December 24th

Merry Christmas Eve!!! We are full of excitement here at the Flack house!! We started off early this morning and Alex and I went to the grocery store to pick up a few last minute things. Grammy got here around 10 and then Michael and I headed over to church for our drop in Communion service. It was so rainy that we had a small crowd, but it's always a meaningful time and I think those that braved the rain really appreciated it.

Everyone took a good nap this afternoon (Mommy and Daddy included!) and then we went to church. Our two churches don't want to have a service on Christmas Eve (which is why we offer communion during lunch time), so we went up to Lewisville UMC for their Family Christmas service. This is about the only time during the year when we all can sit together as a family at church and just be like everyone else. The kids did really well - the boys wanted to sit and talk about everything, but other than that, they made it through. The sweetest part was when we lit the candles and were singing "Silent Night" and as I was singing, I heard both Lucy and Charlie singing along. I don't often get to participate in a worship service with my children so that was a particularly sweet moment for me.

After we came home from church, Michael fixed dinner for everyone while the kids took a bath and got their PJs on. We ate dinner together and then the kids got ready for bed. Right now, they are all in their beds, listening for the sound of reindeer hooves and jingle bells. Mommy and Daddy are ready for them to fall asleep so Santa can come!!

Here are a few pictures for this evening - enjoy and Merry Christmas!!

December 23rd

What a busy day we have had! We came home from Gramma and Pappy's house to meet the Southern Foods Man. Then, we grabbed some lunch and took Charlie to his follow-up doctor's appointment. He is all clear from his upper respiratory issues and as far as his allergic reaction goes, right now we are just going to try and avoid mixed nuts. If he has some kind of reaction again, we will take him in to the allergist. Otherwise, we'll just wait until they go to have their blood tested again.

We came home after the doctors and made cookies for Santa. These little boys were so excited about it. . . . it was all they could do to wait until I got the dough ready! We made gingerbread cookies and sugar cookies. The boys loved picking out their cookie cutter shape and pressing it in the dough.

Then it was time to decorate the cookies. We got some icing and sprinkles out . . .I think there are as many sprinkles on my floor as there are on the cookies, but they had so much fun, I guess it was worth it.

So many cookies for Santa!

After cookies, Michael and Charlie ran an errand. While they were gone, the hall bathroom toilet overflowed and so I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the bathroom and then cleaning the basement where the water leaked down. Lucy started complaining about not feeling well and that her throat was hurting. I checked and she was running a fever and looked so pitiful, so I sent her with Michael up to Urgent Care (since it was 4:55 and I knew we wouldn't be able to get in at the pediatrician . . .even though we were just there a few hours before!). It turns out she has strep throat again so she has a stronger antibiotic this time so hopefully it will work quickly and she will feel like enjoying Christmas.  Here's hoping that tomorrow is a little less eventful!!

December 22nd

Today was Christmas at Gramma and Pappy's house! The kids woke up before 7 AM this morning and the first thing they wanted to do was to leave for Gramma and Pappy's house. No matter how we tried to convince them that Gramma and Pappy might need a little time to prepare before we got there, we ended up leaving the house around 10:00. We ran a few errands and had lunch and then took them to their favorite dessert place, Sweet Josephine's.  This place has the most delicious cupcakes and homemade gelato. They also have vegan offerings in both the gelato and cupcakes so that means that the boys get to have some too!!

Charlie was very excited about his cupcake.

Alex ended up with as much icing on his face as he ate! (You can tell Michael liked his gelato too!)

Lucy loved their cupcake tree filled with cupcake ornaments!

I wanted a picture of all three, but Charlie said he didn't want to. . . 

We got to Gramma's and you could tell that everyone was getting very tired. I told them that no one would be allowed to open presents unless they took a nap, and surprisingly, that threat worked! Everyone took a good nap and then we were ready to play.  We played for quite a while and then the kids all ate dinner around 5:00. Of course, no one seemed very hungry because they were all so excited to open presents! We tried to get a few pictures before presents . . . . 

We really pushed our luck by trying to get one of just the kids . . . .this was the best we could do . . they were just too excited!

We got the gifts distributed to everyone and then it was just a free for all! The kids tore into their presents and were so excited! Everything had to be immediately opened so we could play!!!

Lucy was super excited about her Shopkins . . . I'm not sure who at school is into these things, but they have become her new obsession!

She also got two Descendants dolls - Audrey and Lonnie. 

After they opened everything, everyone played together. They did a great job of sharing all their toys with each other.

After presents, it was time for pajamas and story/devotions and bed. Originally, we tried putting all the cousins in the same room, but they were too wide awake for that to work. It took until after 9:00 for everyone to finally settle down, but they did. The adults had a nice meal together and then opened presents and now, we're just winding down for the evening. What a fun Christmas celebration together!

December 21st

You would think that the most exciting thing to share today would be our Open House that we had, but instead, Charlie and I spent the evening at the Brenner Children's ER. About halfway through the open house, you could tell that Charlie wasn't feeling like himself. He didn't have any energy and he was coughing a lot. I thought it was just the upper respiratory mess he's been dealing with and called his pediatrician to schedule a follow up visit for him later this week.

Then when everyone had left for the evening, out of nowhere, Charlie started throwing up. He threw up several times in a row and then that was it. He cuddle up with me after that until bedtime and seemed to be doing ok.

However, after he went to bed, he kept coughing and couldn't get settled. I thought that maybe he needed one of his breathing treatments, so I sat him down with me in the living room to watch a little tv and use his nebulizer. He kept coughing, even when the treatment was done and then I noticed that he couldn't stop scratching himself. I pulled off his shirt and sure enough, he was covered in hives.

The coughing continued and he couldn't stop scratching, so Charlie and I headed to the ER. (Urgent care was already closed at 8:00 - go figure.) I gave his a tsp. of Benadryl before we left and while his cough seemed to calm down in the car ride to the ER, his hives kept spreading all over his arms and legs and body. The tops of his ears were bright red too. The waiting room was crowded, but they seemed to move him through quickly since he was having an allergic reaction.  You can see how enthused Charlie was to be there . . .

The doctor came in and treated him with a steroid and said to give him Benadryl and the steroid prescription for the next two day and to follow up with his pediatrician. Charlie did seem enthralled by the episode of Daniel Tiger that they were showing as we sat and waited for our discharge papers.

I ran through everything he ate all day and couldn't figure out what was going on. I kept trying to think if he had consumed any milk, but I really couldn't think of anything. But Michael mentioned the Chex Party mix and even though we had made it with vegan butter, it does have mixed nuts in it. We know that he isn't allergic to peanuts because he's eaten those before, but I wonder if he is allergic to some other kind of nut? I guess we will have to talk with his doctor later this week. I think we'll probably avoid the party mix though just to be on the safe side.

We're back home and everyone is in their bed, asleep. Michael said that Alex kept asking about when his brother was coming home. I think he was worried about him! Hopefully tomorrow will be less eventful!

December 20th

What a busy day we had today! We had breakfast and a church service at Union, and then a church service at Concord where Lucy sang again. Then we had Christmas lunch at Concord and came home for a quick nap before having to go back for our service at Union this evening.

Tonight was our family service at Union and so the children dressed up and presented the nativity. They also sang and played their bells. We had a nice service and then went out to dinner with family. The food and company was good but the service was lousy.

My camera didn't want to work this evening during the children's program, so I don't have any pictures from that. I decided to snap pictures of the boys in their new Christmas PJs before they went to bed. . . .they were a little too silly to get anything much as you can see . . .