Date Night...Sloan Style

Friday night the kids were invited to their cousin's for an overnight. I had been sitting here with a $50 gift card to Oyamas for almost two weeks burning a hole in my wallet! The only problem is, two of the triplets were double booked for parties and one was invited to one of the two. So...here is how it went:

5:30 p.m. - Drop Matt and Zach off to Sy and Betsy's

7:00 p.m. - Drop girls off at their 8th grade youth group party

7:15 p.m. - Drop Ryan off at the show choir pool party

7:40 p.m. - Arrive at Oyama's and enjoy YUMMY sushi and great company

8:45 p.m. - Back to the swimming pool to pick up Ryan

8:55 p.m. - Drop Ryan off and Sy and Betsy's

10:00 p.m. - Pick up girls from youth party

10:10 p.m. - Drop girls off at Sy and Betsy's and say good bye for the night

10:20 p.m. - Arrive home to kick our feet up and enjoy a glass of wine!

Yes, it was crazy and we admit it is hard to keep up with sometimes. Everyone is a little tired today (especially the three that stayed up with cousins til 4 in the morning!) I am reminded how fast the time goes by and it is okay.

On a side note, I was able to kinda style my hair tonight for our date and that was a little fun! Still pretty short on top but I got some of it through the straightening iron! I don't know how much you can tell, but here we are!

She Said "Blog About This..."

...so I will!

Dawn grabbed a ball of yarn from my basket and a couple of knitting needles yesterday and started a scarf. I know, creative! But she was pretty proud to show me that she has done this much already! So, here she is and her knitted almost-to-the-end-of-the-yarn scarf!

She really needs to find a pattern and do something more challenging. She has the knit stitch down! I can't count how many "scarves" she has knit!

Camp 2017

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength"...Philippians 4:13 

That was our camp verse this year and we were given many opportunities to watch it learned in front of our eyes this year at Kids Camp. The last few years, I have loved going and serving with my kids. Well, Zachary and Matthew were campers, but the rest of us got to hang out with them and the rest. 

Unfortunately I didn't think much about taking pictures with my own phone, but I did find a few good ones of the boys on the camp picture website. Since I was a counselor this year I didn't get to hang out with my gopher teenagers much this year. But it was nice to see them all over camp!

I got to be on a counselling team with Whitney again this year so I knew right away it would be awesome. We got to be the yellow bunk leaders which is usually 2nd graders. The easiest way to share is to caption a bunch of pictures so, here you go...Kids Camp 2017 (Session 1):

Our YELLOW bumble bees...sunflowers...minions...they never really couldn't decide what they should be!

Zach and the BROWN bunk doing their skit for morning chapel. (I LOVED his camp hair)

Matt and the CAMO bunk doing their skit for morning chapel.

Pond time and a little canoeing for me and a little friend.

Matthew gets to canoe - standing up so it seems.

Zach enjoys the paddleboat

LOVE this face!

Matthew takes it for the team and helps in the scripture challenge!

Then there is this. Apparently, G2's bunk light was on after curfew so senior counsellor Jody got to be "flippered" on day 3 as punishment for her inability to get her 2nd graders to bed so they could get their much needed rest. Thankfully Marissa and Taylor both messed up and committed some flipperable infraction too so we got to go together off the diving board fully clothed as the kids watched (and cheered).

I do love camp. It is a few days away from life to enjoy some fun and help the young ones learn some good life lessons while we do it. Seriously, we all young and old witnessed Craig's message on night three chapel change some lives and that is what it is all about, knowing that we can't do what God wants us to do by ourselves. We learn to rely on Him one day at a time.

My Boy

This boy will be gone half of the days in June to various camps. I asked him at the end of May to look at the calendar and see how much he would be gone. I asked him if he would be okay with being gone all that time (secretly knowing he would) and he said yes he could.

Smack dab in the middle of week two of him being gone was family night out at the scout camp where he happens to be this week. So, we get to go out and eat dinner with him and theoretically stay until the campfire. It was pouring down rain on Wednesday and so we ate quickly and headed up to the scout shop to put more money in his account.















He came with fifteen dollars not realizing that the merit badges he was working on would require him to purchase some things (that were not candy bars or ice cream) and he was broke before he started. So, I hiked up with him under the umbrella and he practiced how to hold an umbrella for a "lady".

As we ate together I asked him if he remembered me asking him if he could handle being away from home that many days. He said he remembered. I told him then that I forgot to ask if I could handle it. I really miss having him around. Saturday he comes home, dumps his bags in the washing machine, dryer and then repacks to head off to overnight came for three nights and four days with our church kids.

I get to go too this time and although I won't see him for long periods of time, we will cross paths often. It is one thing that I am getting used to with teenagers, the older they get the more they venture off and do things on their own and in their own world. I love that and am so proud of the man he is becoming. He really is a great example to his little brothers. The great thing though is that he still has a big heart. When I told him I hadn't expected to miss him so much he said "Awww Mom!" and he put his arm around me and kissed my cheek.

