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The Smith Family History (Extremely, Exceedingly Condensed Version)

The Smiths spent fifteen years traveling full time, living in campers, and doing about 160 concerts a year in churches around the country. Sarah and Nathan have traveled since they were four weeks old and have been in thirty-five states, Canada and Mexico. Steve and Becky have recorded thirteen CD's of original music. When Sarah was diagnosed on May 17, 2002, the family left the road so that they could dedicate themselves to doing everything possible to help her get well.

If you've just recently found this site, you might be interested to know that there is a companion site available that features updates written before this blog was started in January 2003. Go to: Sarah's Spot Archives









Sarah Smith Neuroblastoma Foundation



You can find our Smith Family blog (in addition to book/CD ordering info) at:

Journal

Friday, July 3, 2009

A HARP FOR A LIMERICK

Last Saturday, Steve, Sarah and I took ourselves off to The Orchard House, a locally owned book store, for a Celtic harp demonstration.

We especially wanted to attend the event because Trillian, the young lady playing the harp, had attended the Young Writer's Group at the library with Sarah.

Trillian and her siblings have all been home schooled their whole lives; although I've only met Trillian and her sister (who also attended the writing group) if the rest of the family is anything like them, they are truly delightful!



As Trillian was giving her Celtic talk, she mentioned how she had gotten her harps. The first one was acquired in the usual way where Trillian worked and saved up money for it. However, with the second harp, Trillian's mother had been looking through Craiglist and happened to see an ad that said, "Celtic harp in exchange for a limerick."

Trillian just happened to love Celtic harps.

And writing limericks.

She wrote five limericks in half an hour, submitted them, and shortly thereafter found out that her limerick had won the harp!

Is that a great story, or what?

Here's Trillian, displaying her harps. You may recognize the man "lurking" behind the book shelf.








Sarah even got to give harp playing a whirl.



Steve was fascinated to see how the harp compared to the guitar.


All in all, it was a relaxing, musical, entertaining, informative, Celtic-flavored morning.


Later that day, Sarah and I went to a second book store because you know what? When you're addicted, you're addicted and sometimes only one book store a day just won't do. (smile)

Sarah is really excited about our upcoming home school year. I'm investigating some options where she will be involved in more of a virtual, online schooling situation where I won't be her sole source of teaching and information. (Which is a great comfort to me.)

I'm excited for her because I know this kind of schooling situation will allow her to spend the time she needs on certain concepts (especially in math) and she won't be forced to move on until she's sure she's up to speed.

Sarah is also hyper sensitive to noise; I'm assuming that is a combination of the hearing issues as well nerve damage from her cancer itself (a cancer of the nervous system) and its treatment.

In a classroom setting, she always told me had a hard time concentrating and being able to think if it wasn't totally quiet. Sometimes noise in the classroom would even make her so frustrated she would start to cry.

So it's wonderful to know that I can offer her a quiet, peaceful setting where she can go at her own pace and not feel the pressure of keeping up with the class all the time.

Her neuropsych testing also revealed that since she has slower processing speeds, she should be given more time for tests and assignemnts, something that is not always possible in a classroom setting.

And so in general, this home schooling scenario seems like it will be a good fit for her at this point in her life. We'll look at the whole thing again next year and see where we're at with it but for now, we're excited about our decision.

Sarah is still having a few challenges adjusting to her hearing aids, as far as getting used to how different things sound. Also, they tend to get clogged with earwax a lot and she has misplaced the little "cleaning thingie" she was given. Steve will probably go out today and try to find something to replace it with.

She is certainly enjoying this period free of doctor visits. For over seven years, she has never gone more than a couple months without some sort of "something" having to be done in the medical arena.

How fun is it just to be a healthy, normal kid in the summertime? Nothing to gear up for, or dread, or prepare for. Just lazy days and books and ice cream and snoozing with Snowy and Celtic harp demonstrations.

Sounds like the best kind of summer to me!

And just because I can't help myself, here are a couple more "fun pix."






__________________


One last note: I've been following a certain cancer family for a long time and Harriet from Macon GA recently signed the guest book and mentioned them, as well.

Ryan has Neuroblastoma and it seems as though he is quickly coming to the end of his journey. What's truly heartbreaking is that his mom, Missy, has breast cancer and is also doing poorly.

Ryan's Dad, Wes, just wrote on Ryan's site, "How do we even fathom what is transpiring? How did we possibly end up with both Ryan and Missy beginning home bound pain treatment the very same day..."


Over the past year or so, I've been in e-mail contact with both Wes and Missy and I am just speechless with disbelief at what the family is facing. I would love it if you would visit Ryan and Missy and keep their family in your prayers.





