Mommy to the Rescue!

Sunday afternoon when I was busy in the kitchen making the birthday cake for Zach's party, I heard a serious cry coming from the boy's room.  I knew that Matt had gone to the bathroom but didn't realize he had made his way into his room.  Upon entering their room, Matthew was standing with the top drawer of his dresser open and both hands stuck behind his back!

When I got closer to investigate, I found that he had gotten an arm in each of the arm holes of this little doll vest.  My guess is that it is one of the girls' American Girl doll vests or it could belong to a similar sized stuffed animal or baby doll.  How he had gotten both arms in past his elbows I do not know.  He did need help to get out and when he was finally free he asked me "Mom, why was this in my top drawer?"

Great question Little One!

Happy 7 Year and 44 Day Birthday to ZACH!

Today is exactly 44 days after Zachary's 7th birthday.  Because of the summer schedule we have not been able to celebrate with our family at Grandpa and Grandma's until today.  It amazes me how Zach has grown and everything we have gone through to get to this milestone.  Not his 7th birthday, but his ability to understand that it is okay to celebrate him even when it is 44 days past his birthday.  He would not have been able to have a "belated" birthday party and "roll with it" so well a couple of years ago.  The only thing that gave us a hint that he may have been a little uncomfortable is that he kept reminding everyone that it wasn't his birthday, it was his birthday party day.

I love being his mom.  There were times there in the beginning when I didn't know if I had the tenacity to handle such a huge responsibility.  I am a little off my game this summer and letting too much Wii going on with everything else happening.  Today though, sitting on the swing with him in the back yard in the coolness of the afternoon we shared some stories and some thoughts and I knew that we are still on track.  As he added / multiplied with me how many cans of black beans we needed to feed 31 people their black beans and rice (his favorite meal) it is easy to see that bright mind and sweet heart.

I am so looking forward to celebrating him as much as he will let me!

Strange Things Happen at Garage Sales

Every year that we have a garage sale, we have said that we should write a book about what we experience while watching and waiting for people to come, shop and ultimately buy our stuff.  I always look at it as being able to bless someone else who may be looking for exactly what we might have at our sale.  This year I would like to give some recognition to some of those people who made this year memorable.

First, the lady who made a deal and got five dollars off her total when she bought the mattress set and the big screen tv together.  Her son was begging her for the tv which my brother was selling.  My brother said he had no idea how long it would last since it is old and so he put $25 on it.  That boy really wanted it.  My dad is a great man.  He loves to see us be able to get rid of some of the things that take up space in our lives and so he is usually happy to help when it comes to delivering if it is not too far away.

True to form, he joined my brother to deliver these two large items.  Those of us who stayed back to man the sale were wondering what was taking them so long when 45 minutes later we still hadn't seen them come back.  Not long after though, the truck and trailer were coming down the road.  Imagine our surprise as it got closer and we saw the television on the back of the trailer.  Poor boy, they tried everything they could to get that big clunky thing shimmied in around two corners and downstairs to his room with no such luck.  I don't know who was more disappointed, the boy, or us!  She returned the next day for her money but did leave us with $10 for the trouble.

Then, there was the man riding his bike with a trailer.  We weren't sure the last time he had bathed and it looked like he may have needed some dental work, but he came and parked his bike and started looking around.  There were a lot of things to look at and he spent quite a bit of time rummaging around looking for the perfect thing.  After about 30 minutes, he found it - a pair of girls tap shoes for 75 cents!  He happily purchased them and tossed them into his trailer and on he went to the next sale.

There was a new phenomenon when my brother Josiah added his homemade costumes to the mix.  They are REALLY good costumes that he makes from scratch.  He had a Sponge Bob, and Angry Bird, Pig and two Ninjagas (blue and red)  He priced them a little higher but they are better than any of those flimsy wear once costumes that you can buy around Halloween time for sure.  There were a few people interested but most who looked had their children put on the costume of their choice, or a couple different ones and their moms or adult chaperons would pull out their cell phones and take pictures.  Huh?  Who knew a garage sale would provide such a great photo op?  Maybe next year a photo booth complete with dress up will be in order.

My favorite sentimental moment was when a young couple came up with their twin girls.  It was the third day and I had put out my Little Tykes kitchen with food.  They walked up and asked if they could get all the food for a reduced price.  I told them the kitchen was $25 and he could have all of the food for $10 making it a total of $35.  He pulled out the cash, paid me, grabbed the kitchen  and food and off they went.  I was remembering almost 11 years ago when my parents brought down the combined 1st birthday present for the triplets and they all were so tiny, like those two little twin girls today.  They gathered around my dad and husband as the two of them built this little kitchen so they could play.  They enjoyed it for many years after that.  And now it can bless another family with fun!

