anni

Still doing some catch up...

January brought the first big end to a chapter or our lives together.  We had to put our chocolate lab, Anni down.  Cancer was taking over her life and she wasn't doing well at all.  

I could say a TON about this dog.  I could tell you about how she was our first "baby".  We got her while we were dating in college. I could tell you about the 3 hour drive to pick her out, and then again, to pick her up in eastern Kansas. I have a picture of her riding in my lap and cuddling into my chest on that day we drove her home. I could tell you about the night that Dave put my engagement ring on her collar and had her run down the driveway to welcome me off a long shift at work.  I could tell you about how we were so afraid how she'd respond to us bringing our first baby home, and we laid baby Taylor beside her all the time. I could tell you stories about how she ran away all the time, owned the neighborhood and always showed up at Papa and Nana's house, after going for swims.  I could tell you about the pack of frozen steaks, wrapped in plastic, that she ate off the counter, completely...multiple times.  Or the 6 inch subway sandwiches or other plates of food, she ate within seconds of someone getting up to use the restroom during lunch.  And I could tell you about the countless times the mailman or UPS man rang the doorbell during nap time and her bark woke all of my sleeping children up.  I could tell you how safe she made us feel and how well she protected our house and how she loved to play ball and go swimming.

 

If you've seen Marley and Me.  I'll just tell you that is our life with our dog. Completely and perfectly.  It started with just the 3 of us.  And she welcomed all 3 of our babies home.  She was a crazy dog, who got worse and worse behaved with the less and less attention she got, but she loved us well.  And regardless of how many times I threatened to find her a new home, the day we had to say goodbye was so very hard.  It was hard watching our kiddos say goodbye to their first dog. 

But the Lord provided the perfect day for us.  School was cancelled because of low temperatures. So instead of Dave taking her off alone, we all went together.  It made it hard that way, but it made it way better that way too.  We got great closure and we were able to spend the entire day together. God knew what our hearts needed. 

After goodbyes and tears.  We headed to Build-a-Bear to pick out a dog that looked just like Anni.

They each got to put a heart inside her. And they named her Anni, and picked out a leash and brush. 

And on our way out we stopped at the photobooth for a keepsake. 

She was a good good dog.  Some people don't understand that connection when a dog is a member of your family.  But some of you know and you totally get it. 

She was part of the original "us".  The kids always counted her in as a member of the family.

She's definitely been missed and our kids are certain she is running happy and free in heaven.

9 years together.

We celebrated our 9th anniversary almost 3 months ago on January 8th.

 We had been sick, sick, sick.  Pretty much how our entire winter has been, starting back at Halloween.  We didn't know all week if we'd make it out or not.  But my mom was coming to watch the kids and we sure didn't want to waste this chance to get away.

Our local Premier group had a black dress event scheduled for the same weekend, so we decided it would make a good excuse to get dressed up and have a fun night out together.  

I had all intentions to go shopping for both of us the week before. Fancy events don't come too often in our glamorous life, so neither of us had anything to wear.  Getting fancy in the middle of winter is kind of hard for gals...don't ya think?  What to wear on your legs and the right shoes and a dress that covers enough to look winterish. 

 And then we got sick. There was no energy to go shopping and we found ourselves still not having anything to wear the day before.  And we still didn't even know if we felt well enough to go.  But the one thing we did know was that we were leaving our house, and getting a hotel room regardless.  Even if we laid in bed sick all day, my mom was coming and we were going to be OUT OF THERE!  

We ended up deciding to go and it all came together in the end.  A quick stop at JCP to get a dress shirt for Dave, tights and shoes for me.  I don't wear heels...EVER!  But I bought heels.  It's kind of impossible to dress up fancy in a black dress without them.  Dave started out borrowing his dad's suit...one that he thought looked black.  I'm glad I spotted it before we left, because it was definitely navy blue, not black.  So luckily he found a black suit in the back of the closet he forgot he had.

 

We almost didn't make it to the event.  We checked into our hotel, both not really full of energy.  Dave was zoned into the Chiefs game and waited till the last minute to get ready. Normally, for guys, this is okay.  But he realized very late that the shirt he bought had been folded up in a box, and probably needed to be ironed.  PROBABLY.  Ha!  We do not iron anything in our house.  But there was no getting around this, and it took forever.  Then he put it on and although he had just gotten measured for it a few hours before, it didn't even come close to fitting.  He couldn't move his arms, couldn't button the top buttons.  He was pretty much a hot mess.  He put his pants on and they wouldn't button either.  He obviously grew since the last time he wore them.  So his pants were rigged closed, he was miserable in his shirt, we had to watch YouTube to know how to tie a tie, and then when it was time to go, he informed me that the red coat I had laid out with all of our bags, he thought was my moms and he set it aside.  So it was 20 degrees outside and I had a short sleeve dress on and no coat.  We finally made it to the event over an hour late.

