♥ Always Dancing ♥

Ever since she was a little bit thing, Joy has danced.....around the house, in stores....it just never mattered where she was.  She danced. 

I have video footage of her in sponge rollers, doing some sort of made-up bull dance to Shania Twain's "Man I Feel Like a Woman", as well as Little Miss Graceful twirling like a ballerina to music.  She always pulled us into it with her, whether it was twirling her, twisting with her, whatever fit.  We laugh about this and she just says, "The music speaks to me....I can't help it, okay?" 

So through the years, she has done all kinds of dance.  She started ballet and tap at the age of almost 3.  She then added jazz to that, dancing all of those for almost 9 years.

Then we went to China to get Luke.  If you have followed my blog for very long, you may remember the video footage of her dancing in the park in China with the Chinese dancers.  As we stood there watching the dancers, I was watching her as she watched them.  Her feet were moving...she was watching every move.  She was 11 then.  She wanted to be out there dancing.  She asked her daddy if she could dance with them.  We ended up leaving that day without her dancing.  I think her dad just didn't know how they would welcome a foreigner dancing with them and if she could indeed keep up.  Well we came back the next day and I just knew this opportunity just might be one in a life time.  She looked at her daddy with the puppy dog eyes and asked if she could dance.  Of course, I helped out a little.  :)  She went up and asked the lady in charge,  and they all  gladly welcomed her.  And she did a great job keeping up.  She was just learning as she went.  They loved her!   She drew quite the crowd...this 11 year old American blond haired girl dancing with the Chinese ladies in the park.  You can see that video here on my blog.

It's just in her.  She has to dance or bust.

Well we took a break from dancing for about a year after Luke came home because of how time consuming it had become. She had this new little brother and she wanted to enjoy every minute of it.  We needed to simplify.  We were driving 45 minutes one way three times a week to dance.  But just like I suspected when we were away from dancing, she missed it.  So we found other avenues.  With her love of China, we discovered the Chinese dancing.  And she has most recently added swing dancing to that as well.

This next Saturday is the Chinese New Year Festival.  It's the big event she missed last year when she was in the hospital.  You may remember that.  She had the dress rehearsal for that last week.  Here are a couple of pictures from that day.

We are praying all goes well this year and she does indeed get to dance at the festival.  Being the worrier she is, it's in the back of her mind.  We're praying all goes well!

As far as Joy is concerned, there are so many types of dance to explore and try out, and so little time.  On her list to try are Irish dancing, Flamingo dancing, Salsa dancing, and more ballroom dances. 

She's loving the swing dancing, by the way!

It's so fitting that she has a ballet bar and mirror in her room and these words above it:

Dance like no one's watching

 

   

 

♥ Tammy ♥

 

♥ Box Day! ♥

It's a happy day around here when the mail lady arrives with a package, but it's a really happy day around here when the Fed-Ex guy pulls up with our Sonlight books!

It's so exciting to see what reading adventures await us for the year!  For those of you not familiar with Sonlight, it is very literature rich.  We spend a great deal of our school time independently reading and me reading aloud, which is my favorite part of homeschooling by the way.  :)

And this year, there was even more excitement.  Gleaning from the years of excitement watching his sister get a box of books and have a love of reading, Luke was thrilled to get his own box of Sonlight books - his very own Core!

And then today, Luke got another box of  extra goodies....educational games and puzzles to supplement our Sonlight through Timberdoodle, which I also love by the way!  This adds lots of hands-on elements to the reading and writing!  :)

Now we've got all our books......we're ready to get this thing started.  Although we just "eased" into school with a subject or two, our first official day of school will be this Monday!  I think I'm ready......yes, I'm ready!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ 31 Years! ♥

I just wanted to pop in here real quick for a couple of things.......

First of all, Joy has been in the hospital since Monday with a flare-up of the pancreatitis.  However, we caught this early on, so it looks like we're getting out of the hospital today!  And her pain level this time  is nothing compared to last time.  For that, we are thankful!  We're still praying for complete healing though!  We would appreciate your continued prayers!

