6/22/12 - Photo Ops

It's VBS! Which should stand for "very busy schedule," but it is probably better advertising to call it "vacation bible school."  Technically, my kids are too young to participate since our churches run a K-5 program, BUT there is a pre-school program for parents helping.  Given my recent end-of-the-school-year-burn-out, I was nervous to ask, but had the opportunity to talk to Selina about volunteering in areas in which I didn't have to be around kids.  I thought it was an outrageous request, but in perfect timing, she was looking for someone to help with photography.  Sweet!  We're in!!

So, the kids have had a blast, week 1.  Puppets, songs, and bible verses.  But both came home with a cold Friday.  Not sure if we will make it Monday.  That, and I have erupted in something that looks like chicken pox.  I have already had them as a kid, so can't be, right?  But what else?  Never seen anything like this, and awake at 3:30 am because I itch so badly, but have to wait until Monday to find out what is going on.  Fun.  A little more worried about the green stuff coming out of Adam's nose, so might have several appts on Monday :) Sorry, maybe TMI?  I'm off, hoping the hydrocortisone will buy me some sleep!

05/13/12 - Happy Mother's Day

We celebrated Mother's Day in a special way this year, and perhaps the same way for years to come.  We were invited to Courageous Kids Day at Great America hosted by the American Cancer Society.  The slogan/purpose is to "give kids a day off from cancer and to celebrate the entire family and to let them know that in the area of childhood cancer, there is hope."  More than 600 families are invited to the event where each family recieves 6 free park tickets.  Once in the park, the ACS takes over the picnic area to host face painting, arts and crafts, sand castle-making, soccer & tetherball, photos with celebrities (such as Ronnie Lott and the Santa Clara U basketball team this year), food & ice cream, family protraits, water balloon toss, sword balloons, I could go on and on...  There's a short video about it here: Mercury News - Courageous Kids

We had a great time.  A little hesitant being our first time.  I think going in, you don't feel like you fit in.  I know I don't feel like I have a sick child most of the time.  Do we really qualify for something like this?  Another way to explain it, God has blessed us with enormous provision this past year, why do we get special treatment on top of it?  But since we do, hey, let's have some fun :) 

Adam wasn't really into all the activities, espcially not the photography.  Rachel, however, did just about everything!  She made a Mother's Day card with her handprints, got a butterfly face painting, and took pictures with Miss Santa Clara.  Adam did get a sword balloon and play in the water balloon toss (although Daddy and he were the first eliminated), lol.  So, if you look REALLY closely, Josh made the Santa Clara Weekly magazine.  If you find the orange balloon covering someone's face, Josh is up and to the left in his Giants hat :)

Here are some clearer shots from the day...

04/26/12 - Hats Off

So, we went hat shopping for Adam - to protect his shiny head.  The results are in... 

Runner up... Skater Adam...

In second place, Funny Face Skater Adam

 

An honorable mention... Athletic Adam

The winner is... (and I had absolutely NOTHING to do with this, I promise!)

GIANTS!!  Say Hey!

Honestly, I am not sure Adam knows who the Giants are.  He just liked the seal. 

Maybe the black and orange is undeniable -  it must be hereditary :)

And his hat choice... Bigger news than Pablo Sandoval matching Willie Mays' 16 game hitting streak to start a season.  Go Giants!  It's going to be a fun summer!!

Happy Sunshine!

 

04/12/12 - Matter of Fact

 While I realize I do not have a lot to compare to, I am noticing Adam being very mature lately for his age.  Grain of salt here comes from the fact that I am with teenagers from 8 in the morning until 6 in the evening 5 days a week, so the actual maturity of a 5 year old is not my expertise.  But here's an example.  Today, Josh asked us if we wanted to have lunch with him on the pennisula during his lunch break.  So, I tell Adam we are going to lunch, and he really does not want to go.  He wants to stay home and not go anywhere today.  I say, ok, it's not a big deal either way, so we'll stay.  He overhears me tell Josh we aren't going to make it this time, and next thing I know, he has disappeared.  Upon further searching, I found him in tears.  What in the world is wrong, Adam?  His response (mature analyzation of the situation, I think), "I made a bad decision, mommy." Ok, tell me about it.  He said, "I made a wrong choice about going to lunch.  I didn't know Daddy was going to be there."  I asked if he would like to go now that he knows the details.  He said (back to 5 year old), "<sniffle> uh huh <sniffle>"  So, we made a date with the daddy and had corndogs and hamburgers in Redwood City.  Disaster averted.  What prompted him to take such responsibility for the potential loss of lunch with Daddy, I have no idea.  That, and why didn't he just tell me he changed his mind?  Hmmm.  Luckily, Mommy could pull some strings, and turn the whole thing around!  Adam has been so matter-of-fact lately.  "How was your blood test?" His response, "Not so good.  They missed three times, so Jasmine had to come in again."  Or how about something a little lighter?  "How was your day?" He might say, "Pretty good.  Rachel took my (enter item here), but Grandma took care of it."  Conversations with Adam crack me up!

