Writers Conference for Teens

Some of my author friends just emailed me to say they are hosting a Teens Only writer's conference this summer. The line-up of authors looks incredible! Click here to check out the website. If you are a teen - or you're the parent of a teen interested in writing - this is an AWESOME opportunity! I know most of these authors from the LDS Storymakers conference and they host the best writing classes ever!

Here's some additional information:

2009 Teen Writers Conference

"Living the Writer's Legacy"

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Ages 13-19

• $32.00 Registration fee
• plus optional $7 box lunch
• Check-in: 9 a.m.
• Workshops: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Weber State University:
Shepherd Union Building Rm 404

3848 Harrison Blvd.
Ogden, UT 84408

*********************************************************

Presenters include award-winning authors and editors:

James Dashner

J. Scott Savage

Jessica Day George

Michele Ashman Bell

H.B. Moore

Julie Wright

Annette Lyon

Ronda Hinrichsen

Matthew Buckley

Jewel Adams

C.S. Bezas

Tamra Norton

Preston Norton

Josi S. Kilpack

Contests for Jewelry and Music

Hi everyone!

Over on my wedding blog, I just posted a contest for free jewelry. That's right - free bling! Come on over and check it out!

Also, my friend Anne Bradshaw hosts weekly contests over on her blog. This week, it's an awesome Celtic music CD.

Book Review: Tower of Strength by Annette Lyon

Book Description from Deseret Book:

It was 1877 when Tabitha Hall Chadwick left Manti as a young bride. Now, nearly seven years later, she returns as a widow with her young son to make a new beginning. Tabitha’s strained relationship with her mother-in-law adds more difficulty to her life as a single working mother. Yet with a stroke of courage, Tabitha makes two purchases that become her passions: the local newspaper business and a traumatized horse.

As she struggles to meet the challenges of her new roles, Tabitha welcomes the friendship of Samuel, a recently widowed British immigrant. Working together to train the abused horse, the two discover a second chance at love. But when Samuel is critically injured during the construction of the Manti Temple, Tabitha faces the pain of old wounds and the risk of new ones.

Weaving themes of loss and renewal, this poignant tale explores a vital choice each of us must make: to seek safety in isolation or to embrace the painful yet beautiful complexities of life and love.

I have to be honest here. I'm about 3/4 of the way through this book. I thought I'd have plenty of time to read it during spring break, but somehow vacation time went by much more quickly than I had anticipated. While I don't know how it ends, I do know it's a fantastic story. I started reading it yesterday and couldn't walk away from my computer! This is definitely my favorite of Annette Lyon's temple series so far!

I love Tabitha! One of my favorite characteristics about her is that when she returns to Manti after a six year absence, all of her old acquaintances keep calling her Tabby . . . and she hates it! Each time she hears someone call her by her old nickname, she thinks "I'm not a cat!" It just makes me smile. :)

Tabitha is no wimpy character. She's a strong woman who lost her husband as a young bride and set out to find a way to care for her son. She attends college in Logan and, after graduating, become a teacher as well as a writer for a local newspaper. Then she receives an amazing opportunity to purchase and run her own newspaper back in her home town of Manti. The only problem is, well - it's her home town filled with painful memories.

Tabitha decides to take on the challenge. She has such strength as she searches for the right path to take. While she faces many trials, she also makes me laugh at her responses. For instance, her mother-in-law doesn't approve of Tabitha's friendship with Samuel and sets out to do everything she can to prove her point. I loved that after one instance, during a poetry recital, the mother-in-law chooses a poem that is hurtful for Tabitha. But Tabitha approaches her afterward to compliment her on her poetry choice, then pointedly walks out of the room on Samuel's arm! It made me want to stand up and shout, "You go girl!" It was one of those moments when I found myself rather envious of a fictional character.

Samuel has his own set of challenges. He too is a widow, but only of a few months, and he dearly misses his wife. I love his memories of their life together and finding the gospel. It reminds me so much of learning the gospel in my own life. I really connected with Samuel. Right now, I'm at a point in the book where Samuel and Tabitha have shared their feelings for each other. But then Samuel leaves for this tithing work on the temple - only to be involved in an explosion that leaves him seriously injured. While Tabitha is worried about Samuel, she's also freaked out because her first husband died in a mining explosion and this incident has hit her too close to home.

I'm itching to get back to the book to find out if Tabitha can overcome her fears of death and loss to take a chance on loving Samuel. So, if you'll excuse me - I'm going to close this review and get back to reading!

