Happy Birthday Jason!

Saturday was Jason's 28th birthday. We tried to make it special and great, but as things sometimes happen with little ones, they ruled the day. We decided that we were going to go shopping together, but Cailyn wouldn't listen and stay close so we left early. We tried again after a nap, but it only got worse. Well, if you read my last blog, I got sick that night so Jason had to take care of the girls and clean the kitchen and all the other stuff that has to be done on Saturdays before church. Jason is so patient with us, I certainly don't deserve such a loving man. In the midst of all of that we tried to throw a party. He told me he wanted a cookie cake and that he didn't want me to decorate it(probably because I am not very good at it), but I found a way to decorate it so it would be special for his birthday.

Don't be fooled, it took him 2 times to get them all out!

We were worried the smoke alarm might go off.

Cailyn helped me to decorate the presents.

Jason, we love you!

Happy Birthday!

Lost Lunches

This week has been very interesting. Wednesday night Cailyn woke up and came to sleep in our bed with us. She hardly ever does this, so when she does, we usually let her. All of a sudden she gets out of bed and tells me that she needs to go stinky in her diaper. She does this in the bathroom so she starts walking down the hall and halfway there she throws up twice. Remnants of her dinner are all over the hall and she is screaming and crying. Jason takes her to the bathroom and comforts her and I proceed to clean the hallway(we are blessed to have laminate flooring now). So we change her pajamas and put her in our bed for the night. Then she starts to throw up again. Luckily I stopped it from getting all over the bed. This time most of it ended up on Cailyn and a bit on my pillow. Well, Jason changed the pillow case and helped me get her ready for a bath. I bathed her, found new pajamas(again), and put her back in our bed. I then fell asleep and Jason sat up with a trash can in hand to help her to keep it cleaner next time. Then Jessica woke up to eat and when I came back to get in bed, Jason was asleep and my side of the bed was taken by a beautiful, sick 3 year old. So, I got into Cailyn's bed and about 6:00 that morning I heard Jessica throw-up in her bed. So, I changed her and put her into Cailyn's bed with me. The next day, Jason was exhausted at work and the girls and I took about a 4 hour nap, skipping breakfast and lunch.

The following morning I was up feeding Jessica and as soon as she was done eating, she threw it up all over me. That was about 4:00 am, but not too early for a shower that day. Jessica seemed to feel fine that day, so I thought we were over it. Not so. All day Saturday I felt a little weird, but tried to go about bussiness as usual. That night I got sick as well. All night long I was throwing up. It was about every hour - 2 hours. Today I am feeling some pains in my lower back. Almost like labor pains(for those of you who have delivered a baby).

Needless to say, I did not go to church today. Well, since Jessica is still breast-fed, she stayed home with me. She is having a great time today. She gets all the attention from Mommy and gets to play with some of Cailyn's toys without them being ripped from her hands.

I can tell that I am starting to recover. So I think that it is just a 24-hour bug. Thank goodness!

The Classics

OK, This is important. The other night Mindi and I had a disscussion, but we couldn't come to an agreement, so we decided to put it in YOUR hands. Please see our most recent poll and consider the question carefully. Your vote will determine bragging rights in the Holloway Household for the next month or so, so we ask again that you carefully consider the question and place you vote to the following question: Would you consider the movie "The Goonies" to be a classic?

Selective Hearing

So we are driving to a meeting in Weatherford the other day listening to Christmas music on the radio. "Jingle Bells" comes on and Cailyn excitedly says, "I like this song." Then she proceeds to sing along: "Tinker Bell, Tinker Bell. . . " Just thought that was hilarious. Everything is about Tinker Bell and fairies right now.

Life is only as good as the memories we make

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

In all of my years in Texas I don't think that it has ever snowed on Thanksgiving. There is a first for everything. It was so nice. We had to come and set up our Christmas tree and get out our Christmas CDs and movies. It finally feels like the Holidays to me. Now I have this incredible urge to bake.

I love Christmas!

Service

Lately I have been emotionally down. I don't know why, I don't have a reason to be sad or depressed, yet I have been. I thought that I needed to be alone, but that didn't work. I then thought that I needed to have adult interaction, so I invited a friend to come visit with her children, but she cancelled.

Then, a sister I visit teach with invited me and the girls over for hot cocoa and cookies while we help her to decorate her Christmas tree. She has some physical ailments and needed assistance preparing the cocoa and cookies to serve to her guests. Some youth in our ward came over to help(as is tradition for these particular youth) and there was my answer. All I needed was to spend some time serving someone else, you know, take the energy I was using to feel depressed and spend it helping someone else.

I have been taught my entire life that service is important, and I am obviously still learning this aspect of the Gospel. It seems so simple, however it takes many repititions of the same lesson to sink in(for me anyway). I guess in my mind I have always thought that service is for the person you are serving, but really it helps me just as much, if not more. It is like when you teach something you learn it better. I am sure that those of you that are reading this are probably thinking "Duh", but for me it was an answer to my prayer that I couldn't figure out on my own. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to help that wonderful sister and be lifted by her at the same time. I truly believe that she helped me more than I could ever help her.

Cailyn and Jessica had a great time playing with Dillon, the sister's grandson.

Cailyn had to keep putting the ornaments on because she kept pulling them off the tree. She had a great time and was excited to start working on our tree at home.