Latest update on Ethan 2:00 p.m. CST.
The valve has been replaced and they are working on the pacemaker. The surgeon said there was infection on the chest wall but that Ethan's heart was beating strong going into the surgery. After the valve replacement, they had to give some medicines to help his heart function because it had weakened. The surgeon also said that it was the worst case of endocarditis that he'd ever seen. It's been a long day for little Ethan. It's going to be a long road to recovery for him as they are still trying to fight infection and get him stabilized. The next few days are critical.
Please continue to keep him in your prayers as well as his family. We pray that God will allow him to recover and rejoin his family and friends and all those that love him. He's touched many lives and continues to do so. Thank you all so much for your prayers.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Please Pray for Ethan
Ethan is a smallish 14 year old boy with blond hair and blue eyes. He's Russian by birth. Our friends from church Cherisse and Brian went to Russia and adopted him when he was 3. His birth mother abandoned him at a hospital there because he had many health problems. Ethan had a hole in his heart, a leaky valve and rythym problems since birth. He used to turn blue. When he came to America with his new family, he had a new valve put in, the hole repaired, and a pacemaker implanted in his tiny chest.
Ethan has grown up at our church and our Christian school. He's smart, funny, cute, and still very small and frail. He's been asking my daughter, who is 20, out since he was a little kid. He loved the teenage girls and never could decide which one he liked the best and which one he was going to marry when he grew up. His health has been very guarded all through his little life.
Ethan got sick right after Christmas with some kind of bug. After a couple of weeks, his mom took him to the doctor where they determined that due to some kind of infection his kidneys were trying to shut down. They airlifted him to the children's ICU at Medical City in Dallas. He's almost died a couple of times since being there. The doctors said that he has a staph infection in the artificial valve in his heart and he has sepsis in his system.
The doctors have been pumping him full of 3 different antibiotics for the last couple of weeks fearing that the infection could break off and travel to another part of his body. They have to keep him sedated to allow his heart to rest because when he's awake, he's fighting the many tubes in his body. They have him untubated, and the battery that was in his pacemaker was supposed to last for 2 more years is down to a few weeks because his heart has been working so hard.
This morning, as I post, he is in surgery. He is on a heart/lung bipass machine, they are replacing the valve in his heart, and are inserting an outside temporary pacemaker to be replaced by a permanent one in about 3 weeks after the infection is hopefully gone.
I believe in the power of God and the power of prayer. I believe that God is merciful and that He can do anything if it is His will. Ethan has many people, known and unknown, our church and many other churches in the brotherhood, praying for him. But I have a whole 'nuther LEGION of people out there in blogland that I know I can depend on to lift little Ethan up in prayer. Thank you for your prayers. I'll keep you posted on his progress.
Ethan has grown up at our church and our Christian school. He's smart, funny, cute, and still very small and frail. He's been asking my daughter, who is 20, out since he was a little kid. He loved the teenage girls and never could decide which one he liked the best and which one he was going to marry when he grew up. His health has been very guarded all through his little life.
Ethan got sick right after Christmas with some kind of bug. After a couple of weeks, his mom took him to the doctor where they determined that due to some kind of infection his kidneys were trying to shut down. They airlifted him to the children's ICU at Medical City in Dallas. He's almost died a couple of times since being there. The doctors said that he has a staph infection in the artificial valve in his heart and he has sepsis in his system.
The doctors have been pumping him full of 3 different antibiotics for the last couple of weeks fearing that the infection could break off and travel to another part of his body. They have to keep him sedated to allow his heart to rest because when he's awake, he's fighting the many tubes in his body. They have him untubated, and the battery that was in his pacemaker was supposed to last for 2 more years is down to a few weeks because his heart has been working so hard.
This morning, as I post, he is in surgery. He is on a heart/lung bipass machine, they are replacing the valve in his heart, and are inserting an outside temporary pacemaker to be replaced by a permanent one in about 3 weeks after the infection is hopefully gone.
I believe in the power of God and the power of prayer. I believe that God is merciful and that He can do anything if it is His will. Ethan has many people, known and unknown, our church and many other churches in the brotherhood, praying for him. But I have a whole 'nuther LEGION of people out there in blogland that I know I can depend on to lift little Ethan up in prayer. Thank you for your prayers. I'll keep you posted on his progress.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Wooden Nickels
Ever see one of these babies? I'm sure some of you have, but I hadn't. I'd heard of 'em, but hadn't run into one before a couple of weeks ago...My daddy used to tell me when I was little up until this day "don't take any wooden nickels" and grin real big.
He was referring to "kisses" - don't know if any of ya'll heard that line, but he loved to tease me like that - same thing with "yankee dimes". He'd get home from work and he'd call me "come and give me a big ole yankee dime!" and I'd oblige with a big bear hug around his neck and plant kisses all over his cheeks which would get rather scratchy by the end of the day! My daddy was tall at least 6'3", and he hung the moon for me. Still does to this day. I was his little shadow whenever he was home.
