Some years ago, our now-older children looked forward to Christmas. Every time they saw an evergreen tree, especially one with lights or decorations, they would exclaim with great glee, "Look Momma! Look Daddy! It's a Christmas!"
Of course the best Christmas of all was the one we had in the living room at our house.
Try as we might to explain with words and other family traditions that the trees were not Christmas and that Christmas was Jesus' birthday, we could not seem to get the message through.
Vern and I talked about what might finally help the children, so we had a smaller tree and gave the creche a more central place in our already limited decor. That didn't work either.
Somewhere in there, we must have finally asked the Lord for wisdom. He sent us a dog. She was a black lab and would be about six months old at Christmas. I was also seven and a half months pregnant with our fourth child.
We talked about simplifying Christmas, since we had a very active puppy and a very pregnant mommy, and had the bright idea that maybe this would be a good year to skip on the Christmas tree. Some of our friends and family thought we had really gone off the deep end, but after Christmas, Vern and I agreed that not having a Christmas tree significantly decreased our Christmas stress. We would certainly keep open the option of skipping the tree the next year.
We skipped out on Christmas trees for eight years, and somewhere in there, our children stopped calling them Christmas. What a huge relief that was.
Two years ago, for our first Christmas in this house, Owen, who was then 11, found a tree that would need to be cut down anyway and asked if we could have a tree. He volunteered to cut the tree, set it up, decorate it with the help of his sisters and take it out after Christmas. We all agreed, since we couldn't keep the tree watered, that it would only be in the house for three days--it came in on Christmas Eve and it went out the day after Christmas.
Since Christmas trees no longer seem to be a stumbling block to anyone, we are free to enjoy having one. It no longer causes additionally stress and it doesn't detract from our celebration of our Lord's birth.
And that helps us keep Christ in Christmas!
Merry CHRISTmas!
This post is part of 'Tis the Season Carnival--Keeping CHRIST in CHRISTmas--hosted by Hannah and Mckenzie. You can find more Carnival posts here.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Those birthday photos...
James had a great birthday. He has a couple of little travel pillows that his Nona, my mom, made custom cases for. We tote them EVERYwhere. They go in the car, to appointments, and for diaper changes/bag emptyings. They make his life much more comfy.
So this year, he graduated to the next up size pillow... not quite full size, but still very portable.
And with PIGS... and farm stuff on the new custom cases!
So this year, he graduated to the next up size pillow... not quite full size, but still very portable.
And with PIGS... and farm stuff on the new custom cases!
For a long time during treatment, chocolate ice cream was a mainstay for James. Then we tried to cut back on sugar and sweetners because he was having trouble with yeast overgrowth. It had actually been a good while since he had had or asked for ice cream when we asked James what he wanted for his birthday dessert.
And James signed, "ice cream." Loud and clear.
So, Hannah made ice cream towers.
We pretty sure he liked them.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Quick, Cheap, Nutritious Salmon Patties
Hands down, Salmon Patties are my favorite 'save' meal when I don't have a plan and need something nutritious, relatively quick for a scratch meal and inexpensive. Everyone in the family likes them... most love them!
Since we are feeding eight hungry people in our house, we multiply the recipe. In the summer, we can get by with a double batch (which makes 12-1/3 cup patties). We serve it with potatoes or brown rice and LOTS of garden veggies with butter! In the winter, when fewer veggies are available, we triple the recipe (which make 19 - 1/3 cup patties).
Since we are feeding eight hungry people in our house, we multiply the recipe. In the summer, we can get by with a double batch (which makes 12-1/3 cup patties). We serve it with potatoes or brown rice and LOTS of garden veggies with butter! In the winter, when fewer veggies are available, we triple the recipe (which make 19 - 1/3 cup patties).
Don't panic! The above photo shows all the ingredients for a triple batch! (Except for the frying oil.)
