Salsarita's Again?

We love the restaurant Salsarita's. We don't go very often, because I have been cooking at home more and it is NOT James' favorite place to go. But we had Upward basketball practice last night so we chose to go get something. We went to Salsarita's and guess who we saw? Amie and Pat with the kids. . . This is post worthy because every single time we have went to this specific restauraunt we have seen Amie. . . So why would tonight be any different?. . .If we want to catch up with the Mumpower's-we know where to find them. . Hee hee. . . Pat made the comment about loving to read my blog. . .so I told her to pose with her family and I would "blog" them. . . Hee hee. .So, Pat, This one is for you!!! Enjoy!!!!! Love you guys!

Allergy Testing

Cade had a doctor's appointment today with an Allergist. For those of you who don't know, Cade has had pretty severe asthma since he was 18 months old, and we have lived the life of nebulizers, inhalers, hospital visits, midnight breathing treatments and all of the joys that come with an asthmatic child for quite some time now. We made the decision to take him to an allergist and have allergy testing done. The results were good. No severe allergies. But that takes us back to square one-We still have to deal with this terrible disease. I know there are things that are worse that my child could be suffering from, but I just hate to see him struggle to breathe. It is so scary for him, as well as for me. The doctor helped us realize that it isn't an allergy that is triggering his attacks, so that is a good thing. He did change his medications around some. A new inhaler, a nasal spray, and an antihistimine to name a few things. . . Hopefully we will see some new results with these changes. I took a few pics today in the office with my cell phone while Cade was getting the testing done. That is a back scratcher in his hand. They gave him 5 back scratchers-one for mommy, daddy, Ian, Macey and of course, Cade. He was so excited to give these out when he got home. Here is his back where they did the scratch test. He didn't like the fact that they marked on him with a marker. He asked the nurse to clean it off before he put his shirt back on. . He is too funny!

He wanted to pose one more time with his back scratcher. He must take after his daddy =)

He did so well. He never shed a tear, except for when he bounced the super ball the nurse gave him behind the doctor's desk. . . That was a little embarrassing. . . The nurse had taken us into his office for him to talk to us about the test results and Cade bounced that ball behind his desk. We were in there alone, waiting on the doctor to come and talk to us. So there was Cade pilfering behind his desk, and me trying to get him to get on the "visitor" side of the desk. But the doctor was extremely nice when he arrived and Cade immediately told him what had happended. He let Cade crawl around under the desk in an attempt to find the ball, to no avail. Christy works at this office, and she came in to see how Cade did, and saw the crocodile tears flowing down his face, and he told her also that he lost his super ball, and she got down in the floor and found it!!! Christy saved the day!!!

Their Baby is Here!!

Kurt and Bicki Rudd, our friends from church, had their baby!!! We are so excited to finally get to meet him. He was born around 9:30 this morning, and weighed in at 10 pounds. . .His name is Jedadiah Edward Rudd. . . They are going to call him Jed. Too Cute! Kurt said "He is a Man Child" . . He is so funny. . . Anyway, Mom and Baby are doing well. We plan on running by the hospital to visit them this evening, so hopefully I can get a picture of the little guy! Congratulations guys!!!! We love you all!

My Biggest Pet Peeve

Am I the only person who is highly irritated by the dancing statue of liberty on the side of the road? It completely drives me batty! I don't know why a company would want to pay someone to stand on the side of the road and wave at all of the passer's by in an attempt to get business. All I know is that the waving costumed employees do nothing but get on my nerves!! If I used a tax service, I wouldn't use this one just because of their annoying "liberty wavers". I know this is just my opinion, and maybe a little crazy that it bothers me. . . . so I hope no one minds that I chose to vent about it on my blog. . I just drove home from picking up the kids. . and this subject was fresh on my mind. . .so here it is =)

Did You Brush Your Teeth?

