Life As We Know It

Cleanliness is next to giggliness

2008-12-11T11:05:00.002-06:00

Kids crack me up... yesterday Hadley, Ian & I were all sitting in our blue rocker watching a movie & they wanted a snack - a granola bar for Hadley & Nilla Wafers for Ian. Needless to say, there was a crumb or two on us when they were done, so Todd went & got the vacuum & cleaned us all up. I never knew quite how much fun it would be to be vac - u - ummed (as Giselle says in Enchanted). The kids LOVED it - laughing & giggling & shouting for more. I am definitely going to have to remember this clean up method!

The best part was then when Ian went & got his vacuum that his just like ours & to clean me up. He is such a mini-Todd.

Harvesting with Farmer Dave

2008-10-20T13:43:00.019-05:00

This past Sunday, Ian's harvest dreams finally came true as he got the opportunity to ride in a working combine! My friend Jan, from the Illinois State Water Survey, has a brother Dave that farms & he was kind enough to let us come & visit (thank you - thank you - thank you!)

Shortly after lunch that day, Hadley, Ian, Grandma Janet & I set out to visit the farm. Dave was working south of Monticello in Piatt County, so it was about a 45 minute drive from home to get there and I think that all 45 minutes involved some sort of "Are we there yet?" comment. Ian was very concerned with what type of crop Farmer Dave might be harvesting because he hoped that he had the "pokies" on his combine (the corn head). He was also very excited because Jan had told me that Farmer Dave had a John Deere combine - his favorite! It was really hard to be patient with so much to look forward to!

When we arrived, Dave was working on corn & Ian was immediately ready to climb aboard. Actually, both kids & I got to ride along while Jan & Grandma Janet got stuck waiting out in the wind (sorry). As we went down every row, Ian kept saying, "I want want to go this many more (hold out all your fingers)." Hadley eventually tired of the excitement and climbed out to play, but Ian wasn't going anywhere!

When we finally did get him out of the combine, it was to climb in the tractor with Farmer George. He had a great time riding along as the combine emptied its corn into the wagon. The hardest part was when it was time to go - it broke his heart to leave. Once we finally did get home, he spent the next few days playing with his combine & tractor (the couch rows are his crop!)

Only in central Illinois...

2008-10-02T13:56:00.005-05:00

This past weekend we went to the Philo Fun Fest. Philo, which also calls itself the "Center of the Universe" is a small town about 10 miles south-southeast of Urbana. The initial big draw was the fire department's pancake & sausage breakfast. These are some of Todd's favorite foods & so we have become connoisseurs of these fundraising events. But once we got there, we found that there had been an antique tractor parade & that they were still parked in a nearby field. Ian was in heaven! He and Little Pappa spent forever going from tractor to tractor for him to sit & pretend to drive (all accompanied by the requisite tractor noises...)

Then, at 11:00 they held a kiddie tractor pull. I signed up tractor-man Ian & on a whim asked Hadley if she wanted to participate. She said yes, so I added her to the 4-year old group. The sled they pull with the pedal tractor was pretty deluxe and got heavier the further they drove. Ian was all excited because the pedal tractor was John Deere (his favorite), but unfortunately, he didn't really understand that it was going to be difficult to pedal because of the sled & basically went nowhere. There were 4 boys signed up in his group and they gave trophies to first through third. Poor Ian came in fourth. Luckily he didn't even realize that they were giving out trophies though because he was off to sit on the tractors (again!)

Hadley's 4-year old group was up next & there were about 7 kids in her group. The organizers of the pull added an iron bar of weight to the sled for this age group, which made me nervous for her attempt, but she did really well. Some kids weren't even able to go at all (like had happened to Ian) and one little boy refused to even try. The end result was that Hadley came in 2nd! This was good because after her turn, I asked her if she wanted to go do something else & she told me no because she was waiting for her trophy. It is now sitting in a place of honor in my china cabinet. Ian, meanwhile, is in training for the next kiddie pull we hear of!

Ribbit!

