My sis and her grandbaby, Elizabeth, she is a doll!

My sis and her grandbaby, Elizabeth, she is a doll!

My nephew Will, his wife Nicole and the newest family member, my great niece Elizabeth

My nephew Will, his wife Nicole and the newest family member, my great niece Elizabeth

Mom, me, Barb and Myles (my sis and bro)

Mom, me, Barb and Myles (my sis and bro)

Missie and Uncle Myles (my brother)

Missie and Uncle Myles (my brother)

Missie and grandparents

Missie and grandparents

Missie at park in Brockville,Ont. Canada

Missie at park in Brockville,Ont. Canada

Missie and I went to Canada in October

Missie and I went to Canada in October
Mom and Jim

Part of Preston's room, he has large room, calls it his apt.

Part of Preston's room, he has large room, calls it his apt.
has a recliner and little refrig.

Missie wanted her room lime green and black

Missie wanted her room lime green and black
turned out very nice!

Left side of kitchen

Left side of kitchen

Right side of kitchen (sunflowers)

Right side of kitchen (sunflowers)

Other half of living room

Other half of living room

Part of living room

Part of living room

Part of our dining room, it is a large room

Part of our dining room, it is a large room

Our new home!

Our new home!

Jr.s shop

Jr.s shop

2 car garage

2 car garage

This is the only way it would let me post :(

Here it is December, where has time gone. I just realized this a.m. I have not posted pics of our new home, where we moved to in May. I am really bad at blogging now :( Preston is doing great! He did have a cold, but other than that, he is doing well! We are so thankful for that.Missie loves Union Bible Academy. She has moved into the dorm so she won't have to drive 1 1/2 hrs/day and during winter it would have been hard. She loves living in dorm and having her friends there. She is in choir and absolutely loves that and travels when they travel. She is maintaining a B average, and that is great! It was a big switch to switch from ACE cirriculum to textbooks, but she has done very well. We love our home, and spending our first holidays in it! Will post some pics.

Preston and Missie before surgery

Preston and Missie before surgery

Preston before surgery

Preston before surgery

Preston after his surgery

Preston after his surgery

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Latest on Preston!

Well, Junior took Preston to neurosurgeon today, and when he saw his head, he said he would have to open Preston's head to see what was going on in there. Also, it needs to be drained in that area as well. Pre-op is tomorrow and I will get more details then; but we think it is outpatient surgery. Of course with Preston, you never know what might happen. Surgery is Monday a.m. at 11:15. Preston cried and cried when he got home; and Missie realized why. He was afraid he would get another brain infection and not be able to do anything. We told him we didn't think this would happen, but if it did, we would lovingly care for him until he recovered. The shunt itself is working fine, at least so far. We are hoping it will continue to be ok through all of this. So he is calmer now, and seems ok with it.

I am sad for him; the last few days he has been saying he is ready to go to Heaven to be with Jesus. He is tired of the illnesses, and his limitations, and wants to go to Heaven. I can understand that! But that is in God's hands. We would know he would be safe and healthy forever if Jesus did take him home.

Continued prayers would be much appreciated.

Preston update.

Ok, here is what I know so far about PReston's condition.

The CT scan looked good, and this a.m. the outside of Preston's head is festering and I poured peroxide on it, and it fizzed good! So it apparently is infection on the outside of his head, maybe some infected stitches, or what not. But he does have an appt. today so the dr. can look at his head.

So we are thankful that the CT scan looked ok. I guess we tend to panic, when it comes to Preston and all that happened to him in 2007.

Thanks for all your caring and prayers.

Norma

Monday, January 28, 2008

Monday

I have been doing lots of housework today.

Preston's scan is tomorrow at 2:40. He is swollen and hurting some today as he was yesterday. He wanted to go today but apparently they couldn't get him in.

So unless he gets a lot worse tonight, we won't know anything until tomorrow.
If he gets worse, Jr. will take him to ER tonight.

