My Letter...

My Favorite Christmas Picture of Mom and Dad - 1998
Devin on the left, Kayleigh on the right. Mom is holding baby Chase on the left, and baby Jake on the right. Dad holding Samantha.

Dear Mom,

It's been another year of craziness in our house. The kids have grown so much in so many ways! So hard to believe that in just a few years they'll start going off to college. You'd be so very proud of them! Devin's taking such a love of Jesus and ministry, Kayleigh's artistic talents blow us away every day, Chase's smile continues to light up a room in a heartbeat, and Paige is so full of life and love! Each of them remind me of you in their own way... that's how I know that you are right here with us!

Last night was our annual Christmas dinner with the kids, then we came home to open a few gifts. Tonight we'll be heading out to Tanglewood's Festival of Lights and then come home to read the story of Baby Jesus before heading to bed. Tomorrow morning will be full of smiles, memories, tears, and love as we enjoy this Christmas and remember Christmas's of past with you.

This year is a bit more special... I really felt it upon my heart to do something for the kids from you. Though it's something very, very small, it's something the kids will KNOW is from you and I'm sure it will make them smile! I never ever want a Christmas to go by where we all don't remember how much we enjoyed Christmas with you!

I miss you more than words can say and oh, what I wouldn't give for one more Christmas right here by your side! But, I know I have many more Christmas's by your side when we are reunited in Heaven someday.

Until then, we'll hang on to every last memory of you and continue to tell the kids how special you were and still are!

Love always,

Michelle

Kids are Loving It!

Chase and Paige are LOVING this snow! By 10am they were begging to go outside... so we bundled them up Casto style... cord tights, then jammie pants, then blue jeans, 2 pair of socks, t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, gloves, hats, scarves, and winter coats! No doubt they were warm!!! And... they had fun!

Yep... We Got Snow!

Woke up this morning to lots of the white fluffy stuff! The yard is still and quiet... so pretty! Have to admit... I love looking out at it all!



Final snow total...

Naughty or Nice?

OK... so I stole this from Kristen who stole this from Renee! Feel free to steel it form me!

Are you on Santa's Naughty or Nice List?

Michael: Still very much on nice list, but must continue good behavior. Should eat more vegetables instead of junk food. Was very polite last Thursday! When doing chores, needs to do them as well as possible. Often exhibits good behavior.

Michelle: Has been nice most of the year (not just near Christmas)! Makes others happy. Could share a little more, however. Politeness is sometimes very good. Can be great listener.

Devin: Overall, niceness outweighs naughtiness. Was good a lot last month! Politeness often good, but has room for improvement. Could help around house more instead of watching so much TV. Expected to move even higher up "nice" list.

Kayleigh: Overall, niceness outweighs naughtiness. Was good a lot last month! Politeness often good, but has room for improvement. Could help around house more instead of watching so much TV. Expected to move even higher up "nice" list.

Chase: Much more nice than naughty. Can be very thoughtful. Has improved cleanliness, which I like. Could take better care of toys. Says "thank you" often, but still not as much as I would like. Good mood often spreads to others. Hopefully, will keep up the good work!

Paige: Nice, but has been naughty at times. Neatness and politeness have been very good over the last two weeks. Shows proper respect for others. Shares well, but could always be better. With a little more effort could be near top of "nice" list.

Have to agree with Kristen... Santa's pretty right on!!!

Winter Wonderland!!!

We've heard many "winter storm watches" come and go since we moved to North Carolina nearly 4 years ago... usually we laugh! The city literally shuts down at a single snowflake! Remember this Winter Blast 2009 post where we got a whole inch and a half? Or, even funnier yet... this Snow Storm of 2008 post? Even the kids have gotten several chuckles out of what panics people down here!

But this time... well... this time is different! Something about the winter storm watch made us think we may really get something this go around. Just had a "feeling". I even went out last night and bought a snow shovel... something we haven't owned since we moved here!!! Have to admit, I was kind of hoping that if I bought the shovel we wouldn't even get a flake!

Well, around 11am today we saw the first snowflake and by noon it was coming down steady, but not too bad... but then...

This was at 4:30pm

This was at 5:30pm

This was at 7:30pm

This is was at 9:30pm!

9:30pm, 6 inches, and it's STILL coming down!!! Weather.com is predicting 10-15 inches by the time it's over tomorrow afternoon...

