It does "take a village."

It is just not possible to mother 4 children without accepting help once in a while. I have been so blessed with very supportive family and friends. You can imagine it takes a lot of coordination to get 3 other kids settled for an outpatient procedure that takes me away from home for 10-12 hours. Thank you to all of you who pitch in to make sure my kids are taken care of. I don't have to worry about them while tending to Tracy and that relieves so very much stress. I am so grateful!

The 4th and hopefully the final surgery!

No more smiley faces to mark the correct ear! Now doctors initial the area they will work on!

Below: Tracy is not quite as relaxed about surgery as it may appear. She had already had the pre-anesthesia drink that relaxes one!

Our Chef and Away We Go!

Marney loves to help with the cooking which I enthusiastically encourage and teach what little I know about cooking! The presentation of the pancakes; however, is all Marney! How cool.


One of Sam's friend's outgrew this car and passed it on to the boys--it looks like Sam has as well, but he still enjoys giving it a spin! Jack can now make it go on his own as well, in the Fall his little legs were not quite long enough!

Whose new toy is it really?

I would like to say that they begged for this and I just couldn't say "no," but if the truth is known, I wanted this punching bag. In my life before children, I loved doing kick boxing classes . . . yes, I know I got a dog so I could run with him . . . I bought a mini-tramp . . . I bought an exercise bike, and more yoga tapes . . . and I keep getting heavier and more out of shape . . . hmm . . .

Beautiful!

Back in March of 2008, I took a training that reminded me that one needs to "Start each day with a grateful heart." The gentleman that did the training said that he posted this where he would see it each morning. I thought it was a good idea so I took a picture of my kids and wrote that under it and it is hanging in my bedroom. When I saw this picture, I thought, "How could I not start each day with a grateful heart?" The funny thing is both pictures are taken in a tent! Hmm . . . Honestly I do well up with gratitude when I look at these faces. For any of you that knew me when I turned 40 and then 45, you probably remember that I was so sad. I really thought my dream of being a mother had escaped me. 50 was easy because I had my girls. By 55 I had my girls and my boys. Don't ever give up on your dreams! My newest dream . . . be debt-free by 65! Stay tuned!

Praise God!

Tracy's hearing has improved. Dr. Chi of Children's Hearing Clinic is thrilled with the results and Dr. Haddad confirmed that her eardrum looks normal! Wow! Who could ask for more? Well, I guess we could . . . stay tuned for another surgery on March 10 for the other ear. This picture was taken during recovery, Tracy was reading the get well cards that her classmates had made for her. I wish I had my camera with me the day Dr. Chi gave us the results. His grin was as big as Tracy's is in this picture.

We LOVE the snow!!!!