Leaping for Joy

I'm leaping for joy today.......good news on my PET scan.  This sentence is music to my ears...."No suspicious focus of hypermetabolic activity to suggest recurrent tumor or metastatic disease."  No evidence of disease!  I love it!   I see my oncologist next week for my 6 month follow-up. 

I saw this sign at Whole Foods yesterday........it helped me get through the waiting. 


Thanks for your thought, prayers and encouraging words.  It really doesn't get any easier.  Tonight I will sleep well. 


Happy Leap Day!!  Enjoy your extra day!!  :-)

Scan

Tomorrow I have my "routine" 6 month scan.  It came fast.  I have no reason to believe it will show anything but a clean report.  I'm going with that.......positive thoughts are soooo powerful.    He continues to provide me strength for my journey and I appreciate your many prayers.  Hope to have the report on Wednesday.  I'll keep you posted.......

The Arts

 Luke had an orchestra festival this weekend where he played in a woodwind ensemble for a judge. They earned a superior rating! Nice job!

 Lois was excited to use oil paints for the first time. 

Mardi Gras

Happy Mardi Gras!

 Lucky Lois found the baby in her piece of "King Cake". 

Running in the desert

Lost Dutchman Marathon from Gold Canyon to Apache Juntion at the foot of the Superstition Mountains......it's beautiful!   Last Sunday Mark ran the full 26.2 miles and I ran the 10k (6.2miles).    The weather was perfect.   Mark cramped near the end and didn't do as well as he wanted......still a 3:44 time isn't bad.   I ran my race in 59 minutes......not great, but I was happy considering I wasn't feeling so hot.....sinus conjestion.  It was a fun day with friends and feeling the energy of all the athletes. 

 Mark at the start.

 Mark along the way.

 This is the male marathon winner.......2:31.  Wow!

 This is the female marathon winner.....2:47.  She set a record.

The crazy lost dutchman still lives!!!  

Urban Art

What is this?

Urban Art

Here are the artist........2 ten year old boys bored on a Sunday afternoon. 

Again.....imagination at its finest! 

Medieval Faire

Peter & Lois' school had a Medieval Faire last Saturday. 

All the kids created their own crest. 

Here is Peter with his.

 Peter making a Robin Hood hat. 

Is that a Pied Piper?  Or maybe it's Lois Piper!?!?!? 

Exploring our World

Last Sunday we mounted our bikes and explored our world.  What did we see.......chickens, a feisty goat, a sleeping pig, a bucking horse, ducks, old tractors, rusted car, airplanes, trains, canals and fields of alfalfa! 

Fun with a Sheet

Imagination at its finest! 

Peter & his neighborhood buddy creating some fun!

Pancake 5k

Boys ran another 5k last weekend.  Pancakes at the finish line.

Lois entertaining herself while the boys ran. 

Valentine Celebrations

Last Friday night, this sweet couple went to the Daddy Daughter Valentine Dance.

 Here they are at the dance......cheesy photo op! 

 Lois at her school celebration.......chocolate fountain. 

 February 14 also happens to be the birth of Arizona as a state.....this year was 100.  Luke's 6th grade class celebrated with 100 AZ flags and cupcakes. 

Fancy valentine dinner on china, crystal and silver........gotta use it!



Go Red!

Go RED!  Heart disease is the #1 killer of women.......NOT breast cancer! As women and mothers, we are so worried about taking care of other people and sometimes forget to take good care of ourselves.  Watch this video......it's kind of funny, but so realistic.  It's only 3min....you can spare that!
http://www.goredforwomen.org/?popup=little-heart-attack

Signs of a Heart Attack:

1. Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
2. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
3. Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
4. Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
5. As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

My friend is raising money for "Go Red for Women" and the American Heart Association. 
Check out her story and consider a donation.
https://ahaphoenix.ejoinme.org/?tabid=334667&joinme=11860

She is one heck of a survivor.....here she is a "spotlight survivor" at the bottom of the page:
https://ahaphoenix.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/20112012GreaterPhoenixGoRedLuncheon/Leadership/tabid/321780/Default.aspx

No more Ranch!

I finally weaned my kids off store bought ranch dressing for their salads. I've tried many recipes and found this one that makes everyone happy.   It is also "vegan friendly" so it makes me happy, too!  Since October, my diet is somewhere between vegetarian and vegan.   I don't do dairy or eggs......they just don't make me feel good.....especially eggs.  No meat, but I do eat fish.....can't give up salmon.   I generally feel better on this diet......more energy, helps my adrenal gland, hot flashes are non-existent and my digestive track seems happier.   It's certainly not always easy, but I'm finding new ways to cook and I enjoy that adventure.   Our meal menus are not boring by any means......dessert is still important to me and I've found phenomenal vegan recipes....we enjoyed rich brownies last night! Wow!  Raw cashews are my best friend........they blend up to a rich cream.  It's amazing!    My family is on board with the changes and I hear minimal complaints which makes it sooooo easy for me.  I do still make chicken for them occasionally.....chicken noodle soup is their favorite.    We all watched the "Forks Over Knives" documentary, so they understand the direction we are headed with our diet.  Little steps at a time make the changes last!!   Give this ranch dressing a whirl!  Make sure you buy RAW cashews.....not cheap, but worth it!

Garden

Our garden is looking good this spring.  We are so spoiled with fresh garden lettuce.  When the heat comes, the lettuce is done and then the moaning begins from my children about the bitter taste of store bought lettuce.  

 This is bok choy.  First time we tried to grow it.  It's pretty easy and so tasty in stir fry.

 Snap peas.  Also easy to grow and good in stir fry.

Greens.......swiss chard and lettuce galore! 

Extractions

On Monday, Luke had his first eval with an orthodontist.  His general dentist was concerned about misaligned of permanent teeth because primary teeth had not fallen out, yet.  So he sent us to an ortho for an eval.  He confirmed the primary teeth needed to be pulled to allow the permanents to drop in.   Our general dentist happened to have an appt on Tuesday afternoon to pull all 6 teeth.  Things were moving fast. 

 Upper primary cuspids (broke in two), primary 1st molars and primary 2nd molars.  I was shocked at the size of those 2nd molars! Yikes! 

This week has been tough for Luke to eat......applesauce, yogurt, smoothies. It's getting better.  In 6 weeks he starts the real ortho process.....expander and braces!  Here we go.......$$$$.

Chef Luke

Last week Luke was looking through the pile of cookbooks from the library sitting on our kitchen counter.  He decided he was going to make our family dinner.  This was completely unprompted and his excitement made me smile.  He began to plan his menu and made me a list of items he needed from the store......complete with dessert!    He wanted to do everything himself.  Awesome......day off for mom!   Menu:  grilled tofu, Asian slaw, sweet potatoes, quinoa rolls and berry sorbet.  Wow!!  We were in for a treat!

 Chopping the sweet potatoes.

 Cutting up the quinoa rolls.

 Ta-da!!  Presentation was fabulous, too!

 Quinoa rolls.......the dipping sauce was yummy!

 Happy customer!

It was delicious!!!  Can't wait for his next creation!