This is a little overdue, but a couple weeks ago, Adam went to the Warriors game with Grandpa.  Even cooler was that they went early and got to sit sideline to watch warm ups.  Adam was so excited all week asking, "how many days until Friday?"  Even at the game, he stayed until the very end (even when Grandpa was ready to go home early)!  What an awesome treat!  Adam has always liked to watch basketball - even on TV.  It took me 25+ years to sit through a whole basketball game, Adam must be special :)

04/08/12 - Happy Easter!

The sun came out for long enough to have a fabulous Easter!  Not only our first day back to church/Sunday School, my birthday, and a HUGE Easter egg hunt, we were able to enjoy food, fellowship, and a beautiful day to celebrate the LOVE of our God, the sacrifice Christ made for us, and pure HOPE.  HE has risen, indeed.  If we spent every day "looking" for Christ, how bright our days would always be!

Here are some pics of the babes having fun in grandpa and grandma's backyard:

04/05/12 - Maintenance!!

Surprise!  We're in Maintenance!!

We thought we had two more appointments of "Interim Maintenance," but found out at clinic today that this was the last and his next appointment (April 23) is the first appointment in the "Maintenance" phase.  Woohoo!  So, Adam goes in once per month, less intensive, less invasive, hopefully less volatility with his health.  Today went extra smoothly, and he hasn't needed much recovery at all.  In fact, we were having so much fun wrestling that I accidentally gave him rug burn on the back of his head while dragging him by the feet.  Oops.

We are cleared for a lot of things.  For example, church (right in time for Easter), school, soccer, swimming, camping, large crowds of people, parks with sand, etc.  It will always depend on his counts - the risks when he is exposed to different bugs and illness are still a concern, but since his immune system will have time to recover between treatments, there is less caution.  I didn't realize, but it was a huge weight trying to maintain isolation with some degree of normalcy and without Adam feeling like he was being isolated.  We feel liberated, a sense of accomplishment, and EXTREMELY blessed!  We were only admitted (unexpectedly) once in the whole 7 and a half months of these treatments.  We had (only recently) nausea and headaches as a side effect.  We have remained in remission since the 3rd week after diagnosis.  Praise God we can be celebrating these things today!

I am looking forward to 10 days of Easter Break to spend with my kids!  Not sure what fun things we will do, but the options are pretty open right now :)

03/17/12 - Happy St. Pats!

I love this time of year.  Today is St. Patrick's Day, time for our once per year corned beef and cabbage!  It's March Madness, and I love bracketology and stats (and competition, of course).  Plus softball season, Spring weather, Easter coming up.  Not to mention, my birthday is three weeks away (yep, on Easter this year!).  So, I have been horribly sick and cranky for over a week now, but counting my blessings and especially today when I could wake up and watch the rain for awhile.

Adam had his third clinic appointment of Interim Maintenance II on Thursday.  Three down, three to go!  The surprises included a chest x-ray for his coughing that won't go away (still no news or concerns other than that he has a cold), nausea (threw up just once on Thursday), and fever (Friday night, but seems to be gone now).  He is still taking the antibiotic for his ear ache, so that could be affecting his stomach, but I am thinking that the accumulation of chemotherapy treatments is harder on his body.  He didn't react to anything in the first 5 months, but the past 3 months it seems he has (and none are new, just the second time around).  It usually lasts a few days, and then he feels better.  His ANC is still high at 3500, so we are thinking he can go to his cousin's house tonight (date night, yeay!) and a birthday party Sunday.  Double yeay!  Still plugging along and getting positive reviews from the doctors.  We are even starting to see some peach fuzz growing back on his head.  Hard to see, though since it is pretty white!  Glad to see he will still be a blonde when it all comes in :)