Silver lining

For so long, Kenneth has been so busy. Busy with school on top of work. And the last year that we were in Maryland he traveled about a third of the time on top of everything else.

But, do you know what? It is almost hard for me to remember that time in our life!!! We are so used to having Kenneth around all the time now that it will definitely be an adjustment when he recovers and needs to go back to work. We love having him here for lunch time, story time, and bed time. . .All the time! The kids love it.

Here is a piece of our breakfast conversation this morning. (Kenneth was still asleep)

Arianna: Mom, when Dad gets better I don't want him to go to work.

Me: Why not?

Arianna: I like him to be at home!

Kenneth is really doing very well. This last week he had something funny happening on his nose and had to take an antibiotic to fight it, but that is now on its way out and he is feeling quite good. (It was some sort of infection, but because of his body's lowered defenses he was unable to fight it on his own and his nose really swelled up and it was VERY tender)

Happy Birthday, Arianna!!!!

Our little Lady turns 3 years old today!!! We are so glad she is a part of our family. We are not having a party for her this year since we are limiting visitors to our house to minimize germs, but we did have a birthday lunch and cake. We let Arianna choose what she wanted for her special birthday meal; anything at all that she wanted to eat. What did she choose? "Honey and samwich". (Translation: Peanut butter and honey sandwich) I also asked her which fruit and vegetable she wanted with her meal: Cold peas and pears. Hey- talk about making my life easy!!!!!
For her birthday cake she chose chocolate cake with yellow frosting and an elephant on top. I searched for an elephant to go on top and had no luck, so I got creative with some marshmallows and frosting (should've left some frosting white- oh well) She loved it!
I used a chocolate cake recipe from Deceptively Delicious. I tried hard not to let anyone see me making it or even see the cookbook sitting out on the counter. I even carefully rinsed the bowls and beaters when I put them in the sink. Nonetheless, the first thing Kenneth asked me when he saw the cake cooling on the rack was, "What vegetable did you put in it?" You could smell it and the stinkin' thing came out totally red. It did NOT look that way in the cookbook. What did I add to the cake you wonder??? BEETS!!! The girls actually gobbled it up without a problem. I could taste it because I knew it was in there and Kenneth definitely wanted his piece with ice cream to cover the taste a little. I should have known not to try it. The only recipes I have had luck with in that book are the chocolate dessert recipes that involve avocado, believe it or not!!! So, if you ever think of trying to put beets in your child's birthday cake, think again and feed them extra vegetables at dinner instead!

I also spent what felt like forever searching all over for the candles and the matches. I guess that comes of moving too much; can't seem to be able to keep track of where I put everything in every new place I live!!!

Arianna is such a smart little girl. She loves to rhyme words. When we first started talking about rhyming a few months ago, Arianna caught right on to the concept, whereas it took Emma a few days to really get it. (Don't misunderstand, Emma is very good at many things and has an amazing memory, we were just amazed at how fast Arianna 'got' it.) Arianna loves to say things like, "Mommy tommy lommy"- in her little sing-songy voice. Can't you just hear her? "Boat. . .goat!!!! refrigerator. . .regigerator!!!" Sometimes they aren't real words, but most of the time Arianna is in a world of her own anyway!

Sometimes it is as though she has had special training on how to press our buttons. Especially Emma's buttons. Wow. Arianna sure can drive her crazy. But, I guess that is one of the roles of the little sister.

She loves to play with animals, her favorites of which are: elephants, polar bears and unicorns. She loves to read books and really likes to play independently (mostly with animals).

A good friend of mine always does a Birthday interview and posts it on her blog. I think it is a neat idea, so I decided to start that this year with Arianna. Here goes:

How old are you today?
3

What is your favorite animal?
unicorn

What is your favorite color?
yellow

What is your favorite food?
a cake with an elephant on it

What is your favorite treat?
cookie
What kind of cookie?
Chocolate cookie

What is your favorite book?
The elephant and the penguin book (Tacky in Trouble)

I want to go play!!!!!!
(At this point I had to bribe her with a yellow skittle. It worked and I got the final 4 questions out of her!)

