Hair Shaving Party

The hair shaving party was a success! My head is now shaved. Well, mostly shaved. I wasn't brave enough to go completely bald, but Caleb talked me into going with the #1 guard on the razor he graciously provided. I am still getting used to having no hair, and my scarves are really coming in handy now, as my head is pretty cold. I giggled when I came out of the shower this morning and didn't have to dry my hair, but I still used the blow-drier just to warm up my head a bit...brrrr!! Now I know why God gave us hair.

I had such a blast last night! It was great to be surrounded by family and friends during what could have been a traumatic experience for me.

Without further ado, here are just some of the 156 pictures Mike took last night. I had a hard time deciding which ones to post, they were all great!

Mom and Mark, my sister Christy's new baby

I'm just getting ready.

Bonnie got to do the fun part, since she had experience doing Caleb's hair.

That first buzz felt strange!!

Reverse Mohawk

Bonnie is hard at work.

Look at the hair fall...

Wonderful friends and family!!

Half done.

I didn't know WHAT I looked like, so I was still smiling.

They told me to do a combover with my half-head of hair.

Then Amber (pink) and Andrea (red) told me I looked like Donald Trump.

So I said, "You're fired!!"

Bonnie looks like she's having WAY too much fun...

But then, so was I!

Half without...

Half with!

Getting closer

Caleb didn't want me to have to be the first baldy at the party,

so he shaved his head prior to coming... isn't that sweet?

Here he is with Diamond... speaking of sweet... isn't she a doll??

Mom and Christy and Mark... can you tell that we are related? :-)

Nicolas is my friend Adrienne's son;

he is one of my sons' favorite people!

rrrrRRRRRrrrrr.....

Mama G and Papa B looking on,

and "the girls"... left to right is:

Christy's Brianna, Amber's Kylie, and Christy's Kayla

I'm still not sure about all of this, but it is happening!

My first baldy massage from my handsome husband.

Bonnie did a great job, thanks Bon-Bon!

Finishing touches

Kylie and Kayla hit it off.

Kayla wanted to see what she looked like with red hair. hee!

my wig

Baldies!

Crying baldies

All 3 baldies :-)

Too funny!!

Awww... Bonnie and Diamond are precious.

Isn't she just TOO cute!?

Christy's Lydia wanted to feel.

Amber's massage was Soooooo nice...

And it didn't even freak her out!

Girls saying goodbye to each other.

Christy's Miguel... was a sweetie!

And check out my new purse, isn't it sweet?

My Sammy Boy

Adrienne's artwork :-)

She brought markers to sign my head with, what a cool idea!!

Griffin held the door open while people left. He was so tired after no nap!

Sammy told me, "Mommy, you look like a different girl!

You need to put your glasses back on."

He said the same thing when he saw me this morning. He's not used to it yet.

Lydia :-)

A Big Thank You

Thank you all so much for all of the prayers and encouraging words!! It is a good thing my mascara tube malfunctioned the other day, because just reading all of the things you wonderful people are saying makes the tears flow freely! I have such wonderful friends and family.

Last night, Bonnie and Caleb and Little Miss Diamond came over and brought with them the most wonderful dinner. Bonnie had worked hard (don't deny it, Bonnie, you know you did!) to make a super-yummy cream of broccoli/celery soup, a tasty dish with herbed rice, cabbage and vegan hot dogs that was a hit with all of the kids, a mixture of fruit that was just divine -- I think there were raspberries, strawberries, pineapple, and blueberries in there -- the fruit juice was Sammy's favorite!

She also used their new juicer to make three different kinds of juice blends. I liked the carrot/apple the best, but the carrot/beet/(???) was my favorite. There was also a mixture of spinach/celery/cabbage/cucumber/carrot/something else that had a very fresh, clean taste.

Thanks for the delicious meal, Bonnie and Caleb!!

Today, Bonnie was going to take me out to get a pedicure, but it is snowing buckets here! I don't think snow and a pedicure really go well together, so maybe she'll just come hang out for a while. It would be cheaper... and I have some episodes of the Food Network recorded. I love Everyday Italian with Giada de Laurentiis, and Home Cooking with Paula Deen. Sometimes I can even handle Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee. She makes decorating for a party seem so easy! And everything is color-coordinated... wow.

The boys and Mike are being wonderful. Any time Griffin or Sammy see me crying, they come up and give me hugs and little boy kisses and wrap their arms around my neck and tell me, "I love you, Mama," and make my world all better for that moment.

Mike is doing laundry and dishes galore, and has made dinner for himself and the boys many nights. I am usually tired by 7:30 or 8 and just want to sit in my designated spot on the couch with my blankets and a box of Kleenex. It is so hard to wait, and not know what is going on.

On a lighter note, Sammy and I had a conversation last night right before B, C and D came over.

I wanted to know if he had any grand plans for his life when he got older, so I asked him the age-old question,

"Sammy what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Now, apparently, Sammy has given this a lot of thought, because he had an immediate response for me.

He didn't have to think about it, or weight the possibilities.

