The End of the School Year

Kate and Anna finished up school on Friday at 11.42 a.m.  I feel like throwing a celebration party that we were all able to successfully make it through this school year :)

In reflecting on how the year started (Kate crying just about every day we dropped her off; Anna being admitted to the hospital on the first day of school for a neutropenic fever; Anna still requiring two more cycles of chemo and all the craziness and chaos THAT involved), I think I can safely say that we are ending the school year in a much better place than when we started.

The last couple of weeks of school were peppered with several special activities, for all three kids.

One morning, Kate's class performed a series of skits for parents; Kate had such a nice group of kids in her class this year.  She is an easy kid to get along with and so made quite a few friends over the course of the year.

Kate also had Kindergarten Field Day, a handful of extra recesses, different schedules, assemblies, the all school walk (1-mile!), etc.  The afternoons and evenings were challenging for her some days.  She was tired, but also needed some extra space so that she could just play and unwind at the end of a busy day.

Kate recognized how much she learned this year, too.  She loves reading books to Ethan these days, as well as reading whatever else she can get her hands on.  The other day during prayers, she thanked God for helping her learn how to read.  I never would have thought of that, but apparently she did.

Anna also had a variety of extra activities at school.  Third grade picnic/field day, field trip to the Intermediate school, camping day, etc.  Coming after the wish weekend, it was a bit of a whirlwind.

But she did it!  During her second grade year, Anna had two and a half cycles of chemotherapy, three neutropenic fevers, two sedated MRIs, port removal surgery, clinic appointments, vision appointments, and probably hundreds of therapy appointments.  She only went to school for half days in the fall, and missed several days all together in September, October, and November because of hospitalizations and/or appointments.  Even since February, she has missed out on the first 2 hours of school every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

However, she still loves school and enjoys learning.  She can certainly hold her own in the math curriculum; and though her reading is technically considered grade level, her reading stamina isn't on par with her peers yet.  Her writing is coming along, but it will take a bit longer to make up for the lost time and skills learned.

Anna's teachers, therapists, and helpers liked working with her, even though she caused them a lot of extra paperwork.  And although she doesn't exactly have "normal" almost-eight-year-old friendships, she still has friends.

In looking towards the fuller house that summer brings, I put forth extra effort to spend some special time with Ethan in the last few weeks.  We stopped at a few different parks on the way home from running errands, just to play for 20 minutes or so; we had picnic lunches out on the backyard tower; and we made a point of celebrating National Donut Day together :)

Ethan finished up his class at The Little Gym, complete with a show week that Matt was able to attend for about 15 minutes, completely spur-or-the-moment.  Ethan burst into tears when he realized that Matt wasn't staying for the whole class :(  Ethan loves his dad and anything his dad does, including looking through Farm and Fleet flyer.

Often times during the day Ethan will say to me, "Where's my dad?"  Or "I miss my dad when he's at work.  I love him."  He's such a sweet boy.

My garden goal prior to school letting out was to have everything planted, fruit trees thinned and fruit bagged, and leaf mulch on everything possible.  With Matt's help, we met that goal ... whew!  Now I feel like we can have a couple of weeks to get adjusted to the summer routines before the produce starts rolling in :)

I cannot express just how much I am looking forward to this summer ... to actually having a SUMMER with our kids and being able to enjoy the moments for what they are.  We have been pushing and working so hard for the last 18 months that the idea of having even half a day to sit back and relax and do activities with our kids sounds like paradise.

Of course there will be tears, and appointments, and hard times, and frustrations, and boredom, BUT it will be NOTHING compared to last summer.

Time for prayers

Thanksgiving
Please thank God that Anna's wish weekend was successful, even if we had a rough start.
Please give thanks for all of the teachers and school staff who have worked with our girls this last school year; I can't imagine what the year would have been like if we didn't have such wonderful staff in our district.
Please thank God that everyone in our family is healthy right now.
Please give thanks for relatively relaxing summer schedules and the opportunity to enjoy life at a different pace.

