Feelin' Better

I am almost feeling human again. It is good to be back. I called the doctors office this morning and spoke with the nurse. She said that the lab results were in but, the doctor would have to call me back with them. So now I'm waiting for him to call. I'm really not stressing over it. What will be, will be. Fretting over it isn't going to help change it. Baseball and swim wrap up next week. I am looking forward to being able to slow down a little. Cameron has been invited to continue training over the winter. Only 15 were selected and it is by invitation only. It is kinda a big deal but, I'm not sure if I'm willing to commit to it. There is just so much going to be happening between now and Christmas. With all the school and church stuff our calender is filling up fast. I guess ultimately it will be Cam's decision. I'm just the chauffeur. The kids get report cards this week. Matt is so stressed out. They actually get letter grades in kindergarten. He is such a perfectionist that he's going to have ulcers by the time he is seven. I need to come up with some type of a reward night for them. I know that Chucky Cheese gives free tokens for A's. The problem with that is Cameron hates Chucky Cheese. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Take it easy!??! GRRRR!!

Well, here I am. I'm suppose to be taking it easy. Someone oughta tell my kids that. I ventured into town with them yesterday. I almost had a breakdown in the middle of Blockbuster. I am defiantly not 100% yet. I am still waiting on pathology results. I should have got them on Friday. When I called the doctor I was told that the samples had needed to be sent to a second lab and that they would call me on Monday. All this and I am suppose to be taking it easy????

Under the Knife

I'm home. The surgery went very well, and now I'm waiting ... I'm waiting for the meds to wear off and for me to start really hurting. Kinda dreading that part. The surgeon said that every thing looks good. He couldn't even find a mass, just some inflamed tissue. He took a small sample for testing and removed the milk duct. Once I have completely healed I will no longer be bleeding. I have been tired and sickly for quite some time now due to the loss of blood that was occuring. I can't wait to have energy again. God has answered many prayers. I will be much more vigiliant for potential problems for now on. I'm tired and the oxycotin is really kicking in now. I need to go to bed before I start saying things that will only serve to embarass me. Thanks to everyone for the prayers.

4 wheelin' fun

Matt and Uncle James

Cameron and Aunt Holly

My brother and his family spent the day with us. They brought their 4 wheelers and we all rode on them until the lack of light forced us indoors. We had a blast. The kids are asking for 4 wheelers for Christmas. It is a pretty safe bet that that isn't going to happen.

I Have Nothing to Say

Life has been very boring as of late. Yet so much has been going on that if I start I may just babble on forever. I feel like I have been sucker punched and my flesh cries out to God, "WHY?" Somewhere in the far reaches of my mind I know better. I know that I have no right to question or be angry. I know that He has a plan. It is times like that that I realize how weak my faith truly is. A dear brother in Christ has, this week, been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer. I know that this news must have been devastating to his family. It has been devastating to his church family too. He has become such an important mentor to both my husband and myself. His love for Christ and others is so evident in his smile. This news came as I myself have been dealing with some medical issues. I went yesterday for a mammogram. Last week I had an issue that caused me to call my doctor. My doctor found a small lump in my left breast. I am currently awaiting a referral to a surgeon... according to the doctor I saw yesterday, because of the symptoms that caused me to seek help in the first place, she is fairly confident that she knows what it is. There is a 90% chance that it is benign, but the milk duct will have to be removed anyway. The bright side to all of this is that due to my ignorance of family medical history on my fathers side, I have been in contact with several cousins that I have not seen or heard from in over 20 years. We are all planning to get together sometime this fall. I has been so much fun catching up. It has been like we've been together all this time, just picked up where we had left off. Well, I've got to go get the kids ready for school. I may ramble more later.... if I feel like it.

Summer Storms???

....in the fall. We lost our T.V. last week and our phones are doing strange things, all due to some pretty strange thunderstorms we have been having. I got into a small argument with another parent last week. When I took Cameron to swim, the storms were just beginning to roll in. The coaches were trying to decide if they were going to have practice or not. As we were all standing around waiting for a decision, thunder began to make itself known. The rule in swimming is that if you ca hear the thunder, get out of the water!!! Florida is not known as the lightning capital for nothing. Anyway, this mom was mad at everybody because no one else was willing to let their kids swim. I kinda hope that that family doesn't come back. The kids are as big of pains as the parents. Very rude with no discipline.

