Its that time of year again where the ugly Flu Bug will be rearing its ugly head. Last weekend Gavin had some sort of 24 hour bug. It wasn't pretty. Now the temperature has finally dropped here so I know both Gavin and Katelyn might be getting sick again. Ugh!
Thanks to the team at Mom Central I learned about a website called Say Boo To The Flu. This website covers flu prevention tips videos, family activities to help kids learn about washing their hands, and vaccination information related to your local area.
Also, Families Fighting Flu, a non-profit organization made up of parents who have lost a child to the flu, partnered on the Say "Boo!" to the Flu program to help educate families about the importance of flu prevention. As part of the program, Visiting Nurse Associations of America is hosting flu vaccination events across the country to encourage families to get vaccinated.
Gavin and Katelyn both get flu shots every year and the CDC now recommends a flu vaccination for all children from 6 months to 18 years of age.
Please take a few moments to visit Say Boo To The Flu to learn some great tips on how to keep yor family healthy this flu season!
Tracey Bateman published her first novel in 2000 and has been busy ever since. There are two other books in the Westward Hearts Series, Defiant Heart (#1) and Distant Heart (#2)
For the past seven years, Ginger Freeman has had one goal: find Grant Kelley and make him pay for allowing her brother to die. Growing up motherless with a father who leads an outlaw gang, Ginger isn’t exactly peaches and cream. So when she finally tracks down Grant on a wagon train headed west, she figured providence had stepped in and given her the chance she’s been waiting for.
5. Friday afternoon started out wonderful. Ken stayed with Katelyn while I went and got a long overdue pedicure. Then I went shopping all. by. myself. There is nothing like getting out by yourself for some much needed mommy recharging. Little did I know, I was going to need it. When I picked Gavin up from school he told me he didn't eat lunch because his stomach hurt. A quick check to his forehead proved he was burning up with a fever. Of course I felt horrible for him that he sat in school not feeling well and told him from now on he can go to the nurses office.
I gave him Tylenol when we got home and he rested on the couch. I could tell when the fever went down because he hopped up and wanted to play. But around 7pm the fever was back and so were the stomach pains.
Is it selfish of me to say I was kinda enjoying this? Not that he was sick and in pain, but I spent a whole hour sitting on the couch with my baby boy in my lap wanting to be held. I LOVED IT! Gosh I am horrible! By 830 he was racing to the bathroom to throw up. Nice. So we dealt with that for the rest of the night before he fell asleep.
2. Saturday we had plans to go to a BBQ about an hour away from us. Gavin woke up Saturday morning by running to the bathroom to vomit again. yeah, no BBQ for us. But, being the nice gal I am, I told DH to go without us. So it was just Gavin, Katelyn, and I for the day. Gavin spent most of the morning and afternoon resting and getting medicine. I made him lay down for a nap when Katelyn did. When we all woke up ( yes "we" ) Gavin was back to his normal self. He ate a bowl of cereal and kept it down. The fever never returned after that either. Whew!
Saturday night we got all set up to watch the Rays in the World Series. My babies made a cute little bed on the floor to watch it.
3. Sunday morning we were up bright and early for church. Gavin sang this morning in the choir. He sang in 2 services too. I have no pictures of this because all the ones I took of him he is giving me the evil eye. He was seriously so angry I was taking pictures. Jeez! Anyway, he sang wonderfully of course and Katelyn really enjoyed watching him. She kept pointing to him and saying " My Gavy, My Gavy".
4. Sunday afternoon I took Gavin to a birthday party for a friend of his from school. They had rented a bounce house / water slide. Good times!!
The bounce house had a basketball hoop inside. So Gavin got to spend time shooting hoops in the bounce house and then go down the water slide. They also had a pinata that took forever for the kids to break open.
And I had to take a picture of this.................
What the heck is that?? That is the most demented weird looking Spongebob I have ever seen! Looks a little evil to me!
5. Katelyn and Daddy washed the cars together Sunday evening. So cute to watch. She was so excited to be helping Daddy.
I've been tagged by Tiffany to list 7 Random Things About my Kitchen! My list turned out to be pretty boring. Sorry in advance. There's nothing like having to go around and try to take 7 pictures of your kitchen stuff and realize that you don't even have 7 interesting things! So sad!
4. Our Phone. Our poor phone sits on the kitchen counter too. And never gets used. We only use our cell phones and never answer the phone if its ringing. The picture says 5 messages and that's only because I deleted 45 of them before I took the picture. The only reason we still have it is because I have a fear that my cell phone wont work if I have to dial 911.
