Half Year Mark.

At The Hole In The Wall Gang Camp

Six months of chemo free days. We had the best weekend to enjoying it at The Hole In The Wall Gang Camp in CT. This was our first visit at this camp and we are hooked! Friday we arrived at dinner time and settled in. Our Saturday was action packed, I started the day off with some yoga, met the kids and our wonderful Family Pal for a yummy breakfast and then some fishing, I took Iza to record a song in a fancy recording studio ( I can't wait until we get out CD!), Magi did one also, Mimi was loving fishing she would have stayed there all day!  Before lunch Magi and I had some time to squeeze in Archery, she is a big fan and asked for a bow an arrow at home, we might have to hold off on that just a little while. After lunch we rested up and dove right into some arts and crafts, all 4 rooms of it, it was a small heaven for us. The Tower was next on our list of things to do, a giant wall to climb, all three girls got their gear on without hesitation and waited their turn. All loved it (including me) the bonus was the long Zip line to get down from the tower, Magi chose not to go down the zip line and got lowered down, although said later she wished she "flew". Somewhere there was yoga for the kids, more arts and crafts, Dinner followed by lots of singing and dancing. The girls have lots of new songs to sing now.  The most awaited event was stage night. All the kids did such a great job getting out there and showing their talents, making us laugh, sing along and answer knock-knock jokes.Iza sang, Magi "played" on the piano, and all three did a fancy fashion show in prom dresses taped on with duck tape! Sunday we got up bright and early so we can enjoy every bit of camp before we had to leave. At breakfast all the Moms got special treatment since it was a mother's day at camp, it was so sweet, the dining hall was decorated in rose petals. All the kids came to us with cards, flowers and gifts, it was a very special day! During the whole weekend families were photographed by Hallmark Institute of Photography, before we left we were presented with a framed picture and a CD with images, the above picture is one of them. I am sure I am forgetting a bunch of things but as you can see we had an amazing time. Iza and Mimi are looking forward to spending time here as campers later on this summer, Magi has a couple of years before she is a camper.

Thank You The Hole In The Wall Gang Camp, Thank you to all the staff, our awesome Family Pals! 

Good Counts = Earrings!

After school today Mimi had her monthly clinic visit. It was funny on the way there she asked me if she could just do a finger blood draw... until she realized that her port is not there anymore. Over the last month she had random headaches, some achy legs in the morning and sometimes I might have a mini panic attack but I realize she is just more aware of her body than an average seven year old. I can also relax by tracking back the leg aches to playing Just Dance on the Wii. One issue she has been having since her port has been out is rashes, very itchy all over her neck and upper torso. I guess according to some cancer moms it is not uncommon to have rashes off treatment. Her pediatrician decided to treat her for scabies, although it didn't really look like it, but it seemed to calm down. Now she has eczema all over her hands and arms, Iza has had it before also I am pretty sure if it wasn't for the steroids that Mimi has been on for the last 2+ years she would have had eczema sooner. We can deal with eczema.

So... never boring around here!

Counts came back GREAT! Mimi was quick to ask "So NOW can I get my ears pierced???" Answer was yes so we headed over to the mall to do just that. The woman doing the piercing was really nice explaining to her that it will be a needle going through her ear and it might hurt a little, to which she replied she isn't afraid needles. This was a "fun" poke for her! She picked out super cute magenta flower earrings.

WBC - 7.2
Hgb - 13.1
Platelet - 204
ANC - 2900

A Thanksgiving Hike

We like to Dance, UDance?

November 20th we attended the UMass UDance a dance marathon fundraiser to benefit Children's Miracle Network (for Baystate Children's Hospital). Last year the girls had so much fun and they were very excited to go again this year. Once they heard the music they were out on the dance floor along with the many college students who were there supporting Children's Miracle Network. The girls got their faces painted, balloon princesses made, ate a whole lot of popcorn but most of all Danced with their new found friends at UMass. All three of them begged to stay "at college" and wanted to do "college homework" I hope that sticks with them until they go!




Thank you UMass students for a great fundraiser and letting us be a part of it and have so much fun doing it!

Iza Mimi and Magi in front of all the students dancing to Wii Just Dance 3.

White Halloween!

On Saturday the three Princesses and I were at the annual Costume Bowl held by Griffin's Friends. Thank you Griffin's Friends and volunteers! The girls always look forward to bowling with our clinic friends every year! This year Iza has shown a hidden talent, she seems to magically make the ball do whatever she needs it to do. She won twice!

At some point while we were bowling big giant white fluffy snowflakes started coming and covering the ground, turning the outdoors into winter wonderland. It was really pretty but also very strange seeing the fall colored leaves covered by snow. Due to the cold and snow the last soccer game of the season was cancelled and so was their schools Pumpkin Festival. Good thing though because winter wonderland turned a little scary, all the heavy snow was too much for the trees that still had leaves, all night we kept hearing branches snapping and trees falling. There were a lot of power outages and power lines down on the streets. We stayed home and when it got too chilly we went to my parents who somehow did not lose their power. Everyone was safe. Monday school got cancelled, Halloween was a day off. Miss MagiBoo got to spend the day with her family and friends, we will always remember her 4th birthday as the Snowy Halloween complete with a SNOWkin made by Toto.

Happy 4th Birthday Magi!!! You are our little Treat :)

Boo at the Bronx Zoo

First we were in MA, then we drove through CT and finally in NY!!! and that is how you get to Bronx Zoo. (a little Dora for you)


Miss Magi wished to go to Bronx Zoo for her birthday (which is coming up on Halloween!) and that is what we did this past Sunday. It was a great trip with Babcia and Dziadziu, we all enjoyed a gorgeous fall day outside. Tigers were on top of the list for a favorite animal, Prairie dogs were most fun, and the skunk got the most reaction out of them, go figure! The Bronx Zoo is enormous, we were there for about 6 hours and did not see everything but not to worry we are now members of the Zoo so we will sure be back to see the rest of the zoo!

