Andrew's valentine's day party!

On Valentine's Day, Andrew's school had a party for all the little ones. These are so much fun for the kiddos! First they went and put all their valentine's into each other's bags, then all the moms show up to throw a big party for them. First they each did a few crafts....

Here is Andrew will several of his classmates....

Then they played some games. This was a relay game involving gloves.....


Then of course its never a party until you get a yummy snack!

Andrew had a great time at the party, as did this momma! What a great group of moms there are in Andrew's class, so many fun memories made!

Foxhunting with Pony Club!

This was a great experience for both Adriana and I. I have never been on a fox hunt and thought it was completely different than what it was. Most of the time there is no animals harmed in the hunt. It is the thrill of the hunt and most members hope the animal will run into its hole so it will be there again for the next hunt.
Everything about fox hunting is all based on tradition and practicality. We had an hour of classroom work where we learned everything about how fox hunting began and what everything on their outfits stand for. I won't go into detail about it all but I'm sure it is all on line to look at.
Anyway, here is the three ladies that took us on our hunt and this is the outfits they wear.

They only do unmounted hunts here so they use basset hounds. A lot of the mounted hunts use beagles because they are a faster dog.
Here they are loading the dogs into the truck to take to the spot we will be hunting at.

A few pictures of some of the pony clubbers helping out with the hunt.


Dusty showing Adriana where they are hunting at.

The pony clubbers watching and following the hunt. If you are not with one of the three women then we are to stand back and watch the hunt. The older lady, Laura, is the master of hunt and the other two ladies are on each side keeping the dogs in line. Everyone else is called "staff" and they sit back to observe the hunt.


After spending a lot of time just watching, Adriana finally got to go off with the master hunter and she was so excited!




During the hunt, the dogs cannot be played with or talked to as the are "working". After the hunt the girls had lots of fun playing with these playful little guys!

This was a lot of fun and a great experience for all the pony club girls! It was a success as we saw many rabbits they were able to "hunt" but no animals were hurt! The beautiful weather that day helped it to be a great time too! I hope it is something we will be able to do again sometime!

Sunny's playdate!

With all the cold and snow we have had, I guess the dogs were getting some cabin fever too. The first chance they had, these two neighbor dogs broke down the fence and decided to have a day of play together! Sunny is the one closest to the door and the other dog is our neighbors puppy. They had a blast running around chasing each other. This was the only good picture I managed to get of the two though.

Joey's update!

Last night we went to St. John's Hospital to meet with Dr. Clary who is Joey's ENT doctor. He looked over Joey's sleep study and said he definitely has sleep apnea. He said Joey stopped breathing 55 times over the course of the night. Dr. Clary said this was not alarming but it is concerning. So after talking with Dr. Clary about the other symptoms Joey has and after the doctor looked over Joey, he said he would definitely recommend a tonsillectomy as well as getting his adnoids removed. He said it would be alot easier with him being so young than it would be as he got older.
After giving it some thought, Chris and I felt it was in the best interest for Joey to go ahead with the surgery. We called the doctor's office back and scheduled the surgery for April 19 at St. John's Hospital. Hopefully this will be enough to help his sleep apnea and he won't have to do any additional treatments.

Blessings!

I know this post is going to be in the middle of several posts I had scheduled for the week, but I just have to post it now! I wanted to have a night out before Chris began his treatments, just so I could have a chance to rejuvenate myself. I had asked a friend to join me and she was able to put together a group of my friends to join us. I went out just thinking it was going to be night with a few drinks and lots of laughs but I had no idea what these sneaky little ladies had planned for me! These amazing women went and collected a crazy amount of money and surprised Chris and I with a gift certificate for a hotel at Ameristar Casino along with several gift cards to diner, and a visa gift card with an incredible amount of money on it. Of course all I could do is look at this and cry! I have never felt so blessed to have so many people who care about my family! It was an overwhelming emotion that came over me that this many people took their hard earned money that they more than likely needed themselves and thought about us! I really had no idea that I had this many caring friends that really took the time to think this much of us! It is bringing tears to my eyes now as I write this! I know I am not a very good writer and I really wish I was right now so I could put down on this blog everything that I am feeling right now!!!! I love this group of women with all my heart and don't know what I would do without them! Not only did they give me these gracious gifts, they also gave me a night filled with love and laughter than I really, really needed! So if any of you ladies are reading this, I want you to know that you are the most generious loving ladies I know and I am so grateful I have each and every one of you in my life! And know that I will be there for all of you!!!! Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!!!

More hockey!

Andrew is still playing hockey, and is actually getting really good at it! Yes, I am a little biased, but he really plays hard at his practices and it is starting to show! He still has a long way to go and we will have to see if he sticks with it.
Here is a few more pictures of our little hockey player....





