ahoy matey

I love my home...it's old, but my dream home. sigh...

It was so nice to go home for the FIRST TIME IN THREE MONTHS last weekend!

We saw so many of our wonderful, wonderful friends.

And guess what!! We are planning to go home for this weekend too!

The baby's next part of this treatment won't be until Monday, so we have permission to go visit home again. Yay!!!

UNLESS, Josh isn't feeling well right now...we'll wait and see if it's from candy tonight or from illness. If it's illness, we'll have to wait till April to visit again.

It was so good to be back in my own, cozy, real home. I didn't go with the intention of doing anything but relaxing, but ended up cleaning all weekend. It wasn't dirty so much as I just mentally needed to clean a bunch of extra STUFF out. I got rid of about 7-9 big trash bags full of garbage, plus 3 big bags for Goodwill!

Traveling back, I did much better on the freeway, and did not feel the need to pass out with a lot of cars on the road. That was nice.

When we got back, there was a HUGE, hairy-ish spider on the wall above the crib. Since Andy wasn't with us, I had to go search for a man in the dining area to take care of it for me. Ick. I miss Andy so much. Can't wait for the weekend.

When we arrived back at the temporary house, I had some flowers waiting from my awesome mother-in-law, Mudd.

Andy and I celebrated 16 years of marriage on Friday:)

Last night, the people from John L. Scott made dinner for everyone here.

Then, they let the children hammer together some fishing boats.

Today, Josh and Maggie tried to sail theirs in the bathtub while Lilly was at school.

The boats did float, but upside down!

Tonight was a birthday party for any kids in the house to attend, for a 2 or 3 year old princess.

All the girls were given jewels to wear on their faces, and they all got to make and enjoy big goodie bags, hence the nerds package in Maggie's mouth.

I've been watching Q13 News for Lilly. They interviewed her at school today, so we're watching for that. Let me know if you see it!

All sorts of excitement

So much to report on! Before I start though, the first picture is for Elena. There was a group that came to the house last week and did these paper bag puppets with the children as a craft. They had this frog, lion, and there was a lobster too. Very cute. The lion's mane was made with a circle with a slit in the middle so it would fit right over the end of the bag.

One night this week, we were served dinner by the wonderful people of Holland America.

Lilly liked making the chimes announce dinnertime!

The night before, she decorated her t-shirt with another wonderful group.

The Holland America people had a fishing-type activity, and part of Lilly's prize was some fake nails with bling. She had fun putting them on. Kind of hard to see it on the picture, but they looked good for a good hour or so...
Later that night, there was a dance class. Here's Maggie coming out of the tunnel.

Lilly was excited to show me that she tied her scarf just like her teacher.

Okay, for the exciting news....we're HOME for a couple days!!!!

Josh, Lilly, and Maggie were so excited to get to go visit their classes here for a few minutes. Everyone loved to see them, and the baby.

The baby's immunity is not good right now, but was just high enough for us to come home for a couple days before the next treatment phase starts.

Andy was really good at making sure no one touched the baby at the schools, and we left after only a couple minutes in each class.

I brought the new cell phones that had been delivered to the other house.

Daniel got right to work, taking pictures for Andy's phone. He was trying to get Penny to pose in the picture below.

my wonderful puppy dog

Since we are fed dinner by groups around 4-5 times each week, and it is hard to keep our food good for any length of time in the small refrigerators, I have stopped cooking for a while.

So, the nights when dinner isn't brought, we go out, hope Andy is there to cook for us, or just have something really simple.

So tonight, when it was time for dinner, I made the executive decision that it was Costco pizza night. We had to wait longer because they lost one of the pizzas we ordered, so the pepperoni was greasier and colder than normal, but we got to eat on a real, wood table in our own, real dining room!!! All the tables at the other house are restaurant-style fake, smooth surface.

I needed a way to encourage the younger children to get some exercise earlier in the week.

They wouldn't race when I wanted them to last week at the park. So, I went and bought some non-food prizes that were cheap (mostly poppers) that I knew they like.

They raced at the other house (downstairs), did push-ups, behaved when it would've been more of a struggle, swim raced, and had a jump rope contest.

They got to do the poppers tonight at our house.

Ahhh, see my "S?" I love my "S."

We watched "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs."

Kelly and Lilly were comfy together on one sofa.

Although, at one point in the evening, Kelly remarked that it felt like we had the cousins over because she got used to only having Daniel and Andy at home. My sister has 11 children, so we have a lot of excitement when we all get together.

Since we've been gone, the cat started using the end of the upstairs banister for a scratching post. It literally looks like someone took a sharp fork to it and just shredded. Bad kitty!

