Yes, it’s a very happy Saturday around here.  Mickey’s fever is finally well and truly gone.  I thought it broke Thursday night, but she was still running a bit of fever yesterday.  Today there was no fever at all and her pain was much less.  She felt so well, in fact, that we were able to carry out our plan for Girls Night Out while Michael and Brad had Guys Night Out.  We girls went to Red Robin, then bowling and then to Culver’s for frozen custard.  The guys went to 5 Guys Burgers & Fries and then to Great Times for arcade games.  We all had a great evening.  When we got home we watched National Treasure 2, one of our favorite movies.  It was a happy day, indeed!

I had both kids into the doctor yesterday.  Brad had been battling a sore throat off and on for two weeks.  Mickey got sick yesterday at school with a sore throat and fever.  Brad just has some sinus issues and drainage causing his problems.  Mickey has strep.  She’s had a fever all day getting as high as 102*.  Poor girl has been miserable except when on a Tylenol or Advil high.  Both kids are on antibiotics so we hope Mickey will recover quickly and that Brad will be protected from the strep.

Today’s post is all about Miss Michaela.    We’ll start with last Wednesday.  She and I were on Fox 59 News early morning to do a story with our eye doctor about her new glasses.  Here’s the link to the video: Mickey and Jenny on Fox 59 News. Here’s the link to the website about the glasses themselves in case you know anyone who would benefit from them: www.specs4us.com On Friday, Christel House had their annual science fair.  She planted bean seeds and watered them with either salt water, plain water, sugar water or Diet Coke to see which would grow the best.  She hypothesized that the plain water would work best and it did.  Mickey got 3rd place for the 5th grade!  She was so excited and we were so proud of her.  Here are some pictures from her project:

Finally on Saturday morning, after having stayed up late at a church sleepover, Mickey helped lead 3 tours of the cancer unit at a Riley Info Day.  All the people on the tour loved her enthusiasm and the obvious love she has for Riley.

It’s been a great week for our princess!!

Michaela had clinic on Monday.  Her counts were all gloriously normal and her AGC was 3148!  Praise God!  We don’t go back to clinic till August.  That’s going to be strange waiting 6 months.  But it’s a wonderful kind of strange!   Unfortunately Michaela has developed a pretty serious cold in the last couple of days.  She stayed home yesterday and will be home again today.  I just gave her a breathing treatment and it appears to be helping.  Hopefully she’ll be all better by Saturday so we can go to Ball State’s and Purdue’s Dance Marathons.

Brad is doing great!  His horseback riding lessons are coming along.  He is gaining confidence and learning more each week.  He had a great time at SuperStart last weekend at church.  He wants to go to Cincinnati when SuperStart is there in April.  We’re thinking maybe for his birthday, but we’ll see.

The school assembly schedule is winding down for me for Pennies for Patients.  I have just two left to do.  I have really enjoyed this job and will miss it.  Hopefully I’ll get to do it again next year.  I am coordinating Pennies at Brad’s school, so I’m learning another part of the process.  It’s going to be fun!

We had some seriously high winds last night here in Indy.  I read reports of gusts over 60 MPH and thousands of people without power.  We didn’t have any damage at our house, just some flying trashcans in the back yard!

We’ve been very busy here as usual.  Both kids are still doing their horseback riding lessons and loving them.  Last week the instructor told Michael how pleased she is with Brad’s progress.  He is doing well learning to control his horse.  Mickey really wants to ride on her own without a side walker, but that’s not happening yet.  Hopefull it will at some point in the future.  Mickey started fencing after school on Tuesdays.  She really enjoys it.  I plan on going in early sometime to see what she’s learning.  The school assemblies have been going well.  As of now I only have 3 more to do.  One of them is at Brad’s school.  I’m excited about launching their Pennies for Patients program.  Mickey has clinic on Monday so I’ll be sure to post after that with an update on her numbers.  After this visit, we drop down to every 6 months!! I can’t believe it!!!

