Happy 10th Birthday Latoya!

This is going to a very quick update! I am hoping to do a longer one with pics tomorrow, but don't hold your breath! Today is Toya's 10th Birthday! There is no way I have a 10 yr. old. It's absolutely unheard of. Where did the time go?? I am SOOOO old! Anyway, today was very low key, we had a little party for her at my mom's, just cake and ice cream. She will be having a party for her school friends on Dec. 13th. I still can't beleive she is 10, maybe if I write it a few more times, it will sink in....lol. We as always have been busy. November is one of the worse months for us, because we have a ton of birthdays.....the same every year. My mom's is the 18th, doug's mom's is the 19th, doug's is the 20th, and toya's and my sister jessica's are the 25th. CRAZY! Plus there are a couple of neices and nephews and other close relatives in the same time frame. Anyway, I'm glad they are over, now Christmas here we come!

Here's some more exciting news.....I am going to be an auntie again! My sister Sarah is pregnant again and due about July. I can't wait because this time they live only about 10 min. from us and not half way around the world!!! Grayson is going to be a big brother. This too is hard to beleive! WOW!

Ok, I am going to end with this. Everyone knows times are tough right now, so, to buy Christmas gifts for the kids, I listed several twin auctions on ebay. Feel free to go check them out. Here is the link
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I hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving! Look tomorrow for pics nd a longer update on what we have been up to.

Apple Picking, Track Meet, Soccer, and Bowling!

Can you say busy week! Yes, we have been at it again! Last Wed., we satrted out by taking a small goup from church to go apple picking. It turned out to be an excellent day for it! There were around 15 of us that went. First we toured the apple plant. We saw where they packed the apples, and then where they made the cider. Our kids were a little young for that part. They all got to sample some cider which I don't beleive any of them liked. After the tour, they brought us up to the apple orchard and gave each of the kids a bag to pick their own apples. This part, the kids loved! They had wagons to use there, so we pulled the kids up to the trees where we were supposed to pick the apples. They each filled their bags, and then grabbed an apple to eat on the way back to the farm. When we got back, they went to feed the animals and play. There was a sand box type thing with trucks in it, but instead of sand, it was filled with huge corn kernals. I think every kid under the age of 2 tried to eat atleast one. They played in there for a little bit then went in the hay maze and down the slide. It was a cute place, but there really wasn't a whole lot to do so we didn't stay too long.

On Friday we had a track meet at the school. Toy has been running track for a little while now and enjoys it. I think having all of us there made her nervous though because everytime she ran by us, she was crying. She's going through those early teenage years and is very much a crier (like her mom). Anyway, I was able to get a couple of pics. She didn't finish too good (hard to see where your running with all the tears), but she finished, and that is all that counts. The championship meet is this week. I asked her if we come to watch her, is she going to cry again, and she said no. We'll see.




Saturday was Toya's and Jordan's soccer games. I had to bring Toya to hers about 30 min. away, and my mom brought Jordan to his. Toya's team had not won a game yet, but they did a excellent job and got their first win this week. The team they played was undefeated until now! The team was very excited, I think they needed that.





After the games, we came home and made lunch. One of the bowling places in town was having free bowling for a few hours. We went last year and enjoyed it, so we went this year as well. You can't do too many things for free now a days. I think we all enjoyed it. The kids had one lane, and the adults had the other. Me and the kids went, Auntie Sarah, Uncle John, Grayson, Auntie Jess, Grammy, and Justin (John's nephew who they were babysitting). Grayson beat everyone! Yes, you read that right. He used one of the ramps and got the highest score. He loved it and couldn't wait for his turn. They also had a bounce house and other activities for the kids.

Well, that wraps up this week! You can tell the weather has changed, because this is what we have been doing this week:


Tomorrow we have a small group going to pumpkinland! We were lucky to be able to go since when we called for an appt., this was all they had. We are looking at another great day for it too. I hope you all have a great week! Enjoy!

Yet another Circus and Goodbye to Eden!

