play BALL!!!!

we got outside yesterday evening and played some baseball/softball/t-ball with the kids. they all did very well! sydney had a wonderful day yesterday and had energy to spare! they all hit the ball great. we were very surprised with luke....he hit the ball all by himself. he didn't want any help from cory, either!

here comes the ball, luke!!!

a weekend out!

this weekend, we took luke to the birmingham zoo on friday and to see thomas the train on saturday. it was nice just to get away! luke had a blast. (if you're wondering..."hey, why no pictures of the zoo".....well, got to the zoo, turned on the camera, and ooopppps, no image card!)

little astronauts

grammy and poppy got ian and luke these astronaut suits. they LOVE them!

they also got them the helmets to go with them....cory says it looks like the guy off spaceballs....but whatever. luke loves it!

a day with dawson

dawson got to come over today since sydney had to go to birmingham. he and luke LOVE playing with all the thomas the train stuff. this is just a couple of shots i got of them today.

sydney will win!

sydney had her 2nd round of chemo today. she came over feeling pretty good. this is her playing cory's drums. yes, she will beat this parasite called cancer!

happy birthday dawson!

we are a little late in celebrating dawson's 8th birthday, but better late than never. his actual birthday was april 30th. we had an awesome cake....homemade carrot cake made by grammy!! yummy, yummy!! happy birthday d-man. we love you very much!!

happy memorial day!

our family got together this afternoon for a wonderful cookout. it is such a wonderful blessing to have a close family that lives so close together. i love it and wouldn't want it any other way. luke and sydney riding gator to grammy and papaw's house...so much fun!!

it's kinda sad how memorial day is so "commercialized" now days. we have memorial day sales, long "3-day-weekends", and campouts. not that those are so bad, but it's kinda hard to really focus on what the real meaning of memorial day is. so, lets all try and remember that real meaning-that it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military services. HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

sydney's diagnosis

sydney is getting to come back home today and doesn't have to go back until thursday. they inserted her port for chemo treatments, did a bone marrow aspiration and spinal tap yesterday.......along with her first round of chemo. WOW! she's only 5 you say; she has been a real trooper. so brave and strong.

she has embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. that was the final diagnosis. sydney will have to go everyweek for 43 weeks/chemo treatments everyweek. radiation starts in probably 2-3 weeks. when that happends, they will have to stay in b'ham...about 5 weeks, but get to come home on weekends. goodness, you say; the doctors told cynthia and jamie that this chemo schedule was NOTHING compared to some kids schedules.

soooo.....we've got a road ahead of us, full of curves. hopefully, Lord willing, we will not face many speed bumps...like sickness.

please continue to pray for sydney, cynthia, jamie and dawson.



check out sydney's own blog. this will keep you updated on how she's progressing.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sydneynewton

sydney update #3

well, sydney had her bone scan done today...all clear!! yay!! cynthia and jamie said she was so brave. the "mass" is cancer....but, thanks be to God that it is only on one area so far. tomorrow is another surgery.....bone biopsy, spinal tap and she will have her port inserted for future chemo treatments. she will get to come home for the long memorial day weekend and then go back for possible treatments on tuesday.
you know, i wonder why kids have to go through this? so innocent, so pure and precious. all i want to do is cry, but i know we have to be strong for sydney. i know God is looking over us, especially sydney, right now and that He will forever. our faith is so strong. satan is testing our family....bring it on. i know we will all overcome this and this will make not only our faith stronger and stronger, but our family stronger.
please continue the prayers for the newton family. continue to pray that sydney is brave and strong.

sydney update #2

we got back from birmingham late, late. sydney had her biopsy late this afternoon...it was supposed to be at 1:00! she came through the surgery well. she was sleeping like sleeping beauty when we left!! cynthia and jamie only have have preliminary results, but nothing definite until thursday...and would rather wait until then to make things public. they go back on thursday for bone scan...and possible treatments. we have been so proud of sydney. she is such a strong (and strong-willed!!) little girl. please continue your prayers that she will heal fast.

by the way, children's hospital is great. only wish i had my camera today. luke, sydney and dawson have had so much fun riding in the wagons and cars. luke particularly has fallen in love with a little police car...and was giving people tickets!!! meagan also came to visit sydney today. i really think that made her feel very special.

sydney update

sydney was admitted in children's hospital in birmingham today...room 448. they saw lots of doctors and have gotten tons of information today. they are going to do a CT-scan, full body scan and sinus biopsy tomorrow. then on monday, they are going to do a biopsy of the mass they found that is behind/in her sinus cavity. the doctors still aren't 100% positive what this is, but are thinking it is an aggressive mass.
please continue your prayers for the newton family. pray that sydney will make a full recovery.

