NY trip - part 2 - cousin love

<clockwise from top left: Amanda, Alicia, Abigail, David

NY trip - part 1 - trip summary

^Sweet kids on our northbound car trip

We headed north on Tuesday, August 29th, stayed overnight at a hotel in Ohio, and then arrived in Phoenix, NY, on Wednesday. Oh, it was so good to see so many dear faces!

The kids traveled really well on both the northbound and southbound trips. Other than Bruce flipping in and out of a-fib right before we left for home this Tuesday, everything was pleasantly uneventful.

The kids stuck like glue to Amanda and Alicia, and they all played nonstop from sunup 'til bedtime. Alicia and David played dressup and police and all sorts of fun things, and Amanda and Abigail hung out and did whatever Abigail wanted to do! :-) Having the kids taken care of gave me a wonderful time of rest and reprieve...Grandma and I did some projects, we spent a lot of time sitting in their sunroom knitting and crocheting, and I got to read books and even go on an overnight date with my husband. I got spoiled!!! Bruce did some work, but for the most part, he got to relax, read "fun" books, and take lots of naps.

We also got to visit with some of my extended family, as well as with our NY church family. We got to eat Hofmann's hot dogs, s'mores, and ice cream; we got to talk and talk and talk; we got to share stories and lots of laughter...now we miss everyone terribly, but it was an absolutely wonderful visit and we are very grateful to have been able to make the trip.

Home again

We have arrived home from our trip to New York...we had such a wonderful time! It was as sad as always to say goodbye to everyone up there, but it's also nice to get home...such a dichotomy...! I will be posting pictures piecemeal-style over the next few days. Right now I am too tired and I need to scrape up some supper besides!

Five year old reasoning

David keeps trying to talk us down on how many 'big sleeps' left until we can leave...he has explained to us several times how we can do away with the delay and just leave NOW! ( I have not asked my grandmother for her opinion, since I am quite sure she would side with David!) Abigail is on board now, too, and can't wait to play with Amanda and Alicia...she has no concept of the 19 hours of driving between here and NY!!! Good thing I have new books, activities, and videos tucked away for the trip... Really, though, both kids are great travelers, so I'm not worried. Lest we get concerned that we might be bored, however, this will be the first family trip with no kids in diapers...those of you who are aware of my germophobia, never fear -- I am stocked up with a supply of disposable toilet seat liners, since I now have a daughter that will be using the (gasp in horror) rest-area bathrooms...!

The countdown continues...

Today I did more laundry and housework, weedwhacked everywhere that needed it, cleaned up some branches etc from some pruning I had done previously, and changed the air filter in the van (credit where credit is due: I did have to call Bruce out for some man-strength at the beginning...if only my hands were actually as strong as they are in my mind!). I even managed some time with the kids down at the pool (the water is my idea of perfect right now -- warm enough to walk right in without making me gasp, but still just cool enough to be refreshing). David is turning into a regular dolphin now that he is confident without his water-wings, and it's so much fun to watch. Bruce has been diligently working (from home) all day long, trying to get time-sensitive projects done and get all of his hours in for the month. We called my grandma this morning to let her give the travel-plans to David and he is VERY excited that we are going up to visit everyone! He reminded me several times throughout the day that we will be leaving after three big sleeps...

Preparing to head north

My blogging has been a little scarcer than usual this week because the week has been full of getting everything in order before we leave for a week in NY to visit family...it has long felt like the trip was so far away, but all of a sudden it's here and I need to get ready to go! The car is ready -- oil changed, tires rotated and balanced, every square inch is vacuumed, and new organizers added in my never-ending quest to have the car as clean when we arrive at our destination as it was when we left home!!! As we describe it to David (who does not yet know about the trip!), only four more big sleeps until we leave...the countdown has begun! (Grandma, I can already hear you prancing...!)

