Akela

No I am not part Indian and no I do not wear this as my normal clothing apparel. I had an opportunity to go help with Paul's Arrow of Light Ceremony. I have not played Akela for a ceremony for a very long time. The last time I played Akela was for the Order of the Arrow. It was fun to do this again and especially for a nephew. It was a great Arrow of Light Ceremony. Paul worked hard to get this award and he deserved this. 

The ceremony started with Indian music as I walked in. The Cub Master opened the ceremony by saying there was a candidate who had earned the highest award a Cub Scout can achieve. I said present the candidate so I can present him to the tribe. I let Paul know how important it was to get this award and how he should always remember the hard work he put into getting his Arrow of Light. 

I presented him with a feather and told him this feather was found on the highest peak where the Eagles fly. This represented how far he had to climb to get this award. I then presented him with an arrow and told him like this arrow it is straight and true, like your life should be. The arrow head is sharp, and so should your mind be so you can continue to learn. Last I told him the feathers are there to help guide the arrow to its target and this is the same for his life. He should use others as a guide to get him where he needs to be in life. I then painted his face and each color represented the seven points of the Arrow of Light. Paul and everyone loved the ceremony. 

The coolest part about the Arrow of Light ceremony was when my dad had the opportunity to present Paul with the plaque he made for him. My dad has been making these plaque for boys since I was at least 6 years old. He made mine and Tyler's and now he got to make one for the next generation. It was way cool to introduce my dad and let people know of what he has done for the cub scout program and the boys who had received their Arrow of Light. The last picture is me in a nut shell weird and crazy and too much peyote.  Congratulations Paul!

Graduation!

We have been celebrating the end of school for the past week.  As the school year comes to a close, we are so excited for summer and we also got to attend a couple of graduations.  First Colby graduated from Kindergarten!

All of the kindergarten classes put on a fun show for their graduation.  They sang songs, did a few dances, and even had speaking parts. The whole program displayed everything they had learned about the Leader In Me program.  Colby did very well on his speaking part and told everyone about how he listens with his ears, eyes, and heart.  The habit he explained was "Seek First to Understand, Then be Understood."  

After the program, the kids got to throw their paper graduation caps just like real graduates.  Here is Colby with his Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Murdock.

Congratulations Colby on graduating from Kindergarten!  Now on to 1st grade!

During the last week of school all the kids did was play.  Emily's class had RC parties, and pajama days, and other class parties.  There was also Super Kids Day where the whole school had a big water party.  Colby's class went on field trips everyday.  I was able to go with Colby on his field trips.  First they had a walking field trip to Mountain Crest High School. 

While at Mountain Crest, they had a water safety lesson at the pool, planted seeds in the green house, and explored the outdoor gardens.

The next day they had another walking field trip to the local stores around Hyrum.  It was their Wants and Needs field trip where they learned about the difference between wants and needs and were able to buy some things at the stores.  First we went to Pizza Plus and ate pizza and learned all about how the pizza is made.  Then we walked to McDonald's and bought yogurt, played on the Play Place, and learned how McDonald's runs by exploring the back cooking area.  Next we went to the Hyrum 66 and learned how the gas station and car wash runs.  There we bought bottles of water.  Finally we went to Ridley's grocery store and explored the aisles looking for certain items.  We also explored the bakery and got cookies.  By this time the kids were pooped out and we still had to walk back to school.  It was a long walk back practically dragging some kids but we made it and the kids had fun.

We have loved kindergarten and 2nd grade but we are ready for a good long summer break from school.

On May 22, the girls and I drove down to St. George to go to Jacee's high school graduation.  She is graduating from my old high school, Pine View.  It was fun to go back and see the old PV. Go Panthers!

As you can see from all of the tassel's around Jacee's neck, she graduated with some pretty high honors.  Way to go, Jacee.  

The graduation was really good and it was nice to see everyone again.  Everyone asked how I was doing and I told them I was doing well but just waiting to heal.  They told me they were thinking of me which I am grateful for.  

The next day we headed home because of more doctors appointments.  It was a quick trip but a fun one too.  Congratulations Colby and Jacee for graduating!

Soccer

It has been a great Spring for Colby and a busy one. This boy loves playing soccer. We asked him if he wanted to play soccer this year and he was way excited to. He is on a good team with a lot of boys he knows from school. He loves to run and kick the ball when it comes to goal kicks and kick offs. 

