Fall in Full Swing

The Fall is in full swing & the boys are keeping us as busy as ever. BJ's busy with the Sharks - just about to the 1/2 way point in the season - and Bothell Select which just started practicing. Brennen's enjoying the fall weather and taking full advantage of all the outside time we have lately.

Brennen's arm has healed well and he's having a great time in Pre-School. BJ seems to be doing well in school and so far likes his class & teachers. It helps when the majority of your good friends are in your class too!

BJ's had a great soccer season so far, working hard and scoring goals. The team is also doing very well, only suffering one loss thus far. It's been a great fall so far and I promise I'll update more frequently!!!!

More Pics of the boys ...

Brennen's Recovery

Brennen's recovery has gone very well! Good thing these little guys heal so quickly. I do think the worst part of the entire recovery was getting his cast off. He was not a fan of the saw that cuts off the cast and struggled with getting his pins out. I can't say I blame him, I had a tough time when they yanked out the 3" pins out of his poor little elbow. Good thing there was something for me to lean up against, I might've just lost it. I don't deal well when my kids are hurt.

Anyways, now his cast is off and we have to try and keep him from being active. Yea, like that's going to be easy with this one. He already is running all over and trying to jump over furniture. The doctor told us in all of his years he's never seen a kid come back with a re-fracture. Please don't let Brennen be the first!!!

Here are a few more pics of brennen with his cast and getting it off:

The saw cuts in

Trying to get the cast off

Pulling it off

Smiling even with tears ...

If you enlarge the pics, you can see the pins sticking out ... by far the worst part

Getting the pins pulled ... poor guy!

Brennen's Broken Arm

Poor Brennen broke his little arm yesterday while we were at BJ's soccer practice. Brennen was playing on the playground at Kokanee and fell off one of their playground toys. Bryan knew right away that something was very wrong (when it looked like he had two elbows) and we headed out without finishing practice or grabbing any of our equipment.

We rushed to Children's Hospital and they got him back right away to see the doctor (that's when you know they're very concerned!). They took him to get X Rays and then the orthopedic Surgeon came in and informed us he would need surgery to place pins in his elbow to ensure it heeled straight.

He went in to surgery right around 10:15 and we didn't see him again until 12:15ish. Not the most fun 2 hours Bryan or I have ever spent. When they start telling you about all the risks and they'd have to put a tube down his throat all sorts of bad images start popping into your head.

Bryan stayed with him in the hospital while B and I got a little sleep, I got home around 1:15 and got back up to be at the hospital just before 9. We finally were able to leave the hospital around 11 and had to make a stop by Target to get the li'l man a new monster truck which we promised him.

Now he's at home and still in pain but doing as well as can be expected. He's such a tough, tough guy and we're so proud of him throughout the entire ordeal. His brother has been incredible through the whole thing as well, Brennen's lucky to have such an awesome big bro!

We'll post more on his recovery soon!

(Photos courtesy of my camera phone!)

In the ER before heading up to surgery

Li'l Brenn Diggy, trying to be brave - he's such a trooper!

My Li'lest Man

Happy Birthday Brennen! We've more than enjoyed your presence for the last 4 years, I can't even begin to imagine what our lives would be like without you! We love you li'l man.

Brennen through the years

2005

2006

2007

2008

Busy, Busy Times with the O'Donnell's

The last week or so has been crazy for us! Good crazy, but crazy nonetheless. BJ had Camp Casey from last Wednesday to Friday with his school. Bryan was able to go with him and I think they both had a great time!

While the boys were gone, Brennen & I went to the Mariners game, just he and I. It was a great time for us, especially when the Mariners were able to pull out a win in the bottom of the 9th. Brennen does not like it when his team loses!

