Christmas Eve Traditions

This has been an unusually stressful week. The kids have been out of school since Friday, and for some reason once again the kids have passed the stupid ole' stomach bug back and forth between them this week. (the same thing happened during thanksgiving break). I had set a goal to get the girls room more organized prior to christmas as to make room for new things, and it was just long over due! In the process we have found clothes they hadn't seen in months and my washer and dryer have run nearly non-stop!

All day today I kept thinking how it just did NOT seem like christmas eve! This is just the second christmas holiday here in florida. And with the move has come a change in tradition for us. In the past christmas eve was normally spent at our house or my mom's sharing dinner together and then we exhanged gifts with them and sometimes my sister would come as well. This year Lexi spent it in bed most of the day, I helped clear out the last of the clutter in the girls room, laundry, laundry laundry and more laundry was done and jason spent the day at work.

Then after dinner we headed to River for a christmas eve service. I think there is when it finally started to feel more like christmas. I was reminded that all of the issues i had stressed about during the past week were so petty and not at all what this time of year should be about. I was reminded of the awesome gift of jesus that we were given and celebrate this time of year. And I was surrounded by my family of friends who I am very thankful for!

After the service we headed home and the kids got snuggly in the their new pj's and were so excited to open the presents they had made for each other and for j and i. It was so very wonderful to see the looks of their faces as they passed out their gifts to one another. They were truly happy for each other and i think they got more out of giving the gifts than receiving them! I know we try to stress that giving is better than getting, but this year it really seemed to sink in! After each one would open a gift they would hug, pose for a pic, and express their gratitude. A funny note is that all of the gifts were things they either already owned and just passed between them or had purchased for under a dollar at the school's santa store. :o) J and I were so filled just watching them tonight!

And now Santa has come, all are in bed, I am left wide awake anticipating the adventures tomorrow will bring. J will head to the mission bright and early (about 4am) and the kids will awake to stockings and then we will joining j at the mission for the annual christmas luncheon. I am thankful for the new traditions we have begun as a family and am thankful for the opportunities my kids have to be involved in serving others!

Where do I start?

WOW! What an eventful two months! I have been meaning to re-enter the blog world, but can't seem to get up the gusto to do it lately. As I hit the button to start this post I noticed it has been exactly 2 months since my last post! I am now at 14 weeks and 2 days and thankfully have entered the second trimester. The first one was pretty rough. No appetite, morning, noon and night" sickness, exhaustion, and sinus and ear infections added to the excitement as well. We had two doctor appointments and one er visit. All is well and we have now gotten to see the little grizz 4 different times! We can confirm there is only ONE!!! (although some family keep teasing there may be more than one, unless he is hiding that seems to be impossible)

A few weeks into my pregnancy i ran across a little model of what a baby looks at 12 weeks and I put it up and waited til I was at that point in the pregnancy to show the kids. They really enjoyed seeing what size the baby was at that stage as it is so hard for them to visualize just how small the baby is. JT is trying to adjust to the idea that he will not be the only baby in the house(as he put it). He isnt ready to give up the spot of being my baby, just willing to share it. I think he will be an excellent big brother and can't wait to seem him in that role! The girls I am sure have mixed emotions. Alyssa wants to spread her wings and get her own room, so the thought of having another girl is overwhelming to her...she doesnt want to share their room with anyone else. Lexi has actually been looking forward to the idea of adding a new girlie to the mix. JT...he goes back and forth. He wants a brother, but has confessed that little girl babies are soo much cuter. So we wait...we should be able to find out somwhere around the end of jan to early feb.

As we pass the time, we have begun to consider names....wow, this doesnt get any easier the more you have! Do we go back to "a" names, or "j" or just go crazy and pick something totally different. I keep brainstorming some type of family names, so far each one has some connection, but this one is hard to do. I tell myself not to even think about it til Feb., then I can atleas narrow down the gender part!

I had a friend offer to help with the bedding and i think I have found one I like. It is made for a boy, but I think we could adapt it for a girl. It is a turtle pattern...so cute!!

Beyond pregnancy....lots has happenened around here as well. Jason has changed positions at the mission and is now on day shift!!! Hooray! This is such a blessing as he helps with the kids in the morning, and is here in the evening to help out and is able to SEE the kids every day and actually spend time with them. I have to admit I miss our time in the mornings, but it is worth it for the kids to have him!!

