Party Fun!!

The girls had their birthday party and it was a hit! Lots of kids came over and lots of adults too! Right before the party my mom and my friend Paula helped me with some last minute food prep and then all the guests arrived. We had a fun bounce house castle with a slide for the kids, face painting, and a pinata. There was lots of food and lots of princess cupcakes for everyone. All the kids seemed to have a really good time and the goody bags were a hit with all the princess goodies in them. The pinata was filled with raisins and trail mix and other small fun toys and that was a hit (literally) too. I don't do the sugar thing so I wasn't about to fill it with candy, I wasn't sure how it would go over for the kids but there wasn't a thing left unclaimed. After all the guest went home Chris, Peter, and I took advantage of the bounce house while we still had it. The kids continued to bounce in the castle, while I cleaned up, right up to when the company came back to pick it up. They said good bye to the bounce house and asked if we could have it back next weekend but I told them it was doubtful. It was a great day and nice 4 day weekend for me. After all was said and done though I was glad that all the work was over with. I have a year to recuperate before I have to plan another. Oye.

Having a Splash

This weekend is the girls party and I needed a break from all the overtime I have been putting in so decided to take today and tomorrow off. This morning I got the girls up and all sun-screened and suited up and we headed to the zoo to take advantage of the annual passes we got. They have a new Tropical Splash Ground and the kids can run through the water obstacles and get all cooled down and wet. They had a blast with all the different things and then we settled down for a nice picnic lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and oranges. After a little bit more playing we toweled off and then loaded up to head out to Sam's Club which is nearby in Sanford. We picked up a bunch of stuff for the party and the girls were great helpers the whole time. I still have a lot to do but we can still stop for fun every now and then.

Update on Donna

Update on Donna after her consult with the doctors at Moffit.
She has to have 2 scans , abdomen and chest as the ones they have are 2 months old. she also has to have an echo-cardiogram to see if her heart is strong enough to withstand the treatment. She has had some heart problems so that is reason for this particular test.
Treatment consists of : every 8 hours she will be given massive doses of the medicine (interluieken? IL) for 5 days. home for 10 , back in for 5 more days of treatment and then a month later 5 more days.
The doctors educated guess is that the huge tumor is what he call an empty tumor , nothing inside. Good news and I am sure his educated guess is on the mark. He said the odd for cure are 1 in 15 , he gives her 1 in 8.
The thing that concerns him the most are her falling blood levels, so we have to wait and see how that plays out.
He thinks the medicine she is on for pain is what is masking her sick, so he changed her Rx. Hopefully it will do the trick.
She will enter the hospital on Monday to start treatment . That is when a bed in ICU will be available , She is to call the night before to be sure there has been no change. So the journey begins and I thank all of you for walking the walk with us.
Love & prayer
Claire

Saturday of Fun

This morning I took the girls to a park in Sanford where they were having a kid's day in the park. There were bounce houses and face painting and free food and drinks too. We had a great time and ate great too! We left the park and then went to a birthday party at the bowling ally for a friend of Bresa's. We got to hang out inside during the terrible thunder storm and the girls got even more food and had a blast bowling away. Before we finally headed home for the day to see all the work that Daddy had gotten done, we stopped at the store and got a couple things for the girls party next Sunday. There will be no problem getting to sleep tonight!

Party on!!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Central FL Zoological Park

The elephants were having a birthday party at the zoo today so I decided to take the girls and give Daddy a little break from them. We went in the morning and went straight the elephants because Bresa and Abbi wanted to sing happy birthday, which they did loudly. They had a bounce house (the girls favorite) set up and then there was a little craft zone for the kids also. After that we kind of wandered around and looked at the animals and then went to see the snakes because it is nice and air conditioned in there. We stopped by the girls board with their names on it that Miss Kim got them and then headed towards the front. After viewing a couple more animals the girls got a cool lesson on the different bones that form the animals of today and yesterday. They learned a lot and got to see how sharp certain animals teeth were and how they have changed overall over time. Finally we headed out before we died of heat. We did a little grocery shopping and then went home for a late lunch and I even got a little nap (yay!!). Before tomorrow I need to do the normal weekend things like clean the house and do laundry, I wouldn't want those to run over to tomorrow when it will be all about Daddy! I plan on taking the girls back to the zoo soon, I got them an annual pass and they put in a new "splash zone" which is great for days just like this.