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks since I found the camera cable:

I’ve been waiting to find the USB cable to offload pictures from the camera before I updated, but alas, I can’t find it so I’m updating sans pictures.  Hopefully I’ll find it soon and be able to post some pictures of what’s been going on around here.

We’ve been having a great time.  We went to Butler University’s Dance Marathon last Saturday.  We all had a blast!  They had a bounce house, an inflatable rock wall and an inflatable surf simulator.  Brad spent several hours bouncing or surfing.  Mickey spent most of her day dancing with the college girls.  Michael and I both went in the bounce house and on the surf simulator.  We stayed till then end to see that they raised over $47,000 for Riley!  What an achievement.  The next day we made a quick trip up to Purdue for a family fun day with their Dance Marathon executive committe since we’re heading up there in Feb. for their Dance Marathon.  It was a whirlwind weekend.

I’ve been leading school assemblies around Indy for the Leukemia Society’s Pennies for Patients program the last couple of weeks.  It’s been fun and challenging.  I would estimate that I’ve spoken in front of a total of about 2000 students from Kindergarten through seniors.  All of the schools I’m going to are getting ready to start their program and I’m just going in to get them excited.  I will be doing this all through the next month.

Tomorrow is a big day here in the Deputy house.  Yes, I know it’s the Super Bowl, but that’s not what’s so exciting for us.  Tomorrow, Feb. 1, marks two years off treatment for Miss Mickey!  Can you believe it’s been 2 years?!  Sometimes it seems like a lifetime ago and others it seems like yesterday we gave her that last 6MP pill!  We thank God for how far He’s brought her and our family.  We also thank all of you who have prayed for us for the past 4 years as we’ve been through the most challenging part of our lives.  I pray that God will bless all of you for your faithfulness and prayers.

Aside from bitter cold temps and stomach bugs, we had a pretty good week.  Mickey was sick Tuesday night and then Brad got sick Thursday night.  Fortunately the bugs only lasted about 12 hours.   School was closed Friday due to extreme cold so my first school assembly for LLS didn’t happen.  I will have my first one Thursday unless a new one gets scheduled before that.

Today I took the kids to see The Tale of Despareaux.  It was a fun movie.  After that we went over to the mall for lunch.  I don’t remember the last time we ate lunch at the mall.  The kids had a good time checking out the food court before deciding on pizza.   After more running around we rushed home so Brad could get ready for horse riding lesson, only to find an e-mail that his lesson was cancelled due to cold.  Brad was bummed but soothed himself by watching part of the PowerPuff Girls Marathon.  Oh.yea!  Tomorrow the kids go back to school after their 4-day weekend.  I’m ready.  Them – not so much.

We just came off a day of yuck here.  Michaela started feeling bad yesterday evening and by 9:00 was in the throes of a stomach bug.  Fortunately it was only about 12 hours in duration but it did earn her a “stay home from school” ticket.  After being up and down with her all night, I had to get up very early to take Cinder to the clinic to be spayed.  While I was waiting at the clinic, the snow and wind started so driving home was fun.  Mickey and I stayed home cuddled up nice and warm while Brad went to school and Michael went to work.  Fortunately her horse riding lesson was cancelled due to the weather, so she didn’t miss anything.  Cinder is home and recovering nicely.   I am thankful that for now, at least, everyone in our household is healthy and happy!

I’m not used to having to put a title on my entries.  We didn’t have that feature on the old format.  I should have Brad help me since he’s very creative with things like this.

Speaking of Brad, he had his riding lesson tonight.  He is gaining confidence each week.  It’s fun to watch him!  Wednesday will be Michaela’s turn to ride.  It’s going to be so cold that night, I think I’ll stay home with Brad and let Michael take her.

On Friday I start my temporary job with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I will be going to area elementary schools doing assemblies to get the kids fired up about the Pennies for Patients program.  I am rather nervous about this as it’s unlike anything I’ve done before.  But I figure once I do the first one, the other 8 will be much easier!!