The Festival of the Moths

So last night's birthday party had a little hitch.

On top of one of the girls having a reaction from having too much dairy (ice cream),

another having an allergy attack and still another having a headache-- our part of 

the valley has  been inundated with swarms of moths.

Thousands, thousands and thousands.

It's gross and icky and freaky all at once..

A few of the girls were spending the night and they freaked out at the number of moths

in the barn (a few sneaked into the little loft apartment and that was  a few too many).

I guess some of the girls called their parents they were so rattled.

We finally got them settled down and moved into the house and onto the couches.

But poor Greer felt bad and felt like those dang moths ruined her party.

Dunt, dunt, da da... Byron to the rescue.

He came up with the idea of turning lemon into lemonade, well, actually,

the moth fiasco into the 2014 Festival of the Moths.

For breakfast this morning, we lit candles and let the girls

dance around the table and the light.

 We also made moth shaped  pancakes and sang moth themed songs.

 It seemed to work, Greer was all smiles...

as were all the girls.

 We voted Kean the Moth King.

Hey, every festival has to have a king.

And doesn't it say somewhere that your hair is your crowning glory--

well, check out that crown!

 Kean's royal reign continued after his nap

when Byron's good friend Shane Harris came by to 

pick up the tractor he keeps stored at our place.

 Guess who got a ride?

The Moth King had a good day.

Eleven and in Heaven

I must love my kids or something like that.

'Cause tonight we let Greer invite half the female population 

over to the house for her birthday party.

Okay, so maybe not quite half but it was sure girl world here this evening.

I think they went through about half a bottle of dish soap

to make the slip and slide extra slippery.

The girls gobbled up dinner...

 and opened presents...

 before heading down to Grandpa Bodily's for a long swim.

I don't know what we did to deserve getting the best neighbors around...

but we sure scored in that department.

Motorcycle Jeff came by to rescue the token boy

and take him for a ride on the Harley.

 They always greet each other with a fist bump.

So love that.

 And ladies, if you haven't already joined the Motorcycle Jeff fan club...

look who brought a surprise present for the birthday girl.

I'm telling you, this guy is golden.

 Greer opted to replace the traditional birthday cake

with s'mores and ice cream.

As I write this, they are all up in the barn playing games,

talking about boys and watching movies.

Ah, to be eleven again!

Kitty Cat Kisses

Kean's horse therapist told us today she's been picking

Romeo for him to ride because to her he's a prince riding in on a white horse!

Gotta love that.

Thursdays are some of our favorite days!

 We had Mari Tanner as our walker today-- which is pretty

amazing since her daughter is getting married in a week!

I tried to video tape Kean "trotting" again.  When they 

are going, going, he looks pretty unsettled

but the minute he's done, he breaks out in all smiles.

I don't know if I've talked about how Kean kisses... but

imagine a cat licking your face.  We all die laughing-- that is until

Byron reminds us we won't think it's so dang cute when he's sixteen

and still licking faces.

When he went to say goodbye to Romeo today, Kean gave

the horse a big lick on the side of his face.

Make that a big hairy lick.

Yuk.

Just a quick mention.  By this evening, Kean was feeling quite lousy.

But what is so great about that is he becomes the cuddle man.

And I promise you, there's nothing better--

a cuddly, cat like licking, sweet boy.

Hijacked

We gambled a bit today.

Kean hasn't been wanting to work very hard for Andrea, his

Physical Therapist at our house, so we took him to the park.

Early-- before any other germy kids showed up.

It was worth it.

He climbed up and down stairs,

 went down a bunch of slides and plum wore himself out.

We did run into a slight snafu.

While we had the park to ourselves, there was a crew

of maintenance workers.

And guess what comes with  maintenance workers-- 

no, not motorcycles but lawn mowers.

Let's just say, Kean was majorly distracted

(but we got a lot of walking in chasing them around the park).

 I think we freaked out one of the lawn care guys enough

by staring at him, that he turned off his machine

and offered for Kean to climb aboard.

 I seriously think Kean felt like a king on his throne.

What a nice guy to stop work and let Kean hijack his mower.

The Favorite Gift

Yuk.

Today was Chemo day.

Kean did remarkably well--

he screamed, bucked and fought like an alley cat

when I numbed him up this morning but was fine once we got to the hospital.

Just look at our big boy getting his vitals all by himself.

 Amy Heidemann was our Chemo date for the day

and thank goodness.

Kean, while happy for most of the day, was a bucking bronco

when it came time for Doctor Camilo to check his body

over for any swollen lymph nodes.

Let me just say, Amy is very talented at helping to hold Kean down,

keep him distracted and lead in the singing of all kinds of kid's music.

 One other highlight... a middle school's bell choir

serenaded in the hospital lobby today.

 That bonus entertainment sure made the waiting for Kean's

weekly meds go by much faster.

For all of his trouble today, Kean was rewarded

with, yup, you guessed it, a wonderful motorcycle ride.

 Jeff even stayed after for dinner which was a treat for all of us.

