Halloween In Review

the selection process



the pumpkins

Pre trick or treating dinner- Jack-o-lantern pizzas (thanks, abuela!)

THE COSTUMES!

Indy

and Dorothy

Trick or treating in action- We LOVE trick or treating the bluff. Everyone there gets so into it!

The most popular treat of the night-- frankencookies!



HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

SOCCER!

Cade's having an awesome soccer season! He just has a few more games! He's really enjoying it and he's improved so much since last year. He's even scored a couple of goals!

Trying to reduce, reuse, recycle!

We love Savannah. We love downtown, we love the beach, we love the people, we LOVE Isle of Hope. There are only a few things I don't love about this city. Number 1 being the public school system, number 2 being the sand gnats, and number 3 being the fact that we're totally behind the times on doing our part to preserve the Earth! Our lovely county does not provide recycling outside the city limits, which we are. As of this fall we now have the option to recycle in our neighborhood through a private company, but when you are paying for things like private school and chemotherapy on one salary you have to pass on paying for things like recycling. So I'm not sure if it's the raging pregnancy hormones or what, but I lately I have been cleaning out and throwing away, a job that never seems quite finished. During this endless quest to rid our home of anything that doesn't serve a purpose I have realized on thing...we garolas produce a lot of trash. After helping my sister with a presentation on landfills for her public health class a few weeks ago, I started feeling really guilty about our landfill contribution. So I decided it was WAY past time for us to recycle. And I mean seriously recycle, more than just hanging onto a bag of aluminum cans and throwing them in the big bin outside the fire station once every couple of months. So after cleaning out I had some extra empty plastic bins and found a very organized location for them. I then sat the kids down and talked to them about what recycling is and how great it is gonna feel to help the Earth by reducing our amount of landfill trash! They were both super excited and Cade totally got it! Cora, not so much, on several different occasions I found her plastic dolls and toys in the plastic bin. But anyway, we collected and sorted for well over a week before I decided our bins were overflowing and ready to be delivered to the recycling center. Last Sunday night cade helped me bag everything and load it into the back of the van. Monday morning after we dropped him off at school Cora and I drove over to the closest recycling center. I figured it would be really simple to figure out, put the proper items into the proper receptacles and be on our way. Well, nothing is ever that simple for me. We got there around 9 am and found it closed with a big sign posted on the gate that said Hours of Operation Wed-Sat noon - 4. Are you kidding me? What about people who work??? How the heck are they supposed to recycle??? So anyway, we left and drove around ALL OF LAST week with giant trash bags of paper and plastic in our car. Then finally on Friday afternoon around 3 I realized that they were opened and we were in the car. This was our chance. So I pull in to a man who greets me with a sign in sheet and tell him I am a total virgin recycler in need of direction. He first directs me to the plastic bin where I unload all of my plastic. He grabbed a bag filled with plastic wrappers and plastic laminating film (that I had as scraps after cutting a bunch of stuff out for Cade's teacher) and he opened it and poured it in and immediately started shouting, "oh no no no no!!!" Then the man practically dives in the bin and starts retrieving everything he's just poured in. I immediately apologize not knowing quite what for and follow his lead in recollecting. He then explains to me that at this center they only take plastic bottles that have the #s 1 or 2 on the bottom. That's it!!! They don't take anything else plastic, even the stuff with the #s 3, 4, and 5! Unbelievable. I thought plastic was plastic and it could all be recycled. I immediately got that I was an idiot for trying to recycle plastic wrappers and laminating film, but inquired about if there was a place I could take the other bottles. He didn't know and gave me a number to call to find out. So I reloaded the remnants of my plastic and moved along to the paper bin where I found out I hadn't exactly gotten the paper thing right either! Who knew recycling was so complicated? So 30 minutes later I left feeling like a total idiot with the back of the van still half full. I called the number the man gave me yesterday and kept getting voice mails and directed from one number to the next. After ten minutes on the phone I gave up for the day and when the # 3, 4, and 5s fell out of the back of my car this morning at the grocery store, my next stop was the city dump! So much for helping the earth!!!

