Me and my little man!

Sorry...no food today! Jonathan's class did a little Valentine's presentation that the parents were invited to attend. Following the presentation we went around the classroom and did various crafts. We had a GREAT time!


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It's November, right?

Because to see this picture you sure wouldn't know it!

Jonathan headed out to the park for a little bit this afternoon...and yes, he's just wearing a t-shirt...no sweater. And yes, it is indeed November the 5th, I checked the calendar.

Scott and Lauren aren't home yet, so I have yet to hear how their day went.

Colin, on the other hand, is home and thrilled beyond reason with the "UV crime kit" that he got from scholastic books with some of his birthday money.

I'll be back later with a "work report".

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Did I tell you about Sing Star???

It's a game for the PS3 system that we have. The kids LOVE it! It's like a karaoke machine that plays on your TV - kinda cool!

The disc comes with songs on it and then you can go to the Sing Store and buy more. Scott and I quite like Billy Joel, so we bought some of those to play. Funny enough, the kids have really taken to his songs too. That's good, because if I have to listen to "Mr. Brightside" one more time...things might not be so "bright" - UGH!

One of Jonathan's favourite songs is "Uptown Girl". And this:


is Jonathan's "Uptown Girl".

Heather is Lauren's best friend/non-biological sister. If one of the girls isn't at the others house, then something is wrong.

Heather came to sleep over today as we are going to Word on the Street tomorrow. Jonathan was VERY excited to be seeing his "Uptown Girl" - so stinkin' cute!

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If Mom cries it has more impact, right?

Not that I planned it that way, but that's the way it went down.

Check out these two pictures:

Can you see something
missing here? What the heck happened?

True, I didn't write a speech...I was asked to tell Jonathan's story. And seriously, how many times have I done that? I didn't need a "speech", I know the story off by heart. The thing is, you would think after telling it hundreds of times, that I should be able to get through it without totally breaking down.

Apparently, that is not the case.

I got as far as, "Jonathan was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, which means that his left ventricle wasn't developed. We found out when I was 19 weeks pregnant. I thank God every day for Sick Kids because just a few hours after he was born..."

I tried to keep going...couldn't do it. It's a good thing Scott was able to join us because he got pushed in front of the microphone to finish telling Jonathan's story. And he wasn't ready for it either because I was supposed to be doing all the talking!

I saw these things, these globes, in the airport when I took the kids to Nova Scotia before Scott and I went to Las Vegas at the end of July. The kids were the first ones to notice the Childrens Miracle Network logo at the base. I read what was written on the globe and we figured out that all the money collected would be donated to the Childrens Miracle Network to be used locally by childrens hospitals - in this case, the Hospital for Sick Children.

When Caroline called from the Sick Kids Foundation last week to ask if we would be interested in attending this event as the Sick Kids Family, I had to say yes. The Hospital for Sick Children has given us SO MUCH in the past almost 14 years since we became parents that every opportunity we have to give back is a blessing. We don't have thousands of dollars to donate so we donate our time and our stories.

Stories of the families we meet, stories of the friends we've made, stories of the amazing doctors and nurses who save lives on a daily basis. Today we gave back.

If you have children, granchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, friends who have children...if you work with children, see children in your neighbourhood, see children at your church...I can tell you with 100% certainty that your life WILL be affected at some point by a childrens hospital. It may not be today, tomorrow or even next week or next year, but it will happen.

And because of that, these hospitals need all the help they can get in doing research that will save lives. Did you know that it was a doctor at the hospital for Sick Children who discovered that a young child could receive a heart from someone with a different blood type because their immune system was so immature that it would be less likely to reject the heart?

Sick Kids is pioneering new medicine, new research and working towards cures every day. But they can't do it without our help.

So if you're flying somewhere, remember that "EVERY BIT COUNTS" and deposit your change into the coin globes at Terminal 1 in Toronto. When it's Miracle Treat Day at Dairy Queen, go have that Blizzard (the calories won't count). Keep on giving because they can't do it without us!

Tomorrow, I'll share Jonathan's story. Before I go, I'll leave you with this picture:


That's a cheque for over $5000 dollars. That amount was collected in just a few short weeks when there were only 6 globes at the airport. There are now 10 globes. Imagine the possibilities!

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Favourite Season - Photo a Day, June 6th

I used to think that fall was my favourite season. I've changed my mind. I have a new favourite season. It's called "Farmers Market". "Farmers Market" is the season that starts on the first Friday in June and ends on the last Sunday in October.