First we'll figure out the cost:
3 cans wild caught salmon, undrained (I buy 4 packs from Sam's for $7.48; $1.87 for one can)
3 eggs from hens on pasture (We raise our own hens for eggs, but figuring $4/dozen, one egg is 33 cents)
3 rye crisp-type crackers (I buy packs of 32 Wasa light rye crackers from Big Lots for $1.80, one cracker is 5.6 cents)
3 handfuls of parsley, rinsed and drained (This is a great time of year for parsley in Georgia. I bought 3 plants for $9 last Spring and have harvested at least 30 handfuls, so one handful costs me 30 cents or less)
1 cup, approximately, coconut oil (organic virgin), for frying (I buy my coconut oil in bulk at an international market in Atlanta. My cost is $2.26 per pound, 1/3 cup costs me 38 cents)
Ingredients for my triple batch cost me $8.81....divided by 8 servings is just about $1.10 per serving.
3 eggs from hens on pasture (We raise our own hens for eggs, but figuring $4/dozen, one egg is 33 cents)
3 rye crisp-type crackers (I buy packs of 32 Wasa light rye crackers from Big Lots for $1.80, one cracker is 5.6 cents)
3 handfuls of parsley, rinsed and drained (This is a great time of year for parsley in Georgia. I bought 3 plants for $9 last Spring and have harvested at least 30 handfuls, so one handful costs me 30 cents or less)
1 cup, approximately, coconut oil (organic virgin), for frying (I buy my coconut oil in bulk at an international market in Atlanta. My cost is $2.26 per pound, 1/3 cup costs me 38 cents)
Ingredients for my triple batch cost me $8.81....divided by 8 servings is just about $1.10 per serving.
Making the salmon patties is the easy part:
Dump the salmon into a bowl, add eggs, crumble in crackers and mix.
Pick the parsley apart into small pieces. Stir in.
Measure 1/3 cup servings....
When I am in a hurry (and thinking), I will use my electric skillet instead of a frying pan.
This post is a part of Kimi Harris' Pennywise Platter. Click over to Kimi's blog, The Nourshing Gourmet, to find more low cost, nutritious and yummy ideas for your family!
Monday, December 14, 2009
'Tis the Season - For Unto Us a Child is Born
Inspirational DaySpring Movies
This post is a part of 'Tis the Season carnival. You can head over to Hannah or
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Perspective
I have been whining lately, wallowing in my own little pity party and it all boiled down to two things. Not trusting God and choosing to see things from my own perspective instead of His. I was getting so well-practiced at seeing things from my own perspective, I didn't even realize that was what I was doing... and even when I wanted to see God's perspective, I was unable to.
Thankfully, God is merciful. He moved in my heart yesterday, preparing me for His message today.
This morning, our pastor gave several examples of seeing things from God's perspective (that's when I realized how far off-base I had gone). They convicted and encouraged me.
Here are some of them:
1. When someone hurts us, it is natural to want to return the favor or withhold forgiveness. That is our human perspective. God's perspective is for us to embrace the trial, to look for the good God is accomplishing through this. (Count it all joy when you meet various trials... James 1:2) Is the Lord teaching us patience, frugality, or perseverance through this trial? Is He helping us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling? Is He drawing us closer to Him so that we can know the Lord and His truths in a deeper way and be better able to communicate those truths to others?
2. When someone who is younger dies or someone is sick(younger being someone who hasn't lived as long as we generally think we should live--it could be a child or it could be someone who just hasn't, in our view, reach the point of having living a long, full life), it is often natural for us to think it was unfair or unjust, to blame God, to think those left behind got a raw deal. But if we look at this loss from God's perspective, we can learn that what seems important is not what is truly important. We can learn to value relationships and the 'little things' more when we experience an 'untimely loss'.
3. When children misbehave or are strong-willed, it is natural to fuss at them and to get frustrated. Sometimes we might even curse them in our frustration, unintentionally tearing them down. Our pastor told of how he once accused one of his sons of 'being like a bowling ball'. When this son got in an accident, he told his dad he was nothing but a bowling ball. He gave examples of how we could, instead, look at the positive side and encourage or praise our children. One little boy brought a bug to him and after they 'freed' him safely outside, he encouraged that little boy and told him how he was going to grow up to be a mighty man, a protector of all those around him. The little boy beamed!
I will need lots of practice to renew my perspective, but I am convinced that it will be worth it!
What helps you the most to keep God's perspective during life's trials?
Thankfully, God is merciful. He moved in my heart yesterday, preparing me for His message today.
