A Bump in the Road

I was so excited to finally be done with chemo. With Christmas being 3 weeks after that treatment, I was sure I would be feeling great for the holidays. Well, I was wrong. I now have shingles. I'm hoping to feel better by next week so things can get back to normal around here.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Round One-Done!

Yesterday, my oncologist entered the room in a celebratory mood. My chemotherapy treatment for the day, would be my last! I will still be getting my Herceptin treatment every three weeks, but with the chemo out of the way, we can move forward with surgery(round two) sometime in January.

Doc was also very pleased with the majorly reduced size of the mass that will continue to shrink over the next few weeks prior to my surgery. Things are going well. I feel like Christmas came yesterday and am feeling even more encouraged that I will beat this! 

Thank you for all the wonderful support and your continued prayers! They are definitely working!

With love,

Pepperoni Roll

I am always looking for quick and easy recipes to change things up a bit around here. This is one of those recipes. It's so easy! 

{You will need}

• a loaf of frozen bread dough

• shredded mozzarella cheese

• shredded parmesan cheese

• sliced pepperoni (from the deli is best)

• Italian seasoning

• marinara sauce

{To make this yummy creation}

1. Thaw the frozen bread dough and roll it out to approximately  an 11x11 square.
2. Cover the dough with the sliced pepperoni.
3. Layer on the cheeses. 
4. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
5. Starting at one end, roll the dough.
6. Place it on a greased baking sheet with the seem side down.
7. Brush the top with melted butter.
8. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 25-30 min. or until golden brown.
9. Allow it to cool slightly before slicing and serve with a side of marinara sauce.

Muffin Tin Monday

Eating meals from a muffin tin has quickly become one of Stella’s favorite things. She gets very excited to check out every individual cup to see what yummy treats they hold. Here is what she had today…

…and here she is getting ready to chow down!

Join in the Muffin Tin Monday fun here:

Don't let my lack of updates fool you...

I'm feeling great! Just taking a little time to get things ready for the holidays. I'll be back soon!

Toilet Paper Roll Turkey

I love making any project that I can add my kids’ handprint to. It’s fun to pull these little keepsakes out every year and remember just how tiny they once were.

This one is super easy and made mostly with recycled materials.

1. Stella painted a toilet paper roll with some brown paint (and did a little tasting as well).

2. Then, using a brown paper bag, Stella and I printed several  handprints with different colors of paint. (After all that hard work, Stella took a nice long nap!)

3. While sleeping beauty got some rest, I added the feathers and face to her turkey. First, I fanned out the handprints and glue them together.

Then I glued on the body of the turkey (the toilet paper roll).

And finally, I added some google eyes and a beak.

I'm linking up here:

An Oldie But Goodie-Oatmeal Play Clay

This is a super easy play clay to make that has an interesting texture. I love trying different clay recipes and this was one the girls enjoyed because it was different.

What you will need to make it:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 water

1 cup oatmeal

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Stir until smooth. Add more flour if it's too sticky. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead for a few minutes. Store it in an airtight container.

This is Felicia's cornucopia!

Here are Madelyn's sculptures!

And because I'm a big kid too, I made a turkey!

Stella’s First Muffin Tin Monday!

Lately I have been missing out on a lot of the fun things that I do with my kids because I haven’t been feeling well. But today, I am feeling great and I really wanted to do something fun with Stella. So, she had her very first muffin tin lunch! It was nothing spectacular, but she loved it none the less. Here’s what she ate:

I’m pretty sure that we will be having a lot more muffin tin lunches because she enjoyed it just as much as her big sisters always do.

Check out more Muffin Tin Meals here:

Feeling Down.

Saturday we had our first snow of the season.

I love snow.

Especially the first snow.

This year, I missed it because I was too exhausted to move from the couch.

And then, last night was one of my favorite nights ever, Halloween.

The night that we suit up in our costumes and venture through the streets of our tiny town collecting candy and visiting friends.

Again, I missed it.

So today, I am feeling down.

I have tried throughout my treatment to stay positive, but sometimes it is not easy and today is one of those days. I'm angry. I don't like to be angry, but today I am. I want to get up and play with my kids, take a walk, or cook dinner. I hate feeling useless. I hate the things that this cancer is making me miss.

Cancer sucks!

It's My SITSday!

Welcome SITStas! I am so excited that you are here for my SITSday! If you're not familiar with SITS, you should check it out! SITS, which stands for The Secret is in the Sauce, is an amazing network of bloggers that support each other with comment love. But that's not all, the SITS site is full tips for bloggers. Please, go visit the SITS girls!

