Progress....Progress....Progress

If I could tell you the theme of this past week it would be Progress......

We have baked 5 different kinds of Christmas Cookies in the last 7 days.....and have 1 more kind to go for today or tomorrow....equaling neighborhood gifts and Santa treats almost done. We made butter cookies, oreo truffles (yummy), white and chocolate "moon cookies" (Gideon calls them) white and chocolate Santa Sandwich cookies and brownie tassies...I know...I am so not traditional with my cookie baking but I actually let Gid pick the recipes this year and these are the ones he picked. Anyway so cookie baking is almost checked. Christmas Shopping is almost done. I have my list for our gifts to the local homeless house and we just have to hit Walmart tomorrow night with the kids for those....almost check. All but one of our online purchases has arrived and it is suppose to be delivered today ...almost check...(I feel like I'm almost checking a lot of these...but really by tomorrow night all will be checked off hopefully.) I have my assignments for what to bring to at 2 Christmas' Parties (of course not the Roynons...my parents won't decide either of those til like next Wed or Thurs :):) Anyway I just feel like the hustle and bustle of Christmas prep is finally coming to a close...and I am sighing...ahhhhhhh.........

Lucy is also progressing really well. We had her PT evaluation today and it was GREAT!! Starting after the first of the year we are going to go to Physical therapy every Thursday morning. This will help with muscle strengthening, bone correction, stability, joint displacement...etc....anyway her therapist will work directly with our Orthodic Therapist to get Lucy what she needs for her feet. She has very poor tone all over but especially on her legs and butt. Because she is flat footed and has very poor muscle tone in her ankles and feet her natural foot position is for her feet to tip inward. The therapist says she has done an awesome job compensating by adjusting her feet to the correct position but her inner ankle/foot bones have developed strangly because of this and also she has learned to walk/run without using the muscles on her upper thighs and butt much at all...therefore she needs some major strengthening there and she WILL NOT like the orthodics because they will make her work harder. She will have to wear them at all times so she might be an unhappy camper. Anyway....so once a week we will drive 45 minutes for 1 hour of physical therapy, eventually once a week we'll have to drive 45 minutes for 1 hour of occupational therapy...and starting the first of the year...we will probably drive 45 minutes a week for speech therapy as well. Hopefully they will combine or at least back to back some of the appointments so we are not always on the run....I am excited about this Physical Therapy. The therapist stated that her coming 1 time a week will strengthen her body better for her other therapies and we may see quicker progress in the other areas as well. Plus it will help her during her growth spurts so she doesn't fall so far behind physically as she grows. Also...total praise. I learned that God truely provided for us with Julie Miller. We saw her unexpectidly on a Thurs morning...the following Monday she stopped taking new patients....Praise God...he truely loves us and not only wants what's best for us but makes it happen!! Oh how he loves you and me......Good news...Good news....

Other than that...our lives have been great. We just got our little Maxie girl....And she is doing great. Check my facebook for a picture. She is a little puff ball of fur and really quite well behaved. So far...all my research has payed off......last night I said to Keith..."ok...we started out with the TOTALLY wrong dog for us with our first puppy Maddie....this one is already sooooo much easier"....the dog is mellow...had few accidents...and other than getting up to let her out a couple of times at night (which will soon be done with) she's behaving great...already going into her crate to sleep during the day by herself and not really barking all that much to be let out at night! Whew.....so far so good! :) :) :)She'll run around and play with the kids and get all hyper and you pick her up....and she cuddles like a baby...and doesn't try to squiggle away....LOVE IT!!! Anyway that's the scoop on our little family!! Hope all's well with everyone else!!