My mom sold our check out table right out from under us this year!  And after all was said and done we got the closest results ever when we added up all of the sticker and the money.  We were only off $5.85!  Now THAT was amazing!  Some years we can be off up to $100 or so!  We just divide it amongst ourselves and call it good.  A couple of the grand kids made over $50!  We had so much fun, we are going to do it again at my house next weekend.  I have only had a chance to go through half of my stuff and so I will spend a lot of time in my basement this week trying to get things priced to sell.  Like I said, I feel lighter lately.  It is a nice feeling.

I love having garage sales, these are just a few of the many stories that I could share.  It is such a weird environment but it is so fun to see what kind of treasure we really have to share!

A Garage Sale Distraction

Things have been crazy around here as we prepared for and executed a successful garage sale at my mom's house.  It was a nice distraction and brought in some money at the same time.  I am happy to announce that I made enough to go into the store this week and pick out new counter tops and possibly a back splash for the kitchen remodel.  Super excited about that!

We are going to put our house on the market after all.  I found this paraphrase from Ecclesiastes and thought it fits so perfectly with what it going on with us right now.  It is never perfect conditions.  Sometimes stepping out in faith is what we have to do.  

So...between now and August 15th (the date of my surgery) I will be busy boxing up things and working to make the place look good.  It was nice when my brother and his family and sister and her family were here tonight, some of them just seeing the new wood floors for the first time.  They were pretty awed by how taking out the huge clunky entertainment center and pulling up the carpet really makes the place look great!

Not to mention the fact that I have boxed up all of the cluttery stuff that I have been trying to reduce in our life for a very long time.  It feels pretty freeing and wonderful to live a little lighter.  I am sure I will be tempted to clutter up stuff in the future.  I just hope I remember how nice it is to live a less cluttered life!

August 15th will be the day of my surgery.  I am certainly NOT looking forward to that day, but I hope that we can have it on the market and ready to show.  Life is going so fast right now...where has the summer gone?  I blinked and here we are!

Cancer Files: Make Mine a Double

Today was plastic surgeon day.  Before I begin, let me say that through this whole situation I am SO incredibly thankful to God for giving me just enough jitters to keep this real and enough calm to be at peace most of the time.  Every time I get into the car to go to a new meeting with whatever doctor I am seeing, I start getting that queezy feeling in my stomach.  The intensity continues to increase as we get out of the car and make our way to the office.  Once in the office I am usually having to intently listen to whatever the doctor is explaining because really, to be honest, most visits are information overload.  I don't seem to get these queezies until appointment time.  The peace of God truly does pass all understanding.

With that said, those queezies calmed right away in the plastic surgeons office.  First things first, he pulls out his little kit of breast implant samples for us to look at, feel and compare.  Nope, no more queezies - it was a little hard not to giggle as he held up the "gummy bear implant" that has just recently come out this past February!  He explained everything with pictures of past patients and testimonials of their success and happiness upon completion.

Then we talked about my specific situation and the questions I had along with the things that I should keep in mind as we make this decision.  Do we want an implant, two implants?  Or, do we want to use my own body's tissue?  Research it if you would like, I won't go into all of the details here, but there are amazing things they can do with the human body to help women get through this very stressful transition.

So, what did we decide?  Well, pros and cons considered, we are going with a double mastectomy with tram flap reconstruction.  It is a more involved surgery and longer recovery time but in the long run, it gives me the best chance to get all of the bad stuff out of there and not have to go through this again down the road on the other side.  There will be minimal returns to the doctors office in years ahead and my body won't have to get used to "foreign" objects as body parts.

I won't lie, I am ready to get this done and move on.  I asked the question of the nurse today if there would be ANY chance that I would still have to do radiation or chemo when all this is over.  She said more than likely not but we will know after the pathology comes back.  I am at peace with this decision and look forward to being on the other side of the surgery day which I will find out when the nurse gives me a call back in the next couple of days.  I told her it needs to happen sometime between August 3rd (when my cousin Buck and his beautiful bride Jen get married) and August 27th, the first day of school.  My goal is to be far enough along in my recovery to be able to stand up straight and see the kids off on their first day.  Let's see if the docs get their schedules together to accommodate me!

