Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween. We've been looking forward to Halloween for weeks. We decided to dress as a family of ninjas - it was quite a comfy outfit. I sewed everyone hoods and bought plastic swords (it was a miracle that they didn't break before halloween). Our old au pair and good friend Ang was visiting from Scottland so as an adopted member of the family she was a ninja too (we called her sparkly ninja, Michael was flip flop ninja, Reese was fussy ninja, I was mommy ninja, and Nate was ninja master).

We went to our friend's house - to trick or treat in an area known to celebrate the holiday. It is pretty hit or miss here although it is getting more popular every year. This year we had 40+ kids come to our door and that was just in the 30 minutes before we left....and it was a good thing we left as I hadn't bought a lot of candy. I was scouring the kitchen for treats. We didn't get to do much trick or treating :( - a lot of houses ran out of candy then it started to rain. We got inside just in the nick of time before it started to pour. The kids did't need that much candy anyway. The most fun part was dressing up.

what a great US visit

It was so nice to see everyone (or at least as many as we could) back in the US during our recent trip. It never is long enough (except the flights which were plenty long)....but when you are trying to fit in 4 cities (four corners of the US) in 2 1/2 weeks it is hard to do it all. But we did a lot: legoland, LA, Philly, Seattle and Hawaii.

Sorry to those we didn't get to see. Hopefully next visit. Or you know you're always welcome to come to Sydney!

practicing for fall/winter

The kids came across the bag with warm weather gear. Despite just finishing winter it never got cold enough to break out the gloves and fleece hats. They had fun pretending to live in the Arctic. I especially liked the scarf backpack for her baby doll.

Soon we'll be trying on bathing suits :)

A great birthday

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes. Not that I love the number 41 but it was nice to celebrate. Heck it great to get another birthday and know that I have more to come. We had a nice birthday weekend- carnival at the school, made one of my favorite meals (yes chicken enchiladas), a nice picnic lunch, .... lots of togetherness. Michael bought me an aboriginal painting that we've been stalking for months (OK maybe I was the only one stalking the gallery).

Nate

Soccer season just finished. Nate really enjoyed playing and having his dad coach. He is signed up for baseball which should start in a month or so. He is enjoyed playing at Michael's games & has been practising on the Wii :) He also just started martial arts.

Check out some recent cute pixs:

3 going on 13

I am getting very nervous about the upcoming teenage years.....

check out these recent pictures of my big girl (notice the fake earings & high heels)

Cancer Free

Friends-
Last week I finished my last treatment session! It has been a long 9 months full of many doctors visits, treatments, medications, hospitals, etc…and now it is finished. My rein as the poster girl for cancer is over. It still feels a bit weird to wake up and have no appointment to run off to. But it is something that I will happily get used to :) I am feeling good- back to normal energy level and my hair has grown back enough that I can go out without a scarf (although it is a very short cut look- see photo).
The short version for those who didn’t follow the blog updates:
• I had aggressive chemo treatments from Jan- April in an effort to shrink the tumor pre-surgery and stop any spreading. The magic poison did a fantastic job shrinking the tumor from 4 CM to almost nothing.
• Then in June I had surgery – great report- no lymph node spreading and the chemo had “A Complete Response” – i.e. no live cancer cells found
• Followed up with 6 weeks of daily radiation treatment

I will still be seen by some cancer related specialist quarterly for the next couple of years but I am “cancer free” and the statistics are positive not getting it again.

I can’t begin to thank everyone for the overwhelming support, love, and well wishes ( & awesome care packages) that came my way throughout this ordeal. Everyone was so generous and thoughtful - I am truly lucky to have such an incredible support network.
Special thanks to Michael for being the best partner; mom and Jody for coming out; Jen for both coming out and several over the top care packages; Deb & the NJ sister’s prayer group; Ali – by breast cancer buddy for going through it all together.

Love
Mimi