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A mommy

Who loves you the most?
Jesus (She said this without hesitation)

What is your favorite time of the day?
January

What is your favorite activity?
wrapping paper
What does that mean?
I mean I just color with markers and my new crayons
This evening we asked her again what her favorite thing to do was and she said:
Take care of my animals!

Here are some pictures of the day:
Here is Arianna eating the second course of her breakfast. She chose oatmeal and then yogurt and granola with some blueberries in between.

Here's Grant covering his ears when I was using the mixer to make the cake this morning.

Arianna playing with her animals at one point this morning.

Emma 'reading' Arianna a book before lunch.

Here is her meal of choice. . .minus the pears. Didn't have any more fresh ones and couldn't find the canned ones!

The cake. It's kind of pathetic, but hey, she liked it!

The lady with her cake. Gotta love that smile!

Elephant goes down the hatch!

Arianna getting ready to open her presents. Emma wanted so badly to have a doll of her own. (That's what we gave her)

Here is the Birthday girl cruising around outside later this afternoon.

And finally, for your viewing pleasure is a video of the singing and blowing out of the candles.


If you have an extra moment and haven't seen it before or forgot, you have to watch the video of her 2nd Birthday. Kenneth and I have watched it at least 20 times in the last year because Arianna is so cute in it!!!! It is a classic! Here is the link. (Just scroll to the bottom of the post.)

Wanna come play?

I love these kids!! Sure they drive me crazy much of the time, but I love seeing them play together. I especially love seeing all three of them play together. It makes the last year and a half worth it. (Three kids three and under, husband gone a lot and a baby that doesn't nap well and all the chaos that naturally ensues)

The girls, especially Emma, are in a stage where they love to pretend to be animals. Emma will go from being a cat to an elephant, to a wolf and back to a cat in a matter of 5 minutes sometimes. Lately, she won't do what I ask her to unless I call her by her current pretend name. Today it was 'Dora' the cat.

"Dora, will you please wash your hands?"

Funny girls. This first video cracks me up. I am so glad Kenneth caught this on film. I love the part in the middle where Grant tries to join them under the crib. You'll have to turn up your volume so you can hear what they are saying. There is a turtle and a cow and they are taking turns riding on each others backs. I love that it took them forever to even notice that Kenneth was filming them! This is by far the longest of the videos, so if you want just a short look at these adorable children, try one of the others below.



Here is a video of the kids playing outside on our back patio. Grant loves the fact that he can walk all over now!! The girls love that he will chase them around. Notice Grant sporting the lovely Strawberry Shortcake hat of Emma's. Ni-i-i-i-ce.



Here is a video that I took today. It's a little dark, but you can see that all three of them are having a ball together! Thanks again for the blanket, Mom. You can see it has more than one purpose around here!! Mom Larchar, thanks for your blanket, too. As you can see it is right there on the couch. They both get used daily!




Sometimes we play so hard that we zonk out on the floor, like this:


Wanna come join us?

Winter?!

We have really been enjoying living in California. The weather really is something. I cannot believe this is supposed to be Wintertime!! A couple nights ago we were talking to family in New York State and they said it was getting down to -16 degrees that night. Yikes!!! We went on a walk Sunday afternoon and I wore flip flops and no jacket and we saw the ice cream truck drive by!! (No Joke!) It's also a good thing for Kenneth's head's sake that it's not cold here!! His head is cold as it is, I can't imagine if it were below zero!

The other night during her dinner prayer Emma thanked Heavenly Father for the snow-covered trees and prayed that Winter would come fast. I think maybe she saw snow-covered trees in a book, because she sure didn't see them around here! It definitely is nice that the kids can still go outside and play; some days without even a sweatshirt.

I went somewhere Saturday afternoon and had a long-sleeved shirt on and was too hot in the car. I had to roll the windows down! Most every day in January has gotten up in the 60s. A couple of days reaching into the 70s!