QOTC Rating (even though I don't know the end - I'm trusting Annette to pull through!) - Five Stars!

You can purchase Tower of Strength here or visit Annette Lyon's blog here.

Tornado Season Is Here!

Daffodils and tulips are popping up to bring us the first bright colors of spring. Kids are excited to leave winter coats in the closet and run outside to play. Parents are pumping up bike tires and counting down to the last day of school. Yes, it's true. Spring is finally here!

Along with this new season comes some not so fun stuff, too. I'm not talking about mowing the lawn. April marks the beginning of tornado season. When I first moved to Kansas, I was terrified of tornadoes. Every time the sirens went off—even for the monthly test drills—I grabbed my kids and off to the basement we went. Over the past two years, I've learned more about tornado preparedness and now, even though I still cringe every time a siren goes off, I'm not as terrified as I used to be. Here are four steps to get prepared for tornado season.

#1 – Buy a Severe Weather Radio

Severe Weather Radios alert you any time there's a NOAA National Weather Service Announcement. These are the announcements that as kids we hated because our favorite TV programs were interrupted by that long annoying beep and deep staticy voice. At our house, we watch lots of Disney and other cable channels that don't provide the NOAA announcements for our area. We actually have two radios; one upstairs in our living area and another down in our storm basement. I love that you can program the radios to alert you just for the counties you want monitored. Then whenever those counties have a severe weather announcement, that very same long annoying beep goes off and that same staticy voice tells you what's happening. But you know what? I can handle annoying and staticy if it means my family is safe.

#2 – Memorize the Tornado Lingo

Every time a watch or warning came across the radio, I'd freak out. I couldn't remember the difference between the two and what they meant. Here's some lingo for you to memorize:

Tornado Watch
Tornadoes are possible. Remain alert for approaching storms. Watch the sky and stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio, or television for information.

QOTC Tip: I discovered that when a watch is announced, I can get on the NOAA website and go to their maps to see exactly what the path of the coming storm is. Then I can figure out if I need to start preparing for a possible tornado warning.

Tornado Warning
A tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. Take shelter immediately.

QOTC Tip: This means you get the kids and high-tail it to the basement. This is no practice!!! It doesn't necessarily mean the tornado is headed directly for your house or even your neighborhood, but it does mean there's a tornado in the area that could come in your direction. I know several people who actually go outside to see if they can see a tornado. DO NOT be stupid, people! Be SAFE!!! If you want to see a tornado, watch Storm Chasers on the Discovery Channel.

#3 – Know Tornado Facts and Warning Signs

• There are approximately 800-1000 tornadoes each year in the U.S.

• Every state is risk for tornadoes.

• Tornadoes can strike quickly with little or no warning.

• They can appear nearly transparent until they touch down to the ground. At this point, dust and debris are picked up and make the tornado easy to see.

• Tornadoes are sometimes hidden by rain or low-hanging clouds.

• They can move in any direction.

• Their average speed is 30 MPH, but they can also stay in one location without moving or be as fast as 70 MPH. Their wind speed can reach 300 MPH.

• Tornadoes usually form during thunderstorms and can be accompanied by large hail. Tornadoes also develop during tropical storms and hurricanes.

• In the Great Plains area, tornadoes often occur when it's not raining.

• Tornado danger signs: Dark, greenish sky; Large hail; Large, dark, low-lying cloud (may or may not be rotating), Loud roar like a train

• Peak tornado seasons: Southern U.S. - March through May; Northern U.S. - late spring through early summer (approximately May through July).

#4 – Have a Plan and Practice It

• Choose a safe location in your home for your tornado shelter. The best place is a basement with no windows. If you do not have a basement, choose an area on the lowest level of your home on an interior wall. Put as many walls between you and the outside as you can. Stay away from windows. A closet or space under the stairs is a good location.

• Put together a tornado emergency kit. In the corner of our basement, we have water bottles, fruit snacks and other munchies, a first aide kit, pillows, blankets, children's books, and our weather radio. We also grab our home phone and cell phone, if we have time. While we are in the basement, waiting to see if there will be a tornado nearby, we sit on the pillows, read books, and munch if we get hungry. Next on my purchase list: a 5 gallon bucket porta-potty. It never fails that when we're in the basement for a warning, one or more of my kids needs to go to the bathroom!

