Caught in the act....little MONSTER!!

Do I really need to explain this photo? You see the little toaster oven? That is where this cake box was at...I, obviously, had my back turned and Luke found it, and polished it off! AUGH!
*on a side note: please pray for my friend from work Pat. She is being treated for breast cancer right now and her white blood cell count is critically low. In order to receive her chemo. her white count needs to be a bit higher!! Thank you!!!*

Molly's Progress:

Molly was able to be taken off the breathing machine (ventilator) today and is doing better. Her white count is down to 12,000 so the chemo. is working. She is hopefully being moved to a regular room (not ICU) tomorrow! I don't think I will have to give updates daily anymore as she isn't as critical, but will keep everyone posted! Thank you again for praying for her!!!

Jake- The Preschooler!

Well, here he is! My Jakey Jo, the big preschooler!

A Day of Positive Steps for Molly!!!

I got a text early this morning from Melissa saying that Molly's lungs are getting better and they had weaned the ventilator to half the support she was on. At my latest update at 9:30 tonight, Molly is still on the breathing machine but they are allowing her to wake up. She is opening her eyes again and is starting to be responsive. Melissa asked her if she wanted to read a Curious George book and Molly shook her head yes!!!! She also responded yes to seeing pictures of her with her little friend Emma. Her white count is down to 37,000 as well!!! Melissa said the goal is to have her breathe above the ventilator breaths through the night and get her off the breathing machine tomorrow morning. Thank you soooo much for the prayers! They are working, not only with her infection in the lungs but also with the chemo. working at fighting the leukemia!! (I did forget to say that her spinal fluid and brain were NOT affected with leukemic cells, another positive thing for Molly!)
I will keep you updated as much as I can! Anna, Jake and Luke made cards tonight for her, I have to be coordinated enough to send them out tomorrow!

A Molly Update:

Melissa called me around 2am to update me. Molly had taken a turn for the worse and needed to be put on life support (breathing machine). They had to give her several medications to keep her calm/sedated and were toying with a paralytic (which would keep her from voluntarily moving). I talked Melissa through all the medical jargin. At that point her white blood cell count had barely budged. It was still in the 481,000 range, which isn't good! This morning I got a text from Melissa that her white count was down to 119,000 (a good improvement). This afternoon I got another text that it was down to 99,000 (even better). She is indeed paralyzed with medication and on a breathing machine still. Melissa did say that Molly's color is back and that her swelling is down. She is on several antibiotics until they figure out what exactly is going on. The good thing is that they have been able to continue with the chemo therapy! Thank you so much for praying for Molly and her parents, Scott and Melissa. They need it and appreciate it so much!!! (this photo is from May when we last were able to get together for a playdate with Molly)

Pumpkin Carving...

We were going to go on our fall color tour today (this was our rescheduled day...well I think we are going to miss the color as we had to reschedule again for more rain again today!) But, on a positive note, we decided to carve the GIANT pumpkins instead. Each kid picked out how they wanted their pumpkin to look. Here is how it went!
*On a side note: I have found out that Molly has the more rare form of ALL, the type with T-cell involvement. She started chemo last night and had several procedures today (Lumbar puncture to see if the leukemic cells are in her brain and spinal cord), PICC line placement (the IV line she needs for the chemo) and also her bone marrow biopsy. At this point we don't know if there is spinal cord involvement, that is the prayer right now that her spinal fluid is leukemia free. Also, she is in the Intensive care unit right now, they are hopeful that she will tolerate being moved to a regular floor by Monday. So much, so fast! Melissa and Scott seem in o.k. spirits, but the dust hasn't settled yet! There is so much more to go. Thank you for praying for her!!!

Please Pray for Molly

I got a phone call from one of my close friends today. She just found out this afternoon that her daughter has ALL, which is a form of leukemia. I don't know anymore details than that, she was being rushed to a Children's Hospital in Chicago when she called me. They are doing a bone marrow aspiration tomorrow. I just thought I would get as many people on board as possible to pray for little Molly. She and Luke are the exact same age. Melissa graduated with Mike from H.S. and has been a close friend of mine since high school. Please pray for her and her family...

Playing around!!!

Anna had gymnastics tonight. While we were gone, the boys (all three) cleaned up the outdoors readying it for the winter. (yuck!) The kids were having fun horsing around!

A Good Day for a Visit

We stopped to see Grandma G. at work this morning real quick on our way to visit with Grandpa G. The kids had fun, but after an hour we had to leave, #1 to give grandpa a break and #2 because the boys were working hard at destroying grandma's house!!!! P.S. Hey grandma, ya think you can childproof it before turkey day and Christmas??? I may need meds before then if not!!! :)

My Tooth Fell Out!