Everyday miracles

On Monday of this week, we were in the lobby of a medical office building (fyi, RaDora, it was PENTA's Alpharetta bldg) and David said something rather loudly...which is, of course, his usual volume. Anyway, it echoed, and the look on his face was beautiful -- and then he shushed all of us and said things over and over so that we could all listen to the echo. He was completely awed by this phenomenon. You have no idea what a miracle that is until you have seen your child struggle with hearing loss, until you have seen the look on his/her face the first time their new HAs are turned on...there is just no way to describe the feeling. We certainly don't take any of these 'ordinary' moments for granted! And speaking of such, Abigail continues to make great strides with her physical capabilities...below is a video of her at the playground last month. After she pranced away to play, I stood there for a minute or two in quiet reflection, overwhelmed by the grace of God in the life of our kids... Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

Belated wishes...

A belated happy birthday, Greta!

I called you, so you know I didn't forget...

but I did forget to post it here.

Although it was a typically busy day for you,

hopefully it was a good one!

You win some, you lose some

Behold, this lovely dish of eggplant parmigiana,

with the eggplant and basil (and tomatoes for the sauce)

fresh from the garden......it looks lovely, but it was a bust! Bruce and I thought it was alright, but nothing that we'd want again...David bravely ate a few bites until we told him he didn't have to eat any more...and Abigail burst into tears (literally!) when I cut it open on her plate and she saw the inside!!!
Eggplant: The fruit is beautiful; the plants thrive and produce abundantly without any fussing; we're glad we did it once so that we know not to do it again!!!

Accolades for 'Miss Potter'

A friend had recommended the movie Miss Potter (the story of Beatrix Potter) to me, and Bruce and I watched it this week -- wow. It is not often that we are struck by a movie; we are not easily impressed. But this movie was excellent -- good acting/writing/directing/costumes etc, and the story was compelling. An added benefit was that there was nothing objectionable in it (which is so rare). It is not a "chick flick" that you can watch and then just walk away from lightheartedly -- it is very moving -- that is all I shall say about it so that I don't get into trouble by giving anything away! Definitely a must-watch if you're looking for a good movie. On a side-note, if you are looking for excellently-done Tales of Beatrix Potter DVDs (who doesn't love Peter Rabbit et al?), we really like The Complete Beatrix Potter Collection. A must-have for any child (or child-at-heart)...

Cupcake liner poll

Thanks, everybody -- that was fun. It was inspired because I was making cupcakes the other day and noticed that on the cupcake liner container it said "Use foil liners - discard paper separators". What? -- use foil, discard paper?! I like the paper ones and dislike the foil ones...but I use them both because I am too cheap to throw any away...now you know one of my secret quirks!

Bruce's cardiac followup

Bruce saw his cardiologist as well as a cardiac electrophysiologist (EP) today. Below is the plan for him: ~They put him on an anti-arrhythmic medication in addition to all of the other meds he's on. This should prevent a-fib. We learned that the more the heart goes into a-fib, the more it can actually morph the heart cells to make them more and more prone to go into a-fib, so they are anxious to prevent this. Some people have electrical system complications from this medication, so Bruce will have an EKG done on Monday and Friday of next week to make sure he is operating smoothly. ~The long-term plan is to keep him on all of these meds for 6 months to a year and then, when we have seen significant reduction in the enlargement of his heart, to start weaning him off of the meds and see if he can function well all on his own. This was very encouraging to us; of course, if he needs to be medicated the rest of his life, we will gladly do so, but it was nice to know that everyone's hope and plan is for him to be med-free! ~Bruce has an echocardiogram scheduled for September 7th to re-check the device and the heart tissue around it, as well as to see if there has been any noticeable reduction in the right ventricle/atrium yet. ~Assuming that Bruce 'behaves' between now and then, he will follow up with the EP dr on Sept. 25th and then with his regular cardiologist in November. Again, thank you for all of your prayer on our behalf, and again, we are so grateful for the Lord's constant hand of love and care on our family...

