Long time, no see. Catching up.

First off, I apologize to those of you who read this blog for my absence.  God has called me to serve in new ways this year--the time involved in this service has consumed my allotted blogging time.  However, it is right where God wants me for now.   But, I still desire to regularly blog.  There is so much that I want to keep as my life's journal--especially so that our kids can read this someday and see what God has taught me, see what fun memories we made and know me even more by seeing different aspects of my heart.

For now though, I am going to rapid-fire as many posts as I can and publish them over the next couple of days.  These will likely be short and sweet with lots of photos.  But, it is better than nothing.  :-)

Luke's best friend, his cousin Traber, visited a few weeks ago.  They had a blast, as usual.  They get along so well.  At the beginning of their visit, they sound just like brothers who have been away from each other for a while.  Near the end of their visit, they sound like brothers who have spent a little too much time together--ha!  Either way, they love each other so much--like close siblings.  Luke always talks about Traber to new friends as if he sees him every week.  Traber now has a sweet baby brother--Sawyer.  Here are some photos from our long weekend with my brother, Jeremy, sister-in-law, Brandy and their sweet boys.

We visited the (free) Austin Science and Nature center.  The kids had a blast there as usual.  We always end our trip there with a dig in the dino pit.

  

Little miss expressive Abbey is talking about how she is digging for something here.  Notice her hand--so prissy!

My brother secretly hid real treasures (money) in the sand when the boys weren't looking.  Once they found their first coin, that digging pace picked up rather rapidly.  It was fun to watch the boys get so excited!

Jeremy and Brandy at the Science and Nature Center's Dino Pit.

Silly Traber!

Baby Sawyer--watching the OU game with daddy

Luke is 5!

I'm not sure how it happened already, but our little boy turned 5 on Saturday!  We started the day with an 8:30am soccer game, which he loved.  Grandma and Grandpa were able to visit us for the whole weekend, so they were able to watch him play (and score a goal) and celebrate his birthday with him on Saturday and Sunday. Mimi and Papa were also able to come visit us for a day the previous weekend to celebrate with Luke and watch him play soccer.

 
Here are some recent photos of Luke playing soccer:

taking the ball to the goal

focusing on footwork fundamentals while taking it to the goal.

Then, on Sunday, we celebrated Luke's birthday with friends and grandma and grandpa.  Luke decided a few months ago that he wanted to have a "race car" themed party.  He honestly got on pinterest with me and picked out what types of snacks, etc he wanted for the party.  This is what we came up with:

We had "dipsticks" (pretzels dipped in chocolate).  He also chose to have plates in red, yellow and green to resemble a stoplight.

In lieu of cake, he wanted me to bake donuts, which resembled spare tires.  We made some gingerbread and double chocolate donuts.

Guests could fuel up on antifreeze (maple lemonade) or water.

And, we had other snacks for guests.

But, the most important part to him was the people who came to celebrate with him.  Luke didn't need presents--the party and celebration were the parts he was most excited about.  He loves having people visit us at our home.  So, we played some fun games with friends from our community group.

Lining up for a game of red light, green light.

Luke's friend, Krystal, took a turn at being the stoplight.

tossing bean bags into a spare tire.

getting their carefully selected cars ready to race at the track.

Luke's friend, Josh, pretending to be a race car driver.  He is a mighty cute driver!

An awful photo of me, but too cute of Luke not to include.

Now for the mushy stuff.  My letter to Luke.

Luke, you have grown up so much this past year.  And, in this past few months, the growing up really seemed to compound. You have learned so many new skills!  You are now reading, writing, you've lost two teeth, you've learned to ride your bike without training wheels, you have awesome math skills, you build lego kits all by yourself, you've got terrific soccer skills, and you can make up your own bed (and you do it well--which of course I love).  Although I am very proud of you for all of these new skills, these are not the things about you for which I am most proud.  I am most proud of your character.

• I can't help but smile when I overhear you say sweet big brother things to Abbey--like when you tell her "everything is ok, big brother is here."  I love watching you grab her hand to hold it and caress it.  Of course, I love it when you do the same to mine.  You are a sweet cuddler--and I hope that never changes.  You have a very physical love language--you love hugs, touch and cuddles. 