Each year he gets better on knowing it is okay to take the ball from the other player on the other team. Every time he is playing, he has this game face of being tough and strong. He was so excited for one of his games because he was the only one who scored a goal. It was also his first goal ever and he was way excited that he scored. Another funny story to help Colby remember his kid soccer years is: every time he would kick off the ball, he thought he had to kick it and fall to one knee. It was fun to watch. There are also times where he would be a good defender and get to the goal and block the goal.

 Another funny story to help Colby remember his kid soccer years is: every time he would kick off the ball, he thought he had to kick it and fall to one knee. It was fun to watch. There are also times where he would be a good defender and get to the goal and block the goal.

Colby has had a really fun time with all of his friends on his team.  The kids even picked their team name, the Huskies.  He has had a great season and lots of fun memories. Hopefully he will continue to play if that is what he wants to do. GOOD JOB COLBY!!!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!  I had a great Mother's Day.  My chemo treatments were supposed to start a few days ago but were postponed because I am not fully healed yet.  I was not too sad about that because that meant I was able to enjoy Mother's Day without being sick!  

I love being a mom to these four yahoos.  They definitely keep me on my toes and keep life interesting.

Russell and these four kiddos are the reason I am alive, the reason I have to fight this cancer tooth and nail.  I cannot give up because I have to live for them.  I want to see theses kids grow up and be there for them when they get married and have families of their own.  I am not looking forward to the time they grow up and leave me because I am enjoying this time I have with them right now.  I love these little knot heads!

On Friday Colby had a Mother's Day Tea with his kindergarten class.

I loved attending the Tea and watching the little program the kids put on for us moms.  It was so great.  I don't know if I was just overly sensitive because of everything going on in my life or what but I was in tears during the whole program.  The songs they sang, their cute little faces, and the story Mrs. Murdock read just touched my heart and I was choking back tears.  Then I looked around the room and I was not the only mom crying.  It was a great little program.  Then like a little gentleman, Colby served me some cake and lemonade and we ate it together.  Love you little man!

On Sunday morning the kids woke me up with their gifts.  I got some awesome homemade cards and my favorite candies from all of the kids.  Then I opened my present of new dishes which was just what I wanted! The kids had been fighting over having to use "baby" plastic plates so now they have glass plates that are just the size they need.

At church all the women got Symphony chocolate bars.  (The good stuff!)  Charlotte thought she was being funny by stealing my chocolate.  I gave her a little tiny piece and she was in heaven.  After that she would not let go of the bar until Russell took her out in the stroller and she fell asleep.  Smart girl, she knows what is good.   During primary the other kids made some more cards and got me more candy.  It was great.

The rest of the day was spent chilling at home.  I took a blessed nap while Russell cooked us a nice dutch oven dinner.  Russell and the kids also made this yummy ice cream cake.  It was so delicious.  I think Russell should cook more often.  I think he makes better food than I do.  Thank you for a great Mother's Day.  I love you all!

Health Days Race

Our little family is becoming quite the runners. This year Emily and Colby signed up to be part of the running club at the school. They ran once a week last Fall and had a break during the winter and then the club was picked back up in the Spring with practises twice a week. I have had fun being part of the running club this year as a parent helper. Tiff turned the running mantle over to me temporarily until she is feeling better. I have had a great time running with Emily and Colby two days a week.  The running club helps sponsor runs for the kids so they can experience the fun challenge of a real race. The two races that have done already are Turkey Trot and the Canyon Colt Leadership Run.  These pictures are from the Smithfield Health Days Run, their third race. The race started at 7:30 am, so we were all up at 5:30 am to get ready to go. We were all tired and cold, but we had a great time.

Here is the running group before the race started. It was colder then usual so all of us were in jackets and trying to stay warm. The kids did the 1 mile race and some of the teachers did the 5K. Colby and I have been awesome running partners. We have fun talking and running together. The 10k runners and the 5K runners started before the 1 mile runners. When it was time to line up, everyone was excited to run and get warm. Colby was a little nervous, but you could tell that he was excited also. The count down started and off we went across the starting line. Emily ran with her good friend Jadaci and Colby and I took each others hands and ran as fast as we could. I was proud of the two munchkins; they ran really well. We got to the half mile point and usually Colby wants to stop and walk, but he kept going. Emily was the same way. It must be something about a race that makes your body push harder and want to go faster and further. 

Tiff and I have been teaching them when they can see the finish line and almost there then they should sprint as fast as they could. Poor Colby he was so tired. This was his first run he did not stop and walk. He almost gave in and then I told him, "There is Mom at the finish line." He perked up and ran faster. He put on his tough boy face and ran all the way to the finish line with out walking once. Same with Emily she did such a great job.  Here are some great pictures of Emily and Jadaci running together just before finish line. Those two make a great team. Emily got her fastest time in running the mile (9:47). Colby was the same way he got his fastest time also (10:08). WAY TO GO YOU TWO!!.

