Conversations with Karis

Last week my girls went with their Grandma Robin and Grandpa Bill to a festival of lights benefiting Make a Wish Foundation.

Grandma was explaining to Karis that the money went to Make a Wish to help children.

Karis, being Karis, wanted to know all about it.

Grandma told her that the children were very, very sick and Make a Wish asked them what their very favorite wish was and made it come true.

There was silence in the back seat as Karis thought about this.

"Grandma?"

"Yes Karis?"

"I have the sniffles."


While she may be disappointed, I'm glad this does not qualify her to be a recipient of Make a Wish! :-)



On Christmas morning Karis was the first one up.

She crawled into bed with me, confessing that she had peeked at the presents under the tree.

We managed to suppress the excitement a bit as we waited for Gabi to wake up.

In the midst of the silence, Karis asked a question.

"Mom, was your name Rebecca Joy Swanson before you married Daddy?"

"Yes." (Where was this coming from?)

"Why did you change it?"

"Because I married your daddy." I mumbled. "I took his name."

"So....if I marry Owen my name would be Karis Faith Bair?"

"Ummmm..... yes..." (Why do these conversations have to be so early?)

"I don't think I like it."

"But you would really be Care Bear, then."

"No, I like Rankin."

"Ok, well you don't have to marry Owen."

I just wanted to snuggle down for a bit more, but the door swung open.

"Morning.... " Gabi said in a sleepy voice as she joined us in bed.

"Let's go open our presents." Karis bounced around, irritating her little sister.

Gabi, who had seen our completely bare tree the night before turned to her sister and said,

"There are no presents, Karis."

Which sounded an awful lot like "be quiet and let me wake up," to me. :-)

Her tune changed when her sister informed her that the state of the tree had changed overnight.

Christmas was great for us.

I'm exhausted, want to take a nap, and probably will, but we had such a good time.

Pictures will follow.

PS, later that day, Karis didn't seem nearly as opposed to having the last name Bair.

Watch out Owen!

Christmas blessings

It is snowing outside.

A perfect Christmas Eve kind of snow.

Soft, not too cold, and not too much. :-)

Enough that our driveway was full, though.

Dustin scooped off the porch before he had to leave for work, but decided to do the rest when he got home and had picked up our now fixed snow blower from his parents.

I was sitting here looking at facebook and admiring the view out our front window when a truck pulled into our driveway and plowed it out.

I knew who it was.

You see.... all last year, when we got the record snow falls, our across the street neighbor, Johnny, would come and plow us out.

I wasn't really thinking about the kind of neighbors we would have when we moved here, but we are blessed.

The girls adore Johnny and Paula.

Johnny builds his own Harley's and the girls are alternately terrified and delighted by the sounds they make going down the street.

They both followed the same pattern.

First they would run to the window to see the pretty motorcycles.

Then they would get a bit older and run to me when the motorcycles would start up.

Now they have both decided that someday they want to drive one.

Uh, oh.... And of course they would have to be the most expensive kind. :-) Once you hear that rumble can you drive anything else?

I'm just asking. I don't speak from experience.

Besides the motorcycles they love to wave at them and delight in their decorations for the holidays. The big, black, fuzzy spiders on their trees especially fascinate them. :-)

Johnny also has his own business in auto repair. You have no idea how handy it is to be able to walk across the street when your car won't start. :-)

Thinking about all the places we could live, I'm very grateful we moved across the street from such great neighbors.

I also know Dustin will be thrilled when he gets home and sees the driveway!

Two days till Christmas!

I am done running around for my last minute gifts!

Praise the Lord!

It wore me out.

I decided to stop at Maurices to find a gift of jewelry. Of course I had to check out the additional 75% off.

You can't pass that up.

I pulled a couple of dress pants to try on because all mine are too big, a dress, and a few tops.

Trying them on made me so tired I didn't have the energy to buy them. :-)

You see, you need alertness to decide if it even looks good on you or not.