Ok, this story is still cracking me up. I have yet to share it with anyone because it happened so early this morning. . . I don't know how many mothers out there have this problem with their children, but mine don't want to brush their teeth. I won't say all of them. Cade, my 4 year old, will brush his teeth daily without me even reminding him. . .Santa brought all 3 kids the "musical toothbrushes" that play a song for 2 minutes (the amount of time they should be brushing) And we can always hear Mr. Cade in the bathroom rocking out to "We will, we will rock you!!" Sometimes he even stomps to the music while he brushes. . .too funny. . .Macey does fairly well. .Sometimes I have to remind her, but she never leaves for school without brushing. . .So, by now, I guess you are realizing who this story is about. Ian. He is 10 years old, and for some strange reason doesn't seem to value the importance of fresh breath?clean teeth? plaque free? no cavities? Can I keep on going? We were in the van this morning almost to school, when I thought I smelled someone's breath. . . Could Ian have forgotten to brush his teeth after I told him to do so 3 times this morning????

So I asked. "Ian, Did you brush your teeth?"
"No, I forgot." he said, as if it didn't matter. . . "I will when I get home."
"Are you kidding me? Do you realize how nasty it is to go to schoool and not brush your teeth? Not to mention your breath is disgusting!" I started feeling my blood pressure rise.

I then had a very ingenius idea. . . I think, anyway. . . I proceeded to tell Ian that I was taking Cade and Macey to school, and then he and I would head back home for him to brush his teeth.

"I will be late for TJ Singers!!!" he said. "That is not fair!" Smiling to myself, I said, "You should have thought about that one before you left the house without brushing." But then, I even had a better idea. . . "No, Ian we are going to run by Wal-greens, and buy a toothbrush, and toothpaste, and you can brush your teeth there before we return to school. . . "

"Fine,"he said. "That is closer anyway."

So that is what we did. I bought a sample toothpaste, and a toothbrush. Checked out-after informing the checkout lady what Ian had done-and she was laughing. . .Then I sent him to the bathroom to brush. . .After he was finished, before we left the store-I did a 'teeth check'. . . to make sure he did a good enough job. . .and he did. . . so once we were back in the van--

I said, "Ian , when you get home from school, you owe me $3.26 of your money(Ian is a money hoard-he doesn't want to spend his money for ANYTHING-he is saving for something big) to pay for the stuff we had to buy this morning."

"That isn't fair!! It was your idea to go and buy it. . " he whined.

"Yes, it was. . .and I would bet that you won't forget to brush your teeth before school anymore. . .Will you?" I asked him smiling. . .

He agreed with me. . . Lesson learned. Brush you Teeth.

I will keep you posted on his progress :)

It's Monday Again

It is hard to believe that Monday is here again already. . . Time sure does fly when you are having fun!! We had a busy weekend to say the least. . .

With all of the things going on in James' family, we tried to keep a sense of "stability" with the kids. They know that Mamaw Allen is really sick and that sure is a whole lot for a child to have to understand. Ian has had a difficult time dealing with it. As many of you that read my blog know, his teacher was diagnosed with breast cancer in December. She was supposed to be coming back to school in January, but has found out that her cancer is worse than they thought and will be having more surgeries, and won't be coming back this school year. Ian usually doesn't "click" with any teacher, but he did with Mrs. Carroll. She has taken lots of extra time with Ian, she was tutoring one hour every day before school-and we were seeing tremendous growth in his reading skills. Therefore having a substitute for the rest of the year has been really hard for him. Mamaw Allen's health is a big concern to Ian also. He asks me lots of questions. One for instance, is he doesn't understand why people have to pay for dialysis if you need it to stay alive? Good question. . .But even I have a hard time understanding healthcare in today's world. I say all of this to say. . .We tried to just be "normal" on Sunday. . We took the kids by to visit Mamaw and Papaw after we went to the early church service, and then just "had fun" the rest of the day. . . James took the boys to the church gym to "shoot some hoops"(Ian has been wanting to practice all he can here lately--if he would only be as dedicated to school work!!!) Macey and I went to the mall, I got my nails done, and then we went to her 2 favorite stores--"Justice" and "Claire's". We had a good time, just the girls. . . .doesn't happen often enough-or so Macey says : ) We came home, and got ready for church last night. . . .We had a special group that sang, and they did a tremendous job. . . Then we went to eat with some of our friends. . . We have a "tradition" of going to eat somewhere after church on Sunday night. . .and last night was no different. . .But we had a VERY large group. . . There were 16 of us, and only 6 adults were in that group!! We were outnumbered by the children!!!! I was so proud of all of the kids. . .they were so well behaved. . . For a group of kids to sit at a table by themselves, that large. . . they were amazing!! I am so proud of them. . . .We had a great time just sitting and talking with good friends. . . Thanks guys for a fun "outing"! I am on my way to the Y--and just wanted to update. . . Please continue to remember James and Rita in your prayers this week. Happy Monday!!

