Gatlinburg Here We Come....

So, I am typing this as we are driving down I59 headed to Cheerleading competition. Neither of the kids feel great so this should be an interesting trip. If all goes well, we are planning on letting Kaylee compete tomorrow. Her ear doesn't seem to be near as sensitive as it has the past couple of days so hopefully she will be much, much better tomorrow.

She competes around 11:00 a.m. Saturday and we will know the result standings by 1:00 p.m. and then she competes around the same time Sunday and the awards ceremony is at 12:45. Keep your fingers crossed that we do well. I will post again Sunday or Monday with pictures and the results!!

I will end this post with what her team says at the end of every practice:

High Fly Kitty Hawks, Shake it, Work it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Elf Has Arrived................

And his name is: Bernard!! I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with the "Elf on the Shelf", but Santa sent us one and he arrived here yesterday. The whole concept is absolutely precious. Santa sends him to live with your family after the Thanksgiving Holiday and he sits quietly on a shelf all day and listens / watches the kids and then travels back to the north pole every night to report to Santa whether the kids have been good or bad. He returns before the kids wake up the next morning and he is in a new spot. The kids have to try to find him every morning. The most important rule is that the elf cannot be touched or held by children because that could cause him to lose his "magic". Anyways, it is really cute and my kids are loving it so far. I am sure I will have some really cute stories to share as the days go by. If you haven't heard of this before, check the website. That is where I ordered mine. http://www.elfontheshelf.com/

Please keep Kaylee in your prayers. We found out today that her eardrum did in fact rupture. They gave her antibiotic ear drops and changed her oral antibiotic to something stronger. She had some pretty intense pain tonight. We hope she gets to feeling better soon. She doesn't want to miss her cheerleading competition in Gatlinburg this weekend, but we have told her we will just have to see.

V.I.R.U.S!!!!!!

Yes that would be stomach virus!!! Tyler and I woke up at around 4:30 a.m. Saturday with nausea, vomiting and EVERYTHING else that goes along with a stomach bug. We were spending the night with some of our out of town friends when it hit us. My poor husband had to juggle Tyler and I while gathering all of our belongings, waking Kaylee up to get her in the car and not wake up our friends 3 sleeping children!! Don't forget it is now only 5:00 a.m.!! He did a great job. He got us home around 7:00 a.m. called his mom to come get Kaylee and proceeded to do laundry and clean out the car seat that Tyler puked in on the way home!! Tyler's "bug" only lasted for about 3/4 of the day Saturday but mine lasted much longer. I was finally able to get out of bed yesterday and by today I felt like a new person!! I am so thankful he took such good care of us. What I didn't know was that I would soon be returning the favor. Yes, he ended up getting it also. My fingers are crossed as I type this. I am just hoping the 3 of us are well and back to normal tomorrow.

As for Kaylee, her Gram took her to the Doctor Sunday afternoon with an ear ache. The Dr. said it was an ear infection but the tube had just recently fallen out and left a "large" hole in her drum. He said this wasn't uncommon but to have it re-checked in 4 weeks. No problem right? WRONG!! Her ear is now pouring green stuff out of it and she screams in pain if her shirt or anything even slightly brushes up against it. I am really afraid something is really wrong. This child has had tons of ear infections and never anything draining from her ear and she has never had any kind of pain.

Needless to say, we are headed back to the Doctor tomorrow to have them check not only Kaylee's ear but also Tyler's. He told me tonight he needed a band aid for his ear. I realize he is only 2, but the other times he has said that, we have left the Doctor's office with a diagnosis of an ear infection.

Illness would never be good timing, but let me just mention we are supposed to be leaving for Gatlinburg, TN Friday. Kaylee has her first cheerleading competition this weekend!! What am I going to do?

I am learning more and more every day that God doesn't give us more than we can handle. I just feel like he thinks I can handle more than I really can. :o)