Seanelle Is All Smiles!

Seanelle has been wanting her teeth to fall out for a long time. This picture is fairly recent, but the next picture of her she hopes we post is the one without her front tooth. She just has to lose it first.

She actually has several getting loose, but this time the tooth is VERY loose and the tooth next to it looks like it is moving over to make space for the new tooth. As soon as it comes out, I'll be sure to post a picture. Seanelle will probably want me to record every single step... so please pray she doesn't swallow it while eating. I've had two kids do that before and they are so devasted that they don't get to see it.

Just for Fun...

GaryTodd decided that sometimes he just likes to wear his clothes backwards. Probably because he gets a little extra attention by doing this. This picture was taken during Vacation Bible school last summer. He had a blast, and wore his clothing backwards most days. He would usually let us put his pants on the correctly, but not always...

He knows what he likes, and even if he decides later that it isn't something that he likes, as far as you know... That is what he likes. Somewhere along the way he decided not to wear his clothing backwards... unless he feels like it. I don't know what makes the difference yet.

This picture was taken on Bodhi's birthday get together. This was one of my favorite pictures because of the smiles on Seanelle's and Bodhi's faces. Seanelle was getting a little concerned for Bodhi. Where ever Chuck E. Cheese went, he had a following of children bigger than Bodhi. It was Bodhi's birthday so she wasn't going to let him go by without Bodhi getting a hug from the celebrity. Bodhi didn't even mind that she shoved him in the middle of the crowd. He was just happy to be getting a hug from the rat. Although I did get pictures of that moment, this is the picture that I like because you can see the look on both of their faces.

Todd and I figured out the other night that we have 28 neices and nephews. Wow! I was thinking about posting pictures of all our neices and nephews to show that we don't play favorites. But after finding out we have 28 of them, and we don't have pictures of all of them, and I don't even know if I would recognize all of them if they aren't with their parents, I decided that it is okay if I only post pictures of the ones that are closest to us. I would like to have pictures of a few others, but I will get them eventually. I will definitely be showing them off when I get the opportunity. (My oldest neice is 29 years old this year! That's the picture I really want! The most recent picture I have of her, I am quite certain she wouldn't want me to share...)

Bowling Night

Friday night we decided to go bowling as a family. Although Seanelle gets out often, GaryTodd and I haven't been out much. This was the last week of bowling for the season. Remarkably, the team is in second place. This is the best place we've gotten in our history on the Friday night league. Position round was last week, but tonight was just a fun night. It was 9 pin no tap. (For those of you that aren't bowlers, this means that if you get 9 pins down on the first ball it counts as a strike. And I will assume you are aware that a full rack is 10 pins.)
I would like to say that Seanelle, GaryTodd and I were very good spectators and cheered often. The truth is, most of my time was spent convincing them we didn't need to spend all our money in the video game machines, and taking them to the bathroom, and getting them to eat... I tried to pay attention to the bowling, but it seemed there was so much going on to draw my attention away...

Tomorrow night will be the banquet dinner. It will be difficult for GaryTodd. He loves playing with the other children, but they will inevitably be participating in activities where he won't be allowed to go. Seanelle has been very good to him, and keeps trying to include him as often as she can. When GaryTodd starts feeling neglected by his sister, he just yells, "SEANELLE! COME HERE AND SIT WITH ME!!!" And she is such a nice big sister that she just does.

Fire Station Field Trip

At the end of the last post, I had mentioned Seanelle's field trip. I just remembered that my mom took pictures and so I have another opportunity to show her off! The first time I saw her standing in line at school, I was amazed at how still she stayed and refused to talk. Even to ME! So I decided we were going to play a new game at home when I needed some quiet time...

In this picture, the kids are sitting and waiting for the fire truck to return. They were called out while they were visiting. Luckily it was a nice day. Seanelle loves to be outside, so it didn't bother her at all to sit on the grass and wait. It probably wouldn't have bothered her if it was snowing either. But for my mom's sake, I was glad for the nice weather.

Seanelle was teasing me today that she wants to stay home with me all day everyday. I told her Summer Vacation was just around the corner. She started planning things to do for the summertime. None of her plans seemed to include me. How soon she forgets...

April 20th Update

GaryTodd finally got his purple cast. He wasn't very thrilled with seeing the pins in his legs, but he was happy to have the new cast. The doctor told him not to walk on it for a long, long, time. (This is translated to at least 6, (perhaps 8) weeks of absolutely NO pressure on his leg.) GaryTodd was ready to negotiate this with the doctor until he saw that the doctor had put something in his leg. Maybe he shouldn't argue with that guy...

His leg is healing, and the alignment is much better than it was before the surgery. Todd and I are concerned about the small bone, which doesn't look to be aligned well, but we have to trust the doctors and the nurses that tell us everything will be okay.

Sunday we all went to church for the first time since the accident. It was great to be there to see everyone, and great to be out of the house for something pleasant. I love the people in my church and it was fantastic to be surrounded by them again. It was the first time GaryTodd & I were out of the house without having to go to see a doctor.

On Monday, My brother Nick took GaryTodd to the Dollar Store (one of GaryTodd's favorite places) and then to McDonald's (another favorite place) and back home. He went in our old stroller so he didn't have to be in a car, got to be outside and without having to be carried. The sun was shining so brightly that he "needed" to go to the Dollar Store to get some sunglasses. He was pretty excited because he found a real deal. Not only did he get sunglasses, but handcuffs and a badge, and a gun that shoots suction cup bullets... It was really good for him to be able to just enjoy being out of the house. When he went to bed, he was planning his next outing.

I started physical therapy yesterday, and not looking forward to 10+ weeks of this. The muscle spasms that I had afterwards was pretty intense for a while. They were tolerable by the time we took GaryTodd to his appointment, but I was very thankful my brother found the stroller.


Todd is still working more than he should trying to take care of everyone, but I am also grateful for my mom. While Todd is at work, my mom has been taking Corissa to work, and taking Corissa and me to our therapy appointments. She has also been taking Seanelle to and from school for me. She even filled in for me for a field trip that I had volunteered for before the accident. I'm sure she didn't realize how hectic her life would become when she retired. Thank you Mom!

GaryTodd in Recovery

GaryTodd was such a little trooper... This is a video to show how good he is at always trying to be happy. He is falling asleep with the popcycle in his hand, and as soon as he sees the camera smiles and says, "Cheese!"

My Niece & Nephew

This is a picture of my beautiful niece & nephew...

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Hmmm...

Not really sure what I want to do with this yet... The possibilities are endless...

This is the latest picture of all of our children.

And this is a video that makes me smile:

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