VACAY RECAP

Little Vacations are so wonderful....not very "relaxing" with my crew, but very renewing for the soul. We had a really great time just 25 minutes up the road. Just what we needed.
I love these critters. Our family completely believes in the power of the t-shirt. That is the ONLY thing these two will wear. I have bought TONS of shirts and this is what they want. They even have them categorized in to every day t-shirts and "good" t-shirts. (Dalton's is an every day t-shirt and Savannah's is a "good" one.)

We had a fantastic time at the Tunica Aquatic Center. If you haven't been...GO. Call us and we will go with you. I'll even put on a bathing suit and swim....it was that AWESOME. I don't know too many places a family of four can get four hours of fun for $16 either. LOVED IT.

This is Jeff trying to talk our kiddos into jumping off the 16 foot platform. It took a little bit of time, but NOT much.

If Jeff jumped off once, he jumped off 900 times. He said his legs were sore today from climbing the stairs so many times. He has also announced that this will be the perfect place to have his 40th birthday party. That was news to me. I had NO idea we were having a party.

It didn't take long before Jeff and Dalton graduated to the 22 foot platform. Once they did, they never went back to 16 feet. (That's Dalton suspended in mid-air.) Savannah didn't make the leap. She still had a ton of fun. Sixteen feet was just dandy with her.

When we left there we went to the outlet mall for the quickest pass I've ever made. We were all exhausted!! We did pick up a few things and then we made our way back to the hotel. Everyone was asleep much earlier than the previous night:)

We got home about noon and this little toot wanted some more pictures. She wanted to brighten things up a bit. We thought the tulips were blooming at the Dixon Gallery but they weren't quite ready. (They should be by next weekend and I'm going to take my kids and get some great colorful shots.) So we did what we could and found as much beautiful foliage as possible. We actually did pretty good. (These are straight off the memory card with no Photoshop. Not bad.)

...and of course these are NOT the best ones. I wouldn't dare show the winning shot prematurely!! Haleigh is such a great little girl. Yes, I still call her a little girl. After all, I met her when she was three years old. Her mom (Jenifer) is the BEST friend I have ever had so that makes Haleigh my adopted child.....and she drove ME around all afternoon.

Savy girl had a soccer game tonight. (Yes, thank you for asking, I am worn smack OUT.) She didn't play her best tonight, but she still did a good job. She was worn out, too. Jenifer and Haleigh came to the game to see her. That was very sweet of them.

THAT is what worn SMACK OUT looks like. It kinda looks like someone smacked me. That's my friend Jenifer. Haleigh was sitting in her lap. Dalton cut her out of the picture....that's OK though, I took 197 of her earlier this afternoon.

Savannah is the "throw in queen". She has to do it most of the time. The other girls don't seem to understand that you DON'T want to throw it to the other team. I won't even touch the fact that they don't understand the concept of "throw it up the line" and the worst part is that back foot. It HAS to stay on the ground...Soccer 101. I've never understood why that's so hard but IT IS.

Savy played Goalie for half the game. She hates it, but at least she got to wear the cool green shirt. I was silently thankful because that means not as much running which means less wear and tear on those ankles and knees. They are swollen tonight, but not as bad as last week.

Goal Kick!! Her RUSH team makes her work on her ball arcs. Pretty cool...even cooler to see her putting those new skills to use in this league. I just wish he would get her out of goal.....

Her lab results were back today. Her blood tests were RA negative but her ESR was high...just like mine. We go see her pediatrician next Wednesday to determine appropriate care until we can see the Pediatric Rheumatologist. Approximately 50% people with rheumatoid arthritis are blood negative. Did you know that?

I've decided I'm good with all of this. Life is what is. I don't know where I heard the saying, "That which does not kill us only makes us stronger." I heard it YEARS ago and I really like it. Adaptability is an essential key in life. I used to not have any. I'm not saying I'm totally go with the flow (Jeff is) but I have learned that it is usually best. I wake up every morning with an amazing gift. Somehow while I'm sleeping, God gives me everything I need to deal with the next day. Sometimes I have to call on God to help me get through the day, but that's okay. I think he likes to hear from us. Can you imagine how you would feel if you didn't talk to your children? I know God loves to hear from me and right now, I call on him quite a lot.

Thank you for the prayers and well wishes. Please don't stop. Her negative blood tests mean a long road to diagnosis. In a child, they have to rule out EVERY thing else. Pray for her to have no fear of tests. They scared me to death. I can't imagine how I would have reacted if I were 10 years old. Please keep Dalton in mind, too if you have the time. He's worried about his little sister and has had to take a back seat to all of this. He is such a sweet kid. He inherited the gift of compassion for others. He's been that way his whole life.

They are both in the midst of room makeovers (I call it a HOT MESS at the moment). I should have some pictures this weekend of the progress. Jeff built Savannah a loft bed kinda college dorm room style. It's great with a built in desk on the lower end. Dalton got a bunk bed with the bottom bunk being a futon. It's really cool and they will both have a lot more room now.

I'm out. Gotta work tomorrow!

SHINE,

Kacy

Oh, hey, if you have time leave me a comment on which pictures you are liking...we have to decide by the end of this weekend which ONE we want to enter. (Kinda hard when you took 1000)