This Boy LOVES This Dog

What can I say, Brennan LOVES his dogs. We have two golden retrievers, Max and Molly and Brennan loves to go outside and play with them. He is always petting and hugging on them. I think it is so cute when he sucks his thumb and loves on the dogs!! Unfortunately we learned that Ayla was allergic to the dogs around 10 months old. She would break out in hives instantly when they licked her so we have been very careful in the past about not letting her get too close to them.









Lately, we have been letting her get a little closer and so far so good! Hopefully she will outgrow this allergy if she hasn't already. Because of her allergy, she is not as brave as Brennan when it comes to the dogs, of course when it comes to Brennan, um well there is really nothing that I can think of that he is NOT afraid of. He is truly a BOY in every sense of the word!!!



Ahh and look at that face, Couldn't you just eat him up?? I know I can!!

Cincinnati and Zoo Bound

Well we are headed to Cincinnati tomorrow (Friday) for Ayla's Rheumatology appointment. We usually DREAD these appointments and put them off for as long as possible, but this time we have decided to stay the night and go to the Cincinnati Zoo on Saturday morning. Ayla is so excited, I just hope that the weather is nice so that we can enjoy it! Oh, and when I say "dread" I want to clarify that we love Children's Hospital but when we go it just reminds us that we have a child with a chronic illness and it can be emotionally difficult and stressful at times.



When we decided that we would stay in Cincinnati on Friday, I called the Children's Hospital and asked about hotel rooms. They were so nice and pointed us in the right direction for a room. Not only did they get us a huge discount on the room, but we were also able to get free tickets to the Zoo. Yippee!! We really like Children's, everyone is so nice and the doctors are the best!! We just wish that it wasn't so far away :) It takes us almost four hours one way and we usually make the trip up and back in one day. With two toddlers, that is not so much fun!

Please pray for a good report. I am going into this appointment feeling very good because Ayla has been doing so well lately. I am hoping and praying that they will discontinue the methotrexate and just keep her on the Enbrel only.

I hope everyone has a good weekend, I am sure I will have plenty of Zoo pictures when we get back!!

I Introduce to you....

The newest employee, otherwise known as the bagger and cart gatherer (is that a word?) of Kroger grocery store.



I am so proud of Kaleb, it was his idea to get a job and he is already planning on how he is going to spend his money. Let's see, new wheels and tires, new spoiler and stereo system for his car! Let's just hope that he gets to work some overtime..lol!! I think it is very important to have a good work ethic and I am happy that he is learning that everything is NOT given to you! It was quite funny because on the first day he was a little nervous because he said he didn't know how to bag groceries. I told him that I was sure they would teach him how and if not to try and put all the cold items in one bag, boxes, breakables..etc..




After he worked the first day, I picked him up and he was complaining of how tired his legs were. I was kind of laughing but he assured me that standing and gathering carts for five WHOLE hours was very tiring. I asked him if he had figured out how to bag the groceries and he said that he had his OWN way of doing it. I thought maybe he had come up with some great system of doing it but his new way is to put as many groceries as you can in ONE bag-ha! That boy, he never surprises me!! He worked five days last week and is exhausted when I pick him up. He does like it so far, well as long as he doesn't work Tuesday's that is. Why? Well because Tuesday's are Senior Citizens discount day and he has been warned that it is the WORSE day of the week to work..lol!




Anyway, I am so very proud of him, he has matured so much lately and he helps me out with the kids whenever I ask him. He hardly ever complains and rarely asks for anything. I am just so happy because there is HOPE that when he grows up he may change his mind and NOT want to be a professional video gamer (as he says). I am hoping this job is the first step in the RIGHT direction!!!

Arts and Crafts Show

This past weekend, I decided to try selling my bows, hats, flowers and a few other girly things at my local Arts and Crafts Show. Last year I went specifically looking for bows and there were ZERO. I thought why not at least try this year and with whatever I didn't sell, I would list in an Etsy store that I am planning on opening.
Well when I got there, to my surprise, there was like three other booths that were selling bows. I couldn't believe it, I guess everyone had the same idea. So I was worried because I didn't think I would do so well.



By the end of the day, I was almost wiped out of everything. The hats and flower clips were a huge seller. Even the teen girls were buying the flower clips. I had printed out pictures of Ayla wearing the hats, headbands, flowers, bows, etc and placed them on my table. I think this played a large part in so many sells. It always helps to show pictures of what your product actually looks like on!!