Today marks the beginning of "Farmers Market" and I am just absolutely thrilled! The produce (for the most part) is locally grown which is good considering the price of gas lately because if it's locally grown it doesn't have to be trucked in with a fuel surcharge added to a head of broccoli. A few weeks ago at Superstore the managers "special" was broccoli - $2.49/head thank you. I think not! So, I couldn't wait for "Farmers Market" season to start.

Jonathan and I went up to the mall after he was done school. The market is located in the north west parking lot of our local mall, so it's not hard to get to. Not much to spend on gas either as it's only about 3 km away.

We picked out some gorgeous looking strawberries (everberries - ones that bloom early and stay later - are already in season - YUM!), some asparagus (I wish asparagus season was longer!), some mushrooms, some cucumber, some tomatoes and even some farm fresh eggs. He loves checking out all the produce and the various other goodies the vendors have up for sale (honey, pies, bagels).

We didn't spend much time as it is STINKIN' HOT out today - with the humidity factored in, it's 41 degrees Celcius; that's 106 degrees Fahrenheit for my American friends. So umm...yeah...HOT!

Here is little man checking out some sample tomatoes. Of course he had to pick it up and ask me what it was. When I told him it was a yellow tomato, he promptly put it back down and I found myself eating a piece of yellow tomato. Not bad...tastes just like a regular red tomato!

Tomorrow's photo will likely have something to do with the Bread and Honey Festival that we'll be attending in nearby Streetsville.

Hope you have a STELLAR weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Game Boy - Photo a Day, June 5th

He went to school, he came home, he had lunch and then this:

He just LOVES playing his video games!

It's just a pill...

...SERIOUSLY!

O.K., admitedly, Jonathan came home from the hospital with a lot more meds than he went in with. No big deal, I can do meds in my sleep. Most of them have been added to his morning cocktail which I deal with.

He takes one at dinner and one before bed. Yes, that's ONE at dinner and ONE before bed. And the one before bed is the same one he's been taking for at least two years at the exact same time - BEFORE BED. Why then, is it SO difficult for Scott to give him said med before bed? It's not like there is a change here: same med, same time = no problem.

Apparently there is a problem, because even though it's been the same med at the same time for over two years, he still can't remember the name of it. It's gotten to where I need to call home if I am at work to remind him to give Jonathan his medication before bed.

Now, this wouldn't be a big deal if we had added to his med schedule in the evenings, but we haven't. At the risk of repeating myself, it's the SAME MED!!!

Good thing that man of mine is so good looking...I might have to trade him in! *sigh*

I knew it was coming...

...and yet, it's still a shock.

Jonathan's surgery package was just delivered by FedEx. UGH! I wasn't expecting it so soon...but I guess, since his surgery is about 7 weeks away, it makes sense to have it in hand at this point.

It lists all his appointments and his surgery date. His pre-op date is August 7th. That kind sucks, because it's a Tuesday, so all the people we normally see when we visit cardiology are not going to be there.

He has to have blood work done, a duplex scan (I have to look that up...) and a chest x-ray. We have to meet with anesthesiology...child life...physiotherapy...the pre-op nurse...cardio-vascular surgery fellow to sign off on consent...they always put "DEATH" in there and that TOTALLY freaks me out...the surgeon...and possibly research people if there is a study in which Jonathan can participate.

Can you imagine? We have to be there at 7:30 a.m. and may be there as late as 6 p.m. YUCK!

And if you think 7:30 is early...the following week, on his surgery date, we have to be there at 6 a.m. Now THAT'S gross!

Well...that went well!

I'm surprised really...I expected both Jonathan and I to be a bumbling crying mess 5 minutes in, but NO! We did it! And he was SO brave!

For those of you who don't know, Jonathan had a dentist appointment today. He had to have a filling done and a crown put in. YIKES!

He only cried a TINY bit while they were doing the freezing...honestly, it doesn't matter how much of that pre-freezing goo they put in there, you can STILL feel the needle. But as soon as Dr. Tracie was done with the freezing part, Jonathan was able to sit on my lap and we cuddled while to freezing took hold...oh yeah! That's the other thing - SO COOL! While they are doing the procedure, I got to sit right on the dentist chair, right there with him! The chairs are full size and because the kids are SO little, they have to scoot right the way up the top, leaving lots of room for mom! He got to use my lap as a foot rester and I got to hold his hand. VERY COOL!

All told, it took just over an hour to get the filling done and the crown put in. He's SO funny...he's showing everyone the silver crown in his mouth...repeatedly! He also keeps telling me, "Hey mom! I can feel my crown!" What a cutie!

Afterwards, we had some lunch, visited his cardiac nurse, where he said, "Hey Marilyn! I got a crown!" followed by a BIG open mouth - LOL! Then, he got to pick out a treat. He chose another Webkinz...that's a whole other story.

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