It's been a while...

Our little family has been busy since my last way too long ago post! Dillan received his Wish from Make a Wish...the whole family traveled to Hawaii to visit Pearl Harbor over Thanksgiving break 2014. He earned it after undergoing his second brain surgery in January 2014. So many posts to write and so little time LOL

Merry Christmas

Yesterday we enjoyed the day with our family. It was a good day. The kids got more than they need. Isabelle said "This is the best Christmas ever!" We are truly blessed! 

Home Organization 101 Week 12

This week I am focusing on the bathroom. Your day starts off better in a cleaned and organized bathroom or at least I think it does.  We are also starting school this week so I am praying to complete my organizing tasks. Happy organizing! Here's your inspiration!

Our Recent Visit to Memphis

Dillan's checkup at the end of July was turned into a mini family vacation. We took all of the kids and my parents so we could enjoy some fun in Memphis. We traveled up on Saturday, July 27 and took our time getting there. Once we arrived in Memphis we enjoyed a yummy dinner at On The Border in Germantown. 
Sunday we had fun walking the entire Mississippi River at Mud Island. Isabelle and Ethan loved it and wanted to stay all day!

We enjoyed watching leaves and stick boats make their way down river. After our walk over the same bridge Tom Cruise ran on in the movie The Firm we rode the monorail back and headed to lunch. For lunch we decided to try The Spaghetti Warehouse. It was delicious! An added blessing for us, it was National Lasagna Day and their yummy lasagna was on special :) (I love a good sale)! 

After stuffing ourselves we decided to drive to Arkansas. Memphis is on the edge of the state line so it's literally just crossing a bridge on I-40. We drove to West Memphis and stopped at Walmart. I totally forgot to stop at the Welcome to Arkansas sign and take a picture of the kids :-/We wanted the kids to see the Loraine Motel so we drove back to downtown Memphis. History takes on a different meaning in person. To see where Dr. King stood and was killed is heartbreaking. 

Dillan's first appointment was Sunday evening so after our visit to the Loraine Motel we headed over to the hospital. Tim, Dillan and I got checked in at the Memphis Grizzlies House and we let the kids play for a little while before walking over to the hospital for the dreaded blood work appointment. Chandler decided to come back with us and I think it was good for him and Dillan. Chandler was able to see how hard this is for Dillan (he was very supportive and helpful when we had to hold Dillan down). Dillan appreciated his brother showing he cares :). We made it through getting the dreaded IV and walked back to the MGH to enjoy the family area a little longer. Unfortunately a game of air hockey was a little too much fun and Dillan accidently pulled his IV out. He was distraught to say the least. We stopped the bleeding and walked back to the hospital.

Nurse Ron took amazing care of Dillan and had him smiling again (Dillan said he did such a good job he'd let him put an IV in his other arm). Ron is an amazing and caring person and even checked on us the next day as he was coming into work and passed by my parents in the front lobby.After all that excitement we drove to the hotel to get our things for the night. Dillan wanted Gammy to sit with him for his MRI so Gamp stayed with Chandler, Ethan and Isabelle while Tim drove us back to St Jude's. (we booked a hotel in Germantown which is about 20 minutes from the hospital). Our day of appointments started with his 12th MRI at 6:45am. After it we grabbed some breakfast in the Kay Cafe (Kay Jewelers is a big supporter of St Jude's). Then Daddy, Gamps and the kids arrived so we headed to turn in the tabs and donations we had collected since our last visit in March. We had a little time before Dillan's next appointment so we played air hockey (this time without an IV so no worries) and Isabelle had fun on the playground at MGH. Dillan had a heart echo scheduled and he wanted Gammy and Gamps with him. I had to walk in with them for any questions but when I was going to leave he asked me to stay (rare moment that he wants me). The results were normal! Yay!! We headed to our next appointment which was OT. He did fine. She reminded him to take his time when writing so he can regain proper letter formation. Overall he's doing good :) For dinner we rode the trolly to Beale Street to Dyer's to try their famous burgers. They were good. We rode the trolly back to the hospital so we could enjoy craft night at MGH (some nights various local businesses, churches, etc.will come with dinner and/or something fun for families to do). Isabelle made a lightening bug while Dillan and Ethan made little aquariums.

Afterwards Dillan wanted to take everyone to one of his favorite places Menchie's (it's a frozen yogurt place similar to Chill). We all enjoyed a yummy dessert and played on the game table (a Samsung touchscreen smart table). Then daddy, Dillan, Ethan and I dropped off everyone else at the hotel and headed back to St Jude's. Our last fun thing before heading home was a yummy lunch at Memphis Pizza. Isabelle enjoyed it so much she asked to be excused to find our server and order another cheese pizza (she's one independent 5 year old). Before we started our drive home we dropped Tim off at the airport to fly to DC for work. 
Now for Dillan's MRI results. Dr Wright is always such a pleasure to talk with as is our entire medical army :) His MRI shows slight growth (1 millimeter). Since there was growth his past scans were reviewed and they were able to determine it took about a year and a half for this amount of growth. At this point he will continue to be watched and closely monitored for any further growth. The neurosurgeon did not feel surgery was necessary at this point. This is a minor bump in the road and we keep our faith in God and His amazing plans for Dillan. As always we appreciate the love and support everyone has shown us throughout this journey. We could not make it through this without all of our prayer warriors.

Home Organization 101 Week 11

We live in our living room and sometimes it really shows! I try to keep clutter at bay by having a place for everything. Nothing is ever perfect... Here's some inspiration! Happy organizing!

Home Organization 101 Week 10

We need a Mudroom! I have been looking at ways Tim and I could carve one out in out in our happy little home. He built a very small unit when we had two children but it doesn't really work with four. For the time being we'll keep making due with what we have... Here is an amazing mudroom! Happy organizing!

Home Organization 101 Week 9

Maybe this week's target area will be an easy goal to accomplish. The dining room is not typically a difficult area of the house to organize and keep clean. My sweet little darlings love to hide in the dining room so ours may see a tad (as Isabelle says) more action than normal. I am blessed with a beautiful china cabinet Tim and I found on clearence when we bought this house eight years ago. I keep our china in it and a few pretty knick-knacks from Ukraine (my family heritage) and a pretty Disney platter.

Check out BFOL's dining room!  Happy organizing!