Happy Valentine's Day

We aren't too big on Valentine's Day around here but I though this picture of them on Thursday turned out cute. They had small parties in their class at Mom's Day Out and I pulled out some of their red and white outfits(and a bargain $2 shirt for Jake at WM)to create the festive look:).
And a friend of mine whom I found through a blog, Donna Strickland, made these cookies baskets for Jake and Landry Grace's teachers. She is very creative and after placing my first order with her(she did the Mickey and Minnie cookies for the kids birthday) I discovered she lives in our neighborhood. Small world.

Have a great day!

Snow Day!!!

Gotta love some SNOW in Louisiana! Our school board dismissed school an hour early yesterday and canceled classes for today. Combine that with a holiday on Monday for President's day and you have a PARTY. It is a nice and welcomed break. We welcomed daddy home today. He has been taking care of Papaw since Monday and we were glad to see him drive in the driveway earlier today.

Our snowman we built just before nap time today....by the time they got up from their naps most all of the snow was really starting to melt.

Big Mama's makeshift sled.....didn't work so well but they were entertained for about 5 minutes.

About 8:30 this morning at my parent's house. Snow was EVERYWHERE!! The kids really don't have any proper clothing for snow but we made due.

Wish I had a picture of our house from this morning but I don't. This was yesterday about 4pm. Before the inches of snow came.

Posing for me by the bulldog.

This week has been long and I am so thankful that I have parents to help me in time of need. It is hard enough being a temporary single parent but add in the element of a full time job and it is just tough. Let me also add in there that I have a WONDERFUL supportive principal that works with me any way that she can. And I am so glad Matt has been able to spend time with his dad and take care of things that need to be done. It's been extremely tough on him and we certainly appreciate all of the sweet messages, e-mails, phone calls, etc. As for Papaw he has chosen not to do chemo and they are at the point where hospice has been called. I took the kids over Bossier Wednesday after school and I think it was a little much for the situation but I know Papaw was glad they were there. Please continue to pray for Matt's entire family. I'll stop there but just know that we really appreciate your prayers.

There is a God

Loving how this song puts so many things in perspective. Wanted to
share it with you.

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XkwJJW0lB4&feature=youtube_gdata

Sent from my iPhone

Update on Papaw

I forget that there are people who aren't on FB that I need to update. Found this picture from last year of LG and Papaw. He has taken a turn and I am afraid to say that it isn't for the better. He went into the hospital yesterday morning where they drained 40 pounds of fluid off of him. He is very jaundis as his liver is shutting down. The drs. sent him home from the hospital tonight. This may be a little much information but I am risking it by asking for very specific prayer. They are meeting with the oncologist Friday to determine whether or not to do chemo. Matt is with him during this time and I am so glad. How much we take things for granted. Will continue to keep you updated as we know anything new.

Busy Weekend!

Last weekend was spent in Bossier with Matt's family. It was fast but nice to hang out with family and friends. I ran in a 10 mile trail run Saturday morning instead of a doing my usual long run and to say it was muddy was an understatement! It was like running through lakes. Never again, but I did get a run in...the hard way!!
Saturday afternoon we decided it was just too cold to do pictures outdoors with Matt's dad and the babies. It was 35 degrees and though that may be warm to some of you northerners(!!!) we decided against it. We used Bill Jones; he lives in Benton and was great to work with. He accommodated us and I am pretty sure we got some great shots! It makes a huge difference with the kids depending on what type of picture you are trying to get. When we did 2 and 3 year pictures last Wednesday with Kevin Beasley, they were NOT very enthused! If you want to go to his website(www.beasleyportraits.com), click on clients and then find our name. The password is tyler. There are about 3 shots I like...which is about right considering their age I suppose!

Right before we went in for pictures
The babies with GiGi and Papaw

Then we headed off to a birthday party for Sadie and Bennett Hamby. If you remember from last year, Bennett is the baby who had to be air lifted from the WKS NICU in Shreveport to Arkansas Children's and was on the ECMO for a while. He arrived there in critical condition but is perfectly healthy today. A blessing indeed.
It was fun seeing everyone in person and not through e-mails and phone calls. Had a good time but was exhausted by nights end.

