2012 in Pictures

Thankfulness

There are so many many people and things that I am thankful for - I am blessed with the ability and means to travel to visit my family and see people that I haven't seen in years at my college reunion.   Love getting together with everyone whenever I can - often it is far too long between visits - but I am always so thankful for when I can gather with them.

Support

Nothing is more important than support during a military deployment for those left behind at home.  Whether it's someone cooking you a meal (thank you to my church family for the kind offer and meal!) or the friend willing to watch your little ones whenever they can (Vanessa has been a Godsend!) or grabbing lunch with a few girlfriends (and all the kiddos that now accompany us!) anything helps when your better half is away.   Yes, Loving Husband has been away for a while now - he's nearly ready to be home now and we couldn't be more thrilled!


It's been a very trying time.  Not because the duration was long - 2 months this time - but more because I swear he left and we all got sick and stayed that way.  I coughed for 46 days straight before I finally felt better.  So if deployments aren't hard enough - having everyone in the house sick just is brutal!  It limits playdates (aka mommy socialization with ADULTS!) it limits sleep, it limits breaks.  Needless to say it's been a very long two months.  Nights are the loneliest - I get the kids in bed and then its crickets.  That's where friends come in handy!   Vanessa has come over for girl's night in since there's no babysitter for girl's night out...  

I have to say I have some of the greatest friends in the world.  My friend Mo has been 'around' daily online chatting with me - a pretty standard routine for her and I on a non-deployment schedule, but she's been ever so kind to endure my whining, complaining, mini-meltdowns regarding whatever ;) and she repeatedly expressed desire to come help me if she could only afford another trip.   She was just here for New Years.  She even looked up to have dinner delivered to me as a surprise during one of my 'dark' weeks.

Becky scheduled a visit for her and Ben in February only a few weeks after Loving Husband left on his mission.  She caught us at a good time in between the major portions of our illnesses.  I believe since the beginning of February we've had three decent colds that have come through here.  It was so great to see her.  Sadly her Ben had his first bad cold begin while he was here so there was a lot of sitting at home and playing here.   Becky was able to be here to see my baptized!  I was so thankful for that, because even though my husband missed that important event in my Christian walk - it was so nice to have a friend that has been with me on my Christian journey these past two+ decades to be there to witness the joyous time. 

My friend Carrie also made a very purposeful trip to come to the NW to help me out and hang out with me and she was a HUGE help.   She not only was simply here to chat with, hang out with, drink wine with, but also was such a help giving me a free afternoon and being quite the baby whisperer on two occasions getting Mae down for a nap.  The Monday she watched Mae was the first time in six weeks of Loving Husband being gone that I had an afternoon to myself for FUN.  Vanessa has watched both kids for me, but it was so that I could go to the doctor to get a chest xray... not exactly the spa type relaxation (although equally as appreciated, certainly!)    We had a lot of fun and did a lot of shopping.  Now I know why she hasn't visited the NW in a few years... we can't afford it!  :)  She also helped me build my new kitchen island and we got buff lifting the 150lb granite counter top ... and together we had a good laugh at our problem solving skills. 

Support is so important when a loved one is away, and while I was able to talk to LH nearly every day it is hardly the same and so I am so thankful that friends from afar were so supportive and worked around their own busy schedules to really help us out - because when Becky and Carrie came to visit so did their little ones and oh boy how much for my kids had with their 'cousins' :)   Aiden absolutely loves having house guests - especially little ones he can play with.    I loved seeing some of my favorite people for multiple days in a row!    And now I'm on the final countdown to seeing my favorite person of all, my husband!   Hurry home, my love!

The Purple Power of Prayer

I pray nightly for my friend Katie and her fight against colon cancer.   This week I prayed even more than normal because on Tuesday she went in for another scan to assess where her tumors stand.   Her previous scans have been encouraging either by shrinkage or no growth - today that story changed.   Today, Katie had to hear words of 'growth' and in two places.    I encourage you all to visit Katie's page and share words on encouragement and stories of triumph!  I know that with Katie it won't take her long to regain her positive footing, but these words she heard today certainly won't be easily brushed aside.  Today she begins a new chemo that will hopefully help in shrinking those mean-ol' tumors into nonexistence.   Please pray with me that the side effects will be few and the effectiveness abundant.  And rock a little purple this weekend in your wardrobe in honor of Katie and her 17th round of chemo.

