An Ear Infection Christmas...

I think each year I need to set a doctor's appointment for Christmas time. I'll have a time slot all set up, because I can guarantee that at least one of my children will have an ear infection at Christmas. Tis' the Season, right?

We made it to Erie, safe & sound, this past Tuesday. The weather was good for traveling, and we only had to make two stops in an 8 1/2 hour trip. That is a first! We've enjoyed two Christmas celebrations, so far, and one birthday party for my niece, Danika, who is turning two. We have one more Christmas celebration, in Erie, to go to. In the middle of all this excitement, Alayna's cold symptoms came back. She had a cold a few weeks ago, but never got over it completely. She still had the lingering cough and runny nose. Wednesday night, and Thursday night, she had a rough night of sleep (and so did we). She started to complain that her ear hurt, and at first I thought maybe she had some fluid build-up. On Friday we decided she needed to be seen by a doctor. I took her to an Urgent Care facility, and it turns out that she has an infection in her right ear, redness in her throat and swollen glands. Oh joy! Poor baby. She has been acting fine, and has only run a low fever here & there. I was glad I took her, and now she's on antibiotic. She'll probably be feeling much better by Sunday. On the other hand, mom is now sick with a bad cold, sore throat, etc., and Dave woke up saying his throat was a bit scratchy. I know Alayna will be fine, now that she's got medicine, but mom is the one I worry about. She keeps reminding me that she's exposed to people all the time, by working at the library, but I still can't help but think that we brought this home to her. I pray she will feel better quickly, and that she'll be able to enjoy her time with us, and her sister from Florida, who is arriving with her family, today. As well as her brother, and his family, from Lancaster County, who we will be seeing tomorrow.

I'm beginning to think it's impossible to visit Erie without one of us getting sick.

Merry (ah-choo) Christmas! Oh no, am I sick, too???

Let It Snow...After We Get To Erie

Just like most of the Northeast, we have been dumped with snow over the past several days. It's just beautiful! I love living in an area where I can see all four seasons...although, sometimes by the end of January, I'm done with this season. Julie's school was cancelled last Friday, and we had to cancel church Sunday, due to a blizzard and hazardous road conditions. Julie did have school today, and enjoyed a very fun Christmas/Holiday party. Dave went in to the school and helped out, and had lunch with Julie. She was determined to be brave when he left, and didn't cry. In fact, Dave said she slammed the door behind him when he left. I guess she was ready for him to go.

Here are a few snow pictures from yesterday. Dave took the girls outside and pulled them around on the sled.




I had to take a couple pictures of Alayna's hair yesterday. She is two, and has the hair of a 10 year old. It is so thick, and when it's wet, and you see her curls straighten out, it's almost halfway down her back. Yesterday, after the girls baths, she saw me blow drying Julie's hair, and wanted hers done, too. Here is the finished product.

Pre-Christmas Christmas

Our family is leaving for PA for Christmas, so we celebrated our own Christmas this past Saturday. We woke up just as if it were Christmas morning, and the kids didn't know the difference. It was a lot of fun, and we enjoyed watching their faces as they opened their gifts. We bought the girls a kitchen set, and that was a huge hit. Joel mostly enjoyed the tissue paper. In the morning it was just us, and around 3 in the afternoon Dave's mom & Grandma came over to give the kids gifts, and have dinner with us.

Here are some pictures from our day.

How Do You Know We're Not Jewish???

This has been yet another busy week in our home. Christmas preparations, getting ready to go to Erie next week, teachers gifts to make, cookies to bake, waiting for a snow flake (guess I got carried away with the rhyming...sorry). Well, we really are waiting for a snow flake....or several of them, to be exact. We're expected to get somewhere between 10 & 14 inches today. School was cancelled. The snow is not falling yet, but should start between 9 and noon. That depends on which news station you watch. We get weather reports from New York City, and Albany...so, my best bet is to just look out my window.

I made homemade granola this week, to give to Julie's Kindergarten teacher, the teacher's assistant, her bus driver, and her Sunday School teacher. I've never made it before, but I must say that it turned out delicious. I need to get it all packaged before Dave eats it all. I made gift tags (on the computer, of course, I'm not crafty, remember), for each person. Last night I asked Julie to decorate the tags with a picture, and to write her name on them. For her school teacher, teacher's assistant, and bus driver, she drew pictures of Christmas trees with gifts under them. When it came time to do her Sunday School teachers tag she said, "I think I'll draw her a picture of a Menorah." I replied "that's fine, but she celebrates Christmas, like us." Then Julie asked why, and I said "because we're not Jewish, so we celebrate Christmas, not Hanukkah." Julie asked, "How do you know we're not Jewish?" Well...from here I tried to figure out how to explain to a 5 1/2 year old why we're not Jewish, what being Jewish means, that we're Christian/Protestant/Gentile...something. When actually faced with these questions, it is sometimes hard to figure out how to explain something, so that she can understand. Nevermind, that I won't even get in to the circumcised/uncircumcised issue. :)

