Christmas Eve Eve

Layla and Marley came over Wednesday afternoon (the 22nd) to play with Nicholas and Blake. Tom and I had returned from Noblesville bringing the boys with us since they had no school. It was a great time to have them visit and time for the girls to come play with their cousins.

Our basement is just that...a basement. It is for storing junk. It is not pretty. It is not cozy. BUT...it is room for the kids to run and play. Layla was given the very very old Barbie dolls and clothes that used to belong to my younger sister Debra, 50 years ago. She loves playing with them and it will make my sister very happy to know that they are still being used.

I think that this dress was made from my sister's wedding dress scrap. Not sure about that. It was somebody's wedding scrap. I'll find out for sure.

Blake found the mini cars and trucks that used to belong to Uncle Brent!

Marley would swing all day if she could find someone to push her. This IKEA swing was the best purchase I have ever made for the kids. It has had hours of use for a few years now.

Nicholas is our little athlete. Tom found this basketball hoop (that plays music or cheers when you make a basket) probably at Goodwill.

Remember what I said about the swing?

Back upstairs, many activites take place. The rules are made up as you go. You thought that you knew how to play "Old Maid".

Brent reads "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" to Marley for the 457th time.

Blake's Bountiful Booty of Beads

Blake LOVES pirates! Blake will be 6 in January. Blake (like his brother) can concentrate on a project for many hours at a time. He loves creating "things" out of tiny pieces...one tiny bead at a time....especially if pirates are involved. In this case, he began with Mickey Mouse and moved to creating his own pirate with no pattern.

I feel like breaking into song.....M-I-C-K-E-Y....well you know how it goes.

"Bring on the next project" I can just hear him saying.

Time for the new creation. Who would have thought.....a pirate!

Nearly finished!

He told me that he needed to add a frame and some "lights". So.....he did! Clever boy!

Thanks!

This is what Thanksgiving is all about....these 3 in Noblesville and 2 granddaughters that were still in Elkhart.

It seems like yesterday when this "school bus" belonged to Nicholas. Along came Blake to play in it and knock it down and crawl through the windows. Then this past week it came out of storage for Alexis. Such fun to listen to them laugh and play together without a care in the world.

Then Tom went to Goodwill and found a globe! A puzzle globe! But he already has one...or two...but this time he could show the boys how it goes together. They were intrigued! It is now sitting on a shelf in their bedroom. They got to show the globe (in progress) to Great Grandma Carol.

Paula's heart melted a little bit this week when Blake came home from Kindergarten and had written "I am thankful for ant paula." I'll bet that that picture (Paula is a pirate???) will end up being framed!

Don't be shocked but I didn't touch the turkey! Paula and Kendra are looking for the "bags" or "gags" or whatever it is stuffed into those birds!

Alexis is all cleaned up and fresh from the tub. She is sporting her new dress and ready for Thanksgiving. She is such a blessing!

TTT update.....

Ode To Teeny Tiny Tumors

I went to the doctor today.
"One tumor you have," he did say.
"Let's take it out now
because I know how."
And now it's all gone away.

I know 13 tumors sounds scary.
The doctor was quick...didn't tarry.
My bladder he scoured
And in less than an hour,
I was back having brunch at Mayberry.

I know that the number looks bad.
It's the 13th ol' tumor I've had.
"No reason to frown.
They're at least slowing down."
Dr. Fretz is my favorite young lad.

My "Buddy Walk" Story

Our family and friends waited a long time for this day. Kendra had worked hard preparing for this event: thinking up a slogan, buying and preparing shirts, teaching several of us how to make our donation pages on the computer, thinking of all the details that would make this first walk for our family successful plus preparing for Nicholas's 7th birthday party which was to follow. She was a master planner in all of this! Best of all was the Master Planner's perfect weather! Being October 23rd, we knew that the weather could be rough but it was perfect!

We walked along the White River Canal both coming and going for a total of 2.6 miles. There were 3,500 other people besides us.

Armed with wagons for short legged walkers, we set out on our beautiful journey.

It was easy to spot our sea of red!

Tom took time along the way to give a photography lesson to Layla. She loved the challenge!

Lexi was the star of the show!!! With a Dr. Seuss theme (hence the "Lexi Lou's Whos), we had several stuffed characters from his books that we took with us. She loved the Grinch!

Jason is so in love with his little Lexi Lou Who and she so loves her daddy right back. (He might not like being photographed but I catch him any time that I can.)

