Health Update

Things have been interesting around here lately in the health department.

Julia had her 4-year old well check at the end of May.  It still seems so odd to me to go to these appointments.  When you've taken you're child to almost seventy "very not well" appointments in the past year, well checks are definitely a rarity.  It's not even a place I am really comfortable any more.  When the nurse starts the appointment and asks all the screening questions she asks at the end if we have any concerns.  "Why yes, actually, quite a list."  But all of our questions some how tie back to the cancer and cancer treatments.  And pediatricians don't really specialize in that.  They focus on the normal development.  We know her normal development is great, but she now lives under the big shadow of being a cancer survivor.

The good news was she has gained nine pounds since last year! She maintained and actually lost weight during chemo, so this was great to hear.  She has gained all of that in the last six months! I can actually see how that is possible.  The child eats constantly while awake.  Several other parents of oncology kids have said their doctors told them to expect the child to make up for all the food missed during chemo in the first year after.  That has definitely been the case.  After eating breakfast every morning at 8:30, she is crying and begging for food by 9:30.  After that snack and another at 10:30, she wants lunch by 11:30.  The afternoon is much the same.  I've become a walking 7-11 with food and drink available at all hours and all locations.  Cici's has become one of our favorite stops.  I have NO IDEA where this child puts 7 pieces of pizza, 3 breadsticks, 2 bowls of noodles, and a salad! But for $2.99, I'll take it.

The crazy part is she cries when we get in the car if I don't hand her a snack! She seriously must have a hollow leg.  Or maybe that's what's happening with all the empty space where they removed organs and stuff from her abdomen :)  Sorry, cancer humor.  

She has grown in height and weight and regained her color.  They did repeat her CBC to see how she looked after her ear infection.  She was still in the low normal range, but also had a bit of a head cold so we will check again in July to try and get a healthy level baseline. He said her abdomen felt great and her organs have shifted and settled into all the empty spots well.  Such a bizarre thing to have to hear about your child.  We are so thankful to be walking the road of healing with her.  Staying on the remission road is a gift we will never take for granted.

Things were going along well with everyone until one Saturday morning in June.  Carter had his last baseball game and end of season party.  He is normally awake before 7 on the weekends.  At 8:30 when he still wasn't downstairs we became concerned.  repeated attempts to get him to come down were unsuccessful.  When he finally emerged he was acting under the weather, but said nothing hurt.  As I was helping him tuck in his shirt I noticed his neck was swollen.  Not just a little, but visibly protruding on one side from jaw to shoulder.  I won't lie and say my mind did not venture down horrible paths.  That's life on this side of cancer.

We let him go to baseball and get his trophy.  He couldn't throw because moving his arm on that side hurt too much.  We knew something was wrong.  We headed right from there to the pediatrician.  She walked in the room, took one look at him and said, "Oh my gosh!"  Thanks.  You can think it but please don't say it.  She decided to do a throat culture, sure that he must have strep.  That would make sense.  Negative.  Time for the CBC.  His bloodwork actually looked great.  Good and bad.  Good because nothing is blatantly wrong, but bad because we have no easy answers.  She was at a loss for options, said it was probably viral and to bring him back if anything else happened.

He barely moved the next two days, the swelling got worse, he screamed if anyone came near his neck, but no other symptoms.  Then his neck started to really hurt and the pain was spreading up into his head.  So by Monday afternoon we were back at the doctor.  Dr. Ravenel reassured me he thought this was definitely an adenovirus and he would have a tough week.  He repeated the CBC and was satisfied with what he saw.  Without my having to say a word, he said, "I know exactly what your thinking and why you are here and I would do the exact same thing of I were you."  Thank you.

It was a long week.  He had several really rough nights of screaming and no sleep from pain in his neck, headaches, respiratory symptoms, and throat pain.  After a week he finally started to get better.  He did well for about another week and then started complaining of his ear hurting.  He has permanent tubes, so a traditional infection is not usually the case because the ear drains itself.  By the next day, the entire side of his face and pillowcase were coated with dried, infected fluid in the mornings.  I know.  Gross.  Time to head to the ENT.  Dr. Kraus took one look and said he had a severe infection with pulsating fluid- yuck! He cleaned and vacuumed it out and put in a wick to help direct the ear drops.  A round of zithromax, some strong pain meds, and antibiotic drops and we will hopefully be good as new.

Last weekend Julia woke up on Sunday morning and threw up.  She seemed fine after that, but by the afternoon had upper respiratory symptoms.  Hopefully just a cold.  We've spent the week doing sinus rinses, decongestants, cough medicines, tylenol, and humidifiers.  We were hoping to be almost done.

