two weeks?!?!?

This little girl of mine never ceases to amaze me.

On Monday as she listened to her ophthalmologist and I discussing her upcoming surgery, I expected her to express concern about the procedure itself (she'll be having a Baerveldt implant, explained here in an article written by her specialist) or to protest having yet another surgery ~ this will make her 8th since she's been home.

I watched her carefully as Dr. F explained the procedure itself, why drops will still be needed following surgery (actually even more drops for the first few months) and the risks involved.

DQ?

Didn't blink.   I had started to think she wasn't listening at all.

But when the post surgery instructions were given?

Oh, that's when my girl came to life.  She piped right up with an indignant, "What?  No swimming for two weeks?  That's (pause to give a dramatic effect) fourteen days!"

More anesthesia, additional drops (she already does six drops a day, stoically I may add, but she despised them), predicted pain, the feeling of something stuck in her eye until she finally gets used to it, possible vision loss...

Nope, none of these ruffled her feathers.  But take away the newly opened pool and swim team practice?  Now that will get her attention.

So tonight I did what any Mama of a "little pool lover who is about to sit out for two weeks" would do.

 I took her to practice 30 minutes early so she could enjoy a little extra time in the water.

And after she finally braved the cold, she had a wonderful time diving for rings and playing with her "twin" brother.

When practice rolled around, she was ready.

She made the most of her time tonight.  

And Coach Amy graciously offered to let my DQ be an "assistant coach" for the two weeks she's sidelined.  That went a way to appease her disappointment about having to stay out of the water.

Tomorrow is the big day.  In my mind it's all about the surgery tomorrow.  But in hers?

The countdown to June 8 (two weeks away) begins...

Wordless Wednesday {Maya's miracle}

Read her background here.

And today's miracle here!

a new season

Today we officially started a brand new season for the M6.

We entered swim team season.

When we joined our neighborhood swim club for this summer, Ian and I decided that the three bigs would join the swim team in order to build community and to hone swimming skills (since doggy paddle isn't an officially recognized stroke).

This decision was met with varying levels of excitement from "can't wait for the first day of practice" to "no way you're gonna make me do it."

But the lure of a handful of friends from around the block and school helped persuade even the most reluctant of the bunch into at least showing up for practice.

Until she saw that they were meeting at the deep end...

And then my big girl froze.  She'd come so far in the last several years, but I saw the anxiety of being near open water literally suck the air right out of her lungs.  For a minute it looked like we'd only have two M kids on the team this year.

And then the coaches kicked into action.  Coach Amy noticed Ky's distress and pulled her aside to comfort her.  She reassured her that in her age division (6 and under), there were mentors in the water with the swimmers during practice at all times.  They would only take their hands off them if the swimmer was comfortable with that.  And then Coach Amy called Coach John over to take Ky down for her first lap.  It helped that Coach John is one of her best friend's oldest brothers...

It only took a few kicks before the terrified look left her face and she began to have fun.  By her second lap down the pool she was clearly more relaxed!

My big boy?  He was the one totally pumped about swim team.  He was jumping in without reservation and made it down the lanes so quickly I never did get a good shot.  For freestyle he's got the basic motions, tonight his mentors were working with him on breathing technique.

And the fearless wonder?  While she was initially only coming along because several of her friends are on swim team, she was ready to get down to business tonight.

What's that you say Coach Daniel?

Put my face under?

You got it!

All in all it was a great first practice.  They ended with the cheer of the six and under Amberjacks.  "We might be tiny and we might be small, but in the water we're 10 feet tall!"

Suddenly my lukewarm about swim team girls couldn't stop talking about how exciting it was and how much they were going to love being on the team this summer.

Swim team.  It's a new season for our family.  But I think it's going to be a good one.

Just two minor issues.  One ~ while our days have been warm, the nights are still quite chilly.  And that makes for some really cold water right now.  Pictures just don't capture the chattering lower jaws.

