Reames is 15...and his 2nd half iron man.

Our little man of steel turned 15 last week...

but we'd been celebrating for over a week before that since he got his birthday presents early in preparation his 2nd half iron man in SC. 

 ...gifts were arm and leg warmers, goggles, and custom made Rudy Project sunglasses

Reames transitioning out to the last leg of the competition...the bike to the run.

he was very well equipped

this was the day before at a practice swim in the lake near Anderson SC

I really enjoyed my one on one time with Reames...we enjoyed a few meals and even an antique car show... and I really liked watching him do the one thing that fires him up...triathlons.  He came in 2nd in his age group of 19 and under... he was impressive.  I was proud.

Dear Beloved God in Heaven

Please give us a president that loves this country and everything it stands for.

Please give us a president who respects you as the one true God.

Please give us a president who will, with your help, restore this nation to its former glory, the way you created her.

Please help us to respect what you have given to us and not take anything for granted ever again.

Please God weaken the evil and strengthen the good both without and within.

May our eyes be opened.

In Jesus name,

Amen

God Bless America

homecomin' '12

Homecoming week has come and gone but I would be remiss not to share these shots.

it's fun seeing the boys enjoy high school together--(makes me wish my brother and i were closer in age because he is freakin' hilarious and would have gottne me into all sorts of trouble!)

I heard through the grape vine that Reames was dumped into a trash can one afternoon...and the dumper was his big brother Adams!  and Reames was totally cool with it.  

oh brothers.

yes-  he is ORANGE...this was spirit day and the Freshmen were trying to win the pep rally competition.

Love high school...but don't want to go back!

a new runner

I love a runner...either on my table, at the foot of a bed for a splash of color, or across the top of a bookshelf.  So when I saw this jute upholstery webbing at the Country Living Fair last year...I bought up several yards.  It was CHEAP.  It also comes in a jute/black version.

The best part was that it has absolutely NO SEWING ....it is all hot glued and bound with double fold bias tape.  Glue as you weave between layers and it is pretty sturdy!

punkins, punkins!

I love this time of year but I must admit I don't really care for scary decor...so I made these up with the thought that they could be around through the month of November...not just for Halloween.

a white,  fake, pumpkin wrapped in brown tulle and topped with jute & grosgrain ribbons.

another fake pumkin but adorned with scrap ribbon.  (used the hot glue gun to secure)

PS- I got these pumpkins SUPER cheap at Hobby Lobby because they were on sale and DAMAGED!  The ribbon covers the cracked areas.

perpetual calendar.

man...I wish I had started this one back in '94...I could kick myself, but I'm not letting that stop me from getting going on it now...

It's a perpetual memory calendar.  I can see this being a great conversation starter at the dinner table with all the kids contributing and taking turns to write the days events on the card.

I used the BIG index cards and made monthly dividers. 

I used a stamp to put the month and day on each card but you could just as easily write it on the top line.

Each card has a date and every day you jot a quick memory, funny, or momentous thing that happened that day.  Then- each year you can read back and see what happened on that day in previous years.  I also added birthdays, Gotcha Days, Adoption Dats, anniversries, etc on the top line.

These would make great meaningful Christmas gifts!  Jot me a note if you want more details...also stole the idea from Pinterest, FYI!

a little Grady update

We made it!

(& yes, it WAS a group effort!)

10 weeks in a series of 3 casts.

(notice the duct tape repair...give the kid a plasma car and he can DO some damage!)

and remember me telling you that they would reattach the tendon on another part of his foot and pull it through the bone to the underside of his foot and

ATTACH IT WITH A BUTTON to heal?

It was a reall live live ACTUAL button, y'all!

so now he is in week 2 of 2 of constant boot wearin'...then it's boot for daytime only for 2 more weeks....then nuttin'!

isn't this the grossest?  His foot after 6 weeks in the last cast...the dark places are scabs over the incisions.  One weirdly cool note was that his casted leg was waaay darker than the other leg...because his tan had faded from the Summer and sloughed away ....eeeewwwwwwww.

So real life---it took him several days to walk on his own and he is still limping significantly.  But we are seeing more and more glimpses of my sweet old Grady each day...he's in there and coming back!

Thanks for your prayers---contact me if your are a CF parent and have questions about his ATT surgery to repair a stubborn right clubbed foot.

tiffany