• You love sweet words of encouragement and you offer them up to others.  
• Your smile lights up a whole room.  

• You love to learn.  You ask lots of questions.  
• You are learning to share and have become quite giving.  
• You enjoy being really silly.  
• You love playing physical games like tag--anything that requires lots of running outdoors.  
• You are competitive and you don't like to lose (we may need to work on that a little bit).  
• You have begun learning that practice makes perfect.   For example, I love that you decided on your own that you were going to ride your bike without training wheels before you turned 5.  I enjoyed watching out the window as you practiced riding your bike all by yourself in the grass in our backyard without training wheels.  You would ride it to one end and then push it back up the sloped yard and ride it down again--over and over.  You persevered, doing that for two full consecutive afternoons and were then able to reap the rewards of that since you now can ride your bike without training wheels.   
• I love that you enjoy helping daddy and me with chores.  If daddy or I mow, you are right there with us with your toy mower ready to help.  If we need to wash our car, you are there, excited and with a helping hand.  You help with the dishes and the laundry, vacuuming, and taking out the trash.  You love being our helper!

• You already believe in the power of prayer.  You notice when a friend or family member is hurting or has a boo boo, and you ask daddy or me (without prompting) to pray specifically for that person at night.  You pray for me and that the cancer never comes back every night.  

I just love you so much, Luke.  I write this letter to you so you know just some of the things I love about you Luke.   Someday, I will not be around, but these words always will and I want you to have them.  

Soccer...then and now!

A year and a half ago, Luke began his first soccer season and I officially became a "soccer mom."  I wrote a blog post about it, which you can find by clicking here.  It was the first and only season he played...up until he began asking to play again this summer.

You see, after his first season of playing, we decided not to mention it or push it at all.  He was only 3.5 and he really didn't enjoy playing against other teams.  He loved practices...just didn't enjoy the actual game day when he played against another team.  During games, he wanted either Drew or me on the field with him at all times.  I believe the picture below paints the perfect picture of how Luke felt the first season of play:

He began asking about soccer a little bit this past spring.  But, we missed the registration deadline.  By the time summer rolled around, he was determined to play again soon.  He told me fairly regularly that he was practicing soccer in the backyard so he would be ready to play soccer next season.  So of course I signed him up for the fall season.  That season began a couple of weeks ago.  The first two Saturdays were practice days.  This weekend, he had his first game.   Oh my what a difference a little time makes.  The boy totally came out of his shell.  I was shocked.  Here are a few photos:

Luke is on the gold team (Cheetahs)--he's number 9.  Here he is running up to try to get the ball.

Luke and this little boy on the green team were always neck and neck by the ball.  Look at that aggression on Luke's part!  Night and day difference from last year! 

And Luke takes it!

time to play goalie for a little while

Ready for the ball!

Team talk

taking a very brief turn off the field.  He played nearly the entire game!

Miss Abbey yearned to play.

Drew and I were proud parents.  We were so happy to see Luke work hard, be brave, hustle and be competitive.  A couple of parents and grandparents told us we had a superstar.  I am just so happy he really enjoyed it and had a blast, instead of being afraid as he was the first season he played.  I was that mom who was yelling on the side line---"go Luke!",  "Take the ball!",  "Turn it around!",  "Shoot it!"  I kind of wish I was on the field.  It was so much fun to watch!  The game was very competitive and Luke scored a goal.  They actually don't really keep score, but you know us parents do.  The score was 1-0.  Last year, the score was 22-0 (in favor of the other team) for the first soccer game of the season.  It is a lot more competitive this year.  And, it is only the beginning of the season!  Woo hoo!

Family Updates

Labor Day has actually been a fairly laborious one for us.  But, no worries, we managed to have quite a bit of fun and get in a tiny bit of rest this weekend.  Plus, we got to celebrate Drew's birthday over this long wonderful weekend.