Wow, having my SITSday today sure takes the funk out of Monday morning! So, let me introduce myself, I'm Sandy, mom of 6 awesome kids! They range in age from 18 to 16 months. Three boys, Michael, Brandon, Aaron, and three girls, Felicia, Madelyn, and Stella. I've been married to my hubby Mike for 19 years and he is just as awesome as my kiddos. For 15 years I worked in a daycare/preschool where a fell in love with doing crafty things with little ones. Now that I am a SAHM, I do many of those kid crafts with my kids at home. I hope you get a chance to check them out.

For the most part, we have a pretty "normal" life, but this past August I began a fight for my "normal" life when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I'm just past the halfway point of my chemotherapy and things are looking good. I recently found out that the tumor in my breast is shrinking! I try to keep a positive attitude about it all and hearing this has been so encouraging. I can and will beat this!!!

Please, take some time to look around and see what Moments of Mommyhood is all about.

Thank you all for visiting! Have a fabulous day!

Wordless Wednesday-Mini Me

Muffin Tin Monday-Taco Bar

It has been such a long time since we have had a Muffin Tin Meal and the girls have been missing them. So tonight, I surprised them with their favorite dinner and Muffin Tin Monday! Here’s what they had:

Of course, Felicia was very happy!  Madelyn was too, but my camera battery died just as I was about to get her picture.

If you want to participate in Muffin Tin Monday, click the button below.

A Sad Day.

Today my Pappy was called home to Heaven to finally be reunited with my Grammy. Please keep our family in your prayers as we come together to celebrate his life. He will be deeply missed, but as Madelyn told me when she learned the news. "He will be in our hearts forever!"

An Oldie But Goodie-Halloween Candle Holders

Halloween decorating is so much spookier when there are flickering candles around. Here is a fun candle holder that you can make to create a Ghostly Glow!

Let's get started!

My kids love tearing up paper!

This might get a little sticky!

Cover the entire jar with tissue paper!

When it's completely covered, allow your jar to dry. After that, you can draw a ghost face and add a candle. We used the same technique to make Jack O' Lanterns as well!

It's Shrinking, It's Shrinking!!!

Yesterday, I had my third round of chemotherapy and I got some awesome news from my doctor. The mass in my breast has now shrunk to half of it's original size! My Dr. said I made his day, but truly, hearing this made my day! It has given me the inner strength to fight on, harder than ever!
The ultimate goal is to shrink the mass to nothing or at the very least, next to nothing, which would result in a smaller surgery. He's not making any promises, but he says we are on the right track and I put my trust in him. Please continue your prayers, I do believe they may be working.  :)

Getting Wiggy With It

So, one of the not so fun things about having cancer is the fact that you may lose your hair. Now, I had some pretty long hair before learning that I had cancer and eventually I shortened it a bit to ease myself into total hair loss gradually. Finally when I started losing it rapidly I handed hubby the clippers and he shaved the rest off. Now, I still have some stubble, and some areas actually appear to be growing, but not enough to make me not want to wear a wig. So, my dear sister in law came to my rescue and bought me a gorgeous wig. I have gotten so many compliments on how beautiful my hair is. During my second chemo treatment, a women came up to me and told me how lucky I was to still have my hair because by her second treatment her hair was all gone. Imagine her surprise when I told her I had shaved my head the previous week. She was stunned and I was digging it. I may have even declared that I was never going to grow hair again. Wigs are just so much easier to do!

That is until….the tragic cooking mishap. I love to cook, so when I am feeling up to it, I do it often. On one day in particular, I was not feeling up to it and I had food sent to me from a fellow church member (my church is awesome BTW), anyway, It was a chicken pot pie and I was being impatient waiting for the crust to get brown. My genius idea, put it under the broiler for a few minutes. Normally this works out just fine for me (when I’m not wearing an apparently highly flammable cranial prosthesis on my head) however this time, not so good. The crust was beautiful, my hair was NOT! Now, I wish that I had a picture of this debacle to share with you because I have gotten a few laughs out of it myself, but sadly, for some reason I didn’t take one. But I have learned a valuable lesson…Don’t cook with your wig on or get someone else to do it for you (like my eldest son is doing this very minute).

Although I don’t have my melted wig any longer, Here is a picture of me and my NEW hair:

I love it!

