Wednesday, February 16

Having a great time with the family. The weather is beautiful and I am so glad that I came out because I feel like I am helping by watching the grandkids during a somewhat stressful time. Although the news on Monday was positive, another test is scheduled for Friday. Peg headed home last night so I am the sole baby sitter for the rest of the week. Trish and Chad also have quite a few horses racing this week which makes for a lot of work. Tonight was a good night with 3 of their horses taking first and the others finishing in the money. I took Luke to his basketball practice. It was very entertaining. Each and every one of the 3 to 5 year olds were having the best time. I think it has been very good for Luke as far as his social and listening skills but not so sure he is improving his basketball skills. We ended the evening with a visit to the Dairy Queen. Tomorrow Lily has to go back to Philadelphia for an injection for the scan on Friday.

Monday, February 14

A very uncrowded boardwalk.

I think I like "sand angels" better than "snow angels" but we love our Luke angel!!

Grandma was digging a hole to China. At least that is what she told Luke when he asked.

Who needs binoculars when you can chase the sea gulls and get a closer look.

The "Shirley Temple" with extra cherries, think this one must have been a little sour.

Made it out to Dover. Left Sunday morning at 6:30, a little later than usual and I seemed a little more tired than usual. Guess those tournament games on Saturday wore me out. We also have been dealing with some problems with my parents. Dad managed to escape from the assisted living facility, not once but twice and he took a swing at a nurse. It has been decided that it is time to move him to the Alzheimer's unit in the other building. Mom did not handle it the greatest but seems to be enjoying herself a little more without the worry of knowing where Dad might be. I had dinner with her on Saturday night and she was working a jig saw puzzle when I got there.

Today, Grandma Peg and I went on a date with Luke. Trish and Chad and Lily had an appointment in Philadelphia with the oncologist to find out the results of the Friday MRI. Our date started with breakfast at IHOP where we stuffed ourselves with pancakes. We then headed down to Rehobeth beach. The sun came out and the temperatures were nearing 65 degrees while we were there. Peg put her stuff down and made herself comfortable lying on the beach while Luke and I checked out the sea gulls and tested the water temps. Brrrrr, too cold to go wading. We were nervously awaiting news from Trish and Chad about Lily's test results.

Finally, at about 2:30 we got the phone call. The MRI showed normal results with no new neuroblastomas. They did learn that Lily has to go for a MIGB scan on Friday that they didn't know about. Lily has to go Wednesday to be injected with radio active isotope tracers that will attach themselves to any neuroblastoma cells. When they do the scan on Friday it will give the oncologist a better idea of what course of treatment needs to be taken. So keep those prayers coming.

After we got the news from Trish we went to the Green Turtle, a restaurant with an oceanfront view of the beach. Luke had a "Shirley Temple" with extra cherries and a Turtle tender wrap while Peg and I both got the Turkey flatbread sandwich with raspberry jam. It was delicious!! We headed home and met up with Trish, Chad and Lily. It was a good day!

Thursday, February 10

Mr. Bichler during his last physical therapy session at Dodd Hall, February 9, 2008. Today, 2011 he will be coaching his team in their semi-final game against Grandview for a chance to play in the Mid-State League Championship. Hard to believe he has come this far!!

Boy is it cold out and getting colder by the minute. As we head into tournament season, I have been reading my blog entries from 2 years ago and it was 2 years ago today that Mr. B was discharged from Dodd Hall. It was interesting reading about our stay in the Independent Living Unit to see how we would do when we got home. I remember that I was very nervous about going home because Andy still didn't have his bone flap and was still wearing a helmet. He hated wearing it as I remember. It is so hard to think about everything that we were going through at the time. When I hear a news blurb about Gabrielle, the congress woman that was shot, it brings a lot of memories rushing back. I certainly sympathize with their family. I know the progress she is making is huge but I also know that the reality is that she is no where near the person she once was and probably never will be. Life will never be the same for their family. But as we all know, life is constantly changing, sometimes more abruptly than we expect, but changing all the same. If we are to survive we must learn to adapt. Learn to live in the moment, seek out happiness and wallow in it. With God beside me, who can be against me. My daily prayer, "God give me patience and help me through this day".

Sunday, January 16

Early morning on the Little Darby

Downy woodpecker.

White-throated sparrow

One of my favorite birds of winter, the song sparrow.

