Sunday, September 30, 2012

Popcorn, Pretzels, and more!

This post was requested by my Braden boy who is wanting to sell popcorn (and other things) like crazy this year since he missed the big 'popcorn kickoff' while at an appointment at Duke...which is always the best way to sell since all the boys go out together and sell for four hours at a time.

He heard about a boy who sold $4000 every year of his scouting experience and is trying to get to $1000!  This is going to be CRAZY hard because usually he's around a couple hundred dollars. He's been trying and going out in the neighborhood, calling family, and has done two popcorn booths so far.

UPDATE!! some people have not been able to see his name come up and we're trying to figure it out but for now you can enter his name (Braden Barbour) and our zip code is 27615

If you feel like donating some popcorn to the military or ordering some yummy gifts (or for yourself) please consider helping out my Braden boy by going here:

http://www.trails-end.com/shop/
Thanks!


September 2012

September 1- went to duke for braden's eye check and kids interviewed the doctor:), HOT HOT day in the 90's, kids played with friends, took a nap:), brian watched Star Wars 5 with the kiddos, and played the Maze Game.

September 2- went to Duke together for Braden's eye appointment, walked around South Point until naptime, outside play, games, ephram started trying to walk a little, had yummy italian for dinner, and did some school.

September 3- duke for Braden's eye appointment, school (to make up for wed), discovered the fence fell in the storm so brian fixed it all day, also discovered a snake that my hero killed!, outside play for the kiddos, lots of playtime and stories with my ephram boy, and prepped for his first day of od preschool.

September 4- ephram's first day of OD preschool!, science class for oldest two, walmart run after ps, school, family outside time, watched cailey make a taco dinner, fun family dinner, and bike riding.

September 5- braden to eye doctor, school, took e to cfa to see dora and play, library for story time while the big kids read, school, apple craft with ephram, games, latin practice together,

September 6- ephram to preschool, school, nap:), lots of reading (current read aloud: Robin Hood), talked with cailey, snuggled and rocked kinsey girl all during math:), watched my braden boy research the titanic on the computer by himself:), cailey wrote her first 'email letter' (as opposed to snail mail) to nonny, prepped dinner with C, went to the Y for Trek while the kids took a fun class, and listened to Cailey read.

September 7- watched Alex, played tons of games with the little boys, apple tasting/apple printing, laundry, went to Sheree's farewell party, picked up Lindsey and Reece for sleepovers, soccer practice for the girls, slushies for everyone, and watched a new movie (Despicable Me) with everyone.

September 8- kinsey's soccer game, cleaned the house, canceled airport plans with kelly to go meet the corbetts and baby kena:(, cailey's soccer game then she went to the keel's for a playdate, klick's over for dinner and fellowship, youngest three paired off and played while cailey wasn't home then she came and took Charlotte from me:). My girl loves baby Charlotte just like her mama! Oh..and went to bed at 8:30!

September 9- church, movies with marsie while the girls played at the morgan's, braden did puzzles, brian made meatballs/sauce/chili...AWESOME, ephram napped, gorgeous blue sky with fall weather after a HOT yesterday, chess for daddy and braden, oldest three to mission kids and choir while brian and i played legos with ephram.

September 10- oldest two had piano, braden to dr. where we found out his eye is still infected since he was off meds for one day, ran 2 with cailey, school, played in the sunshine at the park (BLUE skies and cool weather!), played games with kinsey and ephram while listening to cailey practice piano (and braden was at work with brian), scouts, rocked my biggest boy.

September 11- remembered 11 years ago, school, OD preK for ephram, science class for the oldest two, more school, read tons of books with e, listened to kinsey read, yummy stir fry for dinner, shelley lake with the fam for Dd is for duck, and a fun game of family tag.

September 12- ran 2.5 with brian, braden to dr., school, library time with ephram, met marsie and braeden at CFA for lunch, braden went home for a playdate with them, school, first awanas, and a date for Italian (plus some shopping) with Brian:)

September 13- braden to dr (vision got worse...lab work), school with kinsey, ephram to preschool, tired day for both braden and i, played with the kiddos, lots of d crafts and activities with ephram, doughnut date for e and daddy, brian worked late, and watched Despicable Me together.

September 14- co op, AHG, duke with braden, dropped kinsey at the klick's so they could take her to soccer, cailey to dr. for UTI, cailey to soccer, played with the kiddos on the playground, chatted with kelly and pam, brian met us with braden at the end, and went to leslie's for some GREAT talk time.

September 15- early soccer game for kinsey, duke with braden, fun emergency vehicle event (plus lunch) as a fam, braden to caden's all day/night, cailey's soccer game, switched girls with the keel's for sleepovers (kinsey to lilly's and abby over here:), made rootbeer floats/jewelry, etc., ephram made a fort with daddy and i played in it with him, golden corral, and movie night.

September 16- woke up sick and achy, brian took kids to summit and traded back, went to lunch with the klick's, cleaned later in the day, boy scouts for braden, mission kids/choir for the oldest three, and played with ephram.

