When I Think of You

The past month has been a whirlwind in the truest sense of the word.  My life was blown apart a bit, and now slowly it is beginning to come back together.
We celebrated Will's 6th birthday back in Sept.  And while I say this every single birthday, for every single child, I simply cannot believe that he is now 6.  There are so many things tied to him, from his rough beginnings (failure to thrive!) and his presence in the room when my mom finally breathed her last breath, to the crazy boy he has become, so scrappy and strong and smart!  It is, most days, a joy to teach him.  He grasps most numbers/math with ease, and is becoming a proficient reader.  He sees and thinks outside the box, which challenges and rewards me.
A couple of pics from his bday party:

Just prior to his birthday we had to say goodbye to our sweet Hap.  Hap had been with us since the summer we married; through 4 babes, moves, life.  

We all got to say goodbye, here at home and then again at the vets office.  Jeff met us there to be with the kids, while I stayed in with Hap.  Ryan kept asking Jeff why he was crying, adding, "Policemen don't cry."  It was the first time Ryan had ever seen his daddy cry - he wasn't born when mom passed away, and he has no memory of all the tears we shed over him in the NICU.  

Life continued on, and then in late Sept, my friend Mel's mom came up for a visit, ended up contracting CDiff, a lethal bacterial infection, and was hospitalized for 3 weeks.  She only this past weekend returned home to TX.  

Two weeks ago, my other dear friend Kimberly, lost her mom.  Suddenly, she was gone.  Her service was last Thursday and Kimberly did what I wish I could have done at my mom's service; she gave a loving, thoughtful tribute to her mom.  She was so brave and amazing!  

Ryan came down with an ear infection the Monday before the funeral, and then this past weekend I succumbed as well:(  I sound rather manly, and feel rather shoddy.  The Zyrtec-D prescribed to me yesterday kept me up all night.  I will not be taking that tonight:)

We did squeeze in a camping trip somewhere in late Sept - can't even recall the exact day now.

 Love this one- the 2 littles wanted to go swimming like the bigs were doing, but I had already run back to the campsite once, so I told them to swim in their skivvies.  They thought it was a hoot, but that water was chilly!

What happens when you try to take a selfie of a family of 6?  This many outtakes:

Whoops, no Jeff or Will...

 Ok, no Jack, or Will and half of me and Jeff

 Yay, everyone's in the shot, but EK, you're not looking!!!

 Oh well, maybe we should just give up...

 Almost...Ek, we need your eyes...

Hooray!  Blurry, but all in!

And that is how it's done!  

So, now Oct is here and we are trying to stay on top of school (we missed many days while helping our friends as they walked through their troubles.)   Dad and Theresa come this weekend and we are all so excited to see them!

I'll leave you with this handsome face - finally got a haircut and looks so stinkin' cute!