girls had a great weekend and home safely ♥

well I picked up the girls from Brisbane Bus station and they were so happy to see us especially Alex, she got a little travel sickness on the way back on the bus but held her stomach ♥

they had a ball and got so spoilt ( every child did) the girls bought home a Christmas teddy  each, a special blanket each, colouring in stuff, their camp T-shirts plus an extra one and water bottles, Robyn got sick the first night and chucked up but looks like it was due to over excitement and she had a ball anyway, Friday they went to movie world, then had dinner and watched ice-age 3 before bed, Saturday they had a reptile show and got to pat the lizards etc, then the Dino disco before bed Alex had a hard day this one and slept for 2 hours but woke up refreshed and joined in more :) ( I think all the kids had a small sleep though) Sunday they had the petting zoo and my girls love animals so much ♥

on the bus Friday

At movie world

at camp with the reptile show

dino disco

Alex with Megan

Robyn with Rikki

home safely and two weeks left of the school term for Alex and then we have 2 1/2  weeks with Mummy Daughter's time.

First Junior Camp for the Girls March 2011

on Wednesday Alex's school did a swim-a-thon to promote drowning awareness and I went and watched her swim I took photos of the grade1/2 class (Alex's class and I stayed back to get some of the preps as well. pity I did not know as I would have done the whole school with no issue) they did wonderfully by completing over 1500 laps for a school of under 100 ♥ we as a school community also reached so far for the shave $650. being a total including the Mayors support $1150.  and still counting, I also got a letter from the mayor's of Ipswich office on Wednesday to say thanks and he will always support these causes, ( he has met My miss Alexandria and us all at the relay for life "2010" and we hope to join in again this year I Just wish we here in Australia did more for "CHILDHOOD" Cancer awareness we have pink ribbon etc but no GOLD...)
well here are some photo's of Alex at swimming  her class got over 150 laps

love my beautiful girls toothless grin in this last one ♥

we finished the costumes and here are the finished items BEFORE CAMP!!! I have the making off on FB hehe...

Robyn's Pterosaurs

Alex's Long neck

just lucky Daddy is great at Airbrushing hehe

today we dropped the girls at the bus stop with their designated companions for Camp Quality. the cough has gone for now but this is the time of year we see it raise often due to treatment... 9 out of 12 months and no treatment due to no illness !!! :-(
they are off to Movie world today and then camp so a weekend of fun, Fun, Fun ahead I hope for them both ♥

Miss Rikki with Both girls she is very excited too this photo she is Robyn's companion for the weekend Alex's Companion got sick so Megan will be her new companion at 3.30pm at camp so Rikki is enjoying 2-1 fun lol, girls also with name tags and the new Camp Quality T-Shirts that the girls have been looking forward too. as we have not been on camp before they have missed out  :(

the Bus

First Class no less on the bus lol

they will get to meet some reptiles tomorrow and do lots of crafts and a disco tomorrow night, we have phone on hand just in-case we need it as I want to be available to help the girls on this (Their First Camp away from us ♥ ). but it will be the first of many to come

will post again on Monday or Sunday with more photos ♥♥

2 years since diagnosis

it is now 2 years since we first found out Alex could Have Cancer it was a Sunday and it took me a week to get into a Dr as she was classed as not urgent. I finally got into see someone about the strange lump in her upper right side, just under her rib cage, the Dr said a lump (tumor but hopefully a fat deposit) then we had to have an Ultrasound on Monday Urgent!! . and we got the devastating news that it was cancer after a 15 hour visit with the Dr and radiology then 2 hospitals but here we are standing Strong and she is a healthy 6 year old enjoying life to the Max :)

March 2009

October 2009 ^

March 2011 v

how they grow in so short a time ♥

last weekend we were to meet the lovely ladies that will be the girls companions at camp, we only got to meet Alex's Companion Emilie (Em), she is a radiologist who loves camps :) and looking forward to the time with the girls their room will have 3 children and 3 companions ♥ and the roster of fun looks like everyone will have a great weekend, ( Alex has just come down with a cough the one that shows up all the time but Dr's do not worry about so we got cough med's to try combat it before the weekend or we need to cancel AGAIN!!!!!) we also sorted out their costumes for the Disco that the camp had  well sort of hehe now to make it before friday( Dinosaur theme ♥)  Alex loves long necks so we tried to make something to fit and Robyn was a flier ( like pee-tree {sp} from land before time, yes my girls love those movie's ), so a fun filled weekend of Paper Mache for us ROFL and a nice mess to clean up.  Alex went to the Dr on Monday as that cough is still around and like normal it is all good she has a BAD chesty cough but the lungs are clear and she is fine????????? Dr thinks its a small issue thanks to Radiation on her abdomen and possibly getting the lower part of her lungs  we get this cough about 9 out of 12 months  and I stress every time. now to wait and see if Camp will happen, as I do not want to put ANY child at risk, The Dr said all should be OK to wait til Wednesday and then call Camp Quality if she is worse :( I hope both girls will be well and that they can enjoy their first camp, but I will be calling tomorrow if Alex is still not 100% even if its Just the cough and see what they suggest :)

