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| A prayer request!!
Hello Friends and Family -
This is Erin Hopkins with a very urgent
and sincere request for prayers. My friend and one-time college
roommate is battling brain cancer and has been receiving chemo and radiation for
nearly one year. Stacey is a mother to two young children and a wife
to Joey, they live in Atlanta. She just found out that she is 18 weeks
pregnant. She became pregnant during her chemo and radiation and
therefore, the baby has been exposed to these chemicals from day one.
She has opted to take a 10 week break from her treatment to allow
the baby to reach 28 weeks gestation, when they will deliver the baby via
C-section. She has been informed by her baby-related doctors that the
chemo is very strong and particularly attacks DNA growth in cells and therefore
the baby. They are quite certain that there will be neurologic damage to
the baby, although the ultrasounds have thus far showed relatively normal
growth.
Additionally, her cancer-related doctors have told her that
they do not want her to stop her treatment of cancer (even for 10 wks!) because
her cancer is so aggressive. They said that if they allowed her to
carry the baby to 40 weeks gestation, she would probably not live to deliver the
baby. So, Stacey is choosing to give her child a chance and risk her own
life. I still cannot believe the situation that this family has been put
in, even as I type this.
As a member of Stacey's network of support
and prayers, I am asking that you specifically say a prayer to Pope John Paul
II. He is in the process of being named a saint and needs a second miracle
to "qualify" for sainthood. We have decided to storm heaven with
prayers to our former Pope, specifically asking him to stop the growth of
Stacey's cancer while she stops her treatment.
Many of you
may also be calling to mind the story of St. Gianna Molla, whom JPII canonized
in the 1994, whose story is very similar to Stacey's. You can read it
here: http://www.zenit.org/article-10083?l=english
Finally, I just want to thank you for having read this
far. I appreciate the time you took to read this and say a prayer for
Stacey, her unborn child and her family. Stacey herself asks that we be
sure to pray for her husband, Joey who is truly
heartbroken.
Sincerely,
Erin Hopkins
erinchopkins@hotmail.com
PLEASE
FEEL FREE TO FORWARD TO AS MANY PEOPLE YOU KNOW WHO WILL PRAY FOR STACEY AND HER
FAMILY!!!!
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| Whoa!So, after 3 weeks, hmm, maybe it is 2 weeks, of homeschooling, I get my used syllabus I ordered in the mail, that corresponds to the curriculum choices I have made. MAN! I was TOTALLY doing SO much more than necessary. To put it into perspective, we have finished the suggested portion (for the whole K curriculum) of the reading program I am doing with Anna this year. Granted we started doing one reading lesson a day midway through summer, but that is what we were doing, one a day, five days a week. The syllabus suggests doing about 1/3 of a lesson per day, finishing anywhere from one to one and a half lessons per week(which will end up being 30 lessons for the year)...that to my five a week! So, after I thought about it, and after MUCH relief that I could slow things down and take it a little easier, I realize that if Anna were in a Kindergarten classroom with 15-25 other students, there is NO WAY they would be able to do the amount of work we were doing per day. ANyway, this was such an eye-opener for me, and as I said, a stress reliever, not only for me, but surely for Anna too. I know she and I will have much more fun, when we dont have so much need to PUSH through the lessons. I guess you live and learn.
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| Homeschooling: Take 1Well, after much prayer, research and discernment, we have decided to bite the bullet and homeschool our beautiful daughter Anna this year for Kindergarten. We are starting slowly, following pretty much, Laura Berquist's recommendations for a classic curriculum. I am very excited, and constantly praying for GRACE! I know our Lord will provide in all things, so I am not worried. She is actually still enrolled in a preschool program, but something tells me we'll pull her and go "full-time" sometime this year. But, God will lead us. I am preparing both practically and emotionally for my firstborn to turn 5. She is a beautiful sweet little girl, and I am so proud of who she is. One of the biggest draws for homeschooling for me is being able to witness all the little growing moments with my children, and really making a difference in who they are as people.
Anna decided she would like to have a Princess Party (boys dressing as knights) for her 5th birthday, so we have planned accordingly. She has always been one to help "plan" her parties, and this time was no different. When asked what she wanted the activities to be, she sat back and thought, and responded:"Well, I would like to put on dance music, and since I will be a princess, and there will be knights, I would like to have the knights dance with the princesses. But, Daddy will be my Prince Charming and I will dance with him." I thought that was so sweet.
In other family news, Madeline is just over 13 months, and is still not walking, but moves around just fine. She is content, I guess because Anna and Aidan do whatever she wants them to...haha. Brian and I looked at building a new house, and were so excited about the prospect, but then felt the Lord was telling us to slow down, and wait on him, so we are putting all that on hold. I guess that is all, thanks to any readers still with me. I am soo bad about getting online and on xanga, but here I am today.
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| Madeline Clare Turns ONE!Well, tomorrow marks Maddie's first birthday! This has SERIOUSLY been the fastest "first" year of all my kids lives. I feel like I just had her, and here is her birthday. She is a sweet little girl. Loves her mommy, as all my nursing babies do...haha. She is crawling, climbing and standing, but has yet to take her first steps or to stand unassisted yet. She says several words, uses little signs, and hugs and pats, and kisses(opened mouth sloppy kind :), loves when she gets to read books, ALWAYS wants to read Pat the Bunny before bed. She will eat anything I put in front of her, thinks her brother and sister are hilarious, and is all around a HUGH blessing and gift in our life. I dont know what we would do without our little Maddie-Cakes.
We are celebrating with a Party where family and friends will be coming to witness her first Birthday Cake adventure, and we are praying for good weather. I didnt plan a whole lot of activities this time, because we are sort of having an Open House, so people may just be stopping in and out. Anyway...God bless!
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| BUSY WEEKENDI think that is quite an understatement today. Gosh! We never stopped from Friday till last night. It sure was a busy one for us....Friday, we had impromptu guests for dinner, Saturday Morning, we celebrated Aidan's real birthday with a brunch with his GodParents, their 2, Grandma, and my BIL's girlfriend. We then put the kids down for a nap, I was off to WalMart to get the final preparations for Aidan's Pirate Party, and our friend's Bachelor Party(at our house). Immediatly after naps, we went to celebrate my nephew's Baptism with a party at his house. We got home around 8:30pm, gave Aidan a bath(Anna slept over at her cousin's house) and finished up preps for the Bachelor Party to be help Sunday. Sunday morning, Brian left at 6am for a round of golf with his friends, then I took the kids to Mass at 11:30, came back for lunch and naps, finishing swords and hats for Pirate Party, and guys arrived around 1:30-2:00pm. They stayed, ate, drank, and played wiffle ball till about 7:30pm---which then started the cleanup and final preps for Pirate party. After finishing off the Pirate Cake and Macaroni Salad for the party, I hung some decorations, and we headed for bed around midnight. The next morning, we did the final runthrough, got Everyone dressed in Pirate gear, and the guests arrived at 11am. The fun began...Brian was a fantastic Pirate Captain, led everyone in a treasure hunt, with good humor...and some of the mom's came dressed up too. We had 4-5 games, some lunch, cake, ice cream, music, all Pirate of course, and the fun ended around 2pm---with the final family leaving around 3pm. It was certainly tiring, but definately worth it. I of course have never had so many hot dogs in one weekend, but that is okay. I will post some pics of the party soon....thanks for reading!
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