This morning, our pastor gave several examples of seeing things from God's perspective (that's when I realized how far off-base I had gone). They convicted and encouraged me.
Here are some of them:
1. When someone hurts us, it is natural to want to return the favor or withhold forgiveness. That is our human perspective. God's perspective is for us to embrace the trial, to look for the good God is accomplishing through this. (Count it all joy when you meet various trials... James 1:2) Is the Lord teaching us patience, frugality, or perseverance through this trial? Is He helping us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling? Is He drawing us closer to Him so that we can know the Lord and His truths in a deeper way and be better able to communicate those truths to others?
2. When someone who is younger dies or someone is sick(younger being someone who hasn't lived as long as we generally think we should live--it could be a child or it could be someone who just hasn't, in our view, reach the point of having living a long, full life), it is often natural for us to think it was unfair or unjust, to blame God, to think those left behind got a raw deal. But if we look at this loss from God's perspective, we can learn that what seems important is not what is truly important. We can learn to value relationships and the 'little things' more when we experience an 'untimely loss'.
3. When children misbehave or are strong-willed, it is natural to fuss at them and to get frustrated. Sometimes we might even curse them in our frustration, unintentionally tearing them down. Our pastor told of how he once accused one of his sons of 'being like a bowling ball'. When this son got in an accident, he told his dad he was nothing but a bowling ball. He gave examples of how we could, instead, look at the positive side and encourage or praise our children. One little boy brought a bug to him and after they 'freed' him safely outside, he encouraged that little boy and told him how he was going to grow up to be a mighty man, a protector of all those around him. The little boy beamed!
I will need lots of practice to renew my perspective, but I am convinced that it will be worth it!
What helps you the most to keep God's perspective during life's trials?
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Nuts and leaves
Last year, we raked up a good bit of leaves from a friends place. They have pecan trees and leaves are plentiful. We thought we had nearly gathered a lifetime supply of leaves, but it turns out we could have used four or five times as many as we collected.
A cousin in Minnesota has the richest garden soil we have ever seen. She attributes her fine soil to the addition of large amounts of leaf and leaf mold over the winter. The leaves degrade and become great soil and the leaves on top are mulch, keeping in moisture and keeping out weeds.
Since our goal is ultimately for our garden to be like Cousin Marian's, we started implementing the leaf plan. We noticed a difference in our soil this year and bugs were not near the problem they were last year!
So, we set out this fall to collecting as many leaves as we could. We were filling lawn and leaf bags, but decided it was more efficient to use a friend's trailer. We've raked hauled and spread more than 40 leaf bags and six trailer loads of leaves!
A cousin in Minnesota has the richest garden soil we have ever seen. She attributes her fine soil to the addition of large amounts of leaf and leaf mold over the winter. The leaves degrade and become great soil and the leaves on top are mulch, keeping in moisture and keeping out weeds.
Since our goal is ultimately for our garden to be like Cousin Marian's, we started implementing the leaf plan. We noticed a difference in our soil this year and bugs were not near the problem they were last year!
So, we set out this fall to collecting as many leaves as we could. We were filling lawn and leaf bags, but decided it was more efficient to use a friend's trailer. We've raked hauled and spread more than 40 leaf bags and six trailer loads of leaves!
The flower bed is in need of pine straw. So I guess we'll be looking to rake up a trailer load of that soon, too!
Monday, December 7, 2009
'Tis the Season: Advent helps us keep Christ in Christmas
This post is a part of 'Tis the Season: Keeping Christ in Christmas carnival hosted by Hannah, over at her new blog, One Southern Girl, and her friend, McKenzie, from Pecan Pastures. Hop on over to Hannah's blog to find links to more Christ-honoring-Christmas ideas.
I don't remember where I found our copy of Family Celebrations, but I know we have been using it for about 15 years now.
We really enjoy this advent celebration. Although we keep saying we are going to try something new or different each year, we nearly always come back to this book. (One year, we read through Jotham's Journey--it was also very good, but had no 'props' to really involved everyone.)