Anyway, when he held me when I was young I felt SOOO tall and he'd swing me around and around until we were both dizzy and fell down laughing. He'd be sitting by me in church or at home and lean over and whisper, "Know how a cow bites?" which would send me into gales of laughter when he squeezed my knee and I would grab his huge hand and try to pry it off. It sure was hard to stifle the giggles in church! My kids, upon introducing their Pop to their friends, always get around to getting Dad to hold up and spread his hand out - it's as big as a dinner plate with fingers extended, and I used to compare my small one to his growing up to see how I was growing. My kids do that today - especially the boys. Adam's hand is almost as large, Josh's is a little smaller.
My dad was very handsome when he was young, and my 13-14 yr old friends would all gush over him when they came to my house and say "your daddy is so cute!" and of course I had to agree, and smile because he was MY dad.
Daddy had some architectural training and he and I would sit for hours and he'd draw horses with me. His horses were, of course, more architectural looking and angular, but I thought they were wonderful! Actually, my mom can draw, too - guess I get it from both of them. Mom took some art training by mail when she was young and she saved her scetchbooks for me - they're really quite good!
Daddy has helped me with my art shows, he's built display stands for me, easels, you name it. He learned how to cut mats for my watercolors and since he was always a handyman, he bought trim and made my frames for me. Saved me a ton of money. We've hunted and fished and vacationed and done all those wonderful things that have made so many good memories. Time spent together with family is the most perfect and wonderful possession that I have. I can never repay him for all the things he's done for me over the years. Now he does all those things with my kids, too. My mother is wonderful, too, I'm not leaving her out. Today's post I was just thinking about Daddy - cuz I was (and still am) a Daddy's girl.
I found these wooden nickels at a sale and thought of Dad immediately. I gave him one the other day and told him "now you can't say you never accepted any wooden nickels, dad". He just grinned.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The New Pipe Fence
Here's a little shot of Tony and our middle son, Josh, while working on the new fence at the farm.
Tony will have to get busy and paint the gates now. I have to paint the front porch and all the rails and steps. But there's a little fixin' we gotta do around the base of the porch. AND I need to decide whether I'm gonna pull up those old hawthorne bushes in the front and plant all new stuff around the house, or keep 'em and maybe plant a few more on the other side of the porch. Whada ya'll think? 
Here's a close-up of her. She's kinda squinting, but she loves the sunshine. She shakes ALL the time so I bought her a couple of sweaters, but she won't wear them. She rolls up against the back of the couch and peels them off like a sock. They come off inside out sometimes.
Well, people this is a pretty lame post I know. Not much going on except work. I'm enjoying reading yours though! I'm loving all the winter recipes and I do have a photo of one I tried. I'll do it in a later post if ya don't mind. Me & Josh are fixin' to go get somethin' to eat. Peace, out---
Adam, my dad and these two were welding on the new gates that Adam and daddy made a couple of weeks ago. I just thought I'd share a couple of photos cuz that's about all that is going on at the farm right now...
Adam has on the welding hat and is doing the welding right now.
Josh and Tony are giving moral support as there can be only one welder at a time.
I've got a couple of painting projects that need to get done at the farm here in the next few weeks, but work has interfered with my plans. IT'S 1099 TIME AND TAXES AGAIN!
I just don't know how you people that live up north do it! I couldn't STAND all that cold and snow and ice. Boy howdy, am I glad that the good Lord put me here in the south! It's a balmy 75 or so today, tomorrow is supposed to cloud up and maybe get a shower or two and turn colder again.
Tony will have to get busy and paint the gates now. I have to paint the front porch and all the rails and steps. But there's a little fixin' we gotta do around the base of the porch. AND I need to decide whether I'm gonna pull up those old hawthorne bushes in the front and plant all new stuff around the house, or keep 'em and maybe plant a few more on the other side of the porch. Whada ya'll think?
Here's a photo of Josh and Bug. He's such a GUY, but he loves this ugly doggie. I've seen cute Chihuahuas, but unfortunately Bug is not one of 'em. We love her and she's a good watchdog. She sleeps with Josh every single night under the covers of course. I don't wanna know how many dog hairs are on his sheets....
Here's a close-up of her. She's kinda squinting, but she loves the sunshine. She shakes ALL the time so I bought her a couple of sweaters, but she won't wear them. She rolls up against the back of the couch and peels them off like a sock. They come off inside out sometimes.
