Weekend Family Fun

It's become a rare event for us all to be home all weekend!  So we enjoyed just being home.  Well, I should say I enjoyed having my family home!  I don't think the kids were thrilled to help with laundry!

We finally got to have our date with Ms. Patty on Saturday night.  Loved getting to see her and catch up!  Such a special lady to us all!

For Christmas, Grammy gave Carli and Ava this little old fashioned number puzzle and Ava conquered it!  She told me I had to document this important event!

And we turned the TV off and played games.  It was fun and the kids ate it up.  Although Drew didn't quite understand the concept of the memory game we were playing!

Decorating

So part of my Christmas gift from Keith this year was to paint our living room, dining room and kitchen.  And I vowed not to put anything back on the walls until I had updated pictures printed of all the kids, which included pictures of Drew b/c well, I have none in my house currently.  Yes.  He's 18 months old.  But well, yeah, sorry Drew.  So my walls are blank and I've made three trips to Hobby Lobby trying to find something to put on this one particular wall with no luck.  Each time, I come out with emoji pillows, balls and happy kids.  I guess it could be worse...I could come out empty handed with moody kids?!  I need someone else to shop for me...I'm not any good at this!

Another 10 Day Virus...

Last weekend was a holiday weekend for us and that means in the Hays household...someone is gonna get sick.  Or that has been our MO for the last six months.  And true to form, it happened on Sunday.  We got up after everyone had slept well Saturday night and were getting ready for church and Drew did a *cough* *couch* *gag*.  And I thought no...surely it's something in his throat.  So we preserved.  We stopped at the donut shop and Drew only ate half his pig.  And we decided we better not push our luck and send Drew to class b/c there is a newborn in his class and we didn't want to expose him to anything if Drew was sick.  He and I ended up in the cry room during class.  He whined, he cough/gagged, nursed and hammed it up. 

After class was dismissed, Ava came and sat down and looked quite pitiful saying her throat hurt.  So, we decided it maybe best to send her and Drew home.  Keith took them home and Carli and I stayed for church service.  Got home just in time to hold Drew when he decided to vomit.  Yea, me!  :)

Carli had her first softball practice of the season after church, so I got to hang with the sick kiddos.  No more vomiting, thank goodness.  But he did get pretty in tuned with when his diaper needed to be changed.  :0

Ava's throat was drainage from allergies so she went with Keith and Carli back to church that night.  Drew and I stayed home and worked in the kitchen.  He was quite content for a good hour playing in the sink while I cooked dinner and prepped food for the week.

We didn't get a lot of sleep last week - between Drew's drainage and coughing it was a bit rough going.  I did get a lot of cuddles and rest during the day holding him though! 

 Drew never ran fever and I just figured his allergies were getting to him.  He went to Mawmaw's on Tuesday and Thursday but she texted me halfway through the morning on Thursday b/c he had started running a fever.  Call it a 6th sense but I had already made him a doctors appointment that morning.  So, I went and picked him up and off we went.  His chest, ears and lungs were clear and she declared he had a nasty cold.  She gave us a prescription cough medicine and wished us luck. 

Friday we went to Alto so I could work and Drew pretty much laid around with Pa and Grammy all day.  Grandparents make awesome cuddlers!

Friday night was a long night for Drew and I.  So at 6 I declared to Keith I was done!  He got up and got dressed then took all the kids out of the house by 7 and I went to bed.  He took them to Ihop for breakfast then to two different stores to buy computer stuff.  They got home around 10:30.  I had gotten a solid two hours of sleep and actually ate breakfast in peace!  Drew had his moments of energy on Saturday but he ended the day with a fever...

So, Sunday morning I woke up not feeling great - probably had a lot to do with my middle of the night cuddles from Drew.  He and I stayed home.  He was still running a fever and looked quite pitiful and cute all at once.   He and I stayed home all day and Keith took on church and softball duties again.  Thankfully we had gotten our grocery shopping done the day before so in between Drew's need to snuggle I at least got prepped for the week and made everyone dinner.

Monday was day 9 of our saga and Drew actually slept on Sunday night!  He had a low grade fever Monday morning but by 10 it was gone and he and I spent the morning outside!  He even took a nap or at least a partial nap in his bed for the first time in over a week.  Perhaps this cold has an end after all....

