And now we are...

And now we are.... seven, four and ready for spring!

I brought in forsythia branches a couple of weeks ago so that they could force bloom inside.

Here, in North Georgia, the forsythia is the first to shout "Spring!", and she isn't shy about it.

This is a picture of my smallest branches, poking out of an old silver mint julep cup, tarnished just the way I like all of my silver. It's much easier to say that you enjoy the tarnished look to avoid having to polish the silver every month.

The forsythia blooms have helped fuel our spring fever. Hans and I are already making our plans for the garden this year. I love this time when we dream up our next projects and almost itch with excitement to get back to our gardens.

And here we have the seven & four part of my life!

Ella's party was very exciting on Sunday. We had about 14 kids and their parents here to celebrate. Ella donned her party dress and showed true southern roots when she refused to wear shoes as well....just like her mama! We love to admire and buy shoes, just not really wear them so much!

There is a matching dress for her favorite baby doll, Coco. Coco also refused foot wear.

In a couple of weeks our crazy family will be heading to Germany. Finn & Ella will get to meet all of their Uncles and cousins, and we will somewhat follow the Grimm Brother's fairytale way as we visit some of the smaller towns.

Hans and I haven't been to Germany since 1995, when he asked me to marry him in Berlin.

He thought this through and waited until we were in a country where I couldn't speak the language so that I couldn't run very far!

Smart boy.

This trip will obviously be very different! We haven't taken a plane ride this long with the children before and I really hope we all handle it well!

I hope to have a Lumpling herd come up for adoption before we leave. Be sure to keep an eye on your email for the next amyrue.com announcement!

Celebrate!

If you read my husband, Hans' blog, then you already know that his PET/CT scans came out clean....NO CANCER! We don't have those biopsy results back yet, but the doctor said that he didn't see any cancer down there.

How fabulous is that?

We were both nervous, but putting on brave attitudes for each other. His surgeon, Dr. Hofstetter, was the first to tell us that the scans looked good and he just breezed by with that information. I had to interrupt him (goes against my southern girl training in manners!), and ask him to repeat it.

We were on a total high as we went to the airport to begin our journey home, but due to the storms across the SouthEast ended up waiting for 7 hours for the plane to take us home!

But that was ok... no cancer!

Now, this little girl here is too little to know just how important this past week was to her life.

All she knows is that this week she turns FOUR!

My baby, my little possum girl is going to be 4!

We are going to have a great big party with a Winnie The Pooh cake and balloons.

Ella is talking about her party non stop, I have no idea what she will talk about after this!

Ella at a party last weekend giving the blowy thing a go. What are those things called? I've always called it the blowy thing, I'm sure that's pretty wrong.

For the rest of this week I'll be cleaning the house and getting everything organized for the big day. Hell, we'll call this Spring Cleaning! Two birds with one stone type of thing.

solace in pillows, & comfort in my clutter

New Lumpling pillows are in the works! I hope to finish them in the next couple of days.

Not very sure when they'll go in the store because Hans and I travel to Texas for his cancer checkup early next week.

I usually get a bit paralyzed before Hans has a checkup, and it keeps me from sewing and other hobbies. But I'm really trying to overcome that this time by forcing myself to keep working.

This will be his year and a half tests. For the first year he went every three months, and at a year he "graduated" to tests every six months. So this is the longest that he has gone without a CT, PET scan, or biopsies since being diagnosed in July 2005.

Now me? I'd be content with scanning him every damn week.

It's like we have been holding our breath for the past 18 months. Gastro-esophageal cancer has the highest chance of recurring in the first two years. Five years, of course, still being the "cure" goal, but these first two years are the scariest.

We are so close! It's so hard not to live in cowering fear every day, but we have to live our lives as normal as possible for our children and our sanity.

A really nice lady emailed me a few days ago after stumbling across the Amy Rue site and our story. Ten years ago her young husband, and father of their two young kids had Cancer. Here is an excerpt from her email:

~~It is a roller coaster, but almost 10 years later, I see that somehow we survived the ride. Our daughters are teenagers now. My husband and I stay active in their lives and our life is "normal". Those early days now seem very far away. A couple of the important things I learned are, keep your life as normal as possible, for yourselves and your kids. And remember to take one day at a time. Don't worry about tomorrow. Trust me it will take care of itself.~~

I love when people reach out like this. When they take the time to offer solace to a stranger.