A Little Quiz...for Fun

Here is a fun little extra...I was looking through some of my digital scrapbook pages and few years back after Matthew was born I put together this fun page.  I could still pass the test, some of you who know them well can see how you do!

The Important Stuff: Super Mario Brothers

Since our appointment with the surgeon was moved to Wednesday, there is nothing much to report or think about in the area of my health today.  So, we focused on a very important project to three of our family members this evening.  It was so much fun to get out all of my 1 1/2 inch squares again to puzzle together some more Mario Brother's quilt blocks!  Matthew was thrilled to help since he has practiced his "pattern power" with Milli Measure!

Tonight the goal was to stick together the squares for the three remaining blocks we haven't tried yet.  That would be the question box, Yoshi, and a turtle shell.  Once I finished them I started wondering if I could figure out a pattern for a banana peel.  I think the boys would really love that!  I did come up with a Toad pattern so I think I will play around with a banana peel pattern before I say we are done with all of the characters and elements for these quilts.  I think they will be great!  I tweeked the Yoshi pattern a little bit.  Neither Stacey or I were completely happy with the pattern as it was.  Much better now!

I have one of each of the other squares sewn and ready to soak in water to remove the sticky stuff (I like to think of it as the stuff that keeps me sane through this project!)  Zach will have a quilt soon at this rate.

I love creating...in this case, taking little tiny squares of fabric and watching my boys' eyes light up when they see the characters appear before their eyes.  It impresses the little boys more than Ryan, he just hopes I get his done before he moves out of the house!  This is a fun project!

Updated Dining Room Lighting

Before

I have lived in my house for a little more than eight years.  3-4 times a year I remove the glass globes from the light fixture in our dining room, put them in my dishwasher and let the soapy water clean all of the dust and dirt that has accumulated since the last time I washed.  As my the kitchen in my house has gone through its transformation, the light fixture in the dining room was something that I didn't really feel like I had to update.  Yes, it looks a little dated, but it would pass for now.

After

That is what I thought before the "cleaning of the glass globes" last week.  Hearing the dishwasher beep, I went to grab the clean globes out and return them to the fixture.  To my horror, after carefully placing the first two on the table, I reached for the next two.  I must have pulled at just the wrong angle because AUGH...it broke!   What is the chance after EIGHT years...I guess it was bound to happen eventually.

The fixture looks entirely different without the globes and quite a bit older.  My mom agreed with me and found a new brushed nickel light that looks very nice with the rest of the upgrades.  I THINK the new counter top is going in at the end of the week!  CAN'T WAIT!

P.S. As I am finishing up the post, I got a phone call from the doctor.  No appointment today with the plastic surgeon since he is stuck in surgery this afternoon.  So, on Wednesday morning at 9:00 a.m. I will see him instead.

Great News and Not So Good News

Getting caught up in the busy-ness of this past week, I haven't been good at sitting at my computer.  I don't think I have sat down and gone through emails since Thursday!  That may be a good thing and it may not, we will see when I plow through them in the morning.  For now, I will get everyone caught up on news here.  On Tuesday of last week I started feeling a lot better physically and that was great.  Being able to take back some level of my job boosts my spirits tremendously!

Still plugging away in the kitchen we had MUCH improvement this week!  Before getting into that though, I will say that on Friday (a WEEK after our appointment with the surgeon) the University finally got back with the office and I got a call.  The GREAT news is that the University pathology report did not include any mention of micro invasive cells!  So that was a bit of good news to hang on to!  They confirmed no cancer in the lymph nodes and the extensive nature of the Stage 0 cells which will still mean mastectomy, but until we see anything different after the pathology comes back from that, I haven't advanced to Stage 1.  Tomorrow we will meet with the plastic surgeon to discuss reconstruction options and then we can talk about scheduling the next (and hopefully final) surgery.

Enough cancer talk...my kitchen has a new light that turns on every time that I switch the light switch! The picture above is my awesome dad connecting the wiring.  We have found some pretty interesting things in this 1950's house.  After they took down the old fixture this wallpaper was found underneath the kitchen light fixture!  Has anyone ever heard of wallpapering the ceiling of a kitchen?  It looks very much like it fit the decor of the times!  In the next few days I will go around and take some pictures of some of the finished upgrades!

So, what is the "not so good news"?  We were hoping to get the house ready to put on the market soon and after talking to the realtor it looks like our plans will have to be delayed for awhile.  I have to admit that packing boxes for storage and purging garbage bags has been very therapeutic.  Pulling the carpet off of the living room floor to reveal some awesome wood flooring underneath has felt like another little blessing!  But, I am disappointed.  I can't lie.