Update on Donna

We offer thanks and praise to the Lord and to Our Lady of Lourdes that Donna's brain scan came back clear of any cancer cells. I ask that there be continuing prayer as Donna faces the next leg of the journey. Thanks to all of you for your continuing prayer,love and support. IHN

Dr's Day

I went to work real early today because I needed to get off early for a few appointments. First Abbi was up for her 3 year check up. She did great and the doctor said she was super healthy and so beautiful (we already knew that though). She did get her last vaccine in her Hep A series and she didn't care for it much. She looked at the nurse and pointed and said "Ow! You hurt me!" It was pretty cute actually. Since Abbi had to get a boo boo we went out for a nice fresh fruit treat afterward. After that Peter and I had our first prenatal checkup. We did all the boring paperwork and then got down to the fun stuff, the baby's heartbeat! We only got to hear it for a couple seconds before the baby moved away but just like the girl's it was the sweetest thing I had heard in a long time! After that we were off to church where we were having a little party with a couple of life groups. At one point I took a crying 2 month old girl and got her to fall asleep in my arms. Abbi came up to me and I asked her if she saw the baby sleeping and she said "How come your baby came out?" What a cutie!!

Abbi's 3!!!

Happy Birthday beautiful girl!! Today Abigail turned three years old. What a big girl she is. I let her chose what to wear and I got her a special Birthday crown and sash to show off to everyone. She decided she wanted a donut for breakfast so we went out and she picked a pink one with sprinkles, great choice and everyone in the store kept saying Happy Birthday, it was so sweet. After church we met my Dad and Judy for lunch where they sang Happy Birthday to Abbi and gave her her very own ice cream! Later Reba came over for a visit and after some dinner (chosen by Abbi) it was story time and off to bed. Abbi's party won't be until later this month but we made sure to make a big deal about it today because we are so proud of beautiful girl she is becoming. We love you Abigails, no matter how big you get, you will always be mommy and daddy's baby!

Slacker

I know, I have totally been slacking on the blog lately. I guess with work, school, the girls, Peter, the house, church, and Life-group it is a little difficult for me to find time to sit at the computer and update everyone. I will attempt to get better but no promises will be made.
One of Peter's customers brought his snake over to show Peter an inlay idea for his guitar and the girls were brave and held her. I snapped a couple pictures and thought they were just too cute not to share.
The snake is a baby boa constrictor and was so sweet and gentle. I made sure to stand by closely so that I could react to any unexpected behavior. Both the girls and the snake did great though and I was surprised at how brave they were. I am not big on snakes but I don't want my fears to be passed on to the girls.

Update on Donna

More news will be forthcoming early in the week. There has been a change in plans and Donna will be going to UCLA which is also affiliated with the City of Hope.
Her doctor had just gotten back from a seminar which afforded him a chance to speak with the countries leading oncologists. They discussed Donna's case and her doctor was told that UCLA has some cutting edge experiments going on and it would be her best bet.
Her doctor has ordered a brain scan for Monday so they can determine if the cancer has spread to the brain. If so.... if won't be a go. So we pray that the brain is AOK with no cancer so that the new direction can be put into place. We hope to have something on Monday.
Donna asked the doctor why she wasn't continuing to get some sort of treatment and he told her that continuing treatment would do more damage than good, If it is not attacking the cancer cells , which it is not, then it could damage good cells etc...
So that is the latest, and we continue to hold the good thought for healing and hope all around.
IHN