The Reedell Family Royal Gala...

The Reedell Kingdom invites you to celebrate the birthdays of princesses Angela and Elyse... and boy did we!!

Usually we have two parties... one for the girls "friends" during the week after school is over, and one with "friends and family" inbetween the girls' birthday.  This year, I just coudln't schedule two parties (with the unknown of my mom's treatments), so we turned it into one HUGE party.  We had over 75 people here, and thank goodness the day was perfect!  Angela and Elyse had around 40 little friends playing in the backyard (and the mud that still exists is proof)... what a day!!  And believe it or not, I did not snap one picture - I was too busy keeping the party going.  But I guarantee you, it was fun had by all!  Thank you to everyone who made their birthday's sooo special!! 

this is a picture of them blowing out their candles on their princess cake (many of the kiddos were still busy on the trampoline, swingset or slip n slide... craziness I tell ya!) - thanks to Cathy for this one!!

just can't stay away from Fox Chase...

After getting the results from mom's scan on friday, she was admitted again to Fox Chase Hospital on thursday, June 2nd.  She has had some difficult GI distress and the doctors wanted to be able to keep a much closer eye on her in the hospital... so she is now there.  Her spirits are ok, and we are hoping that they can "figure out" what is going on and get her on the path to recovery" so we can ALL figure out what the next step will be! 

And of course her little "nurses" always bring a smile to her face, no matter what she is feeling like...

Mom's Scan Results are in...

After 6 weeks of treatment and then three weeks of "recovery time" we finally got some answers about mom's follow-up catscan.  She had the scan done on tuesday and on friday we met with Dr. Igor about the results.  Dr. Igor told us that the tumor had shrunk, but was still in a too difficult location to discuss surgery.  So we are now on a one month break to enable mom to get her strength back, gain some weight, and with any luck feel MUCH more human than she has for the last few months.  We will be going back to Fox Chase at the end of June to discuss chemotherapy session #2 and what it will involve.  So, please keep those prayers coming, and we will keep you updated when we know more!

Mom on Good Morning America

A few weeks ago I video taped my mom "ringing the bell" at the conclusion of her radition treatments.  It was such a happy occasion, I wanted to "share" it with the world.  I e-mailed abc's Good Morning America with my video for their "3 words" segment.  Amazingly within 1 week, my mom was on national tv....

here is the link to watch the whole clip - she is in the middle ringing her bell!!
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=13603726

Enjoy!

Scan day is set...

Finally after all the weeks of treatments then a few of waiting, finally my mom has her catscan scheduled for tuesday, May 24th.   We are also happy to report that mom is feeling better and we hope this will continues to improve.  We do have an appointment down at Fox Chase on friday, and with "any luck" we might get some info from the recent scan.

So, please keep those prayers coming and we will update when we get more info!!

look mom... no training wheels - Angela

Yesterday (May 21st) I came home from teaching an early spin class to hear "mommy, I don't use training wheels anymore" from Angela.  She was BEYOND excited to show me her new skill.  She demonstrated her ability on the flat part of the road, then we did the "big loop" and she even swerved around vehicles and rode up and down hills.  She is doing great - our little girl is growing up soooo quickly!!

Pictures and videos to follow!

Congrats to our little athletes!!!

We participated in the Sesame Classic last week and had a GREAT time!!  Angela and Elyse were VERY excited to do their first official one mile run.  The day was quite rainy, but that didn't dampen anyone's spirits!  The girls got ready for the one mile to start.  They took off, Angela running with me, and Elyse running with Scott.  They both ran the entire race.  Angela crossed the finish line in 9 minutes and 17 seconds (66th place out of 296 females in the one mile race) and Elyse crossed at 10 minutes and 30 seconds.  They had soo much fun and now can't wait until their next race - the Dog Days of Summer Kids Triathlon this August. 

Scott and I then ran the 5k race.  Scott crossed the finish line in 22 minutes and came in 6th place in his age group.  I crossed the finish line in 24 minutes and 53 seconds, also came in 6th place in my age group, and was beyond happy because this was the fastest I have EVER run a 5k - woohoo!!