Today she was really fussy and clingy.  We have her back in pull ups because her bowels are still a mess.  She is re-potty trained to pee in the potty, but is only successful with the bowels about once a month.  We were doing panties, but the poopy underwear was such a mess, so we put her in pull ups.  She has done great with consistently peeing on the potty.  Wish I could say the same about the other.  It has been a real stumbling block for me to keep my patience in this area.  It is a constant issue all day every day.  She has no control,  the smell is horrible, and it's a mess to change.  GI has been great with her and so patient but they keep telling us this process takes lots of time.  By time, they mean years, potentially.  I really have to pray to wrap my mind around that one.  It makes me feel so guilty for getting frustrated when it's not her fault.

Today I was helping her use the bathroom this afternoon and the pull up was soaked.  Red flag #1.  When she peed her urine was completely pink.  Red flag #2.  For the next few hours every time she peed she held my leg and screamed.  Red flag #3.  So back to the pediatrician.  Thankfully Julia peed in the cup readily and saved herself a catheter.  Her urine tested positive for blood, leukocytes, nitrites, and white blood cells.  The doctor was concerned as to why she is getting UTIs.  This is a huge "no-no" with having only one kidney.  Her urologist has told us that many times.  So hopefully the bactrim does the trick.  The culture will be back in a few days.  And they want her put back in diapers.  So basically we are starting over... again... for the third time.  Ugghh.  I brought up her bowel issues, but he had nothing to offer.

This is one of those times I get so frustrated.  Once your child is out of treatment you are really nobody's patient.  The pediatrician does not specialize in cancer survivor care and every appointment begins with me giving all the medical info and answering all the questions- very one-sided.  Julia sees the oncologist every three months, but is not in active treatment, so you get farmed out to different specialists.  Sometimes this works, sometimes not.  It's such a fuzzy area.  I've heard so many other oncology families say this same thing after treatment.  Most pediatric cancer protocols are cut (surgery), burn (radiation), and poison (chemo).  The protocols are very outdated, but the best science has right now.  There are long term issues and side effects from these harsh treatments, but the primary focus was saving your child's life.  After that, the rest is very murky.  So we will continue to press on and advocate for the best care we can get for her.  She goes back to oncology and GI in two weeks and most likely urology again. Hopefully we can get a plan in place for at least some of these issues.     

If anyone out there has had experience in this area of survivorship and has advice, we would love to hear it.  Anything would be helpful at this point.

Wishes for Skye

We have been following the story of Skye, a five year old who has relapsed with intial stage 1 Wilms tumor, 3 times. 

She has lost both her kidneys to the cancer and is now on dialysis.  They are out of options for treating her and her family is having to make some horrible decisions for their little girl.  Skye has a map of the world and marks the locations where she receives mail.  If you happen to live in any of these places, please send her a letter or postcard... 

By way of a great suggestion from a wonderful lady, we now have maps of the US and the world on our living room wall.  There are thumbtacks marking each of the states and each of the countries that Skye has received messages or mail from.  There are a lot of thumbtacks!!! BUT we are missing several states and obviously only have a few countries.  I would like for her to see all the states at least filled up while she is still with us.  If you know anyone in Washington, California, Nevada, Wyoming, N. Dakota, Vermont, New Hampshire, Delaware, Rhode Island, or Alaska or anyone overseas  - please ask them to drop by and say hello so we can fill her map while she can still see it.  Currently, we have Canada, Costa Rica, Dubai, New Zealand, Australia, UK, and the Phillipines on her world map.  THANK YOU!!!

Skye Getter

PO Box 33
Lewisburg, OH 45338

Sometimes the little things are really the big things in life.

Breakthrough

We had a bit of a breakthrough with Carter recently.

Let me start off by saying we have been blessed with very compliant children.  They tend to be mature, responsible, and compassionate (most of the time).  We do not struggle with major discipline issues.  Carter has always been a rule follower and truly desires to please us and do the right thing.  He is generally positive and pretty level and rational about his emotions.  So much so that when I talk about him "losing it" people tend to doubt I'm serious.  But with Carter, out of control means just that, out-of-con-trol.  It tends to be fueled by hunger, fatigue, stress, or exhaustion.  The trigger is usually minor but he loses it for hours, unable to get it together and we cannot soothe him.

This happened on a recent evening.  We had eaten dinner early and were enjoying some quiet family time.  Billy suggested surprising them with a trip for ice cream.  They had been asking us for awhile, but it is so hard to justify when you pay the same price for one cone as a whole container at the grocery store! So we decided to go ahead and do it.

When we went to leave Carter started asking for something else to play with in the car.  We asked him kindly to stop.  When he didn't we gave him a final warning and told him to get in the car.  He pushed his luck.  We stood our ground and he stayed home with me, while Daddy took JuJu for ice cream.  He was a screaming heap on the floor.

