Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Good Night Prayer


Now I lay me down to sleep,
pray the lord my soul to keep.

Angels watch me thru the night
and wake me with the morning light.

God bless Mommy and Daddy,
Brother and Sister,
All my family, and All my friends.
God bless baby Kevin.

AMEN

This is the prayer we say every night.
Ashlyn now knows it all by herself, and its just adorable to hear her say it.
Well last night, we said our prayer, I tucked her in and said good night. She looked at me and said.. Mama, what does My soul to keep mean?
I just stood there with a HUGE smile on my face. I couldnt believe my almost 3yr old was asking me this question. I took a breath and told her that it means you have Jesus in your heart and one day you want to go to heaven. She said ok, and rolled over and went to sleep.
I do have to say, my heart was a little full last night after tucking her in.
I was totally amazed that she now knows the prayer all by herself, but she actually understands the words. I am blown away.

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.
Shel

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Memorial Day Weekend.

Not much big plans this weekend.

We are going home today to see our good friends the Kruse's and the Tackett's.
It's so nice to go home and have normal friends. Dawn has Chickens and the kids cant wait to see them.

Tomorrow we might see mom and dad and then head home for the rest of the weekend off. The kids have Mon and Tues off, but Chris only has Monday off.

Anyway, have a great weekend all,
Shel

Friday, May 23, 2008

video

Here is a video of Brandon and Ashlyn goofing around.

Shel

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Neurologist

So I had my appt today.
I was a nervous wreck.
The Neurologist was very nice, and very thorough (sp?)

He said as far as the Cerebellar Tonsillar Ectopia, he's not worried about it. He still wants to see the MRI Images himself but says that a slight deviation of them is ok/ somewhat normal.
He believes the symptoms I have are Migraine related. But he is consirned about the spotty vision with the flashing lights, and he is also consirned about my being partially paralized on the left side the one night. He said it didnt last long enough to be a stroke, but wants to run a few tests kinda like the MRI to check the arteries in the brain, its called an MRA. He also thinks I have some carparel tunnel (sp?) in my right arm. He also made Chris laugh when he said that the tingling feeling in my legs and arms is probably migraine related, but also could be from me talking so fast and not taking very big breaths. Yeah, real funny.
He was also consirned with some weird patches of skin I have. I had surgery when I was 2 and 4 to remove them off my leg, but I also have one on my stomach. Its been biopsied for cancer because of the one on my leg, but came up clear. So he wants to do the MRA and see the MRI results and keep in the back of his notes about the spots... He said something about them possibly being a sign of some weird name and that he's not going to worry about it quite yet.. Again he made Chris laugh by saying.. you dont check under the hood if you have a flat tire.
So, for now, everything is great, I can totally deal with Migraines.
Ahhhhhh relief.

Lots of Love,
Shel

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Fantastic weekend.

We had the greatest weekend, it was a wonderful way to Celebrate Chris' Birthday. Its hard to believe he turnes 32 tomorrow.
Kathryn spent the night Friday with a friend, so we spent Friday with Brandon and Ashlyn.


Saturday we decided to have a picnic lunch in New Lenox town square. They have a beautiful lake with a fountain and speakers spaced out playing soft music. We had sandwiches and chips .
Then Chris and the kids walked around the lake.
The kids tried to catch fish in little nets they had.
I enjoyed sitting on the blanket just watching them.

Kathryn sat with me for a while.
I cant believe how big she is getting.



Then we decided we were having so much fun, that we should go downtown to the beach on Lake Michigan. It was spur of the moment. We ran to Kmart, got sandals and sand toys and were on our way.
The kids had a blast burying each other in the sand.


We brought Capone, and couldnt believe that he loved the water.


While we were there it started to get cloudy and spit rain.
so we decided to go to Gino's Pizza. Chris had gone there with his parents as a kid. They have sausage pizza and the sausage is a huge patty that takes up the whole pizza. Chris dropped us off at the door to stand in line and he went to find a parking spot. Well, parking downtown Chicago is great fun, and 30 mins later we had already been seated and ordered when he finally showed up.
I was very pleased to inform him that this older couple had been sitting by us, and as they got up, the gentleman praised me at how well behaved my children were. He said they were a total joy to sit by, and you dont see children that well behaved that often anymore. It really made me feel good.

Sunday was a much calmer day.
We went to the park, Chris went for a bike ride with the "big" kids, and then we gave him a few presents, had a wonderful dinner.
Steak, twice baked potato's and sauteed mushrooms, Chris' favorite.
After dinner, we decided to play spoons.


Then we had Birthday Brownie to Celebrate Chris' Birthday.


