our dave matthews weekend..

kyle telling me how much im gonna love dave..

we bought tickets to see the dave matthews band in concert months ago. literally april. and saturday was the big day. here's the problem with planning months in advance.. hype. five months worth of anticipation is a lot to live up to.. even for dave. so.. kyle drove korb & kenners to meet nana & papa on friday. and instead of getting some much needed rest.. we went out. well, not out exactly. we went to a birthday party. kyle's friends ben & josh self were turning 28 and there was a surprise party for them. it was actually nice to hang out with some of his chilli's buddies that we dont see often. we were home at a fairly decent hour..but we did sleep entirely too late on saturday. gracy's birthday party was that afternoon.. and despite our lazy morning we did make it in time for all the festivities and before she had to take a nap.. the cake was amazing and the decorations so adorable! im so glad we went.. even tho korb & kennedy couldnt be there! post bday party the plan was to go straight to casa de cardwell and head out to tailgate. we hoped to leave by 3. the weather was perfect.. 88 degrees.. should be a great time. but of course we stopped by the house to change clothes - turned on the tv.. watched some college football.. loaded up the truck.. went back for a little more football.. and then finally made it to frisco. after a debate about which tahoe to drive.. so silly.. we were off. at 430. it did not appear we had missed a lot in the way of tailgating when we arrived. not a ton of people there. which was surprising to me. we turned up the stereo.. opened the doors and windows and quickly made some friends.. couldnt help feeling like we were the 'old' people in the lot. pretty popular tho.. seems that kids today realize that more mature (hate to say older) people have better stuff than they have. and by stuff i mean music.. and speakers.. and chairs. so we tossed around a football and shared our stuff with our young friends for an hour and a half or so.. passed along a copy of one of our favorite dave cd's for them to remember us by and then headed inside. REK opened.. i was sure it would be the highlight of the evening for me. i think he was on stage for 15 min.. kelly says 10.. but i will give him 15. not long enough, thats for sure! dave played a long set. a lot of new music.. or at least music i did not recognize. we did hear jimmy thing.. which was pretty much the highlight for me. it was really cool to be there with the cardwells! and we had a great time.. despite not living up to the hype.

most of the usual suspects.. the mincheys were in texia or is that mexia?

me and kel!

and one random pic with one of the guys from maryland we hung out with in the lot

prayer for mycah

funny how God works.. and how your perspective can be changed in the blink of an eye. or.. in this case the ringing of your cell phone. kyle came home so frustrated after the dr's appt on thursday.. overwhelmed by the morning and by the giant list of medication. we were not necessarily feeling sorry for ourselves, because again, korb seems fine. if you didnt know the symptoms you would never know hes sick.. if he were unenergetic and needy im sure 'feeling sorry for ourselves' would be the correct statement. i think overwhelmed and a little down totally describes our mood at the time.. anyway, just as kyle got out the door for work and i got korb started on lunch my cell phone rang. it was jaime carter... as you know jaime and i grew up together. k-12.. childress ISD. she was calling to let me know that she had just spoken with her mom. her mom had shared with her that a good friend of ours from school was here in dallas at parkland with her little girl mycah and that mycah was very sick. and they suspect it might be leukemia. talk about a wake up & count your blessings moment. jaime and i both went to work trying to figure out a way to get in touch with our friend angie. jaime finally decided to call the hospital and just try to find them that way. mission accomplished. angie shared with her that mycah had been sick for a little while (weeks.. not months) with normal childhood runny nose, fever, ear infection type symptoms. on tuesday evening things seemed much worse so they took her to the ER in waxahachie (they live in midlothian). on thursday afternoon when jaime spoke to her she was expecting the worst. jaime asked if she and i could visit on friday evening and bring dinner. so thats what we did. jaime prepared a meal (dont worry i didnt cook anything) and we headed out around 6. the family had just gotten the official diagnosis a few hours before we arrived. it is leukemia. i cannot imagine. they were told by the dr's that its 'the good kind'.. and that if you had to pick one for your child - this is the one you would pick. and if you had to choose an age 4 and half..is the perfect one. the recovery rate is very high. it will be a long road.. 2.5 years of treatment. but they can beat it. i must admit that in the face of it all.. i would be a basket case. i was so amazed with angie's strength. she was taking great peace in the statistics and just seemed very matter of fact in her stance that they will beat this. and that it will make them stronger. she had the best attitude! we asked if she wanted us to spread the word.. and her answer was 'yes, i want people to pray'. so im making a request.. PRAY FOR MYCAH! and for angie and chris. and their parents and friends. they will need so much love and support in the next few years. i will share any updates i receive..

