Camping Trip

This past weekend was spent camping with friends at an Air Force Campground at Canyon Lake. We have been looking forward to this trip for months. It was our first family camping trip. Our friends, Matt and Jana, invited us to join them and their two boys, Ethan and Nathan.

We arrived Friday night around 6 to a gate that was closed and no park ranger to be found. Thankfully we gained access, found our assigned shelters and set up (in the dark:)

Weather: Hmmmm, well it has been 80 degrees or so here for weeks and weeks and the night we decide to go camping, temps dipped WAY down!! No problem b/c our shelter had heat.......or it was supposed to!! NO HEAT! We dressed in layers, made the most of it and went to bed.

We woke up to a most spectacular view of the lake and surrounding woods. The park is impeccably clean and beautiful. Our shelter was 50 yards from the lake so we took the kids to feed the ducks. They loved it (so did the ducks).

Back to the weather: COLD COLD COLD,,,,,OH, AND WINDY!! The kids had a wonderful time; playing with Ethan and Nathan, climbing the equipment at the park playground, playing in the dirt and rocks (see Ainslie's pic), making S'Mores, cooking out, going for walks and seeing deer (or as our kids call them: reindeer). Finn especially loved being outside and just observing.

We had a great time and are looking forward to more camping trips. Just no tent camping: it's pop up's or cabins for us!

Love, Deb

Finn 2+ weeks post surgery

Finn is doing fabulous!!!! He is 2 1/2 weeks post surgery and he is recovering fast. He is completely off all pain meds and is back to drinking is bottle on a schedule as well as eating jar food. He hasn't been cleared for table food yet. He has his post op appointment on Nov. 11th. He no longer has to wear the appropriately named arm restraints, "No-No's." He is sleeping great, only waking up once in the middle of the night. We still have to watch him like hawks to make sure he doesn't put anything, except his thumb, in his mouth. And let me tell you, that is no easy task :) The girls are great at telling me if he is even thinking about putting anything close to his mouth, they're great!! Finn is handling everything so well, he is our little hero!

I'm posting some recent pics of him. He is beginning to gain back some weight he lost from after the surgery. He is already wearing 12 month clothes and 2 months ago I was still dressing him in 3-6 month clothes. It's great. No sign of teeth yet, but I'm sure they are on the way.

I wish you could all take a look inside his mouth to see the sutures and the awesome work the surgeon did. What intricate, delicate work he performed. It's truly amazing and we are so blessed to have such wonderful professionals who not only are top notch in their field, but have the compassion and passion to do their jobs well.

We'll let you know how he progresses.
Love, Deb

Soccer Super Star

Our wedding anniversary gift to each other this year was a membership at the YMCA. It's a brand spankin' new facility within 2 miles of our house, located within a beautiful park. As members, the kids get to participate in the youth sports and we decided to enroll Maisie in soccer. She absolutely loves kicking the soccer ball around and enrollment starts at age 3, however we decided to enroll her at age 4. Her season is 8 weeks long and concludes the weekend before Thanksgiving. Her team is called "Tiger Princesses." Cute name huh? It was a democratic decision; all of the girls, save one, wanted to be called "The Princesses," the remaining girl insisted on "The Tigers" (she said as she growled....really!) Hence, "The Tiger Princesses."

You'll see that our dear Maisie certainly looks adorable in her uniform (hey I'm her Mom, I'm allowed to be proud), but she is one of the most petite girls in the league. She doesn't know it though and jumps right in.

They have weekly practices and Saturday games. It truly takes us longer to get all 5 of us ready, load up, drive there, park amongst the several hundred other parents/kids, walk to the field, unload the wagon and set up chairs........than it does for the 30 minute game!! But we all absolutely love it!!

Ainslie is so eager to be old enough to play on a team. She has her own soccer ball that she takes to each of Maisie's practices and games and we play with her on the sidelines. Finn is just as happy as he gets to be outside and there is so much for him to look at. He is content to sit on my lap under the umbrella and just 'people watch.'

Go Tiger Princesses!!!

~Deb

Pumpkin Patch Pics

The girls and I went to the Pumpkin Patch at the church where they attend (and I work) in the Mother's Day Out program. We have actually made numerous trips there, we all love it so much. All 3 kids got their own pumpkin during a field trip during one of their school days and the music pastor sang songs as the kids sat on hay bales. It's so beautiful and who can resist pumpkin pictures? I dressed the girls up in their fall clothes, but as you can see by the sunshine, it was a typical southern Texas fall day: 90 degrees!! We had lots of fun anyway and the girls decorated their pumpkins (Finn's too) with stickers. Now that the patch has gone away, Maisie asked me what would go there next. She was sad to see the pumpkins go away.

Welcome

Welcome to the Cahill Family blog. I can't believe it has taken me (Deb) so long to put one of these together. We wanted a place to post family pics and updates so that we could stay in touch with our (mostly long distance) friends and family. Check back often as I'm sure I'll be updating it frequently. I'll need to post lots of pictures to keep those Grandma's happy :)

We have an important favor to ask of you: PLEASE do not forward/share this blog or blog address with anyone. For safety reasons, we would like our family pictures and updates to be viewed only by those invited by us to view the blog. THANK YOU for understanding!!

Enjoy the postings!! Love, Deb and family