Thankful

As most people in the normal world are relishing the next two days off before going back to work, my work week is just beginning. But that's ok, because we've had a pretty darn good Thanksgiving this year.  And I need to go to work to avoid eating the rest of the pumpkin pie and strawberry pretzel dessert in the house. 

This holiday was low key. Just me and the kids, my mom and John, and sister Kate and niece Abby came over for turkey and fixings.  Personally, I could have gone for some authentic Mexican food and avoided the turkey and potatoes all together, but I'm a sucker for tradition. And tradition calls for turkey.   

And football. And movies with the kids.  

A special shout out to my hubs and all the Police, Fire and Healthcare personnel who worked and missed the day with their families. Fortunately Brian was able to come home and eat with us during his shift!  

This year I started something I would like to become a tradition for our family.  Tonight we prepared and served a meal to the families at the Longfellow House, one of the Ronlad McDonald Houses that serves the families of patients at Children's Mercy.

 I have never been a Black Friday shopper. I like to browse when I shop and don't really like crowds of people when I'm doing so. I don't begrudge anyone who is a gung-ho shopper. Some of my best friends have perfected the art of conquering the biggest shopping day of the year. Just not me.  

And after all of the good things and awesome gifts bestowed upon our family this year, I really wanted to pay it forward.  So the kids and I, Hailey's sweet friend Carly, my Mom, my Dad and Teresa, my sister Kate and niece Abby and two of Kate's lovely firefighter friends; Kelsey and Marie, joined us in doing just that.  And though my other sister Kim and her family couldn't join us, they helped contribute.

I'm so grateful to have the family I do that was willing to do this with me.  A special thanks to all of them!   

 

The families raved about the cheeseburgers-I know it was the good, small farm grown beef from the 1/2 cow we just got from a friend whose dad is a farmer. 

And the baked beans my mom made were a huge hit, one family almost took the whole roaster!

They were very thankful for the salad and fruit tray, as I know how hard it is to eat healthy when you're stressed out with a kid in the hospital.  And how easy not to. 

It wasn't much, a few hours out of our day and a few dollars out of our pockets. But the feeling of being able to provide a nutritious meal to a parent worried about a sick kid, let alone the financial burden of it, was priceless. 

To have the big brother of a little guy come tell us "thank you for making us hamburgers. Cause I really love hamburgers and those were the best ever!"  As he and his sisters and Dad grabbed a bite to eat while Mom sat watch over their ill sibling. 

To know exactly how all those parents feel and to be thankful for the folks who provided me a meal while I was in that position. 

To instill in my children the importance of giving back and volunteering. 

How better a way to spend Thanksgiving? 

Everyone who helped wants to do it again, so my sister and I are going to start a monthly meal service to the house. We will pick a set day every month, and if you are interested and want to help, the more the merrier. Look for info on my FB page or Ethan's World FB page soon!  

Because after all, if it weren't for that special little bald guy, I wouldn't be able to begin to understand what some of these families go through.  And I've said so often, and truly believe, we were given that boy for a reason, and to have some of the most amazing people enter our lives because of him has been the biggest blessing of all. 

So aside from the usual thankfulness for my job, my continued cancer-free health, my hard-working including-40-hours-off-duty-during-a-holiday-week hubby, my amazing two older kids, my family-near  and far, and all of the wonderful friends we have in our lives, I am this year most thankful for another year with the bald kid. 

Thankful for everyone instrumental in getting us to Boston.  

To find a place that gave us hope and options when we had none.  

Thankful to have brought him home from Boston with a fixed heart. 

Thankful to tuck him in bed each night with his light up dog and Taylor Swift CD. 

Thankful to be able to smother his bald head with kisses any time I want to. 

Thankful to be that little bald guy's mom. 

Kelsey, Marie and Kate. With Hailey and Carly photobombing

Kelsey loving on Ethan-and him totally milking it!!

Parker making the burgers 

Hailey and Carly making the desserts

Mom and Abby's turn at the burger making

Grandpa and Ethan 

The gang in the big rocker 

Getting settled

Well, we've been in the house for 2 weeks now and are down to just about a dozen boxes left to go through.  Not too shabby. We should even be able to park all the cars in the garage by this weekend!  Woo-hoo!  

Flashback to moving day, and we would never recommend MOOvers moving company, ever.  We paid a flat fee for 29 items and 100 boxes, knowing we were taking all our own clothes, all of Ethan's items, and other stuff. They were to move living room furniture, refrigerator, grill, washer/dryer, my pie safe, and a couple of other pieces including a couple of antiques.  Their policy states they take the beds apart and then put them back together.  Lets just say it's real hard to put a bed back together when you leave all of the hardware at the old house.....and the grill, and a very heavy vase I specifically asked them to move.  And they clearly couldn't count, because they moved only 21 items and then wanted to argue about it. Well, I'm no genius, but I can count to 29. They did refund us some money, but the way they left the new house put us so far behind on moving day, I admit, it made me a bit crazy. 

Thank goodness this is our last move until retirement. If it weren't for our friends Mike and Tricia Vulje-BTW Tricia was our realtor- and Aaron Kohrs, we would still have stuff at the old house!  They did a way better job than the paid movers!!  Love you guys-and many thanks!  If you ever need an awesome real estate agent-Tricia Vulje with Reece and Nichols is your gal!  She's a full-service realtor, mover, painter, and brings her hubby and kids to help!!

And we finally got living room furniture-and I already got a neon piece of green gum stuck to it last night. Thank goodness for fabric protector and Google instructions how to remove gum from fabric. FYI-Butane is the answer....

And I've cut the tags off since this pic. 

