Update on Radiothon

Hi All,

Just wanted to update on our time at the Duke Children's Hospital Radiothon.  On our way over, Rebecca and I were listening to the radio and hearing of the special promotion.  Forester insurance had pledged to match up to $75,000 raised in a two hour period.  At the time (about 30 minutes into it) they had raised $26,000.  We followed this for the next hour and half.  More on this to come.

When we arrived, we greeted the people that we knew there - and Eliana proceeded to make friends with everyone that would look at her.  She walks up and waves or says "hi", gives high fives or just a sweet smile.  So many people told me how cute she is - and I could see how much people enjoyed seeing her. 

While we were waiting, I spoke with a woman as she was leaving.  Eliana had caught her eye and she started asking about her.  As we talked, she shared that she had lost a daughter when she was exactly Eliana's age.  She also had Down syndrome.  She died just 6 days before Eliana was born of an immune deficiency disease. 

Oh, this broke my heart and I just had to hug her neck.  She showed me a picture of her beautiful daughter.  She also told me that she has been fundraising for Duke Children's at her school since her daughter passed.  What a strong statement to the hope and care that they received at Duke.

We also talked about Down syndrome and what a beautiful gift it is to know someone like this.  And what a horror it is that so many of these children never make it to know life at all.

I wish we had longer to talk, but I know that I can pray for her.  She told me that she has since had a little boy who is perfectly healthy.  She seems to have a sweet spirit.

While we were waiting, we followed and chased Eliana.  She heard the phones ringing and would hold her hand to her ear and say "hello".  She also saw a large bag of change.  I told her that it was money and she hit her chest and said "mine".  lol  This little one is funny!

Rebecca made her donation at about 5:30.  Bless you friends who waited to hear her!  It was a brief time for her to share what she had done and why.  She told about how her little sister had been born with 2 holes in her heart and how Duke had taken great care of her.  She wanted to help other children that didn't have insurance to be able to be helped too. 

She was very nervous, but spoke calmly and clearly and did a great job!  I'm so proud of you Rebecca!  She donated ...

$3200.00

Since her pledge was made during the challenge, they told her that her donation was doubled to $6400.00!  Way to go! 

After this, we left to go home.  We heard the rest of the challenge - and they were successful in raising the $75,000 and more.  Total raised ...  190, 544 in two hours.

I'm thankful for this experience.  Who knew when Eliana was born that "hearts" would be touched in so many ways - both physical, emotional and spiritual.  I told Rebecca that God has given her some special gifts - a compassionate heart, a desire and drive to help others and creativity.  I'm incredibly blessed to see her using her gifts at such a young age!  I'm incredibly humbled that God would allow us to be used to bless others and that He would allow me to see Him at work in my children.  Thank you God for blessing us.  We pray that you would continue to use us to your glory!

Blessings,

Leslie

Duke Children's Radiothon

Just wanted to share that tomorrow (Wed 11 Feb), Rebecca, Eliana and I will be going to Duke for their annual radiothon fundraiser.  Not sure yet if the boys - some or all - will be going with us.  We'll see.

Rebecca is planning to make another large donation to the pediatric cardiac unit.  I'm so proud of her work!  If you aren't familiar with what she has done - you can click on the link in my sidebar under Wholehearted Bracelets.

We will be there around 5pm to make the donation and talk on the air.  This time was selected for a big audience going home from work.  If you want to listen, go to this site and follow the link for listening on-line.

I'm not sure yet what we will be asked - probably just to hear our story.  I know that Rebecca will be nervous.  She already is.  I'm not sure I've done enough to prepare her - I just want her to be able to relax and share comfortably what she has done and why.  Would you please pray for calm nerves and an ability to share what God has placed on her heart.  (I'd love that prayer for me too - though I'm not nervous about it.)  I want God to be glorified in all that we say.

I'm thankful for this opportunity and thankful for the friends we have made at Duke.  I'm thankful to be approaching 2 years on a healed heart.  I was thinking back and remembering that 2 years ago, Eliana was in heart failure.  She was struggling to eat and I was struggling to feed her.  It was a hard time - and yet God was so faithful. 

God has blessed our lives in so many ways.  We are blessed to be able to share that with others.

Blessings,

Leslie

Couple of funnies,a week-end update and a prayer request

We left Friday to go visit my sister's family.  We had a blast and enjoyed having time to hang out with them.  I'll post more details - and pictures - if I can figure out how to upload the photos. 

I thought I'd share a couple of funny stories with you though.

At one point on Friday, the boys were trying to do chin-ups.  Isaiah was swinging on the bar, lost his grip and fell on his back.  He had the wind knocked out of him and I knew he was hurting pretty badly.  He did get up though and walk to the sofa so that I knew he was fine.  A little while later he was going down the steps when Joshua brushed past him.  Well, this bump set Isaiah's back to hurting again and he sat on the step and cried.  I called Joshua back and asked him to apologize and make things right.  Isaiah doesn't like to be comforted and Joshua didn't know what to do.  I told him just to sit there.  Joshua's next question just made me chuckle inside.  "Can I get a book?"

