We received the call today from MUSC. Anna Grace's Fontan (3rd stage open heart surgery) is scheduled for Friday, August 10.
Even though I was expecting the call, still it took my breath away when I saw the name on my caller ID. I know it is going to take some time to digest that surgery is scheduled. It is here. It is real.
We have a lot to be thankful for with Anna Grace. I have a lot of mixed emotions about the upcoming surgery. Thank you for continuing to follow our BLOG and to pray for Anna Garce.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Homeschooling, Yep, You Read That Right
Now that the Palmetto Hearts 5K is completed I have switched gears and moved onto the next big adventure.... Homeschooling! Our oldest, Zachary, is 5 years old now and will be starting Kindergarten in the Fall. We have researched and prayed over what to do about school for the upcoming year. We have talked with the private Christian school, the charter school, the public school - I had enrolled him everywhere because I wasn't sure where the right place was to send him. It really turned into a very big difficult decision that I really never expected to be SO tough! After several months of research and going back and forth Brian and I finally decided on none of the above and decided to homeschool.
It really came out of left field and it was certainly never anything that I ever thought I would do, but we feel that this is the best decision for our family at this time. We are going to take it year by year, but I am moving full speed ahead with homeschooling for the upcoming year. It is exciting and nervewracking and a tad bit overwheling too.
I have set up the school room (thanks to the help of my parents). We have a formal living room which was NEVER used and so it is now the school room and will be used everyday. I have also purchased the homeschool cirriculum that I'm going to use and have joined a homeschool co-op. The co-op gets together once a week and does school together from 9-12. We also all use the same cirriculum so everyone stays together and we can encourage and help each other throughout the year. The co-op is called Classical Conversations and I am very glad that it exists because Zachary and I are both very social and it will be a good outlet for us I think.
Since AG's surgery is going to be in August I am going to start school in June and do school in June and July and take off August and September for AG's surgery and recovery. The State doesn't mandate when you do school, just that you complete 180 days of school, so it will be nice not to have to think about school (or homework) at all during surgery and recovery. It will also be nice to be able to keep the family together in Charleston and not have to have Zachary at home because he has to attend school while we're in Charleston. Of course if you've been following my BLOG for any length of time you know that I am a sitckler for quarantine so I like the idea of being able to quarantine as I see fit after AG's surgery to allow her ample time to heal before having to fight off germs brought home from school which let's face it - Kindergarten is a petri dish of germs.
So the idea of homeschool, at least for the upcoming year, really appeals to me. I think it has the potential to be a really great thing as long as I can manage to stay on task and not get distracted by "things" around the house that need to be done. I think that will be the real challenge, that and the fact that I am not a teacher by trade and so I will be learning to teach as I go. I'm just thankful it's Kindergarten and not 11th grade calculus :) The cirriculum that I have purchased is also very specific about what tasks have to be done each day so I am thankful that it is very structured for me. I will keep you posted on how it goes, it should be an interesting year!
Thanks friends for continuing to follow our BLOG! We appreciate your support and prayers for our family!
It really came out of left field and it was certainly never anything that I ever thought I would do, but we feel that this is the best decision for our family at this time. We are going to take it year by year, but I am moving full speed ahead with homeschooling for the upcoming year. It is exciting and nervewracking and a tad bit overwheling too.
I have set up the school room (thanks to the help of my parents). We have a formal living room which was NEVER used and so it is now the school room and will be used everyday. I have also purchased the homeschool cirriculum that I'm going to use and have joined a homeschool co-op. The co-op gets together once a week and does school together from 9-12. We also all use the same cirriculum so everyone stays together and we can encourage and help each other throughout the year. The co-op is called Classical Conversations and I am very glad that it exists because Zachary and I are both very social and it will be a good outlet for us I think.
Since AG's surgery is going to be in August I am going to start school in June and do school in June and July and take off August and September for AG's surgery and recovery. The State doesn't mandate when you do school, just that you complete 180 days of school, so it will be nice not to have to think about school (or homework) at all during surgery and recovery. It will also be nice to be able to keep the family together in Charleston and not have to have Zachary at home because he has to attend school while we're in Charleston. Of course if you've been following my BLOG for any length of time you know that I am a sitckler for quarantine so I like the idea of being able to quarantine as I see fit after AG's surgery to allow her ample time to heal before having to fight off germs brought home from school which let's face it - Kindergarten is a petri dish of germs.