Secondly,  today is Jason's and my anniversary....our 31st anniversary actually.  :)  I am so blessed to have him by my side in this life.  I trusted God for sending me the man he had for me all through my teen years, and He was faithful to send him to me.  I never would have thought it possible on our wedding day that I could love him more, but I do today.  Our love has grown in so many ways.  God has blessed us with our precious children and in so many more ways.  I am truly thankful for 31 years with him!  I can only imagine how love grows in the older years and I look forward to many more with this man God gave me!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥  

♥ J.O.Y. ♥ (Wordless Wednesday)

J  esus first.

O thers second.

Y ourself last.

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ Finally Home ♥

There's no place like home.  I've said it many times before, but I mean it all the more today!  We've been away from home for almost 2 weeks.  It felt so good to pull up into our drive and walk into our home!  It was like receiving a great big hug!  :)

Joy was released from the hospital on Saturday around noonish.  We had planned a mini trip to Alabama that was supposed to be from Friday until Tuesday.  Well, we figured that was just out of the question.  But......when Joy's doctor knew what we had planned, she told us we should go.....to just go straight from the hospital, if we could.  She said it would do Joy good and keep her mind off every noticeable "twinge" or "hint" of pain that she would still be having even after she was released. She said it would be a great distraction.  So, we did just that.  Jason made a trip to the house the night before and got a few things that we would need for Joy.  We already had a few changes of clothes there from living in the hospital for 9 days.  So, when they signed her released papers Saturday morning, we left the hospital, stopped and got a pain medicine prescription filled and were then on our way to Alabama (to my brother's house)!  It did turn out to be a good distraction for her and for all of us.  We had a good time just relaxing.  We just made it home late this afternoon.

The night before we got out of the hospital, long time friend, Katie Beth, came by the hospital to see Joy.  They have been friends since they were 2 years old.  Joy says she looks like a little kid here....actually she's sitting on the bed and Katie Beth is standing beside her.  :)

As good as it was and a nice distraction, it is just plain ole good to be HOME.  :)

Thank you for the prayers for Joy.  We are continuing to pray that she never has another "episode" of the pancreatitis.....complete healing is what we're praying for.  But we do thank the Lord for bringing her through this!

I also wanted to invite you all to join me tomorrow morning on the sunporch for a visit with another blogging friend.  She's been blogging quite awhile and I know you'll enjoy the visit!  I hope you'll stop by and join us in the morning!

Have a great evening!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ A Joy Update ♥

Good morning!  I thought I would pop in here for a quick post to update you on Joy.  We are still in the hospital.  It has been a week today.  Yesterday I saw her true smile back for the first time in awhile, and it sure was good!  While she is definitely not pain free, she was able to be up and about more.....says she can manage this pain better than what she had before.

Her pancreatic enzymes are almost back to normal.....we're about 100 points away from normal.  There is some concern here with the doctors now because her billirubin count has gone up.  They are watching it closely because pancreatitis can affect the liver, which is what the billirubin is related to.  They are repeating labs again this morning.  If that number doesn't go down, they are looking at doing an out-patient ERCP at another hospital (because they don't do it here) which would tell them if she has an ostructed pancreatic duct.  If she does, they would put in a stint.

That's really as much as we know now.  Joy is hungry, but still can't eat.  She has had basically ice and water since last Thursday.  She did try to eat  a little on Saturday (they probably let her try because she just wasn't complaining much in hopes of getting out to dance) and had severe pain and it has been constant since then.

I'll update you more when I know more.  Thank you for the prayers......we appreciate them so much!  We're just trusting God to restore her completely!  :)

********************************************

Yesterday we had a celebrity sighting here at the hospital.........Joy went out in the hall and had her picture taken with him.   Hee hee!  He even had security!  I asked him did he remember singing at our wedding.....  :)  Evidently, this was Elvis in his later years.  :)

**************************************

 



Also on another note..... Jane (the mom that took the Chinese dance photos of Joy), was again very nice and sent the link to the performance on Saturday night that she videoed.  Joy's teacher, who  danced in her place, is the one on her knees in the front at the beginning.  She looked so cute!  All the girls (ages 11-14) looked cute and did a great job!  This dance is called the Fan Dance.