2008-09-29T14:45:00.002-05:00

I just had to post a cute thing Ian did today. Even though his birthday was earlier this month, they were actually just celebrating it today at preschool. As part of being the birthday boy, it was his day to do "Secret Sack" which is a fancy version of show & tell. You place an object in the secret sack (a nice sparkly bag) and write 3 clues. The teacher, Miss Anna, reads the clues to the child who announces them one by one to the class. After each clue, the kids get to guess what is in the sack & if they haven't gotten after the 3rd clue, they get to see what was there.

So last night, in preparation for the big day, we talked to Ian about what he wanted to take & his clues. He was very excited & definite that he wanted to take Ribbit, his stuffed frog. We talked about our three clues & came up with:
1 It's green
2 It hops
3 It says "Ribbit"

Arriving at school was very exciting this morning. There was a sparkly crown with Ian & the number "3" on it and he also got to sit on the special star carpet square. Then it was time for circle & secret sack. Like the big boy he is, he went up to sit on the secret sack chair with Miss Anna, who read him the clue "It's green". He was so excited about his secret sack that instead of repeating the clue to the class & letting them guess, he promptly announced "It's RIBBIT!"

Man, there is nothing better than a boy & his frog.

Cancer revisited...

2008-07-17T21:46:00.001-05:00

Well, I had a scan yesterday and we got the disappointing results today. Unfortunately, the spot in the center of my chest wall has grown on this latest chemo.

I was kind of expecting the results, but it was still really hard to hear. Todd took the afternoon off work so that he could go in with me & it was wonderful to have him there. We are starting on a new chemo tomorrow and we'll just continue our prayers that God guides us to the one that works on my cancer. Each reoccurrence makes it harder & hurts my odds, but I still really have faith in God's plan for me. I also feel blessed that we've made it this far. Today was the funeral for Tony Snow, the White House press secretary who announced he had cancer last fall. It's been over 3 years for me now & I'm still going strong (or pretty strong). I don't always keep up with the kids, but I am not sure I would have even without the cancer. I was able to survive our trip to Disney in May & on a day to day basis we try to keep life as normal as possible.

Thanks so much for everyone's prayers and support though. We couldn't have done as well as we have so far without our families and friends.

My plan is to work on this blog at my chemo appointments so I'll try to do a better job. The cycle is two weeks on - one week off, so every week or so I should have an update. Talk to you soon!

New Year's Resolution

2008-01-18T10:24:00.000-06:00

Well, my new year's resolution was to do a better job of keeping in contact with friends and family and here it is on January 18th that I'm starting my first entry of the year. Oh, well....

We had a busy but really nice Christmas. From the stretch of Thursday, the 20th through Christmas day, we celebrated 5 (yes 5!) Christmases. We got together with the extended Peters family, the King family, the Myler family, the immediate Peters family & then finally Santa came on Christmas morning! Whew!

I'm updating this at chemo this week & I'm actually done for the day, so I'll have to finish up later. Bye!

It's back...

2007-12-01T06:37:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately, this isn't a great post. We just found out that the chemo I have been on since January has stopped working and that the areas that had cancer in January have reappeared on my latest scan as actively growing. Ugh!

Next up is some surgery in early December, some recovery time and then a new chemo in the new year.

Please keep us in your prayers.

My new year's resolution for 2008 is to keep in better contact with friends and family, so check back. I should be updating shortly (with pictures!)

It's been a good week!

2007-10-18T14:05:00.000-05:00

Great news today - another good scan! It was a little spooky because there is an area on my chest wall that has been there since January and in my last scan 6 weeks ago, the radiologist that read it said that the area might be growing. This really kind of put us into a tizzy because we thought it was just scar tissue or something and hadn't really thought it was cancer. Anyway, his read was kind of wishy-washy as to if it had changed or not, so Dr. Johnson opted to wait until this scan to see if we wanted to change anything in my treatment. She said it could have just been how the scan slice cut through the area that made it look larger as opposed to anything actually growing. So, I had a scan yesterday and today we got the results that it was unchanged from last time, so she thinks that it was just his read last time & that I am still okay & clear. Whew! God has definitely answered our prayers this week.

