Weekend Review

It's been a busy few days for us.  Mostly happy and good.  They boys have been able to have fun and do exciting things, which is a nice change.


Wednesday:  The boys' school held it's annual "Trunk or treat" event.  It's always been a great Halloween celebration for the kids and they have so much fun.  For those not familiar with a "Trunk or Treat" (I know I wasn't until we went to our first one at this school), cars are parked around the parking lot with trunks opened and decorated. The kids get to go around the parking lot and trick-or-treat from trunk to trunk.  This year is the first year we have provided a trunk and Parker and I had a great time working on our trunk decorations together.  Happy to say to was a huge hit!

Picking raffle winners

Also at the Trunk or Treat this year was an amazing out pouring of support for our family.  One amazing family organized and ran a raffle to raise money to help support us.  With local businesses donating gift cards and prizes, they were able to raise an incredible amount to help defray some of our tuition and medical costs.  This remarkable gesture of kindness, not just from the family that organized it, but also by all the families who participated, is something that I will never stop being thankful for.  I wish I had better words to express just what this means to us, that people care so deeply and want to do so much to help.  It is truly incredible.

Thursday: Arriving home late Wednesday night, Logan was covered in hives, so Thursday he was home with me.  We have only ever seen this reaction in him before when he eats eggs, and we are pretty certain he did not eat any eggs.  He has never had a problem with food that had egg in them, but straight up egg or food with high egg content, is something we have always avoided (ex. quiche, popovers, etc).  Our first thought was naturally the chemo.  This new medicine has a high risk of allergy which is why them give him benadryl prior to treatment.  While it would be strange to have a reaction this long after the dose (almost a week), it is certainly something we will look out for again and discuss at length with the doctors this week.

This day was a particularly difficult day with Logan in terms of behavior.  Being home with him all day, I struggled with his tantrums, lack of sleep but clear exhaustion and overall bad behavior.  This is a particularly difficult situation to be in as a parent.  On the one hand, he is "sick" and I want to show compassion to his situation, but on the other hand, we still have expectations of him to do the right thing.  Just because Logan is going through this difficult process, we do not allow that to be an excuse for bad behavior. He is held to the same standards as before and he still manages to find himself in trouble more often than not.  Due to Logan's behavior on this day, he had a "limited halloween".  While he did go out with Ryan and Parker for "trick-or-treating" (I stayed behind to pass out candy), he was not allowed to get the candy.  Yeah, I know, we are mean parents!!

Friday: Still with the hives in the morning, it was day 2 home with Logan.  I changed up my strategy a bit and was able to avoid some of the bad behavior and get a GREAT nap out of him.  FINALLY.  We made it though the day alive and got to spend the evening at a group play-date, which we also survived.  All in all a good day.

Saturday/Sunday:  With family in town, we set out to celebrate Parker's birthday.  Saturday was mostly just spending time with family and getting ready for the party.  I even got some time to spend out of the house with Ryan.  That doesn't happen often enough.  Sunday, we had a great time celebrating Parker.  Being a big brother is hard enough (I assume, since I have never been one) but being a big brother in this situation is, I'm sure, that much harder.  Sitting by while your little brother gets all the attention and "special treatment", I can only imagine how he feels.  It was so important to us to celebrate Parker and make sure he knows just how special and loved he is too.  I'm so glad he had a GREAT time with his friends and was able to let loose and enjoy his day.