And last of all, I'd like to wish you all a Happy Valentines Day!  Thanks for stopping by today!  :) 

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ Chinese Dance Memories Anyway ♥

Well our Joy didn't get to dance in the actual Chinese New Year Festival this past Saturday, but she did get to practice on the stage with the rest of the girls a couple of weeks before.  And as you know my camera lens is broken (still), so I didn't have my camera along with me on that day.  But we did get pictures, thanks to Jane, mom to Maggie, one of the girls in the dance class.   Jane also happens to be a photographer and was taking random pictures that day. She is very talented as you can see from her website, JA Photography.   I'm so thankful for the photos she got of Joy, and especially thankful for her passing them along to me.  Wasn't that so sweet?  (Thank you again, Jane).  :)

And I forgot to say that Joy's dance teacher was able to wear her costume and dance in her place at the Chinese New Year Festival Saturday night, so it worked out fine.  And Joy realized during that time, while here at the hospital, that there was no way she could have danced with her pain level what it was.

So today I'm sharing the pictures Jane captured: (The makeup is only for the stage....she does NOT wear that makeup normally....lol!)  But she does love red lip stick, and says when she does wear makeup....she is all about the red.....said this one wasn't red enough.  :)



Update on Joy:  We're still in the hospital.  We have a couple of tests being done today.  We still can't leave until her pain level has come down considerably and stays down and she begins to eat/drink.  We think she may have tried too early to eat (which was only a little) in an attempt to get out on Saturday and caused an intense flare up.  She has been so afraid to try eating/drinking again because her pain has been constant.  She watches the clock for her pain medicine.  However, one of her enzymes is down to normal range, and the other one was still up as of last night, but not nearly as much as before.  Hopefully, when we get the lab results back today, this one will be closer to normal.  When these get down to normal, she has to be headed in the direction of getting over this episode!  We choose to believe she will be her bubbly self again soon!  Again, we thank you for the prayers! 

************************************

 

I hope you'll stop by tomorrow and join me for a Sunporch Chat with a sweet friend.  You're in for another treat!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  :) 

♥ Tammy ♥

Another Night in the Hospital

Thank you so much for the prayers for Joy.  It looks like we'll be spending another night here in the hospital.  The doctor was trying hard to get her out of the hospital and able to dance tonight for the Chinese New Year Festival, but it depended on her pain levels.   Even though her mind is there wanting to dance, her body just isn't cooperating.  None of us are comfortable with them letting her go home while she's still in pain like this. 

Once Joy came to the realization that she knew she just couldn't dance, she's been okay. 

She is trying to be an encouragement to others here too.  While playing the game show that they do for entertainment for the kids here on the TV, she called in and donated her winning answer to a little two year old girl named Leah who ended up winning one of the prizes.  We just got back from actually meeting Leah and her family.   Boy did it put things in prospective for me (for us).   They lost an almost 3 year old son here almost a year ago.  Missing a dance performance is nothing compared to that kind of loss.

I just wanted to update my friends and family that are praying and thank you.  Joy thanks you!

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ Earning Points ♥

These days it seems like many of us are looking for ways to be frugal, thrifty, and save money in any way possible!

Well, I wanted to share something I’ve recently begun that is allowing us to build points for gift cards and in one instance, even cash.

 

First of all, for some time now, we have been using a Visa points card through our bank, Regions. We were a little reluctant at first because it is a credit card, which we stay away from like the plague. BUT, we decided to give it a trial run, since we were already in the habit of using a debit card. The thing we wanted to make sure was that we were disciplined in making sure to pay it off every two weeks (which is a pay period for us). In other words, sticking to our budget and putting only those normal things on it we would purchase anyway, like groceries, gas, etc.. So, that’s the first way we’ve been earning points and it’s already paid off well during Christmas. We opted for cash into our account and it was nice to see that money earned just by using the points card. Now if you don’t think you can be disciplined to pay it off each week or two, I wouldn’t advise this because racking up a balance on a credit card that you don’t pay off is never a good thing.