September 17- piano lessons, braden's eye apt, met brian to pick up braden and drove circles around him:), first LONG school day of the year:( (and hopefully last), cleaned, did TONS of Ll activities with ephram, made an Ll dinner, and had family time.

September 18- school, preschool for ephram, science class for the big kids, braden to dr. walker, lots o' rain, milkshakes all around for the kiddos, added a letter to our chicka chicka tree, and lot's of laughing!

September 19- school, Braden to the dr, ephram to story time at the library, packed for CA, nonny came!, ran errands with mom while the others were at AWANA, and added steroid drops to braden's regiment.

September 20- ephram to preschool, school, went to duke for braden's eye apt with everyone, went to the airport with brian, hugged my babies, flew to Denver, then San Jose and drove to Carmel.

September 21- walked down to the beach and saw Endeavor's last flight ever, spent the day walking around looking at shops and flowers, 17 mile drive, drove to Monterey to the aquarium, lunched outside in the gorgeous weather, and a yummy seafood dinner.

pam took the kids to co op, then they girls to soccer in the evening, braden went to sell popcorn with mom, ephram had nonny to himself all morning for play doh and lego fun

September 22- another morning in Carmel before leaving for Monterey, walked around and ate lunch at a yummy place right on the water in Monterey (The Fish Hopper), ice cream on the pier, drove to San Francisco past farmland/mountains/desert/temp difference of 20 degrees, went down to the Wharf and pier 39, saw lots of sea lions, shopped, ate dinner at another yummy seafood place, saw alcatraz, and did lots of hand holding:)

braden's eye appointment went well and the dr. said his eye was 80 percent better, cailey and kinsey's soccer games where cailey scored a GOAL!, jennifer hudgens visited, got a phone call from the kids while driving to San Fran.

September 23- woke up in san francisco, did lumbar street, painted houses, china town, golden gate park/bridge, went to sausalito (LOVED) and had a yummy lunch, walked around in shops, hiked in muir woods, then drove to the hotel in Mountain View and ordered in...LOVED the fancy hotel room!

September 24- flew home early, hugged my babies, gave presents, tried to crash.

September 25 science class, preschool, a little school, welch's came..YAY!!, caught up with Laura while the kids played, cheese fries with laura:), lots of outside play, SO nice to have company and friends for everyone!

September 26 woke up too early to a sick cailey girl, walked with laura and the kids, went to story time after cailey's IBU kicked in, went to CFA for lunch and to say goodbye to katherine:(, bailey wick park to meet sweet Kena and see Laura, said goodbye to the welch's, taught awana verses, and brought the youngest three while cailey stayed home with me.

September 27 a little school, took ephram to get his boot off (YAY!),  cailey to dr. walker to check for strep but it was her pfapa acting up, realized the tonsillectomy didn't work, school, slushies, sick big girl:(, fun stuff with ephram, Ll is for letter factory, and prepped for preschool.

September 28-watched alex, co op, still sick cailey, AHG for kinsey, great catch up time with cheryl then pam, picked up kinsey from soccer and hung out w/ klick's, welcomed brian home from CA!, then surprised the kiddos with a visit from auntie anne!

September 29- early soccer game to watch kinsey play in the rain, cfa for breakfast together, braden to scout popcorn booth, took the other three to jumpin beans with anne and took turns taking ephram and kinsey on a date to paint pottery (cailey just wanted to jump:), braden went on a scout field trip, went out with anne and ephram to build a bear for his date then dinner, braden went to caden's sleepover.

September 30- summit for church, hung out with anne before saying goodbye, caught up on some school, braden to popcorn booth, kids to choir/mission kids, fun date with leslie, and then some candle time.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

 Our sweet friend, Katherine, has moved up in the CFA company and will be traveling for the next couple of years. I saw this coming a while back and am THRILLED for her but also sad to see her go. She is such a kind friend and always shines God's light...I feel like joy exudes from her. She's just awesome.
I made her a card and the kiddos and I went to see her on her last day.  We will miss you, Katherine!!

Friday, September 28, 2012

Dd is for Doggie!

 Ephram did Dd is for doggie!  He made giant d's with his doggie friends and another day made upper and lowercase d's out of ducks.
This was a fun craft for him...after watching Dalmatians, Ephram colored avery dots black then stuck them on a giant D and turned it into a dalmatian dog with dots.

For his book page, Ephram decorated a door with do a dots then put all kinds d stickers underneath it. (Daddy, donkey, dinosaur, drum, doll, dumptruck, and drill)

We went to the park to feed the ducks...and Ephram always loves his Dd books! His favorite was Dear Zoo.


Circling D's sorting upper and lowercase, and saying the Dd cheer
Ephram cut out triangles then made a lowercase d dinosaur.



Everyday we go over his D words...he loves to use the pointer and tell them all to us! He had a donut date with daddy! Once they ate some of the donuts, they turned the capital D into a lowercase:).

playing in the dirt with doggies and dinosaurs...then dumptrucks and dozers.
He focused on a Dalmatian dog and dinosaur puzzle this week.

