Seems that sad news is all around...

First, yesterday as my friend Bobbi and I were visiting, she told me that her friend's brother in law is extremely ill and has scleroderma. This amazing man has been through multiple treatments to try and save him. He was part of a study that was suppose to improve his quality of life and to hopefully, save him. But now he is not doing well at all and all the family and friends must just pray that he can somehow make it through. Their blog is here http://thedupreyfamily.blogspot.com/
Next, I came to work today to find out that another wonderful man has died. His name is Kevin Couture. He is a writer for our newspaper. Not only is he a writer, he had severe Cerebral Palsy. He was quadraplegic and non-verbal. This amazing person managed to have his own apartment and with minimal assistance, wrote stories for our newspaper on his special computer that helped him type his stories letter by letter! It would take him weeks to finish typing just one story, but he did it. Just a few weeks ago, some of us at work took up a collection for him. It seems that the state threatened to take away his funding help because he "worked too much". Here you have a man that is trying his best to make something of himself and of course he gets assistance because he cannot work a full time job to support himself. He cannot care for himself, etc. But he was a writer because he wanted to be a writer. And the state is trying to say "well you have an income, support yourself". So he decided to continue working for our paper and said that he would find a way to manage. He loved to write and did not want to quit. So we took up a collection for him to get him a new stereo system. Something that would make him very happy. Just the day before he passed away, a co-worker went over to his place and hooked up his new stereo. He was elated and extrememly thankful. So we do know one thing, he died a happy man.
Here is his story in the paper of the horrible luck this man has had and how overcame a few recent obstacles....
http://www.pressrepublican.com/archivesearch/local_story_364043026.html

Then you hear all of these things on the news of people dying... it seems like such a morbid day.
I know it's all quite depressing, so hopefully our night will be much better.

The holidays are over...

So it seems that the holidays have taken it's toll on my effort to keep up our blog. Seeing that the last time we posted was in the fall, so much has happened since then. Winter is here and it started off with a bang. The snow's been falling since before thanksgiving and has not stopped since. At one point we had a total of 2 feet on the ground in our back yard. It warmed up to 50 one day and then snowed the next. The boys are having a blast in the snow but the cold is here too. This morning on the way to work I noticed that it was 8 degrees outside. Cold like that makes you want to stay inside all day... Which is how we spend much of our days in the winter. This year we discovered a great sledding spot and the boys love it. It's a lot of work since we either have to carry Andrew up the steep hill or drag him in the sled. But regardless, he gets to enjoy the snow with everyone. Matthew can literally run up the hill and it's great to tire him out like that.
Sean has taken to the healthy lifestyle of exercise and healthy eating habits. He's been out running just about every day, even in the snow with his shoe cleats. He's run in a few small marathons and hopes to be able to enter some more this summer. He even got me out there in the Poker Run that was held. I have to admit, that although my body did not like the shock of it, it was a lot of fun. I think that it is a good plan for us all to enjoy some more exercise. Even Matthew is excited to go running with Sean and jumps at every chance he gets to do his "exercises" as he calls it. The boys get on the treadmill which is a great energy release for Matthew and good for Andrew's strength building. We put it on a high incline for Andrew to help stretch his heel cords. Which brings me to...
Andrew is done with his horseback riding therapy for the winter as we explore an indoor alternative until spring. We plan to get him into swimming when the next enrollment comes up. He's got his therapists at school all coordinated and is doing great at school. He is aparently pretty far behind on his academics in school so he is getting extra help for that. His teacher and aide keep us updated daily on his progress and the lines of communication between his team has improved greatly. He had the pleasure of singing on stage for his christmas concert at school (Make sure you check out our videos on www.youtube.com/thefavilles) He's sad to be done with his riding therapy, and had the chance to continue for the winter, but the bitter cold would have made him not want to go and we didnt want to chance the idea that he may not EVER want to go again, so we are holding off for the winter and will continue again in the spring. He's been on break from school for the last two weeks and we're seeing some regression and hope that he can get back on track quickly. We've been trying really hard to keep him active and stretched but there is only so much we can do without the equipment they have at school. During his next break we will schedule some clinic visits for him if the school decides he does not show the regression in their opinion.
Matthew continues to excel at school and is in love with his creative side (must take after his mom :)) He still has a difficult time keeping his energy bottled until recess, but tends to lose focus in class. He's got a few buddies that he gets into trouble with and has a hard time listening and staying on task. They try to keep them separated at the activities and meals to help... but mostly, they like to act up together and feed off each other. The teacher has noted that it seems Matthew is bored since there is a wide range of ages 3 to 5 in his preschool class. Matthew has mastered all of the skills they focus on and so she has been working independently with him on more advanced learning and it seems to be helping. He's a quick learner but has a wild imagination and lots of energy.

