Beginning of Dec

Click on the picture below to see more pics of us getting ready for Christmas!

Abby's MRI and Getting ready for Christmas

Abby had another MRI in the beginning of Dec. The news was promissing from the neurosurgeon. While there is still not a lot of room for spinal fluid to flow around her brain... the MRI showed no build-up of fluid... so that's good. He also saw that her brain stem (which had been sinking down past her 2nd vertabrate prior to surgery) has receeded and now is at the 1st vertabrate. That's good too. He doesn't think she'll need to have another sleep study or MRI until next Dec. That's good!! He is referring us to another doctor to address her hyperactive gag reflex... but he doesn't consider the gag to be so problematic that he would need to do more surgery... It's hard not to worry, but I am trying to relax and put it out of my mind.

One cute thing, is that Dr. Jane told Abby she could try to go on bigger amusement park rides and that it would be fine for her to play soccer. She was so excited at this news, that she kissed her own hand and touched it to the top of her head! She was congratulating herself! We celebrated our 13 anniversary, had a quick visit from Grandpa and Grandpa Mac last week and we've been busy getting ready for Christmas! We hope you have a great one!

Thanksgiving

Baltimore Harbor

National Aquarium

A Heelen hug

The next generation of Heelen boys...

Have "Bouncy Ball" will travel...

We spent Thanksgiving in MD w/ Patrick's family. We had Thanksgiving dinner w/ Pops, Nana and Sean and Carley at an Irish Restaurant in Davidsonville. We've been there for a few other Thanksgiving dinners so it's become a sort of tradition... The kids were well behaved, TG... and it was nice to see them interacting w/ their cousins.

Abby's been into dolphins lately, and we wanted to take the kids to the aquarium since we'd never been there w/ them. We got tickets for 5:00 pm for the Friday after Thanksgiving since the tickets only cost $5.00... It was awfully cold, and Abby was REALLY tired since she never naps for us... but she perked up enough so that the visit wasn't a total bust! I rented a back back even though she is getting so big... she was too tired to walk around that much, and it was packed w/ people, so I think it helped her feel safer. She enjoyed walking on the harbor and seemed to like the dolphin show even though the rest of us felt it was a bit of a let down... We plan on trying Port Discovery, the Baltimore children's museum soon.

Abby's Halloween

Warrenton Halloween Parade Beautiful weather for carving pumpkins

Lunch at Subway after Halloween story time

Girls at Trunk or Treat... AP at soccer

Practicing Fern... before the carriage arrived...

The moment she'd been waiting for, for months!

Abby chose to be Fern from Charlotte's Web and I think she was adorable, although many people didn't quite get it! She really wanted to be Fern so that she could push Wilbur, the baby piglet in a carriage. It HAD to be a carriage just like the one Fern pushed in the movie. So after searching every antique store in VA this summer, I found one on EBay that a man was selling in a town next to my dad's in NY! My dad and Carol drove it down the day of the Trunk or Treat (which worked perfectly for us, b/c they had a wedding reception to attend in Annapolis and were headed down to visit this weekend already!)

Abby wore a vintage apron and a ribbon in her hair and was so proud pushing her carriage! When I bid on it, I was under the impression it was a doll carriage, but it turned out to be the genuine thing... straight from England and in wonderful condition. Everyone stopped to admire it... although many people thought she was Nanny McPhee! I guess the giant spider sitting on top w/ the web that said "some pig" doesn't mean anything if you haven't read the book... but in any event, she loved being Fern and didn't seem too put out, when people kept saying "you're who?"

(She did through us for a loop Sat. am when she woke up and decided I should be Fern and she'd be Wilbur!... I had about 45 minutes to get everyone dressed, fed and figure out a pig costume for her before we headed to Warrenton for the Halloween parade and story time!)

Patrick's Halloween

Trunk or Treat was on a school night, with soccer to boot! Enjoying a late pizza w/ Grandma and Grandpa Mac, who came into town just in the nick of time!

Spending Halloween weekend w/ Bubby and Grandfather... soccer in MD on Sunday... busy, busy...

Contacts!

The Ranger's Apprentice at Trunk or Treat

Fun painting pumpkins w/ Grandma and Grandpa Mac!

Patrick chose to be the main character from a new series of books called, The Ranger's Apprentice which are popular w/ preteen and teenage boys right now. He combined a few old costumes together (a pirate and Anakin Skywalker) and added a cape. We wrapped his bow and arrow in contact paper to resemble wood and cut feathers out of sticky-back felt and covered the plastic feathers on his arrows. I wrapped his boots w/ cording and he sewed a Celtic clasp to the cape. He also made a gold feather necklace which the character wears in the story and made his own knife which we tied on w/ a leather belt... he loved the look!

Patrick got straight A's this quarter and his teachers all had very positive things to say about his work ethic and behavior. Thank goodness! His last soccer game of the season is tomorrow and he has one last tournament to go. Then he is planning on taking a break from soccer and has expressed an interest in Tae Kwon Do...

He got his first pair of contacts this week and is doing very well w/ them. He's definitely growing up... it won't be long before he's asking for laser surgery!

Margaret's Halloween

Carving fancy pumpkins w/ Grandma Mac

All dolled up...good thing the weather cooperated!

Volleyball Clinic

Here She Comes... Trunk or Treat at EHE

Amazing weather on Thursday for Trunk or Treat... needed long johns for Sunday's trick or treating downtown...