Afterwards, the blizzard had begun.  I love snow.  It was so fun being out together and trying to find a place to eat dinner at 10pm, walking in heels through snow filled parking lots and sliding all over the road to get where we were going. We ended up at Outback for steak, lobster and cheese fries.  Latest dinner ever and one of the best!

I loved the beautiful snowy view from our room. 

But the best part, besides the awesome hotel room from Priceline for $55 was rolling over in bed the next morning and reaching for a phone and seeing we had both slept in till 10:15 am.

Happy Anniversary to us.

One of these years we WILL be somewhere warm for our anniversary!  God willing, we will.

We'd love to go back to Cabo, where we spent our honeymoon.  And we always said we'd do it for our 10th year.  But now that's already next year.  Geez, life flys by.

So we shall see.

But give me a hotel room, a night away, no parent responsibilities, and my handsome hubby...even if it's 30 miles down the road, I'm a happy happy gal.  Cabo or not.

another update on Sydney

How about an update on our niece, Sydney?  I know some of you have been following and praying and I haven't done a very good job of updating.

She's home!!!  The last I told you the transplant was done, and she moved out of ICU back to her normal room.  They waited and waited for the cells to reproduce and they did!!!  

And after 40 days in the hospital she made it home! She'll be in isolation at home for 100 days, since her body has no ability to fight off infections until her immune system strengthens.   Please keep praying for her complete recovery. 

And now check this out...

 This is a billboard along on the side of the most traveled highway in Michigan!

I cannot even fathom being 9 years old, fighting cancer for the 2nd time and then seeing your face on a huge billboard.  We hear she was super excited! And we're so thankful the story God has written for her is inspiring others and making a difference.

You can still follow along as her parents update her Caringbridge page .

And how about a huge PRAISE!!  After all of the bone marrow drives that went on to help find Sydney a donor match back in October and November, we got word that one of the college students from Tabor (where are sweet friends held a drive in honor of Sydney) was called to be a match for someone!!!  Such awesome news! I trust completely that God is using Sydney's life and story to do a good work and fulfill his purposes.

winter

In true Kansas fashion, how about a blog post with snow pictures, on a day that our high is supposed to be 75 degrees.

Have I told you I love winter?  Okay, I have, I know. 

I love that while winter is cold, it's cozy and warm.  Winter means comfort food and cozy blankets.  And sweatpants and warm drinks. It means beautiful snow and snow days.

And sometimes it means there is no place to go and nothing to do other than relax, cozy up and stay warm.  Being the homebody I am, this is just up my alley.

The only thing I don't like about winter is that my poor hubby has to work outside in it.  He wears layers upon layers upon layers of clothes.  The kids have fun counting how many pieces of clothing he takes off when he comes home.  His only chance all day long to warm up is a 30 minute lunch in the warmth of a fast food restaurant.

BUT, the positive side is that if it's snowy or the temperatures are entirely too cold to be working in it all day....he is home with us!  So pretty much every snow day the kids have, Dave is home too! 

I know, I know, I have it good.  I'm thankful.  And it's just one more reason on my list of why I love winter.

The kids have loved playing in the snow this year. Even little Gavin.  He loves the snow!

Normally, our sledding consists of sleds being tied behind the 4 wheeler and we take over the streets of the neighborhood and the nearby field.  But this year we found a hill also.

Having neighbor friends to go sledding with makes it even more fun.

 

 

Any one wanna put bets down on a March snowstorm?

10 things

I'm still here.  I promise.  I've not intentionally quit blogging.  It just hasn't happened.
I definitely miss it.  So while things may be a little sleepy here on the blog, I promise it's not dead.

The last year or 2, my blogging has gotten slower and slower. Ha, you've noticed haven't you?
Pretty par for the course considering most other aspects of my life in the last 2 years also.  Seems my theme lately is just trying to stay afloat. I don't mean that in a totally depressing, overwhelming way.  I just mean that life kind of just caught up to me.  I guess after baby #3??  A lot changed in the last 2 years. And I can't really even explain, or pin point what's different. It's just different.  And I'm learning to be okay with that.  I'm learning what I can and can't do...and learning to be content with the things I can't get to.