We all had a great christmas and a relaxing new year. Sean & I had a great Christmas and just bought some items together instead of exchanging large gifts. We bought a new digital (well needed) camcorder, a subwoofer and a bluray dvd player for our media room. So we had minimal gifts for each other this year. Christmas for the boys was great of course. It's really all that matters anymore. Andrew got a lot of learning toys which he was a bit disappointed but got over quickly when he realized how cool they really were. He's been playing his lelappad regularly and is loving his karaoke machine and "stage" that he got. Of course they both got some spiderman, Venom, Ironman etc, figurines that they love so much and we can't forget all of the clothes. Matthew was SO into Christmas this year. He begged every Santa he saw or even looked remotely like Santa, for an Imaginext Safari set... which he got. He was So excited to open presents this year. Unlike last year where he really just didnt care and was so sick he could barely open presents. He also got the Leapfrog "Tag" reading system and he & Andrew fight over it. We may just have to get Andrew his own. For anyone out there that doesnt know what this is, it is a pen that can help read the stories from a special book and has the option to go online and download stories to it that it will read for you. It's really neat and they really seem to be learning from it.... Imagine THAT!
So that's what we've been up to and it's about hibernation weather. But be sure to keep checking the blog and youtube for more videos and also be sure to check out new photos on photobucket and our picasa web albums. We upload to those quite regularly.
Hope you all have a Great New Year!

New Fall Photos

Click on the link to see some fall photos, while they are up online.
http://webpages.charter.net/thefavilles/pics/index.html

Golf Season is over...

