Friday, September 29, 2006 1:47 PM CDT

Wow, it is already Friday! This week flew by so quickly. We are going to pick up Curious George today! I can't wait for Caden to see it! I am also going to look for a TMX Elmo for his birthday. Some of you may not know that the YMCA Elmo he got last year fell over on him and totally tramatized him, so I don't know how TMX Elmo might go over???? I guess we will see. If he hates it, then I'll auction it on eBay and make a killing off it!

Caden has had runny poo-poo yesterday and this morning. Dr. Acton is calling in something to put in his food to "bulk up" the poop. Ha! First I am talking about poop, then bulking up poop! Who in their right mind would want that???

September was a hard month, so I am glad to see it's almost gone. I hope and pray that October is more UNeventful. I have had to struggle a lot this past month with being torn between what Caden needs and being a good employee. Between illnesses, tests, ear tubes, and meetings, Jeremy and I both had to miss more school this past month than ever before in such a short time. I feel guilty about missing school, but Caden has to come first. I just keep telling myself that. I know I need to be here for my kids and to teach them, so I feel very guilty when I have to miss. I love my job and I love teaching these kids. I hope this is not a sign that my career is coming to an end. I feel so very lucky to have been able to keep working since Caden came. I thank God for the wonderful people (Miss Veronica & Miss Lindsay) that He has placed in our lives to help us out and take good care of Caden. This is a huge part of why I have been able to keep teaching. I do not want that to end for many reasons, but I will stay at home if I need to for Caden's sake. Sorry you had to listen to my sob story! It has just been weighing heavy on my mind this month and it feels good to "air" it out!

Our Student Council here at the high school gives the opposing football team a "Sportsmanship" award each home game and usually it is a donation to some charity in that school's name. Well, next week, they are giving a donation to the UMDF in honor of Caden to San Saba! The kids are going to push Caden out to the middle of the field with them when they present the award. Awesome, huh??? Also later in the year, they will be doing some sort of fundraiser for the UMDF! I am so excited! We also put a note in Caden's birthday invitations asking the families to donate in honor of Caden! I hope it turns out well!

I will be traveling with Jeremy and the cross-country team to their meet in Lubbock tomorrow morning. We have to leave at 4 am, so please pray for our safety to and from the meet!

~*~Good luck Lady Hawks & Hawks in Lubbock!~*~
~*~Run Hard!~*~

~~Good Luck Hawk football!! Beat GRAPE CREEK!!~*~

I hope you all have a great weekend! I will be trying to get the house ready for Caden's BIG party next Sunday!

Hugs & Love,
Vicki, Jeremy, "Mr. PooPoo"

Thursday, September 21, 2006 6:21 PM CDT

Curious George comes out on video Tuesday!!!!

The new video above is a combination of Caden having fun doing different things. The first part, when he is on the floor, was the afternoon of his ear tube surgery. Yes, he was that fired up just hours after the surgery! The rest o fit is him in his tumbleform chair on the Gym Spin from Abilitations. His mamaw & papaw bought him the Gym Spin for Christmas last year, and it just came in the mail 2 weeks ago!! He loves it!

There is a lot to update you guys on today. I will start with the good news from today's visit with Dr. Easley. We were obviously overreacting...........NO FEEDING TUBE!!!! Caden has been eating much better this week, and he has gained back 5 oz! That is 1 oz. a day since the nutritionist saw him! Caden's growth has stayed the same, right along the 10th percentile line on his growth chart until this last time, when it dipped down to the 5th percentile. BUT, as of today, it had started to make its way back up to the 10th. So, as long as he keeps heading in the right direction (UP) and doesn't start dipping down a lot, then Dr. Easley says a feeding tube is NOT a option for Caden. Caden is fairly short as it is, so his weight and height are comparible at this point. Now, he said if the feeding was making our lives miserable and we were spending most of our time each day feeding him trying to keep his calories up, then we would think about a tube. Yes, feeding Caden is and always has been a challenge, but it's not consuming our lives and making them totally miserable. If I get frustrated, then Jeremy finishes feeding him, and vice versa. But that's just with his pureed food. He started drinking 6-7 oz. of his bottles again this week, and he can down a 7-8 oz. bottle in 15-20 minutes. So, I asked how long can he keep drinking from a bottle and Dr. Easley said "as long as he needs to." He said it's more of a social thing than anything else. Yes, it is, I guess. Caden only drinks 3 bottles a day, and those are at home unless we have somewhere we have to go. If he's getting most of his calories from his bottle, I don't care what people think when they see a 3 year old drinking from one!! We asked lots of questions about a feeding tube, even after Dr. Easley said Caden didn't need one. So, Dr. Easley said, "I usually have parents fighting off a feeding tube!" I said, "We have been fighting it off for 2.5 years, and we still don't want one unless it will greatly benefit Caden." Then we tlaked about nutrition and he explained how if Caden were off the bottom of the charts for a longer time, then a feeding tube would bring him back up to where he has been, and we would see a significant difference from the nutrition, but he's not off the charts. I kept up with what all he ate on Sunday (before he started eating better this week) for Sharon, the nutritionist, so she could figure out how many calories he was getting per kilo. Well, I was embarassed to email it to her because he really didn't eat hardly anything. But, when she figured it out, he was getting 68 cal. per kilo. which she was pretty happy with. Dr. Easley said he needed 60-70 cal. per kilo. to catch back up on his weight. (which he got and ate hardly anything) Then he could maintain his weight with 50-60 cal. per kilo. Well, I am going to ease up on him because he is getting enough calories when he isn't eating hardly at all!!! I am going to have to stop worrying about it so much!!! Long story short, it was VERY GOOD NEWS today!!! Thank you all for the information, emails, encouragement, thoughts, and prayers! I am sure we will still continue to need them!

His allergy tests went well yesterday. He went in at 11 am for the cream that numbs his arms, then we went back at 1:30 for the tests. He was so good! He didn't even cry once! He is basically allergic to everything here in West TX! He also showed food allergies to soy, wheat, and beef. He was allergic to all but 7 things they tested for, including:
Bermuda grass (our front yard)
Short Ragweed & False Ragweed (don't know the difference)
Lanb's Quarter (no idea!!)
Russian Thistle (TX tumbleweed)
Redberry Juniper (One of the worst)
Mountain Cedar (the other worst one)
Oak (all our trees in the yard)
Mesquite (How can you avoid those in TX??)
Cottonwood
All 3 mold mixes
Household dust mite (my whole house!)
Cat
Dog (2 in back yard)

Crazy, huh??? Even Dr. Walvoord was surprised at the amount and severity of his allergies. We are going to start allergy drops next week, so pray they work so he doesn't have to do allergy shots! His arms look like little pin cushions! Here is a picture!



I guess that is about it for today. We are about to watch the season premier of Grey's Anatomy!! Seriously!!

~*~Good luck to the Lady Hawks &
Hawks at the Mertzon CC Meet!!~*~

Have a great Friday!!
Hugs & Love,
Vicki, Jeremy, & "Mr. Pin Cushion"

Monday, September 18, 2006 3:13 PM CDT

As you can tell, Caden's new friend is Curious George! I am working on changing his webpage to Curious George, but it takes a little time! That is the theme for his birthday party this year, and he has 1 book that he loves! We actually had to read the book AS we were eating one evening last week, or Caden would start screaming! He can be a real stinker when he tries!!

I apologize for worrying anyone with my last update, but we are worried. It seems I am too cheerful on this page, and when I write something not so good, it gets everyone a little stirred up!!! Caden did a little better this weekend with his eating, but he's still only taking in about 1/2 of what he had been eating. I looked at the nutritionist's paper, and he actually lost 1 lb. 6 oz. According to a BMI calculator that puts him in the 5th percentile for weight, which equals UNDERWEIGHT. Dr. Easley is squeezing us in during his lunch on Thursday, so we won't have to wait any longer to see him. I have heard from several parents about feeding tubes, and none of them have any regrets about placing one for their child. We will see what Dr. Easley thinks. Our nutritionist is going to the appointment with us. I will let you all know what he says.

I also FINALLY got to talk to Dr. Tomasovic, the neurologist we saw in July who was looking at changing Caden's mito cocktail. He is adding Ginko Biloba and vitamin E. We will see what it does! We are also uping Caden's tegretol dosage to 3 mL 3X a day because his levels were a little low when we took his last blood test.

The Lady Hawks ran very well Saturday, but placed 4th in the cross-country meet because they ran in the 4A/5A division. If you don't know, we are only 2A, so those were BIG schools we were running against! Kendra placed 4th over all! I am so proud of all the girls!!

The Hawks had 2 teams and placed 1st and 2nd in the 1A/2A division. I am so proud of all those boys, but especially my little freshmen boys. It's such an adjustment for boys when they get to high school cross-country because they go from 2 miles in JH to 3 miles in HS, and those freshmen are just kicking booty!!!

The Hawks football team pulled out a close oneon Friday night too! Way to go guys!

It rained all day yesterday and the weather is much cooler today. It was actually in the 50's this morning, and sooooo nice! It's only supposed to be in the 80's for the next few days. It's a nice change!

I guess that is all for today. Please pray for Caden and his eating/nutrition, and our appointment Thursday. Please also pray for Gary Black, Brandon Clark, Alexa Nichols, & Sarah Hessler. Please pray for good health for all the kids with mito and their families!

Hugs & Love,
Vicki, Jeremy, & "Little Stinker"

Thursday, September 14, 2006 7:32 PM CDT

Sunday, September 10, 2006 5:33 PM CDT

Sunday, September 3, 2006 2:28 PM CDT

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Tuesday, August 22, 2006 2:49 PM CDT

Wednesday, August 16, 2006 6:08 PM CDT

Wednesday, August 9, 2006 1:28 PM CDT

Monday, August 7, 2006 9:49 PM CDT

Friday, July 28

Sunday, July 16, 2006 10:43 PM CDT

Saturday, July 8, 2006

Sunday~~
Caden got his 2nd of 3 shots of Rocephin for his "not so happy ears." He got the first shot yesterday when we were at the doctor's office, then got the 2nd one this morning, and will get the last one tomorrow. You could tell that the shot yesterday made him fell better by yesterday evening. He was very happy and silly!! The doc also gave us some cream for the spots on his face, and they are better already. Not really sure what they are from! I guess we will be going to see the ENT when we get back next week. We don't ever want to expose Caden to any more procedures than we have to, but the tubes in his ears (missing tubes now) really help him out a lot. There are more pros from them than cons. On another note, as horrible as it may sound, Jeremy and I were glad when Caden got upset when the nurse rubbed his leg down with the alcohol swab before his shot. Terrible, huh?? BUT, that means that not only did he remember what happened yesterday with the alcohol swab, but he knew what was coming next. I would love to have this scenario happen with something better than a shot in his leg, but it's nice to know he knew what was happening.

Here are the boys relaxing on the couch....That's the sticker Caden got after his shot!


