This has been one of THOSE weeks! Our home was invaded by a sneaky little virus called the Herpes Simplex-1 Virus. Simply said, it is the virus that causes cold sores. So, if you ever get cold sores you have this virus, and can possibly remember going through this stressful time!

Last week after church, I noticed sores in #2's mouth. He had been spiking fevers for a few days, but due to his teething, I didn't think much of it. With the sores, I began to worry, is it strep? Thrush? When they said Herpes of course little lights start flashing, until you realize it isn't the type that cause parents to ground their kids for life.

On, Monday we went to the Dr. only to be told that nothing can be done except make sure that the infected person drinks and takes Tylenol/Ibuprofen for pain/fevers. Yeah, not what a Mom wants to hear. We did get a mouth rinse that he HATED, but it was forced on him. He wouldn't eat much, but he did drink warm water. He ate a few popsicles and when he started refusing them and ice cream you knew he was really sick.

Luckily, the mouth sores are almost all healed and he is feeling much better, but now Daddy has it! How much fun is that!! Poor Guys.

The upside is that #3 and I have not been sick, but that probably just means that I was the carrier or something. Teach those boys to drink out of my cups! If I am the carrier, I really don't remember going through any of this, but maybe I was young enough that my parents had to deal with it!

#2 Was sad that he had to miss church today. The girls on the other hand were very excited! #1 wanted to wear her "Purple" dress that we got in Korea (She's been wearing it since it came to her feet, but I can't find the pictures). She asked me if #3 had a purple dress so they matched in color today. The girls were so cute getting ready that we had to pull out the camera for some quick snaps!

I'm just glad that this week is over, and hopefully next week will be MUCH better!

Memories

I can't believe how fast time has flown by these past few years. I remember as a kid and how SLOW time went by. From one birthday to the next was eternity and the wait between Christmases was even worse.

I was going through old pictures today, the ones that we almost lost due to a hard drive failure (there's my plug for ALWAYS backing up your photos). And, I came across some really fun pictures that I had forgotten about because I haven't looked at them in a while. I found many that would make great comparisons. Like these two!

These pictures are from the first and last times that #1 played with her best friend in NY. It amazes me how much they grew and changed over those 2 years they were together.

Then there are the changes that are seen when cousins get together. These three were all born within 7 months of each other.

The two girls have switched places, but you get the point. So many changes in 3 years.

It is fun to see that kids can start off where they were last year when they saw each other.

And lastly, it is fun to see where your kids were at various stages in life. People tell me how much #3 looks like #1, and I always thought they were similar, but I do think that #3 looks a lot like #2, and then you compare pictures, and you think. . . I thought #1 had a lot more hair, and I didn't realize her face was longer etc. . . it is fun! So, here is a comparison of #3 and #1 and you can decide which is which.

I love the memories that I have, and I'm sure that as I get older and have more children, I will get even more confused and forget who is who!

A World to Know and Love

I love to move around meeting new people, and finding old friends. I have lived in 25 homes in my life, and each place has had its ups and downs. I find that I have a hard time opening up to most people when I first meet them, but once I do let them in and we become friends, I am their friend for life. While in Germany, I heard the Germans compared to M&Ms. They have a hard outer shell, but once you get past that they are just pure sweetness. That is how I feel at times. Why do I have my shell? Only Freud knows that one I guess.

This past week, I found out that a friend's daughter Gracie was recently diagnosed with cancer (www.graciecare.blogspot.com). We had known them in NY, and then within our first year, they moved to my former hometown in Oklahoma. It is such a small world at times! I looked at their website for Gracie last night, and my husband and I both began to cry because she is so similar to our own little girl who is only 2 weeks younger. I remember the two of them crawling around in church together and then both learning to walk. When they moved away, it was fun to get e-mails and to hear of people they were meeting and such because I knew these people as well. So wild and fun.

