New Year's Eve

Well, we had planned to be in NC for the New Year but after those plans fell through we had to come up with something new to do. Our friends, Lisa and Bill, had talked about going up to St. Augustine and staying the night without any children to celebrate. After I talked to my mom about watching the children Bill and Lisa booked us a room in the same hotel as them using their hotel points (Bill's a truck driver so he has A LOT of points). We all got tickets to a dinner party at the White Room which is in the historic part of St. Augustine. The tickets included hor'dourves, salad, a dinner buffet, and a few drinks. All served to us on the roof of the restaurant where we could watch the fireworks and dance to the DJ. The tables sat 10 so we got to meet 6 new people over dinner which was fun and interesting. After we checked into the hotel and did a little outlet shopping we went down to the shops in the historic area and walked around before dinner. When it was 7:00 it was time to go up and we found our table and started enjoying the food and drinks. The food was really good and I couldn't get enough of the stuffed mushrooms or bacon wrapped scallops. Peter and I aren't really into drinking so after we used the drink tickets that came with the package we didn't spend any more money on drinks. As the count down approached we were ready to go back to the hotel. Something about a bunch of drunk people making fools of themselves just doesn't do it for us. We stayed until after midnight of course but mostly for Bill and Lisa's sake, we didn't want to ruin their fun. We had a really good time though and it was quite the experience. Peter and I usually stay close to home for New Year's and maybe go to a friends house nearby but we are usually back home before the count down. It was really cool to get dressed up and eat on the roof of somewhere new and hear the music and see the fireworks unobstructed, however, I think next year we will stay home and celebrate with the kids. ;)

The joys of being a homeowner

Well, this Christmas is just not going as we had planned. Between Abbi's Scarlet Fever and some other disappointments we are trying to make the best of everything. Tuesday morning we awoke to Abbi telling us Bresa's carpet in her room was wet but they didn't do it. Peter jumped up to stop the overflowing toilet that had apparently been running since sometime in the middle of the night. The bathroom was a good inch deep and the water had come through the walls into Bresa's room, the living room and, of course, the hallway. Peter used the ShopVac and picked up as much water was possible and then I called my friends and rounded up as many fans as I could. My friend, Kelli, even brought over her carpet steam cleaner so we could clean out any smell from the wet carpet. I set to work cleaning the carpets and Peter set up all the fans and we waited. We were supposed to leave for NC around 1:00 that afternoon but after this we knew we wouldn't be going anywhere. We figured we would wait and see and maybe leave in the morning but when it came time we didn't want to risk the chance of mold and mildew. So much for seeing snow in the mountain house our friend's, Bill and Brenda, had invited us up to. Peter played with the toilet and it seemed to work again but then this morning it had issues and wouldn't flush well. I guess it is time to get the septic tank pumped. Peter arranged for the guy to come out and when he did he found that our tank didn't need pumping but the filter needed cleaning. We went ahead and pumped the tank and our neighbor had his done too since he was around. Apparently there is a filter that needs cleaning every year, this would have been a good thing to know when we built the house over 7 years ago. So much for our snow trip, but I suppose things could've been a lot worse.

A day out

Now that Abbi was feeling better and had been fever free for more than 24 hours I decided we needed to get out of the house. Peter and I took the children to the dollar theater in Altamonte where we watched Despicable Me. It was pretty cute and well worth the $1 or so that we spent on it. After the movie we crossed over 436 to go to the Altamonte Mall. Peter needed to get something from the Apple store and we weren't in any rush to get back home. While at the mall we ran into our friend, Michelle, and her girls. Since this mall is a good 40 minutes away from where we both live it was quite the coincidence. When we left the mall I was in need of a something sweet so we stopped by Cold Stone Creamery and me and the children shared a banana split while Daddy had some sort of cheesecake ice cream. After running a couple more errands in town we headed home for some dinner. It was nice to finally get out of the house today.

Chillin'

After a hard day of playing with all the new toys it was time to relax a little bit and take in one of the new movies the kids got. Tonight's feature was Veggie Tales, Wizard of Ha's. All the children piled up in our bed to enjoy the show. Even baby Javan sat and watched with us with only minimal squirming.

