Friday, October 29, 2010

Father Daughter Dance

The Holy Spirit Father Daughter Dance took place last Saturday night.  The theme was "Alice in Wonderland".  I didn't go, of course, but spent time at the gym that day creating the "Mad Hatter Dessert Table" and helping set up for the event. Aunt Nancy's wine boxes came in handy for stacking and decorating...

I created this "Cupcake Bouquet" for the dessert table.  Most of the other desserts were store-bought...can you believe that? 

 Jenna and Kevin joined a group of fathers and their girls for pizza then headed to the dance. Here they are before their outing! 

Cute Couple!



Halloween at School

I was able to spend some time in the kindergarten classroom today and it was a treat.  Patrick was the only Kindergartner that dressed up as a....Kindergartner, and he seemed at peace with it.  His response when someone asked "why aren't you dressed up?" was "my costume is in my backpack"...which, in fact, it is.  It's the third year that Patrick has opted to be Patrick, while quietly packing along the witch costume that my mom made me when I was a wee one.  I am not a huge fan of Halloween, and dressing up stresses me out, too...so he comes by this naturally.

Jenna, on the other hand, wears her cheer leading costume quite comfortably.  Wish I'd had an Idaho uniform for her!

Jenna with friend Hadley--who is a spectacular Peacock!

Jenna, Nick Bruce and Patrick at circle time

Cute Costumes!


I got to listen as the kids said their morning prayer and sang their morning songs.  They are allowed to offer their personal prayers to the group, and there were heartfelt words said by many, who prayed for people without food, who were unhappy and those without a home.  Many children prayed for their dogs...some living and some who had "gone to heaven".

After noontime pickup today we will join Kevin for lunch and return home for a nap.  It's chilly outside today--a perfect day for a long, cozy nap.  Patrick is especially excited for "Parent's Night Out" at Planet Gymnastics tonight.  The gym facility near our house offers this activity once a month; where kids may be dropped off to enjoy pizza, a movie and all kinds of gym activity (trampolines, climbing walls and the like), while parents spend a Friday night out!  I like it!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Apple Donut Wednesday

Exhausted.  Patrick didn't feel well as we took off for school and he felt worse after I dropped him off; so home we came, together, to get ready for my Wednesday coffee hour.  He was a good boy, wanted to watch a movie quietly in his room (he chose "Barbie in the Nutcracker"--interesting) and he stayed tucked away for a good two hours.  After his quiet morning he felt FINE and I regretted not sending him to school.  I know this will be a common theme for school days now and in years to come.  It's so hard for the kids' little bodies to tolerate all of the required medications.  It takes about 45 minutes for everything to metabolize, and then all is right with the world.  Patrick's pain has been concentrated around his chest area (when I ask him where it hurts, he points to his sternum), so I feel like it's either heartburn or his esophagus is getting irritated by all of his meds and frequent vomiting (2 times daily, lately...thank God he's a good shot at the garbage can).   I e-mailed Dr. Butani about all of this today, and within 2 hours a prescription for Prevacid was waiting for my little guy at Parkside Pharmacy.  The good news is this should eventually treat all of the G.I. "churning" that has been bothering him.  The bad news: this is the second new drug prescribed and started within 5 days.  Any of us who take and/or give meds like these (and so many of us do) are relying on faith and trust...of drug companies, researchers, doctors and the little warning pamphlets that arrive with the prescriptions.  I hope each medication does exactly what it was prescribed for--AND NOTHING ELSE!

While Patrick enjoyed the Nutcracker, I had a nice coffee hour with friends.  We had Pumpkin Muffins with Streusel topping and lots of coffee.  The conversation was "baby talk" as my good friend Dinny looks forward to baby #3 in Springtime, (she's in green in the photo below). 
 and did we ever giggle and admire little Lucy? 
Jenna and I had a bike ride this eve while Kevin spent time with Patrick (who ended the day feeling less-than-par), visiting the family of pet hamster "Jake" and moving on to the home of golden retriever "Turbo" after that.  Jenna would sure love a pet...but that's a great topic for another blog.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Chipotle....Twice!?

It was a good day for all.  First, some pics from Kev's team building "day at the office"....



San Francisco Bay on World Series Day--Giants Win!

Photos from Swing & Bling

My friend April, who made the video for the event last Friday, was also the event photographer.  Please follow this link to view her online album.

At the bottom of her site click on "client proofing" then select "special events".  April is donating funds raised from photo sales to the foundation--as if she hasn't done enough already!

Check it out!  Have a happy Tuesday!

http://www.aprilmelarkeyphotography.com/

Monday, October 18, 2010

Jenna in front of Del Dotto Winery

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Fall 2010 Pics

Here are pictures from summer and a bunch from the first week of school....

Jenna & Patrick's Cholesterol

The kids took their first dose of a drug called Pravastatin last night.  They both have cholesterol levels near 300, which is an expected side effect of Cystinosis (pediatric patients are typically immune to high cholesterol until adolescence). 

Bling Speech-2010

Here is the speech I gave last week at the Jenna & Patrick's Foundation of Hope event:

Post #1

I caught what the kids had last week, so I'm in bed creating a Blog, which I've wanted to do for some time now.