Gemma and Amy singing

This is a short interview with the directors of the choir that Gemma and Amy sing in. If you skip to about the 2nd minute on the first link, you'll hear them singing.

KABB Fox San Antonio :: Top Stories - Texas Children's Choir Angel's Carol

KABB Fox San Antonio :: Christmas Choirs When at Night I Go to Sleep

KABB Fox San Antonio :: Christmas Choirs Carol of the Bells

Enjoy!

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

What has consumed my life...

Many of you know that Shane started the long process of jaw reconstruction about 7 years ago with braces. 2 1/2 years ago we had what we thought was the hardest and most intense surgery. They reconstructed both the upper and bottom jaw. The recovery was frustrating at times, but not as bad as we thought. Liquid diet for a few weeks, then soft foods, but it consistently healed.

In July, we had the last step before they could finish the entire process and fit teeth. We would be finished soon! or so we thought.

In July, they did a bone graft in Shane's jaw. They used a ton of medical stuff (can't remember what it's called, but it's all "foreign material") Long story short, Shane's body rejected the graft, and he has had infection after infection since. The week school starts, his jaw on the right side shattered.

As a side note, his doctor is LDS, which we didn't know until recently. The first doctor who looked at it after it broke said there was nothing wrong. His doctor came in and within a minute of looking at him knew there was something very wrong, and ordered the xrays the help figure it out. We had been praying that the doctors would be inspired to know what was wrong and how to fix it. I know that Dr. Liddel was listening to the spirit that day.

So, they had to do immediate surgery to take out all the bone fragments. Then they put in a titanium plate to replace his jaw bone. The pain from this surgery was more severe than any he has had. After 3 days in the hospital, they sent him home. Initially, he was on the mend. Sore, but getting better. Nothing is easy though. Last Saturday he notices that his neck is sore and it is hard to swallow. He heads back to the doctor and they say infection is setting in. (He has been on antibiotics almost consistently since July 10th). Today, we go back in and find out that the only way to fix this is to be admitted to the hospital so they can hook him up to IV antibiotics, culture the infection and drain it.

We are currently waiting for the phone call that a bed is available at the hospital to start the process. Hopefully this will fix it. They think he will be on PIC line antibiotics for 6-8 weeks. In the midst of all this, Shane is supposed to be finishing his last semester. Hopefully we can get him home soon, so he can get to class.

On another note, Austin is NOT enjoying kindergarten. He complains of an upset stomach everyday, and tries to tell me that his forehead is hot. Hopefully after all of the upheaval in his life settles down, he will too. He has a great teacher who is a good mix of love and strict. She doesn't let him get away with trying to go to the nurse or to go home.

That's my life...be jealous!! :)

This one's for Tami!! (but you might want to check it out too!)

I'm so far behind, that I think I might just post pictures. I work at home on the computer, so by the time I'm done working, I just want to get away from the computer. And before I know it, so much time has passed that I feel too overwhelmed to do any of it! BUT I am determined to at least post pictures so you can see what we've been up to!

Gemma Easter time...bringing back the side ponytail!

Nicholas checking out his Easter basket.

Amy at Easter

Shane and Nicholas playing basketball.

Gemma and her friend Malloree...or as we call them Gemmalloree!

They were born on the same day. When we moved into the ward, Malloree had prayed for a friend her age. Yet another example that God has a sense of humor!!

Easter egg hunt with friends.

Austin Easter egg hunt at school...notice all the girls.

He was popular with the ladies this year!!

Ms. Baker and Nicholas...end of 2nd grade.

Amy and Ms. Morris...End of 4th grade.

Austin and Haley from school. We went to a gym to play together.

All was great until the end when Austin jumped into the pit and landed with his legs up over his head the wrong way. It stretched his back. It was scary for a few minutes, but all was well in the end! We had a great time until then!

Amy at the bike rodeo.

Nicholas at the bike rodeo.

Nicholas was in a dinosaur play. He was a "rappter dancer"...who knew the kid had such moves!

Now for the section we call our first step into scouting. I was the wolf den leader. We had such a fun time this last year!

Pinewood derby car.

The pinning of the wolf badge.

