Sometimes......

...you don't know what you have until it's gone......








This was a few remains of our house and yard after last night's "tornado." To drive around town....wow! It just makes you thankful it wasn't worse. Our power went out last night about 7:00...and JUST NOW came back on almost 24 hrs. later! Made for an interesting day. My mom joked with me about my last post, and how today was definitely not part of the "normal, daily grind."

I guess from living in Tx. all my life, I have learned to LOVE thunderstorms and gasp......even tornado warnings. In high school I even had the desire to be a "storm chaser." I'm sure watching the Helen Hunt movie Twister helped matters as well. Even yesterday, as the 75+mph winds beat against our house, Todd and I had the wooden doors open and eagerly watched out the glass ones. Reagan kept reminding us that probably wasn't the smartest, safest decision. She was right. While the storm sirens let out their bone-chilling call and others hid in their bathrooms,etc....Todd and I watched as our backyard was becoming obliterated. As devastating as it is watching your personal possessions blow away or destroyed....there is still something so awe-inspiring about storms. Maybe it's the presence of something more...something bigger. (and of course I'm not referring to "Mother Nature") The sheer power. And to think we only experienced a mild one at that. Reminds me of Jesus calming the storm in Luke 8:22-25. It doesn't tell us what exactly he said, but only that He rebuked the wind and waters....and "the storm subsided." Instantly. That's power. I'm pretty certain that during last night's excitement, absolutely nothing would have happened had Todd or I (or the best, most experienced meteorologist) stepped outside to command the winds to stop. (other than blow away ourselves!) And yet just the spoken word from the God of the universe, who Himself actually put the storm into motion to begin with.....all things changed. In an instant.

It's no fun losing part of your fence, shutters, shingles, and trampoline, and yet in a strange way.....I'm thankful for last night's storm. We were without electricity for almost 24 hrs. In a world that LIVES by electrical power......it's tough. Everything had to change. The food in our frig/freezer had to find a new home, Mommy had to get creative with meals, the kids had to use their imagination to entertain themselves, and we had to find light from alternate sources. Definitely humbles you to lose something that you are used to having. Things we not only take for granted, but selfishly develop the mindset we somehow DESERVE them. For the last 24 hrs. I have felt somewhat "helpless." My "normal daily grind" was affected due to the lack of electricity. So now that we have it again, I am actually looking forward to laundry, dish washing, meal preparing, etc.... Sometimes you just don't know what you have until it's gone.

Yet it's more than just losing the modern conveniences we've grown accustomed to. It's times like this when your normal life is altered in some fashion, and you realize the 1000's of blessings that are daily taken for granted. Whether a loss in life, in health, in job, in possessions, or in dreams........I believe God uses them. Uses the pain, disappointment or devastation to remind us how GOOD He is! How He loves giving good gifts to His children and how spoiled rotten we have become. Instead of beaming with delight and gratitude, we toss it aside and look for the "next gift." (sound familiar?.....what has become our version of Christmas morning, perhaps) Maybe sometimes he "takes things away" because he wants our undivided attention. Not punishment, but love. Undying LOVE! He takes the distractions away and puts the blinders on. So that all we see is HIM!

Next time your life is altered.....will you stop.....look for HIM....listen to His loving voice....and trust in His hand? He sure must love you a lot to want your undivided attention!

All good....

...labs came back "much better!"

His hydration level is up and all looks great. We will go back to once a month blood draws (unless we see signs of dehydration)

Thanks for your continued prayers...........................we look forward to a "normal" fun-filled summer!

Caed's special visitor

If you have learned anything about Caed this past year, it would probably be his love for TURTLES!! Well, you can imagine his delight when I saw this little fellow walking across the street and up into our yard this morning. Caed was thrilled...yet uncharacteristically cautious. I assume he's learned from his experiences with "Timmy" (my parents' turtle) that it's best to stay quiet and calm. Caleb however doesn't know this rule, so Caed made sure he kept him at a good distance as not to scare our little friend away. He literally sat in the street for a very long time just waiting and watching, but finally gave up when it was evident Mr. Turtle wasn't going to budge with an audience. We went inside, and I kept a periodic watch to see where he was off to next. The last we saw he had made it up into our flower beds, but......then soon vanished. Caed has been so disappointed ever since. Mr. Turtle even made his way into Caed's bedtime prayers tonight (hoping he found his family).






