my little helper

Grant is always the first to volenteer when I ask, "who wants to vacuum the van?"  We got this small vacuum for Cameron's birthday.... not one of the greatest birthday presents known to man but I wanted a vaccuum and his birthday was coming up so...  in my defence the van, kitchen and carpet has never been more vacuumed.

Fall Festival

Yesterday was our Fall Festival.  we had a Chili cookoff and a carnival of sorts with a cake walk, bean bag toss, fishing, coloring, and cookie decorating.  my kids loved it. 

Some of the kids dressed up, these were two of my favorite. Kaleb the Mummy and Grace the butterfly.

Grant has decided that he is attached to me. He wanted me to hold him and tried to hide from anyone who wasn't family.  he hasn't ever done that before.

Can you guess who Katelyn is?  I made Katelyn's Wendy costume, it was an easy pattern, creating the matching bear costume on the other hand wasn't so easy.  but it meant a lot to her, and it turned out pertty cute,  hopefully I can get some better pictures at Halloween.

Waiting for the Bus

These days we spend a lot of time waiting for the bus.  In the morning the bus picks Katelyn up at 6:40am.  You might be asking yourself, Why do you hurry to catch the bus at 6:40am when school doesn't even start until 7:45 and it's only a 12 minute drive?  I'll tell you why, Because Katelyn LOVES riding the bus,  if ever I tell her that I'm going to drive her to school the next day, she begs and pleads with me to let her ride the bus, and then she wakes up 2 or 3 times throughout the night to reconfirm that I really am giong to let her ride the bus in the morning, then just to be sure she wakes up at 5:30ish as Cameron is leaving for work and comes into my room and once again begs me to let her ride the bus... how can I say no to that? 

so if you ever happen to come by my house at 6:39am you'll probably watch as Katelyn, Dallin and Grant have races down the sidewalk as we wait for the bus.

The boys are equally excited for the bus but they usually sleep in until 6 or 6:30am and have not usually changed their clothes before we head out the door to wait. 

I'm not sure why I don't have a picture of Dallin.

Pumpkin Patch

The McKernen's invited us to go to a pumpkin patch with them.  It was free to get in but you had to have tickets to do any of the activities. Each ticket was a dollar and each activity cost anywhere between 2 and 5 tickets.  It turned out to be a little expensive but it was fun.

The kids had to most fun playing in the hay stack,  they took turns sliding down the"hill" and trowing hay at the adults careless enough to stand within reach.

They got to go on a train, pulled by a lawn mower.

paint their own pumpkins.

feed the lammas in the petting zoo

Enjoy a pony ride

Dallin and Grant had the best time playing on some rocks while the daddies waited in line for the pony ride.

Everyone had a great time.

a Garden

It was bound to happen, now that we have our very own house, with our very own yard we have planted our very own garden.  We went to Lowes this weekend and bought some plants... mostly lettuce, peas and pumpkin but we also got some straberries, bell peppers, and some other pepper.  It should make for an interesting crop. 

The kids got really into it.  Katelyn and Dallin both put in their muscles to spread the soil. Thankfully Grant was content to play inside during this whole ordeal.

Here's to fall gardening.

We also planted a tangerine tree.  it should start producing in about 5 years, right about the time we'll be moving... but hey it was 50% off. 

A new bed

Some friends of ours upgraded to a bunk bed and offered us their toddler bed... we couldn't say no.  Grant was so excited to sleep in his new bed that he had are hard time... aah.... sleeping.  

He tried to show us that he really would stay in his bed but every time we left the room he would start giggling and "sneaking" out of bed.  He's not the quietest sneak I've ever heard. He likes to open and close doors then run back to bed laughing.  We gave him a few trys but ultimately he ended up sleeping in his crib that first night. 

Dallin insisterd on sleeping on the floor next to the bed. 

We've had the bed for a few weeks now and Gramt's slept in it maybe 3 times, the other nights we try, he just gets too excited to stay in bed.  Dallin and Katelyn don't mind because if he has to sleep in his crib they get to alternate sleeping in the new bed. 

Who knew a bed could be so much fun?

