Praise God

From whom all blessings flow.

Mike and I are on a journey.

We thought when we first started out we knew 

where it would lead.

It took a turn.

We rolled with the punches

and thought we had a new plan.

God laughed.

As I write this it occurs to me 

that I can be talking about the 

last 29 years

or the last 29 days.

I could fill many Blog posts

with our antics over the last 29 years, 

but today I will concentrate on the 

more immediate past.

My husband was diagnosed with

prostate cancer.

I cannot be more proud of the man

I saw these past weeks.

I always thought he loved 

God, 

me,

his family.

Through this experience I got to see

him prove it. 

On our way today to meet with the

surgeon, we each said our own private 

prayers and discussed 

what miracle we would love to see

God pull out for us.

Well, Mike still has cancer

but a surgeon gave us an option

that we didn't know was there.

And it doesn't involve surgery.

Yet.

We will go the route of

active surveillance.

Mike will se the doctor every

three months for monitoring.

At the slightest hint of a change, that

prostate can come right out.

I cannot tell you the 

peace 

I feel with this decision.

I had felt at peace with God through 

all this so far but the surgery just felt

off to me.

This feels right.

Sometimes 

The Holy Spirit

masquerades as intuition,

I think, 

like now.

It's Maddie's Birthday

That's about one year and 8 months ago.

This is from one year ago exactly.

We must have been getting ready for 

Margarita Friday.

Who knew back then that they would

forever be changed to 

Maddieday!!!

Best. Day. Ever.

Baseball Wall

I am not the only person

perusing Pinterest.

Breese is too. 

In anticipation of a 

four year old guest on a regular basis

she is decorating her spare bedroom in

a baseball motif. 

Yuck.

Not a fan of the game. 

But I am a fan of Breese's.

So here you have it:

The baseball wall.

Some of the images on Pinterest don't include

the shading. 

I felt the shading added a lot.

You also will be hard pressed 

to pick up any tips on doing this, 

so here are mine. 

First, I used a 

thumb tack, 

a piece of string

and a pencil

to draw my arcs. 

I would have preferred a piece of chalk to the pencil

because figuring the width of the arcs

along with how far apart they should be

turned out to be an act of faith.

Also, the wall I was painting was oblong, not a square

so the space between the arcs seems a bit off.

I think squaring off an area might have worked better.

And here's a little tip you won't find

anywhere else, 

make a template for the stitches, 

it sets a consistent arch along with consistent spacing. 

Still not a fan of the game.

Thankfully, still a fan of Breese :)

A Little Side Trip Into Chicago

Don't tell Ava,  

but I went to Chicago without her.

I saw a piece on 

Sunday Morning

about artist, Jun Kaneko.

He does these huge ceramic pieces.

These are called Dangos.

Or, big dumplings.

They are interesting but not what drew me

to Chicago to see for myself.

These!

I wanted to see for myself.

They are called Tanukis and as best I can tell

they are a real creature that the

 Japanese have fanciful myths woven around.

They are tricksters of sort.

I was intrigued by their faces.

you think they are all the same.

But they are not.

Also, look at the precision the stripes and dots

are painted on with, yet at some point in the 

process the dots and stripes bleed down.

Perfection, 

yet imperfect, 

precision, 

yet not.

Hmmmm, 

there's a life lesson in there.

I've Been Teaching Maddie Things

 She now knows she has a tongue.

Michelle asked why I couldn't have just taught her to

point to her nose.

Hmm, never thought of that. 

IT'S DONE!!!!

And guess what?

It's the last week of summer 

vacation that Ava and I will be together.

Perfect timing!

Sometimes God Doesn't Calm The Storm

He calms his child.

He doesn't take you past the storm, 

He carries you through it.

I made this for Taryn last Christmas.

She's a dancer.

I'm pretty good at quoting

be happy, don't worry statements.

We are just at the beginning of this adventure.

I'm going to post this.

