An Amazing Thing...

So, a couple of weeks ago, I get a phone call from one of the doctors in the PICU. He asked if Zac and I would be his guests at a wine experience and auction to benefit the Children's Hospital. Of course we would! We like wine. We wish we could afford some of the auction stuff. And we love the Children's Hospital.
Then he asks if we would feel comfortable speaking about how we got involved with the Children's Hospital. Immediately, I said that Zac would love to speak. I don't do that. Well, I speak. Just not in front of people.
After a whole lot of thinking and praying, I decided this was an opportunity to share just a part of Olivia's story and how much all of those doctors and nurses mean to us. Because I was lucky enough to be there all the time, it seemed more appropriate for me to speak. So, for the first time in 32 years, I spoke into a microphone. In front of a bunch of people. I was so nervous! I had written down a bunch of stuff, so I wouldn't forget to say anything, but I still forgot at least half. Anyway, it turned out well and everyone survived my little speech, and it was an amazing thing to be able to do...the speaking part and the opportunity to thank some very special people.
Then the bidding wars started...it was awesome to see how much some of the things went for and to know it was going to help such a great cause. One of the auctions that came up for was a yacht trip on the Illinois River with wine, dinner, and 6 friends. This one was racking up some big bucks! Afterwards, a man came up to Zac and me and said that it was for us. They bid on that auction for us! Can you believe that? We were speechless. So, next summer, Zac and I are going to be taking a yacht cruise on the Illinois River with some friends...all thanks to some amazing people that Olivia must have touched...just by hearing a snippet of her story. We did know one person at the table, but other than that, complete strangers. Unbelievable.
On a side note...I'm in a bible study at church with some amazing women on Wednesday afternoons. We always give our prayer requests for the week and yesterday mine happened to be for a little extra peace and wisdom. See, we still haven't sold our house in Macomb. No bids, no interest, nada. Things are starting to get a little funny around here financially, so we just needed a little guidance as to where to go from here. So, these women prayed for us to have a little guidance yesterday and by late afternoon, Zac called and said there might be someone interested in a short term rental. He's a retired professor from Western and he sold his house and needs somewhere to stay to finish out the year. I don't know if this will go through or not, but it sure is nice to have a little hope. All I could think was that God sure does work quickly!
Other than all that amazing stuff, I think I just need to catch up with my Halloween post before I go on my little vacation to get you all caught up on our lives, which I'm sure you've all been dying to do ;o)

Choo, choo!!!

The kids and I took a train trip to Chicago with our friends, Bethany and Ava, a little over a week ago.

Bethany is one of Olivia's former nurses that we have become very, very close to. When Livvy was in the hospital, we talked about making this trip sometime and we were finally able to coordinate a time to go! It was Ava's first train ride and the first one that Jack could really remember. We didn't have the best weather, but we really couldn't complain. The kids did awesome! We made a visit to the Shedd Aquarium, which everyone thought was pretty impressive.

The kids even got to touch real starfish. I wasn't even brave enough to do that!

Then we made a stop at the American Girl Store (my first experience there) and the Lego Store.

Throw a little Garrett's Popcorn in the mix and we were ready to call it a day!

The train ride went very smoothly. One of the conductor people even said we were doing a great job entertaining the kids.

It did take lots of trips to the snack car and lots of trips to the bathroom and garbage cans, but all in all a great time.

Bethany and I did decided, however, that we need to do this again minus the kiddos, so we have our next trip scheduled...our goal is to be a little bit more efficient and to get some Christmas shopping done!

Speaking of trips...I'm going on vacation! Me. Just me.

I know, it's impossible to believe, but I am. I'm flying to South Carolina this weekend. I'm going to visit my friend, Nicole, and her family. They moved to SC last year and we've not had the opportunity to make it down there, yet. We always talked about it and even had planned on swinging through there last summer. But, plans changed and it didn't work out. So, we finally settled on a date and I booked the ticket and I'm going! I can't wait! We are staying in Charleston for a night and it is supposed to be just beautiful. Then back to Nic's house to just hang out for a few days, meet her friends that I hear so much about, and relax! Zac and the kids have promised to stay healthy and be on their best behavior, so everything should be okay on the homefront...no worries. Did I mention that I can't wait?

Go, Fight, Win!

A couple of weeks ago, Brooklyn decided to sign up for a cheerleading clinic offered through the high school. She loved it! They practiced on a Wednesday and Thursday, and performed at the football game on Friday night. It was interesting when she came home both evening and didn't remember a thing from practice. She was able to hold her own for the "performance."

Sort of. If you notice in the picture, she is the only one not doing the same thing as the other girls. Oh well, she had an awesome time!

October 11, 2001

Jack's Birth Day. He came into this world weighing a whopping 9 lbs. 12 oz. Now he's 8. It doesn't seem at all possible that we could have an 8 year old...that's halfway to getting his driver's license!

I wanted to be like one of those people that puts a baby picture on here, but I don't know how to scan a photo in...so you'll just have to imagine...chubby little legs, big brown eyes, a round little face, etc... Cute as a bug!

