Dr. Barnes

Our beloved doctor is battling a 2nd recurrance of his cancer. He was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2006 and had a relapse in 2008. He found out about a month ago that it had returned again. He will be receiving chemo for the next 2 or 3 months and then will be preparing for a bone marrow stem cell transplant. He will be off for at least one year. Won't you please join me in praying for this sweet, kind man whom we love. He delivered both of the Wade girls...and is all of our doctor. He keeps Kevin calm, treats me, and charms the girls. We will miss him terribly, but know that he is battling for his life. I have added his caring bridge site to my list on the lower right if you would like to read about his journey...

cake.

I made a special dinner for my family tonight. Kevin really wanted my lasagne. I don't make it very often (that is an understatement! :P) It takes a long time to make the homemade sauce & assemble the cooked noodles & ricotta filling. But, he loves it. So, I made it for him. I was sick on Valentine's Day weekend (and our plans got ruined) so this was kind of my peace offering. :) Part of my Valentine's Day gift for my family was a cake. A homemade chocolate cake with buttercream frosting. :) The Wade girls (and Kevin!) always complain that I never make cake. And, I don't. I don't like cake. Unless, it's those fake Hostess Cupcakes. Ha! :) So, I made them a cake. A week late because like I said...I was sick with the flu. And, I couldn't bear to do it last weekend.

Here it is frosted...

I wanted to buy some little red heart sprinkles, but they were over $5 for a little bottle! So...

I put some little pink sugar sprinkles on. Elly said, "Ohhhhh! You put sprinkles on?!!" She was thrilled! For dinner, I put the roses that Kevin got me for Valentine's Day on the table. Aren't they pretty? Love flowers. They make my heart happy. :) We used fancy glasses & the girls used their new cups that light up (Thanks, Grandma Vicki!). Maddy said, "I feel like royalty!" And, Kevin laughed. Stinker. ;) They loved the cake. And, I'm so glad. I made it for them.

My little cake loving family. :)

Happy Valentine's Day. A little late...

i heart V-day!

I just love Valentine's Day. I love making handmade Valentine's. It is one of my most favorite things. :) This year, Elly picked out clay hearts to give to her friends. It was really easy...and so cute that I made them for my class, too.

She worked hard on writing her name on the tags. I only wrote a few...

Maddy wanted to make little cell phones. I wrote down a few little text messages & she chose which one to put on that friends' phone. XOXO, u r gr8, Happy V-day, BFF, and u make me :) Things like that. :)

She made a kitty cat Valentine holder for school. She is such an animal lover...it suited her well.

The teachers got cute little socks this year. All except Joe. We gave him a box of chocolates. I didn't think he would like little socks. Ha!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Christmas Eve...

Christmas Eve was a little different for us this year... The blizzard had arrived so we did not get to drive around in our jammies & look at lights. :( We did go the night before in anticipation, but it was not the same. We had several inches of snow by 6pm. The girls & I didn't even get dressed that day. We all wore our jammies...here are the girls feeding the reindeer a mixture of oats & glitter. Oats for nourishment & glitter to guide them to our house. ;)

Look how big the snowflakes are! It is the first Christmas Eve that the girls have had to get all bundled up & wear boots! They loved it!

Kevin asked me if I was going to make them wear their snow pants. ;) I thought about it. Ha!

They were so excited for santa to come!

Here's Kevin shoveling for the 1st of 4 times with this snow storm. He decided if we were all going to be outside then he would get a little work done.

This is the only picture I have of the girls in the jammies that santa dropped off about 5pm. Twinkle is in the background. Elly was a little sad to see him go, but they were not as dramatic about it as last year. Ha! I think Elly just enjoys the game of finding him every morning. :)

keep your fingers crossed...

When we purchased our camera, Kevin was wise enough to spend an extra $44 for a protection plan that covers accidental droppings! Unfortunately, it was only a 2 year protection plan that expired on 11.30.09! And, I dropped our camera on 12.24.09. :( But, he called & they said if we faxed them a letter and sent in the paperwork (receipt, p. plan) that they MIGHT make an exception. Keep your fingers crossed for me! We should know in the next few days...

busted.