Update on James' Mom, Rita

Thanks to all of you who have had James' family in your prayers today. We just got home from visiting her at the hospital, and she has seemed to improve some today. She recognized James and the kids, and she talked a little bit. She still was confused about some things, and doesn't really even remember what all went on yesterday. The doctors should be coming by sometime today or in the morning, to evaluate her and see what the next steps will be. . . She is so funny about her hair, and she kept asking us if it was flat. . . You would have to know Rita, to understand the humor behind that one. In the condition that she is in, to be concerned about what her hair looks like. : ) James and I are really concerned about his Daddy. He has had so much on him for the past year really. Rita had her stroke in November a year ago, and he has been her primary care giver since. He is not in good health himself, and taking care of Rita, has been a difficult task for him. Like James said last night though, it was very humbling to him to see how much his daddy truly loves his mom. He is right there by her side through everything she goes through, the pain, the dialysis, holding her hand, putting chapstick on her lips, and helping her spiritually, physically, and emotionally through this sickness. It made me think of my relationship with James, and how much I love him . .One of our favorite songs is "Remember When", by Alan Jackson. . .and this video shows what true love really is. . . It reminds me of James' parents, James and Rita. . . . Just thought I would share. . . (If you've seen the movie, "The Notebook", that is where the footage from this video comes from--just think it is perfect for this song, but I will warn you now, it is a tear jerker)

In the Hospital Again. . .

James' mom is in the hospital again. . . They think she may have had a second stroke. She has been in the ER since around 11 this morning, and was just moved to ICU about an hour or so ago. They have done numerous tests, including a CT and an MRI. She is not able to recognize everyone, and isn't exactly sure what is going on. James has been really upset this afternoon, so please remember him in your prayers. It is extremely hard for him to see his mother in this condition. There have been so many times that she has been in the hospital for extended periods, but this was the first time that she didn't "know those who love her". James had to miss Macey's basketball game this afternoon and it really bothered him to have to do so. I tried to explain to him that she would understand, especially considering the circumstances. (and of course she did) Remember our family in your prayers tonight, especially, James, and his mom and dad. Will update as soon as we find out anything. . .

Lamentations 3:22, "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail."vs. 25 "The Lord is good to those whose hope is in the Lord."

Enchanted

Tonight James and I wanted to do something special with the kids, so we took them to the movies. . . I cooked home made tacos for dinner and then we got everyone in the van and headed out to the theater. . . We like to go to the one near Carolina Pottery, because it is small, and usually not very crowded. . . Tonight was no different...We chose the movie, "Enchanted" and it was great. . .I am a sucker for a good love story. . . (See Tanja, my writing style shows in my movie choices also : ) And that it was. . . Macey and I both loved the movie. . Ian said it was ok. . but I think he really liked it too. I definately plan on buying this one when it comes out. . .I would love to watch it again and again. . . .

My Daughter's Blog

Macey wanted to create a blog to post her pictures that she has been taking with her new camera that she got for Christmas. . .She asked me to create a banner for her. . .so here is a scrapbook page of the banner . . . You will have to check out her new blog to see the whole banner. . . She is going to write her posts all by herself. . .She is excited about getting started. . . .

A Treat

My friend, Lisa, introduced me to this drink at work the other day. . . Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr. Pepper. .

I know, it sounds a little gross. . . but I am telling you, it is wonderful!!! I have been counting calories again. . . and this drink is almost like drinking a dessert. . .It isn't something you would want to chug after getting off of the elliptical or anything like that. . but just "in place" of a dessert. . .or if you are craving something sweet. . . that has "ZERO" calories. . . . If you like cherry flavored tootsie roll pops. . .that is exactly what it tastes like. . .you should try it. . . you will like it =)

This one is for YOU. . .

