SF Bay Don Edwards fieldtrip

Tomorrow is the Dr appt. Please pray for Gods favor to be on me. Wisdom for the Doc and myself and peace in our home and on all of us as we take the next step towards health and healing, one way or another.

tracks in the mud. Who was here?

The kids experience how malard ducks take flight. Some of these ducks would take longer than others to take off!

What's the difference between a pelican bone and a deer bone. Why?

kids were broken into smaller classes.
Barn owl wing.

Caleb and Malachi in front right of picture, burnt orange sweatshirt.




A couple Thursdays ago we went to Don Edwards on a field trip. Caleb and Malachi got to disect owl pellets, see different wings, feet, beeks, taste pickel weed, learn about the habitats and how different animals live in thier habitats.

Mothers Day and my birthday

For mothers day I asked for the family to spend time gardening together. Lawrence and the boys bought all the supplies while I took a nap in the car with Silas. If you know me, this is uncharicteristic, usually, I can't sleep anywhere no matter how tired I am. I was recovering from a cold.

Once home, time to garden, I left to pick up my mom, car trouble. When I came home all the plants and orange TREE were planted! What a great gift. They planted beans, tomato's, watermelon, corn, and several types of squash. BBQ vegetables from the garden, yummmmmm.

In the front yard we are making a butterfly/ hummingbird garden. Our yard has come a long way baby. We've been in our house 10 years. We moved in, May 1997 and we were the weedy lawn neighbors for a long time. So nice to have a usable, and beautiful yard!

co-pays & deductables

Just received a call from Lawrences dentist advising he needs a bridge and our portion of the charge is 1500. Got a bill from my biopsy, my portion 2000. We're hitting our yearly maximums. Our new insurance year just started May 1st of course. Arg!

God is a gracious provider, and what this means is lots of provision. I have been complaining about the worsening costs of medical insurances, higher co-pays, deductables where there were none.... I know some of you are nodding vigerously, you've been noticing it too. Well, after reading over the benefits for this year, I was struck with the fact that we still get so much, and having Lawrence quit his job and work from home would be so expensive, it appears to be cost prohibative.

Even with the deductables and co-pays, we are getting much more than we will ever put into 'our share'. With the scans, cat, MRI, pet, the specialists, we'd be sunk. All in perspective.

Lawrence had his first Chiropractic appointment last Saturday, for $10. Finally, a small co-pay!

Back in the saddle again

I now have an actual real appointment with a pulmanologist. I was called finally by UCSF chest department with the phone number to where she thought was a better fit. Department of Thorasic Oncology. (Thorasic=chest area).

12n, 25 May is my appointment, fit in as an overbooking. This doc is located in the Cancer center at UCSF Mt Zion. So ominous sounding, but that's where I want to be,with people who know which end is up, familiar with masses of all types. Please continue to pray for God to grant me favor in the doc and staff to go the extra mile. To see me as a human, a woman, mother, wife.....

Please pray for this mass to schrivel like a raisin with every breath of air I take. Life will be removed from this 'information packet' and transfered to me and my new life in Christ.

Looking back at one of Gods provisions

I recently had occasion to remember how we were given our home. While we wait for God's provision, I thank God for how he has provided for our family in the past.

Before we got our house, we were living in San Leandro, cockroaches, helicopter flying over sometimes…. We couldn’t possibly afford a home, and yet, God had a home for us. My sister-in-law was shopping, and came across a lender, long and short of it, she wasn’t interested, said call my brother. The guy called us, a lender who helped the original owner get loan, so no real estate agent involved. The home was almost in foreclosure, foreclosure was pushed back several times and pushed back again, just because he had prospective buyers in escrow, a fast escrow opened the day he got our names. He asked us if we were interested. We were interested, sight unseen, but was he really interested in us, we had debt, very little income, and challenged credit. After 3 undeniable miracles, we were living in our new home only 15 days later. Let me tell you, I was making 6.65/hr 20 hrs a week and Lawrence had 2 part time jobs at 10/hr and 15/hr or so. We had a car with a loan balance on it that was stolen and totaled, squeaking us in for the credit ratio(All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purposes). This house was originally ‘low-income’ housing with the city of Hayward holding a 2nd. A 2nd where you don't pay until you sell or choose to pay, with profit-sharing at pay-off. They offered to give us a 2nd as they had for the original owners. This was 20K and not nearly enough to get us qualified for the loan, so they upped it to an unprecedented 52K!! Our debt ratio was still too high, and I got my 1st annual stock statement from the company I was working for, key word annual, within the week we were doing all the paperwork. That put us just barely in range for the loan on the house, we closed. We borrowed the 5K we needed for a down-payment from Lawrence’s sister. We got it back in 5k credit for repairs that the house needed, to pay her back, and the rest is history. I peeked in the windows before closing escrow; Lawrence never even saw the inside of the house before we had the keys! This is truly an awesome powerful rich generous God we serve. The impossible made possible through him, for his glory. Every good thing comes from him alone.