Here are pictures of the kids playing outside yesterday:

Gotta love the beautiful orange tree bursting with fruit in our own backyard!

The girls riding bikes. You can see a pretty good shot of Emma's haircut here as well.

Here is Arianna on the bike that was originally Emma's this Fall. Now Emma has a bigger one, so Arianna has a bike, too. They sure do have fun out there! We are so thankful that we found a house to rent with a great backyard!!

We sure are enjoying the Winter! In a different way from years past:

Here are the girls at the Playground of our apartment complex last winter.

Here are the snow bunnies up close! (Last Year)

Here I am with Emma in Winter 2007 in Liverpool, NY.

Here is our home in February 2007. I think it looks like whipped cream! Notice the mailbox in the front right in the picture!

To all of you in snowy, cold weather: enjoy!!! We love this crazy kind of winter here, but we also miss those good 'ol days!

Too good to be true

I knew it had to be too good to be true that we could make it through the 'winter' without getting sick. Since Kenneth started chemo, we have been very careful about coming in contact with germs and with bringing germs in the house. We use hand sanitizer constantly when we are out and immediately wash hands when we return home.

Nonetheless, Grant got sick. He is in the middle of a cold at the moment; runny nose, congestion, and sneezing. Not a terrible one so far, but still enough that we are worried that Kenneth will get it. So, for now, Kenneth is not touching Grant at all. Grant misses goodnight hugs and kisses, but hopefully he'll be over it soon and we'll get back to normal. I also miss Kenneth being able to help with him, especially at meal prep time. (See previous post!!)

Kenneth has been a little tired this week, mostly he's felt pretty good. Some nausea, but he has medicine for that. He has felt a little bit of the fluid re-accumulating around his lung, but hopefully as the chemo continues to kill the cancer that will go away. At least it's not enough to affect his lying down and sleeping.

It seems as though everyone around here (in our ward and preschool group) has some sort of sickness. Because of that, we stayed home from church yesterday. The priests brought us the sacrament, which was very nice of them. We appreciate being able to still take part in that ordinance even if we can't go to church.

That's what's going on around here. How are you all doing?

Little Grant

I wanted to write a post about Grant. I love this little boy more everyday. He is such a wonderful boy!! He is almost 17 months old now. I can hardly believe that he is getting so big! I held a 7 week old baby today and was amazed at how long ago that seemed for Grant!

Here I am holding my Grant:

Want a cracker?

Here's another shot of my grown-up boy:


Here are some of the things that make me love this little man so much:

His favorite day of the week is Thursday. Why? It's garbage day, of course!! This little guy LOVES to see the garbage truck! We hold him up so he can look out the kitchen window and watch the truck do its thing. We live on the back curve of a cul de sac so he gets to watch the truck get all the cans around the circle. I never knew just how sensitive he is to the noise of the garbage truck coming until this week. We happened to be giving baths on Thursday morning. So, we were in the middle of the house with the door shut, water splashing and Grant heard that garbage truck!!! We quickly wrapped him in a towel and rushed him out to watch that truck! He was overjoyed. What a funny kid!

So, Grant is definitely a boy; he loves trucks, cars, balls, tractors- all that boy stuff. But, he is also the younger brother of 2 sisters, who are definitely girls. So, here is what I saw him doing this week:
Thanks again for the stroller, mom! 3 Years later and we are still using it all the time (all three of the kids)! Glad you chose green and not pink!

Grant loves books. He is taking after his sisters in this regard. Here is a video of what he was doing the other night. What intrigues me is that he looks at every book upside down. What a funny guy!



Emma loves to read him books, too. Here are a couple of shots of Emma and Grant together enjoying books:
At bedtime, Grant loves to give everyone kisses. After we brush his teeth, we tell him to go give the sisters kisses. He runs out of the bathroom making kissy noises. It makes my night!

