Tough Week

This past week has been one of many prayers. I'd like to share some of them with you. I hope those involved don't mind my sharing in hopes of even more prayers going up. **************************************************************** Gary Anthony's foster dad, Gary, had a stroke on his right side. These folks are like grandparents to Anthony and we give them full credit for Anthony's awesome care until he got to us. Please keep Gary and his wife Betty in your prayers. The following is her email: Hi, It is Sunday night and I am ready for bed. It has a tough last four days. Gary is in the Sanford Hospital because Wednesday night he had a stroke on his right side. 31 years ago it was on his left side. Thursday he didn't look good at all but today he is so much better. He has some feeling on his right side and can move some. His speech is getting better and he is in physical therapy a couple times a day and soon will be moving out of the stroke unit up to the fourth floor where physical therapy is done for 3 hours a day. The doctors have a lot of hope that he will come out of this pretty well. It will take six to 12 months but he is willing to try anything. Please keep him in your prayers. More later. Betty ******************************************************* Eloise Eloise is the youngest child of my cousin Megan and her husband Bill. Please lift their family up in your prayers. The following is Megan's note: Monday, September 21st, Eloise went in for a routine one month checkup. Her pediatrician, Dr. Maxwell, heard something he did not like while listening to her heart and told us we were to go to Childrens Mercy Cardiology for further evaluation. His nurse immediately called CM to set up an appointment, and was told the soonest they could get her in was Tuesday, September 29th. Dr. Maxwell's office did not want her to wait that long, and reassured us that she would be seen within the week. We were to go home and they would call us when the appointment was set up. We later got the call that September 29th at 10:15am was indeed the soonest she could be seen. After waiting 8 days, her appointment finally arrived. Mom came into town to watch the two older kids for us, and for that I am so very thankful. At 9:00 this morning, we called Dad and put him on speaker phone while he prayed for Eloise, her parents, and her doctors. At the appointment, they checked her vitals and gave her a vanilla flavored binky to keep her calm. She then was taken to have an EKG run. She had to lay still for 10 second intervals in order to get a reading. This was accomplished by giving her a vanilla flavored binky dipped in sugar water, or what I affectionately refer to as "The Magic Binky."Once the EKG was accomplished, we went in for an echocardiogram. Eloise was very good for this. The technician put the wires on her, then swaddled her up...just the way Eloise likes it. With lullaby's playing in the background, we made it through *most* of the echo without fuss.With speed I have never before seen in a doctor, we had our verdict. Eloise has been diagnosed with an Atrial Septal Defect, or hole in her heart which is 8mm in diameter. The doctor said, that while this hole was larger than most, it was not necessarily cause for concern at this point. She will be monitored, and if the hole begins to shrink or go away on it's own, then the situation has resolved itself and we're done. If the hole remains the same, or gets larger, then we are looking at heart surgery to correct it. ************************************************************* Esther Early Sunday morning a very dear lady passed away. She was a wonderful woman who always seemed to have a smile on her face. She'll be missed by lots of us, but especially her husband and family. Please remember her family in your prayers. The following is part of her obituary: Esther Kruse, 55, went home to be with Jesus on Sunday, September 27, 2009, at Brookview Manor in Brookings after battling brain cancer for 11 months. She accepted the Lord as her personal savior as a child. On August 18, 1973, Esther was united in marriage with Ronald Kruse. They were faithfully married for 36 years. Esther was a member of Brookings Wesleyan Church since 1991, and enjoyed attending and hosting Bible studies with her husband. She also enjoyed her family and friends. Her grandchildren were her pride and joy. She enthusiastically loved them by visiting them, taking pictures of them, and cuddling them. Esther also was a wonderful cook and specialized in lattice topped cherry pies with homemade crusts. Even to the end, she enjoyed Camaro rides with Ron. *************************************************** Dawn Dawn has been one of my dear friends since we were little. We went to school together, ran Chinese firedrills together (Dawn, if you're reading this, don't worry, I won't tell THE story), went to church together, graduated together and attended SDSU. Her on a full ride scholarship and me on my good looks :) . Dawn's dad passed away after a battle with colon cancer in 1999 at the age of 56. Dawn's only brother, Deron, has lived many years with cystic fibrosis and in July underwent a double lung transplant due to failing health. Dawn's mom, Sharon, was diagnosed with a very agressive and unusual nasal cancer in November of 2008 and has been doing everything medically and prayerfully to battle it. I ask not only for prayer for Deron and his family (he has a wife and twin 3 year old boys) and for Sharon, but also for Dawn as she is shouldering so much right now. The following are excerpts from Deron's blog: Saturday, September 26, 2009 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul,"therefore I will hope in Him." The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. Lamentations 3:21-25 . Deron finished the continous dialysis yesterday afternoon. They took off about 20 lbs of fluid total over the 3 days. His skin looks much better because the fluid is gone, but he still has many skin sores (and sore areas) that need to heal.Deron was very restless today. He seemed as though he could not get comfortable. He wanted me to help him "get out of this place." I mentioned before that he has not really sat up in a chair or at the edge of the bed for about 2 weeks. They have been working on him tolerating sitting upright in bed. When he does sit up straighter in bed, I can see all his postural muscles working (quivering and shaking) to hold himself up even when he has his back resting against the bed. The muscles that we usually take for granted to hold us up have become extremely weak again.They also found out that Deron has an infection in his bloodstream (or sepsis) caused by a different bacteria that he hasn't had during this hospitalization. They did find that this bacteria is sensitive to an antibiotic that he hasn't been on for a while, which is good because many of his bacteria are multi-drug resistant. So that brings the total number of antibiotics that he is on to seven (7). . The doctor had planned to move Deron this afternooon to the "intermediate care unit" or the step-down unit where he was last week, but when he started to have some confusion, they decided to keep him in the ICU at least overnight. . So where is our hope? Our hope is in the LORD. Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you. Psalm 33:18-22 (ESV)Thanks to the Arnold Prayer Team for continuing intercede to God for us. Posted by Jan Arnold Monday, September 21, 2009 Today was another busy day for Deron. He had dialysis, a bronchoscopy, a CT scan, and an ultrasound of his arms (to assess the blood clots). He also got 2 units of blood because his hemoglobin had dropped to 7.2He still has a lot going on with all of his organ systems, and he still is in a very serious condition. The bronchoscopy shows that the lung connections remain relatively unchanged. The right lung connection looks okay, but there is still black (dying) tissue over the left lung connection. The doctors feel that one of the reasons that he is having difficulty healing is that he didn't really have much nutrition this past week. They have started the tube feedings again, and he is tolerating that okay, but he still hasn't wanted to eat anything.He continues to be very sleepy possibly due to some of the pain meds. But also, the doctors just informed me today that his white blood cells are 800 (extremely low) and that he is in metabolic acidosis (a very serious condition). I know the doctors are doing everything they can to help Deron heal. He just has a lot going on in every organ system, and everything is so inter-related. . We know that God is in ultimate control of Deron's healing and recovery, and it will happen according to God's plan and in His timing.Psalm 31:15a "My times are in Your hands."Jeremiah 17: 12-14 "But we worship at your throne — eternal, high, and glorious! O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who turn away from you will be disgraced. They will be buried in the dust of the earth, for they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living water. O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed; if you save me, I will be truly saved. My praises are for you alone!" Posted by Jan Arnold . Thursday, September 24, 2009 Mom's results show she has a tumor growing in the back of her head. It is fast growing. They can't do anything about it. Posted by Dawn Mason