It was one of those moments I really needed to stop and think or this was going to escalate into the ugly range. And then it would likely be my fault for reacting out of anger and impatience.  I took a moment, prayed, and decided not to get emotional.  I kept my cool, validated his feelings quietly when he wailed them with passion down to his toes.  After a few minutes he realized we weren't budging.  He continued to wail and I continued to clean the kitchen.  About ten minutes later he suddenly stopped making noise and was sitting at the craft table in our kitchen.  He had filled a small cup with water, gotten out the paint,s and pulled out a large piece of paper. Hmm.  He asked me how to spell dumb.  I told him and continued to wash dishes.

He finished painting.... 

...sat back and looked at it for a moment.  I could read it from where I was, but didn't say a word.  Then he balled it up and threw it in the trash and walked over to where I was standing.  "Mom, do you want to play a game?"

I couldn't have been more proud! I know, that sounds absolutely crazy.  I am proud of him for regaining his composure in his own, identifying and expressing his feelings in an acceptable form, and finding a way to move past it.  Yay, Carter! I know you don't always like the rules we enforce, but I'm proud of you for realizing we mean it and aren't backing down.  I'm sure it's not the last time you'll think I'm dumb, but I hope you always remember how much I love you.

It was a good lesson for me, too.  I realized that you are listening to our words of wisdom.  You are not the type to immediately concede and calm down, but the words are sinking in.  You don't like to sit around talking about emotional topics, but you remember everything we say.  I need to remember to speak the truth calmly with you and then just let it go.

I saw this very thing happen again today.  Last night, as we were brushing everyone's teeth before bed, you started complaining about something not being fair.  I mentioned that life didn't work that way and nothing was ever going to be equal and fair. But this is not the end for us.  Our reward is in heaven, not on earth and all of this will just fade away.  Nothing more was said and everyone went to bed.

Today we were playing at a friend's house.  As you all played upstairs there was some disagreement about whose turn it was with different dress-up items.  Then I heard you say, "We can't always get what we want and be first.  This isn't our reward anyway.  We have to wait till heaven for that."  Always listening...

Saddle Ridge Ranch VBS

You may have wondered where we've been lately.  Well, now you know.

We've been on the ranch.

This past week was VBS at our "other" church.  The kids' involvement in Awana over the past 3 years has really made us feel at home at LifeCommunity Church.  We have made some dear friends and fallen in love with their children's ministries.  Last year, was Carter's first VBS experience and he had the time of his life.  He cried the last day when he found out it was over.  Julia was in the hospital that week getting a blood transfusion and recovering from chemo.  It brought me such joy knowing he was in such loving hands.

This year I was elated to be able to send both kids AND volunteer to teach.

Oh, the difference a year makes! I was the Rec Games teacher for the PreK department.  We had over 50 precious and excited little ones who kept us all hopping all week long! Over 480 kids in all attended VBS this year!

The motto for the week was...

...and it makes my heart smile hearing the kids say this (okay, actually they yell it) all the time now.  I pray these words are sinking in deep :)

The music was great, as usual.  We had been listening to the CD all weekend getting ready and when we walked into Worship Rally Valley the first day, it all just came alive

I love that they teach the kids the sign language to go with the songs they are singing.  It brings such power to the words and becomes such an act of worship to sing them.  By the second day, we were all singing and dancing around the clock.  It brings tears to my eyes to hear my kids spontaneously break into song with lyrics like these...

No matter what anyone says about me,

God says I am who He made me to be.

I am who the great I AM says I am

I am one of His greatest creations.

He says that I am remarkably wonderfully made.

I am who He says I am.

He says I am made in His image.

He says I am one of His children.

He says I'm His friend and He loves me so.

I give Him all of my praise cause I know!

I encourage you to listen for yourself.  You can hear many of the songs right here.

The games they created for the week were really great.  My helper, Jesse, and I did 3 games each day with our five groups of kids.  Lifeway does such a great job creating their resources.  I will definitely be playing many of these games again.  I can see a ranch-themed birthday in our future.  Here are just a few snapshots of all the fun we had...

Lily's face speaks for all of us.  We had some serious fun :)

There was also a serious note.  Every year, VBS does a service project for either local or international missions.  This year they chose to help Brenner's Children's Hospital.  It has been so near and dear to several of the families in the church, they wanted to help a place that has helped so many of us.  Each morning in worship they had a different family share their story in worship.  It was the first time we have shared Julia's story in front of a large group like that.  The morning of our turn, was the same morning Ellie Potvin earned her angel wings from cancer.  As broken as my heart felt, it meant so much to be able to feel like I was doing something to help the pediatric cancer family.  It is a torch we will continue to carry.

