Three cheers for a well weekend....

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Hip, Hip, Hooray!!

Hip, Hip, Hooray!!!

Much to my amazement, Coby did not share his germs with all his brothers, and we all managed to avoid the wrath of the nasty stomach bug!! Especially since the first time he barfed, he did so ON his brother in bed (he and Micah share the bottom bunk). Nevertheless, I am quite thankful that all is well here in the Best family!! YAY!

Now.... to keep the grandmas happy..... an update in pictures:

Last week, we talked about the letter 'P' in school, so we had PJ day. The kids loved it. We also talked about Jackson Pollack (sp?) and how he painted without his brush ever touching the canvas, so each child got to have a turn doing a "pollack painting" They looked so cute in their painting gear. Here are pics of Coby from 'P' week:

Here he is in his favorite jammies with his favorite matching slippers and he borrowed Bryson's pillow to complete the outfit!

He got a little carried away with the splatter painting, but he had a blast!

Coby and Mommy... and in case you are wondering... I, too, had matching slippers and a leopard print blanket!

I love it when I catch Little Bryson "reading" He loves books, and he will sit and carefully turn the pages. It is so sweet~

Every now and then, he gets a little hungry, so he just makes do with what he's got.

Wait, did I see mommy with her camera? I had better ham it up, or she may move on to someone else!


I love moments like these... it had been so long since the 3 of them had played all together, so it was so sweet to look out my back window and find a reenactment of "CARS" the movie. They played for almost 2 hours and they came inside smelling like wet little puppy dogs, covered with sand, thirsty and hungry. I just know that someday I am gonna miss that wet puppy dog smell.

Just for fun... Coby begged me to put these on my "blob" as he puts it! We were just being silly..... that is one of the things Coby does best!

Hope you all have a fabulous week! I am looking forward to some normalcy around here!

One back up, another down....

So I said last night at about 9:00 pm that Cason was welland that we were good to go to school the next day... well, I spoke too soon. Coby began his first round of barfing around 2:00am. And then at 3, and at 4... you get the picture. He is now doing great, begging to go jump on the trampoline and asked if we could go to ChuckECheese for dinner... I think not! It is amazing how quickly they bounce back... now I wonder now who is next... hmmmm
So much for that blog about a totally normal day where we are all well, huh, Amy?!

Where do you hang your clothes?

The boys were riding bikes in the front yard, enjoying the beautiful weather, Bryson was down for a nap, and so I was kinda in and out watching them. Coby comes running around the corner with enormous eyeballs. "Micah bumped his head, and he is crying!!" Coby tends to be a bit dramatic, but I was headed to go check it out. As we were walking, I asked what he bumped his head on. Coby's response, "You know that thing that you always used to hang your clothes on? He bumped it on that." I am thinking, "a hanger? what is he talking about?" We round the corner, and there sits Micah, rubbing his head, sitting next to our treadmill that we recently moved out of our room into our garage. You guessed it.... he referred to the treadmill not as 'the thing you run on,' but as the 'thing you hang your clothes on.' Gulity. I must admit it. I have got to exercise more!!

Thanks so much for everyone's thoughts and prayers for sweet Cason. He is doing much better. He is playing away, but he still gets pretty tired easily. He goes to bed around 7:45, and he is usually asleep by 7:47. He is spoiling me with his sleeping in! And he is taking a 2 or 3 hour nap, too.... but he seems to feel good. He walks around telling perfect strangers, "I am not very sick anymore. I am just a little bit sick now." I was going to post pictures, but I am too tired... maybe I will have a chance to do it tomorrow. Hope you all have a great weekend!

ps - fyi, Micah was fine... a quick kiss and a rub and he was good to go!

