A Tribute To My Friend ...

I tried to post this yesterday...but couldn't. Yesterday after a 1 1/2 year battle with cancer, my friend and neighbor Robbie went to be with the Lord. What made it even more profound was that I had the honor and privlege of being by her side and holding her hand as she was taken from this world into eternity. Why this 36 yr. old young mom with 2 young children was allowed to die remains a mystery we will not understand until we see our Lord face to face...but the impact it had on me will remain embedded in my heart for my lifetime. My neighbor Carol and I and friend Elizabeth sat by her bed the last 2 hours of her life and were able to read scripture...God's holy word to her almost non-stop as it became clearer and clearer that her earthly battle was ending. I'm so grateful to have had this time with her....and even more grateful that she suffers no more. Here's one of the first Scriptures we shared w/ Robbie...who is now a part of 'that great cloud of witnesses' that we so long to be a part of. We'll miss you Robbie!!

"He who dwells in the shelter of the most High will abide in the shadow of the almighty. I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust"......Psalm 91:1-2

Last Day of School.....and Pre-K Grad Day!

Today was the official last day of school for Miss Katie (2) and Kristin's graduation day from Pre-K (she's 5). Leni will be finishing Kindergarten (she's homeschooled) over the summer but shhhhhhhh!! she doesn't know she's not done yet! The school K and K attended this year had an actual graduation program in which our Eloise (suprisingly shy today) was stellar....and in Katie's class they had a birthday party for all the summer birthdays (uh...yep..that would be us!) AND to top it all off......we celebrated with a MAJORBIGTIME at Chuck-E-Cheese (lordy be...I had avoided this place since Jason and Julie were little ...but got talked into it today!) with our neighbors and the girls bestest buddies. They were so cute....they all wanted to dress alike...and even Dad came along to entertain the little people! A great day!

**Now, yall take a good look at the top pic. After I persuaded Dad to leave work for a 'little while' to come up the street and have pizza w/the girlies for dinner....I couldn't get the man to leave. He's a game guru...he will sit and scientifically figure out how to beat the game being played every time! Those tickets you see are the result of only a couple of tokens. The little females came home bedazzled w/lots of goodies from those tickets Daddy won!***

Par-tay!

This was party weekend for us! With birthdays and graduations, this group was hoppin! Here's pics of Mr. Kenny and our recovering Daddy (yes, he's upright and doing really, really well...see for yourself!!) pushing the princess collection in the McGee's hammock. Our girlies (ages 2, 5 and 6) are constantly changing their dynamics with each other. Kristin plays GREAT with EITHER Leni, or Katie. Katie and Leni have too much of an age difference to be playing buddies yet.but we're getting there (Katie usually messes up Leni's magnificent projects is the complaint I hear most)......and all 3 together usually ends up with someone getting pushed, squashed, or in tears. (see middle pic) There's definitely the power play and they all have their 'code' names instilled by the parents and older siblings. Katie's the 'policeman'. She reports all goings on both good and bad...very loud and without coming up for air:) It's adorable (unless it's from her crib in the middle of the night!!). Kristin HAS to be the center of attention and is the control-freak. Emotional-smotional. Blond-i-mania! And so, she is deemed 'Eloise'(after the children's book). You can actually call her that and she'll answer. Funny. Leni is very sweet until you mess w/anything she's made...usually involving an animal. She's currently "Diego" the animal rescuer. The big exception for drama from the ya-ya sisterhood is our nightly reading time where the older 2 will sit and read forever....and Katie just has to walk/talk about everything non-stop! I'm trying to work her into potty training, but she can't stop talking about it long enough to do anything!!...........stay tuned....The princesses are on the move!

A Little Fun...but not too much sun....

The 'ladies' had an impromptu fun time with brother Jason the other day in their pool. He's their giant toy who doesn't mind being used and abused for the cause of a good time. Not much sun this day....but no matter. The girls had a blast! Cade was there too....but isn't ready to be 'launched' Jason-style quite yet.:)

Update....And Heavy Hearts....

I cannot even begin to express how saddened and grieved our family was to hear the Chapman family's news today. No parent wants to have to say good-bye to their child even though for the Christian, it's a temporary farewell. But...in this case, they've just returned from China this past week, in a cross-country tour that included the city of Chengdu. Two days after they left Chengdu, the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that killed so many struck...and Chengdu was catastrophically damaged. The Chapmans are building an orphanage in Henan for SN children...some of whom will be adopted, others will live out their days there. It's almost complete.Maria was a SN adoption. After arriving home, their daughter Emily was engaged this past week, and their son was to graduate high school next week. Now tragedy has come upon them, and they're burying their little China Doll. You can read their family blog site dedicated to Maria here. We're praying for this family....and especially for their son. As parents, the Chapmans have to deal with the death of their daughter, as well as comforting their son. They need the prayers of Christians interceeding on their behalf during this most difficult time. God is a God of mercy, and what is unclear in this world will be crystal clear when we see him face to face. Pray the Chapmans find grace and mercy in their time of need.

