Ben and the Flu

So Ben got a high fever on Sunday, but we were heading to the doctor anyway on Monday to get his stitches removed (yay!) so I thought we'd check him out to make sure he didn't have an ear infection or strep throat. Well, it turns out he had the flu. We have never had the flu in our house before and it is not fun!! Ben's temp yesterday was 105 for around 4 hours - so we spent about 12 hours just holding him, trying to force him to drink, etc... Needless to say I have no pictures for this post - we haven't done anything! Monday Elizabeth ended up staying at my mom's house until bedtime (we were told to keep the kids apart as much as possible to minimize Elizabeth's exposure) and after zoo school today she headed right back over there. Grandma B has had her hands full with both Elizabeth and Cooper these past 2 days - thanks mom!! Today Ben seems to be doing much better - we're keeping him very drugged up on tylenol/motrin. Thank you Lord for drugs!!

On another note I remembered this picture of Elizabeth sucking her fingers and twirling her hair at 9 months old. That is how long her awful habit has been going on!

I probably won't have much else to post this week - the doctor said the flu lasts from 5 - 7 days - so we'll be hanging at home this week! (as I type this Ben is flipping all over the couch "watching" Elmo. I guess he's starting to feel better :)

Our First Soccer Game...Almost!

Saturday morning we woke up early, got all dressed for soccer in lots of layers (the temp was around 35 - the wind was blowing hard making it feel around 25 - freezing for March in Texas). We get in the car, are right in front of the soccer field, and we get the call that the games are cancelled due to cold weather. Elizbeth was fine with that (me too, it was cold!) but Ben was sad, he loves soccer. We went out to breakfast instead with Grandma and Grandpa B who were also on their way to watch the cancelled game. We then headed to get haircuts for the kids.

Elizabeth with her new bob haircut.

What's with this hairdo you ask? Well, Elizabeth has a major problem with twirling her hair. It's major to me because I am the one who has to cut knots out of her hair at least once a day. One side of her hair is nice and thick, the other side thin and really choppy. Everytime we get her hair cut the ladies always comment on her mismatched hair. So, I can not figure out what to do about it! She twirls mostly when she is in bed, so I can't really police her. So, today we decided to put pony tails tight all over her head so she can't get her little fingers around any hunks of hair. She will still pull little bits out of the front and create tight little knots, but it is better than before. The only problem is it leaves little waves in her hair from the rubber bands, but at least her hair is all one length! We'll see how long that lasts :).

Ben also got his hair cut - had to add a couple of pictures of this cutie!

Hope you all had a good weekend, too!

Disney on Ice

Elizabeth, Drew, Janet and I all went to Disney on Ice tonight. We all had a ton of fun (until "scary" Peter Pan came on with Captain Hook - Elizabeth's opinion!) The kids in Peter Pan are actually flying! How cool is that?!
Elizabeth and Drew at intermission.

Elizabeth and me - enjoying the show!

I know the quality of this shot isn't good, but, The Cutting Edge anyone?

The Lion King's Simba and Nala - I didn't really think the dressed up actors would be such good skaters! It was my first ice show and I was very impressed.

Playing Ball

*Disclaimer* These pictures are a little crazy - Ben is wearing Elizabeth's pink hat and all the kids have our pure white sunscreen on their face. The one when we go in public I always try to rub in to not make it too obvious. In our backyard I just leave it alone so they all look a little eerie!

I want the ball! Elizabeth! Get your cottn' pickin' hands off my ball!

Isn't anyone going to help me? I want this ball!

Now Ben's in the mix!? Help me!

I said MOVE IT!!! The winner :)

(Cooper's mommy put him in time out by this point for pushing)

You just relived most of my days! One crying for something, the other one playing with it just because the first one wants it... you get my drift!

Exersizing

While Elizabeth was at zoo school today Ben and Cooper and I were playing at home - and I was doing a work-out video. Here's Ben doing it along with me. He's tightening his buttocks :)
There they are on TV exercising, and Ben trying to copy them. It was very funny watching him "work out!"

I wanted to let you in on a site I found that had great deals on shoes. I got these three pairs there - and found a 30% coupon online, so I got all 3 shoes with shipping for $45! You have to go check it out! My Shoe Shoppe - I hope you find some good stuff too!

Gardening Weekend

So, we had a busy weekend, but I took NO pictures so this is all I have to post. Tom took this one of me and the kids gardening. Notice I cropped myself out :) This kids were very busy helping me spread mulch and plant flowers on Saturday. We went to dinner at Tom's parents house. On Sunday, after church, Tom and I were lucky enough to be able to go out to lunch while my parents watched the kids. It's so nice to be able to go out, just the 2 of us! Happens so rarely! Hope you all had a good weekend!

Cattle Run

We had a great time at the cattle run in Fort Worth with our cousins from out of town. Here is Dan and Claire - Dan is holding a cute baby bunny.
We did a maze in the Stockyards. Ben, Elizabeth and I completed it in 22 minutes. It got very hot in that maze carrying Ben for so long! :)

Here we are finding the letter A in the maze.

Ben wanted to ride the cow. What a brave boy!

I love this...E holding her cousin Claire's hand!

Ben checking out the cattle going down the street. They are so close!

The kids watching the start of the cattle run.

Ben and Nick

Drew and Josh on a mechanical horse.

I loved the big boys on these tiny horses, so funny!

Just his size :)

Ben, Elizabeth, and Claire enjoying the ponys. I love going to the stockyards, it's like going to a different time. Living in the city the kids never see cattle up close, so it's a great opportunity for them to see and learn something new. We are going to miss our cousins who are leaving today to go back home!

Bath Time

I was just experimenting with my camera while the kids were taking a bath. I hope you all are having a good week!

Got to love bath time!

Trains and Stitches

We are lucky enough this week of Spring Break to have some cousins from Minnesota come and visit. We went on the train outside of the zoo yesterday - here is Dan and Nick enjoying the ride.

Claire and Kevin having some popcorn.

Elizabeth, Janet and Josh - I couldn't get a picture of my seat with Grandma H and Ben before the train took off - they call all aboard and you'd better hop on before they leave you behind!

Our group on the train - there is Ben and Grandma in the front. We all had a really good time and spotted lots of turtles and ducks on the Trinity River.

Now onto the injury...

Poor Ben! We were at Elizabeth's soccer practice last night and Ben was having fun running down a hill. This hill is kind of rocky and weedy, and he fell down catching himself with his hands. He stood up and was crying just a little. When I went to pick him up some blood dripped on me so we were searching all over - where could he have hurt himself? Then was noticed the inside of his wrist - he cut it open. It was a short cut but gaping, so off to the ER for stitches. He was so brave - not ONE TEAR! The doctors all said they needed him to show all the big kids how to do it. I thought he would at least cry when all the big men held him down, but nope!

He ended the evening with a popsicle and rubber ducky. He thought it was a great time so I guess that's all that matters!

Ashlynn's Birthday

Our friend Ashlynn just turned 3 and had her birthday party at a fun gymnastics center.

Here's Cooper and Ben doing spider walks up the wall. We were impressed that they could both do it! It seemed hard to us!

Ben going across on the rope swing.

Elizabeth on the rope swing.

The kids played with these balls on the parachute and Cooper was NOT going to let them go.

Ben making it up the climbing wall.

Popping all the balls on the parachute. This was the kids favorite thing they did I think!

Whoa - the look of concentration and determination on Elizabeth's face! She's running fast!

The birthday was a lot of fun and the kids loved it - which is the most important thing!