Good News and Bad News

I will start with the bad news... Cason officially has mono. Big bummer! He kinda took a turn for the worse today and so we took him on into the hospital to have his blood work done, and the blood counts all looked ok, but the mono test was positive. So we are going back in tomorrow to have his spleen checked and to get more details. It was a really long day with him! He was so brave getting his blood work done... they all just ewed and awed over him and how cute he was... and he had to hamm it up since he is not used to being the center of attention! So the good news? The good news to me is that it is not one of those other scary diseases that we were testing for in the blood count... there were a lot of other much more serious illnesses that were a possibility, and it still makes me cry to even think about all of that... so in that perspective, I am thankful for mono and the "perscription to rest!" My hope and prayer now is that all the others (myself included) do not get this stuff! And I am just curious... I know how the college students get this "kissing disease" but how in the world does a 3 year old catch mono??

On a MUCH lighter note, my mom and dad kept out other 3 kids while we took Cason in today and MiMi pulled Micah's 2nd tooth. He would kill me if I didnt put that in the blog! So here is his little note and his picture...

Sometimes it's ok to jump on the bed....

Tonite, Clint and I were talking in the living room, we were interrupted the sound of squeaky springs from the boys bedroom... followed by an outbreak of loud giggles. This is always a hard rule to enforce, but a rule nonetheless, so I headed off to their room to get onto Coby and Micah for jumping on the bed. As I rounded the corner, I saw Coby and Micah playing at their new pool table and Cason bounding up and down, and up and down on the bed..... YEAH!!!!! I had never been so happy to see a child jumping on the bed... it was a glimpse of joy from my sweet 3 year old who has been way too sick to even think about jumping anywhere! He was just giggling away! So we all got up there on the bed and jumped for just a minute to celebrate his feeling better! I must admit, it was actually pretty fun!
I would not say that Cason is well, but he has made a huge improvement. We started him on Zithromax yesterday, and I am not sure if that is to blame for the improvement, but whatever it is, I will take it. He is still running fever and he tires pretty easily, but it was so good to see him playing and giggling today. He ate really well at all 3 meals as well, so I am hopeful that we are on the mend. Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers! Keep em coming! I do hope he continues to get better, and that we can avoid any further tests next week!!

I snuck in a few pictures at bedtime....

I just love how they are so into the Bible stories... and notice Micah wiggling his loose tooth... that is what he does all the time these days!

Thanks, everyone, for the thoughts and prayers! I hope I feel better really soon so I can go back to school and church and see all my friends!

Love, Cason

Poor Cason

Yes, my sweet Cason is STILL sick. We are going on day 7 with high fever... I am not talking about a little fever virus where they run this random low grade fever and play a little less.... he is running fever between 102 and 104 degrees... and he is just so sick, laid up on the couch or in bed all day. He has not really eaten hardly anything in a week. Every now and then he eats a cracker. I have been letting him have fruit snacks (which are like candy to my kids) just to get something in his body. Maybe it is in my head, but I feel like I am beginning to see his weight loss in his face... I am really worried about him. We went back to the doc today, and they said maybe it is mono... maybe it is a viral infection and a sinus infection on top of eachother, maybe it is something more serious.... maybe??? So they have decided to put off the blood work until next week to wait to see how he feels.... if it is still going on, they will run some tests to see if there is something more serious wrong with him.... They have started him on an antibiotic just to see if there is something bacterial that could be fought off with that.... I just hate the unknowns! I would almost just prefer our usual positive strep test, a good dose or 2 of Amoxicilan (sp?) and we are usually good to go.... Not to mention that the rest of us are stir crazy! We have not been anywhere together as a family in almost 2 weeks... it feels really weird! Clint and I pass eachother at the door for one to take over on Cason duty and the other to go to work or run errands or go to church with the well kids...... this is just the pitts!!
Please join me in prayer for my sweet little guy!

back to the land of the living...

I am back.... I have no voice, but I am back.... I waded my way thru the mounds of dirty laundry, stumbling on hot wheels, thomas and friends, basketballs, and puzzle pieces, but I made it to the kitchen to scrounge up a little something to eat..... Poor Cason is still not feeling well, but Micah and Bryson are on the mend... and Coby is still healthy as can be (knock, knock...) Please say a quick prayer for my Cason that he feels better soon.... this yukky thing has just gone on too long!!
And now, so this is not a completely boring post, and so I dont appear to be drowning in self-pity, I leave you with a picture of Bryson who feels much better!!