And two ~ my little man was feeling a bit left out.  Next summer will be your turn to shine wee one!

being part of HOPE

Hope.

Merriam-Webster defines the word in noun form as:  expectation of fulfillment or success.

And New Day Foster Home uses hope in their visionary statement.  "Bringing hope to the hopeless and the fatherless home."

New Day has faithfully lived out that vision, expecting fulfillment of health for their children since they started fostering in 2000.  Hundreds of fatherless have come to the facility and have been tenderly showered with love.  And many of those children have received life changing surgery during their tenure at New Day.  They were extended HOPE when their frail bodies needed it most.

How do I know the difference that surgery and TLC can make in the life of a child?

One of those miracles lives in my home.  Once upon a time a baby boy spent much of his time weak and cyanotic.  Almost exactly three years ago his life was forever changed when his foster home gave him the gift of HOPE in the form of open heart surgery.  Today, short of seeing the tell tale scar down his chest, you would never guess that he once had been too weak to even roll himself over in his crib.  He is a rowdy three year old with the courage of his biblical namesake.

Now our family has a chance to be part of helping New Day offer HOPE to another child, one who needs it desperately.

Meet Alea.

Alea was born with a serious liver condition.  One that requires a transplant for survival.

That she was born in a country where organ donations are extremely rare is difficult.  That she is now an orphan further complicates the matter.  Almost to the point that her case would be deemed hopeless.

But as Charles L. Allen once said, "When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God."

There is HOPE for Alea.  After all, she's in a place where HOPE in Him reigns.

Signs of HOPE are springing up.  Alea has a team of moms advocating for her.  Prayers have been going up.  Her story has been spread.  And there are many more details, (which you can read here) but New Day has been contacted by a top team of doctors and instructed to prepare, both emotionally and financially, for a liver transplant surgery for Alea.

I invite you to check out this link ~ HOPE for Alea ~ to get involved yourself.  There is room for donations of all sizes!  It can be as small as $1, as large as $500, or anywhere in between.  Every dollar counts...

Will you be part of offering HOPE to this precious baby girl?

Wordless Wednesday {stolen time}

through their eyes

It's almost funny when you consider how a humble campsite can be so, so much more in the eyes of a child.  

our tent ~ home sweet home last weekend

To our children this past weekend it was a place where nothing mattered except for us being together.

We went in with just a few items on our checklist to complete.

First item of business ~ voted unanimously by the kids ~ to take care of?

A campfire of course.   We arrived just in time to get the tent set up by dark.  Perfect timing to have the first "event" of the trip be a campfire.  With marshmallows.  And chocolate.  And graham crackers.

I suspect we could have broken down the tent Saturday morning and headed for home and still had positive reviews about the trip.  There's just something about your first s'more of the season...

But of course we didn't come straight home.

There was a whole lot of fishing to do!

it's almost eerie how much this picture looks like it could have been taken at my grandpa's pond

After all, I'm pretty sure we spent more on two kids' fishing pole sets than we did on our campsite for the weekend.

For our entire crew this was the first time with a rod and reel in hand.

And each one of 'em caught a fish.

We spent time on the playground, swinging to the skies...

...declaring ourselves head pirate of the ship...

...or quietly building castles in the sand.

caleb not pictured at the playground because he and his daddy spent some extra time at the fishin' pond, just the two of them.

Overall it was a weekend free from technology and other distractions.  Time spent focused on enjoying each other.  Super simple and yet clearly meaningful in the eyes of our children.  Each one of them expressed thanks for our weekend in their prayers Sunday night.

One even went as far as to say, "That was the best weekend, ever!"

The crew has already begun asking when we're going camping again.  And even as I'm waiting for the cricks from sleeping on the ground two nights in a row to get out of my neck, I'll think back on how full my heart was in this moment...

...and start daydreaming right along with them about our next unplugged weekend.

It was good stuff...

Wordless Wednesday {kindergarten picture day}