Happy Campers

On A Walk to the Dam Overlook

We went several weeks ago camping for the weekend in Beavers Bend, Oklahoma. If you know me personally, you know this is a very special place to Ryan, myself, and our entire family. In many ways, Beavers Bend is where it all started... We started camping there when I was just a girl, and went on many trips there in my lifetime.

When Ryan and I met, Ryan came with us on a trip to Beavers Bend for his first time, just a month after starting dating. It started special tradition for the future Slaton family as well. We went back several more times before getting married, but the most special time was on September 4, 2006. It was that day, on the porch of a cabin called the Lacey Dogwood, that Ryan proposed to me. I will never forget that day as long as I live. He took me out to the porch and sat me down in a porch swing and asked me to close my eyes.... When I opened them he was on one knee and proposed to me. He told me he wanted to propose at Beavers Bend because it had been full of special memories for me and my family, and he wanted to create our own special memories there, starting with proposing. It was so incredibly romantic and special. Before I get to the current trip, I can't help but share a picture from that special day....

Two newly engaged kids, who had no idea what their lives had in store for the future!

Once we were married, we went to Beavers Bend several more times, and have had the joy of taking our kids twice since then. This past October we took the kids camping there (we had stayed in Cabins the last several times we have been) in our travel trailer, and we had the most wonderful time. If you have kids and haven't taken them camping, I highly suggest it if you have the chance! You not only learn about your kids, you learn about yourself. It was so much fun!

We got to take the kids fishing for the first time, set them up little tipi tents we found at Walmart, decorated with lots of tacky party lights, and once the kids went to bed we stayed up until the wee hours of the morning playing our newly discovered card game, TIC. (Directions are on my camping board on Pinterest--- It is a blast!)

So, I invite you to take a tour of our campsite and hopefully enjoy some of the pictures of the fun we had. :)

No campsite is complete without flags

Our trailer setup  for the fun!

Nicholas having fun sitting outside one of the tipi's

Our bear carving we got camping in TN this past year. He started out as a souvenir for home, but the kids liked him so much we carry him camping  every time we go.

This sign is my camping motto. We have made some of the most wonderful memories camping with our babies this year. Those little weekend trips have been so memorable for us and so fun for us as a family.

Tiffani playing her guitar outsite the campsite.

Emmy and Nicholas evaluating the fishing situation at the lake

The girls getting ready to go play outside

Riding their tricycles 

My sweet girls monkeying around

Emmy and daddy

The gorgeous dam overlook 

Gathering up firewood

Watching daddy work on the fire

Enjoying the gorgeous fall weather 

They were having a blast racing around the campsite 

Sarah fishing For the first time

She caught a sponge fish

Nicholas getting ready to go fish

Fishing with daddy

One of my favorite shots- my 4 loves fishing together 

Taking a water break 

Broken Bow Lake

Pop and Nicholas fishing 

Nicholas being a patient fisherman

RC cars that we bought were a big hit with the kids. They ran them all weekend.

Busy but Wonderful Summer!

Our summer has been busier than I ever thought it would be. Work has had us hopping but we have strived to keep our family life balanced along with work. We had a very quick but wonderful weekend trip to Pennsylvania in August to be with my brother, his wife, and kids during a surgery for her thyroid. She found out recently she had two cancerous nodules in it when they removed it and she will go for a treatment for that soon. I ask your prayers that a single treatment totally gets rid of it and there aren't any cancerous cells left. 

While we were there my sister in law had made "Busy Bags" for the kids to keep them content while they were at the hospital waiting room and at the house. They were a huge hit! I came home from PA and made several sets for the kids and they have loved them. I found lots of great ideas I have saved on my pinterest for anyone interested in making their own!

Our summer has been so hot here that we haven't been outside near as much as I would've liked, but now that it's getting a lot of cooler we're spending a lot of time outside in the evening and on the weekends.

When we went to Florida for our anniversary, the kids, Sarah specifically, were terrified of the beach and the sand. One night recently after work we were grabbing sonic and the kids wanted to play at the playground there. It is a sand playground and the last time we tried it, they all 3 bawled and wouldn't set foot past the gate. But, this night was different. We had to carry Sarah in to the playground equipment but after a few minutes she took off thru the sand and that's all she wrote... The kids played in the sand for two hours! 

So, we immediately decided to spend the weekend at the beach while the weather is still nice enough. We left this past Saturday and came back on Sunday, but we had such a great time! We took the kids to the beach and to the Houston Zoo, and they were absolutely thrilled with it and we had so much fun. 