Well, people this is a pretty lame post I know. Not much going on except work. I'm enjoying reading yours though! I'm loving all the winter recipes and I do have a photo of one I tried. I'll do it in a later post if ya don't mind. Me & Josh are fixin' to go get somethin' to eat. Peace, out---
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Subway
Ok, so Tony and I are at Subway, right? We decide to get one of those footlong specials and I ask if we can put what we want on it, and the boy behind the counter says SURE. So I ask Tony what he wants on his end of the sandwich, and he says, "oh, whatever is fine with me". I say, "Are you sure, I'd rather you pick your own stuff to put on your end." "No," he replies, "whatever you decide is fine. Just order something."So I order turkey & ham with white cheese, light mayo, lettuce, tomato, black olives, onions, and "oh, by the way, could you put some baby spinach on there, too?" Okay, Tony's rolling his eyes around in their orbits and sighing and pushing me towards the checkout cuz there's people in line waiting behind us. We get our drinks and go find a spot to sit down.
"That is the dumbest thing I've ever seen," he says under his breath. "what?" (what have I done now?) "Whoever heard of putting spinach on a sandwich? And what did you get light mayo for? I hate that stuff!"
"Hey, spinach is good for you - gives you some extra vitamins, it's like lettuce and you won't even know it's on there. You like spinach in your salad. And I like light mayo and thought that'd be alright with you, too. Besides that, you told me to pick out what to put on our sandwich."
"But I don't like spinach on my sandwich, for Pete's sake. I usually get oil and vinegar or something on mine, and I like bell peppers and jalapenos, too."
I reach over and start pulling the spinach off his sandwich (reminds me of when I used to do that for my kids - but we all know men are just little boys in bigger bodies, don't we???) "Go up there and ask for some peppers then!" "No, I'm not doing that." "Okay, then eat your sandwich and next time, order your own like I already told you whalago."
Ya can't win in a situation like that. He's always done that on paint, furniture, clothes, you name it. If you're not going to like the results DO IT YOURSELF! If you tell me to do it myself, or pick it out myself, then keep your pie-hole shut!
Love that man. Don't tell him I posted this picture...
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Just saying hi!
Can't believe it's been so long since I posted. We've been so busy. It seems like we've been Christmas-ing since Thanksgiving with family and friends, and while it's been wonderful having the kids all home but now it's time to get back to the old grind.We spent a little time at the farm this weekend. It was clear at night and I hope many of you saw the beautiful full moon! It was gorgeous in a clear crisp sky down here in East Texas. It lights up the landscape and we can stroll all around the farm in the moonlight, no flashlight needed. And stroll we did!
Here's a shot of the dawn in our neighborhood at our home this morning. It was so brilliant this morning - isn't God the best artist of all?
Gotta run - I am working at 2 offices this week trying to transition from construction company to self storage manager. Ugh - I'll be back...
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Years Eve 2005
Well, I got the idea for this post from Suzanne the Farmer's Wife. She was telling about previous New Years' experiences and asked about ours. Well, how 'bout one that wasn't planned at all?
My husband and I had been to a church New Year's party and had arrived back home. Our middle son Josh was with us and the other two had gone to friends' houses for the evening. It had been threatening rain all evening and the wind was blowing pretty hard. We heard large raindrops thumping on the roof, so, as we were wont to do, DH and I went out to the garage to watch the approaching storm. I love watching storms!
We were standing there watching the sky light up and listening to the thunder. Then it became deathly still and quiet. How wierd was that? Then, the winds started howling and we looked at each other. It got louder and louder and in a matter of seconds it sounded like a freight train coming. The trees were bent over sideways. We immediately scrambled into the house and shut the garage door. We grabbed up the dogs and Josh and headed into the hall bath with some blankets. We could hear cracking and creaking and the pounding of the rain and rage of the wind. Then BOOM! The house shuddered.
It seemed as if it only lasted seconds. The winds calmed and we could hear thunder and rain. We came out of the bathroom only to hear water pouring into the house. A huge pine tree had fallen across the top of our house perpendicular to the roof line. It had crashed into the ceiling in the kitchen, the garage, the laundry room and the dining room. The rain was coming in in torrents, and running into the appliances. It was also washing all the insulation out of the attic and walls and the wallpaper was bulging from holding water. What a MESS! We grabbed trashcans and tried to catch some of the water streaming in but it was almost useless.
DH called my dad and our friends John & Trish. In about 1/2 hour, John and DH were on top of the house in the cold pouring rain, thunder and lightning with chainsaws cutting off both ends of the tree across the house so they could put a tarp over the roof. They were soaked to the bone in a matter of minutes. I was so scared they were going to get hit by lightning. The floors were getting flooded and Mom and one of the neighbors came over and we tried to sweep lots of water out the doors.
