spring soccer started today

GGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!!!!

abbie has been wanting to play on a soccer team and today her 6 week spring session started! it was so cold, but with 3 layers on we headed out to the field. her good friend jack is on her 'team' and they had a great time pretending to score goals! their coach was so enthusiastic and really wanted to make it a great experience for them. he remembered all their names right away, and paid good attention to each of them. it was really refreshing to see. they started at 6pm, getting new shirts and soccer balls. after some free time, they played tag, trying to dribble the ball and catch the coach. when they caught him 3 times he had to do something funny. they chose jumping jacks, push ups and star jumps. i'm sure he is glad i have photos of him doing his star jumps! they loved it though.

they did a few warm up stretches, on the ground... the cold, soaking wet ground. abbie hates getting wet and so she chose to do the stretches standing up. in the end this really paid off, because she never got cold and stayed dry the whole time. you can see the wet and muddy spots all the other kids have on the back of their shirts but not abbie. she is a crack up!

after several more rounds of tag and some different drills with the ball they split up and played 4 on 4 mini games. it is funny to watch them try to chase the ball, get control of the ball, head toward their goal and then get the ball taken away. i had to remind abbie that she wasn't supposed to get mad but to get the ball back. it is an interesting thing to teach her. she isn't used to running after someone to take something away from them, but she'll quickly learn.

her legs got tired, but she loved the whole thing. each tuesday from 6-7 they'll be out there learning, growing and exploring the sport of soccer.

enjoy the slideshow of the day.

www.sorellimages.com/soccer2009/

star wars

I have recently introduced Abbie to one of my childhood pleasures-Star Wars. I will be honest, even today when I pass by the toy aisle at Wal-Mart, I will purposefully find the Star Wars action figures. I own all the Star Wars DVDs and I am always in the mood to watch one of the films. Therefore it is no surprise that as I was shopping for Christmas gifts, my eyes were drawn to a Star Wars, the original trilogy, video game. Every Thursday is daddy-daughter Star Wars Day when we play the video game. Abbie enjoys playing this game and has learned all of the characters. Sometimes we will even break out my vintage Star War figures and separate them into what episode they appeared. Abbie and I spent some time this week drawing Boba Fett and Darth Vader:

the dance recital costume is here!

abbie has been in a dance class this year, and today she brought home her costume. i (sarah) spent most of my childhood and highschool in dance and for me, getting the costume is an exciting thing! i had her try it on right away, and in true abbie form, she was annoyed with the itchy sequins. of course.

her recital is in june, at the leid center in lawrence and the theme is ' the beatles'. her dance is 'the yellow submarine', so they are all sailors. she looks so cute in it, and is ready to do her funky chicken moves and strike a pose. enjoy a few images of her looking ready to perform!

a day in the life of a stay-at-home dad

Cancer has altered our lives in many ways. One of those ways is as a stay-at-home dad. As a young man, I never pictured my self in this role. Fortunately, I have a wife who has a job using her talents as a photographer. Often times she has a morning and afternoon photo shoot and if she is really ambitious she will meet with a friend after that.
Her absence leaves me plenty of time with Abbie and Asher. Saturday was one of those days. It began with our weekly ritual of "Daddy and Daughter Donut Day." I do this every week so Abbie has something special to look forward to with her dad (and its a nice excuse to eat a donut). After feeding the kids lunch, Abbie helped me measure all the ingredients to make bread-Do not be too impressed, the bread machine did most of the work.
Sarah returned home and we played outside on our swing set. I convinced Abbie that a paper machete Easter egg would be a fun project- it was an easy sell. It was very messy and fun. We will paint it after it dries. Abbie and I also spent time searching for The Littlest Pet Shop animals on eBay. We have been searching for the peacock, ostrich, and puffin...however, we lost all of the auctions. Sarah usually makes dinner but I made sandwiches out of the sourdough bread we made earlier. Donuts, lunch, naps, bread, playing outside, paper machete, searching for toys on eBay and even dinner...I think I have found my new profession.

any where but here

As we know, the biopsy discovered cancer in the area of my right hyoid bone. The cancer is near the original site and and is located under my chin and tougue. This new revelation explains the pain and problems I have been having recently with speaking and eating. As we discussed the location of this new growth, along with seeing it on the CT scan, I was filled with the horrified feeling you get upon receiving bad news. For me, this was the worst possible news I could receive and the only area I did not want the cancer to return. A small bump on my head-no big deal; Caner in my lungs-no problem; The pain from cancer in my hip and sacrum-not fun but I can live with it; This new cancer in my hyoid/mouth/jaw is much larger than I thought (size of a quarter) and therefore has the potential for further damage to speaking and eating.

The doctor (ENT) , who specializes in head and neck cancer, shared different treatment options with us: Do nothing, radiation, or surgery. The doctor said a surgery would be 50 times more difficult than his original surgery...so, No to the way- surgery is not a viable option. And of course doing nothing will allow the cancer to grow. Radiation is the only logical option and in the doctors words, radiaiton will "stun it" and stop the cancer from growing for a while. So eventually it may reappear it this area just like it continues to do in my hip/sacrum area. Therefore radiation will buy me a few years without serious issues. I will start radiaiton treatment as soon as the doctors can develop a treatment plan.

"its positive"

"Its positve." The word "its positive" are wonderful words. We heard these words in response to our first pregnacy test. I have used them to describe my performance evaluation from my former employer. I always strive to leave a positve impression on the new neighbor or a potential client. As a father my goal is to be a positive example on my children. My day is always better if a have a positive outlook on life. Its wonderful to live a life of positive things. The only time I hate being positive is after a biopsy. Yet the words we received speaking with the nurse today were, "the result is positive." I have at least one confirmed cancerous area near my hyoid bone on my right side; and I am still suspicious of an area under my left jaw bone. These areas are in very delicate locations and wisdom will be needed when attempting to do what is best. The last time I had cancer in this general area it had tremdendous consequences.
I would appreciate your prayers for wisdom. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

crawling to say hi

asher is 10 months old and crawling all over the place. today he added a wave to his list of 'skills'. here is a quick video of him showing off his talents. sorry about the sunlight that makes him look like he is glowing... he wouldn't crawl in my path of good light. enjoy!

$447.89, $74.27, $17, $48.04, $75.70, $11.63, $259.19, $566.28

No one likes being sick. On top of feeling terrible you hand over your hard earned cash with the hope that the doctor's services will make you well. I began working for Bank of America in 2000 while I was a student in seminary. Banking was not my primary passion in life, but one reason for continuing my career with BofA after finishing seminary was due to the practical nature of having a good health insurance. For 8 years I spent about $5000 annually for insurance for my entire family. After small copays, the insurance covered our nearly all of our medical bills-an by "our medical bills." I mean primarily my medical bills mine.

Recently, my insurance benefits changed. Along with normal copays, they began requring me to pay for 20% of the medical bills. That doesn't sound too bad on paper but in the real world that 20% adds up fast. In the month of January alone, I have already spent $1476.96 in medical bills. And in comparison, the amount above is a close to the amount I had to pay all last year.

I do not share this so that you can feel sorry for us. I share this so that you might have an accurate understanding of our journey. Cancer is costly in so many ways-finacially is only one of them! Cancer has a profound influence on every area of my/our lives: emotionally, spiritually, physcially, socially, and monitarily.