Anyway, I figured it would be a good idea to type up a quick blog post about what we have been up to lately, since it has been too long since my previous post.  So, here it goes.

Drew:
Drew is still working a TON of hours.  We are hoping his current work project wraps up soon, so we can have a little more family time.  Although he has been working a lot, we are also very thankful for his job.  We just make sure we get as much Drew/Daddy time in as possible when we can!

Me:
Health-wise:  I have been getting a monthly shot to shut down my ovaries.  This has, of course, put me into menopause--which is no fun as a 30-something gal.  In addition, I am taking a new medication that, basically, searches for and gets rid of any lingering estrogen in my body.  I am not a big fan of this treatment, since I am realizing estrogen does a lot of great things for a gal's body.  This post-cancer treatment has a way of removing every part of me that makes me feel womanly.  But, I am also very thankful that I am alive and that I have such treatment options.   I am still trying to decide whether I will have a surgery to remove my ovaries (in lieu of getting the shot every month for 10 years to shut down my ovaries).  The surgery to remove my ovaries is obviously a permanent thing--which is why the decision is so tough.  Also, I am trying to decide whether to attempt some sort of breast reconstruction. I have seen a few different plastic surgeons, and non of the options are appealing to me.  For now, I am just going to wait until I feel like one of the options seems like the right one.  The other tough thing is that obviously, these surgeries will involve more lifting restrictions.  Since we don't have family in town, taking care of the kiddos while trying to heal may be tough.  Decisions, decisions.

I am looking forward to getting back on a routine/schedule this coming week.  We had a pretty relaxed schedule for the summer, but now it's time to fit in daily homeschooling (we did it sporadically over the summer), Bible Study (through Bible Study Fellowship), exercise, meal planning, AWANAs for both Luke and Abbey, and soccer for Luke.  We are also looking for a music class for Abbey, since she has expressed interest in that.   At the same time, I am trying to plan less unnecessary trips away from home, so we can get on more of a routine around the house.

Luke:

Luke is growing up too fast!   I am hearing a lot more comments on "how tall he looks".  Also, I took him to the dentist a couple of months ago, and the dentist told me he already had his 6-year molars in.  What?  Luke was 4.5 at the time.  They also told me he had a couple of loose teeth, and would likely lose one before his 5th birthday.  They were right!   Luke lost his first tooth last week.

look how small that baby tooth is!

Something interesting is that Luke's permanent tooth grew in right behind the loose baby tooth.  So, by the time he lost the baby tooth, his other one was right there, already in.  Luke was super excited about losing that tooth.  Since it has been loose for so long, there was a lot of anticipation over it.

Luke is such a sweetie pie who loves his sister.  He told me once that he was concerned about her getting new friends, because then she wouldn't like to play with him as much.  He wants her all to himself!  Drew also told me a sweet story about a trip that he and Luke took to the grocery store yesterday.  As they were leaving the store, Luke noticed the little toy machines (you know, the little dispensers that give you a tiny toy such as a crazy ball, tattoo, gum, etc. when you place a couple of quarters in them and turn the knob).  Later that night when Drew was putting Luke to bed, Luke told Drew that the next time he went to the store, he was going to bring his money so that he could buy one of those toys.  Drew replied, "Luke, I don't know that you would want to spend your money on one of those toys--you probably wouldn't play with it very long."  Luke replied, "But, I saw a jewel that had gold on it and I thought Abbey would like it."  The sweet boy was going to buy his sister a gold jewel with his own money.  Oh--be still my heart!

Abbey:

Abbey has been super sweet as well.  I feel like we are towards the end of what some folks title the "terrible two's".  (By the way, I really don't like that term, because I just absolutely love this age).  She has learned how to sooth herself when it comes to not getting "her way".  For example, if she asks for something and I tell her "no", she usually asks a couple more times.  Then, she realizes I won't change my mind, and she runs to a very specific location in our home to quietly pout.  The pouting takes about 25 seconds.  Once she is done, she comes back to wherever I am (usually the kitchen) and has a brand new attitude.   Sometimes, she even apologizes for how she acted.  Either way, she is now her joyous, happy self.  I feel like her ability to sooth herself is another sign of her growing up as well.  Watching them grow up is such a bittersweet thing.