Well, we're not Jewish, but I did not have a problem with her drawing a Menorah on her Sunday School teachers gift tag...however, I was slightly puzzled when she included Santa Claus and Rudolph sitting on the Menorah (I can tell that Public School is paying off already...LOL). Below is the back of Julie's gift tag for Miss Lisa, her SS teacher.

Rudolph is the red creature on the right, and Santa is the green one...I have a few questions regarding her drawing of Santa, but I'll save that for a later date. I'm still trying to figure out how to explain "why were not Jewish?"

Dinner for 25 of Their Closest Friends

Last Saturday morning the girls had a wonderful time playing "restaurant," and feeding their favorite stuffed animal customers. My entire living room was covered in play dishes, stuffed animals, and plastic food. I love when the girls play so well together.



Today Joel had a 6 month well-visit at the pediatrician. He is now 15lbs. 13oz., and 25 1/2 inches long. He had to have 3 shots today. I hate those moments, and I can't look when the nurse gives him the shots, but Joel handled it well. He cried a little after the 3rd shot, but was over it quickly. He received a free book today, with his visit. The doctors office has started a new program, to encourage reading. Up until the age of 6, each kid will receive a free book with every well-child visit. Our kids love books...although I'm not sure the program is working, because Joel still can't read.

Dave has his last test this coming Thursday for the First Responder course. Once he takes, and passes, this exam, he'll be a certified First Responder. He passed the pracitcal exam last week. He had to work on a real person, while being tested, to make sure he didn't forget anything. To prepare, he practiced on Julie, while I went over the check-list. Julie laid on the living room floor and I made up the situation that Julie had fallen from her swing set. Julie was perfectly still as Dave examined her, checking her pulse, etc. He asked the question "how did this happen?" Julie never missed a beat, she looked at Dave and said, "I was climbing on the monkey bars, I slipped and fell. I even got some dirt in my hair." This child is a born actress. I burst out laughing because she was so serious, and never even smirked. When Dave was feeling fingers and asking if it hurt, of course she said yes. I really think Julie believed that she had a swing set accident.

Julie loves to play around on the piano (no formal lessons yet), and she has figured out how to play Three Blind Mice and Jingle Bells. Dave & I have helped her a little bit, but she is figuring out a lot of the notes on her own. I do believe this child has musical ability...she already plays the piano better than I do. :)

We're headed to Erie for Christmas next week. We are planning our own family Christmas this coming Saturday. We're going to wake up and act like it's Christmas morning with our kids. I'm really looking forward to it, but I have tons of wrapping to do, and Dave has one big gift that needs assembled. Have I mentioned that I still haven't hung our stockings yet?

Christmas Tea

Today was the Ladies Christmas Tea, that I've been planning since September. I am too exhausted to post much about it tonight. I will say, however, that it was wonderful! We had 58 ladies attend, which is 25 more than last year. I set my camera out to take with me, and forgot it (I had about 100 things I had to take with me, so it's not surprising I forgot something...I just wish it wasn't my camera), so I'm waiting on my mother-in-law to give me copies of her pictures. I'm so bummed, b/c I really wanted to post some right away.

Now it's time to fold bulletins for church tomorrow, and call it a night. I was going to try to watch the new Hallmark Christmas movie tonight, but I have a feeling I'll be asleep before it's on. Oh well...I'll catch it on a re-run next year.

3 AM and Wide Awake!

Why is it that the best time for planning your days activities takes place in the middle of the night when you can't sleep? I received a 3AM wake-up call from Joel on Tuesday, and after getting him settled back in I could not go back to sleep. This is not uncommon for me, just ask Dave. He is often awakened by my heavy sighing and tossing & turning, that preceed my inability to sleep. I always figure if I sigh loud enough, and make enough movement in bed he'll wake up, ask what's wrong, and allow me to list off the things that are on my mind. This has yet to happen. In fact, what is more common, is hearing him drowsily ask, "are you okay?" Then, when I reply, "No, I can't sleep," I get an "I'm sorry," followed by his snoring. The next morning he often can't even remember this scenario taking place. Oh well...

