Swingset

Evan has wanted a swingset for a really long time. At our old house there just wasn't room for one. We had promised him that when we moved that would be something we would do. We wanted just a standard wood swingset but... have you all seen the prices and the quality of most of them lately? We went to several local stores that carry sets and they seemed to be poor quality or very very expensive! We have lots of storms here and some of our friends have gotten these just to have them break the first season. We were sure if we went with one of the store bought ones (unless we were willing to spend $1000 or more) ours would be broke after the first thunderstorm it endured this spring. We knew that Eric's brother Davy had made one for his kids and Eric thought he could do it with Davy's help. Eric made a list of supplies and they headed off for the lumber and accessories on Sat. They spent all day working on it and had it pretty well finished by the end of the day. They put on the finishing touches yesterday. Didn't they do awesome? Evan is one happy little boy! Daddy your wonderful! Uncle Davy, your wonderful too! Pay no attention to the mud bath that we are calling a back yard! Our poor grass back there gets no attention and I believe we are going to have to put some mulch down to avoid some little boys looking like rag muffins everyday.

Old McDonald

This morning when I dropped Evan off at school his early care teacher had something to share with me. On Monday his regular teacher was out and a sub came in to cover for her. She said when they took them outside to play the sub came over to her and said that Evan cracked her up. She said that he told her, "when it is music time we always sing Old McDonald and Ms. Debbie lets me stand on the table and crow like a rooster." She told him they wouldn't be singing that today. When Ms Debbie came back they asked her what she had been letting Evan do. She said that 1 time in the very beginning of the school year they sang Old McDonald and she had one of the kids sit at the end of table and crow like a rooster and all the little other kids acted like chickens, that they acted out all of the animals. I guess Evan never got his turn and thought this was a good opportunity. He cracks me up.


I wanted to share something else since I had requested prayer. My Mom's BF son-in-law was found on Monday. Thank you for your prayers. Auntie I'm so thankful that John was found and will be at the Memorial on Sat.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29840125/

Ally's 4th Birthday and my BFF!

My neice turned 4 this past week and we celebrated on Sunday. Check out the pictures of her present and if you haven't already bought a tutu for the little girl in your life Kathy is AWESOME www.heart4hearts.com Kathy... Ally absolutely LOVED it as you can see in the pictures.
Ally is my neice because I say she is and because her Mom is like a sister to me.

Kelley and I have known each other all of our lives. Her parents moved into nextdoor while they were pregnant with Kelley and my parents had just been blessed with me!

From our first steps we were together. I have pictures from her 1st Birthday with me sitting there next to her. We have been through so much. From swimming with swim caps on (you thought it was cancer - it was just ear infections), to pulling each others hair fighting over Barbies, to bribing each other to come back out and play with candy, to eating your vegetables so we could both have dessert, to holding each other so that your parents would find us the next morning and wouldn't dream of moving, to finding that note in my mailbox when I was 8 written on Strawberry Shortcake notecard telling me that you hoped I found a new best friend, to realizing that 8 miles isn't that big of a move, to riding around on our bikes looking for frogs, to making up dances, to picking 4 things to do and making the other choose 1, to babysitting and sharing the cash, to boys, to broken hearts, to wrecking your cougar in the park, to bailing each other out of bad situations, to marriage, to heartache when we learned that not all pregnancies lead to babies, to Logan in 2003, to Evan in 2004, for being there every scary moment with Evan, to Ally, to moving to Florida and long phone calls, to moving back to KY, to now... we are Sisters and I love these kids like they are my own.
Kelley I Love you and always will. Thank you for being there for me through thick and thin. XOXOXOXOXO.

Who are we?

I a member of a Tetralogy of Fallot Yahoo Group and one of the members posted this with permission to re-use it. Thought you all would enjoy it.

Start counting... we're roughly 8 out of every 1,000 people (or 1 out of
every 125, if you want a number you can get your head around.) We represent
both genders and we are all ages. A million of us are adults, and about
800,000 of us are children.

We've made it through surgeries, hospital stays, infections, Endocarditis
(infection of the heart), pacemakers, and heaven know what else. We've given
gallons of blood, one vial at a time. We've fought back against tremendous
odds. We've been so sick that we've scared the world's best doctors
witless... and then amazed them even more when we've fought back.

