Today's Answers

Thanks for your continued prayers ... I just talked to mom and the doctor told them that my dad's mass IS cancerous, it IS huge and in his lower colon. It has NOT spread anywhere else (praise GOD), so they are going to treat it with aggressive radiation/chemo for (probably) 6 weeks, then perform surgery to completely remove it. They want to try to shrink it so they do NOT have to put in a colon-bag, which is painful and extreme according to doctor. They will start chemo next week, probably.
They have an appointment with radiology tomorrow and so they can get some more answers about what to expect over the next 6 weeks.

On another note....This is my 100th post. I was going to be post the typical 100 things you don't know about me today, but this is foremost in my head right now. I will come up with my fun post "all about me" and post it when my brain is not so clogged with my dad.

Please keep me in your prayers. I think I'm gonna need it.

Quick Update

Dad had his MRI today, and will get test results and meet with the doctor tomorrow. His appointment is for 10 a.m. so we should have some answers by early afternoon. I will post results and further prayer requests when I get a call from my mom.

Thanks for your continued prayers!

Out of the House

Living in the DFW area we are spoiled to having pleasant, warm weather much of the year....so when it isn't we get grumpy! It seems like it has been cold and cloudy forever. I know it hasn't, and come July I will look back at these cool days and wonder why I complained, but I'm tired of being cooped up in the house and so is That Other Kid. He is active and loud and much prefers being outside playing ball or running and being a little boy. It makes us all happier -- he burns some excess energy and doesn't drive anyone crazy by throwing balls in the house.

So....I got tired of being in the house trying to find something to play where he would not break something or tear something down or climb all over me, and I called my bff and said "if I don't get outta here I'm gonna go crazy"! She said she already was going crazy, so come join the madness!

So after lunch I told That Other Kid I had a surprise for him and we went over to join her crazy!! It was a wonderful afternoon. We didn't really do anything, but That Other Kid, her son, and another little boy, who is the son of one of our friends born within 15 days of her son (3 boys under 5) played trains, blocks, cars and who knows what else; while we sat around and goofed on her computer, talked to her momma, and just talked in-between breaking up arguments from 3 little boys who hadn't had a nap.

IT WAS A LOVELY DAY!!!!!! Thanks God for giving me a wonderful friend!! It was indeed just what I needed.....thanks for being there for me!

I-Pod

I got a I-Pod shuffle for Christmas last year....I love it...but, I never figured out how to download music to it by myself....till tonight!!! I'm sooooo proud of myself. I conquered the computer, burning a disc, downloading music from the disc and putting it on my I-Pod. All by myself, that is with minimal help from That Kid. He had to show me how to start off the downloading process.
Now I can listen to my music and be proud that I downloaded it....!!

Now I just need to organize the music a little....that may take a while...it took 6 months to get this done!

Brat to Becoming in 30 Seconds....

Have you ever known of a child who could go from being the biggest BRAT in town to the most pleasant, becoming child in less than 30 seconds??? I unfortunately, am living with one right now. He is 4 and he, over recent weeks, has become VERY difficult to live with...I'm talking about That Other Kid.
He has always been a very high maintenance child, even when I first brought him home from the hospital.....I spent the first couple of weeks of his life doing nothing but tending to his every need. I slept in a rocking chair, took him to the bathroom with me, ate while nursing him, etc...I'm sure you get the idea. If I wasn't holding him he was screaming at the top of his VERY powerful lungs. Soooo I held him.

Maybe I contributed to his bad behavior way back then.....by catering to him....but I was soooooo tired, I did. Who knows??? Well anyway, now I am dealing with a child who seems to think his every whim should be met, and I mean right now! If he doesn't get what he wants, he turns into an evil, mean little boy.....what with the hitting, screaming, and tantrums it gets ugly around here. (And I'm not just talking about him!) I have done what all the big parenting experts recommend -- ignore him, send him to his room, spank him...you name it and I've tried it. So now I turn to my mom experts --- what do you do when your children are acting like BRATS???

The really bizarre part of his bratty behavior is after he is done having a meltdown he will be the sweetest, loving little boy on the planet. I love this little boy.....I love the other one, too...but IT IS HARDER....especially when I am the victim of those misconducts.

So......how do you deal with little boys like this????
Please give me all your advice!!!!

Another Drama Segment

I've mentioned a few hundred times about the drama between That Kid and his ex-girlfriend. Well we got to enjoy another segment again last night. I won't get into all the details but it was real eye-opening....the girl needs some serious help, I'm just sayin' and I think That Kid has finally had enough to see that he can't have a friendship/relationship with her without getting dragged down. He erased her from his friend's list on myspace and facebook, which if you are familiar with teens this signifies how serious this is.

You see in our family integrity is IMPORTANT...so important that we don't take kindly to repeated lies and that is what he was encountering, on a daily basis. It really is sad...this was his first real girlfriend and it has turned into a TERRIBLE experience. I wish I would have enforced the "no dating" but the "courtship" type of relationship. We would have avoided a lot of stress, heartache and headaches this past year.

Soooooo, if you are reading this and have kids about to approach the teen years and are trying to decide between dating vs. courtship, I urge you to completely investigate the courtship ideas and give it some serious prayer. Dating in today's world is VERY scary.....even for innocent teens. We will be looking at courtship for the remaining years of his teens and young adulthood. And if you know of any nice, Christian young women without a lot of emotional baggage in the DFW area who are interested in hanging out with a wonderful young man, let me know!!!

Thanks

Thanks for your prayers. I really appreciate them and your comments.

