LOVE this boy.

Thomas' 16th

So these pictures are backwards.  They changed the format on my blogging site.  Arg.  Why fix it?  It wasn't broken. 

We celebrated Thomas' birthday last night with cake.  It was a late celebration.  Mia had dance until 9, so we had cake around 9:30 or so.

He got his license, too.  It was so weird not having to drive kids to school today. 

I cannot believe how much he has changed over the last months.  It's crazy. 

We were singing Happy Birthday here. 

Look how tall he has gotten!

Thomas

Thomas got his class ring! It is really gorgeous. I think he is pretty proud of it. Hard to believe he's old enough to get one.


He's back to refereeing Optimist soccer. He reffed 2 games this morning.

Mia's 13th Birthday

We took the girls to Flipz gymnastics on Friday after school to celebrate.


Worn out from jumping on trampoline.


On the balance beam.


Kayla was like a monkey going up the rope!


In the foam pit.


My sweet birthday girl.


Ashley, Ava, Kayla, Mia and Janae on the balance beam.


They devoured the cake.


Back home for presents!


She finally got the cell phone she has been asking for for months.

Thomas and Sydney were there to help celebrate.

The girls roasted marshmallows for s'mores.

I turned in for the night at around 10:30 with a fan on to drown out the giggles. I didn't even hear them. Mia said they went to sleep around 2AM.

Mia thanked me this morning, saying, "That was the best birthday party EVER!"

Family Night.

Four beauties waiting in the serving line. Sydney, Amy, Elizabeth (my niece) and Kathy, my sis-in-law.

Pretty sure they are talking about NCAA basketball.

After dinner we went outside to enjoy the beautiful evening. Adam jumped on the tractor and plowed Dad's garden.

Serena and Michael. Serena made a delicious pork loin and roasted potatoes for our meal. There was enough left over to make Dad four frozen dinners.

Mia and Mary petting Sugar, one of Dad's three horses.

Amy and Mary Grace.

In Memory of Eli

Today is Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness Day. A former patient (and now friend) of mine and her husband lost their second child to this disorder in 2010, when he was just 2 days old.

CDH occurs when there diaphragm does not close completely during fetal development, and the abdominal contents can move through the opening and into the chest, preventing development of the lung. There are varying degrees of the disorder, and occurs in about 1 out of every 2500 births. Surgery can be done to correct the milder forms, but about 50% of infants with the disorder die.

Eli's parents have bravely turned their heart-breaking loss into something positive, by raising awareness about the disorder. They have created "Eli's Angel Hands," a not-for-profit organization that makes "care packages" for intensive care nursery families, with items such as chapstick, kleenex, hand sanitizer, pens, notepads, lotion, etc. They also make scrapbooks for the families of babies with CDH.

Today the organization held a "work day" to assemble care packages and work on the scrapbooks. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the work day, but I was there in spirit.


I made these special treats and delivered them to Eli's mom yesterday, to share among the work day friends... "Hugs and Kisses" for Eli.

This family has a very special place in my heart and I am committed to help with product and monetary donations to "Eli's Angel Hands."

A work in progress.

My dirty deck. Time for spring cleaning!


Mia wanted to help.


Sydney helped, too.

I have officially invested in a pressure washer. Last spring was the first time I'd pressure washed the deck since we moved into the house in 2003. I borrowed the pressure washer from a friend. I've also purchased some deck stain to put on when I get it clean enough. There is something very therapeutic about power washing. It leaves me feeling as though I've really accomplished something.

Spring has Sprung?

We have so much enjoyed these beautiful spring-like days. Mia made homemade bubbles. I think they make better bubbles than the ones you buy in the store.

Chumpy

Mia took this picture of Chumpy, the family fish. What a great photo! I think I might have another photographer in the house!

That's my boy!

How cool is this? I got this in the mail yesterday. What a kind hearted boy I have. I'm so very proud of him.

Scared Spitless

When we found out Mom was sick in December, Amy looked at me one day and said, "When are we getting our mammograms?" Neither of us had had one yet. I know, I know....I'm 47 and should have already had several. My gynecologist has been after me for years to get one, "as a baseline." I put it off, and put it off, but now had a strong family history of breast cancer. First, my mom's sister, several years ago. Her breast cancer was found in tissue that was removed in a breast reduction, then Mom. So two weeks ago, I got my first mammogram.

I found out on the following day that there was an area that the radiologist recommended be ultrasounded. What? Oh my God. Now I was scared. All I could think about was what we had been through with Mom. I contacted my gynecologist that day, who got me scheduled for an ultrasound that day. I was at work that day. From the moment I found out there was a concerning area, I couldn't concentrate on ANYTHING. From 10AM to 1PM when the ultrasound was scheduled was the longest 3 hours.

I told my charge nurse, and friend, Cheryl, what was going on. I cried. I was so scared. She was very reassuring to me, but I was still so scared. My co-workers were concerned when they saw that I had been crying, but no one asked any questions.

At 1:00 I went down to ultrasound. They called me back and Joanne, one of the ultrasonographers that does a lot of our fetal ultrasounds, was taking care of me. She asked me how I was doing, and I started crying again. She explained that she would scan the area first, and then the radiologist would come in and scan, too, which was protocol.

Imagine my fear escalating when the radiologist sat down and said, "We need to biopsy this thing." He gave me a quick explanation of what he was seeing on the scan, which, in hind-sight, was actually reassuring, though, at the time, all I heard was "biopsy." I cried and cried on that ultrasound table.

He said that we could schedule the biopsy for my next day off. I told him, "Let's do it now," and he agreed.

So I got the biopsy right there in ultrasound. Painful? Yes. I likened it to a nail gun going off 5 different times, once for each "punch" specimen. It took about 10 minutes total. I asked for his "gut feeling" about the mass. He told me his gut told him that this was benign and that it was going to turn out to be a papilloma. He pointed to the screen and said, "Nothing on here is saying cancer to me, but because it is a 'grey area,' we have to biopsy it. He reassured me that I was going to be fine.

I went home to wait the longest wait of my life. 20 hours of not knowing, but with some reassurance. He called me Friday at 11:30 with the BENIGN report. What a relief. A weight was lifted.

Because of the nature of the lesion, though, and a possibility of it becoming pre-cancerous in several years, it was recommended that I have a lumpectomy. I had that on Tuesday, so that sucker is OUT OF THERE.

I'm so glad it's over with and that it is all fine. Thank God.

Dave Gill Court Dedication

Tuesday night was a big night at Southern Boone. After months of petitions, meetings with the school board, and lots of work on the part of his family and the community , former coach/athletic director Dave Gill was honored when the high school basketball court was dedicated and named for him. In the above photo, his family awaits his arrival to the gym.


I had heard that they sequestered Coach outside the gym with the boys varsity team, and that he was asked to give them a "pep talk" before their game. They called down from the stands all the former athletes who were coached by Coach Gill, and they formed two lines.

Amy arrived right as they were forming the lines, and I convinced her to go down there. She didn't really want to, but she was on the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP softball team in 1986 and Coach Gill was her coach.

Coach is brought into the gym. I can't help but wonder whether he knew something was up. That would be a really hard secret to keep.

He was greeted by his former athletes, and the emotion was evident.

Coach Lacy read Coach Gill's "bio" of all of his accomplishments with Southern Boone Athletics,
which includes two state softball championships.

Coach and his wife, Jeannie.

He was overcome by emotion, as were his wife and family.

Here, Coach Lacy is announcing that from this day forward, the Southern Boone high school basketball court will be called Dave Gill Court.

The floor design was unveiled.