6.1

As many of you know, my mother has been battling ovarian cancer since July 2007. She finished radiation and chemotherapy about 2 months ago, but still has to go in for monthly blood work and testing to make sure that the cancer has not returned. The past couple of weeks my mom has been having severe abdominal pains and tiredness. (Signs of a tumor) The doctor called her in immediately to have a blood test on Thursday. The doctor's did not call her back Thursday with test results so that was cause for even more worry.

Well, I got the following e-mail this afternoon:


My tumor marker test came back at 6.1. It dropped from 8.4 to 6.1. I said, "How did that happen?" And she said, "We don't know." "Am I blessed?" "You are blessed," she said. I started crying and couldn't stop when I got off of the phone. I am very emotional so wrote an email. I am anemic somewhat and she says I need to rest. They don't know why I am having abdominal pain. She said it could be the radiation and just doing too much. Anyway, I am very happy and am looking forward to resting this summer. I love you, mom

These results are most certainly due to the power of prayer. The tumor marker was 8.4when chemo ended. She has had no more treatment. The tumor marker has gone down on it's own without any medical intervention. This is the work of the Lord.

Please continue to pray for God's healing hands to touch my mother's body and restore her health. The threat and fear of cancer, for her, will never go away, but with your prayers and positive thoughts she has a really great chance of giving cancer the death penalty within her own body.

Growing Pains

I was sitting in bed most of this past week watching reality t.v. and trying to recover from my appendectomy. I watched a lot of "good" bad t.v. I saw 2 "Keeping Up the Kardashian's" marathons, The Real Housewives of NYC marathon, Flavor of Love (Why?), and some daytime talk shows. One of the talk shows that I caught was "The View." On Tuesday or Wednesday (I get the days mixed up), Kirk Cameron was the guest. I am not sure how many of you remember Kirk, but when I was about ages 10 through 12, my bedroom walls were littered with "Teen Beat" and "Big Bopper" pin-ups of Mike Seaver a.k.a. Kirk Cameron from the sitcom "Growing Pains." (Forgive my generous misuse of quotes!) Once the show ended, I lost track of my former crush.

Now, I am all caught up and have to tell you how impressed I am with this man. Kirk Cameron started on "Growing Pains" at age 17. He was an atheist. During his time on the show he found God and accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He began questioning his storylines and challenging the morals of the t.v. writers who had his character doing/saying things that Kirk was not comfortable with as a Christian and as a role model. (That says a lot for a teenage boy who was probably making lots of money and could have been with most any young girl at the time!) The storylines were altered--after all he was the whole reason most people watched the show. (In my opinion!) When the show ended, he went on to marry his t.v. girlfriend, Chelsea Noble and they have been together for 17 years! Kirk and Chelsea have 6 children. They adopted 4 children who are multi-racial and more recently had 2biological children. 17 years and 6 kids is a lot in Hollywood! (They are totally kicking Brangelina's butt!) Kirk now runs a Christian Evangelical website, radio, media empire (if you will) called The Way of the Master. He also has a new book coming out called "Still Growing," which is what he was promoting on The View. (Too quote or not too quote-that is the question?)

I am sure that I sound like Wikipedia or an advertisement for Kirk Cameron right now, which was not my intention. I was just thinking that in Hollywood where scientology, kabbalah, atheism, drugs, and sex are so "talked about" and "in", (And I don't mean to relate scientology or kabbalah to drugs or sex), this man chose Jesus. I know there are more celebs out there that have walked the same walk. I was just touched my the sincerity of my old flame and was left thinking that maybe I didn't have such bad taste in boys (when I was young, of course!) after all!

Last Day of Ballet

The last day of ballet and tap was on Saturday. The girls got to dance for their parents and each won a medal for their work this year. It was so much fun!

The Emergency

I had to have an appendectomy on Thursday. I thought I had bad cramps. Big Surprise! Surgery on Thursday night. Here are some cell phone shots from my hospital bed.

Note To Self...