He has a few more weeks with this session and we will see after that if he wants to continue to play into next session.

Pony club!

At the beginning of this year Adriana joined a club called Pony Club. It was actually started in England in the early 1900's and since has spread to several other countries, including the US. They not only focus on riding but also on the knowledge of horses. Each year they have a horseless competition as well as a mounted competition. The group raises money each year to help keep the cost of the competitions to a minimum for the kids. Right now the kids are getting ready for the horseless competition in March and have spent many long hours studying over at some of the member's houses. Adriana has learned so much already. She was also able to go on a fox hunting clinic (I will be posting those pictures soon). It is really a great club and somewhere that she knows she can talk all she wants to about her passion.....horses!
Here is a picture of a few of the kids from the group going over the parts of a horse.

She is really enjoying this club and enjoys all the experiences she will gain from it!

My poor little baby!

This has been a very hard month for poor baby Joey! On Jan. 28th Joey had to undergo a sleep study at St. John's Hospital. Joey has large tonsils and snores very loud when he sleeps.....I mean louder than Chris at times! Dr. Dorfman was afraid he had sleep apnea so wanted to have him checked out. We arrived at the hospital at 7:30pm with our bags ready to go for what I thought would be a sleepless night. When we arrived we were immediately surrounded by nurses all ooooing and ahhhhing over little Joey! I guess the ladies aren't used to little ones up there all the time. Once we got settled into our room, the fun began. It was now time to hook up all the monitors. I was expecting it to be a total nightmare so whatever happened couldn't top that. Joey began his fight as the nurse started hooking him up. Luckily this lady had the patience of a saint and a lot of tricks up here sleeve. So after awhile, Joey gave up his fight and finally sat still eating on the snacks she had brought for him. Finally he was all hooked up except for a nose part that she said she would wait to put on after he was in a deep sleep. After all that fighting, it didn't take long for Joey to pass out asleep. He slept in the hospital bed and I slept in a bigger bed that was pushed up next to him so that we were still touching.
This is what the poor guy looked like when he was all hooked up........NOT a very happy camper!!!!

I thought for sure the night was going to be horrible and we would never get any sleep, but Joey did very well! He woke up about 7-8 times but was always back to sleep within 10 minutes of me rubbing his back. But everytime he fell asleep he was on his side and I was afraid the results would be off because he only snores when he is on his back. After commenting about this to the nurse in the morning she assured me that he had slept on his back towards the late hours and she did get plenty of get info.
Well a week later it was all confirmed that Joey does have sleep apnea and we had to make an appointment with an ENT doctor at St. John's Hospital. He will be going to that doctor later today.

Well after that ordeal, I thought we were done. But this past Saturday night I got a frantic call from Chris at 12:45 am saying Joey woke up with a croupy cough and was having trouble breathing. I was due to get off work at 1am so I rushed home as soon as I clocked out. When I got there, Joey was definitely have a hard time breathing. I went ahead and called the doctors exchange line to see what they suggested I do for him. I know they say to sit in a steam bath or head outside for the cool air, but I was too frantic to think for myself at this point. So I told the pediatric nurse what was going on and had her listen to his breathing over the phone. She told me to go ahead and take him to the ER at Barnes to have him looked at. Luckily I'm a police officer for St. Peters because I sped all the way there! While on my way, I called my mom who is always up late. I didn't want to be by myself so asked her to come up to the ER to be with and in case things got bad she could run to my house so Chris could come to the hospital. After checking in and being seen by a nurse, Joey's breathing finally went back to a normal breathing. The doctor came in and checked him out and said he definitely had croup and gave him a dose of steroids and a breathing treatment.
My poor baby during his breathing treatment......once again not a happy camper!

He was a trooper and didn't fight the doctor through any of it, but again he was probably too exhausted to try! After receiving both treatments, Joey said how much better he felt. So after two hours at the ER and an exhausted momma and baby, we were finally able to go home. Thank GOD he has been back to his normal crazy self!
I think he is done with the hospital for awhile!

My sweet boys!

I promise I will get back to updating my blog very soon! But until then here is a few pictures of my cute little boys!

The power of prayer!!!!

