Now I know...

Croup is a common respiratory problem in young children. It tends to occur in the fall and winter. Its main symptom is a harsh, barking cough. Croup causes swelling and narrowing in the voice box, windpipe, and breathing tubes that lead to the lungs. This can make it hard for your child to breathe.

Symptoms of croup are caused by narrowed airways. They include a barking cough; a raspy, hoarse voice; and a harsh, crowing noise when breathing in. The cough is very distinctive, so you'll know it when you hear it. It is often compared to the sound of a barking seal. Sometimes children breathe fast and need to sit up to breathe better.

Symptoms of croup often improve during the day and get worse at night. Sometimes children have croup attacks that wake them up in the middle of the night for a couple of nights in a row, but the illness usually improves gradually in 2 to 5 days. by webmd.com

We went to see the doctor today and guess what Ellyn has? She has croup. Neither of our kids have had it, so I didn't really know what it was, how it was treated or how long it lasts. But thanks to webmd.com I now know, and so do you. You may have just learned something today.

Shopping List

Advil
Tylenol
cough medicine
Gatorade
jello
Popsicles
Vick's Vapor Rub

Can you guess what we have been up to over the weekend? It first started with Andy, he had a cough, then I got it, then Ellyn. I thought that was the end, but it was only the beginning. Ellyn ended up getting a fever, on Saturday it got up to 101.8! She looked so sad, just resting on our bed watching SpongeBob. Then on Sunday I got it (thanks Ell for sharing.) We missed church on Sunday and just crashed all day. Sunday night Ellyn was up almost every hour on the hour. I am hoping for a better night tonight.

LaShon and Treysen

LaShon has updated Ralph's blog. Check it out and look for the cute pictures of Treysen on the slide show.

Fudgy Make Your Belly Pudgy Brownies

Oh my did I make some yummy brownies. Just take a look at the ingredients

Cake layer:
2 sticks butter
1/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Second layer:
1 1/4 cups Skippy Chunky Peanut Butter

Third Layer (The genius frosting):
1 stick butter
1/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
1/3 cup whole milk
8 large marshmallows
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 16 oz. box powdered sugar, sifted

Fourth Layer:
Mrs. Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel Sauce, heated
Chopped toasted almonds

Click here to print this amazing recipe

I work at Weight Watchers and try to watch what I eat. Not too much sugar, not too many Cokes, more fruit, well you know the drill. But let me tell you that all goes out the window with this recipe. I don't normal eat a lot of sweets, but to make my life easier, I left a fork in the Brownie pan. You know, for easier access. For those of you that might know Weight Watcher and their plans I went online and put this in and found out how many points one brownie is. Like to know? Most people when they are trying to lose weight eat about 22-27 points per day. One Fudgy Make Your Belly Pudgy Brownie is 13 points. That could be half your days worth of points. But it is so worth it.

Get out!

I have been reading a new book. "If Mama goes south, we are all going with her!" It is about the importance of taking care of yourself. It has been pretty good. The author breaks the book into tree parts, The Spirit, The Body and The Soul. She talks about how we "go south" when we don't take care of all of us. I have seen that happen in my own life, where I start to suffer then the whole family suffers. Two big things that I have gotten out of her book is about exercising and the need for fresh air and sunlight. I do enjoy exercising, but I can find every excuse in the book not too, and well she put things a little different. We normally think of needing to exercise to lose weight, where that is one good reason she said that we should look at it as needing to exercise to be healthy. Now, I am sure I have heard that said a million times, but sometimes it just hits you at the right time in your life. And I am hoping this is that right time. I feel better when i work out, I sleep better, I have more energy, the list goes on. So why wouldn't I? Well talk to me in two weeks when my motivation has worn off and my excuse list is super long. The other thing is the need to be outside. Now winter in Utah can be a little hard to get out. If we don't have the snow storms that make it hard to walk around the block it is freezing cold or an inversion day. On the bad air days you can be outside, but see no sun. Well, we have decided to get out of the house. Even if it is just 15 minutes a day. And it has been great. On Monday Ellyn wanted to go for a walk around our block. So we did, twice. On Tuesday I took the kids sledding. We were out for about an hour that day. I can see that we all feel better when we just Get Out.
Ellyn ready to go on her new scooter she got for Christmas.

Andy likes to try to do tricks on his scooter. In the summer we go to the skate park and he is getting pretty good.


You can't really ride a scooter in the snow.

Sledding!

When we moved to Spanish Fork, I asked one on the kids from our church where is the best place to go sledding. And without even missing a beat he said the Spanish Fork Golf Course. And he was right, it is so much fun.

We headed out after the last storm, which left beautiful powder everywhere, but wasn't the best for sledding at first. The kids had to go down a few times to make their trails. And once they did, it was great sledding. But I have to say the best part of sledding is now that the kids are older, they can sled and walk up the hill all by themselves.


Ellyn had a little trouble climbing up the hill. She kept on slipping, but she would not give up.


Andy loves to snowboard. This is how he started out,

and this is how he ended.

How cute is this baby?

Today LaShon, Treysen and Aaliyah came over for a visit. It was so good to see them and see how they are doing. They seem to be doing good. Treysen is growing like crazy. He is just too cute.

Aaliyah and Treysen. (LaShon's little sister that she has custody of)

Andy and Treysen.

Ellyn and Treysen.

Treysen was born November 11th. Thankfully he didn't get his daddy's ears. LaShon had a very hard labor and delivery, but it was worth it.