Tom took this photo with the girls (Layla and Marley) by the flowers. In the photo below, he was very creative having them peek through the wooden slats. Good ol' boy does good work!

Here are the participants in the walk: Kendra, Jason, Alexis, Nicholas, and Blake

Brent, Elizabeth, Layla and Marley

Uncle Ron and Aunt Paula Bowman (my sister and brother-in-law) who live a few steps from Kendra. What would we do without them!!! They are a life support for the family and are another wonderful set of "grandparents".

Grandma Connie and Pops Jim (Jason's parents who live in Kokomo)

Tanya, Gabriel and Mia Bella (Kendra's friend from Indy)

The Gaier family: Conya, Mark, Caden, Caylee, Conner, Catlyn (don't hold me to the spellings!!!) Conya is Jason's sister from near Kokomo.

Big Scott Ewing, Melissa, Kinzy and Joslyn (again...forgive me for not knowing the spellings). They are friends with Kendra and Jason.

Tom and I had a wonderful time being with the family!

Here are my Favorite Five in the world!!!!! Nicholas (7 on Oct 30, ) Blake (5 1/2), Alexis (18 months), Marley (3), and Layla (6)

Blake, Lexi, Nicholas

Layla

and Marley.

Now to decide which picture to use in my Christmas letter...................

10-10-'10

Not a date that I'll soon forget! Mother was admitted to the hospital. She was sooooo sick. After a few days in the hospital, lots of fluids pumped into her, plasma, whole blood, and a lot of care, she went home and is recovering. When you are 89....getting closer to 90 by the minute, it takes a long time to regain your strength. She is doing "remarkably well" according to sister Debra as of tonight.

This trama came on top of Layla's emergency appendicitis the weekend before Mother's illness. We all thought that she had the flu but she sure proved us wrong!

Last Thursday, Brent and Elizabeth took a long weekend and had a vacation in Las Vegas so thankfully Tom was able to care for the girls Thursday and Thursday night. I arrived home from Battle Creek Friday afternoon. It was a very nice weekend and it was fun taking both girls with us to Trinity on Sunday morning.

I got caught up on unfinished stuff on Monday at home and came to Noblesville yesterday (Tuesday). Alexis had a wonderful report from the doctors at the Down Syndrome Clinic today at St. Vincent. Our family and friends are all gearing up for the Buddy Walk this weekend in Indy. We have banners, shirts, hats...you name it!!! We are the "Lexi Lou's Whos" and people will know we are there. (Thanks to so many people that have donated.)

Nicholas will be 7 years old on October 30!!! How can it be!!! We will celebrate this weekend after the Buddy Walk since our family will be together. He is so excited! Oh to be soooo excited to have a birthday! Such a sweet, sweet boy! I love him more than chocolate!

Then there is my trauma of the week: I had my hair cut off...well....not totally off but very very off. Everyone is being so sweet but I'm not used to it yet because I don't see myself very much but when I do...it's scary! I'll figure it out...what to do and it will grow a little in a couple of weeks. I'll be ok. It will be ok and then I won't even think about it. I do know that I love washing it in 30 seconds and it's "styled" in 2 minutes. That part is good...very very good!

Healing!!!

Layla is home from the hospital minus her appendix. Thinking that it was the flu, we kept Marley at our house for a couple of days. Layla had gotten sick at school on Thursday morning. She was still sick on Friday and by Saturday was complaining of pain on the "right side". After a SIX hour wait to get a cat scan (due to patients arriving at the hospital from a terrible accident), she was scanned and the surgeon was called. Surgery was at 10 PM Saturday night.

After seeing the doctor at noon today (Sunday), Layla was ready to go home. Her PopPop had been at her house ALL night and I don't know if she needed to see him or she needed to see her PopPop more!!! That was a long time without each other!

We were told that Layla is now the "sticker princess" ! Between the little treat box and the stickers, she thought that life wasn't too bad at the hospital (once the pain was gone).

In fact, post-surgery is kind of like Christmas......lots of presents! Not too bad!

Oh! Oh! Time for pain meds! UGH!!!!! Mommy holds Layla's nose during administration!

Ok! Time for a little nap! Sick and pain are now behind her and time for the healing to begin....as Layla begins her little nap. Glad it's over, the pain is subsiding and the healing is underway! Thank you to the doctor (brand new to Elkhart General!!! who was so good with Layla and made pretty little incisions!)