Joe Clayton

Many who follow this blog are aware that my father-in-law, Joe Clayton, has been in Cox South NeuroTrauma ICU since last Sat., Aug 21.  He is having issues w/ bleeding between the brain & skull.  They did surgery on his brain on Sunday, all went well then things fell apart on Tues & they had to go in again.  The prognosis after the second surgery was about as gloom & doom as it could be, the dr didn't offer us much hope at all.  By the grace of God & the Power of Prayer, Joe is now breathing on his own & is still hanging on.  This week has been a tremendous, never-ending roller coaster of emotions for our entire family.....But through it all, we have been overwhelmed by the number of people praying, calling, visiting, helping w/ our kids, on & on.  We have had visitors every day and that helps lift our spirits so much, I think we counted 93 visitors as of last night!  Our congregation at Bolivar Church of Christ and my in-law's congregation at Arcola Christian Church have been so very good to us all week long and we feel so loved & supported.  My girlfriends have helped me keep my personal sanity through it all........taking care of my kids as needed, bringing snacks to the hospital, allowing me to call at all hours to cry when it's a rough day & praise when things go our way. 

The Clayton family has had a rough few months, we lost Mike's Uncle John at the very end of May, then Grandma Clayton two weeks later & now we are traveling this journey together.  While I can't pretend to understand why this is the hand we've been dealt, I do know without a doubt that God is in control and He knows why.

Please continue to pray for our entire family!  We love you!

Private Words

This conversation occurred on Friday night en route to Springfield, I was driving 65mph on Hwy 13 & nearly lost control........

Taylor:  We played 'would you rather' at school today, the teacher asked if we'd rather go on vacation to Hawaii or Alaska.  When it was my turn I said, "Hawaii, you can't wear no coconut bra in Alaska."

Derek:  TAYLOR! You shouldn't say 'bra' in public, it's inappropriate, you should have said 'bikini.'  'Bra' is a PRIVATE word.

First Day!

It's official, the kids boarded the bus at 7:20am to embark on their first day of 3rd & 5th grade.  Amazingly, both were in a chipper mood this morning and we had no drama!  Yay!

Back-to-School Time

The kids & I spent this afternoon meeting their new teachers.  They are both looking forward to a fun year.  Taylor has Ms. Mitchell for 3rd grade and is excited to have several girlfriends in her class.  Derek has Ms. Cribbs for 5th grade and a room full of buddies.  For now he is most excited that he is sitting by 3 friends and NO GIRLS!!!  I told him he better not be a chatter-box or she might surround him w/ girls. :)

I am backing off of my PTA duties this school year and spending more time in the kids's individual classrooms.  This is Derek's last year before middle school so I figure this is my last chance to spend time w/ him in that setting.

I have several personal goals for this school year as well.  Including, but not limited to.........completing the Couch to 5K program that I attempted to start earlier this summer and then got halted due to a staph infection & ecoli.  Also hope to get my scrapbooking caught up, I have hardly touched it for the past 2-3 years due to my PTA responsibilities. 

I will try to remember to take pictures & post on Thur morning before the kids head out for their first day!

La La La La La La La

Can you say "awkward"? That's my word to describe parts of my afternoon w/ my Grandma. Let me explain....I got a call at approx 2pm from my great uncle saying my gma was in the ER at CMH & could I go be w/ her b/c he had to go back to work. So I leave home feeling all warm & fuzzy cuz she thought to have him call ME and she wants ME to be there w/ her........I spent A LOT of time w/ her as a child & miss our visits. Well, I get to the hospital and they had already done a chest xray, EKG & CT scan so she proceeds to tell me her symptoms, etc. Then after that info we got caught up on all the "family news" about all my cousins & such. Soon after the dr came in & said all tests were clear and she was only severely dehydrated, she was being sent home & is to follow up w her regular dr next week. So........I think all is well, we will get her discharged & I will drive her back to Stockton.

NOT SO FAST!! She then proceeds to tell me about her other upcoming appt w another dr re: her bowel issues and describes it all in great detail. Followed by a tale of how she has used the same GYNECOLOGIST for 157 yrs and how much she likes him.

This is where I want to cover both ears & say "la la la la la la la la....I'm not listening." God bless her, I love her to pieces, she has been a huge part of my life but I do NOT care to discuss bowel problems nor gynecology issues w my grandma.

I have officially vowed that should God ever bless me w grandchildren of my own, I will not under any circumstances discuss bowels or gyno with them.

I LOVE MY GRANDMA!!! :)

We are Cheap!

Ok, maybe not cheap but it certainly doesn't cost much to entertain us!

~My mom took both kids to the city pool today for ONE HOUR, then to Sonic for ice cream cones; cost $7

~My mom took both kids overnight recently for a trip to the beach at Stockton Lake including roasting hot dogs and having candy and orange soda; cost $10

~Mike took a giant sheet of plastic from his shop, put baby oil & water on it and the kids had a slip & slide; FREE

~Taylor and I checked-out 2 seasons of Little House on the Prairie on DVD from our local library, she loved them; FREE

~Derek found a random bobby-pin today in my truck.......entertained him for like 30 min; free.

All of this makes me very happy that my kids can be happy without me having to sell a major organ to finance their fun. Summer is almost over but it's been one of our best ever.

Trying again...

Ok, here we go! I am trying the blog AGAIN! This latest attempt is motivated by a couple of different people; a local teacher whose husband was in a serious accident recently and she created a blog to keep everyone updated on his condition and their prayer needs and secondly, a good friend at church mentioned that he had stumbled upon my blog & enjoyed it (thanks JK).

Summer is nearing an end but it has been quite wonderful for our family. June was pretty much a blur. Taylor played softball (see team pic above) and we stayed busy w/ that including a weekend tournament in Arkansas that was a fabulous trip for the two of us. Then the following weekend we met Aunt Sue in Tulsa to watch a WNBA game and that was great fun as well. In the middle of those two trips, my mom had some surgery done and it went well and she is doing great.

On a sad note, Mike lost his Uncle John Griffith and his Grandma Lorene Clayton within 2 weeks of each other at the beginning of June. Cancer is an ugly enemy and though we are thankful they are neither one suffering any longer, we miss them bunches.

Derek worked w/ Mike for a few weeks at the beginning of summer and learned about stucco. But I have enjoyed having him home w/ me in recent weeks too. Taylor did one week of volleyball camp, 2 weeks of VBS and celebrated her 8th birthday on July 10th.

We feel very blessed that Mike's work has picked up and is nearly all in Bolivar....yay! Last winter seemed to last forever around here.

The kids start back to school on Aug 19th with Taylor in 3rd grade & Derek in 5th. It will be nice to have them both in the same building again (for 1 yr)!