Christmas Time Is Here :-)

Our Christmas festivities have been in full swing around here.  Last week the girls made ornaments for all the grandparents.  This is an annual tradition.  Each year we do a different kind of ornament.  One year we did salt clay ornaments, another year was shrinky-dinks, and this year we did painted wooden ornaments.

Painting ornaments

Then last weekend the girls got to open early Christmas presents from Nana Betty since she was in town to help take care of my sister.  Since Papa Doug wasn't able to be here we Skyped with him so that he could see them open the presents, too.  The girls were hoping for some books and/or movies.  They got a BIG surprise!

I love to hear them squeal with excitement :-)  Thanks Nana and Papa...they LOVE their Nintendo DS!  And they love the Zhu Zhu Pet game!

She got them something else that is incredibly special to them.  They get it out everyday just so they can hear her voice.  They miss her so much since she moved to Arizona.  Here's the other gift she got them...

Twas The Night Before Christmas Book

(read by Nana Betty)

We've also had some special times with friends.  The Jones family came over for some fun.  The girls really enjoyed playing together, making sugar cookies, decorating the sugar cookies...

 ...and eating the sugar cookies too!!!

And of course we had a little gift exchange.  Little Levi wasn't quite sure what to do with his present since this is his first Christmas!

We also had a fun visit with the Voss family who came in from Arizona!  The kiddos had a fabulous time playing together.  We enjoyed our time together so much that poor little Noah crashed out asleep on the floor from exhaustion!

Christmas Eve was a special day with Joel's Grandmother and my Granny.  They are the last grandparents we have remaining so the time with them was very special.

The family with Gigi (Joel's Grandmother)

Cousins on the Henry side

(Jake and Canaan)

 (Lily, Camryn, Caylin and Zora)

Christmas Day proved to be just as wonderful and exciting.   We started the day off with some cinnamon rolls then opened presents.  I love the look on their faces when they open something!

Then we headed to Mamma and Papa's house for a fantastic lunch and more fun with the cousins.

Zora, Joel and London

 Lily and Keno

 Zora reads a Christmas book with Mamma

Later that evening we celebrated with my dad and sister.  I'm so glad she was able to be home for Christmas, but we missed her kiddos.  They were in Arkansas celebrating with other family members.  But we did get to see Jake in his cute little Christmas pjs :-)

Jake proudly shows off his Jordans from Jamie

Our final celebration was actually after Christmas.  We got together with my step-siblings for some more fun!  We had a simple dinner - just sandwiches and fruit, but it is the only thing that has tasted good to me in a long time so WOOHOO for that!  And my sister got to come with her kids and that was a tremendous blessing! 

Of course, all the cousins had a good time laughing and playing together...

Zora and Skylar

 Kohen - doesn't he have the sweetest smile?

 I love this little smile, too :-)

Lily

 Alli is happy with some moolah!!!

 Nate's "surprised" face :-)

Thank you to all our friends and family who celebrated with us this year.  We had a very special, fun, joyous and blessed Christmas with all of you!!!

Sister Update #5

So here's the latest update on my sister... it's BAD NEWS, GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS, GOOD NEWS.

Monday she was scheduled for a test to see why things weren't functioning properly.  Bad news: the test was inconclusive.

Tuesday she was sent for a different type of test to see if they could find anything.  Good news: they were able to tell by this test that she did NOT need another surgery and that she looked great, just still swollen, so they told her to just give her body time to heal and all should be well.

Almost immediately after the receiving the good news she began to have severe pain in her left side.  The pain was so bad that they sent her for more testing.  Bad news: they found that she had a kidney stone!  Poor thing... as if she hasn't suffered enough :-(

Wednesday brought good news!!!  She got to go home!  Yay!!!  She still has the PIC line in her arm that gives her the majority of her nutrition, so home health care comes out to her house twice a day to check on her.  But she was able to eat mashed potatoes and tomato soup today and not get sick!  Yay!!!

Thanks so much for all your prayers for her.  Please continue to pray that her healing continues and she will get stronger every day.

Blessings to all!

Sister Update #4

My sister is still up and down from day to day.  Friday she had a fabulous day.  We were positive that she would be coming home this weekend.  But once again, her intestines had other plans.  She had a miserable night Friday and Saturday was equally as miserable.  Today was a little better, but not great.  They will be doing a barium test tomorrow and depending on the results they will determine what to do.  It is possible that they will do ANOTHER surgery Tuesday :-( 

Please pray that the test results will show an simple fix to her problem and NOT another surgery.  We really want her to go home before Christmas!!!

