Andrew

Here are a couple of pics taken on Andrew's birthday. I love the one of his beaming smile! I wish he could have a birthday everyday because his energy level was just great!!! He asked for my Oreo ice cream pie I make instead of a cake. He even wrote in his thank you notes how good the pie was. :) This boy makes my heart smile!

4018 Days Ago

I became a mom for the first time! Hard to believe, but it's been 11 years, today! Happy Birthday to my sweet Andrew!

Mito Kids Rock!

I found a new website today and wanted to share it. They have shirts that say "Mito Kids Rock" and they have a new book written for kids to help them understand mito. The book is called "Energy Makers and Mito Kids" and it's only $5 + shipping. I ordered one and it's on it's way here already.

Of course this ugly disease hits home for us, so anything we can do to promote research is worthwhile. We continue to pray for quick research and slow progression for Andrew. Thanks to answered prayers, he's doing great right now!!

Praying for Change

Awhile back, I went to the car wash to sweep out the van. We'd just returned from vacation and it was a mess. And in the three years since we bought it, this was the first time we'd completely taken the back seat and back storage out. I figured I might as well give it a good cleaning before putting it all back in.

Court offered me some change, but I said I had plenty. The day before I did. Where it was now that the sweeper was beeping at me, I don't know. I didn't find it in time and it went off. That meant instead of putting an extra quarter in, it was full price again. I dug around in the van and in my purse and found 2 quarters, but still needed one more. I got desperate and started looking on the ground and just asking God to help me find a quarter.

Then I saw it...a quarter? No, a dime. Dang it! But I grabbed it anyways and searched my purse again. Still no quarters in there, but I did find a nickel and another dime. AHA! I quickly grabbed my coins and asked the smart guy with lots of quarters from the change machine if he'd trade me for one of his quarters.

Moral of the story: Always have lots of quarters (or one dollar bills for change machine) when you go to the car wash.

Nah, really, it got me thinking of something bigger. It made me think of how many times I call out to God asking Him for exactly what I "need". And did I actually need to find a quarter? NO. He gave me exactly what I needed, the dime. So, instead of putting limits on God, I need to try to just let go and let HIM decide what's best. I tend to get overly excited when God shows up and answers my prayers in a big way. Or, I think, like the dime, "that's not what I asked for". Who am I to decide, really? To think that the God who created the universe cares about my silly prayers is pretty amazing! But he hears every single one and they matter to HIM.

Am I the only one who tends to put God in a 'box'? Tell me what you're thinking. :)

Ever tried to give a cat a bath???

You know how when you try to put a cat in water the claws come out? They fight with all they have to avoid going in the water. Well, this was the case yesterday...except it wasn't the cat. It was the first day of school and it was Isaac. He cried, he hid, he was shaking, he begged to stay home, etc. It was horrible.

Andrew, on the other hand, was delighted to start 5th grade. This was also not settling well with Isaac, who was frankly getting annoyed with his brother's happiness.

By the end of the day, Isaac decided it wasn't so bad. His biggest fear, he said, was being sent to the principal's office if he was bad.

The best part of the whole story is our prayer before school. He was literally on my lap trembling, so I started to pray with him. On a whim, I decided to ask God to have a friend be right there when he got to school. I figured if he saw a buddy, he might seperate from me easier. Sure enough, as soon as we walked into the doors of the school, there was a familiar face. And not just any familiar face, his best buddy Zach. God is good!

The note and an update

I was on the phone briefly tonight and I see Andrew writing me a note. It said, "I dropped my flush bag in the toilet. What do I do?" Needless to say, I had to hang up. He had to get the bag out, which filled up with toilet water while it sat in there. Yuck! We have a huge box of 300 of the bags he fills up for his flush. The problem is, due to his mickey button, he has a special attachment for his stomach. We only get these one at a time in our monthly Clarian delivery. We opened up the only one we have, so hopefully nothing will happen to this one. Never a dull moment around here, I tell ya.....


Today was our last day of "freedom" since school starts tomorrow. But, due to our electrical issues from the weekend, we had an electrician lined up to come today. He called last night and changed the time to 7 am! The good news is it was a bad breaker and an easy fix. And it also gave us our afternoon back to do something fun before school starts up again.

Wow, I cannot believe school is already starting!

Giggling in church

We had a great sermon today, about the not-so-popular sermon topic of money. However, at one point, Seth was trying to make a point about how good we have it in this country. He said something to the effect of everyone having transportation, electricity, air conditioning, etc.

What he didn't realize is that we'd had electrical problems the night before in our house. Bad problems. The upstairs powers kept turning off and on and when Court went out to check the breaker, it was SIZZLING! Bad problems...

So, he turned of that breaker completely until the electrician can get here tomorrow. And we camped out downstairs.

