3rd Quarter 2006

September 30, 2006 Day +1,277 Day #975 off treatment

Today was a good day at the Watts house. It was another one spent alone for me. The boys went to the hunting club. Yes, even Logan. He was so excited when Jim told him he could go. He was in an old pair of camo overalls and Taylor’s old boots. They were way to big, but he loved them and thought he was cool stuff in them. Believe it or not, Taylor thought it was pretty cool that he was in full camo. I had expected a fight when he realized it was all his old stuff. He doesn’t care if it fits or not, if he knows it was his, he wants it. They were gone a few hours, but Logan was worn out. He came in the house and laid right inside the front door and wouldn’t move another step. Poor guy! They were so dirty it was disgusting, but that is a sign of fun! We ended up going over to Gam maw and Paw Paw’s to watch football. The boys were so tired and grumpy that we didn’t stay long.

September 29, 2006 Day +1,276 Day #974 off treatment

Howdy all, TGIF! We had a good day to day. Taylor had school as usual. He got to play with his 5th grade buddies. They have 5th graders that show them around the school. They played pass the apple and games like that with them today. He loves it. Logan and I went to school as well. It was such a nice day out that my class went outside for a long time. After school we went to the bank where they were out of suckers which sent Logan over the edge. We stopped at the gas station for some bug juice and a sucker. We went to car pool where Logan fell asleep and I was able to just sit and enjoy the quiet. Once I had Taylor we headed home and sat around. We didn’t do anything tonight except for hang out at home and watch TV. Logan ended up in bed at regular time rather than getting stay up late because he had an attitude! Taylor fell asleep in my bed after a long game of War. We played for ever and I only had 4 cards left and he wanted to quit. What? Oh well! He was asleep in a few minutes. War is tuff!

Please keep all our friends in prayer. Please pray that Taylor has beaten the beast for good.

September 28, 2006 Day +1,275 Day #973 off treatment

Today was an awesome day for Mr. Taylor. He got to go with 79 other MES students on a white hummer limo ride. They went to Pizza hut for lunch. I got to the carpool line before it got back. We had to get out of the way as he needed a lot of room to turn into the parking lot. It was longer than the school buses. I got to watch Taylor pile out, happy as a lark, with all his new friends and walk back to his classroom. When I picked him up an hour later he was so excited. He talked all about how big it was and that it had a fire place and a potty. He thought that was the best of all. It had a cooler, but they couldn’t drink in the car. They had a blast and I saw several of his good friends get off, so I am glad he could do that with them. I even saw Madison Beck climb out of that Limo. I am just as excited that she got to go, she deserves it very much. I am glad she is finally feeling better and I am sure she had a great time too. Check out her page to read all about it. Madison’s Page. He was still on green light which I guess that is easy to do when you are gone from 10:30-2:00. He has been on green since last Thursday, we are on a good streak, lets hope he keeps it up. Logan enjoyed watching the limo come in. His eyes were big as saucers when it pulled up in front of him. He is coughing and is a bit stuffed up, so he is not feeling real good. He fell asleep and is still asleep. He had an all out kicking, throwing toys, fit this morning at school. I would like to think it was because he didn’t feel good, but I am more inclined to say it is just his had behavior.

Well, another wonderful day in Watts world. I am just thrilled that Taylor did such a fun activity at school. He was so excited and deserved to be after such a bumpy start in life. I have emailed Meredith for chatacolamine levels and I will post them when I know them. I do not really think they are in yet, but with that being the only test we did, I am anxious to get results. I know they are fine, but I like to know. Please keep those prayers a coming for Taylor and his pals.

September 27, 2006 Day +1,274 Day #972 off treatment

Wednesday already, wow. It is make up picture day at Taylor’s school. He had a hair cut and is ready to smile. Logan and I had a normal day other than his goofiness. Logan used the potty last night and I asked him to do the potty dance, something his teacher said they do. Well, he grabbed the toilet and shook his naked booty like crazy. I would love to see Miss Janice and Miss Joan do that! Well, today I put him in a pull up and told him that it was underwear and not to wet it. We talked about being a big boy etc. Well, late at school I asked him to potty before I took him to his class. He did not want to and I said, “I thought you were going to be a big boy like Taylor.” He said, “nope, my not.” I said, “you aren’t a big boy?” and he said, “nope, my just fat!” I about fell out. The child is crazy. They broke the mold when they made this one. He is a character. I pulled out the old winter stuff and found Taylor’s old cowboys boots. Well, Logan loves to wear his cow boots. He also loves his new tennisocks aka tennis shoes. He is a hoot! Taylor and I did some serious cleaning of his bedroom. I was throwing all the stuff he had stashed out into the floor. He had to find it a home, take it down stairs or throw it away. He did it too. I would 99% of it went downstairs and we will have to deal with it again when we go to clean that up, but oh well, his room is clean.

Please continue to pray for Taylor’s success against cancer. Pray for all his pals that are still fighting. Evan is at home home, yahoo!!! Evan’s Page.

September 26, 2006 Day +1,273 Day #971 off treatment

Today was Dr. day. I was not in the least bit nervous, but I guess that was because we didn’t have any actual scans. I checked Taylor out of school at about 1:30 thinking that was to early, but I am glad that I did, it was right at 2:30 that we got to the hospital. We got stopped by a train and we counted the cars, there were 108 very slow moving cars on that train. Anyway, we finally made it and got checked in. Logan was going to be sure and set all the clinic ladies straight on thinking he was so cute and sweet. Ha! He dumped out an entire baby bottle pop all over the floor then proceeded to sit in the floor and rub his hands in it and lick it. YUCK!! We did vitals where we learned that Taylor is a wee bit over 41 inches tall and 38.5 pounds. He finally broke 37 after a year or so, but I guess it will be another 2 years before he hits the 40 pound mark. I swear he eats like a horse all the time. We went down to the lab and drew blood. You would have thought she was pointing a loaded gun at him when she told him to sit in the chair. We have had Mrs. Joyce draw just about every vile of blood from him that has ever been done and he goes ape on her. Well, we plopped him in the chair and she was filling the tube before he had time to even realize she had poked him. Mrs. Joyce is the best! She was glad yet sad that she doesn’t get to see “her kids” much anymore. Once we did the labs we ran to the potty where Taylor had to give them some urine in a cup for his VMA/HVA levels (tumor marker). That was an adventure as is everything that happens with my kids. Taylor can’t just pull his pants down and “go” in the cup. He just barely sticks “it” over the rim of his pants and into the cup and you can all guess that once it started coming out that it didn’t stay pushed into that cup. Needless to say, the wall, the floor and me were coated. Also, lucky for me he always goes a gallon, so we had plenty for the cup too. It will take about 2 days to get those results back. We didn’t wait too long before being called back. We have never been to clinic in the late afternoon and it was rather nice, there were only a few folks in there, so things went quick. Dr. B was in the room as soon as they called us and labs were brought in only seconds late. I did not even get the actual numbers, but he said they looked great. He did his exam and felt his tummy for what seemed like forever and then said, “I don’t feel anything and I am getting a good feel”. He knows me like the back of his hand, he knew that I knew he rubbed too much! We will go back (drum roll please) in March of 2007. Holy cow, lets kill mama! He will have the works in March, a CT, bone scan, urine, labs and check up. I am glad to see his insides again He will miss an entire day of school, but with spring break being in mid April this year, there was no way around it. That is okay though, it will be excused. While Dr. B was looking him over he said he saw something silver in his left ear. Well, I thought he was playing since I had emailed him and told him about getting the ball out of his right ear on the ship. Well, he was not playing. Dr. Berkow’s wife is our ENT’s nurse and he called her and she got us in the clinic. Luckily, it was only dried blood or wax that was just reflecting the light. He tried to clean it out, but Taylor was screaming and carrying on like he was setting a broke leg. They told me to put drops in it and come back in 4 weeks. However, I opted not to. I don’t see the need to worry over some dried wax. We will be going in for a flu shot in Oct. and I will have Dr. P look and see if he sees anything that needs to be looked at. We all went to the Cracker Barrel for dinner. Once we got home we had baths and got ready for bed.

Praise the good Lord who has blessed us with yet another great check up. I am so relieved yet guilt ridden over those who are not being as lucky at recent visits. Please continue to pray for Taylor and his success against cancer. Pray for those who are still battling their own battle.

September 25, 2006 Day +1,272 Day #970 off treatment

Here we are back at Monday. My Monday flew by, how about yours? Logan was so happy to see Mrs. Joan back at school. He has missed her, we all have. Welcome back Joan! We sat with her this morning until school started. After school we went home for a minute. Just long enough to change Logan’s millionth poopy diaper of the day and grab him some snacks for car pool. Taylor was happy to tell me he was on green light today. His entire class was, so they get popsicles. He won’t eat his, but he is excited about it anyway! Once we got home he about gave me a heart attack. He had his backpack on and was heading on up the front steps to unlock the door. He likes to do that. I was getting Logan who was asleep. Taylor said, “oh mommy” real loud, but he is so dramatic that I didn’t really think too much of it. Well, he let out a blood curdling scream and I took off running. He was lying on his back, head first on the stairs. He had fallen backwards when he opened the door. He had a scrape on his elbow and on his back, but otherwise he was fine just scared to death. It didn’t take him 2 seconds to shake it off, throw on boots and head out to play. He is in the house now having a snack of cheese balls, Pringles, and sesame sticks. Nut!

September 24, 2006 Day +1,271 Day #969 off treatment

The weekend is almost over and it is time to start a new week. I am sad, I have enjoyed this lazy weekend. I have to make myself stay home because I like to be on the go, but once I do, I am glad I did. Today was pretty much the same. We all went to Wal-mart this morning and Jim and Taylor went to the hunting club. Logan played at Gam maw’s for a little while. I did more laundry and took a short little nap. Logan was not happy to come home, but he got over is quickly. He played downstairs for a while. He came up and ate a pop tart then laid down on the couch. He was watching cartoons and I went on about my business and he was asleep in a few minutes. He was still asleep when the guys got back and I went to the grocery store. He came unglued when he rolled off the couch and woke up and realized I was gone. He is a big mama’s boys. We just hung out at home this evening and played. Taylor half cleaned his room. You can walk now, so I am letting it go. The boys took a bath in Taylor’s new Cars bubble bath. He bought a Lightening McQueen car and didn’t realize until later that it was bubble bath. It was not in the right place he just saw it and grabbed it, so we didn’t even pay attention to what it was. They had a good time cleaning the tub with all the bubbles. That sounds like a good deal, they get bubbles to play with and I get a clean tub. Taylor was not ready for bed, but he was asleep fast. Logan was ready for bed at 8:30 even after his late afternoon nap.

Please keep Taylor in prayer. Pray that he has indeed beaten cancer once and for all. Pray for all his pals that are fighting their own battle. Pray that those who have been declared NED or in remission can remain that way. Pray that a cure is found soon. September in Childhood cancer awareness month. You could do so many things to help out. Give blood, donate to cure search, Camp Sam, Caringbridge, Lunch for Life, Magic Moments etc. We greatly appreciate all the services of all these places.

September 23, 2006 Day +1,270 Day #968 off treatment

The weekend is finally here. I did absolutely nothing! Gam maw and Ghen Ghen went to the game with the boys. I just do not care enough about football to sit in the hot to watch it. Guh brought Logan home and stayed for a while. I put him to bed after she left and took a nap myself. I got my laundry done and some house work, but mostly I did nothing. It has been a long time since I stayed home on a Saturday and did nothing. We met the crew for dinner around 7:30. That was the only time we left home all day. I ran into an old friend while I was there. That is always nice. I hadn’t seen him since high school way back in 1996. I am old, we are having our class reunion in October. How much fun will that be! Once we got home Taylor had some potty struggles. He has been trying to poop since Thursday night. I finally gave him some Senekot. He went a little bit, but it was a big production. He claims to feel better and I hope he does. Taylor had a ball at the game. He ate like a horse. He had already had oatmeal, cherios, chips and macaroni at Guh’s house. He had chicken nuggets and fries on the way to the game. He ate cotton candy, pop corn, ice cream and more at the game. He had his chips and cereal on the way home and we met for dinner where he had a bowl of shredded cheese (just what he needs right now) and chicken nuggets and fries. I do not know how he doesn’t gain weight, he eats from sun up to sun down. Well, I better go. Thanks again to Camp SAM!!!

September 22, 2006 Day +1,269 Day #967 off treatment

TGIF! I am so glad it is Friday. Even after a long vacation I am tired. It was picture day at my school again. Logan informed me he was not doing it again and I did not make him. It was still a busy day keeping everyone clean and neat all morning as well as keeping them occupied. We had a good day. After school Logan and I dropped off some stuff at home and then headed to the car pool line. It was hot, hot, hot. It had rained today and brought in a heat wave. It was so sticky. It was miserable in the car pool line. It was a big day for Taylor. It was his first ever field trip. He was so scared and excited at the same time. He was upset that I wasn’t going, but I just could not miss another day of work. I don’t get paid if I am not there. Anyway, we agreed that I would wear my field trip shirt too even though I didn’t go. That made him feel better and it was simple fix. He got in the car ready to tell all. He loved riding the “cheese wagon” and sitting with friends. He had fun at the zoo. It hadn’t been that long since we went to the zoo so he remember a lot of it and was a little upset that he didn’t get to do it all. He doesn’t understand that having 100 kids to deal with is a lot harder than 2. He did get to ride the carrousel and the train. I think he really enjoyed doing something like that with his new friends. He had a sack lunch to eat at the zoo, but the rain slowed them down and they ended up just coming back to the school and eating. He didn’t care. He was also on green light!! I was worried that he may get in trouble for horse play on the bus or not staying with his group, but they say he did fine. We had a long talk about how important it was to stay with the teacher and not get lost. I think he took that serious!

Guh came over to get the boys and they spent the night with her. Taylor had already had a fun afternoon with Mrs. Stephanie from camp dropping by. Thank you Stephanie and Camp SAM! Please pray for Mr. Chuck. He is in Panama City for a bike fest and he was walking across the street from a restaurant to his bike and a young girl not paying attention pulled out and hit him. He is pretty banged up with several broken bones, cuts and stitches. He is in the hospital after surgery at a hospital in FL. He is in for a long recovery, but we know first hand that God can carry him through. Let us also be in prayer for the young girl. I know she should have been paying attention, but she still made a big mistake that will follow her through life. She not only has to live with the fact that she hurt a person, but her insurance is probably shot.

September 21, 2006 Day +1,268 Day #966 off treatment

We had a good Thursday. Taylor was on green light today after two days in a row on yellow. His teacher is out the rest of this week and I was afraid that we mean more yellow light, but so far so good. Logan had picture day today. I dressed him in khaki pants, dress shoes and a red polo shirt. He looked at himself and said, “I look like Paw Paw”. I guess he thought that since he wore that same kind of outfit to dinner on the ship. He didn’t have his baby in his picture for the first time since his 1 year old photos. I did not go in with him, I let his teachers handle it as I knew he would scream and cry more with me in there. He didn’t cry, but he didn’t smile either. Oh well! He busted out crying when he went back to his class. I guess it was left over stress. He hates picture day and I don’t know why. Taylor missed his picture day, but will have make up pictures next week. I hated not to be able to get the boys together, but I guess now I will have an excuse to get Christmas ones done. Last year we didn’t do them. We haven’t had a family one done since Logan was 1. He is almost 3, he will think we don’t like him! I guess it always goes that way, you never take as many of the 2nd kid. Okay, enough about pics. Well, that is about all there is going on with us right now. Praises!!!! The boys and I went to Dollar Tree and Walmart after school. Taylor wanted Spider man lunch sacks for his field trips, but we can’t find them anywhere. Paw Paw was in Wal mart and took the kids home with him for a while to ride their power wheels. We all met for dinner and took the kids back home. They have plans to spend the night with Guh this weekend and Taylor is going to the Auburn game. He is a busy man.

Please remember to keep Taylor in your prayers. I am at an odd state right now. I have such guilt that he is doing so well and Christi and Bailey and Ben have earned their wings. I have part of me that is so very sure that he has beaten this beast for good and then part of me is so sure that it will all hit again someday. I know that it is just the stress of this time, but it is hard at times to put all that aside. I talked with several other cancer moms this week and I know I am not the only one feeling these same things. Pray for Taylor as he goes for a visit with Dr. Berkow Tuesday. We are doing urine and labs only. That is a huge step for us and a scary one. I would feel a lot better sending him through some sort of scanner!! However, it is nice not to have scans looming over head. It will be odd to run in and run out. Pray that all his HVA and VMA are normal and labs are normal. VMA and HVA are tumor markers. It is not always a good indicator. If you recall, Sarah’s were in normal ranger when she relapsed which scares me to death. However, some kids it is a better marker than for others and it has always been a pretty good marker for Taylor. Please remember all the kids out there. Stop by and visit Amber’s Page . Amber is feeling very down right now after the loss of a friend. Visit Madison who is feeling better, but mom has Mono. Madison’s Page. Visit Evan who has finished round one of the big guns. Pray he can escape without fever. Evan’s Page. Pray for Avery who had some more scans this week and will be starting chemo and radiation. Mom and Avery will be moving into an apartment in B’ham to be closer to the hospital. That will be hard on them all. Avery’s Page Also, please keep checking in on the Thomas’ as they lay sweet Christi to rest this weekend. Christi’s Page. Sweet Jake Raborn is having some major difficulties this week. Jake’s Page. Many of you probably remember me talking about Harrison from NC. Well, he has had some progression after many months of stable disease. Harrison’s Page.Also, stop by and wish Angel Emma Grace a happy 6th birthday. She was dx on the same day as Taylor. Emma’s Page

September 20, 2006 Day +1,267 Day #965 off treatment

Happy Hump day. We have had another good day. Taylor’s cookie dough came in today, so I had to go pick that up. It was great that he won, but when I saw all 73 boxes that I had to deliver I was scared! I took it all home and spread it all over the drive way. My neighbors probably thought I was crazy. I didn’t want to lug it all in the house and I had to sort it and label it and head straight to AmSouth to deliver it before they got off work. It was a mess, but I got it done and we were on our way by 3:45. The kids loved getting to go in and visit daddies work. I think we probably scared some folks away from having kids. Logan was Logan and was wild as a buck and loud. Taylor was a show off, but he calmed down and sat in Jim’s office and colored. Logan crawled under his desk and turned off the power strip and shut down everything. Only Logan!!! We had to stop by Guh’s house and pick up our Tupperware and candles to deliver. Do you think we are into too much? Nah! There was a plane doing sky writing above her house. We had a good time watching to see what they were writing. We hurried towards home to deliver more stuff and to grab dinner and a bath.

September 19, 2006 Day +1,266 Day #964 off treatment

It is with a very heavy heart that I tell you that Christi Thomas has entered Heaven’s gates today. She was the spunkiest little thing and had the finest parents. They went to great lengths for her health and still are. They have donated her blood to have a cell line formed that could help other NB kids in the future. I am so saddened that I can hardly explain it. Please keep this family in your prayers as they move through this next step in the journey. I think what makes this so hard is she never really looked or acted sick. The child just danced a recital in June, rode roller coasters in August. I left for my trip and she was in pain, but still her spunky self. I came back to a gravely ill child. I am still in shock myself. Angela, Shayne and Shayla our prayers are with you always, we love you! Thomas Web Blog. I will update about to day later. I am very tired and still in shock over Christi. Until tomorrow….

UPDATE!!! I am feeling better now and can update, but I am still in shock. It is hard to lose any of our dear little friends, but I just new that Christi was going to be the one who won the battle and found the answer to this nasty disease. She was such a pioneer in this battle. My how she will be missed. As for us, the rest of our Tuesday was good. Logan and I went back to school for the first time since September 7th. It was not too hard to get back in the groove. Logan was eager to go. I can’t say I was eager to go, but I had a good day. It was good to see all those smiling faces and then get all the hugs because they missed me. Logan got out of the car and said, “Janice gonna put me in time out”. I told him she wouldn’t if he behaved and he just said, “nope”. I guess he knows it is bound to happen. We went to Taylor’s school PTA meeting where Taylor went up on stage to get his $50 prize money for selling so much cookie dough. Way to go Taylor. The PTA president was up on stage and the lady giving out the money was on the floor. Taylor went around her and up on the stage. How funny! We went out to eat afterwards and then rushed home and got ready for bed.