Creating a father son "cake"

We went for the cup"cake" to create the number 100.

Now what I like to call the month of June!

Swim team!

Amy and Austin with their coaches...Allison and Craig.

They were great with the kids!

Amy getting ready for freestyle.

I'm so proud!! I have 2 backstrokers!

At the start.

This is how he spent the first meet...swimming, then creeping on the rope.

By the end we had this:

Swimming the whole way!

My other backstroker!

I had to post this because it reminds me of how I spent my summers...plus it's just too cute!

Austin loves to create...this is a picture of mom made out of bendaroos.

His other favorite pasttime...Legos!

He created this cape for a prince party! His friend Ella had a Princess dress-up party, so he came as the prince. (I think he was the only boy! :)

Just bragging a little!

Check out this video of my girls and the Texas Children's Choir singing the National Anthem at a Spurs game!!

Spring

This is what I love about central Texas. The first spring we were in Lubbock, I couldn't figure out what I was missing, until I realized I didn't see the bluebonnets out. I made Shane drive 2 hours south to get some pictures....that was the only time he did it!

Gemma

Amy

Nicholas

Austin

Here's all of them!

AMEN!

My friend posted at Segullah today. And all I have to say is Amen to it!

Attack of the Old Lady

Recently I realized that I only have one semester left of just Austin and I at home before he heads off to school and I to a job. So I decided I needed to take better advantage of the time left and instituted Austin and Mom day every Friday.

He gets to pick the activity.

I get to spend time with him away from everything else.

This week he chose McDonald's.

We ate lunch and he headed up the tubes. As he is waving from the window, at the very top of the tube, a little 2 year starts crying at the bottom. I hear him tell his grandma that a boy took his lollipop.

I see the grandma head up the tubes and in a moment of mother's clarity I can see how this is going to play out...and it's not good for Austin.

The boy who took the lollipop is already through the tubes and following the old lady with a smirk.

I get up to stop the lady from talking to Austin, but she doesn't listen.

I start yelling..."Ma'am"

I can see and hear her yelling "Stop" "Get back here" and know she is going for Austin.

At this point I am yelling, "Lady in the polka dot jacket" as loud as I can. As the entire play area is looking at me, I see her grab Austin's arm and try to yank him to stop. I am pretty ticked by this point.

I get her attention and tell her to get her hands off my son. She then proceeds to try and tell me how he took her son's lollipop.

I let her know that I was looking at him the entire time and he was no where near her grandson and the lollipop.

By this point Austin has come down the slide with the lady following. He is in tears and his eyes are the size of saucers. I pick him up and check him out.

She again tries to tell me that he took the lollipop. I get in her face at this point and tell her that he was no where near the scene of the crime and that she had no right to touch my kid.

(Did I mention it was a Dum Dum...a 5 cent sucker...if you're going to get worked up and grab another person's child, at least make it for something that costs a little more...like a blow pop!)

She then says "Well, mistaken identity. But if he didn't do it, why did he run?" with a smile on her face like she was in the right.

I'm thinking, are you kidding me?! My kids running because they're in trouble doesn't even compute in my mind. My kids learn as soon as they can crawl, that if they do something, running only makes it worse. So they don't run when they're in trouble. (That sounds like I beat my kids :) I don't, they just get in bigger trouble! :))

What I say to her is, "You're an adult, he's 5 and leery of any strangers, so of course he is going to run...Plus he's in a play tube at McDonald's."

At this point the other people in the area are flabbergasted that she would grab another kid and say so.

Her daughter walks in from getting the food and starts telling me how she wouldn't hurt anyone...Yeah, well she just hurt my kid, so I have a hard time believing you!

I end up leaving while letting it be known to all that I would not stay and let my child play while someone like her was there.

Austin was extremely upset...which means we probably won't be going to McD's again for a while.

This isn't my first run in with an old lady and her being rude in the last week. Unfortunately I had one call me bad name in front of my child because I had the audacity to honk at her when she took 10 minutes to get out a parking space. (I wouldn't have waited, except it was the last one).

Am I the only one the old ladies don't like? Have you had a run in with a crazy old lady?