December So Far

It has been quite a busy December for us. We finished our semester of school strong. December has been filled with lots of parties, cookies goodies, Samuel's soccer tournament in Dothan, time with friends and family, shopping, quiet family nights downstairs by the fire, Advent readings every night, Abby's first band concert, and a beautiful wedding of some sweet friends. The best thing about this December has been what our family has learned through this Advent season. We have eagerly awaited the coming birth of Christ, but more than that we have looked to the second coming with excitement. We had a very sweet candlelight service at Grace Fellowship last night.Today will will spend time with family.....eating too much I'm sure.....playing games and opening gifts. Here are a few pics from the month.

Tacky Christmas Sweater Party with CO

Mamaw and Grandaddy with all the grandkids

 I will leave you with one of the best songs ever.

My Thankful Post

As the Thanksgiving season is upon us, I have been thinking everyday about things I am most thankful for.  Yesterday as I was driving home from taking Abby to meet Dave for band, I was thankful for this beautiful part of the road.  It's a curve and a hill covered with trees of the brightest orange, red, and yellow leaves.  I am thankful for Dave for so many reasons, one reason is that he likes to do things with me.  He likes to shop with me, enjoys putting up the Christmas tree, take walks(sometimes), drink coffee anytime of day, and keep the house clean.  Some of these may not be his favorite things to do, but he does them because I like them.  I am thankful that I am able to continue to teach my children.  I am thankful for the days even when things are chaotic and it seems no one has learned anything.  I am thankful for our home.  It's cozy and warm and welcoming to friends and family.   I am thankful for Erin's funny personality, Samuel's quirky ways, and Abby's sense of humor. I am thankful for our family.  The ones that are near and far. And for the friends that are like family.  I am thankful for no signs of cancer this season.  I am thankful for time alone in the afternoon.  our fireplace. good coffee.  walks in the park.  McDonald's ice cream cones.  Christmas music.  I am thankful for the Gospel.  that it changed my heart. 

Dave got the news today that results from his GI test were good.  We are always relieved to get good results from any test!!  My dearest friend and her husband have not gotten good news in the last couple of weeks though.  Her husband has just been diagnosed with cancer.  They found it when they removed his gallbladder. He had surgery today to see if it was anywhere else.  They are not sure exactly where it originated yet, but they do know it had spread some.  Please join me in praying for their family.  They walked every step with us over the last 2 years and now it's our turn to do the same with them.  They have 3 children almost the same age as my children and I know how difficult this can be on the kids. 

Clear scans

Dave got another good report today from his oncologist. Clear CT scan. We are thrilled about good scans. There were a couple of things on the scan that the doctor told us about. One has to do with the hernia. There is another place that seems to be another hernia in the making. He told Dave to go ahead with his normal life and if need be he will repair that one too. The only thing he told Dave not to do was lift weights. I know this was a little discouraging to him. He has always enjoyed doing that. The other thing the scan showed was the wall thickening of the sigmoid colon.  He just wanted Dave to follow up with a GI doctor which Dave will be doing next week. Overall it has been a good day….other than a twelve hour drive in the car with the kids…..SERENITY NOW!!!!!!



We had a quick trip to Houston with the kids. We love to explore Houston and this time we went to The Health and Medical Science Museum. What a great field trip it turned out to be. We all learned so much. I think Dave and I learned more than the kids. We got to spend time with all of our Houston friends. This is by far our favorite part of the trip!! Samuel looks forward to getting to play football with his little Texas Longhorn buddies. Erin gets to play with her sweet little friends who love baby dolls as much as she does, and Abby visits with the adults of course.



We did not take any days off from school….no. no. no. We have been studying for tests, doing computer math, and lots of English lessons in the car. Again I scream…..SERENITY NOW!!! At least we will not be behind when we get home tomorrow. (I feel I must insert here....I love love love my children....but 12 hours in the car.....oh my goodness gracious alive!!)



