Rare

Meet Noah - he's all sorts of awesome. 

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Today, on World Rare Disease Day, Noah Coughlan set off from New York City on a cross country run to bring awareness to the 7,000 known rare diseases that are stealing the lives of children. 

While most of can't imagine running across the country to raise awareness of these diseases there is something that each of us can do. If moved, you can always donate especially to research as these rare diseases do not get the pharmaceutical backing that other wide-spread diseases do because it is not a profitable investment. If your budget doesn't allow for donations please, at least, share Noah's journey.

Note: I thought I posted this yesterday (on the actual World Rare Disease Day) but it seems we experiences some technical difficulties. Oh well a day late is better than never. 

Winter Blahs - Not Here

Many people were hopeful that the groundhog did not see his shadow and this season that chilled their bones would retreat. I, on the other hand, love winter. Yep I said it. I love winter.

I love that there's new things to play outside - why not turn the swing set slide into a snow hill? I love that the evenings get dark sooner which usually means an earlier bedtime and quite possibly more hours reading for Mom. Winter also means less pressure to DO; many winter evenings in the Wendel house are spent around the kitchen table playing games.

I love winter.

Christmas Morning by Molly

presents!

the girl of  the year from American girl!

and now it is Alec's turn

 s

he is not exsidid (excited)

mommy got wipes for Christmas

my dad and his dad

the end!!!!!

Living, laughing, and loving

I've been negligent on posting because we've been having so much fun living! Hopefully a few pictures will make up for our absence.

School Has Started

My mom always drew a smiley face on the first day of school on the calendar that hung in our kitchen. And maybe if I had 8 kids I would also be excited for them to head back to school but as an educator their return also means my return and this summer was so awesome I dreaded this day. 

In addition to starting new schools, this year has brought about new experiences for both Alec and Molly. Alec has learned to drive a zero-turn mower, resigned from his first job, and finally found something he liked in the cafeteria! Molly has tumbled out of the bus seat, made lots of new friends, and is slowly adjusting to waking up at 6:30am! 

If the first week of school is any indication of how this year is going to go we are in for lots of smiles and many proud moments.

The Best Laid Plans....

A week ago these two girls planned to spend the day together today. They were going to splash, jump, swim, and dive the hours away at the pool. We gave it our best effort but at 75 degrees we couldn't swing but two hours. 

One of the neatest things about kids is their resiliency - I think I was more heartbroken than they were and not because I needed to splash, jump, dive and swim but because I knew how excited they were to have this day. We made some adjustments and I think we did just fine by the smiles on their faces.

The Adventure Forest by Molly

 The beautiful clouds.

 The lost truck that we found in the woods.

 When we were hiking we found a monarch butterfly. It is probably one of my friends from my school when we let them go.

 I was feeling a little scared when mommy was already in the woods. I finally got brave and went in there.

We found a marsh and had to get across all these branches so we didn't get muddy. But my hands got a little muddy.

 This is the bridge that was in the marsh. It was all yucky and plants also growed on the bridge.

 I was peeking at the camera on our way to get lunch.

I was on the bars at the playground after lunch.

When we were leaving we saw a wild deer. My dad would have loved it!