Pumpkins and Apples in the Sun

That about sums up our weekend. The amazing weather had us outside all weekend.

Saturday we enjoyed a big pumpkin carving bash in for Uncle Chris' Birthday. The girls really got into carving!

Some of the masterpieces of the night.

Sunday we drove to an Apple Farm, where we met up with some great friends (Aunties!) The girls bounced around, played on the playground, visited some animals, ran around tasting and of course picking apples. When we had enough we headed over to have a lovely dinner party complete with yummy Apple crisp!

Striking a pose while taking a rest in the shade.

Monday was another nice day we spent with friends at Forest Park feeding ducks and running around. The running continued at soccer practice. All three girls were sound asleep by 7:03 pm, I say it was a GREAT weekend!

To Go or Not To Go...

We chose TO GO.

Mimi has had a "blah" week... A whole lot of nausea, belly aches, and just being tired. All week she has been taking anti-nausea Zofran pretty much around the clock. On Friday I got a call from school that she was not well, when I saw her I thought "Here goes the weekend!" But the sun came out shining and Mimi woke up Saturday morning totally fine and ready for fun! We headed East on the Mass Pike to visit Auntie Tracy. Yummy lunch in the sun, feeding ducks, geese and seagulls, movies and a sleepover. Sunday we went to the Museum of Science in Boston, we can't wait to go back and see the rest of the museum. A visit to see our favorite people in Boston was a perfect way to end a great weekend. Happy Birthday Eryn!

On a side note, I am not sure if Mimi has some kind of a milk sensitivity/intolerance. I have been noticing she doesn't feel good shortly after she has milk and this weekend she did not have any and did not have any stomach related issues. I am not sure if it is just a coincidence... I will see how this week goes.

The birds like left over burritos...

Iza and her "pasghetti" made from chains that stuck to the large magnet.

Mimi and Cake

Magi keeping her teeth clean!

Dino!!!

UDance at UMass

Saturday (Nov. 20th) we spent a good portion of the day at the University of Massachusetts. The UMass Fraternity and Sorority Council held its fifth annual Dance Marathon to benefit the Children's Miracle, 100% of the proceeds go to Baystate Childrens Hospital.

This was our first year going so I was not sure what to expect but I was amazed by all the college students that were there for one great cause. The kids and families walked into the hall on a red carpet while being cheered by the crowd, at the end of the carpet everyone was awarded with a medal. The music and dancing started right away. When we needed to step away from the loud fun we were able to go in another room where lots of fun activities were set out for the kids. Face painting, balloon clown man, twister, arts and crafts and more!

The girls loved watching the various dance clubs. Magi got to do Zumba, I was impressed she was keeping up! Needless to say it was NOT easy getting the girls out of there, after many goodbye hugs to their new friends we finally got on the road and the three little dance monkeys fell fast asleep.

Here is a link to the news you can see the girls getting their medals.

Fun Times.

It has been so busy I have been unable to update. Last weekend we has a jam packed schedule of fun. We started of Saturday with a very fun birthday party for an adorable set of sisters, Happy 7 & 3 A & A!!!. It was at a Clay crafty place, they girls enjoyed painting ceramic creatures, we will be going back for sure! Straight from there we drove on the sleepy Mass Pike and when the girls woke up we were at Auntie Tracy's where they spent the night while I got to have an amazing dinner with some great moms in Boston.

The next day we headed back into into Boston to the New England Aquarium, Three little girls and three big girls as Iza said, Tracy and Ela came with us. Mimi wanted to see eels so bad, she did get to see them although they were being a bit shy, no matter how much she told them to move. Magi was quite exited with the sea horses she was showing them to everyone that walked by. Iza wanted to see sharks but was happy with the giant fish and getting to play with the star fish. The girls did pretty awesome walking all over the place in and out of the T and buses. Although Magi did have one major head turning tantrum which was quite comical... She was screaming (very loudly) that she wanted ready for this... EAR WAX, yes she wanted EAR WAX. I was trying to reason with her at first but she was having none of it. Finally I told her she can have my ear wax if she stops screaming. Eventually we figured out that she wanted Ear Muffs all along. Guess what is going on her Santa list?

This week school has been going good. Mimi has been a bit nauseous lately and I think something else is bothering her because she seems easily irritable. Again this is one of those things that I wonder "Hey is it the chemo making you feel like crap? and you just need to scream" or "You are 5 and are good at this game" Some mornings I have been letting her "no-throw-up-pill" kick in and she goes to school a little later.

Friday night the school held a pajama movie night event. The kids came dressed in comfy PJ's laid out their blankets and ate popcorn while watching a winter movie. It made me so happy to see all the girls enjoy their friends. I got teary seeing them so happy.

Halloween Festivities

I really enjoy Halloween and all the fun that comes with it. Last weekend we had a jam packed fun weekend that started at a Halloween Party by Griffin's Friends. We had such a great time with clinic friends and made some new friends as well. Each girl found a high school volunteer who helped them make some very creative cookies, loaded with several layers of colorful icing and topped off with all sorts of candy. Good thing all those cookies did not come home with us. Mimi asked if some of the volunteers can come home with us. (Hi Sam!)

Right after the Bowling Alley we headed over to the schools Pumpkin Festival. Although it was chilly the kids did not seem to mind they ran around played games, jumped in hay and got their faces painted. Trunk-or-Treating was the girls' favorite part, it is the first time they have ever done it and really enjoyed it. We finished the night off with a haunted house and headed home for a good night of sleep!