5. Kitchen Table. This is the place where Gavin and I do homework and where I read the Sunday paper and clip coupons. Nothing else happens here. We eat in the dining room.
7. Our Fridge Friends. We got these Lego Magnets a couple of years ago in Downtown Disney. Spongebob used to be a member of the fridge friends, but is now missing. We also have a couple of Star Wars guys. One guy is missing his helmet and I think some guns are missing!
I made a cake for dessert last night. No, I didn't take a picture of it for the blog. Maybe I should have. I don't make cakes that look all pretty and nice ( like Tracye ! ). I make cakes that looks like a child made them. I cant even frost properly. But at least they taste good!
Oh, on to the point of the story. After we all had our piece for dessert, Gavin asked me if he could have cake for breakfast. And as I turned at looked at him he had such a hopeful look on his face. Like it would be the greatest day in the whole world if I said yes.
So I did.
Ken looked up and said- Your letting him have cake for breakfast?
Yep, yep I am. Because sometimes you have to say yes. I cant always say no to everything. Saying yes to cake for breakfast made Gavin sooo happy. He started jumping up and down and his smile was so huge. Its the little things like this that I hope he remembers.
So yeah, I said yes. And I'll probably have some myself too!!
Tim Downs is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Indiana University. After graduation in 1976 he created a comic strip, Downstown, which was syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate until 1986. His cartooning has appeared in more than a hundred major newspapers worldwide.
This week's letter is N.
N is for Nap.
I am lucky enough that Katelyn is 2 years old and still taking about a 3 hour nap a day. I am dreading the day that she no longer naps. Naptime gives me some uninterrupted computer time, ( of course ), time to clean without someone messing right behind me, and most important- I sometimes take a nap too while she is down. So, dear Naptime- please dont leave anytime soon!!
To join in ABC Wednesday sign the Mr Linky over here.
That was the shower and our sink. Now, lets talk about that awful sink. It is black as you can see. Which is so hard to keep clean ( at least to me ). That horrible looking whiteness in the sink is actually calcium, lime, hard water deposits and soap scum. Oh, and lets not forget the toothpaste residue. That's in there too. I have used every cleaner out there- even Lime-Away - and it doesnt really ever go away. It looks cleaner after I am done cleaning, but it comes right back.
The first thing I noticed about the CLR cleaner was the smell. It didnt smell like a harsh bathroom cleaner at all. Which is great! So I was able to clean the whole bathroom completely without having to leave halfway thru to clean out my lungs!
The cleaner states to spray on the area you are to clean and wait 2-3 mintues before cleaning off. I'll be honest here, I dont have time to wait that long. I waited about 45 seconds before I started cleaning. I was AMAZED at how well this worked- really!! The soapscum in the shower wiped right off with NO scrubbing from me. Also, the sink dirt required no scrubbing either.
Here are the after pictures:
Ta-Da!! I think it turned out great of course!! Its been a couple of days and the yuckiness in the sink hasnt returned. Even DH was amazed at how easy it was to get the shower clean!
To see more participants of the CLR Tackle head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom!
To see more Weekend Top 5's head on over to Kristi's at Music Mom of 2 and sign the Mr. Linky if you want to post too!!
5. Saturday afternoon we had tickets to the USF Bulls game in Tampa. My in-laws picked up Katelyn in the morning to watch her for the day. Katelyn was more than excited to get in their car and head off!! Around 11am Ken, Gavin, Danyelle, and I headed out to the game. I did face paint on both Gavin and Danyelle and as usual Gavin had to have his hair done green. He fits right in with the college crowd who paint thier faces and bodies!! The game was great and USF won. We arrived to pick Katelyn up and she didnt want to leave. She got to go out to lunch with Grammie and Grampie and grocery shopping. I'm sure she had a wonderful time with them without having all the other grandkids there.
4. The highlight of Saturday night was the anticipation of watching the Rays in Game 6 against the Red Sox. Boy, we were so disappointed that they lost! It was very nerve wracking to watch them loose again!!
3. Sunday morning Ken headed out to work for a couple of hours around 7am. I went outside to get the paper around 830 and got the shock of my life. The temperature had dropped overnight. It was probably around 65 degrees out. Todays high was supposed to be around 78. That makes a HUGE difference considering yesterday at the football game I was sweating! I immediately went inside and opened up all the windows to let the first cold air in for the season. But in true Florida fashion, the temperature will be back in the high 80's by the middle of the week :(
2. Sunday afternoon I took Gavin up to the park to go to a birthday party for a friend from school. A couple of other boys were there from school too. The boys had a fun time chasing each other around the playground and playing whatever pretend games boys play. They had cake and presents and then it was off to more playing. The birthday boy received a football as a present and of course that was opened right up. The weather was still beautiful at the park and the breeze was so nice.