Stay tuned!!!

It's Christmas Cookie Time!!!!

Some of my favorite memories of my Mom are baking obscene quantities of Christmas cookies with her while she would sing and dance to Andy Williams and Patti Page Christmas albums. She would make dozens upon dozens of cookies and freeze them up... then we'd have cookies for months after Christmas!

I've been doing the same thing with my kids for several years, and the chaos has begun! Currently we have 8 dozen chocolate chip, 8 dozen oatmeal raisin, 6 dozen buckeyes, 6 dozen peanut butter kisses, and 8 dozen snickerdoodles all in the freezer and we've had so much fun making them!

I hope that my kids enjoy it as much as I used to - and someday they'll pass this tradition on down to their kids!

Better Late Than Never!

I'm just now getting around to going through the Thanksgiving pictures! We spent Thanksgiving with the Hobecks this year. Worked out great - we split the cooking. Jim made one of the BEST turkey's ever by dry brining then grilling it! Add that to the mashed potatoes I made and Jen's potato rosemary rolls, as well as everything else and we were STUFFED!

Devin spent most of the day on the couch sleeping off a horrible cough... but we did manage to capture a few good shots of him! The other kids were all smiles and had a blast playing all evening.

We had a great time with good friends and are very thankful for all we've been given and for the opportunity to have such good friends so close to us!

We Must Have Crazy Genes!!!

Devin's been having trouble with his hands and wrists for several years. Over the last year it's gotten worse causing his hands to "lock up" and sometimes dislocate in an odd fashion. He finally had enough and asked us if he could see a doctor. Took him a few weeks ago and they x-ray'd both hands... next thing we knew we had 2 doctors reviewing the x-rays, then they called in a special radiologist! We knew something was up - then the orthopedic doctor said he wanted to consult with a pediatric hand doc because it appeared his Hamate and Capitate bones in his wrist were fused in both hands, and his ulna is longer than the radius in both hands, jamming it up even more.

Well - got a phone call today - seems the 2 doctors we saw a few weeks ago met with the pediatric hand doctor as well as a hand surgeon. They decided it is best for Devin to see the hand surgeon before Christmas and worked him in next Wednesday. Not sure what to expect... but he's a bit nervous.

The x-ray above is NOT Devin's, but it is what Devin's x-rays look like. I have circled the area on each that is supposed to be TWO bones, but you can see how they are fused as one. They explained that this is a congenital deformity... hmmm.... his brother Chase has his first and second ribs fused together too! The concern is that the way his ulna is jamming up into the wrist - the wrist bones don't have much room to move around properly - therefore "jamming" and causing pain. This could potentially lead to more serious damage in the hand, forearm, upper arm, or even shoulder. With him only being 16... now is the time to fix it!

Ughh!

Anyhow... again... never a dull moment around here!

My Turn to "Give More"

One of the steps in the Advent Conspiracy that I posted about yesterday is to "Give More", and I've taken the first step... a big one for me of you know how terrified of needles I am! LOL!

We have too many friends affected by cancer. 2 close friends and 1 "web" friend from a prayer blog are affected by Leukemia to be specific.

First - Baby Dylan received a bone marrow transplant at just a few months old! Could you imagine having a brand new baby and being told he has Leukemia? Wow! This family has remained faithful to God and prayer, and they are taking their baby HOME this week after a successful transplant! Praise God! We will continue our prayers for ongoing health of Dylan, and healing of the hearts for his parents!

Second - My dear friend Kristen's little boy Ethan has been dealt quite a hand. Ethan has Down Syndrome, Autism, is unable to verbally communicate, AND had Leukemia! He also cancer free and so full of life! I absolutely loves spending time with Ethan and his smile lights up my day when it's been a rough one!

Third - A friend of ours from church (one of our pastor's wives) is on her way to California tonight to be with her Dad, who had a bone marrow transplant the day before Thanksgiving. We are all praying for 100% donor cells over the coming weeks and praying for strength for their family during these very difficult days as his body adjusts to the new cells.

These things could not have happened without someone who took the time to donate bone marrow, and it couldn't be any simpler!!! The National Bone Marrow Donor Program has an online registry that takes less than 5 minutes. Then, they will send you a kit of 4 swabs to swab your mouth with. You send it back and they'll register you to save a life!

