Give Kids The World 6 second Ice Cream Challenge

The kids wanted to take the 6 second ice cream challenge from GKTW (Who wouldn't want to do an ice cream challenge?!?) Challenge a friend to see who can eat the most ice cream in 6 seconds. The loser donates $6 to Give Kids The World. There really are no losers in this contest!! Spread the word and challenge people to do the challenge and raise money for an AMAZING organization!

Lego American Ninja Warrior

Check out Trev's first stop motion video he created!

The Land Of Stories Parody (American Authors "The Best Day of My Life")

Check out his first parody he wrote! It is to one of his favorite book series "The Land of Stories" by Chris Colfer. Be sure to share with your friends and subscribe for more videos in the future :)

Overnight camp

Whether I am ready or not, Trev is going to overnight camp! Lately he has really wanted to meet other kids like him. So we applied for the closest "heart" camp we could find and that is taking us to California this summer! Trev is SO excited for this. Now we are in fundraising mode so we can book the flight and rental car while we are down there. Trev will be at camp, but I will be staying close by as he is not old enough to travel that far by himself yet. Especially since we do not know any other campers yet. The place the kids take theater classes at is offering the building so we can do a fundraiser and another person who is a painter has generously offered their talents to do a painting class with the proceeds going to Trevor's travel expenses to get to camp. What a very sweet offer! Trevor is also getting ready to do some work of his own to earn money toward camp. Once school is out he will begin doing yard work, house work, painting, taking care of pets and whatever else people can find for him :) He is a pretty lucky 9 year old to have so many family, friends and strangers rally around him so he can have this AMAZING opportunity!

Keeping us on our toes

We started our day off early as Kara had an early morning appointment down at Children's Hospital and Allie had an all day field trip she had to leave before school started. Luckily Trev's (AMAZING) teacher let him come in early so I could get my sweet babe to the Hospital for her appointment. Kara was initially disappointment that she did not get to go on the field trip until she found out she was going to Children's... Silly girl!! We got to Children's with a few minutes to spare. With almost an hour drive Kara really had to go to the bathroom... She wasn't coming out at a reasonable time and I thought she was playing around. Turns out she was stuck in the stall! I asked her if it was ok if I went to get someone... "Where am I going to go mom" said in her sassiest 6 year old voice... Of course. Where would she go?!? She was stuck!! I finally found someone and they had to call 2 other people before we could get her free! What a way to start our day :) It was finally time to go see the surgeon and hopefully tell us good news. Well it would be good news for me if she needs no more surgeries, but good for Kara if she does need them... After an hour of tests it is still inconclusive if she needs surgery. We now go back in September... This wait and see game is so tough to play! The ear she had surgery in has slightly more hearing loss than last time she was tested. So that means she gets "preferential" seating. I be that will go over well once she is in middle school ;) She may need a tube in her good ear. Her eardrum in her surgery ear is basically sucked in her head... She may need that one redone. It has been over a year since they redid her eardrum but it has not healed the way the wanted. Good news, NO new cholesteatomas have formed! She is on some allergy meds to see if that will help with her good ear as she has had fluid in it since January. Now to sit back and wait until September...

My little singer :)

Allie LOVES to sing! She loves this song, The Boys Are Back In Town. Enjoy!!

Look at all that HAIR!!!

How is it even fair this kid has this much hair!?!?! Oh how I wish I had half as much on my head... Enjoy Trev's latest video :)

All 3 are on Vine now!!

Who doesn't like Taylor Swift?!?! I know she is a BIG hit in our house!!! My crazy kiddos decided to make a Vine to show their love :)

Kara's follow up

So, it begins again... Another trip down to Children's Hospital for my sweet, spit fire of a girl, Kara. Once again, she is EXCITED for the possibility of another surgery. Because you know, the kids are keeping track. Trevor has 6, Kara 2 and Allie 0. This is a competition in case you haven't figured it out!

This time we are listening to the audio book, Land of Stories, by the talented Chris Colfer. All three kiddos are hooked! How can you not though. Princesses, danger, suspense. Perfect for both boys and girls and their parents too! Anything to get my girls interested in reading. Trevor on the other hand is a bookworm like myself. Who needs to sleep when you can read!?!

So, we are at Children's. Once again looking at Kara's ear on ear TV. What do you know, THERE IS STILL AN INFECTION SO WE HAVE NO IDEA IF SURGERY IS HAPPENING OR NOT!!!!! Once again, do I cry or laugh... Let's go with laughing... We head to the play room and paint and play with bubbles all the while wishing it was warm and dry enough we could play outside. But it is February and that is just not in the cards.

Of course sweet Kara is wearing a nice dress while painting, and YES, we come home with her dress with new colors... ***SIGH*** At least we have spray and wash... May is our new date to come back. Once again she may or may not need surgery. Nothing like playing the wait and see game. Oh what fun that is!!!