This is a post I was really wanting to write about, but bare with me as I'm not a very good writer.
I know there are so many people out there that question the power of prayer, and yes sometimes I was one of them. But this past month has put all of my questions behind me and has made me a strong believer in God and all His workings as well as the power of prayer.
This past month has been a very scary rollercoaster ride we have been on. God knows I have sent Him many prayers to help my best friend through this battle and I know so many other people have been praying for him too. I'm realizing now how much God is looking out for us. Not only has He been helping Chris through this battle physically, but its the little things He is doing for us too.
Although we do have insurance, most everyone knows that is doesn't pay for everything. We have a deductible as well as copays that need to be paid to each doctor. This was the least of my concerns because I knew that we would make it so it wasn't on the top of my prayers. But I know God knew it was going to be a struggle for us so in His little ways He has helped us. This year we are getting the most money back in taxes that we have ever received. Earlier this week we had a check sent to us in the mail informing me that I overpaid our vehicle insurance (something I never do). Then yesterday we received a check from our mortgage company for extra money in our escrow and our mortgage went down $50 a month since we are putting too much money in our escrow. As I looked at this check all I could do is tell God "thank you!!!!" I know these are signs from Him telling us not to worry about the money that He will take care of us!
I know everyone says that until you walk in someones shoes you will never know what they have been through. I am now realizing the truth to this. When we first found out all the information about how bad Chris' melanoma was and this nightmare he was going to be going through, all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and just cry!!!It really took everything I had not to just break down in front of Chris and cry hysterically! I knew I had to be strong for Chris and the kids and I wasn't sure how I would be able to do it. So as I cried in the shower, so no one could see, I prayed and prayed for God to somehow give me some strength. He listened and something snapped inside of me. I just took over everything and just made it one day at a time. I understand the saying "take it one day at a time" now too. I always thought it meant just to make it through the day but it has more meaning than that. I quickly learned not to look at my schedule and think of everything that had to be done that month or even that week. I would just look at the calendar one day at a time and just do the things I needed to do for that one day. It really helped me from getting panicked and overwhelmed. And with that I was able to take it one day at a time.
I also learned how many wonderful friends I have. As the e-mails and phone calls began to pour in with how everyone can help, I was just consumed with how generous everyone was! I also realized how much power a hug can hold. From a something as simple as a hug, I could feel some of the pain, fear, weariness, etc. drain from my body in the few seconds the hug lasted. That split second could give me enough energy to make it through the day.
I also have to mention that Chris had decided it would be a good idea to start praying the rosary again and the next day in the mail a family from Church sent Chris a rosary and a large card to remind him how to pray the rosary! God is truly a miracle worker and if I ever questioned His power before, I can assure you I no longer do!
So as Chris continues his battle, I will continue my prayers! I can't wait to see what else His powers can do to help our family through this difficult time!

Riding in the snow!

This past Friday at her riding lessons, Adriana's instructor decided she would let Adriana ride in the arena since it had more snow than ice this time. Adriana was really excited about this, and even more excited that Kate would also be in the arena riding Lakota. I thought this would be a great time to get some pictures since she doesn't get to do this very often. It turned out to be some great pictures....






This last picture cracked me up.......Joe was being frisky playing in the snow and decided to take Adriana off into a canter. Adriana had no idea what to do and just had this total fear look on her face.

It was a great time and Adriana learned a lot about how she must keep control of her horse, especially in the snow!

500th Post!!!!

I was wanting to write something fun and special for the 500th post but this past month has been such a crazy lifechanging month that I wasn't able to think of anything fun so I guess I will just post that this is my 500th post :) I guess I will have to think of something fun and special for the 1000th post!!!!

Through the years!!!!

Chris began taking Adriana to dances at St. Peters City Hall when she was 4 years old. Every year she is sooooo excited about this night and talks about it for the rest of the year. It is really neat (or sad) to look at how much she has grown up in the last four years! The first two years she had to dress up like a princess then slowly moved into more grown up dresses. My beautiful little girl is growing up before my eyes, but luckily still thinks its the coolest to go on dates with Daddy!!!!
Adriana 4 years old.....

Adriana 5 years old......

Adriana 6 years old.....

Adriana 7 years old.....

Daddy daughter dance!

This past Saturday was the annual father/daughter dance for Chris and Adriana. This year was a rough one because it happened to be during the time when Chris is battling melanoma cancer. We were unsure if he was going to be able to go with Adriana this year. He was even more upset when he was unable to get his drain taken out on Friday. This made it impossible for him to wear normal pants because the waistline hits right where his drain comes out. Well daddy being the trooper that he is, really didn't want to disappoint his daughter on a night that she looks so forward to every year. So he was able to find a pair of pants that were a couple of sizes too big and wore it with a pair of suspenders so they wouldn't fall off. So even though he felt like a clown in his pants, he happily took his little princess to her ball!
So to make it a very special day for her, I bought a coupon for her to get a manicure, pedicure, and her hair updo. So that morning we headed out to sweet and sassy and she got her special spa day!
Here she is getting her pedicure......

Getting her manicure.....

And getting her hair done.....

Her hair done afterwards.....

The tickets to the ball.......

Adriana and her beautiful dress looking beautiful!!!!!



Daddy putting on Adriana's corsage....

Adriana and her daddy!!!!!


Adriana is so lucky to have such a loving daddy!!!!! I'm so glad he was able to take her and make a special night for her!!!! I know these memories will last her a lifetime!!!!