Big Decision

First, the surgery went well.  So far, so good.  It was only yesterday and I am going nuts to get out of the house!  The only pain is the pain from being surgery sore, which is so much less than the gallbladder pain!  I will be ready to hit the road tomorrow, somewhere, anywhere!

Ok, this is not really a big decision in the whole scheme of life, but for the Foxx family, it was a big decision!  We decided not to sign the boys up for summer baseball this year.  We have spent so many hours the last six summers running to ball games.  The last three with two boys on teams.  We were looking at three boys on teams this year!   We just couldn’t do it.  The last year has been soooo crazy for our little family, that we just needed some time to hang out.  Of course we haven’t been doing much hanging out, but we could if we wanted to!  The boys were really ok with the decision.  Once we told them and they realized they would be able to do other things with their time, they started to get excited!  For example, last year we only went swimming one time!  Granted, we lived in Iowa where the swimming season is very short, but the baseball schedule didn’t help either!  When we made the decision, the boys were also in the middle of spring flag football, so things were crazy anyway, adding baseball to the mix did not appeal to anyone!  I am excited to see what the boys choose to do with their summer.  I am personally glad that we are not going to be doing the same thing over and over!  Stay tuned!

We Interrupt This Summer

Well, we are interrupting this summer for me to have gall bladder surgery, or laparoscopic cholecystectomy if you would like to be completely accurate!  It’s a long drawn out story that starts last summer and is hopefully ending on June 7th!  The thing about gallbladder pain, at least with a lot of people, is that you don’t really know that it is gallbladder pain until you’ve had it a while.  Now that I know, I’m ready to feel better!  I’m planning on feeling like a new woman on June 8th!  So, just pray for a safe surgery and quick, and I mean quick, recovery!  I’ve got plans!  Hopefully I’ll be back to my strict hit or miss blogging schedule soon and will fill you in on all the gory details!  Not really.  But, I’ll at least let you know I made it and how much better I feel!  Thanks for praying :)!

SIX!

Well, Gannon has turned six.  The dreaded six, for mama anyway.  I mentioned before that for me when the boys turn six, they aren’t little boys anymore.  Yes, I can think of them that way, but they just aren’t.  They are growing up.  :(

Gannon was thrilled to finally have his birthday!  Having to wait through Kellen’s birthday in March and Garrett’s birthday in April is pure torture for him!  Poor guy, his whole life is waiting on time to pass so he can do what they are doing!

Gannon.  I can’t even think of words to describe him.  Isn’t that terrible?!  He is just the sweetest thing, which is probably not what he wants me announcing to the world!  He is quiet and serious and gives me the biggest hugs out of nowhere.  He really loves to draw.  I mean really loves it.  Anytime there is a free second, he is picking up whatever writing utensil is nearby and drawing.  He has such an imagination.  Right now most of the drawings are super-heroes, but they are always involved in some sort of story with many, many angles!

Gannon has made several friends since we moved here and I am so glad!  We have not known many kids his age for him to hang out with so this is such a joy for him.  He loved his co-op class and loves his Bible classes at church where there are so many little boys.  (I mean, big boys!)

Gannon just cracks me up on a daily basis.  He has become quite the master at making his own meals.  He has all of the sudden decided that pretty much anything I make is not something he likes.  He has figured out where meat comes from, so he is too grossed out to eat it.  He has figured out that ketchup is made from tomatoes, so we can’t even drown stuff in ketchup!  I guess at this point I am too tired to fight so he just makes his own sandwich and goes on.  I am banking on the fact that his brothers outgrew this stage, so he will too!

 The smile.  Gannon has always, always, had the most infectious, beautiful smile.

Thank you God for Gannon!  Gannon, you have always been such a joy to be around and you just light up a room with your smile.  I always knew I would have a bunch of boys and I’m so glad you are one of them!  Daddy and I love you!!  Your brothers love you and have so much fun with you.  Callie, well, she just flat adores you.  She is so excited to see you every morning and you are so nice to her!  Such a blessing you are to all of us!  Thanks for being you!  You are the best Gannon I know!!

Vacation!!

Todd had a week of vacation last week.  Woohoo!  We had thought we might go to St. Louis and go to a ballgame (of course!) but decided a week or two before we just weren’t up to it.  Lucky for us some friends had some time reserved at Big Cedar in Branson and invited us to come along.  Oh my.  I wish we had done this before, and I hope we can do this again.  We were literally forty minutes or so from our house, but felt like we were a million miles away.  This place is one of those places where you never have to leave to have fun.  We had a blast!  We walked, went canoeing, and paddle boating.  We fed tons of turtles and fish.  We played miniature golf, we swam, and swam and swam.  We watched movies since it rained and since we had seven kids that needed to sit in a vegetative state to save their parents sanity!  We went to Silver Dollar City (can I just say I love Silver Dollar City?!) Best of all we had a great time with friends that we got to know better!  It was such a nice relaxing time.  While I love to travel, there is always a certain amount of stress involved being away from home.  This was like we weren’t really away from home, so no stress!  There was no hurrying to try to fit everything in or deciding what you should do, because it was all right there, so you could do it all!  I highly recommend Big Cedar if your ever around this area.  I ranks right up there with the Foxx Bed and Breakfast!  (Which is where I would rather our friends stay so we can visit with them!  And we are free!) 

Si, Kellen, Callie and Amy checking out this covered walkway.  It was covered with vines, or trees, or something.  I’m not really up on all my trees, but it was so nice!

   Garrett, Si, Callie and Kellen looking at the fish and turtles.

Garrett taking Callie to check out the water.  :)

Inside one of the buildings there was this cool Lincoln Log table.  They could have stayed there for hours!

This is in the turret lookout.  Callie, Kellen, and Abe.

Garrett, Gannon and Si checking out the exhibits of animals, fish and such.  Hey, we’re homeschooling even on vacation! 

   Si and Gannon.  So sweet!

The view from our room! Todd and Callie in the indoor pool.  Callie taking a much needed nap.  She just crashed! I think trying to hang with six boys wore her out!  I stayed with her and everyone else went to play mini golf.  Boy it was quiet!

Garrett playing catch the football off the slide. Kellen attempting a catch.

While we were there Gannon turned six!  So, we celebrated with a cake from the local grocery store.  It was a graduation cake so they gave me a bunch of doo-dads to put on it.  Too funny!  I love the looks Gannon and Si are giving each other!  Garrett and Gideon are wishing we would cut the cake!

Gannon’s smile is just priceless!

Callie not looking too thrilled to be in the stroller at Silver Dollar City.  She was so good though to hang out.  We never even made it to the “kiddie” section because the big kids were having such a great time riding rides.  It was beautiful weather and I think we just missed the crowds because there were rides they just got to stay on and ride since no one was in line!  I’m sure that will not be the case for the rest of the summer!

Great times with great friends!  Counting our blessings :)!