Sam and Mary's Family Page

Happy 5th Birthday Grace!

2012-02-03T10:56:00.000-05:00

Elizabeth Grace Conver turned 5 years old Wednesday!

Tuesday night we had a birthday party for her at Mimi's house.

Then on her birthday we took a big bowl of fruit salad plus mini brownies to school. Then I brought in Hamtaro the Hamster to see her class right when everyone was waking up from naps!

Grace got to go home from school at 2pm instead of 5pm or some days 3 when Thomas gets out.

Next we took tiny cupcakes and juice to ballet where she got to have lots of fun and celebrated 2 years of ballet classes! She started ballet on her 3rd birthday! After class they all had a mini-party and even sang Happy Birthday!

We then all went to Grammy and Aunt Leslie's church for a pot luck dinner, Gracie got fried chicken -which she loves- and everyone told Grace how much they loved her beautiful Cinderella dress.

Finally we went to Bible Study at Forestpark and took big yellow iced cupcakes with Tinker Bell rings on top for her friends.

Tomorrow Grace is having a big party for all her friends from school:

Princesses and Pirates!

When: Feb. 4th, 2012
Time: 1:00pm
Where: Forestpark Community Church
Address: 5012 S Watterson Tr

Instead of gifts, please bring a wrapped Children's Book labeled with a approximate age range. We will place all the books on a table, and every child will get to pick a new book to take home! If you don't like the one you got, there will be time to trade!!!

I will send pictures later too!!!

12 Days of Christmas

2011-11-27T22:07:00.001-05:00

I'm always trying to remember the order of the 12 Days of Christmas, so here they are!!

Day one: A partridge in a pear tree
Day two: Two turtle doves
Day three: Three French hens
Day four: Four calling birds
Day five: Five golden rings
Day six: Six geese a-laying
Day seven: Seven swans a-swimming
Day eight: Eight maids a-milking
Day nine: Nine ladies dancing
Day ten: Ten lords a-leaping
Day eleven: Eleven pipers piping
Day twelve: Twelve drummers drumming

Advent Wk 1: Christmastown is all set up!

2011-11-27T22:05:00.001-05:00

This is the Christmastown Mom and Dad got us for Halloween and we have added several pieces! Happy Advent!

Portraits for the Fall 9/29/11

2011-09-30T12:25:00.000-04:00

Click on the link to see all the photos!

http://tinyurl.com/43775dw

Falling off the Face of the Earth (I didn't)

2011-09-09T10:34:00.001-04:00

Back to School 8/10/11

Wesley's Birthday 8/13/11

Sam Plymale's Wedding 7/23/11

Mom, Dad, Grace & Thomas to the Fair 8/19/11

State Fair 8/21/11

Getting Cub Scout Uniform! 8/30/11

Labor Day White Party 9/4/11

Putting on Makeup All By Herself 9/5/11

Mommy Put On Makeup for Her 9/5/11

Aquarium at Gatlinburg 8/3/11

Walking in the Village 8/4/11

Conver and Womack Gatlinburg Vacation 8/2-8/5/11

Playing in the Creek 8/4/11

Newfound Gap 8/4/11

Hiking the Appalachian Trail 8/4/11

Messy Games Night at FPCC Youth 8/31/11

Easter Party at School

2011-04-22T11:27:00.001-04:00

New Doo Wop Shirts are In!

2011-03-21T10:47:00.001-04:00

IMG03899-20110321-0923 a photo by QtContrary on Flickr.

Classy Coupon Clipper Lady!!!

2011-03-16T11:18:00.003-04:00

http://classycouponclipper.blogspot.com/

This lady is a Christian who likes to help people save money! Check it out, and save a ton.

Also, get on Kroger's website and register (they want your name and Kroger Plus Card #) and then go to coupons. They will let you load digital coupons onto your kroger card. That's it! When you check out, it takes off some money! Love it!

Harry Potter Lego Movie

2011-01-27T23:26:00.001-05:00

Check these out!

Thomas and I made a stop animation Harry Potter Lego Movie. :-)

There are two videos, but they are the same except for the voice over. His is cuter, but the kids loved hearing me do one too, so that's why I have the second one! :-)

Have fun!

http://tinyurl.com/ThomasHP

http://tinyurl.com/MJsVoiceOver

Mary Conver

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2010-11-28T02:27:00.000-05:00

We had a very Happy Thanksgiving! Did you?

Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes

2010-11-09T23:53:00.001-05:00

These are pictures from last year 2009. :-)

We are filling Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes tomorrow night at Forest Park!

We have 24 pre-paid shoe boxes and all the supplies we need to fill several more than that!

They have a great new way to give online with a Credit Card and now you can follow your box all the way to its destination!

Operation Christmas Child, the Shoe box ministry of Samaritan's Purse, is collecting their gifts for children all over the world these next two weeks. Let's pray for lots of boxes to be filled, for the right gifts to get to the right kids, and for all the people filling boxes, wrapping boxes, driving boxes, and shipping boxes! Let's pray that the kids receiving Christmas boxes will learn that God loves them and He sent His son Jesus to die for the forgiveness of their sins.

Here are some specific things they've asked for us to pray over for these next two weeks:

• That the Lord will give protection to the National Leadership Teams, the churches, and organizations that are distributing the shoe box gifts, and for protection for the project as a whole from spiritual attacks.

• That the shoe box gifts will arrive at their destinations safely and in a timely manner, and will provide effective opportunities to share the love of Jesus.

For the upcoming Connect Conferences being hosted in March and April in Atlanta, GA; Denver, CO; and Cincinnati, OH. There are many details to come together in order to be able to offer an experience where volunteers can be equipped in their ministry role, connected with other ministry partners, and spiritually refreshed and renewed.

• For recruitment, selection, and training of OCC volunteers and staff, both domestically and internationally. Please pray that the Lord will move in the hearts of those He has called to serve in specific ministry roles and that we will follow His leading to be able to continue to effectively multiply His ministry.

• That the Lord will give our international staff and volunteers wisdom and discernment in how to use the gift-filled shoe boxes to spread the love of Christ throughout their countries.

Here is a link to a page where you can commit to pray for 30 minutes or more during next week for the National Collection Week. www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/1khours

Here is a link to find out more about Operation Christmas Child:

www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/

I will try to post pictures when we are done!!!

Esther and Eivaen getting married TOMORROW!

2010-10-10T02:11:00.000-04:00

Counting Down to Esther's Wedding.....

2010-09-28T00:12:00.000-04:00

Esther and Eivaen's wedding is October 10th, 2010!

We are all nailing down last minute details before next week's rush to start packing!!!

Still to do:
Buy Thomas and Tyler a new suit.
Catch Thomas up on missed homework from sick days before he misses homework for the trip.
Dry Clean Sam's Suit.
Figure out rather to mail MJ's giant fluffy slip or stuff it in it's own suitcase...
Pack Pack Pack
100 Things I can't remember right now.

Mom had Surgery Saturday!

2010-09-19T23:02:00.001-04:00

9/17/10 MJ - My Mom found out today that she has to have her gall bladder removed tomorrow! She had been having stomach pains and nausea for awhile, and this past Tuesday she was up all night long with pain and getting sick! Finally today she went in to the doctor, and he sent her to get an ultrasound of her gall bladder. They've kept her overnight.