update on the little man

sorry its taken me a few days to get this post out. we had a busy weekend.. but before we get to that post.. i wanted to let everyone know what happened at the pulmonologist appt last thursday. kyle took the morning off work to spend with korb at the dr's office. they arrived around 820 for an 830 appt. they finally made their way home around 11. both exhausted! they havent specifically diagnosed him as asthmatic.. but the clues are there. for now we are on a respiratory treatment regimen to get his lungs completely clear... 5 breathing treatments a day for the rest of the week. and then 3 a day until we can make it thru an entire week with out coughing/wheezing. he also has a touch of reflux. (he coughs when he drinks.. and asperates a little each time - keeping his bronchial tubes contantly full of fluid) so we have to give him a daily medication for that.. and we have to use this thicking gel in all his liquids - to help him swallow them and keep them down. both of his ears were infected.. so we have an antibiotic for that. and some allergy medication to boot. thats a lot of stuff for a little guy who made it an entire year with out any antibiotics! we understand that we just have to get his little lungs well before flu and rsv season hit. it will be much easier for him to bounce back from even a cold if he goes into it well .. instead of adding to a cough. the breathing treatments stink! he hates them. and its a lot of medication.. so its a 15 minute struggle. completely exhausting for him.. and me. hopefully we will soon be down to daily preventative medicine! then we will only have to fight our way thru 2 each day. please understand that he is definitely not 'sickly'. infact, i have to remind myself after every screaming breathing treatment that he really does need this. and that it will help him rest so much easier in the long run. to watch him play.. you'd never know he's working harder than any other child to move air thru his little lungs. and we are doing all of this to make sure the healthy kid you see running around is truly all there is to see.

happy birthday kennedy!!!

happy birthday to you..

happy birthday to you..

happy birthday to kenners, sissy, angelbug, munchkin!

happy birthday to you!!!

today kennedy is 8 years old!! i cannot believe its been 8 years.. (exactly-3:02PM eastern) ..since i first laid eyes on her precious little face. my how she has changed! i created this book for her birthday.. sortof a recap of her last year. the web doesnt really do it justice. its really a cool book! http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN2zhs3btGLCIA&emid=sharpbshar&linkid=link3

none the less.. it fun to look back and remember. reflecting on how much she has changed in 8 years is too much to take in..just in the last year she has grown and matured so much! she is stubborn and difficult at times.. but she is still my precious baby girl. love you kenners!!! hope you have an awesome birthday!!!

im having problems...

ALWAYS good for a laugh

i declare today.. catch-up day!

not ketchup-kenners! catch up.. as in its been awhile since ive written in the blog...i cannot believe its already the 18th of september! we've been so busy. imagine that! lets see - what have we done lately? you know what happens when i dont blog for a while.. a list. sorry! its just who i am. two fridays ago kyle took korb for his 12 month well baby check up. i sent a 'list' with him of questions to ask. more like a book, i was later told. anyway, when he pulled it out in the office Dr. E said to him.. i love your wife. its just the most efficient way!

• saturday the 8th we went to see UNT vs SMU. we will not discuss the out come of the evening.. for the mean green or anyone else for that matter. let's just say it was an early night!
• the 13th & 14th kyle and a few of his friends participated in a charity golf tournament. this was their second year to support the cause and this year we got to attend a dinner on thursday evening before the golf tourney on friday. the event was called the EARL CAMPBEL AZLEWAY CHARITY DINNER & GOLF CLASSIC. earl campbell was the guest of honor that evening and our table just happened to be right next to his! very cool. he spoke about everything he has going on .. and about the charity. good speech. tho the highlight for me was a story kyle told about seeing him (not all of him!) in the mens room after his speech... a story im sure he'll be telling for a long time. and then there was a private concert with Mark Chestnutt. which was cooler for me. you really forget all the great songs he has made. we had a table to ourselves with the cusano's and ryan rowland. it was really a good time! nikki bonds was nice enough to give up her thursday night and hang out with the K's. thanks nikki!!! when i got home we visited for a while and then said good night.
• nick and jenny were in town for the weekend.. it was her 10 year class reunion. friday night, however, they ditched out on the planned festivities and hung out with us and the usual suspects instead! very formal.. bueno and poker. fun tho. it was good to see them!!
• saturday.. guess what we did?!?!? NOTHING! thats right. nothing. we didnt go anywhere. we didnt have anyone over. we didnt cook. we didnt clean. (we didnt even shower..probably TMI) something we are totally not used too! it was nice... we enjoyed the fam. nice change once in a great while! saving up for dave matthews this weekend.. its gonna be a long one!
• we did have a few people over on sunday.. to watch the boys! its great that they won.. but the major accomplishment of the day was definitely ava officially crawling! yea..cub is mobile!!!

