ACC..no not the Athletic Conference

If I have said it once I have said it a hundred times. I am a blogging slacker. It is summer time though, my kiddos are home and we have been working hard to have a fun summer. We have spent lots of time swimming, reading, going to the library, had a visit from Grandpa, checked out Folk Art at the Frist, had an MRI, have gone to camps, and have had an all around good time.

Oh, MRI caught your attention...it would mine too. :) Little man has been having serious headaches on and off for awhile now and we have no idea what is causing them. They come on suddenly and fairly frequently. Because of his Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum diagnosis his doctor decided to send us for his 2nd MRI. Even though he was a little worried and we had a few tears with the contrast injection he was able to settle down and stay quite still during the procedure. I am sure watching Star Wars Episode VI kept him busy.

We got good news and bad news. Good news there was no difference in his brain than when we got his diagnosis when he was one. Bad news, we don't know what is causing the headaches. Several people have suggested dehydration but he drinks liquids frequently, and recently a lot more water than milk or juice. Sometimes they happen when he is a little overwhelmed with too much noise or too many people around. Last night was a bad one. He was in his room playing and then all of a sudden he was crying because his head hurt so bad. After some children's advil and about 20 minutes of cuddles he seemed to get better.

Not only did we do the MRI we also went to the eye doctor and got checked out there as well. He is the teeniest, tiniest bit nearsighted but not enough to warrant glasses or to cause headaches. I was diagnosed with cluster migraines when I was around 7 so I hope that is not what is going on with him. I guess it is on to possibly eliminating foods to see if that is the culprit. To find out more about ACC check out www.nodcc.org.

Double Digits!

10 years ago today I was having constant contractions. I was adamant that I was not going to the hospital until my appointment time though as Bobby and I had already been sent back home twice over the two previous days. When we finally got to the hospital a lady pushing a stroller got on the elevator with us and said to me "It looks like you are in labor!" She then proceeded to run off the elevator so she could sign in before us at the desk.

I had to stop twice between the waiting room and the exam room to have contractions so when the doctor said "We are sending you home" I thought I was going to punch him in the face. But he said "Just kidding, let's get you checked in". That was around three in the afternoon. Bobby and my mom hung out with me, Marissa and Kristina, Joy and Amy all visited. Bobby's mom and dad were on their way from Louisville. We watched Ever After on VHS that we brought from home and passed the time.

Finally at 9:26pm it was time for the sweetest surprise. We didn't find out we were having a girl until she made her debut. And a grand debut it was, Bobby nervously cut the cord. She was blue and was whisked away by the nurses to be suctioned. It wasn't long though until my sweet princess was in my arms. Her daddy cried, her grandma cried. 

10 years later we have the most beautiful, creative, joke cracking, craft making, brilliant, avid reader, loves her brother (even though she sometimes finds him annoying), loves Jesus, loves me and Bobby, H2O watching, board game and Wii playing, almost in middle school, sweet friend girl. We love our sweet Munchkin and pray for another incredible year!

{TWD:BWJ} Not Hazelnut Biscotti

 Here it is July and I missed both June recipes...I take that back. I made the French Strawberry Cake. It was delicious but it was ugly and my photos were terrible...I may post them later. They are on another SD card.

Today's recipe, Hazelnut Biscotti, hosted by Jodi of Homemade and Wholesome and Katrina of Baking and Boys, was quite easy to put together.

If you are looking for the actual recipe for Hazelnut biscotti you can check out their sites. Since I did not have hazelnuts or hazelnut extract I opted for reducing the flour and including 1/3 cup cocoa power, orange extract and semisweet chocolate chips. I did consider dipping them in chocolate but we are about to head out the door for fireworks so that is not going to happen tonight.

My little family of four are big fans of the chocolate orange combo so these mini ( I didn't make my loaves quite chubby enough for traditional sized biscotti) biscotti were an instant hit. None of us are coffee drinkers though so these may last awhile...or make their way to a neighbors house in the near future (they are far away from the edges of the counter so the darn dog should not be able to eat them while we are out). The recipe said that tightly wrapped these stay good for a month. I suppose twice baking them so they are crispy help with that. :) Make sure to check out the LYL to see how other bakers played around with the recipe this week. :)

G.I. Joe Can Fly

 One of Little Man's favorite birthday gifts was Parachute G.I. Joe. It was one of my favorites as well since it was on clearance at Target.This guy came with a few little parts like goggles and guns. But, the best part was the parachute. We attempted throwing him off our deck and managed to get him to fly a little bit. He needed about 15 feet though to really float.So what did we do? Took him to a hill near our house and had Little Man throw him as hard as he could.

 At one point Little Man threw the GI Joe and the parachute actually covered my entire head! I am sure none of us could make that shot again if we tried!

 Munchkin took a few turns throwing G.I. Joe but spent the majority of her time rolling down the hill getting filthy and chasing a friendly little dog that took a liking to us.

 I love this silhouette shot of Bobby helping Little Man get everything untangled for another throw.

 Little Man got so excited every time he threw the action figure. It was always a surprise if the parachute would open and float or if he would get tangled and crash.

 One of the fun challenges was trying to see what positions G.I. Joe would fly in. We tried cannonballs, splits, and other random ways. The best way seemed to be this one though:

 Sometimes, your kids have toys that they play with but are not terribly attached too. This one I think will continue to be a favorite for awhile though. :)