My sister lives in Fredericksburg, VA and this blog is one way she keeps up with us and what is going on in our lives. . . She called me last night and said--"UPDATE your blog. . .I have checked it over and over and you haven't posted since Tuesday!!" I was cracking up because when I first started blogging, I had to ask her, "Did you check my blog today?" if I wanted her to see some pictures or something like that. . . and now she is telling me to post on my blog. . .I think she is addicted, just as I am. . . I actually KNOW that she is, because I have been harassing her to start a family blog. . .so I, her sister, can keep up with her family. . .just as she does mine. . and guess what!!!! She has taken the leap. . She created it. . .I am so proud of her. . . I added her link to the list of blogs that I read. . .so be sure to check it out. . . Yes, this picture is of us when we were little. . . Hee hee. . here is a little walk down memory lane. . sis. . . love ya. . Cade's Birthday party. . I was lots skinnier. . . working on that right now. . .I will be there again--SOON!!!

At Papaw and Mamaw's pool. . . Looking forward to those days again. . this 20 degree weather is killing me. . . Hope you enjoyed your special post. . I know you are laughing right now as you read this. . and you are probably thinking of what you can post on your blog. . . you know we have a problem. . but that is ok. . .I LOVE IT! Love ya. . .

Where do I Blog?

My fellow blogger, Melanie, challenged us to post a pic of "where" we blog. . . So here is my most common blogging place. . . .on my laptop, on the couch. . . usually watching the Today show =) (usually with a cup of coffee) I do blog in lots of other places, the desk top, work, on my laptop in various places. . .but this is my favorite place. . . .So take the challenge. . if you read my blog. . .You have been challenged to post a picture of "your blogging corner"...

Tubing Fun

We had a great weekend with our good friends, the Salyers. It was both families first time to "hit the slopes". . . No, we didn't ski, but I would say that tubing will be the closest that I come to a ski slope. I was watching some of the skiiers come down the slopes, and thought, "hmmmm, I might like to do that", and then I saw the man being carted off on a backboard by the EMT's and taken off in an ambulance, and thought otherwise. . I will probably just stick to tubing. . .

Our weekend started off on Sunday after church. After about an hour and a half drive, a few curvy roads, and Macey getting a little car seat-we arrived in Boone, NC. The kids were so excited because there was snow all over the ground. Unlike our house. Our first stop was the Mast General Store. I love to go here. It is just an old-fashioned store, that is downtown. They have lots of "barrels of candy" that we had when we were children. Lots of neat things, good deals, and HEAT. When we got out of our cars in Boone-It was absolutley freezing!! I think the temperature was something like 17-plus it was windy. We all thought, "we are going to freeze to death tomorrow" (But it ended up being the most perfect day ever on Monday-Sunny, no wind, and the kids actually got too hot-believe it or not!) After our stop downtown, we decided to go on to our motel and warm up. . . We just spent the afternoon watching some awesome football games. (These pictures were taken with Macey's camera that she got from Santa. . We chose not to take my camera for fear of something happening to it. . . Her camera is pretty nice too--She is in the process of starting her own personal blog to post all of the pictures that she is taking. I will post the link when she and I are finished with it)Cade loved playing some of Landon's DS games. . . Cade just has 2 games, and Landon had tons for him to pick from. . . He enjoyed himself. . Ian watching the Packers game. . . . . Then we decided it was time for dinner, and we headed to my and Lisa's favorite restauraunt-Ruby Tuesday's. . .They have the BEST salad bar ever. . . Once we got everyone back in the motel, air mattresses inflated, and sleeping, it was almost midnite. . . and they were so excited about our upcoming day of tubing. . . .

Here is a picture of us heading up the hill to Ski Hawksnest. . .

We are here. . and we got the last 8 tickets for the 11am session. . so we were so excited. . .only 30 minutes and we get to go tubing. . Here is Ian getting on all of his layers. . . we made the kids wear quite a few. . .Macey and Cade too cute. . .and ready to go. . .Here is a picture of the tubing runs. . . We couldn't wait to get down there. . .Posing for a picture before we headed to the runs. . .

