The Donahue Family

Lucy's Back!

2010-05-30T19:15:00.000-05:00

Lucy spent 10 days with the dog trainer, learning good manners. She came back on Saturday to show us her new skills. Everyone is able to enjoy Lucy, now that she is working on her social skills. Conversely, Lucy is able to enjoy the company of us, as well. We have to practice with her a lot for the next several months, to make sure her new lessons stick. We'll also have a couple of follow up visits by her trainer, to learn a few new commands and cement some of the old ones. Welcome back, Lucy!

Frog! (and a chip)

2010-05-08T09:57:00.000-05:00

New Casts

2010-05-01T11:21:00.001-05:00

Happy Frrrrsaturday everyone! Yep. It's not Friday anymore. But at least I'm posting. I made an honest effort to get a good picture of these casts yesterday. I was going for a video (which I still plan to accomplish), but it didn't work out. We may have to put the out takes on here, though. :)

Anna's legs are healing well enough that she graduated to short casts with shoes. She is allowed to do some weight bearing, but it is really hard for her, and her knees are sore from not being able to move them for so long. She should be wearing these casts for at least another month. We go check in with Dr. Frick again in early June.

So, the story behind the stripes... Poor Grant, the kid-friendly, happy guy that helps Dr. Frick with casting, has been shunned by Anna. She holds a grudge against him for wrapping her in fiberglass, wielding a very loud saw, and...well...being a boy. Grant is always trying to cheer her up, so he offered to give her candy cane striped casts. He said she would be the only person in North Carolina with casts like these. I suspect you're not really supposed to do striped casts, because for every color, you have to open a new pack of material. I'm sure that doesn't make whomever does the budget very happy. Grant said he striped a cast before, but they were large and he just wound a flat layer over what was already on there. To do Anna's, he had to cut off a piece and fold it in half. That makes them a little 3-D as well, because the stripes are thick. It reminds me of fondant on a cake. Thank you Grant. We love you! Even if Anna refuses to speak to you, and she glares, and gives you "5" with her fist. :)

New Stuff

2010-04-23T14:28:00.001-05:00

I don't think last week had a Friday. I'm pretty convinced it didn't...

We've been cleaning house recently. Out with the old, in with the new. I am re-organizing all our home school supplies, toys, and clothes. Besides cleaning, I've been lesson planning for next year as well. We'll start our new school year in July, so it's right around the corner. I have to make copies, buy books, etc. Last weekend I went to a Charlotte Mason seminar, which was very informative. I love the CM method of homeschooling, and I look forward to a fun year. Here are some pictures of new purchases we've made recently. The two furniture pieces came from The Salvation Army, and the golf cart is a refurbished one that we got as a trade in for our old cart. If you can't tell, those are dress up clothes hanging in the closet, not real clothes.

Caterpillars

2010-04-09T20:06:00.000-05:00

So, we took some beautiful Easter pictures last Sunday, which you can see here.

But the big word around our house lately is, "CATERPILLAR!!!!" The trees have been raining Eastern Tent Caterpillars for the past several days. These critters turn into rather unexciting-looking moths, but for the time being, they have provided hours of entertainment for the children. Literally. Hours. They have caterpillar races, compare and contrast their different "pets," etc. So, as a homeschool project, we have collected several of these little guys and set them up in a terrarium to observe until they form a cocoon and complete their transformation. This is on Charlotte Mason's list of things that all 6 year old children should do, so I guess we're on track. :)

Lots of Milestones

2010-04-02T14:35:00.000-05:00

Over the past week, we've had lots of milestones. Ben played his first t-ball game last Saturday. His team name is The Green Hornets. Ben is playing with our church league- Idlewild Baptist. Monday night, while eating ice cream (ok, it was actually just chocolate sorbet), his tooth fell out. Yes. In ice cream. Brad said he must have bitten the gluten free cone.

Anna had a visit from the Stufflebeams on Sunday afternoon. Tuesday, she went into the hospital for orthopedic surgery. Dr. Frick removed two bones from each foot, then cut through her tibias, rotated the feet out straight, and put them back together with plates. In two weeks we'll x-ray to see if she is healing properly. We were at Levine's until Wednesday evening. Anna insisted she was well enough to come home, so we let her. Are you surprised that the casts are bright pink?

Hello. Do you like my hat?

2010-03-26T13:24:00.000-05:00

My title is best explained to those who are familiar with the book, Go Dog, Go. Periodically, two dogs appear in the story and have a dialogue about a hat. It is kind of random and arbitrary. That is how my posting has been recently.

So. Now I am resolving to post something or other every Friday. I will try to make it different than what you might find on facebook, to make sure I don't bore you. And I will include pictures, because that's what grandparents want to see anyway.

Last weekend, we spent time in Washington, NC, with my family. Emily had an early birthday party, since we will not be seeing Granny and Pa-pa in April.

While there, Ben acquired some banana trees for planting- which we are using as part of our home school experience. He is charge of their care, and we will be measuring and recording their growth. Ben also has his first loose tooth.

Anna is having orthopedic surgery at 8am on March 30th. They will be removing the cuboid and tailus bones from her feet, to help flatten them out. They are also cutting through her tibia, rotating her feet out, and putting them back together with plates. We will be in the hospital for several days, and she will be in casts for quite a while.

Caleb is just doing his own thing. Running to catch up with his siblings, cutting more teeth, learning new words, etc. He is very. very. busy.

Happy Saturday!

2010-02-06T09:24:00.000-05:00

If every moment could be like this...

Fun on the Playground

2010-01-29T16:22:00.000-05:00

I just posted about 40 pictures to a facebook album, so I would recommend you go there to see all the cuteness....

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=190154&id=777599055&l=9cd4289cd2

Organized Chaos

2010-01-03T17:12:00.001-05:00

It seems Ben has inherited some of my genes. He was quite proud of his arrangement of mini-tacos...

Despite the apparent organization, these guys are actually crazies.... Ask them to smile for the camera, and you get a variety of interesting looks.

Is There A Baby Gate Around Your Christmas Tree?

2009-12-10T17:05:00.005-05:00

What the child sees:
A barricade
A hindrance to the acquisition of good things
A beautiful vision- just out of reach

What the parent sees:
A door that will be opened when the time is right
A help during a time when self-control may be lacking
A beautiful vision, protected until the day it can be experienced in full

Has God put a baby gate around your Christmas tree?

Blog? What blog?

2009-11-07T10:29:00.006-05:00

Hey... ummmm... yeah....

I DO actually think about my blog. However, it's usually at a very inconvenient time. Like when I'm brushing my teeth at 11:00pm, getting ready for bed. I'm going to catch you all up to what we're doing with a few pictures from the past ummm *several* months.

First, some pictures from when we went to visit my parents for the "July Birthdays Party." For those of you who were following Colin's fight with the flu- he's the little boy with the blond hair. There is also a picture of me, Caleb, Laura, and my cousins Denise and Heather (with her son, Walt.

Here are some pictures of Anna. She and Ashleigh can both turn their tongue sideways.

Emily has been pretty crazy recently...

The boys are around here too...

And here are a few pictures of everyone having a good time together. We spent Halloween with our friend, Molly Hines (the bumble bee).

Cat's in the Cradle and a silver spoon...

2009-08-03T19:14:00.006-05:00

I'm going to skip on by the fact that we've spent the last three weeks in and out of the hospital with Caleb and Anna. They both seem to be on the mend. We're all still sleeping kind of poorly at night, and I haven't recovered the sleep lost to the midnight ER runs. However, we've also had fun stuff going on over here between all the yuck.

1. Emily moved into a big girl bed.
2. Emily got her first haircut ever (at Doolittle's).
3. Anna turned 4 July the 8th. Ben turned 5 July 18th. Caleb turned 1 July 30th.

Home Improvements

2009-06-07T19:42:00.004-05:00

In anticipation for the coming school year, we have done some more organizing of toys and books. Since cousin Aiden will now be staying with us during the day, we are having a sort of preschool experience right here at home. The laundry room desk area is ready for Ben's kindergarten work, craft supplies are sorted, and toys and puzzles are all in their proper places. The children even have nifty circles of colored carpet to sit on during story time. And, as an improvement for Mommy and Daddy, we bought a new kitchen table and highchair. IKEA is to thank for these purchases (and probably the organizing revolution that is going through our house).

Kindergarten

2009-05-27T08:53:00.004-05:00

Well folks, it's been a long journey, but I have come 180 degrees from saying, "I did just fine in public school," to "I think I'm going to homeschool." That's right. Home. School. School at home. I just officially took Ben's name off the TK waiting list at Carmel Baptist Wee School this morning. My dear son will not be doing TK next year. He will be doing Kindergarten at home with me. I don't think I have time to go into WHY we are homeschooling. The list of reasons is very long. I just think it will be a good fit for our family. I know my children. I love my children. I can work with them to bring out their God given potential in a way that a teacher of 30 students can not. Besides, we can be done with book work by lunch and have the rest of the day to do other stuff. Think about getting the 1:00pm piano lesson time slot. All the other kids are still in school. You can go on a field trip to the zoo in the middle of the week. You can do real life stuff like cooking and gardening. And best of all, we can have a routine without being a slave to the bell. Some of my worst interactions with my children are when I am trying to get them out of bed, dressed, and fed before the school bell rings. With homeschool, if they take a couple minutes to decide between cereal and eggs, no big deal. Same thing goes for night time activities. We'd love to fully participate in children's programming on Wednesday nights at church, but it ends way after they need to be in bed to get a decent amount of sleep for school. This being said, Anna will probably still be at Porter Ridge in the EC program. If she qualifies for next year, we may as well take advantage of these services. But for Ben, we're going to start Kindergarten, and the rest of the children will be doing preschool material. If any of you are familiar with the world of homeschool, we are using Saxon Math K, Phono-Graphix reading, and Five In A Row unit studies. Plus, I printed out the NC State requirements for Kindergarten to make sure we cover all our bases. I am looking forward to it. This should be an adventure.

