We Didn't Fall....(just toured the edge extensively)

We have not fallen off the face of the planet....we have just been touring really close to the edge over the past few months and internet access/availability is minimal over here.

Seriously though, things have been pretty rough here in the Frye house for the past several months. So much so, the blog has been neglected.

Lack of time and wondering where to start is the biggest reason.

Hundreds of photos are on the camera and have not been uploaded since the summer. I think the first day of school is still on there.

Life has been chaotic, to say the least....but I wanted to fill you all in.

A few posts ago, I mentioned me being in the hospital. My optic nerve was swollen at the beginning of September which resulted in a hospital admission as well a lot of tests.... A LOT (CT scans, dye tests, extensive blood work, and even a spinal tap)!!!! When you combine the optic neuritis with my chronic uveitis, and an additional autoimmune disease (psoriasis) along with me being a female and in my early 30s, the doctors start worrying about scary things-like Multiple Sclerosis.

I was in Washington D.C. this week meeting with a team of doctors at the National Institute of Health (NIH) to see if they could shed any light on my situation. I was called "intriguing". I don't think it is a good sign to be called "intriguing" by the top researchers in the country. I still have no answers besides I have uveitis and psoriasis. The swelling in my optic nerve has diminished, but MS is still a possibility as well as other autoimmune related syndromes.

This is where the tour of the edge of the planet began.

Shortly after that, school started for the kids-All three! Broderick started 3rd grade, Camden 1st, and Adalynn is in preschool. They are loving it. The boys were also busy with football (pictures of them are on the last post) and Adalynn is in dance! SOOO CUTE!

Dance was on Monday. Football was Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  And the boys are both in Cub Scouts and yes, you guessed it....Friday night! CRAZY BUSY! Combine that with doctors visits and tests, trips to Philadelphia to Will's Eye Hospital, John's class schedule, and me finishing my Master's and we knew our tour of the edge was being extended.

And then, my grandpa died. He was not even 70. The summer had been rough on him, and we were kind of expecting it, but it was still very sad. A very quick trip to Indiana for the funeral just added to the emotional mess we were all already in.

Shortly after returning to Pennsylvania, John's parents came to visit us. During their visit, our entire (finished) basement flooded. We had an extensive amount of rain during a very short time period and our basement filled with several inches of water. It is and has been a mess. We lost a good amount of toys, some electronics, and lots and lots of stuffed animals. The stuffed animals were the hardest to throw away (imagine that....the item that drives me nuts was the hardest to part with. Seemed they all had some sort of memory attached to them). Add another trip to Philadelphia, some more eye testing, and now cleaning up the basement and you can begin to understand why we have been on "vacation".

But that is only the tip of the iceberg. John, Broderick, and I all had birthdays during October. We decided to have Broderick's party at a hotel in a suite with a group of 10 boys and had a blast (the pictures are still on the camera). We continued with dance, football, and scouts as well as school work for everyone and were busy all of the time. And then the bottom fell out at the end of October and we knew we were not coming back anytime soon.

Broderick got sick. I mean vomiting, diarrhea, cramping, lethargy....literally, got sick. Over and over.
Again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again! Eleven times over the course of the past few months. As I write this he is at the hospital getting sick again. No known reason....already had a lot of tests and many more scheduled. We have taken him back and forth to the doctor, to the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia (CHOP), he even had an upper GI, and right now they are doing an ultrasound and a CT to see if they can figure out why he continues to vomit as well as more bloodwork and IVs. He is miserable to say the least and devastated. Today's vomiting episode came after having a 3 week break in episodes (the longest so far-thought it might be over) but also came on the day we were supposed to be in New York City as a special Christmas trip.

I would much rather be in New York City....

This place we are in now is NO FUN!!! I am physcially, emotionally, and mentally exhausted. There have been a few positives and I am trying REALLY hard to look at our blessings, but as you can imagine, we are struggling right now.

Oh, and we can't leave out the dentist visits. Adalynn is getting a tooth smack dab in the middle of her palate and my wisdom teeth have really been bothering me and will be removed in March. It looks like we will continue our stay in this awful place for a few more months at least. We are waiting and looking for a break.....hoping it will come!

We have not fallen off the face of the planet. We have just had an extended stay, really close to the edge. We are trying to get out of here....but every time we move forward, something sets us back and we are right where we started. Prayers during this time would be appreciated....patience as I get back into blogging as well. I REALLY hope to get pictured put on here sometime over Christmas break (which is BARELY a week for the kids this year).

So much to do.....so little time!

Praying and looking at blessings is our only answer. First blessing on the list....completion of coursework for my Masters!

Time, time, time

I seem to have no time lately, but had to share these photos that were taken by John Pittman photography at the boys' homecoming football games a few weeks ago.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094155&id=1487943720&l=9ccac20245

Hopefully you all can check them out there!!! My intentions are to get this really updated sometime this week. Until then,



Shannon

It never fails-

I love the fact that I can waste time messing around on my iPhone, playing games, browsing facebook, reading everyone's blogs, and of course updating my own. As I write this I am sitting in a hospital bed waiting to be admitted. Yes, you read correctly .... admitted. I have been dealing with uveitis for awhile now as you already know. Then yesterday I noticed that I had a grey spot in the middle of my vision in my right eye. I scheduled an appointment with my opthamologist this afternoon and she sent me here, to the ER after noticing that my optic nerve was swollen. I have already had a CT of my head and orbits (eyes) that came back normal. My bloodwork has come back a little off, but nothing too alarming.