Cancer Files: Insurance

I know that many people have a beef with insurance at one time or another.  I feel very blessed that since my husband and I have been adults and working, we have always had a good benefits package including most everything we have needed.

After almost two weeks of recovery from my surgery, I was able to sit at my desk all afternoon and get caught up with opening bills and straighten up a couple of items that were a getting a little aggravating!

This was one of my bills today. This one in particular is for the biopsy and although I knew that these kind of procedures are expensive, I am so thankful that once again, the insurance is there.  Plenty of other bills are coming in and I have to jump through hoops it seems to work with my flexible spending, but when it all comes down to it, I feel very blessed!

Cancer Files: Music To My Ears

It has been a few days since I have sat down to write.  I think it was a combination of hearing bad news on Friday and my children being out of the house that made me spend the weekend busy but also a little in need of some reflection.  I am wired for music, not necessarily any specific instrument but the music and I so appreciate the talent God gives some to be able to write great music and great lyrics.

You can bet that I have my favorites list.  My husband thinks it is quite extensive and in a general sense I do have many favorites, but when it comes to feeding my soul, there are some very favorites that I wouldn't want to be without.  So, since I have been doing what I can to focus on my "way bigger than me" God, I thought I would share a few.  My life theme song and the very tip top of my list is this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB-oSnCxklU by Sandy Patti called Carry On. The power of the words and the truth behind them makes this song so important to me.

Jaci Valasquez would be one of the next in line although number two didn't have a You Tube video to share.  It is called "There You Are" by Carolyn Arends.  If you have a chance to just look up the lyrics it will bless you - "I was hoping you would write to me a message in the stars, as if the stars themselves were not enough"..."When my heart is doubting, even there you are!"  Awesome lyrics!  Check it out!  So, back to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT4yIBeIC2Y I Will Rest In You.  This song has been listened to over and over in some very dark times when I couldn't feel God's presence.  Sometimes we just need to know He is there, and sometimes it takes a reminder.

Bebo Norman has a great song that is also pretty high on the list.  You can listen to I Am at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tud83kb794 "When you can not stand I Am" 

You can't have a list of Jody's favorites without including Phillips Craig and Dean so You Are God Alone would be a favorite although you can give me any of their CD's and I would listen all day, they write most of their own songs and it comes right from their heart and their experiences.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OICArFHAa9c

I know, a lot of these are older songs, I am getting older.  I thought I would throw in a couple newer (well, within the last decade) too. Rescue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaALSnYVNPE by Desperation is on the verge of being older, but many still know it. "Where else can I go?"
This great one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Ixd8sjp9g again by Phillips, Craig and Dean - The Great I Am is on their newest CD and is awesome!  It is hard to stop but I will leave you with one more, At the Cross by Hillsong  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOY0mjjmx8Y came to mind after our church service on Sunday.

As I listened to music this weekend I realized that the beauty of these songs is that there is a definite difference between who I am and who my God is so the question I have asked myself is "Why would I want to take on myself what only HE can handle?"  I will keep this in mind and try to remember to let Him do this work.

Cancer Files: The "M" Word

It has been a very long week.  Good in some ways, not so good in others.  Went to the doctor today to discuss the confusion about the pathology and why we still haven't heard from the University.  Actually, why the pathology had to be sent to the University in the first place.  These are the kinds of things they don't want to discuss over the phone.  So, we found out MOST of the results today.

Looks like there were more of the stage 0 (ductal carcinoma in situ) cells than first thought.  In a lumpectomy, the radiologist marks the area for the surgeon based on the images they have - and believe me, there are A LOT of images at this point!  Then, the surgeon goes in and takes all of the marked area plus extra as a margin to be sure that nothing remains to spread when surgery is done.

Pathology is where they can actually see the cancer cells and determine if the surgeon got it all.  Well, pathology found many in situ cells in the margins too.  Then, the third area they surprised us with the day of the surgery looks like there are invasive cells (which is why they wanted a second opinion from the University).  If they confirm this, then my cancer is into stage 1.  New plan.

The M word - Mastectomy.  Surgeon says the plan now is mastectomy, there has to be another surgery since it isn't all gone, and they can't guarantee they will get it all then since it will be just doing the same procedure over.  We have an appointment scheduled with the plastic surgeon July 22nd to discuss reconstruction options.

