Time can be your friend or your enemy

Last day of Home School Co Op was last Thursday.... the week went by so fast!!!  I tried to savor and enjoy all the time with my students.  I was really proud of all the performances. They really worked hard to present their best.  I was also excited that the entire Showcase was musical.

Kady sang her first solo ---- It was great!

At the end of the day it was a little sad. Kady's best friend Ashley graduated and will be headed to Spokane, Washington in August.  Where does the time go? Seems like just a couple months ago I was chasing after a toddler and now she is almost 18.

Treasure each day. Do not take anything for granted. As fast as last week progressed.... this week seemed to crawl by.  Probably because it is only full of fairly mundane things.
Trying to sort through clothes that have gotten too big, shoes I don't wear and just junk accumulated and we really don't need.

I know the summer will go fast. I want to try to enjoy every day and not wish it away.  Last summer I graduated from College. This summer it would be really nice if I could finally get notes together to write that book.

I know when you are young, you can't wait for the next thing.  That is great, but don't forget to enjoy the journey, because often those are the best times.

REJOICE! Again, I say rejoice!!

That is my word for 2015. Oh, Thanks God for the humor you bestow upon us.  2015 did not start out very joyful for lots of reasons. BUT, I do not share my dirty laundry in public. Who wants to see that anyway... or read it???

I'm taking a MATH class, not always a joyful proposition, but let me tell you, I am not hating it. Well, most of the time anyway.

My daughter has a new man in her life. Granted, he has four feet and apparently has a lot of gas. Sampson is her project, she is using YOUNG LIVING essential oils on him to heal all the wounds he has on his body from pipes, etc, trying to keep warm.  He was rescued from Corpus Christi.  He loves her little Bubbu dog, so she is on cloud nine contributing to love and peace in the world.
I am rejoicing that her heart is one of helping others, no matter what the current trend by other teens.

My favorite holiday is tomorrow.  I got my engagement ring on Valentine's day.  My husband has a generous heart and always bestows on me the most romantic and beautiful gift. Dinner out and reflections on the last 17 years we have been together. Hard to believe, from my curmudgeon, right?

3 more weeks of Math and 3 more months and I will have my degree. That is a lot of rejoicing my friends.

Rejoice in the small things.  Plus, I have  sign by my desk now... I'm doing it...
"I will no longer allow the negative things in life to spoil all of the good things I have. (God has given) I choose to be Happy!!
TTFN,
Suzanne

Prayer

I like to get on face book.  Connecting with friends, old and new.  Keeping up with them.  I like reading silly posts, or sometimes not so silly.
It happened slowly.  Not all at once.  Someone had a prayer request, it sent me to a page.  So, the face book prayer began.  Over the past year, I have joined several sites that involve children.
 Bradley's Story is a face book site that honors Bradley Allen, a child I have never met, but I have been praying for.  He went to be with Jesus a couple days ago.  He had an aggressive cancer.  I marvel at the faith and strength of this young family.  I'm not sure exactly how I heard about him.  I believe his family is friends with a good friend from college.
Effie Gregg is a young toddler with tumors in her body.  She has had surgery and chemo and is now healing but suffering the side effects of all the treatment on her little body.  I joined her page cause my paternal grandmother's name was Effie.  I pray for Effie.
Haley is an infant born with a condition that has most of her organs on the outside of her body.  She is on a breathing tube and a feeding tube.  Her family is young and they rejoice in her weight going up every day!!!  I pray for Haley.  She posted on another site.. Austin, which is how I started following her page.
Austin is another child who is so remarkable.  At three months he was shaken and thrown by a babysitter, a friend of the mother.  He is over a year old now.  This site is about forgiveness and progression, though slow, Austin is getting better.  I pray for Austin.
To some it may seem absurd to pray for ones you've never met.  Who cares?  Well,  God does.  One of my favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis, and forgive the paraphrase but:  I pray.  It may or may not change the situation, that is entirely up to God.  I pray because it changes ME.
TTFN,
Suzanne

2 years since my last post???