October 11 marks 2 years from our very first appointment at MD Anderson. Oh how thankful I am to be on this side of the 2 years!! We will never take for granted God’s graciousness to us!!

it's that time again

Monday is scan day!  It has been 4 months since the last one.  I will post results when we see the doctor on Wednesday. 

Has it been a whole month since I have posted here?  wow.  Our school year is going well.  Everyone is working hard.  This summer we made the school room into a bedroom for Abby so now we have most of our school day in the kitchen and sun room.  This seems to be working well for us. The kids are taking a few classes at a local co-op.  They love this.  Abby is learning to play the French Horn this year.  Erin and Samuel are taking piano lessons.  Samuel is playing soccer in Jville.  Oh how I love the Fall.  The air is starting to feel cooler. The leaves will soon start to fall. Even the smells are wonderful. I love love love this time of year.  I always have. 

Dave will have his next scan in 2 weeks.  We are looking forward to a quick trip to Houston.  The kids are going with us this time.  I don't feel anxious about this scan.  I don't think Dave does either. He is doing really well.  He looks healthy and feels good.  So thankful!!

a new school year and remembering

Here we go.....another school year is in full swing.   

 Abby is in the 7th grade and she wants to be a nurse when she grows up. 
Erin is in the 6th grade and she wants to be a pharmacist when she grows up. 

Samuel is in the 4th grade and wants to be a football player or dirtbike rider and a pastor when he grows up.

It is amazing how much more prepared I felt this year compared to last year. Last year it seemed we were still adjusting to being home and getting back into our lives. Thursday is the one year anniversary of Dave's surgery. In some ways it feels like 100 years ago and in some ways it feels like we just left the hospital. He is doing very well from his surgery he had June 1st. He had an incisional hernia repaired and has been taking it easy all summer. I constantly tell him how ready I am for him to be back at 100%. I will be glad when he can pick up heavy things like bicycles and boxes. :) He has his next scan on October 2nd. We are still going every three months for scans.   Today while we were taking a walk, we talked about some of the feelings we had on this day last year.  To put it simply...we were both afraid. We had gotten the worst case scenario from the doctors and were praying for the best.  We are so thankful that it went well and Dave has no evidence of disease one year later. 

 We had some new family pictures made this week (thanks Abigail.....we love them!!) Tomorrow we will remember and be thankful for the good outcome of Dave's surgery and Friday we will celebrate his 39th birthday!!

love this song

Our House is For Sale

We put the sign out today!  It is kinda bittersweet because we love this house so much.  We know that it is time to move though. We are not going far.....just moving to Jacksonville.  We have always loved Jacksonville and it will put us closer to JSU. We have been talking, praying, planning, painting, and all the stuff  that goes into getting ready to sell your home. Click on the link below to  Take a look at the house here!!

Delayed

Ok!!  So we are still at the hospital.  The doctor didn't think Dave was quite ready to leave this morning and then did not want us to leave late in the afternoon. We should be on our way home in the morning.  We were sad not to leave, but it was a good thing.  Dave had a rough day of nausea.  Alrighty then.  Gonna read and try to get some sleep....cannot wait to sleep in a bed!!

almost time to head home

Dave is doing really well.  He is getting to go home tomorrow.....and I am driving him.  All 12 hours.  Yep. 12 hours.  Stopping every two hours to let him walk around....and me too.  I'm sure I will need to stretch my legs too. :)  He has a big ole incision site.  He also is going home with one drain in his abdomen.  I was wondering why they did his surgery the way they did, so I asked the doctor.  I know that most of the time hernia surgeries are done by laparoscopy and it is an outpatient surgery.  They chose to do Dave's surgery the way they did because he already had such a big incision from the cancer surgery and they needed to be prepared if he ever had to have another abdominal surgery. We sure hope he doesn't, but you never know.  They actually went in and cut out the tissue and sewed it all back up.  They did not use any kind of mesh with him....for the same reason, in case they ever have to go back in.  Now that is my explanation from what the doctor told us.  Anyway, he is doing great.  We discovered the show Duck Dynasty today.  We watched like 5 episodes.  It is hysterical.  Dave made me turn it because it was all he could do not to laugh and laughing with a big ole incision does not feel good.  He had to take pain meds and now he is asleep.  But seriously, I think that may be my new favorite tv show.


