While Daddy's away, we'll...have another ice/snow storm

When Daddy is out of town, there are a few things that go by the wayside.  One of these things is the sleeping arrangements.  Eric was heading to Nashville last week for a conference and before he was even out of the driveway, Levi asked, "Mom, can I sleep with you while Daddy is gone?"  Sure!  I love having a little sleeping buddy with me.  And you know what?  I think he got pretty comfortable there...

Another thing that goes by the wayside?  Food.  This is way more than okay by me!  We give up formal meals (by "formal", I don't mean china, silver and wine glasses - I mean chicken in the crockpot!) and plop our rears on the couch for some grilled cheese or peanut butter & jelly and chips.   

One night, we even did Chick Fil A.  I love not cooking for a few days.  Jami was so sweet and even had us over for dinner on Saturday night.  Thanks, friend! :-)

I did inform Eric that he was never allowed to go out of town again when we had an impending ice/snow storm on the horizon!  NOT COOL.  The ice and snow came Sunday and we were stuck home for a few days.  Seriously.  Can we say CABIN FEVER this winter?  Let's pray this is the last of our rough winter!

We made some snow ice cream on Monday.  My kids were not a fan.  Maggie just liked stirring it.  

Two things about this picture: YES, she is wearing the birthday outfit my mom bought her for her birthday -- in MAY.  YES, she is wearing her "1st Visit" button from Disney, because, why not??

Glad to say that Eric made it home safe last night and we were sooo happy to have him back!  I immediately went "off duty" and let him handle any and all complaints, requests and meltdowns.  ;-)  Thankful my family is back together again!

Giving my children props for their mad BINGO skills

There are some things in life that are just too good to pass up!  Like a good ol' game of BINGO.

Evidently, the happening place to be is my grandparent's assisted living home on Thursday nights.  You can get your own ginormous pink BINGO board and work your way into a pretty intense game.  

My kids were in heaven!  Every time Levi would hear a number called out, you would either hear a squeal of joy or a long sigh.  

These people take their BINGO playing seriously.  My Uncle Larry was there and tried "coaching" Levi a little and he got called out, told he would be disqualified for helping!  We still aren't sure if the BINGO authorities were kidding or not... ;-)

And, when other residents would yell BINGO, check out Maggie's face.  PURE FRUSTRATION.  Or dislike.  Maybe even hate...

 If you need to find me on Thursday evenings, you now know where I can be found.  Oh, did I mention that the winner gets fifty cents?  Momma needs a new pair of shoes.  Or a Coach.  Whatever.

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Check out my new phone case.  I'm loving it.  A lot.  Home, heart, Indiana.

Prayers for Griffin - We have a date!

We have a date!

It has been a slow two weeks, but Griffin's open heart surgery has been scheduled for Monday, March 10th. He will be going in for pre-op testing a week from today, Friday, March 7th.  We appreciate SO MANY of you who have continued to ask about and pray for G.

Specific prayers:

Pray that Griffin stays healthy for the pre-op testing on Friday.  If he gets sick, they will have to cancel and reschedule the surgery.

Pray for the surgeon, that God will direct his hands, and for the nurses and staff that will be caring for him.

Pray for our family, specifically Travis, Jenny, Griffin and Emily, that God will comfort them, give them a peace that only HE can give!

Pray for Griffin and against the fear that he is experiencing.

Pray for fast healing and against infection.

Most importantly, pray that God will be glorified.  Always.  Thank you for your continued prayer over our family.  You cannot understand what that means.  We will keep you posted!

babies, four wheelers, and awards - oh my!

If you are wondering about an update for Griffin, we don't have any new news to report yet.  The surgeons were supposed to meet last week to discuss his case, but there is a very sick little girl named Anna that they have been working with.  Please pray for her!!  You can find out more info from her Caring Bridge site here.  We are hopeful to have a little more info and a surgery date this week.