• If you have children of various ages, talk with the older children about helping younger children to the basement. Have a roll-call as soon as you are together.

• Practice your plan every month during spring and summer. In our city, the first Wednesday of each month at 11 am, the tornado sirens are tested. This reminds me that it's time for our family to practice our tornado drill that evening as well. Choose a day to consistently practice with your family. The more often you practice, the less scary it is when there actually is a tornado warning.

• Talk with your kids about what to do if the tornado sirens go off and they aren't at home. What if you're outside with no where to go? Lie flat in a nearby ditch or depression and cover your head with your hands. Do not get under an overpass or bridge! And never try to outrun a tornado in urban or congested areas with a vehicle. Other drivers are in a panic and there's a great potential for bad accidents. It's safer to leave your car and head for safe shelter. No matter where you are, watch for flying debris. It causes the most fatalities and injuries during a tornado.

To learn more about tornadoes and tornado preparedness, visit the following websites:

FEMA

NOAA

The Disaster Center

Network for Good

The Weather Radio Store

Tornado Guide

Anne Bradshaw Give-Away

Anne Bradshaw is giving away a free copy of Annette Lyon's newest release, Tower of Strength. Come over here to check it out. Next week, I'll be reviewing Tower of Strength here on QOTC.

Book Give-Away!

Come check out my wedding blog and leave a comment for a chance to win an autographed copy of Your Temple Wedding by Jeri-Lynn Johnson & Amy Jones.

A Little Something to Brighten Your Day

Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamp-post how it feels about dogs.

-Christopher Hampton

A Bit of Randomness

This week I am focusing on editing and putting the finishing touches on some chapters for the LDS Storymakers First Chapter contest. While I'm busy working away at my computer, I may not get to post anything really in-depth and thought provoking for a while. I know, I know. You'll be dreading the rest of the week without me . . . LOL! :)

Just a couple of quick updates . . .

This week begins the third week that I've been exercising 5-6 times per week. Some of my girlfriends and I have been meeting 3-4 times a week to use our various Walk Away the Pounds and other exercise videos. The other two days, I either walk outside if it's nice enough (which hasn't been very often yet) or I pop in one of my own Walk Away the Pounds DVD's. My favorites so far are the beginners 1 & 2 mile Walk at Home & the 5 Day Slim Down. I've also been reading Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds book. It has excellent health and walking info. I just love Leslie's positive, upbeat attitude - and her curvy body. She's not some stick-like chick. She's fit and curvy. I love it! I've been feeling really good - and not so sore that I never want to see another exercising video in my life. I just feel good!!!

Isaac is back at school and doing fabulous! He's caught up with his other friends very quickly and from what I understand, his behaviors have been great! He's been able to recognize when he's getting frustrated and calm himself down before getting upset. Very cool. I'm glad the surgery made such a huge difference for him.

Yesterday, John asked me to make Baked Potato Soup for him. He and the girls love it. So I thought I'd share the recipe with you. It was given to me by my girlfriend, Amy Fields.

Baked Potato Soup

4-6 Large baking potatoes (I use 6, because I like it to be thicker and full of potatoes…helps it go further. I also use the skins of half of them, and peel the other half)

2/3 Cups butter

2/3 Cups flour

6 Cups milk

¾ tsp. salt (I don’t follow this measurement…I add tons to taste, since potatoes don’t have much flavor on their own, and need a little added flavor)

½ tsp. pepper (I add to taste as well)

4 green onions, chopped and divided

12 slices bacon cooked, crumbled and divided ( I take the easy route, and buy it off the salad bar, already prepared. I also use more than the recipe calls for, again to my liking)

1 ¼ Cups shredded cheddar, divided ( I use more than the recipe calls for)

1- 8oz. carton sour cream

Wash potatoes and bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 1 hour until done. Don’t overcook and make them too mushy. Let cool before cutting. Scoop out insides of potatoes and set aside.

Melt butter in a heavy kettle over low heat. Add flour-stirring until smooth. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Gradually add milk, stirring constantly over medium heat until mixture is thick and bubbly.

Add potatoes, salt, pepper, ½ of green onions, ½ of bacon, and 1 cup of cheese. Cook until thoroughly heated. Stir in sour cream.

Add extra if necessary for desired thickness.

Serve with remaining onions, bacon and cheese.

I hope everyone is doing well! I'll post again . . . soon!

Totally Awesome Giveaways from Annette Lyon!

