The last 2 weeks

     Wow! It has been almost 2 weeks since I posted anything...I do kind of have an excuse though. The week of Valentine's day all my family had the flu except me. Thank you lord that I didn't have it, I don't know how we would have survived. The kids and Saxon had fevers for a total of 11 days ranging from 101 to 104.7. Although 104.7 is extremely high about this time last year Eden had a fever of 106 which landed her a few days in the hospital. I was so glad we got to avoid that this year. I didn't sleep through the night any of those LONG days and nights, I was too busy passing out medication, taking people to the dr, giving people baths( my kids always throw up when they get high fevers) washing sheets and towels and wiping my whole house down with Clorox wipes. Here are a few pics of the kids when they didn't feel good..there little faces are so pitiful.



Our own pharmacy!
















     We tried to celebrate Valentine's day with the kids (ok I did, Saxon layed on the couch). No one went to school so we had our own little party with treats and goodies from Grandma and Grandaddy! They were too sick to even enjoy the candy..

     Later that week Spencer and I went to register for Kindergarten. He went to the Dr and got all his shots and as soon as we got in the car he asked if I was taking him to big boy school now? Too cute. The day after we registered he went back to preschool. He again asked while getting in the car if we were taking him to Kindergarten. It may be a long wait for him until August...he asks everyday when he is going!

     All in the midst of everyone being sick I was going on job interviews and trying to figure out what we were going to do with the whole situation. I have been torn between the fact of going back to working during the week and putting the kids in daycare or just staying on the weekends. I know in the fall I want to go back to the weekday work force but was just not ready to give it up now. ACH has been going through some financial difficulties and are making some changes. I was unsure where I stood . We have prayed for countless hours for God to open the right door for me. I really wanted one job, but that door was closed  and it was hard for me. Well all turned out well, I was offered a position at ACH so I get to stay where I am and just work an extra shift on another unit once a week. I have worked with only babies for the last 4 years and now I get to go work with teenagers every week and it is going to be a new world. It is also a night shift position so that is going to be different too, it has been a long time since I worked all night. Prayers would be appreciated for adjustment into this new role! God has been amazing through this whole process, I have had stressful moments but he gave me a peace. I knew that He already knew the plan and that He would lead me through this...

     Last week we just tried to get things back to normal. Emma finally went back to school after missing an entire week and she had a TON of homework. Who knew that 1st graders did so much work on a daily basis. Softball practice is in full swing for her and she is loving it.  I am looking forward to seeing her play with a new team this year. It will be more challenging for her, but a great experience I hope. I actually get three weekends off in March and April so I will get to go to 2 tournaments that she is in. I am so excited about that. And I get to go to church with my family!! YAY that is a rare thing that I get to do.(one reason I want to quit working on weekends).

     Last but not least, last night I was just messing around, reading blogs trying to relax after a very stressful weekend at work when all of the sudden our house began to shake. I was totally unsure of what it was. I knew that thunderstorms were headed our may and I thought it might be a tornado. By the time I had reacted it was over. Turns out it was an earthquake. A 4.7 earthquake far from our home but we still felt it. The local news broke in the tv show and gave us an upadate. It was felt throughout the state. The more I thought about it I realized that I had experienced that same event just a few nights ago. Although it was much shorter and not as hard, our house did shake a little. I thought it was strong winds that night. I hope we are done with the quakes now.

Lost Tooth!

      Several months ago I took Emma to the dentist because her two bottom middle permanent teeth were coming in behind her baby teeth and her baby teeth were not even loose. He told me not to worry that her baby teeth will get loose and fall out eventually.

Emma has been going to the dentist since she was 3 and here are some old pictures of her at the dentist.

     She has had one loose tooth for a few weeks but it was not even close to coming out. She had been sick over the weekend and I guess layed around and wiggled that tooth really loose. When I came home from work Sunday night she let me pull it. She said ouch but then told me it didn't hurt. It did bleed a little it and she got a little upset but soon realized that it would be ok. After she chilled out and we got the bleeding stopped she was super excited.

Here are some cute pictures of Emma with her little baby teeth!


3 years old!




Emma's 5th birthday at the beach




Christmas 2010




Snow day Jan 11




Just a silly picture of Emma! you can't even see her teeth! HA!
















Here are some pics of the night her tooth came out and the next day after the tooth fairy came to our house!



right after we pulled it



With her tooth fairy money. 5 whole dollars!



can you see the gap?

  Emma was so worried that the tooth fairy would not be able to find her tooth under her pillow. She put the tooth in a ziplock baggie and asked the tooth fairy if she could keep her 1st tooth. The fairy left
 her 5 dollars and her tooth. She was so excited. Later she even added it up and told me if she gets five dollars for every tooth she looses she will have 100 dollars. Smart girl. I am so glad she finally lost her 1st tooth. She was always happy for friends when they lost a tooth but sad that it was not her. It was a fun experience for both of us. She said she will never forget valentine's day this year because that is the day she got money from the tooth fairy!

More SNOW....

We got more snow this month. Arkansas' record amount since 1914....and we have had a blast playing in it. A winter that we will never forget!

DAY 1:  Feb 9, 2011

Swinging in the snow!



Eden sliding




Emma sliding




Spencer sliding




Snow frozen to his beautiful long eyelashes




Always up to something. I think she had a snowball behind her back!




Hard to smile with snow hitting you in the face!



Day 2: Feb 10, 2011

I got some pictures of Eden sledding this time.

Spencer



Emma getting a face full of snow




Eden having a blast




Screaming with excitement




So much fun!



Eden taking a face plant in the snow.



Face full of snow.



Such a good sport, getting back on the sled after a  face full of snow and some tears!
By the way she was fine, just cold.



Saxon's turn!




