Melanie's Skating Pics!

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Melanie LOVES Her New Bike

Melanie's Birthday Evening

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Melanie's 7th. Birthday Morning (26th.)

I made Melanie cinnamon rolls for breakfast and Sean & I sang Happy Birthday! -

Melanie's Sunflower

It BLOOMED!

I Love You Like Crazy Cakes (My Friends Blog) MUST READ!

You've gotta check out this BLOG! My sweet friends down the street are adopting a cutie patutie lil girl from China (picture of sweet girl is on their BLOG!)! And they need YOUR help. Adoption is not cheap. Adopting a child from China is life changing. Nearly all of the children that are given up have some sort of special need of some kind. When you see or know of someone adopting from China, know that they have truly been called by Our Lord Jesus Christ to rescue the fatherless. It's hard work. It's taxing emotionally and physically. But it IS worth it. Adoption is worth the price. Even if you have to fundraise the WHOLE way. But, saving a life is priceless. Giving a child a FOREVER FAMILY IS PRICELESS. My friend Alli, just like my friend Rebekah last year, has a HUGE heart. Help Support them. Buy a t-shirt. Wearing this shirt is a walking advertisement of your support for adoption, and your belief in rescuing the Fatherless. How COOL is that? Help this little girl come home to her FOREVER FAMILY.
http://blog.iloveyoulikecrazycakes.com/2014/09/our-adoption-fundraiser.html
And if you head on over to Eternal Treasures (the link is to the right), you'll find a GIVE-AWAY on Rebekah's blog when you show your support for Alli's adoption! YAY!

Baby Sean's 6 Month Check-Up

Well, here's Mr. Chunko in all his glory! I was hoping he'd hit the 20 lbs. mark just so I could say he's TWENTY pounds. But he's 17 lbs. 8 and a half ounces. :-) That's still amazing! He's 26 1/2 inches long. Baby Sean is growing and doing well. So far, so good. Don't you just want to bite his thighs? LOL! I said to his Dr., "Do you see his big muscles?" He replied, "I haven't had a chance to see his muscles cause I'm too busy looking at his sausage fingers!" Yip, he likes to eat. :-) Oh, Baby Sean. We adore your squishiness.

SO Silly!

In the wee hours of the early morning, when we're all still waking up, these 2 can be SO silly and VERY cute.

North Texas Buddy Walk...Come Walk With Us! October 11, 2014

Come walk with us! The Down Syndrome Partnership of North Texas is hosting a Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome. You can join our team, donate to our team, create your own team or just donate in general. This walk is going to be a BLAST! I love that charities incorporate exercise to raise awareness & money for AWESOME causes! I am especially looking forward to it just so I can meet a ton-o-new people, learn a few things, get some fresh air and raise awareness. Please donate to team McGurk. Our fundraising goal is $500.00. We're walking for Sean, so come walk with us, (Oct. 11) we'd love to have ya! Thanks friends and family! https://secure.ezeventsolutions.com/fr/NTBW/2014BuddyWalk/McGurk

North Texas Giving Day (One Day A Year Event) Sept. 18, 2014

Friends & Family, Sean has Down Syndrome. And because of that our eyes and hearts have been opened to things that maybe we wouldn't be aware of it if it weren't because of him.  We have become members of 2 really awesome Down Syndrome organizations that don't ask for dues for a membership. However, they are constantly providing activities, resources, seminars, social events, local help, research, etc. for families of Down Syndrome. I know that some of you already give to charities that you think are super important and speak to your heart, we do as well, but if you could take the time to think about giving to one of these local Down Syndrome charities on behalf of Baby Sean or another person with Down Syndrome you'd really be giving back. I think it's really neat that my Dad has already started giving regularly to The National Down Syndrome Society just because he has a grandson with Downs & he also started giving regularly to the Cystic Fibrosis foundation because his great-grand daughter was born with CF. He never even thought to give to an organization like that because he wasn't aware of the need. But once he learned of the need because his family is affected by it his heart was opened. I never knew of the need for orphans, let alone Down Syndrome or CF. But I do now. I hope that you guys will take the time to donate a minimum of $25 to one or hopefully both organizations and or others.  But these 2 will definitely benefit Baby Sean.   Also your $25 donation will be matched. :-)
Here are the 2 organizations we belong to & give to.