September 18, 2006 Day +1,265 Day #963 off treatment

A long day. I had no trouble getting Taylor up, but I can not say the same for me. I kept my eyes shut hoping that maybe when I opened them I would be in my cabin in the Caribbean, but it didn’t work. I walked Taylor into class as he was afraid he wouldn’t remember where to go. I had a pleasant surprise, he had won 2nd place in the cookie dough sales. We have to go to the PTA meeting tomorrow night and he will get a $50 check. Way to go Taylor!! I was told they announce Tyler Watts, he is used to it, but it is always funny since we are Auburn fans! I stayed home and did 8 loads of laundry. I hate laundry anyway, but right now I would like to throw the washer out the door. When I picked up Taylor he was talking a mile a minute. He was so glad to be back. This morning one of his friends saw him and said, “well, Taylor Watts, you came back you been gone 3 days.” Taylor said, “uh uh, 7” From the mouth of babes. I tell ya, they keep us on their toes. We got Taylor’s progress report too. He was to know 8 sounds and to recognize 8 letters. He got 9 sounds, I guess that is good since he doesn’t talk clear anyway. He got 27 letters right. That was is dibels results. He got mostly I’s on his report as far as writing skills etc. He got S for satisfactory on cutting, coloring. He is above average on those. He writes well too, but I know there is always improvement He needs to improve on his self control!! That is a big issue at home and school. All of us were in bed by 8:30. I think it is all catching up to us now.

September 17, 2006 Day +1,264 Day #962 off treatment

Heading home. It was bitter sweet. I could have stayed there forever yet at the same time I was ready to go. We had a long wait at the airport, but we killed time by eating lunch. How we made room after all we have had this week I do not know. We still managed to get home about 20 minutes early. We had Bob, Ghen Ghen and Guh waiting on us. We all went home and crashed. I got the bags unpacked and laundry sorted, but that was about it. I am dreading getting Taylor up for school in the morning. I will update again soon once we catch up!

September 16, 2006 Day +1,263 Day #961 off treatment

Today we were at Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island. The kids liked it best I think as it is so kid friendly. They played in the sand and the ocean. The tide came in, so our chairs were under water and it was nice to sit like that. Taylor tired the pirate play area, but didn’t like it. He had to cross a rope and fell into the water. He didn’t like going under the salt water. I think he would have loved it in a pool. The Flying Dutchman used in the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean, is parked there, so they got to see that. Logan got a huge surprise. Thank you Michelle!!! I have to say she has been the best head server we have ever had. We usually never see the head server, but she was always there chatting and being nice, but she really did it with this one. Logan has been in withdrawal mode over his gator and she arranged for us to meet Lloyd on the backside of the island and ride in a real gator that they use to carry stuff around the island. He was in heaven! Again, if you are reading this Michelle, Thank you!!! After some island shopping where Logan got a Goofy wearing, “flip flaps” and Taylor got a water proof money holder (I have quite asking why he makes these choices) we went back to the ship. We got all cleaned up and dressed for dinner and I started the very un fun repacking of the bags. All bags have to be outside the door by 11:00. We were all packed and ready to go fairly early, so we went to see the last show. It was a juggling comedy act that I didn’t really thing would be good or the kids would like it. However, I was wrong, it was very funny and the kids loved it. They juggled knives and bowling balls and eggs and rode a unicycle. Taylor slept with Gam maw and Paw Paw, but Logan wanted his mommy, so he got in bed with me. I was so sick. I had a sinus headache like I have never had. I was in tears it was so bad. Our cabin was above the kids club area they music was pounding and we finally had to call and complain, I couldn’t take it. I didn’t expect anything to happen, but they called and had it turned off and then called to be sure I was okay. Hmmm, how nice.

September 15, 2006 Day +1,262 Day #960 off treatment

Another day at sea. Today we just kind of hung around and did nothing. We had to cancel Logan’s nursery time, he was flipping out. He did not want to go. We went in search of the spin art they had done at the deck party earlier. It turned out cute. We watched an art auction and that was funny. I guess it was funny because I don’t have that kind of money. People were at war to spend thousands of dollars on these pictures. Crazy. Jim stood in line for the longest to get out free Disney pics signed by Don “Duckey” Williams, a Disney artist. We really didn’t do anything to speak of today. We had dinner at Parrot Cay again. We went to the best show of the week, Dreams. It is a little girl trying to fly like Peter Pan and she has to learn to believe in the magic. You have to believe in genies, princesses and pixie dust, so we went through stories of Aladin, Belles, Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White and Tink sprinkled Pixie Dust and she flew. Taylor told me later, “I know she can’t fly, I could see the sting”. Well, all righty then! Taylor was on the edge of his seat all through it Logan was actually asleep until bubbles started falling from the ceiling and he was up trying to pop them. All the characters come out at the end and they were in heaven. Logan loves Pinochio and Goofy.

September 14, 2006 Day +1,261 Day #959 off treatment

Today is another day at sea. Logan had time in the Flounder’s Reef nursery or the tree house as he calls it. There is a tunnel that connects 2 rooms that only kids will fit into. While he was in there we went to see the Shaggy Dog. Taylor has seen it, but he loved it. He was on the edge of his seat and giggled. I love it when he gets stuff, it is so funny. He ate a bag of popcorn all by himself and wanted more, but the little stand had moved on. He was mad, but got over it soon. I poked my head in on Logan as he screamed when I dropped him off. He was fine. He was playing with his new buds and watching the Wiggles. When we went to get him at 1:00 we headed up the the Beach Blanket Buffet for some lunch. We also had to go to the toy store for some prizes for such good eating at dinner last night. Neither of them have eaten very well this week. The store on the ship can not be open at port, so we couldn’t go shopping after dinner, so we did it today. Once again, they kill me with what they choose. Taylor wanted a Cars view master. Whatever! We bought Lu Lu a Tinker bell post card, so Lu Lu, be on the look out. Logan had some cars that were shaped like characters. Our server, Jaro, was in the beach blanket today and was working fast to get Logan in trouble. He was letting him roll his cars down the serving line. I told him was going to sleep in his cabin! He is so great with the boys. We went down to the lounge and played board games and stuff. I also bought the pirate pics from last night. I know next time NOT to have professional shots taken as they are great and cost a fortune!! While we played games Taylor sat in my lap and I saw that he had something in his ear. I thought nothing of it as you all know he just has yucky ears. When we started getting ready for dinner I wanted to get it out and to my surprise it was not wax. It was something red, but we didn’t know what. We had the poor kid upside down and any other way to get him in the light trying to see what it was. Jim thought it looked like a tick. It was not smooth like a bead or something, it was bumpy. We opted to head to the health room. We just asked for a flash light, but it didn’t help. We were so afraid if it was a tick and it had been there long enough to get that big that it had to come out ASAP, so we saw the Dr. He had no clue!! He called in 3 other people to look at it as well as having us look at it. He wanted to know where his NB was and you all know that pushed me over the edge. He kept questioning what kind of candy or toy he had had etc. I finally just told him, “why don’t you take it out then I will tell you what it is.” He had his partner take it out with a (drum roll) paper clip!! Guess what it was? A Styrofoam ball from a bean bag chair. Only the Watts family could have this happen on their vacation! Oh well, better safe than sorry.There is always excitement around us. Taylor has also been singing to us all week. He mixes a few songs together to get his own version. He sings to the tune of the Farmer and the Dell, Hi ho the NGO, I saw Mickey Mouse. How funny is that!

I have not been able to check in our all our pals, but all of you know we are thinking of you. Please keep them all in prayer. Please pray for Taylor as he continues to kick NB tail. Pray for his upcoming Dr. visit to go smooth with no surprises.

September 13, 2006 Day +1,260 Day #958 off treatment

Today started with a bang. Paw Paw got up to do his laundry at about 2am so that it wouldn’t be so crowded. He was stepping over Logan who had chosen to sleep in the floor. He got back in bed around 4 and then woke up around 6 or so. When he got up Logan was gone. He took off to look for him in fear that he had tried to go to our room and we didn’t hear him. He finally came back to his cabin and was going to wake us up and he saw Logan’s toe sticking out of the bed. He had rolled completely up under their queen sized bed and slept. By the time he got us up and we looked at him his head was sticking out and he started to stir. When he woke up he looked around and came out laughing and saying, “I sleep unner Paw Paw bed” He found it humorous and we did too other than the heart attack he almost gave Paw Paw.

As for the rest of our day, it was nice. We are in Antigua today. That is “Antiga”. They explained it that Christopher Columbus named it Antigua after some person, but the British couldn’t say that and said it Antiga and it stuck. Just a small tid bit of useless knowledge that may win you trivial pursuit one day. Jim and Taylor shared a cab with a lovely couple from Rainbow City, Al. They went all over the island and had a grand time. They got some great photos, so be sure to check that out. Logan and I got off the ship for about an hour and shopped a little bit. I didn’t really like being out alone. No one was mean or anything, but you never know. We just went back to the pool and hung out. After a an hour or so of Logan jumping in non stop, I had to make him get out. He would jump in over and over. He has a bruise and a rash like area on his thigh and I think that is where it is coming from. He hits that water hard then goes down and hits the bottom of the pool. After I made him quite jumping in he started just going under. I can see him clear as day and he has his eyes wide open and mouth wide open too. We went back to the room to watch movies and Jim and Taylor were back shortly. Jim had to run to catch their cab driver as he had left a purchase on the cab by accident. It was a cool basket made of leaves. Luckily, he caught him. We started our usual clean up routine and got ready for the Pirate party. The boys looked at cute as could be in their outfits Ghen Ghen put together. They had the whole deal with a patch, hat, earring, etc. We had some photos taken. I just happened to be in black and white too, so I took a photo with them. They also got to see Cpt. Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. We had dinner in Triton’s. It was good as usual. I think we are starting to get our feel as we were full! We went to a special showing of the movie “Invincible”. We didn’t get to finish it since both boys were being ugly, but they were so tired. They were asleep in no time. Logan had dropped baby in the theater and I had to go get it and he still fell asleep while I was gone, so I know he was tired. We didn’t go to the fireworks since we were so tired. I am sure I will regret the chance to see them over the ocean, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

September 12, 2006 Day +1,259 Day #957 off treatment

Today we are in Barbados. It is nice here, but not like some of the other places. We did not do an excursion, but rather we hit the shopping area in Bridgetown. We mailed some post cards, but were told it may be Christmas time before they get there, the mail is very slow. We shared a taxi with our assistant server and her boyfriend. That was interesting, they spoke little English, so carrying on a conversation was hard. We found some Christmas ornaments and the such to buy. The kids kill me with what they choose. Both of them chose a key chain with pink and blue bubbles in it. How silly! We got some change today in Barbados dollars, so Taylor has that to take back and share with his classmates. $2 Barbados is $1 US. We had to go to a grocery store to get picky bones a coke. It was a very odd little store too. It was small like a NYC store. The people were not friendly in there, but I guess they don’t get tourist in there often. We decided to walk back to the ship rather than take a taxi. It was a hot, long walk, but we got to see some sites along the way. Once we got back on the ship and had some lunch we all took off for different activities. I washed some clothes and Jim took the kids to the pool. The washing was a mess. It was so crowded that once I got them washed there was no dryer. We had clothes draped over anything that would stand still in our cabin. We had to hurry and get ready for dinner, so I just left it that way. I am sure that Arturo, our stateroom host, was shocked when he opened the door. After dinner we went to the show. We saw Susan Egan, a broadway star. She was the voice of Meg in Hercules the movie, she was Belle in the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast, she is Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie on the list goes on. I really enjoyed the show, but I don’t think the kids cared to much. After the show I took our clothes to the dryer all though it was a waste of time. It didn’t do anything but warm the clothes a little, so we were right back to having them draped all over the place. The kids slept with Gam maw and Paw Paw, so it didn’t really matter. Jim and I got a wild hair and ordered room service just because we could. I had the best Mexican pizza I have ever had. I guess today wasn’t too exciting, but we did have fun.

September 11, 2006 Day +1,258 Day #956 off treatment

Can you believe that it has been 5 years since the WTC buildings were hit? Do you still remember every detail of it all? It is funny how much of the next 4 I remember. In 2002 I remember talking to Nicole at work about how I had been so afraid that Taylor wouldn’t live to grow up. He was only 8 months old when 9/11 happened and I had been so afraid for his life. Oddly enough only 1 month later on 10/10/02 we had our own 9/11 when he was diagnosed with cancer and we were again scared for his life. In 2003 we were in New York for the 2 year anniversary. That was emotional, you could feel the tension in the city. In 2004 Jim and I were flying back from a (get this) Disney Cruise. I am happy to report that in 2005 I have no idea what we were doing. I don’t have access to his page to look it up or I would tell you! Here we are 5 years later with 2 healthy kids on a Disney Cruise. That sounds like a great way to spend the day! We docked in St. Lucia today. We didn’t “park” as Taylor called it until 11:00, so we were able to watch. It was very cool. They can turn this big ship like it is a Miada! It looked like we were going to crash right into the dock, but of course we didn’t. We were next to their airport, so we were able to see a plane take off. We had a long day! We rode a 24 mile tour to a waterfall. It took 1 ½ hours to go 24 miles. It was the windiest road. The front of the bus could touch the back on those hairpin turns and it was just one right after the other. It was also up mountain, so it was a hard trek. What made it so interesting was that they drive on the left side of the road and the driver sits on the right side of the car. It was freakin’ me out! When he made a left hand turn and you saw that car coming in what looked like our lane I would cringe. They also pass like it is the interstate on these winding mountain roads. Our driver was even passing! It was crazy. However, the ride was worth it. It was stunning at the top. It was waterfall into a pool of natural water. Taylor loved it! He swam until we drug him out. We then toured a banana plantation. We saw how they make chocolate and it is an awful process for someone for us to pop it as fast as we do! We saw how they crack open coconuts and got to taste some fresh. Yuck! I hate coconut, but the others loved it. We even got to sample the local juices. Lime juice and mango juice. It was interesting! Logan chugged the lime juice, it was kind of like lemonade. The mango must be an acquired taste, it was kind of bitter. There was a baby donkey that followed us around the plantation. Logan liked that. Taylor fed him his coconut. We got some good photos! It is a beautiful place to visit, but my to live there would be so awful. They don’t have running water in most places. They carry buckets 5 and 6 times a day for water. We saw buckets all over at collection places and they were filthy. They had public bath houses for bathing. The lucky ones as they called them, lived by the river and could wash clothes there rather than carry buckets of water. I can’t imagine. We started our long journey back to the ship. We got here too late for dinner, so we showered and started to go to the buffet when they announced that they held it over and to go ahead. I am so glad that we did as they had a schedule change and the big light show happened tonight at Animator’s pallet rather than the next time we dine there. The boys liked the show. The entire place is black and white when you start and it changes to color. Even the staff change to color vests. After dinner we had a scare!! We all headed out to see if we were moving yet. However, Logan didn’t make it. We all went off looking for him and Jim heard him. He had gotten on an elevator. No one said anything because they all thought he belonged to someone else. A man was bringing him down the stairs as Jim went up to get him. He was crying! I caught a tear on Taylor’s face too, but he wouldn’t admit it! We skipped the Muppet show as we are so tired! Tomorrow we plan to sleep late and do some shopping in Antigua, we have no excursions planned. We will update again later….

September 10, 2006 Day +1,257 Day #955 off treatment

Finally we get to bust off this ship and step foot on solid ground. I am exhausted as I couldn’t sleep well due to the closet doors slamming! The ship is rocking something fierce. I am not bothered by it physically in fact it is nice to sleep that way, but it is making those sliding doors go back and forth and slam into the wall and I was about ready to take them off and throw them out in the hall! Jim and Paw Paw got up around 4:45 this morning and went out to watch us dock in St. Thomas. We got off the ship and took a bus to Magen’s Bay one of the worlds top 10 beaches. It was gorgeous! Paw Paw had to buy Logan some sand toys and then both boys were happy. Logan was not in the mood for a beach trip. He cried and cried all day long. Despite his screaming Gam maw and I had some relaxation time floating around that crystal clear water. We left early and went to get the sticky feel of salt water off of us. We went for lunch and ended up getting our usual assistant server’s boyfriend. I don’t think he was happy with us talking to her! It was funny. I don’t think the language was getting across the right way. He thought we were complaining about her and we were just messing with her. Oh well! Paw Paw and Logan went back to the cabin to nap. Logan is in a very fowl mood over his gator. He wants to ride it so bad and has no idea we are way far away from home. We started counting how many times he said it and just in a 10 minute span we were over 30. He is making us all nuts! He even flipped out when Jim asked me where the NaviGATOR was. That is the little paper we get with the days activities listed on it. It was funny! While they napped the rest of us rode a sky bucket up the mountain to Paradise Point. We had some awesome views of the island from up there. It was hot as ever though! We rode down with some staff members that were out and about for the day. It was fun to see them out of there characters or jobs. Taylor was in awe that the guy that plays Peter Pan was up there. I guess to them Peter Pan is who he really is, so he thought Peter Pan had put on some “people” clothes and got off the ship. We got back on about 20 minutes before we pulled out of port and got ready for dinner. We went to Triton’s again. It was really fun when Ariel and Sabastian came in to sing. It was Grandparent’s day, so Gam maw and Paw Paw had special dessert. They had spaghetti on the kids menu and you all know that means Logan ate great. Taylor had just noodles and he did good too. We went to see Hercules the Muse-ical and it was so good. It had a lot of adult humor in it and it was great. It had a lot of slap stick in it that the kids loved. Neither one fell asleep this time. They slept with Gam maw and I went to bed early. Jim and Paw Paw went to see Mission Impossible. We had a great time today. Please continue to pray for our friends who are still fighting. Pray that Taylor has won his battle.

September 9, 2006 Day +1,256 Day #954 off treatment

Another day at sea. We had a Character breakfast at Parrot Cay this morning. Still no eating was done by the boys. They loved seeing all the characters and getting to talk to them. We took both boys to the pool this morning. Logan has complained of his tummy hurting all morning. Not 5 minutes after we got in the pool he was hunched over with that poo poo look on his face. I jerked him out of the pool before the lifeguard had time to notice a kid in a diaper in the pool. I took him back to the cabin to change. Bless his bones, he is so constipated, no wonder he has been so upset about his tummy hurting. We went back to the pool and he immediately wanted to eat, so he had some chips. Taylor did the waterslide a million times. He was having the time of his life. We left the pool around noon and headed to the Beach Blanket buffet for lunch. It was Asian style and we had some yummy food. They had Watermelon soup and we tasted it, but it was gross. After lunch I did some laundry while Logan napped. He was watching TV and asked if I would hold him, so he climbed into my lap. I said, “I love you sweet baby boy” He said, “I not a baby” and he was gone. I woke him up at 3:30 for his time at Flounder’s reef. He cried and didn’t want to go, but Miss Adell took him and I left. I stood outside until I heard him stop crying. I took a peak in before I left and was in her lap rocking. Taylor and I went exploring. He played football in the lobby of the theater with a staff member for a long time. We went back up to our cabin and got ready for dinner. When we went to pick up Logan he was playing with a new friend. He has a little girl at home in his class named Victoria and one here on the ship too and oddly enough, they really favor. He thinks it is her and I think it helps him go in there We had dinner at Parrot Cay. It was good as usual. Also, as usual the boys didn’t eat well and didn’t care for sitting still. We went back to the room and went to bed early. We didn’t do the show tonight. It has been a slow day on board, but still very tiring.

