Please pray

Many of you have met my friend Linette. Her daughter Hannah was adopted from China and they are in the process of adopting a second child. Here is the e-mail she sent out:

It with a heavy heart, I write this email. I have tears rolling down my face because I'm not sure where to begin. My mind is going in a million different directions, so please bear with me.
Yesterday Scott took me to the emergency room with severe abdominal pain and lower back pain. After a long day and many tests, the doctor told us they found a large mass in my uterus and several other small tumors on the female organs. He said - We're 'fairly certain' this is cancer. Even though this is all very hard to swallow, we believe God can give us a miracle. We don't serve a God that is "fairly certain" about anything. He is an awesome God and we're putting all of our trust and faith in Him at this time. The plan is I will be admitted to St John's Hospital in Springfield tomorrow with surgery on Tuesday so they can take the mass out and determine whether it's benign or malignant. We're very scared but like I said- we're putting all our trust and hope in Jesus Christ. I have a beautiful family I love more than anything and I'm asking all of you to be there for them this week. For those of you close to Scott, he's going to need your support in the days ahead. For those of you with a special place in your heart for our sweet Hannah, we need you to be there for her this week. We're going to try to keep things as normal as possible for her. That's so much easier said than done but we're going to try. Please ask everyone you know to pray for healing and for the doctors this week. We believe in the power of prayer. So, after you read this email get on your knees and PRAY!

Straight Pride

We were driving by the church on Battlefield today that flys a gay flag on their flagpole and the thought occured to me....why don't we have a straight flag? Really, I'm sure there are people who attend that church who are straight but they are not equally represented on the flagpole. Oh, the injustice.

My addiction

I go through a box every 2 days. It is wonderful!!!!

Matt slayed our Goliath

Before

After

My husband has never been one to spend money on frivolous things like professional tree removal. He got a quote then decided to attempt to conquer the massive bush/tree/scary thing himself. Most of the shrapnel is now on the Cates' land awaiting the next bonfire.

I love this....

...it's so true.

Our week of firsts....

Maggie had her first soccer practice, which was great.

All the kids had their first day at co-op yesterday. Maggie is learning Bible, manners, history, science, music, and art. Lucy has lessons in about half of those subjects and Oliver learned how to manipulate his teachers into walking the halls with him. I love it and I still am amazed we got in at the last minute.

Lucy got her first birthday party invitation just addressed to her. She has not let Maggie forget for a minute that she gets to go to the teddy bear place and eat cake without her. We are working on kindness!

We got our first dehumidifier which I'm sure is not blog worthy to most of you but I have been very impressed with it. It takes like a gallon of water out of our basement air a day and the whole place smells better. Definately worth the money.

my one and only area of expertise

I've been getting a few calls from people wanting to know how to manage the pukey part of pregnancy. Seems after 3 go rounds, I've become something of an expert at this. We all need something that we can talk intelligently about, I guess mine is throw-up. What exactly does that say about me? Hmmmm... Anyway, I thought I'd go ahead and write it all down so that anyone can reference this if need be in the future. Here are my tips compiled from my experience, the advice of my former Dr. and my very wise midwife, and tidbits I've gathered from those that have walked this road before me.

1. Perspective- You do not have cancer. You will not die. There is an end in sight. It is all worth it. Keep this in mind.

2. Throw up when you need to. I would much rather do this than feel nauseous constantly. Become an expert at it. If you flush while you do it, no one can hear you. Learn from the bulimics. :)

3. If you are sick only first thing in the morning, it is a low blood sugar problem. Your blood sugar plummets during the night because of lack of food. Set an alarm for once or twice a night so you can awaken and eat a snack. This will keep a steadier blood sugar level and you will wake up in the morning feeling much better.

4. Always keep something in your stomach. Eat a snack every 2 hours. An empty tummy is a sick tummy.

5. Dandelion leaf tea. Gingerroot capsules. Liquid vitamin B6. Warm lemon water. Sea-Bands. Try it all. It won't hurt you and you never know what might give you some relief.

6. One day it will end. I am 13 weeks and today is the first day I've felt great in weeks. I think I'm near the end of it. I am even cooking dinner tonight which is quite the feat.

That's that.

Backlog of stuff

We had a great garage sale at the new house last Friday. It was the best one I've ever had. We almost sold out of stuff, we had a steady stream of customers, and only one was rude. Perfect weather, too.
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High Street night out at the Cardinal's. Lots of fun.

my baby is one

What a wonderful night. Perfect weather and company. The only flaw in the slaw being the hideous cookies from a bakery whose "good decorator" recently quit. Oh, well. I'm so thankful that God brought us this happy, sweet, son from the other side of the world. Adoption is amazing. Thank you so much to everyone who shared this day with us.

baby names

Daisy for the first name. What for the middle name? Pearl, Beatrice, Eleanor, and Adaline have all been shot down by the mister.