Cousin Aiden Comes To Visit

2009-05-17T21:20:00.003-05:00

Wanda is watching Aiden while Monique and Samuel go on their honeymoon. Since the children love having him around so much, we ended up having him just sleep over here tonight. This video will show you why Ben wants more children at our house. The more the merrier, apparently.

The Next One's A Boy

2009-05-16T21:15:00.003-05:00

Not that there will be a next one... but Caleb has submitted his prediction. Apparently whatever gender your baby's first word is will be the gender of your next child. Caleb is now saying "Dada," so there you have it. Baby number five will be a boy. In a make believe world. Where Ben has his way.

Wanted: One wife- willing to have lots of children

2009-05-14T08:54:00.002-05:00

Our eldest son has been on a quest recently. A quest that, I hope, will take him about 20 years to complete. Benjamin Heath Donahue is looking for a wife. I'm afraid this may be partially my fault. Ben loves children, and has informed me several times recently that we need more babies in this house. The other day at dinner, I quite firmly informed him (for the last time) that as of right now, we had no plans to add any more children to our family. Brad seconded the motion, and that was that. Or so I thought. Ben's internal wheels turned for a moment. "I'll just have to find a wife."

Ben's wife application consists of one question. "Will you grow babies in your tummy?" He has so far proposed to me, his sister, and his preschool teacher. Once he understood that you have to find someone OUTSIDE of your own family that is approximately your own age, he started targeting his little friends at school. I told him that I really thought that he should wait and marry someone from maybe his college class as opposed to his preschool class. Ben will not be deterred. He now has his sights set on his friend Molly (sorry Melissa).

All this is stemming from the desire to have more children. I wonder if I can just convince him to start babysitting. We may even make some money that way. Yeah. Good idea. All he needs is a little CPR training and he'll be set.

More About the Guinea Pigs

2009-05-04T21:36:00.002-05:00

So, I know that you all come here to see pictures of the children. However, the guinea pigs are being featured today.

As good pet owners, Brad and I researched the most humane living space for the guinea pigs. We also looked for bedding alternatives- something that could be reused and didn't make a mess. What we found was a design for a nifty open top pen/cage with bedding made of towels wrapped in fleece. Brad went to the store and bought the materials to construct this ideal living space and he made it himself. The cage is probably about 6 feet long. The pigs are much more enjoyable now because they have plenty of room to play and race each other. They also do something called "popcorn" where they jump straight up in the air. For ease of cleaning, I add an extra layer (old cloth diapers) under the food, which I switch out every day. The fleece wicks any moisture down into the towels, so you can sweep up the poo daily with a whisk. This keeps the cage much cleaner, as you can see. We've also had fun finding new fruits and vegetables to supplement their diet. The children have had fun sharing new foods with the guinea pigs- and have eaten a few new veggies themselves!

Yeah....it's been awhile

2009-04-21T14:35:00.004-05:00

So instead of agonizing over composing the perfect blog post, I will just speedily catch you up on what has been happening for the past month. First, Emily and I were diagnosed with celiac disease, so we are wheat free here in the Donahue household. I have learned many interesting things about wheat and your immune system recently. The next exciting thing that happened was that we added two guinea pigs to our family (Sally and Cleo). They were a pseudo birthday present for Emily- we have all enjoyed their entertaining antics. After the purchase of guinea pigs, we celebrated Emily's second birthday. Twice. Once here and once in Washington. Finally, we had a wonderful Easter. Thanks, Granny, for the cute clothes. The end. Now maybe I can get back on schedule with my posts.

Happy!

2009-03-10T08:33:00.003-05:00

I'm glad my children are happy today- even when, like Emily, they don't feel well.

Ben

2009-02-25T17:04:00.002-05:00

Today Ben was thoughtfully watching Caleb eat his baby food.
"Caleb doesn't have any teeth."
"That's right, Ben."
"He has a flat mouth. Just like Elmo."

I had never thought about it before, but this is true. Babies mouths are very similar to puppets. Or dancing Peanuts characters...

Happy February!

2009-02-11T08:04:00.003-05:00

We've had some unusually warm weather recently. Last week school was closed for snow, but by the end of the week we were in the 70's. Yesterday had the perfect weather for playing and snacking outside. Ben, Anna, Emily, and Caleb all got to enjoy the faux spring atmosphere.

Go Team!

2009-01-28T08:58:00.002-05:00

Today was "Wear Your Favorite Team Colors" Day at school.

Now let me explain why grammar is so important.

This morning I found Ben sporting a green shirt and Anna sporting a pink shirt. "Today is Wear Your Favorite Team Colors Day," I tell them. Ben replies, "Green IS my favorite color." Grammatically stumped by a 4 year old.
If the teacher had asked us to wear our favorite team's colors, or the colors of our favorite team, I would have been ok. However, we were to wear our favorite team colors. Anna may not know of a team that wears pink, but she sure does think that pink is her favorite color for a team.

I sent an NC State shirt in their bookbag, along with an explanation to the teacher. Sigh.

Wow

2009-01-23T18:27:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, we received really cute customized crutches in the mail. These were a special gift from Every Kid Mobility, a company we recommend on Lifestyle Accelerator. We will be doing a product review of the crutches, but in the meantime, something amazing is happening. Take a look.

Spontaneous Generation

2009-01-14T09:28:00.003-05:00

Occasionally, I consider resigning from housework. I have a lovely lady that comes to help me once a month, and I always cringe in embarrassment at what she sweeps off the floor. I find myself stammering things such as, "I REALLY DO clean my house when you're not here...heh heh...ummm." Or, "Wow! Where'd THAT come from? I have NO IDEA why the floor is so dirty." Well, folks, the answer has been revealed. I now know where this dirt comes from. Spontanious generation. Look, I don't want to hear you argue that some scientist disproved that years ago with some maggots and a piece of meat. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, go check a middle school science book.) I have a picture that PROVES spontanious generation. Keep in mind my laundry room floor was swept AND mopped less than 24hrs ago. I give you exhibit A.

We have dirt. We have pieces of food. We have a plastic bag??? And the clincher... two wrappers from the kind of sucker that you get from the bank. Guess what folks? My children didn't even HAVE suckers yesterday. Hahahahahahahahahahaha! I've got the trash all figured out now. It slipped up and made a fatal error. Never generate an object that is not actually plausible. I'll give you dirt, and food particles and MAYBE the plastic bag. But NOT the wrappers. One of the mysteries of the universe has just been solved. Case closed.

Update

2009-01-13T16:53:00.004-05:00

So, ummmmm, I think I'm in trouble for not posting in a while. I have to admit, I've been neglecting my blog in order to work on my other website. I've been contacting a lot of people to promote it, and things have been going well. However, all my blogger audience cares about is pictures of the children. If you want to see pictures of my children, you should just go to my friend Melissa's site. She's been taking care of updating my mom, as you can see here. But, I need to do my duty as a parent, so let's get out the camera and see what we can dig up from the old memory card... Ok- notice. Halfway through arranging these pictures, my click and drag stopped working correctly. That's why they are in a crazy order.

Ben

2008-12-27T09:27:00.002-05:00

Ben got a turtle neck shirt for Christmas. Ben has never worn a turtle neck shirt before.

Ben: "This shirt is too close to my neck."
Granny: "It's a turtle neck."
Ben: "I'm not a turtle."

It Must Be In The Genes

2008-12-19T14:39:00.003-05:00

This video speaks for itself.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-17T17:09:00.003-05:00

Yeah, I know the video is dark, but the children keep the lights off in the living room so you can see the tree better. I stopped this video right before Ben uttered his famous last words.

Ben

2008-12-14T22:22:00.001-05:00

Once again, Ben has come up with a post worthy idea...

At church, our Sunday night kids program often has a theme for the night. If you participate in the theme by dressing up, you have the potential to win extra "bucks" that can be turned in later for items at the church store. Tonight, after church, Ben was chatting with me about an idea he had for a theme.

"I was thinking we should do "Nekkid Night,"
(I start laughing uncontrollably into my sleeve.)
"Ben, honey, we can't do that."
"Why not? Tonight was pajama night."
"Pajamas are still clothes. We can't go to church without clothes. In fact, when have you EVER left the house AT ALL without clothes?"
"But I was thinking that Nekkid Night would be a good idea..."

Oh Ben. You funny little boy. Your "Nekkid Night" idea may get an "F", but I'll give you an "A" for alliteration.

Flip Mino

2008-12-10T15:13:00.007-05:00

It has been requested that I update my blog, so here you go.

Yesterday, I received a great Christmas present in the mail. It was the new flip mino- a compact little camcorder that is targeted specifically to those who want to share their videos on the internet. The camera was quite a hit with me, but the kids are the ones that are really hamming it up. Ben in particular is interested in making and viewing videos. I have three clips here of the children singing their ABCs. If you notice Ben's reaction at the end of the videos, you'll get an idea of what refrain I've been hearing around the house lately. I'm really having trouble recording anything...