Update: 9/19/10 Mom had her surgery Saturday morning and it went great! They said it was just in time! She got home at 8:30pm last night and doesn't even have to go back for a check up until 2 weeks from now!

Thomas Read a Book

2010-09-13T11:28:00.001-04:00

So, Thomas read his first whole book! Tuesday night actually. 9/7/10. It was one of the little BOB phonics books. It was called, "Sam". They've been working on site words in school, so it was fun for him to see words he knew, and be able to sound out the rest. He had been reading little parts of other books I was reading to him, but this was the first one he read all himself.

He's pretty proud of himself!!!

I tried to upload a video of it, but it was too long! :-) It takes a while to read a book when you are 5!

:-)

Back to Reality

2010-08-12T09:12:00.007-04:00

St. Simons More Pictures

2010-08-11T22:18:00.007-04:00

Thomas had a Reading Party on the Beach for his Summer Reading Program!

Grace Twirling on the Beach!

This is the GA Sea Turtle Rehab Center.

Here are Thomas and Grace in their own little room!

Day 1 & 2 of the Beach Trip!

2010-08-02T15:31:00.002-04:00

This was taken at the wedding on July 31st of Graham and Sarah. They had tiny bubble containers and the kids loved blowing bubbles while the Bride was having dinner. She seemed to enjoy it too. There were several other kids there also blowing bubbles. The only real problem was that she had also provided tiny cardboard boxes with red bows that she intended her guests to fill with whichever candy they liked -either mints or Hershey's kisses. The kids ate the candy and then filled the boxes with bubble solution! You can just imagine had that went..... But they never figured out that it was simply not going to work. So, between the 5 of them, they emptied all the bubble bottles on the table!

This picture was taken on Aug. 2nd! This is the first time David has seen the ocean! He loved it! Thomas and Grace enjoyed being at the ocean with their Aunt Leslie and Uncle Bob and of course Uncle Jon! They didn't quite understand the concept that their cousin was really too little to play, but that's ok, he didn't seem to mind!

Little bitty Gracie, and the Great Big Sea.

I sent these back with my blackberry, but it posts them in random order! This one is at the wedding again. Grace was wearing my hat. It was hot, but not too sunny, so all in all a great day. She is showing Grammy here how her Princess, "her name is Sleeping Beauty" is sitting in her chair getting ready to watch the wedding.

Working hard on those sand castles, it takes a lot of sand you know. Especially when Grace keeps flattening the thing over and over!

Here are 2 more wedding photos! We initially sat down on a whole row on the Bride's side. It was agreed that we should probably move, so we up and switched sides. One of her family thought it was funny, and as I passed, I said, "Well, we wouldn't want the bride to think we like her or anything..." She laughed. But poor Sam had gone to the car to get the wedding card we left there, and when he got back, just as the Grandmas were being seated, he had to look all over for us. Then I elegantly waved like crazy, and he had to walk around the back and come sit down. :-)

Now, the best part of the wedding is when the pastor said, "Graham, you may kiss your wife" and then when he did, Grace (in row 3) yelled, "Ewww Yucky!" He didn't hear, but Sarah did and looked out and giggled. I was soooo embarrassed and it was soooo funny! Sam and I both put our hands over our mouths and I mouthed "I'm sorry!" to the bride. She enjoyed it I think. Graham's Mom heard and loved it.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

I Printed My Blog

2010-07-30T13:14:00.000-04:00

I have printed out my entire blog! It was soooo long. I didn't know I'd written a book!

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Packing for the Beach & School Supplies

2010-07-30T11:34:00.003-04:00

I figure now that I've put a password on this dumb thing, no one will ever read it again, ever. But oh well. Still makes a great journal!

So Here is my Packing List for the Beach:

Bible, Journal, Markers, Paper, Sunday School Curriculum

Thomas's Summer Reading Paperwork

Books for both kids

Pillows and Car Blankets

Dressy Clothes for the Wedding (Wear them down there?)

Toys for Grace

Toys for Thomas

Swimsuits

Food for the Condo Kitchen

Food for the Car

To Do:

Pack for Thomas

Pack for Grace

Pack for Sam

Pack for MJ

Pack Toiletries

Renewal of AAA

Print Trip Tik from AAA

Return Library Books

Pick Up Audio CD we ordered from Library that finally came in

Get Mom's Car in Ship Shape

Done:

Sunscreen

Get Mom's Car's DVD Player and Radio in Order (Bill is doing now)

Refill Medicines

Move $ for Gas

Buy School Supplies (due as soon as we get back!)

MJ is Cleared and the Brumback Reunion!

2010-07-15T11:17:00.004-04:00

I'm a Free Woman! Dr. Dutton released me Tuesday and said I can do "anything I want, no restrictions, but take it slow!"

So, looks like I'll be in great shape to go to the beach at the end of the month! Not so sure how much I'm looking forward to the 12+ hour drive, but you can't have everything! Might be fun... Mom, Dad and Gannie are letting us borrow their car for the trip (w/DVD for the kids) so that will be nice.

Then when we get back from the beach, it's back to school!

Here are some pictures from our recent Brumback Family Reunion!

Surgery Update

2010-07-11T23:34:00.002-04:00

Well, tomorrow is 2 weeks since my surgery. I had a Laproscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy (LSH) on 6/28/10 at 7:30am. That's fancy talk for "Removed the Uterus Only through 3 tiny incisions." I have my follow-up appointment on Tuesday. With any luck, Dr. Dutton will release me to go back to normal in a week or so!

Disney Kids Stay and Play 2010, by Mary Conver

2010-06-14T10:18:00.001-04:00

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

Disney, Surgery, and Beyond

2010-06-11T11:16:00.003-04:00

We've had so much going on since I posted last, I haven't had any time at all (while I was awake) to update our blog!

I'll add more later, but here is some News U Can Use:

1) May 29-June 5th we went to Walt Disney World

2) Bill and Sarah are having Baby #3! (Don't know yet if it's a boy or girl...) Due Dec. 2nd.

3) I am having surgery on June 28th. Laproscopic Supra Cervical Hysterectomy. LSH.

4) We are going to the Beach with the Conver Family the first week of August.

5) Thomas is Officially Starting Kindergarten, August 11, 2010. (Class of 2023?)

6) My Nephew David is turning One Year Old tomorrow!!!

7) The kids are out of school and into "Summer Camp" which is the same school except different teachers and different rooms. (She's in his old room with his teachers, and he is in a new room with her old teachers!) They are doing full days Monday and Tuesday, and till 12:30 on Wed-Friday.

8) And Vacation Bible School is June 21-25 from 6:30pm-9:00pm. I'm in charge of the movie room! Chadder's Adventure Theater! We are doing High Seas Adventure.

9) Elizabeth and Chad are having a boy, his name is Silas!

Ok, that's all I can think of! Back to Work!

April Pictures

2010-04-14T10:07:00.002-04:00

4 Kiddos at Wildwood Sunday. (Notice that each one is making their signature face....)

Thomas the Monkey Man on the church playground.