This morning, like clockwork, my 19+ year old cat woke me at 6 a.m. demanding to be fed. I complied against my will, with eyes only partly open and then found my way back to bed. Five minutes later the meowing began, loudly as she is 19 and deaf, evidently not happy with my choice of shredded tuna and egg. I got up, but on principle, I refused to feed her again. I instead decided I would watch the day begin from the comforts of our hot tub overlooking the Little Darby. This morning was especially still outside. Cold and still. Most mornings the sounds from the interstate drift upstream, but not this morning. The first audible sound was the clear thin 2 note fee bee of a Carolina Chickadee. The sun was just peeking above the horizon and lighting the morning sky. A squirrel was chattering in a tree and the rustling beneath the tree suggested that another gray squirrel was getting a little too close to his cache of nuts. The birds, that until now had been silent and invisible, were flying in one by one, snatching a sunflower seed and retreating into the early morning opaqueness. First a tufted titmouse, then the chickadee followed by a downy woodpecker. Soon our blue spruce was edged by the outlines of house finches, brilliant cardinals and song sparrows. The feeding picked up in pace before settling into a steady fly in and fly out pattern. By now the warmth of the sun has roused the sleepiest of creatures. All are going about their day as they usually do. They fly, they sing, they scamper and scoot. They do not worry about what tomorrow will bring. Their only concern is to live today and in that reality, whether it be harsh or serene, they find happiness. (Luke 12:24-28)

This morning was brought to you by a loving God.

Tuesday, January 11

Trumpeter Swans on a wintery day.

Our new Mexican wolf sisters.

After an uneventful 8 1/2 hour drive back home Sunday, I am back to shoveling snow and today I finally took down our Christmas tree. Today was zoo day, but I didn't see any guests while I was there. I also didn't see any prairie dogs but I did ask the timber wolves if they had seen any. They weren't talking. Lost a close one last night at Grandview, 34-33, Mr. B told too many bad jokes to the officials and he got thrown out. Guess I have to take the blame for the loss. No practice tonight since school let out early. Stay warm everyone!

Friday, January 7

In the pool and ready to go.

Swimming with my teacher, and I even waited for my turn.

Using a kick board and working on my kicking skills.

Finished with my class and going up the stairs and heading to the locker room.

This morning we awoke to a nice dusting of snow. Our little Lily has been sick. The last 2 days she had been doing better but last night she was throwing up again. This morning Trish took her to her pediatrician while I took Luke to his swimming lesson. The doctor said that it doesn't appear to be a virus as she has no fever but to keep an eye on her. This afternoon she seems better and is now taking a nice long nap. Luke and I had a great day. His swimming lesson went great. He didn't seem to appear on any one's roster so they put him in a class with 3 other boys his age and he did really well. He was swimming on his back as well as the front crawl. He loved the end where they got to jump in the pool to the noodle. His teacher let them do an animal jump the second time around and he did an elephant jump. After swimming we went to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and more fun. He is now sleeping and may not wake until tomorrow morning.

Wednesday, January 5

Check out the shooting form, and tonight he did much better waiting for his turn in line

Some stretching exercises before practice starts.

His dribble may be just a tad too high, but he sure looks cute!

Luke's fan club. Lily enjoyed watching all the action in the gym.

Soccer practice last night and as you can see there were kids everywhere.

I arrived in Dover, De right around 2:30 pm. on Monday. I made very good time, the weather was clear and very pretty and the traffic was very light the entire trip. Luke was waiting and watching for me from the window and as soon as I got there he was asking if I had his Christmas presents. We immediately had to unload the car and tear into all of the new toys and games. I used to worry that because I do not see him on regularly that he would forget me or treat me like a stranger when he first see me each time. God bless him, he acts like it was just yesterday and we pick up right where we left off. Yesterday we took his Gator for a spin around the block and then we had soccer practice in the evening. Both of those were adventures and quite entertaining. Luke is not really into the instructional part of team sports just yet but he did pretty good, I guess! Depends on who is looking at it. If I were the coach, I would feel a little differently than I do as a Grandmother. He did really good during the drink break and at the end when they ran from one end of the gym to the other.

This morning, around 6:30 am, I heard footsteps coming into my room and in he came, crawled into bed and slept beside me. He slept in until around 9, guess that soccer wore him out. That plus the fact that he stayed up with me to watch the OSU game. He had basketball practice tonight at the Y. He had the same coach as last night at soccer, Coach Josh, whom I am sure is not getting paid enough for coaching 3-5 year olds in soccer and basketball. But he seems pretty oblivious to the chaos and lack of listening skills as he moves around the gym to watch them as they work on dribbling, passing and shooting. It is pretty cold here, around 30, with a chance of snow Thursday and Friday. I'm having a great time with Luke and Lily and it seems very relaxing. Mr. B won his game last night and I think he enjoys the independence of staying at home.