Updates

Honestly, over the past two weeks or so, there's not too much to report from the Gilliam household.  It's been cold, snowy, I had a sore throat, then an infection in my lymph nodes which caused a lot of pain in my neck, school cancellations due to weather... which kept the kids home who were even more of a pain in my neck...  ;)

We had a couple of sad family events too.  Bobby's Uncle John passed away, rather suddenly at the age of 68.  Though he and Nancy reside in Atlanta, I've always felt close to them.  I believe I first met John when I was 16.  I had heard Bobby refer to John as "Uncle John" so many times, that one of the first times I met him, I accidentally called him Uncle John.  He heartily embraced it.  We will both carry fond memories of Uncle John.

My Grandma Munyon fell back in December and fractured her tibia.  After working hard in a rehabilitation facility, nearly ready to go back to her assisted living home, her care was neglected and she developed a bed sore on her bottom.  We, as a family, are pretty angry and devastated.  This sore was 100% preventable.  She will likely have surgery tomorrow to help heal the wound, but she faces a long and hard road ahead.  I've always been very close with my Grandma, so this tough.  She has three devoted daughters who will fight hard for her.  She's a very special lady to us all.

Despite these events, we've had good times too.  The kids went for their first official eye exams last week and came away with excellent reports!  We celebrated with some pizza.

Daniel loves black olives on his pizza!

Bobby took a couple days off this week.  Yesterday, he and I had a day date while the kids were at school.  We didn't snap any pictures, but we had a great day at the coffeehouse, visiting small shops in downtown Lee's Summit, and lunch at a great new (to us) restaurant (Third Street Social).

Today, there's no school due to the dangerously low temperatures and wind chill... so another day at home.  The kids have played well today.  Here's their latest creation - Daniel's firetrucks are putting out a fire at Leslie's playhouse (HA!).  I love their creativity.

Here's to hoping February is a little brighter, healthier, and warmer!