Requests
Please pray that Anna continues to make progress in all of her skills.
Please ask God to bless our family's summer together, that we have the opportunity to make good memories.
Please continue to pray for all those working with Anna and our family.  Many fewer people are involved as school lets out, but there are still many who could use God's peace, patience, wisdom, and strength.
Please continue to pray for wisdom, peace, patience, strength, and rest for each of us in our family.

Thanks, as always, for your prayers and support.

Anna's Wish Trip Adventure - Part 7 - Reflection

As I have said countless times, the trip was good.  It was probably the perfect wish for Anna.

Anna loves spending time with the people she cares about, but doesn’t often get to see her extended family.  When she was hospitalized last year, everyone came out to visit her, but she doesn’t remember any of it.  I'm not even sure she remembers family visits from last summer and fall.  The last time she remembers seeing her cousins was about two years ago.

Anna is also a “giver” by nature.  In choosing a family reunion at the Kalahari, she was able to give a gift to her extended family, in addition to feeling extra special for the weekend.

For me, it’s hard to choose one best part of the trip; there were so many good memories.  As parents, it was a blessing not to have to deal with any of the details.  Knowing that we didn’t need to worry about the expense of eating out, or doing an extra excursion, or having a “nice” room, took a lot of the pressure off.  At this point, it isn't very realistic for us to do many vacations, either to visit family or just for the fun of it, so this provided us with a great opportunity to get away and made some non-medical memories together.

A handful of people have mentioned to me "You guys deserve this."  I disagree.  We don't deserve any of the perks we've been given.  There are so many kids out there with so many visible, as well as "invisible" disabilities, that never get the kind of recognition or special treatment that Anna has gotten.  Nobody likes the idea of kids with cancer and so people are very willing to bend over backwards to help cancer kids.

And yet, we're not going to deny others the opportunity to help, be nice, and do special things for Anna.  A friend told me recently when I put out a call for help, "I'm just so glad there's something I can do to help you guys."

No one can take away Anna's experiences with cancer and its treatment.  However, others can certainly give this kid (and her siblings and parents) extra reasons to smile since her childhood has been altered irrevocably.

Make-A-Wish is one of those organizations that provides kids like Anna the opportunity to feel really, really special and give them more reasons to smile than they might otherwise have had.

However, given the chance, we would trade it all if only it meant that Anna never had cancer.

Anna's Wish Trip Adventure - Part 6

Monday we woke up with the hopes of doing one last thing as a family.  Kate was already tuckered out, but we learned very well that all of our kids can power through some pretty challenging experiences.

Actually, the kids did great.  We tried to keep a little bit of a routine, at least in terms of mealtimes, rest times, bedtimes, etc., but even with the differences, they all did well.

The boys in the family had one more breakfast in the room before we made our decisions for the day.

We had to wait out the weather because our top choice was outdoors.  As it turns out, the rain cleared up at just the right time so we could spend a few hours at the Timbavati Wildlife Park.

With all of the animals to see, what did Ethan choose to do first?  Yep.  Climb the big tower with his grandpa.

We had the opportunity to get up close and personal with some llamas at the petty zoo.

Anna was able to do a handful of activities standing while supported.  She got a kick out of that, and it made life more accessible to her.

We also opted to have a family photo taken with a 3-month-old tiger cub.  The "official" photo didn't turn out great, but we all enjoyed being able to pet and feed the little guy.

We headed back to the pig area just in time for a few pig races.  The kids thought it was fun and we adults thought the announcer's corny jokes were pretty good :)

A few animal visits (and child tantrums) later, we decided to do the train ride as our last family activity.

Ethan was thrilled about being able to ride on a train.

In fact, when the opportunity came to feed animals, he chose to have his picture taken with the engine instead.

He was very proud about seeing the big wheels, pistons, and mock boiler up close.

Another boy, this one quite a bit larger than Ethan, was also excited to be able to ride on a train :)  I don't think Anna was as scared as she looks in this photo :)

We were able to feed a few different animals on the actual train ride,

as well as spend time with the giraffes at the feeding/viewing area.

By the time the train ride was over, our kids were ready to be done.  We fed them some lunch (a.k.a. whatever was left in the food bag) in the car and headed home.

It didn't take long for this boy to crash; he continued to nap for another couple of hours once we got home.

