Update on my Dad

My Dad has been in the hospital for about 2 weeks now. As most of you know, he has esophogial cancer. He's had it for a couple years now and has been doing pretty well. He did a round of radiation and chemo and subsequent scans showed that the tumor was encased in scar tissue and had become dormant... well now they say it's activated again but we are not sure what that means. He has had urinary problems so he had a cystoscopy on Dec 18th to find out if the cancer had possibly spread to his bladder. The procedure went well... they didn't find anything... but he started falling down, was really weak and was slurring his words... so my Mom took him to the hospital to find out what was going on. Turns out he had an infection from the cystosopy and the infection was causing all the problems. We almost didn't believe it but it was really true. He was supposed to go home the Tuesday after Christmas but he is still there. He has had every test under the sun including a PET scan on Tuesday. That will give us the true picture of where the cancer is and if it has spread at all. When he is finally discharged from the hospital, he will probably go into a rehab to gain some strength back before heading home.... If you have any extra prayers, say a prayer that my will recover and be able to go home soon.

Say CHEESE

Kevin and Ryan had their first dental cleanings today! They both did GREAT although Ryan was a bit apprehensive at first. They both took turns cleaning the dinosaur's teeth and that was fun! Then they each got a sticker, a bag containing a new toothbrush, a Buzz Lightyear flosser, and some toothpaste samples... and a TOY from the giant tooth shaped toy box! What great fun! They both had excellent teeth, great bites and the dentist was very impressed that we floss every day! PS Notice the haircuts!











UPDATE:

I *thought* they were too quiet. Well, Kevin and Ryan were sitting together on the reclining chair (which is typical)... they were being all cute and giggling... for some reason I decided to check on them... and they were COVERED in toothpaste! Guess that's what you get for trusting two 3 year olds with new containers of toothpaste... I figured I was safe because they were sealed - BAH HAH HAH HAH!

OK... you can stop laughing now because I really wanted new sofas and this doesn't help my case... but at least if I get leather, it will wipe clean, right????

Kevin's First Day of School --- Success!

Kevin had a GREAT first day of school. He was so excited about it in the morning but cried when it was time to line up and go in. HOWEVER, he was all smiles when I picked him up... had a great time... loved the Cheddar Bunnies I gave him for a snack AND the teacher said what a well behaved boy he was! Doesn't get better than that! Here are a few pictures from the day. Don't mind the long hair... he got his hair cut today!

His backpack is packed!

Kevin's backpack is by the door! Tomorrow is the first day of preschool! He can't wait! School is from 8:00 am - 10:30 am M, Tu, Th & Fr... No, I am not a bad mother! Ryan will be starting soon too - they just don't have a slot ready for him yet! As soon as they do, though, Ryan will be going too! They will be in separate classes and I think that will be SOOOO good for them. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures tomorrow... wish us luck!

Weekend in New Hampshire

The kids had an awesome time on our vacation in New Hampshire... we planned to go to Santa's Village but it was raining so we went to "Fun Spot" instead. The kids had a great time.

Eddie driving...


Kevin on a fun ride...


Ryan's going for a ride too!


We all had fun bowling:








The highlight of the weekend of was the kids taking skiing lessons... here are a couple videos from the big day:

Did they have to say "Ocean"?

Man, my previous post... the poll about what color blue are you... has me totally craving a day at the beach... a do nothing, no schedule, no running around day... just relaxing and building sand castles with kids, kicking back and soaking in the sun...

Norma, how many days til we meet at the beach again?

*sigh*

What Color Blue Are You?

You are Ocean Blue

You're both warm and practical. You're very driven, but you're also very well rounded. You tend to see both sides to every issue, and people consider you a natural diplomat.

What Color Blue Are You?

What Kind of Ornament Are You?

You Are a Tree

You love every part of the holidays, down to the candy canes and stockings. And you're goofy enough to put a Christmas tree ornament on your tree!

