blankets

The three little kids made a bed of blankets in the hallway and were playing babies. They are cutie kiddos.

Ryan's birthday

A giant chocolate chip cookie cake and a Nintendo DS. What more can a guy want for his 10th birthday? We love you Ryan! and we're SO glad you're are the big brother in our family!

Recent craftiness

A poncho for one of Emily's friends.
A newsboy cap for the 3 year old sister of the little baby I watch during the day.
Here is the newsboy cap with the Elf hat I made for the baby.
I did this one today in a little under two hours for one of my mom's friends who underwent Chemo to treat her cancer. She is now in partial remission!

No longer a Bear

Ryan earned his Bear rank in Cub Scouts, and now that he is officially 10, he is no longer a Bear, but advanced to a Webelos! We are proud of all he has accomplished in Scouts and in school. His last progress report said one B and the rest A's! Way to go Ryan!

Hadley's Birthday

Haddie had sort of a lame birthday. We had had a lot of Halloween candy and figured our kids didn't really need any more sweets, and that Haddie didn't particularly care, so we skipped the cake and went straight to presents. Don't worry, we did sing Happy Birthday!
We hit the jackpot with the present. I found a set at Costco for $34 that had a baby, a bassinet, a high chair and a stroller. Haddie was in heaven for many days, and even thought the novelty has somewhat worn off, she still LOVES her present!

Off to School

It was about 6 o'clock in the evening and Haddie decided that it was time to go to school. She put on her brother's jacket, her sister's backpack, one shoe and headed to the door. She kept saying, "I go?" Hoping that someone would let her out the door to find her way to school. Poor Haddie, she had no such luck.

Kipper the dog

My two oldest would never own up to it, so don't ask them, but my kids all LOVE Kipper the dog. It makes me happy that deep down in their hearts they are sastisfied with the simple things of life. To me Kipper represents someone who is happy with who he is and what he has. Someone who tries to make the best of every day. Someone who loves to learn and laugh. He is a devoted friend, a caring dog, and always tries to do what is right. It makes me SO happy that all my children connect with this and enjoy watching. I hope that much of what Kipper teaches sinks deep down into their hearts. I hope they are never afraid to admit that they love good and truth and God.
I also thought I'd post an update about Scott. His scars look better every day, and he gets back more energy everyday. He is carefully weaning himself off of his pain meds. He has a follow up appointment with the Oncologist on Thursday, and we'll see what he says. For those of you who follow this blog and didn't receive and email or text, we have great news! The doctor's office called us to say that they biopsy of the lymph nod was clean, and it looked like the doctor got all of the cancer! We are so grateful to God and to all of you who have added your strength and your prayers to our trial. If we could, we'd like to request your continued prayers that he will heal quickly and well and that the cancer will not return. We love you all!

Battle Scar--this next post is not for the squeamish!

Here is my poor Scottie's face, marred by surgery. The cancer was a lot bigger than I thought, much bigger than the mole on the outside of his face. Poor baby! When they let me back to see him, he was pale white and his cheek was still pulsating from the trauma. His blood was all rushing to fix the problem. I almost fainted three times looking at him. Poor baby! The doctor is confident that he got out all of the cancer. Now all that remains is to biopsy the lymph nod they removed (that is the lower straight line on his neck) and hopefully that will come back negative for cancer and all will be well! We appreciate all your kind thoughts, fasting and prayers. We love you all and have felt your strength and love through this!

Happy (early) Birthday Ben!

We celebrated Ben's birthday today because Scott is going into an outpatient surgery on Tuesday to have a cancerous mole removed from his cheek. We appreciate all prayers in his behalf on Tuesday. As a result, we decided to celebrate Ben's birthday a couple of days early. He requested a "giant cookie cake". So I made a pan full of blondies, which were delish! I've never tried them before but I have now fallen in love. They are basically giant caramel squares with chocolate chips in them. How could you go wrong? Delightful. Anyway, back to the birthday fun~
He got a present from his sister Julia which was an interesting assortment of all the odds and ends she could find in her room that she didn't want anymore. Included items were: a blue lego, a cheap notebook, a new pencil, an old pencil, several pieces of her Halloween candy that she didn't want, a plastic horse toy, a used eraser...You get the picture. I guess it's the thought that counts?
Here's his new flannel blankie.
And taking a page out of the wisdom of the book of my parents we purchased Ben his very own basketball hoop like they did for Ryan when Julia was born. That was the best $20 dollars they ever spent on anything, Ryan got so much use out of it and loved it SO much, and we're already on that path for Ben. We spent a little more than $20, but he loves it and has spent all evening shooting hoops. Even the older kids spent a good hour playing hoops with him. The legacy lives on!

Halloween costumes

Ryan, as Harry Potter. Probably the coolest part of his costume was the lighting shaped scar I drew on with some of my eyeshadow. In every other way he was shafted. He wore his Sunday pants and shirt, we safety pinned a yard of black fabric around him for a cloak, sadly his glasses were already taped because he lost a screw, he already had the appropriate hair, and I handed him a chopstick for a wand. Poor guy, but he got plenty of candy and didn't seem to feel bothered by the inadequateness of his costume.
I sewed this pioneer, dress, bonnet and apron for Julie. She loved it and also came home with a lot of candy.
I sewed this poodle skirt for Emmy.
Ben decided that he wanted to be the well-loved and falling apart Jaguar costume that my mom sewed for my brother Derek MANY moons ago. He looked super cute in it, but as you can see it barely fit him. He is a rather large boy. My dad always says to Ben when he's here visiting, "How do you get so big eating food of this kind?" It is a valid question, he doesn't eat very well at all and yet he is gianormous!

Halloween costumes take 2

Hadley as Marie Antoinette. I tried to teach her to say, "Let them eat cake." But it didn't happen. When she is misbehaving I have taken to calling her Hadley Jean Marie Antoinette Chrysanthemum ...adding appropriate names for as long as I can go on. It helps me calm down a bit before I take care of business. She is a lot like that infamous queen of France. She's quite sure that her way is the only acceptable solution to every problem.
All the kids together.

Random cuteness

Hadley has taken quite a fancy to the new disney movie "Bolt". She wants to watch it all day long. I caught her looking extra cute while watching her new favorite.
I also snagged a photo of the four youngest playing together like super cuties in the hallway.
Hadley and Ben wrestling on the couch.
I caught Haddie and Emma reading together on the stairs. Super duper cuteness!

The weirdest bug I have ever seen