The "I'm too tired for a cool title" post

Today the kids and I walked to school and then Anthony and I walked to church for bible study. After that I took Anthony and David to the park since it was so nice outside. Add a few loads of laundry, gymnastics and soccer practice and the day is over. While sitting at soccer watching Riley, I did discover that Zeke can receite all the days of the week and all the months in order!

Zeke's Hearing

Today we took Zeke to the School for the Deaf in Sioux Falls for yet another hearing evaluation. It was pretty thorough but we really won't know much until they receive the results from various other sources and we see yet another ENT. I feel like we're going around in circles. The current count is: 2 audiology exams at USD school of Medicine, 4 different school hearing tests, one exam by an inept ENT, one exam by two good ENT's from Gillette Children's Hospital, one Brain Stem Response test in Sioux Falls, one audiology exam at School for the Deaf and now another visit to a Sioux Falls ENT. Maybe soon we'll find out if there's anything we can do about his hearing! * I spent 2 hours the other day filling out paperwork prior to the School for the Deaf visit. I get so tired of trying to answer questions like: "How much did he weigh at birth?, How long was he at birth?, medical history?, previous schools attended including addresses and dates?, previous hearing evaluations including addresses and dates?, previous medical care including addresses and dates? when did he first walk, talk and various other milestones?" There were plenty more in the 8 pages of questions but you get the idea. I have three giant binders that I put all of Zeke's medical information into to try to make sure it's organized. When we got Zeke, we received a box of information that took me 2 years to sort out. Fortunately, I was able to search through that paperwork for some of the answers I needed. I know, I could just write "Don't know" but I'd like to give the most thorough answers possible so they have as much information as possible to help Zeke. * And just in case you're wondering, Zeke was born at 37 1/2 weeks and weighed 5 lbs 9 oz!