Of course, Grant also has his more difficult moments. We thought it was a stage: throwing his food over the edge of his highchair tray. He is STILL doing it. Chucks the sippy cups off, chucks the food. Luckily, he doesn't generally throw full plates or bowls over the edge. It really makes you wonder why every house and apartment we live in has carpeting in the dining area!!

He also does some pretty cute things in that Highchair, too. Here he is playing peek-a-boo and making the sounds I love to hear:



Another habit that lets me know he is a boy is how he is hungry all the time! We finish breakfast and he searches for the cereal boxes to get more to eat. He eats both morning and afternoon snacks with gusto and still starts whining and crying at 11:20 and 4:20 because he can't wait until noon and 5 for lunch and dinner. And all you moms out there know how fun it is to try and make dinner with a whining/screaming child hanging on your leg! My mom always tells me I need to do my dinner prep earlier. Why oh why can't I seem to be able to do that! Probably because I am cleaning up the breakfast mess and making lunch and changing diapers and mediating sisterly fights and doing dishes and reading stories and cleaning up messes and . . . .

Lookin' Good!

Kenneth's brother-in-law shared something with us that his father (who is a bald man) says. .

"God made a few people with perfect heads. . .He gave hair to the rest."

I must say, Kenneth does have a nice looking head. We became more acquainted with it last night. . .

Yesterday morning, Kenneth decided to cut down on the mess hair loss was causing and just have me cut it off. So, I took the clippers to it. I think that is the best thing we could have done for the kids as well. Instead of it being such a shock- they were there to witness it happening. Grant kind of stood close by and whimpered as he watched- not exactly sure what was going on. He took about an hour to warm up to Kenneth after that, but no problems now. The girls quickly got used to Dad's new look.

Last night we got in bed and Kenneth realized the stubble left behind by the clippers was quite uncomfortable to sleep on, so we got back out of bed and 45 minutes, a few wipes of shaving cream and a razor later, Kenneth had a beautiful, bald head- "just like the prophets", according to Emma. He slept well.

Today was the 2nd round of Chemo. The morning was interesting. We got here to the office and the doctor realized Kenneth did not have all the information from the blood testing that they needed in order to get the chemo started. (They have to be sure his blood levels are high enough to proceed) So, they sent us to a lab about 4 miles away. They told us it would take 4 hours to get the results to the doctor!! Well, that wouldn't work!!! Especially since the doctor told us to give ourselves 8 hours for the chemo today. So, the first lab sent us to the main lab where they actually process the results. They got the results to the doctor in just 45 minutes. When all was said and done it was 11 am before the nurses were able to start Kenneth. Luckily, things went pretty smoothly today and we actually finished by 4 pm! Kenneth had a small problem with the initial needle prick- he had to lie back and his blood pressure dropped a little- but, other than that, he did great. He didn't even take a nap today!

We are very thankful for the women from church who organized the babysitting, watched our children, and brought us dinner. What a comfort it has been not to have to worry about the children and to be able to be with Kenneth.

I am not sure when Kenneth is going to be up to having his handsome face posted on the blog. The hair loss experience hasn't been too bad, but it's not a cup of tea, either. Mostly, it is a stark reminder that this is all real. The last three weeks when Kenneth has been feeling so good, it was easy to feel like life was normal again. The hair loss brought some of those tough feelings back to the surface.

But, all in all, we have been so thankful for how well Kenneth is doing. 2 down 4 to go! We feel very hopeful that all will be well in the end.

Now you see it, soon you won't

It has begun, folks. The beginning of the end. About a week ago, Kenneth noticed that his facial hair had mostly stopped growing. So, we figured the hair on his head was next. Two days ago, we started noticing Kenneth's hair around the house. Just a hair here and a hair there, you know. Not much. But, if you pull at a couple of hairs on his head they come right out. Kenneth was secretly hoping that the hair loss part of all this wouldn't actually happen to him- that he had some sort of super sonic hair to withstand the effects of the chemicals. Every night when we go to bed, we wonder if we will wake up to his hair completely gone, but it hasn't happened yet. Let's just say, I'm not the only one who has to clean out the drain in the shower nowadays! So far, you can't tell by looking at him that he is losing his hair.