New Web Site

2008-11-24T21:24:00.005-05:00

This post does not contain any cute pictures or entertaining stories. It is solely to keep you updated on what I have been doing for the past week. Most of my spare (ha!) time (re: time I should be using to clean the house) has been used to work on my new website. I am in the process of creating the best online spina bifida resource available. High aspirations, I know. But why bother if you're not going to do it right? My goal is to take all the information that is floating around on the web and consolidate it onto one site. Then, I will add some fun catagories, such as clothing, travel, and sports, and tie it all together with a community forum. The forum is actually up and running already. We have 19 members so far. Not bad, considering the forum was launched about a week ago. Most of the pages have some content on them- a few are finished. There are still a couple of catagories that remain as "coming soon". Even if you aren't in the spina bifida community, check out the site anyway. I appreciate feedback from anyone.

http://www.lifestyleaccelerator.com/

Out Of Control

2008-11-13T14:54:00.003-05:00

Anna is going through a phase where she puts on multiple items of pink clothing and wears them around the house. She usually starts out with a regular outfit for the base layer (one that I have chosen) and then starts adding anything that is pink and can be pulled over her head. When she came home from school today she immediately pulled on a long sleeved pink dress and then topped it with a sleeveless pink dress. So, she is currently wearing three outfits and a pair of pink sunglasses. Our record so far is 4 layers. That ensemble included her original white shirt, plus her pink princess costume, a pink short sleeved shirt and a pink dress. Wow. I'm surprised she can move in all of that clothing.

Ben.

2008-11-09T10:41:00.002-05:00

This morning we stayed home from church because I have been very sick (thanks Emily...) and I didn't want to share my germs with others. Ben was very sad about not going to church, so we compromised and had our Sunday School lesson in the living room. Since I am their teacher, I had all the materials on hand. It went very well. Ben and Anna sat and followed through with all our activities just as if we were really in the classroom. Later, Ben and I were in a conversation about orphans. I was trying to explain the concept to him, and was a little afraid that he might take this on as his new "thing to worry about". His last "thing to worry about" was fire- such as "what if our house burns down, what if we can't get out, what if we burn down, then do we die?" etc. I was sure the prospect of being parent-less would be equally as concerning. After explaining that orphans are children that do not having parents (and hoping he wasn't going to ask me WHY they don't have parents) I was met with this one profound statement. "But if children don't have parents, they might poop on the floor." Yes, Ben, yes. They might poop on the floor. Good to know that when you look at your mom and dad, you think, "These are the people that keep me from pooping on the floor." Not to mention all the other things we do as parents...

What Will They Think Of Next?

2008-11-03T19:06:00.007-05:00

Today, while I was cleaning my crockpot (elbow deep in baked-on-grime from where the stew had boiled over and dripped between the pot and the cooker) I heard a suspicious coughing sound coming from the other side of the couch. I rinsed charred stew off my hands as quickly as possible and trotted across the room, dripping stew water from my fingertips as I went. I saw what I suspected. Emily was laying on the rug in front of our couch, throwing up. She managed to throw up not only on the rug, but on a pillow (that does NOT have a removable cover), the floor, her clothes, and her favorite baby doll. After scooping her up, I managed to get another round of throw up on my shirt, and the floor. Anna immediately ran and found a dirty towel from the laundry room, and to my horror, started mopping up the floor (re. spreading throw up around) with one of my white towels. The third round of throw up hit our chaise lounge, and Caleb's Boppy- not to mention the blanket Emily was wrapped in after being stripped of her throw up clothes. "What was Ben up to during this mayhem," you ask? That's a great question. As we all know, children have a knack for knowing when their parents are unaccessible and for using that time to implement their own crazy plans. In the midst of throw up, Ben rolled our pumpkin off the table and carved it. I'm not kidding. He carved it with a 10 year old plastic knife that I bought at Target while I was in college. The only thing I can figure is that the pumpkin cracked when it hit the floor, which gave him an opening. However, he did most of the damage himself. Anna was an accomplice once he got to the seed scooping stage. Apparently, this is what they did in school today. Moms all over the world know that this is why you can't go to the bathroom with peace of mind as long as your children are awake. While you are still flushing the toilet, they will be dropping eggs off the back of the couch to see if objects really fall at the same rate of speed.

Halloween

2008-11-02T21:01:00.007-05:00

My babies were so cute this year. I'm so glad that Ben is still young enough that he is excited about being an animal for Halloween instead of requesting something like Spider Man. This year the Donahue household had a mouse, a princess, a butterfly, and a bear. You may recognize Caleb's costume as Ben's from four years ago *sniff*. You can also see Ben, Anna, Emily, and Caleb with their friend Molly by visiting the Hines' blog. There are several cute pictures of the gang, and a good picture of Ben holding his "cheese".

Beach Pictures

2008-10-25T18:08:00.005-05:00

We just got home from the beach. Internet access was sketchy, so I didn't get to do as much blogging as I had hoped. We enjoyed a variety of activities indoor and out. The children got to go fishing and one day we went to the amusement park at Broadway on the Beach. While we were on vacation, Samuel proposed to Monique, so Rachel was able to take a lot of good engagement pictures of them together. Karen also got her ears pierced for her 14th birthday. The weather was nice until Friday, when it started to rain. Fortunately, our plan for the evening was for the girls to take Karen out to see High School Musical 3 in the theater. It was fun. Rachel's mom, Vickie, is hilarious- she was dancing in her seat. We can't take her anywhere.

Sunday and Monday

2008-10-20T19:32:00.004-05:00

Our first whole day at the beach was fun and relaxed. The traditional living room Sunday service started with some singing, and then we had a message from Mick. A sandwich lunch followed, and then we spent some time on the beach. Ben was the first person to fall in the ocean. He was running backwards away from the water (racing the waves) and tripped. After falling in, he popped back up, got disoriented, started running toward the water and fell in again a little deeper. According to Ben, the water wanted to suck him in so he could go find a shark. Brad had to wade in and pull him out. The rest of the day was low key- cooking dinner, doing laundry, playing board games. Turbo Cranium was fun, even if Samuel kept talking during charades.

Monday was a day full of good food. It started out with a breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Then we had Frogmore Stew for lunch. Frogmore Stew is a bunch of vegetables and shrimp boiled together with lots of spices. You drain all the water out and dump it on newspaper to eat. If you want butter, cocktail sauce, etc. you just dab it onto the paper in front of you. No plates, easy clean up. For the afternoon, Brad and I took Karen, Ben, Anna, and Emily to the Ripley's Aquarium. We saw a couple of dive shows, but my favorite part is the underwater tunnel. It is so cool to see fish swimming over your head. After the Aquarium we hit Ben and Jerry's and had an ice cream Sunday. Emily had some of the plain banana. Dinner was turkey and dressing with sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and all the traditional Thanksgiving type foods. We decided if you can have Christmas in July, you can have Thanksgiving in October. The day is ending with more board games and a semi-early bedtime for me. Looking forward to it since the children have us up before the sunrise.

Frogmore Stew contains potatoes, corn, onions, shrimp, and sausage.
The children (and Brad) watch as sharks swim over their heads.

We're Here!

2008-10-19T10:26:00.002-05:00

The Donahues made it safely to the beach. This year we have an elevator to move all our stuff up to the third floor. It's very handy for Anna and Wanda as well. I was the designated elevator man becuase they could pack the most stuff around my body. Our beach house is graced with 11 adults and 6 children age 4 and under. The schedule is relaxed- mostly hanging out and playing games. Eating snacks is also high on the list. Fun times ahead.

We're Going To The Beach!!!

2008-10-18T06:57:00.003-05:00

The Donahues will be at Garden City, South Carolina from October 18th through the 25th. We'll be sure to take lots of pictures, so look forward to our next installment- Beach Trip.

eHow

2008-10-01T18:47:00.002-05:00

So now I will explain to you the process of writing articles for eHow. It is actually very easy. They don't require you to pass any tests- your success is based on your skill because pay is determined by some secret algorithm that figures in how frequently your page is viewed with how well it is rated, etc. They won't stop you from writing an article about something that is already covered, but they strongly discourage it. It's not in your best interest. The template for writing the articles is very easy. However, depending on the success of your article, you may not make a dime. Or you could make a little cash. eHow seems to be reputable, and it is kind of fun to write the articles. I have already written a second one that pertains to the Spina Bifida community. It is also good to just have the information out there on the web so that you can refer people to it later, rather than having to give different people the same advice over and over again. So watch out. Next time someone asks me me for advice, I may just say, "Actually, I wrote an eHow article about that. Here's the link. Now what else did you want to talk about?" Ha ha.

My Article

2008-10-01T10:03:00.004-05:00

I wrote an article for eHow! More on that later, but for now- go check it out! How cool is that?

Here it is.

Strange Article

2008-10-01T06:51:00.002-05:00

I don't know if this article is something to really pay attention to, or if it is just another random theory by our science community. Whether or not it is accurate, it sure is interesting- mostly because it would totally change the way science looks at the universe. You can read it for yourself and slog through all the yadda yadda on your own (which I would encourage), but the summary is this: The earth may actually be special. Apparently, the theory states that the earth may be surrounded by a cosmic bubble that is less dense in matter than the rest of the universe. This would mean that the universe may not be rappidly expanding as previously thought, and that other objects in space are not as far away from us as they appear. Things outside this bubble would appear farther away because of the presence of more matter between us and them. Things inside our cosmic bubble would appear closer. We measure how far away something is by how dim the light is that it gives off. Our perception of time and space may be completely warped by the presence of more matter between us and the object. Interesting, to say the least.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,430943,00.html

Gas Lines

2008-09-26T08:16:00.002-05:00

I've told some of you about the desperate gas situation here in the Charlotte area. We are officially staying in our home so as to not run out of gas. Gas stations everywhere are out. Even the gas station at Costco is out. There are a few places where you can still find gas, but they are (as I said) few and also far between. Yesterday our equiptment man, Todd, canceled his appointment with us because he had no gas to drive to our home. He also told me our physical therapist, Susan, canceled her appointments yesterday because she was out of gas. I called Susan on her cell phone, and she said I caught her waiting in a gas line. She had been there for two hours and had witnessed some unbelievably childish behavior. I don't know how long it took her to finally get a turn at the pump. Some of the stations that have gas have been choosing to close down because the behavior of the patrons is getting out of control. My friend, Cyndie, blogged about a gas line she passed at her local Wal-Mart. She couldn't see the end of the line, but she did see the aerial police surveillance unit. I have stolen her pictures for you to view.

