A BIG Snowstorm

I think we got 24" total. A lot for October.

Who is that bearded man?

The snowlady got snowed on last night and needed a makeover today.

Snow Day Delay

We have 12 inches and counting of snow today, so Nathan's MRI had to be rescheduled to next Thursday. SO glad we didn't have to drive in this weather. If all goes well, he should have surgery to remove his mediport the next Wed.

NO MO' CHEMO!

Today Nathan's doctor said that it's time to stop chemo treatments, so he won't be having the last four. We've moved up his next MRI to next Wed, then the week after that he should be having his mediport surgically removed. THANK YOU GOD!

The Lord has mercifully gotten Nathan through this past year - what a year!- and we entrust Nathan's health and the future to Him.

As I type this, Nathan is in the other room playing the recording in his Build-A-Bear he got in the hospital last year:

"When I am afraid I will trust in You." (Psalm 56:3)
"Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)
"Great is the Lord and mighty in power."
"We love you, Nathan."

Picking A Pumpkin (and picking on pumpkins)

We went to the historical museum to pick a pumpkin, and just because we love to go there, especially in the Fall.

While we were trying to pick the favorite pumpkin, Melissa would try picking them up, then decide they were not "it" and drop them. Poor pumpkins.

The hay maze, with old schoolhouse in the background. It always makes them want to live "back then."

Those were the days......

Found it!

He's A Reading Machine!

It always amazes me when after months of working on letter sounds one of our kids starts reading. That happened with Nathan a few days ago. Suddenly there's a new attitude towards reading. "I like reading" is what he said, and he meant it.

I've taught all the kids with a no-nonsense program called The Writing Road To Reading. Each one of them said, "This is boring!" at the beginning, but then they're glad after a while when they can suddenly read.

HOW MANY MORE?

Nathan has a two week break before his final four chemo treatments. This Wed. happens to be a Zoo Free Day, which we'll get to go to, (yeah!), and next Wed. is the play Beauty and the Beast, which we'll get to go to with our homeschool group. His final treatment and MRI is scheduled for Nov. 11th.

We just need wisdom, and pray for wisdom for Nathan's doctor to know how many more treatments he should have. They don't go over a year because that is the limit of toxicity the body can handle. But Nathan has been having more and more tummy pain, which the doctor attributes to the chemo, and the toxicity building up. Will finishing the course do him more harm than good? Please pray for God's leading in this.

OUR ALMOST DOG

Nathan had been wanting a dog for quite a while. But it was mostly out of the question because the girls are allergic to dogs, we're not into animals in the house, and.....we have four children. We just told him to pray about it, and we prayed & considered too.

Well, last week we were offered a hypo-allergenic sheepadoodle puppy dog who was housebroken & had gone thru obedience training. We thought this must be our answer. This puppy was 9 months old, very sweet, but was bigger than most full-grown dogs. We brought Schatzi (little treasure) home and discovered a lot about having a big puppy dog:

*they will take and run with anything you drop

*they will search out all items the kids have left all over the backyard and chew them

*you cannot turn your back for a second

*little 3 year old girls can be terrified of them

*they take you for a walk, especially when a bunny crosses your path

*they take a lot of time

*they are a lot of fun

We also discovered that you can't leave a young dog alone with young children, especially if they haven't been together since birth, and the constant vigilance wore me out. He was still in the biting (teething) stage. I didn't have the time to train a dog and train my children. So, sad to say, we had to give him back.

All our fears of disappointing our children or devastating them just didn't happen. They were sad at first when they heard our decision, but any sadness vanished when they pulled out their toys again without having them carried off.

And now at least our children won't feel that we're holding out on them to not have a pet, since we tried it for a week.