Be Back Shortly

Do you remember me? A lot has been going on here with us, so I have not had any time to blog. (waaah) I hope to be back soon with lots of "ketchup" blogs as MckMama calls them. Until then, I hope this post finds you all doing excellent.

I don’t…

This week I am joining Jenna from Jenna's Journey for “I don’t Wednesday”

I don’t…

~like to wear shoes (unless they are flip flops)
~cook, unless I have to
~play video games
~have much will power
~know the books of the Bible in order (even though I should)
~pray as often as I would like bc I don’t think I am too good @ it.  :(
~like movie Star Wars (or any science fiction movie)
like to get my picture taken AT ALL…EVER

OK, that is enough “I don’ts” for this week.
Wanna play along? It’s fun!!! Visit Jenna’s blog for more “I don’t” Wednesday

it is just around the corner…

…

 

CHRISTMAS!!! 

It is exactly four months from tomorrow.

 

Just 122 MORE days!!!

 

I am a little excited!!!

Big Brother

 

Do you watch?
I almost wish I didn’t, but I do.  Each season (year) I say I am not going to watch the next one, but it ALWAYS drags me back in.

This is mainly the only reality show I watch. I have finally broken myself from The Bachelor/Bachelorette.
I have never been on the American Idol or Survivor train. My Mom lives & breathes American Idol. 

So do you watch reality tv? If so what?

on a roll…

Since we will be moving in with my Mom & step dad in about 10 days, I have been on a cleaning & purging spree.

We plan to sell, give away & donate a lot of our furniture as it is time for new. I have NEVER had an BRAND NEW furniture. EVER. (with the exception of my mattress) Everything I have ever bought or been given has been second hand…”new to me”. Which has never bothered me, bc most everything I had looked new and I was thankful for it.
But now is the time for me to get to pick out my own furniture. I found an awesome discount furniture store here in our town and they have the BEST lay a way plan ever. You pick out what you want…put a down payment on it (whatever amt you want) then make payments (in any amt) every two weeks until it is paid. At which point you pick up your furniture.
Isn’t that GREAT? There is no holding fee, no financing charge, etc. It can not be beat. Plus the prices are cheaper than if you go to the larger retail showrooms.
We are ordering our couch this weekend. We have been paying on it for the past 6 weeks and have just one more payment to make and it will be ours. It will of course go into storage until we move out of my Mom’s, but it will be nice knowing it is ours and it is waiting on us. Next we are looking for a new dining/kitchen set. Part of our new furniture is going to be a Christmas gift from my family. (how great is that?)

I am so anxious to set out on this new journey.

So far we have sold a couch & chair for my Mom (they are taking our our current set for their basement). I am waiting now on someone to come and pick up our dining table & chairs. And up next  to go is a large dresser & our patio table.

I also have a large box of clothes to donate to the Goodwill.

So how often to you replace your furniture? Do you buy new, used or get hand me downs from friends/family? How often does your style change?

WW: Collin~a self photo

We are outta here…Good news & not so good news

The time has come.

The good news is…

We are moving…in TWO weeks!!! Yikes…lots to do!

The not so good news…

We will (temporarily) be moving into my Mom’s house.  UGH!!! Really it is OK. She has plenty of room for the 3 of us and it will allow us to SAVE SAVE SAVE.  :) That is always a plus.  We will be @ my Mom’s for about 5-6 months.

We will start house hunting again around Christmas/New Years. 

This is bittersweet for us. It is the first home we have ever owned. It is the house we moved into as a family of 3. It is the house we have  renovated for the past 4 yrs. It is the only home that Collin knows as his own.  But life changes, people change, circumstances change, most everything changes, so we must change with it.

Lots of changes are still coming.

Advocare = a skinnier, healthier you

 

 

Have you heard of it?

This is the weight loss program I have been on for the past month. It started out with a 10 day cleanse, followed by a 14 day challenge. It is pretty simple to follow. No sugar, or at least small amounts of it. Semi low carbs, calories, sodium. No fried foods.

I am not counting pounds lost. This only discourages me. ;) So instead I am basing my success on how I feel and how my clothes fit and how many sizes I go down.

So far I am down 2 pant sizes. GO ME! I have mainly lost in my arms, thighs, bottom, face and yes the boobs, an entire cup size.

I am continuing with the 14 day challenge part again. I had the most success with it and decided to do it again.

If you are interested…check out their website and if you have any questions feel free to ask. If I don’t have the answer I will get it for you.

https://www.advocare.com/09072103/default.aspx

I am so excited about this because since having Collin four years ago, nothing seemed to help me lost the extra lbs….and this has.  :)

WW: I scream, You scream, We all scream for ICE CREAM

 

Community Day @ the Fire House

Recently we went to one of our local fire departments Community Day, How could we not when Collin is such a huge fireman fan.
Here are some pictures from our day.

inside one of the MANY firetrucks

look how big those tires are! As tall as Collin. (39”)

Daddy & Collin on another fire truck

inside the SWAT vehicle

the front of the SWAT car. Collin LOVED all the radios in there.
 
they even offered a free lunch of hot dogs, pizza, chips, water or soda

Collin & Daddy with the MedFlight helicopter

We even got to watch it take off on a run before we left.

This was so much fun for all of us. We got there a little later than we would have liked to due to church. So next year we will go to first service so that we can do more.

Don’t you just love when the community puts together free family fun?

If you did not see my blog late last night, check out my previous post.  :) THANKS!

Has it really been 2+ weeks?

Well in case you had not figured it out via my absence, I guess I took a (not so) little blogging break. It really was not planned. Honest.

