Heaven At Last

http://www.lukecinda.blogspot.com/

Face to Face with JesusAt 6:10am this morning our baby Micah went to be with the Lord. No more suffering, no more pain, no more waiting. Face to face with our king and Savior Jesus at last.

"Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who give us the victory through Jesus Christ."

Please pray for Micah Davis and his family

http://www.lukecinda.blogspot.com/

The Davis family attends our old church in Gaithersburg. Their little guy, Micah, was diagnosed with brain cancer when he was about 18 mos old.

He turned 3 in May and is now in his last days.

His parents are incredible examples of looking to Christ for their comfort amidst whelming sorrow.

Our baby hasn't been drinking really since Fri, we have tried syringing chocolate milk into his month which works some but most of it spills out of his mouth, his eye rarely opens and he has stopped chatting for about a week now. His breathing stops now & then and our nurse seems to think that one time it will just stop altogether.
She believes it could be a few hours or a few days. The Lord knows. He still squeezes our fingers every now and then when we hold his hands. He is resting rather peacefully and so are we. The pastors came to pray last night, a huge encouragement and wonderful reminders to our hearts. We are waiting, praying, trusting, crying, singing & being refreshed. God is gracious every dawn! He is certainly near.
Thanks for all your prayers, so appreciate them.
Here are a few photos of the last 3 days of some of my fav people =)!! As you can see, Cianne ate dirt, Braet loved his marshmallows, we were able to gently move Micah on the floor to cuddle and Mom & Maw are having a special moment together, after our Pastors came to pray Sunday we went outside and there in the sky up above the house was this little rainbow (even though it hadn't rained), Nick said it was a smile. Grandma said, "I think the Lord is telling us we are in this hands. Faith will sustain us."
Love you so!Luke & Kriscinda,Braet, Mikes, & CC

Overheard from the 3rd row

(E and H sit in the way back of the Yukon)

Ella: Help! I'm on fire.
Hank (very matter of factly): No you're not. Being on fire is an emergency and you're not an emergency.
Ella: Yes, I am. hmph!

well, not so funny typed out, but it was pretty funny then. They are like an old married couple the way the squabble/make up/squabble/make up. It's really fun to watch them interact and problem solve.

Overheard on the front porch

Thank you Knight for saving me from the scary bug!! I'm so proud of you!

It's ok, Elwa. I squashed him with my sword. See, one wing is all the way over there. He's flat now.

He's so brave and chivalrous. We start with bugs and one day he'll graduate to dragons. :)

You might be a redneck if...

you buy your husband a banjo for his birthday.

Yes, we finally all broke down and got the man his banjo. Parents, brother, sisters, everyone, pitched in and got him a Deering. The kids bought him a case, picks and an instructional DVD. I got him some lessons at a local music store.

He's very happy with his new toy. Ella and Hank want to play the guitar. We're still recovering from Jake's years on the violin so he'll be assigned a quiet instrument. Shane and I will be grateful for our ear plugs while we smile encouragingly.

We met Maisy!!

Today was a special day. Maisy visited our local library. We spent days preparing for the big event. We read all our Maisy books, borrowed some of her books from the library last week, talked about whether or not we would shake her hand or hug her.

Ella and Hank woke up talking about meeting Maisy today. Once at the library Hank started getting "nerbus" about it. He and Ella tried to sit behind the stroller and peek out. He asked Ella if she thought Maisy might be a mean mouse.

Maisy arrived and Shane tried to jump out of the stroller to meet her. Ella stood in line with the other kids and *very* cautiously checked her out before agreeing to a hug. Hank peeked out from behind the stroller.

After Maisy left, the librarian brought out a stack of Maisy books for the kids to read. Hank all but tackled her so he could read about his "faborit" mouse.

I have to say this visit went much better than the Pooh Bear visit a few weeks ago. Both Ella and Hank were all too happy to stay waaaay back and just watch Pooh. There would be no handshaking or hugging thank-you-very-much. All in all, a successful visit to the library.

A knight and his princess

This morning we met our friends at the park for some serious run-like-wild-animals playtime. Then we had the pleasure of a 45 minute wait at the cable place to turn in our box, followed by a trip to the market for Shane's special milk. Blessedly, Shane slept the whole way home and was still snoring when I pulled into the drive.

I sent the Jake, Hank and Ella inside while I sat with my sleeping munchkin.

After about 15 minutes, Ella and Hank came charging outside with Hank declaring that he was a knight; Ella was his princess, and they were on their way to defend their castle.