Here is list of the rules that we were to abide by. The rules made Macey a little nervous. . . She was afraid that her feet wouldn't touch the ground to stop herself. . She gets a little nervous about anything that she tries that is new to her. . .But she had a great time. . . Here we are looking at the ski slopes. . Lisa is taking a picture of the slopes. . . not knowing I was taking a picture of them. . . : )Here are the slopes with the snow blowers in action. . . The kids thought this was too cool. . . Landon, Cade, Macey and Ian ready to go!!!!

The Allen Family. . . Thanks Lisa for taking this pic for us. . .We love our Winter Family Photo!!Cade loved just playing in the tubes. . before he even went down the hill. . .He is too funny!Macey sitting here, worrying, and very nervous about her first trip down the hill...Ian and Landon. . . no nerves there. . .They were ready to head down the hill. . They actually got pretty good and skipping line. . and no one seemed to even notice. . . except mom. . . Lisa and I took a turn by ourselves. . Cade rode on Lisa's lap. . .He laughed the whole way down. . The more times we went, the faster we went, because the snow got packed down. . This last time down the slopes--we flew!!!
Cade had hat head when we got back to the van. . . Too cute. . .Everyone is tired and hungry. . . Macey ready to go and eat some lunch. . . Daddy with 2 of his babies. . .Ian rode with Brian and Lisa. . .Ian and Landon had a great time riding together in Lisa's car. . . Me and Miss Mace. . .She had a rough day. . She went down 2 or 3 times and then got really sick at her stomach. . She got too hot, and had to take her coat off, and I think the motion gets to her. . She isn't going to be a "ride person" like the rest of us. . . Bless her heart. . . Love you Macey.James and I. . . We had a great time this weekend. . . Thanks for taking off from work so we could all go!! Love you honey. . . Thanks Lisa and Brian for a great weekend!! We had a great time with you guys. . . The kids are already talking about going tubing again before winter is over. . . .

A couple more "Thank You's" are in order. . . Thanks to Mamaw and Papaw Horne for buying the kids waterproof "gear", snowpants, boots, ect. Thanks to you guys--they all stayed dry and warm. . . also thanks to Kurt and Bicki for letting me use your child's snow boots. . .(yes, I do have that small of a foot!!)that is why my feet stayed dry and warm also. . . Have a great week. . . .

A Typical Saturday

Saturdays are pretty busy days for the Allen's. . . Ian and Macey are participating in Upward Basketball, and their games are on Saturday. . .at 2 different times. . .so we spend a large part of our day at the gym. We really like getting to watch them play though. . .this was our second week of the season and Macey had an AWESOME game today. . .She scored 2 baskets and was great at handling the ball. . We might just have a ball player on our hands. . . . Ian is the most agressive kid I think I have ever seen. . . at whichever sport he is playing. . basketball, baseball, football, or soccer. . .He loves them all. . and always puts 100% into the game. . . He had a great game today too. He scored quite a few baskets himself. After they get Ian's age. .I don't keep up with it anymore. . He is just so good on the court. . .He can keep the ball away from the best of them. . But he has to work at his shooting. . .He is getting better though. . .The funny thing about his game, was during the first quarter, the coach came over to James and asked James for a favor. He said that Ian had "dog doo" on his shoe, and requested that he take him to get it off when Ian comes off the court. . .We were cracking up. . That is what Ian gets for running through the grass when we got to church instead of walking on the pavement like I told him too. . .Anyway, after James did "doo patrol" Ian was back in action. . .Hilarious!!!

We brought Hunter home with us this afternoon. Ian and Hunter don't get to play together very often. . . and they have gotten to the last 2 Saturdays after Upward. We just let him stay and play until after Macey's game. . and then we met the Hite's at Chili's for dinner. . . We always enjoy getting together with them. . .We just sat and talked. . .the biggest event was Hunter spilling his cherry lemondade all over Christy's new jeans, and white sweatshirt. . . Tide pen to the rescue. . . Those things are amazing!! If you have kids and don't own one--you must get one. . They will remove the stain of anything. . . .(that is my Tide pen commercial)

Tonight, Kurt and Bicki, our new youth minister and his wife, invited us over for pizza and a movie. . .We went and had a great time. ..We have really enjoyed getting to know them. They are amazing people and I am so glad that we can call them our friends. Even though the movie choice was a poor one. . . ( Just kidding! Love you guys!)