So the idea of homeschool, at least for the upcoming year, really appeals to me. I think it has the potential to be a really great thing as long as I can manage to stay on task and not get distracted by "things" around the house that need to be done. I think that will be the real challenge, that and the fact that I am not a teacher by trade and so I will be learning to teach as I go. I'm just thankful it's Kindergarten and not 11th grade calculus :) The cirriculum that I have purchased is also very specific about what tasks have to be done each day so I am thankful that it is very structured for me. I will keep you posted on how it goes, it should be an interesting year!
Thanks friends for continuing to follow our BLOG! We appreciate your support and prayers for our family!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The BIG Race!
It is a few days since our BIG Palmetto Hearts 5K race. I say BIG because it was packed! Our committee was admittedly a little overwhelmed by the number of people who showed up for the race. We had almost 350 people come out to run!!!! Amazing!
Because of the sheer volume of people registration ran a little slow (sorry to those of you who had to wait) and the race started a little behind schedule, but once the race began it was just perfect!
We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. The temperature was just perfect, low humidity and lots of sunshine. It was beautiful.
There were lots of heart families in attendance which was a blessing for so many of us to see. After spending more days in a hospital than any child should ever have to, it is SO NICE to be able to come together at such a fun function and celebrate life and raise money for a worthy cause. What a blessing!
As for my responsibility of setting up the festival area.... my "team" were All Stars! Everyone showed up SUPER early (3 of my team even beat me there) and we worked together and got everything set up just as planned. I LOVE it when a PLAN comes together. Thank You so much my super-friends for being willing to help me out. There is NO WAY it could have happened without your help. Seriously, no way.
So, now that the race is all complete I know that the race chair is still tallying up last minute expenses and such so I don't know yet how much money was raised, but if I had to take a guess I would say that we were able to raise about $8,000 - $9,000 for Palmetto hearts. Isn't that just amazing! The Lord truly blessed our day and our efforts here. It is so humbling. Thank you all for coming and support our heart kids.
Please enjoy these pictures from race day!
Because of the sheer volume of people registration ran a little slow (sorry to those of you who had to wait) and the race started a little behind schedule, but once the race began it was just perfect!
We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. The temperature was just perfect, low humidity and lots of sunshine. It was beautiful.
There were lots of heart families in attendance which was a blessing for so many of us to see. After spending more days in a hospital than any child should ever have to, it is SO NICE to be able to come together at such a fun function and celebrate life and raise money for a worthy cause. What a blessing!
As for my responsibility of setting up the festival area.... my "team" were All Stars! Everyone showed up SUPER early (3 of my team even beat me there) and we worked together and got everything set up just as planned. I LOVE it when a PLAN comes together. Thank You so much my super-friends for being willing to help me out. There is NO WAY it could have happened without your help. Seriously, no way.
So, now that the race is all complete I know that the race chair is still tallying up last minute expenses and such so I don't know yet how much money was raised, but if I had to take a guess I would say that we were able to raise about $8,000 - $9,000 for Palmetto hearts. Isn't that just amazing! The Lord truly blessed our day and our efforts here. It is so humbling. Thank you all for coming and support our heart kids.
Please enjoy these pictures from race day!
Monday, April 9, 2012
Race Day Play-By-Play
Our Palmetto Heatrs 5K Walk & Run is THIS Saturday! I am very excited and nervous about the race coming together. As you can imagine with a race of this size, there are a lot of last minute details which have to come together and we are in crunch time!
