December 2007

November 2007 and earlier

Guess what??  I'm an honored hero again!  This time it's for my daddy's team!  He's going to ride his bike 100 miles in Honolulu in September.  Check out his page at http://pages.teamintraining.org/in/honoride08/mdeputy.  (There's a cute picture of me there!)

Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008

Let's see....time to catch up after the super busy weekend.  Saturday morning the kids went down to Grandma and Grandpa Deputy's to spend the day.  There was to be a 6-year-old 2nd cousin spending the day there, too, but he didn't make it so Mickey and Brad just hung out and swam with Grandma and Grandpa.  I met up with Michael's cycling team for pizza after their ride.  It was fun getting to know some of the people he's been hanging out with on weekends.  That evening finished off the sporting events for us.  Mickey took Brad, Grandma and Grandpa to the Indiana Fever game with the tickets she had gotten at school.  They had a great time and the Fever won!  Michael and I went to the Indians final home game of the season.  We had a great time and the Indians lost.  :(  Sunday we went to Deputy's to spend time with Sam, the 6-year-old 2nd cousin.  He was a lot of fun.  The kids spent the entire evening in the pool.  Yesterday after homework (yes, Brad has homework even on holiday weekends) we took the kids to see Star Wars Clone Wars.  All in all we had a wonderful, fun weekend.  And I can finally say we're going to Hawaii THIS MONTH!  Only 25 more sleeps!  :)  (Jones kids, how many "Full Houses" would that be??)

Friday, August 29, 2008

Ahhhh...the end of the week.  Mickey and Brad are glad to have another week of school behind them.  :)  

Tonight we went to the Indianapolis Indians game.  Mickey's Challenger team got to be the Baseball Buddies and stand with the players during the National Anthem.  Mickey and Brad (who was allowed to participate since he was a helper all season) both chose to go to the outfield so they could stand with their favorite player, Chris Duffy.  Michael got to go out with the kids who were going to 2nd base.  He had as much fun as the kids did, I think!  We stayed for the whole game and got to watch our Indians beat the Louisville Bats 8-4.  It was a great evening!

Left to right:  The team waiting patiently for their time to hit the field; Brad is on the far left next to Chris Duffy and Mickey is the next to the end on the right; Mom and Brad; Mom and freaky-eyed Mickey and some kid really enjoying his soft pretzel!  :)

Coming tomorrow night:  Mickey got the tickets to the Indiana Fever game and is taking Brad and Grandma and Grandpa Deputy.  Michael and I are going to the Indians game with tickets he won at work.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

The first of 3 sporting events is history.  We had a fabulous time tonight at the Colts game (even though they lost 27-7).  We got there plenty early so we had time to explore a bit before the game started.  The new Lucas Oil Stadium is incredible!  It has a giant window on one end that overlooks downtown.  It almost looked like a painting from the opposite end of the stadium.  It was amazing.  They had the roof and that window open tonight.  It was rather hot and humid at the beginning of the game, but felt pretty comfortable by halftime.  We left partway through the 3rd quarter since it was getting late.  We beat a lot of traffic which was not easy since the Indians, Fever and Colts were all playing downtown tonight.  I posted some pictures on my Facebook page.  Click here to see them.

Coming up on Friday evening - Mickey and Brad as Baseball Buddies for the Indianapolis Indians.  Please stay tuned!  :)

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

I forgot on my last update to wish my parents a happy 48th anniversary!  Thanks for such a great example of a Godly marriage!

There has been/will be a lot going on around here so I'm going to give the Cliff notes version:  last Friday - picked cousin Sydney up for the weekend; Saturday - worked in yard all day/went to Grandma Deputy's to swim in the evening; Sunday - after church went up to visit my parents/Michael rode his bike 82 miles to get there/kids swam in pond all afternoon/Mickey started with a cough in the morning/took Sydney back in the evening; Monday - Mickey's teacher called that her cough was worse/went to doctor who diagnosed bronchial infection/started Albuterol treatments every 6 hours along with Zithromax; Tuesday - Mickey stayed home and rested all day; Wednesday - Mickey is doing well and went back to school/Michael and Jenny registered for a refresher SCUBA course so we can dive next month in Hawaii; Thursday-the whole family will be going to the last preseason Colts game thanks to Gary Brackett who donated a block of tickets to the Leukemia Society; Friday-family will be going to the Indianapolis Indians game where Mickey's Challenger baseball team will be Baseball Buddies and go out on the field with the players for the National Anthem; Saturday-Michael has 70 mile ride with his training group/Mickey's school is giving away Indiana Fever tickets and she's going to try to get 4 tickets (will find out on Thursday)/Michael won 2 tickets to the Indians game so he and I may go there depending on what happens with Mickey's Fever tickets; Sunday will be church and a day of rest!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Well, school has been in full swing for a week and things are going well.  Brad is certainly being challenged in his new school.  They are in the middle of a 3-week social studies project on the history of Indiana.  His teacher e-mailed me that he has a positive attitude and is working hard.  Plus he's making new friends!  YEA!  Mickey is doing well at her new school, also.  She told me today that so many girls want to be her partner and help her each day that the teacher had to start drawing sticks with their names to decide who gets the honor.   Mickey loves it!  

Michael is doing very well with his training and fund raising for his 100-mile bike ride in Hawaii in Sept.  He is almost $1000 short of his goal, though.  There is still time to donate if you haven't had the chance yet.  Just go to his fund raising page to make an online donation.   

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

As of today both kids are back in school.  Mickey started Monday and has done very well so far.  She is enjoying her new school and is making new friends.  Brad started today.  He had lots of good things to say including making a new friend and seeing some friends from his old school.  We went to his open house on Monday evening and met his teacher.  We were very impressed with her and think she'll be good for Brad.  Here are first day of school pictures.  Maybe I'll get one of them together tomorrow morning before I take Mickey to her bus stop.

Michael took Brad to school at the urging of the superintendent for dads to take kids to school on the first day of the year.  So tomorrow we will test our plan for transportation.  I think it should work fine but we shall see....

Friday, August 8, 2008

Do not be alarmed by updates two days in a row.  All is well.  In fact we got some great news today.  Last spring we toured Christel House Academy charter school and loved it.  Both kids were put on a waiting list.  Way far down on a waiting list.  So far down we knew there was no chance of them getting in.  Well, we were wrong!  We got a call today that there is an opening in the 5th grade for Mickey!!  We took it and she starts Monday!  We are all excited about this chance.  We will have some logistics to figure out with daily school schedules since she and Brad will be on opposite ends of the city, but we have a few options so will try them all till we find the best fit.

In other news, Brad picked up a pair of roller blades today at a garage sale.  He learned to blade at skate camp this summer so he's ready to hit the sidewalks!  Sad thing for me is that when he's wearing his blades, he's almost as tall as me!!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

I had an unusual but exciting experience today.  I had just gotten onto the interstate to head to Riley for clinic and realized I didn't remember how to get there!  It had been so long since I'd driven to clinic that I wasn't on autopilot anymore.  What a great feeling!   Clinic was great.  Mickey's counts are all blissfully normal!  Her AGC is the lowest we've seen in nearly 18 months, but is still above 2500 so we're not complaining.  We go back in 3 months.  It's amazing to think she just passed the 18-month-off-treatment mark last week.  What a miracle!

