Friendly Valentine's

My boys were very excited to make their Valentine's this year!  I loved watching Rylan so intently writing the names on his cards. He asked me to read all the 6 sayings before EVERY card he wrote!!!  He wanted just the right one for each friend... LOL!

Rylan is VERY proud of his Star Wars Valentine cards...

Braydon and Bryce made iPhone Valentine's!  These were very simple but WAY cool for my older boys!  

*These are more Pinterest finds!  If interested in the links for free printables, go to...

http://www.meckmom.com/2011/02/04/free-star-wars-valentine-printable/ 

http://www.livinglocurto.com/2011/01/iphone-valentine-free-printable/

RAK - Day One

Today was the first day of RAK(Random Acts of Kindness) week. This is a week meant to ignite people to take kind actions every day for seven days.  My children's virtue this month at church is HONOR - Letting others know how valuable they are.  What better way to honor others than through kindness!  So, the Hathaway Household is on a mission this week to bless our community!

Today, we went to Espresso Gallery and purchased a $10 gift certificate.  I told the barista to utilize the certificate for as many customers that came in after us!  I also gave her a handful of little cards to give to the recipients that stated this...

You've just been gifted with a random act of kindness.  It's amazing how much a free beverage from a stranger can bring more sunshine into your day, isn't it?  Enjoy!
Kindness: Pass it on!

We are looking forward to tomorrow...

Love each other deeply.  Honor others more than yourselves. 
Romans 12:10

Prayer Pot

I'm back!!!  I haven't posted on my blog since November.  I've had so many thoughts yet time so quickly seems to pass by.

A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with cancer.  Another friend sent out a message with the power of prayer and asked different friends to adopt a time throughout the day to pray for this family.  She had us sign up for a specific time of the day.  This will help us remember the family each day and we will be able to surround them with prayer throughout the entire day!  I signed up our family for the 6pm time slot... thinking we would pray for this family every night at dinner.  I was trying to explain to my kiddos who we were praying for and they couldn't seem to figure out who I was speaking of.  So, I got a picture from facebook and they immediately new who we were praying for... this got me thinking about an idea I saw on Pinterest... A Prayer Pot!  I combined my own creative juices with the idea from the pinboard and this is what I came up with...

I used a pot that a previous student of mine had given me at the end of the school year a few years ago.  I then used a Sharpie paint pen to write a verse that I knew my kids would get!  "Pray Continually."  1Thessalonians 5:17

I added a longer verse on the back of the pot.  Philippians 4: 6-7

Then, I purchased some jumbo craft sticks.  I wrote some ideas for my kids to pray about at dinner with pictures for my youngest, non-reading, son.  I included ideas such as friends, family, neighbors, teachers, church, thankful stick, etc.  These were more broad topics that would help the kids with more intentional prayers.  I then added more specific sticks such as Wilberth (our sponsored child), our family that we committed to pray for, Grandma Hathaway (she's in the nursing home), and Grandpa Budrow (has MS).  On the more specific sticks, I added a photograph on the stick to help my kids connect to that person more.

The plan... as we set the table and prepare for dinner, each family member will take a stick and lay it on their plate.  We will each pray for our "stick."  Then, of course, eat dinner!

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.  Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.   Philippians 4:6-7

Birthday Lockers

It has become a tradition... Birthday Lockers!  Throughout the year, when I am at WalMart or Meijer, I look for Hot Wheel cars with the numbers for my boys upcoming ages.  The night before their birthdays, I go to school and decorate their lockers.  I also hang a balloon and put some type of small treat inside the locker.  Today was Bryce's birthday...all of the cars have a #9 on them :)

5th Grade Halloween

I have to be honest.... I got a phone call last week that Braydon's class was in need of a room mom because the current room mom had moved away...I really didn't want this job!  With Halloween a week away, I decided to take on the party for the sake of the kid's.  I was a bit overwhelmed last week with all the planning, communicating with parents, purchasing supplies, and making the food.  However, I had SO MUCH FUN!!!  I was back in my teaching mode :)  Braydon called Jeff after school to inform him that the party was "Awesome!"  It was nice to meet other parents and be apart of Braydon's class.  Although it was a long week, it was certainly worth it!

Scary Punch with floating skeleton hand!

Mummy Hot Dogs!  The kids loved these!!!

"Finger" Food - carrots & dip... large carrots created a hand

Witch Fingers - cheese sticks (my mom made these!)

Halloween Parade...Braydon is an 80's Rock Star!

Here comes the kindergartners... Rylan is a soldier!

The third graders are parading... Bryce is a werewolf (against my better judgement!)