Have a good week!



Saturday~~
Caden told Mrs. Veronica "NO" twice yesterday when she asked him if he wanted to go outside!!!! Can you believe that??? I don't know why he wouldn't want to go outside, but I guess he didn't!!! He's making big strides!

He doesn't seem to be feeling "up-to-par" and he has 5 red spots on his face that look like bites, but they have a little white top on them. I would say they were fire ant bites if I didn't KNOW he was nowhere that an ant could have gotten his face! That's just what they remind me of.....He also had a low grade fever (99.6) yesterday. I think we are going to take him in to see the doctor in a little bit, just to be safe. I'll post if we find anything out of the ordinary is going on. Oh, what IS ordinary for this kid???!!! HA!

Have a good weekend!



Thursday~~
Wow, I have waited too long to put this update on here, and there is so much to tell!!

Great new developments in the world of "The Little Man"!!! Our speech therapist, Mrs. Veronica, and another girl from daycare reported that Caden said.........YES, I said "SAID".........MORE and YEAH!!!!! Of course, Jeremy and I were sceptical, but then our speech therapist came to see Caden at our house last Friday, and I heard him say MORE and something VERY similar to MAMA!!!! Then this week at my sister's house, my sister Kim, was clicking her tongue at Caden and she asked him if he could do it and he, PLAIN AS DAY, said "NO" to her!!! Then he was kicking his beach ball yesterday and Jeremy grabbed it and asked him if he wanted to kick it some more, then he waited.....and waited.....and Caden said "MORE"!!!! Isn't that GREAT????!!!!

Caden was a little sick this past weekend. He was okay part of the day Saturday, then we gave him a full bottle of Pediasure and he took his afternoon nap and threw it up all over his bed! He's never thrown up while he was sleeping, EVER. So then he continued to throw up until he completely emptied his stomach of the Pediasure and was dry heaving, then I got some Pedialyte in him and he didn't throw up again. So, we are struggling with knowing if it was the Pediasure, or a virus. Who knows! Then he ran a little fever Sat. night and Sun. morning and was very lethargic. We were supposed to go on to my mom and dad's house Sunday, but we were struggling with wether we should go, or wait and take Caden in to see the doc Monday morning. So, we called the doc on-call and he said there wasn't much we could do since he wasn't throwing up anymore, and his fever was borderline even being a fever. We were mainly worried because we couldn't get him to drink ANYTHING, no formula or Pedialyte, so we were worried about dehydration. So, we decided to wait awhile and let Caden take his nap. After his nap, his fever was gone, and he drank a whole bottle of Pedialyte. He seemed to be feeling much better.

So, we went as far as my mom and dad's house Sunday, then we went on to my sister's house for the 4th of July from Monday until yesterday. Monday morning I woke up with a TERRIBLE sore throat and sinus. Caden seemed to be better. We got to Kim's house and hung out and swam. My other sister came that night from Dallas. Jeremy and my brother-in-law got to go play golf. Then my BIL, Bryan's, family came to Kim's on Tuesday. We all had a big B-B-Q lunch and swam, then everyone went home and we stayed one more night at Kim's. I still have a sore throat, but it's a little better this morning, and Caden is still doing okay, but is a little congested this morning.

Yep, you asked for them...............here are some pictures from the pool. I tried to crop myself out of most of them!!! Caden seemed to like the water even more than last summer. He really kicked his legs a lot more than last year.

He was a little mad in this one.......I think it was the shades!!


The crooked shades........


Sitting on the side about to "jump" in.......


Sticking out his pouty bottom lip........


His ELVIS impersonation........


The BEST two........




This is Caden and Jeremy waiting for bubbles so they could pop them........


Aren't my boys sooo cute??? Where are the bubbles??


Jeremy has coaching school next week, so Caden will be staying with my parents while we go to Arlington from Tuesday to Friday. It will be a nice little vacation. Please pray that Caden is healthy and all goes well while we are gone.

Our beloved rocker/recliner, AKA "Caden's Nest", broke last week! Caden and I have spent MANY hours rocking in that chair over the last 2 1/2 years, and we had it 2 1/2 years before Caden came. We had to go pick out a new one yesterday because we can't go without a rocking chair around here!! Mr. Independent really does still like to rock a little! Jeremy has to go pick up the chair later today.

I guess that is about all for this update. Please pray for our good friend, Houston's, father who is battling cancer. His name is John Guy. Please also pray for peace and understanding for the family of little Kathryn Kuhlmann, a young girl from San Angelo who lost her life to leukemia yesterday morning. Please pray for complete healing for Sarah Hessler, and a healing miracle for Alexa Nichols.

Thank you all for checking in on Caden and the rest of us. We really appreciate the kind words you leave in the guestbook. I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful 4th of July!!! I can't believe it's already JULY!! Have a great weekend!!!

Hugs and love,
Vicki, Jeremy, & Mr. "MORE"

Friday, June 23, 2006 3:24 PM CDT

Wednesday, June 21, 2006 12:14 AM CDT

Thursday, June 15, 2006 3:36 PM CDT

Well, we are leaving for Atlanta in about 2 hours! Jeremy and I are going to the UMDF Mitochondrial Disease Conference. We hope to learn LOTS of new stuff about mito, and hopefully we will hear more about this new treatment Dr. Shoffner hopes to have soon. We are also looking forward to meeting other parents who have kids like Caden. We fly out of San Angelo in 2 hours and come back Sunday morning. Please say a little prayer for us that we have safe travels to and from Atlanta.

Jeremy's dad and step-mom are here to keep Caden. They will have lots of fun for the next 2 days! Sunday, my mom, dad, sister, and her husband and maybe his parents are coming to San Angelo to celebrate Father's Day and hear all about the conference.

Jeremy and I have a recorder to get all the info with! Neither of us could have remembered everything!

Caden got fitted in his Thera-Togs this morning. They are neat, but will be hot this summer because he has to wear them under his clothes. We are having PT and OT in the mornings this summer. Our summer OT's name is Barbi and Caden loves her! We just found out today that she grew up at Lake Coleman, where my parents live, and her dad is the wardon at the lake and is good friends with my parents. Small world, huh???

EXCITING NEWS............Caden ate CHUNKS this past weekend!!!!! Can you all believe it?? To anyone who has prayed for his eating, THANK YOU!!! It's working!! I have included some not so tasty looking photos of the texture he ate last night. It was so awesome!





I guess that is about all I really have time to talk about right now. Here are a couple of cute pics from last week of the Little Man! Have a great weekend!







Hugs & Love,
Vicki, Jeremy, & Mr. Chunky Eater

Saturday, June 3, 2006 12:53 AM CDT

I know, I know, I know...........................
I have kept you all waiting a very long time for an update. It has been really crazy around here, especially the last week of school. After we got out of school, we had 2 days off and then had to go back Wed. & Thurs. for inservice. They really should do those days in August when we are ready for the next year and not so tired from they year that just ended!!! Let's see, since I updated last, Jeremy and I played in a faculty vs. Seniors basketball game, and it ended in a tie....41-41!!! Then we took one day off then played in a school organization's volleyball tournament. Then the following day, I drove the bus for the Spanich Club to Fiesta Texas in San Antonio. It was a tiring few days, and it took most of the next week for us to recover!!! I guess the week before the last week of school is the busiest week because that is when we have all the banquets and end-of-year activities.

Caden has been doing really well. We had his last IFSP meeting for ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) until he turns 3 and leaves the program. It was two and a half hours long!!! All our therapists got to attend, so they all had lots of great info to offer and things to talk about. Caden has been eating really well lately. This morning he drank a little of his formula out of a sippy cup!!! He does okay with an open top cup, but he hasn't really ever taken to a sippy cup, so that is what we are working on. Our nutritionist will come next week, so we will get to see if and how much he's grown the past month. He has been going to daycare almost every day since we still had inservice and all. Next week he will be going because Jeremy has basketball camp, and there are SO many girls this year that I have to help work too!!! It's better to keep him on his schedule for daycare anyways, and he LOVES Mrs. Veronica and all his buddies. The kids in his class have been SO cute lately. They all have to come give him a hug when he gets there and they all yell out his name! The sad part of that is starting Monday, he will be moving up to the next classroom and leaving them all behind. We do know a couple of the kids in the next room, and I am sure they will all love each other just like Caden and his buddies do now. Plus, the kids from his room now will catch up to him before we know it!

There is a GREAT running organization for young kids and junior high and high school kids here in town that used to be called the Running Lizards, but is now called FIT San Angelo. Gene Adams runs the organization and he does a WONDERFUL job of getting kids out there running and exercising. Several of our high school cross-country girls and guys run for FIT during the summers. Those kids got together with Gene and organized a run/walk for Caden and it was this morning. They had a 5 mile, a 10 mile, and a 1 mile run, and there were lots of people (including us) that walked the course. It was a lot of fun and it raised money and awareness for Caden and Mitochondrial Disorders. I hope to work with Gene next summer and do the same type of thing to raise money for research at the UMDF, United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. I also want to have a golf tournament to raise money for research.

*~*A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who helped organize the run/walk and to all who participated in the run/walk!!! It means so much to us that you all care about Caden, Jeremy, and I so much.
THANK YOU all SO MUCH!!!*~*

Here is a picture from Caden's Run....




I have another report from another family that just talked to Dr. Shoffner that he thinks he will have a type of treatment for Mito in the next 24 months. Isn't that exciting??? Not a cure, but they are still working hard for that too. Now, all we have to try is vitamins for energy, so anything else that could help is exciting!

Jeremy's mom, Lynda, came and visited us over Memorial Day weekend. We grilled some great food, did a little shopping, and just hung out. We were glad to have her!!

I am happy to report that Mrs. Hessler got to come home yesterday from the hospital in Austin!!!! I haven't been over to see her yet, but hope to go tomorrow. We are just excited she's back here so we can offer her more support. Please continue to pray for her complete healing of her feet and legs, pray for her not to be in pain, and pray for her sight to return in her right eye.

Alexa has been in Houston for 2 weeks now. I have heard they are working her really hard in her therapies, and everything is going well. As of now, they doctors report that she is paralyzed from the waist down, but we all BELIEVE she WILL walk again! Please continue to pray for a healing miracle for her!

Please pray for Brandon Clark, as he is still having lots of pain from his surgeries to remove the cancer in his body. I have been told that while he was in the hospital fighting all those infections after the first surgery, they missed the "window of opportunity" to treat the cancer with chemo and radiation, so now they are facing lots of emotional issues surrounding that news. I didn't know such a thing exhisted in treating cancer, but apparently it does with a surgery. Please pray for a healing miracle for him and strength and understanding for his family.

Please also pray for a family in Breckenridge, TX, who just had a little boy born with a rare vascular disorder. Please pray for a healing miracle for the baby boy.

