Views of our SMALL Garden

They say great things come in small packages

Anthony's Room

When Grant's parents left for cooler temperatures they decided that they would just go ahead and get their own place. This left us with an extra room. We contemplated doing many things to our extra space from a play room, to a craft room, or even a family room. But in the end we decided to allow Anthony to have his own room, a place where he can build his lego designs without having his brother go through destroying everything to pieces. We let Anthony take the lead in decorating his own room and as each of ideas came true the smile on his face would get bigger and bigger. He has really enjoyed having his own space and has stepped up to the challenge of taking care of his space and being responsible for his things.

I decided to add a special touch to his room. I had Anthony give me a picture of his favorite Star Wars ship and luckily I am married to Super Man he was able to draw it perfectly on paper. From there I added my touch through water color. It was definitely a labor of love but totally worth all the work it took when Anthony saw his picture hanging above his bed. I have enjoyed decorating his room, it has been a fun out let for me. While doing Anthony's room, I have been working on Madeline and Spencer's room. Madeline's Spencer's room is almost ready for picture taking just a few more touches. It has been fun working with the kids in decorating their spaces and helping their personalities comes out through the decor in their room.

My Sweet Angel is 7

I cannot believe that my Madeline is seven years old. Who knew seven years ago the daughter I gave birth to six weeks early and weighing only 4 pounds would be where she is today full of life, spunk, and personality. Madeline adds so much to our family that I think our family would be rather dull without Madeline's spunky personality. Madeline has a great love for life and she is game to try just about anything. Madeline loves to have fun and enjoy any activity that is presented before her. Madeline loves her family the most and feels most comfortable at home in her room coloring and drawing whatever her imagination leads her. Though Madeline has had her share of health problems and challenges she does not let it get in her way or stop her from enjoying life. She takes all her challenges in stride and just goes with the flow. What I enjoy the most about Madeline is hearing her testimony. She loves to bear her testimony any chance she gets, even in sacrament meeting. She especially loves to bear her testimony about the Resurrection and returning to our Heavenly Father someday. I feel that she has a special love for the Resurrection because of what it means to her; know that there will be an end to her challenges and that one day her body will be whole again. At one time we were talking about the Resurrection and she was asking me questions and I was doing my best to answer. The spirit was so strong during our conversation and then I was prompted to tell Madeline what the Resurrection means to her. I told her that when Christ comes again her heart will be whole and healthy, that she won't be sick anymore, and she won't have any ouchies. Madeline sat there for a moment and with a big grin on her face said "an no more IV's." Yes, Madeline no more IV's. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who allowed his Son to come to earth to not only atone for our sins and burdens but to willingly give his life for us and then to be resurrected on the third day. Because of this love my daughter too will be resurrected and her body will be whole and she will have no more IV's. I look forward to that day where I can share in Madeline's joy and excitement and to tell her you did it; you over came your challenges with grace, strength, determination, and faith.

Madeline is such a simple girl who enjoys simple things. All Madeline wanted to do for her birthday was to go to Build a Bear and have dinner at Golden Corral. Done I can handle that. However, being her mother I wanted to give her a little more. There is nothing that will bring Madeline more joy than her Dad. Madeline and her Daddy are close and have a close and loving relationship. Madeline has won her way into her Daddy's heart and is there to stay, and I think Grant wouldn't want it any other way. Grant was not able to take the day off from work due to his major projects going on, but he was able to take some time to surprise a little girl for lunch on her birthday. We went to Madeline's favorite place to eat Chipolte and there she found her Daddy and boy did her face lit up with excitement. I think it was in that moment that she felt loved on her special day. Later on in the day, Daddy met us at Build a Bear where Madeline was in paradises. With the money given to her by her parents and Grandma Gates, Madeline was able to pick out the perfect bear and the perfect accessories for her growing collection. After our bags were full, it was time to fill our stomachs. During our dinner outing Grandma and Grandpa called to wish her a happy birthday which brought a smile to her face. After our stomachs were full we came home to a pink cake with pink frosting and pink, green, and purple nerds; which was all requested by the birthday princess. I found some bling bling candles that I knew would add the perfect touch to her cake. When it was all said and done, Madeline's cake screamed Madeline as it should. Overall I think Madeline enjoyed her special day and I think she felt loved by her family as we gathered around the table singing Happy Birthday.

We love you Madeline and our eternally grateful that you are apart of our family. You bring so much joy, happiness, and blessings to our family. As your parents we are grateful that you are our daughter for eternity-the best blessing of all!

