Lyme Disease :-(

http://www.projectlymeaid.blogspot.com/

I have added a new tab under favorite blogs - Titled Lyme-Aid. My friend Lindsey started this blog in conjunction with her adoption blog "The Lord Almighty in Battle" because she was recently diagnosed with Lyme Disease.

My mother was recently diagnosed also with Lyme disease and I have found it is the "sucker of life" out of a person.....just sucks the life and energy right out of her. My life has been nothing less than chaotic since my mother has been diagnosed and I feel I have been little to no help, though I do go up and help clean, just sit and chat....things like that....but just recently found myself in a position to start researching this disease. The doctors say they think she has only had it since last March.....but after noticing how the medicine is taking it's dear sweet time working and all the complications she has had, I can only believe that she has had this for much longer, and she feels the same way as well. Chris and I are just learning to take our lives ONE DAY AT A TIME.......and this added on top of it, my mother not being a woman of GREAT patience ( some patience...but as she gets older, that patience in certain situations is diminishing! Sorry mom) is also learning to take it ONE DAY AT A TIME. Maybe this is God's Way of slowing us all down some....telling us not to take each moment, each day for granted.....but slow down and soak in the good things around us while dealing with the internal (and external) pain that our bodies and minds are enduring right now. It's been one heck of a summer for our entire family it seems.....not a fun one by any means, although we are grateful for many things.......I think we can all admit without shame or guilt it has been one of the hardest summers ever on us emotionally, mentally, physically and healthwise. It has plain sucked, I won't lie.

So I just ask you pray for strength for my friend and my mother as they face each day. Both with entirely different lives......My mother who has grown children and grandchildren she would like to enjoy more often....and Lindsey just staring out in motherhood. Each day is a challenge and much inner strength, peace and answers are needed. So if you think about it....send up a prayer for those in need, who often don't think twice about this disease until you are hit with it or have a family member/friend who is dealing with it.

Thank you!!!

~~ Madisyn & Volleyball ~~

Yep, life has been a little hard without Madisyn around. I do miss her...more and more each day. She is doing well though and I thought I'd post these volleyball pic's of her. She got her favorite number ...... #12 of course, making that signature MK12 that she loves so much!

Congrats to Madisyn for making the JV team and also the Varsity team!! Way to go! I sure would like to see her in Central Lady Bears Brown and Gold uniforms....but she stayed right with the blue and gold Thompkins Jets colors that I am so used to seeing every day! She is a Northern Lebanon Viking right now, but in my heart she'll always be a "Central Bear"!

Play hard and Love the game you are playing!!!

Things that keep me going back for more.....

Below you will find some wild and wacky photos.....and these are the reasons I want to go "home" so often and so badly. Yes...this crazy chaotic mess I call my "family" and "friends"....who are as close as family can get. "Friends are the family we choose for ourselves" as says a plaque by my computer that my "red headed" friend Lynette in the pictures below gave me one year for my birthday. My list of photos could go on forever of cousins, aunts, uncles and people who just fit right in as if they are kin. I'm blessed, that is the conclusion I've come to. I am proud to call this wild and wacky "mess" my family". We may not always agree or see eye to eye, but we always have each others backs, and we can always find words of encouragement and comfort to give when one of us is down and life just isn't going the way we had planned for the moment. We all have lots of these "moments" in our lives...... I've come to realize it is normal to feel some of the things I have been feeling, and with good reason. I've come to realize also that I am not alone.....that the ones closest to me have gone through similar situations, they know how to give advice and listen carefully......that one day one of us might flip the switch and could be going through something similar, causing them to pay a little more attention and offer words of encouragement they might not otherwise say. It is hard to find a blessing when times are so very tough......but if you sit back and look at the big picture of things, you will remember that it has been said God will never give us more than we can handle. I have come to realize God must really want to test me and put me at that very edge of my zone......and then I must pause and remember how much I have, the blessings in my life, the things that aren't going wrong and realize how lucky I am.

Going "home".....back to mama' and daddy's is my refuge. It is where I feel most comfortable and at peace......I'm going to just chalk this up to "that's normal for a female".....regardless if it is or isn't! :-) I can do that, this is my blog! So.....below are just a very slight few of the glimpses of the "things" that keep me going back home for more (chaos). And I do love every minute of that chaos......my family reminds me of "Everybody Loves Raymond" to a T....there aren't very many moments when we aren't laughing....and laughter is good for the soul I hear! We need that.....we ALL need that.

Blessings to you and all of yours.....and may you find great enjoyment in the midst of your chaos this weekend!

"Praise the Lord for New Beginnings"

What an awesome weekend we had last weekend! We were supposed to end the weekend with going to Holiday World for Chris' company picnic, but that morning grandma called and Lyza had "spilled" everywhere (that is what Lyza calls vomiting) and so we had to go pick her up. We decided we'd had a long weekend and to just stay at the hotel longer as they have an awesome pool and great playground and just let her play and spend some quality time having fun with her. She didn't get sick anymore, only that one incident so who knows what was going on with her! We had a great time playing as you can see from the pic's below. The ones of Chris and I are from the weekend marriage retreat we went to. We learned a lot and took home some very useful tools to apply in our marriage.

