dad update

My dad has been home now for a couple of days. He is going everyday back to the hospital for radiation and will start chemo next week, as well. I got to see him today and was surprised at how much better he looked (relatively speaking, of course.) Maybe it was that he wasn't hooked up to any machines. But he was able to turn on his side now, and he could talk a little better, although it is still pretty hard for him. He tires very easily, but that is to be expected.
I was encouraged at something Betty said today. She said my grandmother, Sarah, had survived breast cancer many, many years ago... (which I actually never knew until a year or two ago!)....before all the new treatments they have today and lived to be 90 something...so she thinks my dad will be able to survive this, as well. It's in the strong genes! I hope and pray that is true!
Please continue to pray for him as he starts chemo... that he will not have any strong side effects from it and for a continued increase in strength along with perseverance and faith. Thank you!

the graduate

Thursday, Joaquin graduated from preschool!


I know it's hard to see, but that's him, way over there, looking through his diploma like a pirate. Blimey!


The last of the three amigos. Can't you just imagine them striking this same pose 13 years from now?


I think this is one of the first pictures of all of us!


Just the boys.


Diego thought the whole thing was hilarious! (that's the mom of one of the three amigos.)

the garden

This quote will be the theme of our garden:

Hoe while it is spring, and enjoy the best anticipations. It is not much matter if things do not turn out well. ~Charles Dudley Warner

field day!

Joaquin had a great field day the other day! There's nothing like jumping in a scratchy potato sack on a hot day! Remember?


Diego didn't have much fun.

a spring day

Last weekend, Isabela got made up like a princess at a birthday party. I'm so not into doing hair, that this may be one of the only times it looks like this!


Joaquin and I spent the day at the park while she was doing that. There was a sailing class going on which was fun to watch.


A little sand never hurt.



Plus we got to see the baby ducks! What a beautiful sping day!


I

dad's treatment

This picture is from Christmas '07 when we had just gotten back from Bolivia. I don't have too many pictures of all of us, but this is one that I love.

My dad is to begin radiation and chemo on Tuesday...for six long weeks! I saw him after the biopsy surgery and he didn't look too great. Besides the blue hair (from some antibacterial stuff I assume) he had a feeding tube and couldn't talk too well...he couldn't walk either, or move too much at all. But he is steadily improving each day from that, and we hope he will be back to his "before biopsy self" where he could at least walk and talk, even if it was slowly.
The brain cancer is a rare form and they don't really know how it will react. Plus my dad is in great health otherwise...along with a great mental attitude about the whole thing...so we are of course praying for a miracle cure. Without any treatment, the doctors would give him just two months to live. But my dad is fighting it, and we pray will be around a lot longer than the year they are giving him.

pool time!

That's our little fish Joaquin! I took him to the pool the other day before the crowds hit. I didn't get in...I'm not brave enough to try on my bathing suit just yet.


He's big enough to go down the big slide this year! But that water is ice cold! I don't know how he did it.


There's a good seat if you want to cool off.


Diego and his standard MO...sleep.

two months

Diego is already two months old!


He loves to coo and talk to you. He is so precious, we can't get enough of him!

dad update

My dad had the biopsy yesterday, but he is now in intensive care. He was not coming out of the anesthesia too well from what I was told....he did open his eyes but can't talk or move his hands. But they did go into his brain, so that is to be expected. We will not know anything about the biopsy for a few days, I believe.

I can't imagine how he must feel with all this coming on him so suddenly, or what Betty is going through right now. Please pray for his recovery from the biopsy and good news from the doctors. Thank you!

Cheers!

First, a big thank you to all the children and parents that helped make Isabela's birthday so special! I certainly couldn't have done it without you....she had a wonderful day and now wants to be a cheerleader more than ever!

It started with her and Joaquin waiting outside for almost one hour before the party was to start....they had the megaphones to direct traffic for parking. This was our first big party at the new house, and we weren't sure how the parking would go. She actually had to be coaxed in once people started to arrive...she does like to direct people!

And we have crossed a milestone in the birthday party realm....drop-offs! This is the first party I've had where children were dropped off by their parents to stay by themselves! They were all well-behaved. But I guess that means we're getting close to the next step....the sleepover!! Noooo!

Can they get any cuter?


Two older cheerleaders taught the girls the cutest cheers! We're dynamite! We're out of sight! We're tic tic tic tic Boom! Dynamite! Boom Dynamite!