Today was cold day 10 and we ran no fever!  I took Drew to Mawmaw's and he was not very happy with me.  But when I picked him up she was excited b/c he actually ate a snack at her house and even played with the other kids.  He has been going to Mawmaw's for about three weeks now and he has yet to feel 100% while there.  Plus the adjusting to the newness of where he was had him looking pretty pitiful!  We declared today a victory!  He even managed to get a nap in before we went to get the girls from school.  One thing is for sure...whether it's a stomach virus or a cold virus it seem that all viruses are going to hang with Drew for the entire 10 day life span - not cool.

Viking Anyone?

Keith and the girl brought home Sonic for lunch on Sunday since Drew and I spent the morning napping away our fevers.  While Drew was interested in the food, he was pretty pumped about the toy in the girls kid's meal!

Cutest little Viking I've ever seen!  :)

A Pitcher and a Catcher

Carli went to her first official pitching lesson on Thursday.  Keith took her and Ava, Drew and I had a Bueno date.  :)  Keith said she really took to pitching and was engaged the entire time they were at lessons.  Her pitching coach gave her homework of working on her drills for 20 minutes each day and so far, she's held Keith to going out to get her drills done.  I've been impressed. 

We've been working on Ava's "fear" of the ball.  Every since she got waylaid by a ricochet ball she hit at batting lessons one night she's been a bit skittish of the call coming at her.  So we borrowed some catcher's gear and suited her up.  She did a pretty good job for her first time catching and I have to admit, this maybe the cutest pitcher/catcher combo I've ever seen!

They Grew Up

Leadership Skills

There's no truer shirt to be worn by these two...well, it applies more to the oldest, but it seems she's teaching her younger sister her ways. Bless Drew's heart.

My Chuy

Chuy is my dog.  I got him my Junior year in college and though we've added other dogs, got married, had kids...moved a lot - Chuy and I have always been together.  He'll be 14 in February.  I noticed on Monday that Chuy was not nearly as active as he usually was and he's tail did curl like normal.  Since I was going to Alto on Tuesday, I went ahead and took him to the vet to have him checked out.

Chuy has had a Grade 3 heart murmur for two years.  He's been on 3 to 4 different meds daily for about that long as well.  Tuesday the vet determined that his heart murmur is now a Grade 4, Grade 5 is the worst and basically prepare for the end.  But he said just to be aware that he may not have the energy we are use to him having and so I brought him home.  But all night long his hind quarters shook as if he was freezing and he wouldn't get up and move without prompting.  By Thursday, I called the vet to get the recommended information about possibly taking him to the heart vet at A&M and ordered the special dog food for dogs with heart disease.  Turns out it would be over $1500 just to have Chuy seen.  :/  That option was out, but then our vet called and after talking to him, he determined that perhaps Chuy was depleted on Potassium b/c he was on a very high dose of Lasix for the fluid around his heart.  Friday, Dad brought Chuy's new dog food and Potassium for us to start.  By Friday night, his shaking had stopped.  By Saturday his tail was curling again.  By Monday when we went back for a follow up at the vet, he was almost normal again. 

So after a week of preparing to have to let my Chuy go, I was greatly relieved to have Chuy back to almost normal.  He is now on 5 different meds plus special dog food that he has to take twice a day.  But he's still here and he's still happy and I am much relieved for a little more time with my Chuy.

Saturday Fun

Saturday morning, Ava and I had a date to watch some Little Dribblers.  She was not happy that we did not signup to play this year and I agreed to take her to watch a game.  It didn't take long for her to admit she really didn't want to play basketball afterall.  It was way too loud and crazy out there!  :)  We enjoyed our morning together and may have had a Sonic date and brought home Blue Bell Ice Cream.

Turns out, Naggy and Pappy were in Terrell visiting friends.  We had already committed to going to Sassy Sluggers Fun Day but it was a girls only event - so the boys loaded up to go meet Naggy and Pappy for dinner.  Drew thoroughly enjoyed his alone time with them!  Keith said he did awesome in the car.

Meanwhile, the girls and I went to see Monster Trucks with some of the Sassy Slugger girls and then have dinner afterward.  We had a great time and it was fun to see the girls reconnecting.

