Lauren fractures elbow while playing soccer in slippers

Greetings friends and family,
Lauren fell on Saturday night. Although I did not see the fall, Ben did and can recreate it (minus the fractured elbow part). What I did witness was the primal scream that followed the crash. Her arm did not appear broken; we thought it was a sprain or a sore elbow that would heal on its own. On Monday, I got a call from the school nurse. With a doctor's appointment made, I picked up the kids. A very long day insued from this point. By 8pm, she was home with a neon green, glittered cast. With the exception of itchy complaints, Lauren is handling it well. We hope she can keep a relatively good attitude for the whole 3 weeks. Please keep her in your prayers.

love and blessings, amy (along with the usual suspects)

Jensen Update
Hello everyone.
We have been very busy this summer and fall and can't believe that Christmas is just around the corner. We have a movie for you all - it's our Summer Vacation Movie. A bit late, I'm afraid, but worth the wait! Please enjoy.

On the cancer front, I had an MRI last week and the scans show that the tumor "Thigh Meat" is not attempting a comeback. "Die Thigh Meat, Die!" By the way, if you don't know what I am referring to, we named my brain tumor, "Thigh Meat," because I hate dark meat and that is what I visualized my tumor looking like.

At dinner tonight, I realized that this January, it will be 4 years since we found out about Thigh Meat. It's so weird to think it's been that long but when I think about how Ben was five and Lauren was 3, it's a world away. Especially since they are growing up so quickly. For example, Ben has to wear deodorant now (yikes, I hope he doesn't find out that I am sharing this). It's just that he is so active and therefore sweats a lot and pretty soon he starts to smell like a homeless guy. At first, we couldn't believe that a nine-year-old would smell like that until we took a closer whiff. Oooooooh-wee! So, all that to say that "Old Spice" has a new customer. Hey Corporate America, if you are reading this, you need to start marketing Deodorant to tweeners.

We hope you are all well and wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving.

much love, amy (jeff, ben and lauren).

p.s. I forgot to mention that we adopted a hamster named Svetlana. Photos of her to come. Freddy and the fish are still in the mix as well.

Baseballer Ben

Ben just finished his baseball season. It was fun - so fun that I went out and bought my own baseball mitt! I thought, "how hard can it be to play catch?" Having very little baseball experience, I should have known better. Ben did. When I asked him to play catch with me and my new mitt, he said he would, just as long as we did it in the back yard. I said, "Are you embarrassed that I may be horrid?" "Yep," he said. He was right. As you all know, I don't give up - also, the mitt IS stiff (mostly, the problem, I think) so it will have to be beat into submission with a baseball - even if it takes all summer!

Please watch this iMovie of Ben's baseball season.

Much love to you all!
amy, jeff, ben and lauren

The Final Reveal!

A few years ago, I posted a video on this blog about a long overdue decorating project that Jeff and I were working on. Yes, our cave of a bedroom. We lived with that dark, nasty pine-paneled room from May 2003 to 2007. During that period of our lives, we had a baby (Lauren) and updated (slowly) whatever parts of the house that two parents can while taking care of young children (which meant, that our bedroom was at the bottom of the list). Unfortunately, I was to later spend a huge chunk of time in the dark pine cave while recovering from brain surgery, radiation and chemo. All the more reason to finally give our bedroom its well-deserved makeover! One thing you will notice while viewing the movie is that we have 3 desks in our room. What's up with that?! I have many hobbies and a few cottage industries so I pretty much have to make the most of the space we have. Sorry, Nate Berkus.

Much love to you all!
amy, jeff, ben and lauren

Remember the quilts?

Hello,
A few posts ago, I mentioned that I was part of a quilting group that makes small quilts for sick babies and children. On May 7th, our group donated 14 homemade quilts to the Miller's Children's Hospital at Long Beach Memorial. Within a few days, Linda, our leader, received this photo and a very gracious letter of thanks. I know this photo is grainy - it's a scan of a digital photo printed on office paper. It shows a baby girl in the pediatric ICU covered with a quilt I made! I just melted when I saw it. Originally, I assumed that we would be handing the quilts out ourselves and was a bit disappointed that we were "just dropping them off," perhaps never to know what came of them. It was a real blessing to see and hear how grateful the parents were to receive our little quilts. Our group is taking the summer off but will resume in the fall, so if any of you out there feel your talents with a needle and thread could be utilized, let us know.

love and blessings,
amy

Jeff Turns 40!

