We spent the day

OUTSIDE today! I got up the energy (hahaha) to rake leaves around the playset so we can go out there without sitting in the wet leaves-- well the kids that sit anyway :) I got about 5 trashcans full of leaves before lunch. That was a lot of work!

Then lunch, naps, and back outside. This time I filled 1 2 cans with leaves and weeds from the front gardens and K helped by picking up the last of the oranges from the tree and putting the weeds I'd pulled into the can. He got gardening gloves for his birthday and was happy to put them to use (as was I!).

The little ones played, E went to the store with Daddy in the morning then played on a blanket with M in the afternoon. M still isn't so sure about putting his hands down in the grass or dirt, but when I took K on a short bike ride (B walked with us... we went THAT fast... LOL), M decided he didn't want to be left behind and crawled through the planter and toward where we were walking in the road (no traffic, dead end road ;) ). Of course Mike was right there washing the vans (yay!) so he grabbed him and put him back up by the blanket and wagon. Too funny how kids can get over something if they REALLY want to. Got him to crawl in the grass!!

Now I'm exhausted. Mike's in the jacuzzi because it needed to run anyway and he figured why waste it... I would have joined him but it's a no-no for me right now. So I'm about to pull out my book and settle in to bed in my PJ's at 9pm. I'm SO glad Mike was home today. It's nice to spend a day as a family, outside, enjoying one another and also getting things done. Out of the last 5 days Mike has been home only 1 evening and one other evening he came home for an hour then back up to work. Have I mentioned how glad I am that Mike has only 1 more meeting of his classes at school and then has the next week OFF and then only 1 class at a time from here on out? SO glad he'll be home more!!

A bigger TV

"I wish we had a bigger TV, Mom"

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"Because then I could see more of what's going on."

"But a bigger TV would just show you the same picture- but bigger. You wouldn't see any more out to the sides."

"Huh. We'll see."

Ah... the workings of a 5 year old mind....

Some BEAUTIFUL kids...

My, how I'd love to go bring home a few of these little ones... And yet, I know that's not God's plan for this time in our lives.  But that doesn't stop me from encouraging one of you all to see if this is your child(ren)!

A.J,  2 months old, Down syndrome (boy)

Lovey, 2 months old, Down syndrome (girl)

 

Zhora, turned 4 yesterday, Down syndrome (boy)

Kenny, will be 4 in March, Down syndrome (boy)

Liza, 3 years old, Down syndrome (girl)

Yulia, 4 years old, Down syndrome (girl)

Russell, 4 years old, Down syndrome (boy)

Marek, 7 years old, Down syndrome (boy)

Brady, 4 years old, Down syndrome (boy)

Benjamin, 6 1/2 years old, Down syndrome (boy)

Tori, 3 years old, CP and Spina Bifida (girl)

Anthony, 3 1/2 years old, CP (boy)

 

Kiril, 5 1/2 years old, microcephaly and FAS (boy)

Kiril, 5 years old, CP (boy)

Stewart, 5 1/2 years old, Down syndrome (boy)

Andrius, 8 years old, Down syndrome (boy)

Molly, 5 1/2 years old, Down syndrome (girl)

Isabelle, 7 years old, Down syndrome (girl)

Anyone strike YOUR heart??  mkp1982@hotmail.com

A bit more randomness

• The blog background is uploaded just as one big .jpg file, so it didn't take much time to upload. It also helps that we have a server and I hosted the picture there- that way I don't have to worry about the number of 'hits' the image gets or how big the file is :) But I made it in photoshop. It does eventually repeat after a while- can you tell where??
  
• Emma- AKA Little Miss Flexible- used to do this ALL the time, but hasn't as much lately.  A few days ago, however, she was playing in this position and I happened to have the camera close by...  Now, imagine her taking those elbows, putting them on top of her legs, and trying to sit up.  THAT is scary looking :) 
   