I wasn't alert enough. No deal is good enough to have to go back to a store and return. At least for me at the moment.

But back to being done shopping.

My gifts aren't fancy.

There won't be a lot of them.

(Sorry family in advance! Not that you mind, I know, but I still feel bad....)

But.... what I love is that I got out there and got them.

I had one little episode, which I'll talk about later, but other than that I've felt good.

I just got done exercising for about forty five minutes and feel amazing!

And that brings me to the new medical aspect of my life. I added another helper to my list of nutritionist, oncologist, naturopath, chiropractor.

You see, in the midst of all my pain medication calls, I talked to an on call doctor. During my allergic reaction my personal doctor was on vacation.

Isn't that how it always happens? :-)

Anyway, the other doctor asked if I had ever considered preventive exercises with physical therapy.

It had never occurred to me.

I think in the midst of dealing with a disease I didn't think I would ever get, I missed simple things like strengthening muscles that are under strain, and not getting the exercise they used to.

So....

I called my nurse, talked to my cousin who is a physical therapist, (Unfortunately she lives in K.C., or I would be going to her.) and made an appointment.

I had no idea what to expect at my first appointment.

It was another first for me.

May I just say that my physical therapist is amazing?

I have nothing to compare him with, but he offered me hope.

Hope that I will be able to do these exercises and build up my muscles in ways that will help keep the pain away.

And.... best of all.... when I told him how tight my back muscles were and how much pain and loss of sleep they cause...

It almost made me cry with relief when he felt the muscles in my back and told me I wasn't imagining things.

I was extremely tight.

And then he rubbed my neck area in such away that thoroughly relaxed me and worked those muscles.

I'm telling you, I'm a believer in physical therapy for that alone. :-)

I'll let you know if it works for my shoulder and hip pains.

I'm just thankful I have another avenue to explore for some relief and to build up my body!

Have a wonderful Christmas with your families if I don't get back on here until after Christmas!

Elijah and Jesus

Karis has been listening diligently to The Bible in Living Sound CD's during her afternoon quiet time and is learning so much about God's Word.

Today my mom relayed a conversation between Karis and her.

Karis came up to my mom and said very seriously, "Grandma, I think Jesus and Elijah are the same person."

My mom didn't know what to say. She couldn't think of anything they had talked about that would make Karis think Jesus was Elijah.

"Why do you think that, Karis?"

"Because Jesus and Elijah have the same voice."

It is so hard not to laugh at her and hurt her little feelings because she really does take these thoughts so seriously.

Fighting back laughter, my mom explained to her about the actors on the CD and how they sometimes had to play several parts.

I'm not sure if she belived her or not. :-)

We may have a bit more explaining to do later on.

Seeing God in a Pea Coat

Before I get into the why behind this title I have a couple of thoughts.

1. Who came up with that name?

Pea Coat?

Was the first one green?

Since I'm too lazy to look up the real reason it is called that, I will pretend that the designer made the first one in pea green. As people commented on his/her (I'm inclined to think it was a man because of the name) design and how much they liked it (because they obviously must have since they are so popular), he/she would say, "Oh, thank you. I call it my pea coat." And pea coat it will forever be, no matter the color.

The more I write about it the more I'm doubting it is called that. Do we really say, "Oh, I bought a Pea Coat today. It's red."

I googled it. It is assuring me that I am not crazy.

2. This post has nothing to do with me actually seeing God in a Pea coat. I sincerely doubt God would wear anything by that name. :-)

I'm beginning to wonder if I should wear anything by that name.


So..... why am I writing about Pea Coats?

Last night my sister bought an adorable black Pea Coat at a thrift store for $5.

It put a thought in my head.

I'd like one.

I don't really need it. I have two very nice casual winter coats. They do very well.

So, it isn't a need. Just a thought that it would be fun to have. :-)

I forgot about it by morning and didn't think about it again until it was time to put a coat on for church.

I zipped up my casual one satisfied that it would do just fine.

