Happy Birthday to my #3!

By The Numbers

I am happy so say that with May coming to a close,
it has been a very good month.
The winter months seem to last so long
(although we had a very mild winter for once)
and now beautiful summer days are ahead.
May started out perfectly with the news that #1 had clean scans!
She also has legally changed the spelling of her name
(a gift from two of her aunts) from Ryan to Ryann.
She has wanted to do this for a long time,
throughout her school years she got grief that she had a boy's name
and spelled it like a boy.
So now she is happy :)
There was a brief reunion between her and her boyfriend Bobby,
both home from college but he just left on a world tour for 11 weeks
with the amazing Harvard accapella group the Krokodiloes
and she just left for a week in Texas to be a camp counselor
at a camp with children who have kidney disease.
We love that she is giving back after all that she has been given over the years.
Here is the happy couple (love that she has taken off her wig):

Our #2, as usual, is loving life.
Softball just ended so she spends her time
hanging with her friends or her boyfriend.
Or posing for my camera:

# 3, we hope will have a great summer capping off a not so great school year.
As I have mentioned in the past, it has not been the easiest time for my youngest.
We have spent many hours talking to specialists
and have had a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome.
She continues to be the sweetest child I have ever known
and with this knowledge we can procede to get her the help she needs
to have a different educational experience than the ones she has had in the past.

Last, but certainly not least,
I have scrapped again :)
A page made from a saying I saw in a card
that fit our 35 years together perfectly.
"Loved you then,
love you still.
Always have,
always will."

Thanks for stopping by!
-Jody

A Good Mother

Below are the reasons of why I want to be a good mother.
I had one of the best, so it's only natural I want to give my children the same.
Yesterday was a lovely day, spent with the people I love most in this world.
There was laughter,
there were tears (someone fell off their bicycle very badly)
and mostly there was love.
I hope your Mother's Day was a beautiful one.
-Jody

Bittersweet Day

I woke up this morning with a knot in my stomach
when I realized the date, May 8th.
It was exactly four years ago to the day
that our daughter Ryann was diagnosed with cancer for the first time.
Nothing prepares you for the moment
when your world comes crashing down.
You've heard of the term "out of body experience"?
Well that's exactly what happened to me
while on the phone with the doctor who read her initial scan.
It's like you hover above yourself in the air,
while looking down on yourself,
if that makes any sense at all.
Four years ago, we were so scared.
But today, only a few minutes ago I received a phone call
from her oncologist saying that Ryann's last scans were CLEAN!
A bittersweet day, for sure.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading my blog about Ryann's battle
for the past couple of years.
Your prayers and support have been such a blessing to me.
Much love,
Jody

Chalk It Up

Yesterday Erin and I spent some time just hanging outside.
She grabbed a hula hoop and then grabbed 10 hula hoops:

Then she busted out the chalk!
She is becoming quite the artist,
actually just started taking art lessons.
Here is her take on her bunny Delilah:

Not bad from memory, right?

So then I though I would try to make my own masterpiece out of chalk,
like they do like this one from Pinterest:

But this is all I came up with :/

Chalk it up to no talent!
I actually bought some new scrap supplies
last week, I picked up my Mom and we ventured to New Jersey.
I am still in the Flintstone age because I don't have a G.P.S.
and we managed to get very lost.
Jersey, you need to get a clue on your signage leading back to
the Garden State Parkway, we were lost for almost an hour.
And worse, we stopped 3 separate times
for directions and we still couldn't find our way
out of the friggin' state! lol
The October Afternoon blog had a sketch challenge up
and for someone whose mojo is still in question,
it was just the little bump I needed.
Erin LOVES going to the duck pond
and the ducks and geese love her too.
She's not the Dog Whisperer,
but she makes a pretty good Duck Whisperer:

Thanks for stopping by!
-Jody