Man, I just don't know where to begin. We vacationed from Jun 30th to Jul 7th. It was THE best. We joined my parents at their cabin in Georgia. The boys loved, loved, loved the outdoors (no surprise there). A quick synopsis: Drew was able to see fireworks for the first time, by the river, in Albany, Georgia. We visited cows, up close and personal, in the pasture. We ate hundreds, and picked thousands, of fresh blueberries. We made blueberry pie for the first time, without a recipe, and it was delicious. We visited the Museum of Aviation in Warner-Robins, Georgia, and saw a massive collection of warplanes, helicopters and other flight vehicles. Some were used for cargo, rescue, combat... wow, wow, wow. We could not believe all the planes we were seeing in person. A definite strong recommendation if you are ever in that area. We had a great trip up, and a good trip back as well. On the way up, we visited Yoder's Amish Restaurant. A first for me, a repeat offense for David. Well, yes, it was unbelievably yummy, but I ate small morsels so as not to be sick the whole trip. I still don't do well with eating (without side effects) since my surgery in December. Also, in allergen news ... Drew ate pancakes with buttermilk in them and his reaction was slightly more subdued. We are trying to test the waters a little bit in regard to his food allergies, and with some success. On the way back, Nana (my mom) joined us for the trip while Papa (my dad) remained for another week. In that scenario, the boys were definitely happy to have someone join them in the back of the van for constant company.

I don't have any photos to upload yet. My hard drive failed upon our return, and while my computer has a new one, I can't get it to recognize my smart card yet with all my photos. And, as you can imagine, figuring that out is not high on my list of priorities.

I've just scratched the surface... I'll keep the posts coming.

Drew and I took a little trip to a BIG store tonight... Whole Foods Market. Yes, I know it's been there for months, but this is the first time I've made it.

My reason for visiting is different- my son is allergic to everything. I went just to scope things out (not spend much money) and see what they had to offer. WOW... as the mother of someone whose non-allergy list is shorter than the actual allergy list, this place was a vision.

Of course Drew loved the 'car' part of the cart. I could not believe some of the things I came across. I was OVERWHELMED, but in a good way. It made my head spin! SO, SO many things that would help me get a better balance of things into him while still keeping the allergens out of his food. I think the section I found most surprising as it relates to us was the baking aisle. There were so many ingredients and mixes that would be Drew-friendly, I could hardly speak.

UN-related to us, I could not believe the ready-made food available at this place! And, no surprise, expensive. I did find quite a few things on sale, and the way I shop, you can be sure I know a good deal when I see one, especially on groceries.

We did buy two bags of Veggie Pirate's Booty (the kind with no cheese or milk ingredients), and I found a bottle of the Whole Foods Store Brand gummy vitamins for Drew for which I just happened to have a coupon (no shopping trip is complete if I don't have my coupons!). We spent $11, which I'm certain is no small achievement! So, as if I don't have enough incentive already, I can feel better about all my coupon craziness when I know it will perhaps allow me to buy Andrew a few things now and then at Whole Foods.

No Surprises/Answered Prayer/Book Finished

The results from the allergy tests came back way sooner than anticipated. Thankfully, there are no surprises. It told us mostly what we already knew.

My part-time job is officially over as of Wednesday (9/3). I resigned because David is now able to do some part-time work after teaching that will get him home before Drew goes to bed and we can try to still eat dinner together. He will not have to work as many hours as I did to replace the income I earned, and he will actually make more than I did.

I look forward to slowly acclamating back to somewhat of a reasonable bed-time routine. I know it won't happen all at once, but there has to be benefits to going to sleep before 2 am!

I just finished book #14 this past week, and though I didn't know the plot when I checked out the book, it was about the rodeo circuit- a bull rider named Cody and a barrel racer named Ali, who has cystic fibrosis. It was the perfect time to read about rodeo, because we are off to Arcadia tomorrow night to show Andrew some bulls and horses- we are sure he will be fascinated, as he loves cows and horses right now. The book is called A Thousand Tomorrows by Karen Kingsbury (she is a Christian author). It was also an educational read with regard to cystic fibrosis. I never understood much about the disease, but now I feel that I at least could describe the disease in words to myself.

Anyway, I will continue to update by book list on the left each time I finish one. If you need an author's name for any of them, or just want to know more about a particular book to see if you are interested in reading it, just send me a comment.

Today we voted... tomorrow we test!

No photos to upload right now because it's late, I'm tired and being lazy.

However, Andrew was able to go with me this morning to vote and then tonight with Daddy to vote. He received I voted stickers both times. I was so proud of him because he walked in holding my hand, just like a miniature adult, looked around, greeted the poll workers, didn't wander from me once, and said "thank you" to the poll workers when I did. How funny!

Tomorrow I am planning on trekking over to the lab in town to have Drew's blood drawn for his allergy tests. We think we know all the food he is allergic to, but considering we just learned of a new one last month, we think it is in his best interest for us to be sure.

Meanwhile, if you think about it- please pray for me to remember to give Drew all his medications EVERY day. Some days it's hard because I have to hide the meds in his food, and getting him to eat some days is very difficult :)

Good night for now-