Our Date with the Hippie

When the Professor was born, the Hippie became the middle child.  After 5+ years of being the baby, she was now a big sister.  Top that off with a big move away from her friends, my husband being out of work and her first experience with public school and it has been a tough time for her.  We have recently been dealing with a lot of emotions from her.  We decided she needed a date with Mommy and Daddy.  We also felt she really needed an outlet.  So we did some searching and found some very inexpensive horse riding lessons, and with some help from family, got her signed up.  Her special date began by getting a card from us on Friday with a "formal" invitation to her date today.  The date started off by visiting a horse farm.  We met a lady there (her new horse teacher) and she introduced us to the horse the Hippie will ride...Lil Cami.  The Hippie was so excited!!! She even spoke to her new teacher!  After that, a quick trip for a new pair of riding boots.  Afterwards a trip to the ice cream store where we told her all the reasons why we love her and gave her an engraved locket.  You could just see her lighting up.  She gave us lots of hugs and kisses.  I feel I just add that we NEVER spend money like this when we take the kids on dates.  Usually we do free things, but sometimes you have a child that just needs to be the special one for a bit.  It was the Hippie's turn today.  She really needed this time.  I am so glad she is our daughter and we are all blessed for having her in our lives.  She can light up a room with her smile, has the best laugh ever and has eyes that can melt anyone's heart.  We love her so much!

Her sparkly new cowboy boots!  Soon they will be caked in mud.

The locket!!

And of course ice cream!

Lunch Time

We are lucky.  We have a relatively local farm that delivers fresh produce to our door each week.  ALL is 100% USDA Certified Organic and either locally grown, or grown at farms that maintain those standards.  I love it!  We love the variety, the freshness and the way it challenges us to try new fruits and/vegetables we might not usually buy.  Today for lunch, the fours of us at home, all benefited from the box.  My hubby and I had DELICIOUS salads, the Professor had a mashed banana and the Genius had a vitamin C packed orange!  Here are some photos to make you wish you were at our house hungry and/or inspired.

Moire Ickies

Now the Genius is home sick.  She was not able to go to school today because she was running a fever.  She has a runny nose and aches and stuff.  It looks like we will be taking her to the doctor in the morning.  Her fever was really high today.  I feel like I have nothing to blog about, but I can think of one cute quote from the Hippie.  We were watching a documentary on Africa today.  It was about a big river in Africa.  They movie was showing all kinds of animals.  The Hippie said, "Man.  Africa's water animals sure are busy."  She is so cute!

Round 2

Well, the Professor is sick again.  Thursday his cough (which he has had since the ear infection) got worse.  Friday it was a little more worse and we debated on taking him to the doctor, but since he was eating and playing opted not to.  Saturday he woke up and sounded awful!  We eventually drove him 30 minutes away to Urgent Care.  We were fortunate because the place was not busy at all.  He got right in and was given a breathing treatment and 2 meds.  He was diagnosed with Bronchitis.  But she said he could be on the edge of getting RSV or pneumonia.  She said if he seemed worse to not mess around, just take him to the ER.  This morning he was wheezing and when he coughed it sounded like he would drown.  So we took him to the ER.  They gave him another breathing treatment and sent us home with an inhaler.  That inhaler helped him SO much!  He was able to eat food again and just perked up within an hour.  While I am beyond thankful to have easy access to healthcare, I do hate having our little guy on all these meds, but I am also very thankful because we were holding our breath every time he coughed.  Hope everyone else is staying healthy!

Friends

Are you blessed with a good friend or friends?  I do not mean the kind you meet up with if you have nothing better do and they don't really annoy you.  I mean, the kind of friends you can count on.  When something really great, or awful, happens to you their name comes to mind.  Obviously, my husband is that for me.  He is always there for me and he really does listen to me.  But, I am talking about your girl friends.  I am very fortunate because I have four of those kinds of friends.  Four people who are the ones who get my calls and emails when things are going good, bad, or simply because I want to talk.  Unfortunately, NONE of them live near me.  We have moved away from all of them.  They are 4-20 hours away.  One of my dearest friends is Belinda.  We talk almost every week.  I know that if I need her I can call at any time...and she means it.  When she says she is praying, she means it.  She has 5 wonderful boys.  When she just had 3 boys, we dreamed of being pregnant together.  That dream did come true for us, the Professor and he youngest boy are 2 months apart in age, but we were not in the same state any more so we relied on phone calls etc.  Belinda and I are still very close and have not seen each other in THREE YEARS.  That is about to change.  In June, her husband came up with the idea of going out of their way on a family vacation so we can reunite our families!  To say I am excited is just an underestimate.  I was crying when we hung up.  I cannot wait to see her and her family!!! I will get to hold her "baby" for the first time, but he will already be a year old by then.  She will see our girls and meet the Professor for the first time.  I just cannot wait!  I hope that all of you are blessed with friends like mine!!!! 

Name that Game

We found this girls playing this game outside the other day.  Maybe it will be the newest trend?  LOL!

You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

Until you look at these pictures of the Professor.  Seriously.  He has got to be the cutest little baby ever!  He has a great smile, a great laugh and has just started dancing.  He keeps us all smiling and laughing and provides hours of entertainment for all of us.