korb!

mid-september! its flying by.. just wanted to update everyone on korb. aka-the little man. year 2 is not as grand as year 1 so far! dont get me wrong.. he is so happy and so into everything! the phrase all boy has new meaning to me! however.. he did start out the month with a bad case of pink eye.. and after our family reunion visit to childress he was terribly congested. so when he made it to see Dr E on friday the 7th for his 1 year well-baby visit..he was not exactly well. the stats of the visit were .. 25lbs 13 oz. 32.25 inches tall. (ironically dalton had his 18 month well baby check up the following monday and their measurements were exactly the same.. jenny and i decided we would keep those 'stat sheets' to show them when they are older for sure!) so his visit was good and bad. she confirmed that he is genius..but we already knew that, right?!? jk! she did say that he is right on track or ahead of the game in motor skills and vocabulary. very healthy over all.. but she did have some concern about the wheezing she could hear in his little chest. so .. after a week of prednisone (a steroid used to treat the lungs) and breathing treatments every 4-6 hours we went back to see Dr E last friday. his lungs were better.. but still congested. she sent us for a chest xray (the results of which were very good) and referred us to a pulmonologist. nothing to worry about too much. just means he might have a slight case of asthma like mommy. very manageable. his appt with the pulmonologist is thursday. keep him in your prayers... and i will keep you posted!

kennedy!

kennedys bday is less than a week away! she is turning 8!!! we've been discussing her party.. shifted gears as soon as its all about korb was over. however.. this year she's decided she's to old for a big balloon filled party with a pinata and a craft to complete. so, the plan is to have 5 or 6 girls over.. a tahoe full if you will. we will be going to dinner and then a movie. followed by a sleepover. very grown up. where did my baby girl go???

it's ALL about korb!

i have been trying to write this for DAYS! and it is so long.. so ive decided to try to tell the story with the pics instead. after all.. thats how the party planning began. with pictures.. i wanted to make a special collage of pics from korbs first year -- so a couple of weeks ago i started going thru all the folders month by month and choosing my favorites. i thought i had done a really good job at thoroughly editing - but when i went back to review there were more than 350 pictures ~ too many! so i edited them again.. and again.. and again. and finally i got the number down to 175. still a lot. on thursday.. (korbs actual birthday) kelly came over and after waiting til the clock struck 1:59pm (korbs actual-actual birthday) we put the babies down for a nap and started to organize. we ended up covering a 4 ft x 4 ft pc of wood with fabric and even then stressing that there would not be enough room. when korb woke up from after noon nap it was apparent that there were going to be lots of distractions before the collage was finished. he had a giant booger (for lack of better word) in his right eye. definitely not normal for him. this was a clear indication that his infection free first year was over. he did suffer from a few colds in his first year.. and he does get a stuffy nose when we go to childress and im pretty sure he has a touch of mommy's asthma. but nothing major... anyway, we went out to dinner with the usual suspect to celebrate a little on his birthday since the party was still 4 days away. and as the night progressed so did the grossness oozing from his eye. by morning it was a clear case of pink eye. i called the pediatrician...sent most of the daycare kids home for fear of spreading it around and catered to the little man all day. during afternoon nap kelly and i got back to our picture project and i think it turned out great!!!

ok.. let the pics tell the story. this family shot is from dinner that thursday night. it was not exceptionally special..but he had a good time despite the pink eye stuff. kennedy is always good for a laugh.

before we get to the actual party.. you should know about the shirt. with the help of my friend kelly, the week before the party (in between collage making..), we shopped for t shirts to print on. and with the help of a family friend, george trent, they were adorned with a stunning pic of the little man.. and the catch phrase of the day ~ it's ALL about korb! of course..the original idea was for fam.. team palmer, grandparents, aunts, uncles etc to participate. BUT because of all of her hard work in helping me prepare.. i asked team cardwell to participate as well. there were 12 people all together.. including the star himself. his shirt read.. ~ it's ALL about me. they turned out so cute. i really wanna wear mine again! and then there was the party! on labor day the true bday festivities went down.. korbs first birthday party was a success! or at least it was all about korb..just as we planned. my best guess is there were about 50 people here.. special thanks to the REDDICKS for taking pics! it was such a relief to let someone else be in charge of that! THANK YOU! here's a look at korb and some of his buddies...

