favorite sentence!

I have a new favorite sentence!!

"I pee'd"!!!!!

Some sentences don't need any further explanation!!!

:)

Make-A-Wish

Something very interesting occurred when Amie was in the hospital to have her T&A's removed. The child life specialist asked if we minded her submitting Amie's name to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. At first we were taken a back about it -- because our understanding was that was for "final wishes" of dying children! But that is not the case. Here is a link to their website, they grant a wish to any child that is living with a life threatening illness (Amie's heart more than qualifies her for that).

http://www.wish.org/

So...we've been trying to figure out what a 3 year old might like for a wish.

So, here's where you come in!! Please send us some ideas to our email: zappak82@gmail.com

We haven't met with the "dream coordinator" (actually I can't remember what the name is of the person that comes out). They sent us a packet, and will call back to schedule a meeting in the near future.

So for now.....got any ideas?

Thoughts that have crossed our mind:

• Improvements on the back yard (like rubber under the play set or a riding path - since she really has no sidewalk in the area to ride a bike when she gets a little older)


• Maybe Disney - just not sure how much she would enjoy it yet though


• Maybe a Disney cruise -- we had been considering doing that in the next couple of years anyway -- they have great kid entertainment every day


• When we were in Hawaii last year, we kept talking about definitely wanting to bring Amie next time....but is she old enough to enjoy?


• Don't think her meeting Dora, or Curious George or anyone like that would be a good idea, because when Darwin took her to see Elmo -- she didn't like how big he was.

So -- think about what you know about her & send us some ideas!!

Til next time! I was looking through old pictures to put one on here -- then I found a folder I had forgotten about -- here are several pictures from last year (April through August 2007)!

These two were Amie trying to feed herself some yogurt. For several months we had tried different flavors of yogurt to help with her GI issues -- the red and blue one from Aldi she seemed to like the best -- but then she learned that she could "paint" with it!!

This was our little Miss trying to figure out how to turn the tractor on!!

Anything is a toy for a 2 year old!!

And here she is doing a scary face!!!

My Caylee thoughts

Ok - so you all know I've been obsessed with the Caylee Anthony case. I think about it a lot. I check every night to see if they have found her yet or if they have arrested her mother for murder.

First here is an AWESOME tribute to everyone that is searching for her.

http://ladyontheplaza.blogspot.com/2008/10/tribute-to-those-searching-for-caylee.html

Here are my thoughts on it:
I think that Tim Miller (not my Tim, but the father of a murdered daughter that has a search corporation that finds missing people) knows more than he has been able to share & that when he returns to Orlando this week, he will find Caylee's body before the grand jury next Tuesday.

I think that there will be a warrant for Casey's arrest right after the grand jury on Tuesday.

I no longer think that the murder of Caylee was an accident. I think Caylee was in the way of Casey's life style & no longer wanted her in the way.

No matter what it is that occurred to Caylee, Casey can never be allowed to live in the public again. She is not in touch with reality -- she lives in her own world & will always put herself first, not others.

Many say we need to remember that she is innocent until proven guilty -- that is true, that is why we live in the country we do. I would love to believe that Caylee is alive & that this mother couldn't possibly cause harm to her......but what we know right now it doesn't look possible.

I hope that the grandparents survive finding out the truth, that Little Caylee has a proper burial & that some day Casey learns compassion & is able to admit & grieve for this precious angel.

Why couldn't she have just given Caylee up to her mother. Her mother was willing to raise Caylee, but Casey was jealous of the bond that Caylee had to her grandmother.

Some day I hope there is a way to identify people that have emotional inability to raise a child & that we have ways to either rehabilitate them, or find a good home for them.

Happy Birthday to our American Hero -- Kyle

Today is also a special day. Brother-in-law Kyle Wehrly's 31st Birthday would have been today. To celebrate his birthday, Kylee & Janet sent balloons to heaven for him (they even let Amie join in)! First they wrote special messages to him.Little Mother Hen Kylee explained everything to Amie.
Then a little dance!
All Gave Some......Some Gave All. The Veteran Memorial Wall in Galesburg.


Kylee was the first to let hers go (she had the white one) -- up up and away.


Then Janet let go of her red one & Amie let go of the blue one. We watched them float way way way up.

Happy Birthday SFC Kyle B. Wehrly -- our American Hero.



You are missed!

Scarecrow festival

October 4th at Standish Park is the Galesburg Scarecrow Festival. Amie & I visited the Bright Futures Display -- all week the kids & their teachers had worked on making scarecrows -- they were so cute! We visited Amie's classroom on Wednesday & got to hear some of the scarecrow stories that they were telling!


And guess who Amie got to see again.....MIA!! She still talks about Mia every day. She now says, "Mia. Amie Mia. Miss Mia" -- with a little pouty face! Mia let Amie paint her face!!

Heart Kids Picnic

Sunday, Darwin, Amie & I attended a special picnic in Peoria for "heart kids". This picnic is put on each year by the TOUCH foundation (we are just joining it - more info to follow in the future). The picnic was really cool. It was at the Wildlife Prarie Park in Peoria -- although little Missy was getting cranky -- so we never did see the animal part of the park! They had a jumping castle that Amie had a blast in!

Look -- she even took turns!!!


There was also a balloon guy that made the really cool balloon things -- Amie had a heart inside a heart on a "wand" -- she picked it, because the smaller heart had a face that looked like a "meow meow"! We rode the train, she had her face painted, she decorated a pumpkin, made a place mat, ate cotton candy (first sample of that! She wasn't super impressed with it)!

I think we will definitely go again next year!

Happy 9th Birthday Kylee!!

Kylee turned 9!! Hard to believe! Time goes by so fast!

Her Mom had a party for her with her friends coming over to play and cake and ice cream. Here are some of the kids on the trampoline:
cousin Donovan, friend Alice, Kylee & cousin Alex -- they stood still long enough to take a pic!!

Other friends were playing in the play house. The play house has definitely gotten some good use out of it -- Kylee, Kylee's Mom (Janet) & Uncle Darwin did most of the work building it!!

Time for cake!!

Thought bubble....."How many more pictures before I can blow out the candles?...Adults!!"

What a cool bike Kylee!!

Kylee let little cousin Amie help open presents!!

Cousin Donovan (aka Donnie!) and Amie having fun on the trampoline. I was worried about her being on the trampoline with someone else, until she was at the jumping castle at her school! She definitely is able to do it this year!!!

I thought this picture was cool -- trying to catch them in action was tough!!

A little rough housing with Uncle Mike & Aunt Tiara!

All in all the party was fun for Kylee & the kids. It brought back memories of another birthday party that Kylee had when she was one. My Dad was fighting cancer that year & I have an angelic picture of Kylee sitting on her grandpa's knee. He was bald from the chemo, but still looked fairly healthy. We all feared, but hoped it would not be his last birthday party he would be at...unfortunately we were right, it was his last. I thought about him a lot that day, I think he was there, enjoying the kids & the fun that was going on.

The only down side to the day was some adult drama that should not have occurred at a birthday party. But, we can't control other people, so it happened & hopefully Kylee didn't have any negative comments the next day at school! And that adults can act more like adults in the future.