They Really Are the KINGS Kids!

Cannon joined the youngest choir group at our church called Kings Kids. He absolutely LOVES going every week and takes a lot of pride out of singing songs about Jesus. His first "performance" was totally cute. He's in the group with so many of his friends: Dominic, Ethan, Jasmine, Katie Lynn, and many many more. I'm so glad he loves it as much as he does. Here is a video of them singing and some pictures.

Family Fun Day at the Mall 2009

Every year we, and hundreds of other kids, descend upon the Martinsburg Mall for a day of fun geared all for kids. Moon bounces, puppet shows, crafts, reptile exhibit, pony rides and so much more. The kids absolutely love it. They did so great this year. Chance has been sick, so he just wanted to go for the ride in his stroller, but Cannon and Colin walked the entire time. Needless to say, they were worn out after pizza in the food court!

My Three Sons

I just couldn't resist putting these new pics of the boys up on the blog. They turned out so cute. The boys are all so beautiful. God has really blessed us with super cool kids!

Mardi Gras!

As they do every year during Mardi Gras, Carol and the kids (minus Harris) came up to visit for the week. We got them right off the plane and started the fun with a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium. It was really great! Chance enjoyed being pushed around in Grandma's wheelchair. It was nice for us too. Didn't have to chase him around and it was light and easy to push! Plus access to all sorts of stuff... one of the VERY FEW perks to have a child with a disability. We also went snow tubing one night. I got to go this year! Just me and Cannon, and of course, Carol, Maddie and Travis. It was rainy at first, but it let up and we had a great time. Cannon kept saying "this is like a dream come true mommy!" "i went really really really really really really fast!" We had dinner out at Kobe Japanese one night and the kids got to try out chopsticks. Chance was mesmerized by the fire... Grandma... not so much! We took a trip down to JayDees Family Fun center and played video games, air hockey and climb in the climbing area. Also did a bowling night at good ol' Pikeside Bowling alley for some duckpins. I think the kids were sad to see them go home... we packed in so much fun, and Colin had a live in playmate with Maddie. He adored her! Unfortunately Carol had a heck of time trying to get home. We got some late winter snow and her flight got cancelled. Then it was a flight into a different state and rental car and a 2am return to her home before she got to rest. But, it was great to see them as always! As they do every year during Mardi Gras, Carol and the kids (minus Harris) came up to visit for the week. We got them right off the plane and started the fun with a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium. It was really great! Chance enjoyed being pushed around in Grandma's wheelchair. It was nice for us too. Didn't have to chase him around and it was light and easy to push! Plus access to all sorts of stuff... one of the VERY FEW perks to have a child with a disability. We also went snow tubing one night. I got to go this year! Just me and Cannon, and of course, Carol, Maddie and Travis. It was rainy at first, but it let up and we had a great time. Cannon kept saying "this is like a dream come true mommy!" "i went really really really really really really fast!" We had dinner out at Kobe Japanese one night and the kids got to try out chopsticks. Chance was mesmerized by the fire... Grandma... not so much! We took a trip down to JayDees Family Fun center and played video games, air hockey and climb in the climbing area. Also did a bowling night at good ol' Pikeside Bowling alley for some duckpins. I think the kids were sad to see them go home... we packed in so much fun, and Colin had a live in playmate with Maddie. He adored her! Unfortunately Carol had a heck of time trying to get home. We got some late winter snow and her flight got cancelled. Then it was a flight into a different state and rental car and a 2am return to her home before she got to rest. But, it was great to see them as always!

My Life Is...

I subscribe to Rachel Coleman's blog. She's the Signing Time creator and stars in the videos with her daughter. She recently posts a nice blog about what life is. It touched me and I wanted to share it with you. She has a great blog and I highly recommend subscribing to it if you are a part of the disability community and just want to relate to the experiences of another family. www.signingtime.com/rachel

Here's the blog post

My Life Is…

Published by Rachel Coleman at 9:42 am under Crazy Little Thing Called Life

My Life Is…

Almost three years ago I noticed something about my life. I noticed that when I looked at all I was dealing with in work, family, home, and with my kids… when I looked at it all or even a part of it, I found myself saying, “Wow, this is really hard!”

I started to note each time I called my life “hard,” and when I told someone that things were “hard,” and I even noted when I thought that word. Loading a wheelchair into the car was hard. Traveling was hard. Miscommunications with Leah were hard. Lifting Lucy was hard. Communicating with my husband Aaron was hard. Filming and writing music was hard. Meetings were hard. Getting home before the bus arrived was hard. I also noticed that each day I was hitting the snooze button on my alarm clock over and over in a futile attempt to postpone getting up and dealing with my “hard” life.

Wow, “hard” was a powerful word and it was running rampant in my thoughts. It was almost a default word, a word I felt stuck with. I decided to try a little experiment. It was simple really. I would give up using the word “hard” to describe everything and I would find a new word or phrase to replace it with.

Was my life hard? Is my life hard? There are plenty of people who tried to convince me that my life really was hard, because in their eyes they completely believed that what I had was much harder than what they had. I didn’t care. I just couldn’t stand living with that thought about my kids and my family any more. Is having Leah really hard? Is Lucy hard? I dropped the word “hard” out of my vocabulary.

Now, what could fill that space? What would best describe my life? And how exciting to stand in front of a blank sheet of paper titled “My Life Is…” and be able to choose the next word. It was a little daunting. What would I choose to call my life?

I didn’t take the task lightly. I looked from many angles. One thing I saw was that I was managing a lot of unexpected circumstances. My life hadn’t gone the way I expected and I found myself wondering if anyone’s life goes the way that they expect. That would be so boring! I mean really! What if your life turned out exactly how you thought it would? My life could never be called boring. It was quite the opposite. That was it! Three years ago I wrote the words I now use to define and describe my life.

My life is an unexpected adventure!

It was simple and true, and so much more empowering than what I called my life before. For the past three years now, I have been living my life from that perspective and I think that anyone one who knows me or even watches from a distance would agree. My life IS an unexpected adventure.

This year, instead of a New Year’s Resolution, I invite you to take a look at the words you use to describe your life. Listen to the thoughts that are telling your story. If you have a default word, that leaves you clinging to your mattress, I invite you to take some time and fill in the blank for yourself with words that you choose.

My life is…

I can’t wait to hear what you come up with!

~Rachel

Photo Op!

Okay, Okay... call me crazy... but if I can capture the nuanses of my little guys... I'm gonna! Colin has really become so animated in his facial expressions. It's hilarious to see him learn and try new things. One night this week during dinner, he was really into his corn on the cob and he also had fun posing for the camera. My kids are so used to me snapping pictures they automatically say "cheese" as soon as I put the camera to my eye!" This time, he decided to be silly for me and I ate it up!

Rub a Dub Dub!

Some nights during bath time, I just want to scream... the kids are crazy... throwing bubbles at each other and driving me nuts. And other nights they are just so cute I can't help but soak up their cuteness. This is one of those nights when I just couldn't get enough of their cuteness!