Ah, Yes! Spring in Michigan!

I'd like to welcome you to the first day of Spring!!!  Whoo-hoo!!

Wait, what?  You mean there isn't supposed to be SNOW on the ground or flying through the air on the first day of spring??  What?  It was 50 degrees WARMER on this exact day LAST year??

Well, this year, we have a Lake Effect "Winter System" moving through.  Yup.  That, my friends, is the JOY of living 20 miles from Lake Michigan.

You can actually SEE a LARGE snowflake in front of the shrub in this picture.  Thankfully, the sun came out yesterday afternoon and melted the snow on the road.  I'm sure the commute this morning may have been a bit dicey, especially for those of "us'ns" that live in the MIDDLE OF EGYPT.

And just so I can end on a happier note, here is my Easter cake that I made that I had to practice to make sure it wasn't going to suck be icky.  It's yummy.  IF you like 20 pounds of sugary goodness and pastel colors, that is. {wink wink}  But seriously, it's cream cheese frosting, and it's homemade.  How bad can it be??

My Not So Little Snowman

Very labor-intensive, this castle-building stuff!

We've been getting snow.  And LOTS of it.  And my child is in heaven.  He LOVES playing outside in the snow.

He loves fighting bad guys and building forts (so he has something to defend, of course!) and sledding and building snowmen.

He LOVES sledding with Daddy.  Doug gets on the big innertube, Jacob climbs on top of Doug, and off they go.

Then there's the long walk back up the hill.  Blackie leads the way, just like he does on the way down.  He runs in front of them, constantly looking back over his shoulder and barking the entire time.  It's hilarious.

Then he comes in, looking like a snowman himself!

I am not so crazy about winter because it's hard for me to go outside, but I LOVE it for my boy.  He just loves it.  And he's getting way too grown up way too fast.

Why, Yes, Virginia, It DOES Snow Sideways!

Ah yes.  The good ol' "Lake Effect Snow Machine."  It has finally hit us.  You can see the barn on the left, but the quanset hut, in the distance, can usually be CLEARLY seen from the house.  Now it is completely obscurred by snow.

Out the front window.  Beyond the bush there behind the bird houses, SHOULD be the road.  Well, it's there, you just can't see it.

You can't see it really well, because I'm taking all these pictures through the windows, but it IS snowing sideways, and you SHOULD be able to see out road.

This is our first real snowfall we've had all year.  We had 2 inches or so about a month ago, and that's been it.  Jacob is SO excited!  So yeah, this is what it looks like on our end of the world....
How are you?

Here We Go

I HATE driving in the snow. Well, technically I won't be DRIVING, but you know what I mean. We are getting pounded with lake effect snow, and have to drive 150 miles to the hospital. I would much rather just curl into a ball and forget this whole thing.

But, it's time to put on my big girl panties and suck it up.

So tomorrow will be a long day. Starting at 10:00 AM with a visit to the pulmonologist. It's very difficult to do pulmonary function testing with a trach (especially a trach without a cuff)....so it will just depend on what they can actually test to see if they can determine if this is restrictive airway disease (the MG, which I think is the majority of the problem, but who am I? I'm just the one whose BODY THE LUNGS ARE IN thank-you-very-much) or reactive airway disease (asthma). I'm sure it's some of both: I can't imagine having breathed 10 years' worth of unfiltered air into my lungs hasn't done ANY damage.

Then it's an 11:30 with the neurologist...so many questions. After all that, I get to have fork tines shoved into my arms and lay motionless for 90+ minutes and have all my blood drained out. Wooo--Hoo!!!

Whatever. I'm actually looking forward to talking to Dr. Teener because it's been forever. I really need to write everything down so I can remember what I need to. SO. I very much appreciate your prayers and support. Thank you for all the kind comments and encouragement. They help MORE THAN YOU KNOW.

“ For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.

“ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

“ For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

“ For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;

The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the LORD for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Isaiah 55:8-13

P.S. I'm listening to David Phelps "No More Night" Amazing!!!

Chorus:
No more night
No more pain
No more tears
Never crying again.
And praises to the Great I AM
We will live in the Light of the Risen Lamb!

Bridge:
See over there
There's a mansion
That's prepared just for me
Where I will live with my Savior eternally!