Now to lighten the mood a bit, let's enjoy a picture of Katie and her husband Ryan with their spoils from The Great White Elephant Gift Exchange of 2006!  

Ten on Ten - March

My Saturday started out yummy, involved a lot of cleaning, and ended on a heartwarming note when a friend spontaneously "answered my wish" for sushi.   It really made my week - which had been pretty bleak.  I've been feeling a bit undervalued and cast aside and so that nod of appreciation and kindness really made not only my day, but honestly my whole week.  It's been rough between loneliness, sickness, lack of socialization.    I'm counting down the days... weeks...

8:00: We had been awake for an hour but it took about an hour to get going.
This is my breakfast: broiled grapefuit (a favored pin floating around Pinterest)

9:00:  Skype time with Grammie.  She loves to have the computer on  her lap.

10:00:  Ace did the Mickey puzzle twice.  First the 'normal' way and the second time upside down.

11:00:  Time to sort some laundry. A favorite activity of both kids! No, seriously.

12:00: Time for a little LeapFrog Tag Pen action.  Mae is quite good at using hers.

1:00:  Lunch and Toy Story.  Both kids focused. Ace mildly annoyed Sister is sitting on him.

2:00:  Organizing the closet under the stairs finally (yes this is organized)

3:00:  Naptime = Time for mom to decorate a little!

4:00:  A random act of kindness after I posted online that I was craving* California Rolls.  A friend brought them to me!

5:00:  Before dinner Ace asked to work on more sign language words.  We chose 'read' and 'bookshelf' to learn.

Another fun month with 10 on 10!  Stop by A Bit of Sunshine to see others and their Saturdays!

* This use of craving in NO way implies any even REMOTE hint

 that I am pregnant, desire to be pregnant, or plan to be in the future. 

But it was indeed a craving.

Mae's First Birthday

Hooray Saturday was the day!  The day that this mommy plots from early on in her children's existence.  Yes, the famous 'First Birthday' party.    Since our little girl from day one has been referred to as Owlie due to her head that turns extremely far and her big eyes that she can make - it only seemed appropriate that that be the theme.   As it turns out - there is a HUGE market for a certain owl-themed 1st birthday set - so my inspiration began there.  

Decorations and such were all obtained or made this past week or so and the execution took place on Friday.    I made the cakes on Saturday morning - above you are looking at 3 tubs of frosting there.  The little owls were made out of crafting foam that I traced and put together with hot glue.    They made for excellent decor for the cakes.  

Across the mantle I strung her month photos - along with a photos on top of it of Mae when she was 10 days old and one that I took on her birthday in a similar pose.  The circle garland are just a lot of felt circles cut out and just sewn together.   The strands of lights have little cupcake wrappers on them as little lamp shades.    The wreath I made using a foam circle that I wrapped with yarn and then hot glued another foam owl I made along with some of the circles.    I ordered the balloon, plates, and pinata in the official line of 'Whoo's Turning 1' themed stuff.      The pull string pinata is stuffed with toys (all of non-choking hazard size)  for the 3 and under crowd to enjoy!   With everything in order the party was set - food was set out (forgot to snap that picture) and let the merriment begin with snow falling in the background!

The birthday girl was ready to party in her special outfit.   I got her shirt from BowDaciousBaby and it's darling!   Although I won't lie - I do have a complaint, they didn't preshrink the shirt before doing the applique/embroidery and so it's not totally flat now.   Hmmph.    Still darling and she looked too cute for words in it!   She had a great nap before the party and was ready to enjoy the festivities!

People began to arrive as the snow continued to fall.   Grammie had thankfully avoided any issues arriving from  her flight here that morning, so she was busy helping me get everything ready.     Ace was so excited for the snow and was itching to go outside.    He had fun throwing snowballs at the window for the party guests to watch.   

With snow hampering some guests' arrivals and the urgency for our current guests to get home - we began opening presents.  Mae got a lot of cute things.  She loved the stroller, but really thought it should be for her to sit in and not for the doll.   

A family picture was obtained (see the snow falling in the background?) before the cake festivities began -  Mae was distracted by something to her left, that was far more interesting than the camera. 

With Mae in place the cake was set in front of her to grab a picture before we lit the candle and sang happy birthday.    Well she wasn't interested in any lit candle, in fact it was the first thing she grabbed - so with the formality of it over and this picture snapped we let her have at it - while we sang Happy Birthday.   

I'm done with this.