Now...How is Katie doing? She's had a better day today. Yesterday she was pretty sketchy and clearly didn't feel well. Today...she's bouncy and bossy. You know...normal. Except...that lip. She needs lip rehab.:) During the 'episode' at the dentist....she must've clamped down pretty hard on her lip. It's abcessed inside and looks absolutely horrible. Currently, she's not eating...so we do the next best thing . A Vanilla-Bean Frappachino w/Chocolate Whipped Cream!! Hand-made by our own personal barista!

Well....It Didn't Excactly Go As Planned...

More drama. This one put the mommy waaaayyyyyy over the edge! At the dentist today, Katie was given a twilight sedative, then an I.V. in her foot...then novacaine in her mouth before her procedure was to begin. Well...they began and then Katie couldn't breathe....at all. The meds caused her airway to close...and she was turning blue. I'm hoping you read between the lines here because they had to bring her out of those meds VERY quickly and stop all procedures. THEN to top it off, she had a reaction to the novacaine and her bottom lip has swelled BEYOND (!!!) what even Rocky Balboa would consider traumatic. Add in a few throw up sessions and there you have our day. We've had it rough. And....no cavities were filled. Tomorrow has to be better....and we can figure out what in the world to do next. My first phone call was to the wife of our family dentist (we were at the specialist today) with a giant 'HELP!!!!!' She is a great friend. This was way, way, way, too scary! I have lip pics...but can't bring myself to post them.:) Hope you understand! Thanks everyone for your encouragement in the emails and comments. They are appreciated!! Even when I can' get right back to you! After a nap this afternoon, Katie is doing much better. We're going to watch American Idol now. :)

Guess What We Get to Do??!!

Yep. Tuesday morning. 7AM. No food or drink after midnight. Miss Katie Mei gets to go under anesthesia...because.....she has 8!!! cavities!!EEEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!I had asked friend Don, our family dentist, to peek in Katie's mouth because I may have 'seen' something. Scott agreed...and while our daddy was in the hospital, Don came down to our house...took a peek ... and gave us the less-than-exciting-to-put-it-mildly news.
Out of 5 kids, this is the first to have a pediatric cavity. We've been very blessed in that area. The pediatric dentist (and Dr. Daddy) said it's entirely because of poor nutrition prenatally and in the orphanage. The area in Jiangxi where Katie is from is very, very poor and rural. Her birthmom must have been in dire straits. My poor Katie Mei. This isn't going to be fun at all!! Yall think about us on Tuesday will you??!!
**They wanted to do this in the hospital under general anesthesia at first...and to this mommy said.."please, we just got out of there...is there any other way??" To which we found out that Katie just made the weight limit to do this under i.v. sedation at the dentist's office. The cut-off?? 26 lbs. Katie weighs 27. WHEW! Thank the Lord for every blessing!! She will have a shot first....then an i.v. in her foot...and more yummy numbing stuff in her mouth. Pray for us!!**

National Ride Your Bike to Work Day Is Today...

Yep. It is...May 16, 2008. Officially National Ride Your Bike To Work Day. We tried this already. It didn't work (insert sarcasm and laughter and major wounds-that-are-healing-here). No one from this family will be riding to work anytime soon.....that's for sure. (If this is unclear to you....scroll down to pretty pics of daddy in hospital...he thought bike to work day was 2 weeks ago...on April 29.:)

**A funny**Our friend Karen brought in to our office the "Screen Actors Guild list of available employment for Hollywood Stunt Men". She thought Scott might be looking for a side job:)I laughed all night about this one! I think Scott declined.

Katie's 2nd Gotcha Anniversary is Today!!

