I Love to Play Ball

One of his favorite things. He especially loves it when I throw it and it bounces off of him or his head (don't worry they are soft!)...he just laughs and laughs. So fun! Daniel has a little cold going around our house. Please pray that he can make it through on his own...without a trip to the hospital!!

I've Had a Great Week!

Daniel has had the best 10 days he has had since this summer! We are so thankful...


Have I mentioned what a sweet boy he is?? :-)

Going to the Zoo

It had been a long time since we visited the zoo. It was my mom's last full day here and it was 75 degrees, so we took full advantage and enjoyed a fun filled afternoon in the sunshine at the zoo.


Drew with his favorite animal...


Sam with his favorite animal...can you see it??

Lizzy and Abby with their favorite animal...


And my four biggest kiddos lined up looking at a Rhino (which you cannot see :))...


And lined up looking at a giraffe...


This was the picture that happened again and again. :)

And these were by far the most entertaining animals today...


It was a beautiful day and so fun to take the kids to the zoo again!

And tomorrow we take grandma to the airport to head home. Daniel and everyone will miss their playtime...


Hopefully she will be back soon. ;-)

A Great Day in the Neighborhood

And we took full advantage outside today! It was a gorgeous day and so we took Daniel's new car our for a drive this afternoon. He looks serious in these pictures, but he loved being outside and being pushed up and down the sidewalk. :)



The boys road their bikes and played baseball. And the girls planted their plastic flowers in some real dirt and played princess baseball with grandma. It is supposed to be nice again tomorrow and I am hoping to take the big kids to do something we have not done in a LONG while. Stay tuned to see...

;-)

Give Me Five!

We do love to Laugh! :-)

I LOVE to Laugh

And so do my kids! :-)

Tonight Daniel laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. It got to the point that ANYTHING I did made him laugh. It was so fun! So sweet.

Brent snapped a couple of pictures in the middle of it all...even holding him he was still laughing...such a goofy boy. And such a sweet, sweet time with him.






What a gift today is. Knowing that 14 days ago we were not sure we would have today with Daniel, it is priceless. It has made me more intentional with all of my kids, with all of life.

I really do love to laugh.

It is contagious...isn't it? :-)

Playing Ball and Laughing

Our Very Own Jedi

Daniel's Dressing

Daniel is still having a hard time with the dressing on his central line. He has been miserable with it on and off throughout the day. So we had to put socks on his hands to keep him from pulling at it...


Here is a picture of what the dressing looks like...we have had to reinforce the line dressing with the white tape that you can see so that he does not pull it off...


And for at least tonight he will be stuck with the socks...hopefully time and benedryl will help him not itch so terribly.


Love that he still has a smile. Such a sweetie!

Laughing With Grandma

Daniel loves to laugh! He was having a fun time tonight laughing at his grandma...


Drew used to do the same thing. They both have GREAT laughs! :-)

Welcome Home Champ!

All packed up and ready to go...




A warm welcome from my big brothers...


Abby and her new Dora...


This picture with Dora is part of a tradition that was started back in May. Every time Daniel is in the hospital, I bring a present for the other kids when we return home. When I started this, I had no idea how many times Daniel would be in the hospital...but it never gets easier for any of us and this is a simple bright spot for everybody. Abby was so happy to have her Dora doll! :)

And all of the kiddos together again...at home!


I just love that this picture reflects our day to day home life. Lizzy in a dress. Abby in a swimming suit. Daniel with his sweet grin. And the big boys smiling for their mama. :-) I love them all so much. I am so glad we are all home.

Welcome Home Champ!

Tomorrow Morning I'm Bringing You Home!

And we are ALL so ready to be together again!!

Sleepy Boy

Daniel looks a little rough tonight...his dressing change was tough and his skin underneath is terrible...please pray for him tonight. Pray for his skin to heal quickly!! When this happened 2 weeks ago he thrashed throughout the night. At least tonight he is at the hospital so that he can have some relief with medicine if he needs it.


And here are the boys with their substitute teacher...


We are thankful Aunt Kathy is here!

Another Sweet Reunion (Day 113)

Today I brought all 4 kiddos to visit Daniel. For the first time I was ready to record the reunion and when we rounded the corner and headed into the room we saw that Daniel was napping! So everyone's "hellos" were much quieter than normal...but his groggy, smiley response to their four sweet faces was priceless. Here they all are...






Today at Children's the kids got to make a song and do some crafts with some sweet ladies from the child life department and music therapy. They thought it was awesome and the song they made up is great! So sweet. And the girls had a fun time playing with all the different instruments and using LOTS and LOTS of glue. :-) I do not have any pictures as they were off by themselves, but it was a lot of fun for them. Abby returned a little earlier than everyone else and I snapped these sweet pictures of Daniel and her...



After they were done with their masterpieces Brent headed home with 3 of our kids and my Aunt Kathy and Drew and I stayed together for the night with Daniel. While Daniel napped, Drew and I watched a movie, but mostly we played and sang with Daniel. Drew also had a fun time chatting with the nurses and our RT for the evening. He talked a lot about Star Wars and Baseball. :-) Here are he and Little Buddy...



Daniel is such a trooper. He is our little champ. And we all think he's pretty cute...



And he is still doing great! Thank you Jesus!

Happy to See My Brother

Sam and I spent the day together today. Since Daniel is doing SO MUCH BETTER (thank you Jesus), Brent was able to be at the hospital and my Aunt Kathy is here at the house with my other kiddos I decided to take Sam on a date (I am planning some one on one time with each of them over the next couple of weeks). We went to lunch, to Mardel's to sit at their tables and put some baseball collage frames together (Right up both our alley's), for coffee and then to the hospital to hang out with Daniel while daddy went home. During Daniel's nap we watched a movie together. It was a great day with my favorite 8 year old boy!

Daniel was SUPER excited to see his brother (and mommy!) when we arrived...




He is doing amazingly well...he looks it too don't you think?

And here is a picture of me with my date and our finished projects (Sam still needs to add his pictures)...


It was a great day. Daniel is better. Sam is a joy to hang out with. My husband is a great partner and awesome daddy. And my Aunt Kathy is having fun with the kids. For a terrible situation, once again God's grace has been enough...and there are blessings in abundance each day. Oh Lord continue to give my eyes to see them.