1. Tonight is Game 7 of the Rays vs the Red Sox. Hello??? Can we win this one already?? Right now as I am typing this the game is tied 1-1. Let's cross our fingers that they pull this one off tonight and head on to the World Series.
Have a wonderful week everyone!!
Generation Huggies Celebrates 30 Years with 30 Moms!!
The Huggies Brand announces a program to celebrate its 30th anniversary by honoring today’s mom just as she is.
Huggies recognizes that every mom is unique. To celebrate 30 years of the moms who have inspired us, Huggies is launching Generation Huggies 30 Years, 30 Moms.
Moms across America will have the opportunity to share their personal stories
of what being a mom means in a 60-second video. The stories of 30 moms from
across the country will be featured in a national ad campaign this winter. In addition, one lucky winner will receive $30,000 to put toward the future of the next generation of Huggies wearers.
Vast in their experiences and full of inherent knowledge, today’s mom follows her instincts and intuition as she journeys though motherhood. Huggies has partnered with celebrity mom Alison Sweeney, of The Biggest Loser and Days of Our Lives, to ask moms to tell us what it means to be a mom today. Both a mother and an expectant mom, Alison, knows the ups, downs and in-betweens of motherhood today, will be in New York to welcome local moms to the Generations Huggies experience.
Welcome to the Motherhood
Generation Huggies takes the celebration on the road this fall and travels to major cities across the country. As part of the tour, moms will be able to
1) Create their own video at our Video Creation Station for a chance to be part of our national ad campaign.
2) Join the Huggies Baby Network. As a HBN.com member, moms will be the first to learn all about new Huggies product information, mom-to-mom tips, fun activities and games, message boards, expert advice and special offers.
About Generation Huggies 30 Years 30 Moms:
Now though November 20, 2008, there are two ways for moms to create a video reflecting on, “What Motherhood Means to Me.”
1. Videos can be uploaded to www.GenerationHuggies.com
2. Alternatively, moms can create a video on-site when they visit a local Generation Huggies event.
3. Videos should be no longer than 60 seconds in length and no larger than 5MB.
4. Everyone can participate by giving a hug, or vote, to their favorite video through November 30, 200.
5. Judging ends November 30, 2008.
About Generation Huggies Sweepstakes
Anyone can enter the Generation Huggies Sweepstakes for a chance to win $30,000.
1. From now until Nov. 30, 2008, enter online by visiting www.GenerationHuggies.com.
2. The grand prize winner will receive $30,000 and will be chosen in December 2008.
Visit www.GenerationHuggies.com for the official sweepstakes rules and details. Entry is limited to one per day per person or e-mail address during the Sweepstakes Period. Void where prohibited; no payment or purchase necessary. The sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the 50 United States plus the District of Columbia, age 18 or older.
About Huggies Brand Products
The Huggies brand provides customized products for babies’ changing needs. Huggies brand diapers provide customized comfort for all babies. A portfolio of baby toiletries products are offered from the Huggies brand and include: bath wash, lotion, shampoo and disposable washcloths. There is also a Huggies brand baby wipe that is just right for every baby: Extra sensitive, wipes with Shea Butter, Lavender & Chamomile, Nourishing, Natural Care and Supreme wipes. For all moms needs, wipes are available in Pop-Up tubs, refill packages and convenient travel packs. Huggies Little Swimmers disposable swim pants make water big fun and are available in 3 colors and 3 sizes.
Chris Coppernoll is the founder of Soul2Soul Ministries, with his interviews with Christian artists airing weekly on 650 radio outlets in thirty countries. He has conducted hundreds of interviews on faith issues with personalities such as Amy Grant, Max Lucado, Michael W. Smith, and Kathie Lee Gifford. He also serves as a Deacon at The People’s Church in Franklin, Tennessee, and is currently working toward a Masters in Ministry Leadership degree through Rockbridge Seminary.
High-powered Boston attorney Emma Madison is celebrating her latest courtroom victory when she gets a call from a number she doesn't recognize. Area code 803 home. Juneberry, South Carolina eight hundred miles, twelve years, and a lifetime away from Boston. Emma's father has had a serious heart attack. Emma rushes to his bedside, and a weekend trip threatens to become an extended stay. She has to work fast to arrange the affairs of his small-town law practice so she can return to her life and career in Boston.