not sure its necessary to label..but there might be peeps in here that arent too recognizable. excluding this first shot of course!

kelly & ava, mommy & korb, jaime & bexkorb & auntie kelkorb & molly korb & bex
a playroom FULL of friends wanting to be held.. not that anyone at this party was a stranger to him - but its worth noting that he (like his sister) has never met a stranger. he will gladly go to ANYONE. kinda scary.
korb & nana

korb & mommy.. not the best pic. stupid cheesy smile-but the only one i can find of just the two of sort-of looking at the camera.

korb & daddy

korb, daddy and grandpa jim

korb with daddy, grandpa springer and grandma trish

some pics of korb's buddies.. dalton & ali

love this shot of bex!

cash.

amy & cash, kelly, aunt jenny!

gracyn & kari.. you guys are next!

team cardwell.. love those shirts!

uncle nick & dalton

nana with ava & sarai can think of several more that we did not get good pics of (and by 'we' i mean jeff!) jk ;).. uncle sam, the kanuths, sandra & zachary campbell, alyson miller, the dreinhoffers, uncle mark, erin kennedy, the mincheys, the rest of the carters, aka jaime and brye, kelli, kaitlyn, kelsi, kaden and the cusanos. im sure there are tons im forgetting! so sorry!!!

and then there was cake..

my mom's friend made this awesome cake.. she took her the invitation that kennedy and i made.. and she copied it exactly. right down to the polka dots. AND it was absolutely delicious AND no one took a picture of it. doesnt that stink! anyway.. she made a smaller version for korb. it was really cute! he ate some..

shared some..

shared some more..

and some more.. all the way to the bathtub! such a good boy!

and then there were presents..

so many presents! thank you all! kyle will have those thank you cards out in the next week, he promises!

this one cracked me up.. everyone got into the spirit! there are tons of opening presents pics.. but this is my favorite.
after most everyone went home.. korb and ava took a little nap while we tried to recover the house. then korb put on his poker face and we played a little cards.
it was really a great day! i hope everyone enjoyed themselves!! thanks for being here to help us celebrate the first year of our little mans life!

shoffner family reunion

over labor day weekend my fathers family has started a tradition of getting together for a reunion. informal.. burgers and dogs saturday night & lunch in the park on sunday. just enough time for everyone to catch up.. and then they are off. this is the third year.. and it was a lot of fun! my family had to miss it last year.. that's not completely true - kennedy went with nana and papa to represent us.. but korb was born on the wednesday before so he & i were not really up for traveling.. and nick, jenny and dalton were here visiting him. this year we all made the trek so the 'ronnie shoffners' were in full force! all of my dad's brothers and sisters were there.. and most of their children and grandchildren. crazy to think two people could come together and create such an amazingly diverse and broad group of people. im sure its bitter sweet for my dad and his siblings.. makes me miss my grandparents for sure. they would have had a great time! im sure they were both looking down on everyone together with smiles.. kinda like sunday lunch after church when i was a kid - complete with all the boys playing football. funny.. i dont ever remember them taking a break to get some oxygen back then.. or complaining they were soar two days later. funny how things change but for a moment still seem the same. i didnt do the best job at capturing the moment.. but i did get a few good shots.

my dad filled up the pool in the back yard for the kids.. & of course it was difficult to keep our little fish out of it.

just thought this was a funny shot of kennedy

korb in papa's hat.. some of the grandchildren.. by no means all-just some. my parents are way behind in this family even tho theyve tripled their number in the last year!

the label on the side of this wagon clearly stated 'do not place children inside'..problem is korb and dubbers cant read.

when he was done with riding.. we did a lot of chasing.

and that resulted in some really dirty feet! i know what you are thinking..put some shoes on that kid! he has a sore on the top of his foot and its so much worse when he wears shoes. oh well.. nothing a little soap didnt fix!

i failed to get a good pic of my dad and all his brothers and sisters.. this one is a few years old but ive always liked it. silly faces. imagine 6 kids..all their spouses & children and childrens children. families have definitely changed over the years!

but thats ok.. the four of us will have great reunions too. family is family no matter how big or small.