It was so powerful to share what Julia has experienced, the life of a child on chemo, the role God has played in her battle, and the plan God has to use each one of the kids at VBS to touch the life of a family at Brenner's.

They collected offering and gifts to donate to the hospital.

In the end, they had collected almost $1,000!!! 

AND all these toys, books, and DVDs....

There is nothing quite as powerful as God working through the hearts and lives of His little children.  So many families will be changed by what happened here this week and so many hearts have been touched.

Including one very special to us.  On Thursday, Carter made the decision to accept Christ for himself!  I was so blessed that he was able to pray with Ms. Flemania who has known our family since Carter's very first day here as a 3 year old.  We pray this is the first of many decisions he will make to live his life for the God who so wonderfully created him.  We are so blessed to have him in our family and watch God's plan for his life unfold. 

At the end of the last morning we all meet for one last time in worship.  We were sad to see it all come to an end, but at the end Pastor Rick made us all laugh when he wallowed in the mud like a little piggy...

VBS is such a highlight of everyone's year it make you wish it happened more often, but after teaching this year, I totally understand why a week is enough.  We were all so exhausted by the end of Thursday.  A full week of being at church at 8am and then being "on" with classes full of kids until noon just wears us all out! It will definitely take a few days to recover :)

Ya'll come back now, ya hear!! 

Next year we head to the Big Apple June 20-24.

Another Angel

Precious Ellie Potvin has earned her angel wings this morning at 11:35am.

The tears are overflowing.  It is devastating to see what this sweet child had to endure as cancer ravaged her entire body.  The suffering takes my breath away.  She fought so bravely to the very last minute and continued to minister to those around her until Jesus finally carried her home.

I cannot even imagine what this family is feeling right now as they prepare to spend the weekend saying goodbye and burying their child, while the rest of the world enjoys summer bbqs, trips to the pool, and time with their friends.  It just makes no sense.

I hate cancer.  I hate the pain.  I hate the hearbreak.  I hate the way it destroys children and robs innocence.  I hate that we have nothing to offer children like Ellie who relapse with rhabdomyosarcoma.  I hate the way it sneaks in and takes over after she enjoyed 9 months in remission.  I hate the way it kidnaps life and makes its own rules.  I hate moving another child's name to the "angel" column on my blog.  I hate it!



But sweet Ellie is so much more than cancer that killed her.  She is an amazing little girl with a gift of overflowing kindness, pure joy, divine wisdom, and deep compassion.  Her days may have seemed too short, but her testimony reached over a million before her life on earth even ended.  She accomplished God's plan for her on earth in eight short years and we rejoice that she is now completely healed, singing and dancing in the streets of heaven with her loving Savior.  We will never forget you Ellie!

We will continue the fight in your memory and others that have gone before you.  We will never stop fighting for pediatric cancer funding. Those, like us, who have been blessed to still walk in remission will carry the torch forward for all the courageous cancer kids and angels. 

Please pray for her family and friends, and her dear twin sister Grace whose very being has been broken in two...

Letter to Myself

We had a family speak in our Sunday School class last month.  The father was sharing his family's difficult journey over the past few years.  They are a Christian family with three teen/college-age children whom attend a private Christian school- all active in sports, church, and extracurricular activities.  Life seemed to be going along great.

When the oldest was a high school sophomore, she had a resume that would make any parent beam and everything in the world going for her.  Midway through the school year, she found herself extremely depressed, overwhelmed, struggling with an eating disorder, and having suicidal thoughts.  It caught everyone in their household by surprise.  Even she was shocked by what she was feeling and experiencing.  Her struggle lasted for many months  She missed the second half of the school year, while she fought for her life.  After their father spoke, both daughters candidly shared their experiences, fears, worries, stresses, and perceptions of life and their parents.

Hearing their hearts really took me back to those crazy years of high school.  It is one of the best times of life, but also full of stress and struggles.  As an over-achiever and strong student high school was one big deadline.  I loved all the sports, activities, performing arts, community service, and classroom challenges.  I was in a highly competitive high school in northern VA, outside of DC.  It was a pressure cooker.  I have never worked so hard in my life or gotten so little sleep.  As crazy at it all was I have some many amazing memories of all the activities, competitions, friendships, teachers, and experiences.  I was successful by so many worldly standards, but was it best?

As I listened to the girls sharing, so many thoughts and emotions were swirling in my mind.  I could so relate to what they went through and it really made me think about the future for our kids.  Is this what I wanted for them?  If not, what did I want? What does God want for them? I decided to write a letter to myself while they're young, before I forget what I've learned...


