Sunday, October 31, 2010

HAPPY HALLOWEEN- Party & Trick or Treating!

After church and naps today, we headed to our friends house for their annual party! Only two sets parents were dressed up but we were INCREDIBLE so we were excited!
The kids turned three dads into mummies!

And spider on a spoon relay racesI love you, Mr. Incredible!
Yup, all those kids were at the party- each with two parents! it was crazy and so much fun!
Dash and Violet- you look Incredible!Most everyone stayed in the party's neighborhood to trick or treat but we headed back to our neighborhood so we could be closer to home! We went trick or treating with our sweet fairy neighbor, Alyssa!
The police were handing out candy so we had to get some before we headed to Jack and June's!
June makes special little treat bags for each of the neighbor kids and they love it! They also get to climb through the windows onto their porch to give Jack hugs!
We found Dorothy and Tigger Miller out on State Street too!
Home to count candy- Gotta Love it!
Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween- Church's Children's Choir!

Alaric is in a Children's Choir at church and today was their first ever performance. brian video taped the whole thing but I haven't downloaded it yet. I was sitting right in front of the with the words for the big kids on a big board so I was able to snap one fast picture!

The kids did great and the congregation was overjoyed! Alaric loves it!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Trick or Treat at Presby Hall and Trunk or Treat

Yup- that's us! We're the INCREDIBLES! And we had so much fun!
More than 200 people took part in the fellowship dinner before Trick or Treating at my church- kids, parents, grandparents, friends, and students!
Look at my sweet little bunny niece, Veronica- she was precious!
Even more sweet was V's cute little carrot-otherwise known as my favorite ( an only nephew) jack! Since we were in The Incredibles, we put Jack Jack next to Jack . There were very similiar in size!The kids went from dorm room to dorm room trick or treating. I'm not sure who loved it more, the kids or the college students!
After trick or treating, we all headed into the parking garage ( so nice to be away from any weather elements). Numerous cars had decorated and set up games and activities for kids to particiapte in. We kinda set up a "chill" area for little kiddos and ones that needed a break from the craziness. Biggest hit, and the easiest- a pool with leaves in it! The little ones played and threw leaves. Dracula laid dead at this car and you got to push the fog button.
John and Yoko Ono hosted this musical chairs station
Thing One and Thing Two had a blast at their trunk!And Cookie Monster hosted the Grand Prize Game!

My parents overdid the decorations and even had real lights this year!
Almost NINETY children participated this year and it was a BLAST!
Its fun as parents to dress up too. We had so much fun with the Harrell's!Papa's like my dad and Mike loved manning their station, handing out tons of candy and watching all the kids having so much fun at our church!Elastigirl, Violet, and Jack Jack!
these four took a break in the "chill" area!
And at the end of the night, Mike let folks pick fresh peppers from his garden instead of candy!

An interesting turn of events...

This past Tuesday, Brian received a call from his nurse in IC regarding his test results.

~His glucose and insulin were good ( GREAT NEWS)
~His cholesterol was good ( GREAT NEWS)
~His triglycerides were slighting elevated ( something to watch for)
~An autoimmune test was done to check inflammation in the body. It was slightly elevated. ( noted but nothing to do anything about now).
~His liver enzymes were OK. I guess there are numerous tests done on the liver to evaluate it's overall condition. Some that needed to go down did ( GREAT). Others did not ( Not so great). Some that needed to stay high did ( great). Others did not ( not so great).

Doctor Jolin in IC was going to review again and we are still waiting for an attack to come back so we again have more blood to look at.

Then the nurse began to tell Brian that the doctor reviewed his Cardiology report from his stress test in IC and was concerned. He asked that Brian get reffered to a local Cardiologist for some more testing.

WHAT??????

Brian told his nurse that the technician told him he was in great shape and not to worry. She said that he is in great shape but that doesn't mean there are no concerns with his heart. The technician never should have told him he had nothing to worry about that was not her place to say. Two concerns...at the peak of his exercise ( he ran at the highest incline and the top speed he could for 13 minutes) his blood pressure spiked to 209 over something ( I'm not good at the bottom number). I guess this is pretty high. Even though it evened out quickly, it's a concern. Also, he had 8 sinus wave changes during the 13 minutes on the treadmill. Until Tuesday, I had never heard of sinus waves.

