Dentist

We really thought we did a decent job at oral care. Found out the other day... maybe not. I wish that I got to go. I had too many daycare kids so Chris took both boys. Carson had to have a baby tooth pulled about a month ago. This appointment we had was to check out the rest of his mouth. I was thinking like 8 cavities but we were lucky and found only two. Brayden did good as well. That was his first time at the dentist. He couldn't get x-rays because the little cardboard thing was too big and made him gag. Chris said that they both were brave. Chris did say that the hygenist said that we are doing a good job...poor Carson might just have my poor teeth. The kids loved going to see Dr. Mishler... aka Ben - he's in our ward and just starting his own practice. He does good work and is great with kids.

Meet Cheeto

Well dear friends...Santa made us give in and gave our kiddos a puppy for Christmas. What can I say...he drives a hard bargain. I only had one rule. Cheeto WILL be an outside dog. I do not like dogs (sorry animal lovers). I don't like the smell, the hair, pee, poo...you name it. I do love Cheeto because my kids LOVE him. I mean LOVE LOVE LOVE him. :)It is fun to see them so happy and just taking such good care of their puppy. He has been good. Right now he does get to sleep inside in a big rubbermaid tub and we usually have to take him out for a potty break at midnight and 5:30 (I am usually up at both of those times). It has been so long since I have updated that I don't know where to start. Christmas was fantastic. It was just nice to be able to stay home.

Chris started school again and is getting his administration certificate. When he is done he will hopefully get a vice principal job. He loves teaching but realizes that we won't be able to save anything for our kids college or missions. This will allow me to not have to work, able to make our ends meet and still be able to save. I am excited about that. Chris is also STILL Ward Clerk. It is so funny. It has just followed him wherever we go. He just hit his 8th year mar...IS ANYONE READING WHO CAN HELP!!!! hahaha. Chris is fantastic at it which is why he has done it so long. :)

Brayden will start school in the fall. He has been so fun. :) He is always happy and just a gross, funny, PJ wearin, goofy, crazy, and sweet little boy. He loves Cheeto and carries him around like an airplane flying all over the house. Brayden is my shy one. Always content to hang on my leg when there are a bunch of people present.

I am trying to figure out what I am going to do when Brayden goes to school in the fall. I think I am most excited about getting to volunteer in the class with my kids. Still doing daycare and photography. I am seving in the Young Womens 16-18 year old girls. They are great and fun.

Kenzie is still on Chemo. She is doing very well. This seems to be very mild on her system. Although we know this is nasty stuff we know it is doing what it is supposed to. We feel so blessed. February marks 4 years since diagnosis. Feeling so blessed that she is with us. There are so many who are not as lucky as we have been. Kenzie got a cell phone for Christmas from mom and dad. She loves it. It is mainly to text family. It is alsom really good for her fine motor skills since she has had difficulty with her left side since her big surgery.

Carson is just his sweet self. Loving to come home from school and play with Cheeto. Carson was so sweet when we visted the "REAL" Santa..."not the helper Santa" at the zoo thru the hospital. Santa asked what Carson wanted and he almost cried and said a dog. He asked what kind. Carson said I don't know. Santa said a Labrador (sp?). Carson said with a tear coming down his cheek...I don't care I just want a dog. He could have won an award. I almost cried. What a tenderheart he is. I love Christmas cards and it was always so fun to me because I used to make them. I have not sent any out for 2 years. We haven't even been able to get our picture taken. SAD!!! we keep having to reschedule. One day. I am thankful for the ones I received. It is so fun to see all the updates. Hope everyone had a super fabulous Christmas and hope this will be an awesome year.