So, this past Thursday, we went to yet another circus! This time it was the Barnum and Bailey Circus. This is the third circus we have been to this year. I would say this was the best, but onlt because of the animals. We got to see elephants and tigers! We were greeted by the protesters at the entrance to the show. I haven't been to a Barnum & Bailey Circus in so long that I had forgotten about the protestors. Once we watched the show, I found it interesting that they were only protesting the elephants, but it was the tigers that I thought were treated badly. I guess I didn't remember them hitting the tigers with whips. I am not a animal activist by any means, but I really found that to be very disturbing! The elephants from what I could see were treated quit nicely. Anyway, the kids had a good time and besides the tiger act, I was impressed. Here are a couple of really cute photo's of Gray with the kids. He loves to hug them and kiss them (or anybody for that matter). You'll have to excuse the red photo's, I think that my battery was not fully charged so it made the quality of the shots red? Anyway, they are still cute!



On Friday, my sister and I threw a babyshower for one of the daycare workers at the gym we go to. We love Eden, and the kids love her. For some reason, our gym has a hard time keeping workers, but Eden has always been there on time everyday and goes above and beyond her job. She doesn't just like to play with the kids, she LOVES them. She is philipino (I believe) and doesn't speak very good english. She seems to understand it fine, but just does not speak it well. She is 36 and is having her first baby! She is due next month, and we are very excited for her. She has no family here and only a few friends. Her friends threw her a baby shower, but all she got was some clothing. She had no big things for the baby (crib, bassinet, carseat, swing, nothing). I was laying in bed one night and thought how nice it would be to give her a shower from us mom's that use the daycare. I talked to my sister, and the planning began. We went to all the mom's in the daycare and asked them to either bring their own gift, or give a donation so we could buy her some of the big things she needed, most of them chose a donation. We hatched the plan and Eden had no idea. On the day of the party, we had the guy at the front desk get her out of the daycare to "fill out some paperwork, and then pretend he couldn't find it". While he was doing that, we snuck in the back way and set everything up. She never had a clue! All the mom's snuck in (their kid's were already there), and we yelled surprise. She started crying and got everyone else crying. We were able to get her a brand new pack n play with the bassinet, changing table, mobile, and accessories on the side, we got her a carseat, stroller, snuggli, swing, playmat, diapers, plus a couple other brought clothes and a gift card. Here are some pictures from the party, and a slideshow:

I also wanted to share something kinda neat that happened last week. My girls have been going to speech for a while. Usually they work together, but about a month ago their speech therapist decided to seperate them. She had been saying that she wanted to find a couple of kids for the girls to work with, but didn't have anyone yet, so they worked alone for a few weeks. Last week, we walked into our appt., and there were two boys sitting there. I didn't pay much attnetion, until she came out and said to me "look who I found for your girls". I looked up and relaized they were identical twin boys! They are the cutest things! I asked their mom how old they were, and she said 3 1/2. Their birthday is a month before the girls. So, now, each of my girls works with one of the boys. Isn't that neat! There are 4 sets of twins that go to our gym daycare too. Three of the sets are the same age, my girls, a set of fraternal girls, and a set of identical boys. The other set are fraternal girls, but they are babies and mostly go at night. Anyway, just thought that was neat!

I also wanted to update on my weight loss, or lack thereof. I have literally been told by 5 different people this week "wow, you look like you've lost weight". While I am flattered, I am embarrassed to say that I had not...until today when I was down 1.2 lbs. I have really struggled with this, but am happy that I am atleast keeping it off for now. I am happy to report now that I have hit the 50 LB. mark!!!! I hope to keep going now that I seem to have made it out of the rut. I'm nto getting my hopes up though. I guess for people to say this, it means that I have probably lost in. I will check that on Friday to see, out of curiosity. Anyway, just wanted to update that. I also wanted to let everyone know that I have a weight loss tracker on the right hand side. If you don't see that go down in a while, it means I'm struggling! :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy the post! Have a great week!

Alot has happened in 3 months!

I could definitely make this a long one, but I am so lost as to where to even start. I think I will just give you a run down of what has been going on with a few pictures! So, to start where I left off.......3 months ago! I will just do the big events, but will include pictures in a slideshow at the end of some of the smaller things we have done as well.

First was the moxie day parade. We love the moxie day parade, it is the biggest in Maine and is all because of a soda which I find tastes terrible! The kids enjoyed themselves though.

