a Halloween joke for you!

A man was walking home alone late one foggy night, when behind him he hears:

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him.

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him

FASTER..

FASTER...

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him.

However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping

clappity-BUMP...

clappity-BUMP...

clappity-BUMP...

on his heels, the terrified man runs.

Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, the man locks himself in. His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps.

With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door.

Bumping and clapping toward him.

The man screams and reaches for something, anything, but all he can find is a bottle of Vicks formula 44 cough syrup!

Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket...

and,

(hopefully you're really ready for this!!!)

The coffin stops!!!!

Tadpole's gender and name

Drumroll please.........

okay, I interrupt this announcement to mention how I found out what gender Tadpole is: I had to go to the doctor on Tuesday and they did an ultrasound on me to make sure everything was okay. Everying IS okay and they couldn't find the source of the bleeding. They think it was a burst capillary from throwing up so much or an ovarian cyst that burst. Anyway, the ultrasound tech was able to tell the sex of the baby this time. So......are you ready??

Drumrull commence again, please.......




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We are proud to announce we are adding a son to our gaggle of girls! Ethan Michael Lynn is reading two days ahead of schedule on the u/s, so his new due date is Valentine's day.

Kaedy-in-a-box

okay, wind the box up, hear the music in your imagination




POP! Goes the Kaedy!

Girls posing

Kaedra "eating" dinner!

Easier way to get child??

Since this pregnancy has not been a "walk in the park" in terms of fun, I am excited to see that there is maybe another way I could get a little boy.....




Unfortunately, I am not very good at these "claw" games, so maybe it wouldn't actually be easier....lol

(btw, you can click on the pic to read the story...which was actually terrifying for the grandma)

I'm a snapdragon...no, it's a good thing, really..

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

Homeschooling on Dr. Phil

http://localhs.com/scuttle/2006/10/great-school-debate.asp

Read this "lovely" article on how Dr. Phil covered homeschooling and breastfeeding on his show.

Brittany's re-connection

When Britty was 5-6 she had a friend named Hannah that she just LOVED. She even named her dolls after Hannah. Hannah's family and our family ended up not being involved in the same things the next year or any other year until now. Friday night she went to a Jr. High Game Night and guess who she went with...Hannah! Here are the two of them:


as a side note, I got to reconnect with her mom, too, whom I love dearly! We are really looking forward to getting to know this family better over the years!

Sharing the good news of others

my friends, the McCrackins, got the news today that their adoption went through so they are going to be on the way to Korea to pick up their little boy later this week! They already have one little boy from Korea: Colton, Kaedra's boyfriend. ;-) (It's okay if I say that when they are so little! LOL) Now they are on the way to get Braden and we are so excited for them! HALLELUJAH!

I have been praying for this family and this little one, Noah Steven: http://noahsteven.blogspot.com/. Check out their blog, he got to go outside yesterday! HALLELUJAH! I remember when Kaedra first went outside... What an exciting day! (Noah has been outside before, just not for 11 1/2 weeks) Please join me in praying for them, regularly!

My restful weekend

Well I have been on bed rest this weekend due to spotting and cramping. My doctor has put me on rest for a whole week. I am not good at this, but I am trying to be a good patient. I kept myself busy ALL day today with one of Brittany's Nancy Drew computer games. I highly recommend them for a day of rest. I barely noticed the time going by! LOL

I will write more tomorrow, I am off to bed now.

My own response to my "solutions" post

I opened my bible to psalms this morning and these verses jumped out at me...

The Lord is my glory and the Lifter of my head....He sustains me. Psalm 3

The Lord has set me apart for Himself. Psalm 4

I am surrounded with favor as with a shield. Psalm 5

The Lord is my stronghold, my stronghold in times of trouble,
I know His name and I put my trust in Him
For He does not forsake those who seek Him. Psalm 9

I sing to the Lord, because he has dealt boutifully with me. Psalm 13

And I am like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
and I yield my fruit in its season,
my leaf does not wither and in whatever I do, I prosper. Psalm 1

When your hut's on fire....

My dear friend Susan sent this to me after reading my last post....

WHEN YOUR HUT'S ON FIRE

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small,
uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Everyday he
scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he
eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect
himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little
hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had
happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief,
and anger. He cried out, "God! How could you do this to me?"

Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching
the island! It had come to rescue him! "How did you know I was here?"
asked the weary man of his rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they
replied.

The Moral of This Story:
It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we
shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives.... even in the midst
of pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut
seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons
the Grace of God.