This week we played outside at the playground here at home, went on walking adventures thru the pasture finding rocks and pine cones. This age is so wonderful because the kids find treasure and adventure in every single thing they do.

It's hard to believe that they turn 3 next month. They are so smart and we are so proud of them.

Last weekend at the zoo, we were remarking over a couple we saw with a kid probably barely 2, and the kid was asleep on the moms shoulder and they had no stroller. Ryan remarked "they don't have a clue do they?" And I assumed he meant how busy it could be with 3 and that at that age a stroller was a necessity when we were out alone with the kids... But before I could respond Ryan finished his thought- "they don't have a clue of the joy that three kids at once is and how wonderful life is."  He was so right. We have our challenging moments when all 3 kids are being holy terrors or we're so tired we can't see straight because we have had no sleep, but even the worst day is better than a great day before they were born.

Sarah's treatments are going well. About a month ago she had to be on antibiotic for what ended up being a double ear infection; and because her fever was so high they did an x-Ray to make sure she did not have pneumonia. Her x-Ray showed no pneumonia and was showing 

Improvement in her lungs, which means the treatments are apparently working!!! Praise God! 

I better stop for now. It's late and I should be sleeping while the kids are.

Sarah playing at the beach

Nicholas running from the water. It was so funny how he ran from the tide for the longest.

Emily showing me her sand castles. She had to have them all in a straight line.

Sarah monkeying around with me one weekend morning.

The love of my life and I at the beach.

Our family at a Christmas Convention we went too (see my Christmas Blog for the fun story there!)

Sarah and nicholas monkeying around with Ryan.

A fun app I've been using to capture our every day paradise. :) it's called "collect" and you add photos every day. I did bad my first couple of days of September so I cheated and used a couple pics from the last day or two of August. I love looking back at the simple moments, because those so often are the big moments.

My September collage.

Liberty Hall from our trip to PA

The kids thrilled to be headed to my brothers house in PA.

Great news!

One benefit I had to not sleeping well last week, was being able to watch these beautiful babies peacefully sleep [in the middle of our cal king bed] lol...

I got wonderful news last week. Thank you for the prayers. My MRI came back showing no sign of the cyst, and I think they are still having a hard time explaining it. I don't mind a miracle or unexplainable disappearance of the cyst. I'm just thrilled it's not there! I fully believe God healed whatever it was, and that it is no more, and I give him all the credit for it.

We had a fun time swimming Saturday then I ended up sick with a cold over the weekend so my last few days have been funky, but my baby sisters birthday (20!) is coming up this weekend so I am sure we'll do something fun if we're all well then!

My work day is about to begin so I need to go, but I just had to share the good news of my results. :) have a great week!

       Nicholas watching the ipad. I love    

          his hands behind his head. :)

 Emmy Lou with her buddy Chanel :)

Tiffani with Sarah and Emmy in the car yesterday. They are holding hands because they are "buddies" according to the girls. So sweet!

Another Week Down, Still fighting.

Sometimes in your life, it feels like you are under a vicious attack, and I believe that's what we are currently experiencing. My mom would call it a spiritual attack. We are putting up a big fight, and will continue to do so.

 But, good things first... Sarah got her new vest treatment machine, and the first time she cried halfway thru it and snuggled with daddy (as seen below) but after the first treatment with it, she doesn't fight us at all now. She lets us do what we need to and takes her treatments without any fighting. Yay! I am so glad its not a fight to get her to do it. I think somehow she knows it is making her or going to make her better. That is our prayer anyways.  Work is crazy, as usual, but I am so thankful we both have jobs and are able to stay busy and work full time and pay for the treatments like this. That is always a blessing, even when I am stressed beyond belief. 

Earlier this week, I ordered some medical records from some testing I had done in December, that I had been told was normal. I ordered the paperwork to submit to insurance for a partial reimbursement as per our contract with them. When I got the medical records, I was surprised by what I read. Apparently, there was something abnormal on my CT scan that no one ever told me about. There was a possible colloid cyst in my brain and it was noted that a follow up was recommended. I am generally not an overly worrisome person when it comes to things with myself, but this quite honestly scared me. No one likes to hear there is possibly something going on with their brain. A very long story short, my doctor sent me for an MRI yesterday to see if it is in fact a cyst, and what size it is, etc. The CT report showed the possible cyst was tiny, so we are praying there is nothing there on the report, and that it was just an overly cautious radiologist. But, that doesn't keep me from worrying in the mean time. I pride myself in being positive in scary situations and not worrying, and I have all the faith that its going to be okay in the long run, but that doesn't mean I'm not scared. Thus, why I've been awake since 3am and can't sleep.