Sick kids

Both kids are sick with a cold/cough virus;

we are glad they are doing it now

so that everyone can be healthy

for our trip to NY at the end of the month!!!

They sure are pitiful when they don't feel well...

Multi-talented kids

I was surprised to find this picture on my camera when I went to upload a picture that I had taken... apparently David and Abigail decided to have a photo shoot while they were playing dress-up...I must say, the model and the photographer are both rather talented!

Doesn't David make a fetching Snow White?! I think this picture should go in the embarass-him-later file...

Ten years of togetherness

Ten years ago today,

Bruce asked me to be his girlfriend. We met in August of 1996 when Bruce moved into town to go to medical school and started coming to my church. Over the next year, we became very good friends, so it wasn't anything out of the ordinary when he invited me out to dinner and a Skychiefs game. Little did I know that, during his after-dinner coffee (which I couldn't figure out why he had ordered, since we were already going to be late for the first pitch!), he asked me out...and the rest is history! We knew each other so well that by the time he asked me to date him, we were both pretty confident that we were headed toward marriage, but we followed cultural protocol and starting dating on August 14th...we got engaged December 24th...and were married on June 27, 1998. On a side note, we did eventually make it to that baseball game...I don't remember anything about the game itself (although it's pretty safe to assume that our team lost!), but I do remember the euphoria of holding Bruce's hand and sitting with his arm around me until our arms and hands had fallen asleep, but neither of us wanted to say so...young fools in love! We still laugh about that. These have been the sweetest years of my life...and Bruce is still my best friend and my boyfriend as well as my husband! I love you, Hon -- thanks again for being willing to give up your stubborn resolution that we were JUST FRIENDS...!

Saturday fun, redneck style

On one of the back roads near here, there are a bunch of pretty rocks that appear to have fallen off a truck -- they are scattered in the weeds along the side of the road in the middle of nowhere -- and yesterday Bruce helped me get a third installment to bring home.

We had a good laugh that we felt like true rednecks...pulling over on the side of the road to 'garbage-pick' for our landscaping supplies!!! If only we'd had a few cows to tip...

How sweet it is

Yesterday, while we were grocery shopping, we were in the baking aisle and I was searching for cocoa when a lady behind me said, "Oh, they're getting a little sweet treat!" I looked down and there were my little darlings, licking their fingers and dipping them in the spilled powdered sugar on the store shelf (and re-licking and re-dipping...).

I really should try feeding them every once in a while...

Bits and pieces from this week

~Bruce has stayed out of A-fib ALL WEEK LONG -- hooray! ~My parents are currently in New York...a family friend passed away this past Monday and my folks went up for the visitation...not a happy circumstance; that aside, though, my grandparents are very happy to have southern visitors! ~Another week of school under our belts...wow. Before we know it, we'll be done with our first year! ~My father-in-law has been accepted into a cancer treatment program here in Atlanta. We are all very pleased with this progress and echo David's prayer from this week that God will make Grandpa's body all better. Also, my in-laws sold their house this week -- another answer to prayer. Now they can get ready to move farther south -- and before the northern winter sets in! ~We continue with an incredible heat wave. This morning when I stepped out on the porch, it felt downright chilly, so I checked the thermometer...70 degrees! You know it's been hot when 70 feels chilly! Guess that's about it. We have a quiet day planned for today; Bruce will do some work from the couch and I will putter around and hopefully sew a little bit.

Happy birthday, Eugenia!

Happy birthday, Eugenia!

Have a great day.

Atlanta's HOT, HOT, HOT!

Thought you might like to see the outdoor temperature from yesterday afternoon...and no, the sensor is not in direct sun! But before anyone grumps that they wouldn't be able to stand these temperatures, bear in mind that although we have one steamy month like this, in turn we will hit 70 degrees in the middle of February...it's definitely worth it!

We were out of power for several hours overnight; here is a picture of David (with his cheesy smile) all ready for rustic living this morning when he found out there was no power!

