Holy buckets...it's the end of February!

Well I had good intentions... I decided that if I was going to do this blog that I would do a better job of keeping it up to date.  I started posted all the fun things Keith and I did getting ready for Christmas.  However, as with life, mine took a drastic change. 

The beginning of November my mom had an MRI done of her left hip area because she complained of pain where the muscle attached to her hip. The pain was so severe she could barely walk.  The MRI did show a small mass on the bone.  December 9 she had a partial hip replacement, and in fact, the tumor had started to attached to the muscle so her description of her pain was right on.  The downer was the tumor was malignant and of unknown origin.  Typically bone cancer is within the bone but rather this tumor was on the exterior.  Long story short, after her case was taken to the tumor board and numerous other test being conducted, they determined the tumor was estrogen related.  Furthermore, there is form of breast cancer that never presents until it ends up on the bone, liver, and or lungs.  Mom does have stage 4 metastatic breast cancer on her bones.  Never has she had a bad mammogram or other related female tests and she has not been sick at all (still isn't).  We have also learned there are various stages of stage 4 and just like most chronic diseases there is not a cure but rather a HUGE lifestyle change.  I do not believe this cancer will kill my mother.  The medication is amazing and it's working!  However, she will have to take medication to prevent the further spreading of the disease for the remainder of her life...she will have her port for the remainder of her life...but we are blessed  the cancer spread to her bones and not to the tissues (where results are not as good) and we are blessed she feels perfectly fine.  Oh, and you should see her walk!   Just weeks after surgery she was walking better than she had walked in months prior. 

This all took place within the month of December and was a lot to wrap my mind around.  I was overwhelmed by the fact my mom was a healthy 55 year old woman who had stage 4 cancer...whew...that is crazy!  We learned the seriously nature of the cancer Tuesday, the week of Christmas.  Not four days later, we lost my one of my very best friends.  My Nan had a heart attack early Christmas eve morning.  She had always had heart trouble and struggled with her diabetes but she was a spry gal who showed no signs of going to be with our heavenly father. This was a huge emotional blow for my mom especially.  In all honestly, I don't know if I have really been able to grieve her because of all the stuff that we have had to take care of.  There is never a day that I don't miss my Pop but the sadness I feel when I go to pick up the phone to call her is quite great. 

This is the last time we saw Nan at her place the end of October.  We were on our way back to Illinois.

Through all of this I have learned that God really is in complete control and if I believe in his promises he will carry me through.  I have prayed in ways I didn't know it was possible and he is blessing me each and every day.  I don't worry about life like I used to because he will take care of it for me. 

 

And I do believe he will be with me wherever I go and I hope he is with you too.  I have faith in God and therefore I have faith in his timing.  My mom is going to be okay and Nan is really okay.  I rejoice in his name always!

Now that you know what has been going on, let me share some of our Christmas.  The night before Christmas eve, our count-down calendar had a "camp out by the tree" activity.  Daddy bailed on us but Keith and I had lots of fun.  

We attended church services both Christmas eve and Christmas morning.  I so enjoyed celebrating Jesus' birthday with my church family!  I had to share this photo of Keith.  We always do a family picture and well, he wasn't in the mood apparently.

 And just so we don't end on a sad note...just a few cute pictures of Keith opening his gifts on Christmas morning.

 
So here is to the new year and a better job at blogging.  I will be deleting the Keith's Kloset blog and just doing this one.  Too hard to keep up one, let alone two!  Look for lots of sewing and other crafting stuff soon.  

 

It's the holiday season...

Merry Christmas!  Christmas season began early (again)...like the second week of November early.  Chet is once again extremely excited about Christmas; so excited he joined me for Black Friday shopping (of which he is already officially uninvited for next year; not a good BF shopper); but that is a story for another day of blogging.  

Keith is very excited for Santa as well.  While I enjoy the chocolate advent/Christmas countdowners, I really wanted to make the countdown more this year.  I found tons of idea on Pinterest (my obsession, sadly) and discovered a fabulous deal and time saver at JoAnn's Fabric  .  These advent stockings were precut and came with the needed decor to put them together.  I decided to stitch them using my machine so they would last longer over the years.  The only drawback was finding numbers to stitch on. With hindsight, I should have stitched numbers on prior to putting the socks together but oh well,still turned out cute!

So how is this a different countdown...well, each day includes a candy cane and an activity.  The activities range from going to a Christmas parade...

to making Christmas ornaments...

to making a gingerbread house...

to making snowflakes (while learning to use scissors for the first time).

We still have a few days to go, so watch for more pictures of our Christmas countdown adventures.  

Oh, and guess what Santa sent us?  An Elf on the Shelf... Keith named him Doodle.  Doodle has been busy watching and flying around our house.

It's been a busy month so far and fun at every turn.  I would be amiss though if I didn't mention the reason for the season; Jesus.  It's a month to celebrate his birthday and I am so grateful for the sacrifice God gave us by letting his son walk among us so that we might have eternal life.  My mom was officially diagnosed with cancer this past week and while we could be all sad about the situation, I am putting it in God's hands and rejoicing in what he has done for us.  He has given my family so much to be thankful for and I ask you to keep praying for my mom and keep rejoicing in his name!

Merry Christmas season to all~