After the boys got home, BJ had a basketball tourney all weekend. One of the boys that he plays with at ECBA, his dad asked him to come and be a guest player on their team. BJ was very excited, but it was a little wierd to see him play in a Shorecrest uniform. Especially since B has played against them with Bothell. B had a great time and his team ended up winning the tourney. Even after they had to play the semi - finals & Finals back to back with no break, and with just 6 kids.

B also had a soccer game on Saturday after 2 Basketball games in the morning and he did great. One of his teammates sent a cross in front of the goal and BJ finished it with his head, getting his first ever header goal! Great job B - like I said it was a crazy busy, but fun week for all of us!

BJ & his buddies with their fort on the beach at Camp Casey

BJ with the Shorecrest team after winning the Luau Tournament

Family Time with the Mariners

This weekend we had tickets for The Mariners Vs. Red Sox on Saturday. Sadly, I thought we had tix for Friday night, so we packed up the car, fought traffic & parking and arrived at Safeco Field gate only to realize my tickets were for the next night. That was AWESOME! I can't believe I did that, oh well, we found a scalper that was just trying to get rid of tickets after the game started so we actually went to the game. Pretty good seats too for $20!

We headed out on Saturday as well, and after carefully checking the tickets, headed towards the Home Plate Entrance. I have to say, I was sad that there were so many Red Sox "FANS". Sad because I don't think they're true fans, just sad band wagon fans as the team has done well the last few years. There were huge patches of red and seriously it looked like the Mariners could've been the visiting team. Oh Well, as soon as the Red Sox suck again, the fans will be gone and jumped onto another band wagon.

Enough of that tho ... here are some pics & a little funny video of Brennen from Friday.

Disney World 2009

After a week in the sun and running around all of Disney and to a couple of Orlando Magic games we're back at home and enjoying the much cooler weather. I think Bryan and I have decided that we're true Northwest peeps!

We had so much fun down there though despite the heat. Seeing all of the parks and especially enjoying the Orlando Vs. Boston playoff games 3 & 4 was a blast. We were supposed to sell tickets to one of the games, but didn't really try so, well we had to go! BJ was not sad about it at all and it made us miss the Sonics just that much more. So now the Magic are our new "adopted" team.

Brennen loved seeing the characters, but we were a little disappointed as he was about 1/2" too short for all of the 40" rides, which are most of the fun ones - like Splash Mountain, Big Mountain Railroad & some other ones as well. We've decided the next time we visit Brenns will have to be at least 48" then we can go on everything as a family. With poor Brennen looking to follow my side of the family, that may not be until he's 10!

One of my favorites was Epcot & their country showcase. I know BJ loved all of the rides and he was thrilled he got to go on most everything twice, once with me & once with Bryan. I think his favorite was the Hollywood Tower of Terror. I also loved the waterparks, they were so much fun and everyone had a great time. Plus it helped beat the heat just a little bit!

Here are some pics from our journey - with slideshows at the bottom!

Brennen with Donald

B & Brennen at Epcot

Brennen in the UK

Daddy won!

B crossing the ice drifts

Brennen loving the Water Slides

The Magic Kingdom & Disney's Hollywood Studios


Typhoon Lagoon


Blizzard Beach


Animal Kingdom


Epcot

Egg Hunts of '09

It's that time of year, time for the kiddos to come out & search for Eggs from the Easter Bunny. My good friend Beth and I made our traditional plans early on in the week for our boys. In our true Egg hunt tradition, we started the day early at Harvey Airfield in Snohomish, then headed to Life Care Center at 11am, to the Park Ridge Church at noon and then out to Shoreline Beach for the 1:00 hunt.

This year we were disappointed that the huge hunt that we generally do at Shoreline Stadium was not happening. Wow, the last 7 years, over 50,000 eggs the last few years and then it just disappeared! So, after hitting 5 this year, we shrunk back down to 4.

The 1st & 2nd hunts went flawlessly, getting there & out pretty easily. We ran into a few snags on the 3rd, we got there with plenty of time but then the Children's Pastor went a little long winded and the boys didn't actually get to hunt until about 12:35.

