The Past Few Weeks

Most of you live in NC, so you know about ALL the snow we've been getting. The crazy blizzards that have been taking over the city for days and days. Um, OK! You know, there actually are still mounds of black snow piled up on the side of parking lots around here. Weird.

Anyway, a few weekends ago when it actually did snow pretty good, we tried to have some fun with it. We, of course, tried to get MD to play in it with us. Didn't work. He was done after about 3 minutes and one foot-sink into the snow-covered grass.

We then decided to brave the snow and ice and head to the circus. It was worth it! We took a few of the Icenhour cousins, some grandparents and MD with us. We were a little disappointed with the lack of animals (really, there were only a few elephants, zebras, horses, tigers and dogs) and the abundance of trapeze artists. Don't get me wrong, that stuff is cool - but when you're looking through the eyes of a 2 1/2 year old you want to see animals, and lots of them. Either way, we brought home a pretty cool light-up wand, thanks to Papa Ivey. Good times.

A happy moment in the snow...

...quickly turned into a not-so-happy moment in the snow!

Ah, much better

Cousins at (or after) the circus

Prayers Needed

So, today my sister-in-law (Tonia) has her 2nd chemo treatment. She's headed to the hospital as I type. I spoke briefly with her and she sounds great. She's got a great attitude about today, even though it's going to be a long day.

Her 1st treatment (3 weeks ago) consisted of 2 long days of separate treatments. With this treatment, her doctors decided to combine the 2 and get it all done in one day. She mentioned still having to get a shot tomorrow, but all the chemo will be given today.

Please pray that today goes well for her and they can continue to combine her treatments into 1 day. And just pray for her spirits. She's one of the most positive people I know, and I'm praying she stays that way.

My Norman Friends

About once a year Donnie and I get together with some very dear people to me - my Norman friends.

Leaving The Norman Group back in 2005 was hard for me, but it was something I had to do. It meant moving onto bigger and better things for me and my career, but it also meant leaving some really great people who had been with me through the most difficult and happy times of my life.

See, each year in lieu of Christmas gifts, we would just all get together for a big Christmas dinner and "stuff". (We used to play games, watch football games, chat - but now we just run around after our kids! However, this year we had babysitters.) Each year the pictures change a bit. They started out just us 4 girls at weddings, events, parties, etc... Now, it's all 10 of us, with kids in tow. It really has been amazing to keep these friendships through the years. I could write pages and pages about the crazy things we've done. But, I'll stop here and just share the photos...

All the kids, take 1

All the kids, take 32

The boys (L to R - Corey, Ellis and Michael Dean)

The, um, girls :) Seriously, how could my kid not be in this picture with that most adorable shirt he's got on?! (L to R - Betsy, Michael Dean, Riley and Eva)

My sweet Norman friends (Back row to front row - Big Michael Dean, Janice, Thomas, Amy, Donnie, Kristie, Karen, Carter, Courtney & Patrick)

My Sister-in-Law

Well, it's official. Tonia (Donnie's brother's wife) has been diagnosed with Large B Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and had her first chemo treatment last Friday. Just yesterday I found a website that has been set up through CaringBridge.org for her and I want to pass it along.

I don't get to talk to her, or see her, as often as I'd like but it looks like this website is a place where she visits for encouragement. There's already over 24 pages of entries in her Guestbook where friends/family/anyone really have shared prayers and encouragement. So, I encourage you to go there and check it out.

I'm sure the future holds lots of fundraising and encouraging events for Tonia and her sweet family and this will be the place to find out about those - www.caringbridge.org/visit/toniasmithicenhour.

Thanks.

It's a New Year

Time to push down the page the Christmas posts. I mean we had lots of fun, but I just couldn't take the Rudy Reindeer photo any more!

So, I typically don't do these sorts of things, but a friend from church "tagged" me in her blog. I'm supposed to list 7 things about me and 7 honorable blogs. Well, I'm only posting the things about me. It fit for her blog, but mine's a bit different. See, her blog is a very personal place where she shares/vents about a horrible loss she suffered recently. If you're curious, here it is. It's tough to read at times, so go there with caution.

Anyway, here it goes. 7 things about me...

1 - I pick most of the raisins out of my Raisin Bran.

2 - If I can't buy it at Target or Wal-Mart, chances are I won't be wearing it.

3 - When I eat skittles (or any colored candy, really) I line them up in the order of the colors of the rainbow, and eat them that way.

4 - My biggest fear is getting stuck in traffic. Brake lights make me panic.

5 - I sang at Carnegie Hall when I was in high school (and some of you reading this might have too!)

6 - When I'm listening to someone speak or watch TV or listen to the radio, I sometimes type out with my fingers what they're saying.

7 - My sister-in-law has known for about a week and a half, now, that she has cancer. Her first chemo treatment should be tomorrow. Please pray!

There ya go. I won't "tag" anyone, but please feel free to join in the fun.