Dear Me in 10 years,


Life with teenagers is very busy, I imagine.  There is more to accomplish than the hours of a day, week, or month allow.  It is hard to believe they are so grown up.  Soon they will be spreading their wings and finding their own way in this world.  Where did the time go? As we parent them now, I want my role to be shifting.  We are no longer in the driver's seat of their lives.  They are at the wheel.  We are still in the car for a few years, but they must learn to navigate and react independently.


As parents, it is our responsibility to help bind our kids hearts before they leave home.  From the very moment they are born their journey towards independence begins, one small step at a time.  We are raising them to leave us and thrive on their own.  As we detach their connections and utter dependency on us, what are we binding their hearts to? Are we binding them to the world? How do we choose what to expose them to and encourage? What is permissible? What is not? Do we focus on grades, activities, competitions, sporting events, test scores, class ranking, and college admissions? Do we praise them for appearances and great finishes? Are we comparing them to their peers to see how they measure up? Are we teaching them that performance matters first? Or are we binding their hearts to God?


By this point we have (hopefully) taught them how to succeed and encouraged them in developing their God-given gifts.  We have exposed them to opportunities and experiences to grow their hearts and minds.  We have (hopefully) discipled and encouraged them to pursue the Christian faith for themselves.  But.... I pray we are also teaching them how to fail.  Sounds crazy, but I want them to know what to do when they do not succeed, when the outcome is out of their hands.  I want them to know what to do when they make mistakes and let down the people they love.  I want them to know what to do when they let God down.  When they make mistakes and the consequences are painful.  

I pray our home is a haven for grace.  I want to be a safe place for them to escape from the pressures of life and society.  The world demands SO much of self-motivated, academic, and driven youth.  I want them to know their real purpose in this world. God has a special assignment for each one of us.  A task that we have been designed to complete that will bring Him glory.  A unique piece in His eternal plan.

Ten years from now, as we are preparing to send them into the world, I pray they are flying under their Father's loving gaze, with His voice in their ears, His love in their hearts, His strength under their wings, and His path gleaming in their eyes.  I pray they are filled with true HOPE and an understanding of what it means to hold the faith.  As they prepare to journey through the world on their own path, I pray they have the strength to live in this world but not of it.  

Don't give up.  Don't get discouraged.  Speak words of praise into them.  Lead by example, not always in words.  Never hesitate to apologize and ask forgiveness.  Seek God's wisdom in all things.  Pray for them earnestly and continuously.  Give them over to Him daily.


Love,
me, mom to two preschoolers

Homeschool (Summer 2010 Edition)

I like to periodically update what we are doing for homeschool.  (Here is last year's summer homeschool update.)  Things change often as the kids grow and learn, we discover new things, I find a great new product, I attend a HS convention, I get bored, etc.  We took a pretty big break in April and May due to our trips to PA, OH, FL, and Jax; having company; illness; appts; and helping out some friends.  This is definitely one of the huge benefits of homeschooling.  We are able to adjust our schedule as our life demands or God leads.  We can also take it wherever we go when we visit family out of town.  Being the teacher and principal definitely has its perks! Now we are back at it full speed.

Carter started his formal schooling at 3 1/2 and has worked pretty much continuously since then.  We do school year round which allows us more time for small breaks, holidays, and travel.  Julia has participated with us on and off, but never regularly.  After her cancer diagnosis last year, she stopped completely and focused on fighting the battle at hand.  For the past six months we have been giving her time to recover, heal, readjust, and relearn the things she lost.  We did not start back with actual academics until this week.

At this point, Carter would be technically a beginning first grader and Julia is doing PreK-4 and some kindergarten.  The luxury of one-on-one instruction is moving at the child's individual pace and tailoring every subject to their current level.  We do our 'table' schoolwork altogether now, usually in the mornings for 2-3 hours.  Other subjects (read alouds, art, music, etc.) are done on a varied schedule throughout the week.

A lot of people have asked where we put all of our stuff.  Do we have a schoolroom? Well, sort of.  I used half of our bonus room when I was teaching just Carter, but with two we needed more space and table top.  I have two tall book shelves in our bonus room that hold our books and materials.  Our art and school supplies are in the hall closet.  All our reading books are housed on one giant IKEA shelving system in our foyer.  Our piles of library books live in blue over-sized IKEA bags.  I have started keeping each child's core curriculum in a colored tote bin.  I have one for each and a shared bin.  This way we are portable.  If we want to work outside, in the kitchen, or while at someone's house we can just pick up and go.  I love having all their books at my fingertips!

