We can't tell if she's conversing or just complaining. (You may want to pause Kenny Chesney at the bottom of this webpage before playing this video in order to get the full effect.)

Fall Weather

Fall always reminds me of my childhood. Fall was the most anticipated season - the welcome of the cool weather, the vibrant beautiful colors, and the football games I would attend but never actually watch. On colder fall days I would walk over to my grandma's house (right next door - yes, I was very lucky) sit on her couch and eventually wrap myself in a blanket. We would always have the television on but it didn't usually matter what was on, we were always talking. My grandma was interested in everything I had to say and the things that went on during the day. Sometimes we would enjoy snacks - (among our favorite snacks were popcorn and apples sometimes with fudge, chocolate ice cream and salty Lays potato chips and hot chocolate). Before long I would fall asleep wrapped in the warmth of the house and blanket while the evening fell and the weather became cooler.

Fall represents comfort, warmth from the cool outside, time with family, beautiful scenery and that is why I love this season.

Play-Doh Party

Today Audrey and Nick Hatch shared the coolest birthday party all inspired by Play-Doh. We began the party at 11:00 a.m. (partially because the older kids were at school and this allowed the party to be all about the little ones). We started with homemade pizza that we let the kids load. Next was a Play-Doh hunt where the kids carried ziplock baggies around the living room finding the little cans of Play-Doh. After the hunt the kids began playing on personalized playmats (found the idea online). Then we moved on to presents and cake.

This is the dining room before the kids entered. Each spot had a personalized playmat and balloon.

The Play-Doh hunt was so much fun. The kids were so excited and loved searching the living room for the little cans to call their own.

There were many fun things to do at the party and playing with the Play-Doh was one of the best. The kids were so content that there were times when we didn't even hear them!

Audrey received so many generous and perfectly girly gifts. Thanks!

CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE

Check out this cake! It was made by our friend from church, Sandy Cox. She is amazing and her creations are so beautiful. The best part is they not only look beautiful they taste great too!

This is the best kids party I have ever experienced. The children were all so well behaved there weren't any fights or crying spells. They shared well and played together well and we all enjoyed the day. I am so thankful that Audrey's health allowed this to happen today.

Clinic Visit

Yesterday morning Audrey woke up and within a few hours I discovered that she had a fever - not just any fever the lowest temperature was 101.7 the highest being 103.1. Needless to say I had to take Audrey into the clinic. We spent several hours there - she was given fluid and antibiotics by IV as well as having swabs taken of her nose and throat. We discovered that her blood counts are AWESOME and that he was battling some type of viral attack. Luckily she responded well to Tylenol and they sent us home after 5 hours. My main worry was - will we be able to have the Play=Doh party with her friends?

I mentioned Audrey's recent birthday and upcoming birthday party. The nurses all came into Audrey's bedroom singing "Happy Birthday" and loaded Audrey up with gifts. We love all of our nurses there and it was so nice that they were prepared to give Audrey such a sweet welcome when we were there for an unhappy reason.

Today Is the Day!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Audrey dear! What a year we have had. Today was the best birthday I have ever experienced and it wasn't even mine! We were busy, busy, busy - and happy. Audrey went to gymnastics, had a great time. She was able to spend time with family and PARTY! Did I mention phone calls? I never thought I would hear Audrey run out of juice when on the phone but she did...toward the end of her phone calls she would tell the person she was talking to that she only had one thing to tell them. It was hysterical from my end.

Her wishes for today - (1) Order Domino's pizza (2) have a light blue cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate chips (I used M&M's instead - blue of course) (3) watch Bolt after dinner. We never did get to #3 because she realized there were presents today!!!

My three wishes for her through this year (1) continue to stay healthy (2) grow and mature educationally (3) know how much she is loved. Audrey you have brought so many joys to our lives. You will forever be our little girl.

Is Anything Ever Free?

For some time now we have been discussing Nathan beginning piano lessons. When we began talking about it Nathan was probably too young so we decided to wait. This summer seems like a great time to get started. Only problem, we do not have a piano. So when some friend from church announced they had a piano sitting in their garage that they were looking to get rid of, we jumped at the chance.

