Sick Day

 Hannah napping after school yesterday

Lucas watching a movie with his head on my lap.

Two out of my three kids are home sick today. Lucas started throwing up Sunday night and puked off and on all day Monday. Even crackers and water didn't stay down. And he spiked a fever to go along with the throw-ups. Thankfully, by bedtime last night his fever had broken and his tummy seemed settled. He's home today mainly to rest and recover. He feels much better, ate a little breakfast, but still feels tired and weak. 

Hannah, on the other hand, came home from school yesterday saying her throat hurt and she felt awful. And she looked it too. Her eyes told the story. She promptly went to my bed, pulled up a blanket and fell asleep. I let her sleep for awhile, then I woke her up and took her to a nearby clinic (too late to get in with her pediatrician). 102 temp and a positive strep test for her. So, we grabbed her antibiotics, gave her some Tylenol, and she was basically out for the night. Today she is a tiny bit better, but still contagious, so no school for her.

With two kids at home and my schedule cleared, I had high hopes for getting a lot done today. But that never goes as planned. Here's an example from this morning of how things typically go....

*I survey the messy kitchen and think I will tackle unloading the dishwasher. But before I start, I need to pee, so I run to the bathroom really quick.

*I get to the bathroom, sit down, then glance to my right to see there is no toilet paper. No problem, I open the nearby cabinet to grab some more, but we are out there too. Deep breath, pull up my pants and go out to the garage to the shelf where I keep extra packs of toilet paper and paper towels from Sam's. 

*As I'm heading back to the bathroom to restock the toilet paper supply and go to the bathroom, Lucas yells from the living room, "Mom! Ellie (our black cat) is about to throw up on the carpet!!!" I drop the toilet paper and run into the living to just in time to gently toss Ellie off the brand new rug and onto the stained concrete floor (much easier to clean). She proceeds to vomit up part of her last meal. 

*New mission: clean cat puke. You see, while easier to clean than carpet, cat barf is highly acidic so if it sits on the concrete for a long time, it eats away at the stain. So prompt clean up is the way to go. 

*As I'm finishing up cleaning the floor, Hannah (remember she's sick) says, "Mom, can you start a bath for me please? I think that will help me feel better." Sure, kid. Run a bath with bubbles. 

*Walk back into the kitchen, see the full dishwasher and think, "Oh yeah! I was going to unload that." Let me run and pee really quick.....

2015 Year in Review

Now that we are 20 days into 2016, let's take a look back at 2015.  Seems like a good time, right? Better late than never, I suppose. :)

JANUARY

Lucas turned 5 1/2 on January 24th. 

We celebrated by bringing donuts to his Pre-K class.

In January, I was in the middle of a long-term maternity teaching position in a Pre-K classroom directly across from Lucas' room.

 FEBRUARY

I turned 38 on February 3, 2015.

We celebrated with friends at Old Germany restaurant in Choctaw, OK.

The rest of February was pretty predictable: cold, snow, Valentine's Day, cold, snow.

I continued teaching at Deer Creek Elementary.

MARCH

In March, the weather started warming up!

Mike turned 39 on March 15, 2015.

River came to visit for Spring Break, and I finished my last day of teaching on March 1st!

APRIL

Happy Easter 2015!

Poor Leah was in the middle of using her pallet expander and her smile was a little off. 

We went to the Energy FC opening season game on April 18th!

We went camping in the Wichita Mountains the last weekend in April.

MAY

We celebrated Mother's Day with these three kiddos!

At the Myriad Botanic Gardens a few days before school was out.

Beautiful weather and the excitement of summer was in the air!

Lucas finished Pre-K and the girls finished 4th grade this month.

JUNE

Mike and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary while on a vacation to Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

We also went to Silver Dollar City and Fantastic Caverns in Missouri. 

It got hot!

Swimming at Beth's pool is a summer staple, and we look forward to it every year.

JULY

Happy Independence Day, America!

We took an epic trip to Long Beach Island, NJ with Mike's entire family to celebrate his parents' 50th wedding anniversary. It was SO MUCH fun!

Leah, Hannah and their cousin, Velda had a blast playing in the Atlantic Ocean!

Family Beach Picture (also our Christmas card photo)!

Love these people. :)

On July 24th, Lucas turned 6 years old!

We celebrated by taking him and two buddies to see an Energy Soccer game.

AUGUST

School started early on August 10th! 

Hannah and Leah began 5th grade at Deer Creek Intermediate School.

Cutie Patootie (a.k.a. Lucas) started Kindergarten at Deer Creek Elementary.

SEPTEMBER

In September, the Galloway's took their annual pilgrimage to the Great State Fair of Oklahoma!

Fall soccer was in full swing, rain or shine!

Go Destroyers!

OCTOBER

October 6th was our third annual House of Healing Gala. 

There were weeks of frenzied activity leading up to the event, and it was a big success!

Plus working with these two ladies made it super fun.

October brings my favorite week of the year: TENKILLER WEEK!

This year, the weather was unusually warm, so we actually took the boat out and swam in the lake.

Such. Good. Memories.

Happy Halloween!

This year we had Cleopatra, Darth Vader, and Katniss Everdeen.

