True meaning of the phrase “Butter Fingers”

I’ve decided that we don’t need to do any further chemo treatments. I’m not sure what the point is considering Peyton will have the cholesterol of a 75 year old Waffle House fry cook within a couple of years anyways.

In case you can’t figure it out, the picture above is a stick of butter. Notice the little finger marks?? Yes, Peyton ate quite a bit of two sticks of butter. Butter! She actually got them out, let them soften and then proceeded to treat herself to some yummy dairy goodness, one gooey finger at a time. I can almost hear her arteries hardening at this very moment.

I entitle this picture “Displaced Blame”.

Instead of incriminating herself by writing her own name on the bed, Rachael decided to make sure we knew who was responsible….just for clarity, the words say “Peyton did this”. The way I know that Peyton didn’t write this is because she doesn’t know how to spell the words “did” or “this”. Sneaky little monkey.

Friday night Penny Hawkins and I packed up 5 kids into my suburban and we headed north. We’d been offered the opportunity for the kids to go play with athletes from UF in Gainesville. Nathaniel and Jared were the only ones interested AND old enough to participate so we headed up to Gator country Friday night and stayed at a hotel for the night. The trip up was pretty good, with 5 kids in a vehicle, you can never be sure. But our kids get along really well and they kept it interesting, if not quiet.

We got up early Saturday morning and headed over to the campus to drop the boys off. Each kid was paired with a couple of UF athletes from the soccer, football, track and field, swim, softball and baseball teams. Then the kids were separated by age groups and headed off for a series of sporting events. They did basketball, volleyball, soccer and football, they got fed some pizza and had an absolute blast! After all their sports were done, the champion basketball team players came out and greeted all the kids, signed autographs and just hung with the kids before they took off for home. All the athletes were so very kind and patient and just gave the boys a fantastic day. It was awesome to be able to give them this event that was just about them. I have pictures to post, but I’m actually too lazy to go out to the truck, get the camera and download them. Could almost imagine breaking out into a sweat there.

While the boys played Jr Olympics, Penny and I packed up Nikki, William and Peyton and headed off for the nearest mall (Rachael opted to stay with her Grandma for the day). We strolled the mecca of commerce and had some pizza as well. Peyton wore her “Leukemia