• I really wanted to write how I'm almost 12 weeks along with my pregnancy now and this week hasn't been all that bad in terms of not feeling well.  Then today happened.  I am grateful, though, to have had some days of reprieve from feeling ill.  I go back to the doctor on monday for my 3-month check up.
• Today I wasn't feeling well at lunch time- partly because I was exhausted from grocery shopping, but since I had only 2 kids with me even that was a bit easier.  We joined my parents at their house for lunch (they had my other 2 kids).  So, around 2 I laid down for a quick nap- well, sortof.  I didn't ever actually sleep, but I did lay down... Anyway, when I got up with Micah's "I'm UP" calls (aka crying), I decided that regardless of how I felt I should be eating something.  Just for the sake of eating.  (I've never been one to eat for the sake of eating... so this is a weird thing for me!).  I'd bought some fresh veggies and other salad fixings-- minus the lettuce-- so I made a quick bowl and topped it with a bit of poppyseed dressing.   Cucumber, green pepper, grape tomatoes, colbyjack cheese, olives, and some bacon pieces.
• And then I made a bowl of blueberries and strawberries topped with a little bit of sugar and some milk. I must say, I think I've become something of a 'blueberry brat' though, because as I ate that bowl of fruit I couldn't help but think of the delicious ones we got from our friends' blueberry farm here in town... nothing like the ones imported from Chili... And yes, after eating both of those things- and eventually washed down with a bottle of IBC Cream Soda (a treat, we don't get that very often...), I am feeling much better.  The rest probably helped too.
• I think that sometime in the near future- maybe even today, who knows- you'll be seeing a post of random thoughts on tourism :)
• Mike has to attend a live auction tonight as a part of one of his classes he's taking right now.  Admittedly I wasn't so excited about him being gone another night, but I'm so glad his current classes are done on Tuesday and then the following week he doesn't have any classes.  His next class (just one again YAY!) starts the Monday after.  I must say, though, my husband cleans up pretty well :)  Here's a quick shot of him as he was about to leave the house.

           

• I do believe that the 'baby bump' is now apparent and here to stay  (well, hopefully not for much longer than the baby stays in there...).  I don't remember when I started to show with my pregnancies with K and B, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't this early.  Oh the joys of pregnancy #3...
• Today my sister-not-in-law... or something like that... went in to have her baby.  This is an adopted sibling of mine's biological sibling... She is having her 3rd baby.  The first is the one that lived with us for about 5 weeks when Brianna was newborn- while she was giving birth to her second.  Today she's having a baby that I will never meet.  I must say, I am very proud of her for making the decision she has to follow through with her pregnancy and not take the 'easy way out'.  She has selected a family and made her plans, and this new baby girl will be adopted.  Though the circumstances are not ideal, the decisions she made out of them I give her a lot of credit for.   I know there's a very happy 'new mom' and dad that are overwhelmed with love and joy at  the gift that C has given them.
• I got a letter from our school system approving Emma's waiver to attend the same school as M and B are going to next year.  Now I just have to get K in there "out of area" which will be the most difficult task... think they'll have any way to turn down my request if I have 3 kids already there??
• I also got a letter from Social Security.  It arrived on K's birthday so I opened it the next day expecting to find his card.  Nope.  It's a letter saying we should receive his card within 2 weeks, though, so hopefully it will be delivered soon!

New background... again :)

I know it sometimes needs further tweaking, and I'm also aware that the left and right might not show completely with computers with a lower screen resolution-- but I'm not sure I can fix that! But if there are any other issues with viewing please do let me know.

And if you're on a reader and don't visit the blog often, it might be worth a little peek at least :)

Mattea is home!

Her heart cath procedure went well and she did fine with the anesthesia, thus avoiding the ICU and being able to come home the same day :)

Please continue to keep this family covered in prayer as the next step is to learn the results and for them to figure out what they are going to do with them. A very difficult thing to do regardless of what the results say.

THANK YOU for praying, the Puderbaugh family passes their 'thanks' along as well!

Mattea Olena

No news yet, but here's a button to help spread the word for prayer for Mattea.

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Our day at the Magic Kingdom!

Ok, so as much as Kristopher was excited about the characters, the two he REALLY wanted to meet we stood in line for... the others we took their picture as we walked by and kept walking :)

 

And of course, MICKEY was one of the ones worth the wait!  And as a special bonus, the entire room where Minnie and Mickey are (only about 6 families allowed in at a time) stopped and sang Happy Birthday to Kristopher!  We could have gone home then! :)  He was one happy camper!

 

Waiting for the Philharmagic show to start!

On the raft to go to Tom Sawyer's Island

Finding a spot for the parade (Fronteirland was a great place to watch from!)

First thing in the morning Snow White was doing a meet and greet and as she left, she saw K and came over and tweaked his cheek and said "happy birthday!"  I've never seen Kristopher blush before that :)  Here she is in the parade along with some of our other favorite princesses and Disney characters...

Just K and I- he was mid-ice cream, so no, he doesn't really have black teeth :)

The monkey house.  How appropriate :)

 

The ONLY other character K asked to go meet- BUZZ!  This was after we got off the ride for the second time :)  Also the only ride he begged to go back on all day long!

 

We had a great time, I'm so glad we had the opportunity to go and take just a little special time for the two of us.  I know it's one we'll both remember for a long time!

Oh, and I'm so bummed!  I took video of K's reaction as we went under the big sign that says Disney-- and it somehow was deleted!  I can't get it off the camera and it's not on the computer :(  But maybe... just maybe... Mike can recover it somehow.  It wasn't anything spectacular but it was cute