Random Winter Pictures

I thought I would post some random winter pictures of the boys.

My boys LOVE hockey, they play it year round. In the summer it is street hockey and in the winter, they all play in a league and any other time they can.
As most of you with children know, all children have different personalities.
Jordan is our middle child, he is our loving, sensitive child. He is also our little prankster. He loves to make people laugh, and reminds me of my loving brother- Dan, more and more everyday.
Joey is our youngest, and yes, you can tell..... he loves his "mommy time" and still crawls in bed with me every morning. He loves to cuddle, even though he is 9. Joey is also our little player- when we cant find Joey, he is usually quietly playing in his room.
And then there is Josh..... what can I say about Josh..... He loves schedule and routine. If you mention to him that we are going out.... we will hear about it, til we leave. John and I have a saying about Josh, when he is bored, he is TROUBLE!!! Josh is a very hard worker, he is the first one to pitch in with house work, or yard work. But he is also the first one to start pestering.... that's why it is very important to keep him busy. He rarely watches TV or movies, he would rather be outside or playing a game with the whole family.

We have been blessed with 3 boys, each their own personalities. What a blessing children are.

Psalm 127:3
Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.

Lifes Changes

I am using my blog as a way of venting right now..... I know when we received the news that Joshs' tumour was low grade, we were very excited and thankful.
However, I don't think I realized that life, as we knew it, would never be the same. I know I have mentioned that we are falling back into our normal life but I find myself paying special attention to things that would never have fazed me before. Simple little things, like telling Josh to watch his step getting out of the truck cause there is snow on the driveway.. Keeping a watchful eye on him, his attitude, his health, his walking, his talking, his overall being.
The other night we were all sitting at the kitchen table playing a game, and Josh starting shaking his head and rubbing his eyes, then took his glasses off and rubbed them even harder. I asked him what the problem was, he said he couldn't see... "my eyes are open, but I couldn't see...." Is this a symptom? Was it just a fluke thing?
Tonight we were eating supper... he said he was having a hard time swallowing.... again it this a symptom? or is he getting a cold/flu?
I was reading on the Internet... (I know, I shouldn't, but I cant help myself) Symptoms of active brain stem tumors can be - Swallowing problems, or gag reflects problems.

So I find myself constantly being "aware".... Aware of everything that Josh does, says or doesn't say.
John and I were talking and I basically came to the conclusion that this is going to be our life now. Living from scan to scan and constantly praying that things out of the ordinary are nothing.
I know we could have it worse, and we truly are thankful that his tumor is low grade, but just knowing that it could change, grow, and our whole life could change again.....without any warning, has really scared me.
In my head, I know God has a plan and purpose for everything, but I would be lying if I didn't say that, some days I ask God, if He is sure that this was His plan. I keep thinking, Josh has already had so much in his life...is He sure that Josh had to have a tumor too. ( I don't mean to sound disrespectful.... but these are some of the feelings that I am having) Sometimes our hearts don't always follow our heads.
I am asking all of you for your prayers. First for Josh, that he will stay healthy and the tumor will not show any change. Also for our family, for peace and trust in the Lord, and for being able to cope with the changes.
And maybe one for Joshs' patience, as I am sure that the 101 questions everyday... might be driving him nuts.

Psalm 56:3 "When I am afraid, I will trust in you."

Psalm 62:8 "Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Selah"

Isaiah 12:2 "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."

Psalm 112:7

 "He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD"

New Appointments and update.

It has been a while since I last blogged, we are nicely and comfortably falling back into the routine of normal life. The appointments have slowed down, and the family has swung back into all its regular routines.
My last post, I eagerly shared the good news of Josh being able to play hockey again.... well he was cleared on the Monday and had a game on the Wednesday evening. He was very excited and pumped... I was a little more nervous. The other hockey parents have been very supportive through this time, and they were all very excited to see Josh back. He was one of the first to the door to enter the ice. When he stepped onto the ice, all the other parents cheered for him.... It brought tears to my eyes.  I found myself clenching Johns' arm whenever Josh was on the ice, and a sigh of relief when his shift was over. It was in the beginning of the second period when Josh got a little "aggressive" and ended up in the penalty box, at first I was a little shocked, but after a few seconds, I was "ok"  with it, it meant that he was "safe" for the next 2 minutes.
I am pretty confident that, the more he plays, the more I will be more comfortable with it.

On Sunday morning we arrived at church and received the weekly bulletin, I read the following:

" A young boy being cleared to play hockey is not a congregational news item which would normally be in our bulletin but when that young boy is Joshua Sharp, it is quite another thing. As we learned last week, the brain tumour which appeared so threatening just weeks ago is of a very "low grade" kind. Doctors have given him clearance to lead a normal life, including hockey. We are happy and thankful with Josh and his parents. May God continue to uphold you!"

We are so blessed to have a great Pastor and church family. They have all been so loving, kind and concerned.

We have been booked for several more appointments. We were booked to see Child Life, however it got cancelled due to the snow storm we had this week. (which was fine with me, I didn't want to venture on the roads that day). They will rebook this week.
Joshs' next MRI is booked for April 23rd at 8:45am.... as I went to the calendar to mark it down, I noticed that it is a Saturday. Josh thought this quite humorous, that Mom had to get up early on a Saturday- (for those of you who know me, you know, I love my Saturday mornings, cause I just LOVE my sleep) But I'm sure I can manage getting up for his appointment :)
We are also booked for Neurosurgery again for May 2. This is tentatively booked until we hear from oncology.

I will keep you all posted when we hear anything new.

We thank God for all the "routines" of life and all his blessings. And we thank all of you, for the support and prayers.
Please continue to pray that all news stays positive.