Let the Fun Begin....

Summer is in full swing here, well, at least it was..... We had many hot, sunny days, however today it is overcast and 65. Avery just asked for a jacket!

The good news is that Avery and Cora are loving summer school, as is Brock. In addition to the girls' summer school, they have just begun taking piano lessons. I had worked a little with each of them, but decided it was better to leave the teaching to a 'professional' so I signed them up. With 2 lessons under their belt, they each seem to be enjoying themselves. Cora is a sponge and is doing terrific. Avery is doing great, but really lacks some confidence.

Brock is doing ok, but we are battling these stupid seizures again. I had so much hope for Lamictal, but something is 'off' again. Daily seizures tend to be the norm as of late. Some are 10-30 seconds and he bounces back like it was no big deal. Others are violent, lasting over a minute, and wiping him out. --Case in point: After the girls' first piano lesson, I said I would take them to IHOP. (TV commercials put all kinds of ideas into my kids' heads. IHOP was one.) So, we headed to Peoria. ABC rode very well the entire way, until Avery suggested she might not make it to the restroom! Oh my..... I speed into IHOP parking lot, get Brock unloaded ASAP, then run into the restaurant, frantically looking for the restroom. PHEW! Made it. But, the freakishly-loud flushing of the toilet seemed to disagree with Brock. He startled and went into a seizure. I was watching with anticipation, hoping it would leave as soon as it came.

Nope.

It was violent, with gagging and vomiting. Avery and Cora were ever so helpful getting paper towels and such. Meanwhile, I was trying to keep my cool, but seriously in the back of my mind getting a game plan formed, locating Diastat---and being thankful that we were so close to OSF Children's Hospital! When the evil thing subsided, close to 2 mins later, I had to shift gears and think....PANCAKES!


I didn't see any sedatives on the menu, so I just had a pot of coffee and a Rooty-tooty Fresh and Fruity. Cora wanted mac-n-cheese! I'm sorry, but I would not let her order that when we were close to 1.5 hrs from home at an IHOP! Come on! She caved and ordered a Baby Cakes meal and Avery got the Rooty Jr. All was well. Especially since Brock came around, and got back to his normal.


(I didn't have the camera, but found my iPod Touch to come in handy that day for some pictures.)

They wanted ice cream sundaes after their meals! The waitress made a few comments about how much my girls ate. Perhaps she wondered if I fed them regularly? LOL.

After IHOP, I needed to return some OldNavy.com purchases. Of course if I made it to Old Navy, I thought I should make the most of it and do a little shopping, right????

How 'bout them Cubbies?

Now we're talking! Go Cardinals!

It was a tough decision, but I think I brough home the 'right' girls from the store. :)

Brock had a rough day, but he let me take a triplet pic with "Barker." (I googled the dog's name...thought it was Buster....who knew there was so much history with Old Navy's spokesdogs? There was Magic? Ok, I digress....)

Fridays the girls do not have summer school, but brother-bear does. This last Friday, we had a mom & girls day. We went to Hart's Nursery and looked at the ponds and waterfalls, and all the pretty flowers in bloom. Then we picked up Subway and went to the park. It was a beautiful day! But, the playground apparently didn't wear them out because they wanted to fill the little pool when we got home!

Cheese!

FUN!

Avery is guilty of going up the slide backwards. Why do kids do that?

Ahhh, the relaxing sounds of the waterfall..........

Busted, trying to throw rocks in the pond!

2 pretty Gazebo gals, if you ask me.

Ok, so how fun is this? I earned the "funnest mom ever" title Friday afternoon for allowing them to put their pool at the end of the slide!

Avery was slightly more reserved with her sliding.....as you will see if you view the video below.

By the time the pool was out, Brock was home from school. He had the best idea of lounging on a blanket. He was my pretty boy blue in this photo, although the girls have to correct me and say "mom! Boys are not PRETTY!" I don't care....Brock's my pretty boy. In fact, there is a pop song called "Pretty Girl Rock" and I sing "Pretty Boy Brock" in its place. ;)

Check out this video. Cora was sooooo excited! And, thankfully, no one took a nose-dive over the front of the pool. :)

I finally got out a stepping stone that I purchased a long time ago. "Bloom where God plants you"--my new inspiring quote for myself. Of course, I feel like I really need LOTS of Miracle Grow and Round-Up to help. ;)

Until next time......