His hilarious "fake grin"

This is what he looked like when I went in to his room this morning.... Now, when I open up his door, he jumps up and looks at me and excitedly says, "HI!" And I dont know where he got the hammer!

STAY AWAY.......

from the Best house..... we have 4 down, 2 to go.... the culpret? A horrible high fever virus that comes with chills, aches, soar throat, and coughing! Micah began the cycle last tuesday, then Cason followed... he shared his germies with Bryson who lovingly shared them with me..... Today is the first day Micah has had without any fever and actually wanting to play, so things are looking up for him.... hopefully it will not last the full 5 days in all of the rest of us!

Pretend Wedding

My preschool class has been talking about families this week, and today was our famous Pretend Wedding... it is always so cute! It was extra special for me this year since my sweet Coby was in the wedding. The kids all get so excited for this day. We draw names for all the parts, have "fittings" for all the outfits, have rehearsal after rehearsal after rehearsal... we remind them that it all pretend, but we talk about what it really means to get married and what God's plan is for marriage and commitment. The kids say vows about what they will do when they "grow up" and they all say "I DO." It is so cute! Then we all go to the reception with real wedding cake and punch... this part is a crowd favorite! And in my typical 'summer' fashion, I have posted way too many pictures for your viewing pleasure.....

Buddies!

Coby and his best buddy... they are too cool.....

Handsome boys!

My little "Best Man." He escorted me and my co-teacher down the aisle first. It was super cute.

The Wedding Party

Coby escorting the Maid of Honor.

During the ceremony... Mr. Roger does such a great job of making it "pretend" but explaining it to them at the same time.

"The Kiss..." These boys really do love eachother! :-)

A few more pics

I just had to post these last few pictures of the boys during one of the many movie nights that we had while Clint was working nights during the ice storm. We got out their new sleeping bags (thanks Aunt Angie and Uncle Russ!!) and camped out in the living room... it was so funny to watch Bryson. He loves pillows, blankets, etc... he crawls all over and snuggles with them.... it is hysterical to watch! He would crawl down into his sleeping bag and get stuck in the bottom. When I would get him out his hair would be all messy and the boys would laugh at him.... it was so cute! This picture cracks me up bc he would not lay still for the movie... he discovered that it was much more fun to crawl all over his brothers and make them giggle at him! He went to bed shortly after this one was taken! :-)

Bry's crazy hair (it is hard to see in this pic!)

Snowy Day Pics

I have sat down to post these pictures several times now, and either the phone rings, I get distracted by something else, or blogger wont cooperate... I finally got one picture of each of the boys posted, along with a few others, so I am posting it before it is back up to 80 degrees outside!! I have tons of pictures to share, but I just picked a few of my favorites... it was so cool for the boys to get to see snow!

Micah with the snowman... I told you it was TINY!!!

Coby with his shades and the snowman.

All Cason wanted to do was drive his cars in the snow and make tracks!

Bryson was not a fan of the snow!

Here he is... the infamous teeny-tiny snowman!

Jumping on the trampoline in the snow... too fun!

I just thought this was cool the way the ice froze to this bush!

Our house with the icicles hanging from the roof.... the boys took turns pulling one down to play with! They has icicle sword fights!

Ice Day # 3 - Lord, help me!!!

We have been "snowed in" since Sunday night, and I am about to check myself into the loony bin! And Clint has been working nights for TxDot, so we have hardly spoken a word to eachother! He is exhausted from his long, cold shifts in the middle of the night, but the rest of us are so stir crazy! One day was fun, two days was kinda nice, but three days has lead to serious cases of CABIN FEVER!!! We did actually venture up to the school/church this afternoon for the boys to run around and play in my classroom and in the gym while I did some work for my mom in the office.... that was a nice "outing" but the roads were still icy in some spots, so they are starting school late tomorrow.... 10am cant come soon enough! I never realized how much I thrive on routine until it was ripped out from underneath me!
Anyways, not much to report here. I am going to try and post some pics from our icy-good time! They say we are going to have a melt-down tomorrow (if we have not had one already :-)!), and then it may get ugly again on Saturday... we will see! Hope you all stay safe and warm!!!

