Perogies make a comeback… Day 670 14SEP10

With the question of Joshua's counts answered for the week today was a back to a normal routine kind of day. Joshua and Jarrod both worked on school work this morning until Ania and Wojtek arrived for a play date at which point the school work quickly got left behind. While the kids played Renee and Ania took over the kitchen and made up a huge batch of perogies from scratch. They turned out marvelous and boy do they taste good. We all had a few for dinner and I imagine Ania did to. It was a nice afternoon of children playing and adults hanging out enjoying each others company. 

After they left the boys jumped back on the school stuff and got done in time to head out to play for a good while this evening. We even managed to get a bit of hockey playing in as the temperature was down to a place where we could survive outside for a while. I hope that the drop in the temps signals the coming of autumn and that we are finally heading out of the doldrums of summer. I guess we will get the answer in the next few weeks. In the meantime we will take advantage of days like this one and enjoy being outside for a bit.

As promised here are a few pictures of the neat piece of kit that Jarrod and I built yesterday to power some LED strips. He hung the strips up in his room later in the day and they look pretty impressive with the lights out.

Clinic and birds… Day 669 13SEP10

Joshua headed off to clinic this morning for his usual Monday finger stick and labs. His numbers came back just fine with his ANC a little over 2000 and everything else lined up nicely. After leaving clinic he an Renee stopped by the place where George works to pick up a present that he had for Joshua. It was  a very cool model of a Corvette. While they were there he asked Joshua is he wanted to come over to his house real quick and meet his birds Mariner and Remington. Joshua said they were really smart and very cool. He really enjoyed the visit and brought home two gorgeous feathers that the birds donated. The rest of the day was much less exciting with his teacher arriving soon after he got home and homework after. 

Jarrod went to see the pediatrician and found out that his throat is fine. He just has a canker sore in the back of his throat which will be gone in no time. While he was there she gave him a flu shot to help keep him well this autumn. So other than his arm being a little sore he returned no worse for wear. The rest of his day was consumed with his history lessons. We did get to spend a little time tinkering and made a neat LED power supply for his room out of old bits and an Altoids tin. He got a chance to try his hand at soldering and did quite well. He was very pleased with the results and i will try and get a few pictures of it in operation.

Corvette Summer… Day 668 12SEP10

Joshua had a rather exciting and special afternoon today. We received a visit from our good friend George and he came to visit in his very beautiful blue Corvette. Joshua was really keen to get a ride so George and he took off into the afternoon sun for a little jaunt. Over an hour later they turned back up with a wonderful story of traveling around the area with Joshua acting as tour guide. We even got a phone call from Renee's dad who spotted Joshua riding around in the Vette. He had a great time and George even left him with a cool Corvette hat to wear. Renee and I were both secretly jealous ;)

A little later we got another special visit from our very own Miss Allie and her folks along with Jamie's brother Matt. They were taking Matt back to her parent's house and stopped in for a little visit. Allie was totally mesmerized by Joshua's bravery beads and had quite a lot of fun trying to figure out if she could pull them apart or not. Two days with Allie back to back is a special treat for us. She spent a good portion of her time walking back and forwards across the floor. Amazing how fast children master such complex skills.

In the morning we grind back into the daily routine of clinic Monday and school. Jarrod is still having a bit of trouble with his throat so we are going to get him in to see the pediatrician tomorrow. Joshua is just due for a finger stick and labs plus normal chemo at home. His teacher is also coming in the afternoon so we have got to get him back and ready for school. Should prove to be a busy day.

Allie's first birthday… Day 667 11SEP10

Today we all gathered at Christian and Jamie's new house to celebrate a whole year of having the wonderful Miss Allie in our lives. That's right, although it feels as if only several weeks have passed since she became a part of our family it has in fact been a year. The party was a lot of fun and the house was filed with children and adults all there to wish her a Happy Birthday. She truly enjoyed her first cake and opening presents was fun to watch. We were all pretty tuckered out by the time we managed to get back home so we all laid about and took little naps before dinner time set in. All in all it was a great day and we are so lucky to have our little Miss Allie!

Waffles are yummy… Day 665+1 (do the math :o) 10SEP10

Jarrod and Joshua got up and left rather early with Pa to go along on an appraisal he had to do in Lakeland while Renee and I went to meet with the Dr. that has been testing Joshua's neurological functioning among other things. The meeting went well and we gained a valuable insight into where Joshua is currently and how we can help him start catching up. While we were doing this the boys were enjoying a nice breakfast at Uncle Scott's restaurant which makes particularly yummy waffles. When the meeting was over Renee headed home to get the boys and I ran off to work. Joshua had school this afternoon with his teacher and did very well. He continued to work on stuff this evening after I got home which is great. The balance of the evening was a typical night at home for us which is a fine way to end the week.

Much improved… Day 665 09SEP10

Jarrod is much improved today and woke up fever free and feeling much more chipper. After a shower and a little breakfast he was officially ready to rejoin the human race. I don't know what he was fighting off but I do know that none of us want anything to do with it. Joshua had, according to him, a normal day filled with school work, playing, and watching tv. Grandma Peters came over late this morning to keep an eye on the kids while Renee was at an appointment and I had to be at work. Joshua asked for and received a spiffy haircut and got in a little scrabble playing as well. Tomorrow I imagine will be more of the same.

Sick brother… Day 664 08SEP10

Joshua is doing good today, Jarrod on the other hand woke up with a fever and has been running a fever all day. Renee immediately donned her protective gear and began vaporizing germs all over the house. She even sanitized the ice dispenser in the fridge. We resisted the urge to put plastic over Jarrod's door and seal him in for  few days and instead gave him some fluids and medicine. It is, we have discovered, hard to handle a "normal" child when they are sick. All kinds of alarm bells are going off and then we realize that Jarrod is going to be fine. No rushed departure for the hospital needed. Funny how you get used to doing things so differently. He was still running a fever late tonight so we will check in on him frequently and see how he is doing in the morning. Our biggest concern, of course, is that Joshua might catch whatever bug Jarod is incubating. We will keep diligently sanitizing and resist the urge to take all fabric items out in the yard and set them ablaze. Hard surfaces are so much easier to sanitize.

Joshua met with his teacher today and had a good day doing school work which is encouraging. We still have a long way to go to get him re-integrated into school but even small steps are moving forward.