We have had a good, non-eventful (which I praise God for) week. Reagan has been attending an Art Camp up at the high school in the mornings, and the 2 boys and I have just been up to the normal day-to-day grind here at home. We are still awaiting the results to Caed's lab work from last week, but are expecting to hear something tomorrow. He has been struggling a lot with one of his legs (knee) probably for the past 2 weeks. He will usually come to us at least a couple times a day crying in pain. All we can do is give him Tylenol, and thankfully it seems to help pretty quickly. And of course........the usual push of his ORS (drink)!!!!

Bloodwork and Baseball

.....that sums up our week.

We went in for this week's blood draw yesterday (don't know results yet), but are sure praying for his hydration level to be better than last. It is a constant battle getting him to drink, drink, drink. I know he's getting so tired of hearing it.

We also are getting to make up several of the t-ball games that got canceled earlier in the year due to all the rain we got in May. Tonight's game was extra special because Caed got to finally play against his best friend, Reid.


Best Buds!



Caed (1st baseman).....Reid (runner) - not the best combination. They were a little preoccupied!!



Now, Caed is the runner and Reid was 3rd baseman.......once again they caught up on any unfinished conversations.



Go Bobcats!!!!!



Reagan and Caed told me they were married and their names were "Todd & Lori"

It's finally here!

Sleeping in, staying up late, living outdoors, swimming, movies, sleepovers, traveling.......SUMMER is here!

The kids and I drove to Idalou this week to visit family and friends, but mainly so I could attend this year's graduation. These are the kiddos I taught in 1st, 2nd, and 4th grades. I LOVE this class....they have become a very special group to me. I have really tried to keep up with the majority of them through the years, so having the opportunity to see them graduate was an honor. I will definitely miss seeing/reading about them in Idalou's weekly newspaper, but wish them the very best as they enter this next phase of life.

The kids have been having a blast while here (as usual). Yesterday we went swimming, and it was the first time I have seen Caed in a pool since before his illness. Last summer, we spent lots of time out at my aunt and uncle's pool, but Caed was never allowed to get in (due to his central line). So, yesterday was especially exciting. To see Caed....and this pool.....honestly the two just don't mix. But, it was pure joy to see him finally playing in the water with all the other kids.

Since we are out of town, we were not able to get his blood drawn this week, but it will be on our "To-Do" list first thing Mon. morning. (well, maybe not first thing......) We have desperately been trying to keep the fluids down him! Every 30-45 minutes we have to make a conscious effort to bring him inside to get a good drink. It is very difficult trying to get almost 2 liters down a 5 yr. old!!! But.....it is also VERY VERY important that we keep him hydrated! I have a feeling it will be quite a battle over the next several months. But, a battle I am SO thankful for! (if the worst thing we are having to deal with is dehydration.....then Praise God!!)

Dry

This has been Caed most of the day. My first instinct was that he's just tired. But, then after getting word from NE about his labs this week......I don't know. (I guess you never really know) They said he was on the "dry side"............and we really needed to push his ORS (drink). We may need to give him an extra bolus of fluids. I guess we just need to watch him. Dehydration is something very, very common with short gut, but especially this time of the year (and in TEXAS!!!) They also want him to get blood drawn again next week just to watch those levels. They want to add a new lab this time. It's an IBD serology (Inflammatory Bowel Disease). This is a good indicator of predicting colitis in sbs patients. They don't feel Caed is at risk for this right now, but just want to be sure.

He has also been struggling with those darn legs pains again the last couple of weeks. We just keep the Tylenol on hand, and I have been adding it each evening to our nightly med routine. Hopefully they are just growing pains!!

Beautiful Day at the park

Our beautiful, sweet Reagan! What a JOY she is........





My little boy is growing up!


aka. Nacho Libre

(I'm sad to say this child knows every line from the movie, and everything he plays these days.......is Nachooooooooooooooooooooooooo! If you have seen this movie, then you know what scene Caed is acting out here.) :)


Caleb was in heaven!!!!!!!!! He DID NOT want to leave.