NieNie

Have you heard of NieNie? (StephaNie Nielson)

"On Saturday, August 16, 2008, Stephanie Nielson was in a plane crash with her husband, Christian Nielson, and his flight instructor, Doug Kinneard, near St. Johns, Arizona. Doug Kinneard passed away soon after arriving at the Maricopa County Hospital.
Christian & Stephanie remain in critical condition at Maricopa Burn Center. Christian has sustained burns on over 30% of his body. His wife Stephanie’s body was burned over 80%.
Since 2005, Stephanie has welcomed us into her charming abode through the NieNie Dialogues. Far from being a product of creative editing, the Nielson’s don’t just shine through the selective lens of a blog. They are ingenuous examples of family devotion, eternal romance, and Christ centered faith. "--Nie Recovery Blog

Stephanie just recently started blogging again. Her words continue to be very inspirational.

The support that she has received really has been phenomenal. Many events have been planned to raise money on her and her husband's behalf. Some of them by people who don't even know them personally. My friend in Denver is organizing a 5K for Nie and Mr. Nielson. (Go Becca!)

It's amazing to me how people rally around each other in times of need.

I saw this happen to my sister, as well. About three years ago Courtney was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. She was in her early 30's and had five rambunctious boys with the youngest just being a few months old. Soon Court couldn't perform her typical daily functions. My mom and Court's mother-in-law would each take a day a week to go into her home and help for the majority of the day. There were also ladies from church that would fill in on the other days during the week. Meals were brought in several nights a week. Fundraising events began to be planned. My family did a garage sale. Court's community used the fair grounds to hold an auction. Money was sent by many. Delta sponsored her family's Christmas that year. The list goes on and on.

I was still living in Colorado at the time and had to hear things through the phone. But I was able to fly in for a weekend to help Court. In the small amount of time that I was there, there were several acts of kindness performed. Through caring people, blessings poured in.

After many months of chemo, Court heard that blessed word--REMISSION!

The compassion and love from human beings can be very uplifting and inspiring.

Many thanks to all of you who uplift and inspire me.

That's not wax!

A few days after Christmas, Parker got croup. He's always been my croupie child, but in the past couple of years has seem to be out growing it. YES! We are usually able to manage his croup at home using different techniques including a nebulizer, but our medicine for the nebulizer had expired. After a long and painful night, I took him in to the doctors the next morning. Turns out he also had strep--GOOD THING we went in! But there was something else the doctor also discovered. As the doc was checking Parker's ears, he made a comment about some wax being in the way. So he retrieved a tool to help him pull out the wax. Soon the doc was saying, "Um, this isn't wax!" He pulled a piece of orange eraser out of Parker's ear! Parker acted as if he knew nothing about it. The doctor gave him the benefit of the doubt and said that it wasn't actually uncommon for kids to lie down and get something lodged in their ear. Alright. Fine. I was still extremely suspicious, however, having recently pulled something out of Parker's ear myself. The doctor goes to look in the other ear. Hmmm. Something else is obstructing the ear canal. What could this be? After a fair amount of digging and Parker squealing and squirming, the doc pulls out something else. "Paper." the doc says. Parker says, "No, it's tape." A-ha! BUSTED. P Diddy is guilty!

What the heck?

On the way home, Parker got his fair share of quizzing. I just was baffled. I finally stopped the questions and came to the conclusion that the whole digging-them-out-of-his-ear experience was pretty miserable for him. Hopefully that will be enough for Parker to not get creative with his ear stuffing again!

Happy Birthday Parker!

I'm a bit late in posting about P Diddy's birthday celebration. He turned the big 9 on December 10th. Dylan, Lexi and I joined Parker for lunch at school.

Then Parker showed us his stellar tether ball skills. He spends most of his recess time in tether ball battles. Loves it!




That night we went on a hay ride to see Christmas lights at a city park. Bbbbuuurrrr!

Refreshments were waiting for us inside after the hay ride. Cookies and hot chocolate hit the spot on a cold night!


Also waiting inside, was good ol' St. Nick!

Parker decided he didn't need to see Santa for the third time in one season. Very understandable.

This ski dude was one of Parker's favorite light creations.

After the lights, Parker requested Red Robin's for dinner. YUM!

This MONSTROUS dessert was P Diddy's free birthday treat. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Free, tasty and plenty for all of us. That's a great combination.

After our stomaches were completely stuffed we rolled out to the car and headed home for more birthday fun. Parker opened presents and of course got to throw darts at balloons to reveal what his family loves about him. It's tradition!

