life

things are just moving along here at the strattons. over the past 2 weeks we have been dealing with the possibility of the flu, but i have not had that confirmed by a "PROFESSIONAL." it is interesting to note that my kids have all come down with "something" in order of oldest to youngest. hunter began 2 weeks ago and his symptons consisted of dizziness, loss of appetite and sleepiness. it hit him on saturday and lasted until monday. a few days later emma complained of a stomach ache and after 24 hours of complaining, she eventually threw up. she woke me up at 3am to announce she threw up in the toilet(great for her and me) and she felt TONZ BETTER. i kept her home from school 1 day just to make sure. next, issy contracted a fever, sleepiness and loss of appetite. she missed 2 days of school. finally, my little pumpkin bud began showing symptoms. his has been the worst. he has had a fever for a few days and a horrible deep cough. he also hasn't had much of an appetite, although he doesn't seem extra sleepy(to my dismay, i might add). ironically, that kid just keeps going no matter what!

even though we have had bouts of sickness, in between each case i managed to take william and isabella to play at discovery gateway. my wonderful mom bought us a family pass while she was here and so we have been taking advantage. the night william came down with his cough and fever we had been at the museum, no doubt spreading our sicky germs all over(oops).
the museum was so fun though. we spent 3 hours there. william began exploring more and discovered the waterplay area. he also discovered the grocery store and farm. he had fun putting food in the carts and pushing them around.

that night i took the older two kids to see harry potter. it is out at the cheap theater and only cost us 1.75 to see it. it was fun to spend some one on one time with each of my kids. they always look forward to time with mom. that makes me feel pretty good!

the next day we had a blast riding bikes, playing double dutch, frisbee, and other games with our friends. then we spent the afternoon carving our pumpkins together, eating homemade personal pan pizzas and watching an old ronald reagan movie. it was a fabulous day!

issy de-gutted her own pumpkin this year!

isaac's pumpkin


emma enjoying some hot wassil!

today, happy halloween by the way, ned took the older 3 kids and emma's friend hannah to the discovery gateway. they were going to go to the planetarium, but somehow that didn't happen. william and i spent some quiet time at home being sick. we also had a blast trick-or-treating with friends! since the weather was especially nice the kids stayed out for quite awhile. we even stopped at home to dump the contents of their buckets so they could keep going for more!!this is my "new" friend heather and her family.
no, she is not dressed as sarah pallin!