 I am missing Abby, Erin and Samuel like crazy.  I cannot wait to get home and spend the rest of the summer with them!!  Hopefully this will be our last big time away from them for a long while.

In Recovery

Dr. Pollock just came out and told me everything went well. They opened him back up in the same incision as his first surgery.  He had to put two drains in Daves abdomen that will be there for several days.  They said he will definitely be sore for a while.  He also told me he should not do any heavy lifting for 8 weeks!  I know he will be glad to have this surgery behind him.  It's always hard being at this hospital.  I have chatted with several families today with family members having very serious surgeries.  Bladders removed, parts of esophagus and stomach removed, prostate removed.....a 2 year old with a tumor behind her eye.  I remain so thankful for God's providence in Dave's cancer.  From finding it early, to being able to have in treated at MD Anderson.  Thanks for praying for him today.  I should get to see him around 3:00 and then hopefully he will be moved to his room soon after that.

9 month scans..... CLEAR!!

We are so thankful that Dave's 9 month scan was all clear.  Now he will have his hernia surgery on June 5th.  He is looking forward to having this repaired so he can be more active.  Now we just have to keep him from doing anything strenuous over the summer.  We came to Houston without the children this time.  Since Dave will be in the hospital for a few days it just seemed easier to leave them with my parents.  Usually I have a really hard time leaving them because they are sad and don't want us to leave.  Not so this time.  They are basically having a two week vacation at the lake.  Fishing, playing in the sand, riding in the boats, inner tubing, jet skiing, spending time with cousins, and so much more.  I am so thankful for family to take care of them while we are away.  They take as good or better care of them than I do!!  So Dave and I have had a little time to explore Houston.  We love this city.  Even as hard as last year was, we still made some great memories here.  We also made some great friends.  Even though scan time is such a hard time, we do look forward to coming out to see the Pruets.  They are always such gracious hosts.  We had appointments on Tuesday and Wednesday at MD Anderson.  Yesterday we spent the day out and about.  With the business of home and all of our responsibilities, we hardly ever get a full day to just hang out together.  We had coffee at Buffalo Grille, walked around IKEA, went to a movie, and ate dinner at Cafe Pita...yum!  Today we  spent the day with Sarah.  She took us on an adventure!!  We had lunch in Round Top at the best little cafe. I had a piece of chocolate chip pie that was the best EVER. We then drove through College Station and got a look at the campus of the newest SEC team Texas A&M. 

Thought I would share a few pictures of the kids that I have gotten though texts!  Makes me happy to know they are having fun.

This is Erin in her element.....surrounded by a bunch of little girls.

Samuel's first fish!!

Abby reals in one fish after another...her secret....loaf bread.

sorry for such a dark picture....Abby and Erin both caught a fish at the same time while doing some night fishing!

9 month scans

Tomorrow Dave will have his 3rd scan since surgery. We are traveling to Houston today. We made a stop in New Orleans for lunch and walked around for a bit. We came to the the conclusion today that we don't really love New Orleans. It smells bad, it's hot, and there is really nothing we enjoy doing there. There are three things we do like....visiting the seminary, eating yummy food, and having coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde. Dave will be having surgery next Tuesday.

