A Spring Princess

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Luke’s Penguins

Luke is such a funny boy!  He has started his own penguin collection.  It started with his Little Kinz penguin.  He loves that thing.  Then he got the big one for his birthday.  When Webkinz came out with the Kinz Clips penguin, he knew that he wanted that one too.  When I asked him why he likes the penguins so much, he simply says that “they are just so cute!”

Today he decided to trade in his exercise points for a Kinz Clip penguin.  The points are usually traded in for something around $10-$15, and since the clip was only $5.50, I told him he could pick out some other small thing to go with it.  He got busy looking, and sure enough, he found another penguin:  a Webkinz figurine.  When we got home, he immediately got out his collection to put his “family” together.  Yes, he is a neat kid.

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Luke’s 7th Birthday

Today is Luke’s 7th birthday.  This day never fails to remind me what a miracle he is.  Even though this is his real birthday, he was not supposed to be born until July.  So, he was a teeny-tiny little baby!  He spent two months in neonatal intensive care before he was able to come home, but his difficult beginnings have never slowed him down one bit!

In fact, here is a funny story from the day he was born:  After the Denver flight crew got him stabalized and ready to take to Denver Presbyterian, St. Luke’s NICU, they came and updated me on his condition.  The flight nurse reassured me that she really believed that he would be just fine.  When I asked her why she thought so, she answered that it took three adults to hold him still enough to get his IV started!  She said picture three adults trying to hold down a 3 pound baby!  Yes, he was a fiesty little guy who did just fine.

Anyway, this year we had a spread-out celebration.  Dan has out-of-town meetings today, so we had cake and presents on Saturday before he left.  I promised Luke that we wouldn’t forget his real day, though, so we went out for pizza today.

A couple of Luke’s presents have stories behind them.  First, the propeller caps.  Luke has always loved propeller caps, but I’m not sure that he had actually ever seen a real one.  Whenever he draws pictures of himself, though, he always draws a propeller cap on his head.  So when I was trying to decide on gift ideas, I thought that he would really enjoy having a real propeller cap.  I found them on Ebay, but they were sold in lots, so I got enough for the three youngest kids.  Boy, have they had fun with those silly things!  They run around all day with them and love going outside in the wind to see the propellers go round and round!  Pretty cute.

The other gift with a story is the Webkinz penguin.  Luke has REALLY wanted that penguin.  He had a little version, but he had his heart set on getting the matching big one.  Unfortunately, we found out that the big penguins are retired, making them rare and EXPENSIVE!  I don’t know how many times we have had to explain to Luke the difficulties of getting one of those things.  So, again I got on Ebay, and found one for an amazingly good price to put away for this birthday.  In the mean time, Luke had given up on ever getting his big penguin.  Needless to say, he was very happy and very surprised to finally get his very-wanted Webkinz penguin.

For this year’s birthdays, I am going to write three special things about the honored person.  Here are my thoughts about Luke:

1. Luke has deep, profound thoughts about God.  He has a spiritual depth way beyond his years.

2. Luke is his “own guy.”  He has his own way of doing and thinking about things.  I pray that he never loses that.

3. Luke and Kara are two peas in a pod.  They are nearly inseparable.  Their close friendship brings me much joy.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

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Laminin: Held together by the cross

If you have never seen this video about Laminin, it is well worth your time.  A written version of it was in our church bulletin on Easter Sunday, and I think you will find it as astounding, comforting, and inspiring as I did.  We have an amazing Creator!

