Busy Week!



Our last visit in Texas.  My brother is the guy in
the back in the middle.



It was a magical week for my family- well actually it has been a magical year!  I flew to Texas Monday, October 10, for a wonderful reason!  We had prayed for over 22 years for my brother to be in a position to move out of Texas... and the day had finally arrived!  I met my mom, step dad, sister, and brother-in-law on Monday night. The four of us went to pick up my brother on Tuesday and help him get ready for his move.  We spent time together for the last time in Texas.   It will be so nice to have all of my family in one place finally!  It was a quick trip since I flew home on Wednesday, but it meant so much that I could be with everyone for a little while!  Everyone else went on to see my grandma and visited a few more friends on the way to Wisconsin.



Brennan's fat lip

 While I was in Texas, Dave and the kids stayed busy.  Kate went to a farm and a pumpkin patch this last week at school and Brennan put the finishing touches on his Jacques Cousteau report.  On Wednesday poor Brennan ran into another child on the playground at school though.  He bumped his lip really hard and the poor girl that he ran into had a big bump on her head.  They are both okay but Brennan had quite the fat lip for a few days.  He was in great hands at school and well taken care of.  When I was driving him home on Thursday his lip was really fat and he commented, "Mom, I think I know how come my lip is so big- air got inside of it and now it's stuck."  He does make me laugh. I had to explain that it will be okay and that his head won't continue to get bigger.  It looked almost back to normal by Saturday.



Brent and Caitlin putting on Kate's
new socks before her new"butterfly shoes"


Thursday I picked Kate up from school to go get her new leg braces.  She was a great sport and wore them for about two hours on Thursday, two hours on Friday, four hours on Saturday, and hopefully six hours today (three hours this morning and three hours this afternoon).  They have butterflies on the back and we had to go buy new shoes (what a great reason to shop)!  She picked out some Dora shoes that will fit her new "butterfly shoes" too. 


Trying out the butterfly shoes for
the first time







Taking a break to have some fun!

While Kate and I were at her appointment, a great friend (Mr. Storck) took Brennan fishing at school. According to Brennan, they caught five different species of fish.  Mr. Storck usually takes Brennan fishing a few times a year- they are so cute walking into the woods together.  One of these days I'll have to get a picture of the two of them.  Mr. Storck also happens to be one of Brennan's teachers this year and witnessed the accident on Wednesday.  Apparently he was very worried- which is why I think he wanted to take Brennan fishing on Thursday.  Brennan is so lucky to have so many caring people watching out for him.  A big thank you goes to everyone at The Raleigh School!




Brennan's birthday dinner
at Golden Corral, Oct. 14th.




Cotton Candy at Golden
Corral... Dave was hoping that
we could skip the fair since the kids
already got their cotton candy. LOL

  

Happy ninth birthday Brennan!

Birthday cake for breakfast!

And on Friday it was Brennan's ninth birthday!!!  Wow- what a week!  Brennan opened most of his presents Friday morning before school.  I joined him for lunch and read a book to his class and handed out his birthday treats.  He was so sweet!  Friday night we all went to Golden Corral for dinner because that's what the birthday boy picked for his choice.  Dave and I were pleasantly surprised that it wasn't packed!  We all enjoyed a delicious dinner but didn't have any room for Brennan's cake that Dave had bought for Brennan.  We ended up eating Brennan's birthday cake on Saturday morning instead. 



Helping Hanna open her present
that Kate was so excited to pick
out for her.



Mimi's for dinner




Kate with two of her favorite people!




Kate loves Jennifer!




We know one of the actors-
the one in the middle was one
of my students last year.  .

 Dave and Brennan spent the morning getting ready to go camping with some friends at Jordan Lake.  This was their third time and they were excited!  It's become a fun tradition!  While Dave and Brennan camped, Kate and I enjoyed some girl time.  We went to Hanna's birthday party at Gym Carolina.  This was Kate's first birthday party she's attended.  She was so excited!  She played and jumped the entire time and then took a quick nap before we met friends for dinner and a play.

It was just Kate and me for church on Sunday since the boys were camping.  Kate got to hand out bread at church which made her happy!  Our church has a tradition that if anyone is visiting for the first time they get bread and the children deliver it.  Poor Kate toppled over in her butterfly shoes though- but she got up and got the bread delivered.  :-)  When Pastor Jay asked if anyone had a birthday this week, Kate raised her hand. She is so funny!  With the excitement of Dave's birthday,  Brennan's birthday, and Hanna's birthday all in one week, Kate is having a hard time waiting for her birthday. She can't wait until it is finally February 11th! 

The boys had a great time camping!  They got home around 1:00 PM and Brennan got to open up one more birthday present.  Right now everyone is sleeping...  It was quite the week! 

So we are thankful for birthdays, healthy kids, good friends, and family this week!  I am especially thankful that my mom, step dad, sister, brother, and brother-in-law arrived in Wisconsin safe and sound yesterday.   God has answered another prayer!