He had a great birthday party. We did the party with his cousin, Emmy, who turned 7 a week after Jack. My sister was in charge of the cake...didn't it turn out awesome!

It was nice to get everyone here and celebrate both birthdays at once. The kids thought it was awesome, too. We had a Dr. Seuss themed party...very fun and appropriate for both kids.

The pinata was a big hit (pardon the pun ;) It started off as a pull-string pinata, but ended up as a traditional "hit it as hard as you can" pinata.

Jack's favorite part of turning 8...he "legally" doesn't have to use a booster seat anymore! Ahhh, the freedom.

Alleluia!

It pains me to say that I have been without a computer for over a week. I haven't been able to blog about so many things...Jack's 8th birthday, a train trip to Chicago, another unbelievable thing that happened to us, etc... I'm hoping to get to these posts soon, but I'm spending time getting to know a new computer. Our other one got a nasty virus. My naive self just kept thinking, "It's a virus. It will go away one of these days!" Not so much. It was going to be $400 to make the virus go away. No thanks. I'll just buy a new one! Stay tuned....

Here it is!

As promised, I went out this morning and took a few pictures of the headstone. The sun was at a bad spot, so the pictures aren't great. It's still as gorgeous today as it was last night, though!

The Front:

And the back...

I should have taken a close up of the etching of Olivia. There is a man at Wyoming Monument that does these by hand. We were so incredibly nervous that it wouldn't look like Olivia. We couldn't have asked for better artwork!

Ups and Downs

What a couple of days.
We had a wonderful weekend. On Saturday, my mom , the kids and I went to the 2nd annual Peoria Buddy Walk to help raise awareness for people with Down syndrome. This year, as a fundraiser, families could get "buddy bands" saying "I'm ________Buddy." One family that we have come to know asked if they could be "Olivia's buddy" this year. We were honored and excited to get some buddy bands in the mail last week saying "I'm Olivia's Buddy." How awesome. We were only able to stay at the Buddy Walk for a short period of time. It was too hard. All those beautiful babies, kids, and adults sparked the emptiness in my heart. It was so awesome to see the accomplishments of so many of the kids, but just made us miss Livvy a whole lot.
So, on to the scenic drive. It was chilly, very muddy, and misting a bit. We still had a good time and made a few purchases, though. The rest of the weekend was spent working around the house and we actually got a lot done. Things are progressing nicely...
Today was a great, great day. I went up to the PICU for a visit. They had Olivia's calendar picture from last year blown up and framed. It's hanging right outside of the room where she spent a whole lot of time. It was so, so good to see everyone. It's amazing how much I miss them. For 2 1/2 years, I spent entire days (both good and bad) and even some nights with those nurses and doctors. I consider a lot of them my closest friends. It was just really good to see them. And the picture of Olivia...gorgeous!
To add to all of that excitement-I went out to visit Livvy tonight and her headstone is up. Her absolutely, unbelievably, perfect in every way, beautiful headstone. I was so overwhelmed by the perfection of it that I actually started laughing and telling Olivia how awesome it was. This is going to sound really strange, but the feeling I got was similar to what I felt when Olivia started crawling and feeding herself. Or when the big kids started walking, talking, or riding their bikes. It was just a great feeling-a monumental one. One that needed to be documented! I'm hoping to go out tomorrow and take a picture of it (hopefully that's not too weird) and I'll be sure to post it so you can see it too. It's just perfect.

Jordbruksdagarna

...or Ag Days if you're not Swedish.

My mom and I took all 4 kids to Bishop Hill on Sunday. It's one of our favorite festivals they have there and we try to get there every year. The kids love it. The adults love it. It just happens that this particular weekend, everyone was out of town or busy, so it was just the kids, mom, and me. It's so fun for the kids.

They get to hear stories...

Make their own bricks...

Brooklyn
Emmy
Jack and Tyler

Make popcorn...

And a few other things.

Mom and I get to pick out our pumpkins and a few fall decorations. The kids get candy from the Colony Store. We have lunch in the park. And this year...Emmy even won a pumpkin. She did tell us after she won that she had actually prayed that she would win and that is why she won it. (You can tell they go to private school;) Anyway, good times had by all!

The neighborhood bully.

The neighborhood didn't know what it was getting when the Chatterton's moved to town! There seems to have been an incident last week with this guy:

and an innocent little neighbor girl.

Ugh.

I'll give you a little breakdown. Jack was sitting at the dinner table looking rather sad.

Me: Jack. What's the matter?

Jack: I feel bad that I hurt Addi's arm. I didn't mean to.

Me: Well, what happened.

Jack: I just fell on her.

Brooklyn: It wasn't his fault, mom!

Me: Of course he didn't do it on purpose. Did you? Were you wrestling?

Jack: No! Why would I wrestle a girl?

Me: Well, because you wrestle your sister all the time. Anyway, I'm sure Addi is fine.

Jack: They were on the way to the doctor.

Me: What? Are you sure? We'll go down and check on her later. I'm sure they were just going to run errands.

