All good things must come to an end...

Sydney played her last basketball game for the season today and her team did so well. It's amazing to see how much they improve each week. She scored twenty something points today...I was trying to be a good mom and get this one of film so it was a little hard to keep up and tape. Unfortunately, this is the only game I managed to film this year. I usually don't because I get so caught up watching that I forget I'm filming. It always turns out a little Blair Witch-ish, and I get motion sick very easily. Ha! Here are a few pictures from the game.

Sydney and her friend Emily after the game (Carson affectionately calls her "Enemy")

Nice steal Syd!

We can't wait for next year!

Strep STINKS!

Let me begin this by saying that I really shouldn't be complaining because life is pretty great for me and I know that there are some very sick people out there, but being sick STINKS! I guess if you can't complain on your own blog, where can you.

I started feeling bad Monday night, and no it wasn't due to the terrible ending of the Bachelor. I know I really shouldn't waste my time on that silly stuff. I was freezing from the time I got home until I went to bed. Once I headed to bed it only got worse. I couldn't get warm all night, I tossed and turned, and my hips were aching...just a bad night. Needless to say I stayed home and went to the doctor on Tuesday. When I got there I had a fever of 103.1 and after the gagging swab the verdict was Strep/Tonsillitis. The doctor said the headache, chills, and body aches (which had me worried about the flu) were due to the high fever. Of course he couldn't stop there and had to give me the typical you-look-so-young comment. I think his exact words were, "Adults usually don't do well with a high fever like that, but if I didn't know better I'd think you were in high school." I have heard this all my life (it's a little annoying) and am hoping that looking young now will turn into looking very young at 40!

Okay, back to the diagnosis and treatment. After deciding what I had his nurse gave me a very painful shot of antibiotics in the rear. I also got a prescription for an antibiotic, which would of course make me sick the first time I took it. I basically laid on the couch for 2 days trying to rest while my wonderful husband and daughter took care of me. I probably sound like such a baby, but let me tell ya', this strep was different. I've had it before, you know the typical sore throat, some meds, and done. This was really the first time I've been sick since Cameron and I got married. Luckily, he was very helpful so I think I'll keep him around. ;)

I went back to work on Thursday and as soon as the afternoon bell rang, so did my phone. Daycare calling. Carson has fever, a red face, coughing, and didn't nap long. Great. I immediately called the doctors office to tried and get an appoint that afternoon. Thankfully, I was able to get in and unfortunately, he also has strep. He doesn't really seem to feel that bad but has little red bumps on his face, back, and tummy. We stared his antibiotic last night so hopefully he'll be better in the morning. Needless to say, he and I are home again today.

I'm praying that Sydney and Cam don't get sick too. Sydney had strep a few weeks ago so maybe she'll be okay. Cameron, on the other hand, is the strep king. When we first started dating Ashley and I got Cardinals tickets for he and Ryan for their birthdays. We all went to St. Louis for the weekend and Cameron was sick the whole time. He basically survived off of Tylenol every four hours. When we got home on Sunday he felt worse and when I took his temp it was 104. I literally dragged him to the ER and they did all kinds of tests on him, even a cat scan. It turned out to be strep. From them on he got it about once every three months for a year or two. I guess his body wasn't used to being around a child and someone that teaches a room full of them everyday. At least he blamed it on Syd and I anyway. I think he's adjusted now, but he's still very paranoid about getting sick.

So a pretty crummy week, but beautiful weather now and hopefully it will hang around for the weekend. Tomorrow is Syd's last basketball game for the year so look for pics soon!! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The Past 3 Weeks @ the Arnold House

It's been a while since my last post, but I have good reasons. My laptop has a virus, and I've been extremely busy. My last post was on the 7th so I guess I'll just start there. Cam left on the 8th for work in St. Petersburg, FL. I should add that I hate his work trips to Florida and they seem to be getting more and more frequent. I guess you've got to do what you've got to do though, especially in these times. I should probably just be thanking God that he has a good job. We made it through the week with cheer practice, basketball practice, AWANA's, grad school, and some parent teacher conferences. On Wednesday our dog, Lola, got out of the back yard, but luckily our neighbor had her when we got home from school. On Friday we had our Valentine's parties at school, which you fellow teachers and mothers that come to these parties know are wild and crazy. I survived and got way more chocolate than any person needs. Mom and Nana came up for the weekend and brought Sydney and Carson V-Day presents. Carson and Davis both got basketball goals and Sydney got a bead kit and a 3 lb. Hershey heart. Yes, 3 lbs!!

That heart's as big as her! And let me tell you, it's solid.

Here's Carson trying out the new goal. Look at that form already...his chances of being tall look pretty slim so he'll definitely need to be a good shooter.

Here's a pic of his V-Day shirt - Mommy's lil' Love Bandit
Sydney and Carson also got V-Day cards in the mail. Thanks Lolli and Pop, Sydney loves getting mail.
I think we're headed for the Gifted program with the Carsy-Man. After a few misses he got his sister's stool and put it right in front of his goal. It's much easier that way.

Cameron got in from Florida about 8:30 Friday night.

Sydney had a basketball game on Saturday. She had a big audience for this one. Aunt Ashley, Uncle Ryan, Davis, Doe Doe (Aunt Kelly), Nana, and Mimi were all there to watch. Thanks for coming guys...Syd loved having a fan club! I have a quick disclaimer before telling you how many points she scored in this game. The team they were playing this week didn't provide much competition. That being said, Syd scored 32 points. And for those of you now saying to yourself, "What a ball hog," she's really not at all. Most of her points were scored on fast breaks from rebounds or steals and I can't blame the girl for not passing it off in that situation. She has really improved her passing skills over the season and does a good job getting the ball to open people. The only problem is that sometimes others have some trouble getting open. Below are some pictures from that game.