Father's Day 2011

Grant is such a wonderful husband and father who works really hard for his family and the kids and I wanted to make something to show our love and appreciation for him. Awhile back I found these bare books where you can order blank books ready for your children to draw and write on. I thought the kids could make a book together telling their Daddy what they mean to them individually. To simplify this project and make it easier on the kids we used the words DADDY to describe what he means to each one.

Anthony:

D: He is the real deal

A: My Dad is awesome

D: I love him very deeply

D: I can depend on him

Y: I love you

Madeline:

D: He goes on dates with me

A: He plays with me anytime

D: He is the best dad

D: He helps make all my dreams come true

Y: I love you

Spencer:

D: He is dedicated to our family

A: He listens to Anaconda with me

D: His desire is for us to be healthy and happy

D: He devotes his time to helping me be a great Spencer

Y: I love You

Now I know that Spencer's answer sound kind of deep for his age well he did have a little help as he sat there with a clueless look on his face when I would ask him want he wanted to write; but I am sure that if Spencer could understand what I was talking about that he would have agreed with everything that I wrote. The kids were also having a hard time coming up with words from DADDY so I went through the dictionary and wrote any word that would be fitting and let them choose from the list to make their sentences. I thought they did a great job.

Well I just didn't want to get Grant a sappy gift, I wanted some humor in it as well. Grant is a hard person to shop for because he has everything that he will really needs which isn't much because he is a simple man; so I really had to think outside of the box. The thought came to me to make him some tie dye pajama pants. I thought the kids would enjoy tie dying and Grant would get a kick out of the pants. First I went to the fabric store and bought plain white fabric to make him his pajama pants. I let the kids come up with the design using rubber bands and I dyed the fabric. My original plan was for them to dye the fabric but being knew to this I didn't think of gloves and the kit only came with one pair. Next time we do tie dying I will remember this so the kids can be able to participate in the whole thing.

The kids were so excited to show their daddy their gifts and I think Daddy was excited to receive them. Grant of course loved the book and got a kick out of the pajama pants; and I am glad they fit him.

We are truly blessed as a family by having Grant in our lives. I couldn't ask for a better spouse who loves me unconditionally and who shows so much patience and charity towards me. I couldn't also ask for a better father, there is nothing he won't do for his children. They are so important to him and you can tell. He is completely hands on and will play with them even if it dress up with his daughter, a star wars battle with Anthony, and a good old wrestling match with Spencer. They get so excited when daddy comes home from work. They meet him at the door and mob him with hugs, such a nice site to see.

All Tired Out

Spencer was just too tired from all the fun excitement of the day that he didn't have enough energy or strength to climb all the way up on the couch.

Art Project Fun

With some poster board covered with foil, random shapes and sizes of tissue paper, glitter, and a little bling you have an art project and when you have an art project you have fun happy kids. This was something that I found and it helped beat the summer time blues which are when it is miserably hot outside to do anything, even the pool water is too hot. Spencer of course thinks art projects are highly overrated so he was off entertaining himself; at least the other two kids enjoy by crazy and fun project ideas.

LegoLand

Legoland recently opened up in our area and the kids, especially Anthony, has been wanting to go since he saw it under construction. I knew that Legoland would be a popular place with kids and could easily get over crowded. With this is mind I thought it would be a good idea to go on the last day of school. The district that our kids our in got out of school a week before any other district. With this knowledge I thought our chances of it not being over crowded were good. I also wanted to further my chances of it not being over crowded by pulling the kids out of school early. Spencer got out of school at 11:00 and since it was the last day of school and they were just playing games I didn't think it would hurt to pull Anthony and Madeline out of school at 11:00. I was pretty proud of my plan and the kids were excited as well. We get to Legoland and my plan of it not being over crowded completely unraveled. I didn't know you could justify having a field trip to Legoland and I want to know what school district/parents have the money to pay for a field day to Legoland. There were kids everywhere, and big kids at that. The parents of course see this as an opportunity to visit with their friends and are not paying attention to what their kids are doing. I panic a little bit because of how easily Madeline can get hurt when you are surrounded by unsupervised kids; but I quickly think we are here and we just need to make the best of it. It was a bit of a challenge to be able to participate in a lot of the hands on activities due to the crowds of kids that seem to have forgotten any decent amount of manners, but when we had a glimmer of hope we took it. The kids were able to build and design their own cars and then take them to a race track to race each other. The kids were also able to build a building in any way they wanted and then push a button that similated an earthquake and see how their building held up. They also had a little theatre that played 10-15 minute cartoons with legos of course and the movies were played in 4D. We saw Bob the Builder and Spencer was in Heaven. In the end Spencer found a slide and it was in heaven and Anthony took Madeline around in the jungle gym doing a good job keeping a close eye on her and helping her when needed. Overall the kids had fun despite the crowd of kids. They also had a few rides but with me being one parent and having two kids that needed to go on the ride with an adult we were not able to do the rides. However, I am sure we will come back and we will probably have Grant with us and then we will be able to go on all the rides.