Money Saving Tip #347

2008-09-22T07:12:00.002-05:00

Be your own portrait studio.

Traditionally, Caleb's birthmom has had a portrait taken of all of her children at 6-weeks old. She gets a 12x18 (huge) print and hangs it in her hall. I wanted to help her keep this tradition with Caleb, but around here, we don't usually fork out the money for studio portraits. That's why I took photography in college and bought a nice camera. Yesterday, the conditions outside were perfect for taking pictures. It was a little hazy, so the light was filtered and not too harsh. I took the bouncy seat outside and threw a blanket over it, propped Caleb up, and started shooting. This was our best photo. I wasn't happy with his collar being in front of his chin, but in most of the other pictures, he had a very disgruntled expression on his face. I know that we are missing the obligatory fake background, but hey- this isn't Sears. Hopefully this picture looks professional enough to hang beside her other ones.

Caleb Smiles

2008-09-20T20:16:00.001-05:00

Caleb is smiling now. Here are a few cute pics.

Because My Mom Complained

2008-09-18T14:22:00.002-05:00

The other day, my mom complained about me not updating my blog frequently enough. She wants more pictures of the kids.

Today while eating snack, Ben said with a dramatic wave of the arm, "We want to fill up this house." "Fill it up with what?" I asked him. "With children," he answered. I chuckled to myself. While I think we are finished having children, we do enjoy having family and friends over. Brad's brother Mick came and stayed with us recently. Of course, Rachel and Keith were here, too. While they were in town, we took the opportunity to get some shots of the grandchildren. A week later, my friend Erica was here with her son Kent, as they evacuated Baton Rouge for hurricane Ike. I will have to rely on Erica for pictures from that visit, because I didn't pick up the camera the whole time they were here. I can't believe I forgot.

Welcome Home Molly!

2008-09-08T21:24:00.002-05:00

On Saturday, we had the privilege of meeting Molly (and her parents), at the Charlotte-Douglas airport. Ben, Anna, and Emily came with us to get their first non-internet glimpse of their new friend. Brian and Melissa are glad to be home and are trying to recover from their trip to and from Vietnam. We should be seeing them again next week after they have a chance to rest and get into a routine. Here are just a few of the great pictures we took.

Baby Toes

2008-08-21T10:01:00.002-05:00

Baby toes are so cute.

Update for Last Week

2008-08-21T09:57:00.002-05:00

Last week was very eventful, so I am going to sum it up briefly. We had a trip planned to Washington for my 10 year class reunion which was last Saturday. It became an extended trip because my grandmother passed away the weekend before. We went down at the beginning of the week for the funeral and stayed through the next weekend to attend the reunion. We had some sad times and some fun times and now we're trying to get back into our routine at home.

Caleb Braxton Donahue

2008-08-08T20:36:00.002-05:00

Introducing Caleb Braxton Donahue!

Caleb was born July 30th by C-section (I got to watch!). He weighed 7lb 7oz and was 19 inches long. Brad and I went up to Rockingham for the birth last Wednesday. Starting Tuesday, we spent our nights at a bed and breakfast in Wadesboro and our days at Richmond Memorial Hospital until he was discharged on Friday. Ever since, Caleb has been at home with us waiting for the revocation period to pass. Last night at midnight our time was up, so today we are introducing the newest addition to our family. It will still take a few months to finalize the adoption through the court system, so for now Caleb is technically named Braxton Jones (Jones being the last name given to all babies that are custody of our agency). Braxton was chosen by his birth family, and we are keeping it as his middle name. We have an open adoption and have gotten to know some of his birth family already. Caleb is so cute- and the other children luuuuuuuv (squish) him to pieces. Enjoy the pics!

Swingset Addendum

2008-08-07T19:45:00.002-05:00

I forgot to give credit to Brad not only for putting the kit together, but for building the staircase up to the clubhouse on the swing set. Anna needed stairs to crawl up instead of the ladder that came with the set. The swing set also has three swings, a rock wall (in the back), a rope ladder, a slide, tic tac toe, a telescope, and a really neat picnic bench and play area under the clubhouse. We had a good time eating at the picnic table the other day. This is a great addition to our back yard.

Catching Up

2008-08-07T19:08:00.003-05:00

This post is for my mom. Well, it's for everybody- but recently my mom has been asking me "when will I see _____ on your blog?" Let me fill in some blanks. Ben's birthday was July 18th, and went by without an entry. Sorry Ben. I didn't use my camera to take pictures of his party, so I had to wait to get them from my sister in law. We had a small family gathering with cake. Ben got puzzles, a "Benjamin" cup, stickers, and some bubbles. The big present for Anna and Ben this year was the swing set, which Brad finished building a couple weekends ago. It is very fun and underneath it we used a wonderful material called rubber mulch. Rubber mulch is made from recycled tires. It is very shock absorbent and lasts a lifetime. You could also roll in it and never get dirty. Amazing stuff. Brad's birthday was August 5th. Brad turned 30. We have no pictures to commemorate that event because according to Brad, he failed age 29 and has to do it over again. Another big even for Ben occurred today. Ben had his first trip to the dentist. He was very cooperative and pleasant to the staff. I was proud. His favorite part was when the hygienist showed him how all the different tools worked and let him touch the tooth polisher. His teeth looked great except for a molar that was malformed and lacking some enamel. It needs to be partially filled. So. We will be having Ben's second trip to the dentist very soon. I'm afraid that one won't be as fun.

Vera Bradley, Meet Your Match!

2008-07-28T22:45:00.004-05:00

It is so late right now that I don't even feel like writing this post, but I have to share with you what happened to me this evening. Brad and I went out on a date to the Melting Pot to celebrate our pending adoption. It was a leisurely evening, and it took a couple hours to complete our meal. Unfortunately, we needed to make a Wal-Mart run after we finished, so that put us arriving at the Indian Trail Wal-Mart around 11:30pm. Those of you who know me also know that I wear a Vera Bradley pocket book that is technically called a "small backpack". However, it is in the handbag section and is actually a purse with two straps. I bought it last fall and have worn it every day since. On the way into Wal-Mart I was stopped by the guys at the door, who asked me to leave my bookbag up front. I said, "Oh, this isn't a bookbag, this is my purse." They said, "Sorry, company policy. If you don't want to leave it up front, you can go leave it in your car." I said, "Is it because of the time of day?" Thinking that maybe after 11 they had a spike in crime and needed to crack down on certain things. No, no, the guys insisted this was a policy that is always in effect. I had actually opened it up for them and showed them the contents to prove that it was a purse and not, in fact, a book bag. There were no guns or drugs inside, and really, there was not enough room to steal anything because most of the space is taken up by my travel Bible. Yes. My Bible. However, this must have looked quite suspicious to our second shift workers, because they told me I was fortunate to have been allowed in with this bag for the past year. In stead of leaving my bag in the car, I left completely. Brad actually called the manager when we got home and politely asked him about their policy. I was still interested because I also bring diaper bags into Wal-Mart and I wanted to know if there was a problem with the size of the bag, or if it was just the fact it had two straps. The manager told Brad that they did not have a policy against purses that have two straps and that the employees were in error. So, Wal-Mart missed out on a couple of purchases tonight. And now we have to go back out tomorrow. But we will go to Target instead.

Happy Birthday Again

2008-07-27T20:02:00.003-05:00

Today, Ashleigh and her parents came over to celebrate Anna's birthday. We had fun opening presents, swinging on the swings, and hanging out. Candy made a really good cake with mandarin oranges in the cake part and pineapple and cool whip in the frosting. It was very light and tasty. Also, we discovered where the sideways tongue gene came from. If you have been around Anna recently, you've probably seen her turn her tongue sideways. This is one of those special genetic things you hear about in biology class. We were wondering who else could do it- and now we know!

Grammar, People!

2008-07-24T08:28:00.005-05:00

I went to the dentist this morning (8am to be precise) and on the way back home I noticed yet another billboard assaulting us with the phrase "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." Now, there were a lot of bad things about the design of this ad- one of them being that the print is so small that you just may wreck your car while trying to read it. I saw it from afar- a large black board with an empty white thought balloon floating in the middle. Underneath the balloon I could see white type. What it said was a mystery, because it was the equivalent of looking at the very bottom line of a 20/20 eye chart- at 40 feet away. The print finally became large enough to read at about the time I was passing it on the highway. I could barely catch the message as I drove past, but to my horror, I thought I saw the phrase, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." Let me point out the problem here. The person or organization that slapped up this billboard on highway 74 is (I assume) trying to spur us to some sort of action regarding education. However, the phrase is grammatically incorrect. A mind is NOT a terrible thing to waste. It is a wonderful and complex thing. It is a mysterious and sublime thing. It is not-as asserted by this billboard-a terrible thing. If you would like to tell me that it is a terrible thing to waste a mind, then I might agree with you. It would be a wasteful thing to waste a mind as well. But- we are left with this thought. There was no website at the bottom of the board to connect us to an organization that is fighting the waste of minds. No "www.saveamind.org". So we are left only with the thought. For people like me, who try to avoid the waste of minds (and money), this is a slightly irritating investment on someone's part. Thank you for reminding me not to waste minds. I will do my best. For the person who may be wasting their mind, they are left with no recourse. There is no help here. Only a problem presented and left in the air. Maybe the mind wasting person will now take the next left and head to the library- but I don't know. Without some direction, they probably won't know what to do in order to not waste their mind. And honestly, they probably didn't read the sign because it was so small that anyone who reads slower than me (and I'm a fast reader) would not have been able to absorb the message before it was here and gone. So I want to say to you- Mr. Billboard Designer- please, don't waste your mind. Go buy a copy of Strunk and White and brush up on your grammar.

