update

we are all well
Alex had her last set of scans in October and still can see shrinkage in the remaining mass ( almost 5 year ago she ended treatment so good to see)
we have not done much at this point but Alex had Middle camp with Camp Quality in April

we got to meet some of the characters from StarWars with butts on bikes for prems and also Jimmy from Jimmy's Walk for Cancer,

we had a lovely week down at Bradley's Place in Victor Harbor thanks to CCA in July also, girls enjoyed time with family and seeing Kangaroos in the crisp morning air so relaxing and serene ♥

Girls school did the hairlarious day raising funds for CCA

Alex turned 10 (15th July) and 5 years ago we had been told that no treatment she would not have seen her 5th Birthday so special to know we are still a family standing tall against Childhood Cancer

After October scans and bloods have been told kidney function is lower than it should be so we got a referral to renal specialist Alex has slight damage to her kidney from treatment, at this point be are now in at renal every 3 months for bloods and scans just to monitor and if anything comes up act to slow down any more damage,  March 2015 we go onto 12 monthly scans for oncology though 😊

we also had family camp with Camp Quality this month a nice weekend away at Douglas scrub, fun but raw with the high emotions as we all spoke to Red Kite about our journey, which bought up more then we tell most about and hearing others stories even long term ones over 5 year gap

this is our year all out in one post but other news is we had Robyn diagnosed with Dyslexia a reading issue she is clever but can not decode words so now working on how best to help her learn her own way🔠
I am struggling with studies and looking for cord bit hard but will keep moving forward
hubby plodding along as men do with added stress

but it's nearing Christmas so positive and fun ahead even with bloods et,
want to take girls to see the magic cave and Santa yes my 10 yr old still believes in Santa 💖🎄🎅

Will post photos soon in another post with Xmas events added too

Dutch tall ships & school excursion

29th august, that afternoon we had a great afternoon and got to have a look through 2 of the 3 dutch tall ships that are in Adelaide for the tall ship Festival of maritime trade, and this is the first time in 100 years these ships have been to Australia 
http://maritime.historysa.com.au/events/2013/tall-ships-visit-adelaide
http://www.dutchtallships.com/
oosterschielde is one of the 2 we got to have a private tour over, these ships and almost 100 years old and restored to former glory, but with some modern added luxuries,
this day was thanks to Childhood Cancer Association...
we also shared our story with the local paper and they took our photo, alex was scared but she did well in the end 
the story was slightly wrong though as it said all children were still going through treatment but they were all 2+ years off treatment!

Port messenger story

photo from story

on Monday 2nd September,  I got to go with both girls with their school excursion, it was also part of my studies to finish cert 3 educational support, no job prospects as most is volunteer work but a start :)

we went by train then to the university of SA and the planetarium was a great day but very long,

now I can relax as finished my studies and can look at other things with my beautiful Family

Remember to wear GOLD for Childhood Cancer Awareness this month ♥

Remember we are doing the 3km walk in the City to Bay this weekend (15th September) for Camp Quality and will be walking with mr Giggles himself (hubby).

we have raised a little ($91. ) but its a start and even that is something towards a great cause :)

Birthdays

Miss A  turned 9 this week and we did go out for lunch with her god mother and the family,
she got 4 monster high dolls she has been upset this last 6 months as every girl in her class as well as her own sister all had a monster high doll so I had been told she wanted that for her birthday
we are doing a Birthday parts soon for here but as school only went back today I have not sorted it out yet and will be in a couple of weeks

she will have a proper cake at the party too

school holiday fun

we had two weeks of school holidays with Miss Alex having her 9th Birthday in the middle ( my Birthday was too) Alex and Robyn met some of the Australian Ballet company Dancers with CCA (Childhood Cancer Association) Robyn missed out on her sibs day due to everyone getting gastro and I did not want to put any other family that may be going through treatment still at risk so we had a day in bed watching Harry Potter the girls had a ball ♥
we went to the movies two times we got to see Epic with My cousin and aunt, and we got to see Despicable me 2 with my good friend and her son♥
as July is winter in Australia we had a very wet last week of these holidays and did most stuff inside,

My Computer is now the hubbies I get a small laptop to play with and use this ONY when needed lol

super moon 

last day at school awards Alex  got

Robyns award last day of term

 Australian Ballet Company dancers meet some CCA families

elmo trying to get me to pay for Photos 

first day back at school and we have a rainbow ♥

every day we have together is a blessing, this morning I went to the gym as I want to get healthy so I can help my girls stay healthy 

I have also looked at signing up for the City to Bay this year in Adelaide so will be needing training to get through the 3 or 6 km walk there too

June....what a busy month

well today is the end of June and we will have school holidays and so forth to enjoy as well as staying worm over the winter colder days ahead.
so far in June I have posited that Alex's scans went well and we have referral for orthopedic surgeon for her feet issues plus dates already for next scans in late September and early October
the Wednesday after the scan date Alex's Dad had day surgery for a Hernia thanks to the pneumonia last year and collapsed lung so we had 2 weeks with him home recovering from that with a visit from Uncle ken in that time as well
girls had a quiz night with all cheer leading teams performing a show for the families
my studies are going well and have finished 2 photography courses in the middle as well
we also went to see Disney on Ice with my Cousin , her mum and niece so 3 kids with 3 adults and it was a great day out ♥

stay tunes for some adventures over the school holidays not much as the grandparents have said no to us visiting :(
but hey we have each other as a family and that is enough

hug your loved ones, we are on this planet for no given time and we make the most of our times together ♥♥♥

Scan day finally

well after some calls and a run around we finally got Alex's date for scans,
Monday the 3rd June and all went well, we met the new oncologist and are now on 4 monthly visits instead of 3 and also may not be having a CT for ages and only if required :)
this is great to know :)

parking was  hard but it was cheaper than in QLD so a bonus,
the hospital trip was very easy and smooth,  a well set out hospital made it so stress free, best hospital trip we have had in ages and that is saying something, long waits didnt happen on this trip.