The advent celebration in Family Celebrations includes a tradtitional advent wreath with candles, a banner with a Christmas tree and homemade felt ornaments appropriate to each night's advent devotional, and devotionals with hymns to sing for 24 nights leading up to Christmas. Initially, I thought that repeating the same thing every year for advent would be boring and less meaningful, but, after 15 years, it seems that the repetition is both beneficial and comforting to the children. It's kind of soothing to us adults as well! Even though the devotionals are scripted, we can tailor it with different questions and extra thoughts, but it is still the same story and the same, timeless ideas.
The book also has a Christmas worship service and an Epiphany Party plan. We use the Christmas day celebration most years and we enjoy doing the Epiphany Party whenever we can.
The Epiphany party is a great wind-down and wrap up of the Christmas Season. It includes a feast (which is relative to whatever you want to make--we have done real feasts and we have done soups with homemade bread), a pageant (in which the children re-enact the Christmas story--ours have been better if they have a chance to plan ahead) and a service (during which time we read all the advent devotional scriptures and take down the ornaments from our tree banner and sing some of the Christmas hymns.) It makes for a late night, but lots of sweet, Christ-focused memories.
I don't remember where I found our copy of Family Celebrations, but I know we have been using it for about 15 years now.
We really enjoy this advent celebration. Although we keep saying we are going to try something new or different each year, we nearly always come back to this book. (One year, we read through Jotham's Journey--it was also very good, but had no 'props' to really involved everyone.)
The advent celebration in Family Celebrations includes a tradtitional advent wreath with candles, a banner with a Christmas tree and homemade felt ornaments appropriate to each night's advent devotional, and devotionals with hymns to sing for 24 nights leading up to Christmas. Initially, I thought that repeating the same thing every year for advent would be boring and less meaningful, but, after 15 years, it seems that the repetition is both beneficial and comforting to the children. It's kind of soothing to us adults as well! Even though the devotionals are scripted, we can tailor it with different questions and extra thoughts, but it is still the same story and the same, timeless ideas.
The book also has a Christmas worship service and an Epiphany Party plan. We use the Christmas day celebration most years and we enjoy doing the Epiphany Party whenever we can.
The Epiphany party is a great wind-down and wrap up of the Christmas Season. It includes a feast (which is relative to whatever you want to make--we have done real feasts and we have done soups with homemade bread), a pageant (in which the children re-enact the Christmas story--ours have been better if they have a chance to plan ahead) and a service (during which time we read all the advent devotional scriptures and take down the ornaments from our tree banner and sing some of the Christmas hymns.) It makes for a late night, but lots of sweet, Christ-focused memories.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Glorious eggs!
Eggs have been in really short supply around here. In the fall, as the daylight time gets shorter, the hens slow down their egg production. We didn't even talk about supplementing them with light this year. We completely forgot about it.
In addition to shorter daylight, the hens go into a moult--they shed their feathers and grow new ones. Feathers are made of protein, so when the hens are growing more feathers, there isn't enough protein to make many eggs on top of new feathers.
This year egg production dropped a lot more than I was anticipating and we have only been getting one or two eggs a day! For a while, a dozen eggs was costing about $7 in feed!!! Recently, egg-laying got better (we think they are finished growing out their new feathers) and we are getting three to four eggs a day. We were able to save up enough eggs to have them for dinner. What a wonderful treat!
Katie made several batches of Mexican Roasted Potatoes (these have become a real family favorite) and we cooked up a big batch of homemade bacon from our homegrown pork. Most of us had poached eggs. Vern prefers his fried and I got this photo of these wonderful looking egg yolks!
We're already talking about what kind of egg meal we'd like to have when we've saved up enough eggs for another one!
In addition to shorter daylight, the hens go into a moult--they shed their feathers and grow new ones. Feathers are made of protein, so when the hens are growing more feathers, there isn't enough protein to make many eggs on top of new feathers.
This year egg production dropped a lot more than I was anticipating and we have only been getting one or two eggs a day! For a while, a dozen eggs was costing about $7 in feed!!! Recently, egg-laying got better (we think they are finished growing out their new feathers) and we are getting three to four eggs a day. We were able to save up enough eggs to have them for dinner. What a wonderful treat!