Grandmother coloring in the little activity books we all got at Sarah's Birthday Party at Wildwood.

Happy 30th Birthday Sarah!!!!

This is at the Louisville Science Center in the Gemini Space Capsule.

Kids' Karate for Christ

2010-04-10T13:00:00.001-04:00

Sam has started a new Kids' Karate for Christ class on Saturdays at 1:00pm at the Forestpark Church Blankenbaker location!

They had a great time, learned some self-defense, and learned that "if you take a serious looking stance, like you know what you are doing, and yell "Hai!" really loud, bad guys will leave you alone. They want someone who won't fight back." (The loved practicing yelling!)

The young man you see at the far right here is Griffin. He is one the the younger guys (13 years old) in our adults class, and he is learning to be an instructor for the kids!

She says, "Hi-Ya Daddy!"

The class is for ages, about 10 and under. Really it was geared for 4-8 year olds, but as you can see, Gracie (age 3) and Samantha (age 10) both put on a uniform, and gave it their best shot, or in this case, kick!

We also have 2 others that couldn't be there on this day.

Howard Brumback Himbaugh Memorial

2010-04-04T15:00:00.000-04:00

This is the Memorial Bench that my Dad had installed for Easter at Sunset Memorial Gardens Cemetary (recently renamed something else) in Frankfort, Ky.

4 Generations of Howards Brumbacks and Himbaughs. Gracie said, "Himbaugh is my name!" Gannie started to explain that "No, it's Conver" but realized that in a way she was right, and Mom and I told her, "That's right Gracie!"

Happy Easter 2010

2010-04-04T09:51:00.000-04:00

This was taken at my cousin in Frankfort's house. I love her in that pretty dress in front of the old car! This next one is in their tire swing. She'd never been on one before!!

This is the new bench that Dad bought for Mom for Easter. It's at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Frankfort! You'll notice all our family names on it!

These were taken at Wildwood during the Easter Egg Hunt!

These next 3 are at church at the Easter Egg Hunt. We had all the kids under 2 in the playground, the 3-5s in the front of the field, and over 6 in the back. It worked out pretty good except for the fact there were only a few kids under 2, so we had to send the big kids in there to help, I don't think they minded the extra candy....

Here is a shot of Tyler and Gracie together.

He looks like a tiny banker! (at an Egg Hunt with a Spider-man bucket...)

Ballerina

2010-03-24T15:45:00.003-04:00

This is Grace concentrating hard on getting her ballet shoes on....look at those long legs! :-) She looks so big here! This picture was taken 3/8/10.

Sam is an Elder Now

2010-03-24T15:42:00.003-04:00

This past Sunday March, 21, 2010, Sam was Ordained as an Elder at our church! Along with 4 other men. Here they are listening to the current 3 Elders giving them words of wisdom and scripture to think on....

Pictures

2010-03-24T15:38:00.003-04:00

Thomas getting a new haircut!

Thomas sad about something!

Gracie wearing Thomas' coat! She thinks that's pretty cute!

Spring Forward!

2010-03-15T10:57:00.002-04:00

Did you Spring Forward Yesterday?

Doo Wop in St. Patrick's Day Parade

2010-03-13T15:00:00.006-05:00

Doo Wop entered our Tri-Fun (loving called the Goofy Little Truck) into the Highland's St. Patrick's Day Parade this last Saturday! Also Dad drove his Segway!

The kids loved it because we got TONS of candy and green necklaces. There was so much my purse was stuffed full and they were still throwing some to us!!!

Sorry, I had to show you this giant boat too!

Bible Study Picture

2010-03-10T19:00:00.003-05:00

This is our Wednesday Night Bible Study Group! Our last meeting with Kim and Laura who are moving on to bigger and better things! Whatever will we do??!!! (I'm taking the picture!!! Also, Sam has been in the group for 5+ years, but has recently started teaching the youth on Wednesday nights at our Youth Campus!)

Thomas Turned 5!!!!

2010-03-09T11:21:00.001-05:00

Thomas loved his McDonalds Spider-man party! Thanks to everyone who came out, we had so much fun seeing everyone!! And this boy got seriously spoiled! Thanks for the gifts!!!

On his actual birthday, Tuesday, we went and picked him up early from school (during nap- which he thinks is a big deal) and took him to Red Robin, where he only ordered a milk shake, then to Toys-R-Us to spend his birthday money and coupon they sent him for $3 off anything, plus $5 off anything over $25.

Then for dinner, Mom, Dad, Gannie, Bill & Sarah, Tyler & Ian, Sam (until he had to go teach Karate) Grace, Thomas, and I all went to Stan’s Fish House. He had a huge piece of Catfish “because I’m the birthday boy!”

After that, we went back to Mom’s for a big Spider-man cake and ice cream, and a few more gifts. All the other 3 kids got some too!

More Fun Pictures

2010-03-08T13:16:00.002-05:00

This one was a Lucas' 1st Birthday Party!

This was taken after school last week at Big Rock.

Gracie last night getting ready for ballet. 3/8/10.

This one was last week 3/1/10, she's waiting for her class across the hall, watching the "big girls" doing their ballet. I love how straight up she is sitting. :-)

This last one was taken on 2/22/10. The girls were "dancing" around the waiting area for us.

Thomas' 5th Birthday

2010-02-23T11:35:00.002-05:00

Come Celebrate Thomas Conver's 5th Birthday with us!

We're having a party at Thomas' favorite restaurant, McDonald's! (His Idea!)

McDonald's on Hurstbourne Pkwy across from Stoneybrook (with the indoor playground!)

Sunday, March 7th, 2010 from 4-6pm.

Thomas wanted his theme to be Spider-man, so we'll decorate accordingly... (Spidey eating a Big Mac?)

Happy Meals with Drinks, and Cake provided for Thomas' guests...grown-ups and siblings will have to grab something at the counter. (Of course, I love Happy Meals, but I'm guessing you probably don't....)

Hope to see you there!

Mandatory Sex Education for Ten-Year-Olds? Yours?

2010-02-21T00:01:00.001-05:00

Click Here to read: Mandatory Sex Education for Ten-Year-Olds? Yours?

Better read this one guys! Good Grief. I am a major advocate for Sex Education, and wrote a very involved paper for it in Seminary. But don't be fooled, these people aren't talking about YOU teaching YOUR CHILD what YOU want them to know. THEY want to take care of that for you, and include everything THEY want your child to know. Because "Young people today have the right to be fully informed about sexuality..."

This one really gets me: "Comprehensive sexuality education is perhaps the single most important gift that parents can offer to their children -- and to adolescents everywhere -- as they approach the age at which they will begin to have sex."

What? Ten? They are approaching the age of having sex at ten? So...they will be sexually active at 11? Or did you plan for them to wait till they hit puberty, then say maybe...13?

Makes me insane......

Thomas Rockin at Reading

2010-02-18T22:11:00.008-05:00

Well Thomas read the first book in the Biscuit Phonics Fun Box Set tonight!

I loved it! It was so fun! He would finish a sentence and I would say, "give me 5!" And he would and we'd giggle!

