Prayers needed

Yesterday we found out that one of the young girls, Madeline, who danced with Sarah in the Nutcracker and is also a member of the same dance studio was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). She is a special young girl who is talented and a wonderful role model for the younger dancers, such as Sarah.

On Saturday, one of the dance teachers noticed a very large bruise on Madeline and questioned her. She did not know how she got the bruise. This teacher had noticed how fatigued Madeline had been in the past weeks and then coupled with the horrible headaches she had been suffering from decided to speak with her father when he came to pick her up from rehearsal. The teacher recommended that they take Madeline to the doctor.

On Monday Madeline and her parents went to the pediatrician who did a blood test. On Tuesday, the parents received a phone call telling them that Madeline had cancer. By Tuesday afternoon she was in ICU at Scottish RIte Children's Hospital receiving chemotherapy and hooked up to a machine that removed her white blood cells.

Please pray for Madeline and her family. Here is the link to her caring bridge page should you want to keep up with her progress.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/madelinegaffney

This has all happened so quickly and so many of the young girls at the dance studio are touched by this tragedy. To them, Madeline was so full of life and energy. It is so hard for them to understand how sick she really is.

Sarah told me this morning that her "heart feels like it has a hole in it" because of how sick Madeline is. I know exactly how she feels. Please join us in asking the Lord for strength for Madeline and her family.

What a weekend!

Hello, hello, is anyone there?

The crowd enjoying a game of Apples to Apples

Ready for the Year of the Ox celebration!

Friends

What a blizzard--Southern style!

I cannot believe all that we squeezed into a brief 3 day weekend! I'm telling you, Dave and I have got it all together. We got the kids to dance rehearsal, a Chinese New Year Celebration, a birthday party and had 2 of Sarah's friends over for a sleepover! WHEW!

Unfortunately, our wires got crossed on the Chinese New Year celebration. I thought it was this coming weekend and allowed Sarah to invite her friends over. As a result Sarah and I had to skip the New Year party. I was disappointed because it is important that we have this as a family tradition. Next year I'll be sure to get the date right!

Oh, and we can't forget the ENORMOUS snow fall (LOL!) we had at our house. I'm so surprised they didn't call off school. Just look at the photos and you'll see what I mean!

Matthew went to a party for one of his friends at school. He had such fun and really looked to be "one of the boys"! How wonderful that he is starting to make new relationships.

I do have some great news about Dave but want to save that for another post that I can just dedicate to him--he deserves some photos and a post all about HIM! Stay tuned....

A First Sleepover

Getting ready for the party!


Happy Birthday Karlie!


My new pillowcase that I colored myself!

Analiese went on her FIRST sleepover last night! It was ALL she could talk about during the week (and it was a great way to keep her in line!). On Friday morning she woke up all smiles and excitement---it's sleepover night!

It was difficult for me to allow her to go. Analiese is my baby and even though she is 6 years old, developmentally she is about 5. However, because Lynn and Todd are like second parents to Analiese I felt comfortable.

When we got to the party, all of the girls already had their pj's on. So of course Analiese ran upstairs and put her jammies on also! Before I left, Analiese promised to call me before they settled down to watch the movie. I actually got 2 calls. One, Analiese asked to call me, just to tell me she was having fun and that she loved me (and wanted to tell her dad that also). The second call was suggested by Lynn right before the movie started.

I was so pleased that through all of the excitement Analiese still remembered to call and tell us good night! According to Lynn the girls all slept well. Dave picked Analiese up in the morning and she was just FULL of stories.

One more step toward independence; one less cord attached to mom. Sigh.....

Time is just Flying!

It really just seems as if we were enjoying our Christmas break. Now, here it is, almost the middle of January! We certainly hit the ground running in the New Year.

Grace has been moved (Again!) to pre-team and our schedule was turned upside down.

Sarah's dance performance schedule has been changed and she now has 2 performances in March--almost back to back.

Analiese will attend her first sleepover this coming Friday. Ack! Thank goodness it is with our good friend who kept Analiese, while Dave and I were at work, when Analiese first came home from China.

Matthew is growing out of his clothes. I just hate to have to buy some more winter clothes because I KNOW they won't fit him next year!

Dave fell off of the ladder while painting the bathroom. Thank goodness he hit the ladder on the way down which actually broke his fall. Sweet Analiese watched Daddy fall onto the ceramic tile. Believe me, there were lots of tears and none of them came from Dave!!! Thank Goodness Dave seems to be OK.

I, for the first time in my life, have gotten to a weight that I hate! I'm adding more exercise as I feel that I eat pretty well (OK, so I do snack a little at night...). Hopefully I'll get back to where I feel comfortable!

The best part of 2009 has been that we've planned a trip to Disney for the summer! We all agreed that this year we would forgo the "big birthday celebrations" and put the money toward going to Disney. We will then celebrate everyone's birthday while in the Magic Kingdom (we'll actually be there on Sarah's birthday!).

We have reservations for lunch with the Princesses in Cinderella's castle! Since our last visit, Disney has added a character lunch in the castle. We've done breakfast twice so this time we thought we'd do another meal. Of course we'll go to Chef Mickey's again--we love it there!

We certainly hope 2009 continues to be full of so much excitement!