Little Boys and Pas

Toothless & Reading

My poor girls - neither of their parents are very good at the whole pulling teeth out bit.  Last year, Carli lost her two bottom teeth but only b/c they were evicted by the two permanent teeth pushing them out!  She's claimed to have had a loose tooth for the last month but neither Keith or I attempted to verify her claim!  I picked the girls up this afternoon to find that Carli had in fact had a loose tooth and she lost it biting into a cookie!  :) 

And then, to top off the excitement in the car - Ava announced she achieved Super Reader status, the first one in her class to get 20 AR points!  :)  What a great way to start the weekend!

8 yrs old - Teenager?

A glimpse into bedtime...every single night, there is some variation to the antics of the 3 minions as they attempt to avoid the inevitable bedtime.

- Carli, the oldest sister became a big ball of tears and emotions bc her sister had a sleep mask she swore was hers and just realized where it was THREE yrs after she had misplaced it. My persistence in scouring FB to find picture proof from 2014 that said sleep mask actually did not belong to her was met with a moan of frustration and muttering under breathe about how I just don't understand her and her feelings. It's true. I don't. Most insensitive mom award belongs to me.

- Ava, the middle sister has developed leg injuries so severe it prevents her from getting out of bed to get ready for bed...teeth brushing, pjs and picking out clothes for school are all task she can only complete with crutches which I denied her and thus won the title of meanest Mom within mere minutes of my last award. Oh and apparently if her legs hurt, her ears don't work so all the emotional shenanigans of the sleep mask were completely lost on her as she put said sleep mask on her eyes and went to sleep much to the disbelief of her older sister.

- Drew, the youngest and only male of the crew, walked around the house beating his chest mimicking Tarzan while eluding capture to put his pjs on. He seems to be the most normal of the crew tonight and go figure, Keith put him to bed thereby missing me collect my numerous mom of the year awards in the girls bdrm.

And we are thankful for special teachers who bring extra sleep masks to school so that for just one night...there were no tears, fits or other shenanigans to survive...just one night.  :)

The Difference in Men & Women

After a weekend of working on painting and various projects around the house, the garage was full of all the tools that helped get the job done.  With the help of my little helper Drew, we got things picked up and made Keith a nice stack to take down to his shop to be  put up.  We even put it at the end of the garage.  It took Keith three days to get it moved down b/c his hands were full in the evenings helping watch Drew!  :)  Ha!  Always makes me laugh...

Just Need to Cuddle

When you're tired and want to cuddle but can't bc you gotta stay in your car seat, you make due with sister's doll.

Annual Christmas Thank Yous

We aren't very good with traditions...we tend to go with what life throws at us and roll on. Plans were made to broken seems to be a recurring theme in our efforts to start our own little traditions, but when Carli was 15 mths old we started making thank you notes with hand or footprints for our Christmas thank yous and it seems to be the one thing we've managed to keep going for 7 yrs now!

This year Carli picked out snowmen as her Thank You Card.  She meticulously painted each snowman on all her cards!

Ava picked out some Strawberries and really enjoyed making all the "seeds" on each strawberry!

Can't say Drew really picked his card art but the girls and I agreed that rubber ducks would be super cute!

Carli at 15 mths old with her first Thank You cards and this year's artwork.

Ava at 20 mths old signing her Thank You card and working hard on her card for this year!

Drew at 6 mths old and at 18 mths old...so far he is not a fan of our tradition!

It's actually getting fun to do this with the girls.  They pretty much picked out their project, painted them and decorated them mostly by themselves.  They even managed to write all their notes on the back in one day!  Can't say the same about their parents ability to get their thank you notes done! 

Sweet Cousins

Saturday morning we went to Jacksonville to support Logan showing his calves at a practice stock show.  He did a great job!  It sure was cold but that's okay b/c Grammy brought lots of blankets for these girl cousins to keep warm together with!!

Just a Boy in the Kennel

Oatmeal Pies

Ava LOVES oatmeal pies and so does Pa.  She loves to buy oatmeal pies every time I let her come to the store with me and she loves to bring one to Pa to share.

But now there's a new oatmeal pie lover in the family!  Drew knows exactly where the oatmeal pies are kept and if the pantry is left open, you better believe he is going to go get himself an oatmeal pie!  Thankfully, Ava and Pa are good sports and are willing to share!

Bedtime Stories

These are the memories I never want to forget.