January 25, 2012

We're having one of those MONTHS

OK let's see....lil prince had kidney stones a few weeks ago, lil king had strep and a nasty reaction and now lil princess had croup! Break????? Where are you???? I'd sure like to catch one.

She woke me up around 11:30pm crying and gasping for air....certainly NOT a sound any mommy wants to hear. I knew exactly what was going on because she is my lil' croup kid...she always seems to get it. I immediately brought her into our bathroom, shut the door, turned the shower on as hot as it could go and waited for the steam to do its magic. 15 minutes later no such luck! So I called the nurse line to get some more tips. The nurse could hear her struggle over the phone and said to bring her in right away. I didn't think driving all the way to the Children's hospital in the ghetto sounded like a good idea, especially at midnight on a Friday night, so I too her to the closest pediatric urgent care. While there they hooked her up to the monitor and gave her a Racemic Epinepherine nebulizer. These are the magic nebs that should do the trick.....well it lasted about 1 1/2 hours. BOO! So a second one and a visit again from the doctor with the news we were going to have to be admitted came shortly after. Problem was....they wouldn't let me drive her to the hospital. So my lil princess got to go for a ride in an ambulance! She was kind of nervous because I wasn't going to be in there with her (I had to follow behind in my SUV. But once I got to the hospital she was all smiles. They gave her a teddy bear and everything! We didn't get to bed until after 5am and only slept for 2 hours...tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired! She was discharged the next morning and she's been on steroids to help since. We'll stop those in a few days. UGH!
Getting my neb
I love my new teddy bear

Going home!

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January 22, 2012

Update on 2012 projects

For those of you are faithful followers you will remember my List of 2012 Projects. I have been working on them!
Here is my before and after photos of my mud room. Now because I am being honest and sharing what my mud room REALLY looked like before you must bite your tongue with judgement...after all I do have 5 4 kids (+1 husband).

Oy what a MESS!
I don't know who to blame...them or myself!
Too much stuff without a REAL place
Want to know what I did? First I purged....I took every single thing out of the closet and off the bench and cubbies and tossed it on the floor! I made the mess bigger before it was made better.
Then I decided what was necessary to organize this chaos. Buckets!!!! I purchased 4 clear tubs with teal stripes (because it's one of my favorite colors) and made labels for them (one with each child's name on them). These are stored neatly under the bench for their shoes.
Next I added a long rectangle strip just above the coat hooks. I painted chalkboard paint onto the wall in the same teal color. For now it has one of my favorite quotes on it but as my children get older I plan to use it for a "reminder" board of tasks, appointments, and schedules.
I designated one closet for the kids items and one for the adults items to keep things seperated.
I used my favorite label maker to label the drawers. Each drawer is designated for one specific item (umbrellas, hats, mittens, scarves, and reusable bags).
The I designated two tubs for extra shoes. With 4 kids I have LOTS of extra shoes around this house and they always seem to be lost in a tub somewhere in my storage area. This way I have them sorted and together! Yippie!

Lastly I decided that each child needed their own "locker" so I labeled them with their names and used each one to hang their coat and shoes for the coming day. This saves me time as they know EXACTLY what to grab and where it is!
So there you have it....my new and improved mud room! Let me know what you think!
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January 19, 2012

rash update =(

My poor dude! I feel so bad for him. This rash is certainly getting worse as the time is going on...pretty soon he's going to be all red.

and here is a GREAT video I have been so excited to share!!!


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January 17, 2012

splish splash, coloring fun, and a rash

If you are a faithful follower of our blog you will know it is never dull at our house. Well this week has proven that for sure!
See this sad rash?

This is what guttate psoriasis strep throat looks like. What the heck is that you ask? Well long story short it is a form of strep throat. Lil King is on antibiotics right now and the toxins from the strep are being released through his skin. It is really rare (only 2% of strep infections happen this way) and the rash will continue to get worse over the next week or two and can last up to two months! It's itchy, obnoxious and annoying. Poor guy!

This is what a baby who LOVES bath time looks like! Yup, lil' duke is such a fan of bath time! He loves it so much that he throws a fit when I have to take him out for fear he will start to resemble a raisin.
Enjoy the video below!




And last but not least we got this great crayon maker for Christmas and boy is it neat! Check it out!