Yesterday I also went and seen someone about my issues ( stress etc possible PTSD) looks like I have consolidated grief where it builds up over my whole life and I just have not grieved over it yet so will be working on that and staying Positive "as they say a positive mind brings Positives  so lets hope it works

what will Mummy and Daddy do on the weekend without their 2 princess's to keep us busy!!!! SLEEP is the highest on the list hehe something we have not had alot of in way to long but will be nice to sit and talk, watch a movie or just re-connect again♥ but I can see us both worrying about the girls and not really relaxing. 

last week we also got our first free range EGG from Miss Lee-Lee, she has laid one every day now since last Wednesday so a week now, so we enjoy fresh eggs now and save a couple of $$ by not buying them

 

Mobile photo. ^

Shave story in Paper

here is the link to the day, :) it was great fun and we have hit $1000. raised and here I thought I would not get close to shaving lol

Family Support the Shave :)

then tonight a snake under my arm chair in my lounge room so we only seen the tail it was Brown and small so a baby ( king browns and eastern browns are very dangerous) chair was taken outside as snake catcher told us but cheeky bugger got out and went behind TV unit. took us awhile with me stressing about girls but we got him and he is now gone ( not a brown thankfully but a red-naped snake Red-naped these are not to venomous and very timid so unlikely to bike and very small this one was fully grown at 30cm but still it was in the house and the only way I can see to keep snakes out is a cat but we have chickens and Hubby is not a cat person so think we will just have to deal with them.

I just want good omens ( snakes are new beginnings so hope it is good )

Worlds Greatest Shave

here is the link to the day, :) it was great fun and we have hit $1000. raised and here I thought I would not get close to shaving lol

Family Support the Shave :)

Shave/Colour day at Alex's school

Friday the 11th of March 2011 

It is official Hubby is shaving for a cause today at the school and I am colouring with most of the school children ♥
must say we are lucky he is here as work sent him to Victoria last week and then re asigned them so half went to New Zealand, but he was on the shift that worked so needed rest so missed out on that...

we have raised $1098. OMG I had no idea that we would hit $500 when I said I would shave but wow great job to the school and everyone that has donated to this wonderful cause :)  more to come over the next few weeks  :) this is slowly going up, so yes I Shaved to a No. 4 and coloured as well :) the school raised $500. with our help promoting as much as possible but they did a great job especially the Kids ♥ of that total. the mayor sponsored me $200. and online collections $240 so have done well :) Hubby raised $104 and he also helped boost mine :) we had the news paper also come to see us do the deed :) so may get in the paper again with the whole school for this story. will post link when it is in again :)   everyone had a wonderful time 2 teachers also got coloured by the top donation givers was so inspirational ♥

 Before photo's

After Photo's

hubby shaved, me shaved to No.4 and  now getting coloured by hubby and girls and a teacher ♥

crazy school hair day :) these are the winners of the crazy hair. before they coloured hehe

2 teachers let biggest collectors colour their hair :s it was fun but a mess ♥

phone shot of me after it all with red strip too, 

the school has prime time first up and Alex received an award this week, well done Alex :)...

the Leukaemia foundation sent me balloons, posters and pins and a few extra hats to they awarded some of the kids with prizes for the craziest hair,  I also gave a poster to the pre-school as well, why not try and raise as much awareness as possible. will see how much we actually get to !!! but should be good as every cent adds up.

we had a scare on Wednesday of the SNAKE kind so no health issues :), this happened while I was at the hospital with Alex getting her scans etc done Hubby did the back lawns and when he finished he was out the front and a baby Black ( Red belly Black snake) went by him we had issues with snakes in NSW 4 green tree snakes and 1 red belly the month before we moved here so 3 months before Alex was diagnosed :( I hate snakes and am now worried about the girls playing in the back yard :(

tonight the girls played on a water slide and we are off to wash the colour out soon its itchy now lol, hope it washes out easily  but was well worth it ♥♥♥

Next CT scan

on Tuesday the girls went to the Dr Alex is still getting pain in her tummy ( scar tissue and possible growing pains???) and Robyn has a chest infection and as we have hospital on Wednesday I wanted to be sure Alex would be ok to go in with or with-out isolation. Robyn also has a lump on her chest so we got an ultrasound but was told it is a birthmark ( deap veins in a bunch. called a hemangioma and is benign link will tell you more.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002430/

had to add this Miss Robyn hogging mummies and daddies bed ♥

yesterday (Wednesday) the 9th of March, Robyn went to Pre-School but wanted to stay home, she also slept all night in her own bed which is rare but nice occasionally ♥, her pre-school is trying to raise funds for us with the shave too ♥

