181/365

Jacob called in sick to work again today.  He is still not feeling great tonight.

The kids have been absolutely going stir crazy with both Jacob and I sick.  I felt so bad for them today and decided to suck it up and take them to go see Toy Story 3 in Abilene.  I don't have the energy to take them on a bike ride or to the park but I can take them to a movie and sit in the theater.  They were beyond excited!  The movie was so cute.  I cried at the end.  I think Jackson even got a bit choked up.  He kept talking about how sad it was at the end.  I am glad we went to see it today.  The kids needed out of the house and I needed to get out as well.  There are few things in life as bad as dealing with a sick grown man.

We made a quick trip to Target after the movie and headed home.  I was sad that I didn't bring my camera along today.  The kids looked super cute all lined up with their 3D glasses on.

Overall it was a pretty good day! 

180/365

I am so ready for us all to feel better so that we can get out of this house.

Jacob even stayed home today because his stomach was hurting him.

I tried to get a doctor appointment today because I am just beyond sick at this point.  The one office here lost it's doctor so the only other doctor in town is booked for the next 2 days.  I really hope to be feeling better by then but if not I have an appointment for Thursday.  I need to start feeling better because I just have no energy to do anything around here or with the kids but I have to be up and functioning for them.

In the mean time I have them counting pinto beans into cups.

(J/K...this is what we are doing to build their fine motor skills.  Some days they are OK with it...others they fight me on it.)  It does keep them occupied and quiet for a while though.  :)

179/365

Playing school....something I always loved to do as a child. 

(Who the heck knows why any child would want to play school during the summer?!?) 

Jackson had a good time 'teaching' the little kids and I think they had a good time having him teach them.

He even read to them and did letter flash cards.  Maybe they will be more open to learning from him than me because when I try to work with them it is a huge fight.

We have all been working really hard at getting the kids up to Albany's standards this summer.  We are doing Saxon Phonics, Beka Phonics, starfall.com, coloring pages and working on strengthening the kids fine motor skills to improve their handwriting.  It is a lot of work that hopefully will pay off in the end.  I am seeing improvement in everyone which is wonderful.

(Oh...and I could NEVER be a teacher!  Three is enough...I can't imagine 20+ kids.  No thank you!)

178/365

Down and out again.

This evening Jackson started feeling sick again.  Poor kid has only felt OK 1 day out of the past 7.

Tyler and Jaci have enjoyed riding bikes this morning and afternoon.

I absolutely love that the kids love being outside and being active!  A lot of kids their age are completely into video games but my kids don't even know how to play a regular video game.  We have a Wii which I bought for ME (LOVE my Wii Fit!) and I have bought my kids one game that isn't an active type of game.  It is a monster truck game which they have played like 6 times in the 6 months that we have owned it.  It is a very special treat to get to play the Wii.  I like it that way although I do think it has affected Jackson's ability to relate with other kids.  He has no clue what they are talking about when they talk about PlayStation and X-Boxes and they think he is weird because of that.  I want him to fit in but I also don't want him to just sit in front of the TV not using his imagination.  I am glad that the Wii came along because it is fun and keeps them active and we all enjoy it together!  I am also much happier that they would prefer to play baseball outside than on the Wii!  :)

177/365

All kids are back up and running today!  They even felt like riding bikes and enjoying Popsicles outside. 

They got tired a lot faster than usual but it was HOT today.

I am happy to have them back to normal. 

(Including all of the noise, chaos, fighting....just don't tell them that!)

176/365

It was another low key day around here.  Jackson is feeling a little better.  Still not 100% but he started eating just a little today which livened him up some.  He hasn't had anything to eat since Sunday night so I was happy to see him ready to eat again.

Tyler is still holding strong.  I just pray he doesn't come down with any of this because when he gets something it is always so much worse for him.  He was happy to have Jackson to play with again.  They played Lego's most of the afternoon.

Jaci and I are still down and out.  We had a really rough night last night and it has been a really long day.  Her biggest complaint is a headache and her fever which is odd since Jackson never had either of those.  It is possible that she has a combination of the stomach virus from Jackson and the respiratory infection from me.  I hope she starts feeling better soon.  At least we are all sick together.  It is always tough to be sick and have the kids up and active begging me to do things.  We are all getting some good rest.

175/365

Another one bites the dust...Jaci is now throwing up as of about 5PM today.

Jackson is still throwing up as well.  That makes 4 days of this for him.

