Battle at the OK potty

That's what Vern called it last night when I had to 'do some battle' with James. He has started taking a great interest in playing in the potty water and last night he was arming up with toilet paper. I suspect he was gearing up to fill the potty and get plenty wet when Carrie called out for help. I told him to 'hand it over' and Daddy narrated from there. Honestly, I had to turn around a few times, so James couldn't see me giggle or see my eyes sparkle. I was glad to skip the messy part, hopefully we're breaking him of his habit.

Today we went to Macon for lab work. I was driving when the nurse called with the results, so the only number I'm sure I remember is his hemoglobin which was 10.8. Not great for a normal, healthy little person, but wonderful for one on chemo. So his reward is more chemo at home tonight. Except for two runs to Atlanta and one to Macon, we have been home since November 20th. That's a whole month!!! Lord willing, we won't have to return to Atlanta until January 3rd for a clinic visit and lab work.

I still find myself walking around in a fog on occasion. Katie is my right arm when it comes to running the house and Hannah is my right arm in taking care of James. I really don't know how I'd do it without them both. I feel pretty divided between settling in to our new house (which still love), 'doing' Christmas, accomplishing normal daily activities (like school and laundry) and managing James care which really is an art.

Below is James in one of his favorite modes of transportation--the bear crawl.

Thanks for stopping by. Love, Stephanie

This weekend's excitement

Yesterday it rained. It was wonderful. I felt like Sarah, Plain and Tall when it rained in Maine after there had been such a terrible drought on their farm. I thought about the romance of stepping off the porch and turning slowly in the rain, drinking it in. However, it was quite a heavy rain and the temperature was around 60 degrees and it wasn't long before the reality of being soaking wet in the relative cold and wind took over my thoughts and I just admired the glorious falling water through from the dry porch.

It wasn't long before the power went out. This, of course, made me very grateful for the thought of being cold and wet and how it deterred me from doing something I would have regretted. Gratefully, we chose a gas cooktop and lunch preparationg was unhindered. Our work on closet shelving was cut short and then we were a little concerned about water. We still don't have back up water here for drinking, washing or flushing potties.

It was about three hours before power was restored (a dead tree had fallen on a line) and that was just the same time we were able to power up a neighbor's generator to see about getting the water running into the tub--just in case.

Later in the evening, there was a flurry of activity as someone discovered water dripping from a light fixture in our big common closet, between the bedrooms. Vern and Owen crawled out into the attic space to discover water running in around a plumbing vent. They employed a clever version of the normal leaky roof stop gap and checked it often until the downpour subsided.

This morning we learned, from neighbors who have a rain gauge, that we had four inches of rain over yesterday and last night. Praise the Lord. Today was crisp and clear. Not cold by Minnesota standards, certainly, but a welcome relief from the summer heat that came our way earlier this week.

After church and lunch, Vern and Owen set out to climb Mt. Skellyrest to repair the leaky roof. I got to provide ground support and everyone else got to watch. Katie photographically recorded the event for posterity. I'll try to put the pictures in another post--this one isn't working.

We remaining very grateful for the Lord's provision and protection in our lives.

Love, Stephanie for all

Alive and well

Just a quick post here to let you know that we are indeed alive and well. We've done a few more stints in the hospital since I last wrote and we moved in to our new home November 3rd. Which we could not have done without the Lord providing so many many folks to bless us--the C's--whose home we invaded for SEVEN months--thanks PJB&L (they even said they've missed us! what great friends!), Joey&co who sold us our land for a great price and through in framing our house to boot...never mind all the land clearing, tree pushing, subcontractor coordinating and coaching, David&co who got our foundation in a month ahead of schedule as a gift, John&crew who put on our roof for the cost of materials, Bruce who has tirelessly handled so many of the fine details to make things work and continues to do so even without the motivation to get his room back! WE are blessed beyond words to have so many great folks in our lives...

We did get to enjoy Thanksgiving in our new home although we had hoped to spend that week with Mom Skelly, who celebrated 90 years Thanksgiving day. We weren't able to make it due to an unplanned hospital stay, but we know God has a plan in it all and we are grateful to Him for His protective hand in our lives.

Now it is December (wherever did the year go?) and we are continuing to settle in and prepare for the holidays. We aren't missing the snow yet, but then there wasn't a lot of snow the last few winters.

The hospital changed it's rules on blog access and I can no longer post from there. I am trying to get a photo album up on Picasa, but it keeps telling me I need an internet connection to upload. Doesn't dial up count? :*)...

Wishing you a wonderfully blessed holiday season... and hoping to be able to post some in the meantime. Thanks for checking up on us...I'm working on catching up with e-mails too... it's all a slow process and I appreciate your patience!

Love, Stephanie