We warned the girls weeks ago about Kenneth losing his hair. We have also told them that it is starting to happen. In Emma's lunch time prayer yesterday, she prayed that they wouldn't be afraid of Daddy with no hair. The good thing is, children are so accepting and loving and will adjust quickly to Dad's new look.

Speaking of new looks, the rest of us all got haircuts yesterday and today. I feel so much better with my hair cut!! It had been way too long and my hair was very unhealthy. I actually got some layers this time.
Here I am after my haircut. Yes, we still have Christmas decorations up. We haven't gotten around to taking them down, plus, we don't have enough lamps/lights in our house, so we enjoy having the trees with lights up!
I finally, after over 4 1/2 years, cut Emma's hair for the first time and she cried. . .because she wanted MORE cut off! From the longest part in the back I cut about 5-6 inches off. She said she wanted her hair to look just like my new haircut. What a sweetie! I also trimmed Arianna's hair and Kenneth cut Grant's hair this morning as well.

As a general update on how Kenneth is doing: he's great! In fact, he is doing so well, that he started working part-time from home this week. Only 15 hours, but really that is enough under our circumstances. (You know, 3 small children who can be very noisy and busy and always want to be next to their Dad!) He'll keep it up as long as he can. His appetite is really up, so he is trying to eat whenever he feels like it to counterbalance the loss of appetite to come again with the chemo.

The next chemo date is the 18th of January- next Tuesday. We have a wonderful friend who is so great to organize the babysitting for us so that I can be with Kenneth. It is very comforting to him to be able to have me there with him. The Doctor said to expect 8 hours this time.

We feel so thankful for all of you who are offering such great support and prayers for us right now. We are grateful for you!

Family Portraits

Kenneth and I were talking last night and happen to remember that our Portrait Club Membership at JC Penney expires this month. Then we thought we might not have too many more days until Kenneth looses his hair. So, we went to have pictures taken today!! They went pretty well, I thought. The kids did better than they have at times in the past. It was pretty smooth. Luckily, this studio has a t.v. and the girls were kept occupied with Dora while we looked at the pictures. Of course, bribbing them with fruit snacks also seems to work wonders!

It is also Arianna's Birthday at the end of this month, so she has some 3 year old shots in there, too. Emma was trying to encourage Arianna (who can be a little difficult to get to cooperate) and so we got some unplanned ones with Emma with Arianna and Emma alone with the white background. I love the one of the 2 girls together; you can see really well how different they are. It amazes me that people inquire at least 3 or 4 times a week as to whether they are twins!

Thought we would share the link to the JC Penney website for you all to see:

https://viewimages.jcpportraits.com/sharealbum/sharealbumlist?rndId=AAMJBANBXV9bVw==&uId=AAAHCAhOXg==

Recent Joys

Kids say and do the darndest things, don't they?! Here are some of the latest joys that have brought smiles to our faces:

1. If this doesn't bring a smile to your face, I don't know what would!
   
   


2. Animals in bed: I bet many kids are like this, not just mine, but lately the stuffed animals in our girls' beds have gotten out of control. We used to try to limit the number they could have in bed with them. We started with 2, then we let them have a couple more, now, it's a battle I don't choose to fight. They just have to have them all situated when it's time for bed. It's not just the number of animals in bed that cracks us up. Lately, the girls have been separating the animals on either side of themselves according to sex: boys on one side, girls on the other. It is funny to see which animals make which side. Arianna chided me for putting a girl on the boy's side last night. A couple of times, Emma nearly flipped out when one of her animals did not have an animal to hug goodnight. What's next?!
3. At dinner tonight Arianna said, "I love Daddy because he is so cozy". Emma added, "Yeah, he is so nice to lie on!" They sure are loving having their Daddy around so much!
4. One of the greatest joys: having a little one fall asleep in your arms.
5. So, this one is sarcastic. Arianna actually went through FIVE pair of pants in one day yesterday!!! Yes, five. Joy. It all started at breakfast. She spilled her milk all over. Then she had a dirty diaper which got on her pants, then she was riding her tricycle in the backyard and got mud all over her pants and then pooped out again!!!! I know what you are thinking- isn't that girl almost 3 years old? Why is she still in diapers? We ask the same thing daily. . .
6. Emma's new hobby: Emma has been quite diligent lately about writing. It started that she would just write words and phrases she saw around her. Then she started taking books and copying the titles. Then she started writing ALL the words she sees in the books- starting at the front cover. It is really adorable. Maybe it's time for some lined paper!

