In the back of the SWAT vehicle ;)

RILEY AND MARK JAMMING!! :)'

This is Riley and our youth Pastor, Adam. Riley was only 3 years old. How cute!! :)

This is the video of Ri signing and singing !! Sorry having some trouble with downloading video.

Riley and daddy after the play - 11-11-09 - 2 handsome guys

Riley singing and signing song at play 11-11-09 Not feeling real good but he is a strong little man !! We are so proud of him.

F.R.O.G. = Fully Rely On God
This video is of Riley memorizing Genesis 1:1-5, I think it was Sept 2009. I thought I recorded him memorizing John 14:1-3. It is still cute. I can hear him in my head reciting John 14:1-3

F.R.O.G. = Fully Rely On God

I want to share this video with everyone. It was earlier this summer. The boys 'first catch". I love the way they cheer each other on and the funny little personality you can get a glimse of. They our too sweet. I laugh and cry everytime I watch this....so check it out.

Indiana Jones - notice the 5 o'clock shadow ;)

TRICK-OR-TREAT OCT 2009 Karate Cooper, Trevor Buzz Year, Riley Indiana Jones, Makenzy Butterfly, and Zoe Butterfly

MAKENZY'S 3RD BIRTHDAY PRINCESS PARTY OCT 2009

Riley checking out the largest Buckeye at the Anthony Thomas Candy Factory

235 pound buckeye !!!

F.R.O.G. = Fully Rely On God

Video from the OSU vs. NAVY game - boys finding out that we are meeting the Buckeyes and Coach Tressel . . . can't see too good but you can hear the excitement.

Riley bowling at his friend Blaine's Birthday 9/6/9

Jake Ballard #86 and Spencer Smith #48




Riley and Cooper inside a Military Hummer


Team McRiley meeting Ronald McDonald :0)

God Bless America - Thank you to ALL of our service men and women who protect us EVERYDAY!!




Inside St. John Arena-notice the OSU FROG :)










#2 Terrelle Pryor - he is TAll






















Bryant Browning #70 laughing at something Grandma Barb said















Senator John Glenn :)

Cooper deciding where to begin????

Riley pointing out the $400 Star Wars Lego :):)

F.R.O.G. = Fully Rely On God

LEGO STORE HERE WE COME.......

We arrived at the Lego store just as they opened today. The kids were in awe. There was a huge Yoda made out of Legos in the middle of the store. Riley said "that was the best part" Of course we had to talk them down from the $300 Lego sets.....who would have thought that little colored shapes of hard plastic could cost soooo much. Riley and Cooper both built some little "guys" and got to take them home. We walked around for a little while and rode the escalator. Cooper could not wait. He just kept asking about it. Well after we got on the escalator we knew why. Ever seen the movie "Elf" well he had never been on an escalator and about did the splits riding it. It was a very hilarious part of the movie. Well Cooper imitated it. Larry and I could not stop laughing. At least he didn't eat the already chewed gum on the railing. .... If you didn't get it then you need to see the movie. We went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. It was really good. I had a wonderful salad. I know, I know... a salad at the Cheesecake Factory. Don't worry Larry got a huge piece of Chocolate Rasberry cheesecake to bring home. We had not been there since I was pregnant with Riley. We did get some Cheryl's Cookies to bring home...:)

We headed back towards home and picked up a few things we needed at Lowes then homeward bound. We couldn't get in the door fast enough for the kids to put their Legos together. It kept occupied so Larry could replace our screen on the back door and I went to Kroger and got a bunch of great deals with triple coupons...woohoo - I know hold yourself back from the excitement.

We did plan to build a fire and make smores but it rained and we had popcorn and are watching the Incredibles...again.

Thanks for checking in on us. We are so happy to have some quality time together.

Team RILEY :) :)

F.R.O.G. = Fully Rely On God

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.....
It is hard to believe that Riley is starting the second grade tomorrow. We are blessed that he is still doing so well. We are so grateful for the wonderful summer that we have had. God has been good to us. He is holding us in his hands. We have many more memories to make.... It can be overwhelming at times - trying to be "normal" -My Aunt Pat and Uncle Eric were very generous and sent us tickets to go to an OSU Buckeye game....we cannot wait. The boys are so excited. We are praying for a beautiful fall day and not too hot so Riley can enjoy it.
I think this new shunt has helped Riley. His next MRI will hopefully tell us whether his NCM is still progressing or staying the same.
We will hopefully update this weekend with some fun pictures. We are planning to visit the new Lego store....:):)

Praying for so many young children in this world that are suffering. They say when you think you have it bad - take a long look at others and maybe your story doesn't seem quite so bad. I have quite a few children that I pray for on caringbridge and now blogger. There are some really strong christian people out their. Their faith cannot be shaken. That is where I get my strength from. God has put it out there for us to embrace and lift each other up. That is what we are supposed to do. Yes, I know that our son has a terrible disease that is progressing that I or any medical person can do anything about BUT God is not allowing him to suffer, God is not putting him through terrible experimental drugs that may or may not help him. That is what I am grateful for. I think that would just make the inevitable worse. He is going to be as normal of an 8 year old as he can for as long as he can. He will be starting 2nd grade. He can swim this weekend. He can still walk, talk, play, and fight with his brother and sister. I would not change any of it. I am grateful to God for giving me this time with my child. He is a gift. God has given us this precious gift....
pray for those children out there that don't have parents that love them, abuse them, mistreat them.. pray for those children that sit in the hospital alone and scared. It is hard for me to imagine or see but it does happen. Pray for someone you don't even know right now and lift them up and give them hope.......
Team RILEY
F.R.O.G. = Fully Rely On God

