Weekend Wrap-up

This weekend has been full-full of fun but also boring stuff that needed to get done. We are usually tied up with kid stuff on the weekends and evenings so we are usually behind on stuff for the house. It is fine with me-when the kids leave home one day is when I will be able to focus on flower beds and decorating!

This weekend, however, I REALLY needed a new cell phone. I have been using a hand-me-down phone from Mike for years and last week the antenna fell off of it! So this weekend we took all three kids cell phone shopping and I am now the proud new owner of a cute, red Blackberry.

We also desperately neeeded to buy a king-size mattress for our new bedroom suit that is being delivered Tuesday. I am so excited for my sleigh bed!! Taking three kiddos cell phone and mattress shopping was certainly a challenge!

Sunday was full of more fun things such as church, a soccer party, and a birthday party! Here is Hope in her hat that matched her outfit! I made her wear this hat all day to get conditioned to wearing them this summer. We are joining a pool in our "backyard" this summer and I needed her to get used to wearing hats!

She also got dressed up all cute to have some cake and ice cream for her friend, Brady. He turned one last week and we celebrated with some cake and ice cream! In the above picture she looks so much like Kyle as a baby-I will have to dig out some pictures:)

This picture melts my heart. Last Sunday the boys wore ties to church and David was so proud of his tie! He looks so much like his father in this picture with the glasses, tie and serious face. He wanted to wear one again this morning to church so I will need to go tie shopping because both boys only have one to wear! HA!

Here is a picture of Hope with her baby friend, Brady. They squeal when they see each other but in this picture Hope is playing hard to get! Brady was a good role model for Hope today on how to get into that first piece of cake! I cannot believe that Hope's first birthday is on the horizon...:(

Brady using all his fingers for that first slice of cake!!

Before the party, we went to the soccer party to celebrate the end of the season. Kyle has played sports so long now that trophies no longer hold the same excitement for him. Not so for David. He was so excited for his trophy and was so proud of it! It just makes me so happy that he has the opportunity to be just like everyone else by participating in sports. I hope this will be available to him for many years to come because it provides him exercise and sports are great social opportunities! His face is not dirty, but has icing all over it! One of the moms bought adorable soccer cookies with black/white icing and David certainly enjoyed it!

Here he is getting his award from Coach Graham!

Playing with some of his teammates at the playground. It was suppose to rain today, but thankfully it held off and we had sunny, warm weather:)

David News

I just wanted to do a little update on sweet David and his little hip. Last week we noticed that David was walking and running with a limp. After watching him a day or two, we took him to his doctor. The doctor felt that it was a soft tissue bruise and prescribed anti-inflammatory medicine to reduce the pain.

Over the weekend we noticed that the medicine did not seem to help and that actually his limp was getting more pronounced. We emailed with the doctor over the weekend and Monday morning we took him to the hospital for x-rays which were negative. So today poor Mike took him back to the hospital for blood work. I know that was a hard job for Mike to hold him down, but thankfully we got the blood drawn. As of today we know that the strep test was negative and his thyroid (that we should check annually) was fine.

Because of his Down Syndrome we know he has a high pain tolerance. Couple that with his inability to clearly articulate to us what is wrong breaks my heart. He has consistently pointed to his right hip as the spot that hurts and as of this evening he has started asking us to carry him places.

Over the weekend I perused Webmd which was NOT a good thing for me to do. I am trying to rely on faith and remember that he is in the hands of The Great Physician. We are waiting on the rest of the blood work to come back tomorrow and then we will talk with his doctor about what is next. We covet your prayers and I will update as I know more:)

Little League Opening Day

Both boys played in their opening games in Little League today. We were all excited for the start of the season. David is playing on a Tball team and Kyle is playing on the 7/8 pitching machine team. Mike is David's assistant coach and is the head coach for Kyle's team. Above is David's team lining up for the National Anthem!! David is number 5:)

Playing in the "outfield!

Getting ready to bat. I have a hilarious video of his first bat that I will download later tonight. It is hilarious of him running and me screaming for him!!

