Birthdays and more

Wow! I should REALLY be ashamed of myself right now for not updating before now! Who would believe that my two tiny little miracles from God are now EIGHT YEAR OLDS!!!! Yep! Ethan and Emily had a birthday and I didn't even post about it. Well, in my defense, we have had a lot going on, but still that is no excuse. :)

The kids had a wonderful party. We had it the week before their birthday. I think we had a total of 26 kids here if I counted correctly. And the weather held out long enough for us to have the moonwalk that the kids had been wanting. It was so much fun and I think that everybody enjoyed themselves. Then, a week later we got to celebrate again on their REAL birthday. Goodness, I better watch out next year. They will want to do this two-party thing again. Ha-ha! Emily got a lot of Liv dolls and accessories and then lots of general girly type stuff while Ethan was all about Harry Potter this year. I had to do a lot of searching and Ebay auction fighting to get some of his treasures. He was so excited! Nothing could top his Lego Hogwarts castle, though. I only wish I could take credit for that one, but I can't. And Emily's top gift was this saucer chair she has been wanting forever. Again, I can't take credit. :) But what DID make us heroes in Emily's eyes was the brand new kitten she got the day before her birthday. Oh, we didn't have any intention of getting a kitten. That is just what happens when you walk into a pet store and they just happen to be having adoptions that day from the local animal shelter. We are suckers! Ha-ha!

Our new little kitten's name is Lily. I have to admit that she is so absolutely adorable. She is about 6 months old and is the most loveable kitten that I've ever seen. But then again, anything is loveable if you consider that I've mostly only had Siamese cats. :) Lily only has a little bob tail and she starts wagging it when she gets excited. It is so cute. We've had a little bit of work getting Lily and the other animals used to each other. Marley (our house horse) loves to nose her to death when she is on our lap. And she will just sit as patient as can be and watch her when Lily is sitting on her cat tree. But the second Lily jumps down...it is like the rabbit out of the chute at the greyhound track. Holy cow! They are getting better with each day, though.

Things with my Dad haven't really changed a whole lot. It seems like we are in the constant waiting game. The results of the tissue biopsy do show that the cancer is in fact stage IV Melanoma and so lung surgery is definitely out. Dad did have a procedure done on the spot in his brain. It was this cyber-knife that was like a high powered radiation that was supposed to zap the tumor. He just got the approval from the insurance company for the chemo drugs and so hopefully he can start that very soon. After he does some of this chemo then our hope is that he can start a clinical trial. Overall, Dad is feeling pretty good and just has some days where he is tired.

We have a whole lot more going on right now that I'm sure I will be posting about soon. Between the kids, school, work, and life...things are just crazy. We just try to enjoy every second that we can and make the most of each day. You just never know what tomorrow is going to bring.