A bit of paradise for the palate

Last night we enjoyed one of the wonders of the culinary world -- Miz Dora's Sourdough Bread. If you haven't eaten it, you have not yet lived life to its fullest!!!

Whenever RaDora goes home to Arkansas for a visit, her mom makes this bread for her, and RaDora is then kind enough to share some with us...last night we ate the entire loaf (sliced, buttered, and toasted in a frying pan), along with some homemade tomato soup (yes, made with homegrown tomatoes and basil)...sweet bliss!!!

Hearing report 8/7/07

The kids got their hearing checked today and are essentially stable. Hooray!

Besides good results, the office was rather quiet today

and we had a blast visiting with RaDora

and the other audiology staff for a while,

which was a real treat.

We just love them!

School...week 2

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David is learning a poem:

Time to Rise ~by Robert Louis Stevenson

A birdie with a yellow bill

Hopped upon the windowsill

Cocked his shining eye and said,

"Ain't you 'shamed, you sleepy-head?"

David with the play-doh letters that he made in phonics class today

Fun family-date

We took the kids to Bruster's for ice cream this afternoon, where -- as you can see -- the kids thoroughly enjoyed their Purple Dinosaur ice cream!...and although the kids' faces are messier, guess who spilled the most ice cream on their clothing?!

How many Polaks does it take...

...to hang a porch swing?!

If you don't get the joke, look a little closer...

notice that my feet are not anywhere near the floor?!)

(...and don't anybody take offense at the Polish joke --

I am 50% Polish!)

Happy birthday, Aunt Connie!

^Aunt Connie in her birthday present

Happy birthday, Aunt Connie!

^With my kids at Jared's wedding

Our first week of school finished

We finished our first week of school and it went really well. David loves it and is catching on quickly to what is expected of him. To celebrate a successful week, we went to the playground this afternoon, and then when we got home, the kids worked on their models.

Me and my dearest one

Last night, David insisted that he needed

to take a picture of me and Bruce --

and since I had recently been scolded for

not appearing much on my own blog,

the timing was perfect...

Yesterday's hodge-podge

Yesterday... ~David was very excited because, for the very first time, I let him talk on my "Too-blooth" (that's what the kids call my Bluetooth). :-) ~I dropped (and spilled all over the floor, of course!) a bucket full of dry dog food and a two-pound container of blueberries. I think my 'drop-what-I'm-holding' percentage averages about 90% on any given day! ~Bruce stayed out of a-fib all day long yesterday -- hooray! The upped dosage of beta-blocker is causing him to sleep very deeply at night (he didn't hear Abigail crying, the dog barking, etc), but so far he's feeling okay during the day. Nothing very earth-shattering, but just everyday pleasantness. School continues to goes well -- every day is getting a little longer than the previous day as we add more subjects, but David is still so excited to start every day. Our house is resonating with "I says 'i' as in Indian...I says "i, i, i" -- both kids are so enthusiastic about phonics! It doesn't seem so long ago that I remember being in Mrs. Dalton's class reciting my phonics...now it's my kids' turn...I must be getting old!!!

Scuba queen and her superhero sidekick

...she got the mask on all by herself...can you tell?!

I love their active imaginations...

Prayer request

We recently received the news that my father-in-law has prostate cancer. He has further testing to undergo before they can make their decisions regarding treatment, etc. I will post updates whenever there is anything new to share. Please uphold them in prayer...thank you.

Mid-summer harvest

This is a very small sampling of our summer harvest. So far we have canned 14 quarts of beans, frozen 28 ears' worth of sweet corn (out of 50 ears harvested so far), and harvested 2 eggplants, nearly 150 cucumbers, and lots of tomatoes (sorry, didn't care to count every grape, roma, and beefsteak tomato!). We love our garden! Yes, it's a lot of work, but so worth it...