Katie made several batches of Mexican Roasted Potatoes (these have become a real family favorite) and we cooked up a big batch of homemade bacon from our homegrown pork. Most of us had poached eggs. Vern prefers his fried and I got this photo of these wonderful looking egg yolks!
We're already talking about what kind of egg meal we'd like to have when we've saved up enough eggs for another one!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Pizza night!
Pizza night has been almost every Friday. This last week, we had pizza on Thursday. This time, almost all of the pizza ingredients were homemade. I made the mozzarella and ricotta earlier that day, the pesto, I made earlier this year and froze and I followed and adapted a pizza dough recipe, so everyone could eat it. And the most important part of all, this time I didn't burn the crust... I think I'm finally learning how NOT to burn the crust!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Building a doggy house, part 2
Finally the rest of the doggy house pictures. Owen decided the girls and James needed his experience and helped them finish building it!
Edited: I just checked the blog tonight (11/25) and realized that the pictures didn't show up. Hopefully this will work now! If it doesn't, please leave a comment to let us know.
Edited: I just checked the blog tonight (11/25) and realized that the pictures didn't show up. Hopefully this will work now! If it doesn't, please leave a comment to let us know.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Building a doggy house, part 1
I was trying to upload all the pictures from building the doggy house into one post, but Picasa isn't letting me upload more than three pictures at a time :(...
Friday, November 20, 2009
Doing a boy's thing
James is intrigued by the tree in the front yard... He tries to climb it whenever he can. These pictures are from the other day. He was taking a break from carrying bricks to build a doggy house with Becca and Carrie. The doggy house didn't stay long. The next day, James decided to sit in it and broke most of the walls down!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Some good news
I just got off the phone with Dr. P.
He got James' biopsy results back and I think he was a little surprised, and encouraged. The rectal biopsy is totally normal. The other biopsies, from higher up in the colon, look "pretty good". The test for Hirschsprung's disease shows there isn't any. At all. This is really good news!
Dr. P said that he still can't promise me anything (and I wouldn't want him to), but he is more hopeful today than he was on Monday that the saline flush and flagyl should help clear things up.
Unless there are problems before then, I am supposed to call him in December to set up a repeat test in January.
I did ask about diet. He doesn't think that James eating lots of yogurt should affect his colon.
This is a big step up from Monday's initial news. Thanks for your prayers. We're still working on good nutritional things we can do for James.
He got James' biopsy results back and I think he was a little surprised, and encouraged. The rectal biopsy is totally normal. The other biopsies, from higher up in the colon, look "pretty good". The test for Hirschsprung's disease shows there isn't any. At all. This is really good news!
Dr. P said that he still can't promise me anything (and I wouldn't want him to), but he is more hopeful today than he was on Monday that the saline flush and flagyl should help clear things up.
Unless there are problems before then, I am supposed to call him in December to set up a repeat test in January.
I did ask about diet. He doesn't think that James eating lots of yogurt should affect his colon.
This is a big step up from Monday's initial news. Thanks for your prayers. We're still working on good nutritional things we can do for James.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The low-down on James
We're home and catching our breath after a whirlwind 6 days including two trips to Atlanta, one to Macon and beyond, and a chicken processing day--not necessarily in that order!
Monday was a very long day for James. We got to the hospital at 6 in the morning. It seemed really busy and we were late getting checked in to a room. Later, our nurse would tell me that they normally have 30-40 children come through Day Surgery but Monday, they had 57 scheduled children! Yikes! Considering all that, things went remarkably well from the logistics standpoint. We left the hospital just before 7 p.m. and James' surgeon, Dr. P was heading in for yet another surgery.
The first thing James had done was the fluroscopy. They use a clear liquid dye (I forget what it is called) and put it into James' colon by way of his mucous fistula. Then the radiologist took pictures of the dye travelling through the colon. This showed that James' colon was very small for his age. There was some concern about whether the colon had not grown for the last two and half years or perhaps if there might be something constricting the colon.
Thankfully, James was sedated for the procedure and afterward he fell soundly asleep. Now there was a great delay waiting for James' turn in surgery. One case before James' had new issues come up in surgery and their time nearly doubled (from 2 hours to 4 hours)... When it was nearly James' turn, Dr. P poked his head in to let me know that the scope he needed for James wasn't working, but they had the technicians on it and hoped to get it fixed soon.