I think that is just about all that is going on around here. We will be taking Caden to a neurologist appointment on the 15th for a follow-up visit. Besides that, we will be busy with therapies all summer. We are going to 3 days of PT and 3 days of OT a week!!! That's a lot of therapy! I hope you are all having a great summer! I promise I will do better at updating the rest of the summer!!!

Hugs & Love,
Vicki, Jeremy, & Mr. Piggy

Monday, May 15, 2006 1:33 PM CDT

Saturday, May 13, 2006 4:43 PM CDT

Thursday, May 11, 2006 8:18 AM CDT

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: Mrs. Hessler was doing well after her 4th (I believe) surgery on her right foot Tuesday. Then yesterday afternoon, she had a stroke. Apparently her carotid artery (in her neck)was damaged when she got pinned against the steering wheel in the accident and it has been bleeding since then. This is what caused her to have the stroke. She had surgery yesterday afternoon to fix the artery. The surgery went well. She still has slurred speech and her right side is affected at this time. She can move her right hand, and she was talking to her family last night. Please keep Sarah, her husband and son, and her mom and dad in your prayers!!!!

Kate is doing well. She has 2 broken ribs, and is still sore, but should be coming back to school today. Please continue to pray for her healing!

Besides that terrible news yesterday, we are doing well around here! Caden is great! He is so funny and happy lately. I guess he is more aware of his surroundings and what all is going on, but he's really a lot of fun. He laughs and smiles at everything lately, which is such a wonderful change from there having to be an act of congress just to make him smile.

His eye appointment Tuesday went really well. His eyes look good and all the nerves inside his eyes look good. He still has a slight strabismus in his right eye. It used to go out pretty bad when he was tired, but we haven't noticed it doing that much at all anymore. The eye doctor still saw it a little, but it's nothing we have to worry about right now.

This weekend is the State Track Meet in Austin. Jeremy and I are going to Austin this afternoon. Caden is going to stay with my mom and dad. They may come down tomorrow afternoon or Sat. morning, so we will get him back then. It's really hard for him to be out when it's really hot, so thank goodness 2A runs tomorrow evening.

~*~Good Luck Kirsten, Brian, Brett, & Blaine!!~*~

Our softball girls are doing really well and have a play-off game here in town Saturday, so we will probably try to make it back for that.

~*~Good Luck Lady Hawk Softball!! Beat Hawley!!~*~

Wow, can you all believe we only have 10 school days left??? By the way the kids are acting, you'd think we were already out of school!

I guess that is all for this morning. Everyone have a great Thursday & Friday and a great weekend!! Thanks for checking in on Caden and the rest of us. We really appreciate you all!!

Here is a cute picture of Caden from last night. We went to our high school Honors Banquet and had to dress up. This was Caden's Easter outfit!





Hugs & Love,
Vicki, Jeremy, & Mr. Funny

Saturday, May 6, 2006

Tuesday, April 18, 2006 10:49 AM CDT

Well, I know you are all waiting for an Easter update, and I have lots to tell, AND I have pictures, but you will have to wait for them because I left our camera at my mom & dad's house!

Sunday, we all got up and went to church. Afterwards, we ran home, changed clothes, loaded back up, and headed for Lake Coleman to my mom & dad's house. All the family AND lunch was waiting for us when we got there. We had a delicious lunch while Caden had a nice nap, then Caden and I colored some Easter eggs! It was quite messy.......but lots of fun! Then Jeremy hid them outside and we went on the hunt! I ran around the yard with Caden and when we found an egg, I would sit him down on the ground by it and we would pick it up and put it in his Easter basket. He even picked 1 egg up ALL BY HIMSELF and DROPPED IT IN HIS BASKET!!! It was so cool!

He had the cutest Easter outfit that my mom bought him, but he spit up all over the Argyle sweater vest in the middle of church! Figures! So, we don't have any pictures of him in it, but we will get the stain out and put it back on him and take some pictures! I will get my camera back this weekend and post the Easter pictures ASAP!!

I have some other pictures from Friday and Saturday of Caden in his COOL NEMO sunglasses outside swinging. They are on the computer at home, so I will get them on here tonight or tomorrow. He is so funny about those shades! Last summer, he HATED shades when we put them on him. Now this year, he gets mad when you take his Nemo shades off of him! We have a pair of those shades in every bag!!!

I also have some pictures of all the pretty flowers in our back yard right now. It looks so great right now, especially compared to last year. This time last year, we still had Lady, Jeremy's bird dog. Man, did she do a number on the back yard! But since she has a better home this summer, we have been able to plant some new plants to go with our old ones (that survived!!) and the backyard looks GREAT!! I will put those pictures on here too!

As for ALEXA, she had a scary night over the weekend. She had some scary breathing difficulties that they thought were caused by a blood clot, but now they said the difficulties were from pneumonia behind her heart. After that scary night, things have been pretty uneventful....which is GOOD! Contrary to what the story on the news said, Alexa DOES have feeling in her arms, she can move her thumbs, and she can shake or nod her head. Since she is more awake lately, she is becoming more aware of her injuries. She is receiving nutrition through a feeding tube. Please continue to keep Alexa in your prayers! For a fund raiser, they have printed some yard signs that say "Please Pray for Alexa" that you can purchase for a minimum donation of $50. The signs will be available on Wednesday at WCS (Western Communications) in Southwest Plaza or Mollie and Friends, located at the 5 way stop near HEB. As you can imagine the medical bills are really piling up for this family. Please show your support for them and Alexa by purchasing a sign!!! Thanks!

Here's a nice update on Brandon Clark from his wife. Brandon had surgery Friday to remove one of his kidneys that had cancer on it. Quoting Jenny: "Everything went really smooth. They took the right kidney out and the dr. felt like he got all the cancer. He took lymphnodes and felt very confident that they will come back negative!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brandon is very very sore right now. He said that this hurts a lot worse than the first 2 surgeries. He has really been an trooper and I am so proud of him. He will probably get out Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning and it looks like we will be back late Thursday or Friday sometime. I can't wait. This surgery has been such a success and full of positive news." Great news!! Prayers are working right before our eyes! Keep them coming!!

As for all of us here at school....we only have 25 more school days left!!! This week is the dreaded TAKS test. We have tests today through Friday. YUCK!! This weekend my UIL spelling team goes with all the other qualifiers to the UIL Regional meet in Abilene. So, Caden will be staying with my mom & dad while all the kids and other team coaches are in Abilene until Saturday.

Oh yes!! Thursday was the District track meet. See, in TX, you have to place in the top 3 in an event at district, then you get to go to Regionals. There you compete against all the other top 3 finishers from all the districts in your Region. We have 8 districts in our Region. So that's 24 competitors in each event. IF you place in the top 2 at the Regional meet, then you get to go to the STATE TRACK MEET in Austin!!! Last year, the Lady Hawks had their mile relay, 1 hurdler, 1 girl in the 400 m. dash and the 100 m. dash. Awesome, huh?? Well, this year we have girls going to Regionals in 13 out of 17 events, and 2 girls in some of those events!!!! WE have boys going to Regionals in 12 out of 17 events, and 2 boys in some of those events!!! Just AWESOME!!! The Regional Track meet is April 28-29 in Abilene. Then we will see if we have some girls and guys going to the State Meet!!!

I guess that is about all for today. I will get some pictures on here as soon as I can! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! It is supposed to be 101 here today!! I am sure glad we are all inside and not out in that heat!!! Have a great week!

Hugs & Love,
Vicki, Jeremy, & Mr. Cool in my Nemo Shades!

---

Thursday, April 13, 2006 11:41 AM CDT

Happy Thursday!! Well, this is actually our Friday because we don't have school tomorrow for Good Friday.

Alexa still needs lots of prayers! She is about the same as the last few days. She can move her arms and thumbs. They have brought her out of the sleep-mode and she can answer questions by nodding or shaking her head. They are mainly concentrating on her respiratory troubles. They are trying to wean her off the respirator. They are also trying to eliminate all the fluids in her body that are causing her to be swollen, so they are only allowing her ice chips every hour....nothing else. Please pray for her thirst to be quenched because she is VERY thirsty! She is still in ICU. There are several fund-raisers going on here at school for her family. Please continue to lift her and her family up in prayer. I know they all appreciate it!

We are all doing well. Caden has had to have his AFOs adjusted 3 times now because we can not keep them on his feet. Being that he has almost no tone, he's VERY flexible, so unless they were on SUPER tight, to the point they turned his feet red, he could find a way out of them. Actually, you could just tug on them and they would come off, AFO, sock, shoe, and all!!! So, now it looks like they may be fixed! We will see!

We overslept this morning by an hour!!! I guess I was starting my weekend early! I guess I turned the alarm off and just happened to wake up at 6 am. On top of that, today is the district track meet in Sonora, so Jeremy had to leave with the bus at 6:40 am. He was in quite the hurry! I made it by by first class......THANK GOODNESS I don't have a class first period!

Caden and I will be going to the track meet after lunch. It should be a beautiful day. It's supposed to be 90 today. Yep it's warming up FAST in Texas!

I guess that is about it for today! I hope you all have a wonderful Happy Easter and weekend! I hope all they little ones out there get to hunt LOTS of Easter eggs!!! We are going to run Caden around the yard at my mom and dad's house Sunday and grab up eggs!!

Hugs & Love,
Vicki, Jeremy, & The Houdini

---

Saturday, April 8, 2006

Monday~~
Update on Alexa: Her surgery took 10 hours, and they did find that her spine was intact!!! Thank God!! She is able to move her hands and arms and is getting some feeling in her abdomen area. She did have a lung collapse, but supposedly this was a good thing because they were able to clean all the water out of the lung. She has developed pneumonia from the water in her lungs. She is in a drug-induced coma for 3 days to keep her still and let her rest. One person has told me there was no break, only a bruise of her spine and with lots of therapy, she should be able to walk again!!! PRAISE!! PRAISE!!! Keep praying!!!

We are all doing well. Jeremy is sick. He has had terrible allergies and sinus since the horrible day last week they had to be in Big Lake for the JH district track meet. So, he stayed home from school today to get better!

Caden and I went to my aunt's 60th birthday surprise party Saturday. We got to see a lot of our family. It was very nice!!

Caden is doing great! I cut his hair Saturday before the party. He's just so handsome with a new haircut! He's being as silly as ever!

Last night's Extreme Homemakeover was so awesome! They rebuilt the family's house and built a therapy room for the little girl. It was EXACTLY what I'd love for Caden to have! When they were showing it, there was a "Creepster Crawler" in the corner. Caden has one of these and he has began to scoot all over the place in it! They had a bubble tube, a ball pit with lights under the balls, there were fiber optics, and all kinds of things with different textures. There was even a big swing in the middle of the room!!! It was SO AWESOME!!! One day we hope to built Caden a room just like that one!

I hope you all had a great Monday! Only 30 school days left!!! YIPEEE!!!