Blow Wind Blow and Go Mill Go

Holy Cow!! It is SOOOOOOO windy today! My front window...that I officially broke the storm window out of while cleaning it this summer is rattleing and I think it might just break out and fly away! I am trying to avoid going outside at all costs...but I may have to walk to the mailbox...and to the barn to shut the door that blew open last night! MAN!! It hasn't been this windy around here in a LONG time!
We've had quite a busy week so far....for us...Friday and Sat Keith and I went Christmas Shopping. We are almost done! Whew!! It was really busy while we were there....I stood in a line at Kohls that wrapped all the way to the back of the store!! Luckily it went really fast but when I got there I thought...do I really want to be shopping here? Anyway Sunday was our official day to teach Sunday School (the whole 13 4 year olds in a shoe box thing)....quite stressful but they were actually all well behaved this time! We had a lot of fun with them...some of them are just adorable and even though the room is WAY too small we managed to keep them all focused and entertained for the hour and a half that we had them. Monday was Lucy's therapy day....which we got a GREAT report...I don't remember if I talked about our unexpected blessing last week but Dr Julie Miller...who we were going to have to wait 6 weeks to see...called us unexpectedly on Thursday and said she had a cancellation and wondered if we could come see her at 1 that day....we rushed around....praised God and went...SHE WAS AWESOME....she spent 1 and 1/2 hours in the room with us...yeah....totally unheard of for Doc's and she observed Lucy and did different activities with her...she tickled her and had her jump and run...watched her eye movements and hand movements....AWESOME....she actually TOOK TIME to see that there was something up with Lucy and she (although she's been diagnosed with Lymphoma and is going to be undergoing chemo) took a real interest in Lucy and wants to help her ALOT...she even stated..."I'm going to be going through some tough stuff the next few weeks but I don't want Lucy to fall through the cracks...we need to find out what is going on with her...if I haven't called you back in 4 weeks...call my office and they'll know how to get ahold of me"...Yeah...any doctor that is willing to think of your child while undergoing crap like chemo shows the character of her heart and her willingness to help....WE LOVED HER!!! She ordered PT, and Speech therapy so our lives are about to get really hectic. She also ordered orthotics for Lucy which cost...get thsi $400.00 a pair and are only good for as long as the foot stays the same size...luckily insurance will pay but HOLY COW!!! Anyway those will help her with her stability and balance issues and coordination. She also asked that we get Lucy back into dance or gymnastics or karate to help with her coordination. So between going to Toledo possibly 2 times a week and mixing in Dance or something and doctors appointments with like 4 different docs we are going to be busy...but the good news is Lucy is improving in therapy and meeting her 3 month goals..she is able to stick out her tongue now...not up but down and out which is HUGE for her. She is also getting much sturdier in balence and able to climb and swing better without falling so much! We will probably be going through some genetics testing in the next few weeks also which might help answer some of our questions about the "whys" of everything. Lucy is also starting to have more of a body awareness....so that will also help her. She has some Apraxia which is when the brain knows what it wants to do but can't get the fingers/mouth to do it fast...anyway that's why she gets so frustrated and takes time to do things...the Doctor told us...she's a beautiful girl who's doing AWESOME with her uncooperative body...but we can help her do better! GREAT NEWS!! Anyway...such good news....
So anyway last night we had Gideon's Christmas Concert. He was so cute singing on the stage...although the girls were moving THE WHOLE TIME...so it was hard to listen to all the grades sing but it was fun...and when we left the school it was snowing...perfect night for a Christmas concert. So that's an update on our busy lives...Today we are doing laundry to catch up and starting to make some Christmas cookies (to freeze)...because.....THE PUPPY COMES SAT!!!!!! Wish us good luck!!!! Hope all's well!!

Have you seen the Gingerbread Man?

If any of you reading my blog have seen the Gingerbread Man, Gideon would really like to know where he is. Evidently yesterday at school...they made a Gingerbread man in class and took it to the oven in the cafeteria to bake it. They took it out to cool and when they went back to pick it up later.....IT WAS GONE!!!!...there were just sugary footprints off the pan.....His class is now on a search for the Gingerbread man so if you've seen it please call us! HAHAAHAHA!! Gideon told me...."Mom...me and Meleah thought it was just a fairy tale...but it wasn't...ours really ran away" He's having SO much fun with this story. On Monday his homework was to decorate a paper gingerbread man that he had cut out at school...he gave it button eyes and a jingle bell nose..it was really cute. I'm excited he's having fun learning....I wish that momentum would stay through all of his school years!
Our lives have been "steady" this last week but not too busy. We had an awesome Thanksgiving...incredibly relaxing....we really didn't DO anything....except get the Christmas tree and decorations up...which is always a hassle....seriously every year I say I am going to get a new tree because ours is just MASSIVE. and a PAIN to put togethor...but once we get it decorated...the "King of the Mountain" is so pretty I just can't part with it...but really....it's going to have to go soon...it's getting really dirty and rusty in the joints and it's starting to tip a little bit at the top...next year I want to get a real tree. I can still remember as a child living in Virginia climbing up this mountain with my brothers and parents in snow up to my knees to pick out a Christmas tree...I Sooooo want to let my kids experience something like that.....of course there are not even hills here...but still the cutting down and picking out is still worth it to me. I did get a real pine wreath for the front door...so we are partially real I guess :) :)
We are going Christmas shopping on Sat if all goes well and I hope to get most of it done then because next week is D-Day...and I'm not talking about the beaches of Normandy......Yes...the time has officially come.....the Dog is only a week away. I have my game face on and I'm getting ready...actually I am SOOOOO excited. I have been researching crate training on the internet and any other information I can. This time...despite what all goes on...I'm determined to be intellectually prepared :) I want to do this right!! I want a good dog so I need to put some effort into getting it that way. Plus...I think I've matured from the previous experience (at least I hope so) I hope that three kids have made me more responsible :) :) I am a little more used to cleaning up poop and pee now than I was...and getting up in the middle of the night. :) :) So Sat morning the 12th our lives are going to change forever......and I'm so ready for the kids to know...Keith has been telling them they are NOT getting a dog for Christmas...he about had Gideon in tears the other night...I told Gideon that it was between him and Santa...Daddy said...."Santa and I are like this (crossing his fingers) so he won't give us a dog without my approval"....It should be a good surprise!! I am going to wrap up a copier paper box I got at work and put it in there with a towel (they have a story about a Christmas puppy like that) anyway other than that...I have no idea what I 'm going to do. Soooo.....needless to say...everything has to be done or almost done by next Sat because after that our lives will be busy with puppy training!!
That's the big update on our little lives....Hope all's well