The second way we’ve been building points is through My Points (.com). I’m not that familiar with Swagbucks, although I’ve seen it around. This may work similar to that. I earn points through this by taking surveys occasionally or should I say trying to take surveys (because most of the time they disqualify me). Guess I'm just too simple and not interesting enough.  :) But that’s okay too, because I still get points for trying.....just for clicking and attempting to take it.  Another way is by printing and using coupons that are sent to me through email.   And the big way to earn points through My Points is by purchasing through their site. This means if you’re already going to make an online purchase, first go to My Points (once you’re signed up with an account) and see if that store is listed and go through that link to the website and place your order. You automatically get points for your purchase. I’ve only been doing this for less than a month, and it’s already building nicely.

And the third way I wanted to mention that is really easy is Bing. Bing is a search engine and you build points with them mostly by just doing searches.....any type of search.   You don't have to click on what your search, just put it in the search bar.  You do 30 searches a day for 15 points and there’s always a daily list of things you can do. I literally spend about 5 minutes or less doing this, making it a part of my daily routine. There are a few ways to get your rewards with them, but for us, the best one was Amazon gift cards. I’m planning on saving mine for Christmas gifts.

Now, here’s another thing. If you sign up for either My Points or Bing, you can also earn extra points by inviting other folks to sign up through your link. And then they can do the same thing with family and friends.

So, if you’re like us, and looking for ways to save or build points for gift cards, I highly recommend these. If you’re interested, I’d love to pass along my link for Bing and an invitation to join My Points.

Click here to sign up for Bing through my link.  Just follow this to sign up and it automatically gives me credit and gets you started! It gives you the option to sign up through Facebook or to create a Microsoft account, which only requires an email address and a password.  I'm not on Facebook, so I joined through the Microsoft option.

And for My Points, email me here with your email address and I’ll send you the invitation. Then just let the points start building and the savings begin!

And last of all today, I’m going to leave you with a couple of pics from Joy’s birthday celebration. Bless her heart, she had a stomach bug on her birthday, but somehow made it through the day although she says much of it is a blur. Her friend, Christina, spent the entire weekend with us, stomach virus and all.  What a sweet friend.  :)

Joy wanted a Captain America birthday cake:

And she wanted to eat at Steak N Shake:

Thank you for all the sweet birthday wishes for our girl!  :)

Thanks for stopping by! And if I can answer any questions about the above points avenues, I’d be glad to try! :)

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ 14! ♥

It's hard to believe it, but our brown-eyed girl, Joy, turns 14 today!

She was a princess then......

And she is still a princess.....

She is truly a joy to us!  We are blessed! 

Happy birthday, Joy!  We love you!  Enjoy your day!  10!   :)

♥ Mama and Daddy ♥

{A Quick Post}

Hey, all!  :)

Just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about my blog.  We are in the ER with Joy, waiting to be taken up to a room.  We don't know yet if it's pancreatitis or something else.  We would appreciate your prayers!  :)

Thank you and God bless,
Tammy

{Sometimes Willing} Little Model

As I mentioned in the last couple of posts, Joy has been very interested in photography and has taken my camera out on mini photo shoots.

Well Luke has been drawn into her little photo shoots. Most of the time, he’s fairly willing, although not always cooperative. I like that she captured all those things in Luke’s personality though through her little photo shoots.

Joy has already posted these on her blog and she gave me permission to share them here on my blog.

Luke, the monkey:

He never fails to pick flowers for me when he goes outside.  :)

Well you can't wear a monkey suit without acting like one, can you?

Luke, the farmer boy:

Luke, the baseball player:

He obviously dressed himself....his shirt is on backwards!  :)

Luke, the annoyed:

And last of all, here’s yet another photo by Joy I'm including for Sandra's 31 days of fall challenge.  Maybe I’ll take my own photo soon…..but she’s doing such a great job and letting me borrow them…….. :)  And this one has fall written all over it…..it's that time when we get to break out the boots…..and these are Joy’s new ones!

To everyone that stopped by today, thank you very much! Have a great day!  I hope you’ll join me tomorrow for Faithful Friday. And soon I’ll take you on a little field trip to my mom’s house to see all the good stuff my carpenter has made for her home!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ Is She Chinese? ♥

“Is she Chinese?” That’s the question one of the girls in Joy’s Chinese dance class asked their teacher the first night Joy walked into class.  Joy got tickled at the question and asked her with a grin, “Do I look Chinese?” They all got a chuckle out of it and the teacher assured them that it didn’t matter if you were Chinese or not…..anyone could take the class.

