Wednesday, May 28, 2008

More Scenes from the Weekend

Thanks for all your good wishes for Ken and Rainer yesterday. Truthfully, they had a really hard day. Originally Rainer was scheduled for a simple clinic visit (short chemo). Later, we knew he'd have to get some platelets too, which go in over two hours (still fairly short). They ended up not getting home until 9:30 at night after two rounds of platelets and two rounds of red blood cells. They were admitted to the pediatric floor for that and had a roomate--another baby, but that family kept the television blaring on a Spongebob marathon the whole time. Not our cup of tea. I'm really frustrated that I didn't go with them to comfort Rainer and help Ken. The reason I didn't go was because I needed to be at work to administer medications to my students and I knew ahead of time that the person who would normally cover me for that wasn't going to be there. Whew! I guess I needed to get that off my chest. Rainer is doing fine now and actually slept a bit better last night.
So, the weekend. We had really strange weather this weekend--it was cool and cloudy! It actually felt more wintery than in winter, so we enjoyed that.
Ken built a fire Saturday night and it was nice and cozy.
Rainer is still enjoying these bunnies from a year ago last Easter. For some reason they're his favorite stuffed animal. Here he has Faith's, after spotting it in her room and specially requesting it! You can't see them here so much, but poor little guy was all bruised this weekend. He's better now, though, with all those platelets he got.
Ken wanted to put on a puppet show for the boys (especially Dieter). He used the wooden animals as puppets. It was so cute! He did a German story (at least I think it's German) of a boy who can't get his donkey to go. Finally a bee comes along and stings him and then he goes.

After the puppet show we had this cake. It's a blackberry crumb cake from the current issue of Everyday Food (June '09). Yummy! I got the blackberries from Trader Joe's. There's a layer of tender cake, then the blackberries, then the crumbs. I highly recommend it.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions about the baby wipes. There's lots of good stuff in the comments, so check it out if you're interested in the topic. I learned a lot.

9 comments:

Carrie said...

He's so STANDING!!!! I know you said he was but it is great to see! Hugs to all.

Laura said...

I love everything from your weekend~
including your fire in the living room, Rainer standing and doing puzzels and playing with the bunny, Ken's puppet show (how precious is that) and your lovely dessert!
It looks like you have a lot of quality family time together which is beautiful to see!

ames said...

Oh, sounds like he had a rough and frustrating time, good thing it's in the past now. The rest of the weekend sounds perfectly lovely, and those blackberries! *drool*

Unknown said...

I really admire your courage as a mom and the way you are so incredibly organized and make your home so lovely. I got all teary just reading about Rainer and I don't know how you remain so strong. But it is impressive. And then you make the most beautiful cake to top it off!

You're awesome.

Susan said...

So sorry Rainer and Ken had a tough day at the hospital. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to need to go to work while also wanting to be with them. Hang in there- summer cometh!

melissa s. said...

Glad to hear Rainer is doing better today. He looks beautiful, as does that crumb cake! I may have to try that out!!

jessica said...

I'm sorry to hear about Ken and Rainer's bad day - such a tough decision to not be able to be with them. I think that's the hardest part of parenting - making all the decisions and trying to fulfill all of our obligations. I really admire all that you do and how much you put into making your family feel loved!

Our Adventures As A Family of 4.... said...

Good to see Rainer standing so sorry he and Ken had a long day at the hospital. Great to see a fire. I know it was cooler down south while at my mom's. I just saw the cake you made and was thinking I'd like to make it since I love blackberries. Glad to know it turned out well.

Molly

driftwood said...

wow that sounds like a tough day...

the cake looks divine.