Uncle Kyle

Uncle Kyle came to my basketball game and spent the day with us today! Mom sent him home with an entire pantry full of gluten.  Sorry my game was not so hot, Unc. I blame the week of sickness and sleepover at Zeke's the night before.

As usual, we had a blast with Uncle Kyle. He blew our minds with his Rubik's cube skills!

Spirit Week

It was Lutheran Schools week so we got in the Spirit!  On Sports day, I wore a combination of baseball, football and basketball gear, while B donned my old soccer uniform since he'll be wearing one of his own soon!  Um... B? Do you need to take care of something before we go?



I chose Veterans Day for "Favorite Holiday Day" and worked really hard on an outfit that I let B wear because I was too sick to go in.

On the front I wrote the names of all my favorite veterans:
Nicholas Bodnar - WWII Air Force Canada
Martin Bodnar - WWII Green Beret Canada
John Vandygriff - Vietnam War Army
Jim Hanley - Paratrooper Army
Gene Schrowe - Vietnam Navy
Mark Vandygriff - Army National Guard (which we learned should actually be reserves)
 

On the back I put the countries my veterans served and their flags and mottos! We threw the shirt, some camo pants and Daddy's dog tags on B. I wouldn't let him wear my special hat from Papa though. Some things are just too precious to send to daycare.

Thankfully, I was back in the game for Crazy Day!

We are naturals at Crazy!!

Wow B.  Just.... wow.

Duty Calls

My best buddy is down for the count. Things are just not right in Vandyville without our main source of laughter and sunshine!

So, I've had to step up my game. I'm working hard at being extra funny and trying to keep spirits up around here.

It's not easy!

Here I am singing a song for my bro. C'mon man, we need you back! Life is rough without you, bud!

No THIS is What Sick Looks Like

This is who we're worried about this week!  Coley came home very sick from Monster Trucks on Daddy's birthday and has struggled to get better since. He even had to miss two days of Spirit Week! Poor Coley. The whole house is gloomier without his sunshine and happiness.

This is what Sick Looks Like?!

Lots of people are worried about me! I have a few tummy issues and a terribly painful rash but I haven't skipped a beat! I'm still a big strong, rowdy little trouble maker :)

Look at these guns!

For someone who should be severely malnourished, I'm doing pretty well!

Wilderness Explorers

It was a beautiful day today so we spent the afternoon taking down Christmas lights and exploring the woods with Dad. We found a bird's nest! Mom was busy cleaning so she sent me out with the camera to take pictures.

Another angle and extreme close up. Shortly after this shot was taken, B stepped on the nest and flattened it.

No sweat little bro! I was too busy attaching my arrowhead to this stick to make a spear!

Note the ridiculous haircut I got today. It makes me look like a real bushman! They must use the same hairdresser.  Dad gave me a "mercy buzz" after church.

Oh and don't worry. This spear is safely stored in the gun safe with all other deadly weapons. We are definitely ready to defend Vandyville, right Dad?

I do NOT LIKE SCHOOL

Today was my first parent teacher conference! Mom went in very excited to hear all about the great things that go on in pre-school. I was pretty sure I made it clear how I felt about school each day that she drug me in, but she was still surprised when Mrs. Keller presented my drawing of "your favorite thing about pre-school" which we all made for our parents to see at their conference.

My report card was not much better! Basically, I refused to test.

Add Cole's perfect report card to the mix and I was not looking so good today.

Pre-School Update:  2/1/2015 Mom pulled me out of Zion pre-school because Mrs. Keller and Mrs. Tuggle replaced the sand in their sandboxes with flour. Mom could not feel good about sending me into a room that surely had flour E V E R Y W H E R E until she understood my sensitivity level. So today I joined Jonah at Little Learners and actually tried a little bit!

Pilly

Hey!  C'mere.  Let me show you something. Look in my bucket!

Meet Pilly!  Daddy saved him from our front step. We brought him inside and feed him veggies. His favorite is celery leaves. He's the best pet ever!

UPDATE:  Mom went to Texas for a week and Pilly died. Single Dads can only keep so many creatures alive when Mom is away :) We are grateful we made the cut.

Master Builder

Just the latest creation from our resident Master Builder!

God Has a Plan

Today, Mom took B up to see Dr. Gupta for one more round of tests to confirm that he has celiac disease. Many of our friends and family have been praying and worrying right along with us throughout these past few months of tests and we are so very grateful to them. It's funny that this diagnosis is almost welcome because of all the things God has done for us prior to it.

When you have a disease, one of the most difficult things to handle is the lack of control. When your loved one is sick, it's absolutely maddening to not be able to DO anything and when you have a control freak Mother, it's an absolute relief to be diagnosed with a disease over which you have full control.

When you are facing a celiac disease diagnosis and told you must eliminate any and all exposure to gluten, it can be very overwhelming! But when you've had dear friends in your life for the past 3-4 years who are gluten free and you have a cabinet full of gluten free foods for your best buddy at home, it's not all that daunting. Add to that the fact that every grocery store in town has gluten free options and it's pretty manageable.

When you're going through 6 months of testing for some of the scariest diseases under the sun, you can lose hours and hours of sleep and become almost paralyzed with worry. When you have a Dr. who calls you at home to walk you through every last line of every last test, gives you his cell phone number and emails you articles he thinks you'll find helpful, sleep comes so much more easily. Thank you Dr. Gupta!

Lastly (because Mom can't write this one without tears), when you have two kids at home and one of them has to make dramatic changes to his lifestyle, it's very tough to ask the other to do the same. But when you have a kid who requests gluten free "because Brycey has to" even when he's offered a choice and his family isn't around, your heart literally breaks from gratitide.

Within the next 2-4 weeks we'll have the results from B's genetic testing and blood work which we hope will confirm the findings from his biopsies done on Dec. 26th.  Then we can start the process of making him better!

We are so very grateful for all of the things God has done to help us handle this one and equally thankful for the awesome friends and family in our lives (Chailles and Overtons esp!) who have given us so much support.

In The Best and Worst of Times

And here's a special shout out to two wonderful people who have been great friends and an awesome source of support as we work on becoming gluten free and getting B all healed up.

Thanks for being our dear friends Werner Family! We are so blessed to have you in our lives.

Old Acquaintances

You know NYE brings lots of kids to Vandyville!  The usual suspects joined us for a night of games and fun.

This was our third time ringing in a new year with the Werners!

and year #2 with the Chailles

This year the Jeffords joined the fun!

We all love the swing Didi and Baba sent B.

Micah was the champion name finder.

Mom thinks he is an awesome kid.

Of course we had plenty of great food to eat!

and the kid's toast was a huge hit as usual.

Cheers!

Do cheers Hunter!  Oh, our new neighbors were there too!

Lovely Moms

This year we took the poppers upstairs!

Great idea! It made a MUCH bigger mess

Handsome Dads

Mom was right there celebrating with us.

Whoa Mom.  Embarrassing!

We shot a LOT of poppers

and made a HUGE mess.

Then we finished up with giant Happy New Year hugs for Mom. Levi may have thrown in a New Year's tackle ;)

That's just how we party!  Happy New Year everyone!