So it has been several months since I have updated and today is the 2 year anniversary of Caleb beginning chemo so why not today?
Everyone is doing well, Caleb is in school full time and loving it (not the work just the socializing).  He goes to the YMCA just about every day now so he can work out and play basketball.  Yesterday when I picked him up after school he got in the car and informed me he wants to take wrestling next year!  He has never had wrestling (other than with his brothers of course) so like any good mother I said NO!!!  Of course Scott seems to think this would be a good thing for him, is he crazy?  I think yes!  Enough of that subject it will just stress me out! lol 
All of Caleb's check-ups have been good, he goes back next month for another one.  He will continue to go every three months for at least a couple of years and after that I don't know how often he will have to go.  He is doing really well with his prosthesis, he has had this one for 6 months and has only had to have it adjusted once, they cut out a piece to allow for him to be able to fit all the way in and he broke the knee so we are still waiting to get that back, he really did a number on it ( he has a loaner). 
As for the rest of the family...  Jacob will be a junior next year and plans on going to vo-tech to take welding.  Seems my boys have decided to carry on the family tradition of welding.  My grandpa was a welder, Empire Erector's was the company name, I think he would be proud but concerned, it can be a rough life style.  Ben and Daniel are already welding and have been for a couple of years now and now Jacob is headed that direction, I'm pretty sure Caleb will do something different. 
I guess I need to take some new pictures and get them posted.  I think that covers the important things, life if going on and we are as normal as any family I think.  Life is good at the moment and I think living in the moment is probably how we should do it.  We are blessed, we have beautiful, healthy children and 3 grand babies that are a testament to life going on.  Colt will be 3 in May, Grace,will be 7 in June and Ryan and Tori had a baby (Jocelyn) in September. It seems like yesterday Grace was being born!  Grace loves to sit and draw (and yes she makes me sit and draw also) so as soon as they walk in she goes straight to the basket with all the art supplies, Colt drags out his tools every time they come over.  I have an old trunk with their toys in it and he will ask if he can open it and then he will ask " where are the tools mammom Cindy?"  They were here a couple of days ago and I got a trip down memory lane when every time I answered a question Colt would say "why?" .  I finally said "Colt do you drive your mama crazy asking why?"  he looked at me and grinned and said "yes".  They are precious, no two ways about it!  Yes, we are blessed...
Psalm 27 13&14
¹³ I remain confident of this:
   I will see the goodness of the LORD
   in the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait for the LORD;
   be strong and take heart
   and wait for the LORD.

I miss this...

I really need to get back to this, I didn't realize how long it had been and that I miss it.  Writing was a way for me to work thru things, there was so much that I would write but delete that helped me work things out in myself.  We are going thru another huge battle but I am not at liberty to discuss it yet, just pray for our family as we find the answers and see where we go from here.

We are Blessed

We just finished dinner, we actually sat at the table as a family tonight! Scott and Jacob had a real conversation (motors), Caleb sat quietly listening and I sat just enjoying the fact that they were enjoying themselves. We don't eat together very often, we all go different directions, but tonight I brought home food from the Wal-mart deli and put it all on the table with plates and silver ware and they all just sat, so from now on I will put the food on the table! After the boys finished they went outside, together, to look at Jacob's motor, then they sat on the couch, together, watching a video on the computer. So, I am feeling extremely happy at the moment, it isn't often that Jacob and Caleb are friendly to each other. Most days I have to break them up at least once if not a half a dozen times a day!

It's been so long since I wrote anything on here that I don't even know where to begin...

Caleb's puppy isn't little anymore, he still likes to chew! He has pulled the cable out twice, luckily the second time was a piece that wasn't in use anymore. There is phone line that he pulled out, also not in use, there were lattice pieces behind his dog house that he pulled out and chewed up, also a brick, he loves his squeaky toy and his treats. I taught him to sit so he will sit very still for his treats. He is beautiful! I will have to take pictures and post them.