Monday was a great day.  Late Sunday we decided to change our plans and head to Kings Island instead of Kentucky Kingdom.  We had a blast!  Mickey rode the Fairly Odd Coaster (formerly known as The Beastie formerly known as The Scooby Doo Coaster) but didn't like it.  However it didn't keep her from riding another little coaster type ride along with some other new-to-her rides.  To our surprise she did not want to ride the Viking ship.  She saw that it is built over water and is a lot bigger than the one at Ober Gatlinburg so she wasn't ready for it.  Brad had a great time in the water park and on the Scooby Doo ride.  He's not ready for thrill rides yet either, so we spent a good part of the day in Nickelodeon Universe.  After 12 hours in the park we were exhausted and had a very quiet ride home!

Yesterday we took the kids to the dentist.  No cavities!  YEA!  I'm not sure if I mentioned it in the Gatlinburg post, but on July 3 Mickey removed the spacer she had due to the removal of a couple of teeth.   The dentist said yesterday that she does not need a new one, so that was good news!  Brad needs to work on his brushing technique so we got him a new Pokemon spin toothbrush.  Hopefully it will inspire him to brush better.  :)

I was recently introduced to the addictive world of Facebook.  I put up a photo album of pictures from Mickey's journey through leukemia from a couple of weeks before diagnosis till she went off treatment.  If you'd like a trip down memory lane, click here.

Friday, August 1, 2008

WOW!  A new month is beginning.  A month of changes.  A month of preparation.  Some of the changes include the end of summer camp for the kids and me along with new schools for both kids.  Brad will be attending Sidener Academy for High Ability Students while Mickey will be attending IPS 34.  We are looking forward to the new school year.  As for preparation - Michael and I will be preparing for our trip to Hawaii at the end of September.  Michael's training and fund raising are going well.  He is about $1500 short of his goal at this point.  If you haven't donated yet and wish to, please visit his fund raising page where you can donate online using a credit card.  In news related to Michael's ride with TNT, he was interviewed recently as part of a series of articles on 3 families this season who have  parent/child  involvement as participant/honored hero.  Click here to read the article.  And no, I have not changed my name to Vicky.  I am still Jenny!  :)

Mickey finished her Special Olympics softball season on Monday.  She enjoyed playing even though it was hot and she was tired.  Brad was a great helper with the team.  We heard many great comments about him over the course of the season.  Since we have our Monday evenings free now and camp is over, we'll be heading south to Kentucky Kingdom on Monday.  Mickey wants to ride a roller coaster!  Hopefully she'll still want to once we get there.  

That's about the extent of our excitement for now.  The next week will find us at the eye doctor, dentist and hem/onc clinic for check-ups.  Then the kids head back to school on August 13.  On August 14, I plan to go to lunch and get a massage!  It's been a lonnggg summer!  :)

Monday, July 14, 2008

Finally...a bit of a report from our trip to Gatlinburg.  You may want to grab a Diet Coke or your beverage of choice because this is going to be a long one!!

Sunday - We headed out from Franklin, IN around 10:30 AM and got to Gatlinburg to our chalet by mid-afternoon.  Brad rode with Grandma, Grandpa and Sydney while Mickey chose to ride with us.   We had a rather peaceful, uneventful drive down.  The chalet was just about perfect for our group.  We had 4 bedrooms and plenty of room in the living room for the kids to sleep.  Michael, Linda and I headed to Kroger to stock up on groceries for the week while the others hung out at the chalet and played games.

Monday - Most of Monday was spent chilling out and doing just a small bit of exploring.  Michael's oldest sister and the rest of her family arrived Monday evening so our group was complete for the next 36 hours before his younger sister Joy and her husband had to leave to go back to work.  

Tuesday - Happy birthday to the love of my life!  Michael took off on a bike ride early while the rest of us got ready to go to Ober Gatlinburg.  This is when the fun really started!  I bought all-day bracelets for Brad and myself since I knew he and I would get a lot of use out of them.  Mickey wanted to play mini-golf and ride the bumper cars once, so I bought her two tickets to do those two things.  Well....it turns out that our once-scared little girl had found her bravery at Camp Hi Lite the week before.  She never did make it to the mini golf because she discovered the pirate ship and fell in love with it.  This is the girl who had never ridden anything more exciting than the little swings at King's Island!  Fortunately for her, the man running the pirate ship that day took a liking to her and gave her a few free rides.  She took at least 3 different members of our family on that ride.  She did the bumper cars, too, but not with the same excitement as the pirate ship.  She was very disappointed when it was time to go back down the mountain, but she did so with the knowledge that she may get to go back to the pirate ship before we left Gatlinburg.  We met Michael at the bottom of the mountain and had an old-time photo taken of the whole group.  Now that was an adventure - getting 13 people (ranging in ages from 2 - 70) dressed in old West gear.  But the picture turned out great and we're so glad to have it.  After the picture we headed out for Michael's birthday dinner at Fuddruckers.  YUM!!  We went back for a brief birthday party and got to meet Rocky, the raccoon who makes frequent visits to the chalet.  He hung out on the deck and watched through the sliding glass door as Michael opened his gifts which included 13 squirt guns - enough for everyone to have one in case a squirt gun fight should break out.  :)

Wednesday - This was the day Michael had been waiting for.  Cades Cove is closed to motor traffic on Wednesday and Saturday mornings so bicyclists can ride in safety.  He got there very early and was able to do 4 laps (44 miles total!) before 10:00.  Our brother in law, another Michael, went along with him and did some hiking in the area while my Michael rode.  We said goodbye to Joy and Brian since they had to go back to work on Thursday.  When the Michaels got back, my  Michael and I headed back to Ober Gatlinburg with Mickey so she could ride the pirate ship some more and Michael and I could go Alpine sliding.  Well, Miss Mickey really got her brave on that day.  She decided she wanted to ride the ski lift to the top of the mountain after taking Michael and me both on the pirate ship.  I kept waiting for her to change her mind while we waited, but she didn't.  When we got up to load, we found that her friend from the pirate ship the day before was running the ski lift today!  She was so excited to see him and he remembered her and was happy to see her again.  Michael and Mickey loaded into the lift ahead of me (they stopped it so she could get in) and took off.  Mickey was loving it!  As we approached the unloading point for the Alpine slide, Michael lifted their bar and yelled back that they were getting off because Mickey wanted to do the slide.  At this point I was wondering what we would do if she freaked out and refused to go down the slide.  My fears were unfounded.  I was able to ride down with her and let her take over the control about halfway down.  She LOVED it!  When we got to the bottom, she was ready to go up and do it again, but by herself.  So up we went again.  A supervisor type person was at the top of the slide when we got there and asked if Mickey had done the slide by herself.  When we said no he said he would clear the track (to make sure she didn't hit anyone) and let her go with Michael following closely behind (to make sure no one hit her).  She did excellent!  I went down the other track and got to see her face as I passed her.  She was so excited!  While we were lining up to go down the slide for the last time, she looked at the teenager on the track beside her and told him, "I'm so going to smoke you!"  Well, she didn't, but she still had a fantastic ride!  We also rode a raft ride, kinda like a water slide but in a raft that keeps you *mostly* dry.  She loved it, too.  Finally we rode up the ski lift all the way to the top of the mountain.  The view was gorgeous from there.  We were all tired and ready to head back to the chalet.  It was such an amazing day!  I will never forget the thrill of watching Mickey face her fears and conquer them so soundly.  