We deposited the kids in their classes and listened to a great sermon about Christmas.

As we were leaving our seats, I heard my name.

I turned to find a friend from Church.

The first words out of her mouth were, "Do you need a coat?"

I'd already been over the fact that I didn't need one, but I asked what kind.

"A Pea Coat."

I smiled and told her of my morning thoughts.

She smiled and said, "She wasn't going to give it to me, but it was like God kept telling her to give it to me."

I love how He works.

Before I even thought I might want a Pea Coat, God had already put it on her heart to give it to me.

The coat fits, of course. It is black. And I love it because it has a couple of ruffles in the front that make it a little unique.

Thank you God, and thank you Carol for my new coat.

And that is how I see God in a Pea Coat.

He knew I needed the reminder that He cares for me all the time, even when sometimes I can't feel it.

Happy Sunday!

Another good day...

I'm a little tired today, but feeling good.

I love it!

Today I went to Target and stocked up on stocking stuffers.

I love shopping for little girls.

Cute socks.

Princess sparkly lip gloss.

I confess, I did stand looking at this lip gloss trying to figure out exactly how it worked, but it was so cute I bought it, trusting that somehow when they opened it we would figure it out.

Miniature Slinky's. I so want to open those right now and play with them.

Gel pens.

Gummy bears.

And I found my last present for Gabi.

A toy mixer that mixes (air at least). Here again, I'm having a hard time not wearing the batteries out playing with it.

I am so excited to see their faces on Christmas.

I'm also grateful that I've felt well enough to be the one to buy these things and not have to send a list with someone else.

It just isn't as fun for a mommy, I don't think, to watch those little faces light up if you weren't the one to pick the things out, you know?

God is good.

:-)

This is one of those days that I just feel good.

I wanted to share that.

Today I dropped off something for Dustin.

He has these snazzy new snow boots he wears to work so he doesn't have to ice skate in his dress shoes.

Unfortunately, those dress shoes got left at home today.

I enjoyed dropping them off and getting to see my hubby for an unexpected few minutes today.

Then I went to the hospital to visit my brand new nephew. He is absolutely adorable. You can send up a couple of prayers for him. He was five weeks early. He is stable and only on a little oxygen, but he may be in that little bubble for a few more weeks.

After drooling over that cute little one I stopped at Kohls and started drooling over a new shirt for Dustin.

May I make a slight diversion here and say I LOVE plaid? I'm so glad it is back in.

I was really proud of myself for walking out there with only three shirts. I could have easily made it ten. :-) I'll probably return two, but I just couldn't make up my mind.

Next I stopped at a friends to pick up something and just chat.

And, while I'm tired, I'm not exhausted, and for that I praise the Lord!

I'm hoping these days come more and more often!

Thanks for praying everyone!

Childhood insight.

A few weeks ago my mom was bringing the girls home.

She had to make a quick stop in a parking lot to pick up something from a friend.

She told Karis and Gabi to stay in the car, as she didn't want them to get hurt, and if they obeyed, they would stop at a park before they went home.

Several seconds later my mom heard the door slam and Karis was out of the car and by her side.

As much as my mom hated to do it, she knew she had to stick to her word and not go to the park.

Karis was devastated!

This little girl wears her feelings on her sleeve and the tears started pouring out, accompanied by some dramatic wales.

My mom explained why they couldn't go and how dangerous it was when Karis didn't obey.

After a few more gasping sobs, my little girl replied, "It's all because of my evil heart!"

I love that little girl. She is dreadfully honest about sin. Hers and ours.

A few nights ago I was trying to get them to go to sleep and losing my patience. My voice was less than kind to Gabi.

Shortly after I hear Karis saying, "Mommy, you aren't obeying God. I know because I obey God and I love God."

I hate conviction from my children.

After apologizing, I snuggled my girls and if I remember correctly quiet soon followed.

I'm grateful that God is so very real to her and He is already working in her precious little heart.