AB's Birthday Art

2008-07-14T19:24:00.002-05:00

My artwork arrived the other day and was promptly hung on the wall by my wonderful husband....

I have tried and tried to get a good picture of it, but the flash keeps glaring off the canvas. This side shot is the best I can do. The work is called "Still Life with Chrysanthemums" and is an oil on canvas by Emil Carlson- a dutch artist that immigrated to America. Although the original was painted in 1896 and now resides in a private collection, I am able to enjoy my framed canvas print by pretending it is a real painting.

Happy Birthday Anna!!!

2008-07-08T19:44:00.003-05:00

Anna turned three today! What a big girl. We had a birthday lunch here at our house with Brad's family (the first in a series of birthday parties with various relatives). Anna had chocolate cake and opened a few presents. I managed to take a couple of pictures, but it is hard to be both the photographer and the party planner...

Let's just wait a minute here

2008-07-07T19:14:00.002-05:00

The last two posts really seem to be pretty hard on ole Brad. Maybe we should back up a little bit and reword those two posts before this turns ugly.

Maybe we should say this in the first post.
"Brad works so hard around here and at work. I am sure that he will soon be able to help me with yet another project around the house. You know...he does so much already, I hate to ask him to do one more thing for me. But I am sure that he will not mind."

Then the second could read like this.
"Well, today my wonderful husband was able to install the screws into the wall in a safe and secure manner so as to not inflict damage on the pocket door behind the wall while making sure that the screws would not fall out. He sure does do a lot around the house. So many things that I can hardly keep track of them. What would I do without him?"

I think that most people would agree (at least the males would) that my version of how these posts could read are much better than the previous two.

Well I would write more but I have to go clean the kitchen, clean the table, wash dishes, change a light bulb, sweep the porch, fix the cushions on the couch, lower the blinds, and sweep the floor before AB gets home from the store....that is right she goes on trips to the store and leaves me with a laundry list of chores to do.
-Brad

Ummmm, I (AB) am back from the store, and I believe this post is slightly biased. I'm not so sure about that laundry list of chores that Brad has there. I think it went more like this...
"Brad, I need to run to the store in a little while."
"Why don't you go now before it gets too late?"
"Well, I needed to finish cleaning up the kitchen from dinner- do you mind clearing the table?"
"Sure, you go on ahead."

And now you have the rest of the story...

Art Clothesline

2008-07-06T20:08:00.003-05:00

The Clothesline is up! I chose a purple, green, and cream striped cording as the line, and I covered the screws with green flower buttons attached with hot glue. Pretty simple when your husband puts the screws in the wall for you. :)

Blog blog blog (blah blah blah)

2008-07-02T18:58:00.004-05:00

Well, it's about time I posted... N'est pas?

Our life has been extremely busy recently. Between Matthews Vacation Bible school, a visit from Mick and Rachel, Emily having a week long fever virus, impending birthdays and Providence's Vacation Bible School, I haven't had time to compose a report. However, I am happy to announce that the past two days I went on a cleaning frenzy and straightened up large portions of my house. The craft room, the kitchen desk area, the toy corner, and the library have all been re-organized. This was spawned by two events: my mom getting me to buy a painting for the living room (with B-Day money) and Wanda giving me a laptop stand. With the addition of two items that will add both beauty and organization to my home, came the desire to make over everything. Brad is being swept along in this frenzy. I bought some pretty cording to make an art clothes line in the craft room. I need his male assistance to put the screws high up in the wall, so I can tie the ends of the cord to the screws and then glue a decorative button over the screw to camouflage it's functional, ugly, metallic self. Can you guess how excited he is about this? You guessed it! He's so excited that he all of a sudden really needed to go to the store tonight.

Blogging Tragedy

2008-06-21T18:30:00.002-05:00

First of all, our internet has been out for over a week, and now is only back in patches. Second of all, Costco's photo center has somehow re-linked our photos from the past few months- causing our pictures to disappear. :( I'll try to catch up on our posts soon- when I have reliable internet.

The Zoo

2008-05-27T20:08:00.003-05:00

Today, Brad and I took Ben and Anna to the Asheboro Zoo. We had the best trip ever. I never expected things to go so well with a three year old and a two year old (who would be missing her afternoon nap). We were there from 10:30am to 4:30pm. Brad wasn't sure if Ben and Anna would be able to make it through the entire zoo without burning out on us, but we saw every exhibit. Starting in North America, we saw the polar bears, tortoises, alligators, cougars, sea lions, puffins, otters, snakes, frogs, fish, wolves, etc. Brad helped push Anna in her wheel chair (he on the long stretches, and she when we would reach an exhibit), and I pushed Ben in some rental buggy contraption. We took a short stop for some Cookies n' Creme Dippin' Dots before checking out the indoor Sonora Desert which featured road runners, ocelots, reptiles, bats, and cacti. By this time we were ready for lunch at the Junction Plaza and then we hopped the tram to the entrance of Africa. We were able to use a medical station at the entrance for some of Anna's needs. I am mentioning this to educate my readers that medical stations can be used for personal needs, not just the I-fell-down-and-broke-my-leg-at-the-elephant-exhibit type emergencies. Also, points to the zoo for having a friendly and discreet staff person who was quite helpful. After this short detour we made our way through Africa, viewing zebras, ostriches, giraffes, elephants, chimpanzees, baboons, gorillas, antelope, tropical birds, frogs, meerkats, snakes, and tropical plants. We were able to eat some fruit saved from lunch for our afternoon snack and made use of the water fountains to supplement what we had brought from home. Before leaving, the children each picked out one thing from the gift shop and also chose a memento to bring home to Emily (who stayed with Grandma since she was too little to enjoy the experience). The children were happy the entire time, even in the 90 degree heat. Brad and I walked over 5 miles today pushing a cart/wheelchair uphill the entire time. Yes. Uphill the ENTIRE time. The zoo is designed to walk you uphill for half the park and downhill the other half. We walked uphill until lunch. When we took the tram to Africa, we ended up leaving the pinnacle of the park only to end up down at the bottom of Africa where we were forced to walk uphill all the way back to the center again. Sigh. It was a great trip, though. This is the fun part of parenting. Children and adults getting along, having fun and learning from each other. Perfect.

Indoors and Outdoors

2008-05-24T20:15:00.003-05:00

Recently the children have had lots of fun both inside and outside. Yesterday they worked hard in the garden planting watermelon seeds. I took this picture when they stopped for a break. They were enjoying all sorts of vending machine snacks while perched on the hood of the pickup. Today we went to visit Ashleigh. We blew bubbles and played inside the house while it rained. After the rain stopped we were able to have a nice time outside. Sidewalk chalk and tricycles both hit the road.

The Bench

2008-05-24T19:55:00.003-05:00

We FINALLY put seat cushions on the bench by our door. It has been waiting- seatless- since we moved in the house. All we had to do was cut some foam and cover it with material. I bought the material and foam back when we painted the thing in January. I could just envision someone walking in our door for the first time, unaware of the danger they could encounter while taking off their shoes. As they scan the room, commenting on the lovely choice in paint, their backside gravitates toward the purple frame with the gaping hole, honing in on what their subconscious registered as a bench of some sort. Hoping to take off their tennis shoes without having to crush in the heel of one shoe with the toe of the other while wiggling the first foot out (which has now been inadvertently pinned in by the opposite foot that is in fact trying to free it), our visitor lowers themselves to sit. Phwump! Folded in half like a ceasar salad pita, they become victim to the seatless bench.

Not only do we have upholstery, we also have a new painting above the bench. It remindes me of Nice, France. The painting looks very convincing, because it is textured. However, it is just a print we bought at Big Lots. In the frame: $10. Woo hoo. The frame would have cost me that much at Wal-Mart. Enjoy les beaux arts.

What Have We Been Doing Lately?

2008-05-10T16:29:00.002-05:00

First, let me tell you- I love the scrubs. Great idea. It has decreased laundry, saved my clothes from wear and tear, and added to the comfort factor around the house. I can wipe my hands on my clothes while cooking. In honor of the situation, I went out and bought new jeans that I fully expect to last forever. Or at least a really long time.

Ben's latest thing is making sure everything is neat. He has been folding washcloths, picking up toys, and making his bed. He has also been giving unsolicited advice to other people on what they need to do to keep things neat. "Daddy, I think we need to take the car to the car wash." I included a picture of his bed so you could see his handy work. I never actually showed him how to make his bed, he just did it on his own. Not bad.

Among Anna's recent accomplishments is the ability to ride her tricycle for an extended amount of time (feet "velcroed" on) and the ability to stand at the parallel bars with no hands. She is actually leaning back against the bar when she does this, but it is still a huge deal because she has to balance and bear a lot of weight on her legs. She can actually stand between the bars while only holding on with one hand, which is also really good.

Emily is holding down the fort by looking cute. She has been playing and eating and walking around just as her job description calls for. Being one has pretty straight forward duties.

Brad has started church league softball and is trying to finish up the busy season at work. He looks forward to the ability to do many household projects in the near future. (ha ha)

Scrubs

2008-04-23T19:21:00.002-05:00

Hey all you moms out there! I am going to try a little experiment and see how it works.

