Noah had his Halloween party at school today. He was so excited to go to school in his costume.  He had a blast! He came home with all of his Halloween art and we decorated the house with it. Now that we've given up on selling our house it's time to turn it back into Noah's trophy case with wall-to-wall construction paper art - everywhere... He is so proud to hang it up and I love that he has the creative bug... I was the same way when I was little and he gets so happy when the markers, paint, crayons and sticky glues are within his reach. Tomorrow is Fun Day Friday so we'll have some special time together to go to the pumpkin patch and just hang out. Cecily's nurse will be over for a few hours so Noah and I can have our special date. I look forward to our Friday routine. No laptop. No conference calls. Just time with the kids and some special attention for my darling Noah.

Cecily is thriving and we are through the woods! What a relief.  She does not appear to be having any more pain and her vomitting has reduced to 1-2x a day.  I won't say the last two weeks have been easy... but the end result is very positive and we are grateful to have her at home and to have her feeling better. She is back to her old tricks and her spunky personality is emerging once again. I can tell she is going to keep us on our toes. She has us all wrapped around her pinky... especially Grumpy Gramps.

I just wish I could slow things down...Life is all together too busy. With Brien's work, my work, caring for the kids, the activities, the soccer games and swim lessons, the dotor appointments, and therapy sessions, the birthday parties, and all the other demands on our time...life starts to become one giant to-do-list.  Cecily has taught us to stop and smell the roses but there are days when I feel like I'm just getting cut on the thorny parts... not really enjoying the sweet smell and the beauty of all of it. It is amazing how one day I can have complete perspective and can delight in a very simple pleasure... and the next day I am overwhelmed with the chaos and the simple joys get swept away.  I am not going to beat myself up over this. I just hope that I can get better at managing it all. 

And then I remember my Auntie Madeleine. As I sit and type this I am thinking of my Uncle Peter, her devoted husband, who is presently in hospital in the UK awaiting a pretty big surgery. And then the perspective returns and the to do list just seems like a gift. I get to do all these things...  I can do all these things... It is my choice to do these things...Cecily is able to go to appointments and she is not in the hospital. Noah has friends and gets invited to a lot of parties.  Brien and I have jobs while many people across the globe are unemployed. We have our health. We have each other. We could stop to smell the roses if we wanted to... We just need to make the time. Onwards and upwards!