In our humanity, we would have never been able to afford to buy a home, even through today in the Bay Area. This home never went on the market. We had roommates for the first 5 years just to afford the mortgage. And now, I have a home with a yard, albeit small, for my boys to play in.

Brotherly Love

Caleb and Malachi have been fighting a lot. They have an incredible time together, playing, being goofy, having fun, and fighting, and not just with light sabers :-o Many of you have been praying with me for harmony, and to that end, when they fight, they must 'work it out' taylor sitting accross from eachother, knee to knee, hands on the others knee. As soon as they can high 5 or hug, and be ok with eachother they are allowed to be done, having worked it out. This is a new strategy, it does work with much help getting them set up, sometimes we are a triad, with me mediating. Please pray for love, patience, kindness, peace, forgiving spirits, trust. For willing attitutes, and consistancy on my and Lawrence's part. Also for Lawrence and I to be disciplining, and seen by the boys as a team. And consistancy, consistancy, oh and please pray for consistancy!

New information coming soon`

Long time since there has been any news. I have been turned over to the chest department, Hahaha, at UCSF. They have all types on this team, Radiologits, Surgeons, etc... I'm waiting for a call from them now to have a meeting to discuss next step. Sounds like they'll push another biopsy. I want to get as much info as possible, and if the eventual outcome of this mass is to be removed, then, why put me under for a biopsy, let's just get it out. Unless they give me extremely compelling reasons otherwise, my desire is to have a pet-scan, then remove this thing. The petscan can see cancer, so that sounds good to me. Again, I'll listen to hear if there are compelling reasons otherwise. Please pray for discernment and wisdom as I hear the foreign language of Dr's, and that they would see me as a human and God would grant me favor in their eyes, to spend the time to be sure I understand, not rush...

So, until next time..........That's all folks.

Prayer requests

Current prayer needs

1. Assimilation into character all of the things God has been revealing to me
2. harmony among siblings, spirit of unity and building each-other up rather than tearing down, fighting, or teasing
3. continued peace
4. radiologist would make recommendation for next course of action. They have my films, reports etc and are coming up with next step(I think they must just have my paperwork in a stack and are waiting to get to it)
5. Parenting – help kids focus on being a team, building each-other up. Doing school effectively, finding their strengths and disciplining with each kids uniqueness in mind
6. Going to bed by or near 11p, rather than later. That I would feel tired at that time. This is when I usually get my energy.
7. Restful sleep- Lawrence and Heidi
8. Peace and comfort, wisdom, discernment for Lawrence.
9. Malachi has been having nightmares – age appropriate, but please pray that he will no longer have them as we pray together for them to go away and that he’d focus on God, sing a song, or have some other experience of Gods power instead

10. Lastly, shrinking the mass.

I know I’m being prayed for as I have tremendous peace. Thank you to all the Straub siblings for praying for my health and healing, and thank you to all of you who are reading my blog and keeping me in your prayers.

Still waiting to hear from Radiologist their recommondation as to next step. Will update blog when I hear any news.

Reviewing blood test numbers

I'm going through my last blood test numbers with a fine tooth comb and my buddy Google. I came accross some interesting results. My AST is low, less than 15, normal range 16-41. All I can find is for elevated AST. Bilirubin, direct is less than 0.1, normal range 0.1-0.3. Again only high info. Alkaline phosphatese 132, normal 29-111. Below is what I found regarding Alkaline phosphatese.