Taylor and Chad

I went downstairs tonight to check on Taylor and this is what I saw:

Taylor is sleeping with Chad the Alltel guy!

Just Ask

Arriving at our house today was the following: orange juice, grapes, donuts, bananas, apple juice, cupcakes, tomatoes and a bit of fun candy. I'm still waiting to see how my prayer for Monday is answered. Try just asking God and see what cool things He has in store!

Bonus

Turns our there was more than just hamburger in the box. We got roast and steak too!

God Will Provide

It's been a while since I blogged what I was thinking about instead of just posting pictures or kid quotes. As much as I love that, events have been unfolding that warrant public acknowledgement. I hesitate to share some of this. Not because I'm embarrassed, as I would have been a few years ago, but because I don't want anyone to think we can't take care of our family. We chose willingly the lifestyle we have now. When I resigned my position to become the full-time mom to 5 children, we knew we would be giving up some material things. We chose to believe, above all, that God would and will provide for our family as long as we remain in His will. . The summer months and early fall are usually very hard on our family financially, for various reasons. It takes a lot to feed a family of our size throughout the summer, there are usually sporting events we want our kids to participate in, we want to travel to see family, there's always stuff to purchase for school and most of our the birthdays are in the fall. Our normally tight budget is stretched really thin. . It was definitely that time of year again when I used change to purchase milk for the kids' breakfast and stretched every bit of food. The other day when a couple of neighbor kids who don't have much were at our house, I invited them to stay for supper as I was praying to God to please provide as He did with the loaves and fishes. Let there be enough and no kid go hungry! Thankfully all had enough to eat that night. . As I was again pondering our grocery situation, I conversed with God about our finanial situation. A few years ago, I would have been stressed and crabby and carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. This week, I've told God that I trust Him to take care of us. He will provide. I do what I can and God will do what I can't. God and I were the only ones who knew the desperation of my prayer but I felt completely at peace about it. . In the few short days following my prayer, here are just a few of the things that came to our house: *Lots of sweet corn from a local family that grows produce *Three jars of homemade jam from the family I babysit *A big bag of baby carrots that was left over from a church function *Two giant bags of tomatoes *Eggs from chickens raised by a local family *Cucumbers and squash from the parents of an old friend of mine *Two cookie-mixes in a jar leftover from a missions fundraiser *A huge watermelon from my dad *A big bag of fresh potatoes from a family in bible study . I wasn't even going to write about this because I hate people to think we are struggling. But when the doorbell rang a few minutes ago and there stood a friend holding a box full of pounds of ground hamburger fresh from the butcher, I knew I was supposed to share the wonderful power of God and prayer! Amazing! . I have another prayer out there right now that I might write about later. I don't want to limit God's ability to work by putting it out there just yet. And even if he doesn't answer the way I'd like, He ultimitely knows what's best so I'll continue to trust Him!

Zeke and God Make a Great Team!

I was nearly in tears watching our 6 year old Zeke, who couldn't stand by himself a year ago, standing next to the radio in the kitchen. He didn't realize anyone was watching as he was singing along with the radio - every verse of "Here in the power of Christ I stand" with his little hand raised to God.

Brittney Says

Brittney forgot her backpack at the church and after numerous suggestions by me of ways she could get it, she asked if Steve could use his key to the church to get the backpack early in the morning. This was following a week of 'misplacing' her gymnastics leo and forgetting her band folder. Then earlier this afternoon, she asked if she could go home with a friend and make cookies for their church snack but ended up calling me an hour and a half before church to let me know that I needed to bake the cookies because they hadn't. By the time we were discussing the backpack tonight, I had had enough. . I emphatically told her, "This forgetting your things and expecting everyone else to get them for you isn't going to cut it in the real world." . She retorted, "This is the real world and I'm already in it!!!"