In news about Todd's job, he has accepted a position with the IEPA Bureau of Air in Springfield and is to start on November 1st. The last day for the Champaign IEPA Lab is October 31st. We have decided that we aren't going to do anything about moving yet and that he is going to drive for a couple of months. There is a position on the books in the Champaign IEPA Regional Office that is currently unfunded & we are hoping that it becomes available in the next few months or so. After the new year, we will look at where we are at & what the job situation is & then decide if we want to move. If we do go, it will work better too because we will be putting our house on the market in the spring. All I know is that it will be interesting to see where we are at this time next year.

Meet me in St. Louis... Louis....

2007-06-25T10:41:00.000-05:00

We just spent the past weekend in St. Louis with Todd's family & everyone had a great time. The only bad thing is, now I need a vacation because we did it all - the children's museum, the science museum, dinner on The Hill & the zoo!

Friday after we checked in to the hotel, we went to the Magic House. It is a great children's museum & we didn't even get to half of it. They had some great areas for little kids and Hadley & Ian had a blast. There were slides & climbers just the right size for them and a fun sand table. But their favorites were the grocery store & the castle. The castle section had little serf clothes that they could put on & they could pick the veggies in the field, cook in the castle kitchen & then eat at the lord's table. It was awesome and totally wore them out.

Then, on Saturday morning we got up & went to the St. Louis Science Center. Todd and I had gone there when we were dating & had really enjoyed it (yep, we're geeks!). I have to admit, it was definitely a different experience this time with a 1 1/2 and 3 year old along. Last time, we looked at all the displays & did the IMAX & planetarium, while this time we played in the little children's playroom the whole day & didn't really see anything else.

On Sunday, we were off to the St. Louis Zoo. The kids really liked it although I was amazed at just how big it was. I swear we must have walked for miles! Hadley's favorite thing was seeing a baby elephant and some of the other baby animals - I guess she can relate. It is just so neat to see them experiencing everything & to see them relate what we have read about to real life. It was really fun.

I have to say, though, that one of my very favorite things about going to St. Louis is getting to eat on The Hill. This year we tried Lou Boccardi's, and while it was good, I have to say that Cunnetto's is still my favorite. Todd loves their cheesy garlic bread & I really like their pasta con broccoli or asparagus. The only hard part is getting in on the weekends - we got there like a half hour before the opened for dinner on Saturday and managed to get in with the first seating. I was worried because the kids aren't the most patient of diners, but we all had a really good time.

Look at me - I'm 3!

2007-05-23T12:49:00.000-05:00

Well, we have all officially survived Hadley's terrible twos as she turned three yesterday. It's actually hard to believe that she is that grown up (just ask her - she'll tell you that she is a big girl now). She has moved up to a big girl car seat & we have taken the side off of her crib so that it is now a toddler day bed. Todd & I were looking at pictures of her when she was a newborn last night & it all seems so long ago & just yesterday at the same time.

Her birthday festivities started with a family party on Saturday, the 17th. I figured it was our last chance to do a basic family party since she starts preschool in the fall & will probably want to have friends parties from here on out, but I still kind of went overboard anyway. The theme was Tinkerbell because that is what Hadley picked as we were reading her "Birthday Express" catalog (as we do most nights). If you've never received one, let me tell you that these things are a total racket. It is a catalog of only birthday party supplies & she just loves it. It is ridiculous what all you can get & the fact that you can spend hundreds on just the party supplies without even getting into food or presents. We had the plates, cups, napkins, party boxes (with favors), the Tinkerbell happy birthday banner & the Tinkerbell cake with topper.

Anyway, though, it was a great day & a nice party. Both sides of the family were there & Uncle Chuck & Aunt Kris were even able to make it down from Chicago. We grilled out and were able to eat on the porch & the kids played outside. It was just a perfect day & a fun time. The only time I cringed as mom was when Hadley was opening the presents... I'm afraid that she has turned a little materialistic. She would tear open the present, look at it, toss it aside & start digging into the next one. Cards were not even read - all that mattered was the goodies. Actually, it was kind of funny in a 3 year old kind of way. However, if she is still acting that way as she gets older, we will have issues!

