Ellie donates hair to Locks of Love

Ellie decided she wanted to get her hair cut. Not the usual trim, but really get it cut, like 10 inches worth. Some of Ellie's friends had donated hair to the Locks of Love program, and she wanted to do the same. Locks of Love donates hair to underprivleged children who loose it due to medical treatment, such as chemo. Ellie is holding the hair she donated. While supportive, Melissa was a little hesitant, since Ellie has never had her hair cut before. Take a look at the next picture, which was taken a week before, to get an idea how much hair she had.

As you can see, her stylist did a great job. Ellie has been going to Shearr Madness for several years. Her stylist, Ms. LeAnn treats her like the Princess we all know Ellie to be. First, she measured the length to be cut to help Ellie imagine what it would look like. Then she cut it (I think Melissa shed a few tears) and styled it. And we all love the new look. Not only is it much easier for her to get ready each morning, we all now see her bright eyes. And it does help with sports too.

Hokies defeat Huskers

A couple of weeks back, I took Tyler up to Lincoln, Nebraska. What is in Lincoln, besides the state capital? It is home of the Huskers, who hosted the Virginia Tech Hokies for a great football game on September 27th. I always wanted to see a game at one of the large, Midwest schools. At 85,500 + seats, I decided to take advantage of the "local" game. So after Tyler's soccer game, we drove a short 3 1/2 hours Northwest of Kansas City to Lincoln. We made it in time to grab a quick dinner at the Spaghetti Works for some yummy pizza before walking over to the stadium.

Before I get to the game, I have to say, if you ever have a chance to go to a Nebraska game, do it. It is everything good about college sports: knowledgeable but respectful fans, family friendly atmosphere, marching bands, music, and lots of cheering. I lost count how many Nebraska fans asked us where we were from, wished us good luck in the game, and were just plan nice. Even though we were sitting on the Nebraska side, I didn't have any concerns having Tyler with me.

As for the game, it was very exciting. Tech blocked a kick and Nebraska ran a kickoff back for a touchdown. It looked like Tech would win it easily when they were up 28 - 10 late in the 3rd quarter, only to have Nebraska score twice to make it 35 - 30 with 2:30 left. The game came down to Tech forcing a turn over on the final Nebraska drive. Whew! On the way out, many of the Nebraska fans congratulated us on the win. A quick trip to Starbucks (coffee for me, water for Tyler) before heading back and making it home at 3 in the morning. Hope we can make the game next year, when Nebraska visits Blacksburg.

Drew is walking!

Click on the image below or click here to see Drew taking stroll through the kitchen. Drew has taken a few steps here and there, but yesterday, he really got the hang of it. Boy, are we in trouble now!

Welcome to Drew's World

Welcome to Drew's World, where everything is good, because, well, everything is a toy. Drew is a true blessing and a very sweet boy. However, he is 100% boy, a total rascal, and gets into everything (and I mean everything). Tyler and Ellie really took it easy on us by comparison. So Melissa signed Drew up for some 1-on-1 time at "My Gym".


Drew goes on Monday, when Tyler is at school and Ellie is at pre-k. He loves it. You can see him thinking 'finally, some place I can get into what ever I want and no one will mind!'. Chasing bubbles, crawling around, climbing, playing in the ball pit. I wish my day was more like that.



After a hard day's playing, Melissa is a little tired out, so she sometimes lets Drew drive home