Surgery

Andrew's surgery went very well! The doctor said things went exactly as he'd hoped and we should get a good result. Andrew's eye is still swollen and bruised, but that improves every day. When we took the bandage off about 8 hours after the surgery, it looked really good and even Andrew noticed that his eyes "matched."

I'll describe as best I can what the doctor did. It's called a Levator Resection. The muscle that lifts your eyelid is called the levator. Andrew's levator barely has any function and will not get any better. The doctor went in and took out a small portion of the levator to make it shorter therefore raising the eyelid (like taking up the hem). He also took out a sliver of the eyelid itself so that excess lid tissue wouldn't prevent the eye from opening to its maximum ability. The stitches are absorbable and the scar will be in the crease of his lid.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and thoughts for Andrew and us. We were turning onto our street Tuesday afternoon and I said I was so thankful to God for a safe trip and a successful surgery. Andrew said "Yeah, God and Jesus were right there with me! I'm so proud of them!"

More soon!

Noah

Tonight at dinner Andrew told us there is a new boy in his class and his name is Noah. He said "Yeah, like "Noah and the Ark", but not him." I said, "Not the first Noah?" He said "No." I'm glad he cleared that up for us!

Misc.

Just a few things....

Taylor made all A's this 6 weeks! Congratulations to her! She has worked really hard in school this year! Tonight she was a ball girl at the Frenship High School JV game. She is super glad to not have school the rest of the week!

Andrew is learning that letters spell words so now we are constantly spelling words for him. I had just dropped Taylor at the game and we were driving home. He asks me to spell school, football and then he says "How do you spell torture?"

Marc and the kids are leaving for Lovington tomorrow (Wed) but I won't be getting there until very late (I have to work until 11pm) or until Thursday morning :( Marc will be driving back to Lubbock on Thanksgiving evening so he can open Walgreens on Black Friday morning! eeekkk I asked him who buys things at Walgreens at 7am the day after Thanksgiving? He assured me there would be lots of little old ladies with coupons grabbin' up stuff and asking for cheap candy.

Our running joke is "Is this 75% off yet?" The very minute a holiday is over, little ladies come in wanting valentine/halloween/easter/Christmas (you name it) candy for pennies on the dollar. They look at Marc like he's rude little whippersnapper when he says no, it's only 50% today. Then they want to know when it will be 75% off. I didn't realize how serious the elderly were about candy. Sometimes I'll call the store and ask for him then disguise my voice and ask about candy on sale or returning suppositories. Wow...do I need a life! ha, ha Whatever it takes to get ya' through the day.

On a serious note, we wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving with safe travel for you and your families. Enjoy yourselves, enjoy your children and your families!

Love and warm thoughts from our home to yours!

Boring

Andrew and I had just finished a trip to Walmart and were loading the bags in the car. I started talking about upcoming events...going to Lovington, Thanksgiving and then eye surgery. I started off the surgery reminder with "we'll be flying back to Dallas on Sunday" He said, "And then surgery on Monday?" I said "yes" He let his shoulders slump, looked up and said "Booor-ing." I'm thinking "are you 5 yrs old or 15 yrs old with that tone in your voice?"

I didn't realize he had so much experience with surgery that it was already BORING!

Extra, Extra!! Caudles Eat at Home!

This week marked an unusual occurrence at our house. In fact, it may not have happened since Marc and I have been married...

We didn't order take-out or go to a restaurant to eat for any meals this week! Thanks to Taylor, Marie Callendar, and Stouffer's we were able to cook and eat at home every evening!

Taylor cooked Marie Callendar pot pies on Monday (I was at work), we had meatloaf on Tuesday, Marc cooked Stouffer's Grandma's Chicken Bake on Wednesday (I was at work), I made Joyce's homemade Chicken Soup on Thursday and Friday was Chinese night!

Sam's Club has chicken fried rice, general tso's chicken and egg rolls that are pretty tasty! The Grandma's Chicken Bake is almost as good as homemade chicken n rice casserole.

We gave ourselves a pat on the back for eating at home and not spending any money! Once in seven years....maybe we can do again before 2014!

Taylor-isms

I remember a few funny things Taylor said when she was a preschooler and thought I'd post them quickly before I forget....again!