Boy names are hard. Real hard. Milton, Wayne, Hank, Walter, Harvey, are my picks. Matt says Roger but I'm not sold. Any ideas?

moving day

Tonight is our last night in this house. I really thought I'd be sad but I'm not. I'm excited about the move. We've had a lot of help and we have great friends and family helping us tomorrow. I've yet to get overwhelmed which is quite a miracle. We found out today that we get to keep our wonderful mail lady since we are only moving 2 blocks. Of course, you would think that with such a short move we would get to keep our phone number, also. Apparently it doesn't work that way.

Been loving me some garage sales

A few weeks ago, a friend called and told me about a great sale off of National. I hopped in the van, shot right over there and found the perfect matching set of pink and chenille bedspreads for the girls' beds. Quite a steal at $25 since they were in great condition. Then, yesterday, I stopped at a sale of a lady who was shutting her home preschool. I loaded my arms with curriculum and phonics flash cards for $4. Jen and I rose early this morning to be the first ones in line at my parents' church sale. They were selling off all of their old children's furniture and play sets. We filled the back of her dad's truck with $10 bookshelves, $5 coat racks, and even a play refrigerator. Even better than the bargains was the chaotic atmosphere. One man actually put his hand on Jen's back and pushed her through the door when they were first letting us in. Of course, she let him have it. We stopped at a sale on Meadowmere on our way home. That's where I hit the motherload. Now, I rarely buy clothes for my kids at garage sales. They are usually gross and worn out. I normally don't even glance at the clothing racks. This sale was different. I don't think I'll ever stumble upon a sale that has H&M kids' clothes again. All barely worn and a lot still had the tags on. Most of the girls' clothing was in size 5 so that was absolutely perfect. Here's what I got for $36. Bargains make me so happy.

Better late than never

The Ovas came into town last week and we got to enjoy some Lambert's with them. We miss them but they are doing fabulous in Colorado.

Ikea fun

The last 36 hours were an absolute blast. We left at 4:00 in the morning yesterday to drive to TX and shop at Ikea. After spending 7 hours in the store, we spent another hour watching Matt Cates load the U-Haul like a game of Tetris. We were so glad he came with us to help. We ate dinner then went to Super Target. Holly and her police i.d. got us a GREAT deal on our rooms for the night. We drove home today while enjoying a few fun stops along the way. Can't wait to do it again!

the grandstand was grand

The fair is over for me. I am opting out of working the dirt and noise they call a tractor pull tonight. I am always a little sad when the 10 days of fun come to a close. A few thoughts....

1. I don't think this can be mentioned too much. Bryan, you made everyones' week when you tackled that guy to the ground.

2. I think it is so inconsiderate for these "stars" to put on a concert drunk as a skunk. These people are your fans who have spent their hard earned money to come and watch you play. John Michael Montgomery was pitifully drunk and had not 1 but 2 plastic cups full of whiskey and beer with him on stage. It was just ridiculous. He sounded horrible and looked worse.

3. Kraig Morgan put on one of the best concerts I've ever seen.

4. I think you daytime boys have waaaayyy too much fun.

5. "Eddie Money don't have fans, he's got friends."

From generation to generation....

When my Grandma E. went to court to finalize my uncle's adoption, she was 7 months pregnant with my aunt. Looks like I'll be following in her footsteps.....as most of you already know.

Jackson is 4!!

An ode to everyone who has cleaned up my children's puke

Yes, I am really blogging this. My girls throw up a lot. I think it might have something to do with the fact that I threw up a lot when they were inside of me. They just think it's normal. Anyway, I wanted to give a public thank you to everyone who has ever been brave and iron stomached enough to help with the disgusting clean-up. To Randy and Tammy, thank you for all your help at Steak and Shake. To Christina , I really appreciate you pitching in at Barnes and Noble. To Lisa W., thanks for changing your sheets and my daughter's clothes, both times. To Bryan and Ron, I can't believe you guys were so quick to get the boat back to spotless. I know there have been more of you, but this is just a quick list off the top of my fair fried brain. Thank you all so much.

Ikea run

We are taking a girl (plus one guy to drive the U-haul for us) trip to Ikea in 2 weeks. We still have one spot in the Suburban left. If you would like to go, just let me know. We will only be gone one night.

roadtrip

We took a wonderful trip down 60 today. Lisa C. had told me about this great little amish store in Seymour. They had a yummy selection of food but it was the children's books that I had to tear myself away from. They were all just so cute and wholesome. Next, we went to my dad's hometown of Ava to eat lunch at the soda shop. If you can see the prices on the menu, you know it was one of the cheapest meals we've ever had. We stopped off at a roadside park on our way home to play in the water and tick off a photographer who was trying to take senior pictures. I am just not ready for these kids to go back to school any time soon. I have so much fun with them.