So, it was a great race for all... I will add some pictures when I get back to "my computer" as I have borrowed Scott's for the evening...

Happy 4th Birthday Miss Elyse



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Elyse Morgan Reedell 5.10.07



first family picture

Hard to believe our Miss Elyse is turning 4 years old!  I still remember seeing those chubby little cheeks and jet black hair right after she was born... and the sweet sound of that raspy little voice.  She was such a FANTASTIC baby - slept great, ate great, and then slept some more.  We are soo proud of all she has accomplished and we look forward to see what she will learn next!!  Happy Birthday to our Elysiebug!

Devilman

proud to have finished our first 50 mile race!

Happy to report we didn't see the New Jersey Devil while competing in the New Jersey Devilman Half-Lite Triathlon this past weekend - lol!  It was a GREAT weekend for a race. The water temp was around 65, the air temp was a high of 70 and it the sun was shining brightly.  Perfect race weather.  This race was our LONGEST race so far.  It was just under a mile swim, then a 40 mile bike ride (20 miles of it against the wind... that was tough!), then a 9 mile run.  This distance is half way between an olympic distance and half iron-man triahtlon - so we figured it was the next logical step.  We had both set "goals" for times we would like to finish in, and both did great!!  Scott finished in a  VERY respectible 4 hours and 9 minutes, and I finished in 4 hours and 48 minutes.  I was hoping to finish in 5 hours - so I was VERY happy.  And I found out that I placed 4th in my division - 3 minutes out of third place!  But it was a GREAT experience and we look forward to our next challenge - the Warrior Dash in a few weeks - stay tuned for fun pictures!!

Can't seem to stay away from Fox Chase....

Last thursday (the 5th of May) my mom got out of Fox Chase Hospital and seemed to feel a bit better.  She spent the remainder of the week with us, then went home for the weekend to her house.  The girls spent some time with them and aunt Erin and Mr. Mike over the weekend.  By sunday evening mom wasn't feeling too hot again.  In fact she was feeling downright awful.  By monday morning, we made a call to her doctors at Fox Chase, they sheduled an appointment for monday morning and we were on our way.   We went in for bloodwork, and after a quick evaluation, we were told "your room is ready".  So, she was admitted for dehydration, nausea, and vomiting.  They are stumped by her issues, and are going to do their best to make her feel much better.  We sure hope so!  As always, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers and we will update everyone as more details become available.

Ring that bell - we are outta here!

Ring, Bell, Ring
Loud and Clear!
My treatment is OVER
And I'm Outta Here!

The poem above is written on a plaque with a bell attatched to it symbol the end of treatment for radiation patients. Although the last "official" radiation treatment was friday - mom was not feeling well enough to "ring that bell" and enjoy the applause that comes with it. So, today while we were at Fox Chase, we walked down, rang that bell, and got a HUGE round of applause! Although it was tough, she made it through. Now the recovery period begins. She has about three weeks off, then we'll get another scan to check how the treatment worked on the cancer. We are crossing our fingers that there are good changes... but only time will tell!! Thank you for all of your prayers!

Batter up...

Angela, Elyse, and Boomer

The weather was perfect for a trip to the ballpark.  We headed to Trenton to watch the Thunder play ball.  We got club box seats (so we were VERY close to the field) and the girls had a blast.  And to make it even more fun, it was "pet day" at the park.  There were dogs of all shapes and sizes enjoying a day at the ball park.  Unfortunately the Thunder did lose in extra innings, but it was such a fun time, it didn't matter.  We look forward to seeing another game soon!!

A "mom" update

After almost 6 weeks of treatments, my mom is now all DONE, at least for round #1.  She completed her last radiation treatment (photos and videos of her ringing the bell will be coming) today (4.29.11) and we are pleased she will get a break.  She has had a VERY difficult time with the chemo and radiation together, dealing with all kinds of "GI issues".  She has lost alot of weight, but remains in relatively good spirits.  Yesterday (thursday 4.28.11) she was admitted to the Fox Chase Cancer Center hospital with the hopes of giving her a "tune up".  We are hopeful that she will be able to regain some strength over the next few weeks, until she gets her next "scan" to see how effective these treatments were.  We then will form a "game plan" depending on what the doctors agree upon...  So, only time will tell.  Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers - as she has quite a fight ahead! 