Thursday - Michael and Michael got up early and went to hike to the top of Chimney Tops.  They had a great time and got some beautiful pictures along the way and from the top.  While they were out, the rest of us, minus Linda who was ill due to an allergic reaction to an antibiotic, went to Flap Jacks for breakfast.  Yummy pancakes!!  After breakfast the kids decided to have their squirt gun fight.  They had a great time tromping around in the woods right by the chalet and hiding under the deck.  Amazingly enough, no one got poison ivy even though it was all over where they were running.  After a quick lunch, I took Mickey, Brad and Sydney swimming at one of the Chalet Village pools.  Michael joined us when he got finished with his hike.  Michael and I got out for a bit by ourselves to check out a Christmas shop and make a quick stop at the grocery Thursday evening.  Then it was time to gear up for our final full day.

Friday - Happy 4th of July!  Since we had spent the day with Mickey at Ober Gatlinburg, we decided to let Brad choose an activity of his own.  He wanted to go to Ripley's Aquarium with Sydney, so that's what we did...after another breakfast at Flap Jacks, that is!  We had a great time at the aquarium.  The boys got to pet sting rays and Brad held a horseshoe crab.  After a few hours there, we hit the Ripley candy store for some sweets and headed back to the chalet to get Mickey and head to a pool.  We ended up at all 3 clubs that day and found the best pool!  We finally left at 8:00 PM since we still had to pack up and get ready to leave the next morning.  It was a fun time playing in the water and just hanging out with the kids.

Saturday - we were up and at 'em early since we had to be out of the chalet by 11:00.  Amazingly enough, we made it out before the deadline - by a whopping 30 minutes!  It's hard to pack up a house  where 13 people have been living!  But we did it and as far as I know very few things went home with the wrong people.  Brad came home with a pair of Sydney's jeans, but that's about it!  Again, the boys rode home with Grandma and Grandpa while Mickey rode with Michael and me.  It was a rather quiet ride home as Mickey was tired and slept quite a bit and I was trying to finish a book.  We rolled into Franklin early evening, helped Gil and Linda unload the van, grabbed Belle who had spent the week with her canine cousins, and headed home.  After a quick dinner at Denny's (we had no food in the house!), it was time to get Zoe from our neighbor and unload our own vehicle.  We started laundry and fell into bed exhausted!  

It was a great trip!  Not the quiet, relaxing vacation  I had hoped for, but I should have known not to expect quiet and relaxing with that many active kids!  Truth be told, I would not trade it for the world!  Watching Mickey at Ober Gatlinburg and Brad at the aquarium was better than quiet relaxation any day!  If you'd like to see some pictures, click here.  They are in no particular order, but each has a title to help describe what it's about.  I have over 200 pictures, but narrowed it down to the best 20!  :)

It took a few days, but we all finally recovered from vacation.  Laundry got caught up, sleep got caught up, dogs decided we were not going to abandon them again....Life is getting back to normal.  Mickey is playing Special Olympics softball and loving it.  They've had two games, winning the first one and tying tonight's 0-0.  Brad is helping with the team and loving it!  Michael is training for his century ride that's coming up in just over 2 months.  (If you haven't looked at it, check out his fund raising page at http://pages.teamintraining.org/in/honoride08/mdeputy.  He is at almost 50% of his goal.  The kids and I have just a few weeks of summer camp left at the YMCA before they start school on August 13.  It's hard to believe how quickly this summer has flown by!

My dad can still use prayers.  He will be changing chemo meds fairly soon as the cancer is not responding to the med he is on now.  Some of the smaller tumors have grown and there are a few new ones so it's time for a new drug.  He will also be having fluid drained from his lung again on Wednesday and could use prayer for that procedure.  Thanks for praying for him with us.

Well, I think that's about it.  If you read through it all, thanks!  If you skipped to the bottom, I don't blame you, but be sure you jump back up and read about Wednesday.  You don't want to miss that!  :)

Saturday, July 12, 2008

What a busy two weeks we've had!  I am finally feeling recovered from our trip to Gatlinburg last week.  It was a great trip.  I will plan on updating fully in the next few days, but wanted to let everyone know we are home safe and sound.  Well....safe at least!  :)

Friday, June 27, 2008

Mickey is home safe and sound from camp.  A very excited Brad and I picked her up at 10:00 this morning.  According her counselors she was a delight to have at camp and was very helpful especially with a particular girl in her group who didn't always want to do what the group was doing.  She accomplished some pretty cool things yesterday during Challenge Day.  She swam across the lake (with lots of help from her life jacket and her counselor), did a loop on a hand bike, participated in the team obstacle course and climbed "Cardiac Hill".  We are very proud of her!  She made some good friends and can't wait to go back.  I will be ordering pictures so will post them once they arrive and I get them scanned.    

I have talked to Michael daily and he's doing well.  He's working hard doing all sorts of various jobs like building stairs, unloading semi trucks, trash pick up, etc.  He will be arriving home sometime late Saturday evening.  We'll have just enough time to get his laundry done and repacked to leave for Gatlinburg on Sunday.  Hopefully the week's vacation will be relaxing and restful for him.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

From the looks of the pictures that were uploaded to Bradford Woods' website, Mickey is having a great time!  I can't post the password needed to view the pictures, but if you are interested in seeing them, feel free to e-mail me.  I don't mind sharing it with people we know, but don't want it out there for just anybody to use.  

I just spoke to Michael and they are working  hard in New Orleans.  He is hoping to get to mow yards tomorrow, possibly being able to talk to some locals and share Jesus with them.  Please pray for him and the others on the trip that they can reach out to these people and have an eternal impact.

Brad is having a great week.  He is thoroughly enjoying the time with just me.  I will admit I am spoiling him more than a little bit!  And I'm loving every minute of it!!  

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Well, I did it!  I took Mickey to Camp Hi Lite today.  She was busy playing Yahtzee with a counselor before Brad, Grandma Deputy and I even got out the door.  One of the girls she met at Special Olympics baseball on Monday is in her cabin, so they were happy to see each other.  The check in process was very well-organized and thorough.  It took us nearly two hours from the time we parked till we got back in the truck.  I was comfortable with this camp before I got there and left feeling even more comfortable.  I know Mickey would love to get tons of mail, so if you have a minute to drop her a card or letter, it would be great.  Camp ends on Friday so mail would likely need to go out on Monday or Tuesday to be sure she gets it.  Her address is:

I should explain Michael's absence in recent activities.  He spent Monday through Wednesday this past week in Laguna Beach, CA for work.   Today he left at 5:00 AM with a group from a co-worker's church to head to New Orleans to help with some on-going Katrina relief efforts.  He will get back on Saturday in time for us to do laundry and pack before leaving for Gatlinburg early Sunday morning.  I'm glad we have next week to spend together since we haven't seen much of each other lately!

 Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Happy belated Fathers Day, Dad!  I love you!  Happy birthday, Joel!!  Happy 19th anniversary to the love of my life!!!

Mickey is doing well.  She's steadily improving.  She's hanging out in my room at camp so she can be in the A/C most of the day.  I'm sure that's helping.  She has been having some fun outside in the evenings, though.  Last night was her first Special Olympics baseball practice.  They worked on catching grounders and on batting.  She tuckered out after about 45 minutes.  I was proud of her for going that long.  Tonight I took her and Brad to an Indians game and a pre-game youth baseball clinic.  They got to go out on the field with Indians players to work on different skills based on the position they wanted to play.  Mickey chose short stop and worked with Josh Wilson.  They worked on catching grounders a couple of different ways.  It was funny for Mickey since she had worked on that skill just last night.  Brad chose right field and worked with Kevin Thompson and Jonah Bayliss.  They worked on pop flies and grounders.  Brad had a nice conversation with Bayliss, so I think we have a new favorite player!  

Left to right:  Brad and Jonah Bayliss; Brad working on catching grounders; Mickey meets the Indians manager Trent Jewett; Mickey working on grounding.

