Happy New Year!

I won't bore you with the usual excuses for the lack of blogging lately... its a good thing, life just has us buzy with all sorts of "normal" things. This year, we were able to make lots of Christmas parties that we'd been absent from in the last two years. The kids are not letting the cold get them down, even today in what felt like below zero temps, we were out sliding around. All in all it was a great holiday season and even rang in the new year with the boys watching "WALL-E" on the movie machine but see picture below as they only lasted until about 10:30pm.......

So what other big news is there to tell...........oh yes, I Bridgett am running the Boston marathon this April for Liam and MGH. I have been training for several months now and although I still do not entirely enjoying running, I am starting to like it a little.....no not really! I will look forward to updating all of you with more details on this but for those of you who know me you are probably thinking that I am crazy and how can she possibly do this.....well you are right but everyday that I get out there and run I see Liam's face and that gives me the strength I need to finish that workout.

Well enjoy some xmas pics and there may be a few more on another camera chip that we can't seem to find and Happy New Year to you all.

Elf Yourself!!

....and make sure to email us your elves too!

So looking back, it's been about a month since we posted any updates (beside pictures that is... and even the picture have been sparse!) The kids are doing well. If I think about the last month, I know it was busy, but I can barely recall what's been going on!

We did get our tree up this week, and hopefully we'll get some shopping in this weekend, provided we don't get snowed in... the kids seem to be excited about Christmas. This is the first year I've been able to use the "Santa's watching" threat.

Liam is becoming more talkative by the day. A typical run on sentence might go like this... "juice, red juice, juice where are you? there it is, oh yes juice" he loves to talk about juice. and airplanes. A new favorite activity to note... he and Troy love to tease the dogs.

It's coming up on two years of blogging... just like the last month, I'm not sure where all the time went. Having the blog though, at least allows me to go back and see.... I'll try to get some more updates in over the next two weeks and wrap up 2008 with a bang. Bridgett has some updates to post too, ranging from running, to kidney stones!! We briefly had the camera operational enough to take some blurry pictures last weekend at the Flynn Christmas party. We had to borrow Kendra's for the haircut pictures, and Marianne's for the Christmas cards!! I finally broke down today and ordered a new one online... hopefully here by Christmas.

The Christmas decorations are coming out in full force

Happy Thanksgiving!

Buzz

We got Troy too!

Look out Lance

In the end we were happy with the scan results today, but the day seemed to be quite long. It was a busy day over in radiology, lots of pediatric cases, plus they were down one scanner. After waiting patiently for our turn, we had a failed attempt at performing the scan without sedation and ended up back tracking a bit...once under, and done with the scan, we had about a two hour wait in recovery.

Eventually we made it over to the hemock clinic (also very busy today) and waited a while for our appointment to see Dr. Freedman...and in the end it all worked out. One final wait for a flu shot (up from pharmacy) and just a little bit of traffic on the way home...

We saw lots of old friends along the way today, and hope they ended their day on a good note like us.

Someone managed to sneak Liam's bike in the house today, he should have been wearing a helmet, because he was still feeling the effects of the sedation and bumping and speeding all around the house. I know..we let him get away with these things, but after a day like today, he deserves it.

long day but everything is looking good...

Headed out of Boston now. More later.

Squeezed in one last trip to the Cape today

Once again, we are having camera issues, so we didn't capture as many Halloween pictures as I would have liked. The one below came from my phone, and although the guys don't look very happy, I swear - we had fun!! Well, except maybe for Troy who screamed most of the time he was in the honey pot.




We've had a busy October. We have finally finished painting and swapping Owen & Jack's room with the guest room (with the exception of a few window treatments). Remind me NEVER again to ask the kids what color they would like their room painted, especially knowing that their favorite color (Jack's favorite color)is red. SEVEN coats later... we're done. The room does look great, and it's hard to believe nine months ago, it was Liam's chemo treatment room.

Liam is doing well. All of the kids have had the lingering cough/cold for a couple of weeks now, it always seems to take him the longest to recover. His hair is getting so long, I'm thinking soon it will be time for his 1st haircut (ever)!! He has a tail in the back now, and is always flicking it out of his eyes. I also need to do some research on chemotherapy and taste buds.. about once a week I'll cook Thai food, usually very spicy, and Liam devours it. Another one of his favorites is guacamole with a kick. Maybe the runny nose is more a result of the curry powder than a cold!!!

In sporting news... We have one more week of soccer. Owen and Jack have been having fun, but I'm not sure if they have that competitive edge yet. For most of the season, I've refrained from being one of those parents yelling loudly from the sidelines, but recently it has been tougher and tougher to resist the urge!!! You can immediately spot the kids who must have older brothers and sisters who play, they seem to be one step ahead of the pack.. I suspect Liam and Troy will be in this category some in a year or two.

Basketball started October 15th. I ventured out to a Bridgewater/Stonehill scrimmage last week with all four kids. I think we made it to half time before I lost total control, however it was a good practice run for me; I now know it will require at least one extra adult to watch Troy alone, while I manage the other three... so make sure you check out the schedule, and let me know what games you are coming too!!

and finally... ISN'T HE THE CUTEST!!!

Feeling much better now...

Reality Check

So life is good, good but crazy… and with Liam doing well it’s easy to forget the realities of cancer. But nothing like visiting a few Carepages (some good updates, some not so great at all) and the discovery of a Case Report (yes that’s Liam – Viewer Discretion is advised) to snap you right back to reality.


Cancer sucks.

The only thing keeps me grounded is thinking of ways to keep supporting any and every cause we come across

So no sleep for me last night, the case report is pretty intense, if you can make it though it, you’ll understand why. It was written last summer while Liam was undergoing radiation. I’ll probably get fined for posting it without permission.

Bottom line... you're probably already doing so, but if you are not, find a way to help someone in need.

Fall Update

So here we are, into October already...the school year going well so far and of course, Meg's favorite time of the year... October 15th (first day of basketball for me).

Just a few updates from the last couple of weeks:

Owen and Jack are having fun in soccer on Saturday mornings (although we have had a few rain outs already). Liam is doing great, talking more and putting some phrases together like "mommy more", "green ball", "big bus", "mommy sit". For those of you with kids, it must have been one LOOOOOONG weekend last weekend with all the rain. Let's just say the rainy day "fun box" ran out around very early saturday afternoon at the Lasbury-Casey house. Liam decided to help us paint Owen and Jack's new room; he thought it would be cute to step in the paint and then walk accross the rug upstairs. Then for more fun, he decided to stuff a whole role of toilet paper down the toilet, clog it and watch the water come gussing out from the first floor all the way to the basement!

As for Troy, he is continuing to grow and is probably about two pounds less than Liam right now. His first official word is "bubble" and then followed by "uh o".

We have been packing in our weekends with lots to do. In September we did the Run of Hope Walk in Boston, the Walk Now for Autism in Rhode Island, managed to get in a family picture and individuals of the boys (except Liam because he was NOT in the best mood), big yard sale at Nana and Papa's house today. We took this opportunity to clean alot of junk out of the house.

Well I think that is all for now, getting ready for soccer. One more picture......Liam on the potty - wow!

btw

Surgery went well Thursday.
Soccer started Saturday.
Today's off to a wet start, but we're hoping for a break during the run today....