One more from the patch

This is about 2:30. Nora is so tired she can hardly keep her eyes open. Still, I like the picture.

Home Schooling

We just got back from the pumpkin patch. We went with our home school group called Roots and Wings. We has a great day and Drew is really starting to get to know the kids. The great thing about the group is we get to know the whole family and many of the families share similar values. We have made the big decision to home school next year and I couldn't be happier. Val and I are completely on the same page about this which makes it seem like a simple decision. We seem to really agree when it comes to the important stuff...(don't get me started on how high to turn up the heat in the winter).

We will take the schooling thing year by year, and of course if we are in a different place that will impact our decision. I just look forward to spending time with the kids as they get a bit older and continuing on the learning path with them. As a teacher, it just makes no sense to me to go and work with other children when I can teach my own. There are a lot of opportunities right here in Indy such as museums and farms, and as they get older we can do some more day trips. They also will be able to participate in things like sports and music with out our schedules getting too crazy. In short, I believe homeschooling will allow us to slow down and enable Drew and Nora to relish their time as children. Kind of like the slow food movement, only kids:)

In the corn maze

Drew loved feeding the goats, he was running with them and hugging them, I surprised he didn't get kicked.


Nora right in there with the big girls.

Remission! What a beautiful word.

So Pop got his test results back after completing his final round of chemo. He is in remission, and it seems to be a full remission. You may have heard the collective sigh of relief, it stretches from the mid west to the Rocky Mountains! He still is having trouble with his lung filling up and will have to undergo a intensive surgery for that. His blood counts are also low and we hope to see those go up quickly. There are still a lot of unknowns but what we know for today is that there is no cancer present in Pop's body. I think we are all getting more sleep.

Nora has the chicken pox now, this has been a long affair. But at least we are getting it over with. It will be another week or so and then we will be back to normal. She is not nearly as sick as Drew was but is COVERED with the pox...poor thing has them from head to knee. The first night of itching kept her up all night, from 11-3:30 I think it was. It solidified our thoughts on a third baby, not now!! (that is about as definite as we get)

Fall is here and the Drew is so excited for Halloween. We have been busy making ghosts and pumkins and plan to make some cookies for a party Sat night. (Val will have to stay home with pox girl) Drew has a tigger costume ready to go, Nora wants to be Pooh (at Drew's urgings) and I really need to figure that one out. Maybe Drew's old monkey costume with a pot of huny? Stay tunned....

Smile of the Day

Pox update

Drew is feeling much better today and actually would pose for a few pictures. We are starting to get used to him looking this way. We are well on our way to recovery and am really hoping Nora gets them when she is a bit older. I know that is wishful thinking.

Chicken Pox!

Drew woke up with a little blister Wednesday morning. I thought nothing of it and headed off to home school group where we fraternized with lots of our friends for many hours. That night, Val felt something on his head and then another, that is we we figured it was chicken pox. He only had a few the next day and a high fever. So we went to consult with Dr. Park who assured us this is a classic case of the bawk- bawk pox. I don't mess with rash and high fever...poor Drew is my little guinea pig. So now he's got the pox. His leg is hurting a lot so I actually took him to the hospital today. I started reading on line and felt that this was an abnormal symptom. He's really limping and we are carrying him everywhere. But the Dr. assured me it was normal and that maybe I should have vaccinated him, hrrumph.

Anyway, he is doing fine and is quite the trooper. He feels lousy and has watched more tv than ever but is still trying hard not to scratch and being sweet. He is a model patient.

Now we are just watching Nora, although it would be nice to get it out of the way, it really will be hard because she is so little, warm baths and Sesame Street won't quite cut it.

We have decided to not take pictures right now, he really feels punky.

Fall is here? Wait it's 90 degrees today!

Nora on her first pony, she didn't last long but enjoyed it all the same.

The Copelands are my dad's cousins. They used to own a working farm complete with corn and cows. Now, it is a smaller scale (just like all family farms these days) with vegetables. They have a farm stand and Pop and the kids and I enjoying picking out green beans, peppers, apples, mums and other treats. We also enjoyed seeing Elane(pictured) and Donna.




Fall is here, and baseball is heating up.


This is a picture of our homeschool group. Lots of nice people and fun.


At the stables...