Hugs & Love,
Vicki, Jeremy, & Handsome



Saturday~~
From what I have heard today, the doctors got in for Alexa's surgery and it was not as bad as what they expected! Her spine was not severed, but there was a break in her C4 or C5 (I believe). As of today, PRAISE.......she could move her arms and was pulling against the doctors! Keep praying!!!

Vicki



Friday~~URGENT PRAYER REQUEST:
Please pray for Alexa Nichols and her family. Alexa is a 17 yr. old Junior here at the high school and was our mascot for football season. She hit her head diving into a swimming pool yesterday evening. At this time she is paralyzed from the neck down, but the doctors don't know what feeling may come back. Alexa will undergo surgery at
1:30 pm today
to help stabilize her spine. The surgery will take 9 hours. There are concerns that there could be permanent paralysis from the accident. Please pray for God to do a miracle at 1:30 PM TODAY, FRIDAY. Pray that God will work everything together for good. Please set an alarm, cell phone, or beeper to remind you to lift up Alexa, her family, and the doctors as they begin the surgery at 1:30 pm today.

Thanks everyone!
Hugs & Love,
Vicki



Thursday~~



The week is almost over!!! I had a workshop to go to yesterday, and it didn't start until 9 am, so I got to sleep an hour later than usual, and it was SOOO nice! I finally got my hour back that we lost last weekend!

Caden's nutritionist came to see him at the house Monday afternoon. Remember she (we) was VERY worried because he hadn't grown in height in the last 6 months. She was even talking about us seeing an endocrinologist about it. Well, she measured him and........drum roll......HE GREW AN INCH!!!! Yep, 1 whole inch in the last month!! Now he's 32 3/4 inches! His weight was the same, 23 lbs., but he used his calories to grow in height this time!!! We were all VERY relieved and excited!! It was a good visit!

We get out early today for the junior high district track meet. Poor kids and workers!! The winds here are supposed to be 25-35 mph with gusts up to 45 mph!! NOT a good day for a track meet, and in Big Lake of all places! It will be terrible there! Jeremy has to go work since he's a coach. Caden and I are not going to make it to this one!

My mom is coming to see us today and she's going to help me get laundry done!! Thank goodness! Our extra bedroom looks like a tornado hit it with all the clean clothes that haven't been folded or hung up, and the dirty ones that need to be washed!

Jeremy has a track meet in Ozona on Saturday, so Caden and I are going with my mom & dad to a surprise birthday party. It should be fun!

Please keep Brandon Clark, his wife Jenny, and their kids in your prayers. He finally got healthy enough to make it to MD Anderson after his stomach surgery to remove cancer, then while at MD Anderson they found a new spot on his kidney and another one on his esophagus. He is having surgery next Friday to remove his whole kidney. Please pray for success for the surgery, speedy recovery, wisdom for the doctors, and strength for everyone.

I hope you all have a great Friday and weekend!

Hugs & love,
Vicki, Jeremy, and Mr. Long Tall Texan

---

Monday, April 3, 2006 1:05 PM CDT

Yep, some of you may have guessed by my absence that it was the end of the 5th six-weeks here at school. So, I was wrapped up in grading papers and getting make-up work from kids who have missed school. I don't know if this is the longest I have ever gone without updating, but it feels like it!!!

Can you all believe we only have 6 more weeks of school??? I can't!! It has flown by so quickly. We actually have..........35 more school days until summer!!! I am as excited as the students!

Caden has been doing really well. He is wearing his AFOs almost all day now, and is used to them enough that they don't seem to affect him anymore. He is moving his legs and kicking them like he used to. He will stand now with us holding him up, and he's doing well with them on in PT. Jeremy and I will be visiting some of the PPCD class rooms in San Angelo soon to see where would be the best place for the Little Man. He is STILL playing peek-a-boo every chance he can! I am anxious for the nutritionist to see him this week. I think he's gained even more weight and I would like to know if he's grown any taller.

Jeremy is helping with track now. My mom kept Caden Saturday so I could go to the track meet in Early because it was a little damp outside for Caden to go too. Jeremy and I went back to Mom & Dad's house after the meet and watched the basketball games Sat. night. I was sad for George Mason. I guess we will have to watch the BIG game tonight! Jeremy and I planted a new Red Bud tree and a new rose bush yesterday. The yard is starting to look more and more green!

~*~Thanks Mom for keeping Caden!!~*~

I can't believe I don't have more to update than that since it's been 2 weeks. I guess it's been pretty slow around here. If I think of more, I'll be sure to let you all know!

Please continue to keep Corey & his baby sister Emma in your prayers. Corey has not been back to himself since his ER trip, and Emma has a new infection.

Hugs & Love,
Vicki, Jeremy, & Mr. Peek-A-Boo

---

Monday, March 20, 2006 2:54 PM CST

It is with a saddened heart that I ask for prayers for another mito family. Skye Nicole Anastasia Bove passed away peacefully in her mother's arms Saturday morning. Skye had a really bad month in January, but seemed to be doing a little better last month. She was just over 2 years old. Please say a prayer for her mother and sisters in this time of need.

Corey's sister, EMMA , needs more prayers. Corey has mito, and they think his new baby sister has it also. She was throwing up all night, hasn't been gaining any weight, and is being put in the hospital for lots of tests. Man, we know about those days! Please pray for Emma and the rest of the family as they are separated and search for help and answers.

On a lighter note......Our first day back at school has seemed to drag on forever!!! That getting up at 5:15 am was NOT missed all last week! But, we only have 45 more school days left! I may be worse than the kiddos! We are just getting into Romeo & Juliet in class, and the kids are having a good time with it.

Caden has been doing really well. He still has the persistant congestion, but I have resided to the fact that it's just part of our lives! His last 2 top teeth are coming in, and I suspect his last 2 bottom teeth will soon follow. They don't seem to have bothered him yet, KNOCK ON WOOD! He continues to play peek-a-boo anywhere he can, and whenever he can!! He even starts playing it before we know what he's doing! We did get his AFOs fixed on Friday. They cut a little off the top of the back of them and put some foam stuff along the edge to cushion them. They are WAY better now. He used to cry as soon as we put them on him, and since they were fixed, he hasn't even made a face. He is up to wearing them 3 hours a day. He still doesn't want to straighten out his legs and bear weight on them with the AFOs on, but I suppose that will take some getting used to for him. They are even pretty cute......blue background with truck, race cars, and airplanes on them! We just happened to have some tennis shoes stowed away in the closet for the future that were a size 6, and they seem to fit just right with the AFOs on.

I guess that is about it for today. I hope you all had a great weekend, and had a good (Monday's can't be great, can they?) Monday! Thanks for visiting to check on Caden, and for signing the guestbook. We love to hear from everyone who visits, plus the supportive messages are priceless to all of us.

Hugs & Love,
Vicki, Jeremy, & Mr. Peek-A-Boo

---

Thursday, March 16, 2006 3:43 PM CST

Well, Spring Break is almost over! We haven't done anything special this week. Jeremy and I got some yard work and house work done when Caden was napping yesterday. Tuesday we went to Abilene to meet my family for "March Birthday Lunch." Monday, the sports caster from KLST came to the hosue to do a story on the famous Lady Hawk basketball coach and his son Caden. I totally forgot to get on here and post it so you could all know it was going to be on the news last night. It was really tastefully done and turned out to be a great story. They included some footage of Jeremy coaching the girls, then some footage of each of us talking about Caden, and then some footage they took of us with Caden on Monday. We recorded it, so if I had a brainiac to tell me how to get the footage on this site, I'd put it on here!

Caden got his AFOs yesterday, and he HATES them! He kept wanting to bend his legs with them on, but when he did, he'd cry, so we knew it was hurting him. Well, we didn't know how much it was hurting him! He had to keep them on for an hour last night, so when he tried to bend his legs, we wouldn't let him, but the few times he did get them bent made bruises on the back of his thighs. I don't know what they are going to do to fix the AFOs, because obviously his little brain isn't telling him that it hurts him when he bends his legs with them on, so they will have to do something to stop the AFOs from pinching his legs. We will see this afternoon.

Besides that, we are just watching MORE basketball! It's March Madness, BABY!!! I hope you all had a great week!

Continued prayers are needed for Brandon Clark and his family.

Thanks for everything! We love you all!

Hugs & Love,
Vicki, "Super Coach", & "The TV Superstar"

---

Friday, March 10, 2006 12:34 AM CST

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMAW!!!!



Today is my mother's birthday!!! That makes her.......well......OLD!!! Ha, Ha, Mom!!!

SPRING BREAK officially begins at 3:35 this afternoon!!! No school for a whole week! I don't know who is more excited, the teachers or the kids!!! We don't have any big plans for the week except cleaning house. Sounds fun, huh?? We will go to Abilene one day to meet the rest of my family to celebrate all the March birthdays. Besides mom's birthday, my birthday is March 24, and Jeremy's is March 26. We usually get together one day in the month to celebrate all three birthdays.

The nutritionist saw Caden yesterday and he weighed 23 lb. 1 oz. Not as much weight gain as in January, but February wasn't a very healthy month for us, so we'll take what we can get! She is pretty concerned with his height though. He's 31 3/4 in tall, but he hasn't grown any taller in the past 6 months since she's been seeing him. We have to find out if this is a result of the mito. Anyone who knows, email me or leave it in the guestbook! I figure it is......everything else is! Also, our PT says that him not using his legs much and not being upright a lot makes him not grow as fast. Who knows! We'll find out!

Besides that, Caden is doing very well. He was really cranky this morning during his meds, but he got over it! I would be too if someone was poking all that junk down me!!! We are hearing the occasional "Ma" and "Da" from him. I hope he is using those words on purpose to call us by our names!

Please say a prayer for Corey and his family. Corey has mito, and his mom and dad just found out their new baby, Emma (Corey's little sister), has Complex I (mito) also. Very sad news!

Also say a prayer for Brandon Clark, he is a 32 year old father of 3 and a coach in San Angelo who I coached with in the past and went to college with. He had surgery last month to remove most of his stomach because of stomach cancer, and is now fighting infections that are keepinghim from making the trip to MD Anderson for further treatments. Their daughter was really sick earlier this year, so he and his wife (also a teacher) are not being paid for the days they are missing from school right now. Their whole family needs lots of prayers right now! Many people are having benefits for his family, so try to make it to one if you live in San Angelo. I will post them when I find out the dates.

You see, in TX, we teachers have a certain amout of days we can miss each school year and still be paid for them. When you run out of days, you don't get paid if you have to miss. I can't believe SAISD isn't being more understanding of their situation and aren't doing something to help them out!


I hope you all have a great weekend and week!!! Thanks to everyone for their support and love! We wouldn't make it without you all!

Hugs & Love,
Vicki, Jeremy, and "Shorty"

---

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 2:55 PM CST

THE LADY HAWKS ARE #2 IN THE STATE OF TEXAS!!!



Thank you Lady Hawks for a most memorable season! You are all awesome!

