Match #2

Tonight was Dallas' second match.  We have been battling ear infections, sinus infections, and Julianne even has pneumonia; therefore, the girls and momma stayed home tonight.

Doug snapped a couple pictures from the night.  

Dallas again wrestled twice.  He was pinned in the first match, and he pinned his opponent in the second match for the win.

Until next time...

Tractor Time!

The other weekend, Daddy decided it had been too long since the Oliver had been out for a ride.  So after a new battery and a little work here and there, she fired up!

Patiently waiting to get going...

Dallas even suggested getting a picture of him and Reba!  You got it buddy!

Look at that face; you wouldn't even know the little dude got sick before climbing up in the seat.
(Yep, that day started a week-long stomach bug that hit everyone in the family)

Until next time...

Dallas' New Room

On Thursday, after one last follow-up doctors appointment for Dallas' bronchitis - that did in fact turn to pneumonia, Dallas and Reba headed up north with Pa, Gram and Aunt Josie for a few days.  While they were gone, Doug and I were busy redoing Big D's bedroom.

You might remember, his room had a sports wallpaper boarder and white walls.

I was never really thrilled with his room, and I had been wanting to do something different, but I wasn't sure what I wanted.  I knew I wanted something tractor related, and after seeing various tin signs at tractor and toy shows...I started to develop a plan.

First thing up - get the wallpaper off the walls and fill in holes

The wallpaper was a bit of a struggle at first.  I had scored the paper with a specific wallpaper removing tool, and used a combination of warm water and vinegar to help break up the adhesive backing.  That wasn't working too well, so we got out a wet rag and the clothes iron to create steam.  That took the paper off, but it also took the paint off underneath the paper!  I might add that Doug and I were doing this around midnight, so we were getting rather frustrated.  We chose to stop and get a fresh start the next morning.  We then learned that we needed to use the hottest water we could stand along with the vinegar.  That got the paper layer off, and then we reapplied the hot water mix and used a putty knife to scrap the remaining glue off the walls.

Here is what the room looked like right before painting!

 We chose a slate gray for most of the walls and an antique red accent wall.

Dallas also asked for some shelves for his tractors, so his wish was granted...

The Big D had fallen asleep on the way home from my aunt's house (Christmas with the extended Robertson's), so his reaction was a bit delayed when he saw his room for the first time...

The next morning, he woke up, walked down the hallway, got a huge smile on his face and went right back into his room to play!

Until next time...

Oh, What Fun...

...it is not

Dallas has been two weeks battling bronchitis.  Three times a day he has been hooked up to the nebulizer machine.  On Monday, he was bumped up to four treatments a day.  When this first started, he was OK with sitting and doing the treatment (about 10 minutes/treatment), but he is now starting to fight us.  Luckily, he still has his appetite and high energy level, and he doesn't have a fever. It is the coughing and wheezing in his breathing that is the problem and it has not improved since being on medication.  We just keep praying that he will get better soon, and that it will not turn into pneumonia.

Until next time...

Sheep Showing

At the end of July, the kiddos were able to help Pa-paw and Aunt Lisa at a couple different sheep shows.  The first one was at the Jackson County Fair.  We had a nice little surprise when some of our extended family showed up to watch!

Baby Vivian petting the lamb

Reba showed George Martin "her" sheep

Dallas had a grand time "tractor pulling" on the sheep trim table!

Not really sure what this look was all about...

Aunt Lisa and Vivian

Dallas helping show in the grand champion drive

Hey Reba, Smile for the judge!

Helping Aunt Lisa

We figured up that night, that we have been showing at the Jackson County open show for 18 (or more) years.  This was the first time we came home with the Supreme Ewe!

A few days after the Jackson County show, we were at the Morgan County Fair!  Reba wasn't feeling very well, so she stayed ring-side while Dallas helped in the ring...

Dallas is trying to figure out how this is going to turn out

Dallas fell in love with "Baby" the ewe lamb; thankfully, she was pretty tame and let Dallas "show" her

This is how Reba spent most of the show...

After the show was over, we stopped at Steak 'n Shake for supper...once Reba got a little applesauce in her, she was back to her old self!

Until next time...



Hello?

Anyone still out there?

I promise one of these days I will return to blogging.  We had a wonderful, fun-packed holiday weekend.  Only, for me it ended in a severe case of pink eye!  Who ever knew that it could hurt this badly.  I also have some kind of infection (I didn't really catch what the doctor said), but I have swollen lymphs, plugged ears, runny nose, sore throat, stiff neck, and headaches.  Yea, I'm a real sight these days.  Let's hope the antibiotic and eye drops start helping soon.

Until next time...

Funny, Yummy, Yucky Story Round-Up

The Funny Story...
Yesterday while I created the signs for Gram's birthday, Dallas wanted to color too. I gave him a piece of a paper and a marker. I then gave him another marker after realizing the first one was dried out. Here is the masterpiece Dallas created (on the paper)... ...and the masterpiece he created on himself.

Good thing they are washable markers!

The Yummy Story...

We have lots of juicy, red strawberries in our garden right now. I have froze about 2 gallons worth thus far, and we have had ice cream and strawberries about every night while watching Thomas the Tank.

I have never made a strawberry pie, but I thought I would give it a try while I had so many fresh berries.

Thanks to the help of my good friend Betty*, this was what I came up with...

It was a very easy recipe, and the result was heavenly - the secret I think is the layer of cream cheese under the strawberries!

*Betty mentioned in this story is my Betty Crocker Cookbook*

The Yucky Story...

Last Friday, Dallas woke up with a fever of 103! I gave him Tylenol right away, called the doctor, and followed their directions: cool rag to head, t-shirt only, no blanket, etc. They also said if he was still feverish on Saturday to bring him in to the office. His temperature dropped to around 100 by noon, and he was actually up and playing tractors. After nap time, his temperature was back around 103. More Tylenol and he was feeling better in no time. On Saturday morning, he woke up fever free!