Christmas Pictures

Scarlet Fever on Christmas Day

Abbi was doing well all day but when we got to Grandma's house around 5:30 she started to complain about not feeling well again. We all ate some dinner but Abbi didn't want anything and stayed on the couch. I held her on the couch for a little bit and noticed a small rash that had broken out on the back of her neck and upper back. It wasn't too bad and seemed to look better when I pulled her hair up and let the air get it a bit. I thought it may just be a heat rash because she was awfully warm and snuggled in a blanket. After eating, Peter went to CVS to get her some medicine that was child age appropriate and she eagerly drank it up when he returned. After a little bit Abbi feeling better and up a moving a bit. The kids opened their presents and Abbi even ate a little bit of food that Papa prepared for her. She didn't get too much down before she didn't want anymore. I didn't press her on it because I knew she wasn't feeling well. Peter packed up the car with all the new toys and we got in to head home. Before we had left the driveway I saw Abbi making a face and I asked her what was wrong, she said her stomach was hurting her. I asked if she had to throw up or go to the bathroom but she said no. I went inside to get a towel in case of any accidents and then we left for home. Shortly after our ride started Abbi started crying in pain and holding her belly. She was curling up in a ball and screaming like she has never done before. Abbi is not dramatic in the least so any commotion from her is cause for alarm. I thought maybe she had gas but she insisted that wasn't the problem. On Christmas night there weren't a whole lot of options for us as far as doctors go. Peter and I discussed taking her to the ER but that wasn't really something we wanted to do. I called my friend Rena, who is a pediatrician, and told her what was going on. She said it could be a number of minor things but one thing we wanted to make sure it wasn't was appendicitis. She reminded me of Urgent Care Centers and I remembered there was an After Hours Pediatric Office right off the toll road we were on. We got off and I had Abbi walk a little bit (which she did with no more pain giving me some relief that it wasn't appendicitis) but the pain didn't seem to get better either moving to the thought that it wasn't gas. We took her inside the office and did the paperwork and insurance thing and then they took her vitals. The whole while Abbi was still screaming in pain and couldn't hold still. I lifted her up to the exam table and she doubled over holding her belly and rocking. I wanted to cry right along with her but I knew she needed me to be calm to give her some reassurance that she was going to be alright. We had to wait for the doctor which seemed like forever but I am sure it wasn't very long at all and while we were waiting I noticed Abbi's rash had spread to the majority of her body, leaving really only her face, hands, and feet alone. When the dr came in I told him that Abbi had had her flu shot and she was up to date on all vaccines. He asked about vomiting, sore throat, colds, and headaches, all of which I told him she had none of. I told him about a cough she had for a few days now, it was dry though and came mostly at night. He asked a few more questions eluding to flu symptoms but then I told him about her rash. He took a good look at her rash and said we needed to take a strep test and check for Scarlet Fever. The whole while I am texting Peter (who had the other two kids in the lobby) and Rena who is helping me keep my sanity. Scarlet Fever sounds so awful and the first thing I think of is all the deaths it contributed to in the early 1900s. Of course, this was before the discovery of penicillin but anything that could cause death and is now building fort in my baby girl is terrifying to say the least. Abbi's pain started to subside and then would come about again giving her a few moments of peace between the screaming fits. The nurse came in to perform the throat culture and I had to hold Abbi down so the nurse could get her swab. Poor Abigail started coughing and crying once again, I held her and told her how well she did for the nurse and that it was all over now and she didn't have to go through that again. When she calmed down I held her hands and leaned on her and prayed aloud with her, asking for healing and wisdom for the doctors to provide the proper diagnosis. Soon following that, while we waited for the test results, Abbi fell asleep on the table. The doctor came in and told me the test was positive and gave me a prescription for antibiotics. He told me she will be contagious for 24 hours after she starts the meds so she needed to be away from her siblings as much as possible in that time. We left the office and dropped off her script and then came home and I put all the kids to bed while Peter ran back out to pick the meds up. Poor baby Abigail has Scarlet Fever. Hopefully she will sleep well tonight and have no more painful stomach fits. Tomorrow she will have to stay in her room, this is no way to celebrate Christmas. I praise God that it is only Scarlet Fever, something that today is completely and easily treatable. The dr said she should feel better in a day or two and her fever should subside in that time also.

Gingerbread House

A lady I know at church, Kathy, found me at one of the Christmas Eve services and told me her family had made something for our family that was in one of the back rooms. She said she couldn't bring it out because she would get mobbed by all the kids and that the entire thing was completely edible. I didn't know what it could be but after the second service I found a beautiful Gingerbread house with a guitar on the front that said "Chellee Guitars" on it. Too cute! You can't tell in the pictures but there were windows on the side and there was a battery powered candle in the house so the windows lit up, it was really cool. Me and the children have made gingerbread houses in the past but even though they claimed to be edible they were always too gross to actually consume. This house, on the other hand, is really good! Thank you Thomas' for the wonderful and delicious Gingerbread house!!