Ice storm, mean mommy

The realpurpose of this post was going to be to put up some fun pics from our snow day fun, but blogger wont cooperate, so I guess I will have to actually type out some thoughts!! So we have all been affected somehow by the big "Ice Storm 07" Making [very small] snowmen.... jumping on the trampoline covered in ice..... no school (although Micah was quite disappointed!).... pretending to be Thomas and Friends "puffing along" as we watch our breath in the cold air.... busting out the hats and gloves that we only get to wear a few times a year in texas.... drawing pictures and writing love notes in the fog on the windows..... the ice storm of 2007 has definitely created some memories... it is amazing how many fun things we found to do amidst the cold weather! I took pictures, but blogger hates me, so I will post them later.

Tonite, Clint had to work the late shift for TXDOT, so he is driving a sand truck to de-ice the bridges and overpasses. He left right after dinner and will be back around 8 in the morning.... long night for him, I am sure! But he is excited about driving the big truck on the ice! Funny how he thinks! Anyways, so that leaves me here with all 4 boys... all wound up from being pretty cooped up for the last 48 hours.... and no where to go! So we finished up our dinner, took baths, and I told them if they would get their jammies on and have their room all cleaned up while I got Bry down, we would have movie night. Micah and Cason scurried around like little animals getting ready for the winter while Coby continued to get more toys (in his undies no less). I asked him if he was obeying.
"Nope... cuz I dont want to clean up"
"Well, if you dont obey and get jammies on and help clean up, it means no movie night for you."
"So?"
He totally knows that it is hard for me to discipline when I am by myself and feeding Bryson to get him down.... it frustrates me to no end!!!!! So I told him again that if he didnt obey, no movie. I gave him a few minutes and got Bryson to sleep. Rounded the corner to see Micah and Cason almost finished with the room, jammies on, teeth brushed..... and there sat Coby.... still in his undies, still playing with trains. I sent Micah and Cason on to the "movie night" on my bed, and Coby fell apart. It was so hard, especially because I had 200 things that I needed to do, but I knew I needed to, so I stuck to it. He called me a mean mommy, and that cuts me to the core when they see it that way..... After several spankings for fits, throwing things, and ugly words, he was ready to "be sweet" as he puts it. I laid in his bed with him for a while and we talked about obedience and how important it is... I reminded him that we discipline because we love him. We hugged and read a few books and he looked at me with those huge blue eyes and said,
"Mommy, you are not a mean mommy.... you are the sweetest mommy in this whole universe. I love you to infinity." (Tears in my eyes) "So now that you are the sweetest mommy, can I watch the movie??" Little stinker knows what he wants!

haircuts

We went to my mom's last night before church for all the boys to get haircuts, and I went short with everyones hair... Coby's looks the most different bc all his thick curls are gone! Anyways, he woke up this morning, and he came running into the kitchen with big huge eyes. "Mommy, remember we went tomorrow [meaning yesterday] to MiMi's house to get our hair cuts? Well I just went to the bathroom, and I saw me in the mirror, and mine is still there!" I love the way they think!

Snaggle tooth

Big news in the Best household.... Micah lost his first tooth today! After weeks of wiggling and playing with it, he finally let someone pull it! He started back to school today, and he has been holding out to have Mrs. Weed (his principal) pull it. She may as well be a celebrity as far as he is concerned, so he was so excited to go visit her office and have her pull his first tooth and put it in a special little tooth necklace for him (see picture). Mimi offered, I offered, but he held out for Mrs. Weed. Note that Clint did NOT offer... he does not do loose teeth... he does vomit, but not loose teeth... sounds like a trade off to me! :-)
So does anyone know what the going rate is for the tooth fairy visit these days? I have no idea! He has already made a sign to hang his window.



So cute! He was afraid she would not know that he had lost it today! Below are some pics... you will probably have to look closely, but you can see the tiny hole where the tooth was on the bottom. Then the next pic is him with his necklace on! Fun times!