Frankie looks sad because he knows this furniture is NOT for him to get on. 

He was not very happy.  Spoiled dog. 

We knew we wanted to use Parker's old bed for Ethan in the new house, so with a coat of paint and the awesome handy work of my Dad and Teresa and her parents, Ethan has a "brand new" bed!

From this....

To this...

We love it, and so does the bald kid!

Parker's football season is over, though Staley varsity is still in the running for state. He tried out for basketball this week, but sadly, did not make the team. He's ok with it, he will run track in the spring and wants to spend the winter months rebuilding his strength from his collar bone break with lifting and putting on some weight for football next year.  He goes back to the Ortho surgeon on Friday for a final X-ray and hopefully official release. 

Hailey's club VB season is starting, and we are really excited for her first year with this new club-Pride. Her coach is hard core, believes in good nutrition, strength and conditioning and has a food/work-out plan that we are all going to follow as a family!  She is going to be playing some awesome tournaments, including the Northern Lights one in Minnesota!  

Ethan's Special Olympics bowling season is over for now, we are looking forward to next year for sure. 

We need to find a pair of little bowling shoes and a cool bowling shirt for him to rock. 

I had my lab draw and shot at the cancer center this week, go back next week for results and visit with my NP.    I've had some really funky pain in my bones over the last month, so lots of labs got drawn this time. I may have some scans done this week or next, depending on the results. I'm sure it's nothing, as the chemo I was on-even a year later-can be causing this type of pain. I could actually have it forever, and though that's not the answer I wanted, it could be worse, and I can deal with a little chronic pain. Just means I need to take better care of myself, thus the clean eating and sugar cut has got to start and stick!  Tomorrow's dinner is a white bean, quinoa and kale soup I found from a friend's FB page. I can't wait to try it-thanks Joely!  My sleeping has been terrible, but I've started using  lavender DoTerra oil on my feet and a couple drops on my pillow lately, and I've had crazy good sleep-with no need for Ambien!!  Thanks Kate and Angie!  

The last couple of weeks have been especially hard on my work family, and I've spent them with a few more tears, but a lot more appreciation for the people in my life.  My friend and co-worker lost her husband to leukemia.  Travis was just 36 years old, and leaves behind Tara and his two young children. 

I can't imagine what my life would be like without Brian, especially for my children. Tara is strong, but losing her high school love, and father of her children is a terrible tragedy. Some of their friends and family are doing a raffle fundraiser of some gorgeous KC Chiefs prints on tin. If you are interested in helping this family, and maybe winning a cool tin pic of our 8-0 Chiefs, let me know and I will get you to the right person. If you are able to help, any monetary donation is greatly appreciated by the Martinez family. 

You can go to www.giveforward.com and type 'Travis Martinez' in the search box-it will take you to the Memorial Benefit page. 




Another friend and co-worker will be waging a battle for her life starting today, as Ashley Stockwell was diagnosed with breast cancer and begins her chemo. I will be wearing pink for my friend, and now sister, by the bonds of this terrible disease.  Ashley just turned 30, and her Mom and Dad are not local.  And though she has a lot of friends to help and support her, it will not be an easy road. Aside from the financial burden a cancer diagnosis brings, I know many days I only got out of bed and put on a happy face for my family and friends. I'm so thankful for them, because it would have been easy to wallow in the pity. Ashley is tough, and already has her game face on for this fight, but I feel a very personal responsibility to help her as much as I can. One of my biggest supporters, and best friends, and also a co-worker, Carissa, and I will be working on a fundraiser-or a few-for Ashley.  I already have another friend working on a breast cancer awareness/Ashley's Fight t-shirt we will be selling, with all proceeds going towards Ashley's mounting medical expenses. A Meal Train will be set up soon, and Operation "Stock Stockwell's Fridge" will be underway next week. So look for a list of her likes/dislikes on my FB and blog page soon if you'd like to help. Ashley is a very private person, and we clearly know I'm not. She has not asked for anything, and all of these are the brain children of myself and those who care about her. I will not share her private medical treatment details, as that is for her to do, but I will keep you updated with her progress as she starts kicking this cancer's ass!

I will be making and selling pink ribbon pins for $2 each to wear in honor of Ashley and all others fighting this fight! I will post pics tomorrow.   All proceeds will go to Ashley.  And any NKCH peeps who see this and can help, she will be in need of PTO.  I was only able to work part-time for 5 months during my treatment, and every little bit helps. You can go online to our intranet to donate.  If everyone donated just 1-2 hours, we could ensure she would continue to get a paycheck during her treatment. I don't have a lot of hours, but I will be donating-so can you!!

Oh, and in case you missed it-Boston won the World Series!!

Woo-hoo Sox!!

Ethan sporting his Boston shirt and Green Monster hat bought at Landsdowne outside of Fenway!

And my nephew Kellen is obviously a fan!

His hat came all the way from Boston too!

And our annual Halloween at the Gunthers was a success-Ethan's last minute clown costume was not my best work-but he still looks pretty cute. You can tell he was thrilled. 

I was warned that next year he needs a 'more grown up' costume....

To show our thanks for the good things we received this year, my family will be providing a meal at the Longfellow Ronald McDonald House the end of this month.  We were fortunate to only have spent a short amount of time at the Yawkey House while in Boston, but we greatly appreciated the meals local companies and restaurants provided us and the other families there.  You can only eat so much cafeteria food, and eating out gets so expensive, this means a lot to me to be able to help. I am thankful to have my sisters, Moms, and a dear family friend willing to pay it forward with me. 

Don't just be thankful this month, there is a reson every day of the year to give thanks. 

I am thankful to have another day to share our crazy lives with all of you!