My responsibility on race day, along with my precious friend Jennifer (who is NOT a heart Mom, just a super friend) is to arrive early... like 6:15 am, and set up the tent canopies in the festival area as well as set up the folding tables and chairs which belong in each of those tents. My very sweet and very helpful husband will most likely be the one setting up the tents (for the safety of the festival attendees)! He has enlisted the help of two other men friends who I'm sure wish that they had been asked to help with another task that didn't require them getting up at 5:00 am on a Saturday morning. Can you beleive that he actually got some of his friends to say YES?!?!?! Pretty great guys in my opinion! Also, going back to my sweet friend Jennifer, yes she will be getting out of bed at the crazy early hour on a Saturday morning as well. She willingly volunteered to help me on race day despite Working, being a Mom and a Wife..... yes she really does deserve the title of SUPER friend :) Complete with cape and all!
So myself and my husband and our possee of super-friends will be at the festival area very early on Saturday morning setting these tents up most likely before the sun comes up! (If you feel sorry for us and want to bring coffee - I like a Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha with Soy Milk and Light Whipped Cream).
So... you might be thinking right now... what is she going to do with their kids??? Surely they're not going to drag their kids out to set up tents at 6:00 on a Saturday morning! Well, you are right! I am excited to say that my Dad and Step-Mom will be flying in from Texas to attend the race and they will be at the house with the kids (hopefully sleeping) while all of the setting up and organizing is taking place. After everythig is set up, my hubby will most likely head home and help get the kids up, fed, dressed and to the 5K. (Yes, my husband is a completley totally wonderful man)!!!
After the set up I am considered a "floater" during the race to be assigned whatever area is short of a volunteer. Around 11:30 the whole thing is over and then my job becomes tear down and clean up. So, all the tents that were set up have to be torn down and returned to their rightful owners and then we have to pick up all the trash from the festival area and the race course. Whew.... I'm tired just thinking about it! Although I'm sure it will be a tiring day, what a blessing to be able to give to a charity who is here to help heart families through their heart journey - be it financially, emotionally or educationally - it is a blessing to have such a terrific organization in our State and I am thrilled to have played such a small part in their minsitry.
I will try to update after the race and add some pictures as well :) Hope to see you on race day!
My responsibility on race day, along with my precious friend Jennifer (who is NOT a heart Mom, just a super friend) is to arrive early... like 6:15 am, and set up the tent canopies in the festival area as well as set up the folding tables and chairs which belong in each of those tents. My very sweet and very helpful husband will most likely be the one setting up the tents (for the safety of the festival attendees)! He has enlisted the help of two other men friends who I'm sure wish that they had been asked to help with another task that didn't require them getting up at 5:00 am on a Saturday morning. Can you beleive that he actually got some of his friends to say YES?!?!?! Pretty great guys in my opinion! Also, going back to my sweet friend Jennifer, yes she will be getting out of bed at the crazy early hour on a Saturday morning as well. She willingly volunteered to help me on race day despite Working, being a Mom and a Wife..... yes she really does deserve the title of SUPER friend :) Complete with cape and all!
So myself and my husband and our possee of super-friends will be at the festival area very early on Saturday morning setting these tents up most likely before the sun comes up! (If you feel sorry for us and want to bring coffee - I like a Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha with Soy Milk and Light Whipped Cream).
So... you might be thinking right now... what is she going to do with their kids??? Surely they're not going to drag their kids out to set up tents at 6:00 on a Saturday morning! Well, you are right! I am excited to say that my Dad and Step-Mom will be flying in from Texas to attend the race and they will be at the house with the kids (hopefully sleeping) while all of the setting up and organizing is taking place. After everythig is set up, my hubby will most likely head home and help get the kids up, fed, dressed and to the 5K. (Yes, my husband is a completley totally wonderful man)!!!
After the set up I am considered a "floater" during the race to be assigned whatever area is short of a volunteer. Around 11:30 the whole thing is over and then my job becomes tear down and clean up. So, all the tents that were set up have to be torn down and returned to their rightful owners and then we have to pick up all the trash from the festival area and the race course. Whew.... I'm tired just thinking about it! Although I'm sure it will be a tiring day, what a blessing to be able to give to a charity who is here to help heart families through their heart journey - be it financially, emotionally or educationally - it is a blessing to have such a terrific organization in our State and I am thrilled to have played such a small part in their minsitry.
I will try to update after the race and add some pictures as well :) Hope to see you on race day!
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