But it made me giggle a bit when he said we all had electricity. And air...the poor inlaws house got struck by lightning, so they are without a/c right now. So we all had our own little chuckle in our pew when that was said.

And eventually, things will be back to "normal" around here (if there is such a thing!). And we'll be back to living better than 90% of the world. But the timing was just kinda funny for today.

When in Sulpher, IN...

You know that old saying "When in Rome, do as the Romans do..." Well, we had our own version of it recently. We were traveling with these 5 cute boys to Lexington, KY for a family get together.



At this point in time, we were traveling down 64 with five boys who needed a bathroom break. And it was getting more desperate by the minute. A few exits didn't appear to have anything at all, so we continued on. Then the need turned immediate and we said we'd take the next exit and find something. That exit just happened to be for Sulpher, IN. (Who would name their town this, really?) And why did the sign for the gas station have to say "1 mile"? And by this time, it's raining, or else we would've just unloaded the 5 boys for a roadside break... Finally, we came into town and saw the gas station was no longer there. There was a mercantile store across the road, so we pulled in.

And this is the facilities offered in Sulpher...






And this sticker just cracked me up...lol.

It's all Relative...

Let's see... the month of July has been all "relative", I suppose. My dad was down for a few days last week, my mom and Donald were here earlier this week. We enjoyed riding in the Jeep with the top off, then going boating at Sullivan Lake with them. Good times! My step-grandma from Florida is staying nearby with her daughter for a visit. We've seen her and had a big family lunch over the weekend. And today, Court's family arrives from California...9 of them to be exact. Four of them are the cutest kids you'll ever see...I may have to try to just keep one and see if they notice. :)

On Saturday, the 15 of us will head to Lexington to visit more family. There will be about 30 of us over the weekend to celebrate Grandad's 100th birthday. It's a little early, but who says you can't party more than once when you turn a century old? :)

I don't think we've ever had so much family visit within such a short time frame! The boys are loving it, and so far have asked everyone to please just move in with us. It could really get crowded here! :)

Oh, and this has also been our fair week. Andrew got a blue ribbon on his photography project. He chose not to put the rabbit in the fair this year, but might next year. And he's having surgery next week...in the middle of the CA visit. But, we had to take the open date since we're on the countdown to school starting.

So, if you're in the neighborhood and you smell the grill cooking, stop on by. We surely won't notice a few more...and besides, Isaac may ask you to move in with us!

4H and Butterflies

One day, on a trip to Riley hospital (of course!) we stopped at White River Gardens. Andrew wanted to take pictures there for his 4H project and what a great choice that was. When we got there, we found out it was "release day". There were butterflies everywhere! They were landing on us and made for some easy picture-taking. The butterflies landing on us didn't settle well with Isaac, but them swarming everywhere sure made it nice for Andrew and his budding photography skills.Here are the pics Andrew took for his that he used for his project:
















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Back Online...woohoo

And will update soon!

Some Miracles Are Small

My dear friend gave birth to her third baby earlier this week. Although he was a surprise, they were so excited to meet their new bundle of joy. A routine ultrasound revealed that there was something wrong with his bladder, and they were told he'd probably have to go straight to surgery at birth. Basically, he couldn't pee, and this also helped explain why his momma's fluid levels were so low. Naturally, they were scared and had everyone praying.

Although he wasn't due until the 4th of July, little Owen decided he'd like to arrive in time for Father's Day. Earlier this week, a healthy 6 pound baby boy was born. There were 6 extra people in the room for the baby, to get him cleaned up and shipped off on an ambulance as soon as he was born. The pediatrician came in for the delivery on his day off since he knew the circumstances.

However, God and baby Owen had other plans. You see, little Owen came out peeing all over everybody and all over the room!!!! Before he was born, he had been healed!! Never has anyone been so happy to be peed on by their baby! They will still have to do some bladder testing in a couple of weeks, but they know it will be minor if anything at all.

This little 6 pound miracle boy has been such a blessing and helped remind some people that God answers prayer!

I failed...

Andrew lost a tooth last night, but the tooth fairy failed to come. I know he's 10, but he's so gullible like me and I truly think he still believes. I tried to sneak it under his pillow this morning when I realized, but he was half-awake. So, then I had to try to sneak it back out, which I did.

I told him he must've woken up a lot last night, since he tends to do that. "Or, it could've been the fact that you sleep with your eyes partially opened," I said. He bought it.

So, tonight, we must redeem ourselves...

PRESS RELEASE

At approximately 10 am, Porkchop, the beloved stuffed dog of Isaac, was found!! He spent the night at Riley Children's Hospital and is currently being transported home. Estimated travel time is 2-3 days and we are anxiously awaiting his arrival. Thanks for all of your concern. You may now return to your regularly scheduled lives. :)

Amber Alert for Porkchop

After a long, exhausting day at Riley yesterday the boys were so ready to crawl into their beds. That is, until Isaac realized the last time he saw his beloved Porkchop was at Riley. Sobbing ensued and we had to convince him that we would find his little dog and his doggy blanket, too.