We are all sooooo VERY proud of the Lady Hawk basketball team and coaches! Saturday's loss was not an easy thing to take, but Argyle was better than us. Our girls never quit playing or fighting though! They left everything out on that court! I know people around here have heard about how AWESOME our crowd was, but the rest of you can not imagine how many people we had there supporting the team! It has been called a "sea of green" that was in those bleachers! Argyle even commented on it being "intimidating"!! It was amazing! We took up more of the seats than any other crowd from 1A to 5A! AND the student section was so COOL!!! They stood and cheered the entire game, no matter what! This past weekend was so much fun to be a part of. It is something some coaches (& coaches wives) never get to experience in their career. It was awesome! There isn't any other word for it!

Thanks so much to everyone who came to Austin for the game or games, listened to them onthe radio, or just followed the team in the paper. Thanks for all the guestbook entries during the weekend!

If you'd like to see pictures of the team while they were in Austin, the Standard Times followed the team the whole time and put stories online. Go to: San Angelo Standard Times Then click on Jacgue's (one of our players) picture in the top left corner of the homepage. From there you can look through all the pictures and even change the date to see other pictures from other days.

I have lots of pictures too, but none as good as those on the website! I'll get some on here soon.

Now it's time for track season!

Of course Caden's rash showed up while we were in Austin, but he was such a good boy while we were there! Most of the spots are gone now. Jeremy stayed home with him (he can do that now that basketball is over) yesterday, just in case! Caden never seemed like any of the spots bothered him. He didn't eat very well one day, so I thought the ones in his mouth might have been bothering him, but he was back to normal the next day.

You all know we went in last week to be fitted for SMOs. Well, the orthodic lady thinks he needs AFOs instead, so that is what we are getting. They should be ready next week.

ONLY 3 more days until our Spring Break!! No school for a WHOLE WEEK!!! I can't wait! I need to clean house and have a little break, especially after last weekend! Then I believe we only have about 49 days of school left until summer!!! It is so beautiful here these days. It's been in the high 70's to low 80's ALREADY!!! We all went on a nice walk yesterday afternoon and it was really nice outside! Caden loves to go outside!

I am a little sickly today. My head is stuffed up and I would really like to just lay down and go to sleep! I will take some medicine when I get home and hopefully feel better tomorrow!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Have a great week!!!

Hugs & Love,
Vicki, Jeremy, & Mr. Spotty

---

Saturday, March 4, 2006 8:56 AM CST

THE LADY HAWKS ARE PLAYING FOR THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!

WALL 46 - KOUNTZE 39

We are soooo proud of the Lady Hawks!!! There have been other teams make it to the State Tournament, but no other team has won a game once they got here!!! These girls made HISTORY Thursday!

We are headed for the gym now for the State Championship game vs. Argyle at 10:00 am. If you would like to here the game via the internet, it will be webcast on www.kdkr.org

Caden just may have hand, foot, & mouth disease! He was exposed last Friday or Monday at daycare, and nothing has shown up on his hands or feet, but there are some red spots on his tongue and in his mouth. Not good, but he's been a real trooper the whole time. He had a little fever Thursday, but none since. PLUS, he's cutting 2 two year molars! Poor baby, but he's still in great spirits and is SUPER excited for Daddy!

If you'd like to read more about the Lady Hawks team, the Standard Times have been following them around everywhere while they were in Austin. You can look up the website for the San Angelo Standard Times and see some great pictures!

Have a great weekend! Thank you for all your support and love!!

Hugs & Love,
Vicki, #1 Coach - Jeremy, and #1 Lady Hawk fan - Caden

---

Sunday, February 26, 2006 8:35 PM CST

THE LADY HAWKS ARE GOING TO STATE!!!!
Way to go Lady Hawks!! We are SOOOOOOO proud of you all!!

Friday night's game was so intense!! Panhandle was definitely the 2nd best team at the Regional tournament, and we had the luck of drawing them first! They played the best pressure defense I have ever seen. Yes, I think it was even better than ours, but ours is still VERY good! The Lady Hawks won 29-27!

Saturday's game was a little easier to watch because after Tahoka scored the first 2 points, they never lead again! We had at elast a 10 point lead most of the game, and sometimes it was as much as 15-16 points! It was such a fun weekend......but just wait until next weekend!!! AUSTIN, here we come!!!

We drew Kountze for our first game. They are from East TX, and have a girl that has signed to play college basketball at the University of Texas! Yep, she's good! BUT, our girls can certainly beat this team! These Lady Hawks are playing such GREAT basketball right now, and I don't think those East TX teams have seen defense like we play. The other 2 teams are Argyle vs. Poth. If we win Thursday, then we will catch the winner of that game on Saturday. (probably Argyle) Their game is at 9:00 am Thursday morning, and our game is at 10:30 am Thursday morning. I think we will use one of our snow days and get out of school Thursday, because EVERYONE will want to go to the game!

So, that is what we did all weekend! Caden is great and healthy finally! He enjoyed all the games, and gets really excited when Jeremy and I are so excited!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and you all have a great week!

Hugs & Love,
Vicki, Jeremy, and the Lady Hawk's #1 fan.....Caden

---

Wednesday, February 22, 2006 12:07 AM CST

Wow you guys! What a weekend we had! It all started Friday night when Caden was NOT himself at the basketball game. He just sat there and didn't move a muscle, which is UNHEARD OF for him with his choreoathetosis. He didn't babble or make any sounds either. We were all pretty worried, but he livened up a little on the way home and I was able to get him to laugh a little. When we got home and I was getting him ready for bed, he played with me some on his changing table, so I felt a lot better. Well, right after his bedtime bottle, he threw up everywhere...and that's the story of our whole weekend! He obviously caught the stomach bug somewhere and was sick all day Sat. and could only keep down Pedialyte. By Sunday, he could keep down Pedialyte and bland, starchy foods, but still no formula, so my mom came back to our house to keep him for Monday. THANK GOD my mom came! Remember the TAKS test that we had Tuesday, well, I woke up about 3 am Monday morning throwing up and that is the story for the rest of my Monday! There was NO way I could go to school, so I had to get a sub.......YES, the day before the TAKS test! Monday afternoon, when I was finally feeling a little bit human, I went to the clinic and told them they had to give me something because I had to go to school the next day. Thank goodness I didn't throw up again after about noon Monday, and I was feeling A LOT better by that afternoon. I was still tired, but goo for school by yesterday. (TAKS day!) Then we got to school yesterday morning and JEREMY threw up!!! I think his was something else, like maybe nerves for the basketball game though because he didn't throw up again after that. CRAZY, huh???

TAKS is DONE!!!!!! At least it is for me and the other English teachers. The kids still have mathmatics, science, and history to take in April; but WE ARE DONE!!!

Were you all wondering about the basketball game Friday??? YES, the Lady Hawks WON again!!! They had a nail bitter for 3.5 quarters, but ended up beating a good Ballinger team by 7 points! So, that meant we would play the winner of the Big Lake (3rd place in our district) vs. Stamford game that was also Tuesday night. Stamford beat Big Lake by 2 points, so that set up last night's game in Sweetwater between the Lady Hawks and Stamford. YES, the Lady Hawks WON again, this time by 25 POINTS!!! They played so well!! Now they are off to Midland this Friday & Saturday for the REGIONAL tournament!!! They will play Panhandle at 6:00 pm Friday night at the Chaps Center in Midland. IF they win, then they will play the winner of Jim Ned vs. Tahoka (8:00 pm Friday night @ Chaps Center) on Saturday afternoon! What a great weekend that would be!!! It will be great no matter what!

We are all soooooo proud of the Lady Hawks! They got the season off to a rocky start with some tough games, but they have brought everything together and are competing at a super level right now. No matter what happens in the next game(s), they have surpassed anyone's expectations and have had an AWESOME season!

~*~We love you Lady Hawks! You are AWESOME!! Keep on 'rollin!!!~*~

The Hawks play their first play-off game against Jim Ned in Stanton at 4:00 pm Friday afternoon. The boy's coach did a good job of getting this game set at that time and place so all our fans can make it to the boy's game, then still make it to the girl's game in Midland at 6:00. It works well for Jim Ned's fans too since their girls are playing at 8:00.

~*~GOOD LUCK HAWKS!! Play Hard & Beat Jim Ned!!~*~

SINCE we have basketball games so far away at 4:00 & 6:00 on Friday, WE GET OUT OF SCHOOL AT 12:45 ON FRIDAY!!!! That may be the best part of it all!!! Just joking! It is a nice surprise though!

Jeremy is SUPER busy getting ready for the games this weekend. I can relax a little at school since the TAKS test is behind my classes.

Here are some of the pictures from last nights game and some of Caden in his Eli's Angels t-shirt. If you notice in some of the pics of Caden he has a huge scratch across his face. Well, it's gone now, (the scratch & the hang-nail)but he had a MONSTER of a hang-nail at daycare one day and he mangled his cheek! It looked pretty bad for about a day & a half!















Caden wasn't able to get fitted for his SMOs last week because of the eye infections, so we will set that up for next week hopefully!

I guess that is about it for this update. Everyone have a great week!

Love & Hugs,
Vicki, Jeremy, & Caden

---

Tuesday, February 14, 2006 10:29 AM CST

Wednesday~~
Well, leave it to me! No update in a week and a half, then 2 updates in 2 days. AND leave it to me to speak too soon about being healthy and well......

I went to Caden's Valentine's party at daycare yesterday afternoon and he had a little gunk in his left eye. Well, I just cleaned it out and went about the party......not thinking too much about it again. Then as the afternoon went on, there was more gunk, then more gunk. Finally in the back of my mind was EYE INFECTION. So, by last night, his eye was running and producing gunk every few minutes, so I called my mom to see if she could come keep Caden today because he wouldn't be able to go to daycare, and I REALLY needed to be at school so we could work on TAKS stuff, and Jeremy REALLY needed to be at school to take care of basketball play-off stuff. So, as of now, Caden has eye drops for an eye infection, Augmentin (strong antibiotic) for 2 ear infections, and ear drops for any pain in his ears!!! That kid is AMAZING.......besides a red eye, you would have NEVER known anything was wrong with him! His eye is already better because it hasn't produced any gunk today, although BOTH of them were matted shut this morning. Now, you talk about a rodeo at our house.....
These eye drops could sting, so we have to put them in the fridge to make them cold because the pharmacist said anything cold numbs the eyeball when it hits it, AND he has to lay still for 5 minutes after you oput the ear drops in his ears! Okay, can you imagine how that is all going to play out????? NOT FUN!!!

Ballinger won last night, so we play them Friday night in Bronte at 7:30 pm. Our boys lost, so I don't know if they have to have a play-off game with Big Lake or if they will flip for ceeding. If you are coming to the girl's game Friday, COME EARLY & YELL LOUD!!! That gym is nice, but it's not very big. We have a few players out of school today because they are sick, so pray that they are well and back to themselves by Friday!!

~*~Good Luck Lady Hawks & Hawks!!~*~

Love & Hugs,
Vicki, Jeremy, & Mr. Pink Eye



Tuesday~~
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!