Earlier this evening, Joshua approached me and very seriously said "If we ever go to New Zealand, I don't want to go.

I asked "Why not?"

Joshua replied "Because of the cannonballs."

I was confused and just repeated "Cannonballs?"

He stated, "Yes, they eat people."

Huh?  I was confused for a moment and then said "Do you mean cannibals?  They aren't there any longer."  LOL

On a serious note, would you join me in praying for Eli?  He just 3yo and is going in tomorrow, Monday Feb 9 for surgery on his heart.   You can read more about it on his mom, Lisa's blog.   They have been waiting for this day for quite some time, and yet you can never be quite prepared for handing your child over for open heart surgery.  Lisa told me tonight that she was looking forward to having a ticker like mine that said the number of days "AFTER" open heart surgery.  It is much better on this side of surgery.  Praying for you dear friend!!!

UPDATE:  Eli's surgery was a success!!!  No complications and all went very, very well!  Praise God!  Please continue to pray for Eli's recovery and healing and for his family as they juggle all that is on their plates right now!

Blessings,

Leslie

Durham Bulls

Guess what we learned about this time?  Need a hint.  America's pastime.

Another fun outing with our FIAR group.  This time we went to see the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP).  The Bulls are a minor league baseball team which is the AAA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.  We toured the park and learned more about how things work.

It was a very, very cold day - but the children had fun.  The little ones, including Eliana, had a hard time with the temps though.  She fussed and had a runny nose.  I began to wonder if she was getting sick.  When I finally was able to put her down, inside a warm area, she was fine.  I'm thankful.

This is the entrance of the ball park. 

This is a bull sculpture near the entrance.

We toured the rec room and the locker room.  Nothing fancy, but functional.  Christopher was amused to see a football in the locker room. 

This is a view from the home team's dug out.  If you look to the upper left, you can see the Bull.  When they score, his tail moves, his eyes turn red and smoke comes from his nostrils.  Also, if a home player hits the bull, he wins a steak dinner as does a fan.

Look again at the picture above.  Can you see the scoreboard (green in the middle of the blue wall).  Well, we were able to go see how it works. 

You enter from the right side of the "wall" and go down behind it. 

Then up onto a platform to look out the "windows" which is were each of the numbers are placed for the scoreboard.  This is a view out of one of the windows onto the field.

This is Daniel beside one of the windows and you can see some of the numbers used for scoring.  It is one person's job to change all the numbers for the game.

 

Next, we went into the press box.  Here is the view from there.

The stadium holds about 10,000 people and several "party boxes" for large groups and a play area for children.

This is just a cute picture.  You can't tell because of the sunlight, but Joshua is wearing a Durham Bulls baseball cap just for the outing.

At the end, we took a group photo and then went across the street to the Mellow Mushroom for a pizza lunch.  Daniel had a pepperoni sandwich again - and a bite of pizza!  Woo hoo!  It was yummy food and good to be in a warm place with friends. 

Looking forward to our next adventure - a trip to visit my sister and her family this week-end!

Blessings,

Leslie

Do you know about iGoogle?

I had heard about it and have just recently started using it - and loving it!  It's really a great tool if you read blogs as it makes it so much easier to keep up with them!  I encourage you to try it.

I have "google" set as my homepage.  One of the options is "Google Reader".  You can add in sites/blogs that you visit (add subscription).  Whenever one is updated, you will see a note on your google homepage.  It highlights things that you haven't read so it is easy to see what is new.

Try it - I think you'll like it.

Blessings,

Leslie

Dental Appointments

Well, this is what took up most of my day - or seemed to anyway.

We had a slow start and didn't get much, if anything, accomplished this morning.  Then it was off to the dentist.  My 4 oldest were scheduled to be seen.  Thankfully, Roger was able to meet us there.  I was concerned at how I would handle being with the kids being seen while having the two youngest in tow, kwim? 

One of our children has had some real struggles with the dentist and he did much better today.  The dentist we see is so very patient!!!  This is the one child that so far seems to be the one who will be visiting the dentist a lot.  I think we are going to miss out on braces for the oldest 2 or 3.  I'm thankful for that!

While we were there, I asked the dentist to take a peek at Eliana.  Her bottom teeth (the two in the middle) are very crooked and pointed instead of smooth.  Really sharp!  Our ped was a little concerned that she might fall and hurt herself with them.  He looked and explained that the nerve would grow in the same shape as the tooth, so trying to file it wouldn't be a good option as it might expose the nerve.  Ouch!  He said he might be able to a very small amount over time to try to smoothe it a little bit - but not now.  We'll see.