Finally it was James' turn and since it was so late in the day, we were able to stay in James' room, rather than move again out to the waiting room. Dr. P came to see us when he was all done with James.
He is very concerned about the condition of James' colon. He said it is very inflamed, pussy, and full of bacteria overgrowth and mucous. It is difficult to tell if this is scar tissue and tissue damage from the colitis James had at the beginning of his chemo or if it is just from non-use for two and half years. Dr. P did say that while it did look like there might be some constricting running the length of the colon, there isn't anything wrapping around it, but that the inflammation in the colon is so severe that the constricting is not even worth considering at this point.
So the plan is this: Once we get the results of James' rectal biopsy to be sure that he has the necessary nerves cells, we will begin flushing his colon daily with saline (the same way they did in the hospital) and follow that with flagyll. The saline should help soothe the inflammation, flush the colon of mucous and other excess cells and hopefully begin the healing process. The flagyll is an antibiotic, which we hope with kill off the excess bacteria (which should then be flushed with the saline).
After two months, Dr. P wants to see James again and do the same tests (the fluroscopy in x-ray and the sigmoidoscopy in surgery) to see if there is any improvement...
My take on Dr. P is that he is currently not even cautiously optimistic. He is very concerned, but not ready to give up.
We are considering using some of the same things we would feed James, that would be nourishing to his colon, along with the saline flush. Please pray for wisdom about what to use and when, and that God would be glorified in healing James' colon and having it all put back together again.
Thanks for following our journey with James and for praying for us and him. While we are done with chemo, we still have a long road to travel with James.
Edited to add: Thoughts and suggestions on ways to help James are welcome! Especially natural ones!
Monday was a very long day for James. We got to the hospital at 6 in the morning. It seemed really busy and we were late getting checked in to a room. Later, our nurse would tell me that they normally have 30-40 children come through Day Surgery but Monday, they had 57 scheduled children! Yikes! Considering all that, things went remarkably well from the logistics standpoint. We left the hospital just before 7 p.m. and James' surgeon, Dr. P was heading in for yet another surgery.
The first thing James had done was the fluroscopy. They use a clear liquid dye (I forget what it is called) and put it into James' colon by way of his mucous fistula. Then the radiologist took pictures of the dye travelling through the colon. This showed that James' colon was very small for his age. There was some concern about whether the colon had not grown for the last two and half years or perhaps if there might be something constricting the colon.
Thankfully, James was sedated for the procedure and afterward he fell soundly asleep. Now there was a great delay waiting for James' turn in surgery. One case before James' had new issues come up in surgery and their time nearly doubled (from 2 hours to 4 hours)... When it was nearly James' turn, Dr. P poked his head in to let me know that the scope he needed for James wasn't working, but they had the technicians on it and hoped to get it fixed soon.
Finally it was James' turn and since it was so late in the day, we were able to stay in James' room, rather than move again out to the waiting room. Dr. P came to see us when he was all done with James.
He is very concerned about the condition of James' colon. He said it is very inflamed, pussy, and full of bacteria overgrowth and mucous. It is difficult to tell if this is scar tissue and tissue damage from the colitis James had at the beginning of his chemo or if it is just from non-use for two and half years. Dr. P did say that while it did look like there might be some constricting running the length of the colon, there isn't anything wrapping around it, but that the inflammation in the colon is so severe that the constricting is not even worth considering at this point.
So the plan is this: Once we get the results of James' rectal biopsy to be sure that he has the necessary nerves cells, we will begin flushing his colon daily with saline (the same way they did in the hospital) and follow that with flagyll. The saline should help soothe the inflammation, flush the colon of mucous and other excess cells and hopefully begin the healing process. The flagyll is an antibiotic, which we hope with kill off the excess bacteria (which should then be flushed with the saline).
After two months, Dr. P wants to see James again and do the same tests (the fluroscopy in x-ray and the sigmoidoscopy in surgery) to see if there is any improvement...
My take on Dr. P is that he is currently not even cautiously optimistic. He is very concerned, but not ready to give up.
