Keegan Update

I've asked many of you to pray for Keegan, a kindergarten friend from school. Just wanted to give you a quick update of their rollercoaster this week. And thank you for praying!

He had surgery on Tuesday to have a brain tumor removed. As soon as they started the first drill, spinal fluid started to leak. They stopped the surgery immediately, took fatty tissue from his stomach and plugged the hole. They were frustrated that they had waited for this surgery, then they couldn't do it and now they were concerned that this little guy might get meningitis. It was a devastating result for the family.

The following day they did an MRI to see what they were looking at and it turns out the spinal fluid was leaking from the tumor, not the dura (the lining of the brain). There is an extremely rare tumor that is filled with spinal fluid and, apparently, that is they type he had. The MRI showed the tumor was completely drained, which is what they had hoped to accomplish with the surgery and then they were going to pull out the deflated sack. They didn't get the sack out, but they were so elated the pressure the tumor was causing was relieved.

Praise the Lord!

Unfortunately, Keegan's pituitary gland has been ruined by the tumor and he will have to take all sorts of hormones for the rest of his life. Even one type that has to be so exact that he will have to wake up in the middle of the night to take it, the rest of his life. *praying for a miracle that his pituitary gland would start working again*

He goes back in 3 weeks to have another MRI to see if the sack is refilling (since they weren't able to get it out), but for now everyone is so happy with the miracle that seemed to be a disaster, but was exactly what he needed.

Our God, is indeed, an Awesome God!

Coupons!

Ok, so I'm trying to get better at this coupon game - yes, it absolutely is game on! I've been saving some money (meaning not spending our usually weekly grocery allowance) and our cupboards are much better stocked than normal. My hope is (and I'm told this is true) that once I get past the first two months of this, our grocery bill will drop drastically and our cupboards will be stocked. I think that if we hit a week that Jason didn't have work (which we will), we definitely could make a weeks full of meals on what we have, only having to shop for milk, bread, and fruit.

Saturday I got $120 groceries at Publix for $51. That was even with buying a few things that weren't on sale because I refused to run to Wal-Mart for three items.

I also went to CVS and bought some medicines/toiletries that I didn't necessarily need yet, but would probably just run out and pay full price for when I needed them. I got $85 worth of items and only spent $29 (which included a big box of diapers for $8).

This is fun! I can do this!

Warm Up to a Good Book Day!

Every February, the school has a 'Warm Up to a Good Book Day'. The kids are encouraged to bring in their favorite blanket, favorite pillow and a stuffed animal. They are also allowed to wear what my kids would call 'relaxin' clothes'. All day at school they read books! It is a great day for the kids just to enjoy stories all day. They love it!

Of course, I only have pictures from Daegan's class, because his teacher is so good to send out photos:

Good books read by all!!

Papa's Birthday

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y, P A P A ! ! !

(or, as all the other grandkids call him, Grandpa - not sure why my kids adopted a different name?)

We made a card for him with my favorite photos of Papa with the kids. Here's a preview:

With Mollee on Easter SundayWith Tavis, both in Scottish tamsTaking a nap with DaeganWith Capps, frog close in handWith Mac, at Papa's 60th birthday partyAnd me with my Dad, I think 1985?Happy Birthday, Daddy!!

Praying for Keegan

Pray for our friend Keegan this morning. He is having surgery this morning to have a brain tumor removed. He is 6! Pray for safety during surgery and that they can get the entire tumor, otherwise, it will grow back!

Here is his story!

**Update: his surgery didn't go well. When drilling they hit his dura causing the brain fluid to leak. They quickly had to get fat from his abdomen to plug the hole and now they are praying he doesn't get meningitis and trying to decide about when to try surgery again. **

Mollee/Molly/Maili

Jason and I put a lot of heart into our children's names (believe it or not?). Of course, the boys have unique names (Tavis, Daegan, Capps and Haynes) and you may wonder where Mollee fits in. To start this explanation I must say we were looking for Scottish names for everyone - for example, Jason's middle name is Thomas and Tavis is the Scottish form of Thomas. All the kids also have a Scottish clan for their middle name. We found an old Scottish spelling of the name Molly and we loved it: Maili. This was the one! We then experienced other people's opinions of this spelling and how it would never be pronounced right, blah, blah, blah..

and we hesitated.

Jason's story would be that it was me that backed down and wanted to pick a more normal spelling (I don't feel like it was me). At that point, she was already Mollee to us in utero, no matter how we decided to spell it. Then she was born and we chose the 'ee' ending.

Now she is 3rd grade and learning cursive. I started to notice that her papers were coming home with the 'y' ending instead. What? When I questioned her about it, it turns out it is more fun to write a 'y' in cursive rather than an 'ee'.

Seriously? After all that! :)

Quotes Mommy overheard during Winter Break!

