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Watercolor, FL

We went on a family vacation with my family at the end of October to Watercolor, FL. We had a great time, it was Mina's first time at the beach. She had never before seen the ocean. SHE LOVED IT! She was the only one of the kids who actually got in the water. It was a little chilly, I think the highest the temps got were like 75 degrees. Not exactly ocean weather, but we did it anyway. We stayed in a house with my parents, my brother, my sister and her family. Try 5 kids under the age of 5. Whew!! We needed a vacation after the vacation. J/K! We had a great time, we rode bikes, shopped, swam, rode bikes, and rode bikes. We did a lot of bike riding. The kids love it. We pulled all the boys in a bike trailer and Mina rode her own bike. She did great. Miss Independent. Anyway, while we were there mom took pictures. Check these out!

Sorry its been so long!

Well, I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. I can't imagine that I have been that busy, but obviously I have. I have a lot of material to post about after 3 weeks of no posting. I have the beach, an Aidan update, Christmas decorating and much, much more! So, keep checking. Don't lose faith yet. I will start working on those much needed posts ASAP!

Halloween!!

So, Halloween has come and gone! It was our 1st Halloween actually trick-or-treating, and also our 1st Halloween with Mina! We were rushed to get out the door, but we eventually made it! We had a great time. My in-laws were here, and my WONDERFUL mother-in-law made us dinner, and then we headed out. The kids loved having an entourage. Chris and Kim were here also, and we walked around with our good friends from across the street! We managed to fill to pumpkin bags in about 30 minutes, so we finished up and headed home to hang with our other good friends. We sat by the firepit and made s'mores and drank homemade hot chocolate compliments of Hannah! It was great! The kids really enjoyed it! Here are some pics of our fun-filled night!

!!Mina, Aidan Bryson and Colby!!

OUR CUTIE PATOOTIES!

DEDE, AVA, MINA AND AIDAN!

SARAH, MINA AND AIDAN MAKING S'MORES!

Meet our cousin Abigail!!

Last weekend, Emory's aunts Rhonda and Barbara came into town and brought Victoria's little girl Abigail with them. We don't get to see them very often, so we really enjoyed the visit. Abigail has gotten so big, I can't believe that she is already 2! Aidan and Mina had a blast with her. She watches them like she isn't sure of them, and she really wasn't sure about me. But, we had fun anyway. Here are a few pics of Abigail and the kids. Victoria- if you read this you'd better leave a comment, girl!!

ps- Aunt Barb came bearing gifts, so the kids are playing with the plastic bugs she brought A!

Babysitting Ava!!

So, I like to accumulate blog material and then post it all at once. A week or two ago I kept Ava for Stace while she ran a quick errand or two. We had a good time with little Miss Priss. The kids loved her being over here, they got to love on her and read to her and talk to her. We had a good ole time. She wasn't here that long, but we played outside for awhile and then came in to watch some baby signing time, and read some very interesting books!!

Burt's Pumpkin Patch

So we made our Annual trip to Burt's Pumpkin patch. We have been every year for 5 years. This was Aidan's 3rd year at Burt's and Mina's 1st. They both really enjoyed it. Probably not as much as Emory did though. Emory picked out an 80 lb pumpkin to bring home and carve. YIPEEE!! This monster of a pumpkin has a 70 inch circumference. It is huge. Of course, the kids love it and they can't wait for us to carve it later this week. Aidan picked out a small white pumpkin and Mina a small regular old orange one. They had a blast though. We didn't get to stay long, b/c the kiddos were starting to tire out. But, we did get a couple of pics for ya. We even let the kids pick out tacky little yard ornaments. We got one for us and one for Mina and A's best buds, our neighbors, Colby and Bryson. If you haven't ever been to Burt's you should check it out! It really is a lot of fun!!

We have results!!

Well, we finally got back results from Aidan's EEG. It wasn't good news. He has epilepsy. Apparently, the poor child is seizing all day everyday. During his 30 minute EEG, he had back to back seizures, and had other abnormal brain activity. So, we started Keppra (anti-epileptic drug) on Thursday. Unfortunately, epilepsy meds can be really hard on children. They make them extremely drowsy, and they can also alter their personalities. So far, we are seeing a lot of drowsiness and even an increase in OBVIOUS seizure activity. I say obvious in that way, b/c until he started taking the meds, there was no clear indication that he was having seizures. He would have episodes that resembled seizures, but they could have been a zillion other things too!! Anyway, it is good that we have an answer. Our pediatrician and our infectious disease doctor believe that the epilepsy may be a symptom of a bigger problem, so we will start doing other tests to figure that out. They think this b/c epilepsy doesn't cause high constant fevers! So, keep praying for A! He's really worn out from the tests, the meds, etc.

