When does it stop being ok to nap during church?

I took the kids to [url=http://www.caringbridge.org/fl/sydneysims/index.htm]Sydney Sims[/url]' fundraiser yesterday and it was a great event. The sad thing really is that when you see Sydney, the first thing I could think was "She looks wonderful!" She had her face painted with pink and sparkles to look like a princess mask and she was just flittering all over the place with her blond curls and big smile. It was so sad because I know soon she'll lose those curls and her body will be trying to heal from another major surgery to fight the neuroblastoma working to take over. I had the pleasure of meeting her mom Michelle and having the chance to meet so many wonderful people who recognized Peyton from this website. Michelle posted on [url=http://www.caringbridge.org/fl/sydneysims/index.htm]Sydney's site[/url] that the total tally is somewhere between 9-10 thousand dollars for their expenses!!! God provided a huge blessing for them and I know it's just a drop in the bucket of what the expenses will be for her upcoming treatments, but it was good to get out there and support them however we could and to see how the community has come together behind yet another family in such great need.

Last night Pete watched the kids while I went to play poker with some of our friends. I lost, but enjoyed the time to get out of the house and be with grownups!

Peyton's really feeling the effects of her chemo, she's so tired and worn out. This morning she woke me up bright and early to make scrambled eggs…..twice…..but then she wanted to crawl back in bed and go back to sleep…that's just not like her. We made it to church where she snuggled down in Dad's arms and conked out cold. She got moved over to where she could lay down across the chairs and lay her head in my lap and she promptly drooled a small wading pool on my leg…good times! When she got up, I could see all these little brown fluffs of hair all over my lap, but she's still determined to hold onto what hair she's got, so no shaving yet.

And we call her "Slim"….no, those are not just folds of her shirt….yes, that REALLY is her belly!

This week is pretty easy going for us….of course, I say that now and tempt fate….but we have a finger poke on Wednesday (which I may jump the gun and have them do it on Tuesday if she's still acting sluggish and tired, it'll probably end up that she needs some red blood cells to pep her back up) and then on Thursday we go to St. Pete for the radiation simulation. I'm not sure exactly what all that entails, but I do know that they will be fitting her for the head mask she has to wear during treatment to keep her head stationary. It's also a chance to see how well she'll do during the procedure so they know whether she has to be sedated or not.

Thursday afternoon we are heading to my friend Lisa's house for a yard sale catch up session, hopefully we'll nail down some of the specifics so that most of it can be done by the time I get back from the Ronald McDonald house. Anyone who wants to come and lend a hand is more than welcome to attend, feel free to bring your kids, Lisa's opening her pool as way to give the kids some play time!

I got some really special news from Lisa Orlando from the [url=http://www.fastercure.org]Pediatric Cancer Foundation[/url]. They saw the [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvcvi1IioSY]Faces of Childhood Cancer video[/url] I put up on YouTube and they want to use it in their next big fundraiser effort. They're going to be mailing it out as a cd to people in hopes of raising much needed money for research projects for pediatric cancers. This is one amazing group that focuses only on pediatric cancers, especially the ones that all the other researchers and government groups have given up on. I'm honored that they asked to use the video, it was a labor of love, and I'm thrilled that it will be used for the purpose of furthering awareness of these kids, their cancers and the need for a cure!

f.r.o.G…fully relying on God
—Anissa