Humbled

I was feeling sorry for myself yesterday for a few reasons which I won't go into. It was silly. Is life a little tough.

Yes.

Do I really have it pretty good?

Yes again.

I realized how good when I read a facebook message a precious friend sent me. Because it had so much impact on my outlook I want to share it with you. That, and then maybe you can pray for Hannah, as well.



"I feel like telling you about a very sick little girl on campus here. Maybe in your "bored" times resting, you could pray for her, since you may know better how to pray for her than I do, and maybe it will help you too. Her name is Hannah and she became very sick in July. She's 12 years old. Since then, she has mostly been sick in the hospital with aplastic anemia. Basically, her body has no immune system. The doctors were waiting a while for her to be healthy to do a bone marrow transplant, but she just keeps getting sick, and sicker. So tomorrow they're doing the transplant. It's really dangerous with her being sick already. And her body will also be fighting to reject or accept the new bone marrow from her sister. She can get pretty discouraged with all the poking, pain, fevers, chills, surgeries, and chemo she has had, besides being separated from her beloved sisters. Last week she said, "I can't do it anymore." Pray for Hannah and her family in whatever way you think best!
Love ya, Rachel
Rev. 19:1 Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God"


Doesn't that just put everything in perspective?

I've said those very words. "I can't do it anymore."

And I am relatively healthy compared to her.

I am praying that the surgery is a success and that Hannah feels well again.

I am grateful to my friend for putting my life back in perspective and reminding me spend more time praying for those hurting around me instead of feeling sorry for myself.

How did it go?

In my defense, this was written to post yesterday. We had a bit of bad weather that brought us a couple of welcome but unexpected house guests. :-) They couldn't get home.

So, instead of coming down and tweaking my post I watched "It's a Wonderful Life."

I haven't watched that for years.

I decided I really like that movie. :-)


But..... on to my post.



Sometimes it is so hard to evaluate my doctor's appointments.

A naturopathic doctor's evaluation isn't based on x-rays or blood being drawn.

This time?

My body was stressed.

I wasn't surprised.

Last month was tough.

The pain meds that I went through really did a number on my body.

I knew I was struggling, but you don't realize how much until someone else evaluates you.

It's hard on a normal body when it reacts to medication, but when you are already worn down a bit it is just that much harder to recover. So.... actually I'm doing quite well. :-)

My body is responding to what he is giving me - that is good.

It is slow..... super slow.... but it is a little bit of progress.

As with my oncologist, this doctor is finding my case a challenge. While he told me he isn't delighting in my pain and struggle, he is intrigued by my case.

Hopefully that intrigue will lead to a cure.

There is one thing I am super excited about this time.

I walked in the door and about the first person I talked to mentioned some new natural pain medication.

Could it be possible?

I almost didn't dare hope for something like that after my past month of disappointments.

The person, and my doctor, both said they had been on some prescription meds and these worked just as well or better.

After a couple of days of taking them I was getting optimistic. But not sold yet. I do have many days without joint pain.

On Thursday, after the trip, I had taken the pills, just because I need to take six a day.

Then I felt my hip going into a spasm.

You guys, I cried. I really did.

I wanted this pain medication to work so badly.

I walked around, telling God that I was really trying to rejoice, despite the pain, but it was so, so, so, so, so, hard.

I think it was the disappointment more than the pain that was causing the tears. I just wanted it to work.

I hopped into a hot shower to get a little relief from the joint pain and try to live with the splitting headache I currently had due to some old pain prescription meds I had taken over our trip.

Still crying, I told God I really needed relief from all of this.

When I got out of the shower, the pain was gone.

It's happened one other time since. The pain will flare up, but it will go away quickly.

Before it has taken hours and about 9 Ibprophin to kill it.

Am I excited? Yes.

Am I willing to recommend it yet? Not yet. Give me another month or so and I'll tell you if it keeps working. :-)

So far, so good, though. I've taken it a few more times as I start to feel uncomfortable and it goes away. And best of all.... I can still breath. I am not coughing up blood, and there are no side effects except my silly stomach for about five minutes.