We have a free classified book here that is called "uncle henrys's". I do not check it often, but happened to look at it one day and saw a free wooden swingset advertised. I emailed the guy and he got back to me and said if we had a way to come and get it, then it was ours. John has a trailer he can use from work, so we made arrangements. The swingset is a big hit, and it was free!! Auntie Sarah and Uncle John had put one together a long time ago just like it, so they did all the work. Here is what it looks like:



Next was our trip to York's Wild Kingdom. This is a zoo and amusement park. It is not very big, but once again the kids really enjoyed it. We went with the church as an activity. You can see how much the twins and Grayson enjoyed it by this picture:


My friend Gina and I then took our boys to the "Day Out With Thomas". Jordan and Austin had a blast. I got the tickets VERY cheap, and we spent the whole day with just the 2 boys. Sarah and John watched my girls. I figured Jordan had never been and this was probably the last year he would really enjoy it.....he's almost 7 you know! Plus, did I mention that I got the tickets CHEAP!



Sarah and John finally moved into their house on August 3rd! It was a long time coming, and they were happy to finally be "HOME"!


On August 5th, we were invited to the "Circus Smirkus". We went wioth my friend Gina and her 3 kids. I was a little leary as I hated the last circus we went to, but this one was really good. It is a bunch of kids that do a ton of acrobatic stunts. These kids go to a camp during the summer and learn all these things. You can look it up online too.



Next was Gray's birthday! He turned the big ONE on August 10th. They were in their house on time, so we did a small birthday party there, and then a bigger one the following weekend! Last year, I remember sitting up all night waiting for her to call and tell me he was here (and what gender "he" was since they didn't find out). Grayson Cole is my buddy! I love him just as much as my own kids. Words cannot express what I feel for him, he is the happiest baby and soooo smart! He has gone through quit a bit in his short life! I hope next year brings soo much fun and excitement for him and his parents. He deserves to have a great year!



The following weekend was Gray's BIG party! He had lots of family and friends who came to help him celebrate! They had hotdogs, chips, and soda's. I brought over half the toys in our yard for all the kids to share since they live at the end of a culdasack. They also had a bounce house. I think things went very smoothly and the weather cooperated well. It was a little on the hot side, but atleast it didn't rain! I had to put his party pictures on a slideshow as there were too many:

The first day of school followed Gray's party. Toya started 4th grade, and Jordan is repeating Kindergarten. We baked some cupcakes and decerated enough for each child in their class. They said the cupcakes were a big hit on the first day! Toya was a little nervous as she was having a new teacher this year (because it is a private school, they usually have the same teacher for 2 grades). Her new teacher is our Pastor's Wife. She really loves her now and enjoys going to school. Jordan's teacher is the same and he couldn't be happier. The kid's all got haircuts to go back to school. We chopped the twins hair off. It was an accident as the man cut it quit a bit shorter than we wanted. We LOVE it though and get comliments on it all the time. It makes them look soooo grown up! Toya and Jordan also got a cut. Here are some pictures:





That brings us to the Buckfield parade on Labor Day! Daddy drove the frietruck from the volunteer firestation he is a part of. The kids as well as some of our friends kids got to ride up top and throw candy. They all seemed to enjoy that.

Yesterday (Sunday), we went to the Fryeburg fair. I forgot my camera, but we did take a picture with all of us in the BIG chair. The weather held out nice and we all came back tired and ready for bed! Here is the picture:


We went to the toy library a couple of times in the past 3 mo., as well as the children's museum, a couple of beaches, a hot air balloon festival, and recently the Air Show at the navy base here. We got to see the blue angels fly and really enjoyed ourselves. They had a tent setup from home depot where the kids could go in and make a craft. The kid's enjoyed that, and it was free! We watched the paratroopers and I think it was bittersweet for John. This is what he used to do in the army. We also al went down to a cabin my parents had rented at Dunn's camp and stayed the night there. There were 11 of us in a 2 bedroom, and the bedrooms were tiny! We did it though! :) The kids also went on their first paddle boat ride while we were there. I want to update about Grayson before I put the slideshow on.