This was a fun entry that I started in my head a few days ago. When I tell a story about something one of my kids said or did I am always told, you should write that down or you won't remember it. I heard two different things that really made me laugh, but it only took 24 hours and I had already forgotten them, but here are a few other gems:


"You have to have determination and skill, like me!" (Daegan telling Capps why/how he is so good at building Legos)

"I forgot to tell you, I couldn't find any clean underwear!" (Capps confessing while getting into the shower that he hadn't had underwear on all day)

"Want to play 'Zoo at the White House'?" interesting? (Mollee wanting everyone to act like animals - of course, the White House has their own zoo, right?

"I dream about not being in the Olympics" (Tavis' reaction to the stress of the games when Mommy was explaining how people dream about being in the Olympics all their lives - of course, this coming from the 8-year old that gets migraines because of stress)

and

Mac not speaking, but dancing at my feet - that is all he does to tell me he has to go to the bathroom.

Today he went all day with 'big boy' underwear on and didn't have one accident.

Winter Break Recap!

The kids had last Thursday and Friday off and Monday and Tuesday this week off. I haven't blogged because I have barely even sat down at the computer.

Thursday we had parent/teacher conferences. Friday we had company for dinner, therefore, I got to spend the day cleaning and cooking. This was a good thing. I love getting the house ready for company, it is so nice to have a reason for a really clean house. We also had my niece and nephew spend the night which was a fun treat for the kids.

Saturday I tackled my first real shopping with coupons trip that I briefly mentioned here. This week went much better than my random try last week (that is why last week didn't count as a real trip). One grocery store I got $97 of groceries for $42 and the other store I got $48 worth of groceries for $17 - that one was fun, with multiple bags of goldfish and boxes of triscuits for 39 cents each!! This is a game now and I'm excited about the challenge. If you are a number person it really does cause you not to spend as much money because you don't want to buy anything at regular price and throw your "score" off.

Saturday night we decided to treat ourselves to a 'sorta-Valentine-date' and Jason went and picked up Chili's while I fed the kids. By the time Jason got back the kids were downstairs playing and we got to eat in peace. Sunday we decided not to go to my parent's for lunch and just stayed home, took naps and watched NASCAR (yes, it is that time again). It was a wonderfully relaxing Sunday!

Monday was a crazy day. I had made dinner for two different new moms in our church. I was supposed to deliver the meals before I met a friend and her three kids at McDonald's for lunch. Tavis went to start the van and locked the keys in the van (and didn't even start the van?). Apparently, in typical Tavis form, he didn't really lock the keys in the van, he just had gotten in from the back door, which I didn't realize wasn't locked until 30 minutes later. lots of confusion, too many details, blah, blah, blah. After lunch we ran a few more errands that seemed to take us to the opposite end of the earth.

Tuesday (oh, wait, that is just today) we had a Behavior Boosters class for our Mother's Encouragement Group. It was full of great ideas of teaching your children good behavior while helping them understand scripture (more on that later).

And now it is tonight. It is no secret that I love sports, so the Olympics are just absolutely exciting to me. I love that my children are really getting excited about them - some may say I'm forcing it on them. Since they were off school, I've let them stay up 2 hours past bedtime the last two nights to watch different events.

Funny side story about my funny monkey, Capps! The Nordic Combined was a very tense race that the American (who wasn't really expected to win) was almost to the finish line when he was passed at the last second. He was excited to get the silver medal and we were excited for him, but Capps cried and cried because he was devastated that he didn't wind gold. Maybe we are putting too much into The Games???

Valentine's Day Parties

Today was Party Day!

Daegan's first Valentine's Party - making heart envelopes to hold cards! Handing out Valentines!
Tavis making a necklace of candy and saran wrap (these moms come up with some great ideas)Mollee cutting out hearts!(Thursday and Friday there is no school - Parent/Teacher Conferences)

Old, old pics!

I blogged here about all my picture projects - here is a peek at a fun one. I wanted to get some old pictures, I've been searching and scanning a lot over the past few days. I must say my side of the family has a lot more pictures accessible than Jason's side of the family, but this is what we came up with.

Jason's Dad in kindergarten:My Dad in kindergarten:Jason's Mom in college:

My Mom in college:

Jason, age 2:

Me, age 2:

There are lots more that I've got, but that is for another day!

Potty Training.....again! (and a few other items of business)

Sorry to bore you with this news, but potty training is for real this time. I had a few days last week I knew I'd be home so we worked on it (mostly) and it went ok. I didn't mess with it Saturday (at the carnival) or Sunday (church and lunch at Mom and Dad's), but yesterday went really well. *knocking on wood* He danced his way to the potty every time he had to go, except for once in the late afternoon when he peed in the middle of his bedroom. He is actually acknowledging that he has to go, so that is a great sign that hasn't happened yet before. I think I am at the point of no return this time. It will be nice not to have diapers to take up a lot of the "grocery" bill.