I know you all probably thought we had all fallen off the face of the earth, but we are still here! If any of you can guess.......last week was the last week of the 4th 6-weeks for us at school. If you are a teacher, or know one, that should be enough explaination as to were I have been!!! Next Tuesday is also the day my 9th graders take the reading TAKS test, so we have been hitting the TAKS preparation pretty hard the last 2 weeks. It has been crazy! Between all this, and basketball play-offs starting.........it seems like every minute is taken up with something to do or somewhere to go!

The LADY HAWKS won district and will have their Area play-off game this Friday. No time has been set yet. We will play the winner of the Ballinger and Stanton game, which is tonight at the Junell Center at ASU. IF we play Ballinger, we will play in Bronte. IF we play Stanton, we will play here at the Junell Center. Guess where we get to spend Valentine's Day??? Yep, scouting the game tonight! That's okay, there really is no place I would rather be! I was so mad because we didn't have a game to go watch last night!

~*~Go Lady Hawks!! Play with confidence! You are the BEST!! We are so proud of you!!~*~

The HAWKS have their last district game tonight against Mason. If they win, they win district. Mason has to beat us to have a chance at the play-offs, so it should be a good game. If Mason does win, it puts the HAWKS in a tie for 1st with Big Lake.

~*~Good luck HAWKS!! BEAT MASON!!~*~

Wow, a lot has happened since I have updated. Caden is still great! If you read the guestbook where my mom wrote, you read about Caden's game of peek-a-boo. Well, it was so cute!!! We (my mom, dad, & me) were on our way home from a basketball game and Caden kept putting his head down in his lap as far as his carseat would let him, then he would throw it up and just die laughing. Well, my mom started saying, "Wheerrrrre'sss Caden??" when his head was down and he'd throw it up and laugh! We played this game for over an hour, all the way home! It was too cute!

Night before last he decided to play a game with Jeremy and I. He was in his swing and he would lean over the side and we would tell him he had to get up, and he would pick his head and shoulders up and sit back in his swing, then we would cheer and he would laugh! He did this over and over as long as we were yelling and cheering for him! Needless to say, it was a great ab workout for him!

I went to a workshop Friday morning for parents of kids with disabilities and the transitions they have to make from ages 1-21. Most of it dealt with them getting out of high school and maybe going to work somewhere, but I did get to visit with the lady in charge of the PPCD (Preschool Programs for Children with Disabilities) classes in San Angelo. It was very good because that is the decision Jermey and I have to make inthe next 8 months as Caden gets closer to age 3. ECI only serves children from birth to 3, so we will have to decide if we take him to a PPCD class or just leave him in daycare all day. He won't be able to get all the therapies at Mosaic that he's getting now through ECI. If he goes to Mosaic all day, we will have to tak ehim to all his therapies after school each day. If he's in a PPCd class, he can continue to get therapies while at school. There are a lot of other things to figure into the decision, but it's one Jeremy and I will make with Caden's best interests at heart. One teacher of a PPCD class has already "claimed" Caden as her own after she saw him on the WTRC telethon!! She must be really serious because she had our old speech therapist call and talk to me about putting him in her class!

We are going out to dinner and then hitting some basketball games tonight. Jeremy sent me flowers here at school, and I got him some new cologne. Caden got some suckers and a balloon from someone here at school, but I don't know who!! It was really sweet! We still have to get Caden something, but it's just hard! I guess a soft teddy bear can never be wrong, huh?? I hope you all get to spend the day with the one(s) you love! Happy Valentine's Day!!

Please keep Ann and Chad, Eli's parents, in your prayers as tomorrow is Eli's birthday. I know this week is even harder than the other weeks have been. Please also keep John Guy, our friend Houston's dad, in your prayers. His cancer showed back up and he's going through treatments. Also keep our friend Brandon "Happy" Clark in your prayers as he has surgery Thursday to remove his newly diagnosed stomach cancer. I know, it's all terrible news, but your prayers are so important to all these people!

I am sure there is more I need to tell you all, but I am drawing a blank mind right now. If I think of it all, I will get back on here! I have some great pictures on the digital camera and I will get them on here ASAP!

Have a great day and week!
Hugs & Love,
Vicki, Jeremy, & Mr. Peek-A-Boo

---

Friday, February 3, 2006

Friday~~

TGIF!!!

The nutritionist saw Caden yesterday and......drum roll................HE GAINED A WHOLE POUND IN THE LAST MONTH!!!!! Yeah, do a happy dance!!! He also grew 1/4 an inch longer too! We were very excited to hear this news! He's getting to be a Toad instead of a frog!

We are having a pot luck lunch here at school today, so I was up until midnight making spaghetti and dessert, so I am REALLY dragging this morning. Yes, even more than usual! Plus, we have to leave at 6 am in the mornign for Abilene, so "no rest for the weary!!"

Caden was really happy this morning before school. It's a lot more fun when he wakes up in a good mood! We have a little game we have played with him every morning before school. When we go wake him up, we let him stretch and get his eyes open, then we start asking him if he's "ready for the light" before we turn it on. We build it up and tell him it's going to be bright and when we turn it on, we make a loud crashing noise. This little game usually makes him laugh, but the last 2 weeks, if he doesn't want the light on, when I ask him if he's ready, he starts crying!!! So, I knew it would be a good morning when he laughed for us this morning! Isn't that exciting that he knows that the light is coming and can voice his opinion when he doesn't want it on!!!

I hope you all have a GREAT weekend!!!

Love & Hugs,
Vicki, Jeremy, & The Toad


Thursday~~
Okay..........sorry it took me so long to get to this update! It seems like I am swamped lately! I hope everyone considers no news, good news!

Last Thursday, we had Caden's 6 month review with ECI (Early Childhood Intervention). It went pretty well! WE talked about progress and goals for him, but then we had to have the dreaded "what happens when he turns three?" discussion. See, ECI only takes kids from birth to 3 years old. This is a BIG deal because Caden gets his speech therapy, vision therapy, and his nutritionist through ECI. When he turns 3, if we don't put him in the school system in a special class, then all those therapies will have to come from West TX Rehab, in which we will have to find time in the afternoons to take him there. Not that it would be a problem, but I barely have any time to get "other things" done as it is! Monday afternoon is the only day I can leave school and run any errands while Caden is still at daycare. Anyways, so we have 9 months to visit different classes and make the decision what we are going to do. He can stay at Mosaic until he's 5, or he can go to school for 1/2 a day and daycare 1/2 a day, or just school all day. It's a BIG decision, so pray we make the right one!

As most of you know, we thought Miss Magan, Caden's 1-on-1 caregiver at Mosaic, was moving to Midland. Well, her boyfriend got a promotion at his job here, so they are staying, but since she had already resigned at Mosaic, Tuesday was her last day. Magan did a WONDERFUL job caring for Caden, and we will be forever grateful to her for all she did for the Little Man. She loved him as much as she could have loved a child of her own. She will forever hold a special place in our hearts, as well as Caden's. We were very sad to see Miss Magan leave, but since she is still going to be in town, maybe she can babysit for us sometime.

~*~Thank you for everything, Magan!! We will miss you very much!! Please come see us sometime!!~*~

Not to take away from Miss Magan, but you all would probably like to know who will have Caden during the day now. Magan's replacement is Miss Veronica. We are very pleased with Mosaic's choice for Caden's new caregiver! Miss Veronica had Caden when he was in the nursery and she has worked with many of this therapists and knows a lot about him. This was such a good choice of ladies because Veronica already "knows" Caden and Caden has always loved her. He lights up when she talks to him! She is very caring and loves Caden already!!! We are very glad she is back at Mosaic and will be taking good care of Caden!

The Wall Lady Hawks earned Jeremy his 100th WIN Friday night when they defeated Sonora!!! This is a big milestone in coaching, and there aren't a lot of coaches out there that have accomplished it in only 3.5 years as a head coach! We were very excited and I took cake to the game and we all celebrated in the locker room after the game!!

The Lady Hawks also defeated Junction Tuesday night, and they play Ozona tomorrow night. After tomorrow, we only have 1 more district game, and it's against Reagan Co.!! That is always a BIG game! After Reagan Co., it's PLAY_OFF time!!! Yeah!

~*~Go Lady Hawks!! Win District, Regionals, & State!!!~*~

The Hawks are also undefeated in district also!! They have a week of district left after the girls finish.

~*~Way to go Hawks!! Keep it up!!~*~

This Saturday I have to spend most of the day in Abilene at a UIL meet. I coach the Spelling and Ready Writing teams. This is just an invitational meet, which is like practice before district. Our district meet is March 27. After my kids compete Saturday, I am meeting Mom, Dad, Kim, Bryan, and Rhonda for lunch to celebrate Kim & Rhonda's birthdays that were a couple of weeks ago. Jeremy will be at home with Caden all day!! They will have a blast, I just know!!

We had district realignment today. The UIL does this every 2 years and they change the districts and regions. Some schools stay 2A, some go up to 3A, 4A, or 5A, and some can go down to 1A; depending on how many kids they have in school. Our district really changed!!! This is the new district:

Wall
Jim Ned
Ballinger
Grape Creek
Coleman
Early
Bangs
San Saba

The only school that is from our old district (this year's) is Grape Creek. All the other schools are from a different district. It will be interesting!!!

I think that is about it! I guess I should go get the Little Man and take him to PT at 4:30. I hope you all have a GREAT FRIDAY!!! and a GREAT WEEKEND!!!

Love & Hugs,
Vicki, Jeremy, & the Little Man

---

Wednesday, February 1, 2006 3:35 PM CST

I have to run take Caden to physical therapy, so I can't type much, but I will update later tonight or tomorrow morning. We are all doing really well!!! I have lots to tell about, so check back!! Sorry I have to run!

Love & Hugs,
Vicki, Jeremy, & Caden

---

Tuesday, January 24, 2006 9:53 AM CST

Wednesday~~

Please keep Caden's little friends, Skye & Emily, in your prayers. Skye is fighting to hold on, but isn't expected to make it much longer and Emily has been in the hospital for 3 weeks now. All their families need prayers right now! Thanks!

The Lady Hawks played AWESOME last night!! They won by 16 points! The Hawks also won by 15-16 points also! I only saw half of the boy's game because my mom and dad were here and Mom kept Caden at the house so we didn't have to get him out in the cold, and my dad went with me to the game. Since they had to drive home last night, he and I came home at halftime. Of course they still didn't leave until after 10:00!!!

~*~Thanks Mom and Dad for coming and keeping Caden!!~*~

Mr. Caden did not sleep well at all last night! Okay, that's an understatement......I don't know if he slept at ALL last night, which meant that I didn't sleep either! He woke up coughing, which made him cry, so Jeremy brought him in our room. Well, then Jeremy started coughing so he went to the couch so he wouldn't keep us awake. Well, he should have stayed because Caden was awake anyways! Needless to say, we are all in need of a NAP!! He was VERY happy all night though! He was rolling around, and hitting us in the face, and having the grandest time......from 3 am to 6 am!!! I bet he's fast asleep at daycare by now! Little stinker!

