COOKIE - School's OUT for Summer! 06-25-07

Dearest Friends and Family,
Hopefully everyone survived the season! Graduations, retirements, kids out of school! It's been a whirlwind around this house! Good bye to Dr. Sam, COOKIE's graduation to Middle School, Parker graduated to 1st grade, Parker had sinus surgery, Matt starts Summer School and we're all looking forward to the 4th of July BBQ in the front yard with the neighbors!

Ok. That's it in a nutshell. Have a great summer!

hahahaha! Have you ever know me to say so little???????? Huh? Come on!

Saying good bye to Dr. Sam was extremely bittersweet for my Shelee and COOKIE. He was so very gracious and sweet and he gave COOKIE a card with some very loving thoughts that he had written. They in turn gave him a note and framed pictures of the two of them. He was fighting back tears as well as COOKIE and Shelee but in the midst of it all, Dr. Feig came in to handle the medical part of the visit. :)

COOKIE's skin condition continues. Her extremities are covered in what looks like peeling from a sunburn. Her right hand, which is the one they did the biopsy on, is still a little red and inflammed but the inflammation had traveled up to her forearm. The doctor's concur that it's a reaction to medication and they will begin a new treatment that consists of a monthly transfusion. She will no longer take the medication that is causing her such problems. It has made her so extremely sun sensitive that she cannot go outside without being covered up and under an umbrella, even with SPF 50 on! She'll get her first tranfusion tomorrow, Tuesday. Of course this means a delay in getting her lines taken out which means no swimming yet. She was really hoping that she'd be able to swim. Her cousin, Ashley, is coming to visit for a couple of weeks and the beach and swimming at Aunt Shannon's was something COOKIE was hoping for. Thankfully, the condition is temporary and the summer is long!

COOKIE's appetite is still very sporadic. One day she eats, the next day not so much. I wish I was like that! hahahaha
Basically, she's doing really well and we're as thankful as we can be.

She was invited to participate in the 5th grade graduation ceremony at Parker's school with what would have been her class. She's was very excited to to this! COOKIE has given speeches at this school several times and all of the kids know who she is. They treat her like somewhat of a celebrity (well, isn't SHE?) and it was thrilling to see her go up on the stage and receive her certificate! Lots of cheers and tears! She's got her mind set to start Madronna Middle School in the Fall.

The same day, COOKIE had her last class with Miss Dena, her tutor. She's become a dear friend and we're sure to see her over the summer. Her son, Daylan, and Parker will be friends but more than that, she's a wonderful teacher and COOKIE learned SOOOOO much from her.

Parker actually made it through an entire year of Kindergarten! YIPEE!!!!!!! We're all going to miss Ms. Wilson though! I'm sure we'll see her around town. She was actually named Teacher of the Year for the entire Torrance Unified School District! She received a brand new Saturn from Saturn of Torrance! You should see the stuff Parker brought home from his first year in school! I know that it's a year he will remember the rest of his life! He was SO lucky to be one of 20 in Room 13!

Sinus surgery went waaayyyyyy better than we expected! He's been suffering for so long and we truly underestimated his ability to be just like his big sister! Well, folks, he pulled it off. He stuck his arm right out there to get the pinch and iv started and came out of it groggy but strong. He bounced right back the same day after all of the meds cleared his head. What a trooper! Of course the first thing he wanted to know was when and what he could eat! They had to be at the hospital at 8:30am and he didn't go into surgery until 1:30pm. That's a really long time to be without food for a little boy!

Well, Uncle Christopher's daughter is arriving this Thursday and we're all very excited to have her. She's the same age as COOKIE and they get on the phone and just chit chat away! The 4th of July BBQ is a tradition for us and we're all looking forward to dragging the bbq out front, putting the up the cabana's, chairs and tables, and just sitting around with our wonderful neighbors and friends! The block is closed so the kids can ride their bikes in the street and just relax and have fun! We watch the fireworks from Wilson Park at 9:00, sitting on chairs in our own yard! It's a great way to spend a summer afternoon! The next day Aunt Shannon and Uncle Johnny are heading back home to Palm Desert and taking Parker with them. He's really excited about this and so is COOKIE! Her and Ashley will have some girl time!

Today is Matt's first day of summer school! Yeah! He's really got his work cut out for him though. He's teaching English and Language Arts, not exactly his fields of expertise! Afterall, he's a technology teacher! He was up until all hours last night studying so he can impart bits of wisdom to his new batch of students! He's just thankful it's only for 6 weeks!!!

Well, all is well and "normal" on this end. I hope this BLOG finds all of you feeling free and healthy and looking forward to a summer of fun!
Much love, as always,
Cookie, The Grandma