The boys were a little more wild...I put Juan Pablo in charge of training camp for them. He had some great ideas, but came to me later saying, "Help. They won't listen." So he ended up just having them run around the outside of the house. It did clear up nicely so the kids were able to play on the treehouse and the swings to burn some energy.

I wanted to get the parents involved a little so the kids could cheer us on, but I really hadn't thought that out ahead of time. We did a silly little relay which was fun.


The cake was supposed to be a megaphone...I heard someone say, "What is it?" They never do come out like the pictures. I barely had enough, too. I don't think any parents got any. Usually you have so much left over. You just can't win.


So, now our firstborn angel is six. I can't believe it. I'm trying to cherish each day with her just as she is. Not wishing for the past or hoping for the future.

We love you, Isabela! May all your wishes come true!

another scare!

Poor little Diego spent the day in the ER yesterday. I had taken him to the pediatrician in the morning because he had had a fever in the night and had been crying a lot, not his normal happy self. She found out that he had an ear infection, but she was also worried about his white blood cell count so she told us we needed to go to the hospital right away....as a precaution to be sure it wasn't something more serious. Isabela and I started crying...I think she must have remembered when she was there not too long ago.


So they stuck him with needles and held him down for an IV, and even did a catheter for a urine sample!! He was very brave, and the nurses commented on how strong his arms were for just 7 weeks of age. But, after 5 long hours, we were finally able to go home.....diagnosis: an ear infection!

my dad

Prayers, prayers, prayers! Most of you have heard that my dad is not well...it started with what they thought was a stroke...but they have now determined that it was really a brain tumor. Yesterday, I visited with him in the hospital, and he could talk slowly and walk with some help, but was really exhausted. We were told it was inoperable and incurable and weren't sure how long he actually had left.

Today there is a little more hope. The CT scan showed the cancer had not spread to his chest or abdomen...so they are actually going to do a biopsy on the tumor, which previously, they had given up on doing. My dad is optimistic.

I let him know that he's on the prayer list at church, and he said, "Well, it's working." So please continue to remember him in your prayers.

Happy Birthday Juan Pablo!

Look at that handsome man! Today Juan Pablo turns the big 31! He's not much on celebrating birthdays, but I think we'll end up going out for dinner tonight. The kids made him cards last night (he had to work late) and then gave them to him this morning before he left for work early.

I am so blessed to be married to a wonderful provider who makes me laugh and loves his family.

We wish you another year of happiness, memories, blessings, health, and love.

the frightening of Miss Muffet

I've always understood why Miss Muffet ran away when she saw that spider....but what we came upon yesterday in our yard was enough to frighten the Orkin man away! I decided that it was a nice day to plant the rest of the flower seeds I'd been given this year, so I ventured outside with Isabela to find some good spots and get started. There was one bare corner against the house that I thought might look nice with some color, so I moved a rolled up tarp that had been lying close by, and when I did, something sort of rustled in the mulch. I was about to say, "Look Isabela, a frog" since we'd seen frogs there before...but then I saw it was a HUGE spider. I'm talking tarantula size. I think it was a tarantula. Do we have those in VA? If not, they're coming. I sent Isabela off to get JP and to get some spray. Now I don't normally go killing bugs in their own habitat, but this one had to go. So I stood guard while she ran in to get the Raid. Meanwhile, Joaquin comes out to see what all the fuss is about, and he can't see the spider (it is so well camouflaged) but I assure him, when I spray it, he'll see it.
Isabela finally gets back, and I spray it, and it starts running toward us. So I continue to cover it until it freezes. Some of the spray must have blown over to where the mulch was because to our amazement, ANOTHER spider starts running for the edge of the house...this one even bigger! This one is Charlotte because she had an egg sac on her back. I mean, these two should have been paying rent! So I sprayed that one and told Isabela,"Go get your Daddy!" He comes out and finishes the job. Joaquin reminds us that some people eat tarantulas....and I am thankful I do not live in one of those remote villages where that occurs. Juan Pablo spent the next part of the evening debugging our yard with the professional stuff.
Just when I was starting to become a little outdoorsy...what with our garden and all...something always sets me back.

hot?

There's nothing better than a snow cone on a hot day!

math?