Everyone - stop what you're doing and hop over to Annette Lyon's blog. She's giving away awesome stuff every day this week. Yes, I said EVERY DAY!!! Leave a comment and check back to see if you win.

Her contests are themed around her newest book release, Tower of Strength (which I have the honor of reviewing!) While you wait for my review, check out this little video clip/trailer for Tower of Strength:



I love the background music. And the cover of Annette's new book is absolutely beautiful! So, hurry over to Annette's blog and check out her fun contests!

Create by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

This was my very favorite talk from Conference. This video presentation of the main part of Elder Uchtdorf's message is absolutely beautiful. No matter what church demonimation you belong to, you will connect with this message. Much love to you all!

Book Review: The Forgotten Warrior by Kathi Oram Peterson

Forgiveness has never been an attribute of sixteen-year-old Sydney Morgan's. Loyal and loving to her mother and sister, a crisis forces her to find her absent father, which in turn begins a chain of events leading her to the last place and time she would have ever expected.

The Forgotton Warrior follows Syd as she is transported back to Book of Mormon times by touching a mysterious clear stone. She meets Chief Captain Helaman; nursemaid, Mariah; and the stripling warriors. They believe Syd to be a boy, and worse yet, Helaman's second-in-command, Tarik, thinks Syd is a Lamanite spy and threatens to kill her.

Come follow Sydney as she desperately tries to find her way back home, fights to gain Helaman's respect, and despite herself, falls in love with Tarik.

QOTC Review:

Anyone who regularly reads my blog knows I'm a total romance buff. I also enjoy suspense, action, and mystery . . . and in the past year or so have finally become a budding fan of fantasy. If you like any or all of these elements, then you will truly enjoy The Forgotten Warrior by Kathi Oram Peterson.

I took this book with me during my son's recent hospital stay. While he played video games or was building Lego creations, I was devouring this book. I had the hardest time putting it down when my son was ready for some Mama attention.

Right from the start, I fell in love with Sydney. The book begins with Sydney totally ticked off and ready to boil over when she hears a trusted friend saying something not-so-nice about her sister who has special needs. I absolutely admired her devotion to her younger sister who has special needs and totally wanted to cheer when Sydney let her friend have it. As a mom raising a son with autism, I have often wondered how I will react when someday someone does something like this to him. Will I keep my cool? Or will I totally lose it and tell them off? Knowing my hot temper, it will probably be the latter . . . although I'm preparing myself now to try to more cool than boiling hot. Imagine, if you will, me reading the first chapter and wanting to shout, "You go, girl!"

This book grabbed me right from the beginning, then pulled me a long with Sydney's discovery of her mother's illness, tracking down her absentee father . . . only to find out the reasons behind his abandonment weren't quite what she had grown up believing. Sydney's world turns upside-down . . . literally, as she's suddenly transported back to The Book of Mormon's Strippling Warriors time period.

This was the very best part of me. I felt like I was living and breathing the life of a strippling warrior. This is when we meet Tarik. Off topic, I want to say I think Tarik is one fine man (and I'm not just talking about his integrity!). I love - absolutely love! - the tension between Sydney and Tarik. And I just laughed out loud every time that girl flipped him over and pinned him to the ground. How totally awesome to have such a big buff guy bewildered by this little chick's slick black belt moves. The lovey-dovey girly side of me really enjoyed the romantic tension between the two of them.

The only bad part about this book was getting to the end and realizing it was a series! Hello! I wanted more!!! So, Ms. Peterson, I seriously hope you have the next book done and that it will find its way into my hands very, very, very soon. :)

Seriously though, this book is an excellent example of an entertaining novel that leaves the reader with a much better understanding and appreciation of an historical moment - in this case, the strippling warriors and their faith in Heavenly Father as they defended their families, loved ones, and land. I highly recommend this book.

QOTC Rating: Five Stars!

For more about this book, check out Kathi's website and her blog.

To purchase The Forgotten Warrior, click here.

Message From Under the Blankets

You ever have one of those days when all you want to do is crawl back into bed and stay there for about a week? That's me today.

I didn't realize how much the stress from Isaac's surgery took out of me. Then, even with the relief of having the surgery go FABULOUSLY, helping him during recovery took extra energy. Especially when his energy was "sky rocket high" and he wanted to run, jump, and play like the surgery never happened. Holy guacamole - trying to get him to rest and be calm was the most exhausting thing ever.

