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 : )