And I'm thankful for Instagram to record quick bits of our days and capture memories that I sometimes don't have time to record here.

So how about a quick list of some random updates...

1.  Tomorrow will start day 1 of no pop.  I knew this day was coming, but I have to work up to it. Ya know, like get in as many as I can and savor every last drop and mentally prepare for the day that I have to say goodbye. I can't just go cold turkey one day.  I just love Pepsi too much.  But today is the day.  The last drops of pop are gone from our house and we committed to not buying more.
I can do this!

2.  We're going on another free cruise through Premier!  I worked to earn it free for both Dave and I.  And then the night we had to make our final decision by midnight about whether we were actually going...we decided at 11:45pm, after going back and forth on the decision.  The 7 day cruise is free, but we still have to get there.  And we so badly wanted to spend a few days in New York City since that's where the boat is leaving from.  It's always humbling when you come to reality of just not being able to do it all.  But after transferring all our Southwest points from this summer into one account, getting one of our tickets super cheap, and cutting out all the days we had planned to spend in NYC, we decided to go for it!  We're pretty pumped about 7 days on a boat, just the 2 of us.  We might be the most excited about getting some extra sleep.

3. While everyone else is complaining about the winter...I don't mind it.  Actually I love winter.  And with long ones like this I move from LOVING it...to not minding it.  It definitely helps that my kids don't mind playing in the cold.  All 3 of them will still spend hours outside (many times with neighbor friends) even on the coldest days.

4.  Dave says we are burning our last fire of the season because we're out of wood.  SO, in that case.  Spring can come. Because a big reason I love winter is our wood-burning stove and the cozy warm fires that are constantly going.  It cracks me up to read posts from others about wearing layers of clothes, being wrapped in blankets and just freezing their booties off even at home...while we sit here in short sleeves with my sweat pants pulled up into shorts.

5. We jumped on the band wagon with all the Wichita State Shocker fans?  Are you on it too?  I bleed purple, but it's fun to have another Kansas team to cheer for too.  We're all together pretty excited about the tournament coming up!  Looks like we'll be trying to catch tournament games while we're on the boat or in airports...like we did a few years ago. 

6. Speaking of basketball, I coached Taylor's first basketball team in December and January.  It was so much fun!  Dave and I have both loved coaching the kids' teams.  So far, 2 seasons of indoor soccer, 1 season of outdoor soccer, 1 season of t-ball and and season of basketball.

7.  In case you were wondering if we ever heard from the Amazing Race people..nope.  Oh, did I ever even tell you that we auditioned?  We did.  And just in our usual fashion, we debated all day long and went at the very last minute.  Going at the last minute means you don't have time to find a sitter for the kids.  So they got to come along.  And we really had no clue what they'd do when it was our turn.  All we knew is we had 1 minute to tell them why they should pick us. Our kids waited in line for an hour and a half with us.  When we got very near to the front, we spotted Dave's cousin Terry (who was there for the hockey game) and he tried to take the kids with them, only the big kids would go.  So we still weren't sure what we'd do with Gavin when it was our turn.  We ended up putting him at our feet, below the line of the camera, and he just stared up at us during our interview.  It was fun.  We were glad to say we actually did it, instead of just talking about it and wishing we would have.

8. I love this mason jar.  I know it's funny, but I drink water soooo much better when I have something fun to drink it out of.  And a drop of Wild Orange or Lemon essential oils helps too. But then Gavin decided to push it off the counter because it was in his way. Pretty typical of him, but this is the first time the object has been glass.
I was so sad.  This was right after he poured an entire bottle of real maple syrup into his bowl of cereal, and relocated a few things that didn't belong to him into the fish aquarium.  But he's so darn cute.

9.  I saw this on Pinterest and decided it had my name all over it.

10. Do you watch the Oscars?  I never have until this year.  My sister was here after she got to spend the weekend at Whatever Craft Weekend.  And considering we only see her a few times a year, it was weird having her in town but not with us.  But we were thankful she spent an extra day with us and helped us celebrate Mason's birthday.
She and her best friend are all about the Oscars and try to watch all of the best picture nominees.  So Dave and I sat through all the red carpet stuff and then the awards show.  I've never been a huge Ellen fan but I thought she was amazing! And now Dave and I have a list of movies we want to see.  Captain Phillips is the only one we've seen so far, which was very good!  But this is what I really want to see right now...

