FIRE AND MORE!

Note to self, never leave a toaster oven when in use.

The result is melted to the pan.

Mom, are you serious...YES! And the funny thing is, she will keep these hats on, but not her bows or head bands. I wish I captured the smile she gave when I put it on her. Thank you Alex, Sam and Rachel for the adorable hat. Mom LOVES it!

This is Bella's new "bed head". This is why I say it has a new texture. She has smooth as silk hair and now it rats so easily. Oh my eighties girl.

All bundled up for a walk with friends.

Today started with the boys being home from school for a "in service day" and Bella having her chemo apt. Because it was also the house cleaning day, they would have to go with Bella and I to the hospital....so off we went. Fortunately, Bella did not need a transfusion today, so we were out in 2 hours. Get this, Bella gained 4 lbs. over the weekend! She eats non-stop, and I mean non-stop. She is rarely out of her high chair before her little hands are signing "more". This is an effect of the steroid and the doctors encourage her eating as she will lose weight in the coming months. More on Bella to come.

So finding humor in everything is a must in my family. We have been blessed with meals coming to our home 3 nights a week, one of which is Monday (clinic day). By 6:30 pm the meal had still not arrived and my boys were starving. So I decided we could wait no longer and quickly pulled out hamburg meat and taco shells. I had my 11 year old cooking the meat, my 9 year old entertaining Bella and I was trying to direct my 9 year old and my 11 year old in what they needed to do while answering a phone call from my Dad. Can you guess what happened next? I was standing right in front of the toaster oven talking with my Dad and I see my 13 year old flailing his arms yelling "Mom...Mom....MOM!" I continued to give him this look like "Nate, I am on the phone, hold on a minute". I finally turned to what he was pointing to and discovered the toaster oven was flaming..."Oh my gosh Dad, the toaster oven is on fire, I got to go!" Click... I completely forgot about the taco shells. The house looked like we had been running the fog machine all night, our home stinks like burnt popcorn, it snowed today and we have all the doors and windows open trying to get all the smoke and stink out, and now we have no taco shells. I quickly grabbed the toaster oven after putting out the fire inside, took it outside and just stared at it. With in seconds, my boys were out side with me, their was a brief moment of disbelief, Nate said "Mom, it looked like our gas log fireplace (and it did) and than a rousing boast of laughter. It was a scene directly out of a Steve Martin movie. We ended up having Nachos for dinner as the taco shells were now permanently part of my toaster oven. To say the least, a toaster oven is on my Christmas list. Any suggestions? (Candy....how do I get the smell out of my house? :) )

Bella, sweet little girl. I so appreciate all the prayers. She had her 3rd round of chemo this week. Her hair is now beginning to thin on top, it even has a different texture. Over the weekend, the "steroid monster" showed his ugly face and she was quit agitated and grouchy as well as VERY hungry. Like I said, she gained 4 lbs in 3 days. The doctor assures me that this will not last, good thing I purchased her cloths bigger for the long winter. She was very tired today, and she still will not stand or walk....she is so weak and her legs still hurt a little.

Tomorrow, a special friend and professional photographer will be taking photos of Bella and our family. We have not had any professional photos of Bella yet nor our family since she come home. I figured this was a good time, bef0re the hair was gone. My heart is still struggling over the loss of hair...but oh the joy all these hats have brought me. My husband say's, "honey, don't you think those are a little over the top?" Are you kidding me?! When you lose your hair, nothing is over the top. I love every one of these hats and I thank all of you profusely for your generosity and kind hearts for sending these to Bella. She also received an adorable bracelet with her name on it.

As always, I appreciate you checking in. God bless, and dont walk away from your toaster oven.