The kids are doing great in school. They each got report cards and did smashing. The girls were both on A honor roll and jt got all e's and s's! Yeah!! I am so proud of each of their progress this year. Speaking of school, tonight is Alyssa's first chorus performance. The 5th grade chorus is putting on a christmas concert and it will be so exciting to see her up there! It is kinda funny, her little red jumper is almost identical to the one I wore in 8th grade girls chorus at PSJH MANY MANY years ago! ahhh those red jumpers! I have a feeling I will tear up....i always do at school programs, and the hormones won't help!

Well....that is latest update on the Grizz Household....maybe a little more info than you were looking for! lol Hopefully I will not be so slack in blogging now that the mnn sickness is ending!

Peace, Love and Merry Christmas!

drum roll please......

well...it is official. the grizzard gang will be expanding to 6 with the addition of a new bundle of joy due next June! we are all super excited and it was so fun seeing the looks on the kids faces as we told them the news! i know alyssa and alexis will be super mini-moms and Jt will be an awesome big brother! so...just when you think one phase of your life is over...you never know!!

3..2...1..Blastoff!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

This morning started with a full schedule. First stop was to the school to watch Alyssa launch her rocket that she had made at Starbase. For 5 weeks her class has been going to the local military base once a week for classes. They have been learning all kinds of things, but one of the main focuses has been on learning how to make their dreams a reality. The slogan of the program is dreams plus action equal reality. Jason and I were pretty impressed with what we saw and were happy that she had the opportunity to participate in this program. We watched as the children were presented challenges and we saw the look of pride and accomplishment on each child's face when they successfully launched the rockets they had created! It was one of those awesome parenting moments! :o)

The rest of the day was filled with appointments that always seem to equal LOTS of waiting!! Thankfully all worked out and the waiting was not in vain...this time! lol

Recent Update on Cassidy

Dear praying Friends,

I know many of you have been praying and waiting for this update. I do apologize for its delay. Things can get a little crazy as I am sure you can imagine.

The "Princess" as she has come to be called, is doing very well considering what we are putting her little body through. She is eating well as long as it is what she wants to eat. She calls and asks for pizza or tacos or chips and salsa. She eats her fruits and vegetables as well. All the nurses love her. She made so much money on those two teeth she has lost since she's been in the hospital. One nurse gave her ten dollars for the first tooth and brings her tacos and treats when she comes.

She says the funniest things and I wish I could put everything in here, but I would basically have to type our conversations verbatim. Tonight, I was on the phone with Chad while I was playing with her and she wanted me to get off and she said, "Mama, say, 'I love you, bye'." We were playing with her Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty princess dolls and she needed me to be Cinderella. She got to be "the pretty one" Sleeping Beauty of course. Poor Cinderella. LOL.

She loves to play the board game SORRY with us. She talks "smack" when she plays. We laugh so hard listening to the things she says under her breath.

Anyways, I laugh even as I write this at some things, but I know you have more things to do than to read about my Cass stories. Please praise the Lord especially for allowing McKenz to be a match for her. We found out only recently how difficult it would have been to find a match if she weren't.
It is a relief for the nurses to be so excited that we already have a match.

Continue to pray for her that the chemo will do its job. Her immune system has started to decline, which we knew would happen and actually has taken longer to do so than we expected. She hasn't been nauseated which is a praise. She has a few more days in this session that they give her chemo, but by the time they are done giving it to her, her immune system will not be strong enough for her to leave the hospital. She will stay for another 2 weeks or so and then come home for a bit. Then she will go back and do the whole thing again. Remission is the biggest prayer request because, without it, she cannot have a transplant.

Thank you for your prayers for all of us as we gain our strength from the Source of all strength. He has been good to us and "this too shall pass."

Because of Christ,
Jennifer Clark
II Corinthians 4:17-18

friends

it is sad how sometimes we can take our friends for granted. i am thankful that even when distance creeps in, just a simple act can bring restoration. :o) thank you God for the friends you have placed in my life!