As if that wasn't enough partying for one birthday..... A couple days later, Parker celebrated at good ol' Chuck E. Cheese with some friends.

We lived near a Chuck E. Cheese in Colorado so our kids were elated when one recently opened close by. I have to say, it can be a very inexpensive form of entertainment for kids. Also, for parties, you can bring your own cake and decorations. If you plan the party after or before meal times, you can even get away with out buying pizza (are you calling me a cheap-o? Na, just a planner):). Add in token coupons for the games and all this combined makes for an inexpensive birthday party. Plus you don't have the mess in chaos in your home. Love it!

Ok. This is the end of my Chuck E. Cheese plug.

Parker requested this race track for his cake. He hand selected the cars from his own collection.

We love our P Diddy!

Some things about Parker that make me smile:

1. You can always tell when Parker was the last one to use a spray bottle of any type. Rather than the "normal" spray function, the bottle sprays in full force stream mode. Windex, 409 or a water bottle, whatever it might be, he loves the power.
2. Parker really enjoys reading. What parent wouldn't L-O-V-E this trait in their child! Just the other day Parker said to me, "Mom, reading is my favorite thing to do! Oh, wait! Maybe playing games." (As in Wii, computer etc.) " "No, it's reading. Or maybe......" I really don't remember what he finally decided on. But he is definitely a book dabbler.

3. Parker's tender side doesn't come out as often as I'd like. He's more of a loud rambunctious type (I'm not being rude, it's the truth! See number 4). When I do see his tender side, it simply melts my heart. I love that he still likes a bed time song. 99.9% of the time, he requests Rudolph. Yes, as in the red nosed reindeer. He also loves a gentle caressing tickle on his back during his bedtime song. My all time favorite tender moments with Parker, is when he is being a kind and loving brother.

4. Parker's labor and delivery was a scary one. He was in the NICU for 10 days. On a breathing tube for the first bit. Thankfully, he was born to survive. He is stubborn and strong willed. I have to remind myself daily this could be a good thing if channeled in the right direction.

Parker, you make us SMILE.

XOXO

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

For Family Night on Sunday night, our family discussed Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream. We also watched part of his "I Have a Dream" speech. I was so happy with what the kids had remembered from school and other times we've discussed Civil Rights issues.

Today, on the actual MLK holiday, we did a little role play activity as a family. Parker's amazing kindergarten teacher did this one day when I was volunteering in the classroom. I was so happy that I got to witness such a neat experience with Parker's class. Sarah was so kind to email me some details on the role play to refresh my memory. It would have been even better with her here participating with us. Maybe next time, eh Sarah.:)

I had the kids close their eyes. Then I randomly taped either a black circle on them or a white circle (Sarah used necklaces). We then role played what it was like for "blacks" and "whites" to ride the bus. The "blacks" got on the bus, paid their money and then got off the bus to go to the rear entrance of the bus where they were allowed to sit in the back, "neutral" section, or stand. The "whites" of course, got on the bus, paid and proceeded to a seat, kicking a "black" person out of their seat if needed.

This is our bus.....where's Parker you ask? He was protesting......more details to come.

The bus then took the passengers to a "white" school and a "black" school. I transformed the living room into the schools. The white school had a piano, nice shiny books and toys, a pretty baby, and an art easel. I had sectioned off a small area for the black school in the corner of the room. The black school had one ripped up book that was missing its cover, a batman toy with missing legs, a McDonald like toy, and a case for blocks that was empty. The "blacks" went to their school and the "whites" went to theirs. We talked about how the "blacks" often times had separate entrances into buildings, separate bathrooms, and couldn't drink from the same water fountains as the "whites".

We did the role play twice so that each person had a chance to be both colors. We talked about how they felt being "black" versus "white". I was in the "black" school with Dyl and sad about the school items we had. He was soon sad with me and said, "It's a horrible day."

Now lets back up to Parker's story. I had asked the kids to go upstairs and play in their rooms while I got things ready. All they knew was we were doing a MLK activity. When Parker came down and saw my "school bus" he instantly knew what we were doing. "Hey, I did this in kindergarten, I'm not doing this again!" I knew Parker would recognize at some point the activity, but didn't know if it would be so soon! Kindergarten was three years ago for him, so this activity obviously left an impression. Parker thankfully decided to give it another try. However, he was bugged the moment he looked down and saw a black circle taped to his shirt. But he grudgingly got onto the bus in the neutral section. Rob, a "white" then gets on the bus and notices there are no empty seats. So he tells Parker he needs to move so he can sit down. This sent Parker into tears and he stomped out of the room. Alrighty then! Another family activity meant for learning and improving ourselves back fires! Lexi was also in tears at some point. Oh! Can you feel the love?