This week was a hectic one! On Wednesday I finally went to the dr. and was declared half dead, that is how I felt anyway. I had/have bronchitis, strep throat and a double ear infection. Not a fun trip to the dr. and even not funner at home with a 3 yr old and a husband who is on 3rd shift. I also had a lot of volleyball duties (pic's, high school recognition) and such too that I had already committed to so I carried them out on Wednesday then came home and went to bed, slept the entire night, Chris had to take Lyza to school and then I picked her up, which I am sad to say I barely remember.....I came home, got her lunch, put her down for a nap and fell back asleep myself. I let Ashley take my place coaching my girls in their game on Thurs. We won....thank you Ashley for holding up our undefeated season so far!!!!! I have slept pretty much day and night since then....I've been miserable! I am doing a little better this morning, thus why I am still up I guess. I am supposed to be slumbering in our tent in the living room! The JOYS of teaching a 3 yr old about imagination! I love it.....love, love, love it! What fun it is. She did awesome in preschool this week as far as I'm told......although on Tues she did tell me the only snack she got were "Dog Treats".....and she hasn't changed her story yet. I know budget cutbacks and all.....but come on, feeding the children dog treats....that's going a bit overboard in my mind! LOL (this is the preschool I used to teach at....and no, I am positive she didn't really get dog treats, but in her 3 yr old mind she did.....so, therefore.....we all know not to argue with a 3 yr old!)

Have a blessed weekend and I will try and get some volleyball pic's up soon!!

Best FarAway Friends

I am posting this little quote for my best faraway friend Jen! Hope it makes you smile and hope you are feeling better! Thank you so much for all you do to make me smile and make my life a little easier....even if it is all the way from Atlanta! I love, love, love the little scrapbook you made me.....and love the blogs you do for me! How wonderful and special you are! xoxoxoxooxoxxo

It's the times we're so crazy people think we're high.

It's the times we laugh so hard we can't help but cry.

It's all the inside jokes and "remember whens".

That's all the real reasons we're BEST FRIENDS!

SORRY!

Misty and Ashley

Ok....we all know I haven't been blogging cause I have nothing to say......ha ha! Time has just seemed to be slipping by! Lyza started PreSchool last week, this week being her first week without Mommy or Daddy and her teachers Ms. Betsy and Ms. Susan say she is doing great! I got a nice letter/thank you from Ms. Susan today that warmed my heart. We have been spending as much time as we can outdoors to soak up this beautiful weather! It is soooooo nice! Except for the hot afternoons I could do without! Lyza goes to morning preschool.......Chris was off all last week so he got to go to school with us on parent day and that was a treat for all of us! Other than Dr. appts for her burns, we didn't do much but clean (him more than me....he cleaned out all of the barn and took it to the junkyard and made some nice cash). I have been really busy with volleyball, as you can tell from the above pictures I have quite a group......I mainly take on the 6th and 7th graders.....and Ashley takes on the 8th graders. What a joy there are......and we are now 6-0, so NOT BAD! Coaches and Players must be doing something right!!!!!! They are a good group and though no one could fill the void I am missing with Madisyn, it does help to go to a group of girls every day and go and watch the H.S. Teams play most Tues and Thurs. Lyza digs seeing all her friends still and hangs on them.....and now she's made a whole new group. So good for her.....sad for me in some ways, but I'm making it.

I have so much to look forward to! Chris and I have great things going for us and I can't wait til' this weekend. It is going to be very special weekend and I can't wait! I've waiting on these changes in our lives for a very long time!

We went camping this past weekend, beautiful weather and not many people in the park at all! The only downfall.....I got pretty sick on Sun night, almost like a kidney stone, from front to back. Scared me some......and it got worse as the night progressed and so 4 am, we are loading up the tent and all our belongings, including a baby and heading home. Thank you Lord that I had an understanding, caring husband who I think just wanted to get home too....he never said that, but he took good care of me. Matter of fact, I came home, went to bed....went to practice, slept through 1/2 of practice, came home, went to bed and slept until 11 am the next day and only cause I had to go pick Lyza up from school! I am feeling better today, drinking lots of water and trying to heal on my own!

I hope you all have blessed week! I will leave you with this quote

I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining

In love even when I'm alone and in God even when He is silent.

~~ BLESSING

~~ Misty

Daddy, Macey, Mommy and Lyza at the Riverwalk

Mommy and Daddy

Daddy, Macey, Mommy and Lyza (Dancing!)

Mama and Lyza

Mommy and Daddy are "Kinda" silly!

Misty and her best friend since kindergarten - LYNETTE (or Netters as my brother calls her :-)

Mama and Lyza at the Riverwalk

PuppyBear Macey after her haircut!

Lyza's first day of PreSchool! I like how her grandma pointed out all that was showing was the BIG picture, her skinny little legs and big bows! LOL!!!

Lyza putting money in the piggy bank with Ms. Suzie for the Children of Uganda!

Off she goes with Ms. Suzie

Lyza and Ms. Suzie

Lyza and Ms. Betsy

Mama taking her in to "Friends Forever" while Daddy takes pic's!!

We pulled up to the parking lot and she took off her seatbelt, put on her backpack and said "See ya later guys".......as if we were just going to let her walk across the parking lot and let her go into school by herself. SILLY KID!

Ha ha ha......my first day of school!!!!!

Macey and Chloe......best buds. They sure are cheap entertinment for Chris and I when we are actually home for a weekend!!!