I try to do the same for people now, and I hope that in ten years Hans and I will be a bit of strength for others in this fight.

Here's my wall of clutter and comfort above my desk. When I'm feeling stumped or blue, I can look up and see the small things that mean something to me: Pictures that Finn, Ella, and Hans have drawn, my marriage receipt ($26.00!!), family photos, old postcards, a card that Richard Kirk painted for my birthday, buttons, metal bits, and more!

I should also mention that I'm sick sick sick right now, and dosed up on cold medicine which makes me a bit introspective.

Crass goofiness should return by tomorrow!

I'm late I'm late!

Our local magazine featured a photo that I took of my daughter, Ella, for the Valentine cover.

Ella was pretty thrilled because she's still been a bit sore that Hans had Finn on his cooking show, and not her. But now they both have a tiny bit of local fame.

I've been remiss in posting on the blog since the last Lumpling adoption. After I had all of the Lumps packed up and sent off, I attacked the study/studio where Hans and I work.

It might not be spring yet, but I feel it coming and I had to get all of this organized.

Hans even helped me put up new shelves in my fabric closet, and now I'm just incredibly happy with it.

I've also created havoc on the rest of my house...ripped up carpet from the stairs and started painting them white. Made new curtains. Took apart the dining room table because it doesn't work and I'm annoyed with it. Hopefully, I'll be able to afford a new dining room table one day, but right now the room has no table, much to the confusion of our guests.

It's hard to explain that if something annoys me that bad it just has to go. I have to keep the table because it does mean something to me. My Granny used this table in her photography studio in Montgomery Alabama, then it was my Mom's dining room table while I was growing up.

When my stepfather died, I was five, and I crawled up on the table and carved his name into the top. I didn't want any of us to forget him.

But now the table is not a comfortable fit for us as a family. Maybe one day I'll open that shop that we dream about and I can use it in there.

Poof go the Lumplings

Two dollar roses

Many Thanks to everyone for coming and seeing the new Lumpling herd today!

Everyone was adopted and I'm getting Lumpling boxes all fluffed and ready for take off!

One last group shot

Lumpling Update!

Hello Everyone!

Do you hear the pitter patter of little Lumpling feet?

Here comes a new Lumpling herd!

http://www.amyrue.com

They will all go online on:

Monday, February 5th, 2007

At 1pm Eastern Standard

If you see a Lumpling that you would like to adopt,
please email me at amy@amyrue.com

and I will send a Paypal invoice your way or

a note letting you know the Lumpling was already snatched up.

Remember to ‘refresh’ the adopt page every few minutes, because I start putting up the ‘adopted’ notices as soon as I can!

I have more than just Lumplings in the shop now; there are little carryalls, pillows, soaps and other fun items. If there is something that you would like to add to your invoice, just let me know!

Sometimes Lumplings go very fast and I will be typing my little heart out replying to emails, but I do reply to every email.

If you don’t hear back from me, please check your ‘spam’ folder…

sometimes those emails are sneaky.

Adoption fees are Paypal only.

Shipping for one Lumpling $6.00 in North America and $8.00 International.

Please remember that Lumplings should still be considered choking hazards with wee babies under age three.or anyone who likes to gnaw on little animals. You know who you are.

Whew! I hope to see you all there!

A Decade Today

For Ten years I've worn the same ring on my finger. It's gathered some scratches, and gets dusty from time to time, but it's a good ring...a solid ring.

A ring that said "I do" on the Square in Marietta, Georgia, shook off the dirt after that first garden was planted, had hundreds of paint colors cover it from time to time, sparkled when my children were born, and comforted me when the word "cancer" was dropped into our laps.

Newly engaged in Germany

This little ring is ready for more. More scratches, more dirt and more love.

Because Ten years of marriage isn't enough...not nearly enough.

It's a damn good start!

I'm greedy and I'm proud of who we are, and what we dream together.

P.S. - Hans gave me this aquamarine ring for our 10th anniversary. I hope that in ten years this ring will also have a happy story to tell.