Marv

I'm missing my father-in-law today. He was one of the best people I have ever met. I wish he was still with us. Today marks 5 years since he lost his battle with Multiple Myeloma, cancer of the bone marrow. Marvin was like the energizer bunny. Even when he wasn't feeling his best after a treatment, he still hung in there. Our family went to Colorado several years ago. I remember him going on a hike with Kelvin and me and Kelvin telling us that we talked too much! :) He loved hunting and being outdoors. He taught Kelvin well. He had a fantastic sense of humor. For his birthday one year he chose to take us all to Hooters. The waitresses made him get up while they sang "Happy Birthday," and he had to spell his name with his hiney! He did a superb job, even jumping to dot the "i"! We about fell on the floor laughing! :)

I miss you Marv!



Marvin and Carleigh at his suprise party



Marvin Wilson Dunnam and Luke Wilson Dunnam (he was so proud:) )



Marvin and Kelvin enjoying a day of fishing

Marvin with Luke, Emma, and Carleigh
 

So much to share

Between Cora's 4th birthday and and all the Easter fun, there's so much to share with you! We had a fabulous weekend. It kicked off with a little friend party for Cora Friday morning. She was SO super excited to have some friends come over to celebrate her special day with her. We kept it small, but it was perfect. They played with bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles, swung on the swings, chased each other, bowled, climbed, colored and had a grand time in the backyard. I went with a bubble gum theme, because other than her sweet daddy, I've never known a person to love bubble gum as much as that little doll!

A princess for a princess.
She loved her Princess Aurora and the matching dress for Princess Cora. :)

 

birthday cookies by Amanda

 

She was super excited her best buddy who moved away in the fall could come to her party.
She misses him at school!

 

Cora and her BFF

 

Cora decided to get up close and personal with the bubbles...hence, the "wet look" hairdo. It's not every day a gal turns four, so we went with it. After our friends went home, we dumped out the bubbles from the itty bitty swimming pool and filled it with water. The kids were thrilled to change into their bathing suits and jump in the pool. It was pretty funny. The pool can't be more than about three feet in diameter, and all three of them were trying to get in together. I wish we had a bigger backyard and could install a swimming pool. Our kids are part fish, and I am convinced we would stay in the pool about 12 hours a day if we had one. Anyway, we had a ball. Later Friday night, we had the family over for dinner and cupcakes and cookies. It was scrumptious! Cora loved being the center of attention. She also loved all the gifts. :)

1. yummy cupcakes and cookies

2. Cora and her BFF cousin, Camdon

3. Starting to wear out

4. Another princess doll

5. Oh boy!

6. Camdon picked the best My Little Pony!

7. Bday stickers are awesome

8. I love new clothes. These dresses are SO cute!

9. More cupcakes and cookies

Well, that about sums up Cora's 4th birthday week. ;) There's more to share about our weekend, but I still have to work-out before I pick up Cora from school in 45 minutes! Gotta go!

Four!

Today is Cora's 4th birthday. FOUR! She is such a delightful child. She was a complete surprise but a good one, for sure. I'll never forget the shock of seeing the positive result on the pregnancy test. Fear coursed my veins, as we had just days before been given Emma's diagnosis and knew it was genetic. Thank God, Cora was Batten free. He knew what He was doing (He always does) when He gave us each child. Cora is our sunshine on a cloudy day.

Yesterday, we celebrated her birthday at school. She loved her bubble gum machine cookies. I've never met anyone who loves bubble gum as much as Kelvin, but I think he may have met his match with Cora! I thought the cute bubble gum machine and gumball cookies were a good fit for her this year. Her classmates thought they were a good idea too! :)

Amanda does an AMAZING job!

 

BFF--they are attached at the hip!
 

 

At four Cora loves to sing and dance. She plays well alone or with her friends. She likes to pretend. Sometimes she acts like a dog or cat. She loves riding her bike (trike) and playing outside. Diego and Dora are her tops picks followed by Lala Loopsy, Pinky Dinky Doo, Caillou, Super Why, and the Backyardigans (to name a few.) Cora is excited about learning and enjoys preschool. Her excitement about life is contagious, and she makes me smile every day.