I actually got to talk to my dad tonight and he sounded pretty normal. He's a quiet man, so the conversation was direct and short, but I did find out that he will have what he called "x-rays" done on Tuesday -- scheduled for 8 a.m. I believe that he will actually be having an MRI on Tuesday morning to determine the extent of the tumor. They will give him options and more information....Please keep us in your prayers for Tuesday morning. I will put out another update Tuesday night after I hear from my parents.

On a happier note -- my 30 minute video game limit for That Other Kid went well today, I just had to help get him interested in playing something else. He chose to play hockey with me and he won 20 - 9. He did a little dance and pumped his arm up and down and told me "you can't play hockey very good mommy, I'm gooder at hockey than you!! Maybe when you get 4 you can play hockey better....I told him your right, I can't wait till I get 4!

Again thanks for your continued prayers...I will keep you posted.

Please Pray

I just found out my dad has colon cancer and I'm kind of freaking out here... please pray for me and my parents!

Thanks I knew I could count on you....

Video Game Junkie at 4

I'm sitting in That Kid's room right now, with That Other Kid....He has been playing big brother's PS2 for the past week and decided he wanted an audience today. We have been home now for 2 weeks and he has turned into a video game junkie in those 2 weeks. Now don't judge me....I didn't start it! His dad and brother did...they both tend to be easily addicted to video games, when they have time, that is, which isn't very often right now.

Well when we came home from our trip I let That Kid have a couple of days of down time -- you know the kind of time where you just do whatever you want....aka sleep till noon and play video games, hang out on the computer, etc. So once he had to start back to school, That Other Kid decided he wanted to play some video games, too. I didn't have a problem with it....it gave me a little time to do things like cook, clean, do laundry, and read emails and other people's blogs! I also had to catch up on some book keeping chores so having him occupied seemed like a good thing.

That is till this morning when I told him he couldn't play video games because we had to leave in few minutes and he threw himself a downright knock-down tantrum! Sooooo, I've come to the conclusion that it has become an addiction for him and we will be having LIMITS on VIDEO GAMES....I don't deal with tantrums well, especially when it is over something so goofy as not getting to play a video game that doesn't even belong to you!

So, starting today That Other Kid only plays big brother's games 30 minutes a day....now mind you he has his own games and a gazillion toys so it's not like he doesn't have anything to do it the remaining 12 hours that he is awake!! We'll see how it goes.....

On The Weigh Down

I determined that starting Monday of this week I would get back in the swing of things with the weight loss thing again...I've been working on it since this time last year, but lost my momentum this past summer when I got sick, broke my toe and starting dealing with a great deal of stress and went through a big bout of depression.
Yesterday was not such a great day. I was frustrated and didn't get to work out. I had to buy a pair of shoes so I could successfully workout (mine were more than worn out) and it took me several hours of driving around and shopping with my bored, hyper 4 year old! You get the idea....it was not a FUN time...I finally found shoes that I liked and they fit right.

A big bonus...if you buy these shoes you some of the profits go to the Breast Cancer Society! I want to do anything I can to support the Breast Cancer Society....If you want to help you can by clicking on the logo on the right and help poor women get mammograms. It only takes a couple of minutes a day. Wow, did I get side tracked??!!!

Well anyway....I've been doing well this week, working out and not drinking COKE, that is until yesterday. Like I said before I didn't get to work out, and I was frustrated so I stopped at Braum's and bought myself a treat -- a small yogurt mix. I ate it all then had a coke to top it off! Oh well,
today was a new day. I got up, ate my nutritious breakfast (whole wheat english muffin w/peanut butter and V-8 drink), put on my brand new shoes and went to work out. I went to a CORE class (kill the abs class) then did some weights (which I HATE). Then I weighed myself and discovered I have already lost 2 pounds!! I was sooooo excited! and proud of myself!!!
I have done well this week and I hope I can keep the momentum up...

I've been cooking this week, too. I need to get some new HEALTHY recipes, so if anyone has any please send them to me!! Thanks.... have a good night.

10 Days Gone Already!

I can't believe it's already January 10th....the days have just run together in a big blur of busy-ness since I got back from Toronto on January 1st. We had a wonderful trip although the hockey aspect of it was a sad display of the "I don't care" blues by our team.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE SIGHT SEEING and we got to see some wonders! How could anyone look at Niagara Falls and not believe in God? How could anyone look at a Sunset viewed from 1500 ft. off the ground and not believe in God?? (This was from the CN Tower) These are some awesome sites!

The CN Tower (the tallest free-standing building in the world), downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada just past sunset!

Sunset from the CN Tower looking out over 1 of the Great Lakes -- I'm not sure which one cuz I haven't taken the time to research it.

Another sunset picture from the CN Tower....

Niagara Falls on the Canada side --- on December 30 right before sunset!!!

Another Niagara Falls shot....

Both my boys in front of Niagara Falls....gosh it's COLD out here!!!

Since we have been home, I have spent many hours doing laundry, catching up with friends and family, doing more laundry and catching up with more friends! I have also one a bunch of errands and I even started EXERCISING AGAIN!!! It feels great and I can already tell a difference in the way I feel. I can also tell that I am not getting enough sleep so that has to stop. Consistent sleep is one of the keys to weight-loss from what I hear, so it is one of my new goals for the year. Another goal for this year, spend more time with GOD! doing Bible study, and prayer. Remember I have a teenager and a pre-schooler, so I need all the prayer I can get!!!

Well it's already past 11 and I promised myself I would go to bed at 11 tonight since I slept a couple of hours this afternoon on the couch instead of doing things around the house, I'm guessing I need some extra sleep!!



Sooooo Goodnight! Sleep Well and be BLESSED!!!