Kevin's Recovery

Thanks so much for the encouraging comments and prayers. Kevin's hernia surgery went very well. He still has some discomfort, but all in all, he is doing great and the doctor said he's healing well. He went back to work last Thursday, earlier than expected, so that was good. Though I have to admit, I enjoyed having Kevin home, and so did the girls. My folks drove out from Maine, a few days before his surgery, so they could watch the girls for us while we drove down to NYC with Grampa Gary. Grampa did all the driving and let us sleep. He is such a wonderful man. The girls usually come along to NYC for Kevin's tests and quarterly check ups, and they do incredibly well, but being that this was a more serious visit and we had the possibility of staying more than one night in the city, not to mention Kevin has had to take time off from work to make the 6hr trip to NYC 4 times since January, so needless to say, we were happy to take my parents up on the offer to spend time with the grand daughters. We missed the little munchkins like crazy though and talked about them the whole trip. When we got back home, my folks stayed a few extra days to help out even more. It was a really nice and relaxing visit. My mom took over the house, everything, cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking, And Oh My, can that woman cook! That might annoy some people, having the mother/mother in law take over, but for us, It was a nice break. All I had to do was take care of Kevin and the girls, and Kevin's job was to get better. It was like staying at a Bed and Breakfast, with nicely made turned down beds and everything. Kevin actually asked Gamma if they wanted to stay longer, hoping they would, but alas, they had to leave the Sunday after his operation ;( We are both so thankful for their company and all they had done to really bless us. They also helped us on a few projects around the house and yard (as Kevin shouldn't really be doing any handyman stuff and I'm getting huge!) My dad started building me a small pantry/canning closet in the kitchen, while he was here. I'm so excited! More on that later though.

We are so blessed by all of our parents and the sacrifices they continue to make for us.

Thank you Gamma & Pappa & Grampa Gary ;) We love you all so very much!

One night while daddy was home recovering, we roasted marshmallows and made smores in the back yard. It was a nice treat ;)

She Came Back!

Praise the Lord! And thank you for your prayers. I can finally go to sleep. We left the back door open and both the gates to the yard. And sure enough she wandered back in the house. Lily was still awake, but I had to wake Eden to tell her. The girls smothered her with love then it was back to bed. I checked Hailey over and she seems fine, she seems really happy too. I bet she was off partying with the other dogs in the neighborhood while I was up fretting over her. Naughty puppy ;) we love her so much. She'll be sleeping with us tonight as usual.

Cleaning and Recovering.

Yay! We are all better! And Kevin never got the "Bug". So thank you all for your prayers. The Girls and I started feeling better on friday night, although it has taken me quite a while to catch up on all the house work and laundry. Yuck that was nasty.
We all had to pile in Mommy and Daddy's bed for a few nights as Lily and Eden's bed was contaminated and smelly, and we were all running out of bed linens to boot. My floors were filthy with mud from the dog, cause I was to sick to walk her, so I just let her outside in the back yard to do her buisiness, and wiped her huge fluffy paws the best I could when she came back in the house. I had to slay a really large Laundry Monster. And to top it all off, Eden drew all over a beautiful pink apholstered chair, that Kevin had given me, when we first bought our house. And when I say all over, I am talkin' the seat the arms & the back rest were covered in scribbles, she even got the walls behind the chair, but that is a cleanup job for another day. I could have cried. My friend Shannon came to the rescue, and let me use her steam cleaner and Praise the Lord, the pen came out. I can't believe it. And Lily & Eden's Bed no longer smells like vomit. And you would never know that anyone Yarfed all over the couch down stairs.
That is seriously the messiest my house has been in a long time and I am glad it is over. So I am back and I have ton's to post about. But I just had to restore peace and order in our house & my life before posting again. I can't concentrate in a messy space.

Free Dance Lessons

Yeah you heard me "Free Dance Lessons". Praise the Lord! We are on a very tight budget, like most people we know. So dance lessons are a bit of a luxury. Lily has wanted to take dance lessons for some time now and talks about it quite often. A few of her friends take dance, including our neighbor's little girl , who is Lily's good friend and only a year older. So Lily would often see her coming home in her dance outfit and even saw her all dolled up for her recital. So you can imagine my heartache, when we had to tell Lily "Maybe the next time sweety". It was not only the cost of the class, but the gas to and from and the outfits and the shoes too. Cha CHing! So anyways, I hadn't mentioned anything to anyone, partly out of shame for not being able to afford it right now, and hating to deny my child of something most little girls dream of. Well a few weeks ago, I received a phone call from a friend @ church. Here is the short version of the conversation.

