Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

nearly Wordless Wednesdays

IMG_9575_1 by RachSal
I'm going to try something new, Wordless Wednesdays!  Lots of pictures of the cuties, not many words from me, win for everyone!

IMG_9612_2 by RachSal
IMG_9614_1 by RachSal
IMG_9617 by RachSal
I'm not trying to exclude Jason, he just didn't want to come out to work on my photography today, so I took the cutie I could get!

Monday, November 11, 2013

Hand update

Since the last two comments have been requests for updates on the kids hands and to encourage audience participation, I guess I will give an update.  Last spring we went back to the doctor for a check of how the kids hands were healing.  The doctors said that they all looked pretty good and that we didn't really need to come back until the kids were much older.  So how did everything shape up?  well their hands don't function like yours or mine do, but they are better than they were.  Most of the issues come with bending the middle and ring fingers.  They are able to bend each hand at various levels.  I was concerned that it would make learning to write more difficult, but Jason seems to be handling it well.  I asked each of the kids to spread out their hands then to make tight fists.  You can see that for the most part they can only make fists with 3 of their fingers, but they make it work.  The doctors said that unless we did some really advanced surgery this was probably as good as we were going to get, which we are okay with.

Jason:
IMG_9579 by RachSal
IMG_9581 by RachSal
IMG_9582 by RachSal
IMG_9583 by RachSal

Elizabeth:
IMG_9586 by RachSal
IMG_9587 by RachSal
IMG_9589 by RachSal

And a cute picture of the kids for those not that interested in their hands
IMG_9599 by RachSal

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Faith, Trust and a little Pixiedust!

IMG_9561 by RachSal
Elizabeth with her pixiedust
I'm not dead and I didn't forget about you guys.  I'm sorry I've ignored this blog for so long.  I just keep getting distracted and not posting much.  There are a bunch of things I want to write about and I hope I don't forget anything, but I guess if I do I can always write another post.  Sorry this is a little disjointed.
IMG_9530 by RachSal

Poor Jeff had a hard week last week.  He was so sick he came home on Monday and stayed home on Tuesday.  We got a ton of rain last week so when he got back to work the mine was flooded and one of the roads was washed out and a bunch of other issues were going on that he is working on fixing.  He worked so late he almost missed trick or treating with the kids on Halloween and worked most of the weekend.  I've almost forgotten what he looks like!  Poor guy is working so hard!
IMG_9551 by RachSal
This year for Halloween Jason decided he wanted to be an Astronaut.  Elizabeth had been telling us for months she wanted to be Cinderella, then about a week ahead of time she saw me get her a pair of dress up wings as part of her Christmas present and decided she wanted to me a butterfly.  I was finally able to convince her she was going to be Cinderella and she happily went trick or treating.  We started at the town's "Boo on the square"  which was kind of a bust because it had been rescheduled from the night before so there was only one person there handing out candy.  So we headed back home to trick or treat around our neighborhood.  Jason practically ran from house to house and I had to tell him a few times to wait for Elizabeth and I.  After we got home Elizabeth was mad that I was handing out candy thinking it was from her stash.  We did finally get them back to bed a little late.

IMG_9545 by RachSal
Dressing up has been a theme for Elizabeth lately.  She loved to wear her Cinderella dress before Halloween and is pretty excited for the wings and pink dress she saw me get.  The day after Halloween went to the Target in Waco to get discounted costumes.  I got her Belle, Minnie Mouse, a Doctor, a Cowgirl, a Fireman and some heeled shoes.  All those things are going to make an amazing dress up stash she will get at Christmas.  When we were looking around for Jason's astronaut costume we were in a Halloween store and Elizabeth fell in love with a bag of pixiedust.  She has worn it for about the last month and always wants to know where it is!

I had another stint there where I tried out a bunch of new hairstyles on Elizabeth.  Some looked cute at first then fell out after a few hours and some just didn't turn out the way I thought they would.  At least it was something new to see.
IMG_9389 by RachSalIMG_9390 by RachSalIMG_9395 by RachSalIMG_9397 by RachSal
IMG_9402 by RachSal

We have been exploring Texas a bunch over the past month.  We went to the Aquarium in Austin and Camping near Temple.  We visited a military museum in Austin with Aunt Michelle and visited the Zoo in Waco with cousins that moved to the area.  One of the most exciting trips was one I took in the middle of the night.  Jeff has cousins that moved to Fort Hood, about 3 hours from us, and the wife, Sarah, was pregnant with their second daughter.  I agreed to watch their older daughter, 3 year old Rachel, when she went into labor.  I got a call in the middle of the night one Sunday that it was happening and I had nighttime adventure picking Rachel up.  We got to meet the new little baby, Riley when we were most recently camping near Temple. 
Waco Zoo with Rachel:
IMG_9422 by RachSal
IMG_9446 by RachSalIMG_9448 by RachSal
IMG_9450 by RachSal

Austin Aquarium:
IMG_9483 by RachSal
Jason said this was his favorite
IMG_9489 by RachSal
I thought this one was my favorite until I read that it was a Piranha
IMG_9493 by RachSal
IMG_9497 by RachSal
IMG_9505 by RachSal
We pet the stingrays

Military Museum:
IMG_9507 by RachSal
IMG_9511 by RachSal
IMG_9515 by RachSal
IMG_9526 by RachSal
IMG_9529 by RachSal
IMG_9528 by RachSal

Baby Riley:
IMG_9535 by RachSal
IMG_9536 by RachSal
does he look like he is ready for another one?

I'll try to make sure it isn't so long before I post again.  By the way, it's only 50 days until Christmas, YAY!
IMG_9412 by RachSal
IMG_9555 by RachSal