I'm not sure when I posted last, Jacob is driving now, he is working down at the shop with Scott, Zac went to work with Ben and Daniel, Caleb is working at the snow cone shack that our church has. Daniel is getting married in Sept. Colt ( my grandson) turned 2 in May and Grace (my granddaughter) turned 6 in June! It doesn't seem possible for all of them to be so grown up!!! I am SO blessed, God has been so good to us all! I'm not sure if I am missing anything... Caleb out grew his first prosthesis and got a new one last week, he decided against the tattoo. School starts on the 12th of August, I'm not looking forward to buying school clothes! Caleb has a full head of hair, it is wavy now and he hates that! It is darker than it was, but it is SO pretty! He has put on 30 pounds since chemo ended, if it weren't for the leg you wouldn't know there had ever been anything wrong. Setting here typing all of this out makes me cry in gratitude. So many children die everyday, or lose more than half a leg. I am blessed with 4 fantastic sons, a daughter-in-law that I couldn't love more if she were my own flesh and blood, 2 grand kids that are healthy and happy and soon to have another daughter-in-law that is also pretty special, yes, I am blessed beyond measure! I will try to get back in the habit of updating, there have been so many times that I knew I needed to post and I get busy and lose the momentum. So, until next time, remember to count your blessings, imagine for a moment life without the things and people that you love... How are your priorities?

Lamentations 3:21-23

21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

It's been a while...

Show me, generous God, where I can use what You’ve given me to benefit someone else.

The puppy and his boy...

They like playing games together, snuggling, and why do the dogs always go for MY houseshoes?

Today...

So, for some reason I had to look back at the calender yesterday and realized that one year ago today ( 4 am to be exact) Caleb woke up to his hair falling out. Today he has a full head of hair, not very long, but oh he looks nice! I am so grateful that he looks healthy again! He is so beautiful! Yes, I know, I am not supposed to say that about a boy, but he is! After church the boys went out to eat with Tom and Chloe and their girls and then out to their house to ride 4 wheelers, you have NO idea how hard it is for me to let him go, I said a prayer every time I thought about them and told God that I can't be with him 24 hours a day to protect him but He was, so please do that! I hope someday I can stop worrying so much, it drives him up the wall, but so far I can't help it. I didn't used to be like this, he would take off and I wouldn't panic until he had been gone for hours and didn't come when I called.

I need to get pictures of his puppy on here. His name is Diesel, he is sooo adorable! I am NOT a dog person, they smell, shed, and make nasty messes, and we now have 2 of them! He is a little snuggler and did I mention soooo cute? Yes, I have fallen in love with the little beast! I didn't think I could love another dog other than Sugar, Jacob's dog, but I do. Now if I could just get him trained to NOT pee in his kennel! So far he is saving the other for outside (thank you Jesus!). I will try to post pictures tomorrow, but for now I need to get some sleep.
Psalm 91:11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways...

Today...

I have found it harder and harder to post lately... There are things eating at me and although it may be easy to write it all down, once it is down I must act. I am a firm believer that if you talk it, you better walk it, because there is always someone watching and waiting to put you in your place. Now you probably think I am talking about God or religion, not this time... although my relationship with Christ is THE most important thing to me I am not stewing over that right now. Childhood cancer... I want to help fight it! Now, I am not in the medical field, I have NO desire to be, but there are ways to make people aware of how huge these diseases are! I get e-mails ALL the time on breast cancer and I know that is a horrible, mean, nasty disease also and yes, please keep pushing for a breakthrough there, but aren't our children just as important? I see articles on heart disease and all kinds of adult cancer's every time I pick up a magazine, where are the articles on childhood cancer? Kid's CAN'T fight for themselves, we must fight for them, otherwise they get lost in the shuffle! Had you heard of ewing sarcoma before you heard about Caleb? I hadn't. There are so many kids out there with this disease and so, so, many more with other types of cancer. September is childhood cancer awareness month, did you know that? I never saw one single sign about it, but in October, which is breast cancer awareness month, there was a huge sign in front of the hospital, it was everywhere! There is a day for heart disease awareness, everyone wears red, there is an e-mail circulating for our soldier's, wear red on Fridays, there is a 3 day walk for breast cancer, what do we do for childhood cancer? I went to the tag office the other day and they have a big poster of all the tags you can get, why can't there be a "fight childhood cancer" one? I want one! Help me make people aware! Please, please, please! Don't wait until someone close to you gets one of these horrible diseases! They've been using the same protocol for years for most of these diseases, so many of these kids have it come back somewhere else. To get funding, there has to be awareness. I am going to be trying to find ways to make people aware of these kids, of the diseases that attack them, I will be posting about these things, please fight with me, fight for Caleb and other kids like him. No child should ever have to lose a limb, no child should ever lose their hair from chemo, no child should live in fear of having to do this all over again someday, no child should have to die...

Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your young children. -Lamentations 2:19