The Guilty Party

If you have followed this blog for any amount of time

you'll know that Reese often gets the short end of the stick.

I have this Mommy guilt-- if Kean is sick, I'll tell her

to go play quietly while I deal with him.

Her birthday's have followed suit.

We've cancelled a birthday party, held

an extremely small one in an extra room in the hospital

and if I'm being honest, for the parties we have had,

they have been as easy as I could make them.

This year, I decided to try and make up for my

short changing her (and the fallout from Kean's cancer).

We sent out invitations for her friends to come to

Barker Spy Training Academy

(they even had to have a secret password to get in).

Once at the party, they got their "dossiers"

and had to make their Spy Identification cards- complete with

fingerprints, height, weight, photos and an undercover name

(Reese's was Mimi Skyline-- her pet's first name/her street name for her last).

 Of course, they had to get sunglasses, fake moustaches

and explosives (Pop Rocks).

 Once they finished their ID badges, they went into the girls' bedroom

to retrieve the presents-- only to find they'd been stolen!!!

Oh, no!

 They had to decipher their first clue-- that basically told them

if they wanted to solve the Birthday Present Heist, they

had to undergo Spy Training.

 Off they went first for "Mind Sharpening" where they had

to remember as many items as possible on a tray.

 Then it was outside for physical training-- 

 which of course, included a few runs down the "escape hatch".

 Next it was "Weapons Training"-- squirt gun

wars with targets on their backs.

 And finally, Bomb Detonation... where they found

clues that led them to a puzzle...

 they had to put together of a map showing

where they could find the stolen presents.

 You'll never guess who the culprits were!!!

Actually, who was harboring the contraband!

Our dear sweet neighbors, the Bodilys- and they 

played it up perfectly.

 Once the girls found their presents stashed

at the Bodily's, they brought them home,

opened them up

 and had the most delicious spy refreshments you've ever seen.

I got smart this year and traded a gallon of blackberries to 

my friend, Lori Renn (the Cupcake Lady).

She made Salted Caramel and Red Velvet.

Yes, you sure should be salivating.

 Then it was back to the ol' escape hatch

until parents came.

Reese was thrilled.

I'm exhausted -- probably from working off all that guilt.

But it was worth it.

Phew!

Reunited

So Kean woke up feeling rather lousy after his big Chemo day yesterday.

But... he sure turned a corner once we got him outside.

I tell you, that boy loves the great outdoors.

We finally (don't get me started) got his new therapy

tricycle put together (thanks Trent for the help).

And off we went today.

We rode down to our neighbor, Grandpa Bodily's driveway.

Which sure brought back the ol' memories of the countless

hours we spent doing "lawn mower" therapy -- trying to

get that little boy to walk.

This time, Grandpa Bodily is on a cane and I figure

this tricycle therapy is as good for him as it is for Kean.

 Right now Kean's ankles and legs aren't quite strong enough

to pedal the trike by himself but I'm told his legs going round and round

as we push the contraption is still good for building up muscles.

Bet you can guess what we'll be doing every day from here on out.

Momentous

Yep.  

That's what today was.

Momentous.

Today marked our last Chemo in the clinic day.

We still have one big hospital sedation Chemo to go next month

and then home Chemo until September 13th--

but today was the final through his port.

Crazy.

I can barely get my head around it.

I all too clearly remember the day he was inducted and they told

us it would be a 3 year 2 month Chemotherapy protocol.

I couldn't even imagine surviving that long, let alone getting to the end.

Yet, here we are.

And surprisingly, we somehow made it to quite near the finish line.

 And as if today wasn't special enough, everything at the hospital clinic

went about as perfect as we could ask for.

Kean's port gave us only a few minutes of trouble (we almost always

have problems getting his blood to flow).

Since we were just in less than two weeks ago, there wasn't a long

list of things to talk over with the doctor-- so that was quick

not easy, but quick.

I thought you'd enjoy getting a glimpse of what it is like for the

Doc to try and check him.

 Yep, I death grip his hands, the doc checks him, while

the nurse holds his kickers, I mean, his legs.

Trust me, he is way stronger than you can imagine.

 My friend Sally Giles works double time to keep 

him entertained while the doctor goes over stuff with me.

It is a huge team effort!

 We didn't even have to wait long for the pharmacy to "cook' his Chemo.

I tell ya, it was a banner day.

We finished up and got home about 1 1/2  to 2 hours earlier

than normal.

 But we couldn't leave before getting to play with

the hospital therapy dog, Lucy Mae.

Another biggie down.

Now to just get through this next week of the side effects and

those lovely Steroids.

Can you imagine what his life will be like when he feels good everyday?

Robert Redford

So get this.

Kean had his best day ever at his little therapy school today.

His therapists were almost giddy as they told me how he dazzled

AND how he was nice to the other two kids (even sharing).

Perhaps we will survive Kindergarten.

Here's the funny part, two of his therapists decided he looked like Robert Redford

with his tousled blonde hair (and his dapper outfit).

We all thought that was quite funny until his Occupational Therapist

told us she had never heard of Robert Redford.