Minutes after I took that last picture in the previous blog entry, I raced inside & dropped my camera. :( Oh. My. Word. I was ticked. I have not been so mad at myself in years. So...no Christmas morning pictures, no nothing. Sad does not even begin to describe it.

a Christmas Eve blizzard

On Christmas Eve, we were in a blizzard warning! Let's just say that I have lived in this state for 34 (yikes! almost 35 years!) and that has NEVER happened! Here is a picture of our front door. Kevin's FCA supervisor sent us an L.L. Bean wreath. It smelled heavenly! :) Thanks, Ralph & Judy. It is gorgeous!

Kevin got a great picture of our home in between bands of snow... I captured one minutes later...look at the size of those snowflakes! We ended up getting about 10.5-11.5 inches of snow. Then it snowed on & off for 4 more days. Wow. Simply amazing.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

"Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people." The Savior-yes, the Messiah, the Lord-has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! Luke2: 9-11

Festival of Trees

The Festival of Trees was so beautiful this year. This is a tradition that really kicks off the holiday season for us. :) We ate at Noodles & Company and then walked over to L. Hall for the Festival.

Different organizations decorate Christmas Trees to be auctioned off for Charity. The girls picked out some of their favorites & we snapped a photo in front of them. Check out Elly's face...she looks like she is having a GREAT time. ;)

This "tree" was made out of a Diaper Genie with size 1,2, & 3 diapers surrounding it. How awesome is that!

It was so CUTE! The girls both liked this santa.

A K-State tree even found its' way in... ;)

A tree inspired by the game "Candyland."

I LOVED this gingerbread tree. I think I have outgrown my snowman collection & want to start collecting gingerbread now. They are so cute. :)

A picture from the balcony. Isn't it beautiful? Love this. Downtown L. is so lovely this year. If I closed my eyes when we stepped out that night...it reminded me of Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Such happy memories there...thanks, babe. :)

coming soon...

We always kick off the Holiday season with a visit to the Festival of Trees. :) This year we ate at Noodle & Company before and then walked over to L. Hall. I will post more pictures soon...

PS~ Twinkle is Back! He was here when we returned home from Thanksgiving. ;)

good-bye tonsils.

I have not updated in awhile. I have just been swamped at school, with the girls, & I feel like I'm still recovering from Maddy's birthday weekend and then Halloween. I will post pictures of Halloween soon, but wanted to fill you in on the fact that we have one person in our home with no tonsils now. Maddy had her tonsils & adenoids taken out on Tuesday 11.3. I was freaked out. But, I was the calm, cool, & collected mommy that Maddy needed me to be. :) Her surgery went so well. She took her bear, Jessica, with her. Maddy was so brave. I was so proud of her. :)

We had to be at the surgery center by 7:30. Her surgery was scheduled for 8:30am. I took Maddy while Kevin took Elly to school. The plan was for him to meet us before the surgery, but the traffic was so crazy that he missed her by about 10 minutes. :( Dr. S, the surgeon, was so kind. He went over everything with me in detail, the anesthesiologist came in and told Maddy they were going to play a game called "Space Woman." He told her she would get to wear a mask and if she felt like closing her eyes that would be okay. They inserted her IV after she was under. Thank goodness. That girl does NOT like needles. ;)

The doctor offered a time of silent prayer which I so appreciated and then they wheeled her away. She was able to wear her own clothes for the surgery and was allowed to take her bear with her, too. :) Her bear even got an ID bracelet with her name on it. Ha! They took such good care of Maddy. I was so impressed.

Afterwards, when she was waking in the recovery room, they called us back. She was groggy and trembling (a side effect of the anesthesia wearing off). She said she couldn't breathe, but the nurse said she had good lung sounds & gave her some Demerol. Maddy slept a little and had a grape slushy. About 9:45am, they gave her some Tylenol with Codeine and it made her a little nauseous so they gave her a drug to counteract that feeling. She felt good after that and had some grape juice. She was released at 11am. Can you believe that? It was a quick morning. The photo above is her getting ready to be wheeled down to the parking lot. Our fabulous nurse would not get in the picture even though she was adorable. She also has 2 year old twins named...Madeline & Ella. How crazy is that?

Maddy continues to do very well. She has had no complications & no bleeding. Yay! She has been home since Tuesday and is going to school for a 1/2 day tomorrow. She may also do a 1/2 day on Tuesday. I might bring her to my classroom to rest in the afternoon. That is one of the true privileges of teaching at the same school. :)

a few favorite pics...

a few party decorations...