Will update as soon as I know something.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Sunday Update

Well, let's start with the good news. We got a van over the weekend, and we are so thankful to have our own vehicle again. It is a 2003 Dodge Caravan, silver color, and a beautiful van. Will take pictures and get them posted.

The bad news is this: Yesterday Preston was experiencing some tenderness around the scars where he had his surgeries and a slight puffiness in that area. This a.m. when he got up, it was puffy and he is hurting on and off. Sometimes it is a dull pain; sometimes a sharp pain that lasts for a while. There is a redness that hasn't been there before, too, on the one big scar. So! I called the dr. on call and he is not one of our favorites, but he said as long as he was alert he could probably wait until tomorrow to have a CT scan. Otherwise we end up sitting in ER for hours, and none of us want to do that. If he becomes unresponsive, then we would need to take him immediately.

For those of you on my mailing list that attend church with us, we are planning to attend church tonight and Preston wants Pastor Going to anoint him and pray for him. I know God could touch him. When he was young, he had a big swelling of fluid on the outside of his head and he was scheduled for surgery the next a.m. and God healed him. I looked down at Preston and every bit of the fluid was gone. So if it is God's will, He could heal him.

So please pray for Preston. None of us feel able to go through another hospital stay like we had this past year.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Update!

Well, here is the update on our family:

We are still driving a borrowed car; as the money my mom sent still hasn't showed up in our bank acct; sure has been a slow process. She has sent it the 2nd time in US funds but it hasn't arrived either, and part of it has to be used to pay our heat bill, as we are almost out of gas to heat with. We need our own vehicle so bad. Our taxes are supposed to be in on Jan 29th, and it can't get here soon enough.

Preston seems to be suffering from depression; so the dr. upped his depression medication. So we will see how that works. His aide comes in a.m., weather permitting, and we are going to give him a shower, and she will clean his room. So that will help me.

Missie is getting over her cough. She is having to take meds. less than she was for it, but it still flairs up once in a while. She is doing quite well with her schooling. She liked the looks of her report card when I finished it to send to our homeschool group.

Junior felt cold and achy tonight; and he felt like he was running a fever. Hope he is not getting sick again. There have been some lay offs at his place of employment; we are hoping it doesn't affect him. The company has been sold since he started there. He has not had a raise in 3 years, and he heard it has not been going as well as they thought it would, business wise. So God knows all about it. His other job before this closed their doors. We hope that doesn't happen again. That would be the peak of discouragment in our already discouraging life with all of the problems and trials we have had in the last few years.

I am doing good; homeschooling, caring for Preston, keeping my house up for the most part, selling on ebay. I have been achy the last couple of days; indicating that we will get some precipitation.

So we are all alive and doing pretty well.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

We have SNOW!

It started to snow last night about 9 p.m. At 4 a.m. this morning, the power went off and didn't come back on until 10:30 this a.m. We were so thankful that it came back on.

Jr. and I went to town and got some groceries. Missie has been riding down hill most of the day. I will post some pictures when I get them downloaded. We got about 4-5 inches of snow, and it was pretty! Missie has really enjoyed it. I am glad we got snow instead of ice this time!

It is melting now, so the snow fun is about over. But it was fun while it lasted. I wanted to take a ride down hill, but didn't. Missie was shocked that I even mentioned it. She must think I am old or something, LOL.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

O Ye of Little Faith

That is me - little faith. I thought it was a done deal that Missie would attend a private school here in this area, since we probably are not moving. But guess what??? She was talking about getting a laptop and doing HomeSat! PTL! So we are getting her her own laptop when we get our taxes and going to go with BJU HomeSat. She is excited about it, and we are too!!!! It will be cheaper to get her a laptop and go with HomeSat then to send her to school. Besides a school bill, there will be gas every day, lunches, etc. So I feel God answered prayer before I actually prayed much about it. My heart was heavy because of her going to a private school that is not of our faith, and I will be honest and say I guess I didn't think it would do much good to pray! Missie is very much a people person and wanted to go to school to have friends. But it looks like she may be home again next year for school. The HomeSat explains everything which will help her and I both a lot!!!