Causes of high alkaline phosphatase include bone growth, healing fracture, acromegaly, osteogenic sarcoma, liver or bone metastases, leukemia, myelofibrosis, and rarely myeloma. Alkaline phosphatase is used as a tumor marker. http://www.labcorp.com/datasets/labcorp/html/chapter/mono/pr014700.htm

Tumor markers are substances, usually proteins, that are produced by the body in response to cancer growth or by the cancer tissue itself. Some tumor markers are specific, while others are seen in several cancer types. Many of the well-known markers are also seen in non-cancerous conditions. Consequently, these tumor markers are not diagnostic for cancer.

Will check with my NP tomorrow to get new bloodwork to go over, and to find out my next step. I'll keep you posted.

How many cooks?

Malachi enjoys the spoils of cake making. Silas throws back a beater.

This was our happy UN-birthday cake we made. Thanks Amy for the mix.

Simple Revelations

My need to nurture the world is my revelation for this week. Owning other people’s happiness has been killing me, figuratively and literally. This mass is next to my heart where I hold close my misguided responsibility to the world. Thank God I am not Jesus! I’ve just been confused as to my role with other people’s needs and emotions.

If you are really eager to give, it isn't important how much you are able to give. God wants you to give what you have, not what you don't have. 2 Corinthians 8:12

Duh! I have been giving eagerly, but from what I don't have. Now I can give from a truly generous place, while I learn what I have and what I don't have. I'm also figuring out how to change the way I process and recognize when to get away and recognizing other peoples ownership of their emotions. Mine, not mine.

I’m very receptive. I’ve found that I feel the emotions for Lawrence for instance. He had a project due early Monday, and was feeling overwhelmed so he was headed up for a nap. I found myself completely overwhelmed with him leaving our family space. I was feeling despair, and suddenly realized, “I stay home with my kids alone all the time. This is not a big deal.” That’s when I realized I was tapping in on Lawrence’s feelings, not my own. A little out there, but if the shoe fits! Getting a mass in your body is a bit out there too:-o My body’s way of screaming at me, “You have to change some things, NOW!!!

Biopsy Inconclusive

The results of the core biopsy done last week are inconclusive. The samples were small, stringy and didn't give much information. Probably not malignant going on history of no cancer in my family, and my being virtually asymptomatic. Symptom was from the mass itself, wheezing, and getting bronchitis.

Bottom line is, a larger sample is required. The good thing is, I have 1 person keeping track of things now, I can relax in that area, not trying to coordinate. That is a relief.

Next step now is to get more blood work done, probably have a pet scan(never heard of it? Me neither, gonna Google it in a minute), and then another biopsy. I will be put out for the next biopsy since they will be taking a larger chunk close to the aorta, the reason the last samples were so small.

More waiting, more prayers. I really covet your prayers for peace, calm and being free from anxiety. I've been feeling the anxiety in my stomach.

Just got a call again from my UCSF Nurse Practitioner, Gjedsted. I am getting set up with a Radiologist to review all the films of the 2 cat scans and MRI to determine if any new pictures need to be taken with the pet scan. Will find out more information next week, after the Radiologist reviews the films. So I imagine, I won't find out anything until at least Thursday or Friday at the earliest. I had blood taken back in October of 2006 and it had no unusual white blood cell counts, which is good and indicated not malignant.

Who's on 2nd? Yes. What? What's on 3rd....

Please pray this with me. Siting a precedence from scripture. 2 Corinthians 1:10-11.... this is Paul sending a letter to the people in Corinth, referring to a difficult time he had in Asia as a missionary.

....."And he did deliver us from mortal danger. And we are confident that he will continue to deliver us. He will rescue us because you are helping by praying for us. As a result, many will give thanks to God because so many people's prayers for our safety have been answered."

This morning was filled with many phone calls trying to get my biopsy specimen sent to UCSF from Stanford. I have talked to countless people this morning, docs, lab techs, billing depts, customer service, and an assundry of others. Bottom line is, I've exhausted my leads and now wait for return calls. The insurance company advised me that Stanford should call for a clearance before performing the pathology, so if they don't, and later bill me, it will involve more legwork and phonecalls, but I will not be responsible for the charges. Praise God for that! Now the specimen needs to get to UCSF for diagnosis so we can move on to the next step.