Not my best Friday, but during family meetings this week we have all determined that our house is getting pretty cramped with no real way for us to expand here.  So, we are getting excited about putting our house on the market, maybe even in the next month if we can work it out!  Our list for this weekend is to begin boxing up unnecessary things and moving them out to a storage unit we will find to rent.

We definitely have enough to keep us busy these days.  I love that we have a new project to focus on, and if we get our act together, we may be able to have a new house on the other side (unless the one we are eyeing gets snatched up before we can get ourselves ready to go!)

I LOVE distractions!  I also love that my God is so big that He can take this situation and make it bearable!  1 Corinthians 2:9...But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him!

A Little "Normal" Please

Just when you think that things are settling down, surgery is over, and you are starting to feel better (so much so that you try a night with no pain meds - oops!), you do what your husband asks and call in to the doctors office to find out the pathology results.  See, they told us last week that they would normally have the results by Friday but since the 4th was Thursday we would probably not hear until Monday.

When David got home, he asked me the first question he asked me yesterday "did you hear from the doctor"?  I had to answer no since I hadn't realized that the day had slipped by and no phone call had come. He asked if maybe I should call and check if they forgot to call.  So I did.

The nurse put me on hold to check and came back to inform me that some cases are sent down to the University to get their input on the results.  Hmmm...no matter how sweet you make your voice sound, that still didn't sound that good to me.  So, now we wait a couple more days.  Wonder what the future holds.

Meanwhile, we are doing things around here that are as normal they can be.  For example, today I knit the very last stitch on the border of the afghan I have been working on for 2 years!  It is now folded over the back of our couch ready for the cold weather and chilly people to grab it and snuggle.

For another normal thing, my daughter pulled out my son's front tooth.  (She can be accredited with the extraction of both of his front bottom teeth too, some kind of talent I guess).  On top of all of that we looked at a house last night and wow, it would really be nice to have space.  I called our realtor and she is going to come out and talk with us about our little slice of heaven and how to make it more appealing for a family who would actually fit in this house.

For now, I distract myself with a new afghan pattern and fun yarn, a sleepover with one of my girls' best friends and the Saige American Girl movie viewed for the first time.  It is the little things that keep the normal in our lives!

Catching Up On Some Reading

I would like to be able to move around a little better but it looks like I will have to be more patient before things get closer to normal around here.  Meanwhile...reading is a fairly sedentary activity and thankfully, I love to read!  There are usually a few books going at one time with me and that is the case right now too.

A few years ago I decided to take a whirlwind history trip by reading a biography of every president.  I am finding there are some very good biographers. H.W. Brands is one of them.  I am currently reading about Andrew Jackson.

I wasn't sure how I would feel about Andrew Jackson.  I had a few ideas of him before I started reading about the presidents and then have developed some different ones about him after reading the previous presidents' lives.  Each president's life overlaps so much of the others, that I am getting a great detailed story of our country's history.  I have grown to love some of these men, there are also a few that have moved to the bottom of my list.

With all of this extra time to read, it won't be long before we see where Andrew Jackson falls on my list!

A Little Activity Today

My wonderful husband was busy today in my kitchen!  LOOK!  I HAVE SHELVES!  He has spent the last couple of weeks figuring how to make my decorative glass-front hutch into a set of cabinets with full blown doors that can hide the things that I need to put inside.

The shelves are in place which means when I get feeling better I can start putting everything up that will have a new home there.  Then, the cabinet doors will be cut and installed.  I love that I dove into painting the kitchen and these cabinets in May.  It has taken time, but it is so worth it the closer and closer we get to completion.

We will be painting the ceiling next along with putting in a new light fixture and then the new counters and back splash.  Oh, and the pillow that I got yesterday?  SO awesome!  I finished the crochet hat project I was working on while I was listening to an audio book.  As long as I could keep everything still above my elbow, it wasn't at all uncomfortable.  I do have an issue with the pattern though, it was supposed to be an adult size hat and as you can tell, it is not.  I will have to adjust and try again, but not today...I did my limit of activity so it will have to wait for another day.

Cancer Files: Just What I Need

One of my friends came over last night and gave me a gift.  I pulled this out and was so happy to see another small pillow to "prop".  That has been what I have been doing the last few days.  Wherever I feel discomfort I stuff a little pillow under and feel better.

I right away put the pillow around my neck and leaned back until my friend said that no, this is a special breast cancer pillow.  Hmmm...I guess I need to read the instructions!  She then told me that it was specially made by a lady who had breast cancer for those who need them.  It rests under your surgery arm to give comfort.  It really does rest comfortably and I just have to say, they think of everything!  It really gives good support to my upper arm so that my hand and lower arm can move a little freer without hurting the lymph node surgery site.

