Goodbye Tonsils

I never knew that having your tonsils out was such a party. Conner had his tonsils out on Thursday morning bright and early. The night before his surgery we worked really hard to prepare him for the morning ahead, so we read him the book - Goodbye Tonsils and then made his favorite meal - salmon, broccoli and garlic bread. He was so excited for many reasons #1 Grammy was at our house #2 he was given a new shirt and pair of athletic pants to wear the next morning (because pajamas just wouldn't have been cool) and then he got the best chocolate cake ever made by a Kroger bakery - he was so excited! It was so sweet and I think it made a big difference in him not being so scared.



Well the party had to end on sometime - and sometime was 5:30 Thursday morning but he was a trouper he got up and packed up his Nintendo DS, and his Hank the Cow Dog book and we were at the hospital at 6:30.



It all went pretty quick he changed got in bed and then they came in and gave him some medicine to make him sleepy and moments later they wheeled him out. Mom just cried for a few minutes and the next thing you know they were wheeling him back in and that was where the hard part started. He was hurting pretty bad -but 6 days later he is doing great- he still sounds a little funny when he talkes but we hope that this will be his last antiobiotics for a long time. Thanks for all the prayers our big guy is doing great!

Back to School

Well the first day of school went off with out a hitch. This was a big year for us because Ben went to kindergarten this year. Ben's teacher is Mrs. Donald the same teacher that Conner had and he was so excited! He is in the same class as quite a few friends and but the one he was very excited to see Asher who I refer to as his partner in crime. Not sure yet how this kindergarten thing is gana go for Ben but we can hope he will get the hang of it if not were gana color jump all year!

Conner and Audrey started the second grade this year! Conner's teacher is Mrs. Blackwell he says that so far his favorite thing is writing in his journal. Audrey is in Mrs. Bessent's class she is so sweet and Audrey loves her. There are two Audreys in Mrs. Bessent class, so now our Audrey is once again known as Audrey Claire!

So we are back in the swing of things soccer and gymnastics have started and we are back to doing homework and bedtimes and all the fun arguments that come along with them. We are only one week into school and Conner is already home sick and today I got a call from the nurse and Audrey has a rash from head to toe. So it takes me having kids home sick from school for me to sit down and blog. So we are back to the books back to the grind trying to stay well and happy. Were blessed with a healthy family, a roof over our head and more love than lots of people could wish for. Blessings to all our friends and family as you also start your busy fall schedules.

Kansas Vacation

Our Family finally got a much needed vacation. We went to Derby, Kansas why Kansas you ask - well I'll tell you Sean's mom moved to Derby last summer when she married Ken Keen. We spent five days there with Gail and Ken where we had a great time. It started with a very warm welcome when we came around the corner to see a great sign that made us understand how excited they were to see us.
While we were there we went to the Derby water park, the zoo, a learning museum called Exploration Station where the kids got to do a lot of hands on learning- along with Sean. One night we even went on a double date to dinner and a movie. We had a great time and it was good to be with family.
We got to see Grandad and visit the place where his father was buried, he fought in the Civil War and Grandad loves to tell stories about it, of course we never knew him but it was good to see a piece of history. Conner and Audrey and Sean went one afternoon the the community where he lives and all played BINGO the kids had fun. We got to see downtown Wichita and visit the wonderful statues they have. We also went to the Colman outlet, Sean was pumped.
Gail and Ken showed us all the sights to see and the places to eat when you were in Wichita, we had a great time on our trip.

CBH 2008

The first week in June is always one of our most favorite times of the year, we love it because it is when we take our 45 kids to New Mexico and the most beautiful place you'll ever see- Camp Blue Haven. You know how people say Disney World is the happiest place on earth well I say that those people have never been to Camp Blue Haven. We love this week- is is a blessing to our family because we get to spend a whole week with others that love the Lord and have a passion for sharing Him with teenagers. Camp is so fun for Conner, Audrey and Ben- This year we barley even saw Conner and the few moments we did he was showing us the lizards that he and his friends found.



This year Conner and Sean along with some others hiked Hermits Peek its a 10 mile hike and they did it all, I was so proud of them.



Audrey spent most of her week in the nurses cabin not because she was hurt but because thats where her sweet friend Grace Bird lived. They played games and practiced their school work they were also cute little twins on twin day. Ben spent his time playing with his friend Ben their good buddies who spent their time talking on the walkie talkies and playing on the porch.

Duke

A few weeks ago we added a new member to our family, he is the most precious dog you have ever met. Duke is an eighty five pound Weimaraner - and we have fallen in love with him. He came from a wonderful family that just did not have quite enough room for him and that is one thing we were able to give him. Now Rinker has to share his backyard but, somehow I don't think he minds. He loves to be inside with us and then when its time to go back out he plants his feet and trying to move him out is almost impossible. The kids love him and it is a great friend for Rinker.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Recently the Austin Avenue Church of Christ has decided that there is a strong need for our teenagers to have a place all their own that they can come almost any time they want -a place for them to hang out do homework and just be with their Christian brothers and sisters. In a nutshell we are trying to give them a safe fun place to go where satan is not wanted or invited. There are so many places and ways satan attacks us, especially our teenagers and if we can do something to help them to resist satan and his schemes - bring it on. Building this room has been a long process but it is finally coming to a close. On New Years Eve we all met in the new room and we did something really special(we did this at Southside C of C shortly after we moved to Ft. Worth) We wanted the kids to know that this room was a place where God was present and a small way to show that was to write His Word on the foundation of the room. So we passed out markers and told them to write their favorite passage from God's word. It was amazing to see each of them and what they wrote you could see where they were in their relationship with God. It was a huge success -the floor is covered with God's Word the kids know where they wrote their verse and what that verse means to them. They are surrounded by Gods word and its important for them to know it's not just some place to watch T.V. and play video games and hang out with their friends but it's a place for them to be where every nook and cranny God has a place- He is not hidden. His word is our foundation His words are written on our hearts and we will impress them on our children we will talk about them when we sit at home or walk along the road when we lie down and when we get up. We will tie them as symbols on our hands and bind them on our foreheads. We will write them on our door frames of our houses and on our gates.

Webkins

I am amazed at my kids newest thing -they all love these cute, lovable things they call webkins. It has been amazing to see how much they play with these things. For those of you who have never seen these they are pretty cute but the cool thing about them is that there not just a stuffed animal, but with them comes this number so that you can register them online. You get to name them, and you must take care of your webkin- you must feed them, put them to sleep, take them to the doctor and so on. Once you have registered them you can play games that earn you "money " so you can buy your cute little thing a car or toys or furniture for their own webkin home. So we have added to our family - Flash, Superman, Scruffles, Rosie, Boxer and Rocky. My kids love them so much that they argue over who gets the computer so now Sean and I have been kicked off our own computer. As much as we complain we love that they are learning new things. Is it a stretch to think that it is teaching them a little responsibility??????????? Yea that's probably a stretch!