As told by Mike and Anna: When Anna woke up she brought her tooth in to daddy and said, "look my tootch fell out". As many of you know, the dentist gave AnnaJoy a small pink box for teeth that might fall out at school. They placed the tooth in there and put it up on the dresser to wait for mommy. Oh thanks Aunt Katie! Anna expects $2 from the toothfairy!!!

Our Fall Photo Shoot (Pt. 1...Fallasburg)

I brought the kids to the covered bridge in Fallasburg Park. It would have been perfect, except that there were motocycle bikers there (that were distracting Luke!) and sooo many people by the bridge, oh well! Maybe another time! In the first photo Luke is saying "cheese" can you tell?

Our Fall Photo Shoot...The Farm

We had an awesome time at Great Grandma and Grandpa Smith's farm tonight! They even got out the tractor and wagon so we could all go on a hay ride. It was lots of fun. Jake and Anna got to help drive the tractor...Luke and Calli wanted NO part of that! Even though it was almost 80 degrees, the kids allowed me to take quite a few photos of them in their fall attire! (Phew) Although I didn't get EXACTLY what I wanted, I have learned with 3 kids, you take what you can get!! We actually got a couple decent family shots too! Thank you Aunt Noelle for being the photographer for that!!

It's Homecoming!!!

Today is spirit day at all the schools! Anna wanted to wear her cheerleading outfit, but she has gym...so she settled for the cheerleading shirt and cute hair ties. I put my go blue earrings in her ears for her, she was very excited to show her teacher all of her maize and blue! Go Eagles!

Pumpkin Patch

O.K. so I am not impressed by these photos at all! I usually have every dressed in "fall" attire. We went to the pumpkin patch for our pumpkins, but didn't have room for the straw/hay bales, so we will be back, maybe I will have them more "coordinated" for that visit!

A long night for Luke...

Luke had a really rough night last night with pain and discomfort. Lots of moaning, crying and sitting up not understanding what was going on. We are only able to give him tylenol for a few more days so that will just have to do, tell that to a 2 year old that doesn't understand. We are super thankful that his first night was comfortable and pray that he feels better soon. He has had a rough day so far today as well. Sigh, I just feel bad that he has to have so much discomfort. Everyone is down for naps right now, hopefully he will wake up with a fresh start!

Anna's School Photo

This photo makes me feel old! Anna is enjoying school so far, although she wishes she were in school 5 days a week!

Fix me up Doctor!

Luke had surgery to remove his adenoids this morning. I was able to go back to the operating room with him until he was asleep. He did well. We had to stay at the surgical center for 2 hours or so after the surgery as Luke refused fluids...and proceeded to bring up all that we were able to get down! Once home, though, he did really well. He drank 6 cups of juice or water the rest of the day. We were to keep him on a liquid diet the first few hours after the surgery...well I'm here to tell you that by 3:45pm that boy was going nuts he was so hungry! Thankfully he slept through the first night comfortably and we are praying for another restful night tonight too (Tuesday). Thank you for all your prayers, they worked! He did great and is recovering like a champ...Oh, guess what he did this evening (Tuesday)? While I was reading to the big kids, he somehow found a permanent marker and colored all over my kitchen cabinets! Thank the Lord, it did all come off with the help of a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser! (phew!) That boy is out to kill me!
P.S. that "thing" he is holding is "Scarey Kitty" he belongs at the surgical center and Luke took a strong liking to him!

Luke update...

Luke is officially scheduled for surgery at 8:15am on Monday...yes, just a few days from now! I have a call in to work to see if it is possible to get out at 6am on Monday morning. (now that I am weekend option I work every Sunday night). Please be in prayer that everything goes smoothly with coordinating schedules and also for Luke's recovery. Dr. Winkle is only taking out the adenoids, he said the tonsils look small so they are not a concern at this time.

Jake and the Firefighters Visit to Preschool!

This week Jake learned about what to do if there is a fire in your house. He was very excited to tell Mike and me all about how he would be really loud and not hide, but still stay away from the flames. Today at school the Hudsonville Firefighters came to talk about how important it is to not be afraid of them in all their gear. They got all dressed up and showed how they would look and sound when looking for them...this is when Luke FREAKED out!! (it was a bit scarey to see, escpecially when you are 2). Then they got to see the firetruck and hear it! (again, Luke was afraid!) All in all it was a great day! We have to go over fire safety with the kids as we haven't established where they would meet us once outside!!! Stress! I hope it NEVER really happens!
P.S. pray for Luke. He has an appointment in about an hour to see if he needs surgery to remove his adenoids...