A Wonderful Weekend with my Sista's!!!

Well, it was that time of year again :-) The time when I get to pack up a suitcase, a couple pink boa's and cowgurl hats with tiara's and head off for a weekend with the Sista's at the annual conference. I am too tired now to go into detail about how wonderful it really was. I wouldn't be able to do it justice tonight so I will attempt to post a slideshow I put together to share with you. I promise to share more details soon.....

Cameron's second match for the 1st place medal

Here is Cameron's second match ever and one for the Gold medal at his first tournament. Press play to watch the video.

Cameron's first match ever

This is Cameron's first wrestling match after only 6 practices. It is also his first pin :-) Press the play button to watch the video.

The first snow of the season????? What????

It really snowed!!! It is only Oct 12th and we have had our first snow :-) The kids have gone sledding and already built their first snowman of the season and soccor isn't even over with yet.....

Wine Tasting in Traverse City ;^)

I am one of the luckiest woman around :-) Not only am I blessed with a wonderful husband and son, not only am I blessed with wonderful friends and family, but I am blessed with wonderful neighbors (yes, I know, they do fall under friends too :-)
Not many people can say they know their neighbors well. Almost four years ago we moved into our newly built home in a new development. Almost immediately I began getting to know my neighbors and soon we became friends. We have done Bible study together, we have had numerous bonfires together, we have had a swim party every Friday of the summer together and this past weekend, 5 of us women went wine tasting together in Traverse City. We drank, we laughed, we drank, we cried (you know who you are), we ate, we shopped, did I me mention we drank? We brought home around 20 bottles of wine from the various vineyards we visited (including Madonna's father's) and sampled many more than that :-) Sigh.....the colors of Fall were at their peak and the weather was absolutely glorious!! What an awesome weekend!

Lazy day Tuesday

Well, the Fall has fallen...at least that is what it feels like. It is almost 9am here and it is only 54 degrees outside! Brrrrrr While I do love the Fall, I don't like it to hit so soon...what happened to our Indian Summer??? So, here I sit at my computer, with my hot cup of coffee, wrapped in a warm robe ;^)

Let's see, what has happened this past week of interest? I have officially become the amphibian/insect/calapitter (yes, I did spell that correctly at least according to my 7 year old and NO I do not want to correct him ;^) where was I....oh yes.....amphibian/insect/calapitter/anything little boys like to catch and watch Mom in the neighborhood. Trouble is, I usually end up enjoying it for longer than the boys. A couple examples-- Last year we found a Cope's Grey Tree Frog floating in our swimming pool full of tadpoles (whole other story). He obviously was feasting away when I unsuspectingly scooped him up in a cup. I thought he was dead and to tell you the truth, I had never seen such a large tree frog. Needless to say, we kept him :-) We have been feeding him and taking care of him for over a year now and my son (along with my mother's help) named him Mergatroid! Then, early in the Spring, I get a call from my mother saying she found another Mergatroid in one of her plants she was buying at a nursery :-) do we want him? Of course!!!! Enter Hoppy!!!! Then, Friday night as we were having a bonfire in our back yard with all the neighbors and kids, my son comes running with something clasped in his hands saying, "I found another Mergatroid". Will it never end? Problem....I love frogs!!!! And these cuties are BIG tree frogs that suction cup to your hand when you hold them and change colors from grey to green to almost white then brown, depending on what they are on. They are awesome! Now what do we name the littlest Mergatroid???

On to the next thing....We have a wonderful supply of Milkweed in our neighborhood. Why is this important you ask? Because Monarch calapitters only eat Milkweed and the Monarch butterfly only lays its eggs on the plant :-) So, we go Monarch calapitter hunting each year and put them in this wonderful Butterfly Pavilion we bought. We feed them each day and watch as they grow and shed their skin. Once they have grown into big plump calapitters we watch as they attach themselves to the top and turn into a chrysalis-- AMAZING!!! Then 10-14 days later we watch a butterfly emerge-- ;^) Now what is more amazing than that for a young child!? We have one more Chrysalis left to turn and then we are done with that for the year. On to the next insect (I think they are considered insects). My son found a HUGE, almost 6 inch long, walking stick!!! These are so amazing that I could sit and watch them forever. So, we put him in the pavillion and fed him for a couple weeks and watched him do his thing before we let him go again. I think his family was trying to get back at us last Friday night during our fire though because once the fire got going we had 4 HUGE walking sticks drop down on us from the trees!!! As much as I love them, it is very unsettling having them drop on you out of the sky!!! Gave me the heebie jeebies....