And now it is offically fall. We'll be posting some pics of the boys playing in the leaves. That's right, Leaves are falling and it's peak leaf peeping season! We brought the boys to the apple orchard to pick some apples and go on a hay ride. They had a great time feeding the animals in the petting zoo. Matthew even got to take a horse ride there. We're so glad that he has no interest in horseback riding. He doesnt have the attention span to pay attention on the horse.
The boys each had their yearly trips to the pumpkin patch and apple orchards for their class field trips. Andrew's was today and Matthew's was last Friday. They got to pick out their own pumpkins, make apple cider and taste cider donuts. Again they took a hay ride and went to the petting zoo.
Matthew is doing so well at preschool and really enjoys writing. He also loves to do his "art stuff" and thinks he's an architect! So cute. He's been a little off beat lately missing Andrew at school. He can't wait to ride the bus to Kindergarten next year with Andrew. He's sad that He can't ride the bus now. They get to see each other after Andrew gets off the bus for Afterschool care where Matthew goes to preschool and daycare, so that makes him happy. And of course he is still such a ladies man. He's got his little girlfriends that he hugs and kisses before leaving each day. It's really cute. Soon he'll be saying they have cooties, so we'll smile while we can. Then it will be onto real girlfriends and we're not looking forward to that.
Andrew's doing really well in school. We're having a really hard time with the school coordinating his services. This year he has a shared aide and gets the usual OT, PT and speech. The school dropped the ball on him having an aide on the bus, but thankfully he's adjusted to riding the bus without one. His PT is a HUGE issue since he relys on that Physically Therapy to keep him walking. He had a major regression because of the lapse of service of PT. We've been fighting with the school to keep up on it and seems that there are some scheduling problems. We've called a team meeting and have a regular schedule sent to us from the school so that we can check up on them. Hopefully we will not have to resort to going to the State Education Department to resolve these issues. He has an Individualized Education Plan (or IEP) that states his services which is a legally binding document that the school district must follow under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (or IDEA). If they do not follow, we then have to takes steps at a Due Process Hearing to help push things along. It's horrible, but the squeaky wheel gets the grease and we're hoping that if we stay on top of things, that Andrew will not be one of those kids that falls through the cracks. It's sad to find out that even though we are on top of making sure that Andrew gets his services, that there are MANY other children who probably aren't. This is what allows Andrew to attend a regular school and in a regular classroom. Without IDEA, Andrew would probably not be in a regular classroom. Although he is a bright, intelligent little boy, his physical delays would prevent him from going to school where he does.
On another note, his Therapeutic Equine sessions are going really well. Andrew has graduated to a faster more aggressive horse. He will still go on Lilly the smoother horse for his Hippotherapy, but for his riding, he has been riding Sheba and last week Dell. He's been trotting on the horses and going quickly through the trails. He's been righting himself without assistance and LOVES to go fast! Marie at Medicine Horse is amazed at Andrew's ability to ride. She is so excited that she's got a rider like Andrew and she loves to watch him. We've continued this therapy despite the cost. We feel it may be the one "sport" that Andrew can really enjoy and it shows that he is good at it. In the long run it will be worth it. He's really bonded with the horses and we see a real enthusiasm that he has for horseback riding. Eventually he will graduate to riding without any sidewalkers but will still need the "Hippotherapy" part of it all. That's where he does other things on the horse such as the tether ball and stretching etc. We've been advocating for Medicine Horse to help get things like this included on his IEP for part of his therapy program. If the State Education can recognize this as a beneficial form of therapy, we can hopefully replace one of his school provided therapy sessions to include Hippotherapy. This would help to ease the cost to us for having Andrew attend. There are other agencies that help to provide the service at no cost, but unfortunately, even if I quit my job, our family income is beyond the guidelines for acceptance. Although we can barely pay out of pocket, the income guidelines are too low for many families unless the parents work minimum wage jobs or do not work at all. So if anyone knows of a better way or how to get our insurance company on board, let us know.

Many Firsts.....

Ok, so the first day of kindergarten has come and gone. The first day was pretty un-eventful. It was a little nervewracking for all of us. Andrew was so excited to tell everyone that he was going to be getting on the bus to go to Kindergarten. We visited school a few days before so he could meet his teacher and some of his classmates. He clung to my side for a bit but was soon off playing alone. He loved the gym and of course the cafeteria. He had lots of questions and spotted a friend he went to preschool with. She's not in his class but they will see each other at recess and lunch and they will be riding the bus to afterschool care together. So he was excited to see a familiar face.
We were told that he did cry a bit when he got to school but was triggered by a little girl who happened to have gotten off the bus at the wrong school and was in the wrong place. So of course Andrew was unsure of himself also. But after a bit of talking with a teacher he ended up fine. He cried a little when he got to afterschool care because he thought he was going to be riding the bus and getting off at home. Afterschool care is held where his preschool and daycare was so he was upset that he was there. He said he's a big boy and doesnt go to school there anymore. He wanted to ride the bus home instead. But after they sent him to see Matthew in his classroom, he cheered right up.
So the second day was a HORRIBLE morning. He DID NOT get excited to see the bus. He was crying as soon as the bus rounded the corner. We tried to walk him up onto the bus where he kicked and screamed that he didnt want to get on. Come to find out, he was sad because he wanted us to give him hugs and kisses ON the bus, not in the driveway! Made us feel Horrible! So I climbed on the bus with him and gave him his hugs and kisses and thankfully his babysitter who lives behind us in our neighborhood, sat with him on the bus. She offered to sit with him every day if he wants. Thank GOD!
So today, his third day of school, he was fine. He got ready for school without any issues. But again, when the bus was on it's way, he started weeping. Not like the other day, but still sad. He told us he wanted to sit with Katie (his babysitter) and he wanted us to hug and kiss him on the bus and that he wanted to wave out the window. So we followed through with all his requests and he waved out the window to us. We're told he stopped crying and that he was fine walking into the school today and seemed much happier this morning. So hopefully each day will get better.



