Ironic

So we took the kids to a really great park yesterday afternoon. They love the slides, and everything else it has to offer. I noticed a couple of little girls who appeared to be identical twins. It turns out they had a brother the same age also. Yes, there was another set of triplets (GGB) at the same park. In addition, they were also 2-1/2 years old. This family was actually visiting from Bloomington, IL.

It's official, Sydney is completely potty trained. Emily will hopefully show more interest soon, and Noah, well let's just say, it's going to be a while! The triplets were moved into the 3 year olds room at preschool today. According to their former teachers, they are more advanced than the other children their age. In fact, one of the new teachers already commented that they know more than the 3 year olds. Once again, I am so thankful for the abilities they are demonstrating. All three can correctly spell their names and count to 20. Emily is calling out octagon at each stop sign.

The kids really seemed excited about Halloween because of the decorations. They loved out numerous ghosts and our witch who crashed into they yard. We hung orange LED pumpkin lights. The outside looked appropriate for the occasion. It was definitely child friendly. Nothing terribly scary. I can't wait to host Halloween parties for their classmates! We took the kids trick-or-treating for approximately 10 minutes on Oct. 31st. It was too chilly for them to be out. They were all dressed in personalized scrubs, girls in pink, Noah in blue. They looked quite cute, but wouldn't pose for pictures. We can't get them to stay still long enough. Their Grandpa Cheesman spent that weekend with us so he was able to join us on our limited venture out.

I've recently started singing "Jingle Bells" around the kids. They have already picked up the 1st verse of the song. They really do amaze us all the time. I'm so excited for the upcoming Christmas holiday. I think they are going to love it this year because of the lights and yard ornaments. Like last year, we plan to be conservative when it comes to presents. The kids are too young to understand Christmas and simply don't ask for things yet. Well, I take that back, the girls want pink & purple babies.

Not sure yet if we will see Grandma & Grandpa Ayres for Christmas. They may have plans to spend the holiday with some of their other grandchildren. If they are reading this, I hope they'll visit soon. Emily, Noah & Sydney keep asking for Grandma.

The last few months have been hard on us. Losing my mom was crushing to John and I. We have both battled the flu bug and he's also had a bout with Bronchitis. Emily and Sydney just recently recovered from ear infections, and now Emily is running another high fever. This season is already frustrating us. We have to miss work due to our personal illness or a child's illness, and we have no family to help out here. God, please protect our jobs!

As bad as things have gotten around here, I have to keep focusing on all our blessing. We have each other, 3 beautiful and healthy children, and a promising future.

I would ask that you not only pray for my family, please pray for my good friend Heather Cundiff. She lost her only child, Tyler, on Nov. 4th due to complications from H1N1. Tyler was just a couple months shy of his 15th birthday. Like many others who are losing their battle with this illness, Tyler had pre-existing health conditions. Most notably, he had Cerebral Palsy. Some of you might remember Heather from my wedding. She was the bridesmaid in our wedding.

Amy