We had been hit by a tornado! There were trees uprooted all over our neighborhood, some small damage to a few homes, but our's unfortunately bore the worst damage. $40,000 to be exact. It's amazing how the Lord takes care of us, tho. We NEEDED new appliances, our old flooring was coming up around the perimeters, our oven had already gone out, our house was getting older, needed a new roof & gutters and wanting updating. My mom said, "How can you not be upset when this has happened?" I was having a grand old time cleaning up the mess. I told her" Mom, the Lord is providing us a new kitchen and new floors, new everything in this part of the house!"
He always provides. (it would be nice if a tornado would hit the other half of my house...)
Another New Year's party we had with church friends was the year 2000. We had a huge Pajama party (no nighties - only flannels and sweats - you dirty-minded people, you!) Of course, that was the year when everyone fancied that the whole world was going to shut down completely because of Y2K. We waited anxiously with bated breath as the clock struck 12 all over the world, and waited, and waited, and..... nothing happened. Our excitement and anxiety over with, then we all went home!
The only other memorable New Year's I can recall right now at this very moment was the New Year's eve of 1981. How to put this delicately .... well just suffice it to say that our oldest son was born 9 months & 2 weeks later. 'Nuff said!
My husband and I had been to a church New Year's party and had arrived back home. Our middle son Josh was with us and the other two had gone to friends' houses for the evening. It had been threatening rain all evening and the wind was blowing pretty hard. We heard large raindrops thumping on the roof, so, as we were wont to do, DH and I went out to the garage to watch the approaching storm. I love watching storms!
We were standing there watching the sky light up and listening to the thunder. Then it became deathly still and quiet. How wierd was that? Then, the winds started howling and we looked at each other. It got louder and louder and in a matter of seconds it sounded like a freight train coming. The trees were bent over sideways. We immediately scrambled into the house and shut the garage door. We grabbed up the dogs and Josh and headed into the hall bath with some blankets. We could hear cracking and creaking and the pounding of the rain and rage of the wind. Then BOOM! The house shuddered.
It seemed as if it only lasted seconds. The winds calmed and we could hear thunder and rain. We came out of the bathroom only to hear water pouring into the house. A huge pine tree had fallen across the top of our house perpendicular to the roof line. It had crashed into the ceiling in the kitchen, the garage, the laundry room and the dining room. The rain was coming in in torrents, and running into the appliances. It was also washing all the insulation out of the attic and walls and the wallpaper was bulging from holding water. What a MESS! We grabbed trashcans and tried to catch some of the water streaming in but it was almost useless.
DH called my dad and our friends John & Trish. In about 1/2 hour, John and DH were on top of the house in the cold pouring rain, thunder and lightning with chainsaws cutting off both ends of the tree across the house so they could put a tarp over the roof. They were soaked to the bone in a matter of minutes. I was so scared they were going to get hit by lightning. The floors were getting flooded and Mom and one of the neighbors came over and we tried to sweep lots of water out the doors.
We had been hit by a tornado! There were trees uprooted all over our neighborhood, some small damage to a few homes, but our's unfortunately bore the worst damage. $40,000 to be exact. It's amazing how the Lord takes care of us, tho. We NEEDED new appliances, our old flooring was coming up around the perimeters, our oven had already gone out, our house was getting older, needed a new roof & gutters and wanting updating. My mom said, "How can you not be upset when this has happened?" I was having a grand old time cleaning up the mess. I told her" Mom, the Lord is providing us a new kitchen and new floors, new everything in this part of the house!"
He always provides. (it would be nice if a tornado would hit the other half of my house...)
Another New Year's party we had with church friends was the year 2000. We had a huge Pajama party (no nighties - only flannels and sweats - you dirty-minded people, you!) Of course, that was the year when everyone fancied that the whole world was going to shut down completely because of Y2K. We waited anxiously with bated breath as the clock struck 12 all over the world, and waited, and waited, and..... nothing happened. Our excitement and anxiety over with, then we all went home!
The only other memorable New Year's I can recall right now at this very moment was the New Year's eve of 1981. How to put this delicately .... well just suffice it to say that our oldest son was born 9 months & 2 weeks later. 'Nuff said!
my bad...
Ok, very sorry people.... I kept putting a forward slash where a "dot" should've been. Please try again --- Hayley Kathryn Designs. Thanks for trying again. If it doesn't work this time, I give up!
I'll be back in a day or two. We've been spending time at the farm over the holidays. The guys are welding the new gate, and I'm piddling and cooking. We had a fish fry this evening with all the grandparents the kids, and Adam's new girl. She's real cute! More later! Hope ya'll are having a good New Years!!
I'll be back in a day or two. We've been spending time at the farm over the holidays. The guys are welding the new gate, and I'm piddling and cooking. We had a fish fry this evening with all the grandparents the kids, and Adam's new girl. She's real cute! More later! Hope ya'll are having a good New Years!!
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