Please, join me in registering! What a better gift to give... Life!

After All.... It's all about HIM!

I came across something called Advent Conspiracy on another blog. After reading it and thinking about it... I'm committing to it!

The ideas of the Advent Conspiracy are simple:

1. Worship Fully - enter the season with the passion to worship and celebrate the birth of Jesus!

2. Spend Less -be committed to buy just one less gift this season... just one.

3. Give More - give more time to your loved ones as a gift... write a letter to a loved one far away, spend a night baking with the kids or doing holiday crafts, talk about holiday memories with your family.

4. Love All - Love like never before. After all, isn't that what He did for us! Reach out to those in need with resources, prayer, and love.

Join us this season by worshiping and celebrating the REASON for the season... the birth of Jesus! Spend one less gift, therefore giving yourself more time to spend with loved ones one-on-one and more time to love and reach out to all those in need!

In the end... it will be a blessing to all those around you!

Merry Christmas!

What We Are Thankful For

We are thankful for:

• Family, friends, and loved ones near and far
• Health and happiness
• Our children and the joy they bring us each and every day
• Our jobs in a time when they are hard to find
• A fabulous church family
• Teachers that take their lives to help mold our children
• A roof over our head and the clothes on our back
• My Moms everlasting presence in our lives
  
• God's grace that carries us even in the worst of times when we feel we are alone

What are YOU thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving!!

What a Day!!!

After a crazy morning at work, I left at 12:30 to meet Mike and Chase at Comp Rehab to see how his leg was healing. He giggled so hard when the tech sawed off the cast... then off to x-ray we went before we saw the doctor. Finally - we got the news we were waiting for... it looks great! We did find out that Chase has yet another strange medical anomaly... he has an extra bone on the back of his foot above his heel... they said it's a congenital thing!

Anyhow - Chase has been upgraded to an air-cast. But, Comp Rehab was OUT of them!!! They tracked one down at Bio-Tech across town. As we were getting ready to go that way - Devin started texting us to come get him at school, he was sick. So - I went with Chase and Mike went to get Devin. Devin then texted me again saying he was non-stop coughing and had a hard time catching his breath. I then scheduled doctor's appointment number 2!

Off to Biotech I went with Chase, got his air-cast, then ran home to get Devin while Mike handled Paige's parent-teacher conference. By the time we got to the doctor's office, Devin was in tears with back pain that had come in fairly suddenly - and the more he coughed the worse it got! They immediately put a mask on him thinking he had the flu and then took us to a room.

Once in the room it was clear he was hurting bad! The doctor came in and checked everything from lungs to kidneys! Poor kid had quite the look over and the lay down, get up, sit up, lay back down... which had him at above an 8 out of 10 in pain! No longer was he amused with ANYTHING!

In the end - they said he's got a good case of asthmatic bronchitis and they aren't sure what's causing the back pain. He's on inhalers, medicines, and anti-inflammatories to help. So far - the back pain is better, but the inhalers and meds aren't touching the cough. Been a long time since we've seen him like this!

So, let's back up to Paige's conference that Mike went to. Said her behavior is "improving". Mrs. Williams told Mike she's not sure if Paige is just finally getting acclamated to her, or if she's just now getting acclamated to Paige, but they're on the right path now! She did say Paige is quite strong-willed (not MY duaghter!), but she's also quite smart!

Mike's at work now, and I'm finally home eating my box of chocolates! I think I deserve that... don't you?!?

So Excited for Kayleigh!

Last week I posted HERE about Kayleigh winning the Reflections Project titled "Beauty Is" for this photo collage of children who have Down Syndrome.

Last night was the certificate presentation at Reagan High School. Kristen Faulkner is the parent of one of the little boys, Ethan, in the photo collage (top left in the red). Kristen went with us to the school and is so excited for Kayleigh as well. She even posted about it HERE on her blog!


Kayleigh's photo collage will no go on to county where it will be judged with other photos submitted from other schools in our area, then from there it goes on to state if she wins the county.

I'm so very proud of her for the heart she has for kids!

And thank you to Kristen, Lisa, and Kim for allowing Kayleigh to photograph your beautiful children!

Tis the Season...

You know your family loves you when they dig out Christmas stuff from the attic and help you decorate two weeks BEFORE Thanksgiving! After church Sunday we got started and the kids friend, Alexis, even came to help!