Flash Back Friday

Here is a cute video of Trev when he was 3... Enjoy ;)

And so it begins...

Trev has started to make his own epic fail videos... His goal is to be a Vine/YouTube sensation... This kid of mine is something else :) He is funny and talented enough that one day he can do it! I hope he always keeps this crazy, fun, demeanor about him.

Trevor's Vine debut :)

Trevor has been thinking of crazy things to do on Vine... Of course we wouldn't expect anything less from this kid ;)

Trevor is going to heart camp... In California!?!

Now that Trevor is getting older he is asking more questions about his heart. (He is 9 now). I thought it would be a great idea for him to connect with other kiddos like himself. Of course the closest camp for kids with congenital heart defects is in California!!! SO, it looks like we are going to California this summer!!! BUT that also means that we need to raise money for this to happen. I talked with Trev about the importance of meeting other kiddos like himself and at the same time it would mean more to him if he helped earn it. Of course my sweet, loving kiddo agreed with me right away. So, as of this weekend he is being hired out to do housework and yardwork for family and friends. He has been so excited to earn money for camp! I'm nervous and excited about him going to camp. I love that there is medical staff readily available and all the kiddos are going through something similar. I LOVED camp as a kid and still remember all the crazy goofy things we did. How they ever let me be a counselor at 16 I'll never understand ;) But it was truly a magical time for me as a camper and counselor. I hope Trev has the same experience. And here is to Trev to raising money to go to camp this year! 

Kara gets in on the Vine action too...

 Kara was feeling a little left out so she wanted to create a Vine with her sister:

Enjoy!!!

It is that time again for Kara and Trevor's checkups!!

Today both Kara and Trevor are having checkups to see how their ear and heart are doing respectively. Kara has been battling cholesteatomas  since age 4. She has had 2 surgeries to remove growths in her ear as well as completely restructure her ear drum. Because of this she has some hearing loss. But that doesn't stop her at all!

She is SO excited about the possibility of another surgery that she has come up with a parody to Jason French's 'You Just Want My Money'. She has been going around singing "I just want surgery, surgery, surgery" Silly girl! Really, how can you blame her though when she is doted on 24/7, gets movies and popsicles whenever she wants and gets to sleep downstairs and stay up all night?!?!

We get to Children's Hospital... After both kids have ate their weight in food... Because by 10am of course they are STARVING! Never mind they usually do not eat lunch until 11:30. For some reason driving in a car makes one very hungry....

Kara's appt is first. We get into the room and she gets measured and weighed. Of course lots of pics are being taken... Not like they don't have any of standing on a scale from previous appts... The doc takes a look in her ear and is not satisfied with what he sees... Please NO MORE CHOLESTEATOMAS! I am SO done with this. There isn't much they can do since her ear is so infected. So they send us off with meds and to come back in 8weeks. Now I am to the point that I don't know if I should laugh or cry... I choose laughing and the kids and I do act a little silly at the hospital ;)




We have a couple hours until Trevor's appt so we head to the Make-A-Wish office to drop off our checks we earned through having a fundraiser party. It was a small way to give back for all that MAW did for Trevor and our family. We raised over $400 so I was very happy about that!

It was an adventure as it was located downtown. Parking was a NIGHTMARE! We circled the same 4 blocks maybe twenty times in an hour... Because driving downtown is a big fat NO NO! Especially mid day. But after a few frustrations and a few laughs and LOTS of singing we found a spot to park! We got a tour of the office and handed over our donation. It was a lot of fun. Now time to get to Trevor's appt. The one I really was dreading.

We finally get back to Children's (Thankfully they have valet parking as we were really pushing it for time). Trev is excited about the fact he has another open heart surgery coming up... Crazy kid ;) Again, LOTS of pics! First, he gives the technician that will be doing his echo a couple new movies, The Lego movie and Smurfs. He was so proud of himself that he bought them with his own money he received for Christmas.  This kid has such a loving heart :)

He gets ready for his echo and watches the Lego movie during the 30 minute test. Then it is off to get his EKG. He picks out Sponge Bob stickers for where the EKG wires go. Afterward he is a sticky gooey mess... Good thing it is bath night tonight!

The cardiologist comes in and I can barely stand it how quiet he is. I just want to know if my baby is having open heart surgery now or possibly next year! After what seems like forever he tells me that Trevor is doing pretty good. His heart is enlarging at the same rate his body is growing so right now he is stable. His heart is still slightly enlarged but not enough to do anything about yet. Currently he does not have a pulmonary valve or a conduit. That will be his next surgery. As of now they are thinking around age 11. Of course that can change at anytime. Great news Trev does not need surgery yet!!! I didn't think it would be Kara I would have to worry about surgery this year... I tell you, these kids sure do keep you on your toes. Kara's twin, Allie is still not very pleased she has not had surgery yet...

Here he is all hooked up!!!