He is a man of decision!

His response?

"Taller."

A Setback

I like to post happy, fun things on my blog, but lately I have been going through somethings that are anything but happy and fun!

Last month, in January, I suffered through a tubal pregnancy and surgery to remove one of my fallopian tubes. It was a long process that involved 3 ER visits and multiple doctor's visits, all of which were anything but pleasant. But that experience is behind me, and I was looking forward to what God had in store for me next.

Until, that is, I found out that what He has for me next will take a lot more out of me than the previous experience did.

I found a lump in my neck a few days ago, and after a lot of tests, scans, etc. the doctors believe it is lymphoma. I have several other enlarged lymph nodes as well in my chest and neck area, which may explain the pain I have been in lately. I thought I needed a new purse, because it was too heavy for me! Turns out I can keep my purse. But I may want a new neck before too long.

We visited with the surgeon today, and he will be doing a biopsy of "the big lump" -- the one that I can feel from outside -- and also a bone marrow biopsy on Tuesday, March 3rd. Happy Birthday, Babe! It's an outpatient procedure, but they will put me to sleep, and I don't have a good history with anesthesia. So we'll see. I hope I can walk away from it after a few hours with some good pain meds and a smile on my face, but I have a feeling Mike is in for a loooooong birthday.

That's all I know right now! I have started a CarePage, which you can find the link to on the side of my blog. I will update it every time I find out something new, or any time something happens related to this journey I am going through. Thank you all, my friends and family, for your love and support as we go through this trying, emotional journey!

New Year, New Cards

These are some cards I made recently. I love how they turned out! Although I must say, they looked much better in person. I was in a hurry to take pictures of them, and the last card was a bit blurry. And you can't see the glitter very well... and I'm going to stop complaining now!

Smart Decisions

In this time of economic crisis and nationwide turmoil, with all of the uncertainty and budget-consciousness and I'm-Making-All-Of-My-Christmas-Presents-From-Scratch-This-Year-Do-You-Have-A-Cow-I-Can-Milk?


Yeah. That was weird.


So. With all of the ever-growing awareness of how much things cost, my husband and I have decided that the best decision for our family is... to get a better cable company. With more channels. HGTV! PBS Sprout! And DVR. So we can watch those programs over. And over. And over again!


Seriously. We're doing it for the good of the economy, people! We'll be spending about $9 more per month, and getting a much faster internet connection, phone service and the best selection of cable channels I have ever had in my life. The excitement! Oh, the pizza-ordering possibilities!!


I am in TV heaven. Well, I will be. After they hook it up on the 29th.


I'm so ready to be done with Com "Do-You-Think-The-Internet-Will-Work-Today?" Cast. But I'm not bitter. Not at all.


Because I have visions of sugarplums, you know, the ones Martha Stewart shows you how to make on HGTV (is she even on HGTV?) dancing in my head.


You thought I was a homebody before? Just wait until I get HGTV and DIY and Lifetime and On Demand. I'll never leave the house again!!

First Time Bowling

Snow Play

Yesterday was a lazy day for us. The boys were SO excited to see about an inch of snow on the ground when they woke up!! They bugged me for an hour until I finally gave in and dug their snowsuits out of the storage room. I just love Children's Orchard! I had gotten them for $15 each when they had all of their coats out, you know, in August. Because what reasonable person isn't thinking about frolicking in the snow in the 95-degree humidity of the summer?

They were soon (soon is a relative word... about 30 minutes later) bundled up and ready to brave the elements. They headed out the door with much gusto... and came back inside less than 20 minutes later.

It was really cold, I had to agree.

But the smiles on their faces...er, whatever face that is that Griffin was making... were worth all of the work it took to get them out there.

Have fun playing in your snow!

A Leafy Story

Sammy was a bit pouty at first. But he's 2. What's new?

He was upset because Griffin got to use the rake first.
But then it was his turn...

and boy, did he have fun!

Then Daddy brought the dump trucks...

and filled them up with leaves!

The leaves were flying everywhere!

Sammy thought they were soft and comfy...

and they made a great hiding place!

Griffin liked to pick them up and throw them...

but Sammy just wanted to jump in and burrow down.

Griffin decided that sounded like fun!

Then, Daddy threw Griffin into the leaf pile!

He landed... thud!

Then it was Sammy's turn!

Plop! He landed on his tummy.

The End

Late Halloween

The house across the street. He loves Halloween! I wish I had a tripod, because without the flash, the picture always came out blurry if my hands shook even the tiniest bit.

Our jack-o-lantern this year. Yes, I traced around the boys' hands...


And then I cut out the hands, and placed those hand cut-outs and placed them on the stairs leading up to the house. I wish I would have had some pumpkin-scented tea lights to put in the jack-o-lantern. I only had lemon. At least it smelled clean!

My tired trick-or-treaters! Sammy (in case you can't tell or just aren't familiar with kid movies)
was Mr. Incredible (from The Incredibles), and Griffin was Buzz Lightyear (from Toy Story)