AND, another first... Andrew has stared his Therapeutic Horseback Riding! He LOVES it! We're not loving the cost, but if it will help him and we'll find a way to pay for it. He loves his horse, "Miss Lilly" and loves to be around her. His favorite part is riding and when he gets to "hug" her during his stretches on horseback. He's had 3 sessions now and has been able to ride the sensory trail too! We're so glad that he is enjoying it and he really seems to be so stretched out afterwards. He is much calmer and in control and seems his speech is clearer too. There's a lot that he can get out of this therapy... not just the physical aspects. He has developed a connection with Miss Lilly and she seems excited whenever Andrew arrives! We'll try to keep you updated on the progress as much as we can. If you'd like more information about his therapeutic Horseback riding and Hippotherapy you can visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippotherapy

As far as Matthew goes, He's happy to be back at preschool with his little buddies. He's grown so tall over the summer and is getting so smart. He takes after his mommy since he loves "art stuff" as he calls it. He's mastered drawing houses and loves to get into detail. He gets frustrated when it is not just right. He's still our little fireball and keeps us going non stop until he finally gives in to sleep. He's up bright and early in the morning ready to start the day. Even as daylight becomes later and later, he still gets up so early and thinks everyone has to as well!

Summer seems to offically come to an end although the mosquitos are still in full force for some reason... it's still difficult to enjoy the outdoors. The days are shorter and the leaves are even starting to fall. The boys are looking forward to halloween and look at costumes online regularly trying to decide what they want to be for halloween. Seems like it should be so far away, but it's just around the corner. We do look forward to visiting the apple orchards and picking pumpkins, but that's a sign that winter is on its way.

We've been busy trying to get all of Andrew's therapies organized at school and have a well needed vacation weekend planned for our anniversary. We're finally going to Maine and hope to enjoy some lobster while we're there. We're staying at a resort that has a beautiful golf course right on the ocean. We've actually enjoyed a lot of golf this year and have done well and placed in all the tournaments that we've played in. The last one we played in, the UPS/United Way Tournament, we won first place and I got the longest drive for the women. We also had the opportunity to help raise money for a family that has 4 year old triplets with Cerebral Palsy. We ran a 50/50 raffle just for the family and hope that it will help them with their rising health care costs. With us having only 2 children and one with mild CP, we can't imagine the struggles they must have with triplets AND them having CP. The family also has 3 older children to care for. So it meant a lot to us that the money from that raffle go to their family this year.

In closing, fall is on the way and we're not looking forward to heating our home this winter. We hope you have all had a wonderful summer!

Seems summer turned to spring...

Although the temperatures have gone up, the rain won't stop!! It's getting quite difficult to plan our weekends since there has been SO much rain! Our local news reports "Since Memorial Day, there have been nine weekends, seven of which were wet. And of those, five have been a total washout. The weekdays haven't been much better. In June, there were just six dry days and so far in July, just 10."
It all make for a pretty depressing summer! The worst part is that with the rain, comes humidity! so we have to run the a/c more often to take the moisture out and because we cannot open the windows. Now with this hurricane wreaking havoc, there are flood warnings & severe weather advisories/watches all over the place... in 35 counties! We just hope the weather clears up before Matthew's Birthday next weekend! We plan to do another outdoor party. He wants to have a Hulk birthday. Matthew thinks he's the Hulk! So we've got a party planned for him and he's invited about 20 kids from school. He's very excited for his birthday this year. Something that he was never really into before, but this year seems to have clicked that it is his birthday and so he's chosen lots of toys that he wants for his birthday...most of which are either Hulk or Batman. So hopefully the weather clears up.

