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!
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