Tuesday he got the all clear from the surgeon so he could return to school - no physical restrictions, he was good to go. And let me tell you, he was one very happy boy! Wednesday he went back to school and has been thrilled to be with his friends. He's even been happy to do school work.

Sounds like everything should be happy and on the up-swing, right?

Unfortunately, poor Anna's double ear infections flared back up Wednesday. She was put on a new set of antibiotics. But Wednesday night, her fever spiked and she was one cranky girl. We were up until 4:30 AM and even after that she was up about every half hour or so.

Of course, there's no rest for weary moms. So I got up Thursday and did everything that needed done. That evening I was ready to drop into bed. But I forgot about a board meeting and was up until 10:30 PM on a conference call - which believe me is totally fine. I'm not complaining about that at all. A little after 11, I finally tumbled into bed . . . Blessed sleep. Only the "sleep" part was interrupted by a fussy Anna and then Rob fell out of bed and onto his Legos he refused to clean up that evening. (Sidenote: Dad sleeps through it all. That man would probably sleep through the tornado sirens, too!)

Conclusion: Today, I am one tired chick. Emphasis on tired.

But it's still been a good day. Anna took a nap and I had my girlfriends over for a little surprise birthday lunch for Amy. And yes, Amy was surprised. It was fun to sit around and chat while the kids played. I love spending time with Laura, Amy, and Hillary. They are such awesome women and fun, sassy girlfriends.

Now the kids are back from school and planning games for a family fun fair. A great way to kick off the weekend, don't you think?

And while I plan to have fun, I'm also watching the clock for those magic numbers to roll around . . . 7:30 PM. Kiddy bedtime. I think tonight, Mama's gonna join them. I can't wait to climb into bed and snuggle deep under the blankets . . . and hopefully not emerge until late Saturday morning!

Crazy, But True

I love my friends. You're all so awesome. Especially for putting up with my quirkiness. I love that we can all be "crazy" together.

Latter-Day Bride Semi-Annual Sale

Looking for a modest wedding gown, bridesmaid dresses, or prom gowns?

Be sure to go over and check out Latter-Day Bride's semi-annual Sample Sale. All in-stock gowns are on sale and those that were used as samples for display, etc are deeply discounted. Prices start at $49! Check out their website for locations or online shopping.

Book Review: Lemon Tart by Josi S. Kilpack

From the back cover of Lemon Tart:

A Recipe For Murder
5 families living on Peregrine Circle
1 flowered curtain tieback
1 missing child
1 body in the field

Mix with a long list of suspects and top with two very different detectives. Increase heat until only the truth remains.

Cooking afectionado-turned-amateur detective, Sadie Hoffmiller, tries to solve the murder of Anne Lemmon, her beautiful young neighbor-a single mother who was mysteriously killed while a lemon tart was baking in her oven. At the heart of Sadie’s search is Anne’s missing two-year-old son, Trevor. Whoever took the child must be the murderer, but Sadie is certain that the police are looking at all the wrong suspects-including her!

Armed with a handful of her very best culinary masterpieces, Sadie is determined to bake her way to proving her innocence, rescuing Trevor, and finding out exactly who had a motive for murder.

I absolutely love Josi Kilpack's books. Way back when her first book was published in 2001, I became a die-hard fan (not in a stalker kind of way though - I promise). Then I met Josi at an LDS Storymakers conference and after getting to know her, she became not just someone I was in awe of (and yes, slightly envious of), but she became a real person and a wonderful friend.

Josi's newest book, Lemon Tart, is totally different from all her other books. Not only is it a culinary mystery - whereas all her previous books have been Women's fiction novels dealing with issues that hit you right in the gut and keep you attached to the book until you find out how everything turns out - but it's also the first book that has no mention of the LDS Church. Her main characters have good Christian morales, but no where do they talk about visiting teaching, callings, or other things you typcially expect to find in LDS Fiction. In fact, I'm really surprised it wasn't published under Deseret Book's national market imprint - Shadow Mountain. I think it would be extremely well received by readers all over the U.S. who want a good, clean mystery.

And when I say good mystery, I truly mean Good, with a captial G. After the first, oh maybe five chapters or so, I got really cocky and was totally sure I knew who the murder was and why. But let me tell you, my guess was totally wrong! Josi weaved a whole thread in there that I completely over-looked, and when the plot twisted I just wanted to kick myself in the pants for having missed it! I was so into wanting to solve the mystery, I couldn't put the book down until it was finished. And the massive mess I found around my house after I reached The End is a testament to my reading frenzy!