We have been busy. There are a lot of changes coming up for us in the next few weeks and months. I am apprehensive about some and excited about others.

Collin is doing absolutely wonderful other than he is STILL in his “terrible 2’s” @ the age of 4.  If all goes well, he will be weaned from his seizure medicine by Thanksgiving. Praise God!!!
 

Preston will turn the “big” 30 this friday. We are not doing anything too exciting though. Saturday his family is going to come over for pizza, cake & ice cream. (YUMMM) I can not wait bc I have been on a “diet” for the past 21 days. It was a 24 day challenge. My last day is wednesday. I plan to continue with the program, but will take sat & sunday to enjoy the birthday festivities. Sunday we are celebrating my step dads 50th birthday.

I plan on blogging more about the “diet” I have been on soon as well as some of the changes that are coming our way. So if you have any questions about anything, please feel free to ask and  I will answer.

I hope you all are having a nice summer. Can you believe it is almost over? (and is “over” for some of you as far as you are back @ school)

I hope to not be absent for any more long periods. Thanks for sticking with me. MISS YOU ALL!!!

Prayers for Stellan & the MckFamily

for details please visit  my charming kids or follow MckMama on twitter.

1 month post-op

One month ago today we were sleeping in Collin’s hospital room after his brain surgery.

This is Collin earlier today…just one month later.
 
What a difference a month makes.

In this past month Collin has done very well. He is back to his ornery self and has remained seizure free. Praise God. His incision is healing well. The sutures are all gone now and his hair is starting to grow back in.
He still wears a hat most of the time when we leave bc he thinks people will laugh @ him. ??? I have no idea where he got that idea from.

On Monday we have a check up with the CNP in neurology. This check up is mainly for us to get his seizure medicine refilled.
In October we will go for his MRI to see if the surgery was truly a success.

We have been staying busy around here. 
Our weather has been un-seasonably cool. I am enjoying it. I am not a fan of the humidity.

We are trying to make plans for a quick NYC trip for my birthday in Oct.  I have always wanted to go to NYC. I am so excited.
And if I can find a nice cabin the three of us will be going to the Smokey Mts. in TN for Thanksgiving.
Lots of things coming up. I can not wait.

Wordless Wednesday

McRae Family

Meet the McRae family. 
Dad-Aaron
Mom-Holly
Kids-Olivia, Kate & Will

Just two and a half weeks ago their lives were changed when they found out their middle daughter, Kate, age 5, has a brain tumor. She has since had a craniotomy and bc of the location of the tumor it could not all be removed. She will start chemo, most likely next week. They (the docs) do not want her to have radiation bc of her age and other issues.
Since finding the tumor they have not left the Children’s Hospital in AZ.

They can use our prayers. I have been following their story @ their Caring Bridge site.
The road ahead of them is long, but they know the Great Physician and all he is capable of.  He provides us with miracles each day. He knows the road that lies ahead of sweet Kate as He has already walked it. She will not go through anything that He is unaware of and He will never leave her side.

As if dealing with this was not enough for them, they found out today that their son, Will age 3 (I think), has a growth on his vocal cords and will need to have surgery soon to remove it. the Dr. does not feel that it is cancerous, (Praise God) but none the less Will does need surgery which will require general anesthesia and come with a recovery period of its own.

This family covets our prayers for their children and for themselves. That they will be able to divide their time and be there for both of their children in their times of need while not leaving their oldest daughter, Olivia out.
Please prayer for the children and their individual needs, but also for strength,rest and wisdom for the parents. I can not imagine what they are going through right now.
Please also pray for all the doctors involved in both Kate & Will’s  treatments and surgeries.

THANKS.

Don’t you just love the blog world and how we can all come together to prayer for those who need our prayers that we may never meet this side of the pearly gates?

God is AWESOME!!!

You can visit their Caring Bridge site for more info and updates below.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate/journal

Collin, back to himself

If it were not for the small(ish) patch of hair that is still missing (but slowly growing in) and the scar on the top of his head, you would not know that this boy had brain surgery just 3 short weeks ago.
We are getting back to our life as we knew it prior to the surgery/recovery. Collin can be around kids again and go out and about. So that makes us all happier.

We are back to working on our ABC’s. He knows them, but boy is he stubborn when I try to get him to tell me them or sing the song etc. He goes to pre-school in the fall. Just 2 days a week. I think he will love it, but he is not too happy about it when you mention it to him now. 
This Sunday he will get to return to church with his friends. And then tuesday he can go back to childcare in the evenings while Daddy goes to FPU (financial peace university by Dave Ramsey) 

I will try and get a picture of his head tomorrow and post it. It looks so much better than the last pictures I posted. :)

Wordless Wednesday: an odd place for a nap

Happy Independence Day

HAPPY 4th of July
from all 3 of us @ Close to Home

Celebrate your faith, family, friends & freedom today.
And Thank a soldier…past present & future for fighting for ALL of those for you.

not for the faint of heart

There you have it…you are warned.

This is another post mainly for me and for Collin when he is older.

Saturday we were able to change his bandage for the first time. I use the term “we” lightly as all I did was snap pictures. I do not deal well with anything medical show-ish.  I am better at small bumps, bruises and boo boos.
Thankfully for us, Daddy is GREAT with the gory stuff. So he lovingly and patiently (as I snuck in with the camera trying not to look too closely) removed, cleaned, medicated, & re-bandaged Collin’s head.

Want to see???
It is not for the faint of heart…

is that not an ornery face?

 
can you say     O   U   C    H    !!!

“ahhhh”                                    he thinks it is All done.

 
polysporin                                 bandage                                    DONE!!!!

…until next time (tomorrow) that is.

wordless wednesday