"It's a Christmas Miracle"

That's been a common phrase around here these days. It's a "miracle" that anything gets done!

Hope your Christmas was as blessed as ours was. My parents were supposed to arrive Christmas Eve, just in time for Lonnie's family Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, their flight got canceled due to bad weather, so we had to celebrate at the Lamp's without them. Here are a few pics from the fun.

Joanna got a new puppy for Christmas and Keira LOVED it. Especially since it was so tiny and soft.


For a little while Ethan was doing this hilarious thing everytime we said his name to take a picture. He would pose with his hands behind his head, like he was kicked back and just relaxing. TOO FUNNY!


All the "cousins" together. (Cousin is a loose term, but it seems close to accurate)


Keira's hair is so fine it gets majorly static-y (is that a word??) in the winter. The Lamps couch made her look like she'd been electrocuted!!


Caden got a light saber for Christmas...Exactly what he'd been wishing for. How did Joanna and Dustin know??



Grandmas Shirley bought them both stuffed bears for Christmas. They named them Parker and Lillie!



We had planned to all spend the night together at Margaret's house since that's where Mom and Dad are staying. We wanted to all be together to open presents on Christmas morning. All the presents were at Margaret's house already, so we decided to stick with the plan. Curt and I even got a bed this time since Mom and Dad didn't make it. Keira slept in Ethan's crib, which she thought was cool and Cade got the floor in the office. (He thought it was cool too!)

And visions of sugar plums danced in their heads...

My Grandpa rocks!

I know most of you think you have great Grandparents. I'm sure you do, but Grandpa is hilarious. A little back ground info: My grandparents live just north of Louisville in Indiana. They own lots of rental property in the area. Last year, their taxes went up ALOT and Grandpa protested by paying his taxes in one dollar bills. Can you imagine...the lady had to sit there and count THOUSANDS of dollar bills.

Well this year, taxes weren't any better. So what did he do? Read the story here:
4029tv.

I know, I know. He's GREAT!!!

Love you Grandpa!!

From our family to yours

The rock has been removed!

Cade has his tubes put in this morning and his precious rock was removed. As you can see, it was really tiny. Curt told me this morning that that was the only rock I was getting for Christmas. I think it may also be the most expensive rock I own!

Cade's first words when I saw him in recovery were "Did I pop the balloon?" I guess the O2 mask they use to sedate him has a balloon on it for him to blow up. He must have been trying really hard to pop it because it that was the last thing he remembered!

His ears are draining A LOT of gunk, it's hard to imagine that all that was backed up behind his tympanic membrane. I can't believe he didn't complain about it hurting him. Actually, he complained more about it hurting after the surgery than before. It must be a weird feeling for him to have all that coming out and be able to hear much better also.

Here he is at home relaxing. He feels much better with cotton in his ear, so you can see it sticking out.



When I went to wake him up this morning, this is what I found. I guess he decided his bed was too cold and needed to camp out on the floor next to his heater. He's such a funny guy!

Cade's going tubin'

So we went to see the ENT this morning and he tried his best to get the rock out, but Cade has ANOTHER raging ear infection, bilateral, not just in the rocky ear. So, his ear was already super sensitive and Cade was NOT too happy about the MD digging around in his ear. He was a trooper and tried his best to be still and not cry, but he was too scared and it hurt too much.

Based upon Cade's history of ear infections (he just finished antibiotics around Thanksgiving and frequently has ear infections that he doesn't complain about, he just wakes up one morning with his ear draining lots of gunk) and since he needed to be sedated to get the rock out, our ENT recommended putting in tubes while he was sedated. I wholeheartedly agreed because I've never been too thrilled about his draining ears/frequently rupturing tympanic membrane AND I really didn't want to hold my screaming child down to try to get the rock out without sedation.

So at 8:00 tomorrow morning we'll be at an outpatient surgery center to get tubes put in and a rock taken out. Sadly, all I can think at this moment is...couldn't this have waited a few more weeks so it could meet the deductible for next year. (No, we haven't met our deductible yet this year...we never get sick thank goodness!)

I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for your prayers today. I felt them, since it is now 1200 and somehow I have managed to keep myself awake for the last 24 hours. I'm even reasonably coherent at this moment. Shocking!!!

He did WHAT?!!!!

I know, all of you moms out there are collectively groaning at that statement...as you should. Very few sentences that start that way end up well. Here's the rest of the story.