Big boy Kyle watching his little brother play.

Lining up for their game. I am overall not a huge baseball fan, but I am a lunatic when my boys are playing. I cheer so hard for them and probably make a fool of myself.

Kyle played first base today and did well:)

Making a play at first. Today on the field I was astounded at how big he looked out there. I knew that he had had a huge growth spurt this year, but I did not realize how much until he was out on that field today in his size 4 1/2 cleats:)

Coach Mike! Coaching the boys' teams is truly the joy of Mike's life. He gets just as excited for the games and practices as the boys do. I love that he has a stress relief in coaching and we have some fun times at the ballfield.

Oh Davey borrowed Mrs. Teresa's camera and took pictures! He wanted me to take his picture taking a picture.

These pictures above and below should be reversed, but the exciting news is that Kyle hit a homerun!! He made it all around the bases and scored in their scrimmage! We were so excited for him:)

Okay, here is some of the drama that we have experienced over this weekend. Usually on the weekends, Mike and Kyle go to this local barber shop for haircuts. It is a real manly man kind of place and my boys love the guys that run it. With the craziness of our schedule this week, the boys went to a different place closer to home for Kyle's hair cut. Unfortunately while the gal was cutting his hair, the guard fell off of the razor and this happened:

Do you see that big gap in his hair?? I went bananas needless to say and so today after the ball games they went to their beloved barbershop and got it fixed. Kyle now looks ready for the military but thankfully he has a cute head and the gap is gone:) Below Kevin the barber is fixing the mess:)

The other drama of the weekend is that DAvid is doing this mysterious limp. We went to the doctor Friday and the doctor wanted to start with some anti-inflammatory meds in case it is a bruise or soft tissue problem. Unfortunately that has not helped too much so we will probably have Xrays Monday.

It worries me and I was so upset last night about it that I hardly slept. I was up in the wee hours reasearching on Webmd. Saw some scary stuff on there and we will all be thankful when the doctor opens back up Monday morning and we can do some scans. His limp is pronounced and he says that his hip hurts:( Please prayer warriors say a prayer for sweet Dave and I will keep you posted as we know more.

Ten Months

I cannot believe you are 10 months old today!! Getting your pictures this month was a CHALLENGE!! You are such a busy girl and you were not too thrilled about sitting in the rocking chair and smiling for me today.

You are getting to be a big girl. This week at the doctor you were 16 pounds, 13 ounces and 28 inches long. Unfortunately this past week you have suffered with double ear infections, but you are such a trooper:)
This is a familiar sight with you these days-you are teething (but no teeth yet) and you often have your hands or fingers in you mouth.

We love your sweet, sweet smile. You are so ticklish and we love to hear your belly laugh.

You are definitely on the move these days. You love to climb all over Daddy and the boys and you are pulling and standing these days. We are starting to "help" you walk around the house.
You are still eating three big girl meals a day and we are still nursing 3-4 times a day. You love your straw sippy cup and our table food. We really want you to eat more table food and less baby food, but table food seems to upset your belly. For breakfast each day you devour a packet of Quaker oatmeal!!
Your spring wardrobe consist of LOTS of dresses from Ally and Parker and I have so enjoyed breaking out the spring wardrobe. The other day you had on a cute casual dress with these little Keds and frilly socks. My heart melted when I saw your sweet legs sticking out of that dress:)

You are such a precious, precious addition to this family! We love you sweet girl!

Music Together

Above is a video of Hope and David at a music class called Music Together. It is a new class starting here locally in a few weeks. Hope is jamming with her egg shakers! I love it! The class is taught by a certified Music therapist and the class is mostly live music with a guitar. David is mesmerized by Mrs. RaeAnn. The boys did Kindermuzik for years with our dear friend Tracy in Orange so I am so thankful that Hope and David will get to do music as well.