The funny thing is, the set was a Santa gift for Grace! But, he had done so well last night with a Star Wars, Step Into Reading- Level 1 book, that I knew if he worked on one that was focused on Phonics (the Step Into Reading aren't really), that he would do great.

He read "This is Biscuit" and "Biscuit and the Cat." The second with quite a bit more help. :-)

His hardest words were: "Little, lots, of." He kept trying to say "love" or "likes" with "lots." And he keeps sounding "of" out as "t-something-or-another."

The smart thing is, and I've seen this on several sets of the Phonics Books, there is a page in the beginning that shows each set of words in the book. The first set is the phonics words they are working on (short a), so: "ran can hat sat." Then the second set is sight words: "this a on is." Finally, they have a set of "Fun Biscuit Words" (Scooby Doo has "silly words" I think) that they will see here: "Woof! Biscuit Yellow." This last set include daily words, but not usually ones they would see every day. (Thomas was proud to point at Yellow before I could and read that one. They work on colors and numbers at school. :-) )

One cool element about this layout, is that you've had a chance to read aloud to them all of the main words (sometimes all of the words) they are about to see, in no order at all, but still, they do get to hear the word and see it together. Then, a few minutes later when they are trying to sound out the word, they will think back and put the pieces together in their mind. Or, like with the word Biscuit, they are ready to holler out "Biscuit!" as soon as they see it written on every page. Thomas did this with "Woof!" and "friend".

It seems to me that the major stumbling block he is having is sight-recognition of letters. I know that sounds odd, that he is sitting there reading all but about 6 words out of a (30-25 words total maybe) book, and I'm worried he doesn't recognize letters. But, if you saw what he struggles with, you'd see what I mean.

He will stare at "girl" and fidget, and look all around the room, and look at the picture trying to guess a word that fits in the sentence he has just read....etc. Then I'll say, "G-I-R-L," and he blurts out "Girl!" Now, I'm not talking about sounding it out, I just spell it, and he pauses, and says the word. He does that a lot actually. I wonder if where they practice saying the spellings of words at school.... Ex: (Tune of Frere Jacques) "P-I-N-K, P-I-N-K, That spells Pink! That Spells Pink!" .... if he is memorizing some word spellings. Then when I spell it out, he thinks of it. Not sure really. I do know that it's become noticeable to me.

Anyway, another little issue, which I'm assuming will clear up on its own, is mixing "b" and "d" up. But, before we call in the dyslexia people, they do look a lot alike.... so we'll watch and wait.

We've been reading one book a night that he reads, and then one (or two maybe) that I read. Not including the one or two I read to Grace in her room, which he sometimes listens in on.

He noticed recently that several kids in his room already know how to read. He told me, "I don't know how to read." He said it with such certainty and finality, that I talked to Mom and we agreed that even if it was just one little book a day, it was worth trying.

Here we are 4 books later, and he read one almost totally by himself. Even if he just gets a tiny boost of confidence when he hears his classmates blurting out sentences that are written on the wall, it will be worth it!

I wish you could have seen him proudly reading that little book to his Dad! :-)

Sam and I kept shooting each other looks back and forth while he was reading it like, "Can you believe this!" :-)

Snow Pictures

2010-02-10T11:40:00.000-05:00

Thomas made a Volcano

2010-02-09T11:39:00.004-05:00

For Christmas Thomas got a Make Your Own Volcano Kit.

This is us building and erupting it. You had to mix up Plaster, form the mountain on a plastic mold, hide a tube inside the volcano, then when it was dry, paint it (we used black and silver) then after that dried, you can mix up vinegar and dish soap -to make it foamy- with food coloring. Then you squeeze it up through the tube, and it mixes with the included super-baking-soda...Voila! Volcano!

The bottom 2 pictures were first, then about 3 days later (after the paint dried and Grace had time to break the edges up...oops...) are the top 4 pictures.

We had to put a towel down because if they squeezed too hard, it would shoot vinegar across the room!

Grace's 3 Year Check Up

2010-02-05T11:23:00.004-05:00

Grace had her doctor's appointment on 2/5/2010.

She loved her "special dress" she got to wear. It had whales, pen-guons, and aldogaders.

She was mad at me though in the end because I had told her she wouldn't have to get any shots (that's what they told me on the phone) but she actually had to have her finger stuck for a blood test, and a second dose of the H1N1 vaccine.

She screamed at the lady when she was trying to take blood, "My Mommy said I don't have to get a shot!"

I had to tell her, "Mommy didn't know. I'm sorry. Now do you want to know what they are going to do next?" (H1N1...) She said, "NO!" But, after a few minutes, I gently let her know that she didn't want to get sick like Mommy was last week did she? And she said no, so I told her they'd be back in to give her a shot so she'd stay well. She had seen me with a bad cold 2 weeks ago, in which I totally lost my voice. Didn't stop her screaming at the next nurse though...Oh well..

She was 80% for height: 3 foot 2 inches, and 10% for weight: 26 lbs (or 28, I can't remember!)

Grace's First Ballet Lessons

2010-02-01T11:29:00.006-05:00

On Grace's 3rd birthday, at 4pm, she had her first ballet lesson! It was so cute.

But she was about a year too little to be in that class. There were mostly 4 & 5 yr olds in there. During the class, the little kids teacher was watching through the window with me, and he went in and worked with her! She actually picked up a lot.

After class, he came and asked if I could bring her to the 7:30 class the next week, which had one 2-yr-old and one 5-yr-old (her sister). So, this past Monday, she went back (before the major snow) and tried again. This time she had even more fun because she knew she was in the right place!

2 Videos of Ballet Class. They take a minute to load but are pretty cute!

Grace Turns 3!

2010-01-30T11:20:00.002-05:00

Grace Turned 3 on February 1, 2010.

Here are pictures from Gracie's Abby Cadabby Party!

Haiti Update

2010-01-22T10:54:00.003-05:00

Rebecca Dennison posted this at 7:18am on her blog. I am pasting it here. To go to the blog: Click Here!

To go to the Haiti relief page: Click Here!

FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2010

Haiti

I received this email from some friends of mine who work for a ministry that is currently organizing relief efforts for those affected by the recent earthquakes in Haiti.

One of their big needs at the moment is a cargo plane capable of hauling 15,000 pounds or more. If you have one, or know someone who might, please contact Jeff at Jeff.Rogers@go-ministries.org.

One easy way to help is by attending the BreachBent benefit show/silent auction tomorrow night at the 930. I'll be supporting Jamie Barnes. It's going to be a great show and it's a *really* easy way to lend support to these relief efforts.

You'll find other ways to help listed below. Here is a concise list of their needs as of January 20th.

Email from the Rogers:

First of all, this is lengthy and worth your time so please abide!

Secondly, forgive us, due to time and our urgent work w/G.O. Ministries in responding to the current crisis in Haiti you may have received this email more than once. In an effort to get the word out quickly we compiled data as fast as we could to get the word out.

