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.