What Christmas Ornament Are You?

It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas...

Gingerbread House Fun

We built a gingerbread house yesterday and today... the kids had a blast... you'll notice the black trash barrels Eddie wanted to put in front of the house... we have a driveway in the back of the house... of course, they wanted to eat the candy instead of put it on the house but it all worked out in the end! Enjoy!

Kevin's Very First Official School Project

Kevin made this project at OT the other day. He's been going to therapy 4x a week and he's doing so well, we are putting him in preschool starting in January. Don't worry, Ryan will be starting soon after... as soon as a spot opens up... they will be in different classes though. We love the school and look forward to them having lots of fun and making many new friends!

Kevin's project:

Making Cookies

The other day we made cookies... Eddie, Kevin and Ryan LOVE to cook! We had a great time and they even held the mixer all by themselves! I keep telling them they have to open a restaurant when they get older called "Three Brothers"... LOL!

For those of you who don't know...

Eddie has declared himself "a little bit Jewish"...

So does that mean we celebrate a few days of Hannakuh?

Cheers to you Paige!

Well, I am embarrassed to say it but I've never set foot in a Mary Lou's News prior to today... I had a few moments to myself and wanted to have a little something relaxing so I headed to the nearest MLN's and got an iced vanilla chai... Paige, I thought of you! I thought I saw your twin while I was there... the girl behind the counter looked just like you and I had to do a double take! At any rate, the drink was really yummy and I'm sure I'll be a return customer! Have a good day!

Say Cheese Part 2

Some of you know I have been trying to get a a nice portrait done of the three boys for a while but... someone... KEVIN... has not been a willing participant! A few weeks ago, by total accident, I noticed that one of the local BJ's was taking appointment for a traveling photography studio. The price was pretty reasonable and they had the old fashioned clothes so I went for it... wasn't sure how the actual sitting was going to go because everyone was up a bit too late the night before and a bit short on sleep but I was SO pleased with the way they came out... ENJOY!

I will be absent on Friday

Say a prayer for me... on Friday I am having surgery... just a minor day surgery... I have off work Friday night and am not working the weekend so I can rest up... thanks everyone!

Party Time...

We went to a Christmas party this weekend at the twins club... Santa was there and brought everyone some really awesome books. Here are the kids getting their picture taken with the guy in the red suit:

Would you like a ferris wheel in your backyard?

As most of you know, I work for a catalog company taking orders over the phone. I had a very pleasant conversation with a customer tonight. Sometimes you get a good customer... someone with whom you can joke around and have fun... which is way better than people screaming in your ear over $.53 of tax or hanging up on you, etc. My customer tonight was from Texas and he was telling me how he was crying in his yard because it was SO cold... that he has a built in pool but can't swim in it since it was TOO cold... he said he couldn't afford to heat it... and since he was worried about the total of his order, didn't look like he was going to get a heater any time soon... Mr. Texas went on to tell me that his backyard was quite lovely... he loved his backyard and he had great neighbors too... but he's always trying to think of what could make it even BETTER and all he can come up with is getting an 8 car ferris wheel... I mean, isn't that obvious? Doesn't EVERYONE want a ferris wheel in their backyard? Well, I told him that if he couldn't afford to heat his pool, he probably wouldn't be able to get the ferris wheel...

My Latest Projects

The kids really wanted new blankets so I whipped some up for them... check them out! They look so warm and cozy, I may have to make one for myself...

Say Cheese!

So I was trying to think of a creative way to take a picture of all 3 boys without going through tons of pics and lots of tears... so I was telling them we had to get dressed really really quickly! Well, they fell for it... I was gonna try for a Christmas card picture and even though they are all smiling and look great, well, you know, the pajamas don't even remotely match OR coordinate... plus I am waiting to get some portraits back on Thursday (I can't wait) and I'm hoping to use those for my cards... in the meantime, however, I'd like to share my picture here... enjoy!