Life as a Leach

I have some very exciting news!  My family will all be going on a Disney cruise to Alaska this summer and we are SO excited!! While this trip has been in the works for some time now, we were hesitant to get our hopes up for a while and didn't say much because we weren't sure Abby's health would allow us to go.  A few weeks ago, we got the okay from her pulmonologist and it is full speed ahead!!    Abby's #1 thing she is looking forward to is cuddling sled dogs.  Of course!! When our pulm said she could go, she told Abby to, "Go cuddle those sled dogs, Abs!"  Love her!   She did caution us that this wouldn't be a very relaxing vacation for us with multiple bipaps and respiratory treatments during the day and bipap, gtube feeds, and pulse ox monitoring overnight, but I laughed and said we are used to that.  We have been dealing with the vent, cough assist, and neb treatments for just abo...

We had our one and only decent snow of the season on the first full day of Spring!  We got about 6 inches at our house and the kids enjoyed playing in it.  The crazy thing is that most of it melted the next day!  Caleb finally got to try out his snow ball shooter that he got for Christmas! It’s rather ironic to have them standing with my spring display in snow suits!! Caleb loved sledding, but Abby preferred to just did in the snow. Poor Chloe was ready for everyone to go back to school and work!  Abby had too much time on her hands on Wednesday! 🤣 I have to say that Wednesday's snow day was such a gift.  On Tuesday, our community of Southern Maryland was rocked by a school shooting in a neighboring county.  We found out last night that one of the victims was being taken off life support.  Her family gave a heart-breaking press conference from the hospital.  You always think that would never happen here ...until it does....

I am so proud of my boy!  Today, we received the news that Caleb is a 2018 Carson Scholarship winner!!!   He has earned a scholarship to college (at age 11!) and will attend a special awards ceremony where he will hear Dr. Ben Carson speak!  This is a really great honor and we are thrilled for him!  I know I have a great kid, but it's nice when others notice it too. During the application process, Caleb had to list his community service, share grade reports, and write an essay.  I feel strongly that kids should do their own writing (it's the teacher in me!)  I asked him some questions to get him thinking and helped with typing, but these words are 100% his.  I love how his voice shines through in it!  Below is what he wrote. “The more that you read, the more things you will know.   The more that you learn, the more places you will go.”   --Dr. Seuss Share something that you learned from reading.   What were you readin...