Down Syndrome Partnership of North TX http://www.dspnt.org/

Down Syndrome Guild of Dallas http://downsyndromedallas.org/

Link to North TX Giving Day https://www.northtexasgivingday.org/

We Ran/Walked/Strolled For Orphans!

It was SUPER cold! I definitely wasn't expecting such cool weather. Melanie is bundled up sitting in Sean's stroller while I wear Sean close to keep him warm. Chick-Fil-A was a sponsor there and gave us 3 gift cards for their food! WOW! And of course they had face painting for the kiddos! About to start the race! Our action shot! Melanie didn't wear the correct shoes (she's all about style, not comfort or practicality) and actually hurt her ankle trying to run with our neighbor's children. So I pushed her in the stroller for a bit so she could recover. But she ran & walked the majority of the time. She also ran across the finish line. She did great! We finished walking/strolling/running the 1 mile in about 17 minutes and some seconds!

Race Ready!

Melanie & I are ready to race for the Orphans! How'd you like the t-shirt? Cute, right? Yay! Whoop, Whoop!

Every Orphan's Hope Run for Orphans

Duane is working on Saturday morning. Kyle has a cross country meet and doesn't want us to cheer him on. So Melanie, Sean & I will RUN FOR ORPHANS! What a great way to spend our morning! Just click the link below if you'd like to make a donation to the cause. You can just donate money, or click on the "sleep-in" option where you register like you're going to run, receive a t-shirt in the mail but don't actually run. LOL! I like the "sleep-in option" and think it's funny. A super great way to show your support without actually doing any work. But we'll do the 1 mile Fun Run. Wish us luck! Every Orphan's Hope Run for Orphans registration

Some Seriously Cute Pictures of Baby Sean :-)

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Sunflowers in a Cobalt Vase

Melanie took an oil painting class at the community center. The theme was Sunflowers in a Cobalt Vase. Isn't it beautiful? This was such a cool, fun class! Melanie really enjoyed it. She'll do another one next month.

Melanie & Sean

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Sean William Jingle Heimer Schmidt

Kyle's Working for the Man

Kyle has a J.O.B.!!!!! Working at Spring Creek BBQ!!!
Whoa! I can NOT believe my son, my baby...young man, is old enough to get a job. How exciting. Good for you Kyle! Tim used to tell my siblings and I when we were growing up all the time, "Get a job. Get a life. And get out." Well, I think Kyle is following that simple advice. LOL!
He's a sophomore in high school that has a couple goals.
1. Get a truck.
2. Move out.
He has turned into what Duane calls a Worker bee. Yesterday was Kyle's first day on the job. He was a bus boy. He was wiping down tables, taking out trash, sweeping, and all kinds of good stuff. When I was a waitress at Spoons & Chili's I remember my bus boys more than the other servers. Bus boys work super hard and they have to be fast. It's too bad Kyle won't get any tips. Bus boys really deserve them. He looks a little worn out. When I dropped him off he was in hyper happy good spirits! He couldn't wait to get there & start earning some cash. When I picked him up last night he was still in good spirits. He told me all about his shift, how nice everyone is and that he can't wait to go back. He also said something that I think a lot of American adults are missing these days. "It feels good to work." It does. It feels good to earn money/something. Kyle is a hard worker. He's always enjoyed earning cash for taking care of some one's lawn, washing their car, chores, etc. I think he's going to have a good work ethic. He takes pride in what he does (except if maybe I tell him to do something). LOL! We are super proud of you Kyle! Now all he has to do is keep up with his grades.
I also can't wait to go visit him at his very first job.  I remember my mom & sister did that to me.  I didn't mind it.  Kyle will, but we're gonna do it anyway.   That's my job.  :-)   I've already warned him.