September 8, 2006 Day +1,255 Day #953 off treatment

The first words I heard this morning were, “I not on my bunk bed” Logan was not real happy about getting moved to the bottom bunk. We went to Triton’s for breakfast where neither child ate. Taylor is not feeling the best. Figures huh! I guess it is just due to all the commotion yesterday he didn’t get all his doses of meds and is a little chuggier than he had been. We took Logan to Flounder’s Reef nursery today. I really didn’t think he would go, but he went right in and started to play. I took off running before he caught me, so I don’t know if he cried or not. They never paged us, so I think he was fine. While he was gone we went swimming. They drain the pools each night and it takes a while to warm up, so at 10:00 this morning it was freezing!!! We got out and went to see Cars in the Buena Vista Theater. I snuck out at 1:00 to get Logan. His “teacher” didn’t want him to go, she loved him. I told her we are in room 6551 and to come by ANYTIME!! He is already asking to go back tomorrow. We finished the movie then headed back to the pool. It was much warmer this time. Taylor did the water slide 100 times. He was having a blast. Logan was jumping in and he did that 100 times. He loves being able to touch and get to play like Taylor. Are you wondering how he swam? I put him in a swim diaper with a pair if Taylor’s underwear over it and then swim trunks. That is how they caught him yesterday, they saw the diaper sticking out of his pants. Well, this time all they saw was the word hanes! It was soon time to get ready for dinner. They had fun taking a bath in the tiny tub. We went to Animator’s palate for dinner. It didn’t do its magical color change due to the special show, the Golden Mickey’s. It is like the Emmy’s for Disney movies. The boys didn’t eat at all. I think it is just so long and they are so tired it is hard to get them to do it. We went to see 2 shows tonight. They didn’t care too much for the John Charles show, but we had fun. Taylor loved the Golden Mickey’s. Logan hid his head during the Mulan part and ended up falling asleep. It is now about 10:15 EST and they are in Gam maw’s room. That is where they chose to sleep today. We have to tell Arturo, our room guy, so he will know which bunk to unlock. Taylor wants to bring him home, so he will clean his room each day. Sounds like a good idea to me! Taylor told me he thinks his head is going crazy, he can’t walk straight. Ha, the boat is rocking pretty badly tonight, but they just can’t grasp this boat thing. Jim and Paw Paw went to watch the Divinci code and I went to a show all by myself. It was sooo crowded that no one even knew I had fun, but now I am going to hit the sack. We have a character breakfast at 8:00 tomorrow morning. Well, as you can see we are having a blast. I apologize for the crazy typing and all, but I am trying to hurry. I am sure I will have to fill in as I think of stuff. Pray that Taylor has beaten NB for good and never fights it again. Pray for our friends that I can not check on right now, but I am thinking of you all! Check out the pictures, I am not sure if Jim will be able to get them uploaded or not, but keep an eye out. I will update again soon.

September 7, 2006 Day +1,254 Day #952 off treatment

We had an early start. We were up at 4:15 and out the door by 4:45. We got all checked in and through security by 5:30. We had some breakfast and sat around until 7:30 when we boarded the plane. We had a teeny tiny plane, but it was a good flight. The kids were good. We hit a little turbulence and Logan said, “oh, a bump in the road” He is a nut! When we got to the Orlando airport and started walking towards the tram to take us to the other side of the airport there was a walkway separated by a glass wall. Logan was going to “try” to run past us and ran right into the glass. Again, he is a nut! We stood in line forever to get on the bus that takes you to Port Canaveral. I have to say the kids did great waiting. Finally, we got on and we were on the front row, so they could se everything. It took about 45 minutes to get there, but they played a movie about the ship, so it went fast. We had to check in and get our keys and all and then we had to wait in another line to get on the boat. We finally got on around 12:30. Our room wasn’t going to be ready until 1:30, so we went to the buffet lunch. The kids were already having fun. We ate like pigs, but I had been dreaming of the boiled shrimp for months! We got into our rooms right on time and much to our surprise we had luggage. We got unpacked and all settled. We had to do the emergency drill and the kids hated it. They had to wear those awful life jackets and it was s hot. They just wanted to get to the pool. Logan was very upset about it, so the guy leading it let him come help him and he was happy being in charge. Finally, we got the go ahead to leave. We gave the life jackets to daddy and we ran to the pool. The Mickey pool is obviously shaped like Mickey and you can swim in his ears. It is only about 2 foot deep, so they love it even Logan can touch and it is only chest deep. He played for about 10 minutes before he got busted. Kids in swim diapers can only go into the right ear He was ticked off!!! Taylor did the big water slide a few times. It was soon time to get ready for dinner. We had a few mad kids, but they got over it. We went up to the top deck to watch us sail off, but it was delayed, so we left. We went to Triton’s for dinner. WE had a window seat, so we were able to see when we finally started to move after all. The kids loved their food, but a full 4 course meal takes too long for them. It is fun to try the strange things that you would never try any other time. After dinner we went to see a show. Taylor just wanted to go to bed, so he was whiney. Gam maw took him to the room where he was sound asleep in about 2 minutes. I guess he deserved to be tired getting up at 4:30. Logan on the other hand was wide awake. He loved the show and laughed and laughed. When the characters came out he was so excited! He has been telling me that he was going to kiss Minnie and he did! It was sweet. We finally got in around 10:00 and Logan loved the bunk beds and the elephant holding chocolates on our bed. He fell asleep on the top bunk and we moved him to the bottom. I don’t think he moved all night!

September 6, 2006 Day +1,253 Day #951 off treatment

1 more night! We are packed and ready to go. We are so excited!! Guh is spending the night, so that we can get up and leave for the airport by 5:00. Yuck! However, I am sure we will be more than willing to get up. The space shuttle has been postponed until tomorrow, wouldn’t it be cool if we saw it launch. Taylor didn’t seem too excited about it, but we are. I doubt we will see it, but it would be cool. Gam Maw and I went to get pedicures tonight. The place just opened yesterday, so everything was all new and those massaging chairs were heavenly. It was close to closing time and they let me stay in my chair while she got her pedicure. I just sat and got massaged for an hour. It was great. I stopped to talk to the same pharmacist that told me how to get Taylor better quick. I wanted something for Logan. I got him so Dimatap and hope it works quickly since I can not take it on board. I am holding to my theory that the salt air will clear them.

I had Taylor’s first official IEP meeting today. I met with Ms. Howard, his new speech teacher. He scored less than he did in July, but it is just a hearing thing as far as the person testing goes, so it was not a significant difference. He will start speech when we get back from our trip. He will go twice a week for 30 minutes, so he actually gets more time with the school system that with Children’s. He will go during nap or snack, he will not miss academics or PE, art etc. Let’s pray that this works for him and he gets better. She is convinced that some of it is due to caps that are thicker than normal teeth and his missing teeth. He tested 1 ½ yrs behind on his “ya” and mid t and d sounds. He can not do blends such as “sn”ake or “sq”uad etc, but that is developmental for age 8, so they will not focus on that, but she will correct him if he does it wrong. Anyway, it felt good about the meeting and I am eager to get it started.

Well, I am off. I am going to shower and hit the sack for our early start tomorrow. We have Guh’s car loaded and ready to go. All we have to do it roll out of bed and dress. We will have the computer with us and will update depending on the cost of internet service on ship. If not, just know that we are having a blast and that we will update as soon as we get back. When you check for updates, look on the guestbook, we may post a quick update there. Love to all!!!

September 5 , 2006 Day +1,252 Day #950 off treatment

Today we all went back to school and work. Taylor was glad to be back. I am happy to report that he still loves school and doesn’t want to miss. He doesn’t really like getting up that early and he is unhappy that there are no bikes, but otherwise he likes it. Logan is not feeling well at all. Luckily, Taylor is feeling better. We hung out at home after school. It looked like rain, so Taylor stayed in and told me often that it is not raining. I went to my sorority meeting at the new Furnace Master restaurant at Tannehill State Park. It was very good and we had a good time.

Please be in prayer for both boys to get better and feel great for the trip. Pray that Taylor is healed forever and never again has to face cancer. Pray for Evan as he will start his hard chemo next week. Pray for Madison as she starts to feel better. Pray for Christi as she continues brain and leg radiation. Pray for Avery as she has another MRI tomorrow.

September 4 , 2006 Day +1,251 Day #949 off treatment

We are getting closer! Today was a laid back one for us. Taylor went to the hunting club with Jim. He had a blast. Mr. Chuck let him drive the tractor. He “fell asleep”, so Taylor was in charge. Logan and I went shopping with Guh and to ride the 4 wheeler at her house. Taylor is very snotty still, but I got him some Sudafed and it seems to be doing the trick. He does not need an antihistamine due to his narrow sinuses, so he is on decongestant only. I hope it works and quick. Logan is nice and snotty too, I am giving him Claratin. Once we got home we just hung out until Gam maw and Paw Paw called us to meet them for dinner.

I told you it was a laid back day. There isn’t much to report. I am heartbroken over Christi Thomas. She is in such great pain and looks so sick. She has never been in remission in her 4 years of treatment, but has never looked sick. If you didn’t know her story, you probably would have never figured it out. She is so full of spunk! However, she is feeling very bad now and has a tumor growing in her head. Please be in prayer for her and her family. Chrisit’s Web Page

September 3 , 2006 Day +1,250 Day #948 off treatment

Wow, we are tired around here. The boys have been playing outside. Logan rode the go kart. Scary!! He did okay, but he doesn't understand how to stop real well. Taylor woke up with fever again. He had such thick snot that he couldn't even blow it out. We did the nasal irrigation and it helped get a lot out. He took his meds and soon felt better. By noon he was his normal self. He is snotty, but feels better. I have plans to stick hot and heavy with the nasal irrigation, nebs and Claritin. I called the RX to see what to give him without more antibiotics. He always clears up in Florida and they say it is the salty air. I have high hopes that being on a cruise ship that is surrounded by salt water is going to help clear him up. He deserves to have a great time with little or no snot!! Please pray for that!!

We had Labor day and my Nana's birthday here at our house today. Taylor loved having Drew and Blake over.

September 2 , 2006 Day +1,249 Day #947 off treatment

War Eagle!

We picked up the boys and headed towards Auburn. It took forever to find a parking spot. It was so crowded. We finally found a spot and went to shopping. It was like living there again, I ran into a friend in every store. I saw one of Taylor's ped. doctors. We saw Leigh Ann, a social worker at the hospital. She doesn't even live here anymore and I was so glad to see her. Taylor went to the game with Ghen Ghen and Gam maw and Logan and I stayed at the tail gate spot. He was pretty good. He sat and played with cars and said War Eagle to anyone that went by in car or walking. We walked to Chick Fil A and ate and when we got done we walked up and down the sidewalk a little ways. We were going past the Lamda Chi house which has a reputation for being a wild place on the Auburn Campus. He walks up to the front yard where a bunch of guys were sitting around and screams with all his might, "War Eagle". They loved it! They were hooting and hollering at him and he was eating up the attention. That's my Logan!

We moved to the truck around 8:30. I had hoped Logan would go to sleep, but he didn't. We soon left to go meet the others and pick them up, but that turned into trouble. All the roads were blocked off and I couldn't get to them. I had to go all the way around town and it took about an hour, but I got them. We were home by 12:30AM.Both boys slept all the way home. Logan was kind of restless with the seat belt on and he whimpered some. Neither boy budged when I moved them into the house.

Please keep Taylor in prayer. Pray for his sinuses to clear. Pray for him to be cancer free forever. Pray for Evan and Madison. Pray for Christi who has shown a lot of progression. They posted some pictures and it is the first time in the 4 years I have known them that she looked sick. Pray for her. www.christithomas.blogspot.com

September 1 , 2006 Day +1,248 Day #946 off treatment

Can you believe it is September? That seems rather crazy to me, it seems as though we just had Christmas and New Years and we are only a few short months away from it again. Today was a bit of a crazy day. Taylor woke up with fever. UURGH! He is very snotty, so I was not really worried, imagine that! However, I was torn as to what to do with him. He doesn't need to miss school, but I didn't want to send him either. I gave him Tylenol and he was okay by time to leave. I knew they would call me if he wasn't, but they never did. He was a chatter box on the way home and was very excited to go to Paw Paw's to play and then to Guh's.

I left the boys at Gam maw's to play and I went to finish cleaning. Guh picked them up from there and took them to spend the night with her. She could Taylor didn't feel good, but he played and ate fine. I know it is his sinuses, bless his heart, he can not catch a break from it!

Jim and I had a hot date tonight. We went to Cracker Barrel, Wal mart and then went home and cleaned. I know you are jealous! Please keep Taylor in prayer. Please pray that he is not sick and that only his sinuses are acting up. Pray that he will feel better soon.

August 31, 2006 Day +1,247 Day #945 off treatment

Wow, how did we miss a day? We noticed that our days were off and when Jim got to looking we had not updated on this day. I guess because we did nothing. I looked back in my journal and all I can see that happened was adding up Taylor’s cookie money and getting ready to place the order. Oops!

August 30 , 2006 Day +1,246 Day #944 off treatment

Happy hump day! We are at 8 days till our trip. Taylor asked this morning how many more days and I told him 8. He got this very surprised look on his face and held up 8 fingers and said, "8 days, I can count 8 days on my hands!" How funny!

I had a sub with me today as a tummy big stuck my co teacher’s house. I hope they all feel better! We had a good day, everyone was good and the day flew by. Logan and I went to Don Don's with Lu Lu after school. Shh, don't tell Taylor! That was a great distraction for Logan and he was much calmer at car pool. Taylor got in the car asking if he was in trouble so I knew he was not on green light. He was on RED light! We can not get him to tell us why. I don't know if he get the fact that things happen all day to add up to getting moved. He tells me something different each time. I wrote a note, again to find out. I really am not trying to make her crazy writing a note each time, but I want to know, so we can talk about it. I want him to know what he did and as it stands, I don't think he does. Now, I know he did something to get moved, I do not doubt that, I just want him to get it.

The boys were so sweet tonight. They played in Taylor's room all night. No fighting just playing. They made a mess in his room that he cleaned this afternoon, but oh well. I have all of the boys and my clothes packed. Jim said I was crazy for being packed a week early, but I still have so much more to do!

When bed time got here Taylor tucked Logan into his (Taylor) bed and they watched Toy Story. It was very cute and they were quiet until Taylor got sleepy and was ready to go to bed. Logan is a wiggle worm as he tries to go to sleep and Taylor didn't like it. I had to put Logan in his bed and he was mad!

We only have a week left until we leave out for our trip. We still have a lot of things to keep us busy this week too. The boys are staying with Guh Friday night. I plan to get the house cleaned up while they are gone. Saturday Jim is going to the hunting club to get things done. The boys are going to the Auburn Football game with Ghen Ghen and Gam maw. I will go if I have all I need to get done. Sunday we are having Nana's birthday at our house. Taylor is so excited about Drew and Blake coming to jump on the trampoline. Monday I think Jim is going back to the hunting club. I hope to be all packed and house cleaned so that I can sit and do nothing all day. Tuesday will be a normal work/school day. Wednesday will be normal except for the IEP meeting at 10:30. I will be sure to let you know how that goes.

Please pray for Taylor and his continued success against his cancer. Pray for the Moore's. Pray for Madison who is home!! www.caringbridge.org/visit/madisonbeck Pray for Evan who is about to start his hard chemo.www.caringbridge.org/visit/evanthomason Pray for Christi who has had a great deal of pain and shows a great deal of disease progression. www.christithomas.blogspot.com Pray for all the others who are still fighting!

August 29 , 2006 Day +1,245 Day #943 off treatment

Happy Tuesday. We had a usual day today with nothing very news worthy. When we got home from school today we did the same ole same ole that we do everyday. Taylor did his homework first thing. He has to read a little book to me 3 times. He did well as far as knowing his words, but he can not pronounce them very well. I got a letter from Ms. Howard, the speech teacher and I will go in on Wednesday for his IEP. I do not know his test scores, but I can not imagine that he would not qualify for speech.

Tonight I did one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. We went to the visitation for Bailey. I had to be there, but my how hard it was. I have been to several for other kids we have met along the way, but last night hit hard. I am not sure if it was because he was a fellow NB child or that I have known his family half my life, but it was so hard. I took one look at that precious angel that was surrounded by all the things that Taylor loved at that stage in his life and I lost it. I hugged his mommy and several others and I had to leave. I couldn't take much more. I didn't mean to be rude, but I couldn't take it. I felt equal parts fear and guilt. I was so scared that I could be there one day. God willing we will never be there! I also felt guilty for standing there trying to make her feel better knowing that I was going home to my angel who survived. UURGH! This beast is so mean and I hate it!

After we left the funeral home we headed to Guh's house for a candle party. I didn't buy a thing, but I had a good time and I needed that distraction. We didn't get home until 10:00 and of course both kids were asleep. I was close behind them as soon as I could get there.

Please pray that Taylor has beaten this disease. Pray that We are in this journey now to help others as they battle. I want to bring awareness to childhood cancer and the Red Cross and Camp SAM etc. Pray for the Moore family as they learn to live without Bailey's physical body here.

August 28 , 2006 Day +1,244 Day #942 off treatment

Just in case you didn't go back to the weekend updates, I wanted to repeat that Bailey Moore earned his angel wings this weekend. Please be in prayer for this family. Bailey has 3 siblings that will miss him terribly as well as many other family members. Today was also his 5th birthday.

Hi again! We went back to school today. Taylor didn't give me any trouble getting up and I had expected it. He was ready to go. Logan was not so ready, but he was fine once he got there and got in the groove of things.

After school Taylor played outside and Logan napped. I have begun to clean up for out Labor day company this weekend. I also started pulling together things to pack and I am making a bigger mess than I already had. I went with Gam maw and Ghen Ghen to play Bunko tonight. I didn't win any money, but it was fun. It was after 9:00 when we got home. Both boys were asleep when I got home.

Well, I guess that was about as boring as it gets! Yipee, I love how normal we are!

August 27 , 2006 Day +1,243 Day #941 off treatment

Hi all! Today was another busy day. We were up early and packed to head back home. We still had some fun before going. We did our usual group photo and pottery. This time Taylor painted a pumpkin. He made his a rainbow pumpkin. It looked cute! We were able to pick up a plate he did at week long camp. It is funny to see what he chose to do without us standing over him to tell him what to do. It is cute too. He did a hand print and put claws on it. He did his usual of putting everyone's name in it. He is so funny!

We hit the road around 11:00. He is hooked on big league chew bubble gum and we cannot find it anywhere. We stopped for drinks and to look for gum, but they didn't have it. Instead we got baseball bats full of gum. They liked them, so I was off the hook this time. The boys went to Guh's house for a bit to ride their riding toys.

I went home and threw on clean clothes and got ready for my sorority meeting. We went to a friends brand new house. It was fun and the house is beautiful. We didn't stay long and we headed home and I got things un packed and started cleaning up. It has bee a busy weekend and we have a lot to do to get ready for school tomorrow. Here I go......

August 26 , 2006 Day +1,242 Day #940 off treatment

I must break bad news today. Our dear friend Bailey Moore went to be with Jesus today. He fought a 2 yr fight with NB. Please be in prayer for this family. I can not imagine the pain. We are praying for you all!

Another fabulous day at Camp SAM. We were up bright and early and at the galley where both boys chowed down on pancakes. After breakfast both boys took off and never looked back. Taylor had Lawson, who had Logan last time. He is getting to test out all the Watts kids. The boys went with their age groups to do different activities. They did cooking, swimming, arts and crafts, harmonica lessons and much more. Taylor didn't want to do anything, but Lawson made him. I am glad because he always does that and then on Sunday he is mad that he doesn't have all the cool stuff that the other kids have. He will be glad he has it all tomorrow.