Speaking of the grocery bill (which is what we call anything needed - food, diapers, clothes, fast food, cleaning supplies, etc.), I am trying my hardest to learn to use coupons. With the new year (and a new president) we have had a big financial change (because Jason is self-employed) that is cutting quite a bit out of our already suffocating budget. Amy (who taught a coupon class for our Mom's group) has five kids with one on the way and says she only spends $60 a week on groceries. I want to get to that point. I promised my husband I would get organized and try my best. I don't have a big stash of coupons, but I will get there and hopefully will learn the tricks to make this work. My first week was little disappointing to me because I didn't have all the coupons needed (that would have been doubled), but my CVS run was supposed to be $48 and I only paid $25, and my Publix run was supposed to be $115 and I only paid $69.

On another 'financial note', Jason called me this morning with the frustrating, disappointing, irritating news that when he got to work this morning all his tools had been stolen. When he is working on a job site he leaves everything in a locked closet inside a locked house. UGH! So he had to file a police report and then go and buy all new tools that we may or may not get reimbursed for from the insurance company (I think we are looking for a new insurance company). For those of you that didn't know us a year ago, this happened last January also. It makes me very mad and puts my stomach into knots, but that is part of the world we live in, right?

Old pics and projects!

I mentioned here that I had gotten all my kids photo albums updated. I have been working on a lot of photo projects lately. Actually, my house might be a little dirty because of these projects (and a one track mind), but I'm seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

I finally got digital scrapbooks printed for 2007, 2008, 2009. I was inspired by an incredible sale (buy a 20-page hard back book and get 60 more pages free)and I'm so glad to have them completed and behind me.

Here are a few pictures for fun from all my hard work.

Two kids: Three kids:Four kids:and Five kids is the new picture for blog header!

(it is my favorite group shot, Mac is in it and Mollee and Tavis still look little, not too grown up yet)

I also came across this gem, our engagement picture for the newspaper, that I don't think ever made it to the newspaper:I've also wanted to get some bookcases for my living room to hold my photo albums (why put so much work into them for them to sit in the corner?) and other things. We found some on clearance that I'm so excited to have.

More projects to come that I will post on later (when they actually happen). A re-do of pictures in the kitchen, which I've never been happy with the layout. Some artwork by the kids to hang in the bathroom. The boys room needs to be painted (want to help Moriah?), we were given four sets of bedding (we need three, four when Mac moves in downstairs) and Jason thinks we should paint the boys room gray? or is it grey? We also need to repaint in the kitchen, it needs to be repainted anyway, but after all my picture shifting there are a lot of holes that need patching and then a repaint.

Of course, this is all when we have the time and money to do it (ha, ha, ha - evil sinister laugh)!

Last Day with J and J

Today was the last day we got to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa J. They've been here five weeks and are heading to Uncle Joel and Aunt Carol's for three weeks and then head home. I did get a picture this time!
We are going to miss them!!

Carnival Time

Today was the carnival at school. It was a cold, rainy/sleety, yucky day, but fun was had by all!

Mac going duck fishing! Mollee at the 'beauty parlor'Eating slushies, cotton candy, hot dogs, pizza, chips and coke - a well balanced lunch of junk!Mac used most of his tickets to play 'football' ?? (we couldn't convince him it was baseball)Rock Climbing

Jersey Day!

Today was jersey day at school. The kids were supposed to wear their favorite team. Mollee (my smarter child) wore Alabama, Daegan wore Georgia and Tavis is a Tennessee fan, but didn't want to participate. Big Surprise! Can you say 'party pooper'?
After a little harassment, he decided to take a hat - I'm sure his grandfather would not approve that he took an Atlanta Braves one. :)Let the themed days begin!!!!

31.3

When I started my journey of weight loss in October, I met with a personal trainer. She helped me get a plan in place and told me what to work on, how to eat and how to best protect my ankle. I don't meet with her regularly. Actually, we only met one time and then I hope to meet with her at the end of the month to look at my progress and see how things may need to be changed. I was actually scheduled to meet with her at the end of January, but since I took so long to get back 'into the groove' after my Christmas hiatus I decided to give myself an extra month.

Every so often she sends out an e-mail that may help with ideas. This week she sent me one about a website to find your real age. I like watching Dr. Oz's show so I knew what this was and was excited to find out (maybe?).

The website is: www.realage.com

My age is 33.4, but my "real age" is 31.3 - I was pleasantly surprised by this. I assumed I'd get a 35 or 36, so YEAH ME!! I played with it and took out my strenous exercise, because I'm just getting back to it and it gave me a 33.4, so I'm still happy with that.

Check yours out and post me a comment to say what you got!

Jealous....just a bit?

Check out this family!

I was at the Dr. office this morning for an asthma re-check for Mollee (no big deal, everything went fine) and read this article in Sports Illustrated. I love magazines. I used to have a SI subscription, but it was one of the cut backs we made to save money. This one caught my attention and I just thought it was great.

For those of you that won't click on the link, it is a family that had six kids in five years (four boys and then a set of girl twins at the end). All of them are hockey stars. What are the odds? The girls, plus one brother will be playing on the Olympic Teams and all of them have gotten the highest college scholarships for playing hockey that you can get.

Just a fun read....well, for me, at least!