I have another thing to try for my lung. I'm excited about it as well.

So..... How was the trip? We had so much fun as a couple. The pain medication alone was worth the trip, but I'm hoping that the other thing will really help me.

Oh.... and I am on this new Omaga3 fish pill. He described it as freeze dried salmon brains. Yum, yum, yum! Any one else care to swallow a few salmon brains with me?

Actually, it is an easy pill to take. Little, and it only tastes slightly fishy. :-) I've had much worse as pills go.

I wish I could give you more about how I'm doing, but that is it. This is such a waiting game and can be so discouraging.

If you could pray for me in that area I would be so blessed. I want to stay strong and encouraged and I know I can in the Lord, but....

"My spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak."

Good think God is strong!

The Chicago trip in a nutshell...a very large nutshell.

Ok, for some reason I can't move that blasted picture down, so you are going to have to look at it first.

Small warning. This will be a long post. However, there are lots of pictures. If you are like me, lots of pictures help on long posts. :-)

In the above picture we are finished with my doctors appointment (which I'll talk about tomorrow) and getting ready to head into the Windy City.

I was nervous about this because everyone says how bad the traffic is, but then again, I get nervous when I have to make a left turn on a somewhat busy highway.

Dustin thrived on the challenge.



Here is me occupying myself while he gets the navigator ready to take us to the United Center. Now that the girl made the "mom" comment I find myself analyzing my face. There are more wrinkles there.

I suppose it is battle scars from the last couple of years.

Or maybe it is the fact that I always forget to moisturize my face.

I used to do that faithfully, you know.

Every morning, every night.

I'd wash, scrub, mask, moisturize.

My face is crying as it remembers those days.

Now I'm lucky if my teeth get brushed every night.

Good thing my teeth can't talk because at my last appointment my dentist said what an excellent job I'm doing. :-) Maybe it is all the other things I'm swallowing for my cancer. Some of it tastes bad enough to even effect my teeth.

Or maybe it is the lack of sugar.

I hate to say it, but it is probably that.

But back to the United Center. We only got stuck in a little bit of traffic and found it with no problem.

I was starving, so we went to a little hole in the wall and had a couple of sandwiches and a quick stop to the bank for some parking cash.

I'm telling you, I would love to own that parking lot for a year. Actually any parking in downtown Chicago would do. :-) We'd make a killing!

We were at the doors before they opened - along with about a hundred other crazy people.

Our excuse was that we had nothing else to do in that part of town.

Theirs, we were quickly discovering, was because they were giving away free bobble heads of Boozer (#5) to the first few thousand people. Who knew?

I'm all about free anything, but to come out early and stand outside when it was freezing, and I mean freezing, (I had to hide my face in Dustin's coat because my nose was freezing off), to get a bobble head is, in my opinion, crazy.

What does one do with two bobble heads, anyway? You're input would be appreciated.

I sighed with relief when the doors were opened and we could go in and get warm.

Isn't he cute? We went down court side before the game started to watch the players warm up.
He's just a little bit excited. Even the bobble head got a grin out of him. :-)

The view from our seats. It seems far up, but actually the view was great. And here I have to explain something to the ones who generously gave us money for the tickets. I had told her that we hadn't got the tickets yet when she gave us the amount to purchase them. I didn't realize that at the very moment I was saying that, Dustin was downstairs buying them. Oops. However, I wanted them to know that their generous gift not only covered the tickets and parking, but also our hotel and the parking there. We were thrilled! Absolutely, positively, thrilled. :-) Thank you for that special blessing!

Yes, I was at the game, and following every minute of it. There was a three pointer that got even me excited!

Also, thank you so much for your prayers. I was tired, but there there was no pain! After a day of travel and being tired that is huge for me!

Towards the end of the game I had to giggle.