Friday, June 13, 2008

We had Mickey's follow up with the doctor today.  She is doing much better.  Her sats were at 95%, up from 88% before her breathing treatment on Wednesday.  She has been fever-free for over 24 hours.  We are going to add an extra 5 days of Zithromax to make sure we kill off whatever is lurking in her system.  We will continue her breathing treatments every 6 hours for another week and then will drop down to just two a day until she leaves for Camp Hi Lite on June 22.  I will send the nebulizer along with her to camp as a precaution, but the doctor doesn't expect Mickey to need treatments by that point.   We caught this pneumonia early and so avoided the trauma of last September.  Thanks for praying for her!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

First off, thanks for the prayers for my dad.  He went in for the procedure, was told there was not enough fluid to be drained and was sent home.  Praise God the fluid did not build up as quickly as the doctor had expected it to.

Now can you add Mickey to your prayer list?  She most likely has pneumonia again.  She started coughing on Monday and it kept getting worse.  She was very tired yesterday and started running a fever this morning.  So I took her in.  Her O2 sats were only 88% when we got there.  The doctor listened to her lungs and didn't hear much of anything.  They gave her a breathing treatment.  Her O2 levels went up to just 95% and the doctor was able to hear where stuff had broken up and was rattly in her lungs.  We went up the road for a chest X-ray and wait for the results sometime tomorrow.  For now we are doing Albuterol treatments every 6 hours and have started Zithromax.  We have a follow-up appointment set for Friday morning.  Hopefully Mickey will have improved markedly by then.  I have taken the rest of the week off so I can stay home with Mickey.  I'll update tomorrow after we get the results of the X-ray.

Brad is having a fabulous week at Camp Invention.  He has sketched a Rube Goldberg machine and will start building it tomorrow.  He's learning a lot about teamwork and working with a partner.  It's all good!!!  

Sunday, June 8, 2008

I'm going to start tonight's entry with a prayer request.  My dad is going in tomorrow to have a drain put in his left lung to help reduce the fluid build up he's been experiencing.  Please pray that the procedure will go smoothly, his pain will be minimal and his recovery will be swift.

I have finished my first full week of summer day camp.  I am working in the 3 year old room again this year.  This week I only had 4 boys.  That was it.  So very different from last year when our room was full of 12 3-year-olds.  Since our numbers were so low, my assistant counselor was put in a different group that was short-staffed.  I was always grateful for an adult coming into my room this week!  :)  Hopefully our numbers will be up so Ryan will be put back in our room.

Mickey had a great first week at day camp.  She already has a boyfriend!!  The first day she saw a boy from one of the 4th grade rooms at her school and he's been her boyfriend ever since.  He was very happy to see her when she walked in on Monday morning, so I think it's not all one-sided.  :)  She did spend one day helping in my room when we had storms forecasted since she is so scared of storms.  The storms did not happen, but she had a great time being my helper.

Brad had a super time at robot camp.  He got to build his very own soccer pro robot to bring home.  He is hoping that he will see some of his new friends from camp at his new school in the fall.  Tomorrow he starts Camp Invention and is very excited about it!  The following week he will start at the Y day camp with Mickey.  Brad got a new bike yesterday since he's outgrown his old one.  He loves it and took several trips around the neighborhood this afternoon.

Michael got a new bike today.  He has been riding his 15-year-old hybrid for the past year.  It was time to bite the bullet and get a road bike.  He hit several bike stores around Indy (most more than once) and finally made his decision today.  He took the bike out for a 50 mile ride this afternoon and loved it.  He said it's going to take time to get used to it since it is built so differently than a hybrid.  His new bike will be so much better for him on the long distant rides.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks:

Left to right:  Brad with the Pittsburg Pirate Parrot at an Indians game; Mickey getting her VBS shirt signed by Vinny, one of her two favorite characters from VBS; Brad and Mickey with their other favorite character, Kit; Mickey scores a run during an indoor whiffle ball game at the Challenger Jamboree on Saturday.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

WOW!  I have been so busy that I didn't realize how long it has been since I updated here.  It's almost midnight so I'm going keep this blissfully short with the promise of a more complete update in the next few days.  Life is good!!  We're all healthy and summer is here.  That is all for now!  :)

Saturday, May 24, 2008

We've come to the end of yet another fun, busy week.  The highlight for Brad was Thursday's school trip to the zoo.  I went with him and we got to spend a long time together walking around looking at the animals.

  (Brad hanging with the meerkats)

Mickey's highlight of the week came on Thursday evening when the fall season for TNT kicked off.  She is so excited about being the honored hero for her daddy's cycling team.  I posted the link to Michael's fundraising page at the top of this page.  Check it out and please help Michael reach his goal!

(Mickey with Betty and Lois, Michael's fund raising mentors)

Michael's highlight was riding his bike 81 miles yesterday.  He got caught in the rain, but still made great time.

My highlight of the week was getting about 6 inches cut off my hair.  I had planned to wait till I could donate it to Locks of Love, but it would have been another year probably, so I went ahead and cut it off.  I love it!

The kids have only 2 day of school left.  Tuesday will be a full day and then on Wednesday I can take them home after their honors programs.  It's going to be really hard on Wednesday knowing that we'll not see so many of these people again since the school is closing.  

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Happy belated birthday, Mickey!!  We were so busy yesterday that I didn't have time to get online till late and then I was too tired.  Mickey had a great birthday.  Unfortunately I didn't get to spend much of it with her due to an all-day training session for my summer camp job.  She and Brad both had games and both did great!  She hit a homerun!  Brad got a hit!  It was a red-letter day!  After their games they went for pizza and then to the zoo with Michael, Grandma Deputy, Aunt Joy and Uncle Brian.  I was home by the time they got home from the zoo and we went to Red Robin for burgers for her birthday dinner.  She got all shy when the wait staff sang "Happy Birthday" to her!  It was cute!  

We are in the home stretch for the school year.  Only 7 more days of school till summer break starts.  Mickey will have a kickball/softball/soccer tournament and picnic on Wednesday.  Then on Thursday the whole school is going to the zoo.  So she will only have 5 days of actual classroom time.  I think Brad's class will be picnicking and playing outside one day, too.  Then we start summer camp on June 2, so they don't have much downtime before things start rolling again.  

Brad will be going to a gifted and talented camp through IPS the first 2 weeks of June, so he's pretty excited about that.  If you are local and reading this, there are some things they are asking for the kids to bring to the week of Camp Invention so if you have any of the following or can save stuff up, it would be great!  They are looking for broken or unusable small appliances to be taken apart and not returned.  So if you have a broken hard drive, VCR, DVD player, stereo, keyboard, telephone, tape recorder or old radio that you want to get rid of, let me know.  They are also looking for lots of the following to have available for the kids to build with: bottle caps, bubble wrap, buttons, cardboard boxes and tubes, cereal boxes, egg cartons, film canisters, foam trays, magazines, milk/OJ cartons or jugs, newspapers, oatmeal canisters, paper or plastic bags, pebbles, plastic containers/lids, plastic tubing, shoe boxes, tissue boxes, water bottles.  He'll be going to Camp Invention June 9 - 13, so I'd be happy to pick anything up that people nearby want to dispose of that can be used for the camp.  Just drop me an e-mail and let me know at mjmb@deputyfamily.net.

Friday, May 9, 2008

We are coming to the end of another busy week, heading into a busy weekend.  We are all healthy and well and for that I am grateful.  We are so blessed!