Since Adam's flight didn't leave until the evening, he hung out with us at our home for the rest of the afternoon, playing with playdoh and radio controlled trucks.  All in all, a very, very, very good wish weekend.

Anna's Wish Trip Adventure - Part 5

Saturday night Anna slept "okay", but was still up coughing at about 5:30 a.m.  She was proud of the fact that she slept better at the hotel than she had slept at home in a few nights - certainly something different for our girl.  Still, the kids were tired and opted to watch some TV in the room before the day started.

One of Matt's sister's families needed to leave by noon so they could make it home with their five kids to South Dakota that night yet.  We made plans to meet up with them, along with my family, at the Indoor Theme Park when it opened.  Matt's other sister's family and his parents were planning on leaving after lunch, so we planned to meet them for lunch at Cracker Barrel.

The theme park had its perks, but it's not the kind of thing that our family would normally enjoy.  Kate's not too adventurous on her own; Ethan was too young for most of the rides; Anna couldn't participate in many.  We made the most of it, however, since it was a rainy day outside.

Uncle Adam and Matt took Anna on the go-karts.  When I realized what they were doing, and read through the list of precautions for this ride, I thought "Really, Matt?!?!"  But they did just fine and Anna had fun.

Side note, as the weekend wore on, it was harder and harder to get pictures with expressions from Anna other than this blank stare.  Her system was so fatigued that she had a hard time even keeping her mouth closed when relaxed.

Ethan was extremely jealous that he couldn't go on the go-karts, so we convinced him that this little kiddie ride was the younger version of a "go-kart" ride.

Kate and Ethan went on the Ferris Wheel a couple of times, with me and then again with Matt.

Then we had to say our first round of good-byes.  Unfortunately for us, Matt's sister's family are moving soon out to Wyoming.  Uncle Sam recently accepted a call to be a pastor at a small congregation out there.  We're not quite sure when we will be able to see all of them again. :(

After the theme park we met up with the rest of Matt's family at Cracker Barrel.  Mmmm ... good food :)

Grandpa and Mark played some games;

then Anna joined in.

Ethan busied himself making truck sounds and playing with his cars.

Matt and Nate are two peas in a pod.  Both boys, both middle children, both with a crazy sense of humor.  They have a really good time whenever they get together :)

After lunch we had to say good-bye to Grandpa and Grandma Mischnick as well as Matt's older sister and family.  :(  By that time, though, our kids were ready for a rest.  Anna dozed off and on; Ethan slept; Kate played pretend and read some books with me.

Instead of trying for another adventurous outing in the afternoon, we invited my family over to our suite to play games.  My dad, my brother, Anna, and I all played a few hands of Phase 10; the men were a bit more competitive than Anna and I usually are, but it was fun :)

Kate and Ethan goofed off on the couches before my mom and Matt decided to take them down to the Indoor Theme Park again to see if they could win any prizes.

  

Before dinner on Sunday night, the girls and I were treated to some special experiences at the Spa Kalahari, all on the house.  The girls got manicures and pedicures while I received a nice, relaxing massage.

Kate and Anna didn't know quite what to do with themselves, being pampered so much, but they certainly enjoyed picking out their nail polish colors.

Both girls told me afterwards that having their feet in the tub of water was one of their favorite parts.

 

The ladies in charge went all out to help Anna and Kate feel like princesses.  Both received tiaras, special headbands, wands, more nail polish, etc.  A fun and memorable event for all of them :)

During this time, Matt and Adam took Ethan back to the waterpark; our boy loves his slides.

When we all met back up together, we had a late dinner at one of the in-house restaurants.  The kids were completely zoned out by that point.  Kate stared at the TV the whole time; Anna colored; Ethan just kept putting cheeseburger bites into his mouth.  But we grown-ups has fun :)

While there, a Kalahari concierge whom we had met came over to say hi.  She was there with her family, also having a late dinner.  She was instrumental in a lot of the "surprises" donated by Kalahari and just wanted to say hi before we would leave the next day.

We carried the kids back to our room and crashed for one more night.  Even though the weather was pretty cruddy that day and we had to be very flexible with our plans, it was another good one.