Recently I was inspired to take inventory of my clothing situation. My friend Erica's blog about her holey jeans made me realize that ALL my jeans are holey, except for one pair. That pair is now becoming "thin" on the knees, and I have been confronted with the task of saving my jeans or trying to find another pair that fits. I don't have time to go try on new jeans. So.

In an effort to save the halfway decent clothes I have from being ruined by floor time, baby food, poop, and paint-that-is-supposed-to-wash-out-but-doesn't; I have invested in two sets of scrubs. That's right. $9.99 for a solid colored matching top and bottom set. The plan is to wear the scrubs around the house, and to only wear good clothes when I am going somewhere. Some days I might be able to wear the scrubs all day. On other days, I may only wear them for a few hours, but what a difference that few hours might make. I could avoid all sorts of nasty things happening to my clothes just within the first hour or two of getting up and making breakfast. Right now this seems like a good idea. Whether or not it works will hinge on two things. 1.) Do the scrubs fit without looking too goofy. 2) Will it be a pain to change in and out of clothes during the day. If this WORKS, however, I will be looking at longer lasting clothes. This will eventually save money and more importantly, the time it takes to do something like try on jeans. Not only will the clothes last longer overall, but in theory, I may not have to wash them as frequently either, saving on laundry. That is a big perk. If I only wear my good jeans an hour or two per day, think how infrequently they would have to go into the wash. Same with shirts, although I am funnier about shirt hygiene. Anyway, I will keep you all posted on this experiment. I hope it goes well. The scrubs should be arriving by FedEx any day now...

Princess Party at Chick-Fil-A

2008-04-05T20:29:00.006-05:00

Starting yesterday afternoon, Anna seemed to be feeling a little better. This was great news because we had promised to take her to tonight's highly awaited Chick-Fil-A Princess Party. One of our local franchises thought it would be a good idea to throw a party that involved painting your fingernails, decorating wands, and getting your picture taken with costumed Disney Princesses. Every little girl that came dressed as a princess received a coupon for a free milkshake. On the way to the restaurant I said to Brad (in my ignorance of the appeal of princess parties), "I wonder if we will be the only people that show up in costume?" I was imagining maybe a hand full of families attending, getting weird looks from the rest of the patrons. Boy was I wrong. It was worse than being at Disneyland in June. The line for the activities wrapped all the way around the inside of the building and out the door. The employees were frantically awarding coupons. I was tempted to just leave. However, all of my children were very happy to be there in the mob. For close to two hours we surrounded ourselves with pink and purple balloons and living preschool replicas of every commercialized princess known to video. I need to add that Ben, having felt slightly left out of the pre-party excitement, decided to go as a king. Also, in an appropriate representation of the complexity of her character, Anna opted to wear, not a tiara, but a baseball cap. Go Anna.

Anna Update and Emily Picture

2008-04-01T20:13:00.003-05:00

Today we went to the neurologist with Anna. She had been going down hill since Saturday. We determined that her shunt was working correctly but the pressure was too low. So with the help of the "Magnetic Doughnut" we raised her pressure to a normal level. When they replaced the shunt catheter during surgery, they didn't adjust the setting. We had a situation where too much fluid was draining, now that the shunt was unclogged. Over the next few days the pressure in her head should raise and we should see some improvement in the way she feels.

Emily ate her first real meal with the family on Monday. It was Meatball Soup. We had to adjust the recipe a little to accommodate her tummy, but it still tasted fine and she seemed to enjoy it.

Revision Update

2008-03-28T17:30:00.005-05:00

Anna came out of surgery a little agitated, but she is doing fine now. We've been out of surgery and in our room for several hours. Needless to say, she has been upset about what is going on, but the doctor confirmed the shunt was partially obstructed, so it was a good choice to do the revision. We will be here overnight and should be discharged sometime on Saturday, as long as there are no complications. By then, Anna may not want to leave because she is getting to watch lots of TV and eat chocolate ice cream.

Shunt Revision

2008-03-27T20:10:00.003-05:00

Just a note to let everyone know that Anna goes in for her shunt revision tomorrow (Friday) at 1:00. Actually, we go in at 11, but the surgery is at 1. We knew we would need a revision soon, since the shunt wasn't functioning properly, but we didn't find out until this morning that it would be tomorrow. This time around we will be able to enjoy the new Levine Children's Hospital that is part of CMC. It was under construction during our last surgery.

Easter and The Table

2008-03-25T18:53:00.004-05:00

Ok, ok- it's the moment you've all been waiting for. What did we put on that table? Remember the poll? Remember the hype? The time has come for the great reveal.

But first.....

Here's some pictures of the children at Easter, and a little photo I like to call, "You're in trouble now."

And the winner is......

No One!

We got this nifty (free) iPod/CDplayer/Stereo thingy with greenhouse rewards points from FedEx. I think it is actually an Apple product.

Very enjoyable, and in classy Apple style.

We will remove the plastic from the cords. I promise.

Playing Nice

2008-03-06T19:37:00.002-05:00

After drying my hair this morning, I proceeded to search for my children who had wandered to the opposite end of the house. They usually take this hair-drying-opportunity and use the white noise to cover up their most destructive projects. I was a little concerned to see the laundry room door closed, but much to my delight, I found them playing nicely together "fixing" Anna's red car. This inspired me to throw some pictures online. I am also including individual pictures of Anna and Emily in their matching flannel dresses. My mom made them in her "spare time" one weekend. Talent.

Food Allergies/Intollerance

2008-02-26T14:55:00.003-05:00

Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since I've written anything. I was putting it off until I could get some new pictures on here, but Brad's work is busy this time of year and my free time is limited. I still plan on doing a post on some of the home projects we've done around here, and about the dresses my mom made for the girls, but those pieces of news will have to wait.

Today I took Emily to an Allergy specialist. As some of you know, Emily is allergic to milk. And soy. And peas. And turkey... After the turkey incident I decided to go see an allergy specialist instead of the gastro. Technically what we have are food protein intolerances. That means your body cannot digest the food proteins in a specific food. Peoples reactions vary in severity, but it usually includes bloody diarrhea and vomiting. Our vomiting is more along the lines of severe reflux, not projectile vomiting, but it is still a problem. The issues here are that you can become anemic from losing blood through your intestines, you suffer the discomfort of reflux/vomiting and diarrhea, and children stop eating and suffer from failure to thrive. Food intolerances are difficult to predict because you can't test for them. You have to just eat a food and see what happens. Then you put it on the good list or the bad list. You also have to hope that you never find a food to which you are so intolerant that it puts you in the hospital. That happens occasionally, and is unpredictable. The doctor said he has one child that is deathly intolerant to corn, but it never shows up on any of his blood work. Anyway, to make sure we didn't have any other true allergies (the immune system anaphylactic shock kind) we did the food allergy test today. While Emily has no severe, life threatening immune system allergies, we did test positive for peas and oranges. That means we are both allergic AND intolerant to peas. And stay away from orange juice. Otherwise it will be a guessing game with the foods. No soup for you!

This picture is a little old, but I thought it was a funny picture of Emily. We'll call it her "No peas, please!" face.

Some (so-so) Pictures Of the New House

2008-01-19T20:05:00.000-05:00

So I am not sure if anyone still checks our blog since we have not updated it in so long. If so, we now have internet and also have Vonage. I have heard good and bad things about Vonage, but mostly good- so we are going to give it a shot. Here are some pictures of what the house looks like.

But first the girls.

Anna in the Kitchen with her Steak & Shake hat.

Emily on the rug in the living room.

Our blinds and palm tree.

The Kitchen.

The Bathroom.

Here is a table by the front door. It has two plants on it. The round one was originally $25 at Lowes, but we were able to get it for $3 since it was "ugly." It just needs a little care.

Ben's room. We got new beds for free from a friend of a friend.

And here is where we need your help. What should go on this table? It is beside the plant table just as you walk in the front door to the right. So far our options are plants, nothing, knick knacks, pictures, or a table cloth that goes to the floor.

Any ideas?

Hello folks, this is AB. My original idea was to put a table skirt on this thing to add some color to the room. Something that "pops". It would also add hidden storage underneath. That idea was shot down by all the non-HGTV-watching male gendered people on the block. So go ahead- tell Brad what to put on his table. He bought it all by himself. :) And the blinds look much better in person. They are made of bamboo, so when the flash went off, it made them see-through. However, when they are down at night, you can actually see the wooden texture, and you don't see the window beneath.

You Guessed It

2008-01-01T21:53:00.000-05:00

If anyone has been wondering why we have disappeared from the blogosphere for a while- you guessed it- we've moved. The house is looking good, but pictures will come later. Our new house doesn't have internet or a home phone, and the cell reception isn't that great, either. Right now I am scavenging wireless off the neighbors (probably the greenhouse, although they have a secured network, so that shouldn't be possible). My signal is pretty low, so I'm not attempting to do any major communicating via the web. However, there will come a day when everything is complete, and I will once again resume the online journaling.

Flooring- check!

2007-12-13T18:18:00.001-05:00

This week we had our final inspection and then they were able to turn the power on. Monday we installed book shelves in the library and then started putting down flooring. Wed night we installed a wall to create a girls room and a guest bedroom. Today we finished the flooring. We still have to finish and paint the wall before we move in, and the plumber has to come check out the plumbing. After that the cleaning crew will come in, and touch up work has to be done throughout the house. If this happens on schedule we may be in the house by Christmas. That is still being optimistic. Here are some pictures.

Kitchen

Anna's room after the wall addition. Now we will need to paint again.

Master Bed room
Guest bedroom after wall addition. One wall needs paint now.

