Festival of Needlepoint Tree

My Mom is a needlepointer, is that an official word?, well she LOVES to needlepoint.  She has made the boys beautiful birth framed pieces.  She has made pillows, HUGE stockings that hang in their home, hanging wall art and she has made Ornaments and MORE Ornaments...Stocking Ornaments.  They are priceless and a true work of LOVE.  I KNOW she puts hours and hours into them.  It's what she finds relaxing to do in the evenings.  

This year I decided it was time to showcase them so they wouldn't get lost on our main BIG tree.  So WE dedicated a new tree to her needlepoint and to honor her hard work.  It's in our dining room.  Drew counted I think there were more than 20 ornaments he hung.  I love it, I think it's a beautiful way to honor her and her hard work.  And they won't get "lost" ever on the tree.

Thank you Mom for your hours and hours of hard work and tender loving care put into each one of these...what treasure for all of us.  Now we just need a Needlepoint Star for the top... do they make those.  

We love you Mom!

And here was the iphone shot before when Drew was laying out what we had...

Quiet days at home

I am a homebody, I LOVE quiet days at home.  I have not left the house today.  I did shower and get dressed...it has been wonderful to just stay HOME.  I have a list of things to do, and I have not left to do them.  Max and I have been cleaning, finishing up some Christmas decorating, think all we have left is the tree.  Laundry is humming...roast is in the crock pot.  Christmas music playing.  He has been so content to be home.  Scott got home late last night and so he is in his office here working today, love when he is here.  It just makes things feel easier.

There is always something to be done...ALWAYS. It was nice just to take some time and be home, even doing stuff at home feels simpler than racing around town.

Yesterday was my annual appointment at Mayo for my Pituitary Adenoma.   My Mom met me at my appointment, so grateful for her.  Mayo Clinic is an amazing place.  To think my Dr is a Pituitary Specialist...I mean seriously.  Your pituitary gland is the size of a kidney bean, and this is THIS man's focus.   Wow!  He is a really nice man on top of it.  It hasn't changed in size, which is great.  Blood labs were a little off, but nothing terrible.  Just need to get another draw here and have the results sent to him.  But pretty much we are status quo for another year...thankful.

After our appointment we had a fun lunch, just the girls, doesn't happen much.  We headed to see my friend Amy who recently moved to Rochester...and then went our separate ways.  It was a blessed day.

My heart is full...

Never been happier...

We have never been happier to see this guy...Will is HOME!  He got home about an hour ago!  Tommy and I just went to bring their dinner and some homemade Shisler Chocolate Chip Cookies which are Will's very favorite...oh and a Hawkeye Stocking hat, assuming they had shaved his head.  :)

Can you believe he is HOME?  Brain surgery 4 nights ago and he is HOME!  And he has HAIR, the Doctors did a great job hiding his incisions.

SO grateful to see him...thankful for ALL of your prayers!

God is good ALL the time!

Tommy will sleep WELL tonight!

Drew's Buckeye Weekend

Scott and Drew headed to Ohio on Tuesday night, after Jack's school concert and birthday celebration.  Scott's Dad is still not 100% and we determined that it would be best for them to spend Thanksgiving out there with them.  The rest of us had plans to eat Thanksgiving out at Des Moines Golf with my parents, so it wasn't a big deal to me as far as cooking for him to be gone.

They enjoyed Thanksgiving in Ohio with the extended Shisler family. They met at a local church and everyone brought food to share.

 Drew with Scott's Aunt Pauline

 Scott and a couple of his cousins' boys

 Scott and his cousin Lisa, Lisa was raised at their Grandparent's farm, so they grew up together in many ways

 Lisa and her Dad Gene

 Drew and his Great Uncle Gene

 The table...

 On the farm driving the Kubota

Scott's Mom ALWAYS spoils us with our favorite meals when we are in town.  Pot Roast, Hamloaf, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, her famous salad, her homemade applesauce, cookies, pies...Drew LOVES it.  

Scott helped finish up the farming "stuff" from the harvest, while Drew drove the Kubota around helping however he could.  Right up BOTH of their alley's...not sitting still and working on a project.  They headed to Columbus on Friday morning. 

Getting ready to leave...bye to Grandma and Grandpa Shisler, a goodbye to the kitty and a view of the freshly chopped stalks in the field. Onto Columbus they go.

 They were able to take in a Buckeye basketball game while they were there.