After breakfast the adults went to a survivor panel. We were able to pick the brains of 6 childhood cancer survivors ranging in age from 20-28. We learned what they remembered of treatment, fears, late effects, problems both mental and physical insurance issues, who has kids etc. It was very interesting. There were no NB survivors nor anyone that was as young as Taylor, but it was still very helpful. I hope that one day Taylor is on that panel helping other parents. After the panel we went and watched the kids play and do arts and crafts .Richard took us on a boat ride. That was fun. We went to Chimney Rock and watched people jump. We were late getting back to lunch because we got tied up in watching a girl who was trying to chicken out. It took her a long time to get the nerve, but she finally went. Both kids ate great! Camp makes you hungry. After lunch it was time to swim, so they were off! Logan cried and cried last night, but today when I tried to play with him and Natasha he told me, "go away". After lunch Jim and I went to play games with Terry. This is the time the adults get to be kids again. We act silly and it is no place to be shy! It was soon time for arts and crafts. Again, time to be a kid again. We have so much fun talking and getting to know one another over some sort of craft. If I had any sort of artistic ability then I would really enjoy it. I was able to go get a massage at 2:45 and it was the shortest 15 minutes of my life. I could have laid there forever. It was soon time to get cleaned up for dinner. Both boys refused to wear their toga. Oh well! We ate spaghetti. Taylor hates spaghetti, but he ate like a horse! Natasha had to bring Logan to me as he was out of diapers that I left her. He cried and cried for her to come back. Boy, he got over me in a hurry!!! We went to the dance with Dj OZZ. It is funny how life brings you full circle. I had DJ OZZ's little girl in my class when I worked in Auburn. He now is the DJ for all camps dances as he went to school with Miss Jennifer. Anyway, Taylor was tired and didn't like the noise so he went to bed around 8:15. However, not before staying to watch us moms have a dance. We all went out and looked dumb to embarrass our kids though I think it just embarrassed us more! We had fun though. I took Logan back to the room around 8:45 and he too was gone in no time. I packed up as much as I could and then I went to bed.

I am so thankful for my Camp family. It is so uplifting to meet these families and to see folks we haven't seen since our treatment days. Thank you Camp SAM for everything!!! I am also grateful for my Children's staff. I have really struggled with rather or not to give Taylor the antibiotics, but after picking Richard's brain for a while I am convinced it is okay. I love Children's and all the staff that has helped us through this battle. We would not be where we are today if it were not for them. Isn't it great that we have a state of the art hospital staffed with top Dr's and nurses, right in our back yard! We love you Children's!!!

August 25 , 2006 Day +1,241 Day #939 off treatment

TGIF!! Taylor did not want to go to school today. I told him to suck it up he had 13 years of it to go! I am kidding, I didn't tell him so bluntly, but I told him he had to go and he had to go for a bunch of years. He got upset and said he wanted to go back to my school. I told him about all the cool field trips and how he would get on the bus to go. I looked back and he was crying. He was afraid they would leave him. Oh no! We may have troubles when it is time to go on a field trip. I can not go on the first one since it is the week we get back from vacation. I am sure he will be fine.

Logan went with Paw Paw while I did car pool. Taylor and I went to load the car. I had not done that last night since I had chocolate milk for Logan to bring. Did I remember to get the milk? No! We stopped at McDonald's and ate in the car and we stopped for milk and that was it. We were sitting at Camp SAM by 7:30.

This was our first Off Therapy Camp. We didn't know most of the kids there since they had been off treatment from 4-9 years. Most of them were done before we had even began. We knew a few from other camps or at clinic, but not a lot. It was fun to get to meet knew people, but we missed the Al-Shkar family who we usually hook up with for the weekend. We went to Concord for a while to introduce all the adults. There was one other NB family. He was 9 years old and was a good many years out of treatment. That is always good to see. Logan was not happy about being left with Natasha. He did okay though, that was the difference between him having a guy or a girl. The guys usually just come find us and she didn't. I don't mind at all that they find us, but I was just noting the difference.

Taylor was very tired and he wanted to sleep with us. He tends to do that when he is tired. Both boys were asleep in no time. The adults had the chance to go swim after the kids were in bed though we didn't get to since we had kids with us rather than with their counselors. That was okay, there will be other years to do that. I hear they had a great time though!

August 24 , 2006 Day +1,240 Day #938 off treatment

Hi all! The count down continues, we have 14 days! I have been watching the weather like a crazy woman. Last time we cruised hurricane Frances tried her best to ruin it. Pray for no bad weather this trip. We have spent this afternoon packing for camp. Logan is so excited that he asks every few minutes if we are going to camp. I guess it is a change from the usual "are we getting on the disney boat" , but it is getting old too.

I do not have a thing to tell today. I guess that is a good thing. We will be leaving right after work tomorrow to head to camp, so I will update again Sunday.

August 23 , 2006 Day +1,239 Day #937 off treatment

Good afternoon to you all. I hope you all had a nice Wednesday. We did. I dropped Taylor off this morning and it was about 7:48 and he had to go to the gym. He wasn't real happy about that, but oh well. I know that he knows his way now, so I am okay with it. I will try not to be early again!

Logan and I went on into school where I got the art ready for school and he colored. He loves to go to the three year old room and play, but he has a melt down if we try to move him into that class. Oh well, he will get there soon enough. I can't believe that is the class that Taylor started in, it seems like a million years ago.

As soon as we got Taylor in the car after school, he said, "are you mad at me?" I had no idea why he thought I would be mad at him. He said, "guess what light I am on? The yellow light." I asked why and his reply was "do we have to tell daddy?" Yes, I made him tell his daddy. He knows he must not get on yellow or red again. They only send a note if they get on red, so I put a note in his communication folder to ask what happened. I am not upset that he is on yellow, but I want to be able to talk to him about what he did.

After bath time tonight Taylor put on his pj's and it about floored me. I know he is growing up,but you know how it is when you are with them all the time and you just don't notice all the changes. He put on a Calypso Joe t shirt that he has had since he was in active treatment back in 2002. It used to go to his ankles, but he loved to wear it because the guy on the front only had a few fly away hairs like he had at that time. He walked in with it on tonight and it fits! He looked crazy in his miss matched pj's, but so grown up too. He had on that crazy bright green shirt and Spider man boxers.

I don't think Logan feels real good. He has a raw bootie and that is hurting him. He just cries and cries when he knows he has to get a diaper change. He is not warm or coughing or anything, but he is mopey and not quite himself. I can look past it more with him, but things do still run through my mind.

Please pray for Madison. She was taken to Vandy by ambulance last night with a 104 degree fever. Pray that they find the answers they need to get her feeling well again. Pray for Avery who will probable be starting chemo soon.

August 22 , 2006 Day +1,238 Day #936 off treatment

Good afternoon! It has been a busy day today. I took Taylor to school this morning. I went to work for a short time. I had to go to a meeting at the school at 10:30. Jim and I had to sign papers for Taylor to be tested for vision, speech and hearing. This will see if he is eligible for speech in the school. I hate that he has to test seeing as he was just tested in July, but I understand that he has to go through the legal steps. He will probably not have hearing loss at the frequency that they test. They don't test as high as Children's does. Anyway, he will be tested sometime this week or early next week. We will meet again once they get the results and we will work out his IEP.It was great to get to talk to his teacher one on one. She made us feel great. Taylor is so good for her and very independent. He helps others cut and stuff like that. How great, I am so proud.

I went back to work and Logan went with his daddy. He was so excited to get a day by himself with daddy. I was so excited to get to do carpool by myself again. My goodness it was hot. It was almost unbearable! Come on fall! We all went to dinner with Gam maw and Paw Paw. Taylor had to behave since his teacher was there! It was funny to watch him look over at her and try not to get caught doing it. Logan was showing his true colors so that probably made all the K5 teachers want to retire!

After dinner we dropped the boys off at home where Guh was waiting to keep them. We had to go to the Kindergarten orientation. We learned about how their communications folders work and how the homework folder works. We also signed up for field trips. I signed up for them all and they will draw names for who gets to go when. All of them sound fun, so I don't care which one. I know Taylor will love them all!

When we got home we did his homework. We did some Dibels practice. He should know 27 letters in 1 minute. He did 30, so he is on target! He recognized numbers out of order and did them all right except, 18, 12 and 15. That is not too bad. He soaks it all up and he didn't mind sitting there doing homework. He is to do 6 minutes of practice or homework each day, so that isn't bad.

I will try not to be so long between updates. We get so busy and there isn't much to tell, so I just don't do it. Please pray that Taylor continues to win his battle with cancer and that he never again has to fight it. Pray for Evan to have a good week off and for things to go well when he picks back up on Friday. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/evanthomason Pray for Madison who got a 103 fever today http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/madisonbeck Pray for Avery who is still waiting on results and trying to see what to do next. http://www.averyann.net Pray for Jake who has more tumors in his lungs. http://www.caringbridge.org/la/jakeowen There are so many more that need our prayers!!

August 21 , 2006 Day +1,237 Day #935 off treatment

Happy Monday! We are in the countdown to the trip, 16 days. I am so ready, we all are. Even Logan asks every day, "we gettin' in the Disney boat". He didn't want to go at first, he kept saying he wanted his mommy. We told him that I was going and if he wanted me he had to get on the boat. Well, now he tells us, "I get on Disney boat, I want mommy and she on boat, gotta get on." He is such a character!

It was green day today and Taylor wore his bright green power ranger shirt. He was half asleep this morning,but he managed to get dressed and fed and out the door on time. He was unbuckled and begging to get out when we got to the drop off line. I am so glad he likes it. He looks so small getting out and trying to get that big back pack on his back and walk into the school, but he manages. My big kid!

Logan and I had a good day at school. We ran home after school and got some snacks and juice to head to car pool. I let him get out of his car seat and sit up front while we waited. He seemed to enjoy that and I hope that it was a little cooler for him rather than being strapped in his car seat. It was finally time to get moving, so I strapped him in and we moved through the line. We got home just in time as it started to pour rain soon after.

We just hung out here until daddy got home. He had the boys tonight and I went to a party at a friends house. I had fun and it was nice to get away for a little bit. I was back home by 8:30. The boys were tucked in, but still awake, so I kissed them good night.

August 20 , 2006 Day +1,236 Day #934 off treatment

Well, I am back for another boring update. I just don't have much to tell you these days. Today Taylor and daddy went to the hunting club to work. Taylor loves that and he rode the 4 wheeler and played in the dirt and all that fun little boy stuff. Back here, Logan and I played here at home with Guh until the party started. I had a lot of fun and got some cool tupperware stuff. I have a few more days to close the show, so if anyone is interested email me quick!

The boys went to Guh's house to play for a while. Jim and I went to Watermark place to shop. I got Taylor a really cute back pack to carry his toys and coloring books in for his trip. We also got some great deals at the Tommy outlet. We went to get the boys from Guh's where they were eating dinner. Logan was so tired he fell asleep in Guh's lap.

Taylor was not very happy tonight to have to go to bed. He is not really pleased with the whole bedtime idea. He still lays awake until 10:00 or so. He is one of a few that nap at school, so that is an hour that he sleeps. He has not taken a nap in years, so that could be the reason he can't sleep at night. Oh well, he has not given me any trouble in the mornings (yet) and that is what matters.

August 19 , 2006 Day +1,235 Day #933 off treatment

We went to a family reunion for Jim's family today. The boys had a blast running around with all the other kids. We all enjoyed chowing down on all the good foods everyone brought. After the party, we headed home. Well, the boys went to Gam maw's to play and I went to clean, again! I am having a tupperware party tomorrow and I have to get ready. Logan called us and wanted us to bring his 4 wheeler over to ride. We told him we would when we came, but we didn't mean right then. Well, he thought we did and he sat on their porch steps for about an hour waiting. We finally got over there and they played on their riding toys and we swam.

I took Logan with me to the grocery store. We were on the paper goods aisle. I was hardly listening to him as he talked about wanting gold fish, big gold fish. I got so tickled when I realized what it was he was talking about. It was about a 50 pound bag of cat food with the pieces blown up on the bag and they were shaped like gold fish. It was so funny!

I don't remember if I told you about Taylor's funny. He wanted to go outside the other day and he wanted to open the garage door. I thought about it a minute then told him, "I suppose so". He took off then stopped and came back and said, "mommy, does 'posed too mean yes too?" How funny!

August 18 , 2006 Day +1,234 Day #932 off treatment

TGIF!! It was a good day. Logan and I had time to kill after school so we ran by the house and got swim stuff and headed to Paw Paw's. Logan stayed there and swam while I did car pool. It was nice not to have to entertain Logan. It sure was hot though, gosh, I am ready for cooler weather.

After I got Taylor he went to swim too. We all went to grab a bite to eat and then Logan went to Paw Paw and Gam maw's house while Taylor, Jim and I went to meet the Thomason family. We had a great time visiting with them. I wish I was visiting her as Taylor's favorite teacher rather than a fellow cancer mom, but we still had a great visit. Evan and Taylor played well together. Taylor loved all the new stuff to play with. He also loved their silly "jumpin' dog". The little thing was so excited it just jumped all the time. All of out dogs are big and don't jump, so that fascinated him. Please stop by and visit Evan and his family. They are a wonderful family and they need our prayers as they go through this journey. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/evanthomason

We took Taylor back to Gam maw's where the boys were to spend the night. Logan changed his mind and went home with us. I think we confused him. We told him if he went home he had to go to bed. He was tired and wanted to go home with us, but didn't want to go to bed. Sounds crazy huh! He finally got in the car and then screamed to go back to Gam maw's the whole way home. He was asleep in no time once he was in bed!

Well, the first full week of school is over and he loved it. I hope it stays that way! He has spelled R E D over and over. He has also told us that rojo is red in spanish. Smartie pants! Please join us in praying for a wonderful school year. Pray for Evan as he goes through his treatment. Pray for Madison as she nears the end of her hard stuff and starts her maintenance chemo.

August 17 , 2006 Day +1,233 Day #931 off treatment

Here we are at Thursday. The week is flying by, yipee, it will soon be time to hit the sea! I had a good day at school and Taylor was very excited as usual to tell me all about his day. It was yellow day today, he is really enjoying finding clothes for the color of the day. We had to go back home this morning and get Taylor's snack. I forgot all about it, but we were still on time.

We went to dinner with Gam maw and Paw Paw. It was very difficult for Taylor to understand that he couldn't go home and spend the night with Paw Paw. I guess that will be the hardest part for him. He is used to going with Paw Paw if he was off or fishing with Pippy during the week and he can't do that anymore.

I had turned in money to be a chaperone for Children's theater field trips, but I got my money back as there were already enough chaperones. I was a little sad that I didn't get to go, but at the same time glad:) I am sure that a bus full of kids on a field trip would be great fun. I know he will have fun rather I go or not. I don't really care about the field trip, I would just like to be a fly on the wall to see him take it all in. He has never done anything like that and he will love it.

August 16 , 2006 Day +1,232 Day #930 off treatment

Another busy day. I cleaned again! You would never know that I just did it Sunday. You can tell that we are back in school and not at home to get things done. I squeezed my way into the car pool line and Taylor couldn't get out.. I forgot all about the child locks being on the car, so I had to motion for a teacher to help him. I fixed the lock as soon as we got to school, so that he could get out on his own next time. He was not nervous at all today. He thought he was a big guy! I wish we didn't have to hustle though so that I could watch him go in. Not to see if he can do it, just to watch him experience it.

I had another great day at school. I had more new kids to start today, but (knock on wood) they all did great. I have got some smart cookies! Logan and I about burnt up today. It was so hot. He enjoyed watching the big kids play on the playground while we waited for Bubba to come out. Taylor was once again excited when he got in the car. He was happy he got to come to the car by himself without Mrs. W holding his hand. He had 2 band aids on his legs. He had been pushed down on the sidewalk on the way back to the room form PE. I guess, at least, I know the $20 I paid to the health room has been put to use!

I also got my money back that I paid to go on the Children's theater field trips. They only let 4 parents go and it was already full. Oh well. I have heard a lot of parents say that they do not let their kids go if they don't go, but I am not doing that. I survived field trips as well as all of you and so will he. I know there will be many others to go on, so maybe I will get in on a few of them.

August 15 , 2006 Day +1,231 Day #929 off treatment

I attempted to drop Taylor off in the car pool line. It is so crazy there that I couldn't even get in the line. I just parked and walked him to the sidewalk where he would have gotten out and let him go from there, so he did still walk himself in. He was a little nervous, but I know he did fine. He was a little sluggish this morning. It was like he got too much sleep, he was harder to get up today and he went to bed great last night. Anyway, I was a little worried about him and I about shot through the roof when the school called at 8:30. My heart was in my throat and I could hardly answer the phone. It was just the speech teacher setting up and IEP meeting to get his speech going. I was so glad to hear from her as I was afraid it was going to be a hassle, but at least we have this meeting set up.

Carpool was easy today. It poured down rain, so I feared I would have to run the car, but it cooled it off so much that we were fine sitting in the car. Logan drank his bug juice and ate cookies while we waited. I was on the outer lane today and Taylor had to cross the traffic to get to me. A teacher walked him, but she wasn't paying much attention, so I am not going to use that line anymore. I would rather be farther back than risk him running out in front of a car. He was so excited. He talked to much and so fast that I really had no idea what he had said. He said, "I can read, see, R E D spells red." He is so excited! He sang me a song he learned too. He got his first field trip notices today. It was for Children's theater. He isn't excited about that because he has no idea what a field trip means.

Guh came over for a visit tonight. They all played games and we swapped car seats with her. Logan is getting to big for his, so we put it in her car where he doesn't ride often. My own rule back fired on me. I make my kids at school do this and so does Mrs. Thornton. I make them bring home anything they didn't eat, so mom and dad can see it. Well, Taylor took it too far and brought his opened apple sauce cup home. There was apple sauce all over his lunch box. Yuck!

I am so excited to have news to share and it all be normal stuff!! Please be in prayer for all the kids out there battling this beast.

August 14 , 2006 Day +1,230 Day #928 off treatment

Back to school. I walked Taylor to his door, but I acted as if I had no idea where to go, he had to lead me. He did a very good job. I am okay to drop him off since I know he can get to his class. I just said goodbye at the door. His teacher called me back to tell me do not worry about him missing 7 days of school. Kindergarten is not mandated by the state of Alabama, so he does not technically have to be there. I know it will still eat me up, but I am sure as soon as I hit that boat, I will forget all about it.

Logan and I went to the grocery store and got me some lunch stuff and basically just killed time before we had to be at school at 9:00. I had a good day considering all my kids were knew. Well, some were just moved up from the 3 year old class and others were new to our school. It was still a new class and new routine for them all and they did great. I have to say that they did better than last years class. It is so much easier not having Taylor in my class. I laugh at my other teachers as both of their kids are in out class. It is funny now that it isn't me. However, it is good to see that it is just them doing it for mom because I know these kids are well behaved.

I picked Taylor up from school today. Logan did well in carpool line. He read books and played in the back seat until they were dismissed. Taylor was so excited when he got in the car. He talked and talked all the way home about his day. I had dinner cooked and the boys fed before Jim got home. I met Gam maw at Curves and went to the tanning bed. I am losing my tan fast and I worked hard sitting at Alabama Adventure in the blazing sun to get it!

Taylor went to bed much quicker tonight. It was around 9:30 when he finally fell asleep. He just sits there and talks to himself or reads a book from 8:30 until whenever he drifts off.

Please pray for Taylor and his success against NB. Pray for Madison as she went to Vandy today for treatment. Pray that her body can tolerate it and not have to miss much school. She is so excited to be back. Pray for Evan as he finishes up one part and gets a break for a few days.

August 13 , 2006 Day +1,229 Day #927 off treatment

Another busy day. I cleaned house all day, it was getting crazy around here. Logan has been a pill all day. He even tried to tear up Taylor's first ever homework assignment. Yep, homework. He had to decorate a ginger bread man with magazine pictures that described him. He has trucks, nasonex, tissue:), baseballs, red, ham. cheese and much more on there. It is cute and he had fun. He thinks he is the coolest thing in town getting out his "homework" box and sitting down to do his homework. How long do you think that will last?

