Thing 1's Birthday...finally

OK, so it wasn't as exciting as the Air Show would have been but he did finally get to eat something...and keep it down. :D Not to mention open his birthday cards and have some cake.

Breakfast comes mighty early on Sunday so it wasn't quite as enjoyable as a Saturday. ;)

After a long day of church and video games we finally got down to business. (Yes, that is, in fact, Lawrence Welk on the TV. It's how we swing at our house.)

A true sign of aging...you're presents get smaller. ;)

We discovered, too late, that we really need to buy a few more candles.  We had a few individual candles and one '6' so we just added 4 + 6. :D

Babycakes finally found something he likes to eat. In this picture he's saying, "Finally they're not trying to make me eat veggies." (Yes, that is Guy Lambardo on the TV. We swing that way, too.)

CDH videos for Thing 1's B-Day

Sadly, Thing 1 is sick today so we won't be taking him to the Cable Air Show as planned, so no real pics today for that. He'll have to pick something else later. As a result it could take years before we do anything for his 10th birthday. :D

Instead I found some YouTube videos from CHOP discussing modern treatment of his birth defect. I was interested to see that, while some of the diagnostic tools have improved, actual outcome is around the same.  70% survival rate is basically a 0% improvement over the past decade.  And, of course, we can't forget that the 70% is only counting babies who are allowed to be born. A huge percentage of CDH babies are killed by abortion every year.

January 7, 2002

January 7, 2012

Last post for today, probably a while...until Saturday when we have the next birthday. :D

OK, for the surprise I mentioned on my Facebook earlier...

















It was a day over 2 years in the making....























A day I both hoped and feared....

























For those of you who guessed "pregnant" I just want to say....



























There's no need to call the psych ward and prep me a room...



























Coz I'm not...:D



























OK, now that I've tortured everyone who's made it this far...

Yep, that's exactly what you're thinking. H-F's hair coming off.

And so it goes into the envelope and off to Locks of Love. With no intention of ever doing it again...sniff. ;)

Finished product. :)

PS Anyone need a bottle of de-tangler?

Happy 15th

January 3rd marked The Teenager's 15th birthday. He chose the San Diego Zoo for his happy day. That made mom overly happy. (Shh, don't tell him. ;))

Breakfast at Chick-fil-A.

Things 1 & 2 with the giraffes. (It was awfully bright yesterday.)

Visiting the flamingos.

Happened upon a cat walk. ;)

Thing 2 convinced us we should take a bus tour. He was right. H-F enjoyed it.

Pic of an elephant, by Thing 2.

On our way to the sky buckets.

Gorillas from the sky buckets.

Learning the difference between getting eaten by a grizzly bear and a polar bear.

T1 flying the helicopter. The kids were bummed that it wasn't more like the Palm Springs Air Museum where we can spend hours playing inside, not just stop for a picture.

Inside the seal cave with our new friend, Otto.

Back down to the bottom of the zoo.

'Twas a wonderful day. Is there anything less in the most awesome city in the whole universe? Um, that'd be San Diego. :)

New Year at Hume Lake Christian Camp

After trying to upload all of Thing 2's pictures on Facebook on his birthday two weeks ago, I decided it was far less a headache to do it on the blog.  (Isn't that why I started this in the first place?) So here are the pics from our very enjoyable family holiday up at Hume Lake.

Our posh digs. 4 sets of bunks, a pull-out queen mattress (seen here under the bunk), but, most importantly, our own bathroom. :)

View from our balcony.

Obviously we didn't swim. :D

Or play volleyball...much to The Teenager's chagrin.

Or do any boating.

Another view of our room. Fortunately there were plenty of electrical outlets to keep our phones charged so the kids could play video games.  That's about all phones are good for up there.  No internet or phone connection. Talk about a retreat.

H-F and Babycakes. BC's jacket made him look like he had his shoulder's hunched up all weekend.  Too cute. :D

Prepping the snow.

Playing in the snow.

Going for a hayride.

Going skating for the very first time ever. (The Teenager is a pro. But don't get me started, I'll start sniffling. ;))

Babycakes with a very concerned look. Not sure why. lol.

Grateful for the wall.

After dining activities.

First song we sang.

That made Thing 2 very, very happy. Mighty to Save is his favorite song.  He loves Jeremy Camps version best, for obvious reasons. ;)

Snow building.

While The Teenager went off to play broomball with the other JH & HS kids.

End result. A red and blue castle. BTW, we were supposed to make an animal, but try to convince a 4yo. :D

A little climbing.

Finally, NYE. H-F & The Teenager were the only kids to make it through.

Fortunately my dh likes this sort of thing so I stayed in the room and slept.

A view on the way down the mountain.

Here are two of the pics the pro took on Saturday afternoon.