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!!!

Allie discovers Vine

Recently Allie has discovered Vine and how much fun it is to watch videos over and over and over and over.... She also decided she wanted to STAR in one! Well, it so happens that I stumbled upon a new upcoming artist... His song is AMAZING and catchy! Check out Jason French's You Just Want My Money... Allie did and this is how much she LOVES the song!

Check out her debut video here:

https://vine.co/v/OHvlPhr00Kz



She had this song memorized immediately! She had so much fun making this Vine! One day you will here this song on the radio it is that good :)

Updates

It has been awhile since updating... Sorry about that! This past spring we drove to San Diego... 20 hours in the car was A LOT but it sure was fun and we will always have the memories! We stayed with a friend of mine for a week. We explored beaches and went to baseball games and just hung out and had fun. I would live there if I could... I need to start looking for a job down there!

On the way back we went to Legoland and toured San Fransisco and visited the Jelly Belly Factory. We toured the coast a little more too. It was great having 2 weeks for our road trip!

This summer we took another road trip to Montana and that was great too! Not a place I want to live though... but a great place to visit! It think the theme this year is road trips! I would go on so many more if I could convince my husband!

Kara has her checkup coming up to check for cholesteatomas. Praying they find none! That same day Trevor has his cardiology appt... This one is a little stressful as he will also be scheduled for his cardiac MRI and treadmill stress test. Surgery will be sooner than later and I am not ready to hear those words! It could be anytime from now to 2 years from now. Also that same day we will be headed to our local MAW chapter to turn in the money from our fundraiser we had. SO excited to be able to give back in some way for everything they did for Trevor and our family!

Trying to keep pace with big brother... Surgery #2

Once again Kara is excited for another surgery... Her cholesteatoma have grown back... Not exactly the words we wanted to hear. But for an almost 5 year old who has watched her brother have surgeries, procedures and numerous doctors visits she is full of excitement! Oh the thoughts of ice cream, movies and overall being spoiled running through this girls head!

We were fortunate enough to have a later surgery start so we did not have to be at Children's until 10am. Yay!!! The other two were spending the night at a friends house so they were pretty happy with that :) We arrived and of course Kara was happy and bouncing off the walls... It made it a little easier to hand her over... Just a little though. I was able to go back with her so I got on my lovely suit (which there will be NO pictures of!) then headed back to the OR. Kara excitedly told the staff about Trevor's MAW trip and staying at GKTW then quickly fell asleep.

The surgery went fairly well. There was a lot of scar tissue they had to work around from her previous surgery. The surgeon was able to remove the cholesteatoma and hopefully no more will grow back. Only time will tell.

Kara woke up groggy and we had to almost spend the night (something she would have LOVED to do!) but were discharged that evening. By that evening you could not tell she had a pretty major surgery and the docs were just in her ear messing around and removing growths and repairing her eardrum. It was SO hard to keep her down! Again we had to make up a schedule on the i pad for the 5 different meds she was on!

Surgery was pretty much a success. The hearing in her ear did not come back like we were hoping. This has not slowed her down at all! I don't even think she notices! She will go back for yearly checkups to make sure there are no more growths in her ear.

Day 7 Downtown Disney/Gatorland Part 2

We arrived at Gatorland and were amazed at all the gators!! I have never seen SO many gators in one place before! We were able to get a pic of us holding a gator and a snake. We then headed off to see a show. As soon as we sat down they informed us it would probably be cut short because a storm was coming in... Of course one last parting shot before we left

Sure enough the sky was lighting up! It was hard to concentrate on the show right in front of us when the sky was putting on an impressive show of its own. The winds started picking up and the flood gates opened up... Torrential downpours. Again! You have to be kidding me!?! The show was cut short. We made our way into the gift shop hoping to wait it out. But we should know better by now that doesn't happen around here... We eventually gave away our train tickets and decided to just head to the airport where it was DRY!!! There was no relief from the rain and if it were possible it seemed to be raining HARDER!!! I took some video of all the rain because I didn't think people back home would believe me how hard it rains in Florida... We just do not see that kind of rain here! It is hard to believe we get less rain than Florida. I guess the difference being is that our rain is light and drizzly and lasts ALL day so it seems like it rains FOREVER!! I am not going to complain about it our rain for A LONG time!!