Does he look happy or what?

 Of course a visit to Cane's for Chicken Fingers

 A trip to the library for views of the campus, one of Drew's MOST favorite things to do at Ohio State.

Mike, Stuart and Jane Townsley with Drew.  Scott and Mike were best friends in college. 

 Saturday morning before the game, they were able to go to a brunch with our friends the Townsleys.  And after they ate, look who they ran into walking to the game.  Yep, that's the team.  I believe Coach Meyer even shook Drew's hand.  My boys were thrilled to be so up close to the team.

 They also met up with some old friends of ours, well actually Scott's old college friends Chris and Carol's daughter Aimee, and her husband Derek.  They were able to pull off an O-H-I-O to send home.  We have known Aimee...well scott has, since she was born.  I think she was about 6 when we first started dating. 

 Yes we played Michigan, and YES we won and YES they "stormed the field" which may just be Drew's FAVORITE thing to do at a Buckeye game.  The weather wasn't terribly cold and they had a great time.

 After the game they were able to walk around campus a bit more...

These Buckeye weekends rank up there with Christmas for our boys.  In the fall it all becomes a blur of games and trips.  Scott never fails to THANK me for allowing him this time with our boys, for holding down the fort and sending them on their way with a smile on my face.  I LOVE that they get this time with him.  I LOVE the memories they are making that will last their lifetime.  This tradition is priceless to both Scott and to me, and if it isn't already to our boys, it MOST certainly will be.  

Go Bucks!

GREAT news and PRAISE

 ...The latest updates on Will.

-Yesterday they surgically placed a monitor in his brain to measure pressure.
-Pressure was reading WAY higher than it ever should be showing them that something was VERY wrong.
-Decided at midnight to not wait any longer for surgery, they needed to get in and release the pressure fast.
-3:18 am I checked my email and saw that he was out of surgery and everything went well.
-7:00 am Will was awake and reporting ZERO pain....this coming from a kid who morphine wasn't helping the pain earlier this week oh and he was asking for pancakes too.  Hasn't eaten all week.
-12:00 pm Will not only ate chocolate chip pancakes but kept them down AND was sitting up watching his favorite NFL football.

Seriously...God is SO good, Mayo Doctors are amazing...SO very grateful he is doing better.  Now they just need to make sure they can do everything they can so this won't happen again.  We still have not heard for sure what caused all of this.  We assume it was the shunt that he has had for 10 years NOT working right or infected.  But we are just speculating that from what we have read and heard from them.

Praying he gets out of ICU soon and can recuperate easily.

We sure love this kid....

Taken at MOA Waterpark...many years ago. Tommy's 9th birthday maybe? Seriously how cute are they?

Consider this...

This is Andy Johnson from our church...he has some serious God given talent.

Christmas is coming...

Thank you to Rachel Sweerin at The Burlap Bungalow on etsy for this print...love it

Praying for Will

Tommy's oldest and best friend Will is sick, very sick.  Please pray for him.  Will lives across the street and they have been the best of friends since Kindergarten.  

 He has been in the hospital since Monday with terrible headaches and nausea.  Tommy and I visited him yesterday and he was very out of it.  But he did look at Tommy and sort of nod.  He took a turn for the worse in the night, they had been treating for Migraines since tuesday and it wasn't working.  He had a seizure and was very confused and struggling with vision changes.  They Air Flighted him to mayo this afternoon.   They had ruled out bacterial meningitis but now are wondering if it could possibly be viral meningitis.  Also when Will was 4 he had a cyst on his brain, they drained it with a shunt that is still in his head.  Possibly that is infected as well.  Regardless he is a very sick boy.  And I have a VERY concerned boy at our house.  Who wants to pack it up and head to Mayo tomorrow.  Which we are not...but nonetheless he is worried beyond worried.  

I pulled up a few quick pictures from the years....

these 2 have shared so much and get along so well.  Will is often over here after school, they have played many teams together and that was by far the hardest part of Tommy leaving Waukee schools in 5th grade but their friendship has remained.  

In the meantime would you seriously get on your knees and PRAY that the Dr's figure something out and FAST!  Pray for fast healing and for Will's family too.  They are a very close bunch and covet your prayers.

As God would have it I have my annual appointment at Mayo with my neurologist on Wednesday, so Tommy is planning on going with me at this point.  I am going to assume Drew will want to tag along to see Will too.