First day of school 2015

Not only was it Ansley and James' first day of school but it was Bobs too. Ansley started 4th grade. Her teacher is Mrs. Ramsey and Mrs. Sims. James started 1st grade. His teacher is Mrs. Magee. I couldn't tell you Bobs teachers but he has started his executive MBA at Georgia Tech. For the next 16 months he will be a college student again! 

Henry at CHOA

While we were at Thornwell Rocky managed to get shampoo in his eye at the groomers (which lucky for us is at a vet) and had a reaction. After seeing an opthomologist and spending the weekend in ICU he ended up having a corneal ulcer. The vet was fabulous! Well this was the start to the down hill for sickness. I brought Henry down to Atlanta to go the pediatrician because he woke up with a baseball in his neck. The worst part was he has gotten continuously bad with car sickness so he had a rough trip home. After a visit to the doctor he was diagnosed with a lymph node infection. The doctor didn't see any reason why we could head back to the lake. So we picked up rocky from the vet and headed back to the lake. Of course he got sick on the way back. That should have been my cue to turn around and stay home. Well Monday he was rough. Tuesday was worse. Wednesday was bad. He had progressively gotten more lethargic and just screamed all the time. So Bob and I rushed to pack and left the older to at the lake. That was the longest two hour ride to CHOA. Children's is an amazing hospital! The wait wasn't long and they just get kids and parents. I thought for sure we would be going home after a bag of fluids and a change in medicine. After an X-ray of his belly which showed he was just constipated! And an ultrasound of his lymph nodes and blood work we waited. Of course we thought of the worst case senarios. All the tests came back fine. It did show he was fighting an infection. We were admitted over night and started on fluids and a stronger medicine. He was one sick kid! Henry is not one to sit still. He didn't move from the hospital bed for 3 days. Thursday he tried to get up and go to the playroom. After 5 minutes he turned pale and we headed back. At around 2 am Friday the tech came in to get vitals. When the thermometer wouldn't read his temp and his BP was bad things got serious. He was so cold to the touch and gray pale looking. The nurse was called in and then the doctor. He wouldn't respond well to us. Come to find out later he was going septic. The way they explained it to me was the clindamycin was pushing so much of the infection into his blood stream that his body couldn't handle it. The doctor came in who was nice and calm ordered a bag of fluid to be set on high. Once the fluid went through him he woke up angry. He managed to pull out his IV. The unfortunate thing was being so cold and dehydrated getting a vein was impossible. He stabilized. After 4 attempts we decided to wait for the IV team who came at 7 am.  Henry was not thrilled about this. It is amazing how fast little ones bounce back! The rest of the stay was uneventful. Finally on Saturday the doctor said we could go home. They ended up saying that he had a lymph infection along with staph. The moment we got home Henry swore off TV and headed outside. He is still trying to catch up on sleep a week later but is back to his active self again. Today we finished his antibiotics. We are so thankful for our friends, family, and church family. The love and support helped us remain strong for our little guy!

Good news is he learned how to use a barf bag!

After a rough night! Finally an IV in the hand not arm and some sleep!

Sitting with daddy in the ER

Bed head! 

Checking out the toys!

Pp

Thornwell children's home

In July we went with our church up to Clinton, SC to do some mission work at Thornwell. The two older kids went with us. There were plenty of jobs to do! Ansley got to help with the sewing group and enjoyed meeting the girls and connecting with girls from our church! James and Bob stuck together and worked in the school to paint and fix up three classrooms. I was able to paint two chicken coups and help out on the farm. We learned so much about what a blessing this children's home is for families in GA, SC, and FL. We were fortunate enough to get to know some of the kids and hear about how successful the kids are that are grown up now!

Ansley made a new friend!

On our way to the lake we stopped by Furman to see Bobs old stomping grounds!!

Gainesville

Mom and I took the boys on a road trip to Gainseville while Ansley was at camp. We stopped at my great Aunts old house which is actually a beautiful garden with trails and plenty of green space to run around! Ophelia and jack who live next door who also took care of aunt Mary for years so we consider  them family. Jack is ailing in health so we stopped in for a visit. We got to visit where family lived in town. We then went to Jaemor farms for lunch and dessert! 

Chattahoochee river!

Instead of packing the kids up and driving somewhere we grabbed our bikes and rode to the river. It is right next to the kids school. I also took this time to see if Ansley could make the ride. This upcoming school year she gets the option of riding her bike to school. We had a blast riding there. We met up with Charlie and Baylor to play at the park and in the river. The ride home was going smoothly until Coles bike broke. Luckily Grandma came to the rescue and picked us up. 

Had to get this picture!

Art Barn

We have been going to the Art Barn since 2009. Hard to believe that! Yet it only gets better. Of course the price keeps going up! Visiting the farm is so much fun. We managed to be in the red barn first. We had fun playing with all the animals. The donkeys were on guard because of the new baby goats. So that was fun to listen to them warn the farm of the new animals. 

Henry's masterpiece! He did an amazing job following directions. Even though he only wanted his sheep to be green. 

Farmer Sue had about 9 baby goats so we had a blast playing with them. 

I say cheese Henry's response! I call this sour cheese!'

I failed at not squeezing the chicken so mom took on the job!