The kids are so excited about our Tubing trip. . We are going tubing tomorrow with Brian and Lisa. . .and can't wait. . .I will be sure to take plenty of pictures so I can post them when I get back. We looked the ski resort up on the internet today and showed the kids pictures of what we will be doing. . .and they were all so impressed. . . Should be great fun. . I think we will freeze our tail feathers off though. . .Well, that was our Saturday in a nutshell. . . I'm tired. . .Going to bed. . .Good night. . . : )

Is that a cat meowing?

Cade says some of the funniest things. . . Yesterday he was on the computer playing (one of his favorite things to do. . .wonder where he gets that from?) And his stomach growled. . .you know the kind of growl that sounds kind of like a squeak almost. . . Anyway. . he looked at me with a surprised look on his face. . .

"Mommy!!", he said, "My stomach has a kitten in it!! Did you hear that?"

I was laughing out loud. . He is hilarious!!!!

Snow Day

The kids had a blast playing outside in the snow today. . .We haven't had very many snows in my children's lifetime, so they thouroughly enjoyed playing outside. It was actually pretty warm, so I let them play outside about 3 hours. We didn't get outside til around 11, because I worked last night and was trying to get a little sleep. Needless to say, with all of the excitement in the house, I didn't get much of it. . . I took a TON of pictures, but thought I wouldn't bore you with too many of them. . So here are a few of my favorites. . . Everyone wanted to sleigh ride first and foremost. . . We have this little yellow and purple sled that actually flies. . . .Here is Cade, laughing all the way down the hill. . . .Here is Ian, trying to attempt some "cool" sledding feat. . .. And last but not least, Macey. . .She screams all the way down the hill, each and every time that she goes down. . .It was so funny. . .Love this pic. . .
Then they were off to build a snowman. . .They wanted to do it completely by themselves. . .which was fine with me. . just gave me more photo opportunities. . . .
They decided to name their snowman, Cade. ..because he was just about as tall as Cade. . .and I think he actually favors him a little bit ;)
Here is a picture of "Cade" the snowman. . . I love the details of his spiky hair. . . We didn't have a cool snowman kit like the Mumpowers. . . (which I loved by the way), but I think they were pretty creative. . . . They are showing me the "World's only PERFECT snowball". . .everyone was amazed at how perfectly round it was. . . . Macey wanted to take a picture of me. . .so here I am. . .tobaggan and scarf. . .I don't usually wear toboggans, due to my extremely large head. . .but here I am . . .I am wearing one of the tobaggans that my friend Emily's aunt made. I had posted about these hats earlier. . .We all have one of them. . .
Can you feel the love???? It's amazing how everyone gets along so well when we are playing outside in the snow . . . They had a blast. .and they played together so well. . . It was good while it lasted because as I am posting this blog. . there is lots of whining, yelling, and arguing going on in the living room. . . I am just ignoring all of the commotion for now. . .Hopefully they will work it out themselves. . . .
I changed the settings around on my camera a little. . .and got this shot. . I LOVE it. . .I think Macey looks like a Snow Angel. . . .Beautiful little girl. . . love you Mace. . .
I love this shot. . I am gonna post it on my Still Moments site. . .This is Ian showing me "The World's Only Perfect Snowball" I changed the aperture on this shot. . .and love how it turned out. . . Definately going to print this one. . .

Here is a close up shot of "booger" boy. . .Hee hee. . The entire time he was outside, he was wiping his nose. . .Poor little Cade has pretty severe asthma, so cold temperatures tend to cause flare ups. . .He actually did pretty well overall. He had a few little coughing spells, but nothing to write home about. . . Heather? Do you recognize the hat??? I thought it was too cute. . . After a long day of playing out in the snow, everyone came in and got baths. . .they put on warm pajamas, and drunk big cups of hot chocolate. . . Cade had to have some of his hot chocolate before he put his pj's on. . .: ) This has been a great "Snow Day". . . Just getting us ready for our fun expedition next week as we go Tubing in North Carolina. . .We can't wait!!!! Hope everyone had a great day. . . .