I, Jeff, was in the Dominican Republic last week when the quake hit. While leading an Exploratory trip we were visiting w/friends from one of the churches we work w/in the impoverished community of Halto del Yaqui drinking coffee when we felt the quake. We joked about it b/c it was nothing major as far as we knew. Our return to Santiago and reports from Haiti shocked and grieved us. G.O. has been responding like mad since the quake. God has opened doors for us to respond in areas that previously had no aid coming to them. We’re staging relief from an airport in Santiago where we have a hanger at our disposal. Through a near overnight partnership w/volunteer pilots and small planes we are landing relief aid on stretches of road and modest airstrips. While larger efforts have been bottle-necked due to traffic, we have been able to supply aid by air, land and sea (I mean, It’s ridiculous how God has equipped us through the strangest of partnerships). Meanwhile, I have returned to the states as of last Friday and Vicki and I are coordinating relief efforts from Louisville where our international headquarters is located. We have been too busy to stop to update our ministry blog. God has provided media attention here stateside and we are in the search for cargo planes and pilots who are willing to move relief aid from our warehouse in Louisville, KY where we are gathering relief aid to Santiago, DR where it can then be delivered to help meet the need in Haiti. If you have a connection to a cargo plane capable of hauling 15,000 pounds or more, please contact me. This is an urgent need!! If you know someone w/an old air show WWII bomber we can repurpose that sucker to get supplies down to Santiago!! We’re praying about a possibly c-130 connection right now! Join us in that.

In the meantime…

Vicki and I wanted to invite you to the Breachbent Benefit show this Saturday the 23rd at the 930 Listening Room if you are close to Louisville. Proceeds from the show go to help fund our work with G.O. Ministries as well as the G.O. Help Haiti relief fund G.O. has established in response to the terrible crisis in Haiti.

We will also be hosting a silent auction during this event.

Please consider coming out in a show of support for us, for G.O. and for our friends in Haiti.

Visit www.go-ministries.org to see how we are currently responding to the Haitian crisis

P.S. Here’s the latest specific updates as to what’s going on in terms of relief w/G.O.:

I am privileged to tell you the following:

On Tuesday, 12 Jan 2010, a 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti. G.O. Ministries happened to have a team in Santiago at the time. Here is a video clip of what it felt like: Moment of Earthquake You see people laughing because it was an unusual occurrence. As news reports came in, we began to realize how serious the situation was and began to prepare to help. God can do immeasurably more than we can imagine, and we never imagined this past week! But God is good and gave us the opportunity to aid in relief of this tragedy. Several of our staff members were featured on their local news. Michael Jeff and Wilby

On Wednesday, we began to understand the extent of the devastation. People immediately began to call and offer their help. Brook Brotzman, president of G.O. Ministries in the US, was already scheduled to travel to the DR that day. After he was on the ground in Santiago, we began to analyze how we could help. We were contacted by several short-term mission teams that were stranded in various locations in Haiti. A group from Eastview Christian Church had been in Pilatre, trying to get home to Normal, IL. Their flight, which would have placed them in Port-au-Prince at the time of the quake, had been cancelled. They were able to get a bus to the border between the Dominican and Haiti, where Tim Krauss, one of our full-time staff members in Santiago, was able to meet them. We then gave them overnight accommodations and got them on a flight Thursday morning. Another group was stranded at a orphanage in Jacmel, southwest of Port-au-Prince, but closer to the epicenter of the quake. To get to them, we found a boat from the Dominican town of Pedernales to the coastal town of Jacmel. The boat was very small but we crammed in as many supplies as would fit and sent Tim to go retreive them. Due to engine problems on the boat, the team returned across the border the next day by land. We were also taking supplies in via the border town of Jimani when possible. In total, we helped 5 different mission teams evacuate from Haiti. Here in the office, we set up ways for people to help by donating and with their prayers. Here is a video with Tim and John preparing to depart:www.vimeo.com/8754211

We obtained warehouse space in the hanger at the Santiago airport in order to store supplies. We used five five small planes to fly supplies in and out of Jacmel and Leogane daily to drop relief supplies. We continued with boat trips as well. We were able to recruit several pilots in order to keep flights going into Jacmel non-stop. You should check out the view of the airport on Google Earth. It is just a runway with a place to turn around. Landing Strip

On Friday, Romano and Wilby, G.O. partnering Haitian pastors, headed out to Port-au-Prince separately. Here is a video that Jeff made of Romano prior to his departure:http://www.vimeo.com/8754093 They left to search for family they had not been able to reach. Wilby found his family members alive but Romano learned that his brother is dead. He leaves behind 9 children. We continue to pray for the orphans created the day of the quake.

Over the weekend, the opportunities to help did not stop. Our staff in Santiago helped assist a UN peacekeeper and his team of volunteers who stayed in our dorm. They were stranded on their way to Port-au-Prince. They assisted us in setting up our relief efforts. We were able to use our warehouse and the hangar space we obtained at the Santiago airport to collect supplies. We have some pictures of our staff buying supplies and the planes.http://www.flickr.com/photos/gohelphaiti We also helped a reporter from the Wall Street Journal with lodging and helped him into Jacmel to report on the conditions there.

On Monday, we began to realize that supplies on the island of Hispaniola were running out. We now need to collect the needed supplies here in the US for transportation to Haiti via the DR. A friend, who is the director of a Haitian orphanage, asked how would she distribute the baby formula she had available? It could mean the difference between life and death. My heart breaks that anyone would find themselves in that position. We are working to get needed supplies as quickly as we can to alleviate the desperate need on the ground in Haiti. We were also able to help get needed pain medicines into Haiti. Pfizer had made a donation to go via a non-governmental agency. We worked with the UN to coordinate the transport of these medicines into Haiti. What a great God we serve!

Tuesday, we began to organize collection of supplies. We have obtained warehouse space in Louisville at 7325 New LaGrange Road. We are contacting the churches in this area to begin collection of needed supplies. Please review the list attached to this email. We can only accept the supplies listed as the need for those items is the greatest. We will ask for additional items in the weeks to come, so please limit donations to what is listed. We are arranging cargo plane transport to take these items to Santiago for distribution into Haiti. It takes 100,000 lbs. to fill the plane. We are again asking God to provide in a big way through His people.

Medical supplies are an immediate and overwhelming need. There are doctors on the ground who cannot treat those sick and injured because they have no supplies. If you are able to secure a donation of medical items, especially orthopedic supplies such as casting materials, contact us right away. We would also be able to purchase these items if a large donation were made.

Your donation has made an immediate difference to the people of Haiti. Please continue to keep the people of Haiti and GO Ministries as we assist in the relief effort in your prayers. We have spent every donation as quickly as they have come in. As of yesterday, we had received over $150,000 in donations. We are spending the money as quickly as it comes in. Please consider giving again or passing this information on to other people who may be interested in what we are doing here.

Many thanks for everyone's support.

Grace and Peace,
The Rogers

You can Help Haiti

2010-01-21T13:37:00.000-05:00

Update Janurary 20, 2010 - URGENT NEEDS AND CURRENT SITUATION. PLEASE READ

Hi!

I have been in touch with our friends at Southeast who run Go-Ministries in Haiti and the Dominican Rep. Jeff was actually there when the earthquake hit. They are filling a warehouse with items that they need for Haiti.

http://www.gohelphaiti.org/node/28 This is the website that shows what items are needed.