A Great Start

It has been a great start to the new school year. Possibly our best ever. Matt loves school. I wasn't too worried about him. He tends to be the teachers pet wherever he goes. I was worried about Cameron. When I first received her Scope and Sequence for the year, I thought we were in trouble. I spent more time on planning at the beginning of this year and things get tweaked everyday. So far the hard work has paid off. Things are clicking for her. I am already ready for Christmas break. I am working just as hard as she is to keep up with everything. I've got a small pile of things that need to be graded, so I will go and get that done. If I get behind then that gives Cameron an excuse to get behind.

Cruisin'

I leave for Nassau on Thursday. I'm going on a three day cruise with a couple of friends. We are very excited. No husbands and no kids (like there is a difference). Just kidding, I love my husband and kids dearly. Sometimes it is nice to get away with just the girls. If you've never been on a cruise, you are missing out. We always have such a great time. Our motto: What happens on the ship, stays on the ship.

Praise the Lord

It's Been a Few Days

I know it has been a few days since I've posted. We have been very busy. Kinda hit the road running once school started. The big news is that both Cameron and Matt are going to be baptized on Sunday. We (Jeff and I) are very excited, as are they(Cam and Matt). It will be a wonderful day. Baseball and swim practice are both in full swing and homework seems to be taking up large portions of every evening. I have no other real news to share. We are just busy with life right now. We are enjoying the ride.

New Glasses

Today was Matt's first day with glasses. Isn't he adorable? Kindergarten must be tougher than I remember. Matt came home today and took a three hour nap. He was in a much better mood when he woke up. All that learnin' is wearin' 'im out.

First Day of School

School....Yahoooooo!!!!!

School starts Wednesday. I am soooo ready. We have been busy with the last minute details. I get to meet Matt's teacher tomorrow night. We have been praying for her all summer. Speaking of praying... during the HSM2 party Friday night, Matt prayed for salvation. It was one of the most sincere and sweet prayers I've ever heard. You expect to see a change when an adult gets saved, but how much change could there possibly be in a five year old? A LOT!!!! He is so excited. He has been raised on Bible stories so that part is kinda second nature to him except, now he wants to make everything connect. He's not interested in the cute little stories anymore. Now he wants the real meat of the story. Yesterday, he tried to convince me that he shouldn't go to children's church anymore, "Howw am I suppose to wearn if I don't heaw what pweacha is saying?" --(he'll be starting speech this year)

Final Meet of the Season

Here are some photos from today's meet. This was the last one of the summer season. The fall swim season begins Sept. 1. Cam finished with a second, two thirds and a fourth. All of her times improved and she participated in the 100 IM (4th place) for the first time. We are very proud of her. She has worked very very hard.

TGIF

Today has been fun. We went back to school shopping. Neither of them really needed anything but, with all the sales and no tax... we saved a bundle. The last swim meet of the season is tomorrow. I'll post pictures when I get them. I'll type more later...

Confused, depressed, angry, happy, excited, anxious and icky

My emotions have been on a roller coaster all week. School starts in two weeks. I am not ready to send my baby boy off to kindergarten. Yes, he did go to pre-k. But, that was only four hours a day and attendance wasn't mandatory. This, this is a whole new ball game.

It is like he went from a baby to a five year old overnight. Who gave him permission? I'd like to have a word with that person. Cameron is a whole other story. As you may know, for several reasons, we have chosen to home school her. This is not a decision that was made lightly or in haste. There was much prayer and thought put into it. However, I'm tired. I'd like nothing more than to send her to school next year. Jeff has pretty much said, "no" to it. I feel as if I have very little support and being solely responsible for your child's education is a huge responsibility. Our school system, while well meaning, is totally inept and ignorant. They look at her diagnoses and assume she is ESE. Her IQ is above 160 and she is well above grade level. Yet, because she needs needs OT (along with some other therapies), their solution is to treat her as mentally retarded. They refuse to take into account her accomplishments and abilities. I would love to send her to the same private school that Matt goes to. But, Jeff seems to think she is better off at home. So, I suppose I'll respect that decision even if I don't like it. I know that I don't like it for purely selfish reasons. But, like I said before... I'm tired.