Praise to God for sending His Son

Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you are all surrounded by love and family and especially God's peace and grace today. Peter and I awoke to find the girls already breaking in their toys they opened last night. I got Javan up while Daddy made pancakes for us all. After breakfast I helped open some of the toys and Daddy showed Javan how to play his drums (he didn't need very much instructing). A bit later I went into Abbi's room to find her in bed, saying she didn't feel very well. I took her temperature and she had a very low grade fever of 99.8. I gave her some fever reducer and pretty soon she was up playing with her toys again. I helped her with her Lego house and after giving her a few directions she had built a beautiful "Apple Tree House" for her Lego people to live in. Bresa read all the books she received and some of Abbi's too and while Javan took a nap us girls watched Toy Story 3 while Daddy cleaned his shop a bit. Tonight we are going over to Mom and Jim's for dinner with Janell and Wyatt and Brian. Grandma has a couple more presents for the kids and they are excited to see what else they are getting.

Merry Christmas Eve!!

After working all day on cleaning rooms and straightening things it was finally time to get ready for the Christmas Eve services at our church. Peter was playing for both of the services so he had to be at the church early so I got the kids all dressed up and pretty to meet him there closer to the service time. We made sure to put out cookies and milk for Santa just in case he should come while we were out. I told the girls not to expect too much because it shouldn't be too late when we get home but we figured we should be prepared. The 6:00 service was geared toward kids and was very interactive and loud. They all had a great time and really enjoyed it but the 8:00 candlelight service was my favorite one. Much more mellow and soft and the sermon really spoke to me (as Pastor James' sermons often do). I wasn't sure how the kids would fare staying at the church for that long but Javan fell asleep when I put him in his stroller and Abbi curled up on the pew and laid her head on my lap and the man behind us put his coat over her as a blanket. Bresa came over to my other side and hugged me quietly and I truly felt blessed with what God has given me. After the second service had ended we talked to a few people but then went in one of the back rooms to wait for Daddy. He packed his things and then we were off to look at Christmas lights. I had to run by a friends house to help her out with something so Peter took the kids to a few neighborhoods to enjoy the show of lights. When they returned home I pulled in right behind them and we grabbed all our stuff from the cars and headed inside. Daddy saw it first followed by the children, soon lots of loud giggles and excitement filled the room, apparently, Santa had come while we were at church and set up all the presents, ate the cookies, drank the milk, and even fed the reindeer the carrot we left for them. The girls immediately started asking if we could open the presents now. I wasn't too sure, I was awfully tired and it was already getting late. Of course I gave in and after we all changed into more comfortable clothes we sat around the tree and took turns opening the gifts. The big gifts that were received were a drum kit for Javan, a new violin for Bresa (she outgrew her old one), and a keyboard for Abbi. A very musical Christmas for us at the Taylor house this year. Abbi really didn't ask for anything for Christmas, she wanted a CD player and a Tinker Bell movie. Well after some searching I found the perfect CD player for her. It is shaped like Cinderella's Carriage and is completely pink, and the best part is it comes with a working microphone so you can sing along to the music or on your own if you'd like. Peter and I said they should have called it Abbi's CD player and put her picture on the box because this was made just for her. I had to go to store to store and make lots of phone calls (everyone online was sold out) but I finally found a place that had 6 in stock. I didn't waste any time and went straight out to pick it up. That was the gift that Daddy and I gave to Abbi but is also for us because we are hoping we get to hear Abbi singing (something she only does if she thinks we aren't listening). Once everything was opened we were all ready to turn in. It will be nice not having to get up early to open the gifts, I could use a little extra sleep tonight.

2010 Christmas Card

This is the front cover of this year's Christmas cards. Sorry if you didn't receive one, send me your mailing address and I will put you on our list.

Morning Baking

I realized earlier in the week that we didn't have any cookies in the house and I know Santa won't come to a house without cookies. No problem, I was really in the mood for my favorite Peanut Butter Blossoms that I hadn't had in a long time. I ran to the store this morning to pick up a couple things and when I got home the girls helped me bake up a batch. Both Bresa and Abbi were great helpers. Bresa read the recipe and told me how much of what ingredients I needed and Abbi helped me pour them in and mix it up. In the end I rolled up the dough into balls and the girls then rolled them in sugar and put them on the cookie sheet. While they were baking the girls unwrapped a bunch of kisses so they would be ready to press into the warm cookies when I pulled them out of the oven. They were done in no time and the girls finished them up by adding the sweets. I can't wait to try them and I know Santa will appreciate all the hard work that went into making them just for him.

