Round Here

Life continues to whirl around us. The rhythm of life drastically increases in Spring, and it is supposed to be Spring, although the winter coats we have been wearing this week might suggest otherwise! I have come to enjoy the ebb and flow of the seasons here. Although I am far from embracing winter I like the inevitable cocooning and slowing down that it requires. That said, we are all ready for the weather to move forward so we can enjoy some sunshine and outdoor time (because the children have been bouncing off the walls of late).

Have I mentioned before that house hunting is terrible? This trend continues. We are trying to negotiate right now on a house that needs a good deal of work before we can move in (the reason we could possibly afford it), but it is not going so well. I don't think we will reach that magic number where we can both afford the house and afford to do the work it requires, which is too bad because it is a nice big house and I never ever want to go out looking at houses again. We are trusting that if this is our home God will work it out, and if not He must have something different out there for us. Hopefully very very soon. Letting go is made easier by the insane property taxes..but the insanity of property taxes in IL is a whole different post.

This month Tommy turned five. It sounds so old. He will be starting Kindergarten in the Fall, as he is more than ready to make the move from preschool to the big leagues. He amazes us with his curiosity, memory, and great sense of humor. According to his most recent parent-teacher conference he is very smart, well-liked by his peers, a leader, and has a bright and happy personality. He is also rather impulsive and has trouble keeping his sweet little hands to himself, lest you think that he has no faults. I would rather limit my enumeration of those faults publicly to protect him, but I figure that if you've ever spent five minutes with him you know that he struggles with those things so we might as well be real about it. Tommy has grown so much this past year that he has gotten hard for me to pick up. He is such a boy now. I know my days of holding him on my hip are very numbered, and it's hard to believe it.

And, to conclude this disjointed post, some pictures of the birthday boy and the rest of the crew:

Flood warning extended to Friday

Evidently the water was about a foot deeper at it's peak.

Update on Mary: Hard News

The cancer has spread. It hasn't spread much, but it is outside of the original tumor. There are a few small spots in Mom's abdominal wall. This was not the news that we were hoping for. Mom's cancer count has gone up again, to just under 300. We are very discouraged, but knew that with two months off of chemo this was a possibility.

Mom is continuing to fight. She started up her chemo again this week. In another three months they will do another CT, and if the nodules are not responding to this chemo they will introduce something a little stronger.

Her chemo went well this afternoon. Please pray that the side effects are mild and that she can adjust to it quickly.

Please pray that the chemo will take this new cancer out. Pray that it will be effective in preventing the further spread of cancer and that Mom's oncologists would make wise treatment choices for her moving forward.

Please pray for Mom's spirits. This news hits her the hardest of all. Pray that she will find hope and encouragement in the midst of this difficult setback.

Thank you all for your continued prayer. It matters so much.

Update on Mary: CT and Chemo

This week mom returns to her cancer routine. She has a CT this afternoon, an appointment on Thursday with her oncologist, and she begins her next round of chemo on Thursday as well. The CT today is to detect whether or not her cancer has spread outside of the original tumor during this time off chemo. They will not get the results until the appointment on Thursday, and I will post as soon as we know.The CT will not tell us anything about the efficacy of the radiation on the tumor, because it takes a while for the radiation to complete it's work. Please pray for a good result (that the cancer is contained to the tumor). If the cancer has spread that would be very discouraging.

Also, please pray that chemo wouldn't be too hard on Mom. Often the first treatment of any round is the hardest, and since she has been off of chemo for two months she is anticipating a greater reaction to the chemicals than usual. Please pray that any side effects would be minimal and that Mom would be able to sleep well and keep food down.

Thank you so much for your prayers! We are so grateful for your continued care for Mom and our family. I know we say it often, but it means the world to us and it is making a difference.

Mass Chaos

I know it's been quiet around here lately, and that is because it has not been quiet around our house...

Yes, that is the aftermath of an afternoon spent inside during less than ideal weather. Also, I've been having trouble with my computer and haven't been able to use it. On top of that, and our regular schedule, we are house hunting and it is not going well. I had been doing well with the process, but the longer it drags on the harder it becomes to not be anxious about it. If you would, please say a prayer that we would find the right house for our family to thrive and grow in...soon! I just don't have the time and energy to wade through listings and tour houses week after week after week. One might think that taking three boys on a tour of someone else's home sounds like the most fun that could be had in a weekend, but it is not.

Easter

In a "mothering fail" moment, I forgot to bring the camera to Easter, so the only pictures I got of the actual day's festivities are on my Aunt's iPad. There are probably some pretty funny ones, at least of Nic, because he apparently has a fear of dyed eggs, and spent the entire egg hunt finding eggs and standing by them while trying to get someone else to actually pick them up and place them in his basket. Thankfully for him, Tommy is rather easy to convince, so he picked up all the eggs for both of them.

Dying the eggs posed no problems, as you can see in the pictures below, except that Tommy and Nic splash them into the colors with such vigor that probably about half the eggs were crunched up in the process. Despite the fate of our eggs, we had a very fun time coloring the eggs and hanging out together. We were so grateful to have another Easter with Mom, and to spend the day with our family!