"Hot Cross Buns" like never before!

I'm sure you are all wondering about my title...well, today, Jenna stood up in front of an audience and played "Hot Cross Buns" on her violin! I was so proud of her! She'd been taking lessons since August from our church's worshipping arts area. For those that may not have ever played, violin is pretty difficult. I didn't think she'd learn enough in these few short weeks to be able to participate in a recital, but she did. I even gave her the choice on going or not and she wanted to. I heard her practice several times and to be honest, I was a little worried. I prayed right before she went on stage and she played perfectly. After it was over, I resisted the urge to stand and shout, "That's MY girl!!!!" When she rejoined us in the audience, she was smiling from ear to ear. I could tell she was proud of herself too. I am sad to say that as good as she did, she has retired her violin (we only rented it) and does not intend to play any instrument for a while. She's got her heart set on horseback riding lessons.

This is Jenna and her violin teacher Ms. Morgan...she is extremely talented and unbelievably patient.

Something else going on here in the house...yesterday afternoon, Jenna developed a rash on her torso. There are little red welps all over her belly, chest and back. I didn't really know what to do last night so I put some calomine on them and once she quit scratching them, they went down. This morning they looked better so I figured it was just some fluke. This afternoon, when she woke up from her nap, they were all red, blotchy and welped up again, so I ran her down to the Minute Clinic. Unfortunately, the nurse practioner didn't have a clue as to what they were either. She said it wasn't chicken pox, scabies, poison ivy or measles. Most likely, it's hives or other allergic reaction, but I have wracked my brain to figure out what it might be. We are pretty predictable though, so nothing has changed that I can put my finger on. While at the clinic, I bought some Aveeno oatmeal bath and some hydrocortisone. We used both tonight and it appears that between the two, it's easing the itching and therefore, the bumps are receding a little.

Other health news, I'm sick...AGAIN. I started feeling "not right" on Thursday afternoon and Thursday night I was miserable sneezing, stuffy, sinus pressure making my head feel like it was going to explode. Friday morning I didn't feel AS bad, but I started some antibiotics just in case. Last night Rachel came over to scrapbook and I didn't feel nearly as bad as I did the night before. Today was rough. I didn't sleep well last night and so it was tought to get going this morning. I took a nap after the recital and made Jenna do the same because she hadn't gotten in bed till nearly 11pm and then up at 7am too. After my powernap, I felt better and feel pretty good when I'm up and moving around, but then on the flip side, I don't feel like being up and moving around. I've got no fever, and really would be fine if not for the sinus pressure. I'm going to have to go in and see the doc I think to get on some allergy medicine. What is it with this family and allergies?!?!?

I guess that's about it. I finally put up a little Christmas tree in our bonus room. We never get to enjoy the main one downstairs and it's too fru-fru for my sentimental ornaments. So, Jenna and I put up a little 4 1/2 ft pre lit tree in the bonus room and it just feels so Christmas-ey!

I guess that's about all the news from the Taylor household now. Tomorrow my goal is to get some Christmas presents wrapped. We'll see how that goes... :)