Mike took his "spot" handing out ornaments after the tree was up...


Paige was entertained for quite some time with bubble wrap... Kayleigh liked the shiny sparkly things!

Devin helped too, but he ran from the camera all day!

Then, it was Chase's turn to put the angel on top. But - that posed a problem... how does a kid with a broken leg get up high enough without breaking the other leg? Well... like this...


And how does he get down? How about like this...

In the end we had a great day and the tree looks fantabulous! Don't you agree?

Too Blessed To Be Stressed!

Remember my "Go God!" post from last year? Well, tonight was the 2009 Ladies Banquet, and again, I was blessed to be able to go with 3 of my coworkers; Jalaine, Tricia, and Beth. The speaker, Alice Kemp DeWitt, was fantastic!

Alice spoke about stress... Let me start by saying this lady has been through more than I could EVER possibly imagine! Her marriage of 20 years ended, after that her son died in an accident going to buy diapers for his 3 day old daughter, she was beaten and raped after a church event, got remarried to a man that was a fake and had her buried in debt after she signed her name to the dotted line, the list goes on and on.

She started by telling us all to remember that Stressed is nothing more than Desserts spelled backwards... so when we are stressed we must ALWAYS look for the dessert we get in the end!

So... how do we deal with stress?

Well, 10% of our life is what happens to us... the other 90% is how we react to what happens to us! Makes sense, doesn't it?

Think about it a minute....

There are 24 hours in a day, right? Well, my morning at work yesterday consisted of a 2 hour meeting with my boss that I was not real thrilled with AT ALL! She left, and I was STRESSED! The rest of the day I was miserable and was determined that nothing was going to make my day better. That 2 hour meeting... that 10% of my day made the other 90% of my day just awful!

So - how do we fix it? Four simple steps.... and I do mean SIMPLE!

1) Motivation
You have to WANT to make it better!
Quit blaming others for where you are in your life that's causing you stress!
Get motivated and GO where you want to GO!

2) Humor!
Laughter is God's natural healing gift to us!
Laughter is NEVER unfaithful and always makes you feel better

Besides, she says that when you hold in laughter the air you would let out laughing goes to your belly and makes it bigger! You are MUCH prettier with that smile on your face than that extra air in your belly!

3) Tears
Tears are God's way of eliminating all that stress!
When you see a man crying, you are seeing a very strong man!
Did you know that females living longer than men is actually attributed to CRYING!

4) Communication
No complaining, no belly aching
50% of those you complain to don't really care!
The other 50%.... they think you deserve your troubles when all you do is complain
Honest, open communication will keep stress of holding it in and hiding things away

So - during these stressful times, remember that our Lord is ALWAYS with us!! Our life is always worth living. Trust in HIM because there is ALWAYS dessert in the end when we do... that dessert... our Salvation in Heaven!

Want to know why she says even after all she's been through? She says she's to blessed to be stressed!

That marriage that ended abruptly after 20 years? Her dessert was her children that love her and care for her each and every day.

Losing a son in a tragic accident? Her dessert was that 3 day old baby granddaughter that she has been able to watch and grow and tell stories about her son to.

Being beaten and raped? Her dessert is all the young rape victims she's able to counsel and pray with that stand up strong and are able to face their attackers.

The financial ruin she experienced at the hands of her 2nd marriage? Her dessert is a closeness to her daughter like she could never imagine after they moved in together while she rebuilt her life.

Remember... we get caught up in the stress of every day life and material things that don't matter. We really are "Too Blessed to Be Stressed!"

Congratulations Kayleigh (& Ethan, Ava & Ryan!)

A while ago, I posted here about Kayleigh entering a Reflections Project contest entitled 'Beauty Is'. She chose to photograph 3 children from our church who have Down Syndrome, seeing the beauty in them beyond their diagnosis. This photograph collage is what she submitted for the project.

Well.... we are so very proud to announce that SHE WON! We'll be attending an awards banquet Monday night where she will be presented with her award and certificate. From here it will go to the county level, and then if she wins, on to state.

Kayleigh, we are very very proud of you and of your love for these little miracles!

And also congratulations to Ava, Ethan, and Ryan!!! Your captivating smiles and personalities are truly what Beauty Is!!!