My very SMART boy Cade decided it would be a great idea at school sometime LAST WEEK to stick a rock in his ear. Did he tell anyone that it didn't come back out? Not until today when he started screaming at lunch that his ear was hurting him. Curt assumed it was due to all the wind we're having today, but evidently the wind blowing against it pushed the rock up against the membrane in a way that triggered intense pain for him.

Once again, we pulled out the otoscope (thank you Harding College of Nursing for making me buy it sooo many years ago!) and saw a tiny pebble embedded in his tympanic membrane. I'm guessing there's not a chance it will come out without an ENT, a little sedation and some tiny surgical tweezers. Dr Lance came over and confirmed my diagnosis a few minutes ago. He's going to talk to the ENT on call and let us know when Cade has his procedure, probably tomorrow.

Hope this sparks some great conversations with your kids about why it's not a good idea to stick things in your ears...or nose. Keep us in your prayers!!!

Ooooh baby!

Tonight has been sooo much fun. Just look at all the fun we've had at our house!

Ethan and Ally


Goofy guys!


One of Keira's favorite activities


Sooo handsome


Thanks for letting us spend the evening with your kids. I know you think we're doing you a favor...but I think we enjoy it even more than you enjoy a night out.

Thanksgiving Turkey

Keira had her Thanksgiving program on Tuesday and again, TOO CUTE!! Keira was on the end (probably because she wsn't in a dancing/singing mood) and was kind of in her own world through most of it. The other kids (and their teachers) were jamming. I love where Curt panned over to the teachers and you can see then bustin' a move. Keira's teacher Mrs O is the blond one on the end. We LOVE her, she's been so good for Keira. Strict but VERY loving and understanding of our situation and how it affects Keira. At one point in time, you can see Keira tap the boy next to her on the shoulder. She was pointing out his parents to him. Totally distracted throughout the whole program!!!

(Imagine there's a very cute video here. I'm trying to upload it, but Blogger is being difficult.)

In other news, the city square lit their Christmas lights this past weekend and we went for the celebration. It was lots of fun, good family time together!!!

A future thespian??

Caden had his Thanksgiving program at school this past week. Curt was able to make it to the program and video it for me. Cade was great and sang all his songs well. However...the kid in front of him was the STAR of the show. Take a look.




Later in the program, they passed a mic around and let the kids say what they are thankful for. Curt sat up a little taller, thinking 'He's going to say Dad, or maybe Mom.' Guess what Cade was thankful for...



That's right...HIS DOG!!! You know, the one he won't play with because "he jumps on me." Yeah, the one he throws dirt on when he's out playing in the backyard. That dog! I can't believe we got shafted for REGGIE!

McKenna...

I know most of you know I have a roommate in LR. Her name is McKenna and she is AWESOME! I couldn't have asked for a better roommate or friend for this time in my life. We can read each other's minds and study soooo well together. I think she may be even goofier than me...if that's possible.

Anyway, she's not having a great day. She is VERY close to her grandfather and found out today that he passed away this morning. It is a blessing because he has been in a lot of pain, but they were very close and she misses him. On top of it all, we are in the middle of major tests that are adding to her stress. So, when you are talking to God tonight, say a little prayer for McKenna and her fam during this hard time.

You all are the best!!!

We're off to Neverland!!!

It was a fantastically warm Halloween and we had a great time. The kids (well, mainly Cade) were MAJORLY into trick or treating this year, so we went out trick or treating for a while,







then headed to Aunt Margaret and Uncle Lonnie's for a few pics with Ethan,



then we went to a friend's house for a Halloween party. There were quite a few cute characters in attendance, unfortunately, they didn't want to cooperate for a picture!



Hope your Halloween was SWEET!!!

10 things I love about my sister!!

I know everyone thinks they have the greatest family, but I truly think my sis is the best one in the world. Here's why...

10. She has the greatest necklace collection...and I know she'd share if I asked.

9. She likes to work out even more than me. If we could get our schedules to coordinate I'd have a great work out buddy.

8. She always has mints in her purse to share!

7. She has great decorating style. I wish I could say the same.

6. She is sooo hospitable. Their house is always the place to hang and she always has time for us if we want to just come over and chill...she usually includes food as well. (Yum!)

5. She is very reliable. Once Margaret says she's going to do something, you can always count on her to get it done. One thing she has committed to this year is picking up the kids every Thursday and hanging with them so Curt has one free night to work late, get things accomplished, or just have a free night. Curt is SUPER thankful for that!!!

