Crazy crazy

Why does it seem like life gets crazier and crazier every minute?? Maybe it's because through chaos we can truly see beauty? The craziness is actually full of blessings....crazy, crazy.

Back in April things seemed to be finally settling down after such a tough fall. We even planned a trip to Washington DC over Easter weekend and surprised the kids with visits from their godparents. We had a great time!

We even went to a sunrise Easter service at the Lincoln Memorial.

It was pretty amazing!




But you can imagine our shock and disgust to return home after 4 days to discover that our water line on our refrigerator had malfunctioned and flooded the main level as well as the basement of our rented town-home. Approximately 13,000 gallons of water....needless to say we had a huge mess!! Collapsed ceilings, ruined furniture and of course after sitting for days waiting for an adjuster to come----black mold.




We ended up living in a hotel for 8 1/2 weeks while they cleaned up and remodeled our home. Yes, three kids and a dog in a hotel for a very long time. It could have been a nightmare.





We adjusted quickly, learned to live in very close quarters and discovered we still had what was important....each other. We were lucky enough to stay at a Homewood Suites so we had two bedrooms, a small living area, as well as a kitchen area. It wasn't as bad as it seemed. Actually a blessing in disguise. Crazy, right? It slowed us down....well it tried to. Did I mention the three kids and a dog?

While we were there the boys finished their baseball seasons and Adalynn had her first ever dance recital.





















Adalynn graduated from 3 year old preschool and the boys moved to Wolf and Webelos ranking in Scouts.







I was also able to go on field trips with Camden's class to the zoo and Crayola factory and we took a trip to Baltimore as a family to see the Orioles play at Camden Yards (how Camden got his name). And of course we had to try crab cakes while we were there.





























And we can't forget that during all of this crazy time I graduated with my masters and we finalIzed our decision to move to Wisconsin! John has accepted a position there.
Here is Adalynn at my graduation. Sorry, no pics of me they are on the camera (these are all from my phone).





Speaking of Adalynn, we can't forget that during our extended hotel stay she had a birthday. I can't believe my baby is 4!!! (Will I ever stop calling her baby?) So we had a hotel pool party! She (and the friends that came) didn't seem to mind











Then school finally ended (not until the 21st of June) and we took a trip to Gettysburg with friends. We camped for a few days while they were finishing up our house. No photos of Gettysburg are on my phone since we had a ban on electronic devices. ;-) there are some on the camera though (so I may be able to post some later).

After our trip to Gettysburg, we briefly (3 days) returned to our very empty home. We lost most of our living room furniture, our dining room furniture and almost everything in the basement (except some toys that were spared damage).





We did gain hardwood floors which are nice, but sad since we will only be here for a short time.

We most recently returned from a trip to WI to find somewhere to live, then on to IN to visit family and John's sister's wedding. We had a blast boating with my mom, brother, and sister and the kids were beyond adorable at the wedding. Throw a trip to Build-a-Bear in there and we had a pretty nice time.





















































Now we are home again. Or at least our home for the next few weeks. We are packing but still trying to enjoy what little summer we will have.

Life can be crazy sometimes-well all the time, but by turning those crazy things into blessings we are able to see the bigger picture. Thank you God for helping us see that.





And thanks to all of you for being a part of our crazy lives.

Blessings,

The FRYE'S

It's Been Awhile

I am really excited about the new app I just downloaded to my iPhone!! It will allow me to update the blog as well as add photos and videos straight from my phone (which is convenient seeing as though the majority of my photo-taking occurs on my phone).

So, the last time I posted was just after Christmas. It's hard to believe we are well into April already. The kids have been busy with basketball, scouts, dance, and baseball just started.

I took my written comps in February and have officially finished my Masters. I will be walking in graduation in May.

John has been busy traveling all over. With interviews in numerous places and an upcoming trip to Seattle, I am very jealous. I'd be fine going anywhere and taking a few days off of mommy duty.

So here are some photos from the past few months. I hope this works!!!! If so, you my be finally seeing more of me.

We had TONS of snow this year. I don't even know how many total days of school we missed, but I know it was a crazy amount. We added several days into the existing calendar and even more at the end. We are in school until June 20th. Ugh!!!!

Snow angels



Snow ball fights




Sledding




Dance




Scouts





Crazy hair day....I cant beleive how long his hair is getting






Basketball pics

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And Happy First Day of Spring at Ritas!!!









Daddy was the Mystery Reader









Chase 'got little' according to Adalynn. Amazing what a difference a haircut makes.





Too bad we can't talk this one into a haircut....though the long hair is growing on me and I do have to admit, it is kind if cute. His great grandpa wouldn't have agreed though!!!

And I leave you with a video of my little "tap dancing elephant" She is growing up way too fast!!!!! I can't believe her first dance recital is coming up so quickly and then birthday number 4 will quickly follow.


Blessings,

Shannon

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Another update....this time WITH photos!!!!!

So much for getting photos updated during Christmas break. It is amazing how quickly a week flies by...but a long MLK weekend with an additional snow day thrown in along with no more grad work (YAY) and healthy kids gave me a few extra minutes.

I carefully narrowed the 300+ photos down to the following to sum up our last few months.

Way back in September...first day of school....

Broderick-annoyed that we still want first day of school photos

Camden-SUPER excited about his first day of first grade!

The boys outside of their school

Adalynn's first day of preschool

Adalynn outside of her school

SCOUTS

Broderick helping the new Wolves get their neckerchiefs.

Camden so excited to finally be a TIGER (and daddy is his leader)

FOOTBALL

John helps out at one of Broderick's games

Adalynn joins in before one of Camden's games

Broderick takes football VERY seriously

 BRODERICK turns 9
and has a sleep-over party at a local hotel

Broderick attempts to wiggle an football Oreo into his mouth without using his hands

Oreo game

Blowing out the pretend candles (since I forgot to bring them to the hotel)

Added bonus....buffet breakfast!

 Pumpkin Patch and Halloween

Found the perfect pumpkin on a perfect fall day.

Don't you love their uniforms costumes?

Busted Eyes....
Camden falls at school and busts his eye/head on a bench.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Adalynn helping me decorate the tree

Adalynn was terrified at the thought that Santa would soon be at her house.

They loved their sleeping bags.

Enjoying the Play-Doh cake making set that Adalynn picked with her Christmas money. And yes, Camden is growing his hair.

SPEAKING OF HAIR...

This is what happens when we don't put anything in Adalynn's hair.....it is LONG and CRAZY CURLY!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR (a few weeks late)....

hoping my next update isn't 5 months late like this one. Blessings to all of you....

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!