Staying Well

Things have been pretty crazy around here lately with germs and sickness abounding! Everyone we know has had Strep, flu A B or H1N1, pneumonia, colds, sinus infections, runny noses and the like. We've somehow managed to stay well (i am knocking on wood right now) and I am so thankful! Cade, Rob, and I have vaccinated ourselves with the regular flu vaccine. Because of Cora and prego mama we can't do the H1N1 flu mist thing because it's a live virus, so we're laying low on that one. We've heard mixed reviews on that vaccine to date anyway.

I've never really been a germ-a-phobe at all, but I just keep thinking that if Cora gets so much as a fever, we're landed in the hospital where there are even more germs. After watching a special report the other night on the number of people nationwide that have contracted one or more of the fore mentioned viruses Rob and I decided (well...it was actually mostly me panicking and nagging and him shaking his head in agreement) that it may be worth a quick chat with one of Cora's oncologists as to whether or not preschool is worth the risk for her right now.

So...Monday morning I just debated and debated about rather or not she should go to school, but I wanted to talk to the doc first, so she stayed home and just as I was looking up an office number to contact one of the oncologists the phone rang and it was Dr. Johnston. No joke! He had seen a picture (below)of Cora's rashy face that I facebooked one of her nurses (yes I'm that crazy) and was concerned about it, more to come on that in a sec, but it was him!!! So we chatted and I voiced our concerns about how she LOVES school and her teachers but 1. was she at an elevated risk for contracting something? and 2. If she did contract something was she at an elevated risk to develop a complication? He answered "yes" to both of these questions and agreed that it would probably be a good idea to hold off on school for now. Normally during the "maintenance" phase of chemo school is fine, but given this crazy season, it just isn't worth the risk to us. So Dr. J made the decision easier for us. She's officially no longer in preschool.:( So sad! I literally cried over it! She really loved it and her teachers were such a great fit for her, but we are hoping that if things clear up from all this craziness in the spring maybe she can go back for the last few months. In the meantime we'll be having LOTS of mommy and Cora time and mommy is going to try her hardest to keep her busy, entertained, learning, and germ free!!! It should be a challenge, but I'm up for it! I haven't even had the heart to tell her she's not going to school. She asks me everyday when she wakes up and I just told her we're taking a little "school break" for awhile.
So having said that we realize we can't live in a bubble and are going to be having frequent play dates and continuing to go to the grocery store (with Clorox wipes). So if you have a kiddo Cora's age and need a sitter for a little while, bring 'em on over! We'd love to play! In the meantime, pray, pray, pray for Cora to "stay well" and take your vitamins and break out the GermX!

p.s. we saw a dermatologist for this nasty face rash that we had attributed solely to her medication when it popped up 3 months ago. we were thinking we just needed to learn the best way to deal with it and minimize it for the next 14 months, but SURPRISE, SURPRISE it wasn't solely from medication--it's like dandruff on her face pretty much and it can go away! yay! We love things you can cure with cream!

Cora speaks

Ok so the way Cora hears and repeats words is so funny. She says everything completely southern and hears a word and then repeats it in the funniest ways. Here's an example. We got out more halloween decorations yesterday and Cora immeaditely attached herself to a white stuffed ghost with a cute smile and bow around his neck. Last night as I get her out of the bath I yell to her to get her pjs. She rushes back to the bathroom and whispers in my ear,

"Shhhhhh! Fat Tome (like tom but with a long o sound) is sleeping."

I ask her multiple times who is sleeping and each time she says, "fat tome."

After the third time she get frustrated that I don't understand and says as she picks up the ghost out of a doll bed, "You know, this cute, fat, white ghost guy that Cade called "fat tome" earlier.

Cade called him phantom!!!

Cade keeps thing in perspective

Last night before bed Cade was clipping his toenails and I was supervising. He finishes the toenails and I say, "let's do your fingernails now."

He replies, "sometimes I bite those."

Mommy, "don't do that. it's not good for you."

Cade, "why? why not? I can't think of one good reason I shouldn't bite my nails!"

Mommy, "Because they're dirty and you'll get sick from germs. I started biting my nails a long time ago and when I am nervous I still bite them and it's a really bad habit to start! Don't do it!"

Cade, "At least I don't smoke!"