We booked out of there and drove as quickly as possible to the Richmond Beach Hunt and got there just as they were about to say GO! (We weren't about to go from 5 hunts in a day to 3!) Brennen got there a little late and we had to rush onto the little kiddies hunt. He was not exactly happy as he didn't get the bucket full of eggs he'd been able to get at the previous two hunts. The older boys got to line up just before they said "GO". They actuall hid the eggs in the brush on the hillside and the boys were a little shocked that they actually had to "hunt" for the eggs. Kinda funny I thought, they did well nonetheless.

Ready, Set -- GO!

Highlights of the DAY!!!

Gymnastics for Brennen

I know it's been a little while since we've blogged, it's been a busy couple of months. One basketball season ended for BJ & one just started. Brennen is busy with Preschool, Gymnastics & Swimming at the Y!

Today Brennen had a parents showcase at his gymnastics class and here are a few of the pics! He is having so much fun in gymnastics and it's something that he gets to do that all his own. The poor guys gets dragged to so much of B's stuff I thought it would be good for him to have his own activities.

Here are a couple of my favorites then a slideshow at the bottom.

My little Dare Devil!

Bear Crawl on the bars!

Wrapping up Bothell Select

BJ's getting ready to wrap up the Bothell Select Season. Despite our initial feelings of the program, it has been a great experience and BJ has come away with some great friends and experiences. His team has had a very successfull season and will wrap up later on this month. Right now their record i s 31 - 8 with two tournament championships under their belt. They finished 2nd overall in their league for the regular season and 3rd in the season ending league tournament.

They have a good chance of getting near 40 wins with the next couple of tourneys. Apparently this team is the most successful team to come out of the Bothell Select Program! I'm so proud BJ could be a part of this team.

They have a tournament in Stanwood next weekend and a tournament the following weekend right here in Bothell. After that it will be time to transition back to Emerald City. He is very excited to return to ECBA and is looking forward to the possibility of one of his Bothell Select friends on his team.

Here are some pics from the season

BJ's Pics over the Bothell Select 2009 - 2010 Season

Yet, another Highlight Video!!!

BJ finally gets to celebrate turning 11 - only a month late!

Nearly a month after BJ turned 11, we finally had a good weekend to celebrate his birthday with his friends. We had a climbing party at the new Dale Turner YMCA in Shoreline. They got a chance to do some climbing on the Turner Tower and had a blast. They went from climbing to some friendly basketball games of bump. To cap off the afternoon the boys gathered up their energy for a couple dodgeball games. Even Brennen got in on some of the fun and was his own team on the dodgeball court, grabbing a ball and tossing it at whoever was closest!

All in all I think B had a great time and thanks to all of his great friends who were able to come and celebrate it with him. He was bummed when we didn't get a chance to celebrate closer to his birthday, but all of his friends coming together and celebrating today made his 11th birthday a very memorable one. Thanks to everyone that could make it!

Check out some more pics from the day here ...

Click on any of the pics to take you to the actual album on the web -- Enjoy!

BJ turns 11

Happy Birthday B - It was only 11 years ago you were so little!

Fanfest & Snow???

Most of you that know us, well, you know we're not a big baseball family. We enjoy the occasional Mariners game, but as of now our boys haven't played much.

On Saturday I took the boys to Fanfest down at at Safeco Field to get ready for the spring Mariners Season. It was snowing ... even inside Safeco with the roof closed. We stayed for about 2 hours and I don't think we could feel our toes by the time we left.

The boys had a great time, they got to run the bases, sit in the dug out and throw some balls out in centerfield and the bull pen. B thought it was pretty cool to hang out where the Mariners play.

I really wanted to do this for Brennen 'cause he doesn't get to do much right now and he's always such a great sport getting dragged to all of B's activities. I think if anyone in our family is a baseball player, it'll be Brennen. He does love the Mariners.

Here are some more pics from the day.