 Alex had her CT and Dr's Visit. first I called CCS its the local Childhood cancer support  to see if I could park there as after 2 hours at the RCH it is $20. max and we had a long day ahead, they said yes no worries so I arrived there and rang them to see where they wanted us tpo park, they even gave us a lift to the hospital and told us to call when we finished to be picked up.so straight up to Banksia outpatience and see the nurses we know so well, the weigh Alex and she has lost almost a KG ( Not good but she has been off her food this last few weeks :(  ) magic cream put on and start drinking the contrast ready for the CT at 1.30pm today was hard as she now has no port they had to put in an IV she hates needles so it was a noisy and unhappy experience, we had a wait as Onco/hemo was busy with day surgeries etc and blood transfusions, the dr called us in then decided to wait til after the CT, so down to radiology for CT, get called in after they finally get Alex's chart and Alex wants Mummy to stay with her another new thing she is excessivly clingy now to me even school she wants me to stay with her ♥ back to onco and wait to see Dr and get canula removed. scans show no visible change :) I like that and actually got to see the mass we are keeping an eye on its not as small as I had thought but still it is stable :), we now come back for ultrasound and X-Ray in June so 2.5 months away :), so glad we now have a few months off from that til the next one, and that this one was in the afternoon so she got breaky but then had to fast for a few hours before the CT ( No GA at least as she is a super trooper and lays still) the Onco also told me to watch Robyns Hemangioma as he was not happy with the diagnosis so if it gets larger we go back to a dr but pray its still what the Dr said it is ...

Waiting to get IV and obs done, so she is doing school work hehe

CCS play ground after everything was done and time to relax 

when I got home Hubby tells me he got 2 phone calls one from Banksia about surgery tomorrow for Alex's port!!! she had it removed in December so would be hard to find, and two from Leukaemia foundation about time for the shave tomorrow so we may have a representative from there join us :)


Daddy was away all last week with work so he got home on Monday and the girls were so excited :D they did miss him. he was at the Avalon airshow 2011 and here are some photo's including Zach the dolphin and bertrum bear ( burping bear as Alex has nicknamed him)  the girls sent with daddy getting the close up view

zach and bertrum are on the ground in front, this is a rare shot due to security and timing being just Right Thanks Hubby

Zachary the Dolphin yes the dolphin is pink in the marines arms from Hawaii and Bertrum bear

Note the dates hehe it was 2nd-7th March 2011 :) Hubby forgot to reset the camera date lol


do remember Hubby will be shaving it all off this weekend for the worlds greatest shave :) and I'll be colouring for this great cause, the school is ready and QT will be there at 10am so come and watch the fun if you want :D


you can still sponsor me to Colour... or help me reach my goal and Ill Shave to a No. 4 ( against Alex's wishes though hehe)  she doesnt like seeing mummy now with short hair as I kept mine short with her the whole way through Treatment

ok off to help at school today :) with Robyn and Alex will be happy to have Mummy there too

dental check up for 2011

last year Alex had issues with her teeth and lost 3 ( one was wobbly) and had 2 capped and another filled but we will always have issues with her teeth so it is best to keep on top of it now so she had another check up today at the school dental :)  now she is getting her adult teeth we really need to be aware of what is ahead ( we hope to be lucky but so far no), todays Check-Up went very well with no cavities :D and the only issue was a fill in as part had fallen out from last years ( so no needles etc hehe an easy treatment for us all)  they also have given us some GC Tooth Mouse for Alex to use after any high acidic drinks etc to help her teeth enamel fight back so this will go on every night plus any time she has orange juice or lemonade etc to prevent the softening of the enamel.

she has been good with everything that gets thrown at her a big 6 year old now she defiantly is... But we also have the issue she has a strong pain thresh hold so when she is hurt it can be worse than it looks to the outside, but when she sleeps it falls apart  she has been like this right through chemo and radiation would not complain and when she went down hill it was fast as she fought the pain and just wanted to have fun etc ♥

Got notification that the Mayor will not make the shave on Friday but I had sort of guessed he would be busy as well he is the Mayor, but we will have Cr Cheryl Bromage the local member join us and she will be representing the mayors office too :)

photos from McDonald's at Lunch Time 

before Alex went back to school for the day...

I also got Conformation from Quilts 4 Kids that Alex is on their waiting list for a quilt she will so love this :) I am adding their link to my pages to others can see this wonderful site that helps so many Children Australia wide ♥♥♥

Family day out

Saturday we went to the park for some family photos (professional photo's) the last pro photos happened just after Robyn was born so 4 years ago now :o I have done some with us all using the timer but they are never the same.  We had some fun walking around and then we dressed the girls up as fairies to so cute ♥ the link to the photographers photos is at the bottom, I took my little handy Canon P and S for some mummy snaps too while we walked around the girls had a ball and the weather was lovely and a little cooler with cloud cover.

the girls loved the wildlife that was around Ducks and frill neck lizards 

Robyn being her cheeky self hehe ♥ must say they do love each other and get on so well and Alex with Elliot from "Childhood Cancer association SA"

 these two are mobile photos in the park :)

Kylie Eather Photography  this is the link to our photo shoot and Thanks Kylie was great to meet you and get some wonderful memories to look back on :) ♥

shave for the leukaemia foundation is now set for the 11th at IAS ( Alex's school) the girls and some other students are joining in on the crazy hair day and the QT have been informed about the event so should be a fun day had by all. link on left side if you want to sponsor me  

or ask and Ill add Hubbies link for those wanting his Moe off lol