The evening gets away from us and we don't get a chance to check on Addi, so Friday after school I ask Brooklyn if Addi was on the bus. "Nope. She got a cast."

Ugh.

So, I ask Brooklyn to give me all the details from the night before. Apparently Jack was giving Addi a piggy back ride around her house and he'd already been around it 5 times and got too tired so he fell to the ground. Right on top of Addi's wrist.

The kids took balloons down on Saturday morning and said there would be no more piggy back rides. I haven't gotten the full details of the injury, but whatever she has on her arm has to be there for 3 months.

Ugh.

Let it Be.

Can I just say, I despise calling the All Kids Hotline?
As many of you know, when our insurance company dropped Olivia last year, she was thankfully picked up by the State's All Kids program. To date, we have had no problems with them at all, which is also a blessing. However, I called to cancel Olivia's coverage back in June, but I keep receiving a statement saying we owe them for her July and August premiums. I've been holding off on calling them because it puts in me in such a weird place when I call. Why, you wonder? No matter what time of day I call, I'm always put on hold forever...like 18 minutes and 26 seconds forever. And the problem with that is the fact that they have the most beautiful, simple, keyboard music playing "Let it Be" in the background. The first time I called, I remember, so vividly, sitting in Olivia's room in the hospital just listening to the music. It's actually a wonderful memory...but, it makes me miss her so darn much every time I call.
So, if any one from the State is reading this, could you please change your "hold music" or take care of our account so I don't have to call again. I would really appreciate it!

...And then I go to my email to read my daily devotion and needed to come back and share this snippet...

"His perspective on things that are troubling me starts to over shadow my anxiety. Like shade on a hot summer's day, I feel relief in His presence. I know that He is preparing me for what I will need throughout this day. He is already standing in every minute of my day and He sees what I will face. So, He's equipping me to be able to handle what is ahead of me with His gentle boldness, quiet strength, and loving grace."

God is good all the time and all the time, God is good! Guess He's just trying to tell me to "Let it Be."

It's been a while...

Since I've shared a few blessings with you that we've experienced lately.

One of our good friends from Galesburg is running the Chicago Marathon which is huge in and of itself, but he is also running it in memory of Olivia! Be sure to check out his website: www.active.com/donate/upsfordowns2009/SHickey7.

I mentioned in the last post that my mom, Brooklyn, and I walked in the American Heart Association HeartWalk. While we were there, we were able to enjoy so many people. During the "warm-up" time, one of Olivia's former nurses, Angela, came up with another person and said she just had to introduce us. Long story short, this woman worked in the OSF billing office. She said she would come across these enormous bills and think about this particular patient and what a fighter she was. She knew Olivia was a heart patient (she was a former cardiac nurse and could tell from the bills) and could just tell she was an amazing little girl that had been through so much. She said she would pray for her and cheer her on every time she saw one of her bills. She asked Angela if she knew this little girl and if she was at the walk. When she mentioned that little girl was Olivia, Angela just knew we had to meet her.

It was awesome meeting this complete stranger and hear how Olivia had touched her life, too.

We still haven't heard anything from the birthday balloons. Oh well. We'll just have to be sure to send more next year and pay the extra 30 cents for the "hi-float" stuff they put in the balloons to make them last longer.
My only fear now is that some farmer is going to get the balloon stuck in his combine and come after us. Wouldn't that be just our luck?

Another crazy, busy weekend!

Where to begin...I'll try to make this short and sweet, but it was one big weekend.

Friday evening we went to the Dunlap game to watch them beat the Morton Potters...Go Eagles! Saturday was a day full of hard labor (only appropriate for Labor Day Weekend, right?)

Zac actually laid this...

and finished this...

and worked on this...

I was so excited! It was getting really frustrating to look outside at this all the time...

Especially when the workers up the road were also planting sod at a house that they started building the day that we moved in!

Mom, Brooklyn, and I also walked at the HeartWalk with a lot of Olivia's former nurses, doctors, etc... I have no pictures, but some good stories to share, but I'll save that for another post.

Saturday night...a fun-filled family evening. We decided to get together with the family and have a football-themed night. Everyone picked their favorite football team and brought food and a beverage from that city. It was very entertaining to see what everyone came up with. We had everything from Low Country Seafood Casserole, to Chicago Style Hot Dogs, to Fried Ravioli, etc... Good Food, Good Times.

Sunday was the first day for the kids to go to Sunday School here. Jack was soooooo nervous, but once they got in there, they both noticed kids from school and loved it! We then spent some more quality family time at my parent's house for the annual Family Fantasy Football Draft. This is the real deal, folks. I mean, my cousin flies in from Florida for this. Normally, I boycott the event, but this year I decided to partake in the festivities. Let's hope I have a good team!

Monday...a lazy morning. I took the kids to the Labor Day parade. It was a really nice one. The perfect length with a lot of groups you just don't normally see.

Then last night, Zac's parent stopped by for a visit, the kids played around the neighborhood, we ate some Chinese, and hit the sack!

I'm ready for a quiet week, but it's not looking like that's in the cards. We'll see what comes of it!