David's first day of school

David did great for his first day of school! He was so excited to start and wanted me to do more when we were done! Today was only 1 1/2 hours, but over this next week they will add more subjects each day until we are at full-load. (On a side note, for those of you in the North who think I'm insane for starting school in July, schools in our county start Aug. 6th. I started one week early so that we can take a week off in August for a family trip to NY.)

We have decided to homeschool, and we are using A Beka video school, so the teacher (and her class) are on video, and I sit nearby to monitor David and help him when needed. He just loved it and soaked it all up, and did very well paying attention and following instructions.

We have a direct feed system (Campus SX FM system) so that the audio routes directly to his left hearing aid (in addition to the regular volume from the television), which really helps him pick up on all of the nuances that he might otherwise miss. I wasn't sure how he would do with the phonics, but he heard it all just fine and did wonderfully (hooray!).

Abigail -- as we expected -- considers herself to be in school just like David and sat for almost the entire thing this morning. She watched for a while to see what David did, and by the end of the lessons, when the teacher would call for the girls or for the students at home to say something, Abigail would pipe right up with the answer. These two are sure going to keep me on my toes!

Congratulations, David, on being in Kindergarten!!!

Slideshow of Bruce's heart

Bruce's ASD saga

I have scattered hyperlinks (the highlighted, underlined words) throughout this epic. If you click on them, they will take you to other sites that will further explain some of the details. Although you are, of course, under no obligation to use them, I highly recommend them to anyone who wants a better understanding of what's going on! Okay, I am finally going to write out the recap of our adventure. I will skip the background, assuming that most of you have already heard/read about it -- if not, look back in my May/June archives to get the full story! We went in for Bruce's ASD device closure Wednesday, July 18th. They got the heart cath in and went in with the balloon to measure the hole precisely, and found that it was even bigger than they had thought. They didn't have a big enough device to close it up, so they pulled out and put him into ICU overnight. Another Atlanta hospital had two bigger devices, so one of the doctors went and got them and then they did a second heart catheterization and successfully closed the defect on Thursday, July 19th. Here are the details on the device: It is called an Amplatzer device (click on that link to see the device, and then click here to see an animated video of the device being deployed -- check it out if you have the time, because it's fascinating). Bruce's device size (and accordingly, the size of his defect) was 36 mm -- as in, just shy of 1 1/2 inches. Isn't that incredible?! The highest off-the-shelf size is a 38, and for anything bigger than that, they typically switch to open-heart surgery. We're thankful that we made it under the wire at 36! Anyway, they have confirmed with chest x-ray and echocardiogram that the device is fitted nicely, with no complications. More excitement came the second night, when they took out the second catheter sheath. (As an aside, the cath-sheaths they use for device closures are bigger than the ones they use for other heart caths such as angioplasty, stents, etc., and Bruce's second cath-sheath was even bigger than his first one!) They put the cath into a vein in the groin, and then after the procedure, they have to wait until certain blood levels are in the proper range before they remove the cath sheath (which looks like a hard plastic drinking straw). The first day's sheath removal was very painful; the second day's sheath was even larger than the first day's, and the cath site was a fraction of an inch from the first one, so the area was already bruised and painful from the first day. As if this isn't enough pain for one person, when they pull the sheath out, they have to apply tremendous pressure at the cath site to help prevent bleeding (necessary but nasty!). In short, the excessive pain, combined with all of the other physical stress factors of the whole ordeal, caused a vagal reaction (aggravation of the vagus nerve causes heart rate and blood pressure to drop); that is, his blood pressure dropped (to 74/42!), he was fighting losing consciousness, etc. (we found out afterwards that patients are supposed to be given pain medication prior to the sheath removal...Bruce didn't get any either time...suffice it to say that the nursing staff in his ward left much to be desired!) It was a tense little while until he was stabilized again, and it left him wrapped in blankets and towels with his teeth chattering so hard that they were knocking together (which gave him a grand headache and sore jaw the next day!). After the chest x-ray and echo showed everything to be okay, we were able to come home on Friday, July 20th. Now they will follow him as they wait for the heart tissue to grow around the device -- this usually takes 6 months-1 year to happen. The doctor said it will probably take a couple of months before the right-ventricular enlargement starts to reduce; they are unsure whether there will be any reduction in the right atrial enlargement. ...which brings us to our next piece of excitement. Bruce has gone into atrial fibrillation (a-fib) three times since the surgery. As long as that right atrium is enlarged, he is at risk for a-fib -- we knew that prior to the device placement -- but he has never had this many episodes this close together. Thursday, the cardiologist put him on a beta-blocker to try to discourage the a-fib (there is no great medical option to prevent a-fib; the anti-arrhythmia medications have some nasty potential side effects)...but Bruce went into a-fib again last night. He is on medication to keep his heart rate down, as well as on Plavix and aspirin for clotting, but they may have to put him back on coumadin (warfarin) as well (the main risk when he goes into a-fib is formation of a clot that could result in a stroke, heart attack, or pulmonary embolism). We will have to wait and see how this all plays out -- either he will just have to live with the a-fib for the rest of his life, or perhaps the Lord will see fit to reduce that right-atrial enlargement! There was also a minor complication with the cath site continuing to bleed, but that has finally closed up and isn't causing any more issues. The bruising is starting to fade now and Bruce is starting to get a little more mobility every day (though he still walks like a wooden soldier!). So there you have it...a very dramatic way to do things, don't you think?! Bruce isn't usually dramatic, so I've been teasing him that I must be rubbing off on him. :-) Thanks to all of you for your encouragement, best wishes, prayers, etc. It has been so nice to see love expressed from so many people via blog comments, emails, notes, phone messages, visits, meals, offers to help, etc, throughout an ordeal like this. God is so good. He has met our every need and sustained us with a strength and faith far beyond our own. We are very grateful that He allowed us to become aware of Bruce's heart situation prior to a more life-threatening event, and that He kept Bruce safe throughout the many aspects of this device placement. We so clearly see His hand in our lives...