A pet preview

We haven't ventured into the world of pets yet, unless you count Katelyn's pet tadpole named Rosie who we saved from the gutter near out apartment in Tampa after a bad rain storm.  Katelyn insisted we find Rosie's parents so she wouldn't be lonely.  we not only found Rosie some parents but we found her a dozen brothers and sisters too. then we left them for a week while we went to visit family. They all died... except for one who lived until we changed the water and then she died too.  and that was the end of our pets until yesterday,  Katelyn found a tiny white snail climbing up our house, she captured it and put it in a plastic cup with a leaf.  That  of course wouldn't do, nameless snail needs a sister... and of course a brother.

This morning Katelyn put on her pouty face and begged, "can I just have 5 snails, please mom, just 5?"  I didn't see the big deal in having 5 snails, hey at least their out of our garden right?  so now we are proud carers of 5 snails.  can't wait to see what's comes next or for the day she realizes that we could have real pets like dogs or cats...

since this was posted we have collected over 60 snails which have been moved into half a milk carton, Katelyn checks them every morning, night and after school and shakes down the ones who try to escape... most of them have stopped trying...

If you were a 5 year old with $20 what would you buy?  Princess socks?  I thought so.  Grandma and Grandpa Smith sent Katelyn some money for her birthday.  It was probably the best birthday present ever.  She was so excited to go to Target and pick out something for her birthday,  she chose a Beauty and the Beast tea set for herself and she was generious enough to let Dallin and Grant choose something too. Dallin got Playdoh and Grant wanted a cute cuddly puppy.  I tried to convince Katelyn to get a polly pocket size doll house but she really really wanted that tea set, even though we already own 2 other tea sets. She loves that tea set, she is a funny girl.  and lets not forget the princess socks, those too were a must have.

Katelyn's Birthday

Dallin, Grant and I went to Katelyn's school bearing cupcakes. We ate lunch with her and stayed for centers.

After school we ventured to the Library, checked out some movies and books. and played with the puzzles of course.

after the Library we went to the playground and had a great time playing tag, and climbing all over the choo choo train playground. This park is built right next to an actual train junction and so we got to see a few real trains in action.

after the playground we met Daddy for dinner at the hospital. 

Ice cream is by far the most favorite part.

Happy Birthday Katelyn, we love you!

wow it's been a while....

  I keep meaning to update our blog, and I keep not doing it for one reason or another, my best blogging time is late at night while Cameron is on call and I'm waiting until I can't keep my eyes open anymore just so that I can sleep better, otherwise I lay awake in bed wondering if the hospital will be attacked by mad men, or dangerously poisonous man eating pigeons...


So although it's 11pm,  here I am...

I'll start with Cameron, He is experiencing his first year of residency at it's fullest this month, He is working the trauma unit and just incase you are considering envying his schedule I'll tell you his days go as follows

every day he works from 5am to 5pm. every 4 days he goes in at 5am and works through the night getting no rest, returning home at noon the next day completely exhausted, he sleeps as much as he can because the next day he goes in again at 5am and is given the dreaded pager which puts him at the beck and call of the entire trauma staff... ok I could be exaggerating here, I'm not sure what exactly the pager entails, but I know it's dreaded. Then he has a "normal" day before he is back on call again. This repeats itself over and over again, weekends, holidays you name it. He does get an average of 1 day a week off which has been nice. We are excited for this month to be over... to say the least. Otherwise he is doing fine; he is happy and cheerful if not a bit tired.

Katelyn started preschool and LOVES it. She has an amazing teacher and a fun class so I am coming to grips with it. On multiple occasions she has woken up several times during the night coming into our room and asking if it's time to get ready for school yet. I have recently put a clock in her room and insisted that she not wake up until the first number says 6, because my alarm is set for 6:40am and now she wakes up at 6 every morning bouncing into my room insisting that it's time to get ready for school. I have yet to use my alarm.