Isaiah

Isaiah 43:1-2 But now, this is what the Lord says- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."

My Brothers

Me, my brother Jeremy and my brother Jody. This was taken quite a few years ago at Jeremy's wedding. Jody and his family.

Jeremy and his family (minus one that's been born since this picture was taken).

Go Jacks!

Steve and I had a real date tonight! Supper included and no kids! My Aunt Judy and Uncle Gary gave us tickets to the SDSU football game and the pre-game meal. We even got free SDSU icecream! The evening was beautiful and the game was great. SDSU didn't even allow the other team to score. I love football season! They'll give you the whole seat but you'll only need the edge! Go Big! Go Blue! Go Jacks!

Zeke Says

This morning the kids were all in the dining room coloring. They usually have me tear out the page they want to use but this morning they were particularly independent. When Zeke wanted to tear his picture out like everyone else, the other kids said he didn't know how and that he would tear his picture. He looked defiantly at them an said, "Watch and learn." Then he carefully removed the picture from the book.

Ready for Homecoming!

Riley has wanted a mohawk for as long as I can remember but I didn't want want him to have one. We reached a compomise a few months ago when I promised him he could have a mohawk for homecoming and I'd even dye it red to match the school colors. Because I'm a mom of my word.........

......but it's only staying that way for the weekend! :)

Hobbie Family

Pictures

Jon Sprang took some awesome family pictures. These are a few of my favorites of the kids.

Change

The official corn count is in! I've shucked, cut, cooked and frozed 148 quarts of sweet corn this fall. It's a lot of work but it really saves on grocery money during the winter. So thanks to all those who gave us corn! * Yesterday was another busy day. Is there any other kind? Steve was offered over time at Daktronics so he went in to work by 8am. I took Riley and Taylor to their soccer games. At Tay's game, I visited with another mom who's daughter was a good friend of Riley. Because Riley and Taylor are in the same soccer division, she asked if they were twins. Before I could respond, Riley pipes up, "I'm adopted!" Turns out both of her kids are adopted, too. We ended up having a great conversation. Later, I mentioned to Riley that his friend was adopted too and he told me she had already told him. He said that's why they're such good friends! * In the afternoon, Steve took Riley to SDSU for kid's football camp. He loved it! Not only did they learn skills, they get to interact with the SDSU football players. I love it 'cause it's free! * When Steve returned, he washed both vehicles inside and out. He had lots of help but not from me! I was busy trying to finish the corn. * We talked Brittney into babysitting for the evening (her paypment, per her request, was for us to take her to an SDSU girls basketball game) so Steve and I could both take Riley to the football game. Riley had a free ticket from football camp, Steve loves any sport and I am a football fanatic. The weather provided a great fall evening for football and the stadium was full of excited fans. The official count was over 12,000. I tend to get really excited during games and thought that Riley would be proud to have a mom that's so into football. Once after I cheered really loudly, Steve whispered to Riley, "Mom gets really excited at football games." Riley whispered back, "That's why we shouldn't of brought her." Yep. My job as a parent isn't complete unless I embarass my kids at least once. * One interesting thing about last night had to do with a change in my attitude. When we first got the boys about 3 years ago, I wanted so badly for them to like me. For the most part, they did, but they showed it in different ways. Anthony was young enough - just under 2 - that he wasn't overly demonstrative with us right away. Steve and I both already understood that was a actually a healthy attachment but Brit had a hard time because she loved her new little brother and she just wanted him to love her back like her friends younger siblings. We did a lot of interacting with Anthony, including reading and rocking at bedtime and he quickly learned to love us. . Zeke hated women. I am a woman therefore Zeke didn't like me at all. I think it took a few weeks of visits and lots of prompting from people he knew before he would even let me hold his hand to help him walk. And that was with someone of his choosing holding his other hand. Lots of time and effort on my part was all that was needed to teach him to trust me. That makes it sound lots easier that it really was but it's true. Now he tells everyone about me and loves to give me hugs. With a lot of hard work, we've come a long way! . On to Riley. I still remember the first time I heard his little 4 year old voice. I had called his social worker and Riley and his foster dad happened to be in her office. She asked if I would like to talk to him. I was scared. What if he decided during the call that he didn't like me? I tried to relax and just visit but it was hard. I felt like everything was riding on this one phone call. He sounded like any normal kid and we talked for a few minutes and then the social worker came back on the line and we concluded our call. I almost cried after the call. I wanted so badly to just go pick the boys up and bring them home right away. The whole process is another story for another day. I have tons to say about the day we met the boys in person but this blog entry is already too long and I haven't even made the last point I was going to make yet. And I have to leave for church in the next half hour! Anyway, for now, let's just say that Riley didn't have a healthy attachment right away. He would appear to "attach" to anyone. (Hopefully more on this later) As he, and we, struggled to form healthy attachment bonds, I wanted to hold him and hug him tons. After the initial honeymoon period wore off, I only wanted him in my personal space when I wanted him there. I felt like I didn't have any space of my own left in my house or around my body. Riley needed constant assurance, which included being physically close. It was tough and I'll be the first to admit, sometimes I just didn't let it happen. Thankfully, lots of times I did let it happen even though I didn't want him hanging on me. It felt so different to me when he was clinging to me than when Taylor did. Long story even longer, it's changed. And when I say it, I mean my attitude and feelings. I'm not sure exactly when because it's been a work in progress for so long. Last night at the game, Riley was hanging on me as I was trying to watch the game. He was playing with my hair. A few years ago, I might have let him do it, but inside I would have been angry about it. Last night, I can honestly say that it felt good to have him next to me twirling his fingers through my hair enjoying a game together!