I have mentioned before that I am planning a Ladies Christmas Tea for our church, and it is scheduled for this coming Saturday. Last year was our first year doing this, and it was a success. My sister-in-law, Andrea, was our special speaker, and soloist. It was wonderful. We had 33 in attendance, which is great for a church with a congregation that averages around 45 each Sunday. As I did the planning this year, I planned for 40. It came to my attention this past Sunday that we had close to 60 coming. Okay...never fear...we have enough table hostess'. So this is where the 3 AM sleeplessness comes in. I began counting people in my head (I should've counted sheep), and realized I forgot about some people, and was now approaching 65+. Keep in mind, we do not have a fellowship hall. This is a one-room church, with a bathroom. We are clearing out the sanctuary, and setting up tables. So, at 3:30 AM I made my way to the living room to make lists, layout a floor plan for the tables, assign people to their table hostess, etc. I took a benadryl, hoping that I would get drowsy as I worked. I should have known this wouldn't work, since I can take Benadryl in the middle of the day, and never feel phased. I finally went back to bed at 4:30, and dozed off.

Dave came to my rescue Tuesday and set up tables at the church for me. We looked it all over, re-arranged, arranged some more, and figured we can only handle 65 people...no more. Great! I never imagined that our simple ladies Christmas tea would turn in to a waiting-list only event. I am excited for Saturday, and I can't wait to see how the Lord is going to use this.

On another note:
After Julie got home from school yesterday she was sitting in the living room, chatting away with me. I asked her how music class was that day and she began to sing a song about Spinning the Dreidel. Well, I asked the obvious questions..."Are you learning about Hanukkah in school?" To which she replied "Nope," and kept on singing about the dreidel.

More Than 100 Posts...

I discovered that as a blogger, once you've reached 100 posts, you are to type 100 things about yourself. First of all, I missed the 100th post, 19 posts ago. WOW! Secondly, I know no one wants to read 100 things about me...so I'll take a hint from a friend, and fellow-blogger, and try to come up with 50. Bare with me...
1. My full name is Kristen Marie Bierer Miles.
2. My mom has always called me Kristy.
3. I had 4 imaginary friends as a child: Cookie, Sassy, Hoddy & Whitney Price.
4. Whitney Price was my alcoholic husband who died in a drunk driving accident.
5. I don't think I really knew what an alcoholic was, at age 3, but I know this made my Grandma Andrews very nervous that I could imagine such things.
6. I took horse-back riding lessons for a summer.
7. I lived in Sedona, AZ, for two years, as a child.
8. As a child I wished my name was Kelly...I felt that Kristen was such a boring name.
9. My parents almost named me Rebecca.
10. My brother used to practice "Karate Kid" moves on me.
11. I LOVE Reeses PB Cups
12. I played softball in 7th grade
13. I love having my face tickled, it puts me to sleep.
14. I snuck out of the house one time, as a teenager, and hung out with some friends in my back yard. (Probably if I had just asked permission, I would have been allowed) Sorry mom & dad...
15. I used to catch cray fish in the creek. I raised one in a bucket for two weeks, until a raccoon ate it.
16. I sang in Chorus all through school.
17. I was the scorekeeper for the boys basketball team for 3 years.
18. I was "Munchkin #1" in the All-County Musical "The Wiz", in 11th grade.
19. I sang and danced in a group called "Youth Connection" my senior year, and wore a Minnie Mouse costume.
20. I attended Word of Life Bible Institute.
21. During "study hours" at WOLBI my roommates and I would dress up and put on lots of make-up to annoy our RA.
22. I like country music.
23. I have always wanted to be a hairdresser.
24. I worked for a financial planning company.
25. My baby toes turn sideways when I walk.
26. I have flat feet.
27. My husband is my best friend
28. I spent most of my high school years grounded because I rolled my eyes a lot. Although, I swear I never did.
29. I can wiggle my nostrils like a rabbit.
30. My favorite color is red.
31. I don't like "collectibles"
32. I am a master at loading a dishwasher and making everything fit.
33. I love to bake chocolate chip cookies.
34. I love being a mom!
35. I love being a wife!
36. I took 3 years of piano lessons, but I don't play well.
37. I have one cat...I used to have two, but he ran off and became Coyote bait. *sniff*
38. I loved spending summer vacations at the family hunting camp.
39. I love sled riding, but haven't done it in a long time.
40. I've never been able to water ski successfully, but I've tried.
41. I love the show "What Not To Wear" (although I'm pretty sure there are days I'd be a pretty good candidate for the show, rather then looking like I follow the rules of the show)
42. I have great friends, whom I'm very thankful for.
43. I am a Christmas movie junkie, and it drives my husband bonkers.
44. I often have the urge to listen to music really loud, and sing really loud, when I'm driving somewhere by myself.
45. I like to read
46. I used to love doing the quizzes in TEEN magazine, as a teenager.
47. I have milked a goat and a cow.
48. My very first favorite song was "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton
49. I secretly despise doing anything relating to crafts. I don't mind if others do them, but pull out a glue gun, and I'm outta here. :)
50. I LOVE Blogging!