4. If we ever need ANYTHING, she is there in a second to help. For those of you who don't know, when we decided to leave Houston, we didn't really have any idea of what to do. Margaret and Lonnie were recently married and had been teasing us to move to AR. When we told her we were leaving, her first reaction was "Move in with us and figure it out from there." Did I mention she was a newlywed!!! That's just my sis, always there to help, or to offer Lonnie's help when needed. I could go on and on about the things they have done for us...but that would just be mushy!!

3. She's my best friend (after Curt). If I want to hang out with anyone other than Curt, it's her and if I need to talk to someone, I call her up. She's just that great!

2. She doesn't just "watch" Cade and Keira, she teaches them. Even with Ethan, she takes the time to spend QUALITY time with the kids, playing games, reading, teaching them new things like signs for Keira and new sight words for Cade.

1. She sends me mail in LR every week so I don't get too lonely or discouraged. She even has the kids paint me pics and sends those to me!! I loved the Halloween treat box!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So now you all know how great Margaret is. I hope this week you all send a shout out to a special person in your life to let them know how much they mean to you.

Just another beautiful weekend

It was another great weekend for our fam. I skipped classes on Friday so I could come home early and spend a little more time with the fam. Keira got her stitches out Thursday afternoon, so I got the joy of experiencing that with her. She was so scared from her previous experience that the cries began long before any hint of pain started. It was very pitiful, but I'm glad I was able to be there for my little girl.

On Saturday we painted their pumpkins and had an impromptu fall photo shoot at a beautful event center near our house. The trees are gorgeous right now as their leave are changing colors and falling. I love FALL!!!!

Not by the "whiskers" on my chinny, chin, chin!

Well, it's official. Keira has had her first major accident. I wish there was a great story to go with it, but unfortunately it all comes down to the fact the fact that she's got her mother's graceful genes.

Yesterday Keira was at our friend Keisha's house playing for a little while so Curt could get a few things done. (A little background info, Curt had to stay home yesterday with Cade because he had a fever Thursday night. Keira was out of school for teacher in-services, so Curt had both kids all day.) Curt hadn't been gone for 5 minutes when Keira started screaming. Apparently, she had been playing at tripped over NOTHING and fell. Her chin broke her fall. Somehow, she managed to slice her chin open in the process. It's really odd because you would think it would be more bruised or have a jagged cut or have hurt the inside of her mouth, but no...it's sliced open to the bone. Luckily, we have an "in" with our pedi, so Curt called his wife who called Dr Lance and he was waiting for them when they arrived at his office a few minutes later. Curt was thinking she'd just need a little durabond like before, but Lance thought it was too deep and needed stitches. I was on my way home from LR at that point in time, but was still about 1.5 hrs away so I was no help to Curt. They numbed her up and then it took about 30 minutes for Lance to hit the moving target that was Keira's chin. The whole time Keira was screaming and Curt was about at his limit (both from Keira's screaming and from watching a tough procedure being done on his baby) and I couldn't help. I think that was the hardest part for me. I wanted to be there so badly for her, but I was just a little too late. Anyway, after a nice long nap, Keira woke up happy and ready to show off her new "whiskers." (That's what she calls them.) She's one tough cookie!!







Dr Lance to the rescue!! Thank goodness for a great doctor who happens to be a great friend as well. Lance was worried Keira would be a little apprehensive toward him after all that, but she still ran right up to him tonight to have her picture taken with our favorite Dr Lance!!!

More fall fun!

Last Sunday our small group headed to SW Missouri for fall weather fun at a corn maze/pumpkin patch/hayride. It was the perfect fall evening - cool air, afternoon sunshine, orange pumpkins, and little kid giggles. There's nothing better in this world!!

The whole crew. The kids are starting to outnumber the adults!!



Cade flew down the roller slide. He kept asking us to push him harder so he'd go even faster.




King of the (hay) mountain



These tough boys were not at all afraid of the cave. They would have gone in farther to explore if they could have!



Princess Keira on the other hand, wouldn't let Mom out of her reach!



At the top of the barn loft there was a window that overlooked the corn maze. The kids were so excited as they looked out over the field and saw all the fun activities. They couldn't decide what they wanted to do first.



I have lots more great pictures, but you get the general idea. A great time was had by all!

Happy Fall!

I think that picture says it all! We are loving this beautiful fall weather and are so glad we got to enjoy the pumpkin patch with Ethan this year.






My handsome groom! I treasure the weekends so much these days. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder!!



My angel!



Way too excited about the gourds!!



Such a handsome boy



My little lady...



and sweet little man!