Unfair Advantage

We think M has an advantage with his water supply.  These kids won't know what hit 'em!

Sixth Birthday Party

Chip had his birthday party at GAA, the Gymnastics Academy of Atlanta, last weekend with his friends.  They had guided play with the parachute, on trampolines, through an obstacle course, and swinging on a rope over a foam pit, for about an hour.  Next, they had Pizza Hut pizza and a Ben 10 cake from our local Target bakery.  Afterwards, they had free play for about 15 minutes.  It was a great party.  Earlier, Bun had taken the Chipster to see Toy Story 3, so it was a Day Of G.  He felt very, very special, and so the day was a great success.

"The Headinator"

Our son is so deranged.

"To Infinity... And Be-Oof!"

Every kid's favorite activity:  couch diving.

There's A New Champ In Town

G is gloating in this photo, because he just dethroned me as the Scrabble Champion of the Angle household.  He keeps reminding me that "I've never played it before."  Gee, thanks for the reminder!

An Evening Vesper

The green bracelet says, basically, that I am not to fly or have nitrous.  It does not, however, forbid a cocktail.

Here We Go Again

It is 5:23 am, and we are on our way to Northside Hospital.  Again.  I noticed, the night before last, that my vision was shimmery in the same place it was when my retina detached three weeks ago.  I rushed in to Georgia Retina - after a shower, of course, I'm not an animal - and found that my retina has detached once again.  The doctor said that one of my tears had retorn.  I was not aware I'd had two.

Surgery is scheduled for 8 am, so we are supposed to be there at 6.  This time, rather than another scleral buckle, I will have a vitrectomy, in which the vitreous will be removed from my eye and replaced with a gas bubble.  Eventually, my eye will fill with a different liquid and absorb the gas.  This is supposed to be an easier surgery - no cutting of eye or muscle, no squeezing, no stitches - so I am hopeful that it will be a less involved recovery, although it sounds like it might be more bedrest, which will be difficult for me.  There is a 50% chance that I will develop a cataract and will need another surgery soon, but I think this surgery is the right one for me today.

I am scared, but much less so than the first time because I know what to expect, more or less.  The hardest part for me will be missing the rest of G's summer vacation.  I feel like between the surgeries, stress, and work, I have not been there for him enough.  I also feel like Matt has had to do everything for so long now.  He has cooked, cleaned, gotten Chip ready for bed, driven us everywhere, and so many other things, all while holding down a busy and stressful full-time job.  Now, he will have to continue to do so much and I hate that.  I will really need to pamper him as soon as I can.

Our friends have been such a blessing to us.  I dislike few things more than to depend upon others, but I have had to do that so often in this past year.  The many, many kindnesses and real effort that have been directed our way really amaze us and humble us.

We are hoping that, in a year that has brought miscarriage, uterine infection, a heart scare and endless testing and monitoring, a respiratory infection, and now two detached retinas; the second half of the year will be smooth sailing.  I am so tired of myself and my problems, and I would like to have nice, boring status updates on Facebook like "weeded the front yard today" or "went to the store with G...  yawwwwwwn."  And if I could actually attand my son's birthday party tomorrow evening, that would be fantab. 

Well, we have just reached the hospital, so here goes.  Here's to a sober surgeon and especially delicious ice chips!

Happy Sixth Birthday To Our Beautiful Baby Boy!

Today is the Chipster's sixth birthday, and he has never been so excited for something. He was looking forward to an entire day of doing whatever he wants, and that's exactly what we did. We began by hanging out at his friend Nick's pool with him and his sister, as well as Lily and Quincy. They swam for four hours, and we all got a little red around the edges. Sabine brought mini cupcakes for the occasion, and Danielle brought delicious organic lollipops. G had some cupcake frosting and two lollies.   That after a breakfast of two bowls of Lucky Charms.

When we got home, Christopher came over to play. He gave G the Lego Star Wars Wii game and then taught him how to play it. G kept saying, "This is my best day ever," because he got to swim with Nick, spend time with Lily and Quincy, and then play with Christopher. He really appreciated the day and the celebration, and he really let us know how happy he felt.

When C left, Bun came over until it was time to go to dinner. We stopped at Publix and picked up some balloons, and then we went to his favorite restaurant, Moe's, for an extended family dinner and presents.  G had a cheese quesadilla and a chocolate chip cookie.  That was followed by ice cream at Cold Stone (for G:  chocolate with M&Ms), where he clearly said for the benefit of everyone behind the counter and walking by, "I can't believe it's my birthday!" It was so sweet that he wanted everyone to celebrate with him. Next, he was allowed to walk over to Learning Express to choose one more item. He picked a red playground ball. At the counter, we made sure to have him tell the clerk that it's his birthday.

Finally, we came home for more presents, played some Lego Star Wars, and sent Chip up to his room for PJs. When he was up there, he discovered his My Pillow Pets dolphin on his bed and was so enamored of his newest best friend. The joy that simple gift brought him was our biggest surprise and nicest moment of the day.

G doesn't get excited about much (ref: Disney World), but he really got excited about today. He also truly appreciated every bit of kindness and friendship along the way, and he made sure to tell us many times how lucky he is. We, by the way, made sure to tell him many, many times what a gift we got six years ago and how we are really the lucky ones.

So, today we celebrate a boy who is not only kind, sensitive, and thoughtful, but is ridiculously funny, well-coordinated, a brilliant problem-solver, a great reader, has a memory like a steel trap, always does his chores without complaining, is independent in thought and action, who prays every night for kids he doesn't even see anymore, a quickly-advancing swimmer, and an all-around rockin' cool (he taught us that phrase) kid who awes us every day.  Happy sixth birthday, G!

Third year for this birthday shirt!

High Flyer

Congratulations to the pilot of the 2010 American Eurocopter Captain Gus Crawford Memorial Award-winning Aircrew of the Year, Chuck Angle!  We're very proud of you!

Tell Us!

Just went to Tellus for a quick visit.  The great thing about being members here is that we can just stop by for an hour here or there.  Even though one of us had a bad attitude at the beginning, things quickly changed once we got inside, and we had a great time.

One of the photos was taken by M in the restroom.  Science is everywhere!

Wild Wild West

Chip was in a day camp this week, which culminated in a variety show.  Here are a couple of photos from the show.
In other news, our photo storage for this blog has not been working for a long time.  We finally have that problem solved, but now our iPhoto has stopped working and we can't find the disk!  At least we can now submit photos from our cell phone.  We will get back to normal, eventually.