There are 6 sinus wavesin every single heartbeat. They are lettered from p-u. Some waves dip down, others arc up. There are always teeny tiny changes in the waves based on breathing and activity, etc however there were 8 noted changes in the 13 minutes and it's something to look at.

SO, under quite a bit of stress, Bri called me at work on Tuesday to tell me the news. Perhaps its part of the amazing blessings we've felt through all of this ordeal but in my panic as I sat in a kindergarten class with my head down and took in all the information, I remembered that an 8th grade teacher at St. Matt's is a Cardiology nurse on the weekends and the summer. She's also a blog follower and big Fulton Family supporter so I sped down to her classroom and told her I needed to talk to her. She was such a blessing and explained to me what the sinus waves were, why they were a concern and also assured my that we are seeing a specialist because we wanted him to dig deeper, look harder, and not give up on us. That's what he is doing. He's looking at everything, he's seeing things others might not, and he's checking and double checking. Heart condition or not, he's being thorough and that's what we wanted. ( Thank God for people with knowledge and rational thoughts when I had neither).

Brian talked with his primary physician ASAP and we see him Monday evening. The last appointment of the day so Brian can explain all that has happened in the last two months and get the Cardiology referral and perhaps help us get it scheduled much sooner than later. Thursday evening we leave for Philidephia for Brian's best friend's wedding so we lose a few days of possible appointments next week too but we'll have 4 days the next week as well before we head back up to Iowa City.

In the meantime, we again ask for prayers and strength through this. Perhaps its nothing but an overly concerned GI specialist who wants to rule out everything but it could be more. We are grateful to get the news early and be proactive with Brian's health but it's also very hard to hear, very concerning since its the heart, and very frustrating since we really thought his heart was OK.

Again we wait and wonder and ponder why all this is happening now. We hope to have more answers soon. We'll be updating the blog as we learn anything at all.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Date Night!

SO, the blog I got the cute mummies from is also my new very favorite place to get date ideas! You've got to go there for really creative stuff. Some are over the top and expensive and ellaborate but most are super cheap or free including the one I chose for our datenight tonight.
TheBookstoreDate The site does all the work for you, including the invites and clues, etc.
Here's the gist....go to a bookstore and find a special place for the two of you...we chose the history section ( figures).

Go to the food section and pick a recipe that you think your partner would love. Share it.

Brian chose this awesome book ( gotta love the name)

and my favorite-anything chocolate and ooey gooey

Brian dreams of Giada so this one was a must!
Comfort food with a twist- right up Brian's alley!

Next head to the magazine and find a quiz to take together or an article to share.
Brian chose to share one on etiquette

I chose food, Johnny Appleseed, and saying Thankyou!
Head to the children's section to pick a favorite children's book or one that stirs a memory. My favorite book, Where the Wild Things Are. Favorite memory- Theres a monster at the end of this book.
Brian's was anything Star Wars ( so sweet that Alaric is now getting into it too!)
Then head to the comedy area and find a joke to share. I also found the greatest book of pictures of Walmart Shoppers-love it ( the chick's belly is actually hanging out BELOW her mini-skirt)!
Brian went classic
Go to the travel section and find places you want to go together. Brian wants to go back to Hawaii and discover Yosemite
I want a Caribbean cruise and Disney!
Our last task was to head to the poetry section and then back to our "spot" and read each other a love poem.
We had a blast! Go the the site above if you want some new, fresh date ideas!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Some " Mummy" loves you!

I like to spoil teacher! Probaby because as a teacher, I like to be spoiled. Today we made Alaric's teachers, secretaries, and principal these adorable mummies I found on my favorite blog,
DatingDivas !

Candy bars wrapped in guaze with googly eyes- brilliant!

I glued a little note to the back of each- they were a big hit!

The BEST....

If you know me at all, you know I have the BEST husband, the BEST kids, the BEST family & friends, live in the BEST small town, the BEST neighborhood, and have, by far, the very BEST neighbors in the whole world.

I've been trying to get us all together for a picture and today was the day. Look at the little ones- best friends forever!
Here we are...The McGreggors, The Offenbacks, The Fultons, The Smiths, and The Millers. I'll post more about why they are the best soon!
Us trying to be silly!
The kids love to be together
So sweet!
We tried to get the kids with just Jack and June but the little ones were pictured out. I'm not sure if Jack is holding his heart because we are giving him a heart attack or because his heart is so full of love for these 9 children who love him ( and June) desperately!!!