Chores, Costumes, and Counts

I am posting today so you will know what is happening now. I (of course) got home from Maryland, and things have been busy since them. I am so proud of my good husband. He took great care of the kids while I was gone. In the past he has been hesitant to take them out of the house when I was gone but this time he really went the extra mile. He took them to McDonalds for dinner and let them play in the playplace then they went to the church for Josh's scout meeting and afterwards they went to Walmart and bought me a card! Of course it took a few days to catch up on the chores but that is to be expected. I am still going to the laudromat and that takes a day so it puts me behind. I finally feel like I am catching up and back into a routine. I am excited to report that I am writing this from my new laptop computer. My old computer (old enough to have windows 98) is dying. It keeps getting hung and then takes 6-7 tries to restart it. We found a really good deal on a laptop so Gordon said I could get it. As long as the old computer works we will let the kids use it for Webkins and such but now I have a computer to do my work and Relief Society reports. I love it and feel like I am catching up to the times a little. I am also excited because Josh is spending more time in the hospital now and this will make it alot easier.
Moving on to Josh: He had his last chemo for this round and the next 3 weeks should be his down time but he is in a pattern where his counts drop on week 4 instead of week 2. On friday when they checked his counts he was ok but his Hemoglobin was very low. Below 8 requires a transfusion and he was 8.9. Normal is over 11. Because he is on the downward track the oncologist thinks he will need a transfusion this round but for now we are watching him. If he gets a headache or becomes pale(more than he already is) or listless we have to go right in. The danger with this low number is that he could have a stroke with this low volume. We will go back next Friday for counts and to see about that transfusion. We already planned to be there anyway for the big Halloween party that the hospital has for the children. We are pulling the other kids out of school so they can attend. the kids are excited about their costumes. Josh borrowed a Luke Skywalker costume and Ted is a baseball player. Miriam is Tigger and Dorothy a flamingo and Rachel is a catwoman. She has a pretty black dress with purple trim and ears and a tail. It will be alot of fun for everyone, they have trick-or-treat and a parade and lunch and games. Anyway I am nervous for him but that is pretty normal and I am sure he will be fine. Our church assigns 2 men to visit every family once a month and make sure they are ok and they are coming tonight so we will see about a blessing for him to make sure of it. All in all we are good and happy and grateful for the prayers that keep us that way. You are in our prayers too.