End of the Year Parties

At Madeline and Anthony's school all the grades have their end of the year parties on the same day and time. Each grade has a certain location on the school and all the classes within that grade have a combine party filled with lots of activities for the kids to do and food to eat. Each grade's party revolves around a theme as well; it just happened that first and third grade both used the Hawaiian theme. With their parties being on the same day and time it is a challenge for me to be in both places at once. Spencer and I started out at Madeline's party and when she was tired we went over a joined the end of Anthony's party. I like it that this school is open to siblings and allows younger siblings to participate in school functions. It sure makes it easier in the fact that I don't have to try to find a sitter who isn't involved in their child's end of the year party too. Spencer had fun playing all the games and activities with Madeline and he especially enjoyed the prizes and food. Spencer is still all about the food and toys don't hurt as well.

First Grade Award Ceremony

Madeline successfully finished first grade and boy it was a tough year with lots and lots of health problems. There were a lot of first this year and Madeline accomplished everyone of them with flying colors. We had to work hard, but the important thing was that we made it and in the end was able to receive the A honor roll certificate. This year the first graders did their award ceremony in the individual classrooms, so it was a little more personal then if they did them all together. Again a video was done of their favorite memory and what they liked about first grade. Madeline's voice is quiet and it is really quiet when she is on camera, but the important thing was she did it and didn't shy away from the camera. Luckily for us and our posterity Madeline's teacher typed up what each child said. I don't think I really listened to Madeline's video, I was more thinking about my little girl who came into the world fighting at such a small size and now still a little girl who doesn't have to fight so hard and just accomplished first grade with all A's. Madeline is really amazing! It is neat to walk beside her watching her accomplish all her accomplishments in life knowing how hard she fought to get here and to be where she is today. I am so grateful for a caring and understanding first grade teacher who took the extra time Madeline needed and met her wherever she was. I am also grateful for caring principles and staff and her school who make the school environment work for Madeline and allow Madeline to take the lead when it comes to school. Without this first grade might have just floundered. Congratulations Madeline, you are definitely a superstar! You made it through first grade and now the adventures of second grade await you!

Party Time-Spencer Style

With the end of the school comes lots of events to attend to. So far I have been able to go to all the kids events. This has been a challenge as I have kids in two different schools and a lot of times they hold end of the year events on the same day. Luckily all the stars have aligned in my favor and I was able to attend all their award ceremonies and school parties. It meant that I spent the day at school, driving back and fort between schools, and when Spencer got out he joined me for the remainder of the day. The first of my long day of events was Spencer's preschool end of the year party. The teacher kept it really simple, which was great. All the kids were able to play on the playground, draw with side walk chalk, and blow bubbles. Then they were able to enjoy some yummy juice and a bag of trail mix. Spencer was just giddy that I was at school with him and loved running around and being silly. His personality really shines at times, and his party it really did. After his party we were off the Anthony and Madeline's school to spend the remainder of the day with them.

Third Grade Award Ceremony

With all the days that school was out for the snow storm, the last two days of school ended up being all day instead of half day. Because of that the third grade award ceremonies were combined. They put together a video of the kids telling what they liked about third grade and their favorite movie. Apparently this was the first year for the third grade teachers to try this format and they have a few bugs to work out. The video was hard to hear and for the most part you could tell that the kids were talking but you couldn't hear or make out what they were saying. Thank goodness my child's voice carries because I know that my child liked all the fun challenging and hands on activities that they had in third grade and his favorite memory was when they were able to build volcanoes and watch them erupt. The video was the award ceremony and then the teacher handed out A honor roll, A&B honor roll, and Good Citizenship certificates in the classroom at a later time. Congratulations Anthony for graduating from third grade with flying colors and on the A honor roll! The adventures of fourth grade await you.

Crossing over to Webelos

At the end of May, Anthony had his last pack meeting before summer break. That night Anthony received a couple of arrow points and several activity pins and belt loops. Anthony has a goal to get all of the academic belt loops before he crosses over into Boy Scouts. At the end of the time, Anthony went into the time machine as a Bear and came out a Webelo. Congratulations Anthony, we are so proud of you.

Spencer Working?

Laundry Can Be Fun?

We were able to purchase a new washer and dryer, I didn't know laundry could be a good source of entertainment for the kids. Don't worry it didn't last long and now laundry is an evil word.

