Project 365, Week 10

Today I'm thankful that's its Sunday morning and NOT snowing and that Daylight Savings has begun! Spring is closer than its been all year and all of our upcoming temps are in the (positive) double-digits. Life is good!

March 1

Its no small task to play in the snow these days, but these cool cats were up for the challenge.

 While Shaun and the kids were at rehearsal, R and I hit the pavement, looking for a job.

March 2
The kids had a snow delay and when the sun came out it was just beautiful. We lost the swing!

 March 3
After radiation Shaun, Aiden and I went to Bean to return Christmas boots. Even in our small little store there was much exploring to do.

 March 4
Happy kids hanging out together.

 March 5
Shaun and Aiden spent the morning digging through the snow and frozen ground looking for a sewer tank at his grandfather's house. Makes me thankful for city water and sewer...and that I'm a girl. :)

 I asked the girls to pick a meal that they wanted to learn how to cook so that I could teach them and they could be assigned an evening to be chef.  Amanda chose Beef Stroganoff, her favorite dish and a recipe that I've simplified and made kid-friendly. She was pretty proud of herself!

Brown 1 lb. beef, add 2 cans of cream of mushroom/chicken, 1 cup sour cream, salt/pepper/parsley flakes, serve over egg noodles. Easy!

 March 6
Lots of crafting going on here. Avery finished her first crocheted scarf and Amanda's making progress on a scarf.

 Pop happened to stop by in time to fine tune the kids' derby cars for the races at Awanas. No duct tape was involved, but he did happen to have silicon spray in his car.

March 7
The three kids pushed two couches together and made a "loft" in the living room. This is what I found when I came down at 6 AM.

There was an end-of-basketball season party at a teammates house, which just happens to be on a farm. It was an experience, a bunch of city slicker girls out there tentatively giggling and squealing as they came in contact with these animals. Except for sweet Amanda, who couldn't get enough.

 One room in the house was devoted to some 30 hedgehogs, which they breed and sell for hundreds of dollars (and have a waiting list for)! The mom also brought a large frog out into the middle of the living room floor, one that bites. After two hours we got into the car and Avery said, Well...THAT was interesting! :)

Filled

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. ~ Romans 15:13

Aiden The Fish?

Aiden has been quite resistant to Shaun's efforts to teach him how to swim...he's not a risk-taker. So when I saw that the town was offering swim lessons a couple blocks from our house from now until late April, I thought that would be perfect....learning in a group with a non-parent instructor and finishing up in time to put it to good use.

There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth when I broke the news to him that I'd signed him up. I mentioned it everyday in the week leading up to Saturday and each time invoked tears. Finally, I asked Shaun to have a man-to-man talk with him, which he did. It was brief and to the point...I'm so jealous of how men do conversation. :)

On Friday Aiden asked if daddy had a basketball game that night. I said no, he's all done....the only sport going on right now is swimming. Then he puffed out his chest a little and started talking trash about how he was going to swim faster than all the other kids in the class. Nice.

Saturday morning he came down dressed and packed to go to swim.  Phew! When we got there he went right to the edge and sat down as instructed and quickly made friends with the kid in the yellow. They were the two biggest, and presumably oldest ones in this "preschool" class, with the least amount of expertise, but they didn't seem to notice or care as they chatted it up the entire time.

I tried not to be smug as I watch two of the parents down there coddling, begging, pleading with their child to participate because...if not for the grace, there go I. :)

They began the class dangling their feet in the water and taking turns being held in the water by the instructor and by the end they were swimming across the pool unassisted, except for a floaty on their back. I was impressed with the progress in one hour.

As I was helping him change in the locker room after he said, You were right Mom..thanks for signing me up for swim lessons! Win!

I will rest easier and he'll have so much more fun this summer with his new-found skill and confidence. Now we need to get him loving his bike with no training wheels. Life on the edge! ;)

Doing Battle, Week 23

In the first month after the diagnosis, things would change by the hour somedays and updating on a weekly basis didn't seem like enough. Now that we're where we are, weekly sometimes seems like too much sharing, especially after twenty-three weeks!

But it means so much to me when I find out people stop by this blog once in a while to check up on us. It actually surprises me too, because...who wants to read about cancer every week?? But you keep caring and you keep praying and I just want to say...thank you. We have more journey left, but we're making our way through!