Feeling sentimental

Today is the last weekday of the last summer

that my children are all little.

David starts school on Monday...from here on out, I will have a school-age (or older!!!) child. Our days of having only little ones are at their end. I am excited that he is old enough to start kindergarten, and he is REALLY excited. He keeps trying to talk me into starting sooner... may his enthusiasm for school never waiver!

It's just a little sad that

my days of having only little ones are ending!

The end of this era in our lives...

Bruce still misbehaving

We were into the doctor again yesterday afternoon because Bruce went back into a-fib overnight (Wed. night-Thurs. morning). They put him on another medication -- a beta-blocker -- and hope that this will help to keep him out of a-fib. There is no really great option to prevent a-fib except for the Lord to reduce Bruce's atrium back to normal size! All medications have potential nasty side effects, etc. Bruce doesn't usually do things the dramatic way -- I told him that after nine years of marriage, I must be rubbing off on him!!! On a good note, his cath site has finally closed up and there was no bleeding at all yesterday. Phew.

David learns to swim solo

No water wings, no help, no worries...such a big boy!

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Fun with Uncle Caleb etc

My parents headed home yesterday and Caleb left today...it is always sad to say good-bye! I didn't take any pictures of the kids with my parents (grrr! I almost always forget until after they leave!), but here are a few of the kids and Caleb...my kids sure do love and adore their uncles!
Bruce is noticeably better today. Yesterday we had to go to the doctor to check out his cath site(s) -- the bleeding, although not a huge amount, was persistent. They said it was not normal, but not a problem at this point. He just has to take it easy for longer than originally planned. Thankfully, he is able to work from home, which takes a lot of pressure off. He feels much more mobile today...he still walks like a wooden soldier, but not quite as stiffly as he has been!

Welcome

I would like to send out a

"welcome to the blogging world"

to my mom --

she has joined the ranks!

Visit her blog here.