I enjoyed the mouth-watering recipes Sadie cooked up in the book. I'm really excited to try them out here at home! Some of those recipes include: Sadie's Lemon Tart, Homemade Alfredo Sauce, Carrot Cookies, Brownies, and Granny's Gingerbread Bundt Cake. I'm thinking it's time for a pot luck girls night out!

And the romantic in me is hoping to see more development of Sadie's relationship with a certain dectective in the next book in the series! Hee hee hee.

Now, if you're ready to run out to purchase your very own copy - then get going! But if you can contrain yourself for about a week, check out Anne Bradshaw's blog. She's giving away an autographed copy of Lemon Tart. The contest ends on Wednesday, February 25th. And hey, if I win I'll have an extra copy for a contest, too! Good luck and enjoy this fabulous new book!

QOTC Rating: Five Stars!

Lovin's from Da Sista

My daughter's Activity Days leaders, Sara, emailed me with a totally cute story from when the girls came to "heart" our house. I absolutely loved it and wanted to share.

From Sara:

Hi Danyelle, I just got caught up on your blog. I'm glad everything went well. It is so nice to know that there is a great children's hospital here in KC. I hope Isaac is still recovering quickly and doing well. I have to tell you that MJ was so funny when we hearted your house. I told everyone when we were making the hearts that it was going to be a surprise as to whose house we were going to but that is was someone who needed a little extra love. When we got closer to your house I hear MJ say, "Hey, this is by my house." Then as I pulled into your cul-de-sac I hear MJ get a little more excited and say, "Hey! This is my street. Hey guys, the person lives on my street!" Then when we pulled into your driveway MJ just couldn't contain it any longer. It was so funny. I told the girls we were going to heart MJ's house and then I asked them why and MJ said, "Because of Isaac...I miss him." How cute is that? She is a sweet girl.

Ah, the tears are threatening to flow. Thank you so much for sharing this sweet story, Sara. I hope everyone enjoys a little sisterly love today.

Book Review: An LDS Girl's Guide to Real Beauty by Leslie Cheret

My friend Tristi recently posted on her blog about teaching our daughters to be women. Her post reminded me of an awesome book I purchased for MJ last Novemeber at Time Out for Women. I gave it to her for her 8th birthday.


It's called An LDS Girl's Guide to Real Beauty by Leslie Cheret.

From the Deseret Book website:
A fun and conversational guide to being beautiful inside and out. From self-confidence and discovering your talents to healthy eating, make-up, and exercise, Leslie Cheret will help any girl feel beautiful. Full of thoughts from real LDS girls your age and helpful tips to feeling your best.

My daughter absolutely loves this book. We've been sitting together and reading it one chapter at a time. Many times, she has stopped to ask me more specific questions. In one chapter, the author talks more about what it means to be a real friend - and how friends treat each other. MJ is a very friendly girl and wants to be friends with everyone. But at school, there's one click who has caused her some grief. When these girls get together on the playground, they all follow whatever the click's leader tells them to do. There are about four girls in the group. The hard thing for MJ is that she's friends with several of the girls in the group. When she's with the girls and the leader isn't around, they have a wonderful time together. But when the leader is there, she (the leader) makes all the girls walk away from MJ. It's not just MJ who they "ignore," it's all the girls. MJ asked me lots of questions about this specific situation, but a few others as well. Like what to do when someone makes fun of someone else. We talked a lot about how we're all children of God, and no matter what church we go to, we need to treat everyone with respect.

This book has been excellent for bringing up topics and letting my daughter ask me questions that lead into wonderful conversations and teaching moments. I'm very impressed with this author. She's fun and humorous, and also very honest and loving as she talks about topics that are very important to girls who are pre-teen through teen. MJ is in 2nd grade and I've been shocked by the things I've seen and heard happening between the girls or girls and boys that I wouldn't have expected until at least 6th or 7th grade. I think the timing of this book is perfect for those of us raising girls in this generation. I highly, highly recommend this book.

QOTC Rating: Five HUGE Stars!

Psst - I haven't read it yet, but this author has another book called An LDS Girl's Guide to Friendship. That's definitely going to be the next one I purchase!

Hospital Pictures

First let me say . . . Happy Birthday, Anna!!!

As promised, here are the pics from our stay at Children's Mercy. I hadn't realized we'd taken so few pictures. We didn't get pics with any visitors other than my Dad right before he left. Sorry to all our friends who came by to spend time with Isaac!