This week I had the follow-up to my surgery. The incisions look good and Mr. Doctor said I can resume any activities I want. He may also have said something about not overdoing it, but I stopped listening at "you can resume activity". And that is why my people don't trust me to do doctor's appointments by myself. ;)

He did ok radiation, so I went to get re-scanned and re-aligned (they were able to use the previous tattoos). When I walked in at 6:50 AM, the radiologist, who I hadn't met with since October, stepped out to greet me. He gave me such a compassionate look that said, wow...you made it back. And in that split second my mind went through all these months since October and what I've been through to actually make it back. I almost cried, right there in the waiting room.

This week I also did lots of leg work to get my medication. There is a learning curve with our new insurance company and it seems like a lot more work. So I did plenty of phone tag and waiting on hold and being transferred and tracking down money due us from the old insurance company. And while its frustrating (in almost a comical way), I think of the many senior citizens who are alone and trying to mange it all. Its a part-time job! And healthcare is a really, really bad system. No, not system...that implies something that is functioning and working together. Entity, maybe?

Aiden and I went to the hospital to pick up my MRI results and I walked down a hallway that somehow I remember walking down from ER to maternity the night Amanda was born. Weird what our brains remember.

The MRI says what my body has confirmed...that I need to start radiation now. And that's what I'll be doing this week. Radiation is five days a week, for six weeks. Seven days a week during those six weeks I will take chemo pills.

I'm excited to get the next step going but I'm not naive anymore. I know this phase will have its own set of challenges and so I'm back in my head doing battle. Battling the fear and the futile wishing I could just be done and not have to do anymore hard. But I can, and I will and God's grace is enough.

We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would 

never live through it.  In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying 

on ourselves and learned to rely on God, who raises the dead. 

2 Cor 4:8b-9

Project 365, Week 9

I was feeling better this week, post-surgery, and better is good enough for me. I mostly spent the week just being a mom and that's bliss!

Although I won't see a whole lot of him, Shaun is off today, for the first time in over a month. I/We miss him like crazy. Even though tax season happens every year, you still don't get used to it enough for it not to be hard. It is..."taxing", on all involved. ;)

In other news, its Sunday morning and its not snowing! Apparently, its going to wait until this evening to start. Its March 1st (yay!) and most around here are quite ready for spring. Amanda is concerned that the snow won't be gone in time for the Easter egg hunt. I'm being to wonder...

We had some days that weren't arctic cold, so the kids were outside most days. Actually, I think it has more to do with the fact that we're just acclimated to the bitter cold. Boo!

Here's our week in all of its wonderful ordinariness.

February 22

I love quiet mornings when these three can hang out together and play and imagine and be silly.

 Aiden usually gets dressed on his own accord and heads outside to do work.

February 23
Shaun was home for some of the evening! Rummikub has been popular around here since Christmas. Its the only game I've found I can sometime beat Shaun at....comes from the hours I spent playing this growing up. (Avery is setting the timer for Shaun because he tries to cheat. :)

February 24
I suggested to Aiden he could put on more clothes instead of burning his back on the gas fireplace but he said he was good. Also, we've been so thankful for this handed-down lego bin!

February 25
This girl shares my love of books and its fun to chat with her about what she's interested in.

 Not so much for these two. :)

 Working on his tunnel.

February 26
Hot chocolate!

The rule around here is "no job? no cell phone." R has been doing enough work for Shaun that he finally earned enough to get a phone and maintain the monthly costs. Its only talk and text so we don't have to deal with Internet things yet, but we're happy that he's reached this "status". Its quite possible that he was the only one in his senior class to get a phone. In my opinion, its wrong that there is more shame in not having a phone than there is in not having a j-o-b. I'm old-fashioned like that.

My bed has been a popular spot this week...I think that electric throw might be the reason.

February 27
I was treated to lunch with a couple friends and it was so nice to be out, doing something normal. Aiden asked about all those "trophies" on display.

 Sniper-boy, taking out the squirrels in the yard.

February 28
The big news around here is R has a girlfriend! We got to meet her and bring her to church and have her over for dinner. She's adorable and is a new voice in R's head harping about studying and doing well in school. I'm going to do everything I can to keep her around! ;)