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January 10, 2012

sharing the love

I have been on a cleaning, organizing, and new project finding kick this past month....who knows, maybe it's the desperate need to put the year 2011 behind me...shoot with 6 deaths among our friends and family, some serious illnesses, major surgeries, and other huge stresses I think I'd do about anything to "move on" to a new year. Pintrest is my newest favorite site and I wanted to share with you some AMAZING tips and tricks I have learned from it. (and if you are good at the very end I will share a cute video, lol)
1. Use empty cereal boxes for photo mats. I have tons of cereal boxes and lots of scraps of fabric
2. An empty ketchup bottle makes an awesome pancake batter dispenser
3. Did you know that if you spread mayo on a water stain and wipe it off the next day it will remove the stain?
4. The top of an old Parmesan tub fits perfectly on a mason jar!
5. You can make your own pore strips at home with only a makeup brush,1 tsp gelatin,1 tsp milk, and a dish
6. Peroxide and baking soda will clean your stained cookie sheets and make them look like new!
7. Did you know that a simple dryer sheet will clean a muffin pan to look like new?
8. Have you ever had a greasy stain on clothes? Rub chalk on it and leave over night- it absorbs the grease
9. Dingy dishwasher? All you need is Distilled white vinegar, Baking Soda,Microfiber cloths, Toothbrush

10. Attention crafty nerds (like me) a flat iron will de-wrinkle your craft ribbon
11. You can make your own ice packs with water and Dawn dish soap
12. There is an easy way to get use out of the left over wax from a candle

13. Use cupcake papers to cover your drink outside to keep bugs from landing in it.
14. Easy way to arrange flowers- tape a grid across the bowl or jar first
15. Hate when apples turn brown after cutting them? Use a rubber band.

16. Put an old nylon over your vacuum hose to help find itty bitty lost things without losing them forever.
17. There really IS a way to fold a fitted sheet!!!
18. Use a straw to hull out strawberries...PERFECTION!
19. If you put your cell phone in a bowl and play music on it- the bowl will amplify the sound!
20. You can re-use old wipe containers for plastic bag storage and dispensers
21. Use a tension rod under your sink to hang all your spray bottles!!!
22. This one is great! Secure a strip of Velcro to your kids wall and stick their stuffed animals to it!
23. Rub a walnut on a scratched, dinged and distressed piece of wood to cover it up...works!
24. Have a lot of tissue paper? HANG IT!!!
25. Thank you Martha Stewart! Use a pillowcase from a sheet set to store the coordinating sheets in
26. Buy ground beef in bulk? place it in a zip lock bag and divide and store- follow this link
27. Use pouring/storage containers for sugar and flour...no more spills!
28. Use a shoe holder rack to store cleaning products and save shelf space
29. Did you know most magazine racks will fit regular sized cans? Dispenser anyone?
30. Save your bread tags and use them to label all those cords on your power strips!

And now-----the aforementioned video (and photos)

Mommy threw us in the tub added some soap and turned the jets on

Bubbles bubbles EVERYWHERE!


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January 8, 2012

oops...11months

I DID take his photo on the 11th month birthday but I completely forgot to post it.
Here it is






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January 3, 2012

2011 year in review

Here it is the 2011 year in review!
January
We welcomed the birth of our third son, our fourth child- Jacob, we learned that a full size bed isn't quite big enough for Zachary, and I shared my top 10 favorite things for each child.

February
We celebrated Jacob's due date, Jacob was hospitalized for RSV, and we figured out that Jacob's monthly photos wouldn't always be on the 31st.

March
Maddie finally is potty trained, Zach dug for buried treasure, Maddie shared who loves her, and she looked pretty cute all fresh and clean.

April
We had a little tie dye fun, made some pretty Easter eggs, went on a hunt, and Sam showed us what over stimulation looks like.

May
The twins turned THREE, we found a "friend" in our yard, Sam took some swings at t-ball, and we got a wonderful play set!

June
We had a huge summer party, we had some summer fun, played with mommy's camera, and went to a parade!

July
We said good-bye for now to my most amazing grandma, we grew our own veggies, we met the people behind 911, and Maddie was crowned a princess.

August
We took the kids bowling, we learned who Jacob loves, we had a fun picnic, went to the state fair, and drove tractors!

September
Sam had an eye doctor appointment, we had family portraits taken at our home, and I started a new project.

October
We went to a few orchards, we became a Star Wars family, we celebrated a Jedi's birthday, and we attended Fall Fest!

November
Mommy got her craft on, we went to Build a Bear, and we learned that Rumor Has It is a fan favorite!

December
We had a million Christmas parties, we traveled the great wide open, we wished you all a Merry Christmas!

And finally- my top five favorite photos from this year are as follows

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