Horsin' Around

This was the last full week we have before school starts! I can't believe it! I feel like the summer has flown by & I don't want it to be over! I love being home with all the kids and just hanging out or going places together and having fun. I love that they can sleep in and not have homework or really too much to do at all. But, the routines and homework and busyness all starts again next week. Braden and Kayla start school next Thursday and they both started soccer practice this week. In my state of freaking out over the end of summer, I planned as many play dates and fun things to do this week as possible. Shocking, I know. That's just my style. :) It was really fun to get together with some friends that we haven't played with for a long time on both Monday and Tuesday and Tuesday night we went to Leatherby's to celebrate Braden and Kayla doing so well in Jr. Golf this year. The kids were super excited to have such yummy ice cream sundaes and even Kelsey got to eat some! She is somewhat of a 'toothless wonder' considering the fact that she eats all kinds of food yet just barely broke through her fourth tooth at 14 months! Craziness. Wednesday, we went to horse camp. I had just signed up Kayla and Brooklyn (Braden said he didn't want to do it), but we all went because I wanted to make sure that Brookie was okay with everything. The woman that runs that camp is amazing. She is so nice and laid back and was so welcoming to all of the kids at camp. Kayla went one day last summer and she remembered all our kids from last year. Braden ended up doing everything that the girls got to do and she even let him ride at the end of the day too. They loved the morning and Brooklyn smiled the whole time, even while she was picking up horse poop! Thursday we mostly hung out at home in the morning, but I took the kids to a fun park not far from our house in the afternoon. I had a hard time getting them to leave! This morning Brooklyn and I went down to the infusion room for chemo. When we got there, I stopped and said, uh oh! One of the nurses laughed and said - "Did you forget the emla?" I totally forgot to put the numbing cream on Brooklyn's port before we left. I thought about it twice but then we were so busy getting stuff together before we left, and we had to go by the elementary school to drop off Kayla's shot records, so I completely forgot to put it on! They had some at the infusion room, so we put it on right away and just had to wait about 30 minutes before we could start her treatment. I'm pretty sure my brain is never going to be the same again. I told a friend the other day that I was just getting over 'pregnancy brain', am currently in 'chemo brain' and when this is over I'm just going to be old and not remember anything! :) Brookie did great with her chemo and with the needle again, just like she always does. She is so funny and is always concerned that the nurse is 'weally caretul' when she takes the needle out. She has never had a bad experience with it, so I'm not sure why that is what she's worried about. When we were done, we picked up lunch and went to visit with our friends that are moving to Palo Alto and then went home. My aunt had been here with the kids all morning and then took Braden home with her for the night. The kids love having one-on-one time with my mom and dad or aunt and uncle, so it is so nice when they get to do that. Kayla had her first soccer practice this afternoon so the girls and I went to that and got home about 6:00. Mike got home a little after we did and had to leave right away for his softball game. We were planning to go watch, but it was obvious Brooklyn wasn't feeling very well. She told me at one point that she had "allergies" and she could feel them in her tummy. It is so cute that she doesn't exactly know how to describe how she's feeling. A little later she said she needed a bucket to throw up, but just dry heaved. I got some of the anti-nausea medicine to give her, but it took 10 minutes of convincing and arguing to get her to take it. It is hard to explain to a 3 year old that if she takes the medicine, she will feel better. All she knows is she is tired of medicine and it doesn't taste good so she wants nothing to do with it. As soon as I finally shot it in her mouth, she started gagging and threw up. Luckily I turned her quick enough to angle her to throw up on the mat in front of the slider so she didn't throw up on the carpet in the family room. After she threw up she said she felt better and wanted to go to Mike's game, but I just took the girls up and got them in bed. It was a long week but a really good one. I love hanging out with our kids and with friends and I will miss the lazy days of summer, but it is exciting to start a new year with new friends too.