Sister Update #3

My sister has kind of been on a roller coaster ride the past few days.  She improves for a couple of days and then a bad day follows.  On the good days her body is functioning properly to get rid of the waste, and on the bad days the waste just remains in her stomach causing it to swell and give her horrible pain, and nausea and vomiting follow.  Yesterday she thought of something that might be the cause... the normal medications she takes for her autoimmune diseases are very large pills in capsule form.  She noticed on her bad days when things got "backed up" and made her vomit that she was vomiting the capsules.  She realized that the pills were not completely dissolving and were therefore clogging her gut and not allowing waste through.  When she mentioned this to the nurses and surgeon they seemed to blow her off and not really pay much attention to what she was saying.  Then yesterday afternoon she finally got through to a med student who decided to try something and see if it worked.  They started crushing her medication yesterday afternoon and her body started functioning again!  Her stomach swelling has gone completely down, the nausea has passed, and she is able to pass waste!

Please continue to pray for her.  Hopefully they have truly figured out the cause of her discomfort and she will be able to go home soon.  She has now been in the hospital for 11 days and there is no place she would rather be than home!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!

Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year!  Despite the trial that my sister is going through right now, we have had some truly memorable Christmas experiences already and can't wait for the many more to come since Christmas officially isn't even here yet!  I'll share a little of what we've been up to...

I took a break from the hospital on Friday to make our annual trip to visit Santa at Utica Square with our playgroup buddies.

Then came Saturday.  Last year during this same week we had a BIG surprise for the girls - they got an early Christmas present.  Do you remember what it was???  Puppies!  They each got a puppy of their very own.  Click here to see that Christmas surprise.

Well, they got a HUGE Christmas surprise this year - another early Christmas gift.  We took the girls to see the lights at Rhema - which is absolutely beautiful as always.  It was unbearably cold and the wind was piercing, but we followed through with the plan.  We saw all the beautiful sights...

and after we saw all the lights we came to this hallway of lights to give them their surprise.  

Watch the video to learn what their Christmas surprise this year was...

That's right!  Summers Baby #3 is on it's way!!!  If you couldn't hear the whole poem very well this is what she read...

In 1995, it was cold December;

Our very first date we'll always remember.

We knew not long after that very first date

We had found in each other a life-long mate.

A little time passed - about three-and-a-half years,

Then we said "I DO" through joyful tears.

Our love grew stronger day by day,

And before we knew it we had a baby on the way.

Nine months passed ever-so-quickly,

Then our family of two became a family of three.

Our daughter's laughter soon filled the air;

We were blessed indeed - a happy pair.

But soon our hearts began to long for more,

Then God made us a family of four!

Now twice the laughter fills the air,

And we are always busy running here and there.

Our family of four once felt complete,

But the yearning for more began to repeat.

Now we are as excited as we can possibly be

Because coming soon is Summers Baby #3!!!

My camera battery died right after she finished reading the poem so I didn't get to record their reaction, but it was hysterical!  They squealed and jumped endlessly.  They are both so excited.  I know they will be great helpers when the new little one gets here (approx date of arrival is Aug 14, 2011!).

Then Sunday morning we finished the weekend wonderfully with their Christmas program at church.  Lily had a little one line speaking part and then her class sang a song...

Then Zora's class performed several songs...

The Birthday of a King

Angels We Have Heard On High

Away in a Manger

(Zora had a solo and did a fantastic job!!!)

Feliz Navidad

I'm sure there will be many more Christmas festivities to post about, so watch for more coming soon!

Sister Update #2

Thank you again to all of those who are praying for my sister.  She continues to need your prayers.  She had her surgery last Tuesday and was expected to go home by the weekend.  Well, the weekend came and everything got worse instead of better.  Her body is having a very hard time recovering and little progress has been made.  This morning she was transported to the main hospital because they thought they could take better care of her there and get her the nutrition she needed to recover.  So instead of receiving nutrients only via IV, she now has a PIC in her neck to supply her body with some food to give her some strength.  Please continue to pray for her recovery and healing.  Also, please pray for our entire family.  Her husband is worn out, her kids are scared and confused at times, and we are all trying to help in every possible way that we can.  My mom flew in two days ago to help as well and has not left her side since she's been here.  Pray that the PIC line will give her some nourishment and strength.  Pray that her bowels will "wake up" and begin to function again.  Pray that she will heal enough to go home and be with her family.  Thank you & God bless!

Sister Update

Just a quick update for all my prayer warriors out there...

My sister's surgery went well today.  They had trouble managing her pain immediately after surgery but she seems to be doing better now.  Please continue to pray for her during the healing process.  She could be in the hospital for 2 to 4 days.  When she goes home please pray for the rest of our family as we take care of her and her kids.

Thanks!

Prayer and Praise

I have some great news and a prayer request for all my prayer warriors out there! 