Mrs. P-"Hey Molly, I'm not sure if you were interested, but I've been talking to Mrs. K and we've been praying about starting a free dance class out of my house."
Me-Are you kidding?! I can't believe it. That's all Lily ever talks about. We dance in the living room every day. She would be so blessed.
Mrs P.-"That's great, we were thinking we would meet here on Mondays around 2 after everybody's nap time."
Me- (still shocked and excited) Wow are you sure Mrs. K wants to do it for free? Is there anything we can do for her?
Mrs.P- "She refuses to be paid, she loves to dance, and just wants to bless the kids."
Me- "Oh my Word! Thank you so much! I am so excited I can't wait to tell Lily."

So I told Lily, and she was obviously very excited. Then three days later one of her friends from the neighborhood just happens to give her a hand me down Black dance leotard with the little skirt attached, so cute. She wore it the first day. When we arrived the girls were all dressed so cute. And Mrs. K Said they could wear whatever they wanted to dance class. Learning this, Lily couldn't wait to bust out the big pink tutu she wears when we play dress up and have tea parties. So I just had to take a picture, or ten. These pics are from Monday, Right before we went to her third dance class. Of course Eden wanted to dress up too.

God is Amazing. Yet another answered prayer. Mrs. K is teaching the classes, is a great dancer, and a wonderful woman. And Mrs. P, who is hosting the Dance Classes is only 2 minutes down the road from my house. So we don't even have to worry about gas. We are so very very blessed. Praise Jesus!

So needless to say I would like very much to do something special for them both. I appreciate any ideas you might have, besides the obvious fall backs like gift certs. I would like it to be thoughtful and creative. :) Thanks in advance for your comments/ideas.

Ice Princess

Lily took this picture of her new skates. New to her anyway ;)

It all started when Lily and Mommy watched the movie Ice Princess. Yes I am a total dork and I like teeny bopper princess movies. And I think figure skating is pretty cool. But I am not coordinated or graceful enough for that. Haha So ever since we saw that movie, probably six months ago now, Lily has had a desire to try it out. Of course they make it all glamorous, what little girl wouldn't want to. So Kevin and I looked in to lessons and found that they were quite expensive and what was I going to do with Eden while Lily is on the Ice, try to entertain her in the lobby or try to get her to sit still and watch her sister have fun. Then we thought we could get her some skates and take her to Grampa's lake house, but it hadn't been good weather, and we hadn't gotten any skates yet. Well this past weekend, some friends from church stopped by with a great big bag of hand me downs. Lily loves getting Hand me downs. It is a treat to get new threads. Especially since we don't do much shopping @ all. So after they left we dove in, and in the bag was a pair of beautiful barely used Ice Skates. Lily was so excited I wish I had the camera on Saturday to catch her reaction. "Praise Jesus!" she said. I was so happy she gave the Glory to God. He knows the desires of our hearts. Even little hearts.
We also got a really good freeze on the lake this week. The weather was cold, but sunny and tolerable yesterday. So Grampa took us out on the Lake and Lily had a blast. She was quite the little princess. I could tell she felt like one. :)

Grampa and I each held her hand and walked along with Eden too, but for the Sake of taking a picture Grampa had to let go and take a step back. We just had to get a picture of this happy day. Then the camera battery died. Glad we got one.

New Job

When is life not busy? At least we aren't bored. Kev started his new job this month. He seems to like it so far, and is doing very well. The company christmas party was postponed till after The new year, so we got to attend. It was neat for me to be able to meet his new coworkers. They all seemed really cool. We even bumped into some people that attended Elim, and had prayed for Kevin back when he was going through the transplant. They had come to the party late and there were two seats available next to us so they sat down and we got to talking and they realized who Kevin was and they were flabergasted. They were so thrilled and amazed @ all that God had done. Considering noone thought he would make it through the night let alone get married and have children, years down the road. So that part was really awesome. It was also nice to have a night out. Although, I have to admit, by the end of the night we really just wanted to get home and see the kids.