It was very hard driving in the rain to the airport. The streets were flooded and you could not see out the windshield. At one point we had to pull over and try and wait it out. Of course it went on and on and on.... Once again we were SO glad to be leaving Florida and leaving all this rain behind us! I have a feeling we will not be back anytime soon nor the desire to come back anytime soon. Next time it will be to sunny California and I will stick with DL

It took us SO long to drive to the airport because of the rain and getting through security took A LONG time that we did not have time to eat dinner. It was chips and cereal for dinner. Our plane was delayed because of the stormy weather. It was still thundering/lightening/torrential downpours outside. It had been raining for HOURS! By this time I was questioning everyone who said that it rained for about 20-30 minutes each afternoon and you would be glad it did. I think it was dry for about 20-30 minutes each day We are very thankful though that Trev's wish day was dry and hot.

Once again Trev got to meet the captain and sit in the cockpit. This time he got to speak on the intercom. He didn't want to so I did first then he followed We taxied for awhile then we were finally off! So glad to be going home to escape all the rain... Never thought I'd be saying that! The kids once again were AMAZING on the plane! We were comped movie players and Trev was comped a kids food pack. So of course we had to buy one for each of the girls... Couldn't have one kid have one and not the others

On the way home we hit some VERY rough turbulence. I already am not a great flyer and this only made it worse. I was white knuckling it while Allie loudly exclaims " This is FUN when the plane dips and rocks!!!" with an excitement only a child has

For the most part it was a noisy plane ride. The kids in front of us kept fighting. I wanted to tell the parent to sit in between his kids so I did not have to listen to them! We had to separate ours a couple times. But the only words we really heard from them were if we were ready to land yet... It was a LONG 6 hour flight! But they did great overall! We chased the sun all the way home and that was fun. We arrived home about 9:45 and the sun had just set so you could see all the lights in the city. Kara exclaims "City lights! City lights! I see city lights!!! You could see some fireworks going off in the distance too.

We had a greeter from MAW meet us at baggage claim welcoming us back home. We were SO glad to be home! It was warm and DRY! In fact it did not rain for over a month when we got back! And when it did it was a little drizzle that lasted for about 10 minutes. It felt so good to be home.

We were super bummed it rained so much on Trev's MAW trip. However, we are very grateful for the opportunity to have gone to WDW and SWW. But for now we have no desire to go back. Thank you to everyone who helped make our trip magical. From those of you who gave us advice to the Big Give. The kids have LOVED wearing all their "Mickey Mail" clothes! I know you could not see all of them in the photos but we wore our ponchos A LOT!! So those cute outfits were under those most of the time. They still fit in most of the clothes and wear them constantly. Every time they use their crayons, water bottles, blankets etc. they comment that these are their Mickey Mail items and they love using all their goodies and wearing their clothes!

Day 7 Downtown Disney/Gatorland Part 1

We slept in this morning because of our late night last night. We had a hard time getting the kids out of bed but eventually they were out of bed playing with their new toys. It was a BEAUTIFUL morning! The sun was shining... But our lizard friends were gone... Did they know something we didn't???

My Dad and I went to get breakfast while Scott was *trying* to get the kiddos packed up. After breakfast I took the girls for horseback riding. They LOVED it! Trev was in the villa playing with his new toys from the night before. After the horse back riding I went to check out while the others were loading up our van to leave. Of course now that the sun was shining and it was beautiful outside it was time to leave! We found a couple little lizards and said good bye to them. The kids said they would see them in the pet store when we got home

After checking out we went to see Trev's star. We had not had a chance all week as it was raining so much all week all events were in the same area as the stars. (The kids did not get tucked in by mayor clayton either as that was cancelled because of all the rain). It was pretty emotional knowing his star was there with all the other wish kiddos. We took lots of pictures. We then headed to the ice cream parlor for one last ice cream sundae. After saying goodbye to GKTW and buying some souvenirs from there we headed off to DTD as we had not gone yet.

We went to the Disney store and Lego store to look around. It was HOT and muggy. The kids (and my Dad) really wanted to go to Gatorland. So we headed off to Gatorland for a few hours before our plane left... Or so we thought...



His star is on the bottom circle 2nd row from the bottom in the middle part of the circle.


We had ice cream at least twice a day!!