CNY, Tet, Valentine's Day.....

Johnathan, handsome!!

Emilea, pretty girl!!

Jackson, looks so shy!

Ethan, just being himself!

Kaylea, cute as ever!!

Owen, look at those beautiful eyes!!

Rylea and her cute little mouth!!

Rubea, what a sweet smile!!

We did not do much on Sunday to celebrate all the holidays of the weekend....Rubea just had surgery on Wednesday and was not feeling well. The kids did get dressed in their outfits and let me snap a few pics of them though! It is funny, to me, that very few of them can smile naturally for the camera! Bless their hearts, they tried! I managed to get one of them all together, too!!

Or, should I say...I am posting the one that is the BEST of all of them together :-)

I cooked a huge meal with dishes from China, Thailand and Vietnam. They ALL ate like they hadn't eaten in a week. We made fried rice, Vietnamese stir fry, Thai lemon grass chicken and a chicken soup along with jasmine rice!!

Oh, and yes I realize my boys need hair cuts...they are letting their hair *grow out* Ethan looks like he is straight out of the 80's.

Hope all of you had a wonderful weekend!!!

S.T.T.A.R. Party

Rubea....suppose to be Hello Kitty?!?!

(photo taken by Kaylea)

Ethan

(photo taken by Kaylea)

Owen looking annoyed??

(photo taken by Kaylea)

Kaylea with her sparkly blue cross.

Johnathan & John...playing horseshoes

Rylea's rainbow

Rylea & Kaylea

Kaylea telling the clown what kind of balloon she wanted.

Rylea & Rubea looking cute!

(Owen & Daddy, too)

Ethan & Kaylea playing tether ball

We attended the annual STTAR party on Saturday. STTAR stands for Spinal and Thoracic Treatment and Research Center. It is the thoracic group at our local hospital that implanted Rubea's VEPTR rods. This was our first time to attend the party. The kids had a great time! They had swimming, bounce house, tether ball, horse shoes, face painting, a clown with balloons, playground and much more! The kids enjoyed snow cones, popcorn, cotton candy and of course our BBQ lunch!! We also met some great families that we are excited to get to know better. Enjoy the pictures..... (can you believe I took the girls in white dresses?)

Love,

Time A L O N E

Home at last...time to nap!!

11:00 am ready to go! Too cute!!

6:30 am....ready to go! Still a little sleepy!!

Tomorrow John will go back to work and I will have a few hours alone each day!! HEAVEN.

He admitted after having all 8 kids this weekend while I was at the Women of Faith conference that he has a much easier job than me! LOL He mentioned yesterday that if he had known the first day of school was going to be so *busy* he would have gone to work!! HA! It was nice having him home to help out though! He is glad to be out of the hospital and home!!

The school was not prepared for Kaylea to arrive yesterday. Transportation was not ready for her, either. She told me this afternoon the kids like to watch her spin! LOL I am grateful they are not scared of her and that they accept her with all of her issues. I'm am praying that if she does infact have the trach put in, that her transition back to school will be smooth. We still have not decided about the trach yet.

So, this year I have a Junior, Sophomore, 5th grader, 4th grader, 2 2nd graders and 2 in PPCD which is the pre-school program for children with disabilities (they go 1/2 a day). I am certain this will be a very busy school year because they are also participating in JROTC, Marching Band, speech therapy 1 time a week (they are pushing for 2 times) OT and PT, Art Club, Latin Club, Orienteering and we have at least 5 surgeries planned and a trip to Disney World planned!!!!

There will be no time for boredom!!

Love,

A long time.....

It has been a really long time since I have updated here! Things are going, well, about the same as usual. We've been trying to learn to read a little better this summer, do math facts a little quicker and stay cool! It has been very hot here in the south!! Or, at least in Southern Texas!

Kids have been to various camps and I have learned to sew, like from a pattern!! WOO HOO!!! I made a darling, darling dress with coordinating shorts for Rylea. I will be making one for Rubea and Kaylea as well. I think I have enough to also make one for my neice, Aubree, too!!

We have one surgery under our belt for the summer, Rubea had an expansion of her titanium ribs. The lengthened each side by 1.5 cm. The average is only .5 - 1 cm. She has really grown. Infact, while making the dresses and measuring each girl, we found there is very little difference in them. It amazes me that our 3 yo, 4 yo and almost 9 yo can use the same pattern.

The biggest difference is in height. Tho, Kaylea is the height of an average 4-5 year old and the baby girls are closer to the average for their age. We did find that according to her bone age, Rylea is at a 3 - 3.5 year old instead of a 4.5 yo. Kaylea's is normal.

Kaylea has surgery this Thursday and then Kaylea, Rylea, Ethan & Owen all have surgeries scheduled for this fall and Rubea will be due for another expansion in January 2010. Looks like we have our life planned out for the next 6 months.

Johnathan and Emilea were able to fly to Nashville to attend Camp Electric this summer! They are already signed up for next year. They had a great time and still talk about it daily. One of the guys from Pillar is also getting them tickets to the Texas Hill Fest in Sept. They are excited to get to attend that, too!! Oh, and we are going to the Toby Mac concert at Fiesta TX on Friday!!

Making progress!!

Ethan at the Special Olympics bowling games!!!  His FAVORITE!!!

Owen's 8th Birthday!!!

All 9!!! Together at last!!!

Rubea enjoying a car ride???  Finally???

Rylea and her new glasses!!

It has been very busy around here....between me having meningitis & strep, a trip to Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas for Ethan, Kaylea, & Owen, awards ceremonies at school for Johnathan & Emilea, program at school for Rylea & Rubea, hubby's outrageous work schedule, Owen's 8th birthday, Special Olympics with Ethan and many IEP appointments for my many children.....I have been slow at getting this blog *blinged*!!  I have learned quite a bit and have had fun playing with all the elements!! Now if I could just finish it up, I'd be HAPPY!!!  

Enjoy the pics!!

Where did the years go???

Kaylea, Rubea, Emilea, Ethan, Owen, Jackson, Rylea, Johnathan

Emilea

She is a bit embarrassed while they are singing for her at Olive G@rden....Emilea and Rubea

My *baby* turned 15 today!! Poor girl... what a day to have your birthday! She is such a beautiful young lady! She loves, loves, loves her siblings, especially Rubea. (she traveled with me to China to get Rubea)  She loves her family and friends. She loves Jesus. She loves life!! She loves school and is an *A* student!!! She enjoys reading, music & her guitars. She is over the moon excited about getting her driver's permit, getting a job at Sea*World and going to Camp E*lectric this summer!! She chose Olive G@rden for dinner and had Cheesec@ke F@ctory for her b-day cake!!  What a very full day we had!  Taxes are filed, cake is eaten, gifts are opened and everyone is ASLEEP!!!!

Enjoy the pictures!!

Love,

Carla