The boys (and of course, us) have been busy with lots of other friend's birthday parties. Every weekend since June, they've had a birthday party to go to. And of course they get to see the invitation and hear their friends talk about the parties, so we hate to break their hearts and tell them that we cannot go. So every weekend we've been busy. We have the boys' cousin's birthday this weekend along with a fundraiser Benefit for their school this weekend.

Last weekend we attended another friend's birthday/pool party at a local gym and there was a waterslide to the pool and arcade fun. The boys had so much fun. We've uploaded photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/thefavilles There are videos also, so check them out.
The boys also had a field trip to the fair on tuesday where they visited the 4-H buildings where all of the animals are. They had a great time, especially in the "corn pit". Those photos are also on the website above.

And finally, we want to tell you about a really special little girl. Her name is Hannah and you may have seen her story on the Today show or other news reports. This special little girl suffers from GAD or Giant Axonal Neuropathy, an extremely rare nerve disorder where the incidence is unknown and there is NO cure. Her family has started the Hannah's Hope fund to try to help raise money for research to try to find a cure. Hannah is only 4 years old, the same age as Matthew. It's a really heartbreaking story to hear and makes you think about your own children and what it would be like if you knew your child would die because there was no cure or minimal treatment options. Our family met the family of little Hannah at a fundraising event held here locally by family and friends. We would like to take the time to ask you to visit her webpage. Do what you can to help. www.hannahshopefund.org
There are also numerous media coverage events and fundraising events that you can be a part of. We've already committed to a golf tournament that will be held in August. If you would like to help or read more on Hannah, please visit their website.

And finally, you can also see more of the boys videos on youtube! be sure to check them out!
Have a great summer!

Summers here!!

So summer is officially here. The temperatures make it warm enough to go swimming, even in the lake. The boys are now in summer session at school and Andrew is preparing for Kindergarten in september. They both had their year end picnics at school. Andrew was excited to put on his show for all of us and matthew showed a little bit of SHY!! Check out their videos on www.youtube.com/thefavilles
I also uploaded a video of the boy's experience with a large fish that their pop pop caught while we were camping 4th of July weekend. They had a great time camping and wanted to stay longer. We plan on trying to make another camping trip before the summer is over. The boys are also enjoying their small pool that we set up for them. It's only about 3 feet deep but it's perfect for them to swim around in and they don't need their water wings for it. The water stays filtered and clean. So no more emptying those little kiddie pools. Hopefully next year we can afford to put a real pool in... as long as we can afford to pay for fuel to stay warm this winter.. that's a whole other problem.
As far as everything else, Andrew is doing well and started with his new speech, PT and OT for the summer. No more aide, so we'll see how that works out and no more SEIT for the summer. We're sad to see all of these changes happening, but it's somethign that we have to accept and know that he will be just fine. It's just so worrying to see him have those setbacks everytime there is a change.
Matthew is doing great... still a little wild man, but doing great. He's learned how to throw a HUGE tantrum, with kicking and screaming and throwing things. They are short lived and easily diffused, but, wow, when he explodes, he explodes. It's usually when he is really tired and hungry at the same time... like when I pick them up from school and before dinner.
The boys have been really into the "Bridge to Tirbithia" movie and have been acting out the scenes in the empty wooded lot next door to our house. They swing from the grape vines and climb up the trees. It's so cute. While camping, they were ammused for hours with a rope hanging in the woods, acting out the movie scenes. They have really begun to use their imaginations just like they do in the movie. It's very cute.
So, more photos have been uploaded to picasa web albums and hopefully some time this week I can post them.

Horray...

