Dressed for the Day!

This is what Casey was wearing when I got home from taking Emily and Anna to school. She continued to wear it all day, even when I made her put pants and a long-sleeved shirt over the top to leave the house. Only the tutu was sticking out, but she was pleased.

Taste of spring.

Where did the weekend go? The kids did get plenty of fun time this weekend- it was warm enough again for short sleeves and playing outside!

Busy Day

Circus this morning, then oyster roast and s'mores at the Diggs' this evening. (in 72 degree weather!!) Kids had a blast and have PASSED OUT... I'm next.

Ahhh... Friday.

Kids are outside playing with the neighbors cause the temp is 59 degrees, neighbor moms here with me enjoying some champy... life is good.

Little girl vs. wild

Casey was watching Man vs. Wild with Ryan and couldn't figure out why Bear Grylls would eat something so "yucky." (it was a sea cucumber) Score one for the wild.

Poetry Night

Every Wednesday night, the only homework that Emily has is to read a poem aloud 10 times. Tonight while reading, her sisters decided they liked the tune of the poem and couldn't help but shake it.

Taco Night

My kids must be half-Mexican because they love taco night! It's the only night everyone will eat everything on their plate.

McWane Science Center

Had a fun morning exploring McWane Science Center for the first time with Casey and some other friends. Highlights were petting a shark, making face impressions on a wall of pegs, and making shadows on the wall of butterflies.

Fun times.

What can be more fun than running through the house with your sister and pretending that Barbie is swimming through the ocean about to be eaten by a shark? 

Mommy was on a mini-vacation.

After 15 months of being by Emily's side for each moment of treatment of cancer, Ryan and the kids sent me away to our neighborhood resort for bedrest and spa-time. It was wonderful and probably the best thing I've ever done for myself- and I actually did nothing. That was the best part. While I was gone, Emily emailed this picture to me to ask what I thought it was- Daddy had guessed a turtle, and Uncle Mick had guessed an elephant. Mommy, being the smart one, guessed a horse and was right. 

TGIF

Enough said.

Love this.

Picking Casey (aka Snow White) up from school:

"Casey...."

"Mommy!!!"

Simon Says..

I apologize for the poor quality of pictures.. that's just what kind of day it's been! We ended up with two kids with fevers and a 4pm appointment to the pediatrician's office. Anna has a virus, Casey has a double ear infection. Luckily, big sister Emily was along to entertain them during the long wait by playing Simon Says. These were taken with my phone.. but I still haven't missed a day!

Whew! What a day!

I am happy to report that today was Emily's last day of cancer treatment and she had a clean CT which means there is no evidence of cancer! We will return to Children's every 3 months to check for return of tumor, but so far so good! She received a special Bead of Courage at clinic to commemorate her achievement, then received a special night out to Cocina Superior to celebrate as a family. We are exhausted, but happy and carrying on.....

Say Yes to the Dress!

Today we had the pleasure of joining my brother's fiance (my future sister-in-law, Christi) at the bridal shop in Huntsville- Emily and Anna were in heaven, and as you can see Emily was picking out her future wedding dress. : ) Christi did say "yes" to a dress (not the one pictured- the official one is top secret) and it is beautiful! Funny story- Anna really thought we were going to be on the show. She walked into the shop very shyly, then asked me after a while where the TV cameras were! Ha!

Warmer day..

We finally got a day warm enough to play outside- that's the weird thing about the South. We can go from 10 degrees to 60 degrees in 48 hours, then back again! Here is Casey and Elizabeth, my niece.

Fun day at the studio!

Emily is lucky enough to be involved in an art project that benefits Ateam Ministries- a wonderful organization that helps families through diagnosis, treatment and after treatment. She has produced a piece of art with a local well-known artist that will be auctioned at an event sponsored by Gene Chizik and his wife on February 19th. Today we had some fun going to an awesome studio here in Birmingham where Emily got to paint a picture that will be a part of a mural. They also took her portrait- she is sticking her tongue out at me here!

Winter Sunrise

Did I capture the feeling of bone-chilling cold in the photo? It was only 17 degrees this morning, too cold for my still-thin South Florida blood. Can't wait to see buds on those trees!

There she is!

Anna can't wait for her sister to get home from school every day. Here she is waiting by the window, with Emily and her friend Ansley coming down the sidewalk.

Poor Ryan..

We have lots of girls in the house which leads to lots of pink- But Daddy is a good sport and has even been known to play barbies and ponies!

Cold day=hot soup.

We are housebound again today due to icy roads and decided to put a healthy soup full of veggies in the crockpot. Emily helped me make it and now my kitchen smells delicious! Here is the recipe if you are interested: Minestrone Soup with Pasta, Beans, and Vegetables.

Not much snow..plenty of ice!

We were stuck inside all day so I took a moment to escape outside for some photo ops- apparently the kids are off tomorrow, too, so I may take a self-portrait of me going insane!

Waiting for the snow.

What's better than spending the day snuggled on the couch with a cousin watching a movie while waiting for it to snow?? Hopefully I'll get some snow pics tomorrow....

A rare moment.

Five minutes before this was taken and five minutes after they were fighting, but I caught a bit of sisterly love! Right now, Anna is in time-out, and Casey being the time-out queen feels sorry for her and is sitting with her.

It's exhausting being 4...

Friday after the first week back at school and Anna is pooped... took a big chance getting this shot but I couldn't resist.

Carpool Line

Love this nifty gadget the Toyota Sienna has- I can view all of the loving interactions between my children while sitting in carpool lines! ; )


 

Welcome to my Project 365!!

We are nearing the end of a victorious battle with cancer- our family motto was Keep Calm and Carry On- (though sometimes I would secretly change it to the Winston Churchill quote 'When you are going through hell keep going'). I am going to record a year in our life of "carrying on"- one picture a day. For 365 days. I hope to record the exciting, boring, challenging, exhilarating moments of our daily life while improving my photography skills! Thanks for watching!