A mountain retreat

Summer finally got the sleepover she was wanting at Memaw's house - with me! Even better, two nights!!! We went up there on Thursday morning and waited for the snow. When we saw it starting, we got bundled up and went outside to try to catch some flakes with our mouths. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but still fun.
It was so beautiful to see the flakes falling and slowly covering the ground. The pictures just don't do it justice.

When Memaw and Nanny got home from work, we got bundled up and went for our first sledding excursion. Summer absolutely loved it. She did not complain once about walking up the hill and wanted to go every time. I did go a time or two alone, but usually she was riding with one of us.

Scratch got in on the fun too. She rode in the lap of whoever was on back. When we put her on the back by herself, she usually jumped off before the ride was over. It seemed like she could not get enough of the sledding either. Of course, it could've just been our body heat she was enjoying.

The ride started with a big push from someone to get us going.....

Everyone was all smiles while on the sled. It was really a blast!

Summer is ready for another round, even though it was dark outside (about 8:00 p.m.). Uncle Bradley had been asleep all day, so we went out again while we were waiting on the Bama game to start. Summer told everyone that she was going upstairs the whole time the game was on. Then she asked me if I was going to go to bed. :) LOL She is so perceptive. I don't usually watch the games with her daddy, so she just figured I'd go to bed as usual.

We waited until Uncle Bradley pulled the 4 wheeler out for more light.

After the sledding was done, Summer wanted to play "Dark Tag." Basically, tag (or hide 'n go seek) in the dark. When it was our turn to hide, we hid on the ground behind a car in the field. Summer wanted to lay down so we did. Then we made snow angels while were laying there waiting on Memaw to find us. Can you see her little angel on the left of mine?

Here is our little snow man. The snow was not good packing snow, but I did attempt to make a snow man nonetheless. It only lasted a day because someone (probably Mr. Nobody) knocked it over. Summer and I tried to put it together last night, but it was more trouble than it was worth.

On Friday, we walked to the end of my mom's street to try out the sledding there. It was fun, but Summer preferred the yard where we started.

She was really bundled up for our outdoor excursions. Three layers on top and bottom, one being her footed pj's. Under it she would wear either tights or pj pants and a shirt. Then we would put the off white pants on top and a big jacket. She also wore little gloves and never once complained about having cold hands. It must have been because her jacket hung down over her hands. We did have a few problems with her boots being uncomfortable with the footed pj's, but once outside they were forgotten. Amazingly, her feet never got cold either. You can really see how long her hair and eyelashes are getting in this pic.

My sister and her family came over for some more sledding and fun. The men rigged up a slide on the back of the 4 wheeler and we all took turns getting pulled behind. Clint is on in this picture. At the end of the post, there is a video of Summer's turn.

Last night, Summer made one last angel on Mom's porch. She wanted to go outside and play "Dark Tag" again, so us two went out for a bit. We did play very long because it was cold, dark and slippery, but it was fun anyway.

Guitar Hero was a fun game for the whole family, although I must say I like Rock Band better. The drums and microphone really do add to the game, especially for those who aren't good with their fingers. Summer got a little help from Memaw this morning before we headed home.

Here are a few videos from our winter fun:

Summer sledding

Cousins sledding

Summer gets pulled behind 4 wheeler

I hope everyone enjoyed the snow as much as we did!

A great start

This year is off to a great start. We ended 2009 with friends and started it with them. Yesterday, we went to do our last Christmas exchange of the year with the Lynch's. We also had some awesome BBQ pork butt. When I told Clint was were here having, he said it didn't sound too good. But it was! Summer and I loved it. She loves just about any kind of BBQ - pork, chicken or beef. Baked beans are also on her "loves to eat" list. Today, at Chuck E Cheese, she wanted a salad instead of pizza. Sure enough, all she ate was cucumbers, tomatoes, a cracker and a few bites of black olives. For breakfast she had a mini ice cream sandwich followed by an orange. She begged me for a grapefruit, but I didn't have time to cut it up and wait for her to eat it too.

I was trying to get her out the door. Then, we had a major shoe meltdown. "I can't decide," she would say. "I wanna wear boots, but...." Oh my. It really tried my patience. I was equally frustrated because no shoes I picked felt good to her. Drama queen. I am thinking of shrinking the shoe supply therefore eliminating the need to choose. You have one pair, you wear them, right? Not sure I can bring myself to do that seeing as how it will be a complete waste of about 6 or 7 pairs of shoes that will be too little in a few months. But, we won't have that deciding problem. We are getting better about the clothes choosing. She still has the option to dress herself most of the time, but I still won't let her wear something out of the house that completely clashes like what she wanted to wear yesterday. Just because the pants and the shirt both have butterflies on them, does not mean they match or go together. Try telling that to a 3 year old. :) I wouldn't trade all these moments for anything though. They are just growing pains. The struggles and meltdowns are just part of life. They are normal.

Speaking of normal, it really does seem like everything is back to normal with Summer. No more worrying about going places for fear of her getting sick. While, I still do not want her to get sick, her immune system is working and should be able to defend her against the normal everyday illnesses that may be going around. I am so thankful to have a snotty nose kid. Although buggers are gross, I am not worried that we will land back in the hospital at any moment. I am so glad those days are over. She rarely complains of leg or foot pain anymore so her muscles must be taking up slack for any nerve damage she sustained from the chemo. PTL! Everyone always asks how she is doing and I say, "She back to being a normal kid." Feels good to be able to say that.

