Cait sleeping on the beach
bird
more birds
John, catching something

cait.....again

borrowed from Bill.......

A summary of the events:


At the first shoal after the Eurharlee River bridge, we grounded on one of the below water rocks (my fat a** weighing us down). Cait, who was in the front, pitched forward and tried to bite the gunwale of the canoe. Obviously, baby teeth versus Grumman aluminum is not much of a competition. With lots of blood and drama (even some on my part), we got David from Coosa Riverwatchers to come pick us up. He was kind enough to bring the Bartow County fire dept, who confirmed Cait would not be eating apples or corn on the cob in the next 2-4 weeks. David delivered us to the car, where we proceeded at a leisurely pace to the Floyd County Medical Center in lovely Rome, GA. We spent about 3.5 hours in our wet bathing suits in a examining room that was 68 degrees, where we confirmed that Cait would not be eating ribs or bagels in the near future. We proceeded home at about the same time you did, so no time was lost. Calling Kathy caused me to break out in hives. I told her Cait lost her front teeth. She told me our mini van had died on 400 on her way to the Thweatts. Tit for tat. I re-arranged the trip to Cumming to include a stop in Lake Claire.


On Sun, I headed back to Euharlee to retrieve the Grumman. Only somewhat surprising, it was not where David and I had left it. A bit of sleuth work on my part found it in someone's backyard. I knocked on the front door and begrudgingly received permission to reunite the canoe with my car.


The unsung hero in all of this was Owen Henry, who was more excited than anyone about the canoe trip and only cried once when he realized his trip ended after 30 minutes on the water. He worked overtime keeping Cait interested in things other than the blood oozing from her mouth and held her hand at all the right times. He can be my wingman any time.


Special thanks to Kenyon, who helped us get in touch with David Promis, in between fits of laughter at "another Taylor high maintenance extravaganza"; David Promis who provided excellent assistance, directions and did not have a heart attack when he saw Cait's mouth; the Bartow County Fire Department for the two stuffed animals, fire hats and sage advice ("She oughtta see a dentist soon"); and all of you for watching Zach and John: just proves it takes a village of middle-aged men to properly beat two young boys into submission.

beach

John
Cait
John, Owen, Gracyn, and Macyn
Owen
as promised......

Baby Henry!

The kids meet our new nephew!
Henry!
Aunt Tara and Henry
John and Henry (sorry about your neck Henry)
Can't believe I forgot to post these! My brother and his wife brought their new baby to visit here in Atlanta! Henry is the cutest baby and so very sweet. We all loved being able to hold a baby again (and give him back!). such a sweet baby.

we're back

pics to come later. Had fun at the beach. Still very tired in the evenings from radiation and that is frustrating. I am ready to be 100%!

more from the lake

C and her Daddy
Cait
3 boys

I may be crazy..... I am taking the 3 younger kids camping at the beach.....without Bill. Portia is bringing her 3.. Wish us luck. Hope we all make it back and have had a bit of fun. Zach didn't want to go without Daddy so he and Bill are staying home. I'll miss them both.

Lake Lanier

balance
The water is REALLY cold....O was the only one to go 'under'
my 4 guys
Zach
Fun afternoon at the Lake!

Field Trip!

Addi and Cait
Macyn and John
Cait
Cait and Addi

Zach and Owen are at camp this week so Portia and I took the remaining kids to play at Lake Laner yesterday! A good way to cool off. We all had fun and it was nice to feel 'normal' again. We ended the day by Cait getting stung on the eye by a wasp or a hornet (not sure which). Not a great way to end the day. She cannot open her eye today. Not a great summer for Cait!

4th of July

Cait, John and Owen
animals!
Cait
auntie and J and Z

Bill, Nanny, Grandad, Zach, John, and Cait went to Karen and Ann's farm for the 4th! Owen was sick (and very disappointed) and Auntie came up for a surprise visit! Everyone had a great time. Bill's parents headed home yesterday. We are so fortunate they could come down and help get us over the last 2 weeks of radiaiton. We are now trying to plan what we will do with the rest of our summer. The kids have not had the best summer so we are going to try and cram in a lot of fun before Aug 9!

**All pics by Bill! Good job Billy!

Daisy

Daisy decided she needed some pets from Grandad
Daisy was hot!

Thursday

Cait playing with a shadow
Our 1st sunflower we grew from seed!

Next week is the last week of rads!!! Bill's Mom and Dad are here to help get us through this week and next. So thankful for their help. Bill is back in DC.

I ran away from home!

Me and my friend Portia
the deck we had our coffee on
the 'cabin' we stayed in
Amicolola falls

Friday evening Portia and I ran away from home! We were so fortunate to be able to stay in this very cute cabin (Portia's husband's Boss owns it). We didn't return until late Sunday afternoon. I have never left my family to do something like this. We had such a good time. Saturday we decided to hike up Amicolola falls which was beautiful (and very hot)! We stayed up late, took naps, and slept in in the morning. Amazing. Thank you Portia! Thank you Billy for letting me go. The kids and Bill did great....I don't think they really noticed I was gone.
Back to reality today and radiation. Boo.

and for today's news......

From Cait's recital
She was so cute!
today
she picked pink....of course!

A HUGE thank you to Nancee Worley! Thank you, thank you and thank you again. Ms Worley came and watched Z and O while John and I took Cait in to get her cast. Cait was really good but she was not happy. She sat very still and cried. Broke my heart. They won't do waterproof casts on feet. No pool. It's the only thing we had going for the summer. Could this summer get any better? She has to wear it for 3-4 weeks. She'll be out of it before I am done with radiation! I know she'll adjust quickly. She's a tough girl. I wonder if she'll try jumping off the stairs again. She has already been telling the boys to hit her cast as hard as they can because she can't feel it. She thinks it's funny. I know, we are in so much trouble in a few years.

Nancy, thank you so very much. I am heating up dinner as I type. thank you

Let's take a look at my week so far....

1). Bill left for DC
2). Cait broke her foot
3). I am sick

Wow, turning out to be a stellar week. I have been taking the boys with me to radiation and leaving Cait with a girl across the street. That is working very well. C goes tomorrow to get her cast. I'll post pics. She is very unhappy with the whole thing and telling me she will NOT be wearing a cast. After x-rays they splinted it which she promptly took off. Wish me luck tomorrow. I'll be taking all 4 kids on a field trip we'll call "How a cast is made on an unwilling subject". Should be fun.

Edited to add some more fun events!
Got everyone sunscreened up and headed to the pool. This took A LOT of effort on my part. Zach and John rode their bikes ahead to grab a spot in the shade. I followed with O and C (who had to ride in the stroller). When we were about 3/4 of the way there it started thundering and pouring down rain. Lovely. Is it bed time yet?
Oh yea, I left the van in the driveway.....with the windows open.

25 left

8 treatments down with 25 to go. I hate going every day. Still hate cancer. It's taken way too many days.