Thank you for your prayers, and please keep on praying for me.

working out my salvation

12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
Philippians 2:12-13

I never really thought about what the phrase working out my salvation meant. I am struck by this verse today. I am doing soul searching, growing, hearing God in different ways, having breakthroughs in understanding..... and so much more. This morning, Jackson was talking about forgiveness. I think I've learned how to forgive, had some real breakthroughs in this area in the past. One thing Jackson said struck me. Tolerating is not forgiving. I have come to tolerate many things in my life. This 'information packet' (aka mass) is showing me how this has not been beneficial to me. I choose to be forgiving as I am now seeing with new eyes, insults that I've tolerated, and stored away inside me. Holding in, without even realizing it, building this mass inside of me. Do I believe I solely created and built this mass in self destruction, no. But what Satan meant for evil, God means for good.

Judgementalness, and not forgiving are very intertwined. I have recently seen how judgemental I can be. Pride and judgementalness go hand in hand. With the same measure you forgive, you will be forgiven. Same with judgement. I have been judged very harshly, I can never measure up to where I should be. This is why Jesus has given his ultimate sacrifice. Because I don't have to measure up, he took the judgement for me.

He prayed at the Garden of Gethsemane, that if this hideous experience could be taken from him, that it would. I feel the same way. If I can learn the lessons I need to embody, understand and know, please spare me from what I see in my path. BUT, if this is the only way for me to work out my salvation, and I don't mean to be saved from hell, but to be given life here on earth, to live in abundance that can only come from God, through Christ, and my relationship with him, then I accept with open arms the journey he's laid out before me and my family.

I pray that you will accept the gift God gave us through the pain he suffered, so that you can be free from the oppression that comes from living for your pleasure and yourself. God calls us to him and to live intensely for his purposes in different ways. The burden of living for ourselves is heavy. We each live it in our own ways, I have judgementalness, perfectionist tendencies, and whatever else. Others have depression, self-focus and loathing.

I am working out my salvation, and I pray I will be here to raise my children and one day see theirs.

Initial Pathology Results

Just got a call from my doc. Didn't expect to get a call this soon! Initial pathology is interesting. Eden lab doesn't see anything that is familiar that would point to malignancy(cancerous), however, she didn't recognize what she saw at all. So hmmmmmmmm. Apparently, Wednesday, they took 3 core samples, large tissue samples. Glad for that, hopefully this gives them plenty to send around. So Eden sent the samples to Stanford.

So we wait to see what the diagnosis is. Interesting, I asked about the mass itself. It has very clearly defined boundries, hahaha, unlike me in the past:) Something I'm working on now.

Getting High at the hospital- groovy

Having been so nervous leading up to this biopsy, it was a breeze really. I had verced and phentenol. Wow! That stuff is great! I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed the drugs! I wasn't nervous, I even asked for a piece of the mass and they totally ignored me, 2x! I should have asked when I was sober.

The procedure was late, I got wheeled into a hallway and left for a while, so timing is a bit foggy. After the biopsy, while under the bliss of drugs, I had an X-Ray, why, I still don't know. After that, I got wheeled back to recovery, spent and hour drinking water, listening to Lawrence read readers digest jokes. Some of them are real stumpers, don't know how they ended up in there, but others made me cry.

So, the results should be in sometime in the next week. 3-5 days, or until they get them done.

Thank you for your faithful prayers. Don't stop:)

Biopsy is on for tomorrow

Got a call from Eden this morning saying that if I have problems getting admitted tomorrow, that the invasive radiologist will go on as my doc requesting the procedure and so we are on as scheduled.

Silas will be with Janet and her kids Caleb, Joel and Abigail. Please pray this will be a fun time for Silas to have the attention of so many people. My mom will pick up Silas around 12n and have all 3 boys at her house until Lawrence can pick them up later.

So next stop....pathology....toot toot!! ok now I'm giddy, too much caffeine.

Biopsy information

Yay!!!!! I just talked with the nurse that will be involved in the biopsy. Amazing how your mind can go when you have no or very limited information. The biopsy is a 15 minute proceedure. I'll be on my stomach most likely and they'll go through the back, between the ribs. I'll be on stadol and phentenol (spelling?) to relax me, but not put me out. consious sedation they call it. I will have a hep-loc ( for puting in the meds), and can drink up to 6 hours before the procedure. I am so relieved to know what to expect.