Not being able to sleep does have one sweet benefit, it allows me to watch my wonderful so supportive husband, and my beautiful babies sleep. While I would love to be peacefully sleeping right now, watching them sleep has to be the next best thing. :)

I know no one reads this blog much, but that's okay... That means its more of a journal for me and allows me to get my thoughts out there rather than bottle them up. I am so thankful for the supportive family I have. Ryan has done nothing but try to reduce my stress the last few days and be my rock as he has been ever since we met on May 4, 2006 and reminding me not to make too much of anything. My parents as always are there by my side praying and supporting and being my cheerleaders that everything is okay no matter what. My brother called at just the right time yesterday after my MRI to just chat and let me know he loved me and was making sure I was okay. They will never know how much it means to me to have their love and support when I am scared and worried over something.

The other benefit to not being able to sleep? Once I finally get off this darn blog in a minute, I will be able to have a few quiet hours to get paperwork done, and by the time daylight rolls around, I intend to get off this computer, quit work for the weekend, and spend time with my beautiful babies. Yesterday, while I was working from the kitchen I was brought nearly to tears hearing Emmy making up her own song in the living room... "I looooove mommy! I love myyyyyy mommy!" She went on for probably 10 minutes until I came to smother her in hugs and kisses. :)

Well... enough venting for now. Time to get some work done so my Friday is more of a "free" day! 

Nicholas on the Ranger, headed with Daddy to swim at Nana's

Sarah taking her first vest treatment while snuggled with daddy

Emmy being my beautiful silly Emmy that she is

We are blessed!

We are blessed. Sarah's results came back quickly so we did not have to wait long to find out what her CT scan showed. The test process was so hard as parents to watch your little one scared and not sure what's going on. But, she and we made it thru it, and while her results weren't perfect, they were so much better than they could've been. Her results showed she has a lot of "atelectasis" left from pneumonia so much, and that is making her prone to more infections. She will have to use a medical vest a couple of times a day for the next several months, and periodically for several years possibly, to help reduce the atelectasis, but prayerfully this will reduce all her infection problems, and praise God there were no cysts or masses! We decided to leave after work on Friday and celebrate good news by taking the kids to Hot Springs for the weekend.

We have had a great weekend and the kids amaze me every day. We watched a great movie in the room last night, 'Mom's Night Out'. I suggest any mom watch it. It spoke to me so strongly right now. Our kids are almost 3 and most days between taking care of them and working, I am run ragged and feel like I have failed miserably. We are also in the middle of frequent tantrums, the kids wanting freedom but not knowing how to handle it when they have and sometimes, all out war. Have you ever tried reasoning with 3 2.5 year olds? It can be exhausting! But you know what? At the end of the day, I am the only one beating me up. The kids are happy, healthy, and know they are loved beyond measure. I have a wonderful husband who helps me and supports me the whole way. Sometimes we just need a reminder that we are the only ones being hard on ourselves; and to give ourselves a break.

I can't even begin to tell you how much more I've been able to allow myself to enjoy life since getting off facebook. I thought I would miss it, but I see so many more little moments I didn't realize I was missing before then. I miss chatting with some of my friends and seeing their daily lives, but as far as the waste of time that is so much of Facebook drama, I am SO much happier! Our summer of adventures is being wonderful and this has been the best summer with our kids yet. Whether it's enjoying gardens in hot springs, playing in the playground at home, geocaching, making s'mores buckets, or eating daddy's homemade icecream on the porch, we are trying to savor every moment that we can with our kids. 

Emmy posing for me. She used to never pose, I'm so happy she finally will! Now of we could get Sarah to cooperate for pictures :)

My ever handsome baby boy :)

Caught Sarah eating a sucker in the hotel room. They love dum dums lately.

Sarah Helping daddy and I with groceries after her CT earlier this week.

S'mores Bucket, with awesome illustrations thanks to my baby sister.

Eating homemade icecream on the porch that daddy made!

Nicholas is obsessed with mustaches lately since Ryan and dad have them so, I found him a play one. He didn't like it once he put it on, but I managed a quick cute picture before he took it off :)