Last night was the kids' karate awards.  Mickey is now a yellow belt and Brad is now a senior brown belt.  In 3 more semesters, Brad will be a black belt!  WOW!  After awards we took them to Culvers for our traditional after-awards treat.  Lots of fun, but not so good for the diet!  YIKES!  

Michael tying Mickey's new yellow belt; I got to put Brad's strip of tape on his belt showing he is a senior brown belt; Brad with Mr. Rick; Mickey with Mr. Rick (no it's not a real sword but it was a little heavy); two proud kids!

Tonight we're going to Caribbean Cove for Brad's birthday.  He decided he wanted to go there for a night  rather than have a birthday party.  Cousin Sydney will be joining us at the hotel and then spending the rest of the weekend with us.  The kids were so excited this morning packing their bags.  

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

This weekend was full of athletic accomplishments.  Yesterday I completed the Mini Marathon and cut 5 minutes off my time from last year.  The weather was just about perfect.  The only injury I have aside from the normal aches and pains is that one of my toes is severely bruised and I am afraid I may lose the nail.  I think it's from my toe smooshing up against the end of my shoe for 13.1 miles.  The next athletic accomplishment came at Brad's ball game.  He played a great game and his team remains undefeated.  Only 3 more victories in a row and his assistant coach will get a Mohawk!  After the game we fulfilled our promise to take him to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate his first hit ever.  Good food!  Then this morning the kids had their karate tournament.  They both took 3rd place in their division in the "walk with confidence" event.  In "walk with confidence", the contestant has to follow a specific routine of bowing to the judge and going to ready position, then they have to answer all the questions asked by the judge in a clear, loud voice following each answer with "Yes, Sir!"  The questions are things like name, address, phone number, city and state, coach's name and whatever question the judge wanted to throw in.  While those appear to be simple questions, they are made more difficult by the fact that the child is doing it in front of an audience with other kids in other rows doing the same thing and talking to a strange adult.  After they answer the questions, they had to bow and thank the judge.  We were thrilled that both kids got medals in this event.  They both did well in the other two events, but not well enough to get an award.  Everyone got trophies for participating in the tournament.  After the tournament we went to my parents' house to visit for Mom's birthday.  Michael took off right away on his bike and completed the final athletic achievement of the weekend.  He rode 55.9 miles before the kids and I caught up to him and he decided it was time to load the bike in the Explorer and catch a ride home with us.  He is training for the RAIN (Ride Across INdiana), a 160 mile bike ride from Terre Haute to Richmond which will take place in July.  Then he will be doing a 100-mile ride in Honolulu with Team in Training in September.  He is doing great in his training!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Last night was karate testing for the kids.  They both did well.  Mickey will get her yellow belt next week and Brad will get his senior brown.  Michael and I were very proud of both of them!  I will post some pictures Sunday evening of their tournament which will be held Sunday morning.  

The big day is almost here!  This time tomorrow I'll be at the beginning of the Mini Marathon.  Please pray that I remain injury free and that the weather will cooperate.  Thanks!!

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

In lieu of an update on Mickey's page, Brad's page has been updated for his special day.  Please check it out! 

Friday, April 25, 2008

WOOHOO!  Michael got home last night from a 4-day class in WI.  We were all happy to see him and have him back home.  Brad's team won their game Wednesday night.  He was struck out once and walked once.  He stole two bases and then was picked off while stealing home.  He had a couple of really good plays in left field and backing up the 3rd baseman.  It was a good game!  He has an 8:00 game tonight under the lights.  Hopefully the rain stays away!

Just to put a bug in everyone's ear, Brad's birthday is coming up next Wednesday.  He'll be 9!  If you have a chance to send him a card or e-card, he would love it!  If you want our mailing address, just e-mail me and I'll give it to you.  His birthday will be great because his class is going to an Indians game that day so he gets to miss most of the school day to go to a baseball game and his parents are taking off work to go with him!  It doesn't get much better than that!

Mickey is doing great!  She had a TB test today for the Down syndrome camp she will be attending this summer.  The test went just like anything else involving Mickey and a needle.  She cried and fought and didn't feel the needle when it went in.  But at least it's done so now we can mail in the application after we get the results on Monday.  By the way, she knows now that it is a sleep-away camp and can't be more excited!!  She can't wait!  I hope to get her together with another girl who will be going so she'll at least know someone before she gets there.  But we all know Mickey, she'll have a string of friends within the first 30 minutes of camp, so I'm not to worried!  :)

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Just a quick update from the Deputy clan.  Mickey had clinic today.  All counts are beautifully normal!  Her AGC is 4455!!  We love that!  Cheri Lee filled out the medical paperwork for Mickey's camp application.  Now all we need to do is have her TB test done and we're ready to send it all in.  

This week is looking much less hectic than last week.  Brad has games on Wed., Friday and Saturday and Mickey has a game on Saturday.  I have my final group training session Saturday morning.  Not nearly as crazy as last week was!  I'm grateful for a relatively calm week!

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Whoa!  What a crazy day!  Brad and I went with some of Michael's family to do the Komen Walk for the Cure bright and early this morning.  Michael took Mickey to the Little League parade and season opening.  Then they came home for a bit before going back to Lowell for her first game of the season.  Unfortunately, Brad and I missed the end of her game by about 5 minutes.  She got two hits, ran the bases for her hits and helped another girl who was scared to run the bases.  She had a great game.  We had lunch with Michael's parents and one of his sisters to talk about the Gatlinburg trip we're all taking this summer.  Then we headed back to Lowell for Brad's first game of the season.  He did great!  He was walked both times up to bat, but stole bases to score a run each time!  He was so excited!  The Red Sox won 12 - 3.  We hit Q'doba for dinner and are now settled in to relax a while before bed.  

Sydney and Brad, cousins and best buddies; Brad stealing home!  (Check out the scoreboard!)

Tomorrow brings another busy day.  We are volunteering at the Best Buddies 5K race downtown.  Then we need to be at church by 11:00 so Mickey can sing with the choir in Kids ROCK.  After church we have a lunch at U of I for an end of the year party for College Mentors, an after school program Brad has been involved with for the past two years.  

We have made the final decision for Mickey's school for next year.  She'll be attending IPS #34.  It's a newer building with new technology.  The special ed program is solid with more resource teachers than our school has.  The lottery was drawn this past week for the charter school and she ended up 18th on the wait list for her grade.  We figure that's far enough down that we'll go ahead with plans to send her to 34.  She's happy since she attended summer school at 34 a couple of years ago and is familiar with the building and some of the staff.

I'd like to ask for prayers for my dad.  He's starting a different chemo med tomorrow because the one he was on was not working.  The cancer in his left lung grew and also spread to his right lung.  Please pray that this new chemo works and kills the cancer cells.  Thanks!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

We have made the decision regarding Brad's school for next year.  He will be attending the Sidener Academy for High Ability Students.  We were all very impressed by the informational meeting Monday night.  The curriculum sounds challenging.  The teachers are all carefully chosen and are specially certified to teach gifted and talented kids.  They were all very enthusiastic about the new school and its programs.  We're relieved to have that decision behind us.  Now we wait to see if Mickey's name was drawn in the lottery at the charter school to find out where she'll be attending next year.

Health-wise, we're all doing pretty well.  I have done something to some muscles in my neck/shoulder.  I'm now on an anti-inflammatory and a muscle relaxer.  The muscle relaxer knocked me on my backside last night so I'll be saving it for bedtime or when I have a whole day of no kids and no responsibility.  Everyone else in the family is healthy.  Praise God!!  Today we take Mickey to St. Francis for her blood draw so we'll have the results back before Tuesday's clinic visit.  