You see, McDonald's was giving $1 Big Macs if the Bulls won and made 100 points.

During the last three minutes they were up by about ten and stuck on 99. Each time they went to make a basket they either missed or were thwarted.

You didn't hear comments about them needing to step up their game.

Nope.

It was "Come on! I want my Big Mac!"

Since I didn't want a Big Mac, I had a delightful time watching the consternation of those around me as the Bulls won 99-90. :-) Their arteries were thanking the Bulls for not making 100.

We waited for it to clear out a bit before we joined the 21,000 others trying to get away from the stadium. Mylanta! That is a lot of cars.

We found our hotel with very little trouble, thank you VZnavigator, and once we got out of the Bulls traffic, very quickly, as well.

I'm telling you, valet parking is something I'm seriously considering making a permanent part of my life. There is nothing better after a long day. You are tired, all you want to do is sleep. You get the bags out, hand your keys over, and that's it. Your car is gone. Loved it!
When I read the reviews of the room the majority said, clean, comfortable, a bit small.

They spoke the truth.

In order to take this picture I had to open the door and stand in the hallway. :-)

At first I was like, "Wow, this is really small, where are we going to put our stuff?"

Then I realized I sounding a lot like a spoiled American. :-)

The room was adorable, clean, warm, and the bed super comfy. It was perfect for what we needed.
I love these sinks. They aren't very practical if you only have one bathroom, but maybe someday I'll get one. :-)
The view from our window. So pretty! I do believe, though, that we were right by a fire station. I could be wrong, but about from about five in the morning on, I swear every building in Chicago was on fire. :-) I was beginning to think we had managed to get there for the reenactment of the Great Chicago Fire. :-)
The Holiday Inn was at a perfect location. In the morning we walked a few feet to Starbucks, took a gander at Trader Joe's, and then did some shopping at Bloomingdale's.
We had to go in because the building was so pretty. :-)
I didn't realize pillows could cost that much. Or rather, I've never thought about it long enough to dream that they might cost this much. :-) Guess we won't be buying them from here.
Despite the look on his face he really did like this couch. I can't remember who he was trying to portray. I think If I remembered the look would make more sense. :-)

After leaving town we went to my sisters so I could crash for a bit. My body was saying that I had done a tad much the day before and I needed to slow down. I had wanted to go the a museum or the Aquarium, but intelligence won out. That, and Dustin didn't want to have to carry me. :-)

We went out with Abby for supper, starting with an appetizer of Alligator.
I would have to say that the first couple of bites did taste like chicken. The next few were a little more fishy. Not sure I really loved it, but it was fun to try.

We had a great evening with her and then went to stay with our friends in Northwest Chicago.

We are getting to know the area quite well, which makes us feel more at home. On our way to our friends we passed Medieval Times. A dinner theater, I believe. Maybe next time we can try that. :-) Trips to the doctor are getting to be more and more fun!

Off we go!

Today we leave bright and early for Chicago.

I have an appointment and then let the fun begin. :-)

So far so good health wise for me. I feel fine.

I promise we will take lots of pictures and although I won't be in a jersey I was told I at least need to wear the colors.

So much for that cute skirt and sweater I was planning on. :-)

Have a great few days!

A little bit of randomness...

1. I ran to the store tonight to pick up detergent, taco seasoning and lettuce. I did throw in some gluten free, dairy free, egg free waffles. You might wonder what is in them if all those things are out of them. Good question. A quick glance said I could have them, that's all I remember for now.

Anyway, that wasn't my point. My point was, as I was hurrying towards the store a group of 13-15 year old girls came out to wait for someone to pick them up - I'm assuming.

They didn't actually tell me this. :-)

They were chattering as I walked towards them, determined to get out of the cold as quickly as possible. One of the girls looked right at me, then did a double take. She turned to the girl next to her and said, "I thought that was your mom."

Say what?

Ok, I know I've aged a bit. It happens. I have a few light wrinkles around my eyes and my laugh lines are deeper.

