves the purpose I wanted it for. Plus I can change it up with new pictures whenever I want so it won't ever get boring!

I am going to put them down our hallway as well since it is just a big empty wall right now. The only downside right this minute is that most of the pictures are older because I don't have new pics printed. They go right from my camera to the computer. So I guess from now on I will have to save my favs and go have them printed. Notice the bookshelf is centered now...okay maybe you can't tell by the camera angle, but trust me, it is.

I think I will hang some up for the kids in their room too so they can hang a few of their favorite family pics up too.

I need to come up with more stuff like this so it's not just everywhere in my house. So what do y'all think? What kind of stuff like this do you do in your house? Please share with me!!!

Girl Scout Swim Event

Happy Earth Day (a little late)!

Emma's girl scout troop had a swimming event on Wednesday at an indoor pool so I took the girls. I actually took a lot more pictures than this but I thought I would make this post short and sweet. All of the pics are on my myspace, so those of you who are on my friend's list can see them. And for the rest of you....sorry, I only add people I know somehow.

Shopping with Sara

After dodgeball we took Sara to the store with us. She wanted her picture taken outside next to this ugly plant in our front yard (we've since shut it down, yay).

I let Sara use my camera to take pictures from her point of view in the cart. So of course she took a picture of cheese....

...and chocolate milk! lol

Dodgeball

The other day Aaron and the kids decided to go outside and play dodgeball. At the end it was just him and Sara playing....there is video at the bottom.

Our Weekend

We had a fairly busy weekend. It started off early on Thursday when I went and picked up my friend Ashley and her kids and brought them to my house. Aaron had been on vacation all week and I was so ready for someone else to talk to.

Friday we did absolutely nothing. I got a girls night invite but it was just me and Ashley with all of the kids, so that was a no go. Instead, we watched Wall-E with the kids and then put them to bed.

Ashley went home on Saturday morning as I had to take Emma to the birthday party of one of her classmates. Here she is with all of the kids. Well, some of the kids. They weren't posing for me and I was at a bad angle to take a pic of all of them.

After the birthday party we went home and Aaron and I took Sara shopping with us at Central Market. It was the Thrill of the Grill weekend so they had all kinds of good stuff to try out.

We ended up with some natural hot dogs (in natural casings, interesting) that didn't taste like hot dogs at all, but they were good....and some beef sausage. We are grilling them tonight for dinner and we even picked up some sauerkraut to go with them, yum!

Then we moved on to some grocery shopping at Tom Thumb where I found these super pretty dishes that I now want. The plates alone are $10 each and even if I could afford to buy a full set, there is no way I would pay that much! I'm so cheap that way. But they are pretty to look at.

So we finally get home, exhausted and Ashley calls me to see if Anthony wants to go to a carnival by her house with her little brother Travis. Ashley and Travis had already been and Ashley didn't want her unlimited rides wristband anymore, so I said sure and Anthony and I headed over there.

The boys went to the carnival and I hung out with Ashley and her parents actually. It was quite entertaining. I left my house at 6 p.m. assuring Aaron I would be home by 7 but I didn't make it back until 9:30.

I find it funny that my best friend has a little brother old enough to play with my son. Not only that, but my son is almost 3 years older than her brother! But, Ashley is 7 years younger than me...although I don't think most people realize that.

Anthony ended up staying the night with Travis, where they stayed up until 5:30 in the morning playing video games! lol

The boys came back from the carnival with lots of fish they had won. Good thing Ashley had an aquarium and I don't, so Anthony's fish had to live at her house!

Then we went our separate ways. Ashley went out with a friend and I went home to my hubby, who was watching boring sports with his dad. So I cleaned...woohoo exciting Saturday night! lol

This is Ashley's parents dog, Blaster. He loves to harass me but when it was time to take a pic of him, he kept running away from me.

Sunday was just another cleaning day and that was it. So how was your weekend?

Book Fair Books

The kids schools are having book fairs this week so I went up to the girls school this morning to check it out. I left with 4 books for about $20. Not too bad. One of the books was for Anthony even though he is bringing me home his wish list today and it's not a book he asked for. I just thought he would like it.

The first book is Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble by Judy Schachner. I really can't review these book because I haven't read them yet.....but tomorrow I will let y'all know what the kids thought of them.

I chose Me and My Mom by Alison Ritchie because it is a beautiful book. I have to admit that I am drawn to books that are pretty. A good story is a plus, but the illustrations get me.

Now Sara picked The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. She LOVES Eric Carle books. I have to admit that I too am a fan. I find his artwork interesting.

And if you like Eric Carle's work, then you have to check out Lois Ehlert, because her stuff is so similar. I will list some of her books at the bottom.

And for Anthony I picked The Tapestry: The Hound of Rowan by Henry Neff. The story sounds really interesting and the boy will read anything you put in front of him so I'm betting he will love it.

Here are some of Eric Carle's books that we love:

The Grouchy Ladybug
The Very Busy Spider
A House for Hermit Crab
The Very Quiet Cricket
Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear?
The Very Lonely Firefly
From Head to Toe
Panda Bear, Panda Bear What Do You See?
1, 2, 3 To The Zoo
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

And here are the Lois Ehlert books we love:

Eating the Alphabet
Wag A Tail (illustrated by Michel Slack)
Feathers For Lunch
Leaf Man
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf

So if you haven't read any of these books, go check them out!!

