Visit with my sister

As many of you know, my little sister is dealing with breast cancer.  She was diagnosed last November and has been undergoing chemotherapy since late December at University of Pennsylvania Hospital.  She has been doing amazing!!!  This past Thursday was her tenth treatment and she wanted me and the kids to come and visit with her while she was getting her chemo.  The hospital ENCOURAGES visits by many different people and has no age restriction!  The kids thought this was great and were so excited to go see Aunt Lisa.  I think they were also a bit curious as to what exactly happens.  Daniel was a riot and has been super sensitive towards Aunt Lisa.  He really enjoyed getting to see what goes on – and playing with her iPhone!

The best news, however, was finding out that there is no longer any detectable mass!!  YAY!!!  The doctors are quite pleased with how well she has been responding to treatment.  She has two more treatments in this phase and then four more in the second phase.  She will then have surgery June 2nd and have the entire summer to recuperate (she is a P.E. teacher for a public school).  Please continue to pray for her, that she would continue to respond well to treatment, for strength as she is getting tired more easily at this point (to be expected) and that the surgery would go well.  More importantly continue to pray for her heart to be moved towards God and to rely upon him for strength.

January Recap

I had two major goals for the month of January – to cook more dinners at home and to get to the gym more often than not.  With the gym, I did GREAT!!!  Out of the 31 days I went 28 of them!  The three I missed were generally due to the weather.  I really enjoy going to the gym – even though I have to get up when it is still dark outside!!  But I love the quiet of the morning and getting my body and brain going.  I especially like the reading that I can do while I am on the elliptical! 

If you remember a couple of posts ago I posted my menu for the month of January.  I know you couldn’t read it – but I put it up to be held accountable.  I learned a lot about myself and cooking last month.  The biggest thing I learned is that when I plan and “know” what I am making – cooking goes a lot smoother.  Another thing I learned is I really HATE trying new recipes.  It takes me FOREVER to put a meal together when I am just learning – and with a one-year old crawling around and getting into everything – it’s hard for me to focus that long.  This month also happened to turn into a crazy month with a lot of unexpected events taking place.  In the end I managed to cook 26 out of 31 meals.  Some of those eat out meals were planned – but three of them weren’t – they were “I’m too stressed to cook with everything that is going on today – SAVE ME!” meals!  I still hate cooking but it’s getting easier to handle when I plan.

I also had a few little goals – like keep caught up with the laundry and try to de-clutter a specific area in the house.  This month I focused on my bedroom.  The one big thing that was cluttering our room was Drew!  He has been in our room since birth and it was time for him to MOVE OUT!  The problem was – where to put him.  Sarah has her own room and we thought about putting him in there – she really wanted him there!  But she’s an 11 year old girl and will be wanting her “space” before too long.  The boys room isn’t really big enough for three of them – but that’s where he ended up.  We just moved his pack-n-play into the room and it seems to be working out pretty well.  Matt was white hot mad when we first did it.  He REALLY wants his own room – but there is no other bedroom.  And we aren’t moving!!!  After all the work we have put into this house – and the knowledge that we have done our best to protect this house from further bedbug invasions – I can’t imagine moving.  Sometime in the future we may have to rearrange people – but right now things are okay.  What we are really praying for – and this is a HUGE DREAM on my part – is that the house next door to us would go up for sale and we’d be able to purchase it.  The people that live in it now aren’t staying in there because they can’t afford the heat – they have moved in with other family.  We kind of hinted we’d be interested in purchasing – if it came to them selling.  I’m praying and God knows what is best for us – but it sure would make life a little easier with that much more space!!!  As far as the rest of the de-cluttering of my bedroom – it’s a work in progress!  It’s getting there – and hopefully by the end of this month it will look decent.  The laundry is a never-ending source of contention with me – it just NEVER gets done!  But at least I’m getting into the mode of doing at least two loads everyday.  Winter clothes are the worst because they are so heavy and bulky.  Summer can’t come fast enough!

Well, that’s January.  It has taken me FOREVER to get this blog post up.  Life just doesn’t seem to be slowing down.  But my new goal for February is to start blogging more regularly again.  I know a few people have been missing it.  Thanks for the prayers!  I really need them!

Happy 1st Birthday!!!

My baby is ONE year old today!

I remember his birth like it was yesterday.  How can a year have gone by already?  It went way too fast!  I am so incredibly thankful for this beautiful gift from God!  Drew has changed my life for the better and has shown me God’s amazing grace and love in a very tangible way! 

Some things I love about my baby boy….

The way he wakes up making all kinds of cute sounds.

The way his little face lights up when he sees me!

The way he claps his hands when he hears cheering, whether it be from the television, radio, or in church!

The way he gives me a mischievous grim when he is crawling off into the dinning room!  If he’s quiet – you know he’s up to something!!!

The way he looks at his siblings with absolute delight!  He thinks the world of them!

The way he still holds onto my shirt when he nurses – he’s done this since birth!

Is it wrong to sometimes hope he’ll cry in the middle of the night just so I can go and hold him?  I love those moments and I know they are going to fly by WAY TO FAST!