We were in the Hippo room. This is Isaac hugging his bear.

Isaac looking a little apprehensive about the upcoming surgery.

John & Isaac playing Nintendo DS games against each other as we wait . . .

I loved this pic in the room we were waiting in.
There are many, many, many days I feel just like this Mama Elephant.

The day after the surgery. Just before we got rid of the nasal oxygen thing.

Pappy and Isaac

Ooh - A present from Pappy.

Power Miners & DS Styluses from Pappy!
By the time Isaac came home, he had several different Lego sets he received
from his friends who visited. He was very exited and loved building & playing with them.

Yummy tacos.
Isaac asked for tacos for dinner every night we were there.
He also had hamburgers for lunch each day as well. :)

The KU Med students came for a Valentine Card activity one evening with the kids.
It was really fun and the guy helping Isaac was fantastic!

Isn't Isaac sweet? He made a Valentine's Card for his sister!

Isaac won a prize! He chose a monkey like on Mario Kart.
Ironically, he named him Mario the Monkey.

Therapy dogs came for one of the evening activities. Isaac absolutely loved Bella.
She's 1 1/2 years old and such a mild tempered, sweet dog.

Isaac and Bella the Beagle

Isaac and one of his favorite nurses, Jessica. She was awesome!

The one thing Isaac begged to do every day was go down to the play room
to play Mario Kart Doubles. He loved it.
He especially loved kicking Mommy's tush. It was quite embarrassing.

It was so fun to come home and find our front door all decorated by
our daughter MJ and her Activity Days group. Thank you!!!

We love you guys, too!

Here is a slightly boring, but fun video of John & Isaac dueling each other on the Nintendo DS while we waited for his surgery. At least it kept Isaac occupied.




Thank you so much to everyone for their love, faith, and prayers. You were each such a blessing for Isaac and our family. Much love to you all!

There's No Place Like Home

Yes, we're home again. And I can't tell you how good that feels. It's like taking a fresh loaf of bread out of the oven, then smothering it with honey-butter and letting your taste buds experience a little slice of heaven.

Home is definitely heaven to me.

We actually came home Friday about lunch time. Thursday night, Isaac finally hit 22cc of drained fluids in a 24 hour period. So Friday morning, the surgeon's team came in, removed the drainage tube from his lung (which went about as good as it could), then told us we could go home.

I was surprised. "I thought we had to stay 24 hours, then have a chest x-ray?" I asked.

The surgeon replied that with all the extra draining Isaac did and with how great his lungs sound that they were confident he would be fine to go home. I asked a few more questions, but he assured me all was fine and we could go home.

So I called my hubby. And found out it was the first round of lay-offs at Sprint. It was mandatory for everyone in his department to be on campus from 10 am to 4 pm. Yuck. Not good news. Especially since John had my GPS unit and let's just say I'm directionally challenged.

Unrelated funny story about being directionally challenged - When I first moved to Utah, I got lost trying to find my apartment building. I stopped to ask for directions. Everyone kept saying go North, West, or whatever and I swear I looked at them like they were talking a foreign language. It's not like I had a compass stashed in my car. What way was I supposed to turn? Then someone told me to head towards the mountains. What? There are mountains on both sides of the valley, which is why it's called a valley. Then they said to head towards the big mountains. OK - I'm from the Alleghenies in PA, and compared to those beautiful rolling mountains, the ones in Utah are mammoth. So I said, "They're all big." At this point, the people giving me directions were rolling their eyes at me. I just got back into my car and drove around until I found someone who gave directions like a normal person, and finally arrived back at my apartment complex. Yep. I'm directionally challenged.

Anyway, back to coming home. :)

I was lucky enough that Isaac's autism specialists found out we were coming home and what was happening and came to the rescue. Can I just say that Todd & Jill are totally awesome? I am so grateful that Isaac has such incredible people in his life. To make a long story short, Todd came up and played video games with Isaac while I packed the room. He helped us get loaded into our car, then we met up again outside of the parking garage and he led me back to the freeway. Whew! There's no way I would have made it on my own without stopping to ask for directions . . . somewhere. I have no idea where I would have stopped. A big, strange city isn't my ideal location for being lost. But then again, I guess it's better than being in the middle of farm central with no one around to ask, then running out of gas. Hmm . . . maybe I'll have to write a story about that.