Cassidy's Diagnosis

It has been a couple weeks since I posted an update regarding Cassidy Clark. It has been a busy week for her and her family! Chad and Jennifer moved their wedding date closer and were married on Sept.1 and later that week Cassidy celebrated her 5th birthday. There have also been several trip back and forth to the doctor and they found out that her sister McKenzie is a match for bone marrow, so if treatment goes that route she will be able to help. Just yesterday they received the results from the bone marrow tests and Jen posted the following note.... Please continue to keep this family in your prayers!


September 17, 2008
Dear Friends,
It is with a heavy heart that I write this tonight. To be honest, I don't feel much like typing or writing anything and if it weren't for your faithful prayers, I wouldn't write.

We received Cassidy's diagnosis today. She has AMML. The good news is that it is treatable, well at least there is a treatment plan. Some of the Leukemias that were a possible diagnosis lack even that hope. It is not a sure success. We believe we still have a 50/50 chance of beating it. The bad news is that it will be a long, difficult journey for our little angel. Starting next week, she will go into the hospital for a 4-6 week rigorous chemotherapy treatment. Doctor Storch has informed us that this one will be much more difficult on her. She will have to stay in the hospital the whole time. Our next prayer request is that the chemo puts her leukemia into remission. I do not believe we can do a bone marrow transplant unless it is in remission.

Please pray with us as it will be difficult for her to understand that she is so sick when she feels so well. She will have to miss school this year and she will be very disappointed about that. Likewise, Chad will not be able to work.

Also please continue to pray that God continues to strengthen us. We already feel the affects of your prayers.

Because of Christ,
Jennifer Clark
Lam. 3:21-24

headed back to school

well...i am very excited because it looks like i will be headed back to school!! those of you who have known me for a while, know I am a total geek...I love school, always have. i think i could have stayed in college forever. then I was blessed with a family and my journey at home began.

ok...this doesn't mean that i have gotten a job. (still don't have the nerve to go back to the classroom as a teacher at this point!) but I will be helping out in JT's kindergarten classroom one day each week. this is very exciting for me on several levels!! first of all i get to be in the class with JT and observe his kindergarten experience up front! secondly, i love all things school, so even little things like bulletin boards, daily folders and reading groups get me pumped!! thirdly...this may be an opportunity for me to get my foot in the door with the school and actually pursue a part time position of teacher's assistant. at this point i do not even know if there are any openings, but i am praying this will be a start. if I could hand pick a job it would be working with jason again--that was the best part of doing secretarial work at cabc--but this would definitely be the next best option! :)

week three....check

well another week has come and gone. i am continually amazed as i watch jt grow and learn! everyday he picks up more and more and he is becoming excited about learning and even seems to be enjoying his homework each afternoon. a few evenings he has even pulled out his spiderman learning book and i have been able to spend some time helping him with sounds, numbers and writing. he also really enjoys reading through the little take home books each day. pretty much ever since day one he has figured out the sentence patterns and likes to "read" the pages before i get a chance. ofcourse is he relying heavily on the pictures, but he gets it right most every time! i am excitedly awaiting the day when he is able to read his take home books to me all by himself! it won't be long. oh and for those of you who are keeping track...he has decided he wants to be called JT again! :o)

lexi appears to be breezing right along. she has found a common bond with her teacher because she agreed that "boys have cooties!" she has found her "soul-mate" ;) i know this phase will not last long, but mommy is rather enjoying this stage...all to soon will come the boy crazy stage which I am NOT looking forward to at all!

alyssa is doing very well so far in 5th grade and has gotten several good reports already! this is a relief beyond words for me to see her ejoying her class and teacher. last year was rough, so this is a welcome change...or return to normal, i guess. this week her class started a program called Starbase in which they get to travel to the local naval base once a week for 5 weeks. here she will be learning all sorts of things as well as building a rocket. the final day she will get to launch it. she is very excited about this and i can't wait to be able to watch her finish the program and celebrate with her.

western roundup

once again another school week comes to an end. today was the AR kickoff at school so I attempted to make bandannas out of old baby clothes. i think i actually impressed the kids with what i came up with....here is a pic of jt and alyssa sporting their western wear. (jt has now become obsessed for the moment with all things western! :o> )

fyi...this was their "tough cowboy" expressions, but it looks like they are irritated I am taking the pic.

Cassidy Update...

