We had a great time tonight trick or treating. This was the first year Liam really understood the concept and he was so funny! He kept looking at the candy as if he was thinking, "Really, you're just GIVING me candy!?" So cute! The kids did a great job being polite, staying off lawns and landscaping, taking only one piece if they handed them a bowl, etc.

Again this year we did "candy for dinner", a once a year treat which they think is the coolest thing ever! :) Here we are on our way out the door. We first traveled to a neighborhood with two friends of ours, then stopped at another friends' on our way home. It ended up getting pretty cold so we didn't stay out as long as we usually do, but still had plenty of fun!

Hope you and yours had a wonderful Halloween as well!

The kids decided to be Woody, Buzz, and Jessie from Toy Story for Halloween this year! I really didn't think Olivia would want to join the boys in their "theme", but she surprised me and decided to be Jessie!

Sunday we went to get pictures taken with their costumes. Our local theatre still had Toy Story 1 and 2 in 3D, I had two free passes, and decided how fun it would be to take them after pictures while still in their costumes, so that's what we did! And the kids did so great!

I really wasn't sure how it would be with two movies back to back, but since our theatre has free refills on pop and popcorn, that helped keep their attention too! We had lots of fun, and had many comments! :)

Health is certainly a front runner in many newscasts lately, and it's been a top contender in our home as far as issues as well. Last Tuesday Liam felt quite warm when I picked him up from day care. When we got home, I read the thermometer at a warm 102.3 degrees! Needless to say he was home with me the next day, lounging and playing and perfectly content on his Motrin/Tylenol regimen. During the night he had some coughing with a little during the day as well. Braeden's school called around lunchtime to say that he was in the office complaining of a sore throat, so not him, but that he didn't have a fever and that if it was ok they'd give him a cough drop and send him back to class. I agreed, thinking maybe he knew I was home and wanted to "be sick" too.

After school he was running the same fever Liam had the day before. During the night, both were now coughing. We were home Thursday with both, and Dr. appts were made. There is just too much going around with many similar symptoms: strep, upper respiratory infections, flu, and of course H1N1. At Braeden's appt, the first, the doctor assured me it was upper resp, no meds were needed, and it just needed to run it's course. I cancelled Liam's appt, and we were home again Fri.

Mind you, I needed to stay with them and am glad I did, but also know that I had 10 sick days and 2 personal to start the school year. I used one sick day for Liam's EEG appt, he has another in December using a second sick day, Olivia has her 3 month appt in November using a third, and I stayed home with the boys 3 days last week using sick days number four, five, and six. That leaves a whopping FOUR sick days and TWO personal for the REST of the YEAR!!! :( Not to mention, I'm going to (hopefully) need days for interviews out of town! I was planning my two personal those days, so that would bring me to four sick days. Once those are used up, it "costs" quite a bit, straight out of my paycheck to take a day "off." YUCK!!!!!! I'm praying for health!!!! :)

The boys fevers/coughs lasted into the weekend. Liam finally was better Saturday night, and Braeden Sunday night. We were housebound Tues night- Sunday night with the exception being a couple hours Sat and Sun to take Olivia to her soccer games (the boys and I stayed in the van out of the cold). Finals were this weekend. Her team won both games Sat, moving into semi-finals on Sunday. On Sunday they played, one of four teams playing two games at the same time. There were originally 13 teams in her age division. Her team was great, and she played wonderfully, but they unfortunately lost the semi finals. She was heartbroken and crying, poor thing. I told her over and again how awesome she did and how proud she should be for how far they did get.

Monday the boys were to go to Liam's day care for the day (Columbus day - no school) and Olivia and I were going to take a girls day to shop, have lunch, etc. Liam's provider ended up with the 24 hour flu and was closed that day. :( Poor thing! Luckily it was just the 24 hour version though, as she's expecting! :) I NEEDED to get out of the house, and decided to do most of our girls day anyway with the boys. We went to lunch at Panera and hit the mall where I shopped at a number of stores for the kids, some Christmas gifts (have to love the movie playing at Disney store to get a few clearance items and the kids never knew!), and even tried on clothes myself at two stores. It was the best outing I think we've ever had! There were NO issues! You can't say that all the time! :) They just did SO GREAT! We even stopped at Toys R Us for some Christmas "window shopping."

Finally though, the boys are better, we were all back at school today, and having a great time! :)

In other health news... I hit the 60 pound mark this past week! :) yay! It's been so much slower with the more recent weight loss since I don't have as much to lose, and because I have not had the time to exercise lately. Hoping to get back into using the Wii and DVDs at night again soon! At least I'm not gaining though! :)

Can't share much right now, but some things came to light today that I'm really needing prayer on. God knows those specifics. Please pray for His guidance, for HIM to open or close doors, and just for everything to come to be that is the BEST for ALL concerned. Thank you so much! I hope to be able to share more in the next week... I appreciate all your thoughts and prayers, please leave a comment if you feel led, I could use the support. :)