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Friday, Maggie and I went to visit my papa at the hospital.  He had a procedure done and is now back at rehab.  Maggie was a champ!  She has those nurses wrapped around her little finger.  She knows how to get Sprite and popsicles. ;-)

That evening, we had Eric's family over for tacos -- one of our favorite things to eat together!  This was little Paisley's first trip to our house.  She was a little cranky butt for the first part of the evening, but Eric's dad had a special touch with her.  Every time he would hold her, she would calm down and stop crying.  Sweet! 

I have to admit something... I GOT BABY FEVER!  (No, there will not be any more babies at our house!) It was so precious to see Maggie enamored with having a baby around.  She loved Paisley!  I kept thinking to myself, one more??... 

But, I think I'm over the fever.  It was just a little 24 hour bug! ;-)  They would have fun with another baby around, though...

Saturday was BEAUTIFUL out!  I mean, just gorgeous! We spent the morning at my mom and dad's and Levi immediately broke out a four wheeler.  It was nice to be outside.  COME ON SPRING!

Mags hasn't been on the four wheelers yet.  She is content to scoot around on her little pink scooter, which is just fine with Mommy.  However, Saturday, she was extra curious and wanted to ride with Levi.  Part of me thought it was adorable, while the other part of me thought NOT YET...

Sunday, we were back to the cooler weather. Ugh.  It was fun while it lasted.  We spent the afternoon eating lunch with some friends from church and then an awards program for basketball.  Here is half of the team with their coaches.  We are so blessed to have friends who have been Levi's coaches for the last two years.  Levi loves spending this time with Eric.  It has been an awesome bonding experience for them.

 These boys have been on the same team with each other for two years.  They have gone undefeated in soccer, baseball and basketball up until last week, when they lost their first game.  They'd been so used to winning that it was a shock for them to lose.  Ha!  We've been telling Levi that it is okay to lose, as long as he tried his hardest and had fun.  Losing still caught him off guard. ;-)

 Love my boys!

a little girl time and happy birthday papa!

Last night was a special treat!  I got to spend the evening with my sister, our childhood friend, Karrie (she is in town for the week), and our friend, Jill.  Karrie and Jackson are visiting her parents for the week and we squeezed in a girl's night out while the proud new grandparents got to babysit. ;-)  

I don't get to spend nearly enough time with my sister, so it was extra special for me!!  I love her.  

I think it is pretty awesome that we have all kept in touch for so long!  When we get together, it is almost as if time hasn't moved.  We could sit and talk for hours about playing "Cops and Robbers" in the woods or when we would practice synchronized swimming for hours during the summer days in hopes to be the next Olympic gold medalists.  Ha!  Or we could sit and talk about all of the dumb things we did during high school.  Whatever it is, we never run out of things to go on and on about!

I love these girls and am so glad we got an evening out together.

While I was out and about, Eric took the kids and his parents out to dinner.  Today is his dad's birthday so they did an early celebration.  

How precious is this??

Happy birthday, Papa!!  We love you so much!

my kids enjoy getting sick on holidays

First of all, I want to say thank you for the outpouring of love shown for Griffin.  Jenny told me she shared the link to my blog post about his open heart surgery on Facebook and we had no idea how many people would step up and start praying for him.  It has been humbling -- so many texts, calls, comments, and private messages offering love, support, prayer, testimony... I'm overwhelmed.  Thank you.  If you are interested in keeping up with his story, I will add a "GRIFFIN" label to the sidebar.  

This week, Maggie and I were out finishing up some Valentine shopping for Levi's school party and we were able to do an impromptu lunch with this gorgeous gal and Cameron.  It was so nice to be able to catch up.  Crazy that we haven't seen each other in ages due to all this snow and ice.

Maggie and Cameron crack me up!  They are in a Bible study class together and their little conversations make me laugh.  Maggie is quite the little mother hen.  I love Chick Fil A because the food is good and you can let your kid run wild and it doesn't really matter.

Thursday evening, yes, the night before Valentine's Day, we were finishing up a family project: Levi's Valentine box.  We are such procrastinators!  When Eric helps with a project, the overachiever in him usually takes over and we sit back and watch.  Ha!

