The truth hurts....

I am not a great cook. I am a good cook - I can follow a recipe and even be creative (once in a while) but I am by no means a great cook. Today, Eliana helped me to see just what she thinks of my cooking.....
Darren: "How about we eat at a restaurant"
Eliana" (with all the cuteness a 3.5 year old can muster) " I LOVE you Daddy!"

I guess she really didn't want to eat my cooking and was pretty sure her Daddy was saving her from mommy's cooking!

Just to prove I can find may way around the kitchen, below is a picture of Raelyn's first birthday cake. Come to think of it, my mom helped me with the cake (she is in the picture) so I don't think I can take credit for that either.

I guess I am just a good cook... not even a sometimes-creative one!

Light the Night 2008

This past Saturday we took part in the Light the Night walk to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Below are some pictures from the walk....

The girls showing off their t-shirts....

the shirts had stickers on their backs saying "I am walking in memory of my big sis/little sis Abbie-Boo"

Darren, me, Aunt Shirley, Grandma Honey (my mom), Grandpa Ouchie (my dad), Raelyn and Eliana at the end of the walk. The red balloons were for the "supporters" and the gold balloon (which lights up in the dark) is in memory of Abigail.

and the winner is.....

During the months of July and August our two girls had a contest to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society "Light the Night" walk. Since 231,461 people are currently battling leukemia and 574,525 people are battling lymphoma AND our own precious daughter lost her fight against leukemia.... this was a contest dear to my heart. We are so thankful that with your help the girls raised about $800 between the two of them!!!!

Thank you all so much for helping us fight the battle against blood cancers!

I know many of you have been waiting to see who the winner of the gas gift cards give-away would be so I had the girls draw the winners yesterday....

Eliana got to draw first as she raised just a little bit more money than Raelyn....

and the winner is.....

LIZ SEXTON!!!!! THANKS LIZ!!!!!!

Raelyn was super-excited to get her hands on the bucket and pick out a name...

and the winner is.....

Adam & Bethany White!!!!! Thank you so much!!!!!

The Digestive Track, Part II

Eliana is learning where food goes after you eat it....
Her pronunciation of esophagus has been particularly entertaining. At first it was "its-my-mungus" and most recently "hungry-mus". I got a good chuckle out of that one :)

A Father's Hand

I was just going through pictures of Abigail when I came across this picture of Darren holding her hand. It was taken while she was in the ICU in Ann Arbor fighting the complications from her bone marrow transplant. It reminded me of a passage in Psalm 39:4,5 "Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath."

first day of school jitters????

Some mom's have anxiety over how their kids will adjust to school. I knew I wouldn't have any problems as Eliana woke up extra early the first day of school, asked me to braid her hair so it would be "pretty", and bounded off to her first day of preschool with her Dad, with barely a look and kiss back for her mom and sister. The next day she woke up and asked when she got to go to preschool again. When I said "tomorrow", she said... "well can we do school at home then?" Being the good nurse that I am, I decided to teach her the digestive tract. I pointed out her esophagus and told her it took her food to her stomach. She then took a bite of breakfast and said "look! its-my-mungus (esophagus) takes my food to my stomach!" I guess we will have to work on prononciation :)

I want to thank all of you who donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Light the Night Walk. The girls raised OVER $600!!!!! I will be posting the winners of the gas card give-away soon.