SUBJECTS WE DO TOGETHER:
BIBLE:
Jesus Wants All of Me (breakfast devotion)
Leading Little Ones to God by Schoolland
CHARACTER:
A Child's Book of Character Building by R and R Coriell 
Emotions:Photo Learning Cards (Key Education)
ART AND MUSIC:
Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book 1
Kinderbach (piano and music theory DVDs for 2-7yr olds)
Instant Recorder Fun by Poffenberger (using $2 recorder's from Michael's)
SCIENCE:
Developing Critical Thinking Through Science Book 1 (Critical Thinking Co)
HISTORY:
The Light and the Glory for Children (book and activity book) by Marshall & Manuel
Geography Songs by Troxel
READ ALOUDS:
oodles of library books and chapter books


JULIA'S PRE-K 4:
HANDWRITING: 
Handwriting Without Tears
MATH:
Disney Learning Pooh workbooks
Mathematical Reasoning Beg 2 (Critical Thinking Co)
Active Minds Math PreK
Big Preschool Workbook (School Zone)
Brainy Blocks
Patternables (Learning Resources)
READING:
Disney Learning Early Skills workbooks
Ready, Set, Go Level 1 readers and others
CRITICAL THINKING:
Building Thinking Skills Beginning (Critical Thinking Co)
Dr DooRiddles A1 (Critical Thinking Co)
FINE MOTOR:
My First Book of Cutting (Kumon)
Easy Crafts (Kumon)

CARTER'S 1st GRADE: 
WRITING:
Writing With Ease Lev 1 (Susan Wise Bauer)
READING:
Primers and Readers (J.P. Lippincott) They were mine as a child!
Language Smarts LevB (Critical Thinking Co.)
Reading Comp Gr1 (Steck-Vaughn)
SPELLING:
All About Spelling Lev 1 by Marie Rippel
MATH:
Daily Warm Ups Gr1 (Teacher Created Resources)
Singapore Math 1B with Frank Schaffer supplemental workbooks
Word Problems Gr1 (TCR)
Math Games Gr1 (TCR)
Hot Dots (addition, subtraction)
Software: Quarter Mile Math, Mindbenders
SCIENCE :
Exploring Creation with Astronomy by Jeannie Fulbright (Apologia)
Knowledge Box Central Lapbook (for the above text)
HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY:
US Govt Lapbook K-2  (Knowledge Box Central)
Beginning Map Skills Gr 2-4 (TCR)
Around the World game (LOVE this from Dollar Tree!!)
atlases and puzzles
variety of fiction and nonfiction literature
CRITICAL THINKING:
Dr. Dooriddles A2 (Critical Thinking Co.)
Building Thinking Skills Book 1 (Critical Thinking Co)
FINE MOTOR:
Amazing Crafts (Kumon)

Whew, quite a list! Please know we obviously do not do all of these everyday. Some are only once a week and some will come later in the academic year.  With others we jump between a variety of books at once.  In looking over the list many of my most favorite resource companies are listed, definitely many of my 'go-to' favorites.  It has been exciting to finally get into all of these books.  I have been exploring my options over the past couple years- researching, trial and error, talking to friends, and finally at the Ohio HS Convention (a-ma-zing!!).  And I am happy to say we are at a good place with both kids.  One of my biggest revelations over the past year has been honing my focus.  Our three central priorities are:

• binding my children's hearts to God in every way I can and am called to do.
• character above academics.
• and teaching them how to think and learn.  The ability to think critically and process information, trumps memorizing content any day.

And the rest just falls into place.

Nothing But the Blood

There's been a lot of talk about blood in our house in the past year.- counts, finger pricks, CBCs, port access, transfusions, etc.

Carter's fascination with the African Children's Choir continues and he can be found wearing headphones, belting out their music regularly.  I love hearing his  version of the lyrics, so sweet.  But the words are sinking in.  The other day he and Julia were playing trains in his room.  I could hear them from downstairs.  In the middle of 'train' conversation, Carter says, "Julia, did you know nothing can wash away our sins except the blood of Jesus."  She replied, "Yes, Carter." And they went back to playing.

Through our faith we knew that blood brought life.  Shed blood of a perfect sacrifice atones for our sins and makes our hearts clean.  But we have also experienced that tangible life-giving blood firsthand this past year.  Last June (almost exactly one year ago), Julia's health was rapidly declining and she was unable to get out of bed.  Her hemoglobin was dropping fast and she needed a blood transfusion.

I have never thought much about this life giving blood until it was dripping into my daughter.  I knew it saved lives during traumas and surgeries, but I had never thought about the thousands of children with cancer who depend on this blood to live and fight.  Without blood and platelets they could never stand against the devastation of chemotherapy drugs.  Julia only needed one transfusion during treatment, most chemo patients receive dozens and dozens.