As for me, I got to feeling bad late Saturday morning, and I got progressively worse as the day went on. I did not have a fever, but I ached all over. I had a sore, stiff neck, shooting pain down my ears, and it hurt badly to swallow. By Saturday evening, I noticed white spots on my tonsils. Sunday morning, my aches had went away, but my throat was still very sore and it hurt to swallow. I decided I would call the doctor Monday morning because I thought I had strep throat. Also on Sunday evening, I noticed red bumps on my fingers. They felt as though I had splinters...very strange.

Monday morning I called the doctor, and yes, she had time that afternoon to see me. Later in the morning while getting Dallas dressed, I noticed he had the same kinds of red bumps on his feet...really strange. At the doctor's office I made the comment about these bumps, but I didn't know if they were related.

The diagnosis: Yes, the bumps, Dallas' fever, and my soreness were all related! Dallas and I have Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease. We are feeling better, and trying our best not to pass it along to Doug and Reba. This morning, I noticed Dallas having a few bumps on his hands and I have them on my feet. We have no idea where we picked this up...it could be a multiple number of places. Unfortunately, there is no treatment, we just have to let it run its course.

(I tried to take some pictures of our bumpy feet and hands, but they didn't turn out well. Plus, you probably don't really want to see them. If you do, you can always "google it". Just beware there are lots of extreme case pictures out there.)

The doctor is most worried about Dallas not eating and/or drinking if he develops the bumps in his mouth (like me, which is why it is so painful to swallow). So...the doctor suggested a "liquid" diet if needed: ice cream, Popsicles, yogurt, pudding, jell-o, applesauce, etc. I'm sure Dallas is going to hate that!

So...there you have it. Our Funny, Yummy, Yucky Stories.

Until next time...

Happy Fall Ya'all!

Enjoy the new background!

I just wanted to say that we are still here...we are just enjoying these last few days of summer weather. I can't believe it is officially fall. I think this definitely had to be the coolest (temperature) summer I have ever experienced.

With fall upon us, that means:

• Sorting through the closets and packing away the summer clothes
  
• Getting out the long sleeve t-shirts, sweatshirts, and sweaters.
  
• Football season is here (Go Colts!).
• Baby Gertie will be arriving very soon.
• I need to get things ready for Baby Gertie...
• Pumpkin patches, pumpkin carving, and pumpkin pies
• Leaves changing
• Farmers will be beginning to harvest
  
• and, of course, flu season...which Doug and I are going to get our flu shots this morning, so I had better get moving

Until next time...

All is better...

Good news! Doug is feeling much better. He even went back to work today! Yesterday he felt better, but not good enough for work. I went to town and got his laptop and brought it home so he could do a few things. He was able to get some things accomplished in the afternoon, so he felt good about that. As of now, both Dallas and I are still well. I'm praying that we don't get what Dad had! That would stink...plain and simple.

Dallas had a much better day yesterday as well. It was so nice here (in the 70's...first time we had seen 70 degrees since Oct. 21st!), so Dallas and I got out of the house. We went to Marengo to the grocery store and to the Pamida. What's Pamida? It is a very small scale Wal-Mart. Anywho...the Pamida is closing in Marengo...their final day is this coming Sunday. They have been discounting everything since the first of the year. They finally have things marked down 60-80%. I was in search of some plastic totes, and was able to find a couple. I also stocked up on greeting cards. As some of you might know, my New Year's Resolution was to be better about sending birthday and anniversary cards. (So far, I'm doing fairly well with it.) Well, now I'm good to go for a while!

One last thing...yesterday, while putting Dallas down for a nap, I realized just how much he has grown. He naps in a pack n' play (playpen) downstairs. There is a changing table that rests on the pack n' play, so we have always laid Dallas this way...


The dark blue area with the strap is the changing table.

Well, he has gotten too long to sleep that direction...so today, I had to take the changing table off so he could lay this way...


Now he looks like a tiny baby again! Plus, I still have room to keep the diaper supplies at hand!

Speaking of which...it sounds like it is time for diaper duty! Gotta run...

Until next time...

Sickness

What a day it has been. When Doug got home from work on Monday evening he did not look too great. Sure enough, he didn't feel great. He tried eating supper, but that didn't agree with him. Needless to say, he spent the night between the couch and the bathroom. He then stayed home from work today (Tuesday), and he rotated between the bathroom, the couch, and the bedroom. Thankfully, he was able to get some sleep today. On the other hand...Dallas has been rotten today. He would scream every time I would lay him down for a nap! The only way I could get him to sleep was to lay him on my chest and continuously rock. Plus, he wanted to eat every two - two and half hours. He typically goes at least three hours between feedings. I sure hope he sleeps well tonight!

In other news, my friend Laura is having a garage sale on Thursday and Friday of this week, and she invited me to bring things to add. I was going to go through some of our things yesterday and today to make a garage sale box, but I never got the chance. Oh well, there's always the next time.

Well, I gotta go...Dallas is waking up.

Until next time...

Another Friday

Well, can you believe it is Friday already? Where did the week go? Oh wait...I was in bed sick the last 2 days! Maybe that's why it seemed like a short week. Luckily, I am feeling much better tonight. I did go to the doctor on Thursday morning, and she said that I would just have to wait it out instead of prescribe me any antibiotics. "Rest and fluids" would be the best she said.

So...it hasn't been too monumental around here.

Doug went to Lake Red Rock near Pella with Fred and Anna to do some fishing. They are camping there tonight, so I decided to skip on the trip. I hope they have/had a lot of luck...I'm hungry for some fresh fish!!!

Until next time...