Jim and Taylor went o Alabama Adventure with Gam maw. Logan had to stay home since he was ugly. He took a nap, a very short one. I failed to mention all of his tricks today. I opened his door to get him up this morning and I found that he had slung his cup all around and chocolate milk was from one end of the wall to the other. I was sooooo mad. He looked me dead in the eye and said, "spank me".

When Taylor got home he was complaining of that eye hurting. They were blood shot and he said he had swam under water with his eyes open. I know that it the problem, but why can't I let it go? He had an awful cramp too and couldn't walk. I was about to cry when Jim rubbed it and he said it was fine. He didn't eat much lunch and then played all afternoon, so I am sure it was a cramp, but why can't I let it go? He played great and ate a great dinner. He ate spaghetti! He doesn't even like spaghetti! He ate some chicken nuggets and asked for bar bq sauce to go with it. He didn't like it, but I was impressed that he tried it. Maybe school will be good for him. He branched out a lot just from going to preschool, I am sure K5 will help!

This week will start the official routine for us. Logan and I will be back in PDO 5 days a week. We will be playing with how to work car pool, but we will get it all worked out. I failed to mention yesterday that Jim did get the air fixed in my car, so we are thrilled to have it back. It will help Logan in car pool to have the TV.


Please pray for a great week. Pray that I can let go and let God with my fears. Pray that Taylor has beaten cancer for good. Pray for Evan as he and mom start this week without dad. He had to come back home and get back to work. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/evanthomason Pray for Sarah who is waiting for scan results. http://www.caringbridge.org/nc/sarahsmith Pray for Madison who will go to vandy tomorrow for the last round of harsh chemo. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/madisonbeck Pray for all the families out there fighting the beast including http://www.averyann.net.

August 12 , 2006 Day +1,228 Day #926 off treatment

Taylor slept late! I know he loved it, he is our sleepy head. I was up and at Curves by 9:00. I also hit the tanning bed. I came home and found the boys outside playing ball in the yard. Taylor and I go cleaned up and went to his friend, Shannon's birthday party. He was very shy at first, but he slowly started to play. Once they got the inflatable water slide going, he was 100% ready to go. I had to drag him away. We went shopping with Gam maw and Paw Paw. Taylor shopped just like he partied. He was real slow at first and then he got in a groove and was piling up the stroller with clothes. They both hit the jack pot on that trip. We all went to see Barn Yard. It was the first time that Jim and I have ever been to a movie with either kid. They did great. Logan was laughing so loud. He got tired and walked back and forth from Gam maw to me, but he wasn't in the way, so he was not hurting anyone. He and Taylor both ate pop corn like it was going out of style. Taylor was cracking me up tipping the box of snow caps up and eating them like a man would. It was so funny! He didn't drop any either. The movie was real cute.

It was a busy day and we lost Logan on the way home. Taylor was still up and wanted to go through all his new stuff when he got home. He got mostly long sleeved shirts which I am glad of, but he was mad that he couldn't wear it on Monday. He has chosen to wear his Power Ranger shirt and his new shoes, but the lime green shirt and red shoes didn't go over well with mom, so we chose a different shirt.

Taylor finally fell asleep in our bed watching hunting shows with Jim. He is so funny when he watched TV. He is so into it that he is not moving, blinking or listening. Just like his daddy.

August 11 , 2006 Day +1,227 Day #925 off treatment

First let me feel you in on the school visit from yesterday. We all 3 went to eat lunch with Taylor. We got to his classroom around 12:10 for his 12:15 lunch time. It was hectic the first day, so it was late, but that was fine. It gave us a chance to see what they do. They had a puppet sow and sang some songs. Finally, they lined up and went to lunch. They do just what I made them do, lips and hips. That means put one finger on your lips and one hand on your hips. Logan had brought his lunch box and was in line with them. It was cute. They all went through the line to get a tray, they have to have that to put the food on even if they bring a lunch. They went and found their table and ate. We sat back and let him open things on his own and he did fine. They went out to the play ground after lunch. He was very excited to do that. He had no troubles at all with us leaving. He seemed to be having a great time. We went back at 2: 20 to join the mob for car pool. It was backed up a mile down Eastern Valley rd. It was crazy!

Today I took him to school. I walked him into the gym where he will go when he gets there each morning. I wanted to be sure he knew where to go. I dropped his med's off to the nurses office. He only has a asthma inhaler for emergencies. I was so glad to see that a good friend was working the nurses office and she knows all about Taylor and his snot issues. Yes, he is full of green snot again. I talked to both Michelle and Mrs. Thornton to let them know he is not sick and they will know the difference between sick and his normal old every day snot. They were both great. Lucky for me, Mrs. Thornton asked me to walk Taylor into the class when it was time just to be sure he knew how to get there. I am not so sure I like this idea. He about got knocked over by the big kids that were zooming around. If he gets dropped off right at 7:50 they get to go straight to their class, but that will not help him from getting knocked over. I know he will toughen up and get used to it, but will I?

Jim went and had lunch with him. On Friday they get to buy ice cream, so he was able to use his lunch number and buy ice cream. I went back to the car pool line at 1:55. I had to sit for an hour, but I sat and read a book. It was actually a peaceful break, but I know that with Logan that will not work. I am not quite sure how we will work it all out. People keep saying just come at time, but then you are a mile down the rd. I guess we will just play with it these next few days and see how it works out.

Today Jim went and bought a part to hopefully fix my air conditioner. The man at the Nissan place is 90% sure that is the problem. It is a easy fix once you get the glove box and half of what was behind it pulled out. Now we know why the labor is so much! We went over to Gam maw's to swim for a while. Taylor is grumpier than ever. You know me, I put way to much thought into it. I can't just leave it at he is a Kindergartner now and got up at 6:30 rather than 8:30 and stayed at school 7 hours rather than 4. Anyway, he had a ball playing in the pool, but was rather bossy and ugly at times. The boys went to Guh's and JIm and I headed for the movies only to see that nothing we wanted to see was playing. We drove to trussville to see if our pal Assem was at Jim N Nicks and we could see him off before he moves to Tennessee, but he was not there. We grabbed a bite to eat and headed to get the boys.

It was a great end to a great, normal week. Please join us in praying for many more!

August 10 , 2006 Day +1,226 Day #924 off treatment

August 10, 2003 was spent in New York City. We had a lazy Sunday and ate at our usual, 3 Star and went to the Rainbow store. I am sure it was very exciting at the time. I read back over my journal and I was very nervous about the next days 3F8 and Taylor was having an allergic reaction to his band aids and we thought it was the emla cream. He was 2 years old and acting like a 2 year old, but I was so sure that his fussiness was relapse. That sounds familiar doesn't it!

August 10, 2004 was spent having lunch with Nurse Rhonda and her new baby. We spent the evening at the American Cancer Society awards where Taylor was given an award. We were thrilled to be in the presence of Janice Rogers, Pat Sullivan and Hubert Green.

August 10, 2005 was spent at school as the last day in the 3 yr old room. The next day he moved up to the 4 yr old class with me. Wow, we made it through the year! Taylor also got his fish back that day. He had waited very patiently for some time for his mounted fish to arrive. He was to excited!

August 10, 2006 Taylor started Kindergarten! I can not believe it. It seems like yesterday that he was born, yesterday he was dx with cancer. Yet, it all seems light years away, many years ago, never could have even happened. It was actually very melodramatic. believe it or not there was not a tear shed by either mom or Taylor. Go us!

Let me start at the beginning. Finally at 10:00 last night I peaked in his room and he was asleep. He woke me up at midnight coughing. He never woke up, but I was frazzled at that point. He sounded like a seal. I am not sure where that came from, but didn't like it. I woke him up at 6:30 this morning and gave him a puff on his inhaler and it seemed to start breaking up. He also did a breathing treatment and he was still coughing when we left, but seemed to sound a little better. Doesn't it figure, he has been well all summer and he has a cough the first day of school We took some pictures of him with his heavy back pack on and then we headed out the door. We parked in the mad house known as the first day of school and walked him in. Logan has said repeatedly that "big boy school makes me scared" He didn't really care for the idea. Taylor was fine though. He walked in to his room and round his name on the table. He is the first table in the door and right by Mrs. Thornton's desk. You think she has heard rumors? No, I think that is the best spot for him, he will pay attention. He was scared, we could tell, but no tears or don't leave me's were said. We took a picture of him at his desk and with his teacher. Logan gave him a big hug and kiss. His new friend also named Logan had the same lunch box. They were excited about that. We left him after a few minutes. I wanted to go back out that way and peak in, but we didn't. I turned in his speech paper work to get him enrolled in speech at the school. I hope it isn't too much of a hassle, but we will see.

It is now 9:40, I am off today as we will only have 3 kids in our class since everyone went to big school today. I have filled out his paper work, I know I am too organized, and I am doing laundry. We are going to eat lunch with him today at 12:15. That should be interesting. I will update again later to fill you in on how it all went.

August 9 , 2006 Day +1,225 Day #923 off treatment

Oh happy day! I will give the best news ever first. Paw Paw called and he found Bozo and Night Night in his truck I did not carry the boys to the yard sale the other day and Jim and Taylor both swore he didn't bring all that with him, but apparently he did. I told Taylor that Paw Paw had called and guess what he found in his truck. I was talking all excited and I knew he would catch on. Well, he told me in a matched enthusiasm, "a 4 wheeler" I made him keep keep guess and I even said, "what we have been looking for" he said motor cycles, cars etc. I think he was jerking my chain so more. I finally just told him and he grinned, but didn't say too much. He did tell me when we got home, "I am glad Paw Paw found boze and night night so I can sleep." He hasn't had any trouble, but I guess he missed it more than he thought. I know I missed it! I know one thing, we know now that he can manage without it, so it will be staying in the bed from now on!

I have to ask for some prayers. More for me than Taylor. I have been watching a spot on his eye. It looks like a spot where he hit something, it is not bruised, but not a bump either. Anyway, He has not mentioned it at all. Well, today he said he couldn't see in that eye and I about lost it. I rubbed it a minute then looked at it and he said, "oh now I can, there was something in it" He kept rubbing it while he colored and he just seemed so down at school. I tried to ask him about it, but I know that when I start asking him he gets confused and doesn't know what I want him to say, so he changes his answer a million times. I think he was sad that it was his last day at school and he was the only boy! I took them out to the play ground and he was a wild Indian. We came back in and he played well with the girls. I honestly know it is me just looking for something. I know it is a combination of hearing of relapse, new diagnosis, and him going to school and me not having a constant eye on him. Please pray that it is JUST me and that he is healthy as a horse and will be forever. Pray for my peace with it all and Taylor's continued good health.

Also, Beth Beck, Madison's mom is having some environmental stuff done in our area to see if there is any connection to all the cancer here lately. There are 8 kids in Taylor's new school. Two had benign tumors, 2 are on active treatment and several in remission. That is just the kids in that school. That is scary. Anyway, please go to caringbridge.org/visit/madisonbeck and email her you, a family member, friend etc., diagnosis, date, and where you live. I think she is looking at the West Blocton, Vance, woodstock, Bessemer, and McCalla areas. You can email me is you want to and I will get it to her. She is looking at both the young and old and any cancer, so please help her out. I think it will be very interesting to see what they learn.

Well, the last night of summer vacation went off without a hitch. We met Gam maw and Ghen Ghen for dinner. Taylor was a silly goose and ate like a horse. I feel much better. I know it is the power of prayer and God's peace. I am still nervous, but I know it is Satan trying to take away our happiness. I also got a good look in that mouth of his and found a nice sized ulcer in the back of his mouth. I know that it is hurting, so I can let the mouth worry go. He has not stopped telling me it hurt, but at least I have a reason for it to hurt and I can let it go.

After dinner we went to the grocery store and picked up a "few" things for him to take to lunch. He picked a buggy full of goods. He helped pack his lunch. His first day of kindergarten will consist of a lunch of ham, string cheese, a rice krispie treat and G force juice gummies. I know he will not like the gummies, so we threw the rice krispie treat in there. He got his bath and got all tucked in. He is not used to going to bed that early, so he is a little restless and has peed 10 times. He is getting nervous. I walked by his door and he called out, "I will miss you". He wasn't crying, but he had a scratchy voice. Poor guy. I assured him we would be back and he would have fun. He knows his PDO friends will be there, but they are not in his class. He is okay now that he knows he will see them in the lunch room and on the play ground. I know tomorrow morning will be hard, but we will make it.

Please pray for us as we start this new phase. Praise be to God that Taylor is here to start Kindergarten, 3 1/2 yrs ago I didn't think it was possible. Please let his eye be fine and let me be fine not being able to watch him like a hawk all day. I guess really that is better since I can't nick pick him all day! Pray for all the kids out there battling illness and injury!

August 8 , 2006 Day +1,224 Day #922 off treatment

It is Taylor's last week at PDO. I am so excited yet so sad. I remember calling Joy and enrolling Taylor in Pdo back in June of 2003. He did very well and walked right into school that first day. Within a week he was potty trained. That August is when I started teaching there and it was ugly for a while. He did not like me being there and him not being with me. He cried and cried and it was awful, but with in a month of school starting he was fine. He loved Christi and Shannan and I can never thank them enough for the love and knowledge they gave him. Then the fun really started when he moved up to my class. It was challenging to say the least. I did enjoy getting to see him interact and to know first hand if he was at the same level as his friends. However, he did test me! I know I will miss seeing him all day. I also could not have made it without Joy. Unfortunately, she understands all too well about cancer and how worrisome it can be. She had allowed me to fret, cry and laugh about it all in one breath and completely understand. She has been a life saver and I love her dearly. I know I am not leaving PDO, but Taylor is and I just want them all the know how appreciated they were and are. Now, they have their work cut out for them, they still have 3 more yrs with Logan!!

After school today we went home and did nothing. Taylor played and went outside for a while. Logan sat in his bed and talked all afternoon. I needed to run to the bank and to the dollar store and I went to get him up and he had fallen asleep. I finally woke him up at 4:30. He was so tired he could hardly walk to the car. He went to sleep in the car. They were so good in the store. I got them each a goody for being so goo. I mean good! We went by the candy at the register and Logan just looked. I said he already had a prize and he said ok. Wow!

I met Jim and swapped cars and gave him the kids. I went to work to get my class ready and some of my plans ready. I then went to my meeting. I didn't get home until nearly 10:00. Both boys were sound asleep. Taylor had the blanket and dog he had chosen to replace Boze and night night. I am still upset. I am not sure if I am upset that it is gone or that he has grown up and doesn't need it.

Please keep Taylor in your prayers. He has done so well and sometimes that alone is scary. You just never know with this beast what my be lurking around the corner. Pray for all the kids that are fighting their own battles.

August 7 , 2006 Day +1,223 Day #921 off treatment

Taylor's Art Page updated with 3 new works of Art! Check it out.

Happy 7th anniversary Kim and Jim. I tell ya, I think we got a little more than we bargained for when we said I do, but we have managed to survive it.

We are having a rough day here in Watts world. There is still no sign of night night. and Taylor still seems un phased. He looked looked. We haven taken sheets off the beds, took every thing off the top bunk and from under the bottom bunk. We cleaned his room, we cleaned parts of the play room. I called any places we have been the last few days though I am still pretty sure it didn't go out of this house. I think I am more upset than he is. I just feel like that has been part of him for so long and he was comforted by it for so long that it being gone is like part of him being gone. That was one of those items that we would have kept even after he outgrew the need to have it. I guess he has outgrown it if he doesn't care that it is gone. I am still just a basket case over the stupid thing!

I have been dealing with Mary Kay messes all morning and I am ill with that. I am ill with the rude folks at the pest control place. I am ill with the prices given to fix my air. We had to places look at it and make their guess at the problem with out taking anything apart. BOth places gave a different answer with a much different price. Once was $1200 one was about a $50 part with about $200 labor. We certainly pray for the latter. The second one was easy to get to and maybe could be done by good old Jim, but the first required the entire dash board to come out. Yikes! Please pray it is the 2nd one and can be easily handled!The boys have been okay today. They are not fighting, but running and yelling all through the house and it is getting on my already frazzled nerves.

I did get some good news today from Meredith. I had called her about Taylor's medic alert bracelet. The clasp doesn't do right and it falls off and I don't want him to lose it. I have always just pinned it inside his bag, but he has been known to get it out and luckily his teacher always found it if he fell off. I didn't want to send it to the school this year for fear of it getting lost if he pulled it out of his bag. I was told to copy it or get a letter from the Dr. I asked Meredith for a letter to give to all his teacher. Meredith said that he is now immune competent meaning that all his counts have recovered fully into the normal range and have stayed there for an extended period without help. His bracelet was only to let them know to filter his blood if he ever needed a transfusion. However, he is "normal" now and can have blood like anyone else, so he no longer needs to carry the medic alert bracelet. Yahoo! That is a small step, but a huge one in the world of cancer.

Please be in prayer for Taylor and his continued success against NB. Pray he has won the battle for good and never faces it again. Pray for Evan has he is digging in for the long hall. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/evanthomason Pray for Madison, she is only 35 days from maintenance chemo. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/madisonbeck Pray for all the kids and families out there dealing with cancer and other illnesses or injuries.

August 6 , 2006 Day +1,222 Day #920 off treatment

What a cool day. We slept late! Logan didn't stir until 9:00! WOW!!! Jim went out to do some yard work. The boys ran around the house looking out the windows to watch him. They went out to ride in the trailer behind the mower when he was done cutting the grass. They love to do that. I was busy getting ready for out Kindergarten orientation at school. We got to go meet his new teacher, Mrs. Thornton, and all the kids in his class. He has several friends from the ball park or PDO in his class, so he is ready. He had to sign his name on beach ball and on the sign in sheet. He had to find his cuuby and get all the stuff out of it. He had to find his cubby and put his letters that spell his name in it. He did really well. He interacted with the other kids and played games. He did not sit with us like I thought he would. We talked to his teacher about his vacation plans and we will be making a picture journal of his trip to hand in when he gets back. He loves to color, so she may get a novel from him. After we met his teacher we went next door to see Mrs. Beck, Madison's mom. We have talked a million times via email, but never met in person. It was nice to meet you both! Madison was so funny, what a personality she has!

After school, we went to get Logan and Guh and we all went to swim at Paw Paw's house. The boys like to show out for anyone knew, so they had to show all their tricks. Logan got very grumpy and went inside. Taylor stayed out and jumped in with no floaties about a million times. I know he was tired, but he was doing great at swimming to the side by himself.

We went back home where Logan crashed. He was so tired he didn't even ask for milk or for the light to be on. Taylor climbed into his bed and we couldn't find Night Night. It was then that we realized that he had not had his Bozo or Night Night for several days. We have torn the house apart and can not find it. WE have looked in the obvious places as well as crazy ones like the fridge, the stove, the garbage can. It is not here. He doesn't take it anywhere any more, so we feel fairly sure that it must be in this house some where, but we can not find it. He fell asleep with another one and didn't seem to really care, but I was frazzled.

August 5 , 2006 Day +1,221 Day #919 off treatment

We the had a busy day. I was up at 4:30 to shower and get dressed while Jim drove trailer over to Gam maw's. We didn't want to get the boys up at that hour, so when he got back I headed over there to un load and price stuff. We were set up by 7:00 though I am not sure how. We did okay, but not as good as we had hoped. We had fun though sitting in the blazing sun! You all would be proud of me again. When we were done and I went into the house I found Taylor almost in tears his tummy hurt so bad and rather than getting upset, I fed him! Wow, am I amazing or what. Sure enough he was his old crazy self after a hamburger and fries. I put Logan to bed and Taylor and I went out to the pool. If I had not had to watch Taylor, I could have fallen asleep on that float. Of course wouldn't you know it, as soon as we are done with the yard sale and I get in the pool where I want sun, it goes away. I was freezing out there. A big storm blew in later in the afternoon.