In a few short days she was back on her feet, smiling, and playing...

Many people right now are stretched financially.  In turn charitable giving often drops off, too.  But never forget that one of the most lifesaving gifts is completely FREE.  If you're ever feeling powerless against the fight for pediatric cancer, remember that the simple act of donating blood can save the life of a child, probably one in your very own city.  We may not be able to cure cancer, ease suffering, pay off medical bills, comfort the grieving families, or discover a new treatment- but without the precious gift of blood none of those things will even matter.  You already possess exactly what these kids need to live and fight another day.

Many areas of the country are facing blood shortages right now.  There have been several local shortages of platelets in the past weeks.  There is a critical shortage of O negative nationwide.  Some of the patients at Brenner's have had to wait for hours while blood products were transported from other hospitals in the state because they were completely out at our hospital. Click here to find a blood drive in your area.

And if you were ever curious what this process looks like on a Mercy ship floating off the coast of west Africa, just check out Ali's account of her experience with blood.

Summer Fun in Pictures

Washer Woes

I never planned for "Appliances" to be a regular appearance on the blog, but it just seems to keep popping up.  This time we moved into the laundry room.

Back in May, I was putting in a load of dirty clothes to run while I was out of the house.  Re-potty training Julia is still a work in progress.  We are still tweaking all her bowel meds to find just the right levels for success.  That said, poopy underwear have got to be one of my least favorite "mommy chores".  That and being majorly thrown up on are about the only thing that make my stomach turn. (I've actually had a kid vomit into my face once.  I'll leave it at that and spare you the intricate details.  Let me just add we were deplaning our flight at the time.) 

Back to the washer, we had several pairs of poopy underwear in the washer already.  It had not been a good start to the week.  I planned to dry the clothes when I came home, before bed, so Carter could have his baseball uniform the next day.  When I went to switch the load, the door was still locked.  Strange.  I tried to turn it off?  Nothing.  Reset? Nothing.  Unplug? Nothing.  Now I just want my clothes back and the washer is holding them hostage! I have to say part of me empathizes with the washer.  After all the nastiness it sees, I might go on strike myself :)

Billy found a solution on the internet and took of the bottom panel to press the emergency door release button.  Whew.  Now I have a load of wet, smelly, dirty clothes.  We tried to run the washer with no luck.  But at least I have the nasty clothes.  Just need to find somewhere to wash them in the morning.

In a lovely twist of fate, Julia wakes up crying at 5am.  Not at all a good sign.  I go upstairs to find her drenched in puke.  The poor child has the stomach bug for the THIRD time in 6 weeks! I clean her up and hold her till she comes down.  She proceeds to puke on both of us.  We get cleaned up and I take her downstairs with me where she throws up in our bed, too.  Really?! With no washer?!!  The ick factor has now grown exponentially.  This happened to be the same morning we found out that our little friend Vinny's cancer had relapsed and he was in extreme pain and being referred to hospice.

As a mom, I cannot just crawl in a hole to cry out to God, life must go on.  I called our sweet neighbor and asked if we could use her washer.  The contaminated laundry was about to overtake us.  She immediately said yes.  I arrived at her door with baskets of soiled clothes, towels, and bedding; wearing pajamas covered in barf, unshowered, and crying because my heart was breaking for Vinny and his family.  But feeling so blessed because God put such sweet neighbors in our lives.

As I went back home to attempt to clean us all up I had to stop for a moment of humility because as stressful as all of this is, I remember daily how privileged I am to live in this country.  When my children are sick, I fill a clean bath and wash them, offer them a drink of clean water, given them the medicine they need, dress them in clean clothes, and love on them.  In the majority of homes in the world clean water is not available, baths do not clean, washers do not exist, soap is a luxury, and floors are made of dirt.  We are so abundantly privileged.  I say often how much  I love my dishwasher and my washing machine and I truly do, even when they aren't working.

So the next day we called in the repair service.  I had to laugh because as soon as he arrived, Carter grabbed his Handy Manny tools and hard hat and was ready to help.  After a long series of calls to Whirlpool, diagnostic tests, and disassembly- it was determined that our door locking problem was actually a computer problem. The new part would be $300.  As the repairman called me in to deliver the news, Julia decided to relieve herself  (in both ways) on the couch because she was absorbed in the book she was reading.  My patience was wearing very thin and we still had no washer.  The man said we had to decide if we wanted to fix it or buy a new one.     

Little does he know, we did that already.  When we got married we bought the Maytag HE set.  Two years later we were washing clothes when the washer started smoking.  Fire and water are never a good mix.  Turns out that series of machines were lemons, but the warranties were up, so it was our loss.  That's when we got the Whirlpool.  We have been so happy with it up until now.  We decided to give it a shot and order the part.  It should be here in a week.  Until then, this will have to do...