We laugh about the fact that 2/3 of my children are Asian and the one that’s not is very interested in the Asian culture. This is Joy’s second year of taking Chinese as a second language class. In addition to that class, this year she is also taking the Chinese dance class. She just loves it. This class will perform at the Chinese New Year festival.

Her fan came from China and it just so happens that in this dance, they are dancing with fans…….just the kind she brought back from China.  It really is a beautiful fan that pops out with the neatest sound and just flows with the dance.



Instantly, Joy made friends with several of the girls…….Kaia, Annie, and Ying Jie. Kaia was adopted as an infant. Annie has Chinese parents but was raised here in the states, and Ying Jie has Chinese parents as well.  Ying Jie is a little shy, but Joy has won her over.  :)

From left  to right.....Ying Jie, Annie, Joy & Kaia

I hope I can video the dance when they perform it so you can see it. It is different from American dance, but it is pretty. You may remember Joy dancing with the ladies in the park in Hohhot, China. If you missed that post, you can see it here.  So taking this Chinese dance class is a very exciting thing for her!

So is she Chinese? Yes, a part of her is and always will be now. After traveling to China, it just becomes a part of you.  :)

*************************************************

 

For Sandra's 31 days of fall challenge, I have another of Joy's pics to share.  She loves photography and got some wonderful photos that shout fall and she gave me permission to share with you.  The many leaves that collect on our sidewalk going up to The Cedar Loft:

 



Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a wonderful day!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ Reasons to Smile ♥

Yesterday was a good day. It was a day to celebrate for two reasons!

First of all, these two precious little girls are officially Richie and Missy’s (my brother and sister-in-law). MY nieces. The adoption was final yesterday. It’s been a much longer process than they anticipated, but the judge declared it final today. Of course, Sydney and Ellie were already “ours” before that, but it’s a BIG DAY to celebrate because now it’s “official”! Yay!!!

Take a look at how they have bloomed! The picture on the left of this collage is Sydney on the first day Richie and Missy met them in person, and the one on the right was taken by Joy (at their house) in August! She has the sweetest smile and the prettiest blue eyes with the longest eyelashes! She’s also our little spitfire. Richie says she’s just like me. Well, good luck with that, Richie.  :)

And here’s little Ellie on that same day in July 2011, then again in August of 2012 in a picture also taken by Joy (at their house). Ellie is attached to her daddy, and she also has him wrapped around her little finger. It’s taken many trips to Alabama to get her to warm up to me, but it gets better every time! She just got one of her cochlear implants the beginning of this year. She has come such a long way. She is our little peanut and she is precious!

The second reason to celebrate is that our Luke had his check-up today with the Spine Clinic and got a GOOD REPORT! The doctor was amazed at just how normal he is and didn’t even think a MRI was necessary and told us that he’d see us in a year! Praise the Lord! God is good!

Just look how much our Little Emperor has grown. The picture on the left was taken in July 2010 and the one on the right was taken by Joy in August 2012 (right before he got a much needed haircut).  

Speaking of Luke, this is one of his latest things. He likes his monkey hat.

He has been wearing it to bed. He says it’s his sleeping hat. I think he’s seen people wearing sleeping caps in books. I couldn’t resist getting this picture of him asleep in his monkey cap.

Another one of his latest things is his imaginary friend, Bingo. This is new territory for me. Neither Colt nor Joy had an imaginary friend. Luke talks about Bingo a lot. He will say something and when we ask where he heard that, he says Bingo told him. Bingo has been in the hospital, but is out and doing better evidently. Bingo has black hair and gray eyes. Bingo sounds like a very interesting character.  Sorry I don't have a picture of Bingo for you.....you'll have to use your imagination!    

 And I’m going to share a couple more pictures with you today because they make me smile. Joy and Luke were singing and dancing around the living room to Mandisa’s song, Good Morning. Actually I was singing and dancing with them until I stopped to take the picture. We sure do love our music!

 

Thanks for stopping by today and remember to take time to stop and enjoy the music……and dance!

♥ Tammy ♥