More good news is that Preston went to the dentist today and he has no cavities! He has had so many meds. since birth, that his teeth have been bad. But today he was so thrilled that he had NO cavities; first time in a long time we were told that! Kim, his aide went with us, to help me get him in and out of the dentist office. It is a blessing to have help. They had no idea at the dentist's office what all he had been through. They were glad he is doing so well and is a much happier person!

So needless to say, I am exhausted. I didn't sleep well last night and have been up since 5:30 so I am headed to bed soon. Thank the Lord I can stay home tomorrow!

Just had to share what the Lord is doing for us!

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Will try tonight to update

Ok, I never made it back until tonight to post on here.

Missie has been sick for 2 weeks, and was not getting any better so Fri. a.m. I took her to the dr. She has bronchitis. She is now on antibiotics which we were able to get for free, thank the Lord. We have no medical insurance for Missie. She is stil coughing, but went to the Right to Life Rally in Columbia today. Her friend, Laura, went as well, and they had a fabulous time together. Thanks Wesley and Felicia for making 2 girls very happy! They love being with you all, and I know you all had lots of entertainment.

Preston has some sinus problems and today he got real hot, especially his face. Sometimes he has hot flashes. I couldn't find a thermometer to take his temperature but gave him some aleve with his night time meds. just in case.

I have sinus problems too; it makes me so tired. I think it might be allergies?? Who knows, but I am coughing some, too.

The way it looks now, unless the Lord opens some really good doors, we won't be moving to PA. I don't understand; because my greatest desire is to have Missie in a holiness school. Every year we plan to move to PA, something major happens to us. I really don't know if it is the Lord or the devil. Is the devil fighting us over this or is it not God's will for us right now? It is in His hands; we can only walk through doors that He opens. But we know we have to move; and planning to move back to the Easley area. We definately need a larger house and all of the steps at the front are too much for Preston. We haven't told the landlord yet; we are renting to own, but we will just be giving the house back to him. We are waiting until we get a place and will give him a month's notice. I dread moving. It is such a huge job. As far as Missie's schooling, it looks like we will have to put her in a Baptist school for high school, unless the Lord opens up other doors for a holiness school. It is not my desire, but at his point, it seems we have no choice. She knows that holiness that right, so we can only pray for her and keep a strong Christian home for her and leave her in God's hands.

We are still driving my friend's car. Thank the Lord for good friends.
We need $500 down payment to get another car from the same place where we got the escort, that the motor went out in. My parents sent me $500 but it was in Canadian funds and my bank had to send it away for collection and that has been 4 weeks ago and there is no sign of it coming back yet. So they are sending out $500 American on Mon a.m. So hopefully in a couple of weeks we will have our own car again.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Tues

I typed a post and it wouldn't post and went blank and I am too tired to do it all over again, will come back tomorrow, Lord willing.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

We made it!

We made it to church tonight. Everyone seemed happy to see us. It had been 2 weeks since any of us had been. Missie has been wheezing today; she has some bronchitis. She had a terrible headache tonight as well, and had to keep blowing her nose, so she sat at the back in the foyer.

She made a new friend at church; some people from NY who were visiting here, and may move here. It was so good to see Missie with someone to talk to and with a smile on her face. She gets soooo lonely. She cried since we have been home from church; wanting to go to school so bad! It breaks my heart. I cannot do a thing about it at this point in time. I know every child deserves the right to go to school. If we don't get to move to PA, she will have to attend a Baptist school. I never wanted to do this; but we will have too, for the sake of Missie. We are waiting on the Lord for His leadership; I told Jr., I just want to know what we are supposed to do! We are praying and He will be faithful to show us.

Hardly anyone at church knew the motor was gone in our car. I don't talk to anyone; I am not a person who likes to talk on the phone alot. I talk to my mom in Canada, more than anyone else. I usually never talk to anyone from Sunday to Sunday. So, at least it cannot be said that I gossip. I have learned to be a loner the last few years. It is ok; most of my friends are actually online. Some I have never met; but they understand some of our problems as they have special needs children.