(I always think giving things you already have on hand is much easier -or at least more do-able - than giving cash.)

Anything you want to donate, just bring it to Forest Park, (or contact me) and there will be a box in the hallway labeled "Go-Ministries". Also, you can take it directly there. Their address is listed below. They are looking for workers for the warehouse too! Just show up!

This is from the website listed above:

Urgent Needs
Supplies
We have 10,000 square feet of warehouse space in Louisville, KY.
Drop Off: 7325 LaGrange Road, Louisville, KY 40222 (it is next door toe the Kia dealership in the old Eckert Electric Building)
Hours of Operations: 10am-8pm starting January 20-February 3
Below is the list of supplies that we will be taking. We will NOT be accepting any donations that are not listed.

Surgical Supplies
External Fixators - suppliers - Stryker, Synthes, Smith and Nephew
Nails - Stryker, Synthes, Smith and nephew
Steiman Pins - same suplliers
Plates and Screws - Stryker, Synthes
Casting material - plaster or fiberglass-
Sterile gauze
Suture material - nylon - hundreds of packs
Scissors
Scalpels with blades
OR lights
Power saws and drills - are rechargeable - Stryker supplier
Anesthesia
Crutches
Dressings supplies
IVs ( Ringers Lactate, NACL, D5W, D50
IVs start Kits
Bandages
gauze
gloves
masks
scalpels
Needed Medical Supplies:
Casting supplies
Peroxide
Ace bandages
Bandages
gauze
gloves
masks
Scalpels
Adhesive tape
Antibiotic ointment
glucometers
Medicines—we can only accept unexpired medications in bulk containers
Regular insulin
Anti-diarrheals
Tylenol/acetaminophen
Ibuprofen
Antibiotics
Food
Bottled water
Baby Formula
Pedialyte or other pediatric electrolyte supplement
Canned meats and sardines
Canned pasta, already prepared
Protein bars
Peanut butter
Ensure bottled drinks
Supplies:
Tents (small and large)
Tarps
Blankets
Sheets
Rope
Candles
Flashlights/headlamps/batteries

Planes & Pilots
We are looking for people with connections to get cargo planes to transport all donated supplies from Louisville to Santiago, Dominican Republic. Also, people with private planes willing to donate their time and plane to fly donations from Santiago to Jacmel, Haiti are needed. Please contact Jeff Rogers at jeff.rogers@go-ministries.org.

Wisdom Teeth are Gone

2010-01-18T10:41:00.002-05:00

Well, they pulled my 2 Wisdom Teeth (at the top) out on Thursday. I didn't have any on the bottom, for which I am glad!

I was very lucky. I slept pretty much all day Thursday. I had no bleeding, no swelling, and really almost no pain.

The only strange thing that happened was when I started having a little bit of an allergic reaction to the pain medicine! I got a sunburned look on my face and neck, and started itching all over! By Friday afternoon, I decided not to take it anymore. The doctor agreed with me on the phone and switched me to Ibuprofen. With a little bit of Children's Benadryll, I managed not to have any further problems.

Now last night and today I've had a tiny bit of achy feeling in the sinuses up in my cheek and above my nose on the right side. But, the Advil-D seems to have helped. So, maybe it's just typical sinus-pressure!

:-)

Kindergarten Testing

2010-01-11T12:38:00.003-05:00

Thomas took his Kindergarten Readiness Test today at Christian Academy of Louisville, Rock Creek Campus.

They ask things like:

What is your full name (written)
What is your address (not written I hope!)
What is your phone #?

They don't keep them from getting in with this, but I think it's just a gage of some kind....

Then they test his knowledge of:

Shapes
Colors
Numbers
Letters
And who knows what else!

I will have a conference with the Kindergarten Teacher

On January 20th, at 1pm to let me know exactly how he did in each area!

:-)

Auld Lang Syne

2009-12-30T10:22:00.002-05:00

Auld Lang Syne

Scottish words meaning: "good old days", or "time remembered with fondness."

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
7and days of Auld Lang Syne.

For Auld Lang Syne, my dear,
for Auld Lang Syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet
for Auld Lang Syne.

(Repeat entire verse)

LONGER VERSION

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And auld lang syne?

Chorus:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne.

And surely, ye'll be your pint stowp!
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

Chorus:

We twa hae mn about the braes
And pou'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary foot
Sin' auld lang syne.

Chorus:

We two hae paidled i' the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin' auld lang syne.

Chorus:

And here's a hand, my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o' thine;
And we'll tak' a right gude-willy waught,
For auld lang syne.

Chorus:

Melted Pony! Met a lightbulb!

2009-12-28T22:28:00.002-05:00

Grace put her baby My Little Pony on top of a Light Bulb! It melted!

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Last Bell Ringing Before Christmas!

2009-12-17T13:05:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving, Advent, Tree Trimmings....

2009-12-15T11:30:00.006-05:00

Grace teaching Ian how to trim the tree!

Gracie and Baby David Brocklesby.

Our first Advent this year at the Plymales!

Bill, Sarah, Tyler, and Ian at Advent!

Christmas with Santa

2009-12-04T13:30:00.003-05:00

These were taken a couple of days apart. Hope your Christmas Shopping is going well!

Ps- My great idea about the Toys R Us stuff didn't work, the computer won't let me update again!

Oh well.....

Toys R Us Wish Lists!

2009-11-24T12:48:00.002-05:00

We have finished the kids' Wish Lists for Christmas, (and set it up to stay on until after their birthdays!) at Toys R Us.

To Check Those Out {And see what they've already gotten- or I should say what Santa is bringing...}

Go to: http://www.toysrus.com/wishlist/link/index.jsp?wishlistId=30055678 for Grace or

Go to: http://www.toysrus.com/wishlist/link/index.jsp?wishlistId=29950758 for Thomas

Hopefully I can update those as time goes by.

When I know people have bought stuff for them, I am adding it to the wish list and clicking on "Purchased" so it will show up at the bottom of the list! (Good thing they can't read yet...)

BY THE WAY: If you are thinking of setting one of these up yourself, I DO NOT Recommend you go into the store to do it, although I did with Thomas and he loved running around telling me to scan things. But, that being said, they had an AWFUL time making this happen. They had no idea what they were doing.

Online was MUCH easier, and that's what I did for Grace!

:-)

Chain of Blessings

2009-11-04T22:23:00.002-05:00

We have started our Chain of Blessings.

Each night Sam, the kids and I are each taking a red, green, or yellow strip of paper and writing one thing we are Thankful for.

Then making a nice long chain.

Some time next month, maybe we'll have some nice tall bushy green thing in the living room to hang it on.....

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Here Comes Halloween Here Comes Halloween...

2009-10-28T17:44:00.008-04:00

Emily had a big Halloween Party, we Carved a Pumpkin, Mom had us all over so that she and Gannie (and Vera) could give the kid's their Halloween treats, and then today Thomas' Class went to Gallrein Farms! (It was VERY muddy there!) Here are some pictures!