We are considering using some of the same things we would feed James, that would be nourishing to his colon, along with the saline flush. Please pray for wisdom about what to use and when, and that God would be glorified in healing James' colon and having it all put back together again.
Thanks for following our journey with James and for praying for us and him. While we are done with chemo, we still have a long road to travel with James.
Edited to add: Thoughts and suggestions on ways to help James are welcome! Especially natural ones!
Monday, November 9, 2009
James update: 2:50pm
James just went back to surgery. Dr. P came in earlier to let us know about another delay (the scope he wanted to use was down... but is now fixed). He is concerned about the fluoroscopy and the small intestines. But, he said he should be able to tell from the scope if it is a problem. If the muscles are constricting, it could be a problem, if it is just atrophy from lack of use, we should be okay. Glad God knows.
Hannah
Hannah
James update: 2:00pm
The nurse just came in and said.... It's time. She and Momma are talking about if we want some versed for James before going. Please pray that God will direct the surgeon during the scope and biopsy and the NP during the bone marrow aspirate and spinal tap. Also that James would fall asleep quickly and not panic. Will update more later.
Hannah
Hannah
James update: 12:50pm
Edited: Momma just heard from James' nurse. She guesses that it will be another hour before they come and get James unless something happens that we don't know about. Momma is going down to the car and get our breakfast and take a walk (I got mine earlier, when I went looking for a movie for James).
We're still waiting for James to be called back. Checking email and reading some news articles. PTL, James is still sleeping, on the gurney. He is so sweet and handsome (no, I'm not biased). We'll let you know if/when we hear anything.
Hannah
We're still waiting for James to be called back. Checking email and reading some news articles. PTL, James is still sleeping, on the gurney. He is so sweet and handsome (no, I'm not biased). We'll let you know if/when we hear anything.
Hannah
Before bed snack
Popped amaranth, pears (that we canned this year), and coconut milk. So good!
James got new sippy cups at Target.
Helping get yogurt ready for Monday. We added coconut oil and bee pollen. James loves his 'bees and nuts' yogurt.
Talking to the folks at home. We're cleaning up our mess in the RMH kitchen (It's huge!!!)
James update: 11:30am
Thank you for praying...
Hannah
James update: 10:15am
We're waiting in fluoroscopy with James watching Daniel Boone. He's gotten versed. Please, please pray that the versed will start working and James will fall asleep during the test.
We'll try to put little updates on the blog and Facebook throughout the day. Thanks so much for praying for us and James.
Hannah
We'll try to put little updates on the blog and Facebook throughout the day. Thanks so much for praying for us and James.
Hannah
Guess where we ate
It was a delicious meal! After dinner, we went to Target to wear James out and then went back to the Ronald McDonald House.
Hannah
Hannah
Friday, November 6, 2009
Beef Tallow giveaway
You probably never thought when you came to our blog, to see a post about a beef tallow giveaway. I never thought that I would be writing a post about a giveaway like this. But I am. Here's the goods: There is a giveaway over at Kelly the Kitchen Kop's site for a 36lb bucket of beef tallow. Now that you think I'm crazy... this is what one would use beef tallow for... For frying french fries (everyone who trys it says that it is sooo good), instead of butter in your pie crust... AnnMarie says it makes the best crust ever.... And how about frying onion rings and chicken tenders in it. Another plus, it's good for you fat. So hurry over and enter. It ends at 11:59pm tonight.
Hannah
Hannah
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Poor man's mushrooms
We joke around here about what the poor man substitutes for the more expensive things. I've used canned salmon to make Salmon Pesto Pasta (a delicious dish that Nona made for us a couple years ago). Nona uses salmon fillets and we do too, when we have them. But this particular evening, we didn't have a meal planned and Daddy was almost home. So, I cooked the pasta and dumped in salmon and pesto and served it. The only bad thing about it was that the salmon broke up into little pieces.
The other day, Katie was cooking and I taste-tested for her (we do it all the time around here). I was surprised because it tasted like mushrooms and I knew that we had used up the mushrooms in the fridge. Then Katie said that it was a eggplant tart with a potato crust. Now I guess the poor man has eggplant for his mushrooms!
