Winter Fun

I'm definitely not one who enjoys winter.  I begin counting the days until Spring right after our first snow (80 days to go!).  But today....today, I really enjoyed our Michigan winter.  We are out at the lake house.  I arrived yesterday and marveled at how much brighter and upbeat it felt here vs "back home" a whole 25 minutes away.  The difference I think comes from all the natural light streaming through the windows, the bright sun reflecting off the snow, AND people outside having fun!

Most of the time in Canton "suburbia world" I find myself hunkering down and staying inside.  It's not very bright and the only people I see outside are the occasional dog walker and drivers of cars slipping and sloshing down the street.  Here, even when I'm inside, I feel energized looking out and people watching.

Surprisingly, it was Maranda who was asking to come out to the lake house during Christmas break.  The kids really enjoy it!  Even though it's cold, they bundle up and spend the day ice skating on the lake, watching the ice fisherman, and people 4 wheeling across the ice. 

I spent most of today cleaning the kitchen, and enjoying the fantastic view.  It was great to see the kids spend HOURS outside today!  At about 4:00 Mike and I were able to join them.  We laced up the skates and got out in the fresh air.  It was so much fun!!!  Lisa doesn't ice skate yet, but she has fun pulling us around being the train leader!  Mike and Maranda practiced their "figure" skating.

We'll be on the ice tomorrow,  If anyone wants to come out and join us, grab your skates and hot chocolate and give us a call!

For all of you who have been praying for our friend Bridget...thank you, thank you, thank you.  The prayers are helping.  She is 10 years old and has been stumping doctors for almost 2 years.  Her cancer is in the brain and there is no real name for what it is or how to treat it.  Neurosurgeons have expressed dismay in the past seeing Bridget walking and talking when everything on her scans have led them to believe she would be bedridden and not functioning.  Her doctors have even pointed to heaven as the only way to explain how she continues to improve.  Her mom posted today:  "Bridget spent the night in the step-down ICU and will be fully released from the ICU and moved into a regular hospital room this afternoon.....Bridget's cancer remains an enigma, with little/no case history to guide the doctors on how to best treat it. Plus, it's quite advanced, so it's impossible to project how this will all play out. We remain confident and trusting in God's plan for this little girl, and continue praying that God show us the decisions to make at each step along the way."

Please continue to pray for Lisa, her cancer buddies, and all the other cancer warriors!

Have a great day and remember only 80 days until spring!

Make that two teeth!

Last night after I posted and Lisa had gone to bed, both she and Maranda reappeared giggling.  Apparently Lisa decided one tooth was not enough to give to the tooth fairy and she worked and wiggled a second tooth out.  She went to bed satisfied that the tooth fairy would be very pleased with getting two teeth at one house.

Today we got together with Mike's siblings and Mom to celebrate Christmas.  Lisa was all smiles even with her gaping hole!

Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays.  I feel so blessed to have my children all here and healthy at home with us. Please send up a prayer for our friend Bridgette who has been in the hospital since 12/20.  She is fighting to hang on and she and her family celebrated Christmas together around her bed in the ICU.  She too is a cancer warrior who also needs a miracle. 

Keep praying, keep hoping!

Tooth Fairy coming tonight

Lisa manages to keep the excitement going.  She pulled out a tooth today.  Looks like the tooth fairy has to come tonight....good thing she didn't have to make the flight last night, I'm pretty sure she was helping out Santa!

As I'm typing this, Lisa just asked "What holiday comes next?"  She's ready!

Happy Holidays!

One more day until Christmas!!!

I'm sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that Lisa and the rest of the kids are completely ready for Christmas and me, not so much!  Are you sure it's tommorrow?  I need about two more weeks.  I cannot tell you where the time has gone or what I've been doing, but it is going to pass me by before I'm ready.  Hopefully all my friends and family whom I normally send Christmas cards to are reading the blog, cause I don't think I'm going to get Christmas cards out this year!  We did get some things accomplished in the past few weeks...mostly at Lisa's insistence!

We saw Santa at the Mall

We made cookies...to see who was really behind the cookie making, click this link to see the video.

Lisa picked out Christmas Gifts

We went to the McMaster Family Party

The tree got decorated (thanks to Lisa, Chrissy and Thomas)

Presents were wrapped

And now, we run around doing last minute things as the minutes count down.  We got church and the Yesh party tonight.  Merry Christmas!!



Christmas is coming

Lisa has been doing very well.  She only got sick after chemo one time this week.  We are still working on her appetite; she lost another pound this week.  Hopefully with all the holiday fun and festivities coming up we can get her eating and over-indulging like the rest of us!

We spent close to two hours in the car to go to the Kids Kicking Cancer Christmas party.  Santa, Rudolph, Mickey and Minnie were there.  The kids enjoyed food, dancing, arts and crafts.  Every family got a big family bag of gifts.  Lisa enjoyed herself and everyone had a good time despite the long drive and snowy roads.

I cannot believe it's 2 weeks to Christmas.  The only person I've bought gifts for is Maranda and that's because she is a shopaholic and constantly picking things out for me to pay for which I put into a "presents" pile at home.  Lisa is actually a little tough to buy for....she has almost every baby imaginable and with three older kids, we are well-stocked on pet shop, polly pocket, barbies, craft kits and almost every board game.  Ugh....what to buy, what to buy!?

If all continues to go well, Lisa will only have blood draws one day a week for the rest of December.  Scans are scheduled for January and if no study opens, she will have another round of chemo.  We count our blessings and are so glad that Lisa will get to spend another Christmas at home.

Please offer up prayers for some of our Mott's buddies (Bridgette, Cody and JD) who have been in the hospital and hoping to be home for Christmas!

Chemo Day 3....Lisa's hanging in

It's only Wed and it feels like the longest week ever.  Lisa started her chemo this week.  She goes to school in the morning, comes home, eats a quick lunch and then we go to the hospital.  

Monday, Lisa was grumpy, but she handled the chemo well.  Tuesday she was on her chemo high, in great spirits and practically skipped into school.  She was in great spirits when we went to the hospital, but the chemo yesterday afternoon knocked her for a loop and she got sick last night.  Her appetite was shot and she didn't eat much for most of the day today.  She handled today's chemo better (we made sure to give her double doses of nausea medicine) and with frequent rest breaks and naps she had a bit of an appetite tonight at dinner.

Two more days of chemo and then we will just do lab draws until January.  We'll have scans done in January and hopefully a study will open up that Lisa qualifies for...otherwise we will continue with chemo.

She's a trooper; keep praying that God continues to give all of us strength.

Round of Chemo coming up

We had a good weekend.  Got the Christmas tree and decorations up.  Lisa has been feeling very well and we are hoping that she handles the chemo well.  Have to take a look back at the notes and refresh our memories to try and remember how she reacted to these drugs.  It's been almost 7 mos since she had any chemo drugs and while we should know the drill it's still a bit nerve racking.  Hopefully this week will go by quickly, she will continue to feel well, and new options will become available to help keep the cancer at bay.

Keep praying!