Two things to hooray about...
FIRST, Andrew Has shown us that he has the ability to jump with both feet!! You have to realize that this is GREAT! He has never been able to clear both feet from the ground at the same time! He is so proud of his accomplishment and so are we. We see this as a HUGE step in his progress from his surgery. He tries to hop all the time now and he & Matthew have been playing hopping games on our kitchen tiles. (so cute)... To the average toddler, hopping with both feet usually happens around 4 years old. He is not too much behind but has had a really hard time with it. Matthew is not quite four yet but has been hopping for quite some time because we've been trying to "Teach" Andrew to do it. Matthew seems to catch on quite fast with things and mostly because he is observing us "teaching" Andrew to do things. Things that should come naturally to children. But since Matthew sees us, he tends to chime in that he can do it and loves to show off his skills... mostly for attention.

But anyway, the second bit of news is that Pyramids got the Revision from the State Education that they were looking for. you can read more on it at http://pyramidscdc.blogspot.com for more info. But in other words, Pyramids will be staying open and we plan to have both boys enrolled for the summer. Matthew will continue with Preschool next year there and full day child care... Andrew will be enrolled in their after school program and will get off the bus there after Kindergarten. We are so pleased that we will not have to look for other preschools or daycare. Thankfully this happened, because the other preschool that we considered enrolling Matthew next year is having some difficulties also. There has been some turmoil there surrounding a few teachers and thankfully we will not have to reconsider Again~ The boys will stay where they are for now. Hopefully Pyramids can raise some more funds to keep the programs going, since the State Education money still is not enough to keep them out of the "red" but having the revision does help offset those high costs of providing the excellent care that they do.

The boys' school...

So we've been a bit stressed out since the news that our boys' school may be in jeopardy. If you'd like to read more they have set up a blog at pyramidscdc.blogspot.com

We'd like everyone to support us and try to help our school.

Here's our dilemma. Andrew receives his physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and his Special Education Itinerant Services along with his 1:1 aide and preschool all at Pyramids. Matthew also attends pyramids as a preschool student and we utilize the all day child care they provide. The boys have been going to Pyramids since they were infants. They have become like a family to us and we really have a connection with the families and other children. Without this school there are a large number of children who will have to find other means of childcare and preschool which is not widely available in our area. Not to mention all of the children that will not be able to recieve their Special Education services. They are the only school of this kind in our area. The problem is that there is a shortage of State Ed money to fund the programs which is making it difficult for Pyramids to continue their programs. Another school BOCES here, ran the program before Pyramids did and were in debt for the last 10 years they provided service.

So now, if Pyramids is unable to provide these services, we will have to try to find other means for Andrew to receive his MUCH needed services. Services that he cannot go without. We could possibly have his services provided at home, but that would mean that one of us would have to be home for that. That would mean a huge amount of time off work. Time that we cannot afford to lose. We could possibly try to enroll him in another child care program, but that's if he can get in. All of the possible schools have a waiting list a mile long. Or at least the ones we would consider. Not only can Andrew not go without his therapy program, but it would leave us without childcare for the both Andrew AND Matthew. Matthew will have to be separated from all of his peers and will have to attend another preshcool. But our area only provides half day preschool and we would have to make sure to have someone bring him to preschool in the morning and pick him up when preschool is done. With both of us working full time, there just is no time available for us to be able to do that unless one of us does not work or can take a lot of time off. Thankfully Andrew will be starting kindergarten in the fall, but we still have to have afterschool for Andrew too, which Pyramids was where he was going to go after school.

So as you can see our dilemma. It's not even the half of our concerns! It's just a few and you cannot immagine the sadness it brings that we may have to send the boys somewhere else. We love their school and the teachers and we just dont want to have to send them somewhere else. There is no place in our area like it!

Where's the warm sun???

So far, our spring has been dry but cool. We're waiting for the temperatures to warm up. We've been able to golf a few times this spring and were able to play in a tournament last Sunday that we took 3rd in. Sean won "straightest shot" and hit closest to the line! We could have played better but with the wind and a course that only Sean has ever played once and the rest of us have never played, We did pretty well considering.

The boys are enjoying Tball and looking forward to the warmer temperatures so they can go swimming at the beach and the Grandparents' houses.