North Adelaide is busy but wow it was quiet after what we have seen

so happy things are moving forward again and we can now relax for the next few months before Scanxiaty hits again around October. plus a small trip for an orthopedic visit to check Miss Alex's feet as she is so clumsy and did have peripheral neuropathy  or Foot Drop and most know it as, but she is doing well and now we just need to continue helping her to be better at what she does. she is doing well with cheer-leading ( gymnastics ) so that is good and to keep it upas it will help her confidence

busy day tomorrow too Hubby has surgery and may take girls to the zoo if I can swing the price as its the day before pay day!

July birthday Month

this is July our busy Birthday month in this house.
the 14th was My Birthday and 15th was Alexandria's big 8th birthday, we decided a party on the 22nd would be good with her friends and worked out well as most were busy on the 15th ♥ had everything sorted when one after another we dropped like flies with the flu, Daddy had it on and off for 4 plus weeks and then Robyn got it, High fever that would not break which went Croupy so she was home with us a couple of days, Alex didn't look like she was getting sick so she went to school the third day and then the fever hit her, and as she was vaccinated against the flu I hoped it would be mild but no she got it very bad, Fever, Vomiting, Vertigo and so on then after a few days the dr said they could go back to school, Alex got worse, she coughed up Blood, and it was from her lungs ( Pink and frothy ) so had to watch her but then she improved and finally went back to school but her party was postponed to the 29th so other some who were sick and others didn't get exposed,

Today Alex got to have her 8th Birthday Party at the local park with friends, it was a Very cold morning but the sun shone bright and warming so we had a wonderful day with everyone xx

looks like the flu is still hanging around and we could all get sick again but staying positive as its nearly August and we are going into the warmer side of winter so will be complaining about the heat soon enough haha

plus we have 4 months before we leave Sunny QLD and head back to South Australia and (HOME)  scary as need to find house and school etc, plus get to know new nurses etc at the new oncology department but this is our life and we follow Hubby (DADDY) where his Job sends him

A sick house for weekend

Will the last week has been full no, one after another have been hit by the flu, this has made us postpone Alex's birthday to next weekend
The flu has knocked both Alex and Robyn and they are slowly getting better after almost a week off school,

I also have it but staying strong to look after girls.
Today I also got the surprise gift of a late birthday present and am posting this from it ( IPad)

Let's hope the bugs go away so we can enjoy Alex's birthday

week two School Holidays

30th June:   well after 4 days of rain the girls are outside playing, its still chilly but good to get some fresh air. we also went to the Art Gallery in Ipswich to see the Wild things and did craft stuff :)
then a Wii night of games as the girls have been so good.

1st July:   Today is hard for me as I look back at 3 years ago, this day was the end of Alex's 4 weeks or Double radiation and we celebrated with a party and then went to the wonder factory for some crafts and fun, but on my way there I get the call I never wanted to get in those last 2 weeks  My dad had been found Dead ( drowned ) he was missing for 11 days and to hear those words and to know I will never speak to him again hit home hard, I walked into the Wonder factory and the staff who knew me well in the last 4 weeks asked what was wrong, they took the girls and called the social worker and I broke down.
must say I was glad when I had cleaned out our unit and was home again with hubby and the girls, but now i had even more things to do sorting out will ( never found it so Public trustee had to handle it) funeral ( I had the funeral fund that covered it all thankfully ) and family and friends calling again like they did when we found out Alex had Cancer...
OK revisit over we didn't do much today we just relaxed and tried to reflect on our year so far as
1. we are doing well ( hope this doesn't jinx us)
2. no major illness's ( only hiccups like me being admitted lol)
3. possible going home to Adelaide in December and getting a Family Christmas and the girls to see their grand parents aunt and uncle

2nd - 5th July: these days we stayed home as QLD had Cold nights -1 on the Tuesday morning ♥ good days to stay in side and stay warm
Monday we also spent the day in our PJ's  and I got the girls outside for a couple of photo's and a small picnic

Photo's  above From PJ day Monday the 2nd. brrr but the sunshine was so warming

6th July: today Hubby did his Tax and we had the photographers from the Local Rag stop by to get a photo or two for the Bridge to Brisbane story
7th July:
7th July:  Sea-world Tickets burnt a hole in our pocket so we decided to use them and go see Dinosaur island and sponge-bob
we had a great day and even with Rain forecast for both our area and the Gold coast we had blue skies

8th and 9th July: we just relaxed and got things back into Routine for school's return and also sorted some things out for Miss Alex's 8th Birthday next weekend

10th July:  School is back today term 3 we also have Alex's 8th Birthday next weekend

11th July: Today the paper had our story and Photo

" The Love of a Family is Life's Greatest Blessing" ♥