An Interview in Tricky Weather

I took this picture from the window of my kitchen. We were set up under the tree in the backyard for an interview. I was in the kitchen to grab a drink of water before we got started. As I walked out and talked to my two new friends Gretchen and Nicole we heard an airplane overhead. Nicole asked "is that thunder?" I assured her that it was not, airplanes fly over our house all the time.

Not a minute later the camera guys walked over and pointed to the cloud coming over the roof of the house. We all checked the radar on our phones "was it supposed to rain today?" None of us remembered that forecast. Sure enough, the thunder started and after a few minutes of debating we decided to move the interview into the house.

What interview you may ask? Well, a few weeks ago I got a call from Gretchen with Strands of Strength. She told me she was given my name as someone who has used Strands of Strength and would I be willing to sit down and interview about my experience so they can use it along with interviews with a couple of others for a promotional video they want to make? Seriously, that was a no brainer to me. Strands of Strength turned me into a "wig" person!

Let's face it, we have all seen a bad wig. My mom still gets teased that back in the 60's and early 70's wearing wigs were the thing. You could have blonde one day and wear your brunette wig the next and people didn't think about. But when you stop and ponder, wouldn't the success of a "good" wig be that none of us could tell you were wearing one? So, how many good wigs are out there that we never know about? After my experience I would say probably more than we know.

When some of us have to go through the ultimate bad hair day, it is wonderful to have places like Jeffrey Scott Salon and others who partner with Strands of Strength to help people see how a wig in the right situation can really change the way a person goes through their treatment process. If I didn't want people to give me the sad eyes when they looked at me out in public I would wear my wig to the grocery store. When I had a child who didn't want to see me without hair, I wore my wig. It really truly changed the way I went through my chemo hair loss experience for the better.

The crew was so great and we laughed a lot. Once inside with microphone set and lights shining, Gretchen asked questions and I was able to share my experience with my Strands of Strength wig. I got to put it on again after a couple of months of regrowth. I am still so thankful. We hope that by sharing, people will hear how something they may not have thought about can make such a positive difference in their cancer treatment experience.

I am always willing to help this great group to raise money for this great great cause. That is why they set up the cameras...twice after the threat of thunderstorm to get my story on tape. It was very fun to have these great people in my home to let me share what Strands of Strength has meant to our family. After all was said and done we had to laugh as they left. It never did actually rain!

A Day With Dawn

Every so often I get to spend some time alone with a single kid. Dawn and I went out shopping for a few things last week and ended up with lunch at Chic-fil-a and a stop to our favorite second hand shop for clothes.

Dawn is a little bit like me. We both try on lots and lots of things that look good on the hanger but then just don't look that great on us. So...imagine our surprise when we loved every single thing she tried on! It was a strange experience.

She did decide that two of the items weren't her favorite but everything else came home with us. Score! I love this girl. Those of you who have kids know just how different each child can be and I will tell you in our house there is no lack of differences. I love spending time with each one and we enjoy time in different way

She went off to show choir camp in Nebraska this week. I think that she will say when she gets home that she had fun. It started off rough for my "non-peopling" girl but I know as every other time that she tries something new that she will make me proud. I am always proud of her and her beautiful voice. And just like this show choir singing girl who tolerated dancing in her day, she will too.

As our kids grow we get to know them better and better. As much as she has always been so much like me, I admit there are a lot more things different than we first thought. I love getting to know her for who she is and I love hearing her perspective on life. It is good but sometimes very different than mine. I am good with that.

A Little Bit of Spittin'

A few weeks back I received a call from the genetics department at the cancer center. It seems that there are quite a few genetics tests that have become available since my last go round with cancer. We didn't even really think about genetics testing because the cost was just too high.

Now though, there are other tests that can be done inexpensively to help determine if there is a genetic link to all of this. As you can see, it was fun. I got to sit in the doctor's office spitting into a little tube until my saliva reached the fill line! As soon as I was given instructions on what to do, my mouth became abnormally dry of course!

I was pretty proud of myself when I reached the fill line and got to be done. The nurse packed it all up and sent it off to have it tested. They look at the DNA and determine certain markers at different chromosomes. I often think that genetics would be fascinating to get into but as of now, I have no idea how it works, just that we are testing for 23 different things to find out whether or not there is a genetic element to all of this. For example, they can now connect certain breast cancers to colon cancer through checking for a certain marker on one of the chromosomes. If that comes up positive that would mean more frequent colonoscopies to keep an eye on my colon.

Thankfully, on Friday I got a call from the genetics office and was told that every single test they ran came back negative. There doesn't seem to be a genetic component to my cancer. All of this is nice to know for my girls because there are some things concerning on the other side of the family through David as well.

Easy test that isn't supposed to cost me anything with the help of insurance. And good results. I like that!