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Monday, June 29, 2009

A NEW BOOK REPORT AND SOME PICTURES


Title: Angel on the Square
Author: Gloria Whelan
Genre: Russia, history,
Ages: 10 and up

Official Summary from the book:

In the fall of 1914, safe behind palace walls, Katya Ivanova sees St. Petersburg as a magical place. The daughter of the lady-in-waiting to the Empress, Katya spends all her time with the Grand Duchesses; the royal family feels like her own.

But outside the palace, a terrible war is sweeping through Europe, and Russia is beginning to crumble under the weight of a growing revolution. Now, as Katya’s once-certain future begins to dissolve, she must seek to understand what is happening to her beloved country and, for the first time in her life, take charge of her own destiny.


My Summary:

Three years I was at the library and went to the kid’s audio books department where I found Angel On The Square. After looking it over and reading the summary on the case, I checked it out and went home. However, after listening to about four chapters, I got pretty bored with it.

Now mind you, I was in the fifth grade at the time. I’m going into the eighth grade now. And for another thing, at that time, I had no idea what was actually going on in the book and I did not really know that it was based on the revolution under Tsar Nicholas II.

Now in 2009, I have gone through seventh grade History class and my History teacher loved to make his lectures into stories, giving the background and defining the “characters” very well.

He lectured one day about Tsar Nicholas II and his family. And so I found Angel on the Square at a bookstore and decided to give it another try.

This time, I really liked it. The book is written so that you actually get to know the Tsar like you would any other real life person. You also get to know Empress Alexandra, Prince Alexei, the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Marie and Anastasia.

If you read the account of Tsar Nicholas II and his family in a history book, it would say that on a particular night, the family was suddenly awakened, taken down to the basement and shot.

This of course would make for a very gory, depressing ending for a children’s book. Although it all happened and was written down and people read about it, it is not the ending to this book because this book only takes the reader halfway through the Russian Revolution.

I just wanted to make this clear so that if you do give this book a try and you know the horrible fate of the royal family, you would not have that knowledge looming over your shoulder all the while you’re reading.


I’m not going to give away the whole ending, but Katya and her mother get away from Russia. That is where this book ends; the story is picked up in the second book.

This historical fiction story was a real eye-opener for me. I got to see first hand what these people went through. And although it is very real, Gloria Whelan does tone it down a notch or two since the story is, after all, directed at the younger generation.

The book includes a lot of history, including real generals and figures in the government, but it is not just words written on a piece of paper. You meet the characters, get an idea of what they look like and how they might have acted. With hints of humor here and there, and a detailed description of the beauty of Europe, it certainly earns the many awards it has been given.

--Sarah Smith


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And now some pictures . . .


Yesterday after church, my longsuffering family allowed me to drag them outside for an impromptu picture session.

I'll post the pictures of Steve and me on Smithellaneous in the next day or two, but I wanted to put a few smile-inducing pictures of Snowy and Sarah here.









And some miscellaneous fun shots . . .








Read a book, take a picture, enjoy your day!


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Friday, June 26, 2009

SARAH THE PLUMBER

Sarah is currently hard at work on another book review, but until she gets it finished I'll go ahead and post some recent Sarahshots.

But first, some background.

In the years that he's been a father to both a son and a daughter, Steve has always been an "equal opportunity dad." Sure, he shows Nathan how to change the oil in the car but he also shows Sarah how to do plumbing.

Plumbing, you say? Does a thirteen year old girl even WANT to do plumbing?

Well, when he brought it up to Sarah yesterday she was all for it because, as we all well know, that child loves to learn.

So ladies and gentlemen, it now seems as though Princess Groovy Chick may have a future in plumbing. Maybe an author/plumber? I could see that.

Just in case you're having a hard time seeing Sarah in the plumbing field, the proof is in the pictures.

Miss Plumber, preparing for her task.


Four hands. Two plumbers.




Snowy, of course, is on high alert and very interested in any proceeding that involves the room in the house where food is prepared.



I thought it would be fun to see the Plumbing People from Snowy's low-to- the-ground vantage point.



Please note that Steve's tongue is sticking out. That is a heriditary trait that he got from his dad and passed on to Sarah.

It seems that there is something about sticking out ones' tongue that causes the brain cells to work in a more efficient and brilliant manner. (Or so the Smiths say.)


Steve steps back to give the pro some room.


Sarah learns the knack of turning the water back on after the work is done.


Success!


So if you need any plumbing work done at YOUR house, feel free to give Princess Groovy Chick a call!

However, I must add a postscript:

Even after all the quality plumbing time that Sarah and Steve spent together, this is the note that greeted Steve on the door of the downstairs bathroom, written in his plumbing assistant's own hand.