I can't believe I haven't posted in two years!  Wow, so much has happened.
Chris is now married to Angie.  Jerome left Spurs and started his own company. TJ lives with us. Kady is still sick but finally getting better.  Slowly getting better, but at least it's not the TX two step it has been in the past.
Reading my last post from two years ago.  I am not taking classes right now.  Its just too much. Right now Kady is seeing a specialist in Austin.  Dr. Briseley from Austin Atlas Orthogonal Chiropractror. http://www.austinaoc.com/
We go every Tuesday and come back on Wednesday.  She sees the doctor on Tuesday, we go to Chris and Angie's home and spend the night, get up go see the doctor again on Wednesday and then go back home.  We spend Monday getting ready to leave, Thursday and Friday trying to catch up for what ever was going on while we were gone. 
Jerome now owns another company.  He started Higher Impact Entertainment and has 3 main characters; 3 big red monkeys.  He also works with the San Antonio Talons,www.sanantoniotalons.com the AFL as their mascot Swoop and most recently acquired the company he worked with part-time; Rally Entertainment. www.higherimpactent.com
TJ works with Jerome part time and works at Live the Life church the rest of his time.  He keeps busy with those two jobs!! https://www.facebook.com/livethelifechurch
Chris left Wells Fargo and now works for Sage Financial.  He and Angie went to Belize and got married in October.
Mike and Wren moved to New Braunfels.  She works for an attorney and he is with the Spring Branch Fire Department.
BIG NEWS!!  Todd and Songae had their first baby and made us grandparents!!  Cayden was born July 18, 2012 and weighed 7# 7oz.  At his 3 month check-up he was 18#  A big, big boy!!!
Gary's company Mactec was purchased by Amec, a UK company.  He keeps really busy at work and may be moving his part of the office across the street from the building he is in now.  It doesn't increase his 5 minute commute by much  .www.amec.com
I have become addicted to Pinterest.  Love seeing what crafty things people come up with.  I have tried a few for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I was planning on doing some geneology searches in the New Year in between doctor visits with Kady. I'd really love to read a book next year!! 
I'm not writing a Christmas letter this year.  This is our catch up!!  I'll post this and if you wanna know what's happening.... gotta catch it here!
I hope your month of December is blessed with the real meaning of Christmas.  It's not about the getting but about the giving. It is not about the presents but about God gracing us with His presence in giving Jesus Christ to us, for us, because He loves us.
May God bless you in 2013 and I pray that your needs will be fulfilled and health and happiness will be in your home!
TTFN,
Suzanne

Looks like Christmas!

I love Christmas! It always brings back fun memories. When the boys were little... and still believed... Christmas Eve services, my father always waiting until Christmas Eve to go shopping. My mom and I always baked and make all kinds of Candy and cookies, making gingerbread houses with the boys. I love Christmas music too! I didn't realize I had so many Christmas decorations until Gary took down 17 large boxes of stuff and that didn't even include any outdoor decorations, which we have. I collect Santas and Kady has Nutcrackers. I usually only buy one new Santa a year, but this year... let's just say I bought more. I now need to start collecting Mrs. Claus' so I will have mates for all of Santa.
I still have a few projects to finish, but somehow I really am not stressing about that. I decided I only really have to finish 2 before Christmas and if the other three happen after Christmas, no big deal.
I did finish my Literature class. Wow was it tough! I learned a lot and will now take a break until we get my daughter well. Good news though, we have an appointment at Houston on January 11, 2011. I never thought her illness would last this long. Now, I am looking forward to reading Nicholas Sparks book Safe Haven. I will give you all a review when I finish. I really should do that more often!
Looking forward to American Idol beginning in January. I bet it is going to be fun, fun, fun!!
Later,

Thanksgiving

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone. But, it was good. We went to my oldest son's house. It was a really enjoyable day. Seems like it had been forever since we went anywhere for any length of time. Chris' girlfriend Angie cooked the turkey in her new kitchen. It was awesome. She was a little worried that it wouldn't turn out since her oven was new. They were so worried, they precooked a practice turkey!! My three sons were there as well as Angie's parents and her sister and two of her sister's children. Kady had fun and made a new friend. Except she was extremely tired!
We kind of miss having leftover turkey, so right now, Gary is cooking a turkey so we can have leftover turkey!!! Considering we have chicken 95% of the time... it is all good!!
I have three weeks left in my literature class. I have learned a lot, but I am looking forward to the Christmas break. I haven't registered for classes in the spring, but I will be doing that soon.
I am making a lot of Christmas presents. It is a nice break from studying.
We are still waiting to hear from Texas Children's hospital in Houston. I am hoping that no news is good news.
Later

Here it is.

It has been busy since May. I know I have thought about posting, but besides taking care of a still sick child, I am taking college classes on-line.
OK, maybe trying to study isn't always as easy as I thought it would be. And, sleep is really a problem for me right now, so I end up studying at really odd times. I haven't gotten my grades from last session, but I made an A (100) on my term paper, which is 15% of my grade, so I am really hoping and wishing and praying. My next class is starting on Monday and it's literature. I love to read and write, so I am really looking forward to this one.
I am going to take a bible class and a history class in the spring and I would really love to take a break in the summer. Then next fall, except for a math class, all my classes are psychology classes, which is my major.
On the home front, Kady is still suffering from extreme nausea. She has gastroparesis and a bunch of other stuff all meaning she is nauseous all the time. She takes something every four hours for nausea/vomiting and it really only helps the nausea. Waking up in the night is probably why sleep is an issue. Also, since I get sleepy during the day, drinking tea to wake me up then keeps me awake. Then, the cycle starts again. The good thing is that she now sets her own alarm to take medicine, so is maintaining an active part of taking her medicine. That helps me a lot. She had her friend come over yesterday and that seemed to make her not think about being sick, so she felt better, but got really tired. We don't get out a whole lot because we try to stay away from germs. Especially church and other activities like that are a real danger to her. She can't catch anything else because her immune system is really compromised so she catches anything she remotely gets near. We will be testing her system because we are attending a quincenera for one of her best friends tomorrow night. (Praying for no sick people there.)
We are trying to get Kady into Houston Childrens hospital to see the GI specialist there. Then, we are also trying to get into a rheumatologist from Houston for her neck. We still feel like it is the veges nerve that is causing the problems.
Trying to keep up with everything, including this blog in the future.
TTFN