And, the girl has a lot of personality--but I love every piece of it!

Now, on to some of the fun we had this weekend.  We explored a new area of our town on Saturday morning. The city put in a new "boardwalk" space around the lake in the center of town.   We enjoyed exploring it together as a family.

I am looking forward to riding our bikes, along with the kids riding theirs, on this boardwalk someday.  Also, it is fun to think about being able to kayak and canoe and stuff like that with them in the lake since they are getting a bit bigger.  Like I said, watching them grow up is just so bittersweet!

Dress up Days Are Here

I have been so busy lately, that I somehow thought I already wrote this post.  The to-do list in my head is just so lengthy that I guess I got really excited about crossing stuff off of it and this got inadvertently crossed off.  Granted, I did post some of the photos on Facebook, so that is probably part of the reason I forgot.  But, a few Facebook photos don't tell the whole story.  I want to remember some of this and I want Abbey to be able to read this someday.  So, here we go.

A couple of weeks ago, Abbey was sitting on our large leather recliner in the living room.  She lay back, relaxed and then asked me to go get her drink.  I asked her, "Are you Queen Abbey"?   She replied, "no, I am just Abbey."  Then, I asked, "Oh, are you princess Abbey?"  She again replied that she was "just Abbey".  About 30 minutes later, she gasped loudly exclaimed, "I need my blue crown!"  She said it suddenly, out of the blue, like it was some big epiphany!  I guess she was still thinking about my queen and princess comments and she thought that although she wasn't an actual queen or princess, she could pretend to be one.

I had purchased a few fun dress-up costumes at a garage sale a little over a year ago that I hoped she might enjoy some day.   Most were hung up in the back of her closet.  A couple of little princess crowns were included in that group of costumes.  Luke was eager to help her find the crown.  He was the first up the stairs and we soon found a crown.  But, Abbey said,"No, not that one, the Blue one."  Oh, I didn't even know she knew she had a blue crown.   But, apparently, she knew all about it.  We found it and placed it on her head.  Then, she needed a beautiful gown to go with it.  We all were having a fun time dressing Abbey up. We were having so much fun, that I failed to get a photo of her first beautiful dress up costume.  She first donned a white ball gown to go with her blue crown.  But suddenly, she noticed the little princess ballerina leotard in her closet, and needed that one on immediately.  The outfit wasn't complete though without the little white pretend heels.

So, we did a quick costume switch, and that leotard was what she wore the rest of the afternoon.  I captured some photos of her in that costume.  The girl moves VERY quickly, so I didn't capture too many.

Here is Abbey, as she is saying she is "being a pretty ballerina".

 Now, this post really isn't anything special to most people. But, it is still something I want to remember.  I have been told to cherish these precious moments.  Someday, our little Abbey girl will be donning a wedding dress, instead of a pretend costume.  For now, she is enjoying being a little girl and doing "little girl things."  What's funny is that I figured that little girls who enjoyed dressing up were in some ways guided by their mothers to find the love for that.  But, I guess that just isn't always the case.  Abbey gets giddy about going shopping (it happens very rarely for us, as Luke doesn't enjoy it).  When we do go shopping, she will exclaim things in a super-high squeaky voice such as, "those shoes are so cute",  and "oh my goodness look at that pretty pink dress!" Apparently, she also really enjoys trying on "outfits."  I promise you, folks, this girl was not groomed by me to enjoy these things (although I do enjoy the rare shopping trip for something other than groceries).  I guess she was just born this way!

Luke, on the other hand, doesn't enjoy dressing up yet.  But, he has several acrobatic tricks that he enjoys performing.  SO, I may as well end the post with a photo or two of Luke.  Luke was in Awana Cubbies last year (and he will be attending coming up again in September).  It is such a wonderful program.   Many times, at the end of the class, the kids could volunteer to perform their "talents".  Luke tells me this is the one he performed:  the spin jump.

