Prayers for Miss Stacey

We received some very sad news yesterday regarding my daughter's preschool teacher. She has been diagnosed with colon cancer. They found a tumor in her colon and she will have surgery on October 13. This Thursday will be her last day, until after she recovers. Her doctors also believe that the cancer may also be in her ovaries and her uterus. They will not know for sure until they do the surgery.

The children will not be told until Thursday. She is going to tell them, in a way that only she can. She is so great with these kids and she will know exactly what to say to them so that they will not be worried or afraid. Unlike the way I feel right now.

I have been in shock and so sad since finding out this news. Miss Stacey is such a great teacher; she is kind, patience and loving to the kids. My daughter all ready loves her so much. When she was gone for two day about two weeks ago having her tests done, my daughter couldn't wait for her to come back. It is hard to believe we are going to have to get used to her not being at school for quite sometime. I am crying as I type this.

Please pray that the doctors are able to get all the cancer and that her follow up treatment will be easy on her. Pray for her husband and two sons; one is in high school, the other is in college. She is such a wonderful person and so full of life, I am sure it is going to be hard for them.

Please also pray for Miss Cheryl. She is the second half of the teaching combo. She has always been more of the worker bee and it is going to be an adjustment for her being the center of attention. She does a great job, but it is going to be hard on her. Her and Miss Stacey have taught together for at least fifteen years.

Cousin T

Happy Birthday Cousin T!

We want to wish you a very happy 14th birthday! You are blossoming into a beautiful, strong and faithful young lady! We are so proud of you and we love you very much! You are blessed to share your birthday with your Nanny V. She would have been so proud of you too!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!
It is so hard to believe that you would have been 80 years old today!
Turning 80 in heaven is probably easier for you than it would have been here on earth.
I miss and love you as much today as I did 16 years ago.
Your love, faith, and beauty will never be forgotten.
I Love You!

My Worry Wart!

My poor son is a worry wart. He will worry about something for a long time without even saying anything about it. For example, he worried all summer about having to do 100 math problems in five minutes on the first day of first grade. When we say something to him or around him, he will be processing it in his brain for days or weeks. We don't realize it until he asks us questions about it several days later. His little mind is always working. This is both a blessing and a curse.

Take for example early Friday morning, 3:00 am to be exact. I am awaken by my little son lightly tapping on my arm saying, "Mommy, mommy, mommy.". When I wake up he asks me, "Mommy, how long after you swallow gum will you die?" In my half awake mind I am thinking what in the world is he talking about. "What?" I ask him. "How long does it take after you swallow gum will it be before you die?" I am awake now and realize that I need to be very careful of what I say to him right now.

When I ask what happened he tells me that at the Parents Club meeting, one of his friends gave him some gum. This was probably the very first time that he has ever had gum. Well, he swallowed it. He remembered when I told his sister several months before that she could not have gum anymore because she swallowed it. At the time I had said that swallowing gum was not good for you; that it could plug up your intestines and you could die. In hindsight I should have remembered who my audience was.

So he had been worried about swallowing this gum for several days. He never said anything until he woke up in the middle of the night and his stomach was hurting. He was convinced that things were dire for him and he would not let up the medical questions. Every answer I gave him was followed by "But Mommy, how do you know?" After about ten minutes, Daddy told him to go to sleep. So he kept whispering questions to me. I was finally able to convince him that he was not constipated, his tummy was not distended, he was not running a fever and that if I truly thought something was going to happen to him, that I would be rushing him to the hospital. He finally was convinced, for the time being, and was able to go back to sleep. He of course slept with us the rest of the night.

The funny thing is that since Friday afternoon he has had a sore throat, headache and a runny, congested nose. He must have asked me at least ten times this weekend if I am sure that these symptoms have nothing to do with swallowing gum. Oh I feel so sorry for this little soul. He is going to have many sleepless nights as he gets older. I will have to pray for comfort for him.

Cousins

I again feel like I am on an out of control merry-go-round and I can't get off! It has been really hectic at our house the last two weeks and I miss being able to be coherent enough to put together a post! I am tired of seeing my poor son and his missing tooth so I thought I would post this cute picture from his party. These are some of my youngest nieces. We are only missing little Jae who got sick and couldn't make it to the party.

What a bunch of beautiful young ladies! Can you tell my daughter is soooo happy to be with her cousins!

Losing a Tooth

My little boy has entered the next stage of his life. He has lost his first tooth! This was quite a surprise for us, as we did not even know that his tooth was loose. Thinking back on it, I have to laugh, because how he lost it is so like my son.

