Pure in Heart Award

Thank you Hannah for thinking of me!

Here are the rules!

Post about the tag
2. Pick 10 bloggers who deserve this award
3. Leave a comment on the blogs of the people you tagged letting them know they were awarded
4. Answer the questions along with your post

1: Apples, Oranges or Bananas? Bananas!

2: How many siblings do you have? 6! K (18), O (14), B (10), C (7) and J (5 going on 2)

3: How old are you?  16

4: Do you live on/in a prairie, woodland, swamp, city or other? Other. We live on a big sand pile! :)

5: Scissors or glue? Scissors... we don't have any glue in the house! And if we did, J would be sure to dump it....

6: Describe your dream house.  I don't really know... except I'd like to have lots of closet space and a big kitchen.

7: Is your room clean? Seriously? yes and no...


8: If you could be a movie character for a day, who would you be? I don't think I'd want to be any female character.... but I would love to be a fly on the wall in the same room as Sherlock Holmes.

9: Italy, Greece, France, Spain or England? I'd love to go to Italy and France!

10: What denomination are you? Presby-Baptil-Costal ;)

11: Do you sleep with a stuffed toy (BE HONEST!!!!)  No... When I have slept with a stuffed toy, it lands on the floor besides the bed!

12: Gum, chocolate, or jelly beans? dark chocolate wrapped in a date. Not that you asked, but....

13: What is your favorite book? There's more than one.... However, one of my current favorites is To Have and To Hold.

14: Favorite ice cream flavour? Mint Chocolate Chip

15: If you had to eat one type of food for two weeks, what would that food be? Hamburgers!

16: What is your favorite Olympic sport? I love to watch the skating... when we do 'watch' the Olympics.


17: If you woke up and discovered that you had turned into Miley Cyrus for the day, what would you do (note, I am NOT a fan)? Um... stay in bed? (somehow I don't think that would go over well with the rest of my family!)

18: Describe yourself in three words. Competitive, Curious, Cautious

19: What chore do you hate? meal planning... 

20: If Elmo came into your room with a gun, what would you do? I have no clue.... by the way, who is Elmo? :)


I'm awarding this to:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

McKenzie @ Pecan Pastures
Lauren E. @  Lauren E.'s Blog
Shelby @ Shelby's Everyday Homeschool Blog 
Abigail @ Amazed by Grace
Lydia @ Something Beautiful
Hannah W. @ Hannah's Blog

James is being discharged from the hospital this afternoon. We're currently in the library and James is drawing on a DoodlePro board. We'll be staying at the Ronald McDonald House tonight and then slowly make our way home tomorrow! yay!

Lemonade Stand Award

 

Hannah over at Hannah's Hangout - The Writings of a Christian Girl very sweetly gave me the Lemonade Stand award! Thank you for thinking of me Hannah!

Here are the rules:

- Put the Lemonade logo on your blog or within your post.
- Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.
- Link the nominees within your post.
- Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
- Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award

I've seen this award all over the blog-sphere, so I don't know if I'm awarding people who already have the award or not! But I would like to award:

♥ McKenzie @ Pecan Pastures

♥ My mom @ One Big Adventure

♥ Abigail @ Amazed by Grace

♥ Mia @ Aspiring Homemaker

♥ Mrs. Marcy @ Six Olive Plants

♥ Mrs. Patrice @ Williams Family Blog

♥ Mrs. Jamie @ M&M's from Mexico

♥ Southerngrits @ Girls Raised In The South 

♥ Lydia @ It's a Beautiful Life

♥ Jenna @ Feminine Farmgirl 

Thank you again Hannah for nominating me!

In Memoriam: Pierce

When 'J' was transferred to Georgia from Minnesota, we met a dad who always wore a joker hat. He was staying with his little boy who was in the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit). Pierce had the same leukemia 'J' did and Pierce and 'J' had another bond, you see, both of them have Down syndrome. We've been following their journey since 2007. Pierce was scheduled to finish chemo this spring, but several weeks from finishing Pierce relapsed and had a BMT (bone marrow transplant). He did great through transplant and was doing awesome at home. A couple weeks ago, Pierce's mom posted that Pierce had relapsed again and there really wasn't anything they could do, it was just a matter of time. When 'J', Momma and I were in Atlanta in Monday, we saw Pierce and his dad. They had decided to stop Pierce's chemo since he was getting terrible mouth sores that Friday. Momma talked with Mr. Bill for awhile and I took 'J' back to triage. When we got to our room, Momma said Mr. Bill didn't think Pierce would make it to Christmas. Last night, I was checking my email and saw there was an update on Pierce. I opened it and saw that Pierce had passed away in his sleep that morning. There was another update this afternoon, Pierce's little brother, who is 3-4 years old, is taking Pierce's death hard. Please keep them in your prayers in the upcoming weeks.

Here is Pierce's website if you want to read it. Pierce Ruck

Dressing up

 L to R - 'J', 'K', me, McKenzie, 'B' and Madeline

In September, we went down to some friends' house for a Sunday dinner. They had just had a baby and we weren't taking 'J' to church during flu season. While we were there, we dressed up. I've always loved to play dress-up. Up in Minnesota, down in the basement, we had a big plastic box full of fabric, play (insert fancy here) dresses that 'K' and I picked up at Salvation Army, Momma's old shoes, beads, etc... We all loved it. When we moved it didn't fit in whatever criteria the packers had.

This particular Sunday, we 'dressed up'. McKenzie let me borrow her hoop skirt, a dress (which was beautiful, BTW!), fixed my hair and did a great job, too. Mrs. Maynor took some pictures of us. This was one of them. So sweet! Someday, I think I'd like a hoop skirt, as long as I didn't have to wear it everyday :*)...

On the home front, 'J' is learning to whistle. It's rather cute and though I know that 5 year olds can whistle, it always surprises me when 'J' is learning something new. On Monday he had his first off-treatment visit in Atlanta and started whistling on the way home (actually he just pulls in his breath, till it whistles) and Momma said, ''J', no whistling in the car!' He got quiet very fast and said 'n um', which is how he says 'yes ma'am'. He usually doesn't say 'yes ma'am' by himself. Then last night, he was sleeping with me and after chattering a bit, he started to whistle. I told him, ''J', Momma says NO whistling in the house'. He got quiet and then pulled the sleeping bag over his head. It was quiet for a few more seconds and then I heard him whistling a little bit. His head popped back out and then he promptly fell asleep. I like nights like those!