Hopefully I'll be back soon.  We had a March Madness birthday party I'll hopefully get to post soon.
Thanks for sticking around despite my absence.

 

an update on Sydney

I know I haven't kept you all updated about our niece here on my blog.  Sometimes there is just TOO much social media, that you don't know which ones to update and it's just too hard sometimes to get to them all.  So most of my updates to the masses have been on Facebook.  But in case we're not connected on Facebook, I still want to update you on our niece, because I know there are many of you out there who have been praying.  And I thank you for that.  Thank you for your encouraging emails and your prayers. 

I guess I left off here on the blog with the search for a donor that would give Sydney the best chance as a cancer-free life, with a bone marrow transplant. 

A donor was found.  2 actually.  That is unheard of people.  God's in control.

And they were both perfect matches.

One donor was chosen and she agreed.  All we know about her is that she is a 25 year old female somewhere in Europe.  Her "YES" meant our sweet niece has a second chance at life.  It means she may actually be able to beat this cancer!  We are so grateful for this stranger, and I thank ALL of you who got on the bone marrow registry so that you could possibly be a match for someone else just like Sydney.  I hope and pray if you, if I, am ever called to be the hero for a stranger...that the answer will be "YES". 

So Sydney's last big round of chemo was in December (except for the chemo she got as part of the pre-transplant plan).  We hope and pray this is the last chemo she will ever have to have put in her body.  She's had so much.

She celebrated Christmas at home with her family.  The rest of Dave's family got to be there too.  But we were stuck at home with sickness, which was so hard!

She entered the hospital about 10 days ago to begin the prep for the transplant.  She decorated her hospital room, named it "Sydney's Oasis" and struggled through a few hard days of chemo.

The donor went through the extraction procedure in Europe this week, on Tuesday, while Sydney had a day of rest.  The stem cells were flown to the Detroit Childen's hospital in the hands of a person.  It even got it's own airplane seat right next to the courier (as told by Sydney's mom), and didn't even have to go through the x-ray part of security!  Sydney's chance at life arrived in a pink cooler on Wednesday morning.

The transplant took place yesterday, and took about an hour and a half to finish.  The process is just like a blood transfusion, Sydney was awake and the stem cells go from the bag into the tube and into her port.  She was watched very closely for allergic reactions, as hundreds, if not thousands prayed for no allergic reactions.  And there were none.  The transplant was a success, and Sydney moved out of ICU back to her "oasis" this morning.

The next days and weeks are crucial.  She's having major stomach pains and some mouth sores have started.  Please continue to pray that she'll be comfortable, that she'll stay safe from infection since she has no immune system to fight anything, and that ultimately the stem cells will do their job in her body.

It's been a long journey, and it's not over yet.  Sydney has spent nearly a third of her 9 years of life battling this ugly cancer monster. That just breaks my heart into a million different pieces. It's my plea to the Lord that she get to be a kid again doing what normal kids do...and not living a life of needles, ports, chemo and fear.

I will try to update as we hear more about how she's doing post-transplant.  But you can also follow her CaringBridge journal.  They have been posting daily for the time being.

I prayed this verse all day long yesterday during her transplant and I'm going to stick with it for awhile. 

 "The Lord your God is in your midst, he is mighty to save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."

(Zephaniah 3:17) 

To me, it's the perfect picture of a Father, standing over a hospital bed, providing every last need for his little girl.  A Father who has already conquered death, so what is left for us to worry about.  A Father who created the universe with just a few words.  And a Father who cares enough about her in a very deep, intimate and personal way, that he's willing to stand over that bed and focus on her, as if she's the only person in the universe.  A Father who is perfect, with a love that is perfect, who has good and perfect plan for his precious girl.

 

the craft house & a wood sign tutorial

December started off with one of my favorite weekends of the year!

15 of us rent Megan's Craft House for the weekend and just get away (even if I was 2 minutes from my house, it's still an awesome get away).  

Dave had been sick for Thanksgiving and got better JUST in time that I could leave him with the kiddos for the weekend.  It was a much needed break after our first month of being sick. 

It's such a fun house.  But more than anything it's an escape from mama and wife duties to just get some personal things done, enjoy time with friends, sleep in, stay in our pajamas all weekend and just relax and be creative.