Two years ago today (on Mother's Day) a scared, tired, sick little girl was placed in our arms. We had traveled halfway around the world, toured Beijing and the Forbidden City, climbed the Great Wall, decided we did not like the food:), flew to Nanchang, Jiangxi....just to be united with our newest and youngest daughter, Katherine Mei VanLue. We are forever grateful to the Chinese Government for the gift of this little girl! I must admit that before Katie we had raised 2 bio children and adopted 2 little girls (within 10 months of each other). I thought we had this parenting/adoption thing down pat. Then came Katie. I have said this before...but with IA comes many, many unknowns and obstacles you only read about before the fact. We had many of those very obstacles with our other 2 adoptions, but encountered many, many more with Katie. She was sick almost the entire trip, covered with scabies and eczema, had significant delays and had never bonded with one caregiver. We had our work cut out for us...but then we were living out God's heart for the orphan in the flesh. We were fully aware of the challenges that lay ahead and embraced them with joy and great expectations. Fast forward 2!! years....our littlest is thriving! She has had several attachment issues that we've worked/are working through but is doing extremely well. This little girl has taught this mommy how frail and fragile as humans we really are....and how the eyes of our loving heavenly Father are ever upon his children. Even a tiny, orphan baby in a remote, rural Chinese orphanage that only by HIS grace found her way into our home. This has probably from a fleshly standpoint been the hardest 2 years this family has experienced (in other circumstances as well) but what an honor to be entrusted with this (these) little lives to care for and teach about a God who knew them before the foundations of this earth! It blows me away! We'll gladly experience difficulty in trade for eternal promises any day. And...as many of you know, our daddy was involved in an accident exactly 2 weeks ago. He was hit by a car while riding his bike to work (he's a seasoned tri-athlete, and biker...just FYI). This 'Gotcha' anniversary is particularly significant to this family because we know that not only did God save Katie ...but also our Daddy. As he recovers and as we love all our children, we give all glory to God for the family he has put together and continues to refine (sometimes by fire:) through his merciful kindness. Enjoy the pics! They are Katie from our gotcha moment thru today. (The accident story is under the post "God's Mercy" below). Today is a celebration of all we are blessed and grateful for!

Happy Mother's Day....Take 1....and uh...Take 2...

So with all we've had going on :0) this family still held a Mom's Day lunch for all the mommies young and old. Here's the VanLue kids posing pretty even when the camera wasn't cooperating. And...here you have all the reasons why I am called Mommy...and Mimi. Seven individuals with seven very different personalities. It's a blast and definitely, definitely an honor :) Aren't they great?? The top photo is what I found in Kristin's backpack. (She's the lone blond with the cute-new-bob-hair-do in the pics). She's about to graduate from K-4 and apparently was interviewed about her mom by her stellar teachers. What do you think? Do you agree with her assessment of her mommy?

So.....

....Scott got his staples out today. Said he couldn't stand it any longer so out they came :) When you're the MD you can do that.:)Tomorrow he starts Rehab/PT several times a week, which should significantly help his back/neck issues. This will continue for weeks, even months, and he's very excited to go....because he knows how it can and will help. Overall he says he's at about 75% and is able to do more and more each day. He has been wearing shorts to work cuz the wounds stick to his pants. No pretty way to phrase that sentence is there?! But all the scrapes/abrasions are healing nicely. On that note, please enjoy some of the more humorous photos from our hospital stay. We took these after we knew the news was good and could let down our guards a little. And...realize..we were operating on little or no sleep.:)(and still are:)) When Scott had his MRI, the tech gave these instructions..."During your MRI, if you feel your staples shifting or wiggling free from your head please raise your hand and we will stop your scan". Funny now. Not funny then.:) Rachel, Julie's and our family friend is a Labor and Delivery nurse at this hospital...and 'delivered' midnight pizza to our humble little hospital room. Jason brought his laptop (did you know that hospitals come equipped with Wi-Fi??!) and showed us youtube comedy videos about ER's. We were rolling on the floor. Not Scott. Just the girls :) Scott tried to laugh and couldn't. And you know..we had to photo the trademark hospital jello. Bleah!

Count It All Joy....