Riley Lost and Found hasn't seen Porkchop. I'm hoping someone didn't pick him up and take him to a new home yesterday. We're thinking maybe he's in the Over the Rainbow Giftshop. We went in there while waiting on meds at the pharmacy. Isaac got a piece of candy and I don't remember seeing that beloved pup again. Now, I'm just waiting for them to open...

Here is a pic of Isaac and Aunt Doris the night he got Porkchop. They've been together since preschool graduation. All the kids got a tiny dog, which was a smaller version of the class dog they took turns caring for. As you can see, from the start, Isaac loved the dog. He's wrapped in a blanket at graduation. Porkchop even has his own suitcase for his clothes Isaac has robbed other not-so-loved animals of. Porkchop, if you are reading this, please come home!

Mocha Club - Redefining the coffee break

I learned about the Mocha Club at the FFH concert the other night. I think it's worth sharing with all of my friends.

From their flyer: "Mocha Club funds the work of African Leadership, whose mission is to empower indigenous community leaders with the necessary resources to help their fellow Africans. Mocha Club funds projects such as: HIV/AIDS education and relief; building schools and funding education; orphan care; sports ministries and camps; famine relief and farming education; building wells; children's clinics; and job training.The work stretches from the war-torn regions of the Sudan to the AIDS-plagued countries of Southern Africa."

In the U.S., $7=2 mochas, or some other fancy coffee drink. (And Vincennes people, since Starbucks just closed, it should be even easier to save that money!)

In Kibera, Kenya $7=3 meals in a day for 9 orphans
In Darfur, Sudan $7=1 treated mosquito net for protection from Malaria
In Kitul, Kenya $7=1 month's supply for 1 person
In Bulayawo, Zimbabwe $7=1 school term for 2 children
In Gulu, Uganda $7=life-saving Malaria medication for 1 person
In all of Africa, $7=clean water for 7 Africans for 1 whole year

So basically, by making such a tiny difference in our own richly blessed lives, we can make a huge impact in Africa! Zimbabwe currently has the worst economy in world history. They are under a dictatorship, so we don't hear a lot about them. However, 1 in 8 children there are orphans; 2 in 8 people have HIV/AIDS; and 6 in 8 are unemployed. That's a 75% unemployment rate!!

I signed up and will soon be getting a link for my own personal mocha club account. This will allow people to join my 'team'. I will post the link as soon as I get it.

Imagine the impact we could make if we all could find just $7 a month to share.$7=2 mochas, or a trip to the drive-up, or the change laying around the house, etc. What if we made a tiny effort to make such a big difference?

The Rendezvous

Last Day of School

Woohoo! Summer is officially here! Last Friday was the last day of school. After the awards program, the kids were allowed to leave with their parents. Bonnie's kids came home with me, since she had to work the rest of the day. We ended up meeting Court for lunch and having an impromptu picnic in the park. We're looking forward to many more fun things this summer!


Andrew (L) getting his AR award. Way to go...286 points!


Jesse and Andrew posing for a pic


Zach, Mrs. Loheider, and Isaac...what a great year it was!


Mrs. Loheider gave Isaac a hug and said, "I love you, funny guy. Could you show me how you touch your nose to your tongue one last time?"


Our picnic




Ahhh, summer....

Funny Boy

From the start, Isaac has had a personality all his own. We're quite certain he was meant to come and bring laughter into our home. In fact, when he was about a year old, we found out the name Isaac means "he laughs". :) When he's around, the smiles aren't far behind. He just seems to have that effect on people and is full of surprises.

His latest thing has been wearing one blue mitten around the house, creepily ala Michael Jackson. Not sure why he does it, but he even plays video games with a mitten on! And he loves anything tiny...he likes to play with tiny toys, his favorite stuffed animal is a tiny dog named Porkchop, loves to snuggle up in tiny spots, etc.

He wasn't feeling well yesterday, and the Dr. confirmed it by saying he had "the textbook example of a raging ear infection." Poor kid...it just came out of nowhere. So, even though he wanted to rest, he wasn't just gonna lay on the couch like the rest of us would.

Here he is, napping in the little spot he made for himself:

Complete with the mitten on! Oh, Isaac...

Paying the preacher

In the bad storms of last week, we lost our power for several hours. While the power was out it continued to rain - HARD. Everyone around here has wet basements and sump pumps are the norm...which is not good when the power goes out. I know several people who had floods and issues with the water.

Not sure why it never crossed my mind to check our basement... A couple days afterwards I went to turn the fan on through the thermostat. And then I heard it...a loud squealing noise...OH NO!

We quickly shut it off and waited for Jay, who put our central air in last year, to come and look at it. Apparently, our furnace filled with water during the flood. In fact, he said our "squirrel cage" was still full of water. (I was concerned thinking there were rodents living in the basement, until he said it's the engine part of the furnace) They drilled holes to let the water drain out, and said to run the fan for a full 24 hours to dry it all out. Then he said, "Boy, you must be paying the preacher or something. There's no way that should still be working." Thank you God!!

Not an Everyday Kind of Blessing

Over the weekend, Andrew had an amazing, once in a lifetime experience. He had his wish granted through Make A Wish!

One of his Dr's submitted his name in the fall, but we were quite hesitant to go through with it. Even though I know very well the toll this mitochondrial disease has taken on Andrew's body and also our family, I wasn't convinced he qualified and certainly didn't want to take it from a child who did. We had the initial meeting with Make A Wish volunteers, Danny and Sherri, and they reassured that he was medically eligible for the program. We still decided to take a month to think and pray on it.

We decided that with the uncertainty and progressive nature of his disease, that we would go through with it. I just didn't want to regret not doing it someday... After careful consideration, Andrew decided to wish for a PlayStation 3. In his logical mind, a trip would only last for a week and wear him out, but the game would last forever. :) So, Saturday was the big day. Danny and Sherri came loaded down with surprises! Since it was such a small wish, they went above and beyond.

Andrew spent Friday night with Mamaw and Papaw, who brought him over when we were all ready Saturday. Knowing Andrew loves Star Wars, Danny and Sherri came with Darth Vader masks for us to wear. When Andrew arrived, it took him awhile to realize what was going on. Finally, Sherri pulled up her mask and told him his wish was being granted. He was speechless!! He came in to Star Wars music playing. He was grinning from ear to ear and just couldn't stop.

Here are some pics of his special day:







Star Wars books!


Papaw trying out the video chair while Danny shows Andrew how to use the PS3

Storm Damage

We had a pretty strong storm the other night. As I layed in bed, my husband leaving for work, and both boys wide awake from the storm, I started to think the roof might actually blow off the house. I'm all for having a one story house and all, but not interested in being upstairs when it happens. :) With the power out, we managed to get the boys downstairs before Court left. I was thankful to see the damage was minimal compared to how it sounded outside. Sadly, though, this apple tree has been a favorite picture spot for us. It's also a good climbing tree, and we'll of course miss the apples this summer. I'm sad to see it go. :(










Here is a pic taken in front of the tree in it's better days.



I'm just thankful this is all the damage we got! It seems like our street was hit hard. Many trees down, shingles blown, and power lines down. The power being off caused a 2 hour delay for school, which cancelled Isaac's field trip, too. Speaking of school, I passed this "lake" on the way and couldn't resist a picture.

Indiana History Field Trip

I got to accompany the 4th graders on their visit to several historic sites in Vincennes earlier this week. Since I'd been to some, and often pass right by them running errands, it honestly didn't sound too exciting. However, we had a really good time. I learned something new at each place we went, including the ones I'd previously visited. For instance, how could I have forgotten that our own Knox County once reached all the way up to Chigago. As it is now, we are the 5th largest county (by area) in the state. Can you imagine it stretching all the way up to the top of the state?

Our first stop was the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park. The monument is having major repairs done, so we didn't get to go inside. However, we went to the visitors center, which I'd never done before. We watched a movie all about Lt. Col. George Rogers Clark and learned how the park was established as a National Park by Congress. I found it pretty fascinating, but then again, I was a social studies ed major. :)

Our next stop was at the Old Cathedral Catholic Church. I have driven by, and even walked the grounds many times, especially every 4th of July. However, I'd never been inside and WOW! It is beautiful!! They recently went through a major renovation, and although I have nothing to compare it to, it is really something to see!

After having lunch at Gregg Park and letting the kids run off some steam, our trip continued on to Grouseland. This was the home of Gov. William Henry Harrison before his short term as President. Although I had been here before, it is fun to go through it again.

Our last stop was the buildings right behind Grouseland. Here, we visited the Jefferson Academy. Pres. Jefferson established schools for ages 14 and above, where they learned geometry, geography, and Latin. This was pretty serious schooling, and many kids this age were learning a trade instead. There was still a stool and dunce cap sitting in the corner! Next, we saw the Indiana Territory Capital Building, which was recently restored. We got to see where to Territory Representatives met and how they passed laws. Our final stop was to Elihou Stout's Print Shop. We saw where he spent over 40 years printing the news of the day and what a chore producing a newspaper was back then. The Western Sun he published is the Vincennes Sun-Commercial as we know it today.

This concludes our little lesson of historic Vincennes. Thanks for indulging my inner-nerd and enjoy some pics of the sites.

Indiana Territory buildings


Grouseland


Old Cathedral


George Rogers Clark Monument