Lexi was easy to calm but we had to continue the activity without Parker. He still hung around the area to listen and watch. After we each had a turn to be both colors, the kids then wanted to take turns being the bus driver. Parker then decided to join us. Better late than never, right? The kids made some changes to our role play. Changes that made me happy and feel like, "Hallelujah! They are learning something!" They decided that everyone should be able to sit where ever they wanted. The "blacks" did not have to go to the rear entrance of the bus. When we got to "school", they took down the "wall" that was separating the two schools and opened up both areas to both colors. I say, "Hallelujah" again!

Long story short: this activity of course did not go as well as I had hoped. However, in the end, I know that the kids did learn and feel something. Therefore, it was worth doing.

It's a relief to see the progress that has been made in America regarding race. However, I still feel there's room for improvement. Hopefully positive changes will continue.

Thank you Sarah for sharing your fantastic idea with me and my family! Next time hopefully you can join us.;)

A not so joyful moment....

Our little Lexi Lu loves to create plays and have us act them out. A couple that come to mind are her recreation of Snow White, and a G-rated Halloween/Prom thriller complete with tombstones. With this said, it's not surprising that Lexi Lu loves to act out the nativity. Doing it at the family get-together just wasn't enough. At first Lexi was concerned about how we were going to fill all the character roles in the nativity. Keep in mind when we do it with my extended family, there are 20+ grand kids so we have a very full stable with a plethora of donkeys, sheep, cows, shepherds etc. We finally got around to doing our little nativity on January 3rd. In the mean time, Lex had seen pictures on my sis-in-law's blog of her cousins using stuffed animals to help fill all the roles the nativity entails. She, of course, loved the idea and was set that was what we were going to do. Lexi is a planner. She envisions in her head exactly how things should be. Which I love until I get to help her create her masterpieces. I, of course, don't always get things just right. Well on this particular day, I was recovering from a nasty case of strep. My energy and patience were extremely limited. However, we made it through Lexi's meticulous stuffed animal cast selection and even found a few accessories and props. In the mean time, her brothers were getting tired of wearing their costumes and by the time Lexi and I made it downstairs, the boys were running around without their costumes on. So it was a struggle to get them to put them back on. "But MOM, we're hot and sweaty," they protested. Who could blame them? With Rob's help, we were able to convince them to put their costumes back on. We finally start our production! But it doesn't take long for the boys to upset Lexi again. She runs upstairs to her room hollering and in tears. Are we having FUN yet?

To be honest with you, the rest is a blur. Some how Lexi decided to come back to participate and her brothers cooperated while we rushed through our re-enactment. Phew!

Presenting.....

The Donigan Nativity.

Parker and Dyl are wise men. Mary and Joseph are played by a huge doll and stuffed teddy bear. Lexi is an angel and the care bear draped in stars hanging over baby Jesus is the star. And of course the carefully selected stuffed animal cast to play the rest of the roles.

At the time, if I were to use one word to describe it. It would be PAINFUL. However, looking back, I can actually smile about it. But that doesn't mean I'm ready for another Alexia Nicole Donigan production yet!

On a different note......the day after Christmas we braved the snow packed roads and drove to Logan to spend a couple of days with some of Rob's family. It took us two fingernail biting hours to get there, but we made it!

We had fun bowling.



We visited the Aggie A and braved sledding down Old Main Hill.

After climbing this monstrous hill a few times, the kids were EXHAUSTED. Parker stayed in this position for quite a while. I told the kids that when I was going to USU, I would have to make that climb and other climbs daily to get onto campus. They were amazed.:)

Gingerbread houses!

Gingerbread houses are a yearly tradition at my mother-in-law's house. Marie does all the work herself. She makes her dough and rolls it out and cuts out the shapes. I'm sure glad she doesn't shy away from that work! I like to nibble on the scraps. Then once the kids have decorated their masterpieces, Marie constructs the pieces together.


This is Dylan's "TA-DA" pose. He was proud of his work.

Can you guess what this is?

Yup! Our gingerbread house was demolished! The gingerbread house survived the car ride home. But not being in Lexi's hands.:)

The holiday season was filled with many fun times and lasting memories! I can't wait for next year.