Grayson was seen at the Children's Hospital in Boston. He had 2 appt. in the same week. This was very hard on mom, dad, and of course Grayson. It was also VERY expensive as Boston is about 2 1/2 - 3 hrs. away. As soon as the Dr. there saw Grayson, he knew what he had. He has parasonomia with seizures. He said there are several different forms, and there are so few cases of the one he has that it doesn't even have it's own name yet. There are only about 50 cases in the world, and he has only seen 7 of them. He said that the disease is caused because they mature too fast. This makes sense as Grayson has done EVERYTHING early......very early. His brain developed so fast that it created a misfire. He said that in all the cases he had seen that the medicine he was going to put Grayson on had helped in all of them. It didn't help for Grayson! The medicine is highly addictive and is not even supposed to be used on children. They gave it to him for about a week and decided to take him off when they saw it was not for kids, plus it didn't help him. It made him VERY angry! He had withdrawals for a couple of days but it wasn't too bad as he hadn't been on it for too long. They then decided to try a natural doctor that we can get a hold of through our church. He is all the way in Chicago, but because it is all natural stuff, he did a consult over the phone. He is now on a couple of different meds. He still has his good days and bad days, and sleep is very elusive for all in the house. The dr. said that the good news is that in all the cases he saw, the kid's outgrew it by the age of 2! This would be great, but he had also said that the medicine had worked in all the other cases and didn't for Gray. We are praying that he will outgrow it sooner, but I don't think anyone is getting their hopes up! Please keep them all in your prayers!

This is the end of this very long blog! I hope to keep this updated, but cannot make any promises! We do not have one free day where there is nothing to do anymore. Toya is doing cross country track, soccer, and cheering. Jordan is doing soccer. I would write out my schedule so you can see how hectic it is, but it makes me tired just thinking about it, LOL. I hope you enjoyed all the pics! Have a great week and enjoy the slideshow of all the in-between things we did!

A day at the beach & Grayson's test!

We haven't been to busy around here lately, but we are definitely enjoying some GREAT weather! Our temperatures have been in the 80's ALL week! This makes it great to be outside, but horrible to be at the gym! No, not because we would rather be outside (although we would), but because our gym that supposedly has air conditioning is unbeleivable hot! We checked the thermostat the other day when we went in there and it was HOLDING at 81! Needless to say, we have not been working out the way we used to. It's just way too hot, we get physically ill. I think this is why I am having problems losing weight, but it will get cold again, this is Maine you know! I am still happy to say that I have not gained anything either though! So, I am atleast working out enough to maintain my weight loss. I will get there.

Anyway, my friend Miranda had vacation this week, so on Tuesday we all went to the beach. We got there at around 11:30, and left at about 3. The weather was awesome, and the kids had fun. Grayson took a nap as seen in the picture, and then we went to the park that was there. In the other two pictures, you will see Latoya and cousin Kylie. They have been taking cheering this summer and were practicing the paramid with the girls.





On Wed., we went to the local beach and the kids enjoed some more sun and water. We didn't stay very long though. Thursday we went to the gym, but we didn't work out. This is the day it was 81 in there. We walked in, realized it was stiffling, checked the thermostat, and walked back out. It really was rediculous. We did our shopping, then went home.

Today, we went to the gym as well. We only worked out about 30 min. though. Grayson had to be in Portland at 12:30 to get hooked back up for his 3 day test. I got my Aunt Theresa to watch all 4 of my kids so I could go with Sarah and help her. We got there a little early, so we went to have lunch, then headed to the Drs. office. They called us in and the fun began. You could tell that he remembered from last time. They didn't even have to wrap him up last time, but we did this time. It took a nurse to hold his head, Sarah held his arms, and I held his legs while the other lady applied all the elctrodes (25 of them). Even with all of us holding him down, he still managed to move! He is a strong little guy. It took a little over an hour to apply all of them. As soon as they were done hooking him up, he started smiling and playing again though. He is such a sweet, happy baby! Although the maching is not (as bad) per say as the last one, it is still bad. He has to wear the backpack because the cord on this one isn't long enough for someone to follow him. This wouldn't be bad, except he walks all the time now and the backpack is HEAVY! It must weigh atleast 10 lbs. (half his weight). When he falls, he falls hard now! Poor thing! After supper tonight, we went to Sarah and John's house to look at the progress. It looks great, and they should be in at the end of this month, or the beginning of next. They are counting down the days! We walked from there to the local park, and I watched the kids and let them play while John and Sarah ran back to get the truck. Here are some pics of Grayson at the park all hooked up. I will also include a slideshow below the pics. from this week (don't worry, it's very short, only 21 photo's and it's set on fast speed). I hope everyone has a great week, check back for more updates on Grayson. Please keep him, mom, and dad in your prayers this weekend!