Happy Kindergarten Graduation Day, Cayden!

 I can't believe Cayden is already finished with kindergarten, and is officially a first grader now!

 He's not had a very good day. He woke up early this morning, and he wasn't able to walk without a lot of pain in his left leg.
 When a 6 yr. old asks to go to the doctor instead of an ice cream party at school, we know it's bad.
 His mommy took him to the PED's office. They did x-rays and bloodwork, but nothing showed up. His dr. gave him a thorough exam, and can only speculate that something is inflamed. She put him on Motrin and ibuprofen doses with heat packs.
 If he's not better in 2 days, he will have to go back for further testing.
 Please say a prayer for our sweet grandson. He is determined to go to his kindergarten graduation tonight so my oldest grandson, Bubba, said he would carry him across the stage if the need arises.
 Cayden is trying to put more pressure on his leg this afternoon, but he's really had a hard time getting up from his bed or the couch. This is just not like our boy! He is one active little guy!

Thanks so much,
Shirley

A Real Southern Tea Party....

 I mentioned during my last post that I had been out of town last weekend. I went to Kenner, LA to visit my friend, Bettye. Bettye's house got flooded during Katrina, and it took her nearly 2 years to get it back into move-in condition. Now it's very nice, and that is all behind her, and we pray everyday that nothing like that happens again.
 Every year, Bettye's church group hosts a very nice tea party. I have been wanting to attend so I finally got to do that this year.
 Her church is in a quaint neighborhood in Metairie, LA.  The Tea Captains each decorate and host a table of friends for the tea.
 We sampled 3 different kinds of teas: Earl Grey Tea served with Appetizers, Blueberry White Tea served with Tea Sandwiches, and Madagascar Vanilla Red Tea served with Pastries.
 Their theme was "Shoes", and the decorations depicted how a woman's shoes change from a baby to a grown woman.

 I made the FSL Victorian style shoes as favors for Bettye's guest.

 These are the other tables.

 I really enjoyed meeting Bettye's friends, and these ladies did a whole lot of work to have this event. There were two ladies here that are 93 years old. One of them still drives, and the other one sitting at the  end of Bettye's table just found out she has ovarian cancer. So sad, but she wanted to come to the tea as she's come every year.
 I hope you enjoyed the pictures! This was my first REAL tea party, and I learned a whole lot!

Praising God - You Just Never Know!

Three years ago today I had my surgery for tongue cancer. I went in very early on the morning of Wednesday, May 7, 2008 with my husband and kids by my side. Luckily, I didn't have to wait too long before they starting drugging me. I don't even remember much about that morning. I was kept asleep mostly for 2 days. My family says I woke up and they talked to me a few times, but I don't remember a thing until I woke up on Friday. From then on, I remember a lot.
I had a 12 hour surgery which is described by daughter in the archives (arrow down the page for all of the May posts) if anyone wants to go and read about it. I was in ICU for 6 days, and stayed in the hospital a total of 12 days. I had never in my life been away from home for that long.
I had an amazing team of doctors which I now see every three months. My two year check up is on Tuesday, May 11. After that, they said I may be able to space my visits further apart.
Dr. Ghali went in after putting the vent in, and started cutting out the part of my tongue that had the cancer, and then they would check each piece he cut out until they got to a point where there were no cancer cells. That was a long period of time.
Dr. Kim did the reconstruction by taking a piece of muscle from my forearm (called the flap), and rebuilt my tongue. He also took the big vein in my left arm. Looooong ordeal!
I also had 50 lymph nodes removed in my neck. Praise God, those were cancer free, and I didn't have to take chemo or radiation!
As soon as they took me off the vent, and I could cover up the hole, I could talk. I was shocked to even hear myself speak. I thought it would be a really long time before I could speak again. This was Day 9. Amazing, huh? Just another one of God's blessings.
It was a very long recovery, but I managed to go back to school that August, and teach until mid-term when I retired in January 2009. It wasn't easy, but I made it with the help of my wonderful family and friends.


I go for my 3 year check up on Tuesday, May 10, so please keep me in your prayers.


I have been out of town for a few days, and I'm way behind on a lot of things. I hope to catch up with my blogs very soon.