Bruce's device closure

Sometime soon I will post the recap of the whole adventure with Bruce's heart fix...I am still wiped out and haven't been able to think straight enough to write it yet! In the meantime, here is a picture of Bruce's heart with the device implanted -- the device is the butterfly-shaped bright whitish thing at the bottom of the picture.

Home safe and sound

I am happy to report that Bruce is home safe and sound. He's in rather rough shape, but doing well -- both his chest xray and his echocardiogram showed good things -- and we are so glad to be home!!! Don't forget to sign the online get well card!

Get well soon, Bruce!

Love and best wishes

for a fast and easy recovery!

To "sign" Bruce's get well card,

just leave a comment...

this post is dedicated to him.

(If you leave an anonymous comment,

don't forget to include your name!)

SUCCESS!!!

I am happy to report that Bruce's ASD device closure was successful! The hole in his heart is actually over an inch long (wow!), but the device is in and looks good. The doctor let my in-laws and me go into the cath lab to see the image of Bruce's heart with the device in it -- pretty amazing. I have seen Abigail's implanted device via echocardiogram many times, and it always looks huge...but this one is definitely supersized! Bruce is in rough shape, exhausted and hurting, but doing well considering. Thanks for your continued prayers!

New surgery time

Bruce is scheduled for surgery at 3 p.m. today. He finally got to eat late last night (and practically licked the plates clean -- I don't blame him!) and got a decent amount of rest overnight. Other than the cath site being painful, he is feeling okay this morning. Will post an update later today...

Plan B for Bruce

Surprise! The hole in Bruce's heart is too big for any of the devices they had here -- it's a really big hole! -- another hospital in the area has two that are bigger, so they will get them and try again tomorrow. Bruce's cardiologist is unavailable tomorrow, but the doctor who is head of the Emory Cardiology Dept. will be doing the surgery, so we are in good hands...and we already know that we have been in the best hands all along -- our heavenly Father's. Bruce is doing okay considering -- he is tired out and his color is pasty, but he is settled into his room in the ICU and we are waiting to hear when tomorrow's start time will be. He is experiencing some bleeding at the cath site, but so far it is under control. So please keep praying!

Farewell dinner for Bruce's ASD!

Yes, we are still on schedule for Bruce's heart surgery tomorrow. It is set for 4:30 in the afternoon. We think there is wireless available in that area of the hospital, so if there is, I will blog as soon as possible after his surgery to let you all know it's done. Again, please be praying for him...especially after the surgery, which is when there may be complications due to the enlargement of his heart. Tonight Bruce's parents came over for dinner (my parents arrived here safe and sound yesterday) and we enjoyed a feast from the garden -- our farewell to Bruce's heart defect. :-) We ate beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, and sweet corn all from our garden -- delicious! Bruce is busily eating tonight since tomorrow will be a long, hungry day! Thanks again for all of your prayers as we head into tomorrow. I will update you all as soon as I can.

...another little one lost

"But as for me, I will hope continually,

and will praise You yet more and more.

"My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness

and of Your salvation all day long;

For I do not know the sum of them."

~Psalm 71:14, 15

~

We found out this past week that we were expecting another baby -- and yesterday we experienced another miscarriage. Last night Bruce and I were reflecting that we have now lost more little ones than we have "kept". How very grateful we are for the two that fill our hearts and arms -- and yet we ache for the others that we will not know in this lifetime. Still we choose to look to the Lord and know that He loves us perfectly and will carry us through...the verses above say it all.

A tribute to the women in my ancestral line

Cartoon from Lion Brand Yarn website

Thanks, Mom, for sending me the link,

and thanks to you and Grandma (and many before you!)

who have passed on the domestic arts gene!

An age-old battle

Can you guess what is happening in this video?!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting(If you aren't sure, see yesterday's post about our new pet!)

Happy anniversary, Grandpa & Grandma

Happy 54th anniversary!

We love you.