Aidan's day at Scottish Rite

Well, we just got home from a very long day at Scottish Rite. We had to sleep deprive Aidan last night in preparation for his EEG this morning. We are all very tired. We all went to bed at about 1:30 and then woke up a little before 7. It was awful. But, the kids lasted all day. Mina and Carol accompanied me to our appointment, and we are worn out. Aidan did great though. The test was done partly while he was awake, and then we needed him to fall asleep, and PRAISE GOD!! he did. I was shocked this boy never falls asleep on command. But, he did great. I told him that the "docker" would be turning him into a bad guy robot, and he was SOLD. Anything to do with bad guys, and this kid will do it. He sat completely still for her to place the electrodes on his head. He loved it, we invited her over to our house to help us get ready Halloween night! I'll include the video of him at the "docker".

Immediately after that appointment we has the infectious disease doctor. It was pretty uneventful.. She really feels like he has viral illnesses that are causing these symptoms, and they will eventually go away. Which of course is GREAT news. It's just frustrating. But, she did say she feels certain we can rule out cancer. YEA!! Praise GOD!!!! So, it went well. We will have the EEG results back in 7-10 days. So, I will update you then. Also, he is Anemic AGAIN!!! So, he'll be back on iron for the umpteenth time! But, overall this was a good news day, we are all just really tired.

He was over it by this pic!

At least the video is cute!!

WAR EAGLE

We beat Florida 20-17! War Eagle!!

Mina's Field Trip

Mina and I went to the fair Thursday morning for her first field trip. We had a great time. It was pretty unorganized on the fair's part, but I think the kids had a blast. We only got to walk through the animal exhibits, but of course she and I loved that. We took a couple of pictures, some of just her and some of her friends too.

Thor....

Well, who knew I had so much to blog about this week. I should really do a better job of keeping up. Anyway, Thor had minor surgery this week. Yes, I am talking about my dog. My other dog, Riley (aka Rufus), beat Thor up. She actually ripped her canine tooth all the way through his lip and sinus cavity. SO, Dr. H had to sew him up. He was really pitiful, the last time I saw him under anesthesia was when he was a puppy, and I don't remember him being so dramatic back then. But, as usual I have pics! :)

Mimi V

I wanted to show everyone a few updated pics of my beautiful niece. They aren't brand new pics as I haven't seen her since Tuesday. I plan to make my way that way today if Stuart and Steph don't mind. But, pictures they are. I took them Sunday afternoon, so she was still only 4 days old. I thought this one with her Auntie CoCo and favorite cousins

Mina and Aidan was so cute!!

ISN"T SHE A CUTIE?

We made it!!

We made it to the fair. It took a try or two, but we made it. We met our friends Andrea, Nathan and Jackson at Chik-fil-a on Thursday after everyone was finished with school/work. We quickly ate and then headed off to the North Georgia Fair. It rained off and on all day Thursday which made it a little less crowded. Yea, for us! Anyway, I thought only rednecks went to the fair, but now I have decided that only rich people can afford the fair. It costs a small fortune for 2 children and 2 adults to attend the fair, and we actually had free tickets into the fair. So, basically we spent $60 for the kids to ride rides. It was $6-8 per ride for both kids to ride. Ridiculous! We had fun though! Check out these pics. We started out on the caterpillar roller coaster, Mina loved it, but Aidan wasn't so sure. He hung in there, but he cried a little bit toward the end of the ride.

Then we moved on to the animals and you know the kids and I loved that, we were petting everything that we could get our hands on. The kids are just like me, they love animals. So, we paid $7 for them to sit on Buttercup. Buttercup is a 2400 lb Bull. She is BIG! The kids loved her!

Our 2nd ride of the night was the fish ride? It looked more like a helicopter, but had the face of a fish. Very interesting! They liked it okay, but it wasn't their favorite. I think they like all 3 riding together. That is Jackson in the middle. Isn't he cute. He's bigger than Aidan and he is a year younger than A.

Next, we headed to the Dragon ride. That was the fave of the night. The kids actually control whether their little dragon goes up or down. And just like that love for animals, they also are control freaks like me. Yikes!! Anyway, they loved that ride.

Well, that was pretty much it! . We really did have a great time!!

Our Almost Visit to the Fair!

Well, we had high hopes of going to the fair, but we never actually made it. We attempted to go with our friends, Andrea and Nathan and their little one Jackson. But, we only made it to Chik-fil-a, and Wally World. Boy, were the kids disappointed. They were all hyped up about the rides and funnel cakes, and then they only got to go to Wally World. We were headed to the fair, but the traffic was so bad that we would have waited over an hour to just get in the gate. I don't think the kiddos would have lasted. So, off to Walmart we went. We bribed them with toys, only Mina is old enough to understand the bribe. She knew she was missing out on something bigger and better! Poor girl. We made promises to go back later in the week though!! We shall see!