Explosion

My hydrangeas have completely exploded! I love them.

I Want a Bad Hair Day

At some point, in some way we are all affected by cancer. Whether it's ourselves, a family member, a friend, or neighbor. Cancer has no boundaries. For me it was a friend. I got a call about a year ago from one of my best friends. She wanted to talk to Aaron which surprised me. Her baby (7 months) had an unusual rash on her legs. Her question was, should I take her to the doctor before we leave on our family trip. Yes. Then we got a call a few hours later saying, "they are sending me to the hospital for a blood work up." That was a Friday afternoon. By Saturday she was diagnosed with leukemia and by Sunday she had a central line put in and her first round of chemo started.

A life changing weekend indeed. Since then they have been in and out of the hospital for treatments. Life has been rough trying to juggle a sick baby in the hospital and the older 3 kids at home. They have needed and received a lot of help from family, friends, and Church members. None the less it's hard...really hard! It's hard for me to watch it from the outside. I don't live in the same state, so I can't watch her kids or clean her house or take her dinners. But, I can pray for them daily and call regularly.

She started a leukemia awareness day. She had orange (the official color of leukemia fighters) t-shirts made that say, "I want a bad hair day, I support a leukemia fighter". The idea is for everyone to wear their shirts on Monday. The idea has gone far. She now has a web site with the logo on a number of different items. She does not just cater to leukemia fighters, but to all cancer fighter. A portion of the yearly proceeds will go directly to a leukemia fighter to help pay hospital bills. Even with insurance, cancer is expensive.

So go to the site and show your support to a cancer fighter! I Want A Bad Hair Day it's still a work in progress, but you will get the idea and be able to order.

I love my friend and her little leukemia fighter!

Cross Country Race

Every year the elementary school has a cross country day. Grades 1-5 participate in different races. In first grade Isaac came in 2nd Place, just steps behind Demarcus. In second grade he came in 1st place, just steps in front of Demarcus. So the heat was on this year. He woke up Thursday morning and said, "Mom, I think I'm nervous, I have butterflies. What if I don't win?" I tried to tell him that sometimes we win and sometimes we loose, and that's okay.

3rd grade boys: lined up ready to go.

Take off. Isaac isn't even in this picture, he and his main competitor Demarcus took off too fast.

Yes, he's running in his socks! Apparently running bare foot is the latest thing. I don't think it's smart. Plus, those were new socks...now they are brown on the bottom.

Coming in the "home stretch" for 3rd place...in front of Demarcus.

He was a little disappointed to get 3rd (out of 96 boys), but he's a good sport. He shook it off. He said, "I shouldn't have started out so fast. I just didn't want Demarcus to get ahead of me."

Isaac indeed has skill. I can bet none of those boys can run a 10K (6.4 miles) with their dad in under an hour...he did that last weekend.

Hayden turns 5!

We had a very HAPPY boy at our house on Sunday and Monday. Hayden's 5th birthday was on Monday May 10th, but we celebrated it on Sunday along with Mother's Day because Aaron was leaving for a training conference. We couldn't let Dad miss ALL the excitement.

He got a plethora of out door activities. It's his favorite place to be.

Since we celebrated the day before, cupcakes were in order for the after school snack.

Here's the big 5 year old sporting his new running outfit and shoes getting ready to play a mean game of croquet.

Hayden has been a true joy to have in our family.

He has a smile that is contagious!

He is sweet and thoughtful.

He is mellow and very even tempered (unless provoked by an older sibling).

He is content and happy all the time.

He is super smart.

He is silly.

He gives great hugs and kisses.

He is a great helper and will always be the first to jump in and help someone.

We love him and are proud of him.

NOT so helpful helper

Halle was white from head to toe! But the sugar cookies were good.

C.A.I.T.E.

This girl cracks me up! Her favorite thing to do these days is read Junie B. Jones. In fact, most days this is how I am greeted as she gets off the bus and walks down to our house...

...her nose in the book. "Hi Caite, how are you?" "Good, I'm almost to chapter 6".

Each grade has a different color Friday shirt that they can only wear on Friday with their uniform bottoms. Kindergarten is turquoise. I couldn't get her to wear it (because she won't wear regular t-shirts...they look like boys) until last week when I made her some matching leg warmers. She was all over the "fashion statement". Now she likes her Friday shirt...but only when paired with the warmers. Go figure! That's our little DIVA!

Responsibility Revolution

I had a friend call me about a month ago and tell me about her new favorite thing. It wasn't a lotion, dessert, or pair of shoes...it was the Responsibility Chart. She told me all about it and how it had changed her kids view of responsibility and mom no longer has to nag to get things done. She told me how to make it and where to get the vinyl graph. I got it done, and it had it's grand debut for FHE a few weeks ago.




Here's how it works. Everyone starts on Level One. each person has a set of 5 things that HAVE to get done everyday before they can play or watch TV. Once those things are done they put a magnet in the square and can move down to Level Two. They now have the liberty to play with friends, play outside, or do whatever they think is fun. They can also start earning tickets. Tickets are give for doing extra things, like unloading the dishwasher, helping dad with the yard, or just being EXTRA kind. Tickets are saved up all week and every Monday night we open the "Gardner Family Store". I have a box of prizes worth different amounts. This has alleviated stress at the store when the kids are begging for something. "Mom, can I pleeeease have it." Yep... I buy it, put it in the box and say "it's worth 10 tickets, or 50 tickets." then the kids have something to work for.

There are also weekly things that they do such as their Family Home Evening assignment, journal writing, a service for someone outside of our family, and a weekly goal.

We are just finished week 2. So far it has been wonderful!!