 After the race, they all got a medal saying good job and way to finish strong.  Here are the team members showing off their medals.  Everyone seemed to have a great time at the race and some of the team members came away with some place ribbons.

Emily ran so fast that she got 3rd place in her age group. Way to go Emily, she was so excited to find out she got a ribbon. The whole group did a great job with the run.  Julie (Jadaci's mom), Emily, Mrs. Kendrick, and Jordan Merrill, another girl on the team, all took a place and got ribbons. Oh another fun thing for Emily, she won the raffle drawing and won a arm I-phone carrier. She was so excited to win it, she kept asking to use my phone and put it in her armband. I said no but maybe later when she is on the tread mill. Good job kids. I cannot wait until the next races in June and July.

8 Months Old

Charlotte is 8 months old now and as fun and happy as ever.  She is growing so fast.  I think she will pass up her brothers soon.

She loves playing Pat-A-Cake.  Clapping is what she does whenever she gets excited or laughs or wants attention.  It is so cute!

Charlotte loves to sit and play toys still.  She is not quite mobile yet but she is getting closer.  She will lean over while sitting and then flop on her belly.  She can't quite roll over very well so often times she is stuck like that.  I don't think it will be much longer though that she will be rolling around the room.  

She is getting her first tooth!  For the last little bit she has been cranky and her nose has been stuffy and runny.  We were wondering if she was getting sick or if she had allergies to the grass but then we noticed the white little tooth pushing its way to the surface.  She laughs when we tap it with a spoon but she hates it when we try and open her mouth to see the tooth.  Hence the cute but sad little face in the second picture.  I don't know what it is, maybe I am a terrible mother, but I love that crying picture.  I think it is so adorable.  We love you Charlotte.  Sorry for making you cry when we tried to get a picture of your cute little tooth.

Here are some fun random pictures of her this last month:

She still loves putting everything in her mouth.  I mean everything like toys, her feet, your fingers (which hurts by the way now that she has a tooth), or pretty much anything that gets too close to her mouth.  We call her the piranha.

Charlotte loves eating.  She thinks that is the best thing in life.

Logan loves helping feed her a bottle.  She is a good sport and lets him.  We finally pulled the high chair out and Charlotte loves sitting in it.  The best times of the day are the times she gets to set in the high chair and eat snacks.  One day we gave her a corn on the cob.  She devoured it!  It is pretty fun eating.  

Happy 8 month birthday Cute Thing!

Wigs and Things... Cancer Journey Part 3

One of the "great" side effects of chemotherapy is hair loss and skin changes.  While I knew this was an obvious side effect, I am learning that there are a lot of side effects of cancer and chemo that I had no idea about.  The crazy thing is though the side effects affect people differently depending on how the body reacts to the chemo.  Some side effects may not affect me whereas I might have some of my own side effects.  Yeah!  

To prepare for the inevitable side effect of hair loss and appearance changes, I have been able to meet with a wig consultant, and a cosmetologist as part of a Look Good Feel Better program put together for women cancer patients.  First I met with Megan Saunders a wig and head covering specialist.  Megan was super nice and had some great pointers for me.  She showed me how to put wigs on properly so that they do not look like wigs.  She showed me how to tie scarves on my head in different ways.  Together we tried on over 20 wigs to find just the right one for me.  The American Cancer Society's Wig Closet offers one free wig to cancer patients so I was able to select one that I thought looked like me.  What do you think:

I think it totally looks like me and you can't even tell it is a wig in the picture, right?  Well I can tell it's a wig because it is kind of scratchy.  Megan said that most people wear a head covering under their wigs so that they don't itch.  The key to fooling people is to wear the wig in the right position.  The people that know me well will know it is a wig because they will know I have cancer and have lost my hair but strangers at the store or some where will have no idea.  That is the goal.  

When I got home, the kids were so funny.  They thought it would be fun to try on the wig too.

Aren't they so cute!  I think the wig fit Logan the best.  Charlotte was so cute in it.  She looked just like a baby doll!  Emily was just funny and was doing all sorts of poses.  Colby on the other hand wanted nothing to do with it.  That was funny because it was his idea to try on the wig and take pictures in the first place.  Then when it came time for his turn, he was not doing it at all.  He was so mad when I made him try it on for fun because everyone else had done it.  Well if any of my children ever looked like me, this is what they would look like!