Drew is a real joy to my heart and such a wonderful, unexpected blessing!  I can’t imagine my life without him!

Happy Birthday, Drewbeedoobeedoo!  We SO love YOU!!!!

*My incredibly talented friend, Carisa, took Drew’s one year old portraits – impromptu!  We were at Karate with the older kids and she happened to have her camera!  I LOVE THEM!  Thank you!

Some more cuteness!

I did a quick photo session with Drew to get a picture for his Dedication/ 1st Birthday Announcement and he was quite cooperative! Take a look!
Isn't he just adorable! Can't believe injust two weeks he'll be ONE!!! UGH!!! Where did my baby go?

Snowy Day...

A tree outback of our house - the city can look beautiful in the winter!

AHH! What a great day! I went to the gym (my ninth day in a row!!) and then came home and grabbed the family to head out to Chick-fil-a. We registered for free Spicy Chicken Biscuits - Matt and Andy ate them - I can't eat spicy - but we all enjoyed a wonderful breakfast together. We then came home and enjoyed a relaxing snow day! Matt still had school work to catch up on, but I was able to take a nap!!! I haven't taken a nap in forever! I loved it!



I have been doing pretty well with the whole meal cooking thing and the kids have been really encouraging! Last night I made a roast in the crock pot and it was so delicious! With the leftover meat I made Vegetable Beef Soup - perfect for our snowy day! It really does help to have all the meals planned out so I can make sure I have the right ingredients. I am also able to actually cook the meal in a decent amount of time since I am not staring into the frig wondering what to make! Thank you for all your encouragement and help!



On a Drew note - I came home from the gym today and Andy informed me that Drew greeted him by standing up in the pack-n-play where he sleeps! UGH!!! I have watched him try to do it a couple of times but have never seen him actually do it! Now he can! He really is growing up way to fast! I'll have to try to snap a picture of him doing it one of these days.

New Goals!

With each new year I always try to set some new goals - more often than not I fail miserably! But I try and every now and then I am successful. My goal for this year is to try to cook more dinners. I hate cooking - I know I have mentioned that before! - but I need to make more healthy meals and God has been spurring me on to make this a priority. He has given me this wonderful family to care for and FEED! I need to make this a ministry to my family and get my act together. Since one of the things that goes along with cooking is the grocery shopping (which I hate even more!) I have decided to try to plan a month of meals so that I can go to the grocery store as little as possible!!! I have come up with my first month of meals!!I don't think I'll be able to make a dinner EVERY night. I am so thankful for the staff retreat that falls in the middle of the month as that is three less meals I have to make! I have also planned on two meals that we order in or go out to eat. But even with those five meals - I will be making a whole lot more than I had last month! I think last month, I am ashamed to say, I may have made a total of ten meals! Cooking is hard for me - I am not a creative cook - know nothing about adding flavor to meals and cook basically the same things week after week. I have added a couple of new recipes to try - but I hate new recipes because they take so long to prepare. But this is an area where I need to improve and that is my goal for the year. I have only made this one goal because it is going to take everything I have (and even more from God!) to accomplish this task! So while you are cheerfully preparing your own meals - I would really appreciate prayers on my behalf that I would do this task cheerfully and learn how to prepare healthy meals for my family! Thanks!!!

Welcome 2011!!!

Sunset on New Year's Eve - on our way to see the 6 pm fireworks!

WOW!! A whole new year! I love New Year's Day! The thought of no mistakes yet made is refreshing! A nice clean start - with lots of hopes and dreams to fulfill! We had a great day today - cleaning up the Christmas decorations, reflecting on the last year and making new goals for this coming year. I think the kids think it's fun to see what they wrote down last year and to see if they have met any of their previous goals. I know I think it's fun!

This past week has been busy. Cleaning, organizing, playing!!! We've had a good break! But I am starting to get the feeling of wanting to get back into school mode and get things done! I am hoping the second half of our school year goes better than the first half. I need to get myself together and really participate - I've been feeling rather lost this school year trying to fit a third kid into the mix while dealing with the fourth and his needs. But I think I have figured some new things to try and we'll see how it goes!

This past week, Thursday, Daniel had the opportunity to go to see Toy Story 3 on Ice! He was given tickets as a Christmas gift from my mom. I so wish I had had the video camera going when he was given the gift! His reaction was priceless as his little face lit up when he realized what he had been given. I was the lucky parent to attend the show with him!!!It was really fun just spending one on one time with my sweet 5 year old! I think he enjoyed it too! Here are a few pictures of our time at the show. Did I mention we were second row from the ice? The seats were amazing!!In Drew news - he is amazing! He just started crawling the week before Christmas and now he's trying to pull himself up to a standing position. He was successful yesterday when he was getting ready for a bath as he pulled himself up at the tub! He was quite pleased. I have also caught him several times trying to pull himself up in his pack-n-play! He is just all over the place! He's getting so big! It's sad and exciting at the same time. I so love this baby time when he's all snugly and lovey - but it's exciting to see him progress and grow into a toddler. He has also FINALLY gotten his eighth tooth! Two molars are also pushing through - they look so soar - but he's being a real trooper about them!

Happy New Year! May God richly bless you this year!