For Daddy

My babies

having fun

in the sun

baring buns

splish splash

taking a bath

refusing to laugh.

One Hundred Thousand

While it may be a small number that pales in comparison to other blogs, I have to celebrate that at some point between last night and this morning, my blog received 100,000 hits! Wow! It's a party here for me, that people would find my site interesting enough to visit. I'm honored and humbled. For even one person to take the time to read what I write is a blessing, but 100,000?! I'm sending you all 100,000 kisses! (I love hugs, but I love kisses more!)

So my faithful followers, I am encouraged by your visits to my online-sharing-of-life. I will continue to post, and share, and upload. I know you are out there, checking in, following, thinking of me, praying for us, and maybe laughing from time to time at the craziness that surrounds the Chapel family. I hope that something you have read, viewed, or heard here has been a blessing..... touched you, encouraged you, in some small way.

If we've never met, email me! Tell me your name, send me your picture, share a bit of your life with me. I want to know you!

Happy 100.000 to us.

Love and blessings to you all,
April

Come and listen, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
Psalm 66:16

No More Turtle

It appears our turtle has flown the coop. Noah was keeping him in the back yard, inside the fence. He'd crawl around and end up at the perimeters, snuggled up to the edge of the fence, or hanging out at the wood pile. Until... Noah happily suggested "hey mom, let's decorate his shell!" and ran inside for the magic markers. Hmmm.....think the turtle got wind of the impending humiliation and decided he better ramp up the escape plan. I mean really....how would he explain the graffiti to his turtle friends? He'd be out the turtle club for sure.

New (temporary) Addition

Look what we found crawling across the yard! I saw him out the window while we were eating dinner. He's gonna hang with us tonight. He's in the swimming pool now. We'll send him back to his family tomorrow. He seems nice, but peed all over Caleb.

Bupdate

I'm still here! Isaac caught a cold and I've been busy nursing a grumpy and feverish child back to health. Better today.

Bo was admitted to the Veteran's hospital in Richmond. He's been there since Monday and will stay for two weeks. I spoke with Bo's case manager and it sounds like they have a really awesome program there. They are one of four hospitals in the country that treat "poly trauma". They diagnose and recommend treatment for head injuries, from mild injuries sustained in car crashes to severe trauma resulting in comas. They get most of the blast injuries from Iraq. Bo's doctor said they've seen his kind of injury and know what to do to help him. He's been undergoing more tests (MRIs, blood tests, some kind of weird machine that checks balance problems...) and he'll start treatment that will specifically help with his symptoms. There will be physical and occupational therapy, cognitive therapy, counseling, etc. We should know more about his assessment today or tomorrow after all his doctors and therapists have met to discuss his brain. At the end of the two weeks, he'll be discharged back to Ft. Lee with a treatment plan. It will be up to the military to decide what to do with him then. Medical discharge is back on the table, but won't be determined until he completes his stay at the VA.

Bo says the hospital is nice and laid-back. It's a closed unit, and he has a private room. There's also Internet access so he's been catching up with my blog posts and shedding tears when he sees pictures of his babies.

The boys and I hope to travel to Virginia to visit him, but Joshua's work schedule is not flexible and is posing a challenge to all of us going. I don't want to make that long of a journey without another driver.

I miss Bo and want to see him, but am thankful that he is finally getting the medical care he needs. The case manager says that he's receiving treatment while he's still in the healing phase, and that's a good thing.

Fun in the park on a Sunny Saturday

A yard full of boys on a sunny Friday afternoon.....

Sweet Easter Baby

Did I forget to display this adorable child in his fancy Easter Stasburg jon-jon that

I found at a garage sale?

Wardrobe Malfunction

Friday morning I volunteered to hide Easter eggs at Noah's school. I dressed quickly and didn't think too much about the fact that I am blessedly a pant size, almost two, smaller this spring than I was last. Here was my morning....


8:00 am: Wow, I love these low-riding pants. Roomy. Comfortable.

8:30 am, getting out of the car at the school: Hmmm, maybe I should have worn a belt.

9:00am, hiding eggs: You know, these pants are really sliding down my hips. Yikes.

9:30 am: Okay, maybe it's best that I stop bending over. I'll just chunk these eggs into the grass.

10:00 am: Oh my God, I'm flashing kindergartners!!!!!

Weight loss.....priceless.....but, embarrassing.