 

I got more projects done this year than any other.  Mostly because I stayed off my computer and away from some of the time-sucking projects I've done in the past. 

My first goal was to get a piece of barn door that we took from the original family homestead, Dave's great grandparents' farm, turned into a keepsake.  I debated and debated doing something that would be up all year long, or just Christmasy, and I went with Christmas, because that's where all my inspiration was coming from at the time.

I've had so many people asking me how I did it, and I am NO expert, I was nervous and scared to mess it up.  I kind of went in without an exact plan so it was nice to have lots of girls talk through my plan with me. 

So here goes (sorry I had no plans of posting a tutorial until so many people have asked for instructions, so I probably don't have very good pictures to go along with the directions):

1.  I printed my words at home.  I just used Microsoft Word, but for another sign I just did I used Photoshop Elements because it allowed me to stretch my words to the size how I wanted them.  In Microsoft Word I just kept changing the font and looking at the measurements until I felt like it was the size I wanted.

I printed several test copies and laid them on the board until I knew they were the right size. 

I tried to mix fonts without over-mixing.  But I'm not a font expert that's for sure.  That was actually maybe one of the hardest parts of the entire project.

2.  There may be an easier way to do all of this but I knew that I didn't want to try free-handing any part of this, so I knew I needed to come up with a stencil of some sort. I ended up taping the papers from my computer to contact paper (making sure that the words would be the right direction when the contact paper was sticky side down). Make sure you double check this so that when you peel the contact paper apart and lay the sticky side down on your wood, the words will go the right way.

3.  I taped my words to the contact paper in order to keep them from slipping as I cut them out. 

I used an exacto knife to cut out all the words.  So i was cutting through both the paper from my computer and the contact paper at the same time.  It was time consuming and my hand cramped up by the end.  And swirly letters weren't so fun, but it was worth it.  I guess if there is a way to put your contact paper through the printer that would be the easiest.  Make sure to keep all your centers of letters, like the o's, e's, etc.

4.  One word at a time, I stuck the contact paper down on my wood and pressed it down as hard as I could.  It doesn't have the best stick, but it was enough to hold my word in place so I could paint the insides.

5.  On the edges, swipe the foam brush across the edge of the letter going in towards the letter and not away from it.  This just helps the contact paper seal down instead of my brush peeling it up.  If I was worried about bleeding under the contact paper or messing the contact paper up in spots, I just used a dabbing motion instead of brushing my foam brush across.

6.  I peeled up each word while the paint was still wet, in hopes to not peel up paint once it dried.  This worked fine. 

7.  I didn't have anything I wanted to touch up, but if you do, you could wait till it's dry and then use a tiny brush to touch up edges wherever needed.

I realized when I was done that my words all looked a little too far to the right.  I wanted them towards the right, but didn't really plan for all the blank space in that left bottom corner.  But it ended up working perfectly when the star I already had planned to use beside the sign.

 If you plan to use the sign outside like these other signs I did a few weeks later as gifts, then you need to cover them with a clear top coat/protector of some sort.

I got the sign done in a few hours and then moved on to my other projects.  

I've had throw pillows for our couch for a long time just sitting in our basement because I didn't really like them anymore.  So I made new covers for them using this tutorial.

Yay for new pillows!!

I covered cardboard JOY letters from Hobby Lobby with an old sweater (it was harder than I thought because I used a super sheer sweater that kind of shed and fell apart as I cut it up, and I burned my fingers like crazy with the hot glue).  But up on our shelf they look great!

I used my scraps from the pillow covers to cover HOME letters also, so when I take the JOY letters down and pack them up with Christmas decorations, I'll have something else to put up.

And at the last minute, because those pillow covers were so easy, I made Christmas covers for the pillows too.

Man, it feels so good to get some things done that have been on my list for so long.  And before you talk about how crafty I am, please please know that none of these ideas are unique really.  In the world of Pinterest and online tutorials, I am thankful to get to COPY.  They are things that pretty much anyone can do. While I'm not great at coming up with creative ideas of my own, I can totally use others and duplicate.  And I think that's a huge purpose of the social media community we have...to share ideas.  So copy away!  It definitely makes getting to sew and create things a little more enjoyable to me, and I can get so much more done without figuring it all out on my own...especially when I pretty much do this kind of stuff one weekend a year.

Craft Weekend 2014 is already booked!!