She has decided that she is big and wanting to look responsible she wore this dress I made her 6 months ago, in 6 months she has never wore it except when I insisted she try it on soon after it was finished, she declared it too uncomfortable and hasn't looked at it until I asked her to pick out an outfit the night before her first day of school. And now 4 weeks into school she has wore it once a week.... funny girl. The boys and I had lunch with her this week and she was thrilled to show us some of her friends and classmates. She started riding the bus 2 days ago it picks her up and drops her off right in front of our house. She is as excited about riding the bus as she was about school starting, I miss the extra time we use to spend together, and find myself looking at the clock waiting for her to come home. She is growing way too fast.

Dallin also misses Katelyn, last week he and Katelyn decided that they were best friends, they’ve always been close but this was a new level. Throughout their time together you could hear them calling to each other, “Dallin come play over here with me because you’re my best friend. Or Katelyn you can have my cookie because you’re my best friend, it was really quite sweet and only lasted a week, but it was a good week.

Dallin started his own preschool this week, I got together with a few moms and organized a co-op preschool where we rotate teaching every week. There are 4 of us and the kids meet at one of our houses on Thursdays and we have a great time going over the basics, I taught yesterday, which was our first meeting and it went well, the kids are ready and eager to learn plus they don’t seem to mind having fun together.

Grant is a funny kid, he loves to cuddle and give me big kisses exclaining loudly “I wve YOU momma.” He ends every sentence with momma,

“watch Elmo’s world momma?”

"fruit snack mamma?"

“I wan dink momma”

He is very sweet but he also has a menacing side that thrills in tormenting Dallin. They generally play very well together but every once in a while Grant gets that look in his eye and he snatches and runs away with whatever treasure Dallin was holding in his hand.

He loves to sing, and will sing along with any song he is familiar with. He also loves dogs and will point out every dog that passes his way.

We are still working on the potty training, it’s coming along, he holds it until I put him on the potty and then he goes, the problem arises when I fail to put him on the potty, he doesn’t seem to mind making a mess on the floor. I have decided to give up numerous times only to change my mind again, just today I could see him making connections so maybe it will click soon. Meanwhile we have stopped buying diapers and our supply is running low

Can you believe hos curly my hair is?  yeah I'm suprised every time I look in the mirror.  you would think that by now I would be use to it.  In case you are wondering curly hair is easier then strightish hair, as long as you let it do what it wants to do, I tried strightening it once... it was a desaster!

I have been busy being a taxi around town, Thankfully it doesn’t take more then 10 minutes to get from one side of our small Texas town to the other, unfortunately Katelyn’s school is 10 minutes away, hence my recent resignation to the bus system. up until this week I usually drove Katelyn to school at 7:30am with everyone dressed and fed then carted Dallin and Grant to the gym by 8am for a workout. Then we would either, Grocery shop, go to playgroup, story time at the library, preschool or music makers depending on the day of the week. And then it was home for lunch and naps only to be rudely awaken and carted back to Katelyn’s school to pick her up and either play at a park or return home to make dinner.

I measured my curly hair last night and was shocked to find that it was 5 inches, 5 whole inches, that seems like a lot, not enough to pull into a ponytail but still… it’s getting there. It’s still not the same color or even close to the same texture before chemo, but hey it’s hair and it’s great to have hair. This is just about what my hair looks like every night, I get tired of not touching my hair and start running my fingers through it. It just gets bigger and bigger. I can see you're jelous and that you are also wondering why I wait until bedtime to play with my hair....  I'll let you go ahead and keep wondering.

Katelyn got to spend the morning at her friend Anna's house. on the drive home after I picked her up we had this conversation

me: did you have so much fun playing with Anna

Katelyn: Yes mommy I love Anna (long pause) mommy, I want to be in Anna's family, I don't want to be in our family anymore, I just want to be in Anna's family.

Me: but that would make me so sad if you weren't in our family anymore.

Katelyn: oh... I'm just teasing.... well, not really......... well.... hum.... Maybe Anna can be in our family?

