Four days home and Christmas rescheduled...

Sorry for the delay, it has just been nice to enjoy time with Amy and the kids.  Amy and I spent Thursday night and Friday day, getting used to her medication schedule.  Thursday night the kids came by for a short visit.  They were all glad to see her, to put some reality to "mommy's home", but the most interesting reaction was Samantha.  She was so cautious about touching mom (I may have over emphasized 'don't bump into mom's boo boo') but after she gave her many hugs, finally noticed Amy had a hat on that she could see through.  She then kept stealing glimpses of Amy's shaven side of her head and even asked what the 'shiny' things were.  When mom offered to let her see, she shied away and asked mom to leave it on.  Since then, she's gotten used to it, but even Amy wears it when people first visit, just in case they have the same reaction!  Zachary joked with mom that it looked like Bride of Frankenstein!  Friday they all came back for a movie and then back to Gma's.

We went over Saturday morning to Amy's mom's house and had our traditional Christmas morning 'Big Breakfast',  Eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and sausage gravy.  It was really nice to be with the whole family including my mom and dad.  Amy didn't have any of the tiredness that she experienced the first few days after talking with people.  The kids all opened their gma and gpa presents, the families exchanged theirs, my mom and dad then had to leave to make it to GA before dark.
We took the kids back home with us, Amy and I took naps while kids settled in and after dinner (of sorts) we made sure kids knew that Santa had agreed to come out Sunday morning for our Christmas.  Everyone stayed up late watching either Wall-e or Confessions of a Shopoholic (Katelyn was desperate to have mom watch it, but then spent the whole movie moving around and finally disappeared).  Amy commented 'I think I lost some brain matter from watching that movie!' (Amy is NOT a shopper, she's a saver!).  We didn't go to bed until 1am and then woke up around 10 am and dragged kids out of bed to come down.  It wasn't a huge Christmas, but everyone was very happy and played all day with their new gifts.  Kids had exchanged names and each one expressed such nice comments to one another for their gifts.  It wasn't the first time, but it really made this Christmas special.  We talked about how all of us got the best present of all with Amy's surgery going so well, and mom not having any side affects or damage.


Amy is in good spirits, but every once in a while it hits her that she had 'Brain Surgery'!  And then I reassure her that she isn't drooling or talking to people who aren't there (in her left eye she still has some blurry/blind spot, though it has gotten better since day after surgery). 


We start off this week with Amy wanting to get out of the house, probably to her mom's, and I will spend most of the day working from home.  I may take a break and take kids to the movies with some gift cards we received.

I had made mention of posting a list of how people can help.  Let me first mention that with as many prayers that were answered, and blessings from having nearby, we are doing well.  In trying to be humble enough to allow people to and make sure that I don't seem like I am unnecessarily asking for assistance, I have thought of three categories of assistance that I can see where a) we'd use, b) they'd provide relief to mom and kids and c) no one need feel pressure to do more than they want or can. 

Food

• Groceries - We are not fancy eaters, which is a nice way to say me and most of the kids are pretty picky.  We end up eating hot dogs, peanut butter and jelly, mac n cheese, ravioli's and quick prep stuff whenever we don't eat what Amy has prepared.  These kind of less expensive foods could be prepared by the kids and I easily. If we get too many we can always store these things for use over the next few months.
• Fast food cards - we actually eat out for about $25 from most places and even though we usually only do this a lot during soccer, we may be having more visits to UAB and this is something we can give to people watching kids to keep them from having to pay for food.
• Dinners - again with as picky as the kids are, I feel bad asking for specific things, but we will try to contact some families (nearly a hundred are offering) and see what they had in mind and let them know what the kids will eat (it's not a long list, but my fingers are getting tired!)

Kids

• Out of house - We have had many offers to have kids over and spend the night, we're leaving it up to the kids.  As long as we can tolerate them, it feels good to have them around.  The kids are trying to line up some sleep overs before school starts again.
• In-house - We have two reliable 'Security Officers' who if they get tired out, we'll contact you.
• Activities - We have been given movie cards and similarly rental cards might be nice for those evenings when they or mom need a break.

House

• Cleaning - What are teens and pre-teens for if not to take care of the house!  I'll keep in touch if I can think of anything the kids and I can't handle.
• Repairs - I do have a few things that broke untimely, such as my garage door.   A few other things that could use assistance with, we were just about to paint kitchen and replace floor and now Amy shouldn't help with that.  I have most of the supplies already.

Cash

• Although we have what is looking like great health insurance with no deductible, co pays add up.  I am not sure how this will go as we progress, but I know that neither Amy or I feel we need any serious financial help just yet, but anything we have received or will received will go towards co-pays and related medical supplies.

These are only the things that I can think of and that people have mentioned.  Along with the blessings of Amy's quick recovery comes the reduced need for assistance.  So thank you all for all of your prayers on her behalf.  These have been the most precious to us.  We truly acknowledge our Heavenly Father's gift and power of his priesthood, as well as the comfort and support of the Holy Ghost to our family.  Your prayers on Amy's behalf, also contributed in letting our Father in Heaven (and Amy) know how many lives that Amy has touched.  I still claim that she is the nicest, sweetest, and most compassionate person I know.  And I thank Him for granting us with her continued presence.

Some of us will be at church next week at least, I venture not to commit Amy, but the kids and I should at least be there.
Amy's doctor appointment won't be for a week or so, so I may not have a lot to post until then.  Feel free to call Amy in the next week if you wish, try to keep the calls 15-30 mins or so (unless she's the one keeping you!)  She needs as much upbeat positive conversations that she can to keep her spirits up.  She is so excited to say that tomorrow (Tuesday) is one week from her surgery and how amazed she (and we all) are at her recovery rate.

Thank you all again, and let's keep praying that the tumor won't be cancerous.  The doctor was convinced that the remaining tumor would be 'fixed' with the gamma radiation treatment that is to come.

Rich (oh and sorry for such a long post!)