What a sick/family/warm/sunny week

While Andy was here last week, we went to the local library.

I'm a book/library girl and may someday be a librarian, so I love to "check out" different libraries. :)

It was so cool, the library had a lot of the books from the series we've been reading, and there was so much room in there, and it was only a branch library!!

To check out, you scan your card, then pile your books on a surface that detects the smart stickers inside the books. It automatically knows which books are in the pile. Awesome...technology is cool, but I hope it doesn't go too far, making people think librarians and library staff aren't important anymore.

We went to the beach before Andy left for home.

While the girls and their friend fed the ducks and seagulls their lunches, Josh wanted to do his homework. That lasted about 10 minutes, then he was ready to enjoy some of the sun also.

Josh found some shells, just like Maggie did not too long ago.
Josh gave each of the girls and underdog on the swings, then got on a swing himself.

After Andy went home Thursday, the children enjoyed a craft night with the Stampin' Up ladies.

They all made one of these St. Patrick's Day crafts which held chocolate coins in the center.

After crafting, the baby got sick.

The next day, Friday, I got sick.

Andy came back again, to take care of all of us.

Now, I'm sick of laundry.

Yesterday, we started to feel better and went to the beach again and the park for some fresh air.

Daniel and Kelly came with Andy this time.

Josh, Daniel, Maggie, Kelly, Lilly

Daniel sat there for about 5 minutes, trying to get the seagulls or ducks to eat bread out of his hand. It never happened, although they came close a couple times.

Kelly found this D for Daniel at the park.

Today, we went to Seattle.

I've had nightmares about drowning my entire life, so I don't like to drive over bridges. And, even though I learned to drive on the freeway, I really don't like to drive on freeways.

So, today's trip was a practice for tomorrow.

The younger children will be meeting an Olympic swimmer at school tomorrow, but I have to go pick them up so they can get their teeth cleaned afterwards.
With the bumper-to-bumper traffic, we had a good chance to look at the sailboats and other watercraft by Seattle.

We went to a park in Seattle, where the children played, and Penny (our dog) loved getting out.

It was pretty neat to see a food giveaway to people who needed it there. It went fast.

We are so blessed where we are living, and have our needs mostly taken care of.

I would encourage anyone reading this to donate even one can of food to a local food bank.
So many people are hungry.

There are p-patches in Seattle, or basically small garden plots for rent. I think they're for rent...

Below is a picture of the rain barrels to collect rain water to supplement the water demand in the gardens.

These children who don't like to smile or pose for pictures are what's growing in my garden right now.

Seeing the p-patches made me realize that if I want real, home-grown veggies this summer, I better plan a garden now. It would be a good project to work on with the children.

Josh

Josh lost two teeth in the past week.

Here he is showing them both off, one on the top, and one on the bottom on the opposite side.

Josh was not happy when I had him be the first one to clean the toilet here.

But, he was happier to know that the girls will be cleaning it the next 2 times.

I don't do toilets.

Maggie bought a Zhu Zhu pet, or an electronic hamster.

There's a hamster community track and wheel and car.

So, first thing when we got home, she put her hamster in the accessories here.

Last night, some volunteers were hereafter dinner.
They had a simple carnival for the children to do.

Maggie did the hula hoop for a long time, and they all won prizes for the activities they did.

Andy's here!

He and Maggie were playing tic-tac-toe this morning.

The baby is feeling better and is eating and happy again!

Happy Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day.

When we lived in Alaska, Valentine's was a HOT holiday because it was a great avenue toward distraction when winter is just lasting a little too long.

BUT, I am officially tired of Valentine's Day.

People are so wonderful.

They keep having activity nights, where they make valentines with the children...just about every night for the past week and a half. sigh

Last Sunday, a group put on a SuperBowl party for the residents here.

Here's Lilly with her crown and her beads.

At the SuperBowl party, Maggie wanted to do even more, so they went and got her her own table to work on.

Here's Josh with his green crown.

We've learned this past month that Josh likes anything green...except broccoli.

Here's Maggie in the hospital pool.

She's been trying her yoga pose out everywhere.

This whole week has been full of action.

My nephew, Samuel, was just assigned to the Colorado Springs, Colorado area for his 2-year church mission! He'll go in mid-April. Cool, huh?

Thursday night, the children and I were in the ER for several hours.

The baby is not feeling well at all.

Josh, Lilly, and Maggie had a talent show and Valentine's party at their school on Friday.

They're loving it there, but do miss their friends.

Yesterday, my Aunt Effie and Uncle Walt came to visit!