We had Jim's birthday dinner that night. We all played Balderdash and Scattagories. It was a lot of fun to have so many of us playing. I went home with two sleepy boys. Taylor fell asleep on my bed while I went to check email. Avery's scan came back cold which means it isn't cancer. There is still a chance that it is, so they are looking into options of preventative chemo or a biopsy. Please be in prayer for them as they decide what to do. Pray that the scan is right and it is not cancer. http://www.averyann.net

We got some great video of Logan sneaking into the kitchen to put his hands in the cake. He eventually got up in a chair and really dug in. Taylor came in and started too. Logan ended up falling out of his chair and Taylor looked at him and saw he was okay and kept on eating. It was very funny!

Jim, Chris, Dugan and Anna went to see Carlos Mencia at the Star Dome. Jim got a birthday autograph and picture with him. They had fun and said he was real funny. It didn't start until midnight and after the long day we had had, the bed sounded more fun to me. I am sure that I missed a great time, but that's okay.

August 4 , 2006 Day +1,220 Day #918 off treatment

Happy Birthday Jim!

Guh and I took the boys back to Alabama Adventure. Apparently, 3 days in a week is too much for them. We were not there 10 minutes before Logan was ready to go. I mean, ready!! He would swim to shore and head for the ramp out each time we drug him back out. We ended up in the rides area which was way too hot. We all rode the Ferris wheel and Taylor and I did the logs. Logan had a melt down when we headed for the wild river gorge, so we didn't do it. He has not ever done the ferris wheel, so when he got on he was scared. He looked at the guy who was buckling him in and said, "I not big enough". It was very funny! Poor Logan, he gets short changed every time. I think the measuring sticks they use are off. You must be at least 36 inches to ride any of the kiddie rides. He is able to ride all of them except the bumper cars where he always measures a good 1 to 2 inches short. He cries and cries every time! I have seen them measure him on other rides and he is dead on the 36, so I am not sure what the deal is, but it is traumatizing my kid! By this time Taylor is ready to go and Logan is not. We finally got them out of there. We got some lunch and headed home where the air was!

I put Logan in bed at about 3:00, but he never went to sleep. Taylor and I did laundry and he played with his leap frog writing game. He still doesn't know how to do all of them since he can't read yet, but I am eager to see how fast he learns to do it now that school is starting.

August 3 , 2006 Day +1,219 Day #917 off treatment

Today we went to school. It was a good day. The kids were good and we just played all day. We didn't do work since it is the last week of school. It is so hot that they don't even want to go outside, so we just played in the gym this afternoon. After school the kids came home where we cleaned up and got ready for a busy weekend.

Jim and I loaded up the trailer full of yard sale goods. It is full as usual. I hope we make tons of money! The boys went to Jackie's to pick up tables for the yard sale. They had a blast playing at her house. There is so much to do and they love it.

Sorry these are such hum drum updates, but we seem to be normal these days. You all would be so proud of me. Taylor started crying and was really upset that his hands and eyes burned. I know every time he does things like this that there is a logical reason for it, but I usually skip over that detail and go into worry mode. Well, not this time, I calmly told him it was because he had been holding the caps for his cap gun and probably got the powder on him and rubbed his eyes and now it burns. How about me, I handled a normal problem in a normal fashion. Go Kim!

August 2 , 2006 Day +1,218 Day #916 off treatment

What a fun day. Guh and I took the boys to Alabama Adventure. We stayed at the "bucket" at the kids call it. There is a big bucket on top of the play stuff and when it gets full it dumps out all over the place. Taylor played in that and did the slides. I took Logan down the slide a few times, but he mostly sat in his ring and played right by us. We did the lazy river a few times around. While we were floating around I heard, "there is Taylor Watts". It was Christy and Kristin, some of our clinic nurses. They had their kids with them too. That was fun to play with them for a while and get to visit outside of the hospital.

We headed towards home after 4 hours at the water park. We stopped to buy the boys a air brushed shirt that we had put off all summer. It was going to be an hour until it was ready and even though we knew we would be back Friday, we knew we needed to just come back and get them or we would be in for a fight. We went to eat lunch then came back to pick up the shirts. The man who does the painting never showed up and they wanted me to wait for them to drive to his house and wake him up and then get to the park and paint the shirt. I said no way! The kids and Guh were in the car waiting and that is no way to run a business. I asked for my money back and they said I would have to wait on him to do that. Well, lets just say I showed my butt a little and got my money back. The kids were mad, but they got over it.

Gam maw and I went to curves and to tan. It was soooo hot today that it was almost unbearable. The kids rode their gator and :p wheeler" for a while then we headed for home. Logan cracks me up propping his arm up when he drives.

August 1 , 2006 Day +1,217 Day #915 off treatment

Can you believe it is August. I certainly can not. I know August will fly by as we are jam packed with activity all month. Today started that activity. Taylor had a good day at school. He had a ball playing, but ended up with some really bad carpet burns on his legs. He looks awful. To top that boo boo off he fell trying to get into the jeep and he cut his leg, bruised it and burnt it on the hot metal of the seat. It too looks awful. We came home and cleaned up and put meds and band aids on it. He sat and watched cartoons most of the afternoon. He did want to go out, but we had big plans for the evening, so I wouldn't let him.

Most of you probably remember that Taylor won the Lifesaver inspiration awards from the American Cancer Society back in 2004. Pat Sullivan also won that night. Pat was the key note speaker tonight, so we went to hear him speak. He did a great job and it really showed what a spiritual and kind man he is and what an amazing support system he had in his wife, family and other coaches and players. Taylor went up to him after the ceremony and he remembered him. His first words were, "hey man, me and you won this together a few years ago." How special to have a cool guy like Pat Sullivan remember you. His wife did too and she asked if we had been on any more trips. That is funny because not only did we get to meet their daughter a few years ago at the awards, but she got married the same day and Jim and I and we went on the same Honeymoon. We rode the bus to our hotel together and then a week later rode a bus to the cruise ship together. When we finally landed at home in B'ham they introduced us to Pat and Jean Sullivan. They are truly special people and we are blessed to know them.

Taylor also got to see him old pal, Janice Rogers, who MC'ed the event again this year. He got pictures with both Mr. Sullivan and Janice. She is super sweet as always and is also a pleasure to know. She always get so emotional when she talks about the survivors that are in the room and it lets you know how genuine she is. I will never forget the first time we met her at the Fox 6 studio. We told he we both went o McAdory where she graduated from and she just talked like we were old friends.

We also met a deer little girl named Lindsey who had rhabdo when she was 4. She is now 10 and as cute as pie, but she is blind. We went to meet her and she talked like an adult, so personable and polite. It was a pleasure to meet you Lindsay.

We had a great time tonight, but you know it didn't go off with out some excitement. You know I told you that Taylor had said his side hurt and that I thought it was due to constipation. Well, it was. He begged me to take him to the potty right in the middle of the ceremony. I took him kept telling him to hurry up. A lady came in to the bathroom and went to the stall next to us. He had been talking un until she came in and as soon as she was in he lets out a little squeal and lets out the BIGGEST thing I have ever seen come from such a tiny body and to top it all off it went kurplunk! It was too funny! He also cracked me when we first walked into the bathroom. We stay away from as many public bathroom as possible, but when we do go in one it is just a hum drum, run of the meal, public restroom, Well, tonight we were in a bathroom at The Club and it was very fancy with a seating area in a separate room. He walked in and said, "oh, this is niceeeeeee". It was so funny.

Well, I suppose that was enough news about our lies for today. It is great to write about a great night. I guess you wouldn't consider it normal since he was among his fellow winners of a "survivor" award, but it was still nice to be there and have a great time with some very inspiring folks. Please keep praying for all the kids and adults too!

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July 31, 2006 Day +1,216 Day #914 off treatment

Hey all! Today the boys and I went to Alabama Adventure. It was so hot. We stayed in the wave pool the entire time. It was so hot that we literally just sat in the pool. Logan is a bonified fish now. He didn't even want to be held when the waves came on. He got knocked over a few times and would be temporarily scared, but not for long. We got some French fries and a coke and sat in the shade to eat it. I really planned to go over the the other water area and play, but they were both so grumpy while we ate that I thought I better go ahead and go. Logan slept about 5 minutes in the car and that was it. He laid in the bed and screamed for hours. Taylor found a cap gun and a box of caps and went outside for the longest. He was playing western power ranger. I could see him from my spot in the living room where I sat and did nothing. He would jump out from behind a tree and shoot his gun then do some fancy power ranger jump-kick move and pose with his hands all posed. It was very entertaining.

We headed over to Gam maw's around 5:30 where the boys played while gam maw and I worked out and tanned. I tell ya, I sure do hate that 30 minutes, but I feel so much better after I do it. Today went quick since we had some friends in there that were done and followed us around while we gossiped. Gossip with good friends can make anything go fast!

Please continue to pray for Taylor and his success against NB. Pray for the Thomason family as they being this journey. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/evanthomason Pray for Madison who had another chemo yesterday and so far feels good. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/madisonbeck Pray for Bailey who left the hospital today to have some fun before be re-admitted for the last time. It is times like this that I am so thankful for Taylor no matter what kind of day he has had, good or bad behavior wise. I will admit I am in a funk over the new dx and Bailey's status, but I know I have to pull myself out and live life for Taylor. myself and my family. We will make it, God will be sure of that.

July 30, 2006 Day +1,215 Day #913 off treatment

We had another busy day. The boys hung out with daddy at Gam maw and Paw Paw's and swam and rode their power wheels. I went to a upper ware party with Gush. We had a nice outing. I met the guys back at Gam maw's where we hung out until an impromptu trip to Cracker Barrel. We found the Alex's lemonade stand kit there, so next time you are out pick one up. Not only does it contain lemonade and a how to guide, but the proceeds go to her cause. Speaking of Alex, Tuesday, August 1, is her 2 year anniversary. She is greatly missed, but certainly remembered. We love you Alex!!

We are now home where we are chilling out. Please keep all our friends new and old in prayer. Keep Taylor in prayer. He has complained of his side hurting tonight. You know that has sent me over the edge after all the news about relapse and new diagnosis. He is also constipated, so I pray that is the only problem. Lord, be with me and keep me sane and please keep Taylor healthy. You can now visit Evan at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/evanthomason

July 29, 2006 Day +1,214 Day #912 off treatment

What a day. Would you believe it if I told you that a McAdory teacher's child was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma yesterday. I didn't want to believe it, but it is true. Evan who is 5 will go to St. Jude Monday morning for a biopsy, hickman placement and bone marrows. They will know then what stage and treatment plans. He has several lesions and a 10x10 tumor, so we assume it to be stage 4. I talked with his mom for a while tonight. She was super nice and I am so happy to be able to be there for them. Please keep them all in prayer as they start this fight. I know it will be tough one, but they can win it. We are with you Thomason family!

We had a good day. The boys went to the dump and we all know how exciting that is. We all went to lunch and to the all with gam maw and Paw Paw. Taylor picked out black, patton leather shoes with a bright yellow Nike swoosh. Gam maw tactfully asked the lady to look and see if they "do not" have this in his size. He ended up with a tennis shoe/boot type shoe. He acted like he didn't like them, but he has certainly shown them off. Logan got some cute shoes too. I told Taylor we could go to Wal mart for some ugly black shoes. He just huffed. Logan threw or dropped we don't know, but I guess threw, baby over the rail at the mall. Luckily a man below caught it and threw it back up. That was fin it itself since I can't catch and baby doesn't fly too well.

After our shopping fun we rushed home so I could get the last touches on my set up for my Party Lite show and my Mary Kay open house. Both turned out to be a success and both are still open if you are interested in ordering. You can go to partylite.com or marykay.com to look at online catalogs.

Please remember Taylor in prayer as he continues to beat cancer. Pray for Evan as he starts the battle. Pray for Bailey who will not be with us much longer. He will not receive any more transfusions from here on out. That will make his body shut down. I know that seems bad, but it is often times the easiest way to let there little bodies do what has to be done. It breaks my heart to think about it. Shannon and the rest of the family, we are thinking of you all. Please be in prayer for our community. Gosh, there are 2 kids on active treatment and 2 survivors that I am aware of in Taylor's new school plus Zach who I have not heard any more news on. cancer in general is getting to common. Pray for a cure!

July 28, 2006 Day +1,213 Day #911 off treatment

Yeah, it is Friday. The boys came home around 10:00 eager to ride the gator and 4 wheeler. I couldn't even get them out due to how they are on a shelf, so they were mad, but oh well. We went to the grocery store where they were pretty good until Logan realized he was going to bed when he got home. He was not happy and ended up getting in trouble. He did go to bed and slept for a long time. It was raining when he got up and that set him off again. Taylor played while I mopped and cleaned the bathroom. He helped me mop and wanted to help clean the toilet, but I had to say no. I wonder if he will want to clean it when he is old enough? I doubt it! As soon as I heard Logan in his room, it started to pour down rain. I knew he would be heck to deal with after that and he was, but oh well!

When Jim got home he got the gator out, but the 4 wheeler wouldn't go. We hope that the problem was with the extension cord used to charge it. Taylor was mad, so we went in to eat dinner with plans to go swimming afterwards, but it was getting kind of nasty outside. Logan got put to bed because he was throwing candy. He was mad, but he got over it and played in bed. He cried and cried and we finally went to see what was wrong. He had a tiny scratch that needed a band aid, now! He had real tears!Taylor fell asleep watching Power Rangers. It was nearly 11:00 and he was trying so hard to keep his eyes open, but he lost the fight.

Please pray for Taylor's continued success. Pray for all the kids out there who are fighting, NED or just beginning.

July 27, 2006 Day +1,212 Day #910 off treatment

Today was an okay day. Taylor was pretty good at school. He got wild in the gym. The boys are only playing, but they end up getting hurt when they get so wild. Taylor was the proof of that today. They had a huge frisbee that was cloth with a pvc pipe type rod in it. It was broke in half and poking through the cloth though I did not know that until the accident. He was trying to catch it and missed and it hit him in the head and cut his forehead open. I have never seen harry Potter so I am in the dark, but several people have commented that his cut looked like harry Potter. Anyway, it bled a lot, but isn't all that big nor bad. It caused Logan to try and find his boo boo, but he couldn't find his, it is all better he said.

After school we went to Guh's house to ride the "p wheeler" and motorcycle. Taylor didn't seem like himself, but I think it was hot and more me and my reading too much on the internet than anything else. we had to leave and go get daddy and we met Gam maw and Paw Paw for dinner. Even though we ate in the same shopping center as Curves, we didn't go. I was so hot from being outside all afternoon plus I had on flip flops. That's a good excuse right?

The boys cried there way into spending the night with them and swimming. Logan is turning into a little fish and getting braver and braver. He now trusts his floatie to hold him and will go all over the pool and even jump in. Taylor was trying again with no float. He gets a little nervous and stops trying and sinks. I think we will look into lessons next summer.

I just hung out all night and cleaned. I got Taylor's room sorted through with him not here to "help" me. I don't have much left to do to be ready for my party on Saturday.

July 26, 2006 Day +1,211 Day #909 off treatment

Today was a fair day. Taylor gets so wild at school. He will just scream out in the middle of a quiet time. I don't know if he is looking for attention or is trying to be the class clown, but it bugs me and I know it will bug a kindergarten teacher. Once we got home Taylor was okay. He ate goldfish and popcorn and watched cartoons. Logan took a long nap. He was trying to sleep at school which is very odd for him. He didn't act like he felt bad, but wasn't quite himself.

Gam maw and I made our run to Curves and to tan. Logan was mad that I was going to "turves", but he was over it quickly as he learned that daddy was going to take them outside. We have the gator and 4 wheeler here at home on charge. We also have plans to go to Guh's after school tomorrow to ride the motor and 4 wheeler over there. I haven't told them that yet as Logan will repeat it over and over and over until it happens and I don't want to hear it. I think I will tell Taylor and that should calm him down a bit. I had to get on him again about whinig and being mean to Logan. I asked him why he does the same things over and over every day to get in trouble and he said he didn't know. I know that all kids do it, I am a teacher, I see kids do it over and over, but when it is your kid and you can't stop it, it is hard to deal with. We have worked out a new deal. He wants to save his money to buy a blue power ranger. I told him on Friday nights we will give him $1 if his room is clean and he has been on green light at school all week. When he gets enough to buy the power ranger we will go buy it. I hope this is enough incentive to make him behave. For those of you that don't have small kids the green light system is what they use at school these days. It is a traffic light and all kids start on green light. When they get in trouble they move to yellow and if they are bad again they go to red. It is not good to be on red and most of the time it works. We used to have a red light in Taylor's room and it really did work for him. It kept falling off the wall, so we took it down, but I think we will put it back up if it seems to be working at school.

We recorded a special on the travel channel about the Disney cruise ship. We watched it tonight and Taylor was loving it. He is ready to see the water slide and pools. He also liked the ice cream that is available around the clock! 43 days and counting!!

Please continue to pray for Taylor and his success against NB. Pray for Avery who will get another MRI soon to see just where they stand. Pray for Christi who finished her new drug today. She also saw a ped. who said the new lump on her head is a swollen bug bite. Praises! Also, lets rejoice with Ralph who has finished treatment!!! http://www.caringbridge.org/al/ralphcook

Important legislation!!! Please contact Jeff Sessions (click on his name) and request he support this important legislation. He sits on the subcommittee that this bill currently sits in the Senate.

S.2393 Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2006 (Introduced in Senate)

Title: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to advance medical research and treatments into pediatric cancers, ensure patients and families have access to the current treatments and information regarding pediatric cancers, establish a population-based national childhood cancer database, and promote public awareness of pediatric cancers. Latest Major Action: 3/9/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Contact Jeff Sessions and request he support this legislation.

A new feature for Taylor's Website, Taylor's Bulletin Board! This is a place for open discussion on any topic. We have posted several interesting articles relating to childhood cancer. Feel free to start your own discussion or comment on the articles posted. You can also sign up for Taylor's Newsletter and automatically receive notification when new information is added to the website. To sign up, go to Taylor's Newsletter. Now on to the update.

Be sure to listen to Taylor's Red Cross commercial on WDJC 93.7. It is finally airing and several people have heard it. I think JIm put a link on the web site so you can listen on here if you are not local. I must say, it turned out good. Taylor's voice it priceless, it should bring in lots of donors! There is a link under What's new. It is the Taylor's audio link! Or click here.

July 25, 2006 Day +1,210 Day #908 off treatment

Hi all. I hate to start an update with bad news, but today I must. Our sweet friend, Avery. learned today that her cancer is back. She had a brain tumor at 10 months and her MRI today showed it was back, she is now 3 and the cutest thing you will ever know. She was supposed to get her trach out tomorrow, but I am not sure if that will happen now. Please stop by her page and offer her and her mom and dad some encouraging words and prayers. http://www.averyann.net

As for us, we had a good day. I must say this news puts a damper on it and you can imagine puts me in a funk. Taylor did pretty good at school today. He gets very wild and loud at times, but not really doing anything bad. He played outside for a bit this afternoon, but it is so hot. The kids didn't even want to go to the playground. You know it is hot when 5 year olds don't want to play outside. Logan was pretty good today. He didn't get in too much trouble. He and Taylor walked around like cowboys all night. Taylor had a holster and a gun and Logan had his gun in his pocket. He didn't have a holster, but he could whip it out of that pocket in a hurry, it was getting it back in that caused him trouble. We played in the kiddie pool today. We only stayed out there about 30 minutes. They kept throwing buckets of water out of the pool and Taylor was picking weeds and then threw it in the pool, so I made them get out. We came in and had some dinner and then Jim took them out back for a while.

Taylor has started part of his new bed time routine. He has been having me read him a "bed night" story. I am not sure why he calls it that rather than bed time story, but it is cute. I read one every night. He has been going to bed earlier, but not getting up earlier. That is hard because that means I have to get up earlier:) No, next week we will be on a full school time, bed time schedule and try to get him into the swing. He likes to be up an hour or so before eating, so he will have to get up early or go to school hungry.