On Friday, when we were leaving his classroom I noticed that he had something red in his mouth. I got scared when I had him open his mouth and there was blood and a missing tooth! He had never said anything to us about his tooth being loose so I was thinking the worse. I asked him what happened and he looked at me with big eyes and wouldn't tell me. I asked him if he had fallen and hit his tooth; had someone hit him in the mouth; did he eat something hard, and did you tell your teacher? Again no response. I am starting to panic and thinking, "Is there a dentist open on Friday afternoon?" I told him that I was not mad and that he was not in trouble, but please tell me what happened. He then tells me that he was playing with it in the classroom that afternoon and it just came out. I asked him where it was and again he doesn't want to tell me. I again tried to get it out of him and he finally says it is in the classroom by his desk. When I want to go and get it, it is after all his very first tooth to come out, he says we can get it tomorrow. "No way," I said, "It will be gone tomorrow."

Off we go across the street, to try and find the tooth. I am thinking that it will be like a needle in a haystack to find this little tooth. But when we get there, he shows me exactly where it is, on the floor right next to the leg of his desk! When I pick it up, the teacher walks in. I told her that he had lost his tooth, and she knew nothing about it. She went and got a cute little tooth box for him to put it in so he wouldn't lose it. She told him that she had those just in case anyone lost their teeth, but they had to tell her when it happened.

When we left I started to explain the whole tooth fairy thing. We had never had that discussion before, because we never knew the tooth was loose. When I explained he would get some money from her for his tooth, he was pretty excited.

That night I asked him why he never told me that his tooth was loose. He said that he thought he would have to go to the dentist if he told me. When I asked why he didn't keep his tooth he told me, "I wanted to lose it Mommy." I guess that is what he was doing, losing the tooth! He is such a literal child.

Even with his missing tooth, he still is pretty darn cute! Here he is with two of his Uncles on his birthday party day on Saturday. I guess good looks run in the family.

Lila

Today the lady that was trying to find Lila a home, came to my office to see how things were going with her. She had been afraid to ask because she had not heard from me and didn't want to know if things had not worked out. The last time she had talked to me was the day after she had jumped out of our yard. I was happy to report to her that things were going really well! We love her and she is apart of our family!

She did jump out of the back yard once, even with the jump harness on. I was very sad because I thought that we might not be able to keep her if we could not keep her in the yard. My husband decided to put up a cattle hot wire fence to see if we could keep her away from the fence. Between the fence and the harness, she has not jumped out of the yard in over 3 weeks! I hope this means that she has decided that it isn't so bad here.

I just loved this picture of my daughter and Lila. It isn't the greatest quality, because it is shot through the screen door, but it captures how much she loves Lila. She will go outside, first thing every morning and give her a big hug and pet her head. On this morning she sat down with Lila and was feeding her dog food, one piece at a time!
Lila is such a sweet girl and I am glad that God sent her to us. She finally has a home with a family that loves her and I think she knows it.

Labor Day!

I found this fun little meme on Rocks in my Dryer and thought it would be fun to do. So in honor of Labor Day, here is my labor story.

How long were your labors?
My son 24 minutes! My daughter 24 minutes!

How did you know you were in labor?
The nurse told me I was having a contraction with my son but I did not feel it. With my daughter I felt one long pain.

Where did you deliver?
With both of them, at the hospital.

Drugs?
I had epidurals with both of them. I only felt one pain with the second one just before they gave me the epidural.

C-section?
Both of my children were scheduled C-sections! That is why the other questions seem a little too easy. When I was pregnant with the first, the doctor had to talk me into the c-section because she knew my son was going to be large. Because of my age and the fact that it was my first delivery, she was afraid of shoulder distocia(?). After seeing what that was on an episode of either Maternity Ward or Babies Special Delivery, I whole heartily agreed to have one. When they laid my 10 pound son on my chest, I was soooo thankful that I had agreed. With my daughter, I couldn't wait to pick the day and the time. I had one very strong contraction when I was laying on the delivery table, just before the epidural. I was so thankful that I would not have to go through hours of that. Again when they handed me my 10 lb 4 oz little girl, I was so grateful for the c-section option! Both of them were born 24 minutes after the hour that I was rolled into the delivery room; one was 4:24 pm and the other was 12:24 pm.

Who delivered?
I had a very good doctor who was very quiet. When I was pregnant the first time, she had never been pregnant before. By the time I had my daughter, she had given birth to a son. She was a fantastic doctor the second time around. She was good the first time but what a difference going through a pregnancy made on her bedside manner and her techniques.

If you want to play along with this meme, just cut and paste the questions into your own blog, and then leave a link on Rocks in my Dryer.

River Fun

We were invited to go to the river last Sunday for a last Summer outing. We had a really good time relaxing and enjoying the water. One of the guys brought his kayaks and the kids had fun going for rides. The sand and water were also inviting for the kids. We had a great time enjoying the end of summer.