Christmas Day

We woke up early...early...to see what Santa put in our stockings and opened lots of presents.  

Vin, Grammy and I in our shawls that Grammy gave us.  Vin and I got lots of use out of them, as the lake house is always kept at a chilly 68 per BD's checklist.

We played with our goodies, including drinking glasses...

Most of our indoor time was spent playing JBS' Clue (vintage Clue, of course!) and G2's, Stratego.  JLS kicked everyone's hinies.  He is quite the gamer.

Grammy bought all the boys these darling shirts...When you put your elbows together and open and close them, you can see the insides of the shark and dinosaur mouths.

The rest of the day was spent hiking in the woods.  WHS wanted to be a big boy, too, and they all took such good care of him in the woods.  Grammy and I let them go ahead and then sneaked up on them.  WHS was one of the guys.

 Now that Christmas had arrived, in addition to their lake binoculars from two Christmases ago, the boys each got a hiking back pack and hiking boots.  They also got energy necklaces.  They were cool.  Cooler than cool.

 And by dinnertime, this is what we found.  JBS and JLS slept through dinner and we carried them off to bed.

So much fun to have and be had.

Christmas Visitor

The kids played HARD Christmas Eve Day.  They were so happy to have G2 to play and hike with.  Sometimes I think I enjoy the lake more in the non-swimming season, as the boys love to play outside and hike in the woods on the trails BD has blazed.  Grammy and BD have become "bone collectors" and planted bones throughout the woods.  They have named the trails and built a church and fire pit in the woods.  There are "Indian Mounds" that are in the middle of the woods that even Big Daddy questions what's inside of the mounds.  The boys put on their coats and hats and boots and take their walking sticks and binoculars and spend hours playing in the woods.

This is the view I am going to miss the most...

The boys hopped in to their Christmas jammies after baths...

The Stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there...

Around 10 o'clock the boys heard bells outside their window.  When Vin and I went to their room to see "what's the matter..." JBS and JLS dove into their beds for fear Santa would see them out of bed.  When we told them to tip toe to the den to see for themselves,  "What did their wondering eyes did appear..."

It was Santa in our den by the fireplace!  He looked back and saw the boys and winked and disappeared.  The boys were ecstatic.  They ran back to bed and slammed their eyes shut (WHS had to hold his closed with his fingers) hoping Santa would come back when they slept to fill their stockings...

 It was quite a night!

 

A Lake Christmas

This year was our turn to spend Christmas with my family. Iit was wonderful to be together again at the lake.  It is a wonderful place for us all to stay together and we all really enjoy our time there.  There is nothing that compares to living on lake time.  Even Babe, who has a hard time relaxing, loves the way he feels at the lake house.  Grammy and  Big Daddy have made their lake house a cozy and comfortable home to all of us and we are so grateful for all the fun times.

We arrived on the 23rd around 9pm.  Babe had to work, but I really wanted to be able to relax and enjoy Christmas Eve day, so we waited for Babe to finish up some work and hit the road.

The boys were right at home and ready to play with all the lake toys...many of which are our old toys from when we were little.  The boys think our Snoopy's are "vintage"...I guess if they are 30 years old, they really are vintage!

Grammy and Big Daddy's annual pic...

The whole family on Christmas Eve!

The cousins...

They love the Santa faces...

Vin brought things for each of the kids to make reindeer Christmas ornaments...

We had lots of fun and it was only Christmas Eve!!!

Update

I s'pose I should give you an update on my health of late.  I am not so anxious to blab on about the status of my health, as it's not so hot.  However, so many of you have asked and thus I shall provide...I need all the prayers I can get, after all!

The week of Thanksgiving I had an endoscopy to verify that healing was actually occurring in my stomach.  I went under with confidence having had great reports from my hematologist that my blood counts were higher than they had been in two years!  The bleeding ulcer had evidently stopped with help of the Prevacid and I was on my way to health with additional iron supplements.  I was THRILLED to not be facing more blood transfusions and without explanation for the need.  I was THRILLED to not have to be poked anymore.  I was just THRILLED period.  It had been a really discouraging time for me.  Discouraging, stressful, humbling...Until that point, I had never been on the receiving end of life-giving blood before.  Truly...life-giving.  The circles my family ran to donate their blood to me were endless and for that, I am truly grateful.  So, do you write a "thank you" note for blood? :)  How does that work?  I am not sure that Emily Post has covered that one before.  I was beyond Thank you note grateful.  Words cannot express it.

When I woke up, my doctor, whom I love, said in his thick accent, "You want me to sugar coat it or speak da truth?"  I told him I could handle it, thinking it couldn't be worse than I have ever been...or not.  He said, "It's bad. Worse! Terrible!" As my heart sank, I was expecting a pat on the back, not this!  He said that even though I had stopped eating the day before around 5pm, my stomach was completely full...to the esophagus.  He didn't even get to complete the study because he feared I would aspirate my food to my lungs and that would have been terribly dangerous...life-threatening, even.  "Life-threatening" has never been used with me before.  I was stunned and broken.  I cried most of the day, knowing I had big decisions to make.

My GI understands my desire to treat myself naturally.  He believes it and he gets it.  But he also wants something to change about my stomach and fast.  He wants me to take the Humira that the GI at Mayo wanted me to take.  Bottom line...I am no where close to having a peace about that. The risks of lymphoma are 1 in 1000 and it doesn't even hope to cure my disease.  It only claims to alleviate symptoms.  I can do exactly that by controlling what I eat and I take on ZERO risk of depriving my children of a mother some day.  Morbid, yet a real thought for me. I know what I need to do.  I know it's hard.  But, I don't have a choice.  I am saying this now so everyone in the world will hold me accountable, but staring January 2nd  (after cheese grits and corn bread :)) I am going back on my major diet.  This time, it's a Live-it.  It is a life change and it is going to be my life.  My life will consist of God-made food only.  No sugars...meaning no breads, no pasta, nothing with an ounce of sugar in it.

