On Saturday April 30th, Mom, Tanya and Chris told me we were going to Muse for supper. When we went to drop the kids off at Grandma’s to look after them there were a bunch of people there yelling Surprise! Everyone managed to pull off a surprise party for my 40th birthday. There were lots of friends there and we had a great night. I was definitely surprised and had a great party visiting with everyone. Rumour has it that Karlee might have had some knowledge of the party, but Ryley knew as much as I did. Karlee was a little scared when everyone yelled surprise, but recovered and both kids had a good party!Sunday night we went to see Travis’s band, But We Digress, play in the Axe Music Weekend Warrior gig at the King’s Head. There were 4 bands playing and Travis was up first. Their band was excellent playing a bunch of great 70s songs. Who knew Travis could actually sing? Travis had a great showing of support from the scout group and from his work. The second band wasn’t that great, but the 3rd band was excellent too. I used to work with the guitar player at EDS and they did a great selection of 80s songs. It was really nice to get out an listen to some live music.
The first week of May was the start of the soccer season. Ryley is playing on Tuesday and Thursday nights with a core group of players from last season. They have managed to not have any games not rained (or snowed) out yet this year. Ryley is enjoying himself this year more than last year I think. Karlee has started her first season of soccer and plays Saturday mornings. She has already had one game rained out. It really cuts the season short when you only have 9 games and you miss a few due to weather. Karlee is enjoying herself, but is still a little timid around the ball. I’m sure she will get over that pretty quick and she will be fine.
Thursday was the Astral Day of Caring Radiothon. I took the day off and we all went up to Market Mall to see people and support the KCCFA. Grandma came with us. We had a fun time visiting with other families and the KCCFA staff. The radiothon raised $225,000 for the Kids Cancer Care Foundation. Thank you to everyone who came out to support us or pledged money!
The Saturday before Mother’s Day I got to see Travis’s band play again, this time way up in the northeast. They were playing in a pretty small little pub, but once again they did a great job and had the place rockin’. They added a couple of new songs which they performed very well.
Mother’s Day we did something completely different this year. The Kids Cancer Care Foundation put on a Rock and Roll Mother’s Day at Camp Kindle, because “Our Mother’s Rock!” Grandma came out to camp with us and we had a nice drive out taking in some beautiful scenery. We had a nice brunch and then the kids went off to do a craft for their Mom’s while the adults mingled and worked on our air band routines. We all headed down to the music room where they had a band playing rock and roll. We then went up one group at a time and did a little air band routine. We did You Really Got Me by Van Halen. It was fun and everyone had a good time up there with the band playing. On the way home we stopped in Cochrane for some ice cream. It was a really nice Mother’s Day.Tuesday was Karlee’s first clinic day during the maintenance phase. She did her blood work on Monday and her counts came back great so we were good to go on Tuesday. Karlee didn’t have to be up there until 1pm which was a nice change. She was supposed to go in, get accessed, see a doctor, get the chemo and be on her way home within an hour. Of course, as always, nothing goes according to plan. It took longer to see a doctor than normal and then the chemo was late. They didn’t get out of there until 4 in the afternoon. It was nurses week this week so Jennifer took up a bunch of slippers for the girls. It is nice to be able to recognize the nurses for all the incredible stuff they do for Karlee and for us all year long! They are really an incredible group of people who are the most caring, competent and loving people out there. They have made this journey so much more bearable by looking after us and Karlee.
Karlee is again on the steroids for 5 days after clinic day. The first 2 days after chemo she seems to wake up regularly at night crying. We are not sure what is causing it, but is appears to be a side effect she suffers with Vincristine. She has also started eating more due to the steroids. With all the extra eating she did last month she only managed to gain 1 pound. Hopefully she puts on a few pounds so we can get her into a booster seat for the car.
Friday night the A Cappella Fellas did a fund raiser for the Kids Cancer Care Foundation at MacEwan Hall at the University of Calgary. They donated 30 tickets to the KCCFA and we were fortunate enough to get 4. When we got there the kids favourite volunteer, Ashley, was there so they were both happy. They had 3 local artists opening for them and they were all great. It was the first time I have ever seen an electric ukulele. After intermission where Ashley put our kids to work handing out flyers the A Cappella Fellas took the stage. They were excellent and did a wonderful job entertaining everyone. They did a very eclectic set spanning the 60s up to now. If you ever have a chance to catch these guys live (or buy their CD) do it as they are worth it!We are getting pretty excited about some upcoming events. We are going to Kanaskis this Wednesday with Jamie’s Preschool. We are going to take Ryley out of school that day so he can join Karlee. Mom is going to stay back and work and paint the bathroom. Dad is taking a vacation day and gets to spend a little alone time with the kids. The long weekend is the KCCFA family camp so everyone is excited about that!
No comments:
Post a Comment