Now I am just waiting for a room upstairs. I am supposed to see a neurologist in the morning as well as have some more tests run. All I know so far is that my optic nerve is swelling.

Where did it go?

Oh my....I can't believe next week is our last week of summer. Where in the world did it go??

School is just around the corner and I don't feel as though I accomplished anything over the summer. But when it comes down to it, our summer was busy. Between swim team, swim team and more swim team, Adalynn turning 3, a trip to Georgia, Camden turning 6, a trip to Indiana, farm trips every week, moving to a new house, and August being filled with football practice 5 nights a week, I guess you can say we were busy.

Add all of that to Adalynn being very sick last week (loosing about 10% of her body weight--a whopping 3 lbs), Camden ending up with croup, my eyes still being a mess (there is talk of me going to the NIH-National Institute of Health), and Broderick getting a hearing aid and I hope you will forgive my lack of blogging.

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So, here are the promised pictures......



First off, the boys LOVED swim team...Broderick liked it a bit more than Camden. Camden liked the concept of spending 5 mornings a week in the pool, but didn't care too much for the idea of jumping off at the end of the pool and racing down the lane against other kids. Neither of them could swim when they joined swim team and by the end of the season they both could. Camden attempted to compete a few times, but his nerves got the best of him and he never did-notice the picture of him in tears at the end of the lane with his coach. Broderick ended up swimming competitively in freestyle, breast-stroke, and back-stroke. He even swam in a few relay races towards the end of the season. Adalynn did a great job watching her brothers swim. She was upset at the beginning and didn't understand why she couldn't swim, but by the end of the season she was just as happy digging in the dirt, catching bugs, and getting pedicures from one of the other swim team moms.

At the end of the season the boys both got certificates and ribbons as well as a pair of sweat/pajama pants with the swim team's name and mascot on them. Adalynn loved the end of season party because everyone was allowed to swim. Too bad it was super cold and by the time the awards were over and the sun went down, she was only able to stay in the water for a few minutes. When you have no body fat, you get cold REALLY fast and within a few minutes she was shivering and her lips were turning blue. I let John get in the water with the kids and I took the pictures. Brrrrr!!!!

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We also spent a lot of time this summer (once each week) at the farm. We enjoyed picking our own organic produce and getting our share of the crop. Some of the items were already harvested and we just had to go into the barn and pick up our share, some of the items had to be picked each week. The kids enjoyed picking their own raspberries, tomatoes, beans, peas, peppers, herbs, and flowers. We were very pleased with the variety of produce we got each week and even more excited to try new things we wouldn't have otherwise. We even canned tomatoes, salsa, pepper jelly, and pickles using some of the items we got at the farm. Thank you to HouseParty for choosing me to host a Ball Fresh Taste canning party, supplying me with a water bath canner, jars, and lots of pectin and the opportunity to invite my friends over to enjoy canning with me! I LOVE HouseParty !!!!

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And once again, Camden got lucky and had his birthday party somewhere other than home. Two years ago we were in the process of packing and moving from GA to PA so he got to have his party at the zoo, last year we were busy taking care of John's parents and going to way too many funerals so he had his birthday party at an Iron Pigs game, and finally this year we were in the process of moving and packing (again) and he had his birthday party at the pool. A pirate-pool party, complete with my attempt at a pirate ship cake and lots of time in the water. Even Aunt Jessica from Indiana came and had some fun with us! And, yes I know I still haven't sent thank  you notes (for Adalynn's or Camden's party) but they are coming, I PROMISE!!!

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And as I was dumping all the photos off of the camera I realized that we haven't used the camera since we have moved. No pictures of football practice, no pictures of the new house, and no random summer pictures except for the ones taken with our phones (by the way, we both got iPhones and LOVE THEM!!!!) Hopefully I will soon figure out how to quickly and easily upload pictures from our phones to the blog, until then you can see them on facebook.

I hope you all had a great summer. I look forward to all of your comments telling me it is about time I updated....please let me know you were here.....we really enjoy knowing who reads our blog!

House Party Party The Frye Boys' Star Wars™: The Clone Wars™ Season 3 House Party

coming soon to the Frye household.....

House Party Party The Frye Boys' Star Wars™: The Clone Wars™ Season 3 House Party


and coming soon to the abcfrye blog.....




PHOTOS!!!! (I promise!!!! I just dumped the camera card tonight onto the computer, but homework was my first priority and now.....well, now it is almost 11:00 and the morning comes too early).

Summer Fun!!!!

LAST DAYS OF SCHOOL

Camden and Adalynn June 2010

 September 2009

(what a difference a year makes)

the boys on the first day of school (above)

and on the last day of school (below)

SCOUT GRADUATION

Broderick playing BASEBALL and Camden playing T-Ball

 ADALYNN TURNS 3

PICNICS

GEORGIA TRIP and FOURTH of JULY

NATURAL BRIDGE and CAVERNS in NATURAL BRIDGE VIRGINIA

SWIM TEAM 2010

(more swim team pictures to come as well as Camden's 6th birthday party)