Good News!

Hey everyone thank you so much for your prayers. Gran did have her procedure done today and it went well. They were able to do some of what they wanted without the esophagus tearing. They are going to wait about a week and a half and try it again to see if they can get further progress. I will keep you updated. So far so good!

Be sure and check back tomorrow because I am going to post about the NASCAR weekend in Kansas City. I have not had a chance to download the pictures just yet, but there are some really awesome ones!! Until tomorrow...

P.S. Jeni, I am so excited about keeping Lydia! I couldn't find my baby Bjorn so I bought another one off of Ebay. Your other friend may have to permanently give up her day after you go to two days a week. Tim was so excited because he thinks this is going to stop the adoption talk! If you can't guess I am FREAKING out about Brock turning 5 in Feb and going to school next year. Lydia is the Godsend. I am going to spoil her rotten and love every minute I can steal with her.

Gran

I have been so fortunate in my life, that except for the year and a half that Tim and I lived in Mississippi, I have lived within 15 minutes of my grandparents. Most of my life, I have seen them every Sunday at Church. Growing up, I would sit with them during services and Gran always had gum, candy or something. My first and second grade years of school were at Mabelvale Elementary where Gran taught 5th grade for I don't know how many years. Those years were so cool because I got to see her every day. I have some of the most cherished memories of Gran and I in her classroom, going home with her from school, her teaching me to read, playing at her house, camping at Greers Ferry and riding to her house from Church for Sunday lunch (both of which for all my growing up years were rituals). I remember very vividly the Sunday that we ate a quick lunch and all piled in cars to Barton Coliseum to see her receive her Masters Degree from UALR. If you have not gathered it by now, Gran is a very special person. Sometime in the next few days Gran is going to be going in for surgery to repair her throat so that hopefully she will be able to eat a normal diet. This surgery is very delicate and for a woman of 87 quite a risk. Please lift this precious lady up in your prayers. Pray that her body will react positively to the surgery. Pray for the Doctor and staff attending her throughout the whole ordeal. Pray for the family that we will all have God's peace about it, and lastly pray for Grandpa. He has been such an example of a servant over the last few years. To watch him take care of her is something that will bring tears to your eyes. The past few years have stolen quite a bit of Gran's cognitive abilities, and she stays confused and angry a lot of the time. He is always so patient with her, and he is constantly watching out for her. I guess after 65+ years of marriage you really do become one person. His health isn't fantastic, and I wonder how much of him still living is because he knows she needs him so desperately. It is so hard to watch two people who have been such an intimate part of my life and making me the person who I am today in the twilight of their lives. I am so thankful for every memory that they have blessed me with, and I am so thankful that my children have them in their lives too. Please pray!

FIRST GRADE FIASCO!

Well, apparently my daughter caused a lunchroom brawl yesterday at school. It should be noted at this point in the post that six year olds will apparently go to great lengths to get tootsie rolls. My darling daughter (unbeknownst to me) filled her pockets yesterday with tootsie rolls before she left for school. Ms. Fields said that all morning she never played with them or made any mention of them. Then it was time for lunch.. dum dum da dum... As the story was relayed to Ms. Fields by the lunch ladies, who apparently didn't find the humor that Ms. Fields and I did, this is how the story goes. Claire started to get the candy out of her pockets and they started falling all over the floor. When that happened they said it looked like an anthill because kids were diving on the floor, tackling each other, eating them as fast as they could, and throwing them across the room to friends who couldn't get to the stash. Can you imagine? I know that the good mother would be taking this very serious and teaching their child the lesson about not taking candy to school, but I am not her. I think it is hilarious! I guess I have too vivid of an imagination and can just picture it all going down. However, I did tell Claire that she can't take Tootsie rolls to school anymore, and I tried really hard not to smile when I did it. That is going to have to be enough!

What a weekend!

Weekends are supposed to be for relaxing right? Apparently not around here! This weekend was very full and seemed to end before it began. I turned around and here the week was again. How about those Hogs huh? Does anyone else remember the song "So Close Yet So Far Away"? I couldn't help but hum the chorus as the final seconds and victory slipped away. There are so many "if Onlys" that we won't even go there.

Also this weekend, we celebrated the life of my dear friends precious baby girl. Olivia Faith King will always hold a special place in my heart as will her parents. They are such an inspiration to me in the way they have handled their loss. I can only pray that I would do half as well.

Well, I am off to watch the election results from the school board. I am pretty sure I just heard the "YOUR OLD" alarm going off somewhere in the world. Go Shana! (my friend who is running for the board)

No Need to Congratulate Me!

Well, you don't have to send a card or anything, but this evening I am coming down from a 10 day headache! You read right 10 days! I finally made myself go to the Dr. and he diagnosed me as having a migraine. That may not sound too bad to you, but for me it does. You see, for the past few years I have taken great delight in the fact that I didn't get them. My Mom and Sheila get them, but I smugly thought that I had avoided the headache gene. I thought that maybe since everything else in the 60" that makes up me seems to malfunction at some point or another that maybe I had been spared this grief. WRONG. Oh well, thank heavens for meds! I am going to see if I can get some rest now because I have to say I am not looking my best! Puffy eyes and all. Not anything to take a picture of to say the least.

Here We Go!

Okay so I guess I am following the trend and starting to blog. So here is what has happened this week.... We spent Monday at the lake house and celebrated Poppy's 65th birthday. We "closed" out the summer on a good note. Claire enjoyed being out of school for the day and Brock thought that he could keep up with his older cousins. He tried to ski by himself and much to his dismay he did not weigh enough. Then he wanted to get thrown off the tube and once again he didn't weigh enough. After much wailing, his big cousin Benjamin "helped" him get thrown out. You would have thought that he conquered Mt. Everest. It was a good day. Claire rode in the tube and got thrown out as well but didn't find the joy like her brother did. The rest of the week was not as great, but hey it is Friday! Claire managed another week of 1st Grade with only one change of her color. Compared to this time last year, she is doing amazing!



Okay so I am off to the marriage communication seminar that Tim signed us up to attend at Church. I guess he doesn't like the way I communicate????