First, for the praise!  My cousin's family, the Millers, have been in the process of adopting from Ethiopia for over 2 years now.  They got news back at the beginning of the summer that they were going to have a precious baby girl.  At the time she was only 5 weeks old and they were hoping to have her home with them by the time she was 4 or 5 months old.  Well, because of the legal system in Ethiopia, their court date was delayed by two months.  After they finally got a court date they traveled over there in October to meet their daughter and go to court to legally become her parents.  They did not pass court because of one piece of paper that was missing from their file.  It was not a piece of paper that either they or their agency had to submit, but one that had to come from within Ethiopia.  It's kind of a long story, but to make it shorter, they got good news today!  All of the legal issues with the orphanage have been worked out so that one piece of paper should soon be added to their file and they will hopefully be traveling back to get their daughter in a just a few weeks!  So praise the Lord for this uplifting news!!!

Now, for the prayer request.  Many of you know that my sister has not had the best health for the past few years.  She has had many discouraging diagnoses and surgeries within the past 8 years or so, and now another one is at hand.  This coming Tuesday, December 7, she will be having a surgery to remove her entire large intestine.  It is a very serious surgery, so please pray that all will go well and that she will recovery as quickly as possible.  And please pray for her husband, children, and the rest of our family as we do our best to take care of her.  Thank you in advance for lifting her name up before the Lord.  God bless!!!

Designs by T Update!

Just wanted to give you a quick update on my business!  I've been busy revamping by business blog and I also created a Facebook page for Designs by T!  So check them out!  I've got lots of new Christmas designs available if you are looking for gifts.  And my newest addition is that I am printing designs on pillows now! 

Visit the Designs by T blog, or find me on Facebook!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Homeschool Update

I can hardly believe that we are almost finished with another semester of school.  Zora is doing well in her second grade curriculum.  I must say, however, that this has been the most challenging year for me teaching her.  We seem to clash a lot, so I'm just praying for the patience I need to make it through this year.  Despite the struggle, she seems to enjoy the things we are learning this year.  She continues to love her History & Geography and studying ancient cultures.  Right now we are studying Ancient Greece and she loves all the Greek Mythology we've read.  It's also interesting to her to connect some of the historical people with lessons she's already learned from the Bible (ex: King Darius).  In science we have completed our unit on living & nonliving and have moved on to earth science.  Right now we are studying different types of soil and their properties.  Although math is still not her favorite subject, I have seen lot of improvement in her math skills this year.  She's becoming a pro at addition & subtraction even with carrying & borrowing!  She's really excited that we've begun multiplication.  She actually thinks it is fun :-)  That makes this math mommy happy!

Lily is improving by leaps and bounds right before my eyes this year.  Her favorite subject is math!  She can't wait to get her math worksheet each day and pull out the number line and abacus to add & subtract.  Her handwriting is also very nice for a four-year-old.  We've been working hard on writing the letters correctly and putting sounds together.  She used to dread trying to read words to me, but now she attacks it with zest!  Reading is not her favorite subject, but she is learning!  She has one book each week that she has to read to me each day.  At the beginning of the week it is sometimes a struggle to get through the book, but by the end of the week she reads with confidence!  Here is a video of her book this week:

Isn't that great?  I just love our reading curriculum!  It is the same one I used with Zora.  If you are wondering what we use it is a combination of 3 things... A Reason for Handwriting, Explode The Code Series, and Fun Tales.

Besides our book learning, we've been enjoying fun times with friends as well.  We had another nature exploration day at the lake with some friends...

eating lunch on the deck

 playing with a crayfish (or crawdad)

 a nice walk through the woods

We also went to our local Air & Space Museum with some friends.  Here is the tour guide teaching the girls what to do to "fly" the plane.

 Zora concentrates on flying the plane

 Lily concentrates too!

 The girls enjoyed looking at all the planes there!

 Lily then got to role play her dream job! She has been telling me for a couple of months now that she wants to work in some sort of aviation field.  Either an astronaut, pilot, or at a launch control center.  The tour guide chose her to be the launch commander.  She was beside herself with excitement.  Chole (left) was the Captain, Zora (right) was the Co-captain, and Lily (middle) was the Launcher.  She was so proud to push the red button and launch the spaceship!

 Here is the spaceship going up!

 Zora as an astronaut

 Lily as an astronaut

 Even I joined in on the fun and got to experience driving a spacechair.  It was harder than you'd think!  The controls were super-sensitive!

 After we looked at the airplanes and spaceships we had some fun learning about weather.

Girls in the tornado tube

 Zora & Lily giving the news

 Zora forecasting the weather

 It seems a flood is headed our way!!!

We have just 2 short weeks left until Christmas break!!!! 

Hooray