After she had sufficiently and timidly smashed the cake to her liking we grabbed a few pictures with friends, so they could get on the road... as we had a few other guests arrive during cake festivities to say the roads were getting pretty precarious out there.   Pop Pop arrived to say he'd be sticking around a while because of it - and another friend of ours arrived having had a small fender bender and left after consuming a slice of cake and dropping off a present (he had driven close to an hour to attend too!)   Dern that snowy weather!   We also decided to skip the pinata and decided to save it for a play date when all the little ones could attend and participate.

Next up was bath time, followed by a few more presents, and little bit of time with the grandparents that were around for the festivities and then the party was over!  What fun she had!  Cake was consumed, presents were opened and she spent the remainder of the evening playing with all her new loot (along with Ace who very much enjoyed playing with all the new toys!)   Thanks to all her fans who ventured out in the snowy NW weather to attend her special day!!

Team Katie

Today many friends and family of Katie gathered together to participate in the Get Your Rear In Gear 5k.   Together we formed the largest team:  Kickin' The Stink Out Of Colon Cancer!   With the kids in tow, I headed out early on this chilly Sunday morning to join everyone dressed in purple to walk.  

Our group gathered together with Blake setting out with the twins to run the race, while the rest of us took a nice stroll through the course. We joked that it was fitting that we were at the back of the race pack.  :)  The kids did pretty well - Mae rode in the stroller for about half.  My friend B helped push the stroller for about 2/3rds of the race (thank you!)  Ace did pretty well, but his hands were pretty cold.   He was pretty excited when he got a GIANT leaf to hold for a while.

We finished the race just as the kid's dash was beginning - which means we finished at just about 55 minutes after we began.   We jogged in - Mae was a bit unnerved by mommy jogging with her in the Ergo carrier, but she did ok.    Afterwards we stayed for the award ceremony - where Katie was awarded a pretty 'legit' (her husband's word for it) plaque for having the largest team (27 adults with several babies not included in that number!)   We grabbed a few pictures of the whole group, and with my camera we snapped this shot of our portion of the group.  :)


We were glad we were able to come out and support Katie in this way through her journey and help raise money and awareness on colon cancer.    To continue to support Katie, please stop by her CaringBridge site and sign her Guest Book.

Praying in Purple

Today my friend Katie is having yet another round of chemo.  It began just a little while ago (if all went according to schedule) at 10:15am PST.   She is on my mind today, as she is every day, but today I am thinking and praying for her continuously as she hunkers down for another several hour session in the hospital of chemotherapy.    Living across the country there is nothing that I can do for her beyond that.   I can't watch her daughter for her, I can't bring her a meal, and I can't sit with her in the hospital passing the time.   Although she has an army of support that is with her and that are filling those roles.

So in honor of Katie on the days that she has chemo - to make it a reminder to us to say some extra prayers for her - we are wearing purple. Ace not as much, but I did make him a cool bracelet for him to wear for the photo op  to be included.  Mae and I are dressed in our purple to show support from afar for our friend Katie. Loving Husband can't wear purple on his uniform and I'm pretty sure he'd kill me if I dyed his underwear purple... plus that might be a bit weird... so he's just remembering on his own to say extra prayers today. We are sending her good thoughts of recovery and prayers of the same.  We are Praying in Purple.

Katie truly is an inspiration for her strength and courage through all of this.  For goodness sake the woman is still working as a teacher to young kids on the days of the week she isn't seeking treatment and/or recovering from it!  She has amazing family and friends (and coworkers)  that are rallying behind her to keep her strong.   So while I am afar I will continue to pray and share her story to help spread the prayers to anyone and all that can pray as she continues her fight against stage 4 colon cancer.    To follow her story, please click here.  

If you would like to be a part of Praying in Purple please do.   Dawn your purple attire and say a prayer today or any day for Katie. Also I'll be putting a list of blogs writing posts for Katie on my sidebar - that way she can come to my page and find a network of support through a list of blog posts for/about her and a list of people praying for her that she can read  all in 'one place' - I've created #tag for Katie specifically and that is the link that I will be including on my sidebar.  If you wish to do the same just shoot me an email with your blog title with the link to the blog posts you wish to have me put on the list.   If you'd like to include just your name (or blog name if you prefer more anonymity) indicating that you're praying for Katie I can add that to the list to with no hyperlink.   Prayer is a powerful thing and to rally together in a church, as friends, or in the cyber blogging world it all means one thing: support for Katie.