Levi and I were starting to get a little slap-happy.  He was getting wild and I was just ready for my kids to be in bed! ;-)

It was FINALLY finished and Levi was CRAZY about it!  I think it turned out really great.

FYI, I did email the idea to his teacher to get permission to make a tank.  When Levi was in preschool, we let him take a little Matchbox car that was a tank to school for Show and Share.  His teacher told us that wasn't a good idea because it was considered a "gun".  Oops!  Parent fail.  

Eric and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day.  We never have.  We usually just like to do our anniversary and birthdays.  So this was our convo Thursday night after the kids went to bed:

Me: Did you get me a card?

Eric: Did YOU get ME a card?

Me: No.

Eric: Okay, good.  I didn't get you one either.

Me: I did get you something, though.

Eric: YOU DID?  I didn't get you anything.

Me: That's okay, I got me one, too!  

Then, I broke out two boxes of Mike & Ike candy for us.  :-)  We did get some little things for the kids.  Levi scored an iTunes card and some candy.

And, my non-candy eating child (WEIRD) got a new baby doll.

Friday morning, we got notice that the schools were having an early dismissal due to another incoming snow storm.  This meant that their afternoon Valentine parties were being moved to the morning.  As I was loading the cupcakes and craft stuff into the van, I got a call from the school nurse.  UGH.  Levi got to school and threw up.  She said he was white as a ghost.  So, I dropped off all of the loot and headed to the doctor with him.  What is it with my kids getting sick on holidays?  

It isn't very often that my big boy curls up in my lap. I self diagnosed him with strep, and sure enough, that's what it was.  We got some meds and he was pretty lethargic all day.  Today, though, he is a new person.  He is back to fighting with his sister and throwing a fit when we tell him to pick up his room.  O Happy Day.

Sidenote: What is up with the black circle under my eyes?  It looks like I haven't slept in a week!  I tried adding a filter to the picture just so I wouldn't look like a zombie.  But, it got worse.  I either looked like a Cullen vampire:

Or someone with a really bad spray tan...Sheesh!

So, we'll just stick with a zombie and I will remind myself to get some stronger concealer.  ;-)  Have a great weekend!

prayers for Griffin

We all know about one little boy who has my heart.  Levi.  

But, before there was Levi, there was another little boy who had my heart.  He still does.  Our nephew, Griffin.

If you know G, you know that he is full of life!  

On Monday, Griffin had a doctor's appointment where the doctor told Travis & Jenny he wanted Griffin to have an echo done due to a heart murmur.  He said it was probably normal, but wanted it checked out. They scheduled an appointment with a cardiologist for the next day.  What we thought would be a routine "it's just a normal heart murmur" visit didn't turn out that way.  I got a text from Jenny where she proceeded to tell me that Griffin has a defect with his heart and will need to have open heart surgery within the next couple of months.  

Excuse me?

Open heart surgery?

I just about threw up and wanted to cry.  

So, here are the details of what I know.  The surgeon said that Griffin has a defect with his heart that will require surgery.  He can wait a couple of months.  Six months?  No.  And, to not have the surgery is not an option.  He will be in the hospital for a few days and should resume normal activity a few days after that.  There are 9 doctors in the practice and the surgeon wants to take Griffin's case before them just to confer and make sure they are all on the same page.  Travis & Jenny will meet with the surgeon next week and schedule the surgery.    

Right now, we are all in shock.  It's probably a good thing you can't see me writing this post because I'm a teary, snotty mess!  I can't imagine how Travis & Jenny are feeling.  But, you know what?  We are a family that believes in the power of prayer.  We know a God who is the ultimate caretaker and healer and we know that He will watch over little G-man.  We know that our friends will cover him in prayer, now and until he is out doing his next triathlon.  

So, if you would, please join us in prayer for Griffin.  Pray specifically for strength, health and peace.  Pray for the surgeon.  Pray for the team of nurses that will work with him.  Pray for Travis and Jenny, Lord have mercy...I can't imagine!  Pray for Emmy.  Pray for the grandparents and weepy aunts.  And, uncles, too! ;-)  I know everything will be okay...just may take a while to get there!  Love you, Griffin!!