"Sweet Summertime"

It is official, we are on summer break! Woo-Hoo!!! Sorry, haven't posted in a while, it has been quite busy the last few weeks of school as we were finishing up-reviewing for exams, making exams, and grading exams. Shuuuu..glad that is finally over!

This past week was Cade's last week of KidConnection. You all know how much I talk about Cade's best buddy Christopher and they truly are best friends. On Wednesday-which was the last day-Christopher's dad came to pick him up. I happened to be over there as well to pick up Cade. I watched the saddest thing..Cade had a complete meltdown when Christopher left. He cried, and cried, and cried. I had to reassure him that we would see Christopher some this summer! It was so sweet to watch, but also so sad.

Cade is really excited about the summer. He has always had to have some sort of schedule and plan for the day. He wants to know what we are doing every hour. So looks like I will have to make lesson plans for Cade for the week-HA! So after the meltdown at school we talked about the summer. His words to me on the way home: "mommy, it's summer now, and we can plant flowers and watch them grow, and go to the beach house, and play in the elephant sprinkler.." Of course in his own lingo. So cute! He can't wait to go to the beach house and we can't either. Let's just hope we aren't swimming in oil!!!

Usually in the summer we try to have some things done to his eye. It is the best time since Chris and I are not working and can stay home with him as he recovers. This summer is no exception. So we are asking once again for your prayers this summer for Cade. Here is his schedule for the next few months: June 3rd- MRI of brain and orbit, July 14th-Ohio to check his eye pressure, and July 22nd-Removal of more of the VM off the eyelids. In all of these procedures he will be put to sleep and this has usually been the hardest part for Cade-the IV's beforehand. The July 22nd procedure will be a big procedure to remove the remainder of the VM from top and bottom eyelids. Dr. Mawn and Dr. Mericle will both be involved in this procedure. The last surgery he had with them lasted for 7 hours. We are very thankful that they are both here in Nashville.

As with all of these surgeries, we are praying for both Cade and his doctors. As I was reminded this week in my book "Power of A Praying Parent" we are reading in my community group, the Bible is filled with healing promises. He heals but He also heals through doctors! That is where my prayers have been for Cade since we learned that this was more complex than what we thought. That He would just heal Cade and take away whatever is left of this VM! We are asking that He would touch him with His healing power and to restore him to total health! We are also so grateful as Isaiah 53:5 says that "through His stripes we are healed!" Another verse that I found this week that I love is also from the book of Isaiah. It says "Your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard." (Is. 58:8)
I am so thankful for the many healing promises found in scripture!
Will try to keep you all updated on all our fun this summer! Happy Summer everyone!

Fun with Mommy....

We finally were able to take Cade to the zoo this past weekend afer about 3 weeks of rain. It was a reward for the great job he did while we had to put 6 drops in his eye each day for about 2 weeks. My parents were in town and they were very excited about getting to go with us as well. Cade has always liked animals from a far off, which is why he likes the zoo so much. We do not have any pets at home and don't think he would even entertain the fact if we even thought about it. He likes them to have their distance from him, so zoos are perfect. We actually saw many animals this time and they weren't hidden or asleep. We fed the koi fish cheezits, which I am probably sure was forbidden, but it brought them all to where we were and they fought over the food. Cade loved that!

He loved seeing the tigers and alligators, but didn't want to get too close to the glass. He kept asking to see the elephants and giraffes, so we made our way over there and of course the elephants were behind the massive rocks. I got some great pics of the zebras and giraffes. In fact, one giraffe posed for me-ha!

These special times never get old for me! I love to see and hear his excitement. I love to hear him laugh and try to explain how excited he is! Even better is the next day when we go to school and he tells every teacher about his fun day at the zoo. Love that!

I am looking forward to spending more time with him this summer and just having fun everyday! These are reasons why being a teacher is the greatest.. we have the summers off!!!!

WE ARE NASHVILLE!

If you remember the movie WE ARE MARSHALL, the storyline was about coming together during the midst of a tragedy and pressing forward despite the odds. Never has this been more clear than in the past week here in Nashville. Our community has come together like no other to help those who have nothing. It is a picture that I drive through each day, houses gutted, yards filled with dry wall, appliances, toys, insulation, carpet, etc. We have church groups, businesses, restaurants who have come out to help each and everyday. It has been amazing to see people take days off work to come and help. Stay at home moms finding sitters so that they can go help. Pizza places walking the neighborhood delivery pizzas to volunteers and homeowners. I am so thankful to live in place where the community has truly become one in the hopes to rebuild neighborhoods and the city of Nashville. It will take some time, but we will get there.

Chris and I have not had cable/internet since last Saturday which is the least of the problems in Boone Trace, so have not had access to the news. I did hear that Anderson Cooper from CNN was in the Bellevue area yesterday. I am so thankful that someone is addressing this situation at the national level! If you would like to donate items there are many drop off locations around the Nashville area. Our church has a location at the HWY 70 old Circuit City building next to Home Depot. Any type of donation would be great! I know many of the homeowners in our area requested gift cards.
Please continue to pray for our city and the families that have nothing! We are strong, we will survive, WE ARE NASHVILLE!

We are Here and SAFE!!!

We are safe and sound in Nashville. It has been a crazy few days. I will have to blog later about what we have experienced here, but it has been heart breaking! I have put a couple of pics up of some of our neighborhood. Boone Trace looks like a war zone right now. It has been very hard to drive down our street in the last few days and see homes and lives that have been destroyed. I am very thankful our house was spared, but I have felt guilty about being one of the three homes that were spared. Chris and I are still trying to process everything. We won't have neighbors for some time and I think that is what is so hard for us. Please pray for the Boone Trace community and the remainder of the flood victims around Nashville! Will post more later! Thank you to everyone for your prayers!!
(the pics are from the front of our house and our street Boone Trace)