 Especially since today was Greer's 11th birthday.

 This wacky but wonderful girl keeps us singing, laughing

and smiling pretty much around the clock.

 She is almost always pure joy.

(Of course, I say that now before she hits those teen years).

Her favorite birthday gift of the night?

Dad's homemade slip 'n slide.

 We've all gotten tired of the slides from the store

that only last a handful of runs before they are ripped.

 So Byron bought a hundred foot, thick piece of plastic

and voila'  (with some dish soap) the girls rocket down the hill.

This is gonna be a popular fixture in our yard for the next few months.

The Sleeping People

Boy, we couldn't have ordered up a more beautiful day for Memorial Day.

After our BBQ, we went over to the cemetery.  

We don't live too far from the Veteran's cemetery and it is

connected to Dry Creek where my nephew, Isaac is buried.

 We took over a bouquet of flowers for Isaac's grave

(plus a little angel Greer had put together).

He died shortly after his birth.

 We also visited the three graves of my cousin's children.

A group of five teens were on their way to school one winter morning

and slid off the road into a large pond where they all drowned.

They kids were all extraordinary and their deaths are still felt

strongly in our community and in our family.

Their gravestones are some of the most beautiful tributes

you've ever seen.

The girls enjoyed reading about each of their lives.

All I could think of tonight as I looked at all these graves 

in the children's section

was what heartbreak to see so many lives cut short.

I always wonder what the story is behind each name

and each stone.

There was one that had two little cars parked by the child's name.

Another had a burger and a package of french fries.

We spent quite a bit of time walking around reading

 all of the names, dates and tributes.

That, and listening to Reese tell us repeatedly to be quiet

so we don't wake the dead people.

  

Flying Pigs

Surprise, surprise.

Kean got his very own package in the mail.

 The package contained a poster from the "When Pigs Fly" Marathon

in Cincinnati and his very own running medal.

This makes the third marathon medal his runner, Clair

has sent to him.  She's a mom, a pediatrician and a runner

in Lexington, Kentucky who runs on behalf of the Keanut man.

The organization ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/irunformichael/) on Facebook has taken off.

There are now thousands of runners waiting to be matched with a child

who cannot physically run for himself.

So if you know of any special needs kiddos or children

with health issues and challenges-- have them sign up!

We have loved this experience and can't wait to someday

meet Clair and her cute family.

The Fish Bowl

Our award winning next door neighbor, Grandpa Bodily

not only opened his pool this week, he heated it up.

Giddy doesn't begin to describe the girls.

Kean went for his first dip and was a wild man.

He was eating it up... well, more like swallowing it up.

I swear he was trying everything to keep up with his sisters to

the point he kept pushing away from us and dunking under-- 

only to come up smiling.

Gotta get that kid some swim lessons asap.

Wild Kingdom

Kean started off his morning with a ride on Romeo

for horse therapy.

Our boy has really turned a corner-- he now

loves to ride.

Today, we tried trotting for the first time

and he was all smiles-- big ones.

(my camera skills, however, won't make you smile.

I haven't quite mastered holding the phone up and out,

holding onto Kean's britches

and running alongside a horse).

After therapy, we took a short walk through the neighborhood.

We were stalled out for a while after we came across

a big ol' snake slowly making his way across

Grandpa Bodily's driveway.

I was too freaked out to get a picture.

But we did get a picture of this wild little bunny in the neighbor's yard.

That wasn't the end to Kean's day of wildlife...

we saved the most ferocious one for last...

the untamed, wild Harley.

If you won't count that, the boys

did see a dead snake on the road.

Today, Jeff had us grab one of Kean's 

favorite C.D.'s to jam to as they rode...

These two guys are about as cool as they come.

Miss Smarty Pants

When I went to bed last night, I had to snap this picture of these two cuties.

One of the girls is always sneaking into the bed of one of the others.

 Tonight, Byron watched the kiddos while I went to the school to

see Holland honored for her second year in the National Junior Honor Society.

 Our little smarty pants helped with the introductions and program.

 Love that she is growing up to be smart, kind and beautiful

(inside and out).

A Boy Thing

When it comes to therapy, Kean is hit or miss.

Maybe he's moody.

Maybe he doesn't feel well--

who knows.

All I know is some days he's happy, cooperative and ready to work.

Other days I feel bad for this therapists.

Today at speech, he was right down the middle.  He put in about

fifty percent and then was done and I mean done.

It was kind of the same story at his little therapy school yesterday.

But last week-- wowza.

Maureen brought this new game called "What's In Ned's Head".

And let me tell you-- lots of gross stuff.

The game consists of a big hollowed out head.

 Kean has to reach inside Ned's orifices-- his nose, mouth or ears

and pull out all kinds of yucky items.

 Here he is matching up the plastic "vomit" to the picture on the card.

He pulled out all kinds of lovely items-- a spider, a dirty diaper, 

a giant ant, a dirty Q-tip and on and on.

Personally, I was completely grossed out

while Kean was in full glee mode.

Go figure.

It must be a boy thing.