Life as a Leach

Check out my Smile Box of our recent event with The Starlight Foundation to The Battle of the Beltway! Photo slideshow created with Smilebox

I won't pretend that Caleb doesn't often get the shaft when it comes to having a "normal" life.  It's getting closer than it was 2 years ago, but he still lives in a world of doctors, hospitals, and therapies.  There aren't many six year olds who understand trach care, can spout off a list of diagnoses, and can hook up and run a feeding pump.  It's a big responsibility being Abby's Big Brother.   But once in a while, because of Starlight, our family can get together with other families who "get" our life.  And best of all, we can have some fun!! Last Wednesday was one of those nights.  Matt couldn't come because of youth group, so we brought Sara with us! We went to a high school in our general area, whose field hockey team had chosen Starlight to be their charity this season.  Instead of just raising some money for the charity, the team decided to take it a step farther and have a Starlight Night.  They invited families to th...

We'll be heading to the circus tonight (minus Matt and plus our dear, sweet "Big Abby") with Starlight Foundation.  Caleb and Abby are both so excited!!  I am so thankful for Starlight.  It's nice to be able to do these special things in a while. I promise to be a bit quicker in posting the circus pictures than I was with Disney on Ice.  Until then, here's a little glimpse of what we're going to see:

Our family was given the opportunity through The Starlight Foundation to see Disney on Ice tonight!  We are super duper excited!  I think that both kids will absolutely love the characters, music, and scenery.  Princesses and pirates--what's not to love?! I'm sure there will be many pictures to come!  I'm so thankful for organizations like Starlight!

These people were pretty entertaining! So was the girl trying to put her mouth on everything and hit the seat in front of us.  :)

Caleb was anxiously awaiting the ever-popular cannon trick.  We were beginning to think it might not happen at all, until.... We saw the CROSS BOW!!! This guy allowed himself to be set on fire and shot by a cross bow across the arena! The craziest part is that he was still on fire when he landed and then the clowns had to spray him down with the fire extinguisher.   Caleb has probably watched this video 23 times.  :)

Check out the glowing lights display!!!

When I asked how much the snow cone was, the saleswoman cheerfully announced that the snow cone was free!!!! Yep!  Free!!!! It was the cup that cost $14! Matt said I should have put my hands out. :)

Warning:  This is a Picture-Heavy Post!! This was the opening act of the show. It had a little bit of everything! Caleb's eyes were glued to the stage, even while he ate his hot dog!   They brought the horses out, but I felt bad for them having to run in those tiny rings.  It seemed kind of boring for them. This little one was so cute!  He was literally only up to the man's waist. The tightrope walkers were a big hit! Some of the tigers were less than cooperative (those would be the ones staying on their perches instead of joining in on the trick!) These guys climbed up these thin little ropes like they were sturdy aluminum ladders.  It was pretty cool to watch them scale them. Ladies dancing in the air They stacked handstands all the way down!  It was incredible!  At the bottom was a girl, too! There are still a lot more pictures, but they all have individual stories! ...

Abby wasn't really thrilled about putting the clown nose on her nose...  ...so we put it on her other nose!   (The filter on the trach acts as a nose because it filters out the bad stuff and provides moisture to the airway.) Don't worry, she could still breathe.  Although it appears that she was just hanging out wearing the clown nose for the show, in actuality, it was on for maybe 3 seconds.  :)

Next to the guy engulfed in flames getting shot from a crossbow, meeting the elephant, Asia, was the highlight of the circus for Caleb.  He literally had a front row seat for this part during the pre-show activities, and it was so cool!! Asia got her nails brushed and polished before the show. She showed everybody her trunk and her costume. Then she got right to work painting.  Yep, painting!!  She chose the colors and dipped the paint brush in the paint and everything! This was her first masterpiece.  You enter your name in for a drawing and they give away her art work at each show.  Caleb was pretty disappointed that he didn't win.  Honestly, I think we have a couple of similar "masterpieces" hanging up on our fridge... She started in on her second masterpiece.... ...and was so proud of this one that she showed it off herself! The trainer gave her an entire loaf of bread at one time as her treat.  Sh...

To me, the coolest part of the entire circus was getting to go onto the floor for the pre-show.  We were literally feet away from this woman practicing her routine up in the air!! Then we were equally close to this girl holding onto this with a little loop around her foot...crazy! Caleb enjoyed the clown routines. This juggling act was fun to watch.  One of the girls asked Caleb if he wanted to try, but he wouldn't.  He'll be sorry he said no one day when he gets older and realizes what a cool opportunity it was!   We also were very close to the elephant performing, but that deserves a post of its own!!!!  (It was Caleb's second-favorite part, after the cross-bow.)

Last Thursday, we had the opportunity to go to the circus with an organization called The Starlight Foundation  that provides fun activities for families facing complex medical problems.  We have been with them for almost a year now, but this was our first activity with them.  It seemed like our schedule just never allowed for us to go to any of the events, so we were really excited when we realized that we would be able to go to the circus! Over 100 people from Starlight were there, and we took up two entire sections.  It was refreshing to be among others who have a clue what you're going through, and I have to admit that it was also nice not to have to deal with the constant stares for a few hours. The ushers assigned to our sections were so sweet and accommodating.  We brought our mega-stroller in loaded down with all of the medical equipment (we were parked in a parking garage much too far away to get equipment in an emergency) and stored it on the landi...