By the time we got back to Olathe and dropped off Isaac's pain med prescription, it was lunchtime. So we made a McSonic run (McD's & Sonic are right next to each other near our house), then finally pulled into our garage. I told Isaac to go ahead and go in while I unloaded the car, then we'd have lunch. After a few trips, I went to check on him and found him laying on his bed, half asleep. I guess he was happy to be home, too.

We spent the remainder of the day resting and catching up on mail, etc. John finally did get to come home - and yes, we survived the first round of lay-offs. Round #2 is on March 13th, so we'll see how we do then. Our friend, Chris Wofford, brought us dinner last night, with some totally incredible homemade Ginger Snaps. I definitely need to get that recipe.

As you can see from my rambling, I'm in the process of de-stressing and much more chatty today than I have been all week. It's nice to see Isaac happy, relaxed, and much more comfortable. Big sigh of relief. I will post pictures from our stay later this weekend.

I hope you are all doing well. And btw -

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

And Happy Birthday Wishes to my brother Harry & my friend Teri.

Update on Tuesday Night & Wednesday

Since John went back to work on Wednesday, I haven't had access to his laptop. I knew there were computers here I could use, but I didn't want to leave Isaac long enough to access them. What I didn't know was that the hospital has laptops they keep charged for parents to use for 15-20 minutes at a time in their room. Isn't that awesome? So, here I am - finally giving you an update.

Tuesday night was really difficult for Isaac. After having a fabulous day, he went to sleep at 11 pm. Unfortunately, his nurse decided since he was sleeping, not to give him his pain meds. At 4 am, he woke up in LOTS of pain. He thrashed around a bit and ended up pulling his IV out of his hand. The nurse didn't want to start another IV since he was so upset, and opted to order oral pain meds - which took another 30 minutes to get and another 20-30 minutes after that to kick in. Isaac was so upset, all he kept saying was "Mommy, take me home". It just about broke my heart. I ended up sleeping in bed with him cuddled up to me for the rest of the night. Thank goodness we could both fit on his bed. :)

Wednesday was a great day. Truly, Isaac is back to his normal, cheerful, active personality. He still needs pain meds to control the pain. Right now we're just waiting for his lung drainage to get down to less than 25 cc in a 24 hour period. Wednesday, he was sitting at between 70-80 cc. The bulb that catches the fluid gets drained every four hours. When they drain it, they calculate the amount of fluid for the past 24 hours from that drainage time. So Wednesday morning, he was still draining too much fluid to have the tube removed. By the afternoon though, the drainage had finally started tapering off and this morning he was sitting at 30 cc. The surgeon team said they would keep an eye on it today. Hopefully either later today or tomorrow morning, the drainage will decrease enough for the tube to be removed. Once it's removed, we'll need to stay for another 24 hours, then Isaac will have a chest x-ray to make sure the fluid levels and lung look okay.

Other than that, Isaac is doing great with his respiratory exercises and his lung sounds really good. He's had several visitors - Mr. Todd & Miss Jill from school, Sister Broyles came up with our son Rob, and Sister Lyons & Sister Stotts from the Primary organization at church. He really enjoyed seeing someone other than Mom and Dad . . . and of course, he was really excited about the presents they all brought, too. :)

I went home last night to spend the night at home with the kids. John stayed at over-night with Isaac. Anna was soo happy to see Mom. She kept hugging me over and over. I was worried she'd be upset about being separated again today, but instead she was very excited to see Natalie and just hopped right into their van for the day. What a great blessing that was. I don't think I could have handled her crying and calling for Mommy. It was really nice to be home and to just snuggle and relax with the kids.

This morning when I returned, Isaac gave me a great big hug. I told him I brought him something from home. He was really excited until he saw that it was homework. "No!" he said. "No homework!" Then I pulled out the cool coloring books and crayons I brought and he agreed it would be okay to work in shifts. Some work and some play. He's such a great kid.

Thank you everyone for all your prayers. Isaac is doing fabulous and I truly believe it's because of the faith and love each of you are sending his way. Last night on the way home, Lean On Me came on the radio not once, but twice. Then again this morning when I turned on the radio, it was the first song that came on. It clicked in my head that it was a message from Heavenly Father. Have you listened - really listened - to the verses from that song lately? It touched my heart and made me think of each of you and my Heavenly Father. Google the verses. Thank you so much for being a part of our lives.

I will try to update again later today. Much love to you all.