Fall Fun

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We had some fall fun at Lucky Ladd Farm this year. It was a great place. We fed the goats and chickens, had plenty of playground fun, picked our pumpkins and enjoyed some nachos…I mean who doesn’t love some nachos. All the girls did well with the animals. It is interesting to see Alyssa get more confident each year and actually hold her hand still and then Megan walks right up like we feed goats everyday. Honestly, I don’t remember if Audrey even tried, she was probably too busy eating the goat food herself.


A little sneak peak into Halloween this year… We went with some friends to a retirement home in the area to try to bless them with some precious kids. I think they all did great and hopefully brought some smiles to the residents. Audrey was the lead of the pack, opening doors and just letting herself do as she wished, going back for seconds or thirds, trying to remove the fire extinguisher from the wall … you name it. The woman who was leading us around learned her name very quick and kept saying, “Come on Audrey, do you want to knock on this door?”





Happy Birthday Megan

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Oh, my Megan. How do I even begin to say a few words about you. You are God’s blessing in my life. You helped heal a hole in my heart after we lost your brother. God knew what we needed and you arrived perfect just as we prayed. You have so much personality. You can pout like no one else I know. And you can laugh, sing and dance enough to crack up the whole family. You are strong-willed. At least the strongest-willed of mine. I love to come in the mornings and see you and Alyssa snuggled up in bed together giggling or reading. I love to see you taking care of Audrey and giving her hugs too. I love that you like to hold my hand and that I can still pick you up and you wrap your legs and arms around me. You are happy to help me unload the dishes and can sit and paint for an hour. You are the only one who can independently play. You like to build towers of blocks, piles of stuffed animals, and houses of blankets. You are notorious for dresses. Summer dresses in the winter and winter dresses in the summer. You would change clothes several times a day if I let you just to wear all different dresses. You make the meanest growl, usually at someone, but have the sweetest kisses. You are just a great mixture of it all. You are the Megan that we all needed and I am blessed.

Pinkalicious

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Megan’s 4th birthday party was all pink…pinkalicious. We celebrated with just a few friends, but fun was had by all I hope. We had some snacks, painted fingernails and fairy wands, read stories and wrapped up with the classic pink, pink, RED! (duck, duck, goose) Next year I hope to remember that all they need is friends to have fun. All the decorations in the world wouldn’t matter, but friends make the party fun. Thanks to my friends for hanging out and enjoying the party too. And a big thanks to Amanda for taking some awesome pictures for us. I still have a few days to ponder the idea of my Meggie being 4  years old. That will be a post next week I suppose. More



Soccering up again.

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We are back into the swing of soccer. That means never a dull Saturday, lots of bags, whining, cheering, wrestling, water and sweat. Alyssa is doing great. She really likes to play and has a good grasp on the game. She is fast and smart, but still is not the most aggressive one in the pile. In between watching Megan play from a distance and wrestling Audrey to stay off the field, I really enjoy watching her play.

We decided to sign Megan up with the Y at the last moment. She went to her first practice last week where she did great. She kept her shoes and shin guards on for over an hour waiting til practice, she ran, she kicked, she obeyed the coach, she did awesome.

I began to think that she would do so good….so much better than Alyssa did on her first team. I was excited for a child who was aggressive. I was more than willing to pay that late sign up fee if it meant my child would have fun, play, maybe even… score? Well, Saturday came. When we stepped out of the car and she began complaining that her shin guards were itching, I knew it was all over.

That is EXACTLY what Alyssa did all season long at age 3. We would put bug spray, lotion, even toilet paper in her socks – anything to avoid the itchy legs. It went from itchy legs, to being bored, to hot, anything to not play. So Megan sat in a ball, head in her hands, pouting for oh… 3 quarters of the game. I tried everything – just like I did with Alyssa – and no bribe, treat, incentive would get her to play. Then finally, she seemed interested. We called her coach, “Megan’s ready” I yelled. Whoo hoo!! She is on the field. Yes! “Get the camera!” She took a throw-in. She ran. She tried to get the ball. And… the game was over. She played for about 90 seconds. But I was so proud of her. Maybe next week it will be different.


Good-bye Chemo

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Friday, September 3 marked my last day of chemo. A journey that began in May is finally complete. I am not filled with deep thoughts much anymore. I guess that is why my blogging has been scarce. I am living life as it is, and I feel that there is not much else to say about it. But I know few of you are curious. So here are a few thoughts: Yes, I am thrilled that chemo is done. We did have a small celebration party on Friday night, but I did not have this overwhelming sense of relief or completion like it was college graduation. It just felt like another step in a long process. I have 4 weeks off and then I will begin 30 rounds of radiation, 5 days a week for 6 weeks. I handled the chemo very well. The first rounds were my hardest and even then it was just overwhelming fatigue. The last 4 were much easier and found that I really didn’t need to alter my plans any on those weekends and was usually still up for my weekend run with my buddy. My hair has been slowly growing back in for the last 4 weeks or so. It is still thin, but definitely longer. And for a visual, I would probably still look fairly bald from a distance. When I say long, don’t get carried away. Megan pretends that she has a pair of binoculars and says, “Let me see if your hair is growing.” It should began to grow back immediately and I am looking forward to no hats, bands, or scarfs. I have become comfortable with just a baseball cap or even my BondiBand around the house and neighborhood. But to have a head of hair will be great again. All in all, I think I have been one of the lucky ones that has handled this process so well. I won’t chalk it up to diet or nutrition, or even being in shape. But only to God giving me the strength and endurance to make it through this.