She would sing...
"Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world,
Red, brown, yellow, black and white,
They are precious outta sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world!"

It was so funny that I didn't correct her for awhile.

One night we were playing high card/low card. Marc threw down an ace and Taylor said "Get your ace outta here!" Say that out loud and you'll understand the humor. Remember she was only about 4 1/2. We laughed alot and she didn't know why it was so funny!

We were going to the mall and she wanted to take two toys with her. Marc said, "Here's the deal...you can only take one thing so decided on one thing." She was crying and lamenting about the situation and cried "Why can't we change the deal? I don't like the deal!" We found that phrase can apply to many situations in life. Sometimes I don't like the deal either.

To this day she will say princel instead of pretzel if she's not careful.

When she was really small she would say "Hold you me!" with her arms up-stretched! Oh, were did that baby girl go???

First Chair...First Flight

Wednesday was a big day for our family! Taylor is in 6th grade and is playing the flute. Well, on Wednesday she won first chair! We are so proud of her! She has been very dedicated to practicing her flute and it paid off. I also played the flute but only achieved first chair after my now cousin-in-law, Cathe, graduated and I got first chair by default! ha, ha Taylor really enjoys band and it looks like she will be setting the pace!

Sixth grade has been a shock for us all! It has been a difficult adjustment with the block scheduling, honors math and the homework. With practicing piano and flute and required reading, Taylor is already down an hour and a half before she gets to her "regular" homework. We also have to get up at 6:40am during the week to be at school by 7:40am. Crazy! I've been really proud of Taylor for her determination and perseverance during the last 3 months. She has really stepped up the pace and is doing great! All A's the first 6 weeks and we are expecting the same this 6 weeks.

Also on Wednesday, Andrew had his first airplane ride! We flew to Dallas to see his eye surgeon. It was great fun watching AJ's excitement and delight with the plane and flying. He especially enjoyed the take-off and landing. He was able to get the feeling of going really fast and those of you who know him know he likes to go at full speed! It's always fun to experience things thru the eyes of children. They help us remember and enjoy the simple things that we take for granted.

Andrew will be having surgery on his left eyelid on November 26th at Children's Hospital of Dallas. Any and all prayers for him and his doctors are welcome! We have great faith that God has provided us with the best doctors for this surgery and are expecting a great outcome. Does that mean that we are not nervous? No, we are a bit anxious. But we do have peace that all will go well. I'll keep you posted!

Other than Wednesday our week was uneventful....just the way I like it! :)

Scrappin' Good Time

Last weekend was the fall scrap booking retreat sponsored by the local scrap booking store, DML (Down Memory Lane). It was held at the Wooden Spoke Guest Ranch outside of Snyder, Tx. Kind of in the middle of no where, but it was a great location. The sleeping quarters were a little tight, but the crop room was big and the country setting was nice.

I love going to the retreats because it's a good chance to get lots of scraping done. At home I don't get much done because I have to get everything out and then put it up in the same session. That gets old after a while so being able to leave my stuff out for 48 hours is great! This retreat was extra special because my mom went with us! It was her first time to scrap and her first retreat. My very, very good friends Becky and Raegina were there as well. Becky is the one who got me back into scrapping and introduced me to Raegina. Mom fit right in and got 4 pages done as well as a recipe booklet.

For those of you who don't scrap, success at a retreat isn't measured in pages because there are other things that represent time well spent....like eating (lots of snacks and home baked goodies), visiting, organizing pictures and looking at the work of fellow scrappers. Everyone wears comfy clothing and by Saturday morning all bets are off with hair and make-up. No one cares about how they look or how they're dressed. That's pretty refreshing in a world where women are sometimes pretty hard on one another! Everyone is in a good mood and happy to have the opportunity to get some work done and visit. There is also shopping!!! DML brings lots of cool stuff, some things that aren't on the shelf at their store!!!

I had a great time and am grateful to Marc for arranging his days off in order to take care of the kids so I could go play! Such a good hubby! I'm so glad that Mom went and was able to spend time with me and my friends. She's catching the fever and it's fun to see someone going thru what I did a couple of years ago. Buying new tools, paper and embellishments.....it's a lot of fun!

There may be another retreat in Lubbock in January.....:)

P.S. For those of you who looked at the burrito recipe...I sub'ed chicken broth for the beer.