We are also going to have a TB test done for her as she will be going to overnight camp for the first time ever this summer.  There is a week-long camp for kids with Down syndrome just a few miles from here and Mickey is finally old enough and healthy enough to go!  She knows that she's going to a DS camp, but not that it's sleep away camp.  We'll fill in that bit of info much closer to the time she goes.  We think she'd fret too much about sleeping there and would get herself worked up over it.  This way she is excited about all the fun things and will not be worried about the sleep over part.  From what parents have told me, the counselors are great with keeping kids so busy they don't have time to be homesick!  Brad is looking forward to that week as an only kid.  

Saturday, April 12, 2008

We have come to the end of a very busy week.  The kids have gotten back in the groove of school.  Both of them had a good week.  We went to tour the science/technology magnet school on Wednesday and have marked it off the list of possibilities for Brad.  None of us were at all impressed by it.  That helps us narrow down our choices.  We are going to an info meeting on Monday for the new gifted and talented school.  

Today was the 15K training series race downtown.  I did not feel very prepared since I've slacked off on my training.  But I ended up doing pretty good.  I walked with my buddy Ella and she kept me on pace.  We finished in 2 hours 15 minutes.  We did the whole thing at a pace of 14:35/miles which is a pretty good clip!  I'm tired and a little sore this evening, but not too bad.  We're all getting ready to settle in to watch a couple of old MacGyver episodes on DVD.  Should be a fun evening!  Hope you all have a great evening, too!

Saturday, April 5, 2008

We are back from our spring break trip.  We left early Monday morning and drove in rain all the way to Wisconsin.  We checked into the hotel at 2:00 and were in the water before 3:00.  The water parks were incredible!  Katie and I took Brad on the Howlin' Tornado.  Katie and I loved it!  Brad - not so much.  His eyes were huge the whole time.  He found 3 other slides that he did like, though, so that was good.  Mickey spent most of the afternoon in the wave pool riding the waves.  After a couple of hours, we dried off and headed to Culver's for dinner.  When we got back we spent an hour or so in Wiley's Woods then it was back to the water till the parks closed at 9:00.  Our room was silent by 10:00 since we were all wiped out!

Tuesday Katie, Mickey and Brad went down to the lobby for the daily "Wolf Walk", a 45 minute walk around the grand lobby area talking about the different animals that are on display followed by a time of making an origami wolf.  They all enjoyed it very much.  Then it was time to hit the water again.  All the kids enjoyed the wave pool the best.  Michael, Katie and I all enjoyed the various slides.  We decided to head out of the hotel again for lunch.  We found a fun pizza place called Moosejaw Pizza.  Good pizza and outstanding mozzarella sticks!  Mickey got tired after lunch so Michael took her back to the room to nap.  I took Katie and Brad to Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum.  Katie loved it.  Brad was creeped out by most of it.  Mickey and Michael were on the way to the water when we got back so we joined them for a few more hours of fun.  We got out of the water in time for the kids to go to the lobby for the story time at the Great Clock Tower.  Once again, the room got quiet really quick once the lights were out.

Wednesday morning we decided to eat breakfast at the buffet instead of in the room.  It was great food!!  We finished in time for Mickey and Brad to do the Wolf Walk again.  Katie hung out in the lobby but didn't feel the need to go on the walk for a 2nd time.  As soon as they finished, we changed and went to the water.  Michael and I had fun going on some slides together.  We especially liked the Howlin' Tornado and the racing slides.  After a few hours, we decided it was time for an excursion outside the hotel.  We went in search of a cheese factory that Katie and I had read about on a brochure the day before.  Along the way we stopped at Baraboo Candy Co.  YUM!!!  Once selections were made and purchased, we hit the road again and finally found the Carr Valley Cheese Company.  We had hoped to see cheese being made, but we were about 2 hours too late.  However we did get some tasty samples including some cheese curds "so fresh they squeak".  It was all very tasty.  We got back to the hotel in time to make some crafts.  Brad chose to decorate a knapsack and Mickey chose a t-shirt.  Then it was time for dinner at Famous Dave's.  Mickey loved her roasted chicken.  She was so intent on eating that I don't believe she spoke the entire meal!  We had a couple of hours to swim before the kids wanted to hear the clock tower story again before turning in.

Sadly Thursday meant checking out.  But first we got to help Katie celebrate her 13th birthday.  We had picked out some things for her from the gift shop and got her a muffin from the cafe.  She was very happy!  She took the kids downstairs for their final Wolf Walk while Michael and I packed up.  We spent about 2 more hours in the pool going on our favorite slides one last time before we left around noon.  Katie chose Fuddruckers for her birthday lunch.  After some tasty burgers and shakes, we made the final leg of the trip and got home around 8:00 PM.  

Rather than post pictures here, I have put them in an online album.  Click here to go to photobucket.com and check them out.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

YEA!  Everyone is still healthy here!  And I'm very glad since we're leaving for a short getaway on Monday morning.  We're headed to Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells for a few days.  It's the first time we've ever gone away for spring break, so we're all very excited.  We're taking one of my nieces along with us and get to help her celebrate her 13th birthday.  It's going to be a fun few days!!

I just looked back in my blog to see when it was I asked you all to pray for guidance for us regarding the kids' schooling for next year.  It was a month and a half ago.  I have to share how God is answering those prayers.  We filled out an application for Brad to go to a science/technology magnet school within our district.  We also applied to a nearby charter school.  We are still waiting till they do the lottery drawing at the charter school in April.  However we got a letter a couple of weeks ago that Brad was accepted to the science/technology school.  And then today we got another letter from the district that he has been selected to attend a new magnet school that is starting next year for gifted and talented kids.  WOW!  This is a great problem to have - choosing between two wonderful options.  We're going to tour the science school after break and then will go to an informational meeting about the G/T school the following week.  Then we'll have 4 days to make our decision.  Thanks for praying!!  We'll let you know what we decide.

Since we will be busy getting ready to leave tomorrow, I will not likely post before we take off.  I have to share that tomorrow is a very special day in Mickey's life.  On March 30, 1998, Dr. Brown at Riley operated on her heart patching 3 holes and saving her life.  We are so grateful to this wonderful man and to our wonderful God for bringing Mickey through such a scary time.  

Then: Now:

Tuesday, March 24, 2008

Ahhh....peace and quiet...the kids just got on the bus.  They both have an upper respiratory infection so they started antibiotics yesterday morning.  Both are still coughing some but not enough to keep them home.  Brad was a bit stir crazy last night as we were playing Go Fish, so I think he was ready to go back.  Plus he has College Mentors tonight and didn't want to miss that.  

I'm off to donate platelets this morning.  I just checked the Indiana Blood Center's website and it shows they are down to a 2-day supply of blood.  If you are healthy and able, please donate blood or platelets.  You never know whose life you may be saving!

Monday, March 23, 2008

Mickey and Brad were thrilled to wake up and find that the Easter Bunny had been to our house.  They got to hunt for eggs inside since it was so cold.  The eggs had quarters in them instead of candy.  Plus each of them got a Webkinz stuffed animal and a chocolate bunny.  They had fun even though Mickey did have to drag Brad out of bed to start hunting!  :)

We had a great day yesterday with my side of the family.  It was great seeing my brothers and sister, parents and several nieces and nephews.  We missed Jessie, Nathan and Sandy, though.  It was fun just to spend time together and laugh.  One of the funniest things was getting a basket with $40 in change from my parents!  I think I'll take advantage of the kids being home today and have them help me sort and roll it.  Here are some of the highlights from the day:

Left to right:  All the younger cousins; Mickey, Abigail and Lenny (my brother's Chihuahua); Abigail and Mickey help me blow out my birthday candles.  They loved it because the candles kept relighting.

