my boy has the flu!

Greyson is so sick and has been since Saturday. He has been laying around on the couch and sleeping most of his days away since Saturday. He isn't throwing up or anything like that, he just has a bad cough, he's sneezing and has a constant high fever. We haven't been able to get him to eat anything at all. The other day, Steve went to McDonald's and got him a nugget happy meal with a shake (per Greyson's request) but he just picked at it. We took him to the doctor yesterday and he said that Greyson has the flu and an ear infection. He is on antibiotics for the ear infection. The doctor didn't seem too worried. He said that the flu is going around right now and that it just had to be waited out. Since we can't get him to eat, were trying to get him to drink Gatorade as often as possible. He seems to really only want water to drink. We've been giving him tylenol/motrin daily to reduce his fever but as soon as it wears off, the fever jumps right back up again. He has never been sick like this before, so I'm worried about him. Luckily, he's got his Dora DVD's (thanks to Grandpa Dave for those...they're a HUGE hit!) to keep him entertained while he's been sick. He dozes off during most of the episodes, but he seems to feel comforted having them to watch during his awake periods. Please pray for Greyson that he gets better soon!

And here's me...

This was ME at 11 months old helping MY mom out with the dishes. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

Cael loves to wash dishes just like his mommy

We turned our backs on him for one minute tonight and this is where he turned up. It was so cute I had to grab my camera immediately. For some reason, he is infatuated with our dishwasher. He can be on the other side of the house and hear that dishwasher open and he comes flying down the hall into the kitchen just as fast as he can! It's gotten to the point where I have to wait until he is napping or in bed for the night before I can load or unload the dishwasher. He always wants to unload the dishes, whether they are clean or dirty...it makes no difference to him.

I Have a Cubbie Bear!

Well, not a REAL bear exactly. We just got our Awana program up and running and last Wednesday was the very first night of it. Greyson is 4 years old so he is a 'Cubbie Bear'. He really enjoyed it! He learned a bible verse, a bible story and played 'Duck, Duck, Goose'. He also pledged allegiance to the american and christian flags for the first time!
I'm so glad that we finally got the Awana program up and running. It was hard work but it was definitely worth it. We were worried that we weren't going to have enough volunteers but we actually had more leaders than kids the very first night. This is definitely a blessing, it leaves a great opening for growth. We had 23 kids total from kindgergarten - 6th grade.
Originally, Steve and I were going to be the commanders because we really didn't know of anybody who had the time or interest in taking on such a great responsibility. We didn't know how we were going to do that AND do youth group on the same night, but we prayed about it and decided to just do our best and leave the rest up to God.
About a week or so before the first night of Awana, a couple in our church approached Steve and said that they would be willing to take on the position of Awana Commander for two years. They were hoping to be able to train somebody else to take their place in the meantime. Shortly after this meeting, we found out that there is a young guy in our church who wants to follow our commander around and learn the ropes so that, in two years, he can become the next commander! What a blessing! God certainly does answer prayers!!
We are really excited about our Awana program and about the fact that we get to be so involved in it. I'm also very thankful that Greyson is old enough to participate in it as well. We put some of our teens on a rotation schedule so that they will be able to serve one Wednesday a month in Awana. Everybody gets to be involved and that makes it so much more exciting for everyone!

To learn more about Awana programs, go to www.awana.org