Read more about the article Breaking the monotony of lockdown with some backyard fun
COVID19 / Family Fun / Lockdown / My thoughts

Breaking the monotony of lockdown with some backyard fun

The boys and I have been working on setting up a fire pit in our yard. We're cleaning out the back half, and building an area were we can spend time together and sorta feel like we're escaping all this insanity. Our first planned fire is this Friday. We have to register with the city and wait 48 hours before using it. We have some food to cook over the fire and the kids are really looking forward to seeing all their hard work pay off. It's still bittersweet because there are four seats instead of five but that's okay. We decided this would our guys spot. Maybe we'll add a fifth seat for when the pandemic is over and their friends come to visit again. I'm looking forward to…

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May 7, 2020
Read more about the article Finding ways to unplug and spend time together
Family Fun / My thoughts

Finding ways to unplug and spend time together

There's nothing quite like spending time with my kids. I'm lucky enough to be in their lives on the daily and I'm always looking for ways to engage with them that doesn't require a screen. Our latest foray in this unplugged lifestyle, has found us working in puzzles. There's nothing quite like spending a rainy Sunday afternoon working on a 1000 piece puzzle with my youngest, Emmett.

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October 6, 2019
Read more about the article Hopefully we can pull this off today
Family Fun / My thoughts

Hopefully we can pull this off today

I don't know what we're doing today for sure but Lizze wants to go walking. That's a very good sign for her because she's normally in so much pain that walking isn't in the cards. The boys have requested that we go all the way out to Quail Hallow but I don't know if Lizze will be up for that. If she's game, I'm happy to make the drive. ☺ Anything we do will be after Gavin's therapy session this afternoon. It's important to me that we do these kinds of things and if we can make it happen today, I look forward to spending the time with my family.

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July 25, 2018
Read more about the article If I gave you 100 guesses, you’d never guess what we’ll be doing today
Family Fun / My thoughts / Wishes Can Happen

If I gave you 100 guesses, you’d never guess what we’ll be doing today

Something interesting, exciting and a bit nerve-wracking happened today. While we were at the Akron Zoo, the executive director of Wishes Can Happen say down to speak with us. We were meeting her for the first time and it was a very pleasant visit. ☺ During the visit, she asked if we would be interested in representing Wishes Can Happen in the Hall of Fame community parade and ride on the Wishes Can Happen float. Right off the bat, the boys were super excited and very much wanted to us to say yes, which we did. We will be riding on the Wishes Can Happen float. We're going to be the number seven float in the long line of floats, so we'll be among the first to go and the…

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July 22, 2018
Read more about the article Thank you Wishes Can Happen and the @AkronZoo for an amazing day
Day Trips / Family Fun / Gallery / My thoughts / Wishes Can Happen

Thank you Wishes Can Happen and the @AkronZoo for an amazing day

I wanted to take a minute and thank Wishes Can Happen and the Akron Zoo for a fantastic day. Wishes Can Happen sponsored today's trip for us and many other previous wish families. We got to visit the local zoo, meet other families who have been touched by Wishes Can Happen and have an amazing lunch. We all had a great time and truly appreciated the experience. For those who may not recall, Wishes Can Happen is a local wish-granting organization. They function on a local level and grant wishes for kids like Gavin, with life-threatening health conditions.  Last year, they granted Gavin's lifetime wish of going to Lego Land in Florida. It was an amazing ten-day vacation and also happened to be the first family vacation we'd ever taken. I personally hadn't been…

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July 21, 2018
Read more about the article The really cool reason we’re going to the @AkronZoo today
Day Trips / Family Fun / My thoughts / Wishes Can Happen

The really cool reason we’re going to the @AkronZoo today

We're off to the Akron Zoo this morning for a special event sponsored by Wishes Can Happen. For those who don't know, Wishes Can Happen granted Gavin's wish last Fall. It was an amazing experience and you can read about it here. Since then, there have been quite a few additional surprises, the latest being a free trip to the zoo. We were concerned about bad weather this weekend but it looks like it might just hold out. Everyone's excited to go and it will be nice to see the people from Wishes Can Happen, as well as meet some of the other wish families. Last night, we all went for a walk to make sure that Gavin was going to be up to going to the zoo, after having…

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July 21, 2018
Read more about the article We’re planning special trip today but taking 3 kids with Autism is challenging
Family Fun / My thoughts

We’re planning special trip today but taking 3 kids with Autism is challenging

Lizze will be celebrating a birthday tomorrow and we're starting a bit early. One of her favorite movies is Hotel Transylvania. We're going to see Hotel Transylvania 3 this morning and everyone is pretty excited. Between our Cinemark Movie Club membership and a special they're running today, it's only $20 for all five tickets. That's a really good deal... ☺ Anyway, we're going to be leaving shortly and I've got to get moving. I wanted to share a little bit of what I think is good news or at least something positive. That being said, taking three kids with Autism to the movie theater can prove challenging and we have no idea how it's going to go, until it does. I'm feeling optimistic about this little adventure and I'll let…

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July 17, 2018
Read more about the article This 1 single decision, turned our entire day around for the better
Day Trips / Family Time / My thoughts

This 1 single decision, turned our entire day around for the better

On multiple levels, it's been an absolutely exhausting day. I found myself dealing with a great deal of frustration all morning. I spent hours on the phone trying to get Gavin's IVIG infusion medication situation resolved and it seems like it's been resolved. See: We finally figured out why Gavin has NOT been able to get his life saving medication and you won’t believe the reason By the time I got through all that stuff, I was heading down a path of anger and I really didn't want to go there. Getting everything resolved was a very good thing but it's been an exhausting, scary and frustrating process. It just all came to a head this morning and I became angry because Gavin had to go through all of this.…

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July 10, 2018