The other thing that he commented on was the unique dental traits in children with Down syndrome.  I knew about the unusual order - Eliana's teeth have not come in the same order as her siblings.  He also mentioned that sometimes they have extra teeth and sometimes are missing teeth.  He thought that just by looking that she may be missing some teeth on the bottom.  :( 

She currently has the two in the center on the bottom and then none until the teeth in the back.  It isn't definite and I didn't think to ask him what this would mean.  (Roger asked me that - I didn't think to ask.  I'm not one to try to borrow trouble - not saying that he is, but I tend to just wait and see.)  If any of you reading have any experience with this, I'd love to hear it.

We then went home for lunch and Eliana's physical therapy.  She did a great job - worked hard and is making progress.  We are working on strengthening the muscles in her stomach and bottom.  Both are weak and affect how she walks and moves about.  It's cute now, but we are hoping to help her gain strength.

After therapy Eliana took a nap and I headed back to the dentist with Daniel.  Just the two of us.  He did great!  I was very proud of him.  I could tell that he was having some sensory issues with several of the things, but he pushed through it and did such a good job!  I was really proud of him. 

Whew!  What a day.  Daniel came home and took a nap - and so did I.  Not very productive on the school front today, but you have to deal with life as it comes at you some days.  Tomorrow looks full too.  We have 2 therapies and then science labs with friends. 

I was talking with a friend and sharing something that I'd heard awhile back.  It was a good reminder for me too.  When you have plans and are interupted, how do you deal with it?  Do you get frustrated that you are thrown off schedule?  I know that I do.  Instead, choose to look at interuptions as God's appointments for you for that day.  It really gives you a different perspective and hopefully a better attitude.  I needed that reminder for myself and I'm choosing to learn from what we did do today and not be frustrated by what didn't get done.

Blessings,

Leslie

Super Bowl Sunday - and a great story!

There are a couple of football fans here - one BIG football fan!  So, we planned on watching the game.  Friends came over to join us and we had a yummy meal of BBQ, asian slaw, chips, various dips, fruit, and cookies. 

Some of us that were less interested in the games, played games of our own - Scrambled States of America, Spoons and Rack-O.  Fun all the way around.  I didn't think to take any pictures though.

In light of football, I wanted to share an incredible story.  I loved it and think you will too.

One you just have to read here.

And then for the rest of the story, click here. 

Ackland Art Museum & More

This is a catch up post from last week.  We had another fun field trip with our Five in a Row group!  We visited Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill.  We had tours set up for the children that were 5 and older.  There was a children's museum just around the corner which was an option for those with younger children.

We first went the museum and the younger children had a tour (ages 5 to 9).  The older kids went to Starbucks with some of the moms to play games and have a cup of hot chocolate.  I took my two youngest plus a friend's 1yo with me to Kidzu Children's Museum.

What a fun museum!  It wasn't big - which was a great option with 3 small children (one of whom is a wanderer!). 

Doesn't she just look sassy?!  lol

Fun construction area.

Loved this kitchen area and would love to have our play kitchen area organized like this.  Doesn't this look like a fun place to play?  To the left was a large table and farther to the right a refrigerator. 

Can you guess the game that Eliana liked playing?!  Yes, taking off her shoes and socks.  She doesn't wear them a lot at home and I guess she was just making herself comfortable.  lol

For the second hour, the older kids were in the museum and the middle kids joined us at the museum.  I don't have any pics in the museum.  The reports that I heard was that it was very well done.  The docents were great with the children - and complimentary of our group.  One of the activities that Rebecca enjoyed was writing a dossier on one of the figures in a painting. 

Since our group was so split up, we didn't get a chance to see everyone.  We grabbed a few folks and got a picture outside of the museum.

Afterwards, we walked down Franklin Street (the main street in Chapel Hill) for lunch.  We ate with 4 other families at Subway.  It was a fun lunch.  I was excited that for the first time I ordered Daniel a sandwich!  We've been working hard on his food/sensory issues and he is making great progress.  One of the foods he really likes is pepperoni.  So, he got a pepperoni sandwhich - plain.  The sides were applesauce and chips.  A perfect lunch for him!  I was just excited to order from the menu.  Typically, I have brought food for him for our lunches.  I didn't do that today and figured we would do the best we could.  This was a great step!  Way to go Daniel!

Another fun outing with our FIAR group.  We are thankful to be a part of this group!

Blessings,

Leslie

A Day with the Boys

Well, I thought I might try just writing about today.  I have other things I still want to add, but maybe it would just be easier to do a little bit more often.  We'll see.  I really need to learn how to upload/download pictures from my camera myself which would make this much easier.