Davis and Uncle Ryan - Ryan has since lost the beard.

Sydney's defensive skills have really come along. She's pretty scrappy, but that's okay. I used to know a few girls that played that way too. ;) Right Sarah and Boni?

This is evidence of the fast break scoring I was talking about.

Cameron and I got to go out for dinner on Valentine's Day thanks to Mimi, Nana, Ryan, and Ashley. No, it doesn't require 4 adults to keep our kids, they just all happened to be cooking dinner together. We had a wonderful dinner at Loca Luna, one of our favorite places to go. We had crab cakes for an appetizer, which are the best crab cakes I've ever eaten. I tried them several places in FL this summer but none compared. Cam had Treasure's of the Sea - alfredo pasta with all kinds of seafood, and I ate garlic shrimp with 4 cheese ravioli. Of course we had to have desert for the special occasion - Chocolate Creme Brulee. If you've never eaten there you should definitely give it a try. I must also say that I have an amazing husband who is my absolute best friend and it was great to have some quiet, adult conversation with him on Valentine's Day.

The following week we had dog drama. We figured out that our chocolate lab was in heat for the first time. You may recall from above that she had gotten out of the backyard while Cameron was in Florida. He figured out how she got out and fixed the problem, so we thought. She got out again Wednesday night right before we went to bed and we couldn't find her anywhere. Cam drove all around the neighborhood calling her but had no luck. We tried again Thursday morning and still no luck. We found her "getting out place" which was a plank of the fence that had been pushed in by another dog...a boy I'm assuming. We put up signs and got 3 calls first thing Friday morning. Needless to say we got her back only to get out again Saturday afternoon. Cameron put her in the yard to get some fresh air while we took a nap. He tied her up where she could move around the yard but hopefully not get out. She broke the hook on what he had her tied with and hit the road. He and Carson put up signs and found her later that night, again!! We've seen 2 stray, boy dogs hanging around and are hoping that she isn't pregnant. She's getting fixed Monday and we're hoping this will help with her wanting to get out.

*I want to say THANK YOU to Stephanie and Anna Carol for watching Sydney Friday and Monday while she was out of school for parent teacher conferences and professional development. She had a blast with each of you and I really appreciate your help!!

Cameron had to go back to Florida this past Tuesday for work. I had my online class while he was gone and had no sitter. Sydney did an AWESOME job helping with her brother during my class. She is such a good big sister.

We had another basketball game this morning, one I was really looking forward to. Sydney has some friends from school that play on a different team. She missed the first game against them when she had strep throat. I've seen them play and knew this would be much more challenging for Syd. If you're unfamiliar with Upward, the players are all given a colored wrist band and that's their girl to guard. If they didn't do this it would probably be a kill-the-man-with-the-ball type game. Each quarter Sydney was paired with her friend Anya. Anya is a tiny little fireball. She's very aggressive and plays very well. Her and Sydney were a great match for each other and it was really fun to watch. She played so hard and did a great job guarding Anya and vice versa. She only scored 8 points today and was surprised when I told her that it was the best game she'd played. I had to explain to her that it's not about how many points she scores, but whether or not she does what is needed to help her team. She made some really good passes to the "big girl" on her team, played great defense, and got lots of rebounds. Boppy drove up to watch her play and loved it. We were so glad to see you Boppy, and Syd was so excited that you were at her game.

I'm sorry if it seems that all my post about basketball are just bragging, but we're so proud of Sydney. I have to say that I was even more proud at practice on Thursday. Upward is a Christian organization and they have a devotional time halfway through each practice. When the coach asked if anyone could tell him how to build a relationship with God, Syd piped right in. Her answer was something like this:

You should start going to church to learn about him and then ask him into your heart. After that you should be baptized so the world will know. You also need to pray to God and read your Bible to learn more about him.

Is that awesome or what?! I'm so proud of all that she's learned about her faith from her family and our amazing church.

Finally, we had a much needed, very relaxing afternoon!

Real Men Wear Pink

Carson found Sydney's pink softball helmet in her closet and loves wearing it. His daddy isn't crazy about it's color but I figure it could be worse, a pink tutu or something. At least it's sports related. Trust me, he's all boy no matter what color he's wearing.

Lions, Tigers, and Bears...oh my!

Today was another beautiful day so we decided to take advantage and visit the LR Zoo. Syd's been a ton of times but seems to still enjoy it and Carson hasn't been since he was about a year old. He's now very into animals and had a blast. I hope these warm, sunny weekends keep a comin'.

After the zoo we headed to Conway to visit Doe Doe and have a little Los Amigos (our favorite cheese dip). We also got to visit our friends Kristin and Mark. It was great to see you all.

Riding the train

Sydney got to feed some birds

Shots of Sydney

Yes, another basketball game today...and yes, AWESOME! Today was probably her best game yet and we are so proud of her. The referee they had today was great and really stuck to the rules. No walking or double dribbling and he called several fouls. Sydney really seems to have a lot of natural talent but loves to practice hard too. I'm so glad she enjoys basketball so much because I'm lovin' watching her. Enjoy the pics. Oh and how could I forget, DRUM ROLL PLEASE...16 points today. Go Syd!!

Nice steal Syd!

Miss Cooperative

Sydney was picked for Hall of Fame at school last week. They have a character word each month (Cooperation was this months word) and the teachers pick two students that demonstrate that word. They have a ceremony, get a certificate and Cheeburger Cheeburger coupon, and have refreshments. I am so proud of Syd for being such a sweet girl at school.

P.S. She also had a fabulous report card again this 9 weeks. Way to go Syd!!