What the?

To try and drown our sorrows of feeling so old after that comment,

we went over to the Moomey's for one incredibly delicious dinner.

Holland and Greer left for church Girls' Camp this morning-- so dinner was

a bit quieter than usual.

After dinner and dessert, Elly took Kean outside to

play ball with Pete, the dog.

 That is one crazy dog-- and one crazy boy who loves

to watch the crazy dog.

 Kean kind of has this obsession with Pete.

Poor Pete, I'm sure he is quite relieved when that kid who 

chases him all over the house and yard finally leaves.

I think they'll both sleep soundly tonight!

p.s.  tomorrow is heavy Chemo at the hospital.

Can you believe this is our second to last big Chemo?

Pinch me, pinch me, pinch me.

Whoa....

We had one of those rock and roll weeks.

On Wednesday night, some friends of ours came up from Buhl, Idaho.

The Benson's youngest daughter -- just like Kean has that

double whammy:  Down's and cancer.

We got all the kids pizza while the adults went out

for a much deserved night out.

 The next morning, we joined the Benson's and two other cancer families

for a day up in the mountains for white water rafting.

 We had the absolute best time--- we are friends with

all these families and love being together.

 There is this organization, River Discovery that takes

cancer families out on the water for the entire day.

It is pretty close to heaven-- relaxing at times-- thrilling at others.

With beautiful scenery all along the way.

Reese didn't even make it ten minutes on the bus back to our cars.

I just wish I could have pulled that off.

 As if we didn't have enough excitement, we pulled off

on the way home and spent a half hour at our favorite

river side beach.

I don't know where the kids get their energy

rafting all day, rock diving on the way home.

 We got home in time for my cousins to pull in from out of state

for a quick over night stay.

I'm bummed I didn't get any pictures

because we love, love, love these cousins.

They left Friday morning.

Friday night, Byron and I sneaked out for a quick date night.

 We headed up to The Village complex

where we listened to live music and

checked in on our Baldapalooza booth.

We are just over one month away.

It is going to be epic (to quote Greer).

 Oh, and in between all that, we've picked over thirty gallons of

Blackberries.

Our little Kean wouldn't eat a thing for dinner tonight

(other than 8 grapes)

but I did get him to down a Blackberry milkshake

filled with three tablespoons of cornstarch.

The ones we had -- had to taste much better than his.

But he still downed it.

This boy.  Can't wait for him to be off all these drugs

that sure mess with him.

You Decide

This little monkey.

I can't decide if he should be considered an angel or a devil.

 Last night a friend came by to pick up some blackberries.

Kean was across the room while she told me about her

mother being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer

and then falling and breaking her arm in the middle of

her Chemo treatment.

Out of the blue, Kean gets up, comes across the room and

into the kitchen where we were, goes to her, reaches up and

gives her the sweetest hug.

It is as if he has-- not a Spidey Sense but an Angel Sense.

 As if to make up for that sweet moment and

give us a little counter balance, he woke up 

at 3:30 this morning-- ready for the day.

There was no way he was going back to sleep

(or letting Byron and I get some zzzzz's).

You'll have to call it.

I'm too tired.

"Happy Birthday Cake"

We celebrated Reese's ninth birthday this weekend.

Still trying to figure out how that little munchkin can be

growing up so fast.

She had quite the sweet start to her day-

Reese has been dying to take gymnastic lessons.

A friend of a friend has offered to come over to the house

and teach Reese (along with her own two daughters)

lessons on Saturday mornings.

 Her name is Summer Nielsen and she couldn't be kinder--

or better at teaching.

We were all amazed to see how much Reese improved

in just an hour.

She loved every second but pretty much wore herself out.

 Then it was birthday party time.

Byron's cousin and his wife were in town for dinner

so that was a treat.

Silly me forgot to take any pictures of them or dinner--

just Reese with some of her presents.

 I'm not sure what she enjoyed more--

presents or phone calls from our family or...

  Kean telling her "Happy Birthday Cake"

when she went to blow out her candles.

We sure adore this little girl

and all the joy she brings to our family.

Happy 9th year, little one.

Reunion Time

Today was blast from the past today.

Yesterday, a group of us went down to our local NBC station

for a segment on Baldapalooza.  The morning anchor there

just so happens to be married to a gal I worked with at my 

first TV station in Las Vegas.

Today, Tonia Ellis Petcash dropped by the house for a visit

and a get-caught-up-conversation.

Small, small world, eh?

 But wait, there's more.

About this time last year, you may remember we got a request

to go and meet a group of local bikers who were heading up to

Sun Valley.

Every year, about 500 to 600 bikers gather there to escort

the bus load of children with cancer to Camp Rainbow Gold.

Nate Peters asked to meet Kean before they made the trip

to get a little inspiration.

We instantly fell in great like with Nate Peters and have kept

in touch (in fact, he's over the stage logistics for Baldapalooza).

This afternoon, he drove out to the house on his Harley

to give the boy a little spin.

 How lucky are we to be surrounded by so many great friends!

Kean should sleep well tonight...dreaming of things that go vroom.