We don't know what to do about a car yet. I asked a man at church if he had anything we could make payments on and he said no. We are filing our taxes on Jan 10 and when we get our taxes back, we have to do something about a vehicle; I cannot keep borrowing this car for ever. I so appreciate Susan lending me the car. I don't know what we would have done without it.

Well, I am headed to bed.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Hello!

Well, these colds or sinus infections are hard to throw off, believe me. Junior and Missie are still blowing their noses and Missie is raw under her nose and upper lip. Bless her heart; my heart aches for her. She feels some better but still having to blow a lot, and coughs like she has bronchitis. I hope this next week we will see an even bigger improvement in them both. Jr. went back to work Wed-Fri., thank the Lord he was able to do that.

Well, we are hanging in here. One thing we have pretty much decided is that we have to move somewhere. Preston has too many steps to walk down in front of our home; 13 to be exact, and Monday evening he fell. Or we have to build a ramp. Now to have a ramp built is $4,000. Not sure how much it would be if we built it ourselves. Also, we need another bedroom here for Missie. The foyer to the back door is just too small for a growing girl. So that takes money too, and between the 2 projects we would need a lot of money. If we can refinance our house and get extra we could do that; but not sure how that would go. So we are waiting to hear more from the Lord as far as His direction and where to move too.

I called the car place and explained about the car and they are supposed to get back to me. Still driving my friend's car; thank the Lord we have something to drive.

After 6 months of waiting, the disability resolution board in Columbia called me about Hannah coming to work for us. BUT! Preston doesn't want Kimberly to quit and Hannah to start. He has gotten used to Kimberly, and changes are very hard for him. Hannah is a long time friend and I would love to have her. But when he is just getting used to Kimberly and I taking him places and it is going so well, I don't want to rock the boat. There are pros and cons to all of this, of course. I don't want to hurt Hannah. But I cannot have Hannah and Kimberly both. If Hannah starts, Kimberly has to quit. Kimberly is an aide as well as cleaning offices. She has offered me a job, 2 nights/week cleaning the same office, and I will make $300/month. I need that money! But if Kimberly is not working for us, then she will have to do the office and I won't get my job. If we stay here, we are putting Missie in school and that $300/month will pay her tuition. So please pray the Lord will have his perfect will in this situation. Hannah has a baby, several months old, and was going to bring him some and both of the kids would enjoy him so much. Her 2 girls are in school during the day. So we have a decision to make soon. One thing is, the new position is 27 hrs/week, and I don't need or want anyone that much. I don't think I can handle someone here every day for 5 hrs. Preston doesn't need that much care now, and Missie is homeschooling, etc. So we will see what works out.

So that is the latest. Life goes on for us. It is much better in the fact that Preston is recovering so nicely and is so much sweeter and happier now, that he has a working shunt!

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

2008 already!

Well, 2007 passed so quickly. It is hard to believe.

Today we had a quiet family day at home, which is the norm for us. We love being together and at home. Junior is feeling much better, but Missie is worse. She has the same dose he is getting over. Blow, blow, blow and cough, cough, cough! Oh me! And we were to start school tomorrow. We will do some; probably not a full load like we usually do, though.

Tomorrow I have to call the place where we got the car and see what they can work out for us. I hope they will help us, if it be God's will. The only problem is that their payments are quite high and we would like a bigger vehicle and lower payments. Our mini van was less than $200/month but that has been a while back. Anyhow, will see what they say. Thanks to Susan, we have a car to use until we can get another one.

I hate that Jr. has to go back to work tomorrow. I have loved having him here and him not having to go to bed so early; we have had more time together. But it is back to the grind of his getting up at 4:30 each a.m. Preston said he wishes his daddy could sell on the internet and stay home. But we would have to make a lot of sales/week to stay afloat and then pay for our own insurance, etc. So that is not an option, sadly.

We have many decisions to make in the next few months. We need your prayers. We want God's will for our lives.

Hope you all, my friends and family, have a wonderful 2008.