If at some point during any of this

I begin to sound like

Poor Pitiful Me, 

please feel free to refer me back here.

Oh, and pray some more for me, 

I'm pretty sure that's what's

working for me now.

Museum Of Science And Industry

OK, don't tell anyone, 

not my favorite.

Here's why:

1) It takes quite a while to get to. 

1 plus hours on the train, walk to bus, 

stop go, stop, go, 

and then goooo, all totaled

we left the house at 9:15 and arrived at the museum

about noon.

2) It's a lot of reading stuff.

I want to look at stuff. 

I like to read books, not walls.

3) It's laid out weird, not at all intuitive

to my way of thinking.

4) You have to sign up and pay extra 

ahead of time for the submarine and

coal mine exhibits. Which, 

actually, worked in my favor, 

I'm claustrophobic.

Ava liked it. 

she liked:

1) The baby chicks.

2) The farm section with the giant tractors

and the videos of cows and pigs

being born.

3) The water works section.

4) The submarine stuff you could do without 

 going in the actual submarine.

We just have

The Field Museum, 

Adler Planetarium , 

and 

The Shedd aquarium 

left and we will have seen it all.

....next summer

Morton Arboretum 2013

Lory and Bryce came with us this year.

 They have an extra attraction right now.

Tree houses.

But not like you (or I) might expect.

Whereas, I think 

up in a tree

when I think tree house,

The Morton Arboretum thinks

houses about trees.

 They were cute.

 This one actually had a tree coming up out of the middle of it.

 But they weren't terribly interactive.

And therefor held limited appeal.

Now, the creek with the rocks that you can move

around and make dams, and alter the flow of, 

that's FUN!

Even more fun?

Dropping one of those rather large rocks on

your naked toes.

And then getting piggyback rides from 

Grandma for the rest of the afternoon!

And On A Lighter Note

Maddie pictures for 

Mom and Big.

"Explanations never comfort. We don't need explanations. We need the presence of God." ~Rick Warren

I'm not big into the 

WHY

of things. 

Many things I just don't feel the need to know 

WHY.

Somehow planes get up in the air.

I flip a switch and I get lights.

Rain comes out of the clouds.

(Actually, Michelle tried to 

explained that to me once.)

Some things are easier to conform to

if you understand the 

WHY.

Mike likes the shower curtain left closed.

It lets the liner dry out.

Mike likes the shower curtain left open a little.

It lets air circulate so we don't get mildew.

Mike likes to engage the parking brake on flat land.

It helps exercise the mechanism.

I guess Mike has to explain himself to me a lot.

But one place I have not asked 

WHY

yet is God's plan.

He has had the graciousness to let

me see first hand how seemingly 

awful situations can be turned around and used 

for His glory.

That's what I'm going with here.

I'm not gonna understand His plan

 this side of heaven.

He could try to explain it to me but

I have the feeling it would work out about 

as well as my understanding of rain.

We Will Praise Him In This Storm

Oxymoron. 

Mike and cancer. 

They don't connect.

Except they do.

We will fight it

and I'm fairly certain we will beat it.

I'm also pretty sure it won't be pretty. 

For either of us.

I have no idea what the future has in store.

But these things I know;

God has a plan,

He is in charge,

He can make good come from bad,

He can use me if I let Him,

in Him I can find peace.

Here we go.

It's OK if I scream and cry a bit, right?

Bacon Wrapped Bananas

Just because you can, 

doesn't mean you should.

Just sayin....

Photo Op

Over the years we have revisited 

certain photos. 

There's the one with the four of us in 

resort bathrobes 

that spans 10 years. 

There's the one of Michael with the

Butler Bulldog

that spans 5 years.

And then there's Ava.

These planters line one of the blocks along

Madison near the train station. 

It is her tradition to leap from 

planter to planter

on our way to wherever. 

Oh, and pose.

We usually get some interesting looks from passerby's.

Ava doesn't notice

and I'm getting used to it. 

And I wouldn't have it any other way.