An Oldie But Goodie-Pumpkin Pie Play Dough

This play dough recipe is a must for fall! It just smells so good!

You will need:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp. cream of tartar
• 2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (of course I had none, so I just made a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger)
• red and yellow food coloring

Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir over medium-low heat. Continue to stir until the mixtures reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes. Remove it from the heat and knead it when it's cool enough to handle. (This is the best part! I love kneading the warm dough, especially when it smells so good!) Store in an air tight container.

We made a few pumpkins by adding some leaves and stems cut from pipe cleaners. Madelyn also just rolled out the dough and made some pumpkin "cookies".

Pinecone Painting

We are having another rainy day here today and to be honest, I have been slacking in the fun department lately, so what better way to liven things up than doing a messy project. I’ve done this with the big kids in the past and it was always a hit, so I thought I would let Stella have a crack at it.

Here’s what you need:

Now, it’s time to get down to business.

Stella always loves getting into her art! But no worries here, all of the paint we use is non-toxic so even if she does taste it, she’ll be fine.

An Oldie But Goodie-No Mess Fingerpainted Leaves

The truth is, I have never really been afraid to make a mess. In fact, we do it quite often here! This technique is just another fun way to finger paint!

Let's get started!

Lay a piece of wax paper on the table and put a piece of construction paper on top of it. Then add a few colors. Try to keep your paint towards the center so it does not ooze out the side when you start painting!

Add a second sheet of wax paper.

Now the fun begins!

Carefully remove the wax paper.

The colors all blend really well! With no mess!

This is a great way to make:

Catching Up

 I know I have been a blog slacker, but not because I haven't been feeling well, it's actually the opposite. I have been really feeling good and have just been spending as much time with my family as possible. Actually, for a few days, we were cut off from the rest of the world because massive flooding in our area made our tiny town an island of sorts. Thankfully, our house is high enough on a hill and we were spared from the devastating floods that have affected so many in our area. The company Mike works for was hit hard and it's going  to be a long road to getting things back to normal.

Also this past week, we celebrated Madelyn's 6th birthday! The day did not start out so good for her because school was cancelled due to the flood. She was to be the Star Of the Day and she had special cupcakes to share with her class. When she found out school was cancelled, she sobbed for hours! The day turned around for her when we took her to Wal-Mart and bought her a new bike. She was thrilled that we let her ride it all through the store. Sadly, Daddy had to miss her birthday dinner and cake because he had to go in to work to prepare for the flood (a lot of good that did!).

Here she is making her wish. It was to go to school the next day. It didn't come true. They were off for the rest of the week.  :(

 Tomorrow I'll be heading back to the doctor for treatment number 2. I am feeling great and in no way discouraged by the terrible sickness I suffered from my first treatment. I am confident that the new plan to combat my tummy troubles after treatment will work this time. Your continued prayers are much appreciated. Thanks!

A Rough Week

“God only gives you what He knows you can handle.” 

I’ve had many people say that to me and, for the most part, I do agree with that. However, this week, I found myself asking why He has so much faith in my strength. Last Saturday, following my first chemo treatment, I became very ill. My doctor had warned me that usually the Saturday and Sunday following a Wednesday treatment are the worst days. I just kept praying for Monday to get here thinking that by then I would start feeling better. Monday came and went and I was still no better. Of course, I am very stubborn and refused to admit that I needed to go to the hospital. I was sure I could handle it. WRONG! By Thursday morning, I could barely lift my head and it was obvious that I was not going to get any better on my own. So, I spent several hours at the hospital receiving IV meds and fluids. Ever so slowly I am regaining my strength and today, I actually feel pretty good.

Thankfully, my family has been awesome helping out and taking care of things that need to be done around here and for that, I am forever grateful.  This first treatment has been a learning experience and we now know how to better approach my next one. Until then, I’m just going to rest and gain strength.

Thank you for your continued prayers!

 

No First Day Jitters Here!

There is something about the first day of school that makes these girls wake up so happy and without complaints. Let’s just hope it stays that way!  Madelyn is a brand new kindergartener and Felicia is starting second grade. The boys of course, do not have a first day picture because , “Geez Mom, that’s LAME!”. That’s okay, because I am pretty sure I felt that same way when I was a teenager.

I hope they all have a great day at school and I can’t wait to pick them up and hear all about it! 

Almost Wordless Wednesday-First Treatment

*Thanks to my friend Jeanette for the “Fight Like a Girl” shirt.