Alethea turns 8!

I can't believe we have an 8 year old! We had such a wonderful time celebrating Alethea's birthday this year. We did many things together as a family and also had a birthday party with some friends as well. I have to say, we had a blast. The girls decorated picture frames, ate pizza, had their nails painted, made ice cream sundaes, had a dance party, and created their own restaurant. It was so fun to watch them all have such a great time together. What a joy it was to celebrate the blessing Alethea is to our family!

Sarah getting in on the nail painting. Lauren was such blessing as she came to help me paint all the girls nails.

Nail salon on the kitchen floor. Each girl girl got her nails painted and had polka dots put on as well. They loved it!

Finished picture frame with the group shot we took at the beginning of the party. Can't wait to show them when they're older. Such a blessing to have such a wonderful group of friends.

Making ice cream sundaes. Alethea's favorite!

DANCE PARTY!!

Back to School

We're back into the school routine again. Both girls have done amazingly well with the school schedule. Going to bed and getting up early is never easy after summer. The girls both love school and their teachers. Here are some pictures from the first day. They both look so grown up. Alethea is in second grade and Mikaela is in first grade this year.

Happy Birthday Sarah!!

So, I'm way late on this, but Sarah celebrated her 3rd birthday on August 22. We have had multiple parties for her. She's been a pretty blessed little girl. It's so fun to see her enjoying life!

Here is the amazing cake that Dave made for Sarah. Yes, Dave. Sarah loves Minnie Mouse and he was determined to bless his girlie. Added to that, he loves watching Ace of Cakes and was loving the idea of trying this for Sarah.

Her new scooter from Grandma and Grandpa Garlick. Not that she can ride it, but she really wants to be doing what the big kids are doing. You've got to love her determination.

Shopping cart from Aunt Jess. Notice her taking care of baby in the front seat. So cute!

Opening gifts from the other kids. They all had very specific ideas of what they wanted to get her.

Enjoying her Elmo cake at Grandma and Grandpa Brewer's house.

Just a quick update on her health. Sarah continues to get treatment at Hopkins once a month. This typically really seems to help her. Unfortunately this last week, she got a virus that set her back considerably in her ability to walk. We had to make an extra trip to Hopkins this last week, and will possibly go back this week as well. These extra treatments just help her get through the time that she is sick with the virus. They really seem to help. There has also been some talk of trying some other drugs in the coming months, but we will see.

IEP

This past Thursday we had our first IEP (Individualized Education Plan) meeting with the Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) system. Sarah is a part of MD Infants and Toddlers, which is a division of the Special Education services of the MD Department of Education. This is the program special education are involved with prior to pre-school.

The meeting went great, and each lady that was a part of the meeting was fantastic. Sarah's oncology doctor had written a letter to the board requesting special treatment for Sarah because of her suppressed immune system and susceptability to sickness. The school system agreed, and therefore agreed to have all Sarah's therapy be in-home!! This is really good news, because otherwise, Jen would have to take Sarah to a school for her therapy up to 3 times a week. Not fun. However, now all the therapists will come to our house and work in our own living room!

We are off to Hilton Head, SC for vacation on Tuesday. We are hoping Sarah does well at the beach and enjoys playing in the sand!

I love him!

Ag Farm

Today we went to a class at the Ag Farm. What an amazing place! We had such a fun time.  The girls were able to participate in so many activities. Tug of war, looking for insects in a stream, a water filled relay race, egg toss, and a potato sack race. The most hilarious part of the day was that each team was responsible for taking care of two young goats for the two hours we were at the farm. The kids loved it! Basically we walked the goat on a leash going from each activity, and if we were up for it we could let the goat off the leash and let him run. Since we only had three moms in our group, I had responsibility for one of the goats most of the time. If you know me at all, this was a site! My friend Mieke took a picture, so when I get it I'll be sure to prove that I really did it. We all had an amazing time. I hope since we live so close we'll be able to take advantage of more programs and classes at the farm. 

34 - Happy birthday!!

I always remind Jen that she will always be older than me...and, I like to remind her of that often.

This past year has been a bumpy ride for our family, and it is true to say that this year has hit Jen harder than anyone else in our family. Jen is the one who is at home all day with Sarah, working with OTs, PTs, and all kinds of other therapists. Jen is the one who has to patiently deal with Sarah all day, through all of her irrational behavior. Jen is the one who primarily takes Sarah to Hopkins for her all day infusions. Jen is also the one who takes care of the 3 other kids we have all day, while I'm at work. Considering what Jen does all day long, I look at work like its a vacation. She works much harder than I do!

The kids are SO excited about blessing mom on her birthday. They are literally counting down the days til her birthday. This is just a picture into how much they love their mom!

In asking what we should get mom for her birthday, they each had their own suggestion...which ironically, really identifies something of their personality as well. Caleb was easy...he wanted to get mom candy. I'm sure there is a secret ploy for him to be able to eat the candy himself, but nonetheless, we still got mom her favorite candy (chewy, fruity anything...in this case, swedish fish and chewy jolly ranchers). Mikaela picked an outfit. She walked all over Target and was sizing everything up. She ended up with something nice. Alethea, very thoughtfully, remembered that Jen looked for a book last time they were at the library, but it was checked out. She had the idea of going to Borders to get the book. So we went and bought "My sister's keeper" for Jen to read. I ended up getting her tickets to the American Idol tour at the Verizon Center. Jen's hooked on that show big time.

The kids also wanted to make Jen a cake. I think this was partially motivated by one of our favorite shows called "Ace of Cakes". They were inspired and off we went. All three agreed that mom's favorite colors were green and orange. Then Alethea drew up the master plans for the cake.


So, this was our goal. We scaled it back a bit to 3 tiers, and went for it...






Caleb was pretty much good for nothing but licking the bowl of icing. That kid is a total goof ball.

...in the end, we achieved our goal close enough.




On the morning of her birthday, she'll wake up to this cake, her presents, and her favorite breakfast.

Happy birthday babe! I love you, the kids love you, and we are grateful for everything you do for our family!

Dave