'Cause you know what? Sometimes a girl just has to draw some plumbing boundaries. (Not to be confused with drawing "plumb lines." Ha.)

Okay, on that high note, I shall close.

Have a happy, plumbing free day.

___________________________________

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 6:39 PM CDT

A SCHOOL DECISION AND TURTLES

Thanks to all of you who so faithfully continue to check in at Sarah's Spot so frequently; it's nice to see the site counter still going up even though I've branched branched off to another site. And thanks for continuing to sign the guest book; it makes my heart happy to hear from you!

Since I had such a long update on our trip to Charleston over at Smithellaneous, I saved some of the Sarah/Snowy part of the trip for over here.

But before I get into that, I did want to mention that if nothing changes radically in the next few days (like we get a new church tomorrow morning, or something) we have made the decision that I will home school Sarah for the eighth grade. There are just way too many things unsettled in our lives right now for us to be comfortable with dragging her from school to school.

And since whatever church we end up at will have a youth group, she'll be able to find plenty of friends and socialization there.

I was a bit hesitant about the whole idea because I know from experience what a huge responsibility it is to school a child. But then I remembered how I had taught Nathan through seventh grade and he went on to earn mostly A's when he got in a regular classroom PLUS he's been on the Dean's List at college since he got there. So I guess he didn't get too far behind under his mother's tutelege.

Once again, Steve and I both appreciate everyone's wise advice and loving concern on this subject. You've been a great "collective sounding board" for us and we appreciate you more than you can know. It's great to have our own personal support group!


Okay, now on to Sarah's and Snowy's adventures in Charleston which included temporary responsibility for a family of turtles.

Turtles, you say? Yes, turtles!

Since we stayed at the pastor's house, he asked if we would feed his turtles and talk to them and pet them. (If a turtle can, indeed, be pet. Or is it, "petted?")

Anyway, Sarah was definitely the woman for the job because she has a nurturing, "mommy heart" like nobody's business. And she was also excited about introducing the turtles to Snowy!

So here is a photo journal of the Charleston Turtle Adventure.

First of all, we have our lovely model introducing you to one of the three Pastor Turtles. (We call Snowy "Pastor Dog" so we thought "Pastor Turtle" had a nice ring to it, too.



Pastor Dog taking a sniff of Pastor Turtle



Up close and personal


Even MORE up close and MORE personal



I'm sure the turtle was just slightly alarmed to have his(her?) worldview completely obscured by a large, white fluffy face.

And I imagine Snowy was just slightly pleased at finally getting to be bigger than another creature!

Although the two will never be great friends, it was certainly an educational experience for both species AND for the Smith family!

Here's Sarah tucking the turtles back in and saying good night.










I mentioned earlier over on Smithellaneous that I wasn't real excited about Snowy going on the trip with us because he always insists on sitting in my lap.

Well, on this 550-mile round trip, he probably spent only 75 percent of his time on my lap. We tried another idea that actually worked quite well!

I got my own personal fur collar!



Snowy also dragged himself away from me while I was driving and deigned to sleep on Steve's lap for a brief while.



Of course, he was only too happy to go over and pay Sarah a visit when she was having her snack. He's nice like that.



On our trip home Sunday afternoon we stopped at a gas station where I spotted this handsome fella and asked his permission to take a picture and post it on my website. He checked with his wife and said he thought it would be okay. Don't you think he's a very youthful looking 52?



During our stop for gas, Snowy was much more interested in the station's "toilet facilities" than in any picture taking going on. Dogs are funny that way.



And just to let you know that it was, indeed, hot while we were in Charleston?

Here is an actual, unretouched photo of the temp guage in the van after the morning service. Do you feel sorry for us yet?


Actually, the temp only got up that high because the van had been parked on hot pavement in direct sun for five hours. (Very briefly, it reached 107 but I didn't get the picture taken before the "cold front" blew back in and dropped the temp back down to 106.)


So anyway, that about sums up the great Charleston Adventure. As I always say, "It's good to go away and it's good to come home!"


On another subject, Sarah had a follow up appointment with her Duke neurologist scheduled for today. However, I called last week and asked if it was really necessary to bring her back in since her brain MRI and EEG had both turned out normal.

Happily the nurse called back and said, "I talked to Dr. Gallentine and he said he doesn't need to see her after all."

Those were certainly sweet words to hear. Normal neurological function is always good, great, and wonderful news.

So at this point, Sarah has a summer completely free of anything medically related--no speech therapy, no hearing aid appointments, no blood work, no dentists, no scans, no pediatrician appointments, no oncology check ups and no endocrinology visits. I think this is our first summer in seven years to be this medically liberated!

Hurray for remission! Hurray for summer! Hurray for Sarah!

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