Happy Easter and a Quick Update

The new antibiotic (Atovaquone) seems to be okay... I think. Mimi is able to keep it down and has not had any issues with it. I say I think because she has been somewhat more tired since she has been on it and on Thursday right before lunchtime I noticed a rash allover her neck, chest and some on her arms. So to clinic we went all of us, all three monkeys, the girls got STRICT instructions on not acting nutty and thankfully followed for the most part. Oh as far as the rash we don't know what it was, just another weird Mimi thing. The concern was chicken pox, but her rash/spots went away by Friday night, and hopefully will just stay away.

This week was school vacation week and although I had to work most of it we were able to squeeze lots of fun in and see some friends we haven't seen in a while. It has been a rainy and chilly week but perfect for plays, movies, mall and lots of crafts. The girls did lots of egg painting and coloring as well as eating...

Happy Easter!
Szczesliwych Swiat Wielkanocnych!!!

Snow Happenings.

Since Christmas there has not been a full week of school. I am hoping that this week will be a full week, that the letter of the week "D" gets a full five days, and that we can return to our regular scheduled chaos.

We have been quite busy, reason why had no time to update. We have all enjoyed the snow, yes I said WE ALL. I think I like it more this year because I am not watching it from the hospital windows like we were last year. So fat this year we took full advantage of the cold New England outdoors as well as the the craft closet indoors.


Last week Mimi has a clinic visit for counts, on the worst snow day, we figured if the awesome nurses can get there so can we! Clinic went well Mimi's counts did not change much since last time ANC was 1400. She is still on 50% of her dosage of her daily Mercaptopurine. We go back on the 15th for a spinal tap, I did not tell Mimi yet since last time she spent two weeks looking at the calendar being upset about it. We will just focus on Valentine's Day for now!

Our Snow Happenings in Pictures...

We melted crayons into hearts.

Nice to keep little hands busy peeling wrapping off the crayons.

The girls made a three layer cake for Chris & Meg's 1st wedding anniversary.

The were very excited to play Cake Boss.

Newspapers in the making. This one they came up on their own to stall bedtime before yet another snow day they stayed up making newspapers out of newspapers.

Sledding!!! Magi's first time and she loved every second, she is a dare devil just like her sisters.

Iza and I walked out to the fresh deep snow and made a giant heart path.

This is a hawk. Something we usually don't see outside of out kitchen window. We watched him have his lunch this day it was pretty amazing, although it was "just a bird eating a bird" to the three year olds.

Special Guests at School.

December 3rd Iza and Mimi introduced some very special people to their whole kindergarten class. Annalise and Betsy, child life specialists from the hospital came to do a presentation about Leukemia. I have mentioned before Mimi wanted her friends to know what her port is and does. I contacted Child Life, first they spoke to Iza and Mimi asking them what they want to share, also how much I wanted to share. A letter was sent to the parents of their classmates letting them know who was coming and what they will be discussing.




After introductions and some background on what is Leukemia, in kindergarten terms, the kids asked lots of questions. Probably the most exiting part for everyone was Sam. He is a doll with a port, he was quite helpful way back when Mimi got diagnosed both to her and us. He has layers of "skin" as you peel the first layer off you can see a heart with a port that is removable. It shows the what the port looks like under the skin. The girls took him around to all the students and everyone got to feel the squishy part of the port where the needles go. After some more questions from all the kids they were separated into two groups. One group did some medical play by examining Sam, checking his blood pressure, giving him shots, giving him a name tag and so on. All the kids got to wear a mask and pretend they were doctors. The other group made art with things you might find at the hospital, such as band aids, gauze, medical tape and wooden tongue depressors. The kids were very creative with their artwork they just dove right into it and crated some great pieces.



I think everyone benefited form the presentation, all the questions were answered. Mimi is happy that everyone knows now what her port does and why she has it. Iza was a big helper showing Sam, I loved that Betsy and Annalise also mentioned how she is a great sister helping Mimi. I am happy the school was very open about having someone come in and talk. I am so thankful for such a great team of Child Life Specialists at Baystate, they have made some gloomy days a lot brighter, they will all hold a very special place in our hearts forever.

Playing with Sam the doll with the port.

Betsy's group doing some medical play with Sam, the kids were excited about keeping the masks and the name tags they got.

Annalise's group making some great art.

Rainbow Rice.

I have found a blog that makes rainy days into happy fun days! Pink and Green Mama has some great crafts to do with your kiddos. I bought a giant bag of white rice and I could not wait to dye the rice with the girls. The best thing is all you need is rice, hand sanitizer (we have alot of that) and food coloring. They loved it! Everyone was involved in the whole process of mixing the food coloring and mixing up the rice. A great way to learn primary and secondary colors. I gave each girl a baking pan to make their own mixes. Iza's was mostly pink, Magi's was mostly blue, and Mimi's purple rainbow stripe was favorite. I saved the rice and I think next we will make Rainbow Rice Eye Spy Bottles!

Magi's princesses were having a beach party.

Mulan going surfing on Rainbow Rice Beach.

Best time of the Year.

minus the slush and following Summer.

They girls have enjoyed the first snow of the season quickly followed by hot chocolate and comfy clothes.

A visit to see Santa at his magical workshop.


Lots of Christmas related crafts and projects, so far our favorite was dough ornaments, they even taste good according to Magi... we will just have to take her word for it.



Yes that is a prince, shoe, a wand, and a carriage. Auntie Mary recognize these?


We followed this recipe The bonus: It was almost NO cleanup, thanks to some great Elmer's Paint Pens from Auntie Stacey.