Fixture Update

2007-11-30T21:06:00.000-05:00

This is the children's shower. Note the adjustable shower head. This is for obvious reasons, but we found it will be handy when Ben starts taking his first showers while he's still short.

This is the fixture above the sinks and mirror (that's not there yet) in our bathroom.

Here is the tile around the tub. There are small, decorative diamond-shaped tiles in the center.

Our shower does not yet have a door. Or back wall. To the left you can see the bench.

This is what is called a "bubble" light. It is the fluorescent light in the laundry room.

This fixture is in the powder room off the kitchen.

I love the look of the fan in the living room.

This is the "formal" fixture in our foyer. Brad picked it out.

Our mantle has finally been put in, but it still needs to be painted white.

This is the fixture in our bedroom.

Other exciting things have occurred this week. Switch plates and outlet covers were installed. Most appliances arrived and were installed. The doorknobs were put on today. Tubs and toilets and sinks and faucets are all in. The framing for the driveway was constructed and the concrete should be poured Monday. Heating and air finished their job and installed the vent covers. The hood over the stove is mounted, but not finished. All the recessed lights are in. The laminate was finally put down on the craft table. Let's hope next week is even more productive.

Des Colores

2007-11-23T20:48:00.000-05:00

This is an appropriate title, given that I had an interesting experience today with one of the guys painting my house. I pulled up in the van and rolled down the window to ask him a question. Blank stares. I was trying to figure out if they were coming back to finish up the job tomorrow. The conversation started out with me chatting away in my rapid, yet drawling southern voice. After rattling on for a few sentences, I realized that he didn't have a clue what I was saying. I tried again. "Are...you...coming...back...tomorrow?" The light bulb flickered. "Will...you...finish...tomorrow?" "Tomorrow? Yes, yes. Tomorrow." "Good." I smiled. "The...house...looks...VERY...GOOD. You...work...FAST." Blink blink, pause, whir, click..."Thank you." I am not telling you this to ridicule any of our ESL citizens. I am telling you this because it comically explains why the guy inside wouldn't talk to me when I was trying to engage him in a conversation about the nuances of wall color. I even said a few things that should have elicited laughter, but was instead met by a few misplaced comments and serious looks. The poor guys had no idea what I was talking about. So, hopefully the colors will appear true on the screen, but my guess is they won't. At least you can get a general idea. Living area- green, bathrooms-tan, girls room-pink, boys room-yellow, master bedroom- some tannish green color, laundry room- rose brocade (aka purple). The library hasn't been painted yet since all the interior doors were stacked in there to keep them out of the way of the paint. When I left today, they were putting the doors up on the rooms that were finished, so maybe tomorrow we'll get the library done. And the front door. It is a red color, by the way. I think someone voted on that. I would also like to note that in the pictures, not all the rooms have their second coat.

The Blurry Kitchen

2007-11-18T22:04:00.000-05:00

We need to put a disclaimer on this picture. It was taken at night with the flash in a very dark room. So it is blurry. I will try to get a new one during the day time later this week after the painter has finished.

The open area to the left is where the oven will be. On top of the oven is the mail slots that had not been installed at the time. They belong on top of the counter to the left of the oven. The raised area behind the island is where the dishwasher will go.
The tile has been installed in this area since this picture was taken.
This coming week the painter comes back and they work on the driveway.
The next week the electrician and plumbers come to finish their work.

There Is Poop In My Drain

2007-11-15T17:34:00.000-05:00

I would like to start this post with an excerpt from an email I sent to a friend of mine last night:

Hope everyone at your house is well. All of my children are sniffling. We have 3 humidifiers going tonight. Anna coughed so hard she threw up on herself and I had to drag her out of bed to give her a bath and wash the sheets. Ben got up because he heard the ruckus and Emily started crying. Then I accidentally bonked Anna's head on the floor when I was laying her down to change her diaper. She started crying (more) and wanted her blanket. Guess where that was? In the WASHING MACHINE because it had throw up on it. I just hurriedly put her in the baby bathtub to change the scenery, but it was resting on a toy that was in the big tub, which caused it to shift and crash. Soooooo, this caused her to cry so hard she pooped in the bathwater. Good times. Brad was at Wal-Mart during all this. Buying extra humidifiers. Ha!

My children have been battling colds for the past week or two, on and off. They keep passing it around, and then it will go underground for a day before coming back with reinforcements. I've been to the Dr, and they are immensely UN-helpful, reminding us that they do not recommend giving children cough syrup now-a-days, and besides, all the over the counter stuff has been pulled off the shelves because of a recall. We have been using copious amounts of Vicks on Ben and Anna. For Emily, I use copious amounts of Vicks on myself and then just hold her elevated all night.

This is how we arrive at poop in the drain. Somehow, drainage causes my children to have diarrhea. This has caused a diaper rash on Anna (which we are treating) and social inconveniences for Ben. Today he didn't quite make it to the bathroom. During the changing process, I was a bit hurried. I use one of those plastic nap mats for a changing pad, so when I removed the poopy underwear, I left Ben on the mat and quickly stepped into the bathroom to toss the underwear in the sink. Not quickly enough, I suppose, because he was already making poopy bottom butterfly prints on the mat by the time I got back. Anyhow, when I returned to the sink to deal with the soiled underwear, I found that a good chunk of poop had slid out of the underwear and into the drain hole. The drain was completely open, since the plug had stopped functioning correctly years ago and we just took it out. So. I tryed to rinse away the poop. It was soft, I figured. Instead, I just suceeded in washing it it further down the drain, where it has decided to reside. I suppose eventually it will rinse away. I can see it easily from above. It is right on top of a toothbrush we lost a few months ago. Given the water restrictions right now, it will probably take a criminal amount of water to get rid of that stuff. Maybe I should invest in some Draino.

Insulation Update

2007-11-12T18:06:00.000-05:00

Just want to keep you informed on the role of insulation. It reappeared this week, but the strange thing is that it brought a friend. We used to only have one extra role, however now there are two. One day one came back, then the next day the other. Maybe the thief reads our blog and was convicted of his/her wrong doing and decided to replace it two fold. Who knows.

This week on the house

2007-11-05T22:17:00.001-05:00

Gutters were installed today

Other things for this week will be
Paint (Start on Wed)
Tile
Cabinets
Trim work

Next week
Concrete slab in front
remaining cabinets

Would you believe that someone stole a role of insulation that I had put upstairs in the storage area of the house? We had bought some to put between the walls of the kids rooms (to help block out some of the noise at night) and had a role extra. So I put it up in the attic until I could take it back because we were leaving the next day for the beach. Well when we came back from the beach it was gone. Oh well.

Brad

I'll Be Home For Christmas

2007-10-31T20:57:00.000-05:00

Looking good from the road. We are all bricked up, and there are just a few tiny details left to finish the outside. Brad really likes the dumpster out front. He thinks it would be convenient for taking out the trash. Maybe we'll keep it, if Laura can work it into our landscape design.

The front door (which you can't see because it's open) still has to be painted. We haven't chosen our paint color yet, but it will be something warm that goes well with the brick.

This is the girls' room. We have sheet rock and putty done. Next comes painting, cabinetry, floors, and lights.

This is a view of the living room as you are standing in the kitchen. You can see our gas log on the wall and the entrance to the hall that leads to the bedrooms. I am very happy with the custom blinds I ordered for this room. We are putting tile and a mantel around the fireplace. I will be picking out the tile tomorrow, mantle's already chosen.

And here is a view of half our attic. This room will remain unfinished. It will be furnished with an elegant light bulb that you turn on by pulling a string. It may not be beautiful, but it will hold a lot of boxes of Christmas decorations and old baby clothes.

That's all for now. They are supposed to paint and put down tile next week, and the cabinets should be in soon, so I will have some really fun stuff to post then.

Beach

2007-10-28T21:16:00.001-05:00

Wow. I can't believe it's been so long since we posted an entry. Our lives are incredibly busy right now. In a day or two, I hope to have some more pictures up of the house. I need to take some new interior pictures to show the drywall, and we need some of the finished exterior. Right now, I was going to leave you with a picture of Ben and Anna playing on the beach with Auntie Karen. We spent the last week at Garden City (Myrtle Beach) with Brad's family. This year the annual trip included Brad's parents, Karen, Samuel, Mick, Rachel, baby Keith, Rachel's parents Tony and Vicky, Rachel's brother Daniel, and his fiancee Katie. Plus us.

Quotes by Ben

2007-10-04T21:57:00.001-05:00

Well, I am waiting until a good portion of brick is up to do my next house update. I may be able to get some pictures tomorrow. Until then, I think I'll fill the void by leaving you with more words of wisdom from Ben.

"...and dear God, thank you for my poop."
- last night's bedtime prayer addendum

"Why do we have two hands?"
"It would be very hard to do things with only one hand. For example, how would I wash my hands if I didn't have two hands to rub against each other? And how would I pick up very large and heavy objects with just one hand? And how would I be able to drive with just one hand?"
"Daddy drives with one hand."
-recent conversation on the complexity of the human body

"Ben, in this picture the little boy is eating his breakfast. What do you think he is going to do next?"
"Take his vitamin."
-response to a Highlights magazine article

"Wow, Ben, look at all the suds in the washing machine."
"Yeah, I put three more (pumps) in."
-conversation between me and Ben, on my return from the bathroom
to find Ben staring down into the agitating washing machine

"Is God in there?!"
-accompanied by a violent yank, and subsequent examination of my forearm

"Take your fingers out of your mouth."
"It's ok, Ben, Emily can chew on her fingers."
"Why?"
"It helps her teeth come in."
"Yeah, Emily needs to grow some teeth so she can eat treats and chew gum."
-Ben, showing us where his priorities lie

And finally...