Review

Well...We had our fabulous weekend. We had a fun time getting to go to the Miley Cyrus concert. If you haven't read previous posts...Makenzie was given 4 tickets thru PCH (THANK YOU!!!). We had a great time. Kenzie just had a blast. The concert was good. Our seats were in a suite. Miley was a little more, let's be nice, and say grown up...I am going to leave it at that. What is important is the girls had a FANTASTIC time. We also get to have a teaching moment about modesty. :) The pictures are of Miley, Makenzie, Megan Hancock and a friend from camp rainbow Makayla. Both girls were just so sweet. They really had a great time. :) The rest of the weekend has been nice. Pretty laid back. We went riding quads with Chris's parents. We had a fun time. The boys just LOVE to ride. Chris's parents just bought them and we were giving them a test run. I went to the Womens broadcast at the church. It was nice. I am a little over emotional lately so it took a little work keeping it together. Now we are ready to start another week. It should be a good one. Carson's birthday is on the 10th so we are super excited for that. :)

Hard Lesson

This morning was a pretty great morning. I went hiking with a few friends. We changed it up a little and went to Thunderbird. It was close to a 2 hour hike. GREAT workout. Came home did computer stuff. Chris had to play the piano for a memorial service. Before he left he told the kids if they did a good job cleaning we could do something fun with Gma and Gpa. They came to visit about a week ago and will be here until the first part of October.
We will call him "C" to save this person from any embarrassment. C always has a hard time cleaning. Does not see the point. C just whines and complains the whole time. All C had to do was about 15 minutes picking up and C would have been done. C proceeded to get worse and ended up in timeout. C was almost done and C decided to really give me a really hard time. I ended up giving ME a time out so I could cool down. I got kick and mauled as I put C back in time out over and over. C's dad was not so happy when he came home. He waited to talk to C. I remember as a kids that the wait was always worse than the punishment. C had to apologize and serve his two time outs. The last of the punishment was C had to stay home with mom and miss the movie with Gma, Gpa and the family. I cried when they left. C was so sad. What a hard lesson to learn. I do know that it is for the best. C is happy right now eating Ramen and watching Charlotts Web. I think next time C might have an easier time cleaninig. :) I sure LOVE "C" I think that I will let C earn a movie next weekend with mom for doing his chores all week. Hope you enjoy your weekend. :) Terri

I just have to show you what a sweetheart my Carson is. I just LOVE that little boy. Such a tender heart. Always thinking of others. This morning was not the best of mornings. Kenzie was struggling. I was struggling with what to do. After things settled down Carson walks in and gives Makenzie this note. He told her how much he loved her and he was able to make it all better. Look at this note... It says: I Love you Kenzie and me. (I wish I could figure out how to put the picture where I want it) This just melts my heart. :) LOVE YOU CARSON...

KTAR Radiothon

We are surviving this week. Just a super busy week. Kenzie had a ppointments on Tuesday and were not home all day. We get home and there is a message about feeding the missionaries...WE FORGOT! Sorry to the missionaries. I also told a friend I would take food in that night...FORGOT! Sorry!!! That seems to be the going theme these days.

My poor children...Questions asked as we leave for school...Are we going to be late? NO! Right on time. You have one minute to be in your class before the second bell rings. RUN! It is something I want to work on but there is a lot of room for improvement. :)

Makenzie and I were interviewed on KTAR tonight for the Radiothon for Phoenix Childrens Hospital. It was a lot of fun. It was pretty crazy in there. The interview was a little shorter than I would have hoped for. I had a lot more to say (imagine that). Here are a few pictures I pulled of the website. I hate putting a picture of me on there but Kenzie is in it and so is Gaydos from KTAR that did the interview. Kenzie did great as always. :)

Home from the Hospital - Big Surprise!!!

Kenzie is home from the hospital following surgery and doing well. She will stay home from school for a day or two to rest up and then she will go back. She will get scans again in about a week just to make sure the new shunt is doing its job. She got a scan this morning and everything looks great right now.

Kenzie got a big surprise this morning. A nice lady who works for the construction company (Perini Builders I think) that built Chase Field, US Airways Arena and Jobing.com Arena visited Makenzie and gave her 4 tickets to the upcoming Miley Cyrus concert. She will get to watch the concert from their company suite. Needless to say, she was surprised and super excited. She is a big fan and has wanted to go to a concert for some time now.

