San Antonio May 2009

Pure excitement!

Steaks Anyone?

Well, we once again went to San Antonio this last week. Josh had another class, and we came along for the fun of it! Since I home school, our schedule is flexible! (Yet, another wonderful benefit!) While Josh was at class, we swam most of the time. I was so exhausted. It was quite the feat of keeping track of all four kids with only one set of eyes. Lily and Bel swam all over. Ava thought she was invincible with her arm floaties. She would jump in the pool and loved every minute of it. Sterling was in a life jacket and at first he couldn't keep upright. The jacket kept trying to put him on his back. He did not like that! He then would roll over and get a face full of water. On our second trip down to the pool he got the hang of staying upright. He was so cute. When he paddled through the water he looked like he was peddling a bike.

The last day we were in San Antonio, we went on a drive through an animal safari. It was lots of fun. I had Sterling in my lap. I had all I could do to keep him from going out the window after the animals. On our way into the park the people there told us not to pet the animals because they are wild, but Sterling had his had right in the mouth of a mountain goat. We we able to throw food to them and Sterling thought he could place the food in the goats mouth. Half way though the safari, the sky broke loose and it rain very hard. So some of the larger game pictures didn't turn out. There were rhinos, giraffes, Wilda beasts, all kinds of deer, antelope, mountain goats, gazelles, long horned steer, buffalo, and lots of other neat creatures.

Oh, yes, once again we became sick on this vacation. We all came down with a nasty respiratory virus. It never fails!

For the Love of Care Bears!

Ava has a big plush Care Bear that Sterling has confiscated. He loves to lay on top of the bear and kiss (or bite-whatever you want to call it) it's face. He needs to have it in his crib at nap and bed time. Now that makes his has-to-have-friends two now. He has a stuffed chip that he cannot do without, and now he has the bear. He will get in his bed and say, "OO-OO-AH-Ah" (for the chimp) Then he will say, "BEAR PEAZE!" (to be interpreted bear please) It is true love!

My Garden

The fruits of my labor.....When I was growing up (and to this day) my mom ALWAYS had a wonderful vegetable garden. This year I finally have my own. It is so rewarding! I just finished picking my lettuce and spinach. It is so nice to go outside and grab dinner. I have watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, squash, green beans, peas, tomatoes, and broccoli. It is a lot of work, but I am completely enjoying have this garden.

Conversation with Bel

Isabel was deep in thought the other day. She started talking about where all of us had been born. She said, "You and Daddy were born in Minnesota. Lily was born in Texas, I was born in California, and Sterling was born in Louisiana. Mom, Ava was born in Korea, right?" I replied that she indeed was born in Korea. Then Bel said, "But Mom, if she was born in Korea, why doesn't she look like a Korean?"

San Antonio Trip April 2009

Hippos!

I don't feel good!

Zoo

Ava with the map at the Botanical Garden.

Well, we had an adventure in San Antonio. Josh had a class he needed to take there, and the kids I came along for a semi-vacation. We had a lot of fun and frustration.

The frustrating part was that Sterling became sick. We arrived on Saturday, and by Saturday night he was running a 103+ temp. At first we just medicated him and went on with the trip hoping it was a fluke and he would bounce back quickly. Unfortunately, he didn't bounce back. So, around 36 hours later of a high fever and him being lethargic, I ended up taking him to the ER while Josh was at his class. I had a run around with our insurance being that we were out of state. I sure hope the 411 I received was accurate and that we aren't stuck with a huge bill. Anyways, I took Sterling to the Northeast Baptist Hospital. The hospital and the staff were FABULOUS!!! I have never been in such a beautiful hospital with such caring and attentive doctors and nurses. That was great. Anyways, Sterling had chest x-rays, blood work, and an IV. His ears were clear, his throat was fine, and his x-rays were normal. His blood work, though, showed very high white blood cell count. So, the doctor treated him for some unknown infection. He received IV antibiotics, and we had to come back the next day for two more shots of antibiotics, and on top of that he is on an oral antibiotic for the next ten days. Yikes! My poor baby is lit up with drugs. I am a little concerned about this since this is the second time in 2 months he has had an unknown infection with a high white cell count. Hopefully, this is only a freak coincidence.

Okay, on to the good things. We went to a botanical garden, the river walk, the Alamo, outlet malls, and the zoo. We had a great time. We walked the kids till they dropped. (I felt like dropping too) At the botanical gardens, Ava was a hoot. She has a fear of public restrooms. (Who doesn't) She will not go potty unless I force her and convince her that the toilet won't flush too loudly. Sometimes, I have to spank her so she will go potty. She will hold it for hours hoping to make it home first. So, when we went to the garden we received a map of all the displays. Ava proudly held it and proceeded to pick out all the bathrooms on the route. She kept telling us where we needed to turn to go to a bathroom. As we were walking she held my hand and said, "Mom, I like white toilets. I like black toilets too, but I don't like purple toilets. They are yucky." Such deep thoughts for a four year old. Every bathroom at the botanical garden was inspected by Ava. We would have to let her go in and decide if it was worthy of her pee. Sometimes they passed her inspections, and other times she would announce that they were icky. So if your are ever in San Antonio and are visiting the beautiful botanical gardens; let Ava know so she can direct you to the good bathrooms that aren't icky.

The zoo was Isabel's favorite place. Can you guess why? They had hippopotamuses! They are her obsession! They were new since we had been there last time. They were rather impressive. They were in water and you could view them in their little underwater display. They looked like huge boulders. Every now and they they would put their noses out of the water to take a breath of air. They were very cool. It didn't matter what other animal were at the zoo. As soon as Bel saw the hippos, her life was complete.

Lily, poor Lily. Her favorite part was swimming at the hotel. It was unfortunate that Sterling became sick because her swimming time was cut short. It did teach her that we have to make sacrifices for people we love. She learned that even vacations have to be arranged for sick family members. With that said, we did make to to the pool three times. Not too bad...

Easter 2009

We had a very nice Easter. We started out with our church service, and we had Easter dinner at the Church also. When we got home it was too soggy outside to do our traditional Easter egg hunt. Instead, we had our egg hunt in the house. The kids loved trying to find all the eggs. It always amazes me how kids look for eggs. Instead of doing a through sweep of an area; they run from place to random place instead of an orderly path. Every year I think the same thing. I guess that is why they are kids and not adults. Anyways, Christ arose and that is why we have the victory!

Ava's and Bel's B-Day pictures

I cannot believe it has taken me so long to post these pictures of Ava and Isabel! Well, actually I can! I can be a procrastinator at time. Anyways, Ava's pictures are of her fourth Birthday. She turned four January 21st. Isabel's pictures are from her seventh Birthday. She turned seven February 24. It is amazing how fast your children grow. It is such a miracle to be able to have your own little children. Hopefully, they will get my good traits and not my undesirable traits. I am blessed with healthy beautiful children.