The only thing left is to thank you for your prayers and support and now ask for more money. We have created a Fight4Julie Team for the Race for the Cure in Nashville. It is Oct 9 and as of today, Fight4Julie is ranked #10 in the Top Ten Fundraising Teams. I thought that was exciting! We have about 19 on the team currently and are looking forward to a day of celebration and supporting this great cause. If you would like to donate toward our team, go to: Fight4Julie Team . We have raised $2,291.00 and I would love to keep going. Please don’t think a $5 or $10 donation isn’t worth it. Imagine if everyone who read my blog contributed just a little. It would all add up. If you are in the area, we would love to have you sign up with us and walk with other Fight4Julie friends.

Thanks for your support through this all.

Preschool Begins

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Megan and Audrey started preschool at KOTK this week. Megan was a little concerned about leaving Mrs. B (at her old school), but she did great at a new place. We all needed little miss Audrey in school, so we had to change to a new school. Audrey’s teacher said that she cried off and on all day and was asking for Megan too – which I think is hilarious. But she ate and napped, and what else could a mom ask for? They will go 2 days a week and mom will be at home trying to do some freelance work. I would love to think I can just be at home and sew, scrapbook, plan birthday parties, paint the upstairs, fold clothes, clean the house, run errands uninterrupted and even get dinner started early… well, maybe every once in awhile I will get to do that. But at least I can enjoy some quiet time, even if it is sitting in front of the computer.


More Pictures

The beginning of Fall

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We did a little hiking this past weekend with the girls. We found a pack to haul Audrey around in and took off for the parks. She rode around in it fairly well, but she did get heavy. I can’t imagine if we actually put a child with the weight limit in it – like Megan. The girls did great running through the trails,  finding bugs, acorns and butterflies. Audrey did fine too when we took her out, she just can’t be trusted to follow the path. She is definitely my “off the beaten path” child. We did Percy Warner, had some McDs and Pei Wei for mid afternoon snack, then hit Radnor Lake. A little glimpse of what our fall can be like, I hope.


2nd grade

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How quickly it really goes. Childhood, summer, life… all of it. Here we are ready for another year and Alyssa was ready too. Summer is fun, but she (and her mom) enjoy the structure of school schedules. We had a few jitters and a few “I am nervous”, but she did great. We met her teacher earlier in the week and Alyssa gave her a hug at the door (of course she did) and walked right in. Found her seat, obeyed her directions and was off. She gave me one last look as to say “mom? stay.” But we both knew she was fine. Here is a little clip to document some of her thoughts at age 7.

Thankful

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Today is chemo #7 out of 8. You can do the math, I am almost done. I am counting down my days. But today I found a new reason to be thankful. Today, I met Lauren. She looked young. Maybe late twenties. She was alone. She had a soft buzz haircut. She looked like she knew her way around the room, so I didn’t think it was her first time. I thought and thought. I would love to talk to her, how do I open the conversation. Let’s go with the hair. Me: Is your hair coming or going? Lauren tells me that she shaved it when it began to fall out and this is what had grown back. So, it was coming. She goes on that she has Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She explained it a bit to me and has chemo every other week with 4 more to go. Trying to just engage, I asked if chemo had been easy on her. She had a quick answer of NO. She said she is queasy to begin with, but gets sick from just entering the room. She had a smelling solution while her port was accessed, she had a blue bag in case she got sick. She remains sick for up to a week, then a week off only to repeat the process. I watched her as she unplugged and wheeled these nasty drugs causing her pain to the bathroom again and again. I can hear her, and it hurts. She comes out strong, sits down for a bit then up again. And here am I… no guilt for feeling good, but I take things like scrapbook stuff to keep me busy for the 2+ hours. I have the luxury of spreading my stuff out and working. She on the other hand, just waits until it hits again. Hodgkins is one of the most curable forms of cancer. And I pray that Lauren will undergo this nasty phase in her life and then never look back again. Where as, Ethan and I wonder. Did it work? How will we know? How long till we hear the bad news that it is back? And words from your doctor like “I like to leave your port in for about a year in case something happens and we need it again” don’t sound good.

But for now, today, this post is about being thankful for what I have. I have a body that has responded excellent to the chemo. My numbers look good. I feel good enough to train for my next 1/2 marathon. I can get up each morning and take care of my family. I have had virtually no signs of nausea through it all and I am surviving. So, thank you Lord for that. Thank you for prepping me and my body to take on this disease. And thank you for encounters like today to remind me. For now, my mind is on Lauren. Wondering how the rest of her day is? Does she have friends or family to help her and they just weren’t there today? I liked her. She was confident. She was strong. She looked like a fighter. Most likely, I will never see her again, but for today she touched my life.

3 years in TN

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To the day. We arrived in shifts. Ethan and Blair drove one car to TN. The other car rode in the moving truck which came a few days later. And my parents, me and the girls flew in to our new city Aug 1, 2007. We closed on the house and took the family to see the new, empty house. We met our neighbors, we met the heat. We learned about stairs and a baby. We looked for a church, we looked for a school. And by God’s blessing, here we are. I love this place. I miss my family and my life-long friends, but I love it here. God took a huge fear in me and worked it out. To bless others and to bless us. Here’s to 3 years E…and how many more till I get that suburban?