Ringing Bells

2009-10-27T13:59:00.003-04:00

I got Doo Wop all signed up today for Ringing Bells for Salvation Army! We've done it for about 5 years, (Not including last year, we were a little busy with getting the new store opened in time for Thanksgiving!) so this should be pretty fun.

We will ring on Wednesdays starting the day before Thanksgiving! The shifts are 3 hours 10-1pm, so people will sign up for a 1 hour shift and a lot more of us can work this way!

Fall Festivals

2009-10-27T13:49:00.005-04:00

The kids both had a Fall Festival at school. Each class has their own party at different times. Thomas' class had theirs on October 20th, and Grace's was October 23rd.

They were supposed to dress up as Farmers.

The big Fall Festival at church is this Saturday (Always held on Halloween Night! 6:30-9:30)

Here are some pictures!

Thomas is doing Great!

2009-10-14T17:10:00.008-04:00

This is my very long account of what happened the day of Thomas' Surgery!

The super duper short version is: Thomas is Doing Great!

Now the long version: (Includes pictures....)

I was delighted to find that we were NOT in the same sedation suite that Thomas has had his last 2 scary IVs done. (And where he would no doubt have started panicking had he seen the place!)

Instead, we were sent upstairs to the 8th floor where Grace had her tubes put in when she was 1 year old. In fact, I think Thomas was possibly the oldest child there, although there was a little girl about 3 years older, who may or may not have been an older sister...

Needless to say, he was treated like a little baby doll and the place was decorated so cute and little stars and moons, even the stools in our room were in the shape of stars! Plus, the entire floor was way way over decorated with Halloween decorations. It was really cute.

We waited in a waiting room that looked like a hang out for kids right out of Key West Florida. Complete with Parrots on every wall and 3D Parrots on every column and desk. They even had Disney Channel playing on a TV, and several kid-sized tables and chairs, one of which had a baby about Ian's age precariously balanced on a chair. Thomas couldn't resist running over and waving at him! He tried to wave back and kind of wobbled.

When they called his name, Thomas actually ran right up to the nurse and past her down the hall! He was so excited by the place. I soooo appreciated the effort they put into making it kid-friendly. Plus, when we entered the actual "hospital-wing" part, then you never saw such Halloween decorations! There wasn't time to think "Uh Oh, this is a doctor's office!" because there were spiders, pumpkins, skeletons, witches...you name it and I mean EVERYWHERE! Anywhere else it would have been gaudy, but it worked wonders on these kids.

They took his weight and height, then led us to our room. Before we had time to get settled, though, a man showed up, nicely dressed, and carrying a moving SKUNK! (it was a puppet it turns out) He introduced the Skunk as "Stinky" and it waved at Thomas. He came over and insisted on being petted and wiggled all around while Thomas petted him. The man told us his name and that he was the Chaplain. I couldn't help but grin at the Pastor and the Skunk. He couldn't stay and chat because he was off across the hall to a frightened looking 2-yr-old boy who was enchanted by the moving animal! Thomas watched this entire exchange too.

Eventually, they came and gave the boy across from us a drink and some juice, and he quickly got Ve-rr-yy sleepy and silly. Thomas watched all of this carefully and laughed along with the adults.

He was also aware of a baby that came back crying from probably getting tubes in his ears down the hall. I explained that when babies wake up from the sleepy medicine they are very confused and they cry. He was in a room on the same side of the hall as us but 2 doors down.

The groggy 2-yr-old across from us noticed this too, and was starring with wide open eyes and mouth and pointed an amazed finger at the baby. Thomas watched all this curiously. I told him the little boy couldn't figure out why the baby was crying like that. Then the boy started incoherently crying on and off. Thomas and I talked about how he wasn't sure if everything was ok, and he thought maybe he should cry too. About that time, he quieted down again. Thomas giggled at all this.

We had told him that after the little boy got really sleepy they'd put his hospital gown on him, because for some reason little kids don't like taking off their PJs. About this point, they started dressing the little one. Thomas apparently decided to prove he was a big kid and announced that he wanted to change clothes right now! So, Sam and I helped him into his gown, stashing his clothes in the plastic bag provided.

He climbed right up on the table and started playing with his Iron Man toys.

When the Anesthesiologist came in, we were very clear that Thomas had been through a very rough introduction to his first IV. He was very sorry that it had happened that way, and assured us that it would not be that way this time. He told us they'd give him something to drink first, which would make him really sleepy. "Goofy Juice" is what he called it. Then after he was really sleepy, they'd take him in the back and give him some gas, and if the doctor felt he needed the IV, they'd put it in once he was asleep, and take it out before they woke him up.

This picture was taken just after he drank his Goofy Juice, followed by Apple Juice mixed with Sprite, because he wouldn't pick one! Which he informed the doctor was a "golfer's delight".

I think he looks a little goofy here, don't you?

They took him back at 8:13am, and the doctor came in at 8:30am to say it was all over! He said that everything went fine. They didn't find anything unusual when they did the endoscopy of his sinuses, which is great news, and that they cauterized several blood vessels on both sides of his nose. Hopefully, that will stop the nosebleeds!

After about another 30-40 minutes, they brought him back from recovery, still pretty sleepy.

The nurse brought in some Red Icee, and asked me to try to get him to eat some. I gave him about 3 bites, thinking that he didn't seem to feel well, and then he lost it. The nurse was there luckily, and helped me help him. He was sick over the next hour about 3 times. Sleeping some in between. Finally, they gave him half of a Zofran that dissolves in your mouth. The result was great.

This picture is 8-10 minutes later...

We went home after this was taken, arriving home at 10:30, and slept until 1:30pm.

Although, I have to say, it was pretty funny. I got up to his room, and he was sitting up on a bean bag chair trying to pick out which book to read or which toys to play. I had to talk him into getting in the bed! He said, "I've been asleep all morning!" I told him, "Mommy is sooo sleepy, come lay down with me, bring a toy, you don't have to sleep." So, he did, and fell asleep right away!

Then about 1:30, Thomas and I woke up hungry! We had some Chicken Ramen Noodle soup, and watched Blues Clues, then He-Man.

We then spent the remainder of the day playing LEGOS Star Wars and then LEGOS Batman. Those games are addictive. We were still playing when Sam got home from work! I handed him Thomas' controller and he played for awhile too!

Then Thomas and I went over to Mom's where Gracie had been since 5:45am, and she was very glad to see us! We had Chicken Noodle Soup (sounds familiar) and some crackers, and got to see Aunt Sarah, Tyler, Ian, and Uncle Bill, plus Mimi, Gannie, and Grandaddy!

All things considered, it was really a pretty great day! And here...I was actually worried!

You know, God is good All the Time!

Thomas Surgery Tomorrow

2009-10-12T13:08:00.002-04:00

Thomas is having a minor surgery tomorrow at Kosair. They are cauterizing a blood vessel in his nose that is causing him to have major nosebleeds. It should only take about 5 minutes for the actual procedure, but they're also going to do a scope to be sure that's all that is going on, so it will be a little longer.

We have to be there at 6:30am and the procedure will be at 8:15am.

Carve a Pumpkin

2009-10-12T13:07:00.003-04:00

Check this out! Click on this link to Carve Your Own Pumpkin Online! Grace Loved this! We did it about 10 times or more!

http://www.cubpack81.com/images/carve_pumpkin.swf

Mom is MUCH Better!