Second Try

This morning the weather was a lot nicer than it was on Saturday. We took our time getting up and dressed and then headed out the door to pick up Janell and Charlotte again. Bresa was at Grandma's house having a blast so it was just me, Javan, and Abbi again. We got to Janell's around 10:30 and then we all headed over to Chick-fil-a to get some lunch so we didn't have to spend as much in the park. After we were all filled up we made it to Sea World and let Abbi lead the way. The first thing she wanted to do was pet the string rays so we headed that way. After the sting rays we walked over to the underwater viewing of the dolphins. It was feeding time for them so they mostly stayed by the ledge to get fed but a few of them would come take a swim in the deeper water from time to time. Abbi really enjoyed that and Javan and Charlotte watched them intently too. Next we saw manatees, both from above and underwater. We see them all the time at Blue Springs, which is just down the road in our neighborhood, so we weren't as excited about them. On the way out of that exhibit there was an employee with a baby alligator that she was letting people pet. Abbi was a little timid but since the alligator was so small she stepped up and took a turn. She was very excited to be able to tell people she had pet an alligator! We got to see a lot more animals like penguins, puffins (my favorite), polar bears, turtles, sharks, and many more. I wasn't thinking and didn't bring any cash with me so Aunt Janell treated all the kids to a couple games and bought fish to feed the sea lions. We all took a turn throwing the fish but on my turn I pulled my arm back to throw and a bird came and stole my fish, oh well. It was pretty funny. My friends, Kelli and Woody, were at the park too so we stopped for a moment and met up with them just to say hi and such. We saw two shows, the Sea Lion and Otter show and also a Shamu show. Charlotte was very good and sat and watched the whole thing but Javan was not very interested and would rather try to climb the benches and what not. From when we entered the park, Abbi had said she wanted to go the roller-coaster so when we made it over to Shamu's Happy Harbor Abbi and I got in line for the kid roller-coaster. She was very brave while waiting and when it was our turn she climbed right in the car and sat down. When the bar that goes over your lap didn't lock right away she got pretty scared and was almost crying. I told her they wouldn't let us go without it locking but that didn't seem to satisify her. I tried to take a picture of us together but you can tell she is terrified. Finally the bar locked and then Abbi curled up in as much of a ball as she could and clung to me. I told her she had to sit up a little and actually look out. She didn't loosen her grip but she did look out a little. After the ride she said it was scary but before the day was over she wanted to go on it again. We stayed long enough for it to get dark and then we got to see all the pretty lights but we also almost froze to death. Thankfully, I had brought the kids hats and scarves and gloves so they were bundled a bit. We walked around and looked at the pretty lights and then we headed out of the park. We stopped at Panera for dinner and got some soup to warm us up. Once we had dropped Janell and Charlotte off at their house we drove over to Grandma's to pick up Bresa. Javan and Abbi were both long asleep by then so Grandma brought Bresa out to us in the car. Bresa talked to me for a while before she fell asleep and then we all went to bed when we finally made it home.

Change of Plans

This morning I took Abbi and Javan to Janell's house to meet her and Charlotte so we could all go to Sea World together. The day was pretty dreary and wet. There were storms expected for a better part of the day so when Janell couldn't find her pass I was a little relieved to know we wouldn't be walking around in it all day. We decided we would go to the FL Mall and just wander around. We ate lunch at the food court and then walked around. Janell picked up a few things but I didn't find anything I had to have. The kids were all very well behaved which was good because the mall was packed. When we left the mall it was busier than when we had arrived so we were happy to get out. On the way back to Janell's house we stopped at a frozen yogurt place that she frequents and got a nice treat. I think the name was Froyo's. The yogurt is in the same machines used for soft serve ice cream and they had probably a dozen flavors. You get a cup and fill it as full as you'd like with whatever you want and then go add toppings. They had lots of toppings to choose from and Abbi was excited she got to pick more than one. Once you have it all how you like it you go to the cashier and put it on a scale. The price is based on weight and if your yogurt weighs exactly 12 oz you get it free. We didn't come close which was good because we weren't trying and that would be A LOT of frozen yogurt. We are planning to try to go to Sea World on Thursday this coming week since we are both off and the kids are out of school. So far the weather looks much more promising.