 My blogs have been few and far between lately.  We have been busy with school.  The kids took SAT's a couple of weeks ago.  We are 4 weeks away from completing this school year.  I am always burned out by this time of year.  I cannot trust my emotions the last couple of months of school.  I usually am ready to give up and enroll everyone in a school somewhere by this time of year.  But....we will make it...only 21 more days :)


We have also been busy with Relay for Life. That is the big fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.   We have a huge Relay in our county. Last year while we were in Texas our church started a team. They worked so hard last year and raised over $6000.  This year I am the team leader.   Our big fundraiser this year has been a cookbook.  It turned out really well.  If you would like to buy one just comment on this post and I would be glad to get you one.  They are $12.  The actual Relay for Life event is May 11th and 12th at the soccer fields on McClellan.  If you live in our area please come out and be involved.


Dave has his next scan on May 29th which is also Abby's 12th birthday.  He will also be having surgery to fix his incisional hernia while we are there.   Dave has been setting up these appointments and it has caused him to have a bit of scanxiety a little early.  Not bad.....but just having to think about all that is a little much.  I don't know if I have gone one day since he was diagnosed without thinking about cancer.  I know there are days I don't think about it as much, but it is always there.  Dave was telling me he looks at this blog from time to time just reading back to what we were doing  last year. Everyone who lives around here remembers what they were doing this time last year.  April 27th was a day of terrible tornadoes in Alabama.  Many people were killed statewide.  We were home from Houston on that day.  We all got in our basement bathroom and rode out the storms that passed through our area. We had no damage, but some our neighbors just miles north lost everything.  People are still rebuilding.  We left and flew back Houston on the 28th.  You could see the devastation from the sky.  Just another reminder of how fleeting life is.

Spring is here.  Well we've almost completely skipped spring and jumped into summer.  It has been absolutely beautiful lately....and HOT.  We have been working in our back yard alot over the past few weeks.   It finally came together this week. I snapped some pictures of our progress.

a little school on the trampoline while we were burning the wood.

We had to burn all of the wood before we could plant grass.

Swing...before

and again from a different angle....with the new frame

Today's project....painted the swing black.  Frame has to be painted later :)

we even have some grass coming up :)

the view from the deck......100% improvement!!

We had our Project Fair and Geography Bee at ACA a couple of weeks ago.  All three kiddos did projects and participated in the Bee. Abby's team came in first place.  We all learned alot about while we were preparing for this.

The kids have been kinda sad because we didn't get to have Spring Break this week.  We had to take a week off when we went to Houston, so that had to count as our Spring Break. :(    But they are getting a couple days off due to a doctor appointment and Kids Market.  I guess two days off is better than nothing. 

Clear Scans

It has been 6 months since Dave's surgery and we have another clear scan!! We are so thankful. Next scan 3 months from now.  We still have to see the surgeon tomorrow about the hernia.


We were up most of the night with Samuel coughing. He was very dramatic!!  He ended up in between Dave and I in a queen size bed.  I'm pretty sure he was the only one who get much sleep.  We left all the kids at Sara's this morning and a friend has taken them to the Children's museum.   Always thankful for our sweet Houston friends! 


I'll update tomorrow after our next doctor visit!

scan time again

Well where have I been?  I haven't been on the computer blogging. I have really been a slacker in the blogger world.  We have just been busy with life.  School, church, campus outreach, family, friends, and getting our house ready to sell.... no time for blogging.  But it is that time again.  Scan time.  Doesn't it seem like he just had scans?  It has been 3 months....almost.  We had to move the scans up just a bit.  Dave has an incisional hernia that needs to be checked out too.  So Monday is scan day.  We should have results on Tuesday morning.  Dave is having scanxiety.  I guess he always will.  It is not near as bad this time as it was in the past.  Hopefully it will get better with each clear scan.  The kids are super excited about a road trip to Houston.  They have made lots of plans of the things they want to do on this quick trip.  Hopefully we can fit some of it in.  We are looking forward to seeing our gracious hosts, the Pruets.  We have missed them since coming home. 


I mentioned we are getting ready to sell our house.  We have been wanting to move to Jacksonville for a while, so what better time than now.  We have a couple more things to do before we stick a sign in the yard.  It's a great house and we will miss it, but now it's time to sell it. 