Below is the recent update on Cassidy Clark...we are praying for wisdom for the doctors and a miracle for cassidy!!

Prayer Request Update
Today at 3:54am
Thank you to everyone who has been praying along with us for Cassidy. Her blood work has recently improved and we feel that God has a miracle in progress. Please continue to pray for her. She will have another bone marrow test in two weeks.As of right now, the doctors are confused at her condition. She most assuredly does not have ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) - the disease she was diagnosed with. We believe that her Chemo treatments were successful in ridding her body of that disease: however, she does have some form of Leukemia. Doctors believe it to be a Conversion in that it was originally the ALL, but is a different form now. At this point, her symptoms make it unclear exactly what type of leukemia we are dealing with. She is seemingly healthy to have the one type of Leukemia, but a little out of the age range for the other.
Her doctor (DR. STORCH - a name to add to your prayers) in her research has only found two other patients in the world who suffer from this conversion. The primary reason to wait two weeks for another bone marrow is to try to get more information on the course of her leukemia, although, we are praying that God will heal her of her leukemia by the time they do this test. As for treatment, they have not yet scheduled any until we know what type of leukemia we are dealing with because both have different treatment plans. Chad and her sisters gave blood today so we could see if they were matches to her bone marrow as that is a very viable treatment option. Please pray that they are because the chances of finding a match in someone other than a family member is something like 1 in 20,000.
Cassidy feels well and you'd never even know she was suffering from any disease if the doctors weren't saying it was so, but Dr. Storch warned us that at any time, she could become sick and, in a matter of days or weeks, be fighting for her life. It is because of this unpredictable situation, that Chad and I feel the Lord leading us to move up our wedding. We had planned for June 19, 2009, but are not sure at what stage of treatment Cass will be in. She has been eager to be a part of our wedding all along and we wanted to make that possible while she still felt well. The new date is Sept. 1, 2008. Needless to say it has been a busy week, but thanks to the help of our friends and family, we will be able to have a simple, quiet ceremony.
Please continue to pray for us as we allow God to make us who HE would have us be. We are thankful for his mercies that are new every morning....and all throughout the day when HE reminds us of his love and sovereignty.Long story short (as Chad would put it), we have 2 major prayer requests.1. That the results from the Bone Marrow test in two weeks would show that God has healed her2. That either Chad, McKenzie, or Savannah would be a match for Cass's bone marrow in the event of a transplant.Thanking you always for your prayers,
Jen
Lam. 3:21-24

lost and found

yesterday tragedy struck our house...and it wasn't Fay. although Fay's rains did add to the tension of the situation, she was not to blame. about 2:00pm alyssa and the kids began stirring and paced from garage to backporch to front yard. just as I was about to fuss at them for leaving the doors open I noticed alyssa was beginning to tear up. ??? i asked her what was up and she broke out in a flood of emotions...."Fluffy's gone! I think he got out of the porch and I can't find him!!"

my first thought was..."crap! how are we ever gonna find that tiny little kitten in the backyard, front yard or worse...the neighborhood." so after about 20 more trips room to room, back to front, garage to porch...we took to the street. alyssa, alexis and jt all headed down the street (in the rain) looking in bushes and yards, all the while I hear them calling "fluffy, fluffy, fluffy". daddy arrived home from work to find them and they got in the van and rode back home. alyssa continued her search down the opposite end of the street and jason took to the backyard. man...the air was thick!

after about an hour, i decided to take the van and look on the neighboring streets. it didnt seem possible that such a little kitty would have gotten that far, but i had to at least look. so lexi and drove up and down the streets surrounding our house...lexi yelled out the window "fluffy". all the while i keep thinking about the reality that fluffy wouldn't be coming home! i am a self-proclaimed animal hater....but this little cat has begun to grow on me!

after searching about 3 streets, lexi and i drove home...ok...I was almost in tears at this point! i decided to check the circle before turning in the driveway. as i got about 4 houses past our house, i noticed jt and alyssa running down the streeet...i looked closer and noticed alyssa was smiling!?! what?! fluffy had been found!! sweet relief! turns out he was sleeping in the garage hidden in one of jason's boxes the entire time!

so it is now official....we have a pet, i like it, and the thought of losing it makes me sad. i am happy to say that fluffy was lost, but now he is found! :)

Urgent Request for Cassidy Clark!

below is the result from Cassidy's bone marrow test. I encourage each of you to lift this family in prayer and pass it along to anyone and everyone who can be praying as well! my heart is breaking for this family and little girl! cassidy is only 3 months younger than jt and has gone through nearly 2 years of treatment already!! not to mention the trauma of watching her mother suffer and lose her own battle with cancer.