Hope is wearing her Donna outfit!! A local and amazing seamstress made this outfit for Hope. I know that her closet is overflowing with the awesome hand-me-downs from Ally and Parker plus the stuff I bought last year on sale, but I could not resist some custom-made outfits this year. I am SUCH a wanna-be seamstress and one day I had a ball picking out patterns and fabric for this cute little outfit. Donna is so amazing and she did a great job:) I so want to learn to sew but by the time that I have the time to take classes, Hope will probably be so old that sweet little baby girl clothes are NOT going to be what she wants to wear!! Ha! Learning to sew is on my "bucket list" down the road!!

Enjoy the video and remember to pause the blog music:) Sorry that the blog has been taken over by videos lately, but David is OBSESSED with watching videos of himself!! He loves my new Flipcam as much as I do:) He wants me to take it with us everywhere so I can video him. I really think that Hollywood may have a place for ole Dave one day! Maybe our life can become a reality show-I certainly feel like it is sometimes!

Weekend Fun

This weekend weather was so beautiful that we ventured out to Hungry Mother with some friends to enjoy the sunshine after church. Mike has been working most of the weekend on the school budget, so I took the kids out to the park this afternoon to give him some quiet work time at home. I told the boys that we were not going to get wet at the park, but as you can see, that did not last:) Above is sweet David dipping his toes into the lake!

Our friend Micah enjoyed the lake so much that he needed to lay down in the water with his blue jeans on!!!
Hope in her little skort!! She loved being outside and really wanted to get in the water!!

Kyle and his friend Grace venturing out into the water. It was super cold-I have no idea how they stood that water!!
The park has lots of sidewalks that are perfect for scootering.

Hope hanging out in the stroller with her beloved sippy cup.

After church Hope crashed when we got home and she fell asleep in her sweet smocked dress. I went to check on her and found that she had snuggled up to her little baby and thought she looked so darn sweet.
This weekend both boys had ball practice and Mike worked TONS on the budget. I attempted to head out with some friends for a girls night swanky dinner and I got super sick before the meals arrived. I was so sick that I had to call Mike to come and get me. Seriously. I get out so rarely without my kiddos and sure enough the one night that I had crab cakes coming my way I get so sick with a migraine that I had to leave. Talk about not fair!

My Girl

I love spending my days with my girl. Often her life revolves around her brothers' schedules, so during the day when it is just us girls, it can be all about Hope. She is definitely high maintenance and demands my attention, but we have such a ball. Below she is modeling her new EARRINGS!!! No, we did not get her ears pierced, she is sporting her new "stick on" earrings from Ashley:)


This week we have really enjoyed these beautiful summer like days. We have walked and played with friends and tomorrow we have a lunch date with more friends. Yesterday she played so hard that she literally crashed on the couch while we were reading books.

Love pictures of a sleeping baby.

The big excitement in Hope's world this week is that we dug out her tiny baby pool and she enjoyed a dip in it on our back deck. This girl loves the water and I enjoyed relaxing in the lounge chair beside her:)

Laundry Thoughts

Today I had a serious epiphany while folding laundry. Granted, I spend countless hours hovered over that dryer with a family of five, but today the world stopped for just a second. Last night the boys had a soccer game and tonight they will have a make-up game. Back-to-back games are great except for the pressure of getting that uniform clean!

I really do not like washing and drying soccer gear. Those blasted socks with those blasted knee pads in them really annoy me. But, because I love my boys and my boys love soccer I therefore match socks and knee pads together.

Today it hit me like a ton of bricks...I actually had two sets of the same uniform for my boys in the wash. The boys are on the same team this year due to their age. It has been wonderful to watch Kyle mentor and encourage his younger brother/teammate and it has been a hoot to watch David in the field. Magical times truly.

But today as I was folding the mass of laundry in the dryer it overwhelmed me that the uniforms matched! On one hand I would say "of course they match silly-they are on the same team and Mike is one of the coaches" but then on the other hand it overwhelms me that David is right there with his brother.

I just remember that floppy, tiny, red-headed bundle we brought home from the hospital with the diagnosis of Down Syndrome. Mike and I five years ago had NO CLUE what the future would hold for us, but I never imagined that David would be on a typical rec league soccer game with his peers having fun. To just imagine that this little red-headed wonder only learned to walk three years ago (right around his second birthday) is now running down the field with his friends astounds me.