Today

Five kids ready for school in time for me to be at the middle school for an 8am field trip, babysitting, Zeke's IEP meeting, supper, soccer and gymnastics. Anything else I could squeeze into the day today? Let's just say that I'm not wasting any time on the computer tonight! =)

Dan's Birthday Party (8-30-09)

Dan and his adorable son, Coby, at Pizza Ranch for the birthday lunch. Dan and Zeke with the Dairy Queen ice cream cake back at our house for phase 2 of the party. Notice Taylor snitching ice cream right out of the container! Anthony and Zeke tried to play basketball on the deck. Grandma Connie, Riley and Coby learned lots about animals by reading Riley's library book.

Riley's T-Ball Team

In the team picture, he's in the front row on the far left side.

Pizza!

Last week I made a couple big pizzas and the kids made their own little ones. I make dough in my bread machine for mine but the kids use english muffins for theirs.

Staci Visits

Steve's sister, Staci, and her boyfriend Brad came to South Dakota for the holiday weekend. They got to our house on Sunday afternoon so we grilled and played games.

On Monday morning, the big boys went off to play frisbee golf after I made blueberry muffins (from scratch!) for them and the kids.

Staci and I had our annual Perkins breakfast. It's really more about the chatting than it is about the breakfast.

Sandy sewed Staci's shirt and made some spectacular beans.

We don't know who had more fun, Staci or the kids!

Sunday Morning

Two of our neighbor girls slept over last night. Steve got up early and made pancakes and then we all walked to church.

Muffins

Last night my mom brought over the ingredients for muffins and I spent quite a bit of the evening baking six dozen muffins. This morning I warmed them in the oven and then took the kids to school. Then Anthony and I picked up an egg bake that Uncle Dan made and drove over to our friend's house. I really wish instead of delivering breakfast I could have been delivering a mom, wife, daughter. Even though she was so sick and we know she's now celebrating in Heaven, it's still hard to see kids without their mom, a husband without his wife and parents without one of their daughters.

Anthony Says

"Mom, you make the best teeter totter hot dish."

My Husband

Tay Says

Tay: "Mom, see these two books of mine?" Me: "Yeah." Tay: "You can pick one of them to read." Me: "Thanks. What if I want to read both of them?" Tay: "You can read them both by tomorrow?" Me: "Yep. I'm a fast reader. I've had lots of years of practice." Tay: "Nice."

Taylor Says

There is no doubt that Taylor is her Grandpa Steve's grandchild: . This morning Taylor was paying attention when I was on Facebook. For anyone not familiar with facebook, people who know you find your name and then they send you a friend request. You can accept or decline it. Only your 'friends' can visit with you and see your pictures and information. It's a great way to keep up with people. Sometimes strangers pop up on the suggestion page. I just ignore them. . As I was clicking past pictures today, this was our conversation: Tay: "You should've added her as a friend. That's not very kind not to." Me: "But I don't even know her." Tay: "But you could be friends with her and get to know her better."