Me, Carrie, Tracey, Julie, Hailey, and Melody

Bennett and his MAMA Katye
Love the cake and his little theme!! Perfect.

My parents normally keep LGT on Wednesdays but both were sick today so I was able to stay home with her and have a little girl's day. It was fun! Our babysitter that comes twice a week is going to be doing her student teaching in the spring, so we are currently looking for someone to stay with Landry Grace. Hoping to find someone 3 days a week so that mom and dad can have their Wednesdays back!

Please continue praying for my father-in-law, Ralph Tyler. They are going to begin aggressive chemotherapy soon. Have a great rest of the week.

Pin the Tail

GiGi bought Pin the Tail on the Donkey for the kids. This is their
first experience with the game and it was pretty interesting. Had to
show you a clip of them playing!!

Sent from my iPhone

Peaks and Valleys

My blog has taken a backseat to life here lately. I've either been too tired to post or just opted to spend more time with my family. All too often we take for granted just how PRECIOUS life is until it is too late. There are peaks and valleys that we go through in life and we are definitely in somewhat of a valley right now. We found out today that my father-in-law has stage 4 pancreatic cancer. I guess one might say that we are still in shock but on the other hand we know that God is in control and ultimately will not give us more than we can handle.

When I think back on our dating experience, I was touched immediately by the closeness of Matt's family. He and his dad especially. One of our first conversations about his dad had to do with the fact that Matt had never drank alcohol. I really just laughed and shook it off, thinking yeah right! But later I learned that really....he never has taken a drink. His dad asked him when he was 15 not to partake in the event and so he never did. I admire the fact that he looked up to his dad and respected him that much even at such an early age. Unfortunately for me I went through somewhat of a stubborn stage in which I thought my parent's didn't know much at all. Never until I became a parent myself did I TRULY appreciate all the sacrifices and love my parents gave. So that brings me back to Papaw. We are asking for prayers. Not necessarily for healing, but for God's will in this situation. May our faith grow through this journey and we learn to have child like faith. May we learn to value what is important and let the small things be just that. And MOST importantly may our children learn the invaluable lessons that we learned from our parents and be devout followers of Christ. That is my goal in all of this, I pray.

Playing on my cell phone.

My good friend Mary Catherine and her husband Clay came by to visit when they were in town. They are currently living in Chicago.

Matt and his dad working together.

Riding with Uncle Mark in the tractor.

Papaw with "Boom Boom" and "LuLu"

We decided that although this diagnosis doesn't mean anything bad is going to happen, it is a good time to go ahead and do family pictures. So this weekend we plan on doing them on the Tyler's land in Benton. They have about 40 acres with cows and such, and we are going to have them done there with the tractor in the background. I think it is important to capture the personality and essence of Matt's family.

In the midst of all this, we have just been going through the motions in our daily life as well. Jake and Landry Grace are having their 2 and 3 year pictures taken on Wednesday after school. Hoping they will cooperate for that. I have been trying to train for the half marathon in New Orleans at the end of next month. I am so thankful for my sweet running partner, Kennedy, who graciously agreed to train with me. She ran White Rock in December and is still on a "runner's high" after qualifying for Boston....she has made those COLD mornings more bearable knowing she will be there to meet me.

As for posting on this blog, I will try to keep you updated more frequently. All the subjects that I post on seem trivial now that we are faced with a battle such as cancer. But we are not going to let it defeat us and I am sure that we will have more good news to post in the future. There are several families that are on my heart and in my prayers as I type this. One with a baby in the PICU at LSU in Shreveport, one that has just lost a family member to suicide, a co-worker with a father in law who had a brain tumor operated on today and one who just lost their mom unexpectedly. Never are we promised tomorrow. Let us rejoice in today and be thankful.