My turn




Family photo



Next we all just relaxed and rode around on the four wheelers. Emma spent most of the day eating (licking) the snow!

I have had a blast in the snow with my family this winter but I am hoping my next family photo will look something like this:

How I long for warmer weather and a relaxing day on the beach!!

My girls are too because this is how they dressed themselves today.



Silly girls! They have 2 matching outfits, but got the top to one and the shorts to the other!



Puppies and sleeping masks

     Our puppies are too cute. We have mommy dog Lola who we got summer 09. She is a lab and a sweet girl. She loves the kids and is a little bit crazy. Ok a lot crazy. When she is happy her whole body wags with her tail. We still need to train her to not jump on people but she is getting better at that.



Lola


This November she had 9 puppies. They were so sweet and cute. It has been so cold so they stayed in the garage. We gave away all but two of them. I let the kids name the two we kept. They are Charlie and Buster. They are really rambunctious but so fun...

(L) Buster (R) Charlie



Are they not adorable?


     So Emma got a sleeping mask with some pj's that my mom gave her for Christmas. I wasn't sure that she would wear it and neither was my mom but it came with the pajamas. Well...she loves it. It is hilarious to see it on her. It is owl eyes, so even when she is sleeping she looks like she is looking at you! HA!

Yes she is sleeping, yes on a mattress with no sheet! She was in the living room for our bunking party (see previous post) and the sheet came off the mattress.

     Spencer wanted a sleeping mask too because he saw Emma wearing hers. I was talking about it at work one day and a sweet friend found one for him and brought it to me the next week. He loves his too! He puts it on at night but sleeps with it on his forehead because it makes him scared. Too dark, he says!!

This was the night he got it. He was so excited!! It says Do not disturb. She had to find one that was not too girly!!

     I guess now all I need is to find Eden one. She says she wants one but I'm not real sure she would actually wear it. I guess maybe I will try to find her one for Valentine's day.
   

The joy of winter!

     This past weekend started off not so good. Friday I woke up to Saxon calling me saying not to send Emma to school. I looked outside and it was dry but all of Little Rock schools were closed. We were supposed to be getting another snow. YAY!! (sarcastic) So I decided not to send Emma to school and beat the rush to walmart because we had NO food and I was already planning on grocery shopping that day. On the way to Walmart at 7:45am it started snowing. I got to walmart and got groceries as quickly as I could with three kids. Well I didn't beat the rush. The lines looked like it was the day after thanksgiving! YAY for long lines with three kids! Thank goodness I didn't send Emma to school because they dismissed at 9:00am. Only 1 hour of school and we were still at the store! We were planning a party for my friend Ellen's 30th b-day that night and we decided to change it.
     The roads were starting to get bad in places and I was worried about getting to work the next morning. So my friend LeAnn from work and I decided that we would just go spend the night in Little Rock close to the hospital. Saxon came home in the early afternoon and we traded off. Of course this is after I had everything ready for the kids for the entire weekend. (It will have to be a new post on him trying to pick out clothes for the kids.)  They were excited that Dad was home to play out in the snow with them but sad that I was leaving and would not be back until the next night. I headed to LR with LeAnn and checked in to our hotel room. We were tucked in our beds by 4pm watching TV and surfing the internet. It was a relaxing afternoon. Later our friend Cilla made it to LR to stay with us too and we decided to walk down the road to grab some dinner. The river market district was very different on a snowy day. Most of the places were closed but we did find a restaurant open and enjoyed some seafood for dinner. Our walk back to the hotel was COLD. It was dark by then and it had begun to snow again. We walked very quickly and tried not to slide too much. We went to bed early and it was very different than most friday nights at the Berry house.

     Saturday was a typical work day. We made it to work without any problems. By the time we left everything was melted. After work I stopped by my friend Ellen's house and caught the tail end of the party. (that was supposed to be at my house the night before!) While there I discovered that Emma had done a little "art project" earlier that day. She colored all over Eden's stomach and back! We left the party and headed home. I was tired and Saxon had some art work to clean off in the tub. lol! I came home and saw the snow castle that Saxon and Emma had built earlier that day.

     Sunday was a normal day, Saxon took the kids to church and I headed off for work. Monday we woke up to snow on the ground again but not much so school and work were on for the day. I ran some errands and just layed around. Saxon came home monday night sick so I was off to the store to buy some more cold medicine. It is now tuesday and we are expecting LOTS more snow tomorrow. They have already called school off for tomorrow so I guess I will get ready for more snow days at home with the kids and Saxon. Chili and homemade vegetable soup are in the works. YUM! This is the first time I am trying to make my mom's soup. I hope it is good!

Snow much Fun!

This is our house when it snowed in January. Our kids first "real" snow where we could actually sled and play in the snow. We had so much fun!

Day one we went on a nature walk through the woods and Saxon pulled the kids on a sled behind the four-wheeler.

The creek was beautiful with the tops of the rocks covered in snow.

Saxon always being goofy. He rolled down a hill and got himself covered in snow. Of, course the kids thought is was hilarious.

Spencer and Emma getting ready to be pulled by Daddy. I rode on the back and caught some action pictures too..

Eden would only ride with me at first so there was no one to take pictures of us. She eventually rode by herself and honestly I forgot to get a picture of it. Sorry Eden!

The next day Saxon had to work and the kids and I built a snow monster. We used food coloring for his eyes, nose, mouth and polka dots! The kids thought it was super cool and definitely unique.

Later that night I made snow ice cream for the first time! It turned out great. Everyone loved it except Spencer, he wouldn't even try it!

Eden is always my kitchen helper!

Emma and Saxon loved it!

Just an added picture of Spencer for fun.

I love spending extra fun filled days with the kids and Saxon!