Now its 20 after 8 and the kids are in bed.
Chris and I are going to watch a movie and call it an early night.
I hope you had a wonderful weekend sweetheart.
I sure do love you.
Shel






Friday, May 16, 2008

FFF

Today's Favorite Foto Friday is....
FUN IN THE SUN!
Here is a pic of Ashlyn in her new sunglasses.
I'll get more today when the kids get home from school.
Shel


Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Dr. Appt

Well I went to the dr. today.

He said I have some degenerative change at the L5-S1 that is encroaching upon the neural foamen bilaterally. Really thats big talk for I am having some wearing of the disk and some arthritis but nothing real serious. Some streatching exercises and more anti-inflamitories and I should be good as new in no time.

He said I have no tumors or anything in my brain, but it does show Cerebellar tonsillar ectopia. He didnt have much information on it, but wants me to see a neurologist. Ok, so I did the worst thing ever and came home and researched it. BIG MISTAKE!
Apparently its an overcrowding and compressing near the back of the head (cerebellum area) and its pushing everything down and compressing everything. This could be the cause of my headaches, visual disturbances, numbness and loss of feeling the one night and from what I was reading the only cure for this is decompression.. or cutting a chunk of your skull out of the back of your head making room for everything.
OK can you say FREAKED OUT?!?!
It looks like you can either be born with this, or it can be caused from head injury, I will be curious to find out if this was caused from the car accidnent or not. Anyway I go to the neurologist Next wednesday at 2:15 and we will know more then.

I really hope this isnt going to be real serious.
Love you all,
Shel

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

My aching back


For a month and a half now I have had this pain in my back.
I went to the dr, and he said its just a muscle strain. He gave me some anti-inflamitory med and some exercises to do. I really didnt feel it was muscle as I can bend and twist and it doesnt aggrivate it, but what the heck. 2 weeks later, still in pain, I decide to go to the Chiro. He does an adjustment and I felt a little better, the next day I felt great, the next day, I was in pain again. I went back to the Chiro and whatever he did made it worse. I went back to the dr, and he ordered an MRI on my back and also on my brain because I also keep getting these headaches and visual disturbances. Well they got the results back and instead of saying over the phone, everything is clear, she said "well the dr wants you to come in and go over your results." So now I am sitting here nervous because something came up in the MRI. But as Chris said we would rather something come up so they can fix it. If it came back clear we would have no idea whats causing this pain. Anyway, my appt is tomorrow morning at 9am. She is going to call me today if they have any cancelations.

Im nervous!
Shel

Sunday, May 11, 2008

My husand ROCKS!
My 3 kids are simply AMAZING.

I got to sleep in today,
I got breakfast in bed.
(Stuffed french toast with strawberry's on top, bacon, and OJ),
I got 3 home made cards from my children,
a potted plant (star gazer lily, my favorite)
and the movie.. P.S. I love you.

The kids have been playing all day, and getting along, Chris went grocery shopping with me, cleaned out the fridge and is now cleaning out the pantry.

Wow, I have never had such a wonderful Mother's day EVER.

Lots of Love,
Shel





Saturday, May 10, 2008

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs...
since the payment is pure love.
~Mildred B. Vermont

God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.
~Jewish Proverb

Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.
~William Makepeace Thackeray

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's in my life.

I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Love,
Shel

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Kevin Matthew Kruse


(photo borrowed from kevinmatthewkruse.com )

This weekend we went home for the visitation and funeral of our friends 2 1/2 yr old little boy, Kevin Matthew Kruse. Kevin was a very special, happy little boy. He fought heart issues since the day he was born, yet he lived a full, happy, dance-filled life. Kevin was always giggling and never knew anything other than love. Kevin never "acted" sick, he was strong and to the average eye was a normal healthy little boy. Our hearts are just broken at this loss, yet we are so greatful to have had 2 1/2 years with him.

If you would like to honor Kevin,
you could donate in his name to
The Childrens Therapy Center of the Quad Cities

http://www.ctcqc.org/

They were such a great help to Kevin, and his family.

Lots of Love,
Shel

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Wost News Ever!

I come here today with a broken heart.

Our dear friends Matt and Dawn have lost their little 2yr old boy Kevin. Kevin was the sweetest little thing ever, and Ashlyn loved him so much. Kevin was born with some pretty bad heart issues and had been doing very well. He ended up in the hospital with respitory problems and for some reason his heart stopped. We are all so terribly saddened by this loss, and we are so very blessed to have known him for the past 2 1/2 years.

Matt, Dawn and Emily you are very loved and in our thoughts and prayers.
Kevin, sweet little boy, you are already missed by many.

You can read more about Kevin's life at
www.kevinmatthewkruse.com

Shel