It is wonderful!  There is hope that I will be back to knitting and crocheting earlier than I had imagined!

Cancer Files: Happy Independence Day!

I heard the fireworks from my bedroom tonight as I was laying here thinking about how wonderful it is to be on this side of surgery.  It was a long day yesterday and I am still pretty drugged up today.  I don't doubt that the pain meds will be part of my days for a few more yet.  Every time I get close to the six hour mark I am able to tell that the reason I am so comfortable is because of those pills.  For today, that is okay.

I have to say thank you to my friend Cindy for sending me The Crossing in honor of July 4th.  My dad was able to read it while he and David waited for surgery to be done yesterday and now today I got to read it too.  I have been dozing in and out through out the day and have felt very taken care of by my amazing husband!

I also thank my sister-in-law, Michelle for the chocolate that I DON'T have to share with the children!  So far I have eaten four pieces and they are divine!  I have to thank my mom and dad who have taken the kids yesterday and today so they were able to go see fireworks and spend time with their extended family celebrating with sparklers and a bonfire!  I am glad that they weren't stuck at home while all the fun was going on elsewhere.  I am looking forward to them being home tomorrow though to snuggle with and hear about camp and all of the other things that have gone on in the last few days.

Happy Birthday America!

Cancer Files: Check, Check and Check

I love Pinterest!  Over the weekend I looked through some things I pinned under my "Crock Pot Freezer Meal" board and found all kinds of yummy stuff that I could make for the freezer.

There were five recipes that took me about an hour to put together and have ready.  Looking through my list from the other day, I believe I can say CHECK to my freezer meal goal!

Everything got done on the list except for taking the clothes to Goodwill.  The only reason that was left undone is because a garage sale is in the making at my parents house, so the clothes will be gone soon enough.

Today I took my little guy to the pool, making his day.  He returned the favor and made mine by falling asleep on the couch after he got his dry clothes on.  That gave me extra time to pay the bills and clean my desk.

I decided to heat up a cup of coffee while I had a little quiet time since I won't get to drink my coffee tomorrow morning.  Tomorrow morning.  Surgery day.  After putting my teary girl to bed, I sang songs and prayed with the kids. (the girls are sleeping over in the boys room)  I then read through all of the things I am supposed to know for tomorrow from the hospital.

The perfect end for this day comes from Psalm 121..."I lift up my eyes unto the hills from whence comes my help.  My help comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keeps thee will not slumber."  Because He does not slumber, I can.  Good night all!

Good-Bye Old Friend!

A couple weeks ago I found out that a good friend of mine is moving across the country.  It was hard as a kid to move away and try to make new friends, or to have a friend move away.  As difficult as it was then, there are some things in life that don't get any easier as we grow up.

Saying good bye and sending a friend across the country next week, I am also finding today that I have to say good bye to another faithful friend.  This friend is not of the human kind, but my Lazy-Boy that was purchased exactly eleven years ago when I went on bed rest the week after July 4th, pregnant with the triplets.

It has rocked five babies through sleepless nights, it has been peed on, thrown up on, somersaulted and head stood on, fought over and flipped off of.  Through it all it has been nailed back together and ripped apart again.  I can find a little bit of sentimentality in me to sign or sniffle just a little, but overall I have to say, I will be glad when it gets loaded and hauled off to the dump.  It has certainly done what it was purchased to do and there isn't much left for it to give.

As our friends have been planning and packing, they offered us one of their recliners since they didn't have room to pack everything.  As I tried to refuse the offer, I heard "you will want
to have a comfortable chair to recover in after Wednesday".  How could I resist?  The new recliner is comfortably in its place and I think it is a great addition to our home.  Now, if the girls would just get out of it so that I can enjoy a little relaxation!

Family Celebration - CHECK!

Unfortunately the FUN item on my "before Wednesday to-do list" is done.  Saturday, Stacey and I drove with my parents, Adonis and cousin Kayla to Waseca, MN to celebrate Carly and Tim's wedding.  What a blessing to have family who are also friends!

The best thing is, although these events are so quickly past, there is another cousin we get to celebrate next month!  I love that we have a family that is so much fun to hang out with.  I am glad that we live close enough to each other that a road trip is all it takes to get together (it is fun when we make it an overnighter too sometimes, especially when the hotel has a pool!)

We wish Carly and Tim all the happiness in the world and love that we have Facebook to keep in touch.