It's hard to see but she has her tiarra on the front of her cowboy hat. In the second picture you can see she has on a skirt under her dress. I guess she couldn't decide what to wear while fighting for her castle.

Fireworks

I have a phobia about fireworks; I love to watch them, but from way far back. I always imagine someone is going to be blown to smithereens so my poor kids have never been able to run with sparklers or the other exploding firey stuff.

Fast forward to this year....we were down at the Machen homestead and Bill's cousin had sparklers for the kids. Before I knew where everyone had gone and could catch up with them (Carrying Shane slowed me down!)...my babies were running like happy maniacs with sparklers. No one died or even came close to being blown up. It was pretty cool.

So the next week Bill ran out and spent their college fund on fireworks. It took us 2 nights to light them all. Hank and Shane dove in head first with excitement. Jake and Ella weren't so sure at first. But in the end a good time was had by all.

And Shane caught his first firefly without squashing it. The last picture is him showing Jake his prize.

Butterflies and Ladybugs

We hatched a set of ladybugs and some butterflies. They got a kick out of watching the whole process, and we read a dozen or so books about the life cycle of both.

Ella couldn't wait to free them; Hank was really worried they'd be eaten by a wolf so it took some coaxing to get him to agree to it. Now every time we see a butterfly or ladybug, "Momma! Look! It's one of ours!" Their enthusiasm about everything is such a treat.

Making big eggs

Hank calls the big hay rolls you see in fields eggs. Our neighbors grow hay in the field on the other side of our house and behind us. The kids love watching the tractors make eggs. And I love the distraction it provides so I can do the laundry!

Happy Girl

Ella really is a happy little pip. She sings and skips almost everywhere she goes. I love her smile. What a blessed mommy I am. :)

* the green stuff is ScoobyDoo applesauce

Sand = Fun

Shane got his cast off in May so this is a couple of months old. We put sand in the bottom part of their fort and turned them loose. If you look in the background, you'll see Stunt Baby climbing the ladder to the fort.

Hank stages battles with his army guys; Ella "plants" flowers (blades of grass), and Shane scoops, throws, scoops throws. We're working on skipping the throwing.

Making Wishes

The field next to the house was covered in dandelions this Spring, and Ella spent a lot of time picking "pretty yellow flowers" for mommy and daddy. Hank waited until those flowers turned into white fluff balls and then he showed his sister how to make a wish.

Shane Sleeps??

Like his brother, Shane is the Engergizer Bunny. The kid just doesn't sleep much. We managed to catch this rare event on film and with his favorite junk food (fries)!

Ella's artwork

Ella is quite the little artist and she did this all by herself. Remember she's only 3!! I was very impressed (not that I'm biased). She hasn't decided which hand she prefers and this was done with her left hand. Though she does just as well with her right.

It's a picture of Bill and me. Bill is wearing a suit and I'm in a dress; I have a bow in my hair. Pretty, isn't it? :)

*I loaded the camera software and am wading through a ton of photos. Updates added as I have time!

Small catchup

It has been a very busy summer and we haven't really done all that much. We've been to the eastern shore a few times to visit Bill's mom and we spent a weekend in southern MD visiting his dad at the Machen family homestead on the Patuxent River.

We're downsizing to one computer since Jake's died. Bill is still transferring different things from it to mine so no photos still. The kids all look adorable (of course!) and Shane got a big boy haircut yesterday. He's stinkin' cute if you ask me.

Hank said when he turned five he would sleep in his own bed and by golly it happened. Not that I'm doing cartwheels just yet. Shane is still having reflux/allergy problems so I'm up much of the night with him, but progress is progress and I'll take it! Shane is finally getting some chub on him despite the fact that he can't eat anything but cardboard. I'm pouring Hemp milk down him every day and he can eat eggs so that helps.

Ella had her followup with Childrens and they're thrilled to death with her progress. She'll have a minor surgery next summer and that'll be it until she's around 7. Then the fun with orthodontics begins. She got a big girl haircut at a friend's salon on the eastern shore. Her two daughters are also from China so she's well versed in cutting fine, wispy Asian hair and Ella looks gorgeous.

Jake isn't doing much so far. Some friends just bought a farm in southwestern PA so we've told them they can use him for any heavy labor needs. Sounded like they'll take us up on it so I'm waiting for the phone call. He still has to finish Algebra...or we may forget it and just try again in Sept when we start school again. Haven't decided yet just how hard *I* want to work this summer! :)

Hopefully we'll get some photos up soon with more exciting Machen Family Summer News.