It's Tinkerbell time!

Our little Tinkerbell got all dressed up on Friday and went to her Great-Grandma's nursing home for a Halloween celebration. It was a little hard to balance 4 girls in the midst of about 50 kids, but we managed to have a great time and leave with plenty of candy. The highlight of the night was seeing a magician, who managed to eat toilet paper and spit out streamers. Amazing. :)

Pumpkin fun!

It's official: I was actually EARLY with something!!! On a rare weekend night spent at home, our little family had a blast carving pumpkins. This was basically Noelle's first experience with pumpkin carving. She was SO proud of herself for scooping out the "goo" and putting on the eyes. Mom forgot how gross that part really is, but those silly smiles were totally worth it. Now the only problem is convincing Noelle that her pumpkin is OK sitting outside. I'm afraid she thinks she has a new pet...

Hey! Get up! Get loud!

The Future Lancelle night at Layton High was a big smash! Here are all those cute cousins in order of pictures:
Ashton, showing all her spirit!
Gracie, giving her best cheesy grin.
Picture-perfect Chloe.
Noelle and her Lancelle buddy, posing and then walking out on the field.







Here is that ADORABLE video I promised you. Sorry, it's not very good because it's taken on my camera, held at arm's length for the closest picture. It's also not very LONG because my camera doesn't record video for very long. When I scrounge up the $300 it takes to fix our camcorder, you'll enjoy videos much more ;)

Good news!!!

Wow, I talked to my oncologist today to discuss the whole medication thing with him, and found out I might NOT have to do the radiation again in February!!! Happy day! They're just going to do a scan to see if those two hot spots have died out. If they haven't, THEN I'll do it again. The scan is only 4 millicuries of radiation where my treatment was 200, which means I won't have to do the whole isolation thing. SO, I'm going to eat even MORE berries and green leafy things that have anti-cancer properties, keep drinking the Essiac (aka Kill That Cancer!) tea my sis made for me and PRAY.

By the way, look for an uber-cute video post coming up on Saturday. Noelle and her girl cousins (along with like 40 girls between ages 3 and 8) are dancing at half-time at the football game on Friday night. You will be ROLLING!!!

I'm baaaaaack

Hello all! :) Soooo sorry I haven't posted in weeks. Life just doesn't seem to slow down no matter how much I want it to! In fact, I have to keep this uber short because I leave for work in 10 min. Update on me: Doing pretty well, still trying to balance out the meds so I'm not so tired in the mornings and afternoons. Struggling to lose the weight, but that's ALWAYS a struggle, isn't it? :P Update on Steve: He's as busy as ever with teaching and football. The sophomores are struggling a little this season, but he's a terrific coach and helps keep them positive. He gave a great season-opening speech about what it really means to be a LANCER! The varsity team is doing pretty well and won their Homecoming game against Davis. Woohoo! See you all at the Northridge game Friday night ;) Update on Noelle: SHE POOPED IN THE POTTY! HOOOOORAY! We are SOOO proud of her! I was tempted to take a picture, but we'll post this one instead. Doesn't the cat look thrilled? :D Love you all!

The envelope, please!

OK, my Dr. FINALLY got a hold of me yesterday. GOOD NEWS: The cancer has not traveled to other parts of the body. Yippeeee! This is REALLY good news. The not-so-good news: I still have two "hot spots" so I'm due for another round of radioactive iodine in 6 months. It's not too terrible, though, and he warned me this would probably happen. The stinky part is being gone again for a week, but Steve and Noelle managed pretty well without me last time. :) After everything, this is going to sound really stupid, but the metallic taste that STILL hasn't gone away is something I'm dreading most of all. Lame, I know, but imagine not being able to drink water because it tastes like sea water that's had a rusty nail sitting in it. YUCK! Not all food is too bad, but nothing tastes like it should. You'd THINK it was the world's best diet, but all I want to eat are comfort foods because they taste better than anything else does, lol. Ah well, this too shall pass!

Update on the fam: My sister Tiffany and her 2 year old son Dominic are in town. Yeah!!! It's been so much fun seeing them! She got strep throat just before she left, poor thing. She's a trooper, though! Noelle LOVES seeing her cousin and she's doing pretty well. Now if I can just get her to sleep through the night again...Layton High's first game is tonight, and everyone's on pins and needles (especially Steve and his brother Jim, the head coach). They had a FANTASTIC season last year, and we're sure they'll have another great one this year. Go Lancers!

Love you all!

Home Sweet Home

Hooray! I'm back home with my wonderful hubby and adorable daughter. I got home yesterday after my full-body scan (that I will know the results of on Monday). Noelle's huge smile and hug made me feel better than I have in a long time. It was GREAT just to sit and play with her, read to her and rock her to sleep that night. I know it doesn't seem possible, but she really seems to have gotten older in the last week. She and Steve have been SO strong through this whole thing, and I am so proud of them.

I'm feeling lots better since starting my medication on Saturday, though I am still weak and napping every day. I still have a funny metallic taste in my mouth (all food and even water tastes weird) but other than that I don't seem to have side effects from the radiation. And I will post new pics of my scar on Monday when I know the results of the body scan. My scar looks GREAT and voice is totally back to normal. Yes, I'm counting my many, many blessings. :D Love you all!