Good Job Jesus!

In trying to curve Hill's fear of storms (NOT that he would get that from me), I explained to him one time that the thunder was Jesus having a bowling game and when there is lightning, he gets a strike!! Along came a storm tonight, and while eating dinner he said (while holding his finger in the air thinking VERY hard):

"Now Mommy, is it Jesus or Santa Claus that is bowling??"

Right about that time, before I could answer, it thundered and he said:

"Good job Jesus...he's winning!!"

Luke Update

Luke with Aunt Katie and his 4 year old twin sisters, Natalie and Sydney

This is from Katie:

"It is with deepest sorrow that I share with you this update on Luke. Dr. Carson evaluated Luke today. Luke has a very aggressive tumor that is inoperable. With chemo and radiation, he might live for another two years. That is the longest recorded time that anyone with this type of tumor has survived. Ross and Lisa are taking him home tomorrow for a few days, and then will take him somewhere closer to home to begin 5 weeks of radiation, then chemo. This will shrink the tumor, but according to Dr. Carson it will come back. Because the tumor is on the brain stem and controls an individual's motor control, Luke will eventually lose his. Obviously, we are beyond devasted and left asking more questions than God is providing answers for now. I don't know how you tell an active 7 year old boy that soon you will be sick from "medicine", you can't play sports anymore because you will lose your ability to walk, or that you won't survive to graduate elementary school. Please, please pray that Ross, Lisa, Luke, Sydney and Natalie can face this with courage and hope, and not fear and anger. Pray that mom, dad, Kristi, myself, and all of their friends can rally around them to give them the support, encouragement, and mental relief that they need. And pray that God will give peace to Luke and the family, and not long-term suffering before God carries Luke to heaven. Thank you for your love and kind words during this time. Katie"

Pray for Luke

I have an immediate prayer request for anyone that may come upon this post for one of my best friends (a sorority sister), Katie's nephew, Luke (age 7). He was transported to Johns Hopkins yesterday after his dad was insightful enough to notice some changes in his movements and they discovered he had a brain tumor at a local hospital and then sent him to JH. In Katie's words:

"Throughout the course of the day, a team of neurologist ran tests. The prognosis is that Luke's tumor is malignant and inoperable. The best case scenario is that chemo and radiation will get it, but he will most likely never regain full motor function. However, the team of doctors believe that this is unlikely and that he will not survive the tumor. My family is devastated, but we remain hopeful. Dr. Carson was NOT with this team of doctors today. He will evaluate Luke in the morning. God can and has performed miracles through this gifted doctor and we pray that he will find a way to work one on Luke. (We have a family friend whose son had a brain tumor much like Luke's as a child. His prognosis was the same and the family was told there was no hope. Dr. Carson operated, and now he walks, talks, and is married with children.) I don't believe this is false hope or silly to have the faith that God can do the same through him for Luke."

This all makes me so sick to my stomach- of course because I hate to see what this wonderful family is going through, but it seems like I hear about things like this happening daily...and not to strangers but to families I know. This doesn't, by any means, make it more important because I know them- it just makes it all seem way too common and real for me to hear stories about these children being so healthy and fine one day and not the next. We spent an unexpected night in Children's ER on Friday night (with Hill) and he is fine, we have been counting our blessings for that all weekend...but the pain for this family, and all the others going through similar battles is heavy on my heart. I felt that most dreaded fear for just a few hours that something was wrong with Hill, but he is okay. These families fears, unfortunately, were confirmed. I pray for God to give them strength, understanding beyond what they thought they could endure, and to hold these children in the palm of His hand.

I find it really cool that the meaning of Luke is "the beloved physician".
I love you Katie!!
** Just had a thought- if you read this and are praying for sweet Luke (no matter who or where you are), please leave a comment so that Katie can see how many people are lifting him up in the days ahead!!

Time Out for Murray!!

The event we have been waiting for for about 6 months...The Wiggles was last night! Not sure if Scott or Hill was more excited.

"Diapers...check! Bottles...check! Tickets...check! Juice...check!" Notice what is missing on this list...yesssss, the camera! So, I comforted myself, the failed mother, by saying, "well, I got such really good pictures of all The Wiggles gang last year at the concert, WHO would know the difference if I had pictures of them this time-they all look exactly the same!?!?" WHO would have thought that we were in the perfect seats for each Wiggle to stop right next to Hill...there they were, with little Hill reaching out to touch them and give them a high five...and I...do...not...have...the...camera. If it had only stopped there.

If you listen to The Wiggles, at all, you know the old favorite "Fruit Salad." Well, there they were right next to us in the aisle and they had a big blow up banana they were throwing from one Wiggle to another and to Murray and Captain Feathersword on the floor by us (again, you will know who I'm talking about if you watch them...if you don't watch it, you might as well stop reading, you won't be impressed). Murray preceded to toss it back to the stage via Captain, and WHO does it hit in the head...HILL! They both apologize to him, quickly, but at least they did! And THEN Hill's favorite "star" in the whole world, Captain Feathersword (we have featherswords all over the house because of this man) rubs his head!!!!!!!! In our world this would equal Bono hitting us in the head with his sunglasses and then rubbing our hair...Captain (i.e. The Wiggles) is known around the world, but more importantly, he rocks Hill's world!

So, what does Hill then talk about for the next 30 minutes during the show? "Why did Murray hit me in the head? Is he going to get time out? Him not hit me with that banana again??"

Well, at least Scott and I felt cool.

Happy Birthday Kathryn & Walker

This post is a couple of weeks late, but for WHATEVER reason, the stomach bug that plagued our house for two weeks has gotten me a little behind...oh ya'll, it was horrible.

My best friend Lauren's (my college "roommate" for those of you that haven't heard me talk about her-which if you know me, I can't imagine you haven't) precious twins, Walker and Kathryn turned two and we went to Memphis to help them celebrate. Scott's mom,
Gin-Gin" was sweet enough to brave the trip with us! Hill thought the party was the best attraction in Memphis with the train ride and all of the farm animals. I, of course, loved seeing Lauren and her family (my second family) and also being there to see the twins bee bop around enjoying their party.

I am counting down the days until they are in Birmingham for a year starting next May.

Enjoy the pictures to the right!