Too Busy To Be Sick...

This title is the story of my life, or any mom's life, for that matter. There is never time in ones day, week, or month to be down with a cold. Well, for whatever reason, even though this seems logical, I am still stuck with a cold. Just a moment ago I asked Dave if I felt warm, because my eyes are burning. He felt my forehead (this is the most accurate test for a fever, anyone knows that), and said "no." I asked for the thermometer just to be sure. Well, I was right, I am burning up with a fever of 99.4...okay, stop laughing, I realize this is not "off the charts", but I still knew I was feeling warm. I love being right. Who doesn't?

Julie was home from school Thursday and Friday with a fever and upset stomach. Today, she is much better, and managed to play with her Polly Pocket dolls most of the day. I was beginning to think that she only felt well when she was glued to the television, but thankfully this is not true. Alayna still has a runny nose, and apparently when the nose runs, the mouth whines. Funny how those two go together.

Joel & I seem to be the last to get it. Dave is holding out, and so far has no sign of getting sick. Joel has not run a fever, but he is very congested, and his voice is hoarse when he cries. Poor little guy.

I mentioned that I don't have time to be sick, and I'll tell you why. Next Saturday, the 13th, I have a Ladies Christmas Tea planned for our church. Tomorrow, after church, I have a meeting to finalize the plans for the tea. On top of all this...rewind a few months -- my friend, Lori, thought we should put together a recipe collection for our church. We had people submit their favorite recipes, and we planned to put it into a small book, and give it out as table favors at the tea. Great idea! Now, fast-forward to this weekend -- the recipes have all been typed by Lori and Diana (or Danielle, I'm not sure). Lori brought me the disk with the recipes, and I agreed to print them on the laser printer. I had no idea that so many recipes were submitted. I am now up to my eyeballs in printing a 50 page book (half pages, front and back). We're making 60 copies. I had suggested a while ago having it printed by a publishing company, but was under the impression there was not enough recipes to do this. So, here we are, one week before the tea, and determined to get this done. My precious husband, who is not sick, has taken time from his work, to help with the kids, so I could lock myself in my office and print, edit, print, get mad at the computer, print, print, get VERY mad at the computer, and print some more.... I still need to finish tomorrows bulletin for church, but I'm waiting for the last pages of this book to print, before I can do that. I'm surprised the printer is not smoking, and I'm thankful that we have not run out of ink, or paper.

Tomorrow, after church, after my meeting, several of us will form a line to assemble these books. After that is done, this week I can get the shopping done for the tea, bake a batch of cookies, make some finger foods, clean my house, and then attend the tea next Saturday....when that's all said and done, THEN I will have time to be sick. Oh, not really, it'll be a week away from Christmas and my shopping isn't done yet. Oh well...*achoo*

Fevers Fevers and More Fevers

The cold/flu season is upon us. It never fails, as soon as Thanksgiving is over the colds set in. Why is that? I'm convinced that any, and all, exposure to extended family, for more than 20 minutes at a time, brings on a virus of some sort. No offense family, but I think my theory is proving to be true.

Alayna started with a fever of 104 Sunday night. She is very prone to high fevers. She only has the common cold symptoms, but she did run a fever for 48 hours. Today her fever was gone, and all that was left was a very drippy, wet, nose. I think that means she's healthy...

Julie seemed fine when she got home from school today, but tonight she asked me to take her temperature before bed. I did, just to prove she WASN'T sick, and sure enough, she had a fever of 100.3. It's a good thing I don't practice medicine for a living. It looks like she'll be staying home from school tomorrow.

I know I'm very sleep deprived right now, and that's to be expected with sick kids in the house. However, I didn't realize how bad it was getting until I went out and ran a few errands today, alone. While driving home I began to feel too warm, so instead of turning the heat down, I turned the radio up. Scary... I eventually figured out that I should turn the heat down, and for cryin' out loud, turn the radio down, too, it was loud enough to begin with.

Here are a couple pictures of Joel. He's such a happy little guy. Don't ask me what the wet spot is on his leg, in the one picture. It's either drool, or spit-up, or water, or ice cream, or snow, or maybe his diaper leaked...I can't be expected to know everything all the time.