They live in the same city as our normal home, so it was wonderful to see them, but it also felt a little like home having them here :)

I figured that since we'll be here for 9 1/2 more months, I should get healthier in that time. There are lots of hills to walk up here, after all. I thought having dessert once a week instead of every night would be a good idea too.

EXCEPT, we've had volunteers at the house 5 times this week and last week each, and they always bring different desserts!?! Plus, the children keep getting valentine goodies from the front desk and bringing it back to the room. We'll keep trying to walk, but that's hard to do too, because baby appointments tend to be within 10 minutes of the children getting on/off the bus, so I really don't have the opportunity to walk if we want to be on time. Ok, that's the end of that rant! One more...

Nickelback and Black-eyed Peas are going to be in Tacoma in the next couple months. I want to go to their concerts so bad, but can't because that's too far away. We have to be within an hour of the hospital here, in bad traffic. So do any of you know if bands do small appearances in the surrounding big cities when they have a concert?

Have a great Valentine's Day...can't wait to see my valentine soon. ;)

sunshine!!

Today, we went to Mathews Beach. It was a gorgeous, sunny day (got to wear my sunglasses!), so we got out of the house (room) again. We saw dogs swimming, a float plan flying back and forth, lots of ducks and seagulls, and squirrels (of course).

Josh found an emerald-green stone in the lake

Maggie's clam shells she found

All the children were on the merry-go-round, doing their "Om" pose.

Yet another squirrel (lower right corner)

Maggie (watermelon butterfly), Lilly (butterfly), and Josh (fox) at the Valentine's dinner, carnival, craft, and bingo night.

Lilly, Maggie, and their friend downstairs doing the arcade games.

Since we're going to be here for so long, I'm looking for a kids' yoga class. Or, I might put them in a karate class or something like that.

Daniel plays the piano so well. He hears music on the radio and feels the songs out on the piano. Not just plunking, but full-sound songs. Very cool.

He took this picture with his DSi and photo edited it by himself.

Kelly scored the highest on some test at school, so she gets to go to a sleepover at the Seattle Science Center in April. She's excited to go see the opening show of Percy Jackson and the Olympians on the 16th.

more downsizing

Ok, so I downsized from a big, hurkin' Suburban to a minivan so I can park in this big city (and still be able to put a child in a car seat safely).

This week, I also downsized from my big ol' jogging stroller to a regular stroller. I scrolled down craigslist many times and kept trying to find one within 20 minutes of our temporary home (how temporary will be discussed below). There were so many EVERY DAY within an hour or two of this place, but not so many within 20 minutes....but, I found one and now have a regular stroller!!

Only now, it's not so much smaller, and it might not be the answer I was looking for. I've got a very active, fragile child to place in it, and not having straps over the shoulders to completely hold the child back from jumping out might not work so well. I'll give it another day or two, but hopefully it'll work. It's a whole lot easier to steer in the hospital.

On the way to find the stroller the other night, we were driving to a different area of the city we're in, following Mapquest's directions and we found some awesome finds!! A big neighborhood library, with a doughnut shop right next door!!! Plus, there was a bake shop across the corner from that!! Of course, you can't have a library without a doughnut shop, right?! We're thinking we should pitch that idea to our real home's city council for the property they bought right next to City Hall...it'd be a great revenue generator.

Ok, for the temporary status. I found out today that we'll have to be here for at least 8 more months. I thought it would be like 6 now, since we've been here a whopping 2 months already, and said as much to the nurse practitioner today. She said, Oh no (not dreadfully, but in a matter-of-fact tone), it'll be more like 8 more months. She then proceeded to make a copy of the rest of the treatment road maps and wrote on the sides how long each should take. My calculations were that it would be 10 more months, actually, putting us here until NEXT NEW YEARS :(

Andy's having a really hard time with that.

Oh, and since I don't want to have a dental emergency and not have a provider (dentist) for the children or me, I went to my temporary dentist today! Yay. The children will see theirs in another week or two. Not many people have temporary dentists, do they.

But then again, not many people are temporarily displaced from their home for this long. At least we have our needs met, and we have a proven protocol to follow. We aren't living in a natural disaster zone, we don't have an unfamiliar cancer, and we weren't given a terminal diagnosis.

We have met families this week who are dealing with a sudden liver transplant need, then transplant within days, a baby born without a working heart so a Berlin Heart was placed until they can get a transplant, an extremely rare form of childhood cancer with a tumor blocking leg function, and many others. So, even though we have a yucky diagnosis, things could be much worse. And, we aren't as far away from home as Chicago, Hawaii, or Alaska.

I think it's still time to go shopping...wait, the immunity numbers are dropping and I won't be able to go out much very soon. Have fun at your local mall for me!