Week in Review!

All week has revolved around Alex going to camp at church. She is having a blast. Her final performance night is tonight. Tuesday night we went to the park for a picnic for dinner and then flew kites It was a lot of fun. Callum kept his in the air for 40 minutes. Yesterday, the boys and I went on a road trip to visit with a friend and her kids. We had a great time. We finished off the night at a baseball game. Today, I am cleaning and packing. The time seems to be flying by!!

On a side note, please pray for Liam. It seems that he has had a little flair up in his allergy/health issues. I won't go in to details, but it looks as though we may have to take him to a different specialist. We won't be able to do that now until August. Please pray that his health is ok on our trip and that the doctors are able to figure out what is going on!!!

Adoption March on Capital Hill!

Wednesday, the kids and I marched on Capital Hill for the children in Guatemala that are still sitting in limbo waiting to be adopted.  There are almost 900 children whose processes have started, and were supposed to be grandfathered through, but that hasn't happened.  We walked about 2 miles, and the kids did a great job!  I was so proud of them. We are always trying to instill in them to put others first, and yesterday was the prime example of us doing something to try and help others.  The march was successful and we did get a few things accomplished and people took notice.  We had over 100 marchers and my friend Lori and her children joined me.  (thanks, DC buddy)  Please continue to pray for these children.  They are the ones truly suffering. Every child deserves a home and we just pray that our government and others will remember that it is about the children first!!! 

Tuesday Adventures!

Tuesday, we went blueberry picking for the first time.  We had a beautiful day for it!  The kids did a great job, and really enjoyed themselves.  We tried raspberry picking too, but it was a little too messy for the boys. :0)
 

More Tuesday Adventures!!

Tuesday Adventures

Alex's Surprise!

Yesterday, I took Alex to a basketball clinic at the University of Maryland. It was an early b-day present from my parents, and Gareth and I thought she really deserved it b/c of how well she did in school this year!  It was hosted by their Women's basketball team.  Boy, did she have a blast!!  Anyone that knows us at all, knows that she has become very passionate about basketball in the last two years.  Now, this is not our doing. Neither Gareth nor myself have ever played basketball a day in our lives.  Needless to say, she started playing in first grade, and it has stuck ever since.  These are just a few shots from the day.  We were able to have pics taken with the  head coach and assistant coaches, as well as some of the players.  (I didn't feel right posting those pics)

Anyway, it was a fun filled day.  The stations were run by the players and the coaches.  She learned a lot, got a free basketball, (that she bounced until 10 last night) and have lots of fun!

Today and Tomorrow...last days of school!

Today was Callum's last day of Pre-K.  I am not sure that he gets it, as he was talking about something Charlie did tonight and said that he was going to share it with his teachers next week.  Guess we will see what happens next week:0) 

He had a great year this year.  He is a different boy than he was this time last year.  We are so proud of how far he has come.  He is so very special with a little bit of stubborn that just makes him him.  I can't imagine our life without him and can't wait to have a fun filled summer with him.  A few people have bets going to see if he comes home with a British accent after our trip.  It will be interesting to see......

Alex's last day of school is tomorrow.  She is excited but has stressed that she will miss her teacher and friends very much.  We have a surprise lined up for her on Saturday, so stay tuned for that!!

Great Weekend!

Hope everyone has had a great weekend.  Friday night was fun.  We ended up with 20 girls. 19 stayed the night.  The last girl finally fell asleep around 3:30-3:45.  Although I am feeling it a little today, we did have a fun night!  Yesterday was pretty uneventful.  Alex and I recovered from our lock in while Gareth worked.  Today, we spent time with friends after church.  It was a much needed, relaxing day!  

This week is the last week of school.  I can't believe how the time has flown by.  Alex is excited but will miss her teachers and friends over the summer.  Callum doesn't really have a clue yet, and since he will be in the same class next year, with the same teachers, he isn't really bothered by summer break.   I have lots on my list to get done this week to prepare for them being home all summer. I don't want to have to spend lots of time doing, "house stuff", so my goal is to get it done this week so we can play all summer.  Hopefully that will happen:0)

fun night planned!

Headed out tonight for a GA's lock in at church.  That would be me, my co-teacher and about 25 1st through 6th grade girls.  Alex is thrilled.  She was up pretty early this morning reminding me what today was, just in case I had forgotten:0)   Please pray that we have an uneventful night and that we do get 'some' sleep.  (am I dreaming there?)  Gareth will be home with the boys and Callum keeps talking about a boys night.  I think they will have lots of fun playing cars all night!!

Can we say "poor dog"?

Alex and one of her friends figured out recently that the clothes that they have for their Build a Bear fit Charlie. He is such a good dog, he sits there and lets them do it.  These pics were taken a few weeks ago during his first "fashion show".  

Wow, so we have been a bit busy.  Last week, we went down town for the Memorial Day parade. Although it was hot, we had a great time!

Callum has been having a lot of allergy issues lately to the point where his eyes swell shut.   We have taken him to the Dr. multiple times and tried different meds, but nothing has been working. On Monday, we got a call from one of his teachers. She said that he looked just miserable and that his right eye was almost swollen shut.  I called the Dr. and they were able to get him in within a few hours.  They went ahead and referred us to the same allergist that Liam went to.

I was dreading that a bit, and also knew that it usually takes weeks to get in to a specialist. 

Tuesday morning, I spent the morning on the phone trying to get through to the allergist.  When I finally did at 10:15,  the receptionist says, "we just had our 11:15 call and cancel. Can you be here by then?"  Are you kidding me??  All I could say was , "Thank you Jesus!!!"  

Callum was an angel at the appointment. He was very inquisitive, but barely cried while they poked his back.  When the doc came in 15 minutes later, he said that he had never seen such severe allergies in a 4 year old before.  (I did take a picture of his back to show Gareth, but I haven't figured out how to get it from my phone to the computer yet)  His back was one big welt!!! Praise the Lord, he is not allergic to any foods!!!  His severe allergies are to every type of tree and tree pollen, every type of grass and grass pollen, dust, dust mites, and cats!  

He is now on a regimen of 5 meds, but will be weaned down in the next few weeks.  After 24 hours on the meds, his eyes already look so much better.    

I have been pretty busy trying to get the house in order and organized so that when I go to pack in a few weeks, it will be done.  Did I mention that the kids and i are going to England for 5 weeks this summer?  If I didn't, we are.  We are all very excited.  Gareth will be joining us for part of the trip too, so that makes it even better.   There is only a week and 2 days left of school, and half of those are half days.  I can;t believe how quickly the second half of the school year has gone.

Hope everyone is doing well!!! I will try to keep the blog update a bit better from now on:0)