Latest scan results

2007-04-19T17:07:00.000-05:00

Today is a good day! I had my scan earlier this morning, we got the results this afternoon & it looks like the chemo is working. The lump under my arm that I found in December is still gone & the internal mammary lymph node that was enlarged has returned to normal size. Finally, after all the treatment we have been through, it is nice to find one that attacks my cancer. I have chemo again tomorrow & it makes it so much easier to go in knowing that the tumors have shrunk.

The ironic part to the good news on our scan results is that most everything else that could go wrong today has. My port was clogged this morning when I went in for a blood draw & so what should have been a quick 15 minute trip turned into 2 hours, our relatively new laptop (January 2007) decided to crash on us and Hadley has been having trouble sleeping through the night so everyone is tired & grumpy. Ugh! But it's easy to see how none of it really matters when the important stuff is good. This happened to us with the March scan too - Todd got a flat tire on the Expedition on the way to get the results. We were running just right on time & when we pulled into the parking lot & I got out, I heard the "woosh". We could see a piece of glass in the tire, but couldn't do anything about it at that point & so just went in to see Dr. Johnson. That scan was good too, so the hour waiting for AAA to send the tow truck seemed like not such a big deal after all. We are kind of worried wondering what else is going to happen with the next scan 6-weeks from now, but just so long as the results are okay, we'll be fine.

Thanks everyone for all your prayers & support. I don't think we could have gotten through this without you!

Here comes Peter Cottontail!

2007-04-08T19:15:00.000-05:00

Although the weather didn't cooperate, the kids had a great time this Easter. Todd's family (the Myler side) tends to do holi-weekends as opposed to holi-days and this year was no exception. We were at his Uncle Bernie & Aunt Lynn's house in Monticello for a fish fry on Good Friday evening, a great family dinner on Holy Saturday and then an egg hunt and brunch on Easter Sunday. It is a lot of fun because, while a small crowd this year, there were still ~30 cousins, aunts & uncles to play with.

At our house the Easter Bunny left baskets with a baseball/wiffleball theme this year. Hadley got her own ball glove (she's been trying to wear Daddy's) that is pink polka dot while Ian got a wiffle bat. He's a little dangerous with it & mostly tries to swing it like a golf club, but he seems to enjoy it. Hadley also got the book Olivia about a very energetic little girl pig. My favorite line in it is when her mother tells Olivia that she really wears her out, but that she loves her anyway. Spend a day or two with Hadley & Ian and you can totally relate to it!

Giving it a whirl!

2007-04-01T10:00:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning for a while to try & keep better contact with out of town family & friends about the goings on with our family and so am going to give blogging a whirl.

For those of you we haven't talked to in a while (or since our Christmas newsletter), here is what has been going on with us. I found a lump (again!) in my armpit on Christmas Eve & saw the doctor later that week. It turned out to be cancerous (again!) and so we did the whole round of tests in early January & started chemo (again!) at then end of the month. This time I am on an experimental drug - Avastin - that I get by IV once every three weeks and an approved breast cancer drug - Navalbene - for two weeks on one week off. The good news is that within the first two treatments, the tumor I could feel at Christmas had shrunk to where I couldn't find it at all. And an enlarged lymph node they were concerned about shrunk during the 6-weeks between scans. So, we are optimistic that this time we have finally found the right treatment. I'm tolerating the chemo pretty well, but am awfully tired. Both sets of parents are helping out (again!) and have really lightened our load. I'm still working 60% time and am have adjusted my hours to where I mostly work in the afternoons. This works out really well because I can be home in the mornings with Hadley & Ian when I am the freshest & have the most energy and then can come & just sit in front of a computer in the afternoons.

I'll try to update this regularly and let you know how we all are doing. Pictures are coming in the next post too!