This was one of the first papers she wrote. She was in our office and wrote all kinds of random things she saw on our desks and around the room. I had a recipe on my desk for Roasted Asparagus Lasagne. It cracks me up that she wrote: "Prep: 20 min bake 45 + standing". My favorite thing that she wrote is: "Welcome to a better banking experience". What a funny girl!


Above are some book titles she has copied.

More book titles.

This one I had to pull out of the garbage to take a picture. You can see the title and author of the book at the top and then she started to copy all the words. I am not sure what happened, but she sure was writing to fit the story!!! She must have thought it was a mess herself since she crumpled it up and threw it away.

A wonderful Christmas with the Dawes Family

Figured I would start with my favorite picture of the bunch today. I sure love these kids and my sweet husband! Here we are on Christmas Eve. We feel so grateful to be together as a family!

Kenneth's sister, Karen and her family came out for Christmas. We were grateful that Kenneth was feeling a little better by the time they got here- with the fluid off his lungs. They arrived Friday afternoon (Christmas Eve) and left on New Year's Eve. We had a wonderful Christmas together. It was a little crazy at times with 8 children in our little home, but we are SO glad they were able to come. Karen and Allen took very good care of us- helping around the house, doing dishes, helping with meals and watching the kids. We were especially grateful they were here on Monday the 27th to watch the kids while we were gone ALL DAY LONG for the first round of Chemotherapy. It was nice that the kids were with family in their own home. Our kids loved playing with their cousins. Many of the days, Karen stayed here at home with us, while Allen took their 3 older children sightseeing. We didn't want them going stir-crazy stuck in the house. The week flew by and it was sad to say goodbye. Here are the pictures of the wonderful week with the Dawes Family:

Grant loved Uncle Al! Quite often he would come right up to Allen and want to sit on his lap. Here he is pointing out all the parts of his face.

Watch your eye, Al!

Christmas morning- Karen, Tyler, and Joslynn opening stockings

The girls playing with the loot from their stockings- Emma's first set of markers!! ALL the girls were excited about them!

Daddy and the kids Christmas morning

All the cousins except Joslynn

Opening gifts Christmas morning- Tyler, Allen, Karen, Grant and Joslynn

Pillowcases from Grandma Pilz. Grant laid them right down and. . .

Got comfortable!

Arianna loving Daddy. The kids are having so much fun opening presents.

Our Christmas Day afternoon activity: Making gingerbread houses.

Evening stories.

These little rascals. In the morning they just can't wait til breakfast is ready. Both Grant and Arianna grabbed a bag of cereal and hid around on the other side of the refrigerator.

Grant joined in on the dress-up parade one morning.

Here is a video of these crazy kids and our full house:


One more video for fun! Here are the kids playing on the back patio. Emma is riding her new bike Santa brought for Christmas. The last bike she earned just a little while ago was really too small for her. She still needs to grow into this one, but is loving it!! We are thankful for such a nice back patio and large yard. It's a fun video except for Emma's little outburst at the end.




Photo shoot of the kids right before the Dawes family drove away. It was such a beautiful day! Can you see Ashley in a short sleeve shirt!!! This was December 31st!

The whole gang minus Allen right before they left. Thanks for coming!! We love you!