As far as liking the way I looked in the wig, all of the kids said I looked different.  Nice huh.  They said I looked just like Tami.  Colby and Logan told me to take it off because I still had my normal hair.  I told them that eventually I will lose all of my hair and they told me I could wear it then.  

I also got a bunch of scarves to wear on my head.  I was practicing different ways to tie the scarves and Logan told me I looked weird and very adamantly told me to take it off!  My kids are so rude!  I told them I will be wearing these things all the time in the future when my hair falls out but I don't think they really understand what is going to happen.  I don't think I really understand what is going to happen.  Yeah it is fun to try on wigs and change my look and practice tying scarves but I can always just laugh it off and take them off and have my normal look back.  How will I really feel when my hair is really gone?  What will I look like when I am bald?  Will I have a nice round head or will it be funny shaped with bumps and weird things like that?  I don't know how I will feel.  Despite all of the "bad hair days" I have had in my life, I actually really like my hair.  I think this might be a very hard side effect to get used to. I know it will grow back eventually but in the meantime?  I don't know I guess I will save a lot of money on shampoo?  Save time on styling in the morning?  Look like a pirate or a gypsy?  Maybe I will look as cute as Charlotte does with her bald head. Not only will my hair fall out but possibly my eyebrows and eye lashes too.  Hopefully I won't look too much like an alien. I am trying not to think about it.   I guess I will cross that bridge when I get there.

Next I met with another breast cancer lady in the Look Good Feel Better class.  Here we were taught by a cosmetologist how to properly apply makeup to help cover the changes in our skin.  She was really nice too and had some great tips.  As part of the class we were given a whole bag full of makeup and skin products.  I was amazed at everything that was in the bag.  There was moisturizer, concealer, foundation, blush, eye shadow, eye liner, brow pencils, lip liner and lipstick, along with brushes, face cleansers, and fingernail polish, and more.  It was a very nice gift bag.  I still don't wear much makeup but it was nice to get all fancied up in this class.  I think with my makeup and wig on, I will not look like a cancer patient.  I will look good.

I don't know how chemo will affect me or how I will look or feel because of it.  I hope I will be okay.  I hope I will still be able to live my life and not be confined to a bed. I hope I will still be able to take care of my children. I know I will feel tired and I know I will be sick some days but I hope I will have more good days than bad.  In the meantime I will continue annoy my children by practicing ways to tie scarves on my head.

Stitches!

This poor kid had his first ER visit for stitches. We had great night doing the Canyon Colt Leadership Run as a family. Emily and Colby did a great job with the run. After the run, we were outside talking to our neighbors when we heard a loud scream and cry. I thought oh boy now who got hurt. I walked over to Colby and he was walking his bike. I thought oh another scrapped knee or something. I looked at him closer and he had blood coming out of his mouth. OH BOY I thought he did a number this time. I took him to the bathroom and started looking for where he was bleeding. Finally I found it on the corner of his lip. He split the inside of his lip and out to the outside part. I thought well so much for a quick bandage, he needs stitches. It was after 9 pm, so we had to go to the ER and get him fixed up. He was freaking out because he did not want to have stitches but we knew he had to have them.  He was so nervous to be stuck by the needles. While were waiting for the doctor we found X-Men on the T.V and he was hooked in.

Poor kid when it came to the lidocaine shot. We had to hold him down and basically hog tie him to the gurney. He is just like his mom and hates needles.  I tried to prepare him for what was going to happen next, but it did not help. Once the lip was numbed up, it was time for the stitching. He would not open his mouth or hold still. So we held him down again. The PA took the head, a tech laid on him and I pried open his mouth so the doctor could stitch him up. It was good team work. Dr. Stoworthy said that was the easiest sew job he had ever done on a mouth. I had teeth marks on my thumbs where I had to keep my fingers in Colby's mouth to keep it open...  After the trauma was over I picked him up and gave him a big hug. It is tough for kids at that age to understand what is going on. 

While we sat there waiting for the papers to leave, I told Colby some of my war stories when I was a kid. It helped a little. As you could tell from this picture he was not happy at all. Three stitches later and around midnight we were able to go home and sleep. We got him to bed and about an hour after he fell asleep, he started having nightmares about the ER. In his sleep he was yelling "STOP! DON'T! I DON'T WANT IT! IT HURTS!!!" Poor kid. I gave him some ibuprofen and he slept the rest of the night.  Now he talks in a mumble because he does not want to open his mouth.  What a day for crazy and fun memories.