Our Little Hawaiian Girl

Wow it has been a whole month and more since my last post, and things have been BUSY!!. Before the kids got out of school I laid out our summer plans with excitement, had the summer schedule made and I felt really good about our schedule and activities; and then WAM life hit us. This time life did not hit us with any health problems so despite the fact that life has been really busy I can count our blessings that we have all be healthy. Grant at work got hit with two projects at the same time. One of the projects is in Maryland and one here. The project in Maryland takes him away from the project here. Since school has been out Grant has either been in Maryland or working 12 plus hours a day and a few hours on Saturday. I have been busy being a single parent and trying to not only keep up my responsibilities but also Grant's. The kids have been a lot of help as we have all worked together to support Daddy. Anthony has learned to mow the lawn and together we are able to get both lawns mowed. Anthony has done good with keeping the garden watered and together we work on cleaning our above ground pool. I have to admit that things do get a bit lonely around here and at times I want to pool my hair out; but through all that my heart is filled with gratitude because my husband has a job and is working hard for his family. I have been reminded that my Heavenly Father loves me and hears the pleadings of my heart; and most of all I have learned that I have the strength to rise to any challenge. I didn't think I could do this, but with Heavenly Father helping to carry me and the team support of our children I can conquer this challenge. However, don't get me wrong I will be ETERNALLY grateful for when Grant finishes his two projects and can return back to his family.

Now with that all out of the way, lets get on with the title of the post: "Our Little Hawaiian Girl." One of the last projects that Madeline had to do for school was to trace her body and dress herself up as a Hawaiian girl. Madeline really enjoyed this project and though I was a little annoyed that we had a project to do the week before school got out, in the end the project ended up being a lot of fun. My frustration probably was from the fact that I was more ready for school to be out than the kids. Madeline enjoyed going out on a date with her Daddy to find materials to make a "modest" Hawaiian Girl. Madeline and I worked together on the decorating Madeline and putting all the final touches together. This project really pointed out how tiny Madeline is compared to her classmates. In the end Madeline was a really cute and modest Hawaiian girl.

Gastric Emptying Scan

Madeline has been experiencing bad stomach pain since December, and it has slowly gotten worse. In April Madeline essentially was not eating and was only being sustained through formula put into her g-button; but then that started to be a problem. We had put several calls into her GI doctor as well as to the dietitian and they would suggest something and we would do it and then a few days later we would be back to where we started. Her GI doctor could only say that Madeline has an eating disorder and that she is special. Well I was not happy with that answer. I know my daughter is special but she needs to eat and you need to fix it. By mid April I was at my wits end because for three days straight my daughter had not eaten a drop and I was just struggling to keep enough liquid down her to prevent another hospitalization. So I put in another desperate call into her doctor and the response I got was "I am out of options, there is not much else to do." I was livid, I felt that my hands were tied and I was reaching out for help and it was being denied. I was not going to watch my daughter suffer any longer, and so with that I fired the doctor. I called over to Dallas Children's hospital to see one of their GI specialists and surprisingly I was able to get an appointment with what looked liked a skilled GI doctor the next day. Within being in the room with Madeline's new GI doctor for five minutes I knew my prayers were answered and we were going to get help. She immediately put together a three step plan and immediately had a direction that she was headed towards. She decided to first start with putting a camera down Madeline's stomach to see if her gastritis was flared up again. We were scheduled for camera test a week later where it was discovered that my daughter had a yeast infection in her stomach caused by the steroids she takes for her asthma. Grant and I were greatly relieved that it was a simple problem that is easily treated with medication, but at the same time we were annoyed that my daughter has been suffering since December and close to hospitalization due to not eating for something that you have been easily detected if he had put a camera down her stomach. Since then we have done two other tests and both have come back normal. One of Madeline's stomach problems is that her stomach does not empty like a normal stomach. She is on medication to help her stomach produce motility so that it will empty like it should. Madeline's GI doctor wanted to do have another gastric emptying scan to see if the medication is working and to make sure that it is not contributing to her stomach pain. This test is a "fun" all day thing. Madeline gets to start out the morning eating chicken noodle soup mixed with eggs and steamed veggies and then for the next four hours we take 8 pictures at different times. There is a period of time where you wait an hour between pictures. During this time Madeline is not allow to eat nor is she allow to lay down. Since this has been our second time, we knew what to pack and how to prepare. We brought movies, books, and other activities to do to pass the time away, but we didn't need those because the children's hospital recently opened a Build A Bear store and Madeline absolutely loves Build A Bear. During our hour wait we participated in the fun at the Build A Bear store dressing up our new stuff animal to add to her growing collection. Madeline was a smiles which was nice to see. Afterwards we visited the gift shop where she found a monkey puppet that had her name written all over it. Madeline loves monkeys and so she was excited to get a puppet to add to her collection. All these things helped to pass the time away and this time around the test didn't seem to drag on. It really felt like we blinked and the test was done. Afterwards Madeline and I ate a gourmet lunch at the cafeteria in the hospital, Madeline sure enjoys the pasta they have there. Though I wish the circumstances were different, I sure enjoyed the time I had with Madeline. I love the moments we have together and the experiences that we are able to create. It makes having a medical procedure not feel so scary when you can have a date with Mom.