happy birthday, mom!

just wanted to wish my mother a happy birthday. no, not going to post how old she is!!! she is such a caring and loving mother that will do anything for anyone. thanks, mom, for all you do for me and my family. we love you very, very, very much! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

congrats cory!!!

my husband is OFFICIALLY finished with school. grad school that is. yeah!!! i am so proud of him and all his hard work he has put forth to do this. when cory and i got married, he promised my dad that he would finish school.....athens state that is! so 2 years ago, he decided to go for the ol' master's degree. a 2 year program, goodness, we thought it would NEVER end. but it flew by. so, he's got his MBA!! yeah!

we were supposed to go to a dinner where he would receive is diploma tonight, but he wanted to spend time with family.....so i don't have pictures...sorry! (read the next post!) i'll take pictures of him with his degree when he picks it up next week.

congrats, cory. i love you!!

prayers for sydney

my niece sydney, 5 years old, told my mom a couple of days ago..."grammy, i see 2 of you." so, my sister, cynthia, thinking sydney may have to wear glasses or some sort, took her to the doctor yesterday (also to get a re-check for strep!) and they told her that her right eye was lazy and referred her to an eye doctor. thank goodness the eye doctor had an opening TODAY! the eye doctor said her eyes looked good, except something was pressing on a nerve in her eye.....immediately called her pediatrician, set up MRI, CT-scan, etc, etc. so, after talking with the radiologist at huntsville hospital's women's and children's, there is a mass behind her eye; something aggressive. they are headed to birmingham tomorrow to see a specialist at children's hospital.

i know the power of prayer; i have proof of my own son. our God is a great God. so powerful. so, please remember the newton family in your prayers; especially sydney. we love that little girl like she is our own daughter and we want nothing but the best for her and her family.

"Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." James 5:16

happy 6 year anniversary!

today was mine and cory's 6 year anniversary. wow, 6 years....can't believe it. where does the time go? i am such a lucky woman. i can actually say that i have a wonderful, loving, and caring husband whom i absolutely adore. ok, he's NOT perfect, but who is? yes, we have our arguments, but who doesn't? yes, there are times i could ring his neck, but what wife doesn't want to do that every now and then?? and i 'm sure he feels the same....sometimes! cory is a wonderful father and provider for our family. he works so hard at what he does. he is also my best friend. it is such a relief to know that i can talk to him about anything and he the same to me. when cory and i got married, we knew we were taking a vow before God that our marriage would last forever.

"so then, they are no longer two but one flesh. therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." matt. 19:6

so, happy anniversary, cory. i love you with all my heart!

"and now abide faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1 cor. 13:13

happy mother's day!

it is such a blessing to be a mother. i never knew what a joy it would be to have a child. you tend to put yourself second, but that's ok. i also never knew how emotional it was to be a mother!! i had a wonderful mother's day today. cory and luke fixed me breakfast, strawberry muffins, took me out to lunch and did some house work for me. i had an awesome day. thanks cory and luke!

i never knew how much my mother sacrificed for me and my sisters until i became a mother. my mother is such a wonderful person whom i look up to so much. she has always stood by me and my sister's side in every thing we've done. i used to not be as close to my mother as i am now. something about getting married and having a child changed all that and made me realize how smart my mother is. she is such a strong person i read a chinese proverb that said: "to understand a mother's love, bear your own children." that is so true!

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts." -washington irving

i love you mom! happy mother's day. (she will probably kill me for putting this picture on here!)

we had a great dinner yesterday over my parent's house....lawler's bbq!! yummy. all the kids (and dads) played football for hours. we had a blast!

baby birds

yes, this is what's on top of a column on our back porch.......

we've been waiting for these little guys to hatch for about 3 weeks now. i think there are only 2 baby birds in the nest. i haven't gotten the courage to get up there an take a close look...you know, those mama birds get a little crazy when you get near their babies!!!!

hello???

yes, when the phone rings, i hear a little voice say "i got it". and, yes, he usually beats me to the phone. so, if you ever call our house, and luke answers, just hang on, i'm on my way!

helping cook

luke loves to watch me cook. he always makes me pull a chair up to the counter so he can see. don't worry, i don't let him get near the stove!! thursday morning, i helped cory ice some cinnamon rolls. he actully did a pretty good job!