Busy month of April

This month has proven to be extremely busy. I haven't really found out anymore about Darein but she is doing well. She was able to go to school every day last week without getting sick and made it through this week as well. I received her doctor's note from the urologist stating that he assumes the stones have moved into her digestive tract and stating that they had been present for the previous two months. As much as we have going on this month, me and Shane have decided to take a break and will call her pediatrician next month once school is out to proceed with the next step in her care. She has already missed lots of school due to not feeling well and she is scheduled to see her GI doctor in June so we don't want to pull her out of school for more tests and appointments unless necessary. She has been doing a great job with her back brace. We are up to 14 hours tonight and she has done a fantastic job of wearing it. She decided to take a break for a couple of hours this evening as she wasn't feeling real great and had a headache. We took it off for two hours and then placed it back on her to finish her time up. She is only 4-6 hours away from the goal of 18 - 20 hours a day.
In the meantime, Damein has been having about 3 baseball games a week which has kept us quite busy. He is doing well and was on the high school sports show on the radio the other day and did a great job with his teammates speaking. We have been busy getting him ready for his senior prom. He didn't go to prom last year and so this is a big deal for all of us this year. We met his prom date last weekend at the tuxedo place and picked out his tuxedo. I can't wait to see him in it! Her dress is bright pink and so we picked out a patterned pink vest and solid pink tie with a black tux and white undershirt. I haven't seen him in a tux since my sister's wedding when he was about 3 years old!! We go tomorrow to pick out her corsage and his boutonniere. Prom is Saturday and he is going to pick his date up at her house where we will get pictures and then follow them over to a friend's house where they will meet 9 other couples and all the parents can take pictures. They are going to eat at a little Italian restaurant downtown and then head over to prom!
Shane is taking the week off and we are going to help his mom clean some things out at her house and then have a big garage sale over the following weekend! Lots of repairs and work to be done.
Damein is set up for his orientation at the University of Missouri for this summer! We head up there for two days in June. I still have to reserve our hotel room. I will be calling tomorrow or Monday to get Damein set up in a room at the dorms and then have to call and get him set up for Fraternity Rush which is the next day after orientation is over. He and his friend will be attending the Fraternity orientation to see if they want to join a fraternity and if so, which one they are interested in. Thankfully, we will be carpooling with another couple so that we can leave on the 2nd day after orientation while the boys stay another evening for their fraternity orientation.
Time seems to be flying by so fast this year already!! Before I know it, Damein will be graduating in a couple of weeks. We will be taking care of his graduation and graduation parties and finishing baseball up in May and then we move into June where it will be time to head back to St. Louis for a back brace check up for Darein and Freshman orientation at college for Damein. In the middle of the busy schedule me and Darein will also be participating in different fundraisers to help raise money for the Acteens Blume trip in Orlando Florida in July. Darein and I will be attending the trip with her Acteen group for about 4 days and Darein is super excited! We get to stay on the Walt Disney World Resort, get passes to Disney World and Epcot Center, attend a day at Epcot Center with other Christian girls to learn about missions and Darein gets to ride on an airplane for the first time in her life, which she is looking forward to very much :)
We are still waiting to hear from the Social Services Department to see what, if anything that Darein might qualify for for help with her medical bills. I called the other day and they promised me they would go ahead and get her records sent over to the medical review board and so now we wait some more. Damein should also be receiving his ACT results next week sometime so we can see if he scores well enough to qualify for any other scholarships. He wants to take it in June as well and he was told by his high school counselor that we could check back with FAFSA in June and see if anyone turned anything down that he might be able to receive, benefits wise. We still also have a few more things to fill out with the college as well. August will be here before we know it and it will be move in day for Damein for college and back to school for Darein. I am trying to slow things down as much as possible but it seems as though there is so much to do and not enough time to get everything done. I just want to take so much time to enjoy my son before he heads off to college, such an adjustment. The more time I want to spend with him, the more he is wanting to spend time with his friends that he will miss :)
In every season, there is a time for change and these are one of those seasons with so many changes. I have been looking around lately and noticed so many beautiful Dogwood trees. As we enter this Easter weekend I am reminded by the Dogwood trees of a beautiful poem that I would like to leave you with.

THE DOGWOOD TREE
Anonymous

When Christ was on earth, the dogwood grew
To a towering size with a lovely hue.
Its branches were strong and interwoven
And for Christ's cross its timbers were chosen

Being distressed at the use of the wood
Christ made a promise which still holds good:
"Not ever again shall the dogwood grow
To be large enough for a tree, and so

Slender and twisted it shall always be
With cross-shaped blossoms for all to see.
The petals shall have bloodstains marked brown
And in the blossom's center a thorny crown.

All who see it will think of Me,
Nailed to a cross from a dogwood tree.
Protected and cherished this tree shall be
A reflection to all of My agony."

Happy Easter All!!