It's Raining it's pouring

A scheduler from Eden called this morning saying my Dr does not have privileges there, and this means I may have to have my procedure postponed. After I called my docs nurse, she called Eden and they told her no prob Bob. So who's right? Who knows? The plot thickens........

I'm waiting for a call from the nurse at Eden now. Hopefully the paperwork will be handled properly and I'll not have to postpone the biopsy. The up side to postponing is that the procedure will have to be done at UCSF since my insurance has been moved to UCSF effective April 1st. Thank you Lord. I can see the blessing in that already! So I will stop angsting.

A total 3 child meltdown occurred today starting while on the phone. It lasted for 15-30 minutes, Argh. Yes, Dianne, you heard the beginning of that. Please pray for harmony, and peace and the boys building each other up. My attention has been divided. The three are happily playing together now. Just needed to push the reset button. Some attention, some protein a drive in the car and happening upon a house being torn down by an excavator..... That was cool! Then playing in the rain.

Back to the biopsy, I will most likely be sedated for this, new information:-o. I'll keep you posted to what type, if I can find this out before I get there(slightly joking). I just spoke with scheduling from Eden again, and it's a busy day for the doc and nurse and they should call me sometime today. 2 hours before the biopsy they were planning on going over all of this with me. Crazy me, just like to know what I'm getting into before I get there:-0

Cute kids

Slugger!
Malachi at bat.
Silas Driving?!?

Auntie E and beautiful Isabelle, Caleb, Malachi and Silas's newest cousin. She will be 6 weeks old this week!!

The twins Hannah and Andrew just turned one!!
playing with the cousins

Baby Andrew with Auntie Heidi

Baby Hannah with Auntie Debbie (her Mommy)

T-Ball and Oreo Therapy

So I've decided to give up the oreo therapy. It was working ok for me, but has some bad side-effects, and only helped me suppress my symptems. I am being tempted to take up flavored cofee therapy, but am going to limit these sessions.

As I was driving to T-Ball this morning I felt the need to scream at the top of my lungs, just to see if it would be an effective stress reliever. Yes, I was alone in the car, Lawrence took the boys a couple hours earlier for pictures and Saturdays just can't come that early for me. So after 2 minutes of feeling shy about it, I scared myself with a loud scream, then threw in another one for good measure.

Caleb is the big hitter at the game, the coach says, ok move out, he's a good hitter. He hits the pitches! I'm so proud. And Malachi, the cutest little guy on the team. He hits it every time from the T and has been doing well running the bases.

Answered Prayers and More Requests

So as I lay down tonight and another wave of nervous stomach hit me, I finally asked God to show me what I was anxious about and help me not be anxious. Not more than 2 minutes later, I was telling Lawrence what I was concerned about. The biopsy on Wednesday is a huge unknown to me. I don't know how this procedure is going to go down. I am not supposed to eat or drink from 12m on. Since I'm nursing, I think I will end up with a breast infection if I don't drink for that long. How much is this procedure going to hurt, mostly the needles for me actually. How big, how many.... I spoke with the scheduling person, and asked questions and she said she'd make notes to ask the nurse. So Monday I will call the nurse and ask my questions. The other stressor is wanting a contact person at UCSF, so again, Monday I will contact my Nurse Practitioner that I've seen over the last couple of years, and pray she will take the coordinating on for me.

So I wrote my questions, concerns and I feel relief. So simple, I've heard before to write your thoughts when you can't sleep, but filed it with other trivia. So now, we'll see if this theory works.

Insurance

Thank you for your continued prayers for peace and healing. When I have a blood draw or anything related to needles, I find my stomach is upside down. I had a blood draw a couple hours ago. I have that nervous feeling right now, impending something, although it is better than before the blood draw. It comes in waves. Please pray that I can live in the moment, and learn to either live with this nervous feeling or be rid of it.

Thank you Lord for your faithfulness, the insurance approved the change to UCSF as of April 1st instead of May 1st. Now I am praying that the change from the Bay Valley Med center in the East Bay is smooth and I don't have to waste time during the change-over. I have asked UCSF to request the MRI info from Eden Hospital, and asked Eden to send the MRI info to UCSF, so hopefully one way or the other it will get to where it needs to be.