On a side note, Madeline is getting better her pain has gone almost completely away and her eating has improved. We are not quite where we should be, but we are no longer having to be sustained through a g-button. Now we are just doing our usual supplemental feeds and for the most part life has turned back to normal and Mommy and Daddy are no longer worrying about their daughter.

Garden Thieves

Look what we found in our backyard one beautiful morning. These two raccoons knew their way around our backyard like this wasn't a new gig. We believe these two rascals are the reason why plants keep disappearing.

S for Spencer

On May 10, Spencer turned four. It is still hard to believe that he is four, in the last year he has come so far in his development and speech; the preschool program that he is in has helped a lot. He still has issues with large groups or unfamiliar places. If he is faced with a large group of people or a group activity with lots of kids/people he immediately draws to a corner to stay.

This was the first year that Spencer understood what birthday was and so it was fun for us because every little thing we did he would get excited and say "for me, for my birthday." At breakfast we all sang happy birthday and at school you get a special birthday ribbon when it is your birthday. At Spencer's school you are not allow to bring a birthday treat to share with the class, but since he is in preschool and they have snacks you can bring snacks to share with the class. I decided to treat the class with fruit snacks to go along with the usual cracker snacks that they have. After school I took Spencer to get his birthday lunch and birthday balloons. When he saw his balloons he was jumping up and down with excitement, especially the balloon with his name. After lunch it was time for me to make his cake. Spencer loves the letter "S" and loves to point it out wherever he goes "S for Spencer" is what he always says. So we thought it would be fitting to make a letter "S" as his cake and in true Spencer fashion he chose purple as the icing color-the kid loves purple (both of my boys love the color purple). Also to celebrate Spencer, I used candles that spelled out Happy Birthday because Spencer has a fascination with letters. With the letter "S" cake with purple frosting, covered with his favorite M&M's and letter birthday candles Spencer was having a hard time resisting the urge to "explore" his cake. I quickly finished the decorations and put the cake in place and then Daddy was home and it was office for buffet pizza (Spencer's choice). After dinner we all came home and sang happy birthday to a boy that was smiling from ear to ear, watched as excitedly blew out each candle one by one and then there was dead slience as we were all enjoying the yummy cake. After cake it is only natural to open presents, and keeping in true Mommy fashion I didn't wrap them and once again Spencer didn't mind. I ususally have the kids go on a treasure hunt to find their presents, but Spencer hasn't reached the age to trully appreciate the treasure hunt or to understand it, so maybe next year.

Grant has a white hat that the kids made him one year for Father's Day, but Spencer seems to take it whenever Grant tries to wear it. Spencer justifies his decision because on the hat is Spencer's name. Grant decided that he was going to make Spencer his own white hat with his name on it. Grant put a big letter S on the front with Spencer's name written on the back. I made Spencer a super Spencer cape because he is always asking us to tie his blanket so he can be Super Spencer. We rounded out the homemade gifts with a foam sword and shield, and foam bath letters to make bath time even more fun. I had some games planed after the gifts, but when Spencer saw his cape and hat with sword and shield he took over the entertainment. He immediately put the hat on with his cape, got his shield and sword in place and proudly proclaimed "Super Spencer to the rescue." Anthony and Madeline joined in the fun with their swords and cape and had an epic battle out in the backyard.

I think Spencer had a great day and I think he felt loved by his family from the gifts, money, cards, and phone calls all wishing our special four year old a Happy Birthday. For me the best part was to sit back and watch Spencer enjoying his special day and understanding for the first time how magical birthdays are.

FIeld Day Fun

Anthony and Madeline had their field day at school. I was Madeline's little buddy and followed her around to all the various activities. It was fun to see Madeline out there having fun and it was touching to hear her classmates and teachers cheering her on. The difficult part was keeping Madeline cool and out of the sun, by afternoon Madeline had her fill and we checked out of school a little early. Field Day is always fun and it is enjoyable to see the kids in action and enjoying themselves with their friends; but next year I think it is Daddy's turn to run around, jump through hoops, and piggy back a very special little girl.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home