An Update on My Mom

My mom's cancer (Ovarian) is back. I had been waiting to tell everyone until we knew what treatment option they would choose. She will be admitted Tuesday (the 18th) at Norton's for 48 hours and will have a localized radiation treatment. She will have to lay flat and the radiation will be administered through hollow needles only at the centralized location, which is close to her bladder. She can only have 1 visitor each day for 30 minutes and the visitor must wear protective lead gear. It sounds awful! Please pray that she will be comfortable and that the time will go by fast.

It has been 6 1/2 years since her initial diagnosis and she has went through at least 6 rounds of chemotherapy and 1 round of radiation treatments. She has been through so much. Also, pray that this treatment works and that she will not have to endure more chemo treatments for awhile.

BFF

I just love watching these two together. They are just so cute! I took these pictures of Brooklyn and Blair the week of VBS. I pray that they will always be close friends. Every night (and before each meal) Blair prays for "Bwooklyn, Wizbef, & Bella" along with many, many family members. I love this age ... she's just so funny and sweet!

Hanging Out on the Houseboat

Here are the pictures that I took the day we went to visit Abby & Troy on their houseboat at Patoka. All the kids swam, even though it was only in the 60's that day!! They kept saying that the water was warmer than the air.

Now Accepting Used Cell Phones

So my kids are all into playing with old cell phones. Well, actually, Micah and Rhett are begging for their own cell phone and Tony and I both think they are just too young. Plus, I keep thinking, who in the world do they think they would call? And, if they do want to call people, why can't they just use my phone? I know. I know. It's just the idea of having a real phone. That's where you the reader can help me out. They would love to have an assortment of cell phones and chargers to play with at home when they play house and are riding in the golf cart. Rhett keeps asking me to "e-mail my friends" to ask if they have any extra around the house. So ... if you have recently upgraded and are willing to part with your old phone, please let me know!! As you know, my kids are full of imagination and love to pretend, so here's your chance to make their day!

Atlantis Water Park

Hope and Rhett on their way to the water slides.
Blair splashing in the kiddie pool.

Brian Anthony and Micah under the waterfall.

Blair, Micah, Brian Anthony, Olivia, & Rhett taking a break for some pictures.

Micah and Brian Anthony catching some rays.

Bowling

Rhett and Tony were supposed to being a "tough man" pose

Rhett took this picture ... it's pretty good other than Tony's head got cut off just a little!

Uncle Sean entertaining Blair

Devin, Sharon, and Tabby hanging out.

Blair playing on the floor (I'm sure they had just bleached it, right?)

Micah and Desiree waiting their turn to bowl!

Since it was rainy and yucky and our big family get together was cancelled, we decided to go bowling on the 4th of July! Rhett and Micah LOVE to go bowling! The are pretty good little bowlers for their age ...and even better at Wii Bowling! Blair had just as much fun rolling around on the floor ... yuk!

Zoo Pictures

Founder's Day Parade

Picnic Fun

Micah just loves picnics! So one day we decided to have an impromptu picnic at home. I meant for us to lay out our blankets in the grass, but Micah insisted that we have our picnic on the driveway. I'm sure Tony will love everyone seeing pictures of him playing picnic with the kids! ;)

Where Did the Month Go?

Wow! I can't believe it's been a month since my last post. It's been crazy busy here at the Kaelin household! Fun, but busy! Here's a recap of July:

On July 3rd, we bought Rhett a golf cart. He loves it! He rides up and down our land and to all of the neighbor's house. Plus, he escorts Micah and Blair anywhere they want to go. I keep teasing him saying we should name it "Vacation 2009" since that's what we chose to spend our money on! The fun and good times he'll have on it will last for years to come so it was definitely worth it!

Tony and I chaperoned a Youth trip to King's Island for Spirit Song 2009. We were gone almost 4 days. We got to know the kids so much better, rocked at the concerts each night, ate plenty of junk food, and learned how to text! It took me the next couple of days to catch up on sleep (I've forgotten how late teenagers like to stay up). And now Tony's addicted to texting! ;) We've even had to upgrade our phone plan to include free texting for him (don't ask about the last phone bill)! ;)

From there, we rested up just a few short days and then went on a 3 day camping trip to Patoka to visit Abby & Troy on their houseboat. The camping crew consisted of the Herron's, Griffith's, and the other Kaelin's. Too bad Fred & Kari weren't able to join us. We had a great time, although the temperature was a little chilly for July (but excellent camping weather)!

Then came Vacation Bible School week. Needless to say that was very time consuming and exhausting. The kids had a blast and learned a lot! All 3 have been singing the songs that they learned that week every day since! I took the neighbor girls with me each night, and Rhett also invited a couple of friends too! Rhett won one of the grand prizes that week ... a bike! Woo hoo! We were so proud of him! I'll post pictures soon!

During that week, Emily Loy came to spend the night. She is great company! She's always getting on me for not blogging enough, but about halfway through the afternoon, she kept saying, "Now I know why you never have time for blogging!" I'm always busy doing something with/for the kids that I don't have a lot of time for myself (typical, I'm sure)! Blair and Micah enjoyed spending time with Emily and Rhett had a riding partner for his golf cart!

Next came working at school for a couple of days to get my room ready. I can't believe it's already time to start thinking about school!

Add in several swim days with friends, a weekly trip to the free morning kids movie, and a couple of playdates with each of the kids and poof ... July was over!