Graduation

Hello! I am finally getting around to update my blog about graduation. Everything went great. We went down on Friday night and camped at Mounds State Park in the new camper. The boys were super excited. Saturday was a long day - but it was great. The slide show shows most of the festivities. Thank you to everyone that sent well wishes or came to the graduation itself. I know a lot of people helped get the open house ready and made sacrifices to come see me. I love you all for that. It was a great day and I finally feel like a college graduate. Now on to the next chapter in my life ... whatever THAT may be!!
~Carrie~

Hello. Many of you have heard - but I've been WAY under the weather lately. It started Friday morning when I noticed that my chest and back were hurting. Felt like someone was sitting on me. As the day wore on, I started to feel worse. By 6 pm I had a fever of 101.3 and I was in bed. Saturday was Aiden's first t-ball game and I found the strength to go but landed back in bed shortly after. That's where I was for the next 24 hours. Marcus came in on Sunday and asked if we could go to the doc - so off we went. He ran a few tests and decided I had acute bronchitis and pleurisy. He prescribed an antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and Tylenol 3. All of that did a number on me. I quit taking the Tylenol 3 once nothing would settle in my stomach and I was dizzy all the time ... but even after no Tylenol 3 for 24 hours, I was still getting ill. So - Tuesday night we headed back to the doc. He took me off the antibiotic for 24 hours and started a pill for nausea. Today I am weak, but have managed to eat some and drink a lot of fluids. I am actually going to eat with the family tonight! And try working tomorrow. I am so glad I am feeling better. I seriously felt bad enough yesterday that I thought graduation this Saturday was not going to be an option for me.
Everyone STAY WELL!
~Carrie~

We don't need no stinkin' training wheels!

And he's off! It took Aiden just at an hour to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels! He's getting so big! He is very proud of himself and loves showing off (don't know where he gets that from). And don't worry - we know he looks HUGE on this tiny bike. His birtday is May 21 and we are purchasing him a new, bigger bike. I have a video of him riding, but I cannot get it to load. I will keep trying though.

I was SOOOO excited on Friday. I got to go see Selah in concert! My great friend/cousin Missy went with me and we had a great bonding time. I have always been a huge fan of theirs, but about a year ago I started reading a blog that was written by Todd Smith's (sings with Selah) wife, Angie. If you've never checked out this blog ... do it now! :) Click on her name or on my sidebar there are two links to her. She is such an amazing woman of faith ... and I love how honest she is about her feelings and her beliefs. I think you will too. Anyway ... I was TOTALLY thrilled when I saw her at the concert! So, I was one of those people that irritated Marcus to no end when he traveled with the Gaither's (you know, the ones that stuck around way too long after the concert and made it so they couldn't get on the bus just so they could meet Bill Gaither in the flesh? Yep, we were those people). Missy and I stalked Angie until we could actually speak to her and get a picture with her! In fact, we waited longer to speak with her than we did to speak with Selah! Hee hee! Anyway, they were all great sports about it and I've posted the pics below. Now seriously ... check out her blog NOW!

Aiden Funny

Conversation after tee ball practice last night:

Aiden to Mommy, "Mom, when I turn 6 (in a month) can you please buy me a cup?"

Mommy holding back laughter and playing dumb, "What do you mean by cup?"

Aiden innocently replies, "Well, Mom, they're only for boys. You put them on your body so that if the ball hits you it doesn't hurt."

I simply told him to ask Daddy.

So Much To Share

Hello!

I have so much to tell you ... let's just jump right in!

We had a fun Easter. We (we meaning me and the boys, Marcus had to work) headed to my parents' for a few days.

On Friday I got to hold Alyana for a little while. And yes, now the baby fever is like a million times worse! She is very sweet and has a big sister that was very excited to welcome her home. While I was holding the sweet baby, the boys got to play at Valerie's (their old babysitter). They were so very excited to see her and some of the kids there. I asked Aiden what was the best thing he did at Valerie's and he said, "It was fun when she brought out the weed." Um ... what? Now - if you do not know Valerie this may not seem as funny, so let me explain. Valerie has 5 children - some (most maybe) of which she has home schooled. She also babysits and enjoys baking - a lot of which is homemade. So, when Aiden told me about the 'weed' I would only assume that it's home grown and that the 'weed' is how she makes it through the day! HA! Anyway ... after a few more questions about the 'weed' I figured out he meant the Wii and felt much better.

Easter morning we were able to visit CCC, our home church. It was a great service. However, sunrise services are not ideal for three young boys. We had Aiden, Logan and my nephew Gavin to deal with. They didn't do too bad ... but there were some moments. Although the adults had an equal amount of moments! Anyway ... we tried to get a few good pics, but those three do not like to cooperate all at once!

So - after church we headed to see the Hoffman side of the family for a few minutes. There was a fun Easter egg hunt and lots of candy and money! Then back to Gma and Papaw Erskine's for dinner, baskets and another hunt. This is when Logan decided to wear a bunny costume! (Disclaimer: The mother of this child did NOT purchase this outfit for her son that she loves very much. Nor did she make him wear it. He WANTED to wear the outfit that a certain AUNT just happened upon. I'm just sayin'...)

I know ... aren't those pictures priceless? Here are a couple of other priceless stories from the weekend:

Aiden says, "Oh man ... not all of the eggs have money, some just have candy!" Mommy replies, "Aiden, we need to be grateful for money or the candy that we get." Logan quickly and firmly replies, "Yeah, and JESUS!" Enough said.

Aiden asked us this morning to take his money that he received in the Easter eggs to school. I asked why he needed to do that and he said because he wanted to put it into the bucket for Riley Hospital. Of course we didn't say no and we were just so proud of him.

Ok - I think that may be all for now. I should post more often and then I wouldn't have to hold your attention for so long!

Have a great week!
Carrie

I'm Graduating!!!

It's offical. May 9th, 2009 at 3pm I'll be walking across that big stage at AU to accept my diploma. Now, to a lot of college graduates this means that they now have to go find a job, stop living off mom and dad and maybe even do some laundry (ok - this isn't all college grads, maybe just the ones I was in school with originally! Hee hee). This is so much more to me. I will keep those words until it's closer to time, but I wanted all of you to see the announcement. I only purchased 25 due the price, but I wanted all to see that my name is REALLY there!

One last thing. Please continue to pray for baby Stellan. You can click on his picture at the right. His little heart is still hanging on, but he is again in SVT. His mom is tired and his siblings are very sick (had to go to the ER last night). Tomorrow (Monday) morning is a big meeting with all involved to see what the next step for this sweet boy will be. Please pray for the doctors and all involved that they can agree on what is best for Stellan.

Also continue to pray for Becca. Her surgery went well (feeding tube) but she is still in the hospital for observation.

~Carrie

Komets Hockey

We took the boys to a Komets game last night. It was the first time Logan has gone. He was totally into it! He kept yelling, "Go orange team not black team!" Cracking me up! Of course he liked the fights but then would check to be sure they were ok. He's so sweet! Enjoy the pics!