Diagnosis for Cassidy:

Today at 7:02pm
I am trying to find the words to say. We got the results for Cassidy's bone marrow test. Her Leukemia is back and severely worse. Please pray. We go to the doctor on Monday to discuss treatment plans, but the survival rate has gone from %80 to %50.

life comes at you fast

wow...the title sums it up! seems like yesterday I was getting the jitters about jt riding the bus...and wam! one week of school has already flown by! so, as I sit with an absolutely SILENT house i thought i would take a moment to reflect on all that has happened over the past few days.

monday everyone was up and at em at the crack of dawn! i woke around 5:20a before the alarm sounded and made blueberry breakfast cake and coffee. if you know me, you know that me cooking breakfast is a rare occurance...i leave that to jason ;) unless it involves cereal and milk! lol

as i was finishing up in the kitchen, i heard some stirring, but assumed it was kyle getting ready for work. when I went to wake the kiddos up at 5:45 I discovered the girls were already up and DRESSED! it was a back to school miracle! :) they are hard sleepers and have traditionally been very difficult to wake up.

next it was time to wake my little man...jason. he awoke fairly easy and was ready to jump into clothes and head out the door. after breakfast and a visit with the kitty, the kids were all itching to head outside and wait for the bus. except for a minor incident with jt and an anthill the wait for the bus went well. we took the usual pics and then they loaded up and took off on the bus. i was surprisingly composed. just shed a few tears as I headed back to bed. i think more than anything i ended up being cranky most of the morning. jason took me to lunch and to pick up a couple necessities and it was nice to be able to run errands together...without kids.

day 2 was a little harder for JT and he asked...with eyes half closed..."do i have to do this EVERYDAY?!?" uh oh! by day 3 it seemed we were getting the hang of things. so our lives have become a pattern. wake up (way tooo early), eat, school, homework, play, bathe, eat, and bed.

day 5...friday...i don't think I have ever been this excited for a Friday in my life! the phrase tgif couldnt be more true! i had a hard time rolling out of bed, but was encouraged by the fact that it is the last day of the first week...and we had surivived! after hitting the power button for the coffee i headed to jt's room and was a little surprised when his first words to me this morning were..."wow mom, it seemed like forever til morning!" i think he may have adjusted to the new early morning hours faster than mom!

so...in the words of the allstate guy....life comes at you fast! i am thankful for moments like today when I can stop and reflect on all that went by in a blur this week. I am also reminded to hug the kids a little tighter when they get home because before you now it another school year will have flown by as well!

Update on Cassidy

here is an update that was posted by Jennier this morning after cassidy's tests that were conducted yesterday afternoon...

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for Cassidy. You are such an encouragement to us. Her bone marrow test was yesterday and although we don't have the complete results, we do have a glimpse of good news. It was amazing to see her doctor go from being nearly certain two days ago that it was back and very unsure yesterday. Her blood work, although a little better than Monday, is still showing very low percentages. Two pathologists looked at slides of her bone marrow yesterday and didn't see any "blasts" (leukemia cells). There are more tests they need to do on that bone marrow so we are still not out of the woods. The good news is that we went from a %90 chance that it was back to about a %50 chance...so keep praying. Cassidy's spirits remain high, although yesterday's tests were hard. It is a lot for a little girl to handle. We will know on Thursday afternoon or Friday the complete results of the bone marrow test. Thank you again for your continued prayers.

Pray for Cassidy Clark!

I wanted to pass this story along to everyone I could. As some of you know Chad Clark has gone through an incredible ordeal over the past few years with Myndi's cancer and death and then 6 weeks following his youngest daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. Cassidy has gone through 21 months of treatments and they recently found something at a routine checkup. Please read the following note from Jennifer, Chad Clark's fiance, please keep them in your prayers and pass it along to others who will be praying as well!