At left: G & G in Tacoma, Washington,

in front of the house

they lived in while

my grandpa was stationed out there in the Army

(and when my mom

was born in 1955).

They re-visited this house while we were in

Washington for Jared's wedding this May

and were pleased

to find it intact!

Belated happy birthday, Uncle Chuck

Hope you had a good day -- sorry I'm a day late in posting this!!!

Uncle Chuck & David

July 2006

Kids' hearing check 7/11/07

The kids had their hearing checks today and were essentially stable

(only one ten decibel drop per kid -- pretty good for us!). Next scheduled check is August 7th.

Meet 'Sparkler'

Meet the newest member of our family --

Sparkler/Sparky/Spark

(depending on which one of us you ask!)

It's gonna be a long few weeks!

According to Wikipedia,

Eyelashes take 4-8 weeks to grow back.

...sigh...

Playing roller coaster

David set these chairs up and then took a picture of Abigail "riding the roller coaster", which they played for a while yesterday.

Today they have been soldiers, campers, musicians, horseback riders... they even tried jousting with some long wooden dowels, but I nixed that one really fast! :-) I ruin all of the good fun...

We have a winner!

Of all of the klutzy things I have done in my life (and they are a countless multitude), this one may take the cake. Yesterday I was curling my eyelashes (which I have done for years without incident), and I have no idea what happened, but somehow my hand jerked away from my eye without letting go of the eyelash curler and I managed to yank out a huge chunk of the upper lashes on my right eye. Of all the stupid, klutzy things to do...!

Below, a picture of my eyes for your enjoyment at my expense. Hey, what benefit is there in moments like this if we don't laugh about it?!

Does anyone know how long it takes for eyelashes to grow back?!

Happy birthday, Grandma McKee!

We love you, Mom/Grandma -- happy birthday!

All tuckered out

Abigail caught five minutes of shuteye during dinner last night...then woke up and finished her dinner!

Excitement on 'our' beach

Photos courtesy of Jacksonville News Channel 4
Yesterday, a WWII-era bomb washed up on shore at the beach that we go to in Florida. My parents & brothers were planning to spend the day there, but decided not to due to the weather -- look at the fun they missed!

Click below for the news article: http://www.news4jax.com/news/13620022/detail.html

or the picture slideshow:

http://www.news4jax.com/slideshow/news/13620875/detail.html

4th of July report

We had a nice day together yesterday. Bruce worked a half-day at home, I worked in the garden (weeding and harvesting -- 18 cucumbers!), then we all went to the pool for a little bit. Later in the day Bruce did some small fireworks for the kids (the picture to the right is of them watching the fireworks).

Thought I'd share the before and after pictures of Baker -- he was lying around happily before the fireworks, but (knowing that he hates fireworks) I kept the camera on him as Bruce lit the first one! (Don't anybody scold me for being mean -- I tried to get him to come over by us before it started so that he wouldn't freak out, but he wouldn't obey -- so it's his own fault!)

...as you can see, Abigail babied him after that, so he was happy again...

Happy 4th of July!

***Happy 4th of July!***

* The kids watching Daddy's fireworks on Memorial Day 2007*

Kids' magazine recommendation

Just thought I'd share this on my blog since many of you have young children...and what mom (or aunt, grandma, etc) isn't always on the lookout for good ideas?!

We just got the latest issue of this magazine and we all enjoyed it as much as we always do. The kids snuggle on either side of me and we read it cover to cover...the kids have yet to lose interest before we finish the whole thing, and we even enjoy doing the little recipe and projects in each issue.

I loved the regular Highlights magazine as a kid, but it's still a bit over my kids' heads, so when I stumbled on this one (it just premiered this year) I was thrilled. It's geared towards ages 2-6 and has the same fun components as Highlights (e.g. Hidden Pictures), but simplified for littler ones.

Click here to see their website; it's also available through Amazon.

Abigail's version of jump rope

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You can tell by her face that she feels amazing...!