Margaret was Miss America this year. It was so much fun gathering all the things for her costume. I ordered a real tiara online and clip on diamond dangling earrings. I searched for the perfect dress and found one at a second hand shop in town. It had a rip in the underarm seam and when they heard it was for my daughter's Halloween costume, they gave it to me for free! I made a sash for her and she had perfect shoes from Santa from last Christmas... she was a sight to behold!

Other Margaret news... Margaret has just finished a season of volleyball training which met once a week for the last few months. I'm hoping to sign her up for Sat. cheerleading at school this winter... She also just got new glasses: purple!

MD Renaissance Festival

Patrick had to sign some papers in MD so we took the kids to the Ren. Fest. last weekend. Pops actually babysat the big kids and Patrick, Abby and I stayed in a motel on Sat. night. It was a nice weekend. Beautiful weather and everyone behaved well. Pops got a brand new treadmill so I got my workout in both days. The only bad things, was that Abby, Patrick and AP had been battling colds/sinus infections... and Abby woke up on Sunday and could hardly move her neck... she said it hurt and for the next few days she was very stiff. I was afraid it was Meningitis, but she'd had no fever/vomiting. Her doctor thinks that area was inflamed due to a virus and had us give her ibuprofen and treat her w/ a warm compress... she is back to normal now, TG!

Margaret got picked (surprise, surprise) to help out Bibly (the skinny German juggler) and got to ride on his shoulders while he uni cycled! The girls rented period costumes and all three kids really got into it. My camera battery conked out before all of this... Murphy's Law... I bought a disposable cam. that cost a fortune, but it will be a while before I use it all up and get it developed. We refinanced this weekend and Abby told the closer that we needed to get more money because we spent it all on the elephant ride!

Fall Festivals for the Family

Got to enjoy the "Taste of Culpeper" festival again this past weekend. 80 degree weather, good music, gourmet food, wine tasting and local brewery samples... the kids enjoyed face painting, moon bounce, volleyball and craft tables... but mostly, Abby enjoyed the pizza and ice cream! Patrick took AP and Abby to Graves Mountain Lodge annual apple festival on Sat. while Margaret and I stayed home and worked on her multiplication tables (torture!)...

The apple of her daddy's eye... on a hayride...

Cracking herself up in her Halloween tights...Bubby's homemade shirt... I wish she'd never grow out of them!

Local Fun: Dogs, Goats and more...

It started to feel like fall around here for a few days... then got really hot again. I've been getting the cool weather clothes out of the shed and packing away every one's summer clothes... not a small task since the kids are all growing... finding mittens, boots, pants that are long enough, waists that fit right... it's something I dread when the seasons change! I did get a lot of new clothes at the St. Luke's consignment sale which we look forward to every year... We line up before hand and when they open the doors Margaret and I run in and she heads one way and I head the other looking for all the things on our list before anyone else can grab them! We found a great rolling Dr. cart for the girls since they love playing vet and doctor... and a new larger swing for Abby.

While I sorted clothes, with AP's help, Patrick took the girls to the Farm festival, an open house for several farms in our county...

The girls actually let me french braid their hair this day. It's so much work to get them coordinated and ready to go... and then their dad gets to have all the fun while I stay home organizing and packing lunches and getting clothes lined up for the week... wish their was more time in life...

One of Abby's favorite things to do is to feed the goats...

Riding her big girl bike w/ her brother's help... sissy was helping Bubby at a craft show for the weekend...

Now that summer is over, they have resumed the "Read to the Dogs" program at the library. "Robbie" is a fan of Abby's. He likes to listed to her read "Biscuit" books...

Celebrating 6 Years with the Kids

Abby in the Ferris Wheel... not afraid this year! She asked if we were in heaven when we got to the top!

Momma and the teen riding the Avalanche...

Flying planes are a big hit. Both girls love them. Abby can do them since they don't jerk around too much. She got a free ticket when I told them she had brain surgery and can only go on a couple of rides. She's fine w/ it now, but I already feel bad for her when she's older and wants to go on bigger ones...

Geico Day at King's Dominion is an annual treat. Beautiful weather and lots of fun...very hot this year...BBQ and fried chicken... karaoke... can't be beat! Got to ride some roller coasters w/ AP, watch Margaret drive the Antique cars and ride the Merry Go Round countless times w/ Abby. She was asleep before we even got out of the parking lot! Thank you Bubby for another memorable visit to KD!

Spending the night at Bubby's to get away from AP's sleepover and to be closer to King's Dominion in the morning... checking out the stars on the veranda after the girl's bath...

13 Years Old!

Can't believe my little boy is 13 years old... it really has gone by fast... I never quite understood that until this past year or so...

Sporting some new duds from his birthday. His first pair of "skinny jeans," a hoodie and a t-shirt that has a can of make-your-sister-go-away -spray! I already had to police the outfit- he's trying to wear it every other day...

He asked for fajitas for his birthday. Unfortunately, it was a soccer night... and he had lots of homework... so he ended up eating his feast as he got his homework done...

The Friday of his birthday week, he got to invite three friends to come home on the bus. Two got to spend the night. He's been friends w/ these guys since 2dd grade, so it's great that he was able to reconnect w/ them now that he is at the public middle school. I made Pokemon cupcakes and they had a blast playing w/ their Nerf guns and watching movies. After a while, the girls and I went to Fred. for the night and dad was in charge. He said they were very well behaved...

The gang...

Abby helped deliver cupcakes to AP's soccer team since he had practice on his birthday. She was set to hand them out, but got nervous when the boys came closer... she was in her pj's so we could pop her right in bed once practice was over...