So please pray for us as we venture out to Houston and Dave has scans and doctor visits. Thanks for checking in on us!

It is the best of jobs.  It is the most difficult of jobs.  It can cause the greatest of pain. There is nothing as fulfilling and exhilarating.  There's nothing so depleting and exhausting.  No area of your life can make you feel more like a success when everything is going well.  No area of of your life can make you feel more like a failure when things go wrong.  (The power of a Praying Parent)


Monday was one of those days where nothing seemed to go right.  School was difficult, the kids were bickering with each other, the house was a mess, the couch was covered in laundry, and we were working on history fair projects which were spread out all over the living room.  I felt like a big ole failure at the end of the day.  We had our mom's meeting Tuesday night to turn in semester grades and attendance sheets and I was greatly encouraged by some older than me homeschool moms who have done what I am doing and have lived to tell about it :)  I really needed the encouragement not only for school, but for parenting in general.  It really is the best job...even with all the hard stuff that comes with it.....and through all the ups and downs of the week we finished our history fair projects!!

I am spending a couple of days with my sister this week.  She had surgery on Tuesday and then my nephew broke his arm Wednesday night.  So Erin, Samuel, and I are here to help for a few days.  The kids love getting to spend a few days with their cousins.  

I found a yummy recipe on Pinterest that I thought I would try on them in the morning.  I made it a little while ago and it is in the fridge ready to be baked in the morning.

French Toast Bake

Ingredients

1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)

1 cup brown sugar

1 loaf Texas toast

4 eggs

1 1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Powdered sugar for sprinkling

Directions

1. Melt butter in microwave; add brown sugar....stir till mixed.

2. Pour butter/sugar mix into bottom of 9 x 13 pan....spread around

3. Beat eggs, milk, and add vanilla

4. Lay single layer of Texas Toast in pan

5. Spoon 1/2 of egg mixture on bread layer

6. Add 2nd layer of Texas Toast

7. Spoon on remaining egg mixture

8. Cover and chill in fridge overnight

9. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes

10. Sprinkle with powdered sugar

11. Serve with warm maple syrup

Doesn't that sound yummolicious?  oh yeah... that's a real word :)

Dave is doing great.  He worked at the lake a little last weekend and I could tell it really took everything out of him. I think he's back to 100% and then on days when he goes nonstop, I can see the effects of so much chemo.  But other than that he is doing great.  Next scan is in March.  We will hopefully drive out with the kids, enjoy our Spring Break in Houston, get some clear scans, then head home.  

Now to go cuddle with my two babies...my 9 year old and my 10 year old babies : ) 

Roll Tide

BCS National Champs
Roll Tide!!

They were ready for the game....

A Happy New Year

Dave and I rang in the new year in Chattanooga with friends and students from all over the country.  We spent the last few days of 2011 at the Campus Outreach National Conference.  We heard great speakers and had some really good time with the students and leaders.  As the clock turned to midnight, Dave reminded me what a difference this year brings.  Last year there were so many unanswered questions as we began 2011.  As I have said before, we enter this new year hopeful!!


I started planning for our new semester today.  One very positive thing about this new semester is that we are not overwhelmed with activities.  I am excited about getting back into a routine.  I love the holidays, but I am ready for some scheduled days! 


One thing I have noticed as I have followed other people with sarcoma is that when they get better, they stop updating.  I totally understand why.  You want to move away from the world of cancer once you are feeling better.  It's discouraging sometimes because it seems there are no good stories out there.  No encouraging words.  So I wanted to update on how Dave is doing.  His last chemo was 7 months ago.  His last radiation was 6 months ago.  His surgery was 4 months ago.  He got the news of clear scans 1 month ago.   He is pretty much back to normal.  I don't notice him being as tired.  His hair is slowly but surely coming back.  He laughs alot.  He is scheduled for scans again on March 22.