Today, Rebecca went to work with her Daddy.  She was scheduled to go a couple of places with her bracelets to sell.  (For anyone new to my blog, you can read more by clicking on Wholehearted Bracelets in my sidebar.  In a nutshell, Rebecca has been making and selling bracelets to raise money for babies needing heart repair.  She started this shortly after Eliana was born.  She has donated all of the money to Duke Children's Hospital.)  She will be making another donation soon to Duke during their big radiothon.  We'll be doing a short interview similar to last year on Feb 12th.  If anyone is interested in purchasing a bracelet before this date - please email me or just post on here.  We'd love to send one to you. 

With my morning helper gone, I wasn't sure how the day would go.  She helps soooo much and often lets me get a little more sleep.  I went to sleep early which was a good thing.  Eliana had a rough night last night.  Her little bottom is red and obviously hurting - though I'm not sure why.  She woke a couple of times crying (and I think this was the cause). 

My first glimpse of morning was when Daniel came in EARLY to tell me that the playroom door was locked.  I knew that - I locked it after they'd gone to sleep.  I had been trying to clean/organize the room and having it open just invited help that ... wasn't all that helpful, if you know what I mean.  Thankfully, he left quietly and I slept a bit more with Eliana beside me.  She woke up soon after and played in my room for awhile. 

When I got up, I decided we needed to make the most of the day.  (Actually this was probably decided the night before from reading some posts on the FIAR board.)  We all got up and had breakfast, did a little cleaning and then started with our schoolwork.  I wanted to see if we tried to stay on task (all of us - including me) if we could make good progress.  We did!!!

The 3 younger boys got almost all of their schoolwork done before lunch time.  It's amazing what having a free morning will do for you!  (We've had morning therapies for each of the last three days.)  I think this was our most productive day of the week so far!  :-)  I was very encouraged.

What made a difference?  Well, me staying off the computer except for short times while giving Eliana a morning bottle.  If I can stay focused, it really helps everyone else to do the same.  When I wander off (to read the computer), they do as well.  I knew that with one of my helpers gone, that I couldn't afford to be a slacker today.  I also think it helped to have a couple of extra hours in today that we haven't had on M, T or W.  Don't get me wrong, I'm very thankful for our therapies.  I think that they are incredibly helpful and am very glad to have this benefit.  They do make schooling a little more challenging though!

So, what did our day look like?  We started with morning devotions.  Nothing calm and quiet - we did have 4 boys and one very active little girl in the room.  I do like starting our day though focusing on and talking about God. 

Next, Daniel did his listening therapy, Joshua and Isaiah did seatwork (math, handwriting, research) and Christopher and Eliana played.  Then we would switch off with each person having some time to play with Eliana alternated with working.  For our unit studies, J and I are doing Cowboy  Charlie, a true story about Charles Russell.  Joshua read an extra book on the Wild West today to go along with our lesson and they watched a movie this evening too.  Daniel is "rowing" the Snowy Day.  Christopher is working on various things - Uncle Eric studies on government, Movies as Literature (writing a paper), geometry, etc.

Eliana took a long nap after lunch (which was nice since her night was a short one).  While she napped, I worked on puzzles with Daniel (as part of his Little Contenders work), started supper, did various other work with the boys, did some laundry and cleaning too.

Tonight a friend came over and helped me start tackling the playroom (again!).  We visited a fabulous children's museum last week and seeing the centers there really made me want to do something similar in our  playroom.  It was so much fun to play in these areas - and so easy to clean it up to since everything had a neat and labelled place to go.  I've bought some things to help organize.  A girl can dream right?

Well, that's it for our day.  Tomorrow should be another slower day.  We have no place to go and no therapies.  Hopefully it will be another fun and productive day.

Blessings,

Leslie

Snow Day

We had a good snow last week - finally!!!  It was so much fun to wake up to snow!  Roger and the children played in it for a little while before he headed to work. 

Because this was the day of the Inauguration, we stayed inside for a good bit of the afternoon to watch things on tv.  By afternoon, everyone was ready to head back out into the snow.

Eliana had her first experience in the snow - and she LOVED it!  She didn't mind falling.  She wanted to taste it when Rebecca handed her a glove full.  She was just thrilled with it all.  In fact, when she was soaked (and stinky) and needing to go in, she just cried and cried.  I'm glad she enjoyed it.

Daniel noticed that the snow went "plop" on his head just like in the book The Snowy Day that we are reading this week.  He didn't mind it either.  When the snow got down into his gloves, he calmly asked me to help him.  This is great progress for him!

The rest of the kids had fun throwing snowballs with each other and friends.   Everyone (but Eliana) had fun sledding down a hill in our back yard.  I should mention that this hill is *in* the woods.  It's not a clearing really and not all that smooth.  But they had a blast and you work with what you have, right?  Here are some pictures.

Blessings,

Leslie