The Coston's New Home

Uncle Alex & Uncle Jeremy bought their FIRST home this month!  Our real estate agent & good friend Regina Drury helped them find it.

We are so happy that our uncle's have found a place to finally call HOME. 

 We are looking forward to all of the fun get togethers they plan to have!!!

And of course all of the home improvement projects will be a blast to help with!

YAY FOR FIRST TIME HOME OWNERSHIP!!!!

4/24/11 Easter Sunday

Out on the front lawn of our Pine Branches Home.

What a wonderful day Easter Sunday is.  The day our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

 This day brings back fond memories as a child growing up in the Episcopal church.  There were traditions that we could depend on year after year.  And I bring as many of those traditions to our home & LDS church going experience as I possibly can.  

We had a wonderful Easter feast planned.  Yummy fried chicken, mashed potatoes, black eyed peas, salad, homemade turbinado strawberry short cake with homemade whipped cream, and on and on, until we were all stuffed.  

Chantel

While dinner was cooking and "making it's self", our family and guests played together and had an Easter egg hunt.  Yep even the grown ups played.

Paps learning about the Nerf gun.

Egg hunting.

I have hidden the eggs in my basket.

 
Our guests included Paps, Uncle Alex & Uncle Jeremy, and Samantha & Chantel.

The older children were spun around, while the younger ones got a 5 second head start!

Shhhh!  Uncle Alex hid an egg.

4/22/11 Easter Fun at NaNa's home...more pics

He could not look at the camera AT ALL when he was dying Easter eggs.

4/22/11 Easter Fun at NaNa's home...

We always enjoy our time with our NaNa.  It never fails-NaNa always has something fun planned, no matter if it is a special occasion, like Easter

 or another day at her house just for a casual visit. 

On Good Friday, we went to NaNa's house to dye eggs, eat yummy food, hunt for Easter eggs, & enjoy the company of good friends and family.

                           

4/20/11 Spring cheer practice

Just another day getting ready for competition season.  But they don't really know that they are preparing for next year's competition.  The girls are just having FUN!

4/14/11 An imagination is used today...

Trev had fun creating an obstacle course today.  It was quite difficult, even for me. 

3/9/11 The ride to school...

This is what our mornings are like on the way to school.  Playing video games, listening to music, studying for tests, fighting, crying, laughing, helping, being embarrassed but most of all being friends & doing our best to love one another.

What Trev likes to do on a Tuesday morning...2/28/11

Trevor likes to watch the sanitation truck come up our street....

And he likes to watch the workers empty the garbage can.



Just another Tuesday morning at the Galloway Abode.

Making French Toast in March 2011

Get your family some big ole Texas Style Bread, eggs, powdered sugar, pancake syrup, & margarine, and you are set to make some yummy french toast

and the BEST  memories ever! 

Family Game Night March 2011

We always have so much fun when we invite the Ashby & Reed families over for Family Game Night!  The grown ups get to have time alone (and act like kids) and the children get to have all the fun they want!
Our FGN's last anywhere from 3 hours to 8 hours.  We swap houses each month.  We prepare yummy food.  And we think of fun things to do.  Honestly, no matter if we thought of something fun to do or not, we would still enjoy each others company.  We do not need constant entertainment to have fun because we CONSTANTLY entertain each other with just being ourselves!!

We are on big happy "Family"!

Trev's renal ultrasound & hydronephrosis check-3/24/11

Once a year we do this dance, since Trev was in utero.  Trevor had to drink 24 oz of liquid an hour before his visit and hold it!  Ugh.  Well that didn't work.  Of course, an accident occurred and many bathroom trips happened.

In my journals (before there was bloggering) I wrote about our 3-4  hour visits to different appointments but since I am going to turn this blog into a family book, it is a good way to record this part of Trevor's life.  And hydronephrosis (click on this for a definition) isn't a once a year thing for Trevor.  It is daily.  It is hourly.  For me, I always wonder, when Trev complains of pain in his sides,"Well is it gas or does he have an infection?  For the most part I understand that he will have pain in his kidney and I know I don't need to take him to the doctor until he starts to complain of pain during urinating and has a fever. 

At his visit the doctor told me to put him back on a bathroom schedule.  So, I set the oven kitchen timer every hour or 2.  I am still trying to get used to this routine.  It is like potty training all over again.  (I just reminded Trev to go to the bathroom and he said "Why?"  & Lilly said "SCHEDULE!" and Trev said "Oh yeah!  I have to empty my gills!!!"  Oh my goodness he cracks me up!-Well at least he understands the process.)  

I also learned that Trev's right kidney still is not working properly. 

I remember when he was a little baby and toddler.  Both of his kidneys were pretty bad off.  The doctors told us that soon after he was born that he would have to have a VCUG (click on this for definition) and he may need to go to Duke.  That is not the most pleasant procedure to have to do.  It made me sad for him.  It was scary.  

I am happy that his body has corrected one kidney and is on the way to fixing the other.  I am glad that there is no need for surgery.  I just wonder how much longer is this going to take. 

Painting Lilly's room-start date 3/23-finish date ?/11

Helper #1.

Lilly's room was a mustard orange color when we bought this house.  It was dark.  So I finally took on the project of de-mustarding it, with the help of my little ones.

Mustard in the daylight.

Mustard at night.

This is fun.

Picnic in the back yard-3/23/11

My view.

It was relaxing and fun.

Alex's Birthday-3/23/11

                                                    

We visited Alex on his birthday.  Jeremy cooked a delicious dinner that I still think about and I probably won't forget for a long time.  And the red velvet cupcakes were to die for!  Oh my.




Lilly and Trevor had a blast playing on jungle gyms Bryan and Alex.  And I am positive jungle gyms Bryan and Alex liked it as well because when I raise my voice at the children as Alex was playing with them, he stopped and looked at me just as they did.  So I asked him something like, Oh I wasn't talking to you Alex but are you ok with them jumping all over you like that?  And he said with a huge smile, "Yes." And they all went back to their playing. 
It was really nice to be with Alex on his birthday.  I love him so much.  He is such a great uncle and brother.  I am so thankful that I was given a brother like him and I couldn't ask for more.  There really is a very reserved and special place in my heart for him. 
Happy Birthday Alex!