Brad is still sick and now it appears Mickey has caught whatever it is.  I was able to get a doctor's appointment for them both in about an hour.  So we shall see...

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Wow!  It's been almost a week again.  Sorry!  This week did not go as planned.  Brad was sick for a couple of days.  He has the creepin' crud that's going around everywhere - cough, runny nose, general blah.  Much to his dismay, missing school yesterday resulted in his not being able to go to Kelly's Upside Down Ball. (check out the site - there's a good picture of Mickey and some of her cancer friends there.)  Michael stayed home with Brad.  They had a good time watching Under Dog and playing a SpongeBob video game.  Mickey and I went to the Ball and had a blast!!  The theme of the ball was Swing from a Star.  We were invited to dress up like a movie star or character.  In the interest of comfort, I chose to dress as Princess Mia from the Princess Diaries 2 when she hosted a pajama party.  Yep!  I wore my jammies and slippers!  Mickey wore her purple princess dress.  We met up with some of Mickey's friends that we haven't seen in a long time.  She had a great time in the kids' party and then cutting it up on the dance floor.  We were exhausted when we finally left at 11:00.  

Left to right:  Mickey and Nash; Mickey and Alexys; Mickey and Ryan; Mickey with her star on the "walk of fame" (there was a star for each child with Down syndrome and leukemia), Mickey and me with her star.

I hope you all have a blessed Easter.  We will be spending the day with my side of the family.  I am very excited since this is the first time in a long time we've all been together.  We will be missing one sister-in-law, however, and we'll miss you, Sandy!  Can't wait to see you!  Watch for pictures from this wonderful day early next week!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Mickey joined the kids' choir at church earlier this year.  A few weeks ago they performed for kids' church.  Today they performed for the adult services.  Mickey and I had to be there at 7:15.  She sang in three services.  We left church after noon.  Through it all, she was an angel, so well behaved.  Michael and I were so proud of her.  That was a long morning!  Brad was awesome, too.  Michael and I have started helping in kids' church during the 3rd service and Brad is working with us since he is in kids' church during the 2nd service.  He asks for jobs and does them well, showing great responsibility.  Working with him today was a blessing for me.  

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

40 is the new 30, right?  I sure hope so since I turned 40 today.  I actually feel better about myself today than I did 10 years ago.  I have been through a lot over the last few years - things that have strengthened me emotionally, spiritually, physically and relationally.  I don't think I'd go back to 30 if I could.  My family blessed me with a wonderful birthday dinner, cake and ice cream and thoughtful gifts.  I am a blessed woman!

Friday, March 7, 2008

Well, we now have a white belt along with our brown belt.  Mickey decided to take karate this semester instead of dance or cheerleading.   We are thrilled!  She did a great job in her first class last night.  It helps that Brad has been working with her for the past several months.  Brad did fantastic in his class.  His practice in the off-season really paid off.  Here is Mickey in her new uniform (handed down from her little brother) and Brad passing time waiting for his class.

Michael and I got to do something really neat today.  We were invited to a meeting about a new playground that will be going in at Riley across from the outpatient clinic. We were asked for our input as parents of a Riley kid.  It was very interesting to see what goes into a huge project like this.   There were a pair of architects there who were sketching as the rest of us were throwing ideas around.  It was incredible!  The sketches they came up with were so detailed!  In a couple of weeks, we'll get to see the more detailed, cleaned up drawings.  We can't wait to watch the playground come to life.

 Sunday, March 2, 2008

YEA!!  All 4 of us are healthy!  We had a wonderful weekend.  A friend from church let us use their family cabin on Sweetwater Lake for the weekend.  It was beautiful, relaxing and peaceful.  This morning Brad said he thinks we should buy a cabin down there since we had so much fun!  :)  

Friday, February 29, 2008

Figured I should update today since it's only once every four years I get to type Feb. 29.  :)  It's been an interesting week here.  Mickey was having some pretty serious belly pain early this week.  Enough that she was in tears so I kept her home from school one day.  It was only pain, no vomiting or anything else.  It's subsided as the week has progressed, so we're not sure what was up.  Belly pain was one of the symptoms she presented when she was diagnosed with leukemia so we don't take it lightly.  She didn't complain at all yesterday, so I think we're clear.  On the other hand, Brad has been hit by a stomach bug and is now recovering.  He was sick all through the night Wednesday and then had a fever all day yesterday.  His fever has broken, but he's staying home again today to rest and fully recover.  Fortunately Michael and I have been healthy.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Do not be alarmed by the fact that I am posting two days in a row.  All is well.  I just wanted to post up about my race this morning.  I did the Polar Bear 5K for the 2nd year in a row.  I took 1 1/2 minutes off my time from last year. I finished 3rd in my age group for the fitness walk.  My official time was 42:59 making my pace 13:49/mile.  I was really pleased!!

The kids finished this session of swim lessons today.  Brad is being promoted to the minnows.  We don't know about Mickey because they lost her progress report.  We'll find out next week when the new session starts.  Brad did the butterfly stroke for the full length of the pool.  We are so proud of him!  Mickey went from one side to the other using a noodle and not holding on to her instructor!  We are also very proud of her!

Brad and I are getting ready to head to Sam's Club for a fund raiser for my TNT team soon.  Thankfully the weather is improving.  It's cold but sunny so that should help.  

Friday, February 22, 2008

For those of you who are wondering, no I didn't give up blogging for Lent.  :)  I have just been really busy and didn't realize it had been a week since my last update.  All is well here in Deputyland.   Mickey is doing well.  She has been healthy since her bout with the flu or whatever it was a couple of weeks ago.  Brad has a bit of a cough and has been feeling a little under the weather.  Not enough to stay home from school, church or swim lessons, though.  Michael has also fully recovered from his illness of two weeks ago and is looking for some warmer weather so he can get his bike out.  I've been called in to sub at the preschool a few days which is always fun.  

Monday we surprised Michael's sister Merrie for her birthday.  Our family along with Michael's parents and his younger sister and her husband all showed up at Merrie's house around lunchtime to take her out for pizza and bowling.  She had no idea we were coming.  We all had a great time!

Left to right:  The rare two-hatted Bradley-saurus; Mickey the photographer got a good picture of Aunt Merrie and Uncle Michael; Mickey and her daddy; blowing out the candles (no the camera was not malfunctioning; the haze is the smoke from the trick candles.  This is after the smoke alarm right above the cake had gone off.)

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day!  We had a great day here.  Michael and I met for lunch.  I got a candy bar for each of the kids and put Valentine wrappers on them.  They were happy when they found them.  When they saw the heart-shaped cake I made, they both yelled and thanked me.  Like I said - great day!

We have been praying for guidance regarding the kids' schooling for next year.  I ran into one of the kids' former teachers a couple of weeks ago and he told me about the wonderful charter school where he now works.  So we went to tour it yesterday.  We all loved it.  We are filling out applications and then will wait till the lottery drawing that will take place in April.  If they don't get in based on the lottery, they will be put on a wait list and it may be August before we find out if they get in.  This school is closer than the science magnet we applied to for Brad.  Plus it has much smaller class sizes.  The special ed program is solid.  It all seems so right.  Please pray with us for God's leading in this situation.  

If you donated blood this week here in Indiana, thank you!  They are still experiencing a shortage, but it's not as critical as it was earlier in the week.  