Silas is growling at the ants that are on the floor eating the hard boiled eggs he threw there earlier. Such joy at what I detest:)

With the hot weather today, Caleb and Malachi are shooting eachother with water blasters.

Caleb and Malachi are enjoying T-Ball with Lawrence in Fremont, on Saturdays and 1-2 evenings during the week. A great opportunity for Papa and the boys to enjoy something together.

And now for family movie night......STAR WARS..........Episode anything:)

Biopsy

Thanks for so many prayers for peace, I am experiencing supernatural peace. My next step is to have a biopsy. This is scheduled for Wednesday March 28 at 11:30a. I go to admitting at 9:30a to fill out paperwork and get ready. Lawrence will be with me. My friend Paula will be with Silas, Caleb and Malachi will be at BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) with Grammie.

My understanding is that this will be done by an invasive radiologist during a Cat-scan. So far each catscan and MRI was done with an IV for contrast die. I was told by the scheduler that this is done with local anesthetic, and no IV will be used. I will be sent to surgery recovery for about an hour after this procedure.

Please continue to pray for Gods healing and peace, obedient spirits, harmony, gentleness, building eachother up. Also pray the time I spend with the boys now is focused enjoyable time where I am not divided in my mind.

The growth I have gone through in the last 5-6 days has been so intense. I feel as though I am a crysalis, about to break out as a butterfly. The information I have received about how I have been coping with pieces of my life in the past has not been working for me and I will now deal with things differently.

After the MRI

So I had the MRI this afternoon. I asked to see the images, and was even able to get a CD made of the images they took. I had unbelievable peace today going into the scan. I had a dye injected for some of the images..... After seeing the images, I have been a bit shaken up. I really expected this thing to be gone by now.

Please pray for Lawrence. He had a bad flare up of gout early this morning, 2a or so. He drove to work and couldn't go in, then drove home, all in San Jose traffic. While I'm writing this blog though, he is outside teaching Caleb to catch, with the other boys help of course. His toe has gotten a bit better, but hurts to put flat on ground or to touch.

Please keep on praying for the miracles to overflow beyond what any mind has conceived in all areas of our lives.

MRI

Just got the MRI scheduled. It will be on Tuesday at 12:30p @ Eden Hospital in Castro Valley.

Please pray I will turn to God for my comfort and away from food, specifically sweets, and that I will deal with what he is trying to teach me.

What lies Beneeth

I recently had bronchitis. To verify it was not pneumonia, I had an X-Ray which revealed a mass in my chest area. I had a cat-scan Monday, March 12th. This showed the mass to be roundish, and roughly 8 ½ cm x 4 ½ cm x 5 ½ cm. It is putting some pressure on the lungs and has slightly displaced the aortic artery. Statistically, masses of this type are benign, non-cancerous, in women of my age. I will need a biopsy, and don’t know when this will be scheduled as yet. I want as many people praying for me as soon as possible.

The next step at this point is to get an MRI, to see how vascular, how many veins. The core biopsy takes a larger sample from the mass so more tests can be run, and some mass can be available to different docs if more tests need to be run.

I haven’t talked to any specialists yet, and until there is a biopsy, there’s not much to tell. The biopsy will be done during a cat scan by an Invasive Radiologist. Thank God I live so close to one of the best medical facilities in the country! I just switched my medical center from UCSF in February to an East Bay Med center, and now have switched back. The change back to UCSF will not be effective until May1. I have asked that they waive this and make it effective April 1 and will hear back from insurance on Tuesday.

I imagine that even a benign mass of this size will need to be removed, so I really need your prayers for calm. Please pray for my wisdom in setting up structure and getting the kids ready to spend a week or ? away from me, specifically Silas. Caleb has spent camping trips with Grammie before, and Malachi is ready for that now anyway, but it is early for Silas. Please pray for obedient spirits for the boys, that they would obey, cooperate, encourage and build each other up and not fight amongst themselves during the times when others are looking after them, and times when I may be around but sore from surgery or procedures. Pray that this will be a time of growing closer to God and looking to Him for strength and security for our entire family, that in leaning on Christ, we would be knit together as a family in a very special bond.