Katelyn's new adventure

Katelyn is starting Preschool on Monday, and truthfully I'm kind of emotional about it. I always imagined I would be excited for her to embark on this adventure but it makes me sad to think I won't get to hang out with her all day. we have a lot of fun together especially at nap time when we have one on one quiet time together. and now she will be in school every day from 7:45am-2:45pm,

I am heart broken and have kind of started planning when I'm going to pull her out. that's terrible, I know, but I got her sign up and registered before I realized it was all day by the time I realized Preschool was all day she had already gotten a cute little note from her teacher and now there's no turning back.

she is beyond excited, we met her teacher yesterday, Miss McDaniel's, she is young a cute and has been teaching for 3 years, Katelyn already loves her. and she already has her backpack packed and sitting by the front door so we don't forget it. Katelyn is going to Love school but we are sure going to miss her.

Dallin's philosophy on bugs

a little beetle/cockroach type bug landed on Cameron as he was reading the kids a story in their bed, Cameron killed it, Dallin wondered what all the commotion was about and Cameron said,

"it was just a bug, trying to tickle me"

Then Dallin stated matter of fact,

"but bugs don't tickle us, they bite us. that's why they don't have babies"

if only that were true...

Tidbits

I wanted to post something but we haven't had much excitement around here, unless you count potty training Grant. Yeah I know, give the kid a break, he's not even 2 yet. Really he's doing pretty good. He only has accidents multiple times a day... maybe we should work on taking away his pacifier first? Seriously though he is doing fine, He wakes up dry most mornings so I'll offer him a treat if he sits on the potty, he always has to clarify, "ruit nacks" He wants to be sure he is getting a whole bag of fruit snacks if he is going to spend his valuable time sitting on the potty.

Dallin thinks he deserves fruit snacks every time he goes potty too. we've told him that if he goes potty at the same time as Grant then he can have fruit snacks too. so we often find him encouraging Grant to drink more water so he can go pee pee on the potty. Dallin's pretty good at getting what he wants. (isn't that a funny pictures? he wanted to make some crazy faces and this was one of them.)

Katelyn doesn't care about fruit snacks or going potty, all she wants to do is swing. (not one of her best hair days)

Mammogram X3

Another mammogram, Thankfully not too many women my age have to deal with getting a mammogram. Actually, truthfully of the cancer screening options, Mammograms are probably my favorite, you don't have to be poked or cut open, you don't even have to be injected or drink anything radio active. Really, it could be worse.

after I checked in I sat in the first waiting room and sent Cameron a text telling him that I was in the same building as him, of course before he could actually get to where I was they called me and escorted me to the "women only" waiting room. Where I watched the room fill, and empty again, then fill with a whole new set of patients and then empty again, after watching this cycle three times, I pulled aside a nurse and after determining that I was here for "diagnostic" and not a "screening" she let me know I was next on the list.

my name was called and the technician took x-rays from 2 different angles and then asked me to go back to the waiting room while the radiologist looked at the film to see if we needed to take any more. So back I went, and soon she came again, this time with a look of concern that immediately tied a knot in my stomach. she explained that there we 2 spots the radiologist was concerned about and we needed more pictures, so she took 2 more and this time had me wait in the room while the radiologist looked over the film in another room, she returned and told me she needed to take more pictures. She did and sent me back to the waiting room. By this point I'm a little freaked out so I call Cameron to let him know what's going on, He's pretty calm about it, which makes me feel a little better until a new technician calls me and takes me to a new room that's fully lit, which can only mean one thing, consult.

The Radiologist comes in and starts talking to me, I remember meeting him when we came out looking for housing and I met all the people that Cameron would be working with, nice guy. I totally don't remember anything he said except that everything looked fine, they just wanted to be sure because the first films had a few concerning spots but they were nothing... Thank Goodness.

I meet the Oncologist next week, when it will be continued.

It hasn't taken long to get back to the waiting room of yet another doctor's office. New but strangely familiar, the only difference is these doctors don't make me wear a wrist band or seem to be concerned with finding out my medical history, weird, don't you think?



my first visit was to the Ob-GYN. The nurse practitioner came in very cheerful. We chit-chat a little and she starts talking about how she loves my curly hair and asked if it has always been that curly. so I then go into the long explanation about going through treatments for breast cancer and the chemo making my hair grow in curly. It was only at this point that she did a history and physical on me. She immediately got me lined up with the oncology department and signed up for CT scans and Mammograms and it starts... again.