Playing "Monster Stomp"  - The kids each had two balloons, one tied to each ankle and they had to stomp each other balloons.  When their balloons were stomped(popped), they were out.  Braydon won in his group :)  The kids loved this!

Enjoying food and friends!

Pumpkin Train

I was driving home from work last week and in awe of the painted landscape out my windows!  The colorful trees took my breath away...truly!  I knew that I had the upcoming Saturday off of work and I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather and enjoy some bonding with my family.  So, we headed off to North Judson, IN, to the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum.  

After the long drive, we pulled into the station and the kids immediately were filled with enthusiasm!  We spent time walking through a few old train cars that had memorabilia inside...

1970's Train Car!

After walking around the grounds, the train was finally coming!!!

Rylan was the first to board the train...

We chose to sit in the open train car to enjoy the beautiful weather...

The conductor taking our tickets...

We were able to stand and lean on the ledge to view the landscape!  We went on a bridge, over a river...it was GORGEOUS!

Headed to the pumpkin park...

Back at the train station... A beautiful day with my family!  

Medical Updates...

I am truly ready for 2012 to arrive!!!  I'm looking forward to a fresh start with our medical needs.  Until then, many medical updates continue...

Rylan recently had the allergy scratch test done...NO allergies!!!  Of course this was great news. Yet, it left the doctor perplexed. Therefore, a CT scan was ordered. The scan results are in... Chronic Rhinosinusitis. Rylan's sinuses are ALL completely filled with yuck. The doctor doesn't know how Rylan is breathing at night :(  He wants to go aggressive on medication in hopes of no surgery. Rylan started a 30 day, hard-core antibiotic this weekend to attack the bacteria.  Two anti-inflammatory pills daily because his sinuses are also extremely inflamed.  Nasal spray twice a day was also prescribed.  We go back in 6 weeks...if this doesn't work, Rylan will need to have surgery to have his sinuses drained.  Once we get his sinuses under control, he will begin a preventative for future.  The doctor believes that this was caused by acid reflux.  Those meds will begin shortly down the road.

Last week Bryce had an expander put in his mouth.  He was such a trooper!  After the appliance had been put in his mouth, I asked how they would do his adenoid surgery.  Yes, I got that call last week too.  Bryce's adenoids are Monster Huge and we were referred to an ENT.  The dental hygienist tells me that they won't do the surgery with the expander in his mouth, well they don't think so.  Bryce will have this in his mouth until April!  I've been talking with some friends and decided NOT to crank Bryce's expander this weekend.  I'm calling tomorrow to chat with an ENT nurse since our appointment isn't until October 5th.  We may be taking Bryce's expander out of his mouth to do the surgery and then put the appliance back in afterwards.

Braydon is actually doing well!!!  He got his braces on a few weeks ago and he is doing great with his new silver smile :)

My physical therapy will be finished this week...yahoo!!!  I am SO ready to be done with this schedule but am nervous how I will do without the therapy.  I no longer have numbness and tingling in my feet and arms...no longer have swollen hands, feet and knee...no longer have vertigo at night...no longer am I off balance...no longer have extreme cognitive issues, and my migraines have eased up considerably.  My back/neck is much, much more tolerable!  The medications and therapy have done wonders!!!  My fatigue is also WAY better now that I'm on thyroid meds.  All in all, I feel like I've gotten my life back...praise Jesus!!!  I'm praying that I can continue this upward climb...I really don't want to have surgery on my spine.

No major issues with Jeff...he is doing well...yahoo!  He helps me pour out the meds each day.  Just last week our medications cost us over $700...in ONE week!!!  Rylan's alone was $428...yikes!!!

Grace - Oh yes, we can't forget about our pooch!!!  She must have been feeling left out!  We took her in to get spayed last week and the vet's office called to tell us that her routine blood work before surgery came back with an issue.  Of course it did!!!  Her BUN level is extremely high.  This has to do with her kidneys.  So, they went ahead with the surgery but had to do some extra things to keep her comfortable and safe.  We go back in a month to redo the blood work.  If it is still off, they will need to do more exploratory tests on her kidneys.  We are hoping that the test was just a fluke!  She is recovering from her surgery well :)  The kids were very concerned about her this week with a shaved belly and arm.

There you have it, all of our updates for today.  Although I am truly ready to be done with doctors and medical bills, I am truly, TRULY grateful that of all the possibilities that were laid before us earlier this year, these are the issues that we are dealing with!  God has answered our prayers thus far.  We continue to pray for healing before surgeries are needed.  However, we know that if surgery is a must, we have faith in our doctors.