I still believe that I have two major problems. I have Crohn's Disease, but I also have a Candida Overgrowth.  Since doctor's don't know much about Candida Overgrowth, it is very hard to differentiate between the two. I think I can.  And, I think if I can go for a year (with MUCH prayer!) eating a yeast and sugar-free diet, then I can get the Candida under control and hopefully many of my "Crohns" symptoms will disappear.  I am not convinced my issues are simply Crohns Disease.

And now...you are posted.  Love to you all.  Thank you for always asking and praying for me.  I cannot do this on my own!

Christmas Program

Waiting to watch JLS play a Wise Man!

This year, JLS is in the oldest class at his little preschool.  And he started from the toddler class.  He has truly gone up the ranks!  We attended his Christmas program that is the same and has been the same since we began there.  Every time their sweet songs melt my heart...it never gets old.  This year JLS got the famous line, "We saw a star in the East and we have come to worship Him!"  It is famous because JBS had the same line two years in a row!  It is a Sampler tradition.  JLS was so excited when he found out it was JBS' line as well.  We practiced and really practiced saying it loud and proud.  When it came time for him to speak, JLS projected and, in fact, was the most audible of the three wisemen.  He smiled his cute little squinty-eyed smile at me when he was through.  He was so proud.

Proud Brothers!

Big Man....

At the end of the program, even more proud, was little WHS.  He ran straight to the front of the crowd to find his "Ootie" and give him a big hug.  The feelings were certainly reciprocated.  I have said it before, and will probably say it many more times that nothing warms my heart more than to see the love shared between my three sweet boys. WHS ADORES. HIS. BROTHERS.  And his big brothers adore him, too.

Thanksgiving Feast

I thought I could still post about Thanksgiving...even if it is a little late, it is technically still before Christmas!

This year we were with Babe's family for Thanksgiving.  And we were thrilled to have his sister and her family come down as well.  On Thanksgiving, we had his family come over from Beaumont and they still didn't eat all the leftovers.  It was a great meal and a typical Thanksgiving Day in Houston, Texas...warm enough to eat on the patio, but cool enough to have a fire going.  Not to mention, Babe bought me an outdoor heater that arrived in perfect timing for our celebration.

The cranberry jello ring...

Never a Thanksgiving without "Pink Stuff"...

Pumpkin and Pecan Pies...

Green Bean Casserole...

Sweet Potato Casserole...

Stuffing...was kind of sad about this one.  The last time I made it, which was my first time to make it, it was FANTASTIC.  This time might have needed more time to cook.  It had great taste, but not the texture I wanted...

Corn Pudding..yummo!

Mashed Potatoes with cheese...

Proof that I really did use my wedding china!  (one set any way!)

The table and guests...

 The kid table...

As a child, I thought I would always be at the kid table...forever and ever.  Somehow, I outgrew the kid table and now that's where I want to be!

The New Tent

So, I mentioned that Babe got a new tent after his single night of camping on the Cub Scout Camp Out.  It arrived!  And the boys had to set it up!  So...the new tent.  Interestingly enough, it has 3 "rooms" with curtains that separate the tent.  Unfortunately, at least one of those curtains was somehow torn from the button by "not me!"

We didn't need rooms anyway!

Bovay

A few weeks ago, we went on our very first Cub Scout Camp Out.  The boys were so excited to go!  We all drove about an hour away, which was a fun drive since we had never been there before.  As soon as we arrived, we set up our tent and excitement doesn't begin to describe all 3 little toots.  We weren't anticipating being able to go, as JBS' undefeated baseball team was scheduled to play their final game of the tournament.  Until...we were defeated.  I hated to see them lose, but I was also glad we got to participate in the camp out.  So, we threw everything together very quickly and headed out for Bovay Camp Grounds.

WHS and I drove up for the daytime activities, but planned to drive home for our good night's sleep.  If WHS had stayed, it was likely no one in our camp ground would have gotten any good sleep, as WHS believes the lights go out, the party begins!

We spent the day moving through different activities.  Gratefully, Babe had the thought to bring the wagon for WHS.  There was LOTS of walking...

JBS doing sling shots...

Sweet little JLS was in HOG Heaven...not afraid to jump in and join the fun!

We had a wonderful time.  Babe is getting used to the Boy Scout thing.  As much as he doesn't LOVE to camp, he returned home from the campout and bought two things: a bigger tent and a cot to sleep on.

On an aside.  Our den was playing flag football against another den.  "Me Too's" are the little brother's and sisters and Cub Scouts is so great about always including the younger siblings in every activity.  Toward the end of the game, our leader gave JLS the chance to get the football and run it down the field.  He had no idea what he was getting with JLS.  JLS got the ball and he ran.  He jumped, he dodged, and went as fast as his little feet could carry him, which was pretty darn fast.  As JLS made it half way down the field,obviously going to make a touchdown, our leader yelled, "That's a Me Too!"  And JLS leaped into the end zone with a smirk on his face and complete pride in his heart.

He sheepishly came over to me to give me "Five" and said, "Mommy! Nobody got my fwags!"  Famous last words.  No one has ever gotten JLS' fwags.  He is just too fast...even for the big boys!