He's sounding much better and his cough is starting to go away, so that is all good!

Have a great HUMP DAY!!
Love & Hugs,
Vicki, Jeremy, & the Night Owl


Tuesday~~

Well, Caden's TV debut went very well!!! As far as I can tell from some emails, the sound must have been messed up because some people have commented on not being able to hear part of it. Caden was very well-behaved and laughed before and after the camera was on him, but not while we were being interviewed..........figures, huh??!!! It was a BIG night for West TX Rehab. Without the totals from the auction, they raised over $1.2 million dollars!!! AWESOME!!

~*~Thank you to everyone who donated to the WTRC telethon!! Your donations make it possible for so many people and kids to get services, even when they can't afford to pay for them!!!~*~

We stayed at the telethon for a few hours and listened to the other stories and music, and then headed home. It was a successful night for everyone! Plus, none of us tripped in front of the cameras!!!

About 3 am Sunday morning, Caden woke up coughing and had fever, so we took him into see the doctor on-call later Sunday afternoon. Dr. Ryder heard a wheezing in his chest, so she started him on breathing treatments and antibiotics for an ear infection. He doesn't seem to be bothered by his ear, and is doing very well with the breathing treatments. This is new to all of us! We have a loaner nebulizer because the doctor's office has handed out all their new machines! That's how many kiddos are sick with upper respitory illnesses. The oxygen company should be calling us to bring us Caden his new machine soon. The breathing treatments seem to really be helping break up all the congestion in his chest.

So, on the doctor's orders, we (Caden and I) stayed at home yesterday and I took him in for a follow-up visit with our real doctor. Caden has been his normal, silly self the whole time, thank goodness!! He went back to daycare today and they will do his breathing treatment at lunch time.

Jeremy and I watched Lorenzo's Oil Sunday morning. I can't decide if that was a very good movie to watch for parents in our situation, although it was very inspiring!! I cried the whole movie, but it was good, and I am sure that can be expected! I don't know what would be worse.....to have your child not be able to do the things he should be able to do, or for your child to have the ability to do all those things, and lose it.

There have been a few upsets in our district basketball games, so 2nd and 3rd place are still up-for-grabs if some teams get a few more wins!! So, even though we are 3 games ahead of the other teams, EVERY game we play is a BIG game!!! The girls and guys play Grape Creek tonight. Their girl's team has a strong player back from an injury that didn't play last time, and their boys played our boys to 2 points last time, so it should be a fun night of good basketball!!!

~*~Good Luch Lady Hawks & Hawks!!!
Beat Grape Creek!!~*~

If you go to sign the guestbook, Caringbridge has made some changes to it. It should make it easier for some of you readers that have dial-up internet to read and view the guestbook. I believe at the end of each day, the guestbook entries will be archived, so the guestbook will appear empty each day. There are links in the guestbook for you to click on to view the older messages along with the link to click on to leave a guestbook message. Don't panick!!! I promise all your sweet, encouraging words and messages are still there, and we can still go back and read or look at them!!! Like I said, it should make it easier for some of you to view and leave messages!! Thank you to everyone who signs the guestbook. Your supporting words are so comforting and helpful to us!!

I guess that is all for today! I hope you all have a wonderful week!! Stay healthy, and wash your hands a lot!!!

Love & Hugs,
Vicki, Jeremy, & the TV Superstar

---

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Thursday~~

Here is a list of all the TV stations that will be showing the WTRC Telethon. This list if from WTRC's website. They aren't all CBS stations. I hope you all are close enough to at least one of the stations to get the telethon! Don't forget......7:47 pm Saturday night!!!

Thanks for finding the list, Sharon!!

KTAB-TV - Abilene
KFDA-TV - Amarillo
KZTV-TV - Corpus Christi
KVTV-TV - Laredo
KWES-TV - Odessa/Midland
KLST-TV - San Angelo
KXAN-TV - Austin
KMAC-TV - Lubbock
KXXV-TV - Waco/Temple/Bryan
KSWO-TV – Wichita Falls/Lawton, OK

Today is like our Friday around here because we don't have school tomorrow!! Thank goodness for the stock show!

Caden still has that squeaky, goose-like honk of a cough, but only in the mornings. This morning he did cough up a little junk though, so maybe that helped.

If you've read the guestbook, you read that our Miss Magan will be leaving us in 2 weeks. She's going for a good reason or I'd be mad at her! We will truly miss her and how good she was to Caden. I know Mosaic will do a good job of finding someone new to care for Caden, but it will be hard to get used to someone else again. Everyone loves the Little Man though, so maybe it won't be too hard!

~*~We'll miss you Magan. Please take care and stay in touch!! Thank you for all you have done for us and the Little Man!~*~

I hope you all have a great weekend!!!

Vicki


Wednesday~~

Happy Hump Day!!! Well, actually it's like Thursday to us because we don't have school on Friday!! Yeahhhh!!! I hope everyone is having a great week!

Caden had a fun weekend with us and his Mimi & Pops. We didn't really do anything special, just hung out at the house and ate at the new Japanese steak house in town called Bonsai. It's really good and gives Ichiban (our other Japenese steak house, a real run for their money. The atmosphere is nicer and the restaurant is WAY nicer and cleaner! Mimi & Pops stayed and kept Caden Monday while we had school. They had a good day! Here are some pictures of Caden and his frog vibrator. Yes, you see it right...........he has it's foot in his mouth!!! He's even holding it, and that little thing is pretty heavy!








Mimi also reported that they let Caden lick a Wheat Thin cracker and he finally closed his mouth on it and bit the corner off of it. Needless to say, he was very surprised!! And in true Caden fashion, he spit every last chunk of it out!!! No texture for our boy.......NO WAY!!!

He was beginning to get a little cranky by the time I got home from school, but I think it was constipation. Don't you all love POOP stories. Anyways, we took care of it with a suppository and he was much happier later in the evening.

He was awakened by a funny little cough last night. It wasn't his normal congested sounding cough, it was a squeaky, high-pitched cough. So, he got to spend the rest of the night peacefully sleeping, snuggled up next to me! That's not such a bad thing, is it???

The Lady Hawks and Hawks came through in TRUE WALL FASHION with 2 big wins last night over Mason. Mason's girls are 2nd in district right now, and their boys are 3rd, so they had to prepare for BIG games last night! The Lady Hawks won by 6 points after a couple of last minute shots that Mason threw up and the guys won by about 12. It was another clean sweep in Wall Basketball, all the way down to the JV girls and boys! (Last Friday was another clean sweep over Big Lake!)

~*~Way to go Lady Hawks & Hawks!! Keep it up!!~*~

We are getting ready for our BIG weekend......the TELETHON!!! Don't forget to tune in Saturday night about 7:45 pm!!

On the horizon, we are looking forward to and starting to save money for the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF) conference in June. It is in Atlanta, GA this year and we may get to see Dr. Shoffner. He is heading it up this year. We wanted to go last year, but we had just received Caden's diagnosis when it was time for it, and we still had so much to process at that point. So, we definitely want to go this year. I know we will learn lots of new information and get to meet lots of other mito families.

Not much else to look forward to at this point, except a long weekend!!! I hope you al have a great week!

Love & Hugs,
Vicki, Jeremy, & "The Frog Eater"

---

Friday, January 13, 2006 2:42 PM CST

Saturday~~

The Lady Hawks won by 15 points last night and the Hawks won by 4 points in OVERTIME!!! It was a very stressful and exciting night of basketball!!!

Have a great Saturday & Sunday!!!



Friday~~
TGIF!!!!


I hope everyone has had a good week. We have at our house! Caden has been really happy and he laughs all the time......sometimes for what seems like no reason at all!

I rolled over this morning and the clock said 6:30......I get up at 5:00!!!!! YIKES!!! Thank goodness I don't have a first period, but Jeremy did! Good thing it doesn't take him long to get ready! I finally got Caden to daycare about 8:45 and when I drove up there was a fire truck sitting in the parking lot!!! Not exactly what you want to see when you get to daycare! I kept thinking, "Maybe they are going to show it off to the kids," but then I saw firefighters inside!!! I didn't know what to do.......do you go in, or stay outside? No one looked or sounded frantic, so I took Caden on inside. The cook had left a burner on and didn't know it was on and burned part of breakfast! Thank Goodness!!! You will all be glad to know that all the kids and workers were outside, out of harms way.......if there had been any harm!

Tonight is the BIG game!! Wall vs. Reagan Co. (Big Lake)!! I am sure the Lady Hawks will win, but it doesn't keep me from being a little nervous. Jeremy is A LOT nervous!! The gym will be packed! Our MASH (Movement Against Stupid Habits) organization is having a hamburger supper and silent auction before the game, so that will bring even more people in! They have some REALLY cool things for the silent auction!!

The boys game should be a good one too! Both boys teams are undefeated in district, so this could be for the title!

~*~Good Luck Lady Hawks & Hawks!! Beat Reagan Co.!!~*~

Jerry & Sharon decided not to come until tomorrow so they can stay Monday and babysit for us. You see; Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; as most of you know; but we have school because we get out Friday for our stock show. So Jerry & Sharon will be here to keep Caden while we go to school.

My mom and dad are still coming to the game. In fact, they have been at my house part of the day helping me clean up some things. All the Christmas decorations are almost put away........finally!! We will put them all away in the morning. It's taken me so long to get them all down this year!

The nutritionist saw Caden this week and he had actually GAINED a little weight!! I was so shocked since he was so sick the whole week before Christmas. He's just over 22 lbs. now. Good News!!!

We don't have anything big planned for the weekend, just company! I hope everyone has a really nice one!

Love & hugs,
Vicki, Jeremy, & Caden

---

Monday, January 9, 2006 11:35 AM CST

I hope you all had a great weekend! Ours was good. Caden and I stayed home from the basketball game in Ozona Friday night. We ran around a little after school, then just played at home that evening. Jeremy, Caden, and I spent most of Saturday at the junior high basketball tournament. Then we went to my mom and dad's house for the day on Sunday.

Dad's procedure went very smoothly Friday. The surgeon thinks he got all the spot that was precancerous, but Dad has to go back in 6 months for the surgeon to check. Dad didn't act like anything had been done on Sunday!

The Lady Hawks and Hawks won their games against Ozona Friday night. The girls won by like 50 points.........you see why we stayed home??? The guys won by 10 points I think. They travel to Junction tomorrow night. Ozona's girls beat Junction's girls, so I think we are staying home again!

~*~Good Luck Lady Hawks & Hawks!! Beat Junction!!~*~

Friday night will be a better game! We play Big Lake. It's always a pretty good game. Jeremy's dad and step-mom are coming to see us this weekend, so they will be here for it, and my parents are coming to watch the game too.