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Eye Appointment Day

This morning was very busy.  It was our annual eye check-up day for all of the kids.  There is no provider in our town that accepts our vision insurance, so for the last several years we have gone out-of-town to see the eye doctor.  Because there is a little travel involved, we try to get all of the kids in the same day–which I am sure makes for an interesting day for that office too!  🙂

The staff there was really nice today.  They honestly tried to make all of the kids’ glasses while we were there so we wouldn’t have to make a second trip to pick them up, but they didn’t have the right lenses in stock for Luke.  He was  a little disappointed, but did not get too upset which was good.  So, Kara, Cosette, and Brock came home with their new glasses, and we should get Luke’s on Monday or Tuesday.  What about John?  Well, believe it or not, he doesn’t need glasses anymore!  We knew this day was coming for him, because each year he has been growing more and more out of his far-sightedness.  So now he is the only member of the Prairie Family that doesn’t have “windows.”  The eye doctor warned, though, that this is probably temporary, because his far-sightedness has disappeared as he is going near-sighted!  So, he has at least a temporary reprieve.

One more interesting detail:  Cosette and Kara picked out their glasses separately, but they both picked out the very same style!  Fortunately, they are different colors of the same style, so they’ll be able to tell them apart!  So, now I tell them that they look like twins, and they seem to like that.

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What Show is Kara Watching???

Kara, like most 5-year-olds, has a favorite television show.  Our family doesn’t watch very much tv, but we do watch a little.  Most people would expect Kara’s favorite show to be a kids’ cartoon or similar program, but that is not even close to being right.

Kara looks forward to her favorite program all week.  It airs on Sunday evenings.  Sunday has always been the day she likes best because she loves going to Sunday School and Church, but the fact that her special show is on that evening makes it even better!  It starts at 7:00 pm, but usually by 5:00 she is already asking when it is time to turn to the right channel.  She knows all of the characters’ names and sings its theme song quite often.  So, do you have a guess what the show is?

It is HEE HAW!  Can you believe it??!!!  She loves the old reruns of that fun family comedy show.  She has actually gotten all of us into watching it with her, so it has become one of the few times that we all actually sit down and watch tv together.  She is such a silly girl, I guess I’m not that surprised that such a silly program is her favorite show!  😉

A few weeks ago, we saw the Hee Haw rerun that had the classic sketch of Archie Campell telling his version of the Cinderella story.  Have fun watching it–it really is very funny!

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Kara’s Appointment Update

We met today with the orthopedic surgeon who performed Kara’s clubbed foot surgery in May 2007, and I am very happy to report that her foot is doing very well!  Yes, I posted yesterday that her foot has really been turning in, but it ends up that this in-toeing has nothing to do with her clubbed foot.  I will try to explain what the doctor told us.

She said that the turning-in of her foot is actually coming from her hips.  It has to do with how the hip actually fits into the socket, and how the socket is  shaped.  She did various manipulations with Kara’s legs to show us what she was talking about.   Anyway, she told us that little is ever done for this because as kids get older and their thigh muscles develop, it usually self-corrects, and that is what she anticipates in Kara’s case.  She said that this would probably happen between the ages of eight and ten.  In the mean time, doing exercises to strengthen the upper thighs would do the most to help encourage the correction.  The surgeon recommended *ballet*  (too expensive), roller skating, or bike riding.  So, I guess that means that Kara will be getting a bike soon–of course, she is happy about that!  We’ll also have to break out those fun skates now that the weather is warming up–again, Kara is pretty happy about that too!  🙂

So, we had a very good day.  Most of the day was spent driving to Denver and back, but at least we can rest tonight knowing that all is well with her foot.  By the way, the surgeon said that we can wait a year before coming back!  Praise God!

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Prayer Request

Please remember to pray for us tomorrow. We are taking Kara back to see the orthopedic surgeon who performed her clubbed foot correction surgery in May 2007. This is a regular check-up on her foot, but we do have some concerns. We have noticed over the past few months that Kara’s foot has started to turn in–not under like it was before her surgery–but definitely turned in. Her clumsiness has increased with this shift in her foot, and she trips on it several times a day. So, we don’t know what this means. So, please join us in praying that God will give us guidance for whatever the next step may be. I’ll post an update when we get home.

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The Resurrection, My Certain Future

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Resurrection Day

Praise the King! He reigns victorious, and because He lives, so will I! Happy Resurrection Day!

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