There is another little show in October that I am planning on doing as well, I am also working on setting up an Etsy store sometime very soon. Since I sold out of almost everything, I am making and ordering more stock!!

A special thanks goes out to my bestest friend Summer, she came and helped me at the fair and I couldn't have done it without her. We didn't sit down hardly any the whole eight hours!


So I will leave you with some pictures of Ayla modeling the latest hat that I put together and the knot/apron dress that I purchased from my favorite Etsy store I.candie. If you have a chance, go and visit Laura at I.candie, you will not be disappointed, her work is amazing and she is having a huge sell this week!

Caught In The Act

Look at what Big Sister taught Little Brother to do today! As usual, I thought it was too quiet for a moment so this is what I found when I walked into Brennan's room....

















Ayla thought she would take advantage of the situation while I was taking pictures and this is what SHE did....








She thought she would make herself a cup of chocolate milk minus the cup and minus the milk, the chocolate out of the can was MUCH better!!




There is TRULY never a dull moment around here!! Jealous? I know you are!!!!

We Will Never Forget!

It dawned on me early this morning when I got on the computer that today is September 11th. Today, eight years ago thousands of lives were taken in an instant. I think everyone knows where they were and what they were doing on this day eight years ago. Tears came today as I sat and watched the morning news shows revisit what happened to the Trade Centers, the Pentagon and the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. This attack forever changed the world and how we see it.

This day also brings back memories of my son who was eight years old when the attacks occurred. You see he was in New York on vacation with Mama Sandy and Papa Randy only ONE month prior to these attacks. He actually visited the World Trade Center and ate on the 107th floor in the restaurant called "Windows on the World". It was a highlight of his trip and I am so glad that he got the opportunity to see and experience the World Trade Centers. I also count my blessings because if they were there only three weeks later, they would have been in New York and well, I don't want to think about that!

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was still in Nursing School and I was doing clinicals at the Hospital. I was actually in a patients room when everyone started talking about the planes hitting the WTC. I turned the television on in the patients room and we started watching everything unfold. At first we thought it was just a horrible accident and then we saw the second plane hit the Towers and we knew that something was terribly wrong. We left clinicals early that day because everyone was so upset and some parents were taking their children out of school early.

I went home and was of course glued to the television and crying with the rest of the world. After Kaleb came home from school, I explained everything that was going on. He watched the news with me and at one point he saw that they were talking about Osama Bin Laden . Kaleb looked at me very serious and said, "Mom, I know where Osama Bin Laden is" You do? where? "He is in New York, I saw him driving a Taxi with a white towel on his head". (If you have ever been to N.Y. there are many taxi drivers with white towels on their head) Oh my, I couldn't help but to laugh! Thank God for children for only THEY can make us laugh in times like these.

Here is a picture of Kaleb at the World Trade Centers, August 13th, 2001






View of The Towers from the water

I was also fortunate enough to visit N.Y. (first time) in May 2001 for a girls weekend trip with Mama Sandy and Jamie. We also ate at the World Trade Center, I thought I would share a couple of pictures!





I found this picture and thought it was funny because Kaleb took the exact same picture (above).

So now you know what I was doing on this day eight years ago, do YOU remember where you were and what you were doing? I would love for you to share.

WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

Did you notice anything DIFFERENT?

Today was a big day, for TWO reasons, first of all, Kaleb had his very first job interview at Kroger's and second of all, while we were gone, this is what happened at home....



Do you notice anything different?




Yes, that's right, Daddy cut Ayla's hair while we were gone!




Now, for those of you who don't know, Ayla is terrified of ANYONE getting a haircut, including herself. Remember this post, and this post, she was so upset about Brennan getting a hair cut, she cried the whole time!




I asked John how he managed to cut her hair and he said that she was eating fruit snacks and they somehow got all tangled in her hair and he could not get it out. He just told Ayla that he couldn't get it out and that he was going to have to cut it out. Strangely enough Ayla said, "okay" and she just stood on the front porch while Daddy cut her hair. I couldn't believe it when I pulled up and saw her short hair cut. This is the first time in three years that she has had her hair cut. I almost cried, I know it is silly, but to me it signified that she is growing up! Too fast, oh and I may not be able to do piggy tails anymore :(



Before haircut

After haircut


Now if HE could just get her to go to the potty!!!