There is not a lot going on this week. Caden has been feeling well and doing great! I cut his hair Friday night.....I couldn't remember what we spent most of our tiem doing that night, and that was it! We thought we liked him with shaggy hair, but he looks WAY cuter with short hair!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Monday, and I hope you have a great week!!

Don't forget the West Texas Rehab Telethon!!! I don't know if it's nationally broadcast or not....probably not, but we get it all over TX, and our family in New Mexico can get it. Tune in if you can! 7:47 pm!!!

Love & Hugs,
Vicki, Jeremy, and Caden

---

Thursday, January 5, 2006

Thursday~~

"The eyes of Texas are upon you,
All the live long day.
The eyes of Texas are upon you,
You cannot get away.
Do not think you can escape them,
At night, or early in the morn'.
The eyes of Texas are upon you,
'Till Gabriel blows his horn!................."

How ‘bout them HORNS!!!!!!!!!

What an awesome game it was last night between USC and UT! I thought it was over when the Horns were 12 points behind, but don’t ever count Vince Young out!!! Jeremy, Caden, and I just stayed home and watched, but it was the most exciting football game I have ever watched! We have the greatest UT fanatics here in Wall..............the Specks! They have had a Longhorn with a rose in its mouth made out of Christmas lights covering the roof of their house since we found out UT would be in the Rose Bowl! It is soooooo cool! I know it was burning bright last night!

Here is Caden and I getting ready to watch the game...........I'm trying to put up his "Hook 'Em Horns" sign!!!




Mr. Batman last night......



I want to remind everyone of the West Texas Rehab Telethon this month. It is
Saturday, January 21 at 7:00 pm.
It is held at the Abilene Civic Center, and will be broadcast on CBS for sure, and maybe FOX.
Caden’s story and then Caden, Jeremy, and I will be on at 7:47 pm. DON’T MISS IT!!! If you have any money left over from Christmas, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE donate to the Rehab Center! It is amazing what a place like WTRC does for people and the money that’s donated helps provide services to people who can’t afford to pay for them. It is the most awesome place for kids like Caden to get physical, occupational, and speech therapy, not to mention what they do for hearing, prosthetics, and adults. Even if Jeremy and I lost our jobs today, we would find something else to do so we could stay in San Angelo because of the WTRC. It’s that important to Caden!!! And if we couldn’t stay here, Abilene would be out next choice of places to live because that is where the other WTRC is located! The Bellamy Brothers are going to be at the telethon and will be performing, plus many others. It is going to be so much fun! DON'T MISS IT!!! 7:47 pm!!!!

We are all dragging a little this morning! Besides the game that was on late, Caden woke up several times last night and I had to get up and put him back to sleep. I don’t know why; he just had a bad night. When I don’t get enough sleep, I get a headache, so that’s what I have this morning! Of course when he cried, it woke Jeremy up too, so he’s tired also, and I bet Mr. Batman is tired too!!!

The Hawks and Lady Hawks travel to Ozona tomorrow night for another district basketball game. The girls are 4-0, and the boys are 2-0. The boys had a real nail bitter on Tuesday night against Grape Creek! They came from behind and won the game by 2 points!! Most of the boys’ teams in our district are really good, so the Hawks have hard games almost every time. Some of the girls’ teams aren’t as good as others, so we have a few games that are easier than others. The boys will have another tough one tomorrow night!

~*~Good Luck Lady Hawks & Hawks!!! Beat the Lions!!!~*~

My dad has his surgery to remove the precancerous spot tomorrow at 1:00 pm, so if you have a chance, say a little prayer that everything goes smoothly. It should be able to be done laparoscopic, but they are prepping him for major surgery just in case something goes wrong. If all goes well, he will get to go home tomorrow afternoon late, but if they have to do more extensive surgery, he will be kept over night. He’s one of the BIGGEST UTT fans I know, so he was really excited last night!!!

I suppose that is it for this update! I finally have pictures from Ruidoso and Christmas. I hope you enjoy them!! Have a great day, and a wonderful weekend!

Love & Hugs,
Vicki, Jeremy, and Mr. Night Owl/Batman

Caden while we were shopping


Opening Presents.......

He has one of his boots on one foot, and one of his Nikes on the other foot!


Bottle holders from Aunt Rhonda




Checking out his new ball from Mamaw & Papaw


Sooooo Sweet.........


My mom & dad


My oldest sister, Kim and her husband Bryan.......he's such a clown!


Christmas Morning suit and hat......




Skiing~~~
The only snow you could see while driving up the mountain was at the ski area.........




"The Capitain" ski run was the best one


Jeremy & me


The Whole Gang........from left to right
Kim, Bryan, me, Jeremy & Caden, my mom


Mom, Kim, Jeremy, Caden, me, my dad


Bryan, my middle sister Rhonda, Dad, Mom, me, Jeremy, & Caden


Grumpy Caden on the mountain all bundled up........


Our Little Family


Jeremy trying to cheer Caden up


The deer outside the house we stayed in



Wednesday~~
Well, I am terribly sorry for keeping you all waiting so long for this update. I let time get away from me after we got home from our trip. We were pretty busy, even with no school!!

All my family, including us, made it to and from Ruidoso without a hitch........Praise God! We all had a really nice trip and a wonderful Christmas. Actually, to tell the truth, I didn't feel up to par while we were in the mountains. I think it was the elevation change. I never got used to it. The whole time we were there I felt a little dizzy, nauseous, and tired. I couldn't even climb the stairs where we were staying without being out of breath! Terrible huh?? I got really nauseous when we were going up to the ski area. My dad felt the same way while we were there. Besides that, Ruidoso was really nice! We skied one day. There were only 4 runs open, but when you are as out of shape as I am, and you haven't skied in 5 years.......that's enough to WEAR YOU OUT!!! Plus my sister and her husband were learning, so it was good for them, and it wasn't crowded at all.

This Christmas was a little weird. I don't know why, but it didn't seem like Christmas time, even when we were here at home and I was trying to finish my shopping. It could have been because it was like 70 degrees, even in Ruidoso! Maybe it's because I am getting older, but it didn't seem like Christmas had the excitement that it used to have! Don't get me wrong.......it was really nice!

Caden got lots of goodies for Christmas! He got lots fo clothes and shoes. Our Kids Shoes store was going out of business before Christmas, so I got him some Nikes for 60ff!! I got a couple of pairs for now, and some for the next year or two. My sister got him some Wranglers and REAL cowboy boots! Jeremy got him some Robeez boots that are lined in sherpa. They are SSOOOOO cute! Of course it's been too hot here for him to wear them yet! Actually I put them on him today because it was 50 this morning! I figured that may be as cold as it gets this winter! It's been in the 80's the last 2 days, 86 yesterday to be exact. That broke a record! We are expecting a cold front the next 2 days.....it's supposed to be in the 60's!!! HA HA!! Anyways, we made Caden a bear while we were there, and even stuffed him ourselves. My mom and dad got him a puppy that operated on a switch that Caden can hit and make the puppy walk and bark! Then they all went in on this thing that his Tumbleform chair can sit on and it spins around. If you get the Abilitations catalog, it was on the cover. It hasn't come in yet because it was their most popular item this Christmas! He'll love ti when it comes in! He also got some cute books and a baby Eeyore that plays peak-a-boo when he rattles a rattle. He loves everything he got!!

Jeremy and I had to come home a day earlier than the rest of the family for basketball practice. On our way home, Jeremy found out some sad news. One of the senior girls here at the high school had been in a bad car accident and was killed. She was by herself and lost control and rolled her car several times. She didn't play basketball, but did play softball and was in several organizations. She was a sweet and beautiful young lady. Please pray for the Martinez family as they start the New Year without their beautiful daughter Tiffani.

We had a game scheduled for the day after we got home, and Jeremy wasn't sure what to do after finding out this news. Since it didn't interfere with any of the services, they decided to keep the girls on as close a schedule as they could, and we played the game. I wasn't sure how it would turn out since we all knew that the girls took this very hard, but they played great and came back from a 10 point deficit to wint he game!!! We were all really proud of the girls!

Since then, we have had 2 more district games before school even started back! The Lady Hawks are now 4-0 in district, and they are playing GREAT!!!

Yesterday was a work day for all us teachers, and the kids came back today. Needless to say, no one was ready to be back! Although there is something good about a schedule. I wasn't ready for work again, but I was ready for a schedule!

Caden has been really healthy since we have been back from the mountains. For weeks or even months before Christmas he was terribly congested, and since we came home it seems to be gone! Praise God! (and knock on wood!!!) You all know that he was throwing up the week before Christmas, and it stuck with him for a few days while we were in Ruidoso, but finally got out of his system, and no one else caught whatever it was. I am sure he lost some weight during that week, so we are trying to pack it back on him! He's really cute and fun to hang out with! He's got quite the personality! He'd rather live upside down than anything else. His new name is Batman!!!

Before we came back to work, I had mentioned to Jeremy that I wanted to paint our bedroom. My mom bought us a comforter a long time ago and it has just been sitting in our floor because it's sage green and tan and our room was red, white, and blue with blue walls. I knew I had to paint before we could use the comforter. So Jeremy was a good sport and we went to Home Depot to pick out a color. We didn't take a pillow sham or anything. We picked out a tan color. We got home and primed the walls and started painting one wall tan. It looked AWFUL with the bedspread! So we started over! We primed that wall again, and went to get a new color. This time I took the pillow sham and we got a sage green. Now, it's finished and it's so pretty and relaxing!!!

All of our Christmas decorations are still up. My grandmother always said to have them down by Jan. 1, but it didn't happen! Hopefully we can get them down this weekend!

Jeremy finally got a nice buck! He's been hunting many times this season, and just watched the deer. He'd seen this particular buck one time before and couldn't get a shot at him, but this time he got him. He was really excited!

We have had several grass fires around the ranches near San Angelo. In fact, all the ranch land around where Jeremy hunts burned right up to the deer lease, but finally was stopped. The fire in Cross Plains was probably the most devastating because it got into the town and burned 70 something houses and a church. I grew up 10 miles from Cross Plains. The last wild fire, between Big Lake and Sterling City, burned an estimated 50,000 acres. Thank god it was just land, and not homes, although most ranchers don't have those goats and cattle insured! This HOT, DRY weather has got to come to an end sometime soon! There is no rain in the forecast for a long time though.

I guess that is all for this update. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Any resolutions???? Those above are really mine. We'll see how they go! May 2006 bring great things to all of us!!! We love you all and thank you for another year of wonderful family, friendship, and support. Thank you for all that you do for Jeremy, Caden, and I.

A special thank you to Mrs. Book for helping me out at Wal-Mart the other evening! I really needed it!

Hugs & love,
Vicki, Jeremy, & "Batman"

PS.......I have a few pictures from our trip, I just have to get them off the camera and onto the computer. I will try in the morning!!!

---

Click here to go back to the main page.

Click here to view older journal entries.