P. S. You may want to consider passing this on, because you never know
who feels as if their hut is on fire today.

Solutions?

So, we have an issue that has come up against us...I will get to what it is in a second. We have been calling different people in charge trying to come up with solutions. These are some of the ideas that we have received:

1. get a divorce, still live together, but have Kahri get on welfare.
1a. same as above, but also claim Kahri as a live in nurse.
2. move to a different state
3. have Michael step down from his position and take a lesser paying position.
4. have Michael quit his job and get a completely different one.
5. work out a series of benefit concerts.
6. put Kaedy's name on a jug and have people contribute to a "Kaedra fund" at local Walmarts.
7. have more kids so you can claim them(okay, I can HONESTLY say that this has NEVER been a reason I have considered for having more kids)


Aren't these lovely "solutions?" They were all given to us by supposedly intelligent people who were being serious at the time!

So the issue we are up against? Our insurance is changing as of Jan 1st. Neither of the two choices we have for new insurance will take care of our nursing needs (not to mention other of Kaedy's needs). One of them will only pay $1000 maximum per month in nursing and the other will pay 80%. The first one would cover not-quite two days out of the month, the second - if we are only responsible for 20% of our nursing, that will still be approx $3800 a month! Add the lifetime max to the equation and Kaedra will only be able to have a few more rib surgeries. We are applying for a program called TEFRA for supplemental aid with Kaedra. I was told the other day, by someone from the county health office, that Kaedra seems far too healthy to qualify for that. She actually said, "you will do a lot better if Kaedra could be really sick on the day they come out to meet her!" She stopped just short of suggesting poisoning! (JK...well, sort of) We were originally told that our insurance wanted to institutionalize her because it would be cheaper. Now we are being told, because she is too "well" to be institionalized, we can't get government aid.

The "solutions" I listed above? They are from Michael's employer's health insurance dept, our nursing company, the county health dept and the insurance companies. Some of them (namely "solutions" 1-4) were named by more than one source!! YES! We got told by TWO different people to GET A DIVORCE!!! All four mentioned Michael taking a cut in pay so we could qualify for Medicaid. I can't count how many times people have told us to move to a different state so we could qualify for more state aid. "You just need to get yourself below the poverty level." Hmmmmm and all this time I thought we were trying to get people OUT of poverty!

Okay, I am closing my mouth now.

Hallelujah!!

I am an overcomer by the Blood of the Lamb and by the Word of my testimony!

One Night with The King

Coming to theaters on Friday, Oct 13th

PLEASE READ!

If you have sent me mail in the past month, I have managed to lose it. Jeff Mitchell - if you read this, please email me again. I don't have your emails or your address. Anyone that is waiting for an email from me, please try emailing me again! I had to re-load Windows and, for some reason, it chose to back all my info up to 9/9/06. In between then and now, I have nothing....

Thanks!

ACK! They're BACK!

This is one of those fashions that should have quietly disappeared. Don't get me wrong, I wore them all the time in the 80s and who knows, maybe I will have a pair in a year or two...(ya never know...) but I will HAVE TO laugh at myself!

Obviously my exit

We passed through Peculiar, MO on the way to and from Kaedy's appt. I wonder if anyone got the irony of our van (with the license plate peculyr) going through Peculiar! We did!

Kansas City update

Well, we are home from our trip to Kansas City. I'll get to the important details first, and then I'll fill in the details.

1. Kaedra was accepted into their program
2. Her surgery is scheduled for Nov 17th
3. We loved Dr. Price
4. The hospital is beautiful and created totally around children.



The trip took almost exactly 4 hours from the time we got on the Creek Turnpike to the time we parked at the hospital. We did not have much traffic, only a few cases of construction, and we didn't have to make any stops on the way. It was difficult to find the actual hospital because there was construction on all around it, but we did, eventually, find it. Kaedra was upset to be taken straight from the car seat to the stroller, but she got to get out and play in the waiting room.



We met with two doctors and the nurse in charge and we liked them all very much. They referred to Kaedra's case as "tricky" which was funny to us, because we see her as so normal! I think we forget the intricasies of her "condition." LOL! They compared her to our internet friend Collin Langston who was (I think) their second patient. Kaedra is now their 16th VEPTR patient. What a difference that is, rather than being one of a couple hundred! They asked about her development and I told them what I tell anyone that doesn't know her: She is a normal two year old with a lot of heavy equipment! She pretty much showed them that, the whole time she was there. She walked around, played, flirted, giggled, was shy...all the normal toddler stuff!

