spilling the beans

Do you remember this post?  You know, the looooong post that opened this year reviewing our holidays and expressing our hopes for the new year....
http://lifewiththepages.blogspot.com/2010/01/ringing-in-2010.html

Well, this is the year in review at this point in September:
My mom's cancer turned out to be pancreatic cancer, and we have been through a series of highs and lows regarding this diagnosis.  As I type she is still struggling and believes that she may not be able to tolerate her newest chemo.  This stinks!

In May we learned that our tuition bill for the coming school year would increase by more than $4000.00, so I took a second job to try and hang on to Christian education for the kids.

In August I returned my full-time job, and I distinctly remember starting the year thinking about how much I love this job.  I love the people, the climate, and the traditions.  I love it! This is my 17th year in the building and my 12th year in my current position.  Guess what I learned this week. I have a 30-50% chance of losing this position.  If I keep the position, it will never be the same again.  This is the other stuff I referred to in my post about being discouraged. 

Of course there have been highs this year.  Vacation comes to mind.  Our kids are healthy, and we just started having small, youth group meetings in our home a couple of weeks ago.  It just seems that the hits keep coming, and I am reaching the whatever stage as my life seems to be crumbling. 

To end on a high note, today Savannah played her last field hockey game of the season prior to the tournament which starts next week.  We could see the rain coming over the football field before it made its way to the field hockey field, and as it moved past us, a double rainbow appeared briefly over the school. I didn't get the second rainbow, which disappeared quickly, in the photo, but Savannah's team went on to win their first game of the season!

...and another high note -Zach played in the varsity game tonight! SWEET!

stylin'

"These are beautiful, and they're my style" - Julia's reaction to her new jeans.

Seriously?  Isn't the "style" of a six-year-old whatever her mother buys?

Discouraged

Please pray-
Mom feels crummy. She needs blood, but she has antibodies against so much of the blood that it is not an easy fix.  She reacted badly to platlets and has blood clots. 

Life aside from Mom's illness is discouraging.  I need to get my van to a body shop for a repair from a hit it took in a parking lot.  I am so grateful that the owner of the other vehicle took responsibility, a nice reminder that honest people still exist.
There is other stuff going on that I cannot put on the blog.

I am discouraged.

Famous and Fabulous

Julia told me today on the way to church that when she grows up she wants to be famous and fabulous.  I told her that I can so see that.

Last week at church, we sat with our friends Nick and Julie who happen to be months away from having four, yes four, teenagers. We were swapping stories of the challenges of parenting teenagers when Julia noted that I should share with this couple the characteristics of our four children according to Julia.  This is Julia's assessment.
Zach is the annoying one.
Savannah is the quiet one.
Wyatt is the loud one.
Julia is ...

are you ready for this?

fabulous.

I can't resist sharing these pictures

Yes, we all look this good just minutes before leaving for the hospital to birth a baby.  I just love this picture of the proud papa and his little glowworm looking at each other.

All dressed for her homecoming in the same dress her mom wore home from the hospital.

Regan and Uncle Josh

Of course I stole all of these from Facebook :)

Finally getting around to posting about Labor Day Weekend

Before Regan arrived, I left off blogging with the news that we would be taking Wyatt on an adventure tailored to his love of rocks and desire to see the inside of a cave.  On Saturday September 4th, we started our day a little later than hoped (not unusual at all here) and headed out of town to visit a quaint and fun little place.  The kids toured the cave.  Andy and I have been in this particular cave before, and we are watching our budget, so we wandered around the village while the kids were in the cave.  Zach and Savannah reported that Wyatt was intimidated by the stairs.  He came out of the cave pumped for some mining fun.

Our budding geologist mined for gems and was thrilled to take home a bag full of fancy rocks.  He was mad that I did not return to get a particularly shiny rock that he wanted, but we were a bit rushed.

Candle making and a trip to the mill followed.

We finished the day with a trip to the candy shop and questions from Wyatt about how soon we can return.

Labor Day weekend fun continued on Sunday when we joined my parents and siblings for a humongous meal.  Zach and Savannah slept over at Tiffany's, and Wyatt and Julia stayed with Grandma and Grandpa.  It was back to work on Labor Day for me (at my part time job, which I decided to keep).

sugar and spice and everything nice

Just thought I'd share some more pictures of the beautiful and fascinating Regan.  Tessa took these.  When I visited Regan on Friday, she wore her little hospital cap and kept her hand over her face.  She was happy to be held by anyone, but if we tried to hand her off to someone else or put her down, she used her lungs to let us know that she was fine thank you very much!  She then settled right down.

Look at how she looks her Aunt Tessa right in the eye.

...and Aunt Tiffany too. I don't think she will be a shy girl.

I did get this shot of Savannah and Regan together. Zach was sick and didn't get to see her until Saturday.  He went with Andy, so in typical guy fashion, the camera did not go with them.