House Full of Boys!

Liam's first time on River Rampage - he got drenched but loved every minute of it! Doesn't he look so small! We wanted to do one last fun summer trip for the boys before school starts this Thursday. We took a day trip to Dollywood. We got there a little after the park opened and it was not very crowded at all. We walked on almost every ride and if we had to wait it wasn't longer than a few minutes. Last time we were there in May Adley was just shy of being able to ride all the big rides. We learned about a place where they will measure you and give you an armband that has the appropriate color that corresponds with your height category. This way you are measured once and simply just have to show your armband to get on the ride. Adley was thrilled that he was tall enough this time to ride any ride in the park. Eli and Liam also got moved up to the next category. Thank goodness for Eli because this kid has been dying to ride more rides. He and Adley are not afr

We have been landscaping our house a lot lately. It doesn't look like a lot but my body will tell you differently. It definitely FEELS like a lot. We have spent many evenings working in the yard as a family and although hard, has been a lot of fun to work together. Our first project was outlining the beds and then putting down landscape cloth. We also got a load of gravel to put next to the concrete pad by Jared's workshop and some river rock for near the garage side door. Eli waiting on the gravel Next up we had to redirect the water coming off the embankment in the back. We dug a trench added a french drain and tied that back into the gutter drains. It seems to be working. Thank goodness! Then we got a load of big river rock that we placed to the right of the house where the water naturally flows during a rainstorm. It looks great. The boys put their many dump trucks to work hauling loads of rock. We took a break yesterday and went to Dollywood. It was a gre

Man do I love this little boy! He is full of squeals, smiles, slobbers, hugs, crumbs and dirt. He is at such a fun age. Liam says a lot through the faces he makes because he is quite stubborn and shy and still not wanting to talk much. He says a hand full of words, shakes his head yes and no and is starting to make different sounds. He is making progress so I am not too worried anymore. And if you haven't heard or noticed....no more pacifier....Yay! Liam is growing up so fast but is still my most snugly baby. He loves to rock in the chair before nap and bed and when he gets up in the morning he often times runs to my room to crawl in bed with me for more snuggles. I just love it! Up next, to turn his crib into a toddler bed....then all signs of 'babyness' will be gone, ah so sad! Liam learned how to climb anything recently, kind of scary! This was a search for his paci back in March. The boy would do anything for that darn pacifier, but surprisingly it was prett

Recently I was contacted by the Bone Marrow Registry stating that I was a match for a patient. This caught me off guard as I signed up with the registry in 1998, while living in Arizona and in college. I think I went to give blood one day and they asked if I wanted to be on the list, I said yes, they took a swab of my mouth and that was it, very simple. After the first call to see if I was willing to move forward, which I agreed to, they set up a call for a health history review. That is now completed and tomorrow I go to get my blood drawn to run more tests to see how good of a match I am for the patient. The only information that I will ever know about the patient until a year after transplant is that he is a 63 yr old male with myelodysplastic syndrome. If I am a good match the donation could take place in the next 2 months. I am of course nervous of the process and have tried to research it the best that I can. There are 2 donation methods - harvesting bone marrow from my hi

Yes, I know it's June and I'm posting about Easter - ridiculously behind, but I'm going to do it anyway. I was lucky enough to be on-call on Easter and spend the time with family. I love the food and watching the kids hunt for eggs. I remember even when I was in college and came home for Easter my parents would still hide eggs for us...some with candy inside and some with $ inside. That will probably be a tradition I uphold in the future. I also like Easter because of the message it sends and the reminder it gives us all. Aidan does not like getting his picture taken. I love the look on Liam's face When Aidan turned 8 he started his journey in scouts. We did a cake contest for the Blue & Gold banquet. His cake won. I thought he an Jared did a fantastic job. I didn't help one bit in the making of the cake. It was all the boys.

Eli finished his first year of preschool in May. They have this big program for the 4yr old kids and the 3yr old class gets to participate as well. Eli loves school. He asks me everyday if he gets to go to school tomorrow. He only goes 2 times a week. I hope his love for school doesn't wear off like it has for Aidan. I think it's because Aidan is bored. I wish his teacher could see that and challenge him more. Maybe in 3rd grade it will be different. Did I just say 3rd grade - time sure does fly and I'm certainly not getting any younger. Anyway, back to Eli. He did a great job in his program. He yawned a lot, poor kid we were at Dollywood the day before and didn't get home until late. But he did flash a few good smiles... Eli with Miss Linda - he loves her and we do too! Eli being silly at a store on Main Street. Also while my parents were here we went to Discovery Place in Charlotte. It was so much fun. We also saw the IMAX while there called "Born