I need to ask for more prayer requests. First off, pray that Taylor has indeed beaten NB. Pray that he doesn't have to fight it again. Pray that all those that are in remission or NED can remain that way. Pray that a cure is found very soon. Pray for Avery and her family as they start the journey again. Pray for Sarah as she does it again. Pray for Amber who is feeling very blue right now. http://www.caringbridge.org/al/amber Pray for Christi who has started a new drug and found new lumps on her head. Pray that these lumps are not signs or progression. http://www.christithomas.blogspot.com Pray for Bailey who has some more progression as well as other problems. He has a tumor on his heart that will cause his heart to stop if he is put to sleep yet he is impacted and needs desperately to be cleaned out, but can not due to the tumor. He is in pain for both cancer and impaction. This disease is so mean and I hate it! Pray for Carter who does have a good bit of progression and does not want to do high dose chemo. They are talking with the Dr's in Philly. http://www.caringbridge.org/pa/carterfinger Pray for all the kids, there are too many to list. I could go on and on and on.... Jim will be adding all my links soon, so that you can follow them. for now check out http://www.sharethelove.org

July 24, 2006 Day +1,209 Day #907 off treatment

Here we are back to Monday. We have 45 days until our trip and 18 days until school starts. We have a huge calendar in the bathroom with all the "cool stuff" marked and Taylor puts an X on each day before bed. We are counting days until the trip, school, camp, Daddy's b'day. our anniversary, anything to count. He loves doing it.

We hung out all day until time to go to speech. Today was his last day. We were supposed to go next week, but I decided not to. It is his last full week of summer, so I thought we would do as much fun stuff as we could. Plus, why should she have to make all those notes and stuff on him when we are all leaving. He gave her a present and he got all shy. He still needs a lot of work, but she worked wonders with him. Thank you Katie!

We hng around at Nana's house and then I gave Jim the kids and Gammaw and I went to Curves and to tan. We had stand up beds, so it wasn't quite so heavenly this time, but it was still nice. The boys swam while we were gone. Did you have any doubt about what they were doing? We have 2 fish on our hands.

Please remmeber to pray for all the kids. Pray for Taylor's continued success. Stop by and wish Morgan a happy birthday tomorrow. http://www.caringbridge.org/nc/morganbarnes

July 23, 2006 Day +1,208 Day #906 off treatment

It was another busy day. We went to church where Taylor sang in the VBS program. It was very cute and he did great. He was on the front row, so we could see him and was singing and doing all the motions. He got a little rambunctious with his friend, butter cup, (I don't ask), but I caught his eye and mouthed. "do you want to go to Guh's" and he straightened up. After church both boys went with Guh to ride. The rest of us grabbed some lunch and went to the Galleria. We found some Disney stuff on sale and bought it. We plan to hide it in our luggage and lay it out for them at night and they will think they are getting treats and we will not have to spend big bucks for the same stuff at the store on the boat.

Jim and I left Gam maw and Paw Paw to go get the boys. They were both on the motorcycle since Logan wore the battery down on the 4 wheeler. It has a stripped gear and when he got stuck and just kept trying to go it would ware down faster. Taylor did a GREAT job of sharing. They rode together for a while and then took turns making a loop around the yard. Taylor got his gator for Christmas when he was almost 2 and by that summer he could drive like a pro. He never lets Logan ride, so I didn't think he would be able to drive the 4 wheeler. Wrong, he can drive and nail it between the slide and flower bed which is just enough room, however, he has a bad habit of not looking where he is going and crashing. They were so cute and we got tons of pictures, so I am sure they will be up soon.

We went swimming after we left Guh's. We have to bribe them with something to get them to leave. It was fun. Paw Paw and daddy were doing flips and hand stands which the boys thought was funny. Jim was flipping me off of my float which the boys thought was funny. Taylor tried to swim with no float, but he gets scared and wont listen to what you are saying I think we will do lessons next year.

Please keep Taylor in prayer. He has come so far and I pray he never again faces cancer. Pray for Bailey who has had more progression. Pray for Christi who has had progression. She started a new drug, but it holds little promise. www.christithomas.blogspot.com Pray for Sarah who started Fenretinide this week and is already feeling yuck. http://www.caringbridge.org/nc/sarahsmith Pray for Carter who also has some progression in his shoulders. http://www.caringbridge.org/pa/carterfinger Pray for all the kids out there who are fighting!!

July 22, 2006 Day +1,207 Day #905 off treatment

We had a family reunion to go to today. It was nice to see everyone again, you know how it is when families get big and spread out you never get to see each other. It was pouring down rain which was good for more than one reason. Guh called this morning and said that the directions for the motor said it HAD to charge for 24 hours and it has not been that long, so they couldn't come ride. Logan woke up saying, "I want to go to Guh's and ride my pour wheeler". I knew it would be ugly, but they can't argue with the rain. We went by Gam maw's house where they played with Daddy and us girls went shopping. We didn't buy much, but we got out for a while.

I brought the boys home and Logan fell asleep in his been bag chair. Guh came over to watch them while we went to play games at Gam maw's for a social for the sorority. It was fun. We didn't get home until after 11:00 and Guh was wore out. Logan was a pill all night and NIght Night was in my car, so Taylor was whiny. We all slept great with the storm that blew threw. It was raining so hard and thundering and lightening. I was sleeping like a rock!

July 21, 2006 Day +1,206 Day #904 off treatment

TGIF! I am glad it is Friday as we have a fun filled weekend planned, but my summer Fridays off are soon coming to an end. I a sad, but my pocket book will be glad to go back to work 5 days a week.

We hung out at home and cleaned house. We didn't do anything too wild and crazy today. We did go out and play in the baby pool for a while. They had fun. The were floating around in a small inter tube and it is only a little 3 ring pool. It was pretty funny. They had a game going that they loved, but made no since to me. They filled up a bucket of water and ran across the yard with screaming some crazy made up word then ran back to the pull and jumped in. They would fill up the bucket again and do it again. They did it for a long time. We went in and had lunch and put Logan to bed. He took a while to fall asleep, but he did go. I got all my Mary Kay prices together. I am having an open house/clearance sale on Saturday, July, 29th at 6:00. Feel free to come!!

We left home around 4:30 to go get Jim from work. We had plans to go the Baron's game, so there was no need for Gam maw to go get him. We got stuck in a major traffic jam and it took forever to get there. We finally got Jim and headed to Guh's. We got to the game about an hour before the game started. It was free jersey night and we wanted to be sure that the boys each got one. They both did get one and Taylor put his on. Logan didn't want his on. We had some dinner and then we settled in to watch the game. Actually, we wanted to go home before the first pitch was even thrown. It was so hot and sticky you couldn't enjoy it. However, Taylor was set on "finishing the game" We finally bribed him with Sonic and he agreed to leave, but that was after about 2 innings. Before we went to Sonic we made a stop at Wal mart to get a power wheels motorcycle. Logan had a little bitty 4 wheeler that he is now too heavy for. Taylor wanted a motor cycle, so he gave the big 4 wheeler to Logan and Guh got him a bike. It is for her house. We went back to her house and put it together. It is really cute. It has sound effects that sound like the engine revving and a radio. It is a fat back chopper and it has flames on it. They are going to go back to Guh's house tomorrow and ride it. They are so excited.

Logan had a bad night on the way home. He was so tired and he pitched a fit to turn the tv off. I turned it off and he pitched a fit to turn it back on. We wouldn't turn it back on, so he screamed all the way home. Once home he refused to walk into the house and I had my hands full, so I walked up the porch steps and dropped my stuff to go back and get him. I don't know why I put tennis shoes on him rather than sandals, but thank goodness I did and that they lit up. He was almost to the street running away and all I saw was little red flashing lights. He was not going in the house. I had to carry him in kicking and screaming! Needless to say he was asleep in a matter of minutes.

July 20, 2006 Day +1,205 Day #903 off treatment

We went back to school today. Taylor had a much better day today. He had to be reminded of our talk, but it seemed to calm him down, but even the things he did to make me remind him were not has wild as he usually is. Maybe we are making progress. Logan was being silly as usual. He told his teachers that he had poop and she said okay just stand real still. He stood still for a long time before he realized she was being silly. He just laughed at her and ran off. He had a pocket full of gum and when they were supposed to line up and head back to their class he got way at the other end of the gym and started eating his gum. I tell ya, I am in for it with this one. I just thought Taylor was hard to deal with, wrong!

We came home where once again Logan laid in bed all afternoon and never slept. He never did cry or ask to get out, but I felt bad for him after a while and got him up. Then the fighting begun. Do siblings ever get along? While I was looking in on some friends today I learned some news that I just about hit the the floor over. A little boy that I had in my class last year had surgery to remove a tumor from the base of his brain. They do not know yet it is benign or malignant, but please keep them in your prayers as they wait to find out. I called good ole Meredith and told her if she ran into them to send them my way. We are praying for you Hull family!

Taylor went to his last night of VBS. He has had a blast! I went to the last few minutes and watched them close and practice for Sunday's program. If anyone is interested it will be at 11:00AM at Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church. It is going to be so cute! Taylor had on a hat and he did not have on a hat when I dropped him off. I just laughed when he told me whose it was. It was Buttercups hat and he said he could wear it until time to go home. I had to go find Buttercup though I had no idea who that might be. Luckily, Taylor did and knew just where to find him. I am not sure who is, but he was an older boy that Taylor seemed to really like. I am glad that he had such fun. He learned a lot too. He has told me all about Jesus and sins etc. They made blankets and Spanish Bible books to send to Latin American children.

When Taylor and I got home Logan was sound asleep in the floor all curled up with his big dog. So cute! He is tired after not napping. He also bonked his bead really hard on the fire place. He was sitting in front of it and was going to lookup and say " oh gosh" because some pieces were gone from his toy, but he hit his head when he looked up. I know it hurt, but there was no bump or bleeding. I am sure he will be fine. Isn't it funny how I let that go, but had Taylor done it I would have paged half of Children's to get opinions.

Please pray that Taylor has beaten this beast for good and will not ever have to travel that road again. Pray for Cody who has finished his protocol. That is almost as scary as starting! Pray for madison who just got chemo and so far is feeling good still. Pray for Zach and his family as they await answers on his tumor. Pray for Christi as she starts Fenritnide, an oral chemo that doesn't hold a lot of promise, but could still be the answer she needs. Pray it at lease keeps her stable until she is eligible for something else. Pray for Sarah as she starts heavy doses of Accutane. I am sure you remember that in heavy doses it is an oral chemo. She did not show any disease in her marrow, sp pray that the "craputane" gets her back into NED status. Pray for all the others out there who are fighting at some stage of the game.

July 19, 2006 Day +1,204 Day #902 off treatment

Guh was off today and we all went to Alabama Adventure. It was hot, hot, hot! We thought it opened at 10:00, but it was 10:30. so we had to stan in line to get in for a while. It was okay. We hit the wave pool where we had a blast just floating and letting the waves carry us around. Taylor likes the shallow end where it is rougher. He loves to run and jump into the waves. He also took his swimmer off when the waves stopped and worked on swimming. He didn't learn to swim, but he is learning to go under and stay a little longer. He calls it swimming under water, but I call it falling under water for 15 seconds. He is so silly. We went over to the Lazy River and went around a few times then went to the kiddie part. Our school friend, Mary Grace was leaving, so we got her chair. We ran into our school friend Tucker and Taylor had a blast playing with him. We never looked at a watch, but once we decided to go we found out it was my usual 2 hour mark. We stopped and bought a pizza and went home to eat. I cleaned up and filled up their little pool and set it all up to play in after Logan's nap and it poured down rain. Go figure!

Gam maw and I went to the tanning bed and to curves. I went ahead and did my weigh in even though I haven't been going regularly. I had gained 4 pounds since April, but last 5 inches. I know a lot of it had to do with a different person doing it, but I still liked the look of the paper! I stopped in to get Taylor a few minutes early and watched them practice. He was actually being pretty good to be with a bunch of kids.

He was so tired after a day of fun in the sun and VBS. He climbed in our bed and fell asleep. He looks so sweet and innocent all curled up and cuddling Night Night. I have seen him like that 1,000's of times. I have moved him to his bed 1,000's of times. I always look in the mirror when I go by and look at us. Last night it was rather humorous. He wasn't the tiny, frail little thing I used to snatch up and cuddle down the hall. He was the long, lanky thing with a floppy head that I about took off with the door frame and the dangly feet that hit the other side of the door frame. I about lost him before I literally threw him in the bed. It was crazy! I don't think I will be moving him too many more times. It is kind of sad, but at the same time glorious.

So far our little talk seems to be working. He did have a few melt down moments and whined, but not huge episodes and a reminder of the ugly stick made him straighten up quickly. Pray we are hitting a crossroad and he will take the good boy side.

July 18, 2006 Day +1,203 Day #901 off treatment

We went to school today where Taylor stayed in trouble. He was so wild all day. He threw legos and dishes. He ran and jumped rather than walked, he jumped on people and screamed. I took him down the hall and talked to him and warned him that a spanking was in his future if he didn't calm down and follow directions. He did better, but not good until lunch. He had about 2 bites of chicken left and wanted ketchup and I told him no, not for 2 more bites. He threatened me with a "if you don't get me some now I will be bad" and then hit me on the butt that is very burn from last nights visit to the tanning bed. I was so mad, I took him to the bathroom and spanked him and then sent him back to eat. He did better from then on, but it was only 30 minutes. We had to run to the bank after school. If we park by the side walk I will tell him to stand on the sidewalk and not move. Well, today we were across the parking lot and I told him to stand by the car. He asked could he go to the sidewalk and I said no. Well. he went anyway and I had had enough. We went into the bank and did our business. We went home and he got a pop with the ugly stick. He was so upset. I told him it would happen every day until he learned to behave and follow directions no matter where we were. I hope he got it cause I feel real bad about it, but I don't want him to be the kid that people hate to see coming.

He went to VBS tonight with his friends. He had a blast. They were in the old building due to voting in the gym. The youth uses that building, so he thought he was hot stuff over in the youth area. I had a sorority baby shower to go to. It was fun. Logan and Jim hung out too for lack of anything better to do. Logan had a good time eating off everyone's plate. Taylor had some yummy cake once he got home. He has been a good boy since our little fiasco this afternoon. I think God is talking to him. He has a challenge every night when he comes home. He has to try and complete it before going back the next night. Sunday he was going to bring his mom or dad a snack, Monday we prayed for someone who needed God in their life. Well, today his challenge was to obey mom or dad on the first try. Hmmm.... I hope he listened to his Heavenly Father more than he does his Earthly parents!

July 17, 2006 Day +1,202 Day #900 off treatment

Welcome back to Monday! We went to speech today. He was so good! He was even excited that he was so good. I had already planned to tell Katie that we have to quite. I can not afford to send him anymore especially since he can get it at school free. I felt awful and didn't want to tell her. She made it easy for me by telling me that she took a new job with a school system so that she would have that school schedule when she has kids. She will only be there the next 2 weeks which is how much longer he would have gone to speech at South, so that worked out good. I have to call the board of Education to get him registered for that and I am dreading it since that was such a hassle last year. We hope this year will be smoother since he will actually be in the school system rather than a pre schooler. We shall see!

Guh came by Nana's and played with them for a while. We went to Wal mart and then rushed to VBS. We went by Gam maw's house to let Logan swim. We all went to San Antonio to eat dinner and it was yummy. We waited to pick up Taylor and let him eat too. He ate like a horse.

Please don't forget to pray for Taylor and his continued success against cancer. Pray for all our friends that are fighting this beast. Pray for a cure for childhood cancer, we need one soon!

July 16, 2006 Day +1,201 Day #899 off treatment

We were up bright and early today. We did group photos and pottery. This time Taylor got to use markers on his bowl and take it home today rather than wait to have it fired. Taylor colored the inside and Logan the outside. However, you must not be supposed to do the inside as Taylor's kind of faded away. I just didn't mention it and put it in the curio with all our other pottery pieces. Taylor is very tired and was extra grumpy! Our family photo shows him crying and refusing to smile. That earned him a trip to the bathroom. We did our closing rituals and then headed home. Taylor took a short nap. He was all balled up and his leg went to sleep, so he had a melt down. He has an awful blister on his heel and has been limping. Well, you know me, even though I can see the reason, my brain goes into over drive. HOwever, once home he showed he was more than fine. We stopped at Gam maw and Paw paw's and swam. He was having Jim throw him up in the air where he did a back flip (jim tossed him over) and landed in the water. He is braver than me! They did that a million times. Logan who was Mr. brave at came just wanted the hose on the deck. He did paddle around a little, but no dare devil stunts.

Tonight is the first night of VBS at our church. I dropped Taylor off with no tears or trying to go with me. He was sucking on his finger which is a sign of his anxiety and tiredness, but he never tried to stop me. What a big boy he is! I am so proud.

Well, it is almost time to go get Taylor. I also need to go un pack all our stuff and start the dreaded laundry. Thank you all so very much for continuing to follow Taylor and his friends. Please remember Sarah, Madison, Amber, Avery, Molly, Brock, Amy, Marley, Calvin, Morgan, Colette, Davis, Jake, and the so many more. Pray that those who are in remission/NED can remain that way. Pray for a cure. Pray for Bailey. He has 4 new tumors and does not have much time left. Pray for his comfort and for his family.

July 15, 2006 Day +1,200 Day #898 off treatment

We are at Camp today! We left home around 7:30 this morning. We stopped for some Don Don breakfast and kept on going. We were way ahead of schedule, so we swung into Wind Creek to check the prices of cabin rentals. Well, let me back up. The nearer we got to camp the louder the boys got. We told them to stop or we would go back home. We went past Wind Creek and decided to turn around and go back. When Jim turned around Logan flipped out and started screaming, "No, I don't want to go home." It was rather funny. We were still way early, but that was okay. We got all our stuff put away in our rooms. Taylor and Calvin have bunks that are end to end. I am glad their counselors will get to handle that. Jim, Logan and had a private room in concord. The boys immediately took off with their counselors. The parents sat around in any shade we could find and talked. It was so fun to sit and joke with parents and hospital staff. It was soon time for lunch. We ate great as always. Miss Terry who usually does games with the adults couldn't come. We pray that all is well for her and we will see her next time. She was certainly missed! Since our games were called off we went to do picture frames in an air conditioned cabin. The men had the option to do crafts or fish. Most of them did both. We all also got full body massages. Wow! We were all like a bunch of noodles when it was over. A few of us went on a pontoon boat ride after our massage. That was nice too. We looked at all the HUGE houses on Lake Martin.

While we did all that the kids were having some excitement of their own. They were in the pool until thunder and lightening made them get out. A huge rain storm came through, so they all went to watch Finding Nemo and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Taylor fell asleep! No, Logan didn't! As soon as they saw a peep of sun they were back in the pool. In the pool that Logan was sliding down the big curly slide and going under the water. He is getting brave!! He poor counselor had to catch him and lead him back up the ladder about 30 times. I think we have settled the idea of kids for several counselors! NO, I think they have fun, but Logan can ware them out! All of us "old" parents got tickled, none of us made a effort to keep up with out kids and see what they were up too. We could tell who was a first timer and was staying with the kids. by the end of the day we had them hooked and we all sat around and talked some more.

I must say it was wonderful to sit around with these people. Thought most of the kids did not have the same diseases nor treatments we all had a common bond. We could all talk and share the lingo without funny looks and questions. We could sympathize with the stories being told and truly rejoice with the good news. We had many heart felt and fun talks. We have laughed about everything from treatments to car trouble and vacations. You name it and we probably talked about it. We had a lot of down time with the rain and Miss Terry not being there, but it was nice to get to just vege out and talk. I think we all had a blast.

