ooo ooo an update finally!

it has been a couple weeks because i was having trouble with blogger.  i reset my format settings so i think we are all good now.   it was one of my soul sister's 40th birthday so we had to celebrate and capture this moment.  jenny asked me to make her a crown so there it is in all its glory.  then i framed the picture of the dinner out together we  just had a couple nites before.  it created quite the moment--since she is moving away. we wiped our tears and tore up the dance floor with a little bit of salsa-ing.  tammie and i are heart broken but very excited for what is ahead for this amazing woman. 

Saturday May 21  was quite the day.  i had been half dredding it(only because it was a lot of planning, coordinating kids etc) and totally looking forward to it for a long time now.  the anticipation i had in surprising my sweet katie with our Autism Walk t-shirts was HUGE.  she was thrilled with it, as was the online company i ordered thru.  they were so "impressed with my design and message" that they overnite shipped it to me (on them of course) so i could have them as soon as possible.  katie and i were so SO proud to wear our shirts and attend this great event in the autism community.

the morning of the walk was also the annual 5K/10K race held right here at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital.  so i had to squeeze it in.  this is my 3rd time at the event, the past two years i did the 10K.  its a fun challenge and very cool to do something good for yourself with people who enjoy it too.

well that was the last couple weeks.  we had a flu run thru all the kids except kendra.  so accomplishing and enjoying all this in the midst of puke, endless laundry, and being a 24 hour nurse is pretty dang good i think.

i know, i know but it's his birthday!!!

i freely admit that i talk a lot about caden. i try really hard to not show favoritism. it's just a whole different world with him. anyway, yesterday he turned 8 and he wanted certain things so i will highlight those and add a couple cute specific details.he insisted on popsicles for his class at school (a repeat of last year). he properly introduced us (brady and raylee came with me) to his schoolmates, i showed them a couple baby pictures and a preemie outfit he wore as a baby. they licked, laughed and tore into their goodie bags from caden. once we brought him home he had a little quality time on the computer with his gift from his teacher. the only thing on his birthday wish list was a parrot. thank you teacher kim for coming thru for me and for it being the low maintenance kind. the time came for his scary scooby doo party to begin. he wanted everyone to be in a costume. "mommy we need to go to kmart to get the terrifying werewolf mask!" as you can see we compromised on the scooby suit which only stayed on for about 4 minutes. most of us were done up in some sort of way. jared was the 'ghost of hyde' and i was the haunted clown, both from specific scooby episodes. caden loved it. i loved the pictures of caden on the back of the hanging scooby signs. sometimes its the little things that make us happy. a few of my favorite moments were: munching while talking to uncle jeffie on the phone, willingly giving his favors and being so gracious when opening his presents. a couple gifts into it he paused before opening one and said softly, "hmm this is gonna be good!!" and in true caden climatic fashion, after blowing out the candles the crowd let out a collective "awwww" when after he exclaimed, "i wish to go fishing with my daddy". we managed to sneak in one party game. he let us all know several times that we had to play a party game. so i made a big scooby poster and they all pinned the tail on him. he gave em goodies and the official party parts were complete, (i had him stand on a chair and give a thank you speech too. uncle ryan said it was sappy but i love those forced thank yous). a few close friends came and made the day even more special. tanner, rob and katie just mesh right in with our family and we appreciate their adoration for our little guy. everyone gave great gifts which all the kids are enjoying. big papa and gramma vofo sent a card and caden was so excited to get "a dollar!!!" (it was a check, i got a good chuckle out of that). he felt loved and was so excited and pretty cooperative the whole time. it made for a very happy birthday.