A trip to the dentist… Day 1018 30AUG11

Joshua got a trip to the dentist this afternoon to repair one of his teeth that has decided to fall out in pieces instead of as a whole unit. It is one of his baby teeth and set to leave his mouth anyway but this will make the second time he has a piece of it break off and had to go to the dentist and get it bonded back together. Luckily there is no pain involved and he is doing fine. The rest of the day was a lot less exciting and the steroids monster is doing pretty good at staying away so far this week. We are still waiting to start Joshua in school and really have no good answers yet as to what is causing the delay or when it may be resolved, so for now he gets a little break from a full school day and we will continue to wait for the school system to get all the kinks sorted.

Dreamless sleep… Day 1017 29AUG11

Renee and Joshua left early this morning for the clinic. Joshua got his port accessed and then received his pentam breathing treatment. Jarrod and I got up had breakfast and got a few things done around the house before heading up to the hospital to be with Joshua during his LP. We arrived in time to spend a little bit hanging out with him before the Doctors arrived and he was sent off the the dreamless sleep while we watched. It is always hard to watch him slip away into the dreamless world no matter how many times we have witnessed it. We trudged out to the waiting room like we always do and waited for the Doctor to come out and give us the thumbs up which he did after a short while. Good thing because we have come to really dislike the period of time between the closing of the door to hi treatment room and the Doctor walking out. I had to leave for work after I said goodbye to Joshua's still and sleeping form. He awoke an hour later and was fine albeit quite hungry. He had to walk back over to the clinic to get his vincristine and get de-accessed so he could head home. The rest of the afternoon was pretty normal for an LP day with Joshua being a little tired and achy. We get to put one more of these days behind us and dream of the day when we won't have to wait for the Doctors anymore.

Family skate… Day 1016 28AUG11

Renee decided to join us today on the ice this afternoon so after lunch we all headed up to the rink. She did great on the ice and we boys had a good hard skate as well. It was fun to have everyone out skating together.

We headed home afterwards and I must confess we didn't do a whole lot after we arrived, just a nice lazy sunday afternoon.

In the morning Joshua will head off to the hospital for clinic and an LP along with vincristine and the beginning of a week of steroids. He will be NPO in the morning, which he always dislikes, and as always Renee will stop at McDonalds on the way home to break his fast. I start back to school tomorrow so I will be unable to go and be with him at the hospital and sit by his bed while he sleeps the dreamless sleep but I know Renee and Jarrod will look after him like so many times before and I will see him for dinner.

Skills class… Day 1015 27AUG11

The boys and I started our hockey skills class this morning. We were all pretty excited about the chance to learn more and we got a good introduction on the ice today. Our class is pretty large with about 30 people or so with several Joshua's age and a whole bunch close to Jarrod's. I may be the token old guy but I am not sure yet, got to compare ages with a few of the other guys sometime :) The class was really challenging and we all skated hard but had a lot of fun as well. Both boys did really good and are looking forward to going back next week. My dad stopped by to watch us skate on his way to the Humane Society to do some volunteer work. We had a nice visit after we got off the ice.

After getting home and resting a bit we got to work putting some new shelves in the boys closet so they can safely store their permanent LEGO creations. Jarrod was my helper and we got it done in only a few hours. Joshua spent his evening resting and saving up his energy for the coming week.

Still no books :(… Day 1014 26AUG11

Joshua still hasn't received his school books are access to the school stuff online. So his first week of school was pretty much a bust. Not that he complained all that much but we don't want him to get behind. Renee has had several conversations with his teacher and we are not the only ones waiting for stuff to arrive.

Jarrod on the other hand is up to his eyebrows in school and doing well so far. His first week passed in a jiffy and he is on task and on time.

We spent the afternoon working around the house and getting the boys rooms re-configured. After dinner we boys headed outside to have a little fun and get some exercise in. In the morning we head back to the rink for the next level of hockey training, the boys are really excited about it and I am looking forward to it as well.

Helping out day 2… Day 1013 25AUG11

The boys and I got up early so we could get some breakfast before heading over to my dad's house to help him out for a bit. He is going to be working with the Humane Society by providing a foster home for dogs waiting to be adopted so we got an exercise run installed and help move some furniture around to better configure the house for his upcoming visitors. The boys both helped out a bunch and we even got our favorite pizza for lunch. We headed for home after we finished eating to help Renee work around the house. We are cleaning up and rearranging the boys rooms to make better use of the space. We cleaned for quite a while and made a big dent in getting things taken care of.

We had some dinner and then the boys and I headed outside to play for a while, the weather is starting to be tolerable in the late evening so we took advantage of it. The rest of our night was pretty quiet and restful. Back to school work in the morning.

Helping out… Day 1012 24AUG11

Jarrod got up this morning and headed off for his annual checkup with the pediatrician while Joshua stayed at home with me. We are still waiting on his books to arrive so we are kind of limited when it comes to school for the time being. We are still hoping that hey arrive soon so he can get started, not sure what the delay is.

Jarrod got back before lunch and got his school work finished so we could go help Renee's dad move a bunch of stuff. We headed over to his house after we ate and got busy. The people across the street from him are moving and they wanted to get rid of a lot of stuff in their house including a huge tv and an entertainment system. Renee's dad worked it out so the church youth group could get the tv and all the rest for their new youth room. We got it all disassembled and then helped load it up for delivery. It was a family effort and everybody worked hard.

After we got finished we headed home to get cleaned up before returning to her parent's house for dinner. Renee made taco's and a nice salad and we all enjoyed a great meal. The boys headed down to the dock for a bit and Joshua got in a little fishing before it got dark. There was a nice breeze and it made for a pleasant evening outside. After homemade milkshakes for dessert we headed for home to get some rest. It was full day for all of us but we got a lot accomplished.