Did I mention that Jeff just turned 40?! Oh yeah, he is so OLD! He enjoyed his day - a huge chocolate cake with his friends at work and a fancy dinner out with close friends. Check out the video of Jeff through the years. Granted, most of the photos are from the last decade but there are a few before digital cameras were invented. Enjoy!

love, amy

Lauren turns 7!

Lauren had a week of being celebrated. Nana J was able to visit to celebrate both Jeff (his 40th!) and Lauren at the beginning of Lauren's birthday week. On Saturday, May 8th, Lauren and two friends had a blast celebrating at the American Girl Place Cafe. Finally, the week ended with her getting her first bike! Please watch the following video to see the birthday week in action. (the screen looks blank but once you click the arrow button, the video will start).

much love to you all,
amy

Ben Turns Nine!

Please watch this little movie about Ben's birthday week. Many of the photos featured were taken by Ben, yes, even the self-portraits. The theme was Lego, but later I found out, he meant, Lego Starwars, which explains the light saber fights. Enjoy!

New! Update on Amy's Brain

Hello,
It's sad to think that my last update to this blog was 3 months ago, also the last time I had an MRI. I had another MRI this last Monday, as well as a follow-up appointment with my Neuro-Oncologist. The tumor is inactive, with the possibility of me being "in remission," or even better, a "cancer survivor." And yet, the MRIs will continue every 3 months and I will remain on 3 of the original 6 medications I have been on. This is all good news. Praise God!

Unfortunately, I will continue to deal with a depressed energy level, due mostly to the period of time I was in radiation and on chemo. Jeff and I are still wondering how I can begin to reclaim my old post as primary child-rearer. Jeff has been very involved in taking care of the kids as I have struggled with low-energy. We are hoping to move to a higher-energy Amy. I am hoping for it by the summer school break - otherwise, my darling kids will rub me down to a tiny nub.

Please continue to pray for us, all of us - we dearly need it. To feel your love in prayer and to be able to receive God's love as he gives it so freely.

love and blessings,
amy (and Jeff, Ben, and Lauren)

Up top is a photo from Ben's birthday party - he just turned 9!

MRI Results and Quilts!

Hello all!
This is a good news post! I had an MRI last week and my doctor said that everything looks great! Excellent, even. It's been 3 years now since the tumor reared its head inside my head and I feel blessed that it seems to have been slain or perhaps, "beheaded." Anyway, thank you for your prayers and kind thoughts. I have recently been told by a few people who I barely know but had heard about me and have been praying for me this whole time. Such blessings to be held like that.

Last fall, I joined a life group at church that involves quilting small blankets for children in the hospital. Although we are no longer an official life group, we continue to meet once a month with the goal of completing 10 quilts before we visit the kids at a hospital in Long Beach. I mention this because I would like prayer for our group but also donations of hand-made quilts (you know, if you have one tucked away somewhere that you would like to give to a sick child). I got this idea from a good friend who offered to give me one she made awhile ago. They don't have to be fancy, just made with love. As for the size, I would say, the size of a crib quilt. Also, the quilt needs to be safe and free of anything that can cause choking (ribbon, buttons, fringe, etc.)

Please email me at Shwandadahonda@aol.com if you would like to participate in this journey with us (you may also join us to give your quilt to a child).

In other news, the kids are doing well, loving school and playing hard. They have recently joined me in watching some of my favorite old movies: Holiday Inn, White Christmas, Singing in the Rain, and the Muppet Movie (ok, I know it's just from the late 70's but....) and they loved them! Ben is about to start baseball and Lauren is going gymnastics.

Jeff is very busy at work. The best way to keep up with him is to join Facebook and "friend" him or follow him on Twitter. Also, his work is going to get really crazy once "Lost" starts up in February. At that time, you may follow him, AKA Doc Jensen, on his blog at EW.com. His "Lost" webisodes are quite hilarious.

Well, I will try to write more often. Please keep in touch!

with love and blessings,
amy (and Jeff, Ben and Lauren)