The Ballerina

Here she is! She is really enjoying ballet. She goes twice a week. Tuesdays for ballet and Thursdays for tap/tumbling. She's not terribly crazy about the tap/tumbling. She loves the shoes, but is scared to death of a forward roll! But she really loves the ballet on Tuesdays. It really is the cutest thing I have EVER seen in my whole entire life! There are like 15-20 little 3 and 4 year old girls all in black leotards and pink tights with all sorts of cute hair bows and skirts and accessories trying their best to be graceful and mimic their two perfect looking high school ballet teachers moves. The lady that runs the studio is the cutest sweetest ballerina turned grandmother ever! Cora isn't very coordinated or graceful and many times replaces the gentle toe points with stomps. We're not holding our breathe for a prima ballerina, but I must say in the past few months I have seen lots of poses and moves come out at during our weekly family room "dance parties" that cannot be mistaken for anything but those of a ballerina!

Cora said...

Cora is so cute, funny, and animated when she's in a good mood. If she's in a good mood and you hit the right subject with her, she gets excited and jumps and bounces as she talks and gets this really high, squeaky, yelly voice. Tonight I was reading she and Cade the chapter book, Junie B. Jones is (Almost) a Flower Girl. Of course Cora loved the book because she loves fancy dresses. So after we had finished the chapter she bounces up off the bed and as she's jumping says in her yelliest voice,

"I've got a gweat idea! When I get maewied guess who can be the flower giwl at my wedding?"

Cade says, "who?"

Cora says, "you, mommy! and daddy can be the wing beawer."

Cade just rolls his eyes.

Backus Mural

So I have this new friend who is awesome who was introduced to me by another friend who is awesome too, but anyway, this new friend is an artist. She paints murals, mostly of kids. And it's very ironic that at about the time I met her she was starting a huge mural in the lobby of Backus Children's Hospital aka Cora's "clinic". Her name is Morgan Webb. Check out her website www.morganwebbfineart.com. She uses the faces of kids she knows in her murals and asked if it would be OK if she used Cade and Cora. OK...of course it would be OK!!! It would be great! So each time we visit the clinic Cora and I have been checking in on this "super mural" and watching it progress! It's so colorful, life like, and amazing! She has finished my kids and they look so much like them, it's uncanny! I just wanted to share! What a fun mark to leave on Backus Children's Hospital. We know this mural will be there lots longer than we will!



Oh by the way, I forgot to mention, not once did I tell Morgan to paint Cade as a pirate and Cora as a princess. She met them once and totally "got" them! Aren't they great? The big girl leading the horse in the painting of Cora is Cora's big girl friend Emma. Who she calls "my emma" and adores! That makes it that much better for her! I am not sure how I got lucky enough to have all these talented friends who can paint, smock, monogram, decorate, photograph, and everything else under the sun. I have been searching for my hidden talent for 32 years to no avail, maybe it's landing great and talented friends. I am definitely a "jack of all trades, master of none!!!"

*ps i have no clue why the pictures are turing out so small...one more thing I have not yet mastered, the computer! I'll post larger ones later!

Disney Trip

We just got back from a very fun filled 6 days in Orlando. Cora was granted a "Make-A-Wish" wish. Her wish of course had something to do with princesses. I felt a little strange about the trip at first because I thought Make-A-Wish was for kids who were deemed terminal and Cora didn't fit in that category. After speaking with Make A Wish they informed me that all children with a cancer diagnosis or any other long term illness or handicap were candidates. I had a conversation with a good friend who put it a really good way, she said, "it's really not about the prognosis, but rather the treatment. These little ones miss out on lots of things that other kids don't and need to be rewarded in some way." It really was great for all of us. We stayed at Give Kids The World Village which is to me a small glimpse of heaven on Earth. This place had everything a kid (or parent) could ever dream of, it was run completely by volunteers, and 100% free of charge. There were kids there will all kinds and ranges of diseases and handicaps, but not once was it mentioned by anyone. You didn't need to know what was wrong with them, because it didn't matter. They were all kids, there to have fun. It really humbled us and made us feel very fortunate for both of our kids. We were spoiled and served all week long and we hope that one day when the kids are older we can go back and spoil and serve other families. I think this week taught our kids things we never could have taught them without this place! We took so many pictures that I put them into a slide show. So get comfy for all 178 pictures!!!! (pause the music on the side of the blog so you can hear the slideshow music)

Make a Smilebox slideshow