We love you, Cora-Dora! Happy birthday, baby girl!

Let's go fly a kite

In the wee small hours of the morning today, I heard the wind whipping hard outside my window. The wind chimes were clanging like crazy. I was bummed since Cora was looking so forward to meeting our sweet friend, Dian, at the park to fly kites. Always the optimist, she held out hope. To my surprise, the sun started peaking out of the clouds around 9. We went ahead to the park and around 11:00 or so, the skies cleared, the wind blew gently, and the sun shone brightly. It was a gorgeous day! :) Cora had a ball flying the Cinderella kite Miss Dian brought her. She did a great job too!

 

 



 When we picked up the big kids from school, Cora was excited to tell them about her kite flying skills. Cora and Luke decided it would be fun to go fly their kites again while Carleigh was at dance class this evening. Luke had a ball too! He was excited to get his big kite so high in the sky.

 

After they tuckered out from flying kites, they wanted to play on the cool playground. My little monkeys have such a good time at the park. When was the last time you swung on the swings at the park...the wind blowing through your hair, the feeling of soaring like a bird? I got on the the swings today and loved it. Funny how all the stress and tension eases when you take time to relax and play a little. We can learn so much from our children.

 

Happy spring!

 

Spring Break 2013

Spring Break 2013 is HERE! Whoo Hoo! I needed a break from the everyday. We have had tons of relaxing time, enjoyed a grown up birthday party, had friends for dinner, went to dinner and a movie family style, and it's only Wednesday! :) We have plans with friends at the park today and Moody Gardens to tomorrow. There is fishing on the agenda and hopefully some more resting, relaxing and eating good food with good friends! We were going to make a trip to the ranch but decided to stay home. Kelvin has a couple of big 'o tests after spring break, so he really needed to stay home and get in some study time. So, we're doing the whole staycation thing, and I'm liking it... a lot. I wish we could fit it some spring cleaning on spring break and paint a room or two, but maybe I can start on that when the kids return to school (fingers crossed, praying hard.) I'm in major clean-out-this-house-because-it's-giving-me-hives mode....MAJOR. I'm to the point where I could rent a big gandola dumpter thing and start throwing everything in it. I have to remind myself my family is not on the same page. We would have major meltdown if I did that. I will take baby steps and slowly but surely get it all done.

Luke's class is doing the Flat Stanley Project, and Carleigh had fun taking some photos this morning...

Rip sticking

riding in the bucket

Hitiching a ride on the back of my car

Wondering what our neighbor his having installed



Hanging out with Cora



 



Hope y'all have a beautiful week...especially if you're on spring break too. :)

Flat Stanley

Luke's third grade class is doing the Flat Stanley project. I've included all of the information below. We hope you will help out his class by taking his Flat Stanley with you around town and take a photo or two with him. No need to snail mail anything, just email it to me...christydunnam (at) gmail dot com. Can't wait to see where Luke's Flat Stanley goes! Thanks! :)

 

 

I wish

Emma's 2nd birthday

Happy 7th birthday to my precious girl! I hope you're having an awesome birthday party! Cora would love to be eating cupcakes with you today. She asks me all the time when we can go to Heaven and see you. I wish I had a better answer for her. Truth is, I would love to hop on the next train, but I know God has a plan and a purpose for us here. I wish I had more birthday photos to look through and a big cake to put candles on today. I wish we were having a birthday party for you this evening. I wish I were wrapping your birthday gifts...maybe a doll, a pretty necklace, a new outfit to wear for your special day or a big girl bike. I wish I had cookies to deliver for your class at school to celebrate your big day. I wonder how you would have wanted them decorated this year...flowers, butterflies, something is zebra print, or horses? I know Amanda would have made something adorable!

Sugar Chic Cookie Boutique

 



I miss you like crazy, pretty girl. I love you so much. Happy birthday, m.

Won't you consider making a donation to Batten Disease Support and Research Association or Beyond Batten Foundation in honor of our little girl today? Thank you! My wish is that some day soon there will be a cure for this dreadful disease and no other little girl or boy's mommy and daddy will celebrate a birthday without their child.