We've celebrated our victories and we've mourned our losses. We know that
most of those who came before us died, including 14 of the first 70 to have
the Blalock-Taussig Shunt. We know that most of us shouldn't even be here
and so we live every moment as if it is our last - because it could be.

We're Cardiac Kids and Heart Warriors. We have an amazing inner strength,
but we are terribly fragile at the same time. We refer to our parents as
Heart Dad and Heart Mom, and we use those titles as Badges of Honor. Why?
Because they DESERVE them! They were the first ones to discover that a heart
defect doesn't just break one heart, it breaks three.

We work, we play, we pay our taxes and we live our lives. We're in your
community, in your church, in your school, in your office, and quite
possibly in your home. We move a little slower, do some things a little
differently, but we usually get along without causing a fuss.

We are people living with Congenital Heart Defects."

Steve Catoe
42 year old male with Tricuspid Atresia
South Carolina

My baby is growing up

My little baby boy is really growing up. He has slept in his own bed in his own room twice this week and is doing it on his own accord. None of us have felt wonderful since Saturday - the Ohio Valley is really attacking our sinus'. We have all been kind of quiet and needing lots of down time. On Sunday night, I was in bed reading and Evan decided that he wanted to go to his room and watch TV and he fell asleep and slept there until about 3am and came to my bed. Last night he told me he thought he would sleep in his bed but wanted someone to sleep with him. We told him no but that we would read and he was okay with that. He slept there until about 6am. He was really proud of himself and we are too! I'm letting him and his Daddy work on this transition as him sleeping with me is mostly my fault and I love my snuggle time with him.
Something I don't believe I wrote about when I did his bday post on things I wanted to remember is bath time. Every evening when I announce that it is bathtime Evan whines and asks for 5 more minutes. When I do finally get him to the bathroom and into the tub his mood completely changes. He sits under the spout letting the warm water hit him in the back and wants quiet - just sits there and enjoys it. When the water is turned off he lays down and soaks forever. He usually requests that the jets be turned on. Then when he is done relaxing he has a few little toys and he plays and plays. I get time to myself during bathtime - usually sitting on my bed where I can see him in the tub reading and he just plays away - making sounds for the toys. When the water starts to get cool he asks that I put in more water and when we say no asks for a few more minutes. Seriously... I think bathtime takes us at least a half hour. He is so my child.

Changing subjects and updating my last post. My Mom's bestfriends Son-in-Law went kayaking with friends last Wed. and was seen struggling in the water. Emergency responders and friends were there within minutes but could not locate John. The search has been extensive and sadly I report that his body has still not been found. We went to be with the family on Sat., you just wish there was something you could do... but there is not. Auntie... I know you read my blog and I want you to know how much we love you all and are praying that John be found.

http://www.state-journal.com/news/article/4540044

Prayer Request

I'm asking for prayer request for my Mom's Best Friends family tonight. My Mom's friends Son in Law went kayaking today in Frankfort with 3 friends and is missing. He is very experienced and I'm praying for him and the family. His 3 friends went back when they realized he wasn't following and found his kayak but not him. Someone passing over the river on the bridge noticed a kayaker struggling and called for help.

Rolling Eyes

Not much going on to report here. I had a meeting last week with Evan's teacher and she said that although he is very sensitive and wears his feeling on his sleeve that she does not have anger issues with him at school. All in all it seemed that he is good at school but cries more than the others. So... I've been working extra hard with him. Crying gets on this Mama's nerves! I Love him so much... it's hard seeing my little guy melting when his feelings are hurt - even a little bit. He has got such a tender heart.
On Sat. I had some girlfriends over and one of them has 2 daughters who are 10 & 13. I've mentioned them before because Evan is in LOVE with them and calls them his girlfriends, oiy. Last night I was telling Evan something and he looked at me and ROLLED HIS EYES!!! I cracked up. How can you not. He isn't really even rolling his eyes, he looks up and turns his head! I could tell he spent the afternoon with older girls, LOL. Thanks Olivia & Kristen for keeping him entertained on Sat. - he Loves you both!