Here are some Tball photos.. click on the image to see more.

TeeBall

Spring is finally here....

We're finally seeing warmer temperatures and thankfully little rain. The boys have started Tball and this will be their second week. we'll upload video and pics soon. Andrew did really well and seemed to enjoy it. Matthew was busy running the bases over and over and never tired of it. They were all so cute with two of their little friends from the neighborhood playing with them on the same team. Their coaches are our neighbors along with Sean helping out as well as a few other parents. Coaching 3-5 year olds is pretty much impossible so it's basically teaching them the fundamentals and letting them have fun as a team.

So the March of Dimes March for Babies was a success. Our team raised almost $4000 again this year. We came really close to surpassing our goal of $4000. Thank you to everyone who contributed. Your donations are greatly appreciated and you should feel good that you made a difference. All babies should be born healthy and we'll keep walking and helping to raise money up until that happens. Unfortunately we know the heartache and pain of having a premature baby. We pray that there will come a day when all babies are born healthy AND full term.
We thank everyone who joined us and walked with us. You really showed your support and we are grateful to have you there with us.

Andrew's 5th birthday just passed. He is now 5 years old and is really becoming a grown up little boy. He's so smart and is still so bull headed! "He knows everything" and loves to make the rules. We celebrated his birthday at the March of Dimes March for Babies. We had a celebration after the walk. The kids had a blast on the playground and loved the Fantastic Four themed party fun. Of course the Pinata was a huge hit and they really loved wearing their party masks!. Wait till you see the pictures of some of the boys wearing them! We then celebrated ON his birthday as a family. Andrew wanted to go to Friendly's for dinner after school. So we went and had dinner and he got to choose his ice cream sundae! Then we came home and he opened gifts. His Favorite gift he got was his Tuxedo!! Believe it or not he really wanted one. He literally begged us for one. He wanted to put it on as soon as he got it. Now he says he's saving money for shiny shoes! He got into the tuxedo idea after watching the movie "Flushed Away" and wanted a tux like the mouse in the movie. He looks so handsome in it. Sean even ordered him a "lot" of like 40 character figurines from ebay... of course he LOVED them.

The boys' Nana & Grandpa got them a Cedar playhouse/cabin for their combined birthdays. I put it together in time for Andrew's Birthday and the boys got to see it as soon as we got home from dinner. They have been playing in it every day since. There's a little porch on it with 2 benches. There's 2 entrance doors and 2 windows with little shutters. There's even a little flower box. We plan to do some landscaping around it and have the boys plant their own flowers. The flowers they planted along the house last year have grow huge this year. They love watching them grow.

Mothers day was very nice. We had a great weekend all together. Saturday was the boys off to t-ball and I had lunch with 2 of my girlfriends. Then we went out for drinks. Mother's day we had a nice breakfast at our house with our parents and then PopPop took the boys so we could go golfing for the day with another couple. We had a beautiful day and it was just perfect.

It's Still Snowing!!!

Can you believe that we are officially in spring and it is April and it just snowed INCHES yeasterday and it is still on the ground!! The snow mostly melted a few days ago with 2 days of 40 degree weather, but then yesterday it snowed ALL DAY! There is still a few inches on the ground and hopefully it will melt by tomorrow. It's just so depressing and it feels like this weather will never end.

Today is mom's birthday so I want to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY and hopefully she has a nice day!!! We love you mom/grandma!!

Jeremy's birthday is next week on the 13th and if I don't get on here next week, a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him too!!

Be sure to check out Andrew's blog for an update on him and updates on Matthew's blog. With Kindergarten coming for Andrew, we have a lot of prepping to do and Matthew's blog is just typical things going on with him.

By the way, we've been SMOKE FREE since February 14th!!! Feels great not to have to rely on it anymore and have it rule our lives, but I personally don't miss it much. There are only a few times a week that i feel an urge, but it passes quickly. Thanks to Chantix and the little push it gave us!!