..My brothers when you encounter various trials for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4
As I write this...we now have #4 with strep throat...Julie. Only the mommy is left standing :)(scroll down if you don't know the past week's events:))What I am finding (we all are) that God's grace IS sufficient for that day. My prayer is that I am glorifying Him in all things he asks of me...including trials. You only learn the depth of God's love and mercy when faced with overwhelming circumstances that can tempt you to doubt...but I have found through all this a Savior who is providing every minute, every hour, every day his mercies and kindness poured out upon us in ways we could never have imagined. Last summer I studied several books on suffering and trials including the one you see here..A Steadfast Heart by Elyse Fitzpatrick. It's easy to read about being steadfast...another thing to do it when you're placed in situations that require this of you. So today...I find all 4 daughters with strep throat...and a husband recovering from a horrible accident. Am I alone? No way! You see...all this past year God has been preparing my heart and mind for 'such a time as this' and I'm finding the foundation that was built has been more than enough to bear us up in this particular time of adversity and trial. Little did we know what would be asked of us. Last night as we tucked all little girls in bed, and I was concerned that Scott was doing too much...he made this comment..."You know...as bad as this hurts, as bad as the initial impact hurt..I am constantly reminded that it is very little compared to what Jesus endured on the cross. I have deep cuts and scrapes on my hands and feet...but Jesus had nails. I will never look at the cross the same again having endured this." Wow..he blew me away. I saw the pain Scott endured this week as one beside him, and was reminded that Mary, Jesus' mother stood and watched her own son be put to death in ways much worse than what I witnessed this past week. Humbling when it's right in front of you! Scott's back working this week some. Mostly from his laz-y-boy chair. I knew when he asked for his laptop he would be ok and that was sometime last Friday. He's a man of unbelievable character :)
We're having sleepless nights with one little girl or another right now and as I trod up the stairs (again) mostly for Katie who is saying 'mouf-hurt' about every hour throughout the night...I find myself thinking about this past week's events and using this line from that famous movie "Nemo"....Remember Dory who had short term memory loss (this mommy right now) saying over and over...'Just keep swimming...Just keep swimming...Just keep swimming...."? And we are.:)
Now for another funny. I caught a recovering Kristin today with a handful of staples trying to push them into Leni's head. Now where would she get that idea???? And no, she wasn't successful. :) (If this leaves you baffled...and scratching your head..scroll down a couple of posts for clearer understanding of why a 5 yr. old feels drawn to the stapling of sister's head. All will be made known:)I'm not allowed to put most beautimous photos of the daddy's head on here:))

Yes, We're Here.....And They're Dropping Like Flies :)

....but ever heard the saying "when it rains, it pours?" All 3 little girls now have been diagnosed with strep throat. :) While in the hospital, Mommy, Jason and Julie pretty much lived there too...and Mel kept the fort here at home with friend Megan. (They had 5 kids here ages 6 and under :) brave, brave, brave...)The little girls did not come to the hospital because it was too gross and the daddy was not up for monkeys jumping on the bed :) The plan was to have no little girls at home either when the daddy came home because 1. He has pretty bad boo-boo's and we didn't want upset princesses and 2. He didn't want same princesses jumping on him and said boo-boo's. HOWEVER....on our way home we got the call that Leni had a 102+ fever. Just one patient at home would never do would it? Ok, so change plans. Leni stayed home and the others were sent to friends houses. Dad went into Dr. mode and called in perscription for himself and Leni on the way home. Leni handled seeing Daddy hurt well. She was more upset at the ant-bed the daddy laid in while waiting for the ambulance...than other injuries.:) The other girls were blissfully happy with friends and Mom Jo....and entertained far beyond our expectations. I decided to let the two little ones go to school on Friday to bring back some normalcy...and wouldn't you know. An hour after they were there the school calls saying, "Please come pick up your girls...they're both sick." So I had to get a babysitter for Daddy :)(can't be left alone after head trauma) and off the mommy went to find Katie at 103 degrees and asleep in the 2 yr. old classroom, and Kristin at 103.5 in music class. So home we go....now we have at the infirmary, 3 sick girls and one very beat up Daddy. Mercifully Julie stayed home (again) and believe me...bodies were lying everywhere! Once people were laying down for naps we decided to clean up...only to find sticky-tree-frog in upstairs girls bathroom. A little humor helped! Friday night was particularly bad as Kristin's fever climbed to 105!! We've yet to see one of our little ones in this kind of condition...and it was unnerving to say the least (not like anything else this week has been!!!) Anyway...this mommy told Daddy to please, please and put on his Dr. Hat and get in there and help us, or at least tell us what to do for this sick child:) and do you know what??? As sore and hurt as he is he hobbled up and helped with Kristin. He immediately put aside all his issues to care for his little girl. It was amazing considering what he's been through this week. As for Scott....he's doing really well. Other than things normally associated with a rather big concussion :)(dizzyness, headaches, etc) and swelling from the trauma, he seems to be bouncing back. He also bit his tongue pretty bad so eating has been on/off until that heals. He's very grateful to be alive and wants to return to normal as soon as possible! Here's the pics of what our last 2 days have been like. I can't think of anyone that would want to trade places with us right now...but we're going to be fine. Of course...our friends have provided meals everynight, groceries, and came and did our lawn today...and brought me chocolate and ice cream!!!! Thank You Everyone!! We're in hibernation....and as you can see...friend and business partner Mike (who got to attend the whole head and body scrubbing/stapling) brought business to the house. Girls still have fevers but are up playing. Nothing like last night thank the Lord!! And the daddy is getting better by the day....he's not near as tired (he was falling asleep in mid-sentence which is normal for trauma patients) and is trying to gradually make a come-back to a normal schedule. His back....well...that may take a while. Would you believe this man has had nothing but tylenol (except for during the scrubbing where he asked for a low-dose of morphine) this whole time?? Yes tis true.