The kids came out of the pool just in time to go build a sand caste. Taylor had a blast. Logan didn't want the sand in his shoes. He ended up in the lake trying to clean his feet and got his spare clothes soaking wet. Oh well! Taylor went with his counselor to shower and clean up. I saw no reason to shower before dinner when we still had several hours of playtime afterwards. Our dear friend, Calvin's, dad is a manager at Jim N Nicks and he had dinner catered tonight. Can you say YUMMY! We all ate like pigs, it was so good. The kids went to make smores after dinner. All of us adults went right back to our chairs and talked more, we could not think about a smore!

9:00 came quick and it was lights out. I bathed Logan real quick and got him all tucked in his Thomas the Train sleeping bag. He usually rolls around and talks and tries to fight sleep. Not this time, he was out in about 2 minutes. I didn't sleep real well. We had the squeakiest bed in the world. You know when you have a squeaky bed you seem to need to move a lot more than normal and I could not get comfy for anything. I felt like the entire cabin could hear the bed. We were in the room next door last time and I never heard the bed, so they probably couldn't hear it, but I still worried. Plus, Logan had barged in on them. He just assumed he would go to the same room, he has had the room every time he has ever gone, so I guess it was smart on his part to go there, but it was embarrassing. Luckily, we were all there with young kids and no one minds having others amble in to visit. After all, we are all family.

Did you notice the number of days post transplant. Day 1200! Wow, he always hits the big milestone numbers at camp. What better way to hit those days, huh!

July 14, 2006 Day +1,199 Day #897 off treatment

Happy Friday! We went to Alabama Adventure today. We haven't been in about 2 weeks and they kids were having withdrawals! It was so very hot, but they had a great time and as usual ran into a lot of friends. We all donned our life vests and went into the deep water to ride the waves at the wave pool. We played in the sand for a few minutes, but it was just too hot not to be in the pool. We left around 1:00. Taylor got in trouble for whining and complaining as we left. I had to yell at him a few times. I always feel soooo bad after getting on to him, but at the same time I want him to be a normal child in every way. He was good the rest of the day. A friend at school asked him why he whined so much. I hope that he will see that even kids pick up on the whining and he will cool it. Guh came over for a while and they played outside as long as we could stand being out there.

Once Guh left we hit the showers and got all our last minute packing done and ready to head out to camp in the morning. They are so excited! I will update when we get back....

July 13, 2006 Day +1,198 Day #896 off treatment

We have had a pretty good day. Taylor was good at school today. Logan was silly at school. Please be in prayer for Sarah and her family. Her brother in law had stomach bi pass surgery and is having serious complications. There is nothing to tell today. We came home and Logan napped and Taylor played a Mr. Potato head video game. He went outside for a minute and came in because he was so hot. I can't blame him there. I cleaned up and packed for camp, so that we can go to Alabama Adventure tomorrow and not have chores looming.

Please pray for Taylor's continued success against NB. Pray for Sarah who is starting over after relapse. Praise with Carolyn who seems to have answers to her mystery spot and they are not NB. Pray for all the kids who are suffering. Pray for those who are NED to stay that way. Pray for those who are missing a loved one. Stop by Miss Presleigh's sight. Her mom and dad are shutting it down tomorrow. www.caringbridge.org/visit/presleighcooperisaminger.

July 12, 2006 Day +1,197 Day #895 off treatment

Another school day. We had another small group with only 2 boys this time and they made me rejoice in the fact that there is only 4 more weeks until they go to Kindergarten. Taylor was awful with his sparing partner. They have a love hate relationship!

Once again we had a surprise appointment. Children's makes dental appts for you rather than allowing you to make it yourself. They left me a message Monday that we had an appt. at 1:00 today. I work every other Wednesday until 1:00 and they make an appointment on the Wednesday I work for 12:30. I was not real pleased. Anyway, we left school early and headed that way only for me to realize that I had no insurance card. I have no idea why I had taken it out of my purse, but I did. Our dental is different than health, so I didn't know all the numbers on it and had to spend forever on the phone getting all the info to tell the clerk. We managed to get it all done, thank goodness. Taylor was called back at 1:30. By 2:00 he was out and grinning from ear to ear. He had gotten an airplane out of the treasure box. The hygienist cracked me up when she said he had no cavities. Where is he going to get a cavity, they are all capped and the two in the back that are not capped are filled. Anyway, he had a good report. There was no bleeding along the gums, so we are brushing really good around his caps. Hopefully, he will start losing baby teeth soon. He will be a little delayed due to the caps and he is already missing the front two, so I guess it will be a while still.

Logan fell asleep in the car and lucky for me stayed that way until nearly 5:00. Taylor had VBS again. He was so ready to go. They had a commencement tonight. I had all intentions of bringing the camera and just forgot and could have kicked myself. He did every hand motion and sang every word to the Arctic Edge. He was so good and followed directions. His teacher said he was the best in the class. Maybe there is hope after all! I asked him why he was so good there and not at home and he said, "cause I was the new kid". My kids are crazy! He showed us all his goodies and crafts before we left. He is all excited that Lu Lu will be going to VBS with him at out church next week.

July 11, 2006 Day +1,196 Day #894 off treatment

We went back to school today. We had a small class and Taylor was the only boy. I thought he could behave if he were the only boy, but I was wrong. We only had 6. but it felt like 30.

We came home after school where Logan sat in his bed and did anything but sleep. I expected him to sleep since he had gone to school, but nope! Taylor went outside to play with the new RC car. He had a blast.

Taylor was invited to go to VBS with Lu Lu, his girlfriend. He was a little nervous. He didn't see her when he got there and he told me he couldn't go. I told him if he was big enough to go to camp for a week, he could go to VBS for 2 hours. Once he saw Lu Lu he forgot I was around and took off running with her. I left him there and JIm and I and Logan went for dinner. Logan was a little concerned about Taylor, but he dealt with it. We went back to pick him up and he was so excited. He talked non stop about eating mud pies and making snow balls. I am so excited that he went.

July 10, 2006 Day +1,195 Day #893 off treatment

Today we had a stay at home day. I did the same old cleaning routine for the most part of the day. We had to leave around one to bring Logan to Nana's and get Taylor to speech. Taylor did pretty good as far as he speech went but his behavior was not so good. It was not near as bad as 2 weeks ago, but she still had to hold his hands and move his puzzle out of reach. I am getting fed up!

We went to pick up daddy from work and then went to have dinner at Guh's house. The boys played outside for a while and then we headed for home. We stopped at Pippy's house first and picked up the present he had for them. It is a HUGE remote control monster truck. They were very excited, but not real thrilled with having to charge the battery.

Taylor is thrilled to be going to school tomorrow. We only went one day last week due to the holiday and he was not real thrilled with that. He loves school and I hope he continues to love it when he gets to kindergarten. I think he will because he truly loves to learn.

July 9, 2006 Day +1,194 Day #892 off treatment

Guh and I slept in today with no kids to wake us. It was still a little after 8:00 when I got up. I hear it was closer to 10:00 for the guys around here. Why can't Logan do that on my off days? We didn't do much other than a few little shops on the way home. We were back at Guh's house by 4:15. I had to wait for the boys to come get me. They were swimming at Gam maw's and didn't want to leave.

Once we got home. I did laundry as usual, does that ever end? Logan has been clingy, he missed his momma. Taylor and I played some Guess Who. I am now ready to go learn how to use our new web site. Sorry this is so boring, but we are just average Joe's now, praise God.

July 8, 2006 Day +1,193 Day #891 off treatment

5:00 sure did come early this morning. I did not want to get up, but I did. We were showered and out the door by 5:00. It is so easy to pack and leave when it is just for me and not 2 kids and Jim. We got gas and wanted to stop at Don Don's but it didn't open until 6:00. That turned out to be a big tadoo. We pulled into a McDonald's at 5:51 hoping that a different one opened a little earlier, but it didn't. We waited patiently for it to open only to find out it was the worst McD in Alabama. They had no one working the drive through, so after waiting about 15 minutes we had to go in anyway. There we found out they didn't even have food cooked yet. People were waiting to get hash browns and coffee wasn't made. How can you not have at least some of the basics cooked and ready to go? Anyway after 30 minutes of wasted time we had food and coffee and were back on the road. We made it to the beach by 11:00. We stayed a while then went shopping and out to dinner.

As for the kids they went to Alabama Adventure with Gam maw. I can't get Taylor to talk to me about it, but I am sure they had a blast. They did both the water park and the rides, so I know they had fun. I herd from Jim that after all the fun Taylor still did not want to go to bed. He got in bed with Jim and was still up at 1:00 in the morning.

July 7, 2006 Day +1,192 Day #890 off treatment

We had a fun Friday. I cleaned up and finished all the laundry and stuff by about noon. We ran by Pippy's house, but he wasn't there. Paw Paw was just pulling up, so we stopped by there. He let the kids stay there and swim while I ran a few errands and then shopped for a bit. I went back to get them in a few hours. They were not ready to go, but they left when they learned they were going to Guh's house. Guh kept them while I went to get a hair cut. I didn't get anything fancy just a shorter version of what I had. I got my hair cut really short about this time last year and let it grow out. I am not a froo froo gal, so I just pull it up and go and don't really think about it. I got to really looking a t it the other day and realized I haven't had it cut since last year not even a trim. I feel much better now that it is cut shorter and is healthier.

I picked up Jim from work. He and Gam maw car pool and he forgot that he had to work late today and so I picked him up, so she didn't have to hang around 2 extra hours. He just brought me over to Guh's house. We are leaving at 5:00 tomorrow morning, so it worked out okay to do it this way anyway. The boys were not real thrilled when they left and I didn't go. Logan was upset because he is a big time momma's boy. Taylor was upset because he is not stupid and he knew where we were going on our "trip". I told them Guh and I were going on a little trip. I don't think he bought it.

Guh and I just hung out and watched TV and did nothing. We watched a video of Taylor's first year of ball. My, he was so tiny. His pants were all bunched up at his ankles. He was throwing his glove around and spinning around in the outfield. It was so funny to watch and see how far he has come since then. It was cute. It was funny to see Logan too. He was in the stands as a chubby little 5 month old. He was crying in one part of the video and he looked up from his toys and said, "what is that noise".

July 6, 2006 Day +1,191 Day #889 off treatment

We finally made it back to school. We had a good day. Logan went to school in under wear. He wet them and then put on a pull up. I was a little upset that they didn't keep him in the undies because I think he will get it better at school. However, I certainly understand the need to have him in a pull up with 10 others to keep up with and change, so I will let him do pull ups at school. Pull ups never really worked for Taylor, it was just a fancy diaper to him and he still wet just like always. Anyway, we are still working on it. We came home at our usual time and Logan slept great. He doesn't nap long if at all on the days we don't go to school. I love school since it tires him out some.

We went to dinner with Gam maw and Paw Paw and Ghen Ghen and Bob happened to be there. Ghen Ghen had some goodies for the boys. Taylor loved his new Cars lunch box and Logan loved his Cars wallet. The first thing he did was open and say, "they nothing in there". Too funny! Gam maw put a dollar in it for him and when he got home he put sticks of gum in it. He is a nut!

Please keep Sarah in prayer as she heads to Duke to scan and find out the status of her disease. Pray for Carolyn who is going to NYC tomorrow to scan and check on a strange spot. Pray that Carolyn's spot is nothing. Pray for Andrew who will enter the stem cell unit this weekend. Pray for all the cancer kids who are fighting. Pray for those who have reached NED status to remain that way. Pray for those families who are missing their babies.

Jim brought home some interesting research news from St. Jude. There is some promising things going on in the world of NB. I pray that Taylor never needs any of it, but it is nice to know that there is a lot on the horizon for this disease. I will work on getting a general summary of them for you. It is all very interesting once you get it in layman's terms and you can make heads or tells of it:)

July 5, 2006 Day +1,190 Day #888 off treatment

It is already Wednesday, wow. We didn't have school today, it just happened to fall that my off day was today, so we have been out of school since Thursday and Taylor is about to pop. He is so ready to go back. I am too just to stop doing laundry. Logan did okay with his potting today, but I have still had to wash about 6 pair of undies. Luckily, only one had poop. He seemed to click then, so maybe he will get it. I have tried and tried to explain only to go in the potty and he comes to me wet then sits down. He will even go by himself, but he is already wet. When he pooped and tried to take his pants off and made a mess. I told him that is why you put it in the potty and he looked at me and then went, "oh". Keep your fingers crossed that he will figure it out. We are going to try going to school tomorrow in undies and see if being with other kids will help. I hope his teachers don't kill me!

Taylor has been good today. He is playing with his cars and power rangers. He cracks me up talking to himself. Today we made a calendar of the 64 days until we leave for out cruise. He put a sticker of a suite case on the day we leave. He is ready to put an x on each day to count down. I think I am more ready to count down than him. We should be busy enough to make it through. Guh and I are going to go to the beach this weekend with no kids. We go to camp the next weekend and again in August plus school starting, it will be busy.

There is not too much to report here. Please pray that that is how it remains. Pray that Taylor has beaten his cancer for good. Pray for Sarah as she scans this week to see how involved her relapse is. www.caringbridge.org/nc/sarahsmith Pray for Carolyn who is rescanning to see about a strange spot on her last scan. www.caringbridge.org/va/carolyncoveney. Pray for Amber who is inpatient. www.caringbridge.org/al/amber Pray for Andrew who will be having a stem cell transplant very soon. www.caringbridge.org/al/andrewlong Pray for Colette who is in Disney World on her wish trip. www.caringbridge.org/al/colette There are so many more kids who need our prayers.

July 4, 2006 Day +1,189 Day #887 off treatment Happy 4th of July!

We slept late today. Yes, I said it. Logan was content in his bed until nearly 9:00. We got up and got ready for the day. We went to Pop's house and ate lunch and rode the golf cart. They boys loved that. They took turns driving all over the yard and up the hill. We played ball too. It started to rain and we had to move into the garage to play. The boys ended up riding the golf cart in the rain anyway. It has a roof, so they didn't care. They rode it until the battery died.

We left Pop's house and went to Guh's house to eat again. Taylor and Blake had a water gun fight and they played in the hose pipe for a while. The rest of us just sat on the deck and thought about how much food we ate.

We got home in time for the rain to start which was good, but they boys were disappointed that they couldn't see the fireworks that the neighbors were shooting. I finally agreed to let them go out in the rain to watch and the guys shooting them went in the house. Oh well. We just watched the ones on TV. Logan was so tired. He has had an odd day. He was so strange this morning. He finally seemed to get over it, but I am not sure what it is was all about.

July 3, 2006 Day +1,188 Day #886 off treatment

Hi all. It is just a lazy day here in the Watts house. We are doing nothing but washing wet undies. Logan has wet every pair today. I am not sure why he is not doing well today, he did great Friday. He has no interest what so ever today. He is killing me though, he comes running yelling, "I've got poop" He never does, but I get all ready for a mess.

Taylor has been playing and eating happily which is just what my eyes need to see today. I am still in shock over Sarah. They all hit hard, but we know her so well and that tends to make it harder. Please continue to pray for her, she has such a sweet and emotional side to her that I can not imagine her thoughts right now. She is 10 and that has to be so much harder to deal with than with a baby or young child that can not understand the reality of it all. Does that make since?

We have no plans for today. We have a busy day for tomorrow. We have to cook out all over town. That's okay, we are ready for the ea tin' and running' to start all over again.

Please, everyone have a safe 4th of July. Please keep all the kids and families in your prayers. Thank you for continuing to pray for Taylor and follow his story.

July 2, 2006 Day +1,187 Day #885 off treatment

Wow, we had a busy day. The boys and I went to church this morning. Taylor got a little more than he bargained for. They called the kids up and I thought it was for children's minute, so I made him get up and go. Oops, they were singing America the Beautiful in sign language. He had no idea what was going on. Most of the kids were not singing, so he didn't look too out of place on that. However, he was just moving his hands any oh way to do sign language. I was proud though that he hung in there and did it. He soon discovered his picture on the over head screen and paid more attention to that than singing. He wasn't so sure about going to the real children's minute after that, but he did.

After church Taylor and I decorated their bikes with flags, stars, bows and sparely horns. Logan thinks he has a new bike. I met Ghen Ghen and Gam maw for some shopping before we all met back up at the church for the fun. Fun is what we had. It was a huge turn out. We ate like pigs for the second day in a row, but my there was so much to choose from. The kids loved the parade. Logan was in heaven riding that bike around. When it was over he took off out the gym door and Jim had to go open the outside door before he hit it. It was soon time to get our seats for the fireworks which were great. Logan was scared to death and just sat barely peaking over baby to see them.

It was 9:00 before we got home and Logan was beat. He crawled right into bed. Mr. Taylor however, had other plans. It was nearing midnight before he even thought about getting tired. I was happy to see that after my heart breaking find last night. Sarah Smith has relapsed. She was right at about 3 1/2 yrs out from transplant just a few months more than Taylor. It was heartbreaking for me to read. Her labs and urine all looked normal, but her MIBG was not. She had had some fever and pain, so they moved up her testing. You know this sent me over the edge after Taylor talking about his leg lately which he has not mentioned again and as bad as I want too, I will not talk about it unless he does. Please be in prayer for this beautiful family and their precious Sarah. www.caringbridge.org/nc/sarahsmith

Please keep Taylor in your prayers. It is easy sometimes to get caught up in the normal flow of things and forget how scary this disease it. However, things like I read tonight snap you back into the reality that yes, my child did have cancer and could again at any moment. Please join us in praying that Taylor never has to fight that fight again. I know is selfish of me to ask that when so is every other cancer mom, but it is my wish. Please pray that those who are NED/remission can remain that way. Pray for those who are still fighting. Pray for those who are missing their babies.

July 1, 2006 Day +1,186 Day #884 off treatment

What a night we had last night. We dropped the boys off at Gam maw's and we went home. We didn't do anything but hang out at home. The boys went to visit Gam maw's sister for a while and then came back to her house. Taylor tried a new trick (not really, it was an accident) and fell out of the car. While Gam maw laid her stuff down to help him, Ernie, the neighbor's dog, took Logan's baby. Oh no! We brought him his extra one, but we were worried about our spare being gone. We had a flash light looking all over for it at 10:00 at night. I am glad the neighbors didn't try to shoot at us! We never did find it. Luckily, Ernie had brought it in the house with him and they didn't know whose it was, but knew it was important and they put it up, so he has both babies back now. He now thinks he has to have them both, but I will fix that. I am not keeping up with 2 of them! I tell ya, he or we are very blessed. That is the 2nd time baby has been rescued from the depths of the unknown. We need to wean him off of it except at bed time.

Logan did real well with his pottying yesterday. I plan to stay home on Monday and work more in it. I hope like heck this goes smoothly and quickly. What a break it would be to not change diapers anymore. I didn't think Taylor had been pooping and he informed me today that he does go he is just "wipes his own body" now. How funny! He is growing up!

As for this morning, I did something I haven't done in 2 months and I loved it!!! I went to Curves. Maybe now I will get back in the habit since I remembered that I do like it. However, just as expected, the body temperature change did make me break out, but only slightly and it went away quickly. I assume once this outbreak is over that will not happen since it never did before. I hope not! I then met everyone at Gam maw and Paw Paw's for out June/July birthday celebration and our 4th celebration. We did some swimming and some more Balderdash playing and oh my at the eating. The boys had a blast doing all kind of stuff. They got in the pool, in the sprinkler, they played cars, the yelled into a vacuum hose and much more. They do entertain themselves well.

It was after 9:00 before we got home. Logan fell asleep in the car and I took the extra baby and put it in the wash. I hope he forgets by morning that he thinks he needs both. Taylor is still up. He is playing in the playroom while I type. He will be mad when I say it is time for bed, but he will be out in no time. Well, there was a lot of excitement today, but it was your average family fun. I will be sure to fill you in later on the bike parade and fireworks. Until then......

Please be in pray for Bailey as he struggles. Be in pray for Taylor as he continues to win his battle, praise be to God. Praise God for keeping baby safe. Pray for all our friends.

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