It's Spring, It's Spring - FINALLY

(left to right - Angela, Hannah, Rebecca, Leah, Elyse, and Sarah)

After the winter we had, we could not wait for the grass to green up and the kids to spend ALOT of time outdoors!  Our "playtime" has been limited with all the traveling to and from Fox Chase, but we had a few chances to enjoy the recent nice weather.  And it made it even better since the girls had friends to enjoy it with.   They played with Sarah, Leah, and Rebecca (can't forget baby Hannah!) and loved every second of it!  Yeah for friends and great weather!                                                                                       

Hoppy Easter... a bit late!

We  hope you all had a fantastic easter holiday, filled with family and friends around you at all times.  We had a "low key" easter this year - and it was needed after all the happenings of late.  We started out our day with a trip to a new church (which the girls LOVE and are begging to go back to), then had a light lunch, then mom-mom and pop-pop came over for a nice quiet early easter dinner.  Then the rest of the Schafer crew made their way over for the annual egg hunt and our "dessert time".  It was such a fanastic day spent with the family!!  We hope yours was just as wonderful!

Play Ball

Saturday April 9th was opening day for the Lower Southampton Athletic Association baseball season.  This was our first official year playing t-ball, so this was totally new for us!  Both Angela and Elyse are members of the "pink penguins" team, one of the two all girl t-ball teams.  They got dressed up in their uniforms, and then each team was presented, member by member.  They were soo cute running out onto the field.  Their first game is one friday night, and they can't wait!!

finally spring is here

After a VERY long and cold winter, the weather seems to be changing.  The girls have been soo excited to get outside, without 10 layers on!  So, this past week, they decided it was time to "train" for their kids triathlon (which takes place in August)... so they hopped on their bikes and away they went!!

We are very much looking foward to the upcoming months of fun... between trips to the beach, visits with friends, going to the philadelphia zoo, and of course days at Sesame... we have a fantastic few months ahead of us!

fun with friends

What could be more fun that a day off from school with friends... really nothing!  We were happy to have James and Landon over for a day of fun in the backyard.  The weather was "brisk" but that didn't stop any of them.  They did just about everything possible in the backyard - thank goodness they didn't find the pool - lol!  It was a fun day and we can't wait to get them all together again soon!!

The tooth fairy visited our house...

Angela loses her first tooth 2.15.11

I feel VERY badly for not posting this much sooner... but Angela lost her first tooth on February 15th, 2011.  A few months ago (not kidding) Angela told us "I think I have a loose tooth".  Well, nothing happened, she didn't say anything about it, then she went to school on the 15th, bit into her snack and out it came.  Her teacher (Miss Laughlin) made a big deal of it and helped her write a message on a pink envelope for the tooth fairy.  She was very proud of losing this and was sooo excited about the tooth fairy coming to visit.  As expected, when she woke up in the morning, there was no tooth, but there was a note and a surprise.  The tooth fairy also left a note and a surprise for Elyse... to prevent issues in the morning!  But everyone woke up happy and excited for the next tooth to fall out!!

2 weeks down... only 4 to go!

My mom started chemo and radiation on March 21st for treatment of her pancreatic cancer.  From day one, she has had a tough time with the nasea, fatigue, and just feeling miserable.  We are two weeks in and have four to go.  We have had several meetings with the doctors about medicines that "might" make her feel a bit better. 

Now I ask of you, to please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  She has a VERY bumpy road ahead, and needs every bit of support from her family and friends.  Many of you have reached out and she appreciates it greatly.   Feel free to e-mail me  (scheib_megan@yahoo.com) for my home address or phone number to be in touch with my mom!

Thanks again, and more updates will follow!