**Just wanted to add that we have since read the books and they are adorable! I love Me and My Mom...it's a sweet book and the art is so soft, I love it!

My 3 favorite children's books

Today I thought I would share my 3 favorite children's books and why they are my favorites.

I will start with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett. This is my all-time favorite. Basically it's about the town of Chewandswallow, where the food falls from the sky. That is how the town gets its food to eat. Ultimately the "weather" gets too crazy and the people have to abandon the town ad go somewhere else. I used to crave pancakes because of this book!

There is even a follow-up book called Pickles to Pittsburgh by the same author. It's cute, but not as good as the first. I had to get both of my copies on Amazon because I couldn't find them in bookstores. BUT...they are coming out with the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs so I'm sure that the books will once again be easy to find. I am really looking forward to seeing how they adapt it for the big screen.

My 2nd favorite children's book is Weslandia by Paul Fleishman. I was at the library one day and it was on top of the shelves on display and it looked so colorful I picked it up and read it and was totally hooked!

The story is about Wesley, an outcast at school. Summer comes and he finds these unknown seeds and plants them in his backyard. They grow into these huge flowers and Wesley finds tons of uses for them, food, shelter, clothing....just about everything you can think of. He creates his own civilization and even his own language.

Soon enough the classmates who once tormented him want to know more about what he's doing and they end up becoming friends. I think it's a great lesson to be yourself. You don't have to try to impress anyone to make them your friend. A good book for self-esteem.

Plus, how cool would it be to create your own little self sufficient world for the summer? I think that would be awesome.

The last book is The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (Where the Sidewalk Ends author). I have a copy of this book that I had bought for Anthony while I was pregnant with him and I didn't know if I was having a girl or a boy. I dedicated it to my baby in January 1996 and he was born in May. I have read this book to him so many times in his life, he should know it all by heart.

Just the other day I read it to the girl's and as soon as Anthony heard me start the story he ran over and jumped on the couch, snuggled up to me and told me that this was his favorite book and he wanted to hear it too. My baby is so sweet.

I actually have something good and something bad to say about the book. First the good...the story is about a tree and a boy. The tree loved the boy. As the boy got older he came to visit the tree less and less and when he did come, the tree offered whatever she could to help the boy out. It's just a nice story to read. It's a story about love, how can you go wrong with that?

Okay...so the bad. Man oh man does that boy seem selfish to me. He takes and takes but doesn't seem to give. Yeah, that doesn't change throughout the book. The tree just gives and the boy takes.

Back to some more good. Even though it seems that the boy is selfish (maybe it's just me who thinks that), I see the tree as a mother. A mother gives and gives to her child as they grow, no matter how old they get. She only wants her child to be happy in this world. A mother does it because she loves her child, not expecting anything in return. Sometimes we, as mothers, don't have much to give, so we give all that we can. In the instance of this book, each time the boy has a need, the tree fufills it the best she can and it's enough.

That is why it is still a favorite book. I read the underlying story. I know as a mother that as long as my children are happy, it's enough. I mean, that is the ultimate goal right? To see your children happy?

So there you have it. I might not be the best at describing the stories but I didn't want to paste and copy the storyline from Amazon! I am always looking for awesome children's books to read to my kids, so please let me know your favorites!!

I won!

Awhile back I posted about the Barefoot Books book Earth Tales. Well, they were having a contest to win a free copy and I was one of the 3 winners! Yay!!

I am really excited to get the book because all of Barefoot Books are BEAUTIFUL!! And they all have some type of good moral lesson. Yes, I am a Barefoot Books stallholder...hence the links on the right sidebar (click on them and they will take you to the website)....but I joined so I could get the discount, not to sell.

Now I'm thinking it's time to kick it in gear and make use of my stallholder-ness...hehehe

The books are just so pretty. I think they have some of the most talented illustrators and storytellers working for them. So go check them out, trust me, when you see them, you will want to get some!!

kite flying with daddy

The kids got kites for Easter and Sara insisted on daddy helping her fly hers when she got home from school yesterday. Then Emma came home and got hers. Unfortunately the wind would pick up great then all of a sudden stop and the kites would crash down.

Anthony came home and flew his kite too. I wanted to get a pic of it but I had asked Sara to take my camera into the house for me and when I went to get it I couldn't find it. By the time I did, Anthony had given up on kite flying. Oh well, next time.

Easter 2009

We didn't do too much for Easter today, mainly because of the weather. It started raining last night and continued on this morning so the kids didn't get to do an egg hunt.

Here is the loot from the Easter Bunny. Really, they only had a couple pieces of candy and a couple books...until I went to the garage and found the stash I had bought back in February and had completely forgotten about.

So they got some kites, bubbles, puzzles, stickers and various lunch items. Oh, and since the Easter Bunny couldn't hide the eggs because of the rain, he left them for mommy and daddy to hide when it was dry. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

The Easter Bunny is too busy to remove price tags. hehehe

Here is Emma's loot.

And Sara's....the Dora should have been the giveaway! lol

I love these eggs. They are so pretty and come filled with candy. Perfect!

So that was it. The kids opened their junk and then played the rest of the day. Tomorrow (hopefully) we will dye eggs and do an egg hunt. We were gonna dye eggs today but since we couldn't actually hunt for them, I put it off. Oh yeah, and we were supposed to make cupcakes. Man I had a lazy Sunday!!

More Easter fun to come in the next couple of days when the weather cooperates!