I have talked to Caleb mostly, actually when I tried to, he repeated back to me what he’s been hearingJ I’m so grateful to God for the peace he provides that surpasses all understanding. So far Caleb understands that I’ll have to have some tests and ultimately a stay in the hospital like Papa did for his Appendectomy. We talked about his being a leader and helping Malachi and Silas while I’m at the hospital.

I will be blogging as I have time, (which is tough to come by these days!) to keep anyone interested up to date with what’s going on. If you want to bring meals after a medical procedure or want to find out what I need, Sarah Tu can let you know. She leads the Care team at my church. Her number and email: tufamily5@comcast.net 510-623-8720

I know the plans God has for me, plans to give me hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purposes.
For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but POWER, LOVE and a SOUND MIND. 2 Tim 1:7
What Satan meant for evil, God will use for good.

Some of my comfort and strength. Forgot some references:-o

Please pray for the pain and fear will be diminished and recovery from the testing will be minor.

Thank you for your love, friendship and prayers,
~Heidi

More boyzzzz

Caleb and Malachi plant thier winter flower bulbs. Even this is a contest.....each has thier own flower bed.






Funny starts early here. Papa utot (aka farted). Silas laughed and then clapped. He's a real mans man:)

Angel or wild child?

Our Monkeys
Aquino Bobsled Team
Wild wild wild BOY, You're it. If you look carefully, Caleb does in fact have a reverse mohawk! Malachi and Caleb decided to give themselves haircuts last week during quiet time. Malachi had some baldish spots on his scalp, growing out already:) Caleb has always wanted a mohawk or reverse mohawk:-o

Adorable and wild all in one little package:)

Homeschool Subjects 2006-2007 Schoolyear

Here is our plan this year for homeschooling. The best part of homeschooling is the flexibility we have to make day-by-day changes, moment-by-moment changes, when something is working well, or not working so well. Many of you have questions about what is it we're doing. Your questions, comments, and even concerns and suggestions are always welcome to Lawrence and Heidi. We are fucusing more on learning to read at the moment, because Caleb is very interested. We do a lesson, then he writes the sounds(his favorite part). We are learning phonograms, that means we call the letters the sound/s (mmmm) rather than the name of the letter(m). The school year began on September 5 (Silas's birthday!) this year, so we have just completed our first week of school. Already there are adjustments based on what works better for his learning. I'm going to try to post our color coded daily schedule, but I don't think that will post, so if any of you are interested in seeing it(yes, I actually made us a color coded weekly schedule!) I'll email you a copy:)

Caleb 2006-2007 School Subjects

1. Language Arts - Sing Spell Read and Write
30-60 minutes [http://www.joyoflearning.com/Sing-Spell-Read-and-Write.html]

OR

Phonics, Spelling, Grammar, Creative Expression,

Writing [www.hwtears.com/parents/pointers]

2. Math - Math-U-See [www.mathusee.com]
30 minutes
AND/OR

Pattern Blocks

3. Read Aloud - Classics, Nature, Science, History, Misc.
30 minutes

4. History - Included in Read Aloud time

5. Geography - Part of Read Aloud AND Smart Globe

[www.oregonscientific.com]

6. Science - Read Aloud [Field Trips] 1x per month

7. Art - Sun Gallery in Hayward [Fridays 10a-11a] {www.sungallery.org}

8. Physical Education - Swimming Lessons on Saturdays

9. Music Piano Lessons

Hayward Shoreline Plant Species.

Jedi Brother Malachi
Jedi Brother Caleb

First popsicle

Sydney, our shoreline buddy.

Ask Caleb about Pickle weed or salt marsh grass. What is a salt marsh indicator?

Silas Turns ONE!!!!!

Silas reporting for duty. Will you let me eat dirt if I water the plants?
Water balloons, what better way to water plants is there?
Just Malachi and a train or two.

Mad Malachi.
The German shows through. Yes, this is saurkraut. Mmmmmm.
I'm waiting for your call.
Arnold the Aligator

Our baby is getting older

The Youngest Jedi

Sir licks-a-lot can be fierce.

Rrrruuuunnnn. In slow mo.


The jedi forces run amuck all over the property, inside and out!

Silas loves to play with the light saber. He likes to hit his brothers with it:0 Testosterone is present at a young age!

Silas is 1 year old now, Today. Sept 5.