What next???

You know it has been a rough day when I am blogging at four in the morning. I have all kinds of thoughts and emotions floating around in my head. I figure if I write it out I'll be able to make sense of it. Cameron went for a new evaluation yesterday. Now, I had scheduled it because I was seeing some things I didn't like. I was seeing some regression in areas that she had already overcame. To make a long story short, she was up to three years behind in some areas. Particularly with her fine motor skills and visual integration. Her brain doesn't always correctly translate what her eyes are seeing. There is a whole detailed list, but I'm not going to bore you with the details. The therapist didn't really say anything we hadn't already heard. She just put it in a way that made it feel more intense. There are so many hurdles we thought we had already cleared. Now we find ourselves back at the beginning, a little older, a bit beat up, and not so confident that we will be able to jump quite as high. Anyway, now I find myself second guessing myself. If she was in school would they be able to do a better job? I don't think so, yet the question does bother me. I've surrounded myself with the homeschooling community. I forget how hostile the environment outside that community can be. Even those friends and family who are supportive of the choice, are often supportive because they love us, not because they understand. We will be starting a new series of testing at Shands in the upcoming months. Please be in prayer for Cameron and the rest of our family. There will be some big decisions to be made as we begin to get more input from the doctors and therapist and as a new school year gets ready to begin.

Separated at birth???

Cameron reminded me of this today. Back in March, Matt decided to cut his own hair. He did such a wonderful job that we had no choice but to shave it all off. We teased him and told him that it was like having our very own house elf. While he was bald, we traveled down to Jupiter. We went to see the Cardinals play a Spring Training game. This is an annual trek for the Thompson family. At Spring Training games you can get up close to the players and talk to them and get autographs. Matt got a game ball because one of the security guys thought he was sick!!! It was quite embarrassing. We explained to those around us that he wasn't sick but, instead had cut his own hair. We had a good laugh and Matt got a treasured game ball. It did make me think, we are blessed to have two healthy kids.

All Done

I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I loved it. I can't wait for the movie. No spoilers here. I laughed, I cried, I'm going to miss them. Cameron started reading it today. She's already 150 pages into it. At eight, I never would have even attempted a 759 page book. Anyway, now I have to get my house straighten up. I kinda let it go while I was trying to finish the book. Later...

Harry Potter

Okay, I admit it. I am a Harry Potter fan. When the final book is released at midnight tomorrow night, I will be in line at our local bookstore. I am actually nervous about how the series will end. I am anxious, sad and excited. I can't imagine how J.K. Rowlings must feel. I love Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and the rest of the characters. When I cried at the end of Order of the Phoenix, my husband laughed at me at pointed out that I was reading a "children's book." I quickly pointed out to him that Luke Skywalker isn't real, that ended that conversation. Now I know all the arguments against HP. (Especially within the church) However, I find it humorous that the same people who are against HP will allow their children to watch Star Wars. George Lucas himself admits that he sat out to provide a social commentary on the oppressiveness of organized religion. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Star Wars. But, why accept the magic in one series as o.k. but, in the other it is evil? It is all make believe. Just for fun. In SW we are suppose to believe that Annikan's conception was virginal. (Hum, where have I heard that story before) He was the one pre-destined to save the empire. (Again, sound familiar?) J.K. Rowlings does similar things with HP. He was saved from a gruesome death by his mothers unconditional and sacrificial love. It is Harry's ability to love and the sacrifices that are made in behalf of others that make the HP series so endearing. It is because Harry was once loved that he is able to show love. It is love that will defeat "he who must not be named." It is my guess that the defeat will also come at a great sacrifice. Hogwarts and Diagon Alley are fictional, as are Narnia, Tarabitha and far far away. Look for the teachable moments. I would never sit my kids down with a book, movie or TV show without first knowing what they were reading or watching. When we come across something that just doesn't seem right, we get down the Bible and have a family study time. Jeff and I pray that by tackling some of these issues in the safety of our home, we will empower our children with the ability to defend their beliefs when confronted with the same scenarios outside the safety of our home.