Ryan and some friend spent an entire Saturday morning getting the piano to our house. We were so grateful to our friends for spending their time and energies getting the piano in. The hardwood floor did get scratched in the process. it isn't too bad, just not great.

I called a piano tuner to come out (who said that he would look at it to see if it would be able to be tuned without charging) and tune the piano. He showed up, took half of the piano apart and then gave us the diagnosis - it is tunable but would need $2,500 worth of work. He said we could place it on Craigslist or call large item pick up (which by the way would have cost $100). As we could get a newer, nicer piano for probably less than the needed repairs on our free piano. He charged me $35 to give us this diagnosis - recanting on his free offer (maybe I am being bad but I bet if we didn't live in the house we do he wouldn't have charged anything).

So, what happened to the piano?

It went up in flames!

Yup, we burnt it to a crisp. It saved the $100 large item collection fee. Thanks Joe!

My Attentive Gift Giver

Nathan is a sweet, compassionate boy. He pays attention to things going on around him and he is constantly thinking of others. I asked Nathan what he would like to get his teacher, Miss Cody, for Christmas. He immediately said that he wanted to get her earrings because she wears them. I told him that could possibly get too expensive and instead asked what she likes to do. Again, he answered quickly without having to think too much - "she loves to go on hikes." Okay, Nathan what could we get her to go along with hikes? "We could get her a water bottle." That is a great idea. Do you know what her favorite color is? "Yes, she loves yellow. Lets get her a yellow water bottle."

I was so impressed with how attentive he is to his teacher's interests. I called Ryan (he is in MI for his annual Michigan State football game check out this clip to see how State did: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfrB57SKPO0) and told him about our compassionate gift giver. He too was impressed as Ryan claims he does not have the skill for buying gifts.

After an hour or so I then asked Nathan what he would like to get for Mrs. Bowman, the teacher's assistant in his class room. "I think we should get her sun glasses." Why, doesn't she have any? "Yes, but she is a grandma and can't see very well."

Priceless, that is all I can say.... I guess we have a little tweaking to do.

Heart Surgery

My dad had heart surgery on September 16th. He had several blockages which resulted in a triple bypass. The 16th was also my older brother's 32nd birthday. All I could think about that day was the fact that two of the most important things in my parent's lives occurred on the 16th of September - they brought their first child into the world and they underwent an extremely difficult procedure to save my dad' life.

Thankfully everything went well with the surgery. He is in the recovery process which will take some time. He is looking forward to being released from the hospital but he is instructed to stay home for a month after he is released. I am sure my parents will both be going stir-crazy by then!

Other Side of the Road

My dad was admitted to the hospital yesterday because of chest pain. After some testing it was determined that he had a heart attack a day or two before he went in. He was transferred from one hospital to another last evening.

Immediately I started texting my mom all of these things she may not have thought about and not to worry about contacting me that I would get my info from my brother, etc. Then it hit me, I just need to sit back, let her make decisions and wait for information in whatever manner I receive it. One of the things I disliked the most was when people told me what to do, think, what to remember, etc. So, for now I sit on the other side of the road. It is amazing how helpless one feels over here, when the road is more than ten hours away....

My Boring Life

Sometime ago, probably a year or so ago, I mentioned that I wanted my boring life back. Last weekend I came to the realization that we are close to being back there.

I was all worked up last weekend, after we came home from a Labor Day picnic. I wanted to know what we were going to do that night and what activity we could incorporate. For a couple of hours I thought about going to a movie, or out to dinner, or having some friends over, something...I just wanted to be entertained. After I realized it was getting too late to make any plans I started thinking about the things I needed to be thankful for. (Now don't start thinking that I am so good. You see, I was forced to think about these things.)

After some thinking (and settling down about being home for the rest of the evening) I was grateful that we were all together. Audrey wasn't in the hospital, we weren't being forced to be here or there for a calling or school activity, we could just be together. It was wonderful to make dinner at home as a family and go to bed on time. Nathan and Audrey also think being home is the best thing ever. I know that at some point they will get the same itch I have and want to be entertained, want to be out doing something or having friends over. So, for now I will relish all of the time I have to spend with my children that still like being home and spending time with me.