Tyler is still going strong and we are doing our best to keep him away from the other kids.  Sadly I am also sick and not wanting to get too close to Tyler.  I'm not throwing up but I have a nasty cold that has quickly settled in my chest.  It certainly doesn't help that I had pneumonia less than a month ago.  I can absolutely feel it getting so much worse as the day goes on.  I am going to try to get in to the doctor tomorrow and see if I can get it taken care of before it gets too bad.  If Tyler got this it would be bad for him because his weakness is his lungs.  I am praying that we can keep him well.

It has been a lazy day with us all being sick and I predict that we will all be laying around again tomorrow.  That's OK...after being on the go we all need the rest.

174/365

This morning I took family pictures for Gale and then we had a little first birthday party for Summer the Deer.  It is so funny to watch a deer think that she belongs with humans.  She really acts more like the dogs than a deer.  It is too funny!

This afternoon we all headed home.  Jacob and the kids from Henderson and me from Lockhart.  I think the kids had a great time other than Jackson being so sick.  Poor kid.  He was so excited to go and felt bad most of the time he was there.

The kids were so happy to discover that their garden was really producing the squash!

There were just little baby squash starting to come on last Thursday and today we have HUGE squash.

It is good to be back home with my kids.  I always enjoy a break but I am always SO HAPPY to get back to them.  I just wish I could have my friends here along with me.  :(  I miss them so much.

173/365

Today was a great day!  We went and floated the Guadalupe river in Gruene and had an awesome time!

Two weeks ago they had really bad floods that took out a lot of the tubing places.  It was pretty sad to see the devastation caused by the floods.

Some of these were brand new buses!

Tube rental place.

We had a great time!  I am so blessed with wonderful friends who keep me laughing .

Tomorrow I am heading home.  The kids were supposed to spend the week in Henderson but have been hit by a stomach virus so Jacob is bringing them back home tomorrow.  I hate that they had to get sick when they went out there.  It's no fun!

I am so tired and sunburned and I am doing pictures for Gale and Larry in the morning so I am off to get some sleep.

172/365

The same....but different.

I am here, in Lockhart.  After a last minute change of plans I ended up coming here today.

It is wonderful to be here seeing Gale, Bonnie and their families.

It is also so hard being here and feeling like I should be home...but it is not really home anymore.  It looks like my home.  It felt like I should have been driving up to my house and pulling into my garage and walking into my kitchen, but it is no longer my house.

I wasn't prepared for how it would feel.

I miss it. 

I am sad. 

I am ready for our new home to feel like home.

171/365

This is a picture I took back in April but I wanted to come and post it tonight and wish my wonderful husband a Happy Father's day!

Jacob, you are such a loving, wonderful father.  I love that you are so involved in our children's lives.  I don't know many father's who are as active with their children as you are.  I have grown to appreciate what you do so much more after living apart for 3.5 months. 

We are all so blessed to have you in our lives!

Love you!

170/365

Today Tiffany, Rhett and I went and shopped downtown Albany and went around to see all of the festivities they are having for the Ft. Griffin Fandangle.

It was a lot of fun.

I really do love this town.  It is just so quaint.

Of course I had to go and show then the old time soda fountain and get a coke from there.  They are simply the best cokes ever and it is so cool to watch them make them.  I love going there!

It was a lot of fun but so HOT!

The kids are having fun in Henderson.  They rode 4 wheelers, played dress up and went fishing today.  Tyler caught a fish and as soon as he did he was done.  He is so funny!  I miss them but the next few days will be really busy so at least I won't have too much time to sit around missing them.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

169/365

All packed up and ready to go to Henderson!

Today Jacob left with the kids to go out to Henderson.  The kids will be staying the week out there.

I am not sure what is going to happen with this blog over the next week.  I sent my camera so hopefully I will get some pictures to post on here.  I hope to keep the posting going because I am so far into this project but we will see.

168/365

This amused me today. 

Jackson is really enjoying baseball camp.  It is HOT but he likes it.

The little kids don't like being there.  We spent a lot of our time playing under the stands (beneath the low 'ow' clearance).

This evening we came home and I finished up all of the packing while Jacob mowed and Tyler and Jaci played with his caterpillar.

The kids are ready to head out to Henderson tomorrow.  They are going to be spending a week out there.

The house will be really quiet without them.  I always enjoy the break for about a day and then really start to miss them.  They drive me crazy most days but they also amuse me to no end.  I love these crazy kids!