Her hair is looking like it will be darker, at least on the sides of her head. For some reason the top still looks blonde, but it could just be wishful thinking on my part. She's got a super fuzzy head now, but you can still clearly see the scalp and it has been two and a half months since her last treatment. Her eyelashes have definitely already surpassed mine in length. I guess it is a good thing I don't have to bat mine at the men anymore. LOL

This year I want to continue to live for the day, making the most of every one I have with her. That will mean lots of playing doctor or LPS or house or whatever, but aren't we always wishing we could be a kid again? I guess I still can as long as I have her to bring me back into the world of play. Let the games begin!!!

Back in the swing of things

Summer has her no more chemo party at the clinic this afternoon. This is actually the first Monday in probably six months or so that we have not had an actual appointment at the clinic or been in the hospital. As fate would have it, we ended up having to go anyway so Summer can get her cake. It isn't until 1:00 this afternoon though.

We just showered and she is making her "dolly" in the floor with her clothes. She already tried on the shirt I picked out (this hasn't happened in a while), but insisted on taking it off to make her dolly before putting on anything else. I don't know what is up with the dolly, but I'm going to let it go. She is becoming more independent at playing. Her imagination soars. Yesterday, we were at my aunt's house who has a rather hissy cat. So, Summer wanted to lay on the couch pretending she was a cat and have me come up and pet her. Then she would wake up and hiss at me and chase me through the house. She even got my Granny and Sandra to play along a few times. I even chased my Granny around like I was a hissy cat. I must say I've never done that with her, even when I was a kid. The only time she was chasing me was with a fly swatter....and I was faster than her. :) It was so much fun. And, a pretty good workout too!

We've developed sort of a night time routine. At some point it will be time for "goodnight games." We will play Pretty, Pretty Princess or Go Fish or Crazy Eights or Old Hare (like old maid). She likes to play and would never be happy with just one game. She just told me Hannah Montana was her favorite game still, but the last time we tried to play my CD player wouldn't work. :( NOT. Sometimes we also play Hungry, Hungry Hippo or Don't Spill the Beans. After that we will brush our teeth and usually read a few books. Of course, we don't limit game playing to night time. I don't think she would go for that.

She loved helping me put the tree up on Saturday. We had a little talk about how some of the ornaments can break easily on the hard floor so we have to be careful. That put a little fear in her and she was careful with all the ornaments. I don't think we broke any this year. However, all three of the stocking holders managed to get broken (and repaired) at some point in the day. First, Summer knocked off one trying to hang a stocking on it. Two seconds later, the second one went. I didn't make too much of a fuss of it because the look on her face was enough to know she was upset by what she had done. Anyways, the day was spent decorating and finding old treasures. When we came to my Memaw's old Nativity, Summer wanted to set it out. It was cute. She tried to stuff all the animals in the one stall in the stable. Then we went over the Christmas story again and moved them around. Good times. That night before bed we read a few Christmas books, one of which Summer's Nona had given her which tells the Christmas story too.

Summer especially likes to wrap presents. There are still no presents under the tree for her. I am trying to decide how to do it. I have accumulated quite a few little gifts for her throughout the year. Maybe the 12 days of Christmas will be possible again if I can get them all wrapped and organized. That's hard to do when she is here though because if she sees the wrapping paper, she is stopping by to help. Tape is usually her job. I did let her wrap her Paw-Paw's present by herself. Well, I did the tape, but she did all the folding of the paper. There is one more thing I have to get because she is asking Santa for a magnetic dart board like we saw at Learning Express. I hope I can find a coupon like I had the day we saw it. I just couldn't buy it then though with her with me. Plus, we were on the bike. There is no sneaking there.

We had a "normal" breakfast today. All three of us had cereal. I can't remember the last time that happened. Summer told me she liked the milk and asked what flavor it was. I told her skim. :) She is eating so good and gaining weight too from the looks of her. Her hair is growing back. She has blonde fuzz all over her head although you can't really feel it yet. Her eyelashes are longer and will probably be longer than mine by the end of January. That's just not fair! She is a bundle of energy, always wanting to play. Last night, I let her run me across the bridge. She would pull my hand while I jogged on a small ledge and then I would have to do hers. We ran into some of our neighbors who probably thought it was quite a sight to see. Then she asked me to pick her up and run which I did. I had a hard time making it to the end, but she wouldn't give up on me. :) She's such a blessing and an inspiration to me. I know now is the time to live life to the fullest. There is no reason to wait. Oh, what an adventure this life is....and a fun one with her by my side.

No day to recuperate

It was straight into the hospital for us. Of course, we knew it was going to be this way last week when we left. She starts cycle 5 of chemo tomorrow so she had to be admitted today for fluids. Yesterday on the way home from Florida, she asked if she only had one more cycle of chemo. I told her there were 4 more. Boo. She also commented about how her hair hadn't grown back. I guess she thought vacation was long enough for it to grow back?? I guess she is ready for it to be back. I wonder if she notices when kids stare at her. I know I do, but it is just part of life for the time being. I noticed in one of the pictures below that the kids in the lazy river were staring. Oh well, I can't say I've never done it. You just never realize how much it goes on until you are the one being stared at and/or whispered about. This cancer thing really opens your eyes a little lot.

I can't really recall what to expect this week from the chemo, but maybe I'll do a little looking back if I have time. Things really get jumbled after a while. But, there is light. We are on the downward slope. We'll be on cycle 8 before we know it!

On the way to the Dr. this morning, Summer muttered "I hate going to the doctor." I asked her what she said and she was all "nothing." Poor girl. She is doing good all in all. Although, not as bright at times, her spirit is still shining. She will get through this and be stronger for it. We just have to manage to keep a smile on our faces during the mean time. Some days it is easier than others, but everyday contains at least a few!!! :)