As most of you know, Cassidy, my fiance's youngest daughter has been battleing Leukemia (and winning being in remission since very early on) . She lost her mother to cancer six weeks prior to her own diagnosis. As you can imagine, the past few years have been very difficult on this family. Cass has only 5 months of her 26 month treatment plan remaining. Today we went to the doctor for a routine blood draw and the doctors found some suspicious percentages in the blood work. Of course, we won't know %100 if her leukemia has returned until we get the results from her bone marrow test tomorrow afternoon, but her doctor has serious concerns that it has returned. She was not even two when her mother was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma not related to her leukemia. She will be five on September 4 and has experienced more trials in her short life than most people experience in a lifetime. Please take a few moments and go to the Lord on her behalf. If the leukemia has returned, the next set of treatments will be much more difficult on her little body than what she has thus far experienced and will most likely require the aid of a bone marrow transplant. Chad, the girls and I appreciate your prayers more than you'll know.

12 days and counting!

school is still 12 days away and I am already getting nervous! so many emotions rush in as i think about august 18 and all that it means. this will be a year of changes for all three kids! alyssa is starting 5th grade this year! yikes! that just doesn't seem possible! lexi is going to be a 3rd grader...halfway through the elementary years already. and jt....well he is starting kindergaren!! oh my.



this afternoon as I sat at the kitchen table watching the kids play with a friend from our street, I noticed a car slow down in front of our house and call the kids over. ok...this was not good so I walked out and heard the lady calling them by name. after running over to the car I discovered it was the new bus driver for the kids school! wheew...that is a reminder to brush up on our "stranger danger" talk ;) turns out she was just driving the route and getting aquainted with it before the big day in a couple weeks. it was nice to have met her and jt was so bashful...you could see the excitement in his eyes! because i have the only kindergartener on this part of the street we are going to be the pick up spot. yippee looks like our garage will be "the" hangout spot each morning. :) we did get a couple things worked out so now we are all set for the first day...right?!?!



after she drove off and we walked in I talked with jt a little about starting school. he decided he wanted ms. cookie (the bus driver) to call him jason and all of his friends and teacher to do the same while he is at school. he did tell me that i can still call him jt, but at school he is jason! wow! i was wondering when this moment would come when jt would choose which name he wants to go by! i was hoping it would be junior high and not K5! oh well...he assured me that he will still love me even though he is growing up and will always be my jt! (seriously he used those words!)



sigh....like it or not....in only 12 days my little jt becomes JASON....sigh

dinner and dvd

tonight has been nice. after a very long weekend with good friends and a long week of work (for jason)...it was nice to take a break and enjoy a meal out with the fam tonight. we headed into p'cola for one of j's faves...Sonny's. that was one of our go-to spots for sunday afternoon lunches back in atl. it is one of those comfort spots for us. :) and it was nice that kids eat free on saturdays!!

after a great meal, we dropped by blockbuster and picked up some movies....jumper, 21 and college road trip i think. we picked jumper as tonight's movie and raced to get pj's and pillows as soon as we got home. the movie turned out pretty good, just enough action and mushy stuff to keep everyones attention. j almost made it through the entire movie...but we finally lost him about 15 minutes before it ended. j is still in the recliner and jt (just like his dad ;O) ) is passed out on the living room floor.

nothing fancy...just a great night spent with the ones I love :) now, i guess I better get the boys up and in the bed.

dinner conversations with my kids

Alyssa: when is lexi coming home?
Mom: I am not sure...I don't have a car to pick her up.
JT: what if they keep her forever?

(I think JT and Alyssa are actually missing Alexis...and it has only been 24 hours!)

Alyssa: Hey Mom...you should go to Virginia College (it's not in Virginia).
Mom: why would I do that?
Alyssa: so you can get a job!

pause....

Alyssa: on second thought, you probably shouldn't because then you would meet attractive men!
Mom: silence

jumpin in

Well for the past few months I have been considering the idea of starting a blog. I even went as far as to set everything up...then it hovered in cyperspace blank for months.

So here goes...I am takin the plunge...jumpin in...and ripping off the proverbial bandaid. Not sure what I have to say that will be of any interest to the world or the few that might wander by here...but here I go...I am divin' in, probably won't be goin' deep, can't imagine going over anyone's head...but here I go.

(splash)