Sickies, A Pep Rally & The Park

Just like my friend Darby said, it's hard to re-cap a week of craziness when there are bigger things to spend time and energy thinking about. My 2nd cousin, Barbara, was in Haiti when the earthquake hit. She's spent most of her life's work doing missions there. One of her 3 sons, Matt, was a preacher and followed in her footsteps. He took his wife and 5 small children to Haiti several years ago to start new churches there. Not long after they arrived, he was on his way to meet a native preacher about starting a church and was killed when he was hit head on by a truck that was trying to dodge a pot hole. Devastating. But not nearly as devastating as what the people of Haiti are dealing with now. Barbara has continued to go back - I believe it's her way of staying connected to Matt. And she was just finishing up her 3 week stay, only to be held there because of the earthquake. Barbara is a go getter and feels like it's her mission in life to help the people in Haiti. That's why I know without a doubt that she was exactly where she would have wanted to be when it all happened. That night she slept outside on the ground because there was no where else to go. She says it's an unbelievable sight. When asked what we could all do to help she said it was really simple - just pray.

We've been quarantined all week. Wednesday morning when the crew was still not feeling any better I knew it was time to head to the doctor. Isn't it funny how two children can be as different as night and day? Towns did this as we were (somewhat) patiently waiting to hear the results of the 400 tests they ran on the girls...

While Cate did a lot of this...

And this...

What can I say? She was born with that personality. There's not a laid back bone in her body. She never sits still. And I have to constantly remind myself that I can't compare her to her calm and very obedient sister.
When I told her that if she could stay out of the doctor's cabinets she could pick out a sticker on the way out of the office, she finally decided that she would flatter me and do what I asked her to do...

But she wasn't too thrilled about it! I've found myself talking about obeying with a happy heart a lot lately!!
The test results showed that Towns had the flu and Cate had bronchitis and a double ear infection. No school, dancing, etc. for us for the rest of the week! We couldn't go anywhere, but I'll secretly admit that I enjoyed the down time.

We've made our nests on the couch and watched plenty of TV. And we're all pretty excited that American Idol is back on! Our favorite part of the whole season is the auditions. We don't really watch it after all that fun is over. Perhaps the best part of the show is the commercial breaks...

Seriously.

While we finished watching the show, I noticed Cate went missing. That's never a good sign! She usually tells on herself though. When I called out to ask her where she was she said 'I'm in Bebby's room getting into whooo {you} make-up"!
Caught!

She's been into getting dolled up lately. This is what happens when you let her do it herself...

Gorg!! HA! And that's not my shade of lipstick in case you're wondering. I don't do hot pink!

Thursday afternoon was Bethany's last pep rally as an Oak Park Cheerleader! She was feeling a little under the weather, but she was as fabulous as ever!


My favorite cheer - they spell out R-A-I-D-E-R-S super fast! And they nailed it!


April, I hope you've recovered from the two wild women crawling all over you, giving you a make over, etc.! Never a dull moment!!

By Friday everyone was feeling much better, and since it was sunny and almost 60 degrees we had to hit the road. We played hard at the park for a couple of hours...


Catherine, Elizabeth, and the two double strollers made the trip. Naturally!







Buggy would be hard pressed to talk if you tied her hands behind her back. In these next few she's really worried that the dog that just passed us on the sidewalk was going to turn around and come get her sunglasses and baby Elizabeth.
'Whoo {you} see that doggy back there?'

'She's about to come get my shades and Lizbeth.'

'Whoo see my sunglasses right there? She's coming to get them. Hurry. Run!'

'Wait, wait. Whoo {you} wait for me, Mommy. First I get my lipskik on."

And that's how the conversation went. It was pretty one-sided because I was laughing and taking pictures!
We escaped the dog drama and opted for a little snack...

And after a short break, they played a little while longer...


Next stop? Where else - Target! Where the nice Starbucks man gave them each straight whipped cream! YUM!!!

Starbie's and Target just wasn't the same without you, B! Can't wait to see you this afternoon!! Red carpet, baby! Ohhh yeahhh!