Very Nice

After being sick on Wednesday and having to come sick home from work just after I got there and then returning yesterday to catch up for what I missed and do the days work, I was really looking forward to today. Peter and I headed over to Tina and Noah's house in the late morning with the kids. When we got there Tina and I left the boys and children and went out for some Panera Bread Lunch followed by some Christmas shopping and a wonderful manicure and pedicure. Once we finished we stopped by another store or two before heading back to her house. The boys had done well with the kids and were able to play some computer games as well. Peter's dad, Mike, was meeting us for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory in Winter Park so we headed out to meet him there. On the way we dropped Javan off at my mom's and then met up with Mike and Tim who had decided to come along. Today is Mike's 70th birthday so we had to make sure and celebrate it with him. We had a delicious and large meal at the Factory followed by a piece of cheesecake which we shared between us because we were all stuffed. After dinner we walked over to the movie theater and watched the third Narnia movie, Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Peter had been reading the book to the girls but hadn't quite finished it before tonight but they were very excited to see it. When Peter was little Mike had read all the books to him so it was a pretty cool thing to get these three generations together to see the movie. During the movie, the girls were cute by pointing out all the discrepancies between the movie and book. Peter was happy they were so excited but we had to tell them to be a bit quieter because we weren't the only ones in the theater. Abbi fell asleep during the end of movie and then Bresa fell asleep as soon as she got in the car. We picked up Javan and then had to take Bresa back to Tina's house because she is going to a play with them tomorrow.

Christmas Crafts

This morning seemed like as good a time as any to make some Christmas crafts with the children. I didn't really have anything with Javan's hand prints on it so I was excited to see what we could make. We started off with rudolf and traced our hands for the antlers and even our feet for the head. Javan saw the girls working on theirs so he was cooperative for me when I traced around him. The girls cut out red noses and drew the faces on and then it was time for the next craft. Christmas Tree from hand prints and what a mess it was! Again Javan watched as Bresa went first and then eagerly held out his hand for a blob of green paint and let me move his hand to make prints in the right shape. Once the trees were all decorated and lit with a star we moved on to our last craft. A wreath of hands from each of the children. We started with Bresa to make dark green hand prints and then moved on to Abbi who filled in the spaces with light green prints. Once they were fairly dry Javan added the last touch of a red bow to the bottom and I made a legend of the colors and who used what. Now we have to decide who gets what and what I get to keep.

Life Group Christmas Party

Tonight was our LG Party and it was awesome. Every year we get together outside of our usual meeting place and agenda and just fellowship and enjoy each other's company. This year every single member of our group was able to make it so we had a total of 27 people at the party. We were all hanging out before we were ready to pray and eat all the yummy foods everyone brought when there was a knock at the door. Everyone had already arrived so who could it be? Why, Santa Clause had heard about our party and decided to stop by and see the children! Bresa was really excited and recited her wish list ad if she had read it a million times in preparation. Abbi was pretty shy and didn't even want to go up to him but when he started handing out the candy canes she came around. Once Santa had left and we had pretty much devoured the food it was time for our gift exchange. Every year we each bring a present and then are assigned a number to determine which order we open in. You can pick a present from the pile or steal someone else's from them and then they have the option to open a new one or steal and so on. A gift can only be stolen twice and then it is dead. Our limit this year was just $10 a gift so there wasn't anything too spectacular but there were a few gifts that got fought over during the game. Woody had the idea to vote on the worst gift once all was said and done so we went around and looked to see what everyone had but it was almost unanimous that Peter ended up with the worst gift which was a pair of tweezers. Once the vote was confirmed Woody surprised him with a generous gift card to Chili's. The game was a lot of fun and after some gift trading, Peter and Andy broke out their guitars and we all sang Christmas songs. We are so blessed with the Life Group we have. A few of our members have been approached by church leaders who asked them if they would leave our group and become leaders of their own but no one is willing to leave. We thank God daily for the people He has put in our group and in our lives. Especially during this time of year, it is easy to see how much we are loved.

Disney Fun

Christina and Noah asked if they could take the girls to Disney for the day. Of course, I said yes. A day of fun for them and a day of quiet for me! I took the girls over to my mom's house on Friday night and on Saturday morning Tina and Noah went and picked them up and took them to the Magic Kingdom all day. I told them they better behave and from what I have heard they were really good. Tina said they were going to keep them today until about 6:00 and then bring them home with full tummies. Sounds great to me! Thanks Tina and Noah for taking such good care of the girls and letting Peter and I have some quieter time at home.

Our Christmas Tree