Joaquin and I got a taste of homeschooling, just by chance, the other day. He had gotten a new towel and decided to line up all his animals around it....I suggested he make nametags for them...so he decided they would all be named Joaquin and wrote his name 27 times! Then we decided to tally how many of each different kind of animals he had...what did he have the most of...the least? And how many in total? He counted them many times and had a blast doing it. We didn't even know we were learning!

kids keep you honest

Everybody probably knows my love/hate relationship with tv and the computer....I don't like my kids to use them, but I do love my own shows (Lie to Me, Lost, House, 24) and I do love blogging...oh and there's craigslist, which I like to search almost daily for something I just might need...and then there's researching the homeschooling information...really, I think I could be on the computer all day if necessary. But I thought I was keeping my time limited...I tried to only do it when the kids were asleep at night, and maybe when they were playing nicely in the other room...but you know how it is, you think, "I'll just check my email" ...and the next thing you know, you've been on it for 45 minutes!
Well, this all started with me reading a post from one of the side links The part that jumped out at me was this "Children do not experience our intentions, no matter how heartfelt. They experience what we manifest in tone and behavior." When I thought about it, anything that the kids are doing that is not a good behavior...is probably something I'm doing myself and just not realizing.
So here's the real slap in the face...I went to a WONDERFUL mother's day breakfast at Joaquin's school. (Yes, all the good moms remembered their cameras...it didn't even cross my mind, hence no picture.) But they sang some cute songs, and then we ate a huge blueberry muffin and some fruit and lemonade while looking at the many cute cards and gifts they had made for us. But here it was written on one of my cards...Joaquin's response to "What is mommy's job"....he said,"Works at the computer store." I was shocked! I don't understand where that came from...but it's a sign to me and I'm taking it. I called Juan Pablo on the way home and started ranting about how we can't do any more computer or iphone in front of the kids, and he said, "Where is this coming from?" So I told him about the card (which he laughed) but also agreed with me. So, new policy, electronics only at night after the kids are asleep!
Keep me honest, Joaquin, thank you!

rainy saturday?

Was anyone bored last Saturday...well, don't let a little rain stop you. Read on.

It started with me saying,"Run outside and see if anything is growing in the garden yet." (It is! We are seeing green! The lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, broccoli, and snowpeas are coming up!) Then they asked to stick their feet in the puddles...that was fine with me.



But that turned into,"Mom, watch this..."as Joaquin squatted down over a large puddle. I don't know what I thought he would do...maybe jump over it?




Needless to say, we were all shocked with the result...especially Joaquin when all that muddy water splashed back up on to him and his clothes. Now this normally results in much screaming and crying from Joaquin about dirty clothes (remember the November polling incident? or did I neglect to blog about that?) but this time, after I closed my gaping mouth...I said, "Well, do it again....you're already wet."


And so it turned into this....and that, dear friends, is how you get rid of mud puddles.

planet earth

For Isabela's birthday, we went to see the Earth movie. Can you believe we all went?!! Diego slept through the whole thing, and the kids are big enough to be happy with some popcorn and a drink to last the movie. We all liked it. It's full of amazing images from all over the planet...and the best part...no mating scenes!! or blood and guts. Although the prey gets caught several times, it leaves the rest to your imagination. I always have a hard time with those chase scenes. I feel bad if they get caught, and I feel bad if they don't catch them and then have to starve to death. I just wanted to movie makers to save all the animals.
Joaquin talked throughout the whole movie!!! "Look at that waterfall! What's that? Is that a polar bear? What's that? Is that a cheetah? What's that?".....and on and on. And if you know Joaquin, he's still working on developing his whisper voice. We were in the front row, so hopefully we didn't disturb too many people.
There's one scene where they talk about these cranes that fly over the Himalayas...the hot air pushes them up, but cold blasts them around so that it's very dangerous for them to cross. My question to Juan Pablo was, " Why don't they just go around the mountain?" it seemed obvious to me....and probably to the bird dangling at the end of the flying V formation...he could see around it to a clear path. I said I'd want to talk to the lead bird in charge. Pull a Donald Trump, "You're fired!" on him. Juan Pablo and I were cracking up. But, it really is an amazing movie, and I'd recommend it.

Happy Birthday, Isabela!

This is my attempt at creative photography! I asked Isabela to put on her pretty dress and cowboy boots so we could take some cool pictures. She's so sweet to humor her mom. I can't believe she's six now! We measured her yesterday and she had almost grown an inch in a month! Is that possible? They do grow up fast.

smile!