Which is not easy when you consider the wares...

Who in the world decided these things should be white?! I'm guessing it was Shout or Tide or Wisk :)

Anyway thanks to our laundry fairy friends we were able to wash our clothes at others' homes.  They even delivered it to us sometimes.  Talk about a blessing!

The new part arrived after the holiday and a new repairman, Phil, came to install it.  Turns out the computer in question was not at fault.  There are multiple computers in these machines and they go down like dominoes.  The guy was amazing in his efforts to diagnose and fix our problem.  His passion on the phone with Whirlpool, advocating on our behalf was impressive.  He ended up getting them to comp us the next computer.  Each one is $300 until you eventually find the end of the line, but it would be another week until it came in.

Phil came back again with the new part and determination to fix this for us.  I am elated to say it worked.  And Phil did not charge us for the multiple visits.  He was so honest and had such integrity that after profusely thanking him, I decided to pick his brain about washers.  We adore our HE machines, but obviously have had some issues.  He said that is true of all of them.  They are computerized.  It is the equivalent of exposing your laptop to heat, cold, water, dirt, soap, and agitation.  Things can and will go wrong.  He said they have yet to see a brand that consistently lasts into the double digit years of use without repairs.  That said, he recommends Whirlpool because they have the best diagnostics, customer service, and ability to fix broken parts.  So whatever it's worth, I hope that's helpful.

I still love our washer and did 6 loads that first night and we haven't slowed down much with swimming, potty training, and the many messes of summer.  If it's possible I'm even more thankful for that crazy machine of ours.  Three weeks without it definitely made my heart grow fonder! When I discovered at bedtime tonight that Julia had peed through everything last night and didn't tell me, I was able to smile (after sighing loudly) because I could throw it all in and wash it clean.  Well, it just beeped, time to switch the sheets :)

Shifting Sports Seasons

Soccer season seemed to come and go in a blur.

 

After the first game a streak of rain and soggy fields delayed game after game.  In the end we were playing multiple games a week to finish the season on time.  It was like someone hit the fast forward button.  The kids handled it all really well.

Carter's team matured so much this season.  For almost all of them, this is their last time in the Under-6 division before they age up next year.  They are beginning to really understand the game and field positions.  They pass before shooting and don't fight each other for the ball.

Julia was a happy spectator again this season.  We had hopes she may have been able to start playing this season, but she was still recovering from treatment and hadn't had her port removed yet.  I was afraid she's be disappointed, but she seemed to accept it pretty easily and started telling everyone she was playing soccer in the fall- perfect.  For now she is happy to watch, cheer, and eat...

Carter, we are so proud of you for giving your all very time you play.  You never give a half effort.  You come into very game ready to go and never let the score affect you.  I love the way you cheer on your teammates.  After every goal or good play you bolt across the field to give high fives.  But most of all you enjoy what you're doing, being part of a team, and helping those around you succeed. 

As soon as the uniform was folded and the cleats were washed, it was time for baseball season.

So grab your gear and let's play ball!

Baseball is still by far Carter's favorite sport.  I cannot believe this is his 4th season playing! We switched from the YMCA this year and are now playing for JYL. They are a part of the national Pony Baseball and follow a set standard for rules, skills, and coaching.

Carter is completely in his element on the ballfield.  He takes it all very seriously.  He has been following the rules and playing for outs for quite a while now.  He means business.  We are helping him learn to be solely a teammate.  If given the choice he would play, coach, umpire, and manage the equipment, simultaneously.

His favorite positions to play are the infield.  He looks forward to next season when they use catchers.  He is all about the defense and preventing runs from being scored.

When he plays pitcher next to the coach, he always tags home plate, then throws to first base...

He also likes playing on first base.  All the action of catching the throws and trying to beat the runner is right up his alley.

And he will do whatever it takes to make the play, even if he has to throw himself on the ground.

OUCH! There was an audible gasp in the crowd after this one.  He got back up and shook it off after a few minutes.  He's all about making the Top 10 play for SportsCenter :)

His hitting has continued to steadily improved.  He is consistently switch-hitting this season and hits equally well on both sides.  When we asked him how he decides, he told us, "I have to keep changing to keep the pitcher guessing."  Now mind you, this is coach-pitch!

He still loves to slide and slides into almost every base.  Tell me again why they make little boys wear white baseball pants?!

It has been a fabulous season.  Daddy has really enjoyed assistant coaching.  The team has really improved.  Even though they aren't playing for outs, they have been consistently getting their 3 outs in a timely fashion.  I'm excited to see them all next year in the bigger leagues :)  Go Jayhawks!!