Ben: "I need a VCR.".
Me: "What?! Why?!"
Ben: "That spells SNACK!"

Today's Special Guest Appearance- Brad

2007-09-23T20:23:00.001-05:00

Well AB demanded that I do the blog today. I mean I did fold clothes, put them away, take care of the kids, give baths, and offer my opinion on things that don't matter. But apparently cleaning up vomit at 3:30 am trumps anything that I do for the next day. So she is getting ready for bed while I type. This gives me liberty to say what ever I want. (Surely she will come edit it later) I am supposed to be writing about the house but I wanted to show some of the things that we are teaching our kids around here. Vitally important things in life.

Good Hygiene

How to Blog

How to take care of the camera.

You can eat with your fingers even if you dont wash your hands as long as you are pretty sure that they are clean.

Oh yea I am supposed to talk about the house. Um... Shingles, plumbing, fireplace, framing finished. Electrical, brick, last two windows next week. Tile and cabinets ordered. Good day and enjoy.

Sunday School

2007-09-16T21:35:00.000-05:00

I asked some of the children in the 2's and 3's class what they did or learned in Sunday School today. Here is a sample of some of their answers:

"Eat snack!"

"Jesus put dirt in the guy's eye." (Jesus healing the blind man)

"Jesus is the wipe!" (Jesus is the Light)

"Bible."

"Ethan."

Did the people believe that Jesus had really healed the blind man? "Yes!" (The correct answer is "no".)

Child: "Why is the play dough brown?"
Me: "To remind us of the mud that Jesus used to heal the blind man."
Child: (while cutting away at the play dough) "Well, MINE'S a PIZZA!"

Makes me wonder if I should resign from teaching.... :)

Windows, Dishes, and Floors- I mean Doors...

2007-09-14T19:53:00.000-05:00

Ok, so there aren't any dishes involved either, but whatever. This week our house started to transform. The framers finished the framing and put Tyvek around the outside. The roofers covered the roof with tar paper. The dormer windows were cut into the roof and the little doo-flotchy that goes around the garage window was built. The framers also added a lovely arch over the front door. The windows and doors arrived, and were mostly installed when I took this picture. Next week they should finish the doors and windows, put on the shingles, and do the HVAC. Did you know you have to choose where you want your thermostat and HVAC returns? I assumed they had to go in a certain place. They guy was real particular asking me exactly where I wanted the thermostat and I'm thinking, "I don't know." Then he asked me where I was going to be hanging my pictures on the wall so it didn't get in the way. I was laughing on the inside. I mean, I do have a vague idea of where they should be, but it's not life or death if the guy puts it six inches too far to the right. I wonder what type of customers he's had in the past.... Anyway, we have an appointment to pick out our tile next Tuesday and the electrician may even come at the end of next week to discuss outlet placement with us. Lots of fun.

Raise the Roof

2007-09-08T14:22:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of.....

Don't ya'll get tired of that line- ha! I'm worse than the lady at the grocery store with the 3 foot long photo sleeve in her wallet. Seriously, though. Here are some pictures of the house. Exterior, interior living area, and one of me looking up through the partially covered roof. Of course, I have to throw some of the children in there. Anna is wearing some magnetic ear rings I bought from Wal-Mart. She was asking for some ear rings like mine, so I got these, put them on for the picture, and then gave them to Karen. Magnets are a serious health threat to children because if they swallow both pieces, the magnets can attract to each other in their intestines, causing internal damage and possibly death. We had to put them on though, just for a moment. Anna enjoys her jewelry and girly stuff. Ben has on his concentrating face in this picture. He was arranging a scene with his wooden train set. Emily is laughing at me as I give her a smoochy kiss. If you wonder why I don't put the text with the pictures, it is because I always mess things up when I try to get fancy over here. Maybe one day...

Labor Day

2007-09-06T09:47:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update. Last week they put the trusses up on the house. My parents came to visit for Labor Day and I designed a diet for my dad, who found out he has high cholesterol. He's not loving it, but he is trying. Brad, Ben, Anna, and I rode on the Christian Adoption Services float in the Matthews Labor Day parade. That was really fun. I thought the kids might be afraid to sit on a moving platform with so many people staring at them. On the contrary, they really got into the waving. At one point Anna was pretending to talk on Brad's phone while waving at the crowd. She made herself look very busy and important. Later that day we (our family and my parents) got together with Ashleigh (Anna's B-mom) and her parents for a little visit. We went out to eat and they came to see our new house in progress. I should have another picture of the house soon. They are putting the plywood on the roof now. I have to run now, but maybe we'll get a better entry soon.

Boys

2007-08-28T15:54:00.000-05:00

While making home made pizza at lunch time today, I kept smelling what seemed to be an electrical fire inside our walls. Fortunately, it was just this wooden eggs scorching on the heating element in the stove. Who could have put it there? Hmmmm.....

Later today, Ben decided to dump the laundry out of one of my baskets and use it as the cover for some piece of machinery he was inventing. In this picture you can see Anna's standing frame. It is hooked to the dog crate by a couple of filthy, stinky, dog leashes. This is the part of the machine that is "hooked up and pulling." On the tray you find a wooden spoon. This is the "scooping" mechanism. I suppose the basket is like the protective wind sheild/grill part. You can't see this, but our copy of the church key is stuck in a crack in the front padding. This is the part that "cranks it up." Good times.

This evening, I decided to make a phone call. Silly me. Ben decided to cook. The stove is covered in flour, and there is sugar in my Spanish garlic press. Not to mention some random tomatoes were put into a plastic baggy and sealed. This all occured in about 2 seconds. I kid you not. The best part is when I asked him to clean up the sugar (meaning dump it in the trash and sweep up) he put it BACK IN THE SUGAR BOWL!! EWWW!

Ohhhhh, little Emily, what are you in for?

Frame Up

2007-08-26T15:18:00.000-05:00

We've been framed! Last week was very exciting. The walls were up in a couple of days. Now we can wander through the house and get a better feel for the dimensions of the rooms. In one picture you will see where the framers began. They put up one side of the house and then the other. To put things in perspective, the half of the house that you can see in the picture is slightly larger than the home we live in now. The other picture shows where we ended last week- the plywood is going up on the sides. Meanwhile, Brad and I took another couple of trips to pick out cabinets, counter tops, appliances, and hardware. In the picture of the wood samples, the dark color is approximately the color of our floors. Actually, it's not- but our floor has dark streaks in it that are that dark. We picked the color next to it (some maple variation) for our cabinets in the kitchen and the bath. You will also see a picture of our marble for the bathroom counters being held up next to the cabinet color. The marble is white with fawn colored swirls. The kitchen counters are laminate, made to look like slate. The cabinets in the laundry room are white with a burgundy/purplish color laminate on top. We've gone with a GE front loading washer and dryer, a Frigidaire side by side refrigerator and a magnetic induction cook top. The wall oven and dishwasher are still open for discussion at this point.

Proverbs 19:21

2007-08-21T20:07:00.000-05:00

I was reading the Bible today and this bit of wisdom literature spoke particularly to me. So many of my friends (us included) are in the middle of major life changes. We are having babies, moving to new homes, or changing jobs. I would say most of us have some sort of plan. However, last night I mentioned to our friends, Brian and Melissa (shoutout!), that oftentimes the path that we *think* God wants us to take is really just a detour to get us where we are really supposed to be. Then I read this passage- which I will share with you in a variety of translations:

There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand. -KJV

Many are the plans in a man's heart,
but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.- NIV

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.- ESV

Many plans are in a man's mind, but it is the Lord's purpose for him that will stand.- Amplified

You can make many plans,
but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.- NLT

There are many devices in a man's heart; But the counsel of Jehovah, that shall stand.- ASV

Ben's Birthday

2007-08-21T20:01:00.000-05:00

It was pointed out to me that we never posted pictures of Ben's birthday. I regret to say there were not many good pictures of the occasion, due to my involvement in the festivities. It is hard to be both the orchestrator and photographer at any event. Here are a couple of Ben opening a present and blowing out the candles.

Card Shark

2007-08-18T21:46:00.000-05:00

While visiting my parents, Emily joined us in a game of Apples to Apples. Forget learning to hold up her head- she needs to work on holding up her cards.

Slab

2007-08-18T21:32:00.001-05:00

Here are a few more pictures. One is a cute picture of all three of the children hanging out in Ben's bed for story time. The others are different views of the slab. Ben and Anna went out this morning and ran/wheeled around on the house. I wish the photos were better, but it was way too bright to be taking good pictures outside. We like to walk around the floor and talk about what room we are in. Anna is in her bathroom and Ben is in the kitchen. It is fun to pretend.

Couple More Pictures

2007-08-13T14:40:00.001-05:00

We finished bricking in the foundation last week. The plumbers have come and will be finished with their job in another day or so. They should be pouring the slab by the end of this week. Here are a couple more pictures of the foundation. There is an overview and then a picture of the front door. If anyone has any preference on shingle color, let me know, because I am making that decision right now.

Watermelons

2007-08-13T14:17:00.000-05:00

This summer, Ben has been working hard growing watermelon and cantaloupe with Paw Paw (Brad's Dad). This was supposed to be an exercise in the value of growing your own food and enjoying the results, but last week Ben got a lesson in capitalism instead. One of the employees of North Carolina Farms wanted 10 watermelons to take home for a family gathering. Since she wanted so many, she offered to pay. Mitchell got a dollar a piece for the watermelons and Ben earned 50% of that. I used to hear all about how delicious the watermelons are and how much fun he had in the garden. Now all I hear is "Where's my money?"