2009-10-07T12:09:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update:

I talked to Mom this morning and she is MUCH MUCH better! I think getting rid of the medicine and adding Food helped tremendously!

(Your prayers didn't hurt too bad either! Thanks!)

We actually are going to try to do a mini-birthday party for Dad tonight at her house for dinner...

We'll see.

God Answers Prayers so Fast!

2009-10-07T01:00:00.002-04:00

After my last post, and having sent the same info out to many people on email, my Dad heard back from the Doctor, (probably just a few minutes after I wrote you all that note) and they got great news! She doesn't have to take those harsh antibiotics anymore!

Also, they are allowing her to eat REAL FOOD! They think it will help settle her stomach! This is super because she hadn't had anything to actually eat in well over a week, possibly 2 weeks now. She's been on that awful liquid diet.

So, right away she had some bread and dinner rolls, and a fried egg sandwich (Doctor's suggestion by the way) and later a baked potato -very mashed up- and was very soon feeling much better.

Still a lot of nausea, but that's much better. Also, she has been able to take the 3 medicines Dr. O'Koon had called in this morning.

Bad news is: they've also taken her off all other medications, Yes, even the pain meds. She can have Tylenol and Aleve. Not going to help too much though huh? So, that is a major continued prayer request.

All things considered, a real blessing! Thanks for taking a second to lift her up this morning, it really helped!

MJ

Not a Great Day for Mom

2009-10-06T10:36:00.001-04:00

Hi!

Just a prayer request:

Mom is home safely (since 11am Sunday) but they've continued to make her take these really strong antibiotics they had her on in the hospital. Only they didn't send her home with all 3 of the stomach medicines (like the anti-nausea stuff).

She spent all night last night throwing up and severely nauseated. This morning Dad called the Doctor who called in 3 different stomach medicines (and yes, an anti-nausea thing that was much stronger). But this morning she was feeling so awful she didn't want to take these pills, thinking it would make her sick again.

So, here's the prayer request:

That she would stop feeling sick, that she'd be able to take the 3 medicines, that she'd sleep a lot, and that they'd take her off these harsh antibiotics soon.

PS- Also today is Dad's Birthday, so she'll probably worry about him having a rotten day, so there's that too!

Frisbee Sunday

2009-10-05T18:00:00.003-04:00

Mom is home!

2009-10-05T14:53:00.002-04:00

Hi!

Just an update:

Mom came home from the hospital yesterday (Sunday) at about 11am. She is doing great, although having to adjust to the difference between the great pain killers in the hospital, and the average pain killers they sent her home with! But all things considered, she is doing really well!

She's up walking all over and watching tv, etc.

They still have her on a liquid diet (includes milk/pudding/jello) now, and by late tonight, she can add a few soft foods.

Mom days 2 and 3

2009-10-03T14:49:00.001-04:00

These 2 pictures are out of order, the one on the left was day 3 (Saturday) and the right was day 2 (Friday).

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Mom is Up!

2009-10-02T10:05:00.002-04:00

Mom is up and about!

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Yellow Parade (Take 2)

2009-09-30T13:19:00.002-04:00

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Another Yellow Parade

2009-09-30T11:37:00.002-04:00

This was another yellow parade the kids had. This one was about weather.

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Mom is getting ready!

2009-09-29T09:55:00.003-04:00

Hi!

Yesterday Mom could only have liquids, and today clear liquids. Then tomorrow, she has her colonoscopy. Assuming everything is as the doctor expects, she will get to come home and rest until the next day, and then Thursday is the surgery.

Then, as she recovers from the surgery, she'll be heading back to eating regular foods again! That will be a BIG relief!

Thanks for the prayers!

More later.....

Gracie's New Dress!

2009-09-27T14:55:00.002-04:00

This is the new dress and sweater Grammie bought Gracie!

She was trying to get Mimi to take her with them in their car!

Soooo cute...but I'm not biased or anything...

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Christmas Fact Finding Mission!

2009-09-26T12:14:00.002-04:00

We took the kids Saturday to check sizing on a new bike

for Thomas for Christmas! They had a lot of fun!

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More Yellow Parade

2009-09-25T12:30:00.003-04:00

They marched around in the courtyard of the playground, then gathered

together to sing us some songs. Pretty cute.

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Sam and Mary's Family Page

Happy 5th Birthday Grace!

12 Days of Christmas

Advent Wk 1: Christmastown is all set up!

Portraits for the Fall 9/29/11

Falling off the Face of the Earth (I didn't)

Easter Party at School

New Doo Wop Shirts are In!

Classy Coupon Clipper Lady!!!

Harry Potter Lego Movie

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes

Esther and Eivaen getting married TOMORROW!

Counting Down to Esther's Wedding.....

Mom had Surgery Saturday!

Thomas Read a Book

Back to Reality

St. Simons More Pictures

Day 1 & 2 of the Beach Trip!

I Printed My Blog

Packing for the Beach & School Supplies

MJ is Cleared and the Brumback Reunion!

Surgery Update

Disney Kids Stay and Play 2010, by Mary Conver

Disney, Surgery, and Beyond

April Pictures

Kids' Karate for Christ

Howard Brumback Himbaugh Memorial

Happy Easter 2010

Ballerina

Sam is an Elder Now

Pictures

Spring Forward!

Doo Wop in St. Patrick's Day Parade

Bible Study Picture

Thomas Turned 5!!!!

More Fun Pictures

Thomas' 5th Birthday

Mandatory Sex Education for Ten-Year-Olds? Yours?

Thomas Rockin at Reading

Snow Pictures

Thomas made a Volcano

Grace's 3 Year Check Up

Grace's First Ballet Lessons

Grace Turns 3!

Haiti Update

Rebecca Dennison posted this at 7:18am on her blog. I am pasting it here. To go to the blog: Click Here!To go to the Haiti relief page: Click Here!

Rebecca Dennison posted this at 7:18am on her blog. I am pasting it here. To go to the blog: Click Here!

FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2010

Haiti

You can Help Haiti

Urgent Needs

Wisdom Teeth are Gone

Kindergarten Testing

Auld Lang Syne

Melted Pony! Met a lightbulb!

Last Bell Ringing Before Christmas!

Thanksgiving, Advent, Tree Trimmings....

Christmas with Santa

Toys R Us Wish Lists!

Chain of Blessings

Here Comes Halloween Here Comes Halloween...

Ringing Bells

Fall Festivals

Thomas is doing Great!

Thomas Surgery Tomorrow

Carve a Pumpkin

Mom is MUCH Better!

God Answers Prayers so Fast!

Not a Great Day for Mom

Frisbee Sunday

Mom is home!

Mom days 2 and 3

Mom is Up!

Yellow Parade (Take 2)

Another Yellow Parade

Mom is getting ready!

Gracie's New Dress!

Christmas Fact Finding Mission!

More Yellow Parade

Rebecca Dennison posted this at 7:18am on her blog. I am pasting it here. To go to the blog: Click Here!

To go to the Haiti relief page: Click Here!