But have a 14 year old?

All I can say is that her mother had better have had her when she was 14 herself!

Maybe I'd better stop shopping in the teen department....

2. Which reminds me.... I crossed over to the dark side and bought a pair of skinny jeans.

I've resisted until now.

Not that they aren't cute, I'm just always slow on the uptake with new trends. Never sure if I can pull them off.

For one, they were on sale.

For another, I figured if there was ever a time in my life that I was going to be able to wear skinny jeans it was now - you never want to waste an opportunity. :-)

And lastly, it's hard to tuck the boot cut jeans into boots. It just is. And I want to wear boots.

3. Which brings me to this.

Did I tell you I'm knitting boots?

Probably not because I've only done about ten rows and I'm secretly afraid that is all I'll ever do, though maybe I'll do more now that I've told you about it.

I feel rather ambitious. I think maybe I should have stuck to the scarf, but my sister knitted a pair and they were so stinkin adorable I didn't resist when my little sister placed knitting needles in my hands and told me I was going to learn how.

I'll put up a picture of the start of them, soon.

4. Last but not least, last night we had a ladies night at our church called Rejoice. I will talk about this in one of my next posts, but it's not the randomness I want to talk about.

I left for it with our house a mess.

The kitchen was icky, the dishwasher needed to be unloaded.

The living room was full of scattered things. In my defense, I did pick up one towel and hang it up before I herded the girls out the door.

Oh, and lit the Christmas tree. You have to have your priorities straight, you know.

Dustin picked up the girls from my sisters after work and them came home and put them to bed.

When I finally arrived home I came in the front door and about fell over.

It was quiet.

The tree was beautiful.

My kitchen was sparkling, and the living room spotless.

Didn't I get an amazing guy?

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

These two are eagerly waiting to dig into our Christmas decorations. I always feel a little overwhelmed at the thought of decorating, but Dustin pulled everything out and we went to town.
Not that we really have all that much, honestly. I admire that stamina of those who completely change everything during the holidays. I may join you in future years. Karis can be very persuasive at five, at ten she will probably control most of the decorating, and at fifteen I very well may be out of a job. :-)
This is her creation. She has yet to learn that you group things in odd numbers, but I suppose if you count the flash light she is good to go.
This happens to be one of my favorite arrangements. Simple and sweet.
Of course no decorating is complete without turning out the lights, turning on the music, and dancing in front of the tree with Daddy. I even got my share of the fun, though I wasn't the favorite partner. You see, I don't lift and twirl around like Daddy does.

It's an awful picture, except for the fact that you can see a glimpse of the twirling that goes on around here.

At my house my dad had to dance with a lot of us growing up. Some of my favorite memories are standing on his feet and dancing to music.

It is nice to know I married a man who loves to do the same thing with his girls.

He's excited

Yesterday Dustin purchased our Bulls tickets.

He had to rush off to work, so we really didn't get to talk about it.

About an hour later I got two text messages in a row.

The first: "Cory (a friend from work) is going to lend me his Bulls jersey to wear at the game."

The second: "And I can wear my Bulls hat with it and be all geeked out:-)"

My heart smiled.

Life is so serious around here sometimes. Dustin works hard to pay the bills that pile up, struggles watching his wife suffer at times, takes care of a lot around the house that shouldn't necessarily be in his job description.

It doesn't leave a whole lot for extras.

Certainly not time for much of the little kid excitement he has for this next week.

I am thrilled that we get to do this and for those of you who made it possible.

Would you pray for the first of next week?

I don't want to let fear rule me, but it is lurking around the corner.

What if I have a shoulder ache, a muscle spasm, a hip pain that makes doing anything else an impossibility?

I know he would be completely understanding, but I don't want to ruin the weekend for us, because, frankly, I think I'm just as excited to see him there as he is to be at the game. :-)

PS In case you are wondering, I will not be in a Bulls jersey or a baseball cap. :-)