F.R.O.G. = Fully Rely On God

F.R.O.G. = Fully Rely On God

Had a pretty good day today. Riley has had on/off headaches. No vomiting....yeah!! It seemed like we worked so hard to get some nutrients in him yesterday and he threw it all up. He has been more playful and has more energy. He still tires easily. I have been trying to go thru things for a yard sale. All the stuff no-one can fit into or isnt playing with anymore. Hopefully the weather holds out so we can this weekend. Ohio weather, who knows?

We built a fire this evening in the fire pit and made smore's, yum. Riley ate about 1/2 of his. It was a very nice evening. The boys hit some wiffle (sp?) balls in the yard. It was really nice just watching them play. It is almost like this dark secret cloud that hangs in the air. I watch the kids play and wonder what is going to happen when Ri is gone. How will they cope? Will Zoe remember her big brother? I know I shouldn't think like that but it's THERE. God gave Riley to us as a gift for a little while. I know I can't keep him forever, here on earth anyway. I feel like I mourn for him now and he is still here. I think that is normal under the circumstances.

He has been talking about school. I am so excited for him to start and see his friends. We have most of his school supplies. Need to get a few uniform things and shoes. At the end of school this past year we were afraid he may not make it thru the summer but here we are. God is good! It's everyone's prayers.....God probably wonders "wow, this kid must be really loved" Anyway, thank you for all your prayers and messages. They truely keep us going.

TEAM RILEY......

This was my attempt to get a beach shot of Ri on the water with his name. Not to bad for an amature, I guess. He was sooooo happy. What a good time we had.

F.R.O.G. = Fully Rely On God

F.R.O.G. = Fully Rely On God

Well we were able to get in a little activity today. Not much. We were able to take a walk around the circle. Wore Riley out. He had to lay down as soon as we got home. Cooper has not had any more fever since this morning. Must have just been a 24 hour bug. The kids all sat outside on a blanket in the shade for a little and played building magentix stuff. I was able to pull some weeds...woohooo. Riley hasnt ate much at all today. He got sick about 2 hours ago and threw up A LOT....sorry I know too much information. We rested and gave him a quick acting zofran....he was able to eat some scrambled eggs and part of a waffle.....so far so good. We are thinking about taking them to the drive-in. That way they wouldn't be around others but could relax and watch a movie....we will see. Yes, we have a drive-in. It is very cool. Planning to see G-Force ---- FBI guinea pigs.....hopefully we will get some laughs....anyway, thanks for checking in on us. Don't forget if you want to leave us a message just click below each blog on the "comment" section......

F.R.O.G. = Fully Rely On God
I have to admit I am pretty proud of myself.... I figured out how to add music to our blog. Riley is pretty excited. The only thing so far that I miss are the "guestbook" entries like we used to get on caringbridge. I think we are thinking about updating the caringbridge site like usual and then use this blog for fun stuff, pictures and movies. What do you think?????

F.R.O.G. = Fully Rely On God

Today started out better. Riley seemed to be perkier but he has been lashing out at his brother and sister. It is so hard because he gets so angry and says hateful things. He is very worried about going anywhere. He asked me when he goes back to the babysitter. I told him it wasnt until next week. He wanted to know if his hair would be grown back in. I reassured him he would need to wear a cranial-cap and how cool he would look. He is sitting in a time-out right now. It is so hard to punish him but I can't have his brother and sister or him for that matter think that it is okay to act that way. I hope it is just his fluid in his brain adjusting to the new shunt.

This blog is pretty cool. Still trying to figure out all the details. Some of the things you need you have to have a custom design for---which I'm not going to get that fancy.

Hopefully things settle down - - we were going to try and go to the downtown festival for little bit tonight to get out of the house but if the weather doesnt cooperate and he doesnt feel better - we will be staying home.

This is Mr. Cooper. He is our middle child. Full of life. He loves football and anything that Riley might be into. He is very strong willed but has a kind heart too.

This is Miss Zoe - she is our littlest. We finally got our girl....She is all girl but can hold her own with the boys. She loves her "whip whops" aka flip-flops.

STARTING A NEW PAGE

We are starting a new page. Thought it might be fun. We can add video, and as many photos as we want. This is a little more complex to do but hopefully it will be more enjoyable to read. Riley is doing better, finally. He spiked a fever 100.8 earlier today. He really wasnt drinking anything and had not ate anything. He finally got some sprite mixed with gatorade down and we gave him a Tylenol. He just ate some cheese pizza --yeah!! He is perking up a little. His incision looks good. It is so hard to see him so sick and sad. I went to the grocery and got several different kinds of popscicles and stuff to make oreo milkshakes. He wasn't too interested in it :( but Cooper and Zoe thought it was cool. Daddy too....