After taking some xrays, all in all, the appointment was about 1 1/2 hours. Here is some of the other info we got:

1. Kaedra would be admitted into and discharged out of ICU. (we are thrilled about that. We had a horrible experience "on the floor" in San Antonio. Also, we were never allowed to leave her in San Antonio. Not that I am saying I want to leave my baby, but I want to feel safe going to the bathroom, which I didn't, in SA. At least the people in ICU are used to dealing with vent dependent patients.
2. You are not allowed to sleep bedside, but they do have a dorm outside of the ICU with beds and a community bathroom. You can be with your child 22 hours a day. (there are two hours of shift change where you can't be there)
3. If the dorm is full, they have fold out chairs in the waiting room.
4. The Ronald McDonald house is right next to the hospital and is free. It is also newly renovated and is BEAUTIFUL! The doctor told us they had suites and when we drove around the outside, it looked like an upscale apartment building.

I don't know what option we are going to use yet. It will depend somewhat on who goes with me. Kaedy is never alone at home, except maybe a minute or two when she first wakes up in the morning or after nap. And she is not used to being in a crib except when asleep, so I can't imagine leaving her there by herself for long. My friend Tarry is looking into going with me, Sherria has offered, and Brittany really wants to go - so we have a few options. Someone HAS to go with me, because I can't drive without a helper in the seat next to Kaedra (in case she becomes disconnected, she needs more oxygen, etc, etc) But where we stay will depend on who goes, what we decide to do about sleep, and what we feel about the unit.

Time to eat dinner and watch "Hoodwinked." I will finish this later!

One of my favorite worship songs

You are Holy....
sung here by Michael W. Smith

Cool Site

I got this from my friend Kim's blog and it is a really fun site!

I've been using this site called Judy's Book to find great new restaurants and other local stuff based on reviews from real people. The site lets you swap local finds with people you know, so the more friends you have, the better it works. I'm enjoying it and I think you will too, so come join me at Judy's Book.

Our upcoming trip to KCMO

We are getting ready for our trip to Kansas City, MO. For those that don't know, we are trying to get Kaedra changed from the San Antonio hospital to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City because it is closer and has less patients.

We are leaving Wednesday morning with Brittany and Kaedra (Emily will be visiting with Michael's mom) and driving the 4 hour trip. Our appointment is at 2pm at the new hospital, with the new doctor. All of the records have been sent and received in KC already, except for that last xray which we are taking with us.

We are believing that they will accept Kaedra into their program and that they will get her in for surgery this month. Michael's last day of available vacation is Oct 31st, so we want to get her in before that.

Please join us by agreeing that we have favor with the doctor up there and that they schedule Kaedy as soon as possible. I will update y'all as soon as I know more!

Crockpot Applesauce

Here is my favorite recipe for crockpot applesauce:
3 pounds apples (Granny Smith work well), peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

Put everything in crockpot.
Cook on high for 3-4 hours,
mash with a potato masher
add 1 tsp ground cinnamon at end, if desired.

Most recipes tell you to put water in. DON'T DO IT! Our applesauce always ends up way too runny when we add water. The water in the apples is enough all by itself. If you like chunky applesauce, like we do, just use the potato masher a little less....if you like it smooth, mash more or you can even put it in a blender.

Apple Pecan Crumble Pie

Got this from the Washington Apple Page
It was really great! Even for those that don't like Apple pie that much.

Directions:
Pastry for one-crust 9-inch pie
6 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and thinly
sliced
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground mace
Crumb Topping (recipe follows)

Crumb Topping
In small bowl, combine 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. With pastry blender or fork, cut in 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter until mixture is crumbly.


Instructions:

1.) Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 9-inch pie pan with pastry, trimming edges.

2.) In large bowl, combine apples, pecans, sugar, flour, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and mace; toss well to blend. Transfer apple mixture to pastry-lined pan.

3.) Prepare Crumb Topping; spread evenly over apple filling. Bake pie 45 minutes or until apples are tender.

Kaedra

Here are some pics of Kaedy at church this weekend. One of the pics is with her friend, Lynnsey.

Apple Pickin'

The big girls and I went to Livesay Orchard this weekend. We had a great time and picked a bushel and a half of apples. We are going to have lots of applesauce, applebutter, apple pie, apple bread, apple cake, apple cookies (do I sound like Forrest Gump and his shrimp yet?)