I know that God puts us in places for a reason. So that we can meet people and share parts of our lives with them. I know that I was supposed to make the friends that I did in NY, and I'm sure that I'm supposed to do things for my new friends here in IA. I sometimes find myself asking "What am I here to learn or share?" At times it is clear, and at times it is a mystery, but through it all, I enjoying seeing more of the World and loving it.

I wish it were easier to travel with kids. If only it didn't cost so much to fly. I would love to see more of Asia, to see Africa, to walk in Antarctica. There is so much that I would love to go and see, but for now I will just enjoy meeting people around me and enjoying the little piece of the world that I have been blessed with seeing.

The War Begins

Last week, the kids and I went out to buy bird seed. We were so excited when the next morning, there were 3-4 small blue and white birds and a cardinal. Later that day, the squirrels came, and they were cute until they took all the bird seed away within 3 hours. That was so not cool.

I searched on-line and found a product called Squirrel Away. It is made from the hottest pepper on Earth (It says), and it wont harm the squirrels they just don't like it, and at the same time the birds don't taste it. So I put that out. The birds came this morning, and then the squirrels came back. They didn't empty the seed out though so that is a start, but they sure liked getting up there and eating the sun flower seeds.

I feel like a character from Looney Tunes.

Our Cute and Crazy Kids

Our kids are getting WAY too big! I look at them some days and I wonder who they belong to because my kids are still babies. Then I realize that wait, my kids are getting so BIG! I had a tough week last week, and finally decided that I need to get a degree in child development or something because I really don't understand why they are the way they are, and I know that there are better ways to react to them etc. So, I went on Amazon and bought a few books. I have started one called "The 5 Love Languages of Children". I am only on Chapter 3, but I recommend it to anyone who wants to know what kids respond to. I had heard of the original book, and a friend mentioned there was one for children, and my eyes have been opened to various ways that I can improve my behavior and show love to my kiddos.

This is probably one of my favorite ways of finding Daddy and Baby #3. They just looked way comfie! Unfortunately, I think I woke them up, but the picture is worth it all.

Little girl was not happy to be sitting up watching Daddy on the computer. I think she wanted to type too or something.

I went in #2's room to find him sitting on the floor with every 5-6 pairs of big boy underwear around his ankles. He thought it was the coolest thing! He has decided he doesn't want to actively potty train any more, but he does occasionally still go when Mommy or Daddy asks.

Our little genius! She thought that was pretty cool!

#3 loves her big brother! She was wanting to cuddle, and he wanted NOTHING to do with it!

#1 Looking so big and old! We just registered her for preschool. We should find out Apr. 15th if she was accepted, and she would start in September. She told me yesterday that she wants to ride the bus.

My three little kiddos. They are such a joy!

Our Surroundings

I have had requests from family to see our surroundings out here. I put pictures into a folder on the desktop, and then promptly forgot about them so these are a few weeks old. We haven't seen much weather over 30 degrees yet, and these were taken during an ice storm that we were so blessed with having. (Can you just read the sarcasm?) Two of our neighbors pulled into our driveway and then couldn't get out due to the ice. It reminded me of the ice in OK. I haven't seen anything this bad in years!!!! I thought NY was cold, but this sure took the cake!

#2 by the carport. We thought we would have a garage, but to no avail.

#2 walking down the circular driveway. It is a very large front yard if you can't tell. The circular driveway keeps us way off of the busy street that we live on. That will be nice in the summer when the kids start running around more.

This is the garage, it would be AMAZING!!! But, it is used by the owners for storage so we have no access to it.

This is the back patio and yard. There is a steep hill going down to a ravine. Daddy is very excited to pull the slip-n-slide out. I may have to change his name to George of the Jungle.

The side of the house. This side drops off pretty quickly. If the kids were older this would probably be their favorite place!

And there you go! That is where we live at the moment. We LOVE it so far. What a great place to live and raise kids. We'll be sad to leave next year, but it will be fun to be here.