 

 

I am so thankful to have this special time with the kids, watching them grow and and helping to shape, mold and teach them.  It is also so much fun seeing their personalities grow and development. 

A Recipe for Some Awesome Toothpaste

Those of you who are regular readers of this blog know that we have been taking a journey towards totally clean living for the past year and a half or so.  Experiencing cancer seems to have that effect on a lot of people--you want to do everything you can to keep it away.  One of the things that we changed soon after we began our journey was toothpaste.

Now, you may be thinking, "why is changing toothpaste important?  It is not something you swallow."  First off, your mouth acts as a vehicle to absorb chemicals into the bloodstream very rapidly.  The time for those chemicals to be circulating in your bloodstream is super short.  That is why there are many pills that you simply place under your tongue.  Second, even though you do not intend to swallow the toothpaste, some of it does get inadvertently ingested.  So, we decided to select toothpastes that we wouldn't mind actually ingesting.  When we first began looking at ingredients in toothpaste, we were shocked by what was actually in the stuff that we purchased regularly and placed in our mouths multiple times per day.

Some of those nasty ingredients found in main-stream toothpastes are the following

• sodium lauryl sulfate (According to the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews,6 research studies on SLS have shown links to irritation of the skin and eye, organ toxicity, Developmental/reproductive toxicity, neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, ecotoxicology, and biochemical or cellular changes, possible mutations and cancer)
• Sodium fluoride (a by-product of aluminium production found in rat poisons and industrial pesticides)
• triclosan (a carcinogenic pesticide)
• propylene glycol (an active component in anti-freeze which can lead to brain, liver and kidney abnormalities)
• DEA (a carcinogenic hormone disrupter) 
• and, a long list of other unpronouncable chemicals. 

When we continued to look for a totally clean toothpaste, we even found that some of the "cleaner" toothpastes we viewed the ingredient list on at Whole Foods and Natural Grocers contained things like carrageenan (which we are staying away from for reasons listed in the link).   So, like many personal care products, we were left with the obvious solution to simply make our own.  And believe me, it is super simple.

The recipe and its benefits:

The recipe we like includes approximately 4 parts xylitol, 4 parts coconut oil, 4 parts baking soda, 1 part Pink Himalayan Sea salt and however many drops of peppermint oil I feel it needs depending on the size of the batch.  There are obviously specific reasons each of the ingredients were selected.  The xylitol prevents decay and assists to remineralize. (Although it has been touted as a "healthy" substitute for sugar in food, I would not use it as a sugar substitute, and I am only using xylitol as an ingredient in the toothpaste for the very specific reasons listed.  Xylitol can, however, be omitted from this recipe if you are not comfortable with using it.)  Coconut oil acts as an antibacterial and antifungal.  Baking Soda is alkalizing and acts as an abrasive (and therefore, teeth whitener).  Himalayan Sea Salt contains 85 minerals, stops bad breath, draws out pathogens and kills bacteria.  And lastly, pure peppermint oil has numerous beneficial properties.  But, it is mainly nice in the toothpaste for the flavor.

We put our toothpaste into little containers that have screw-on lids.   I bought the containers at the local grocery store (HEB) for around $1.  It is super easy for you to put the paste into the container by unscrewing the lid and placing the paste into the large opening.  Then, you screw the lid back on, and the lid with the pop-up cap has a smaller hole where the toothpaste squeezes out.  I have found that, at times, the toothpaste gets hard to squeeze out.  When it does, I simply run the tube under hot water to get the coconut oil to melt a bit.  Honestly, I think when I make the next batch I am just going to store the toothpaste in a small mason jar and use a little metal utensil to place onto the toothbrush.   You can also reuse your current toothpaste containers by cutting off the end of the tube, placing your homemade paste in there and then rolling it back up.  At first, I found the toothpaste to taste a bit salty.  But now, I actually love it.  And, combined with one of my favorite personal care products, the electric toothbrush (Philips Sonicare Easyclean), my teeth feel like they were just cleaned at the dentist each time I brush my teeth.

I decided to write up a quick post because I have been meaning to for a while now, and this information is just too good not to share.  Enjoy!