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Important announcement:  The Indiana Blood Center is experiencing a critical shortage on O+, O-, A-, B- type blood.  This means that they have less than one day's supply available to them.  Please, if you are able, donate blood.  Remember, you'll have someone's undying gratitude!

Our household is on the mend.  Mickey's cough is still lingering.  Michael is just about back to normal, just still a bit tired.  Brad and I are fine!

Yesterday's group training was fun.  It started out a little chilly, but we warmed up pretty quick.  We were only out for 40 minutes, so it went by really quick!  That's the shortest group training we'll have so we enjoyed it!

Friday, February 8, 2008

Doctors are so smart!  Brad stayed home with Mickey on Wednesday with a sore throat and sinus problems.  They both went back to school yesterday.  About 30 minutes after they got on the bus, Michael dragged himself through the front door.  He was dog sick.  He's got the same stuff as Mickey minus the coughing.  He stayed home again today.  Hopefully he'll be on the mend soon.  I think I got by with just some sinus headaches.  I feel very fortunate!

Group torture, I mean training, for the Mini starts tomorrow.  We'll be out on the Monon Trail at 7:30 AM.  The forecast for that time is 32* but will feel like 22*.  Anybody wanna go for a walk with me?!?  Actually that's not too bad.  Last year we all had frosty eye lashes at the end of one group training due to the way-below-freezing temps.   Now that was fun!!

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Mickey's fever continued on through the night and into morning, so I took her to the doctor.  The doctor thinks she has the same viral crud that is going around really bad, but decided to put her on antibiotics just to be safe.  Her lungs were clear, so that was good news.  The bad news from the doctor is that this virus runs through families pretty bad, so she wants us to be prepared for the rest of us to get it.  Yippee!  Hopefully the rest of us will skirt by since we have stronger immune systems than Mickey does.

Monday, February 4, 2008

We were excited last night as the Giants won!  Brad decided last year that he is an Eli Manning fan, so we were all cheering for New York.  The kids had gone to bed but Brad woke up to go to the bathroom after the game was over and was stoked when Michael told him his team won.

Mickey stayed home from school today with a low grade fever, cough and stuffy nose.  Her cough and fever got worse as the day wore on.  If she's still fevering tomorrow, I'll be taking her in to the doctor.  We just can't take chances with her getting really sick.

Could I ask for prayers for Brad?  He's having trouble at school with a bully who happens to ride the same bus.  Almost daily the other kid threatens to hit Brad or bounce his head against the bus window.  He has not followed through on the threats, but it's getting old.  We have a new principal and she will be getting involved tomorrow.  Thanks for your prayers for Brad and for wisdom for Michael and me.

Friday, February 1, 2008

WOOHOO!!!!!  Today we celebrated Mickey being off treatment for one year!  Her first year of cancer survivorship!  I surprised her at school by bringing in cupcakes for her class.  I pulled Brad out of his class for a few minutes so he could celebrate with us.  The kids in Mickey's class had lots of questions about her cancer.  Brad answered several of them so the kids were able to understand them.  Tonight we took the kids to Red Robin for some delicious cheeseburgers!  What a great day!!

Wednesday, January 29, 2008

Life is good!  Mickey had clinic today and it went fabulous.  All of her counts were in the normal range!  Things are a bit different this year with our new insurance.  We can no longer have her blood draws done at Riley.  We have to go to our local hospital.  This is not all bad since Grandma Deputy works at our local hospital on the same floor as the pediatric unit where Mickey had her blood draw done yesterday.  Mickey was happy to see Grandma, not so much happy to have the blood draw done.  But she was a trooper and did fine.  All of her numbers are in the normal range!!  Praise God!!  And since we are approaching one year off treatment (listen for the hoots and hollers on Friday!) her clinic visits have been reduced to every 3 months.   

Swimming lessons are going...well, swimmingly.  Brad is gaining strength and endurance each week.  Mickey is getting braver and spending less time hanging on the instructor.  It's all good!

We took Brad and Mickey to Parents' Night Out at church Saturday evening.  Our disabilities ministry hosts this program every couple of months.  The kids went once late last year and loved it.  On the way to church Saturday night, I gave Mickey a heads up that there would be a clown troupe there because I didn't want her to be alarmed when she saw them since she doesn't like clowns.  She apparently got over her fear!!! 

Well, I'm off to rest for a bit.  I'm feeling a little under the weather and simply don't have time to be sick.  Michael and the kids just left for church so I'm going to take advantage of the peace and quiet!

Monday, January 21, 2008

Great news on Jillian!  She went home Friday!  Praise God!

We're doing well.  The kids are finishing up a 3-day weekend.  They had swim lessons on Saturday and loved it again.  Both are packed and ready for next week's lessons.  Brad was celebrating the New York Giants' victory last night.  He's an Eli Manning fan, so he's ready for the Super Bowl!  Today Mickey had her other two molars pulled and her spacer put in.  She did great!  Her speech is a little slurred since she also lost the canine right in front of those two molars.  

Tomorrow starts the busy time for Team in Training.  This year I will be a mentor, helping participants with their fund raising. I will be training for and participating in the Mini Marathon again, but won't be doing fund raising for myself this year.  My foot doctor released me to start training a few weeks ago so I have started out slowly.  I was able to do a 5K on the treadmill in 50 minutes last week.  I was pretty pleased with that and can see my times improving.  I plan on doing the Polar Bear Run/Walk in late February.  I did that 5K in 45 minutes last year so hopefully I can do better this year.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Welcome to the land of no news is good news!  Things are going pretty well here.  Friday was awards day at school.  Mickey got an award for citizenship and Brad got one for honor roll.  Both were very excited.  Friday evening we went to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets.  We give it four thumbs up.  Both kids want to see it again.  Mickey and Brad started swim lessons Saturday morning.  Brad did great.  I am guessing he'll be moved up to the next group within a couple of weeks.  Mickey is in the beginning group and will hopefully relax and let go of the instructor soon!  :)

Good news on Jillian.  She was moved from the ICU to a regular room either last night or this morning.  She is still on dialysis and will be until her kidneys recover from whatever caused the failure.  Thank you for praying for her and please continue to pray for total healing.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

I spent a few hours at clinic today visiting with our friend Jillian and her mom.  This evening she was admitted to the ICU due to extremely low kidney function.  Please pray for her that her kidneys will begin to work and flush the toxins out of her body.  If they don't, she will have to be put on dialysis for a while.

We spent the evening at Chuck E. Cheese helping Ray's family and friends celebrate his birthday.  Ray would have been 9 years old today.  What a blessing his family has been to us.  It was a bittersweet way to spend an evening.  Remember to hug your kids and tell them that you love them.  

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Happy 2008!  We had a very happy new year here.  We played games and watched movies most of New Years Eve. Then we all stayed up till midnight and watched the ball drop.  Monday was another good day of R&R.  On Thursday the kids and I went to the Children's Museum with Grandma Deputy.  It had been a long time since I'd been there.  We all had a lot of fun.  Then on Friday Mickey had to have two molars pulled.  She will have two more pulled on MLK Day.  The dentist is concerned about her having enough room for her adult teeth.  Pulling these teeth now will hopefully help us avoid braces in the future.  She did very well with the extraction.  She was very excited to wake up Saturday to find the Tooth Fairy had left her a new Troy Bolton doll (from High School Musical).  Tomorrow the kids go back to school.  They're not too excited about it.  Brad has enjoyed sleeping in.  Mickey is a little nervous because her resource teacher has left.  Mrs. Woods' last day was the day before break started.  Also our principal retired as of the same day.  So school will be a bit different now.  We are praying the changes go smoothly.