Dear Self,

Please do not take allergy medication while at work anymore. I know that you are itchy and sneezy with a sore throat, but BENADRYL MAKES YOU TIRED. Being unable to keep your eyes open + work = ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

The Uncles

Olivia got to spend the night with Gramps, KK, Drew & Pierce on Saturday night. She had so much fun. We saw Drew's softball team, the Eagles, play an excellent game. I am not sure if they won or lost, but watching co-ed, first grade softball is hilarious!

Once home from the game, the kids played outside and started their own club. (I heard all about it on Sunday morning when I picked Olivia up!) The club is called "Drew's Pizza Club!" When we got home from Dallas last night, Olivia begged Adam to make her a clubhouse (tent style) for she and the dolls. Adam named her new club "the Cubhouse" since when she asks for a clubhouse it sounds more like "cubhouse!"



Drew...watching for a line drive!



Liv and Pierce...watching (or not) the game.



Picture Perfect!

Round Rock Express, Again.

We had so much fun on Thursday that we took Olivia to another Express game on Friday night. (Really...Adam was offered free tickets!) Another good game...another round of hot dogs, corn dogs, soda, and cotton candy. Talk about a junk food!

Round Rock Express

We took Olivia to her first baseball game last night. She had a great time. She ate a hot dog, corn dog, and a snow cone. I think she liked the food as much as she liked the game!

The Storm

Wednesday night brought terrible storms to Central Texas. Our American Idol watching was interrupted several times by tornado watches and warnings. Adam (who claims to be an amateur meteorologist) kept assuring me things were fine. I finally decided to ignore by beloved and took Olivia for a "camping" trip in our closet. What do you know? Adam, Bella, Banjo, and Andy all decided to join us after Adam realized the severity of the storms. Being in a fairly small and confined place with a toddler, 2 beagles and a cat was very interesting. Anyway...we made it through with minimal damage!



I snapped a pic of some of our "survival" items in the closet.

Fishing on Mother's Day?

Most people that know me would know that fishing is not my idea of "fun" on mother's day, but my little person and hubby wanted to try their luck...so off we went! We actually had a great time. I even tossed a line into the water a few times. Naturally, the little fish I caught swallowed the hook and went belly up as soon as we threw him back in. I caught one fish for every 5 fish that everyone else caught (we were with some friends) and then my fish dies. GREAT! Oh well. It was fun and I got to start working on my tan as well!

Less Talk...More Photos

Vegas Baby!

We were in Las Vegas last weekend to celebrate Trey and Tori's wedding. A good time was had by all. It was a short trip for me since I stayed back for Olivia's dance recital, but totally worth it! Tori looked gorgeous and it was great to see so many of our friends together.








After looking at these photos, I have decided to boycott food, quit work, and devote myself 100% to running. Like Forest Gump, all day every day. I don't think that I was EVER as thin as some of these gals. Maybe in first grade?

The Boyfriend...Now of Age

Cooper turned 1 on Saturday. Olivia's boyfriend is now legit. HAHA! The party was adorable with an "Old Mac Donald" theme and farm animals (not real ones!) galore. The kids had a blast and of course, THERE WAS CAKE!

The Dance Recital

Last Saturday was Olivia's first ballet recital. It was so much fun and she did a great job dancing to Baby Ballerina.



My Baby Ballerina



The girls with Miss Courtney (their teacher)



Olivia and Logan

Let Me Back Up...

So, it has been a while since I last made a real entry. So much to say...so little time. These are photos of a backyard party that we took Olivia to about 2 weekends ago. She had a blast swimming, playing tag, and hitting the pinata.



Aneeva and Olivia





Olivia and Julianna



Hitting the Pinata



The Girls

Too Busy To Blog?

Between our pending trip to Las Vegas, Olivia's dance recital, Adam's ruptured calf muscle (first and last softball game of the season--so much for that!), and Olivia's accident with the toilet paper roll (we'd have been better off leaving Tubee hangin!), it has been a long week. Not to mention work, birthday parties, out of town visitors...and it's only Thursday???

I am feeling very...




Thank goodness for Starbuck's and cell phone photo ops!