David's diagnosis is one that is certainly always there but we rarely "ponder it." Certainly he has an IEP and services and such, but his diagnosis has never defined this family I hope. Yes, David needs special education support and therapist along the way and our retirement will certainly look different than our peers down the road but that is all fine with us.

I just googled the chances of us conceiving David when we did and it was 1 in 12,500 due to my age. Amazing odds huh? I guess not so amazing if you believe in an amazing God.

I guess my epiphany today had more to do with God's grace than David's soccer uniform. I love the scriptures that remind us that God's grace is sufficient and the little laundry room episode today was certainly a reminder of that. His grace has been beyond sufficient with David and I am so thankful for the reminder today that David and his extra little chromosome were from the Lord and his grace is and always will be truly sufficient.

I really needed this Not Me Monday to air the less than perfect side of me today. I am feeling a little edgy:) So, here goes-

During the second church service that I attended Easter morning I did NOT sneak out to feed Hope and end up going through the McDonald's drive thru for a sweet tea! Not me!

I did not get the kids all dressed for church and then contemplate going back to bed instead of going to church!

I did NOT take a picture of an Amish person getting out of his cute buggy when in Ohio-I would NEVER disrespect their religious views just to get a neat photo:)

I did not check the dates in my grandmother's fridge yesterday before I ate at her house for Easter:) My grandmother often feels that those expiration dates are just suggestions!!

Ahhh, I feel a little bit better now. Seriously, we did have an awesome Easter/spring break and I now have the summer bug BAD!

Easter weekend 2010

On Thursday when the boys got out of school early, we hit the road for a Robinson road trip! We headed to Ohio to visit the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. My aunt lives very near there, so my parents went with us and dropped off my grandmother to visit for a few days. Outside of the Hall of Fame, they have a real astroturf mini football field that my boys LOVED. Here is David kicking the ball!

All four boys ready to see some football stuff:)

Grace's Dad, Jonathan made Kyle a scavenger hunt to complete while we were there. Kyle had a blast filling in the questions he made up for him.

Hope just hanging out in her cute Easter outfit:)

Also in Canton is President McKinnley's museum and grave so we of course had to visit there! I joked that Mike got his nerd on during this trip!! He and Kyle were in heaven on this trip-sports and President stuff!

AFter the Hall of Fame, we traveled around Ohio Amish country. I know this picture is totally illegal since you cannot photograph Amish folk, but technically I am only taking a picture of their buggies outside an IGA grocery store. I thought it was so neat that the grocery store had parking places and a post to hitch up horses and buggies. I am obsessed with Amish stuff and I really enjoyed this part of the trip. We went to some neat bakeries and a great cheese factory where you could sample anything you wanted.


We got home late Saturday night in time to get ready for the Easter bunny! Here is sweet Hope checking out her easter basket.

David got a new book! Kyle got up super early as only Kyle does to see what the Easter bunny brought. We had to wake David up!!

I had very little luck getting a good picture of all three kiddos, but here is a sweet one of Hope taken outside:) After church we headed to my grandparents lake house to enjoy the beautiful weather and celebreate Easter with my whole family. I hid eggs for the boys to find and here is David with his lifejacket on!! He was patiently waiting on someone to take him for a boat ride, so he was all suited up ready to go on the boat:)

The boys had fun doing some egg and spoon races. With four boys in the family games tend to get pretty competitive!! My boys love spending time with any of their cousins-the ones here in Virginia and our other boys in Shreveport.

Finally after much waiting David finally got his boat ride. Here he is with my grandfather busting a move on the boat. The boat has a radio on it and we were listening to some tunes on the lake. It is rarely this beautiful on Easter and we enjoyed every moment of it!

Chad and Clayton!


I LOVE this look of pure joy on Kyle's face when Chad pushed the throttle down on the boat and we took off!!

This Easter has been wonderful-full of family time and adventures. My house looks like a tornado went through it but that is fine with me! We enjoyed the time together as a family and enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL weather we were blessed with this year.