NOVEMBER

November brought in gray days, cooler weather and more indoor activities (like this trip to the public library).

My mom's handwriting on a recipe card

And then there was Thanksgiving.

This year, it was just the five of us. We cooked a big meal, went to the movies and stayed snuggled in together. It was wonderfully relaxing and low key.

DECEMBER

December 1st this sweet Barred Owl showed up on my front porch and made my biggest Facebook post of all time! We ended up rescuing this poor, sick boy, but unfortunately he did not make it. His presence (though short) impacted our lives in a big way! Through this encounter, we learned about Wild Care Oklahoma, a fabulous non-profit just a little south of Oklahoma City.

Check them out: http://www.wildcareoklahoma.org/

These two beauties turned 11 on December 16th!

We celebrated by inviting 11 of their closest friends over for pizza, cake and a Minute to Win It themed party.

Christmas Eve Service at church

All is calm, all is bright.

Christmas 2015 in full swing!

New Year's Eve

Lucas started making emoji faces to try to stay awake. We celebrated with Mike's parents, Grandma Velda and a few friends who stopped by. My mother-in-law made her famous chili and a cherry pie, we watched the OU Sooners lose to Clemson (boo) then we rang in the New Year with the East Coast and called it a night.

What a year!!

We are looking forward to all the fun things 2016 will bring!

Ice, Ice Baby!

We are in the middle of our first ice storm of the fall/winter season. It started yesterday with a steady drizzle which turned into sleet which turned into thick ice. Ice that coated trees, sidewalks, bushes, outdoor furniture--everything! 

Lots of trees are losing limbs and many people in Oklahoma City are without power. It's a mess around here.

Thankfully, at our house, we still have power and heat. In fact, we have a fire going, and our Christmas tree up. We are cozy, warm, safe and looking forward to watching the big Bedlam football game later tonight. It's the biggest football day in our state when The University of Oklahoma plays Oklahoma State University. And a Big 12 Championship is on the line too! Everyone declares a side for this game. We are all OU and Boomer Sooner in this house, by the way.

The tree is up!

And the stockings are hung.

Our icy Bradford Pear tree

Anyone want to jump?

Frozen berries

Fence accumulation

Ready to cheer on the Sooners!

Happy Thanksgiving 2015

The Galloway Girls (and the rest of us too) wish you a very happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated at home, just the five of us. It was mellow and calm and delicious. Look at this feast! 

The crown jewel of the feast is the cornbread dressing--a family recipe passed down from Mike's Granny Lucy. It must be made in a cast iron skillet and this year is was perfection. 

Tomorrow we start decorating for Christmas, but today we have so much to be thankful for!

Sort-of Sick Day

Last week Lucas was sort-of sick. 

Moms, you know the scenario-- snotty nose, cough, tired eyes from several nights of restless sleep, but no fever (unless 99 degrees counts for something), no vomit, no major red flags that require a stay home day from school. It's one of those times where "mom instincts" kick in. You just know your baby needs a day off to rest and recover. And that's the kind of day Lucas and I had.

He wasn't sick enough to just lay pathetically on the couch, so I let him guide our plans for the day. What did my boy want to do?

We started with games. If playing games is a love language, it's at the top of this little guy's list. We worked our way through his favorites: Spot It, Connect 4, Checkers, Jenga, Crazy 8's, and Chutes & Ladders. He is a tough competitor!

Next, he wanted to "bake a cake." I rummaged through my pantry and found this Red Velvet cake mix. Perfect. He loves to help me in the kitchen. Cracking eggs is a special skill he has mastered. And don't get me started on stirring. He can stir and mix with the best of them. 

Later, after the cake cooled, we made cream cheese frosting to complete our baking experience. 

Next up was coloring. When he was a toddler, he was too busy to sit down and draw. But this year in particular, he has found a real love of art. He enjoys creating, drawing and coloring, and will sit still for long periods of time to focus on his work. The top photo is a mother/son collaboration featuring Mike reaching up for a napkin before digging into a giant ice cream sundae. The bottom work was a guided activity--I told him to draw a scene where everything has "normal colors." Then draw the same scene where everything has "not normal colors." 

At this point, Mom needed a break and we needed some lunch, so it was movie time. He vegged out on the couch and watched Turbo while I got our lunch ready and straightened up the house a bit. 

After the movie he wanted to do a science experiment. I went with a super easy one. Pour milk into a pie plate. Add four drops of food coloring. Add a drop of dish washing liquid, then use a toothpick or straw to swirl the colors around. It makes a cool tie-dyed effect. 

He had a good time predicting what would happen next,talking about color mixing, warm vs. cool colors...it was simple, but he enjoyed it. 

Like staring at a lava lamp, it was hard to look away.

Next up--books. This is Mom's favorite and Lucas loves it too. He's reading now (simple stories), so he likes to try to point out words he knows or read a sentence or two. Current faves: the Teacher from the Black Lagoon series, Frances the Badger books, and Mister Muster. 

We had so much fun just the two of us!

And this eventually happened shortly after his sisters came home. 

Later that evening, we were snuggling on the couch and he randomly told me, "I enjoy loving you, Mom."

Heart. Burst.

I sure love this kid. And I'm happy to report he is feeling much better. :)