MIKES FARM

We went to Mikes Farm for their fall festival today.
Rik with Kylie and Kelis.
We took a hayride to the pumpkin patch.

Brotherly love
Daddy, his pumpkins and their pumpkins.
Zach was determined to find a big pumpkin. Good job pumpkin!

Nick was last to find his pumpkin. He takes forever shopping too, especially shoes!
Kelis and Kylie with their little pumpkins. The pumpkins were sold by the pound so Rik got off way too easy!
Back to weigh the pumpkins. We had 46 pounds of pumpkins, yikes!
Does everyone see the pretty flower that Gabe and Caleb picked for Mom's hair?


Turns out the small pumpkins that the girls picked were FREE! Okay that would have been good information to have before we went to the pumpkin patch! We had a great time at the farm and a nice dinner out afterwards.
Thanks for the invite Janine!

FOR MY DARLING FAY

We bought a Manx kitten from a breeder in Missouri. I was going to fly out to get her and visit my darling, beautiful friend Fay but circumstances prevented the trip. Well, Fay has been nagging me to post pictures of this kitten that I rave about so here they are! (Love you Fay) For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Manx breed just look them up and you will see why I rave about these cats. They are awesome and I had the good fortune to have one as a pet many years ago and have been wanting another for a long time. When the boys started asking for a cat I knew it had to be a Manx! Okay Fay you are only an hour away go get one!
She curls up every night with either Gabriel or Caleb and that alone makes her priceless! They are much more like dogs than cats. She will lick everyone and is so affectionate and sweet. We gave her a Manx name of Ayden, which means little fire and Zaira, which means princess.
She is also very patient with the boys and tolerates their constant attention quite well.
These are the moments that make my heart sing!
I guess she wasn't getting enough attention.

Aren't they sweet! What a life!

KYLIE & KELIS

My little beauties.
Way too sweet!
Their first day of ballet class.
They are Modeling their Minnie costumes.

Our trip today to the pumpkin patch.

FAMILY EVENTS CATCH UP

My niece Ashton's first day of school. I have been told that she loves school, hopefully that is still true!
She is full of attitude so hopefully the cute and sweet face will keep her out of trouble. I hope school is ready for her!
This precious little guy is my nephew Mike's little boy Isaiah. Unfortunately I have never seen him but I have been told he is very sweet and always happy. He has his Dad's big beautiful eyes.
Isaiah and Marsha playing peek a boo.
All of my family got together to see my nephew Mike off to Army boot camp. Many of them met little Isaiah for the first time so it was very exciting and sad at the same time.
My nephew Mike and Isaiah.
Mom, Mike, Dad and Isaiah.
My niece Marsha and great nephew Dominic getting his first pumpkin.
Chrissy, Marsha and Dominic.
My oldest sister Lynn with her two daughters, their husbands and her grandson Dominic.

A DAY AT THE PARK

Our little alien Caleb
Nick the little mermaid
Daddy the astronaut catches himself a Gabriel alien.
Best buddies

Daddy and his little guys

Kings of the hill
Mom and her guys
Tire swing fun with Dad.

We got a Manx kitten for the boys, okay me too, and she snuggles up every night with Gabe or Caleb.

A perfect ending to a great day!

OUR JOURNEY WITH GABE & AUTISM

The autism community has been a buzz lately over the many appearances of Jenny McArthy who is using her autistic son to hawk her new book. She claims to have cured him of his autism because she was not going to accept this fate for him. Most autie parents are very offended by her views and the fact that the only reason they are being heard is do to her fame. I was reading another blog belonging to an autistic adult and he speaks of how much negativity is out there about autism and hating everything about autism. He asked non-autistic people to post on his blog what they love about the autistic people in their lives and the response was awesome. I get so tired of hearing about the woes of autism and would not trade my little autie for the world! His amazing personality far out weighs any difficulty that we endured do to his autism. Gabe's autism makes him the amazing person that he is. So I would like to talk about our little autistic angel.
Gabe is by far one of the most loving little individuals I have had the privilege to know. He has an amazing sense of humor, which his doctor says is a sign of intelligence. He is brutally honest and cracks us up all the time with his honesty. He is so purely innocent and sweet. We feel truly blessed every day that God has entrusted us with the care of this precious little guy. We are better people because of having Gabe in our lives.
It has not been an easy journey but it is one that I would not trade. Through this journey I have seen my husband at his very best! The pure unconditional love that he has amazes me every day. During the four years we struggled to get a diagnosis Gabe vomited at every meal which would send most men running. Gabe would get so upset each time and Jim would scoop him up in spite of the fact that he was covered in vomit. Jim told me he never wanted Gabe to think that anything would keep his Daddy from holding him.

It is now a year and a half since we received Gabe's diagnosis and we have finally got the doctors to give us a referral to see a Developmental Pediatrician. Our goal is not to cure him but to help him live the best life that he can. I would just be happy if we could get him to eat a healthier diet. We are now going through the struggle of getting insurance to pay for tests so we can help Gabe with his eating problems. It amazes me that when people learn that I have six boys or an autistic child the typical response is "God bless you." God has blessed me tremendously. My children and husband bless me everyday and I am living a truly blessed life struggles and all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JIM'S SISTER KIM

&

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO OUR NIECE EMILY

ALSO HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR NIECE MARSHA

HER FIRST AS A NEW MOMMY!

WE LOVE AND MISS ALL OF YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIJAH

My handsome boy is 18 and has become a young man any parent would love to have!
He does great in school, is a member of the Honor Society, has a great work ethic and is a really great guy!
I just love his goofy sense of humor too!

We love you Elijah and are very proud of you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANINE

Janine has been such an amazing friend and I feel so blessed to have her, Rik and their girls in our lives. They are wonderful, kind and generous people which seems so rare anymore.

Love ya Janine!
The gigantic cake.

Our silly bean!
Kelis eating her cake like a puppy dog.
I got Janine a gag gift. I just couldn't help myself it was so cute and funny. If she had hated it I woulld have kept it but she actually liked it!

It's cute isn't it. I got her other gifts too.