Brayden Preschool

We had a great Sunday today. Went to go to church and the car would not start. Our neighbor gave us a ride. We got there just in time for me to give the opening prayer. I was released from my Webelos calling in scouts and asked to be the an assistant leader in Laurels. That is the 16-18 year old girls. I am so excited!!!! It is going to be a lot of fun. We came home and had dinner and made treats. Our home teachers came over and helped give Makenzie a blessing. We are so grateful for them. They help us whenever whenever we need it. :) I delivered treats to a friend and came home to mass chaos. 2 very roudy boys. They are now getting into bed. I love being able to lay with each of my kids. They love it and it gives us a chance to talk. I hate bed time trying to get them ready..BUT once they are down I look foward to laying with them. Kenzie goes in for Surgery in the morning. She is a little nervous but doing well. We know she will be taken care just like always. We are so grateful for a Father in Heaven who loves us so much. I KNOW he hears our prayers AND answers them. We have seen so many miracles. Kenzie is a miracle everyday and so blessed to have such a strong example that teaches us WAY more than we could teach her.

Here is our little stinker who just tore up his plastic bed cover. He does not like time out which is where he resides at this moment. :) I should go take a picture...too lazy. Here are some pictures of this cute little guy for the first day of preschool. :) terri

Surgery on Monday

Makenzie will have another surgery on Monday. This one should be a little quicker and easier. The neurosurgeon will insert another shunt to drain the water that is collecting between the outside of her brain and the inside of her skull. That water has begun to put a little too much pressure on her brain so it is time to get rid of it. She should only be in the hospital until Tuesday and probably back at school that same week. Pray for a smooth, complication free surgery.

Chemo is going OK. She feels good, but this chemo affects her blood counts a little more, especially her platelets. She has had to have a couple of platelet transfusions. MRIs how the tumor has been stable since surgery in April.

We still need to report on and post some pictures of summer vacation... it was loads of fun. Soon!

First Day of School

It has been too long since we have posted. Summer has just flown by. I have a lot more to post. Many vacation pictures to post. We had a great time. The kids started school on Monday. I am happy and sad all at one. Happy to find a routine again but sad I won't have my kiddos around to brighten my day. I still have one bright spot in the house. He only has one more year before he will be in Kindergarten. I am already sad about that. He is my side kick. He is fun to hang out with. He makes me laugh :).

The kids had a great time at school on Monday. They LOVE their teachers. Carson is in 1st and has one of Makenzie's old teachers. Heis so excited. He has a few friends from church in his class and he is super excited about it. Carson is very social. He LOVES to play with other kids. He makes a friend wherever he goes. Kenzie is already in 5th and she LOVES her teacher. I can't believe she is half way thru grade school. YIKES!!! High School will be here all too soon. Kenzie is happy to be able to go to school and not stuck at the hospital.

Kenzie already got a day off of school. She had 3 appointments. MRI, Neurosurgeon, and blood counts. It was a long day. I had Brayden with me and my little daycare girl. It is a little crazy. My mom came up after work and was able to help with the kiddos. Thank heavens for mommy's. I don't know what I would do without mine. :) We got some not so great news. The neurosurgeon did not like the extra fluid that is pushing on Kenzie's brain. It is bowing the center of the brain a bit and he is unhappy that he let it go this long. Kenzie will have to go back into surgery to place another shunt on the right side of Kenzie's brain. She still has the one on the left but the shunt can not drain where this fluid is building up. All I can say is yuck!!! I keep hoping there is another reason this is happening. Maybe a blessing in disguise. PLease pray that the fluid will go away before the surgery. They have to plan her counts around her chemo schedule. That pretty much sums up the week so far. Busy, busy, busy. Happy first week of school. :) terri