Along with the pictures Ephram did TONS of stickers (doggies in the shape of a Dd and ducks), danced, drummed (in a parade at home:), and 'doodled' and drew on paper.

D Foods he ate:
dumplings, donuts, doritos with dip, and dates

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Sleepover Trades




After Cailey and Abby's soccer game on Saturday we planned a sleepover trade so Kinsey would go home with Lilly and Abby would come home with us for the night. The girls had such a fun time and can't wait to do it again! The girls are on the same soccer teams, in the same classes at co op and AHG, and once Braden's eye heals they will be swimming together. Oh..and in the winter they'll most likely be playing basketball together. It's been so nice getting to know this sweet family and awesome that the girls have met playmates their age who they can see a lot.


 
making necklaces together in a tent that brian made for ephram...then root beer floats!

 
the girls wanted to sleep in the tent and ephram graciously let them:).





Wednesday, September 26, 2012

How is he? How is she? How is he?

So mom took Braden to the dr. on Monday morning and was told that he could cut back to drops every SIX hours (instead of every one..then two) and just take two pills a day (instead of 4). I'm thinking the steroid drops are the key. He doesn't have to go back to Duke until Monday..one week later. I am SO thankful it's getting better! We feel like we're starting to see the 'light at the end of the tunnel'. Brian came home so discouraged last time two new spots popped up that we started to think it was going to be the 'norm'...which is daunting. But we're SO thankful things are clearing up and new spots haven't shown up.

Braden hasn't been as tired lately but I think circumstances have a lot to do with that (without going into detail). He is still having 'averse effects' from the stress he's been through but we are praying through that and hoping that once his eye is completely healed that things will start to go back to normal.

He has been blessed by SO many people who sent cards and gifts...thank you!  He still can't believe that this many people care for HIM...silly boy!

Cailey girl. Oh, my Cailey girl. We're starting to see that her surgery was for nothing because she still continues to get sick. Last time it wasn't as bad so at least that was an improvement...but now she is very sick. She has her typical symptoms (high fever, headache, achy, sore throat, canker sores, no appetite) and I just feel TERRIBLE for her!  It started on Sunday evening with a headache and she was off and on yesterday but at 5am she came in BURNING up and freezing.  I'm treating her with Ibuprofen and she really does seems to perk up once it kicks in...but it's very obvious when it wears off or I forget to bring a pill along and there is a time lapse. Poor thing is pitiful:(.

Ephram goes back to the doctor tomorrow for another x ray and I'm sure it'll show that his leg is healed because at home he's back to normal. He has a little limp left but can run, jump, climb, and everything else little boys love to do. We'll be very thankful to take his WEE boot off for good:).

"God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." Ephesians 3:20

park evenings


The weather is cooling down and that means lots of park time for our family! We went there to feed the ducks but had fun playing on the playground, hiking, trying out the equipment along the way and playing tag.




The kids started off playing tag and hide n seek in these tall flowers that we love but ephram and daddy soon started 'jedi' training and fighting. hilarious! these guys all found their own 'light saber' and started fighting each other. Thankfully no one was harmed...just lots of laughing!

We had such a great evening together that ended with having to go home because someone had a mishap while trying to pee in the bushes and came out naked. HILARIOUS! I love my family!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Go Kinsey!


Kinsey is LOVING soccer and tries her hardest to get that ball into the goal! She has no problem getting in the middle of the girls to get control of the ball. We all love cheering her on and get the BIGGEST smiles in return whenever she hears her name:).




some halftime fun:)

Monday, September 24, 2012

Busy Family Fun day!


After Kinsey's soccer game we went to Braden's eye appointment at Duke before heading over to a fun safety day event. There was a dalmatian puppy (PERFECT for D week!) that the kids just loved. Next up we headed to the fire trucks...where Kinsey had an incident (skinned knee) and the firefighters got her a band aid out of their 'real' first aid kits:).

trying on the HEAVY gear! they loved going around to all the different kinds of fire trucks, with the ladder truck being their favorite.


Then we learned that there are actually horses which are used for search and rescue missions. Each of the kids got to ride on the horse but I think Kinsey loved it the most! Ephram wasn't so sure he wanted the horse to move but felt ok as long as I held his hand. Towards the end he let go of my hand and rode it all by himself!




They showed a controlled burn and how easily a fire can spread.


Dd is for Dozer! Oh...a boy in love!


Inside an ambulance! The EMT workers were amazed at Ephram's boot! They thought it was so cute:). We met up with some friends there too (planned, of course:).


Another highlight...the helicopter! It was from Duke and we actually saw an identical one taking off from the roof while we were leaving braden's appointment.

We left Braden with the Klick's for a day (and night) of fun then went to Cailey's soccer game. Kinsey went home with Lilly for a sleepover and we brought Abby home for one. It was a fun filled day! We were hoping to head to the bug fest but it ended up getting pretty hot and we didn't want to go without Braden. Instead the girls (and ephram) made rootbeer floats and went to Golden Corral for dinner:).