White Donuts

I don't know why these pictures are so bad but hopefully you can still enjoy the fun Parker had eating white donuts last weekend. His face was covered in powdered sugar as he insisted on having a whole donut hole. Chloe used to love these same white donut holes from HyVee but she's sort of over them now. She'd prefer a bowl of Alphabets (or letters as she calls them). She has had a couple of bowls of Raisin Bran this week but it's a struggle to get her to eat the raisins AND the bran.

This kid needs a haircut. I guess I better get on that before the extended family pictures we're supposed to have taken Easter weekend. He is such a rambunctious boy. He's learned to jump really well on the air mattress that we still have blown up in the basement. He's also taken to trying to walk down the Little Tykes slide and sometimes if he's feeling saucy, he'll walk half way down and then just take a header into the floor. Never a dull moment when Parker's around!

Ray took the kids to Boingz this past weekend so hopefully he'll blog about it soon.

Happy 4th Birthday Chloe

Chloe is 4 years old today! We had a small family get-together for her last night. She was so excited to receive Hullabaloo. We can't wait to play it!

This is the second year in a row Chloe has opted to eat her cake like this. 

Her face was actually not too messy.

Here's the whole gang. 

Chloe and Emily had the picnic table to themselves.

It was such a beautiful day - the kids enjoyed playing outside with their cousins. Here are Emily and Chloe on the glider.

Parker had so much fun playing outside. This picture does not show how disgustingly dirty he was. He ate sand, rolled in the dirt and covered himself in sidewalk chalk. He had so much chalk on his pants at one point they looked like pastel camo pants.

Parker got to go to grandma and grandpa's house for awhile today so Ray, Chloe and I could go to Build-A-Bear. It took Chloe awhile to understand the concept but she eventually did build Cuddles - a roller skating bear that looks like she rolled around in Pepto Bismol. She also enjoyed a caramel apple which she kindly shared with Parker. He absolutely loves Chloe's new Barbie scooter. So much so, we had to go and buy him a scooter today so that he would let Chloe have hers.

Whirlwind week

Ok, so all of the craziness really started over a week ago but it's gone by in the blink of an eye. It's been sad, stressful, hectic and everything in between. Thank god I have two wonderful kiddos and an amazing husband to keep me focused on the beautiful things.

The kids had a bunch of fun tonight with these "hairdos". Too bad I couldn't get two faces in the same shot.

I went back to work on Tuesday. While it has been hard to focus, it has helped to resume a more normal schedule. We hired a lawyer to open my mom's estate and started to get her business organized. It will be a long process but it's nice to know what is going to happen now. We will have to sell her house, which is a little sad. It had been my great-grandma's until we moved there in the early 80s. A friend of my sister's might be interested in buying it so it would be nice have her and her family in the house.

Some people might think I am wacko but I have really felt my mom's presence the last couple of days. I am thinking about going to a psychic to see if they can help me communicate with her.

You might have noticed Gracie's t-shirt in the picture above. She's still got staples from having her tumor removed. She has to wear the shirt because she won't leave them alone. It was stage 2 cancer but the vet believes she got it all and Grace shouldn't have any ongoing problems.

I should say a big THANK YOU again to everyone who has offered support, encouragement, food, money, time - whatever it is, we all appreciate it so much. Without you, this last week would have consumed me. I am humbled by your generosity.

Chloe's birthday has really suffered from all of the happenings but thankfully our wonderful family is going to help us pull off a quiet family birthday for her on Saturday. It's not what we had originally planned but it is what we're capable of this week so we're going to make the most of it!

My Mom

My mom passed away early this morning after a brief and sudden illness, she was 53. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank our dear friends and family who have expressed support and helped us get through the last 24 hours. Erin, Jesse and I are heading to Red Oak today to start on the arrangements. We are happy that our mom's soul is free and take comfort in the fact that she is now with both of her parents and other family and friends.

Gracie update

Gracie made it through surgery. The doctors think they successfully removed the tumor. We'll know more when we receive the pathology in a couple weeks. So far, so good. She is such a spunky girl and with pain meds doesn't want to be kept down. She has a 6-inch incision on her chest/belly so we have to keep her leashed and as calm as much as possible. She also has to wear an elizabethen collar as she apprarently ripped a couple stitches out before she even left the vet. She also has on an old t-shirt of mine as her wound is draining a bit (sorry, I know that's gross but I wanted to give you a visual of how goofy she looks). Ray leaves tomorrow morning for Florida so I'll be taking care of the crazy Gibson household solo - well, with a little help from Grandma & Grandpa Gouger :) We are so thankful for their help and love that they are so close to us.

Hope you and yours are well!! - k