Hannah
The other day, Katie was cooking and I taste-tested for her (we do it all the time around here). I was surprised because it tasted like mushrooms and I knew that we had used up the mushrooms in the fridge. Then Katie said that it was a eggplant tart with a potato crust. Now I guess the poor man has eggplant for his mushrooms!
Hannah
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
That little red hairbrush
Daddy has a little red hairbrush that he's had for as long as I remember. When Owen was a little boy, about 4 years old, he loved Daddy's hairbrush and would borrow it whenever he could. Finally Daddy and Momma got him a little red hairbrush of his own, so that Daddy could find his.The other day, James found Daddy's hairbrush and immediately attached himself to it. And then it disappeared. James hasn't been able to find it yet. I guess he hid it to keep us from finding it and taking it away and hid it too well. It seems that James might be getting old enough to get a little red hairbrush of his own. Maybe for his 5th birthday in December. My, how time does fly!
Hannah
Hannah
Monday, November 2, 2009
Minor change in plans
After talking with Vern and the folks at the clinic, we have decided to just go to Atlanta and have counts done there. We'll just pop in, get James' finger pricked and be on our merry way. Doing it this way, we can be sure that everything is looked at by the right folks and all the results are in the right place so those that need them (the surgeon, in particular) can get to them.
So, on Thursday, we will be taking field trip. Not sure yet what all of our stops will be, but hopefully it will be a nice day.
The nurse called today from the Day Surgery unit about James' tests and procedures on Monday. We have to be at Day Surgery at 6 in the morning.
So, we have two prayer requests:
1. That James' counts would be excellent and everything would look great (and be great).
2. That we can get a room at the Ronald McDonald house near the hospital for Sunday night. We won't know for sure until Saturday morning if they will have a spot for us.
So, on Thursday, we will be taking field trip. Not sure yet what all of our stops will be, but hopefully it will be a nice day.
The nurse called today from the Day Surgery unit about James' tests and procedures on Monday. We have to be at Day Surgery at 6 in the morning.
So, we have two prayer requests:
1. That James' counts would be excellent and everything would look great (and be great).
2. That we can get a room at the Ronald McDonald house near the hospital for Sunday night. We won't know for sure until Saturday morning if they will have a spot for us.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
969 days later
Edited: James' off treatment pictures weren't showing up for some reason. Hopefully it's fixed and y'all can see Mr. Handsome. If not please leave a comment and we'll try to figure out what's going on. Thanks, Hannah
On February 25th, 2007, Momma posted that for some reason, she had this feeling that we had several more big weeks ahead of us. And she was right. Though, none of us would have thought it would have turned out this way. Those several big weeks turned into 2 years and 8 months!
But yesterday, James took his very last chemotherapy pill at 7:10pm and is now officially OFF TREATMENT! In a way, I am so thrilled, for James, and me and our family. But it brings more unknowns... and unknowns are.... well, unknown. But not for God and that is full of comfort. Before we close the chapter on leukemia, I would like to share some pictures of James before, during and after treatment. GO JAMES!!!
***************************************************************************************
On February 25th, 2007, Momma posted that for some reason, she had this feeling that we had several more big weeks ahead of us. And she was right. Though, none of us would have thought it would have turned out this way. Those several big weeks turned into 2 years and 8 months!
But yesterday, James took his very last chemotherapy pill at 7:10pm and is now officially OFF TREATMENT! In a way, I am so thrilled, for James, and me and our family. But it brings more unknowns... and unknowns are.... well, unknown. But not for God and that is full of comfort. Before we close the chapter on leukemia, I would like to share some pictures of James before, during and after treatment. GO JAMES!!!
***************************************************************************************
Before leukemia and with hair....
(January 2006)
During Treatment
(March 2007)
(May 2007)
(December 2007)
(May 2008)
(August 2008)
(September 2008)
(February 2009)
(September 2009)
And now.... Officially OFF TREATMENT
(January 2006)During Treatment
(March 2007) (May 2007)
(August 2008)
(September 2008)
(February 2009)
(September 2009)
And now.... Officially OFF TREATMENT
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As I put this 'in review' post together I saw so many other pictures I would love to have shared with you. If you want to see more pictures and to read James' journey through treatment, the best place to start is in February of 2007 and then finish up here.
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