Next up, a very pregnant preying mantis. One of my favorites. We captured this beauty because she looked so fat and pregnant that I wanted my son to see her lay her egg sac. Always thinking of the education in it right? The neighborhood kids got to feed her and watch as she stalked her prey and captured it. They watched as she ate and finally as she lay her egg sac :-) Cool!!! Now, what in heavens name do I do with this egg sac???? Miss Mantis unfortunately died 4 days after laying her egg sac :-( I thought we had at least 2 weeks with her and really wanted to take her to C's class...sniffle. Oh well, maybe I can take a hundred little ones when they hatch???? Hmmm......maybe not......

So, anytime any of the neighborhood kids find any cool bugs or amphibians, they come running to me :-) I look them up on the internet and teach them all about them, we watch them and feed them for awhile and then we (usually) let them go. God's creations are amazing aren't they??

Somewhere out there.....

is a child who needs us, who God is preparing us for, who God is preparing for us....now we just need to find them :-) Tuesday was the first day of our 7 week course that we have to take in order to adopt from a local agency. We have decided to put our name on a list to adopt a "special needs" child. A child who is being removed from his or her (or their) home because their parents can't (or won't) take care of them or take care of them the right way. It hurts my heart just thinking about it, just looking at the 3 ring binder they pass around at the class with children who need homes NOW!!! I wish I could take each and every one of them and wrap my arms around them and tell them that not everyone will hurt them. Tell them about the love of God and to have faith. These poor innocent little ones who have only known pain and suffering during the years that should have been filled with giggles and butterfly kisses and cuddling. It really reminds me who has dominion over this world and where I need to keep my eyes. Sigh..... We need prayers now too......ones for strength as we go through this whole thing. Sigh........ I think I will go and cuddle my baby, give him a couple butterfly kisses and maybe giggle a time or two with him before he falls asleep.....

6 YEARS!!!!!!

Well, today is my six year cancerversary :-) For those who aren't familiar with that word it means six years ago today I became a breast cancer survivor because that is the day they found it. Wow, six years, it seems like just yesterday and yet it also seems like a lifetime ago. I remember a time when doctor visits ruled my calendar and every ache and pain sent me into a death spiral down into the depths of complete unadulterated terror. Do I still have nagging thoughts of "what if?" when I feel an unexplained twinge of pain? You bet, but they are growing fainter ;-) Do I still break out in a cold sweat when the phone rings and I am waiting for test results? Absolutely!! Do I think the day will come when it isn't the first thing on my mind when something hurts? I think that day is dawning......

I recently had to have some tests because of a bunch of aches and pains that I have been having. My onc wanted to "be sure" that it wasn't anything and it wasn't. You see, I had to have a total hip replacement in January of this year (I know, I am TOO young, story of my life, right?) and have had all kinds of trouble since then. I was absolutely confident that all the aches and pains I was having were being caused by this surgery so when my doc ordered the tests, I was FINE!!!! I had no anxiety waiting for the appointment, I had no anxiety telling anyone, then the day of the test came. I was fine going in, fine coming out, then I got home and started to get that old feeling again of "what if?". I HATE THAT FEELING!!!!!! I kept telling myself I wasn't going to let this have that kind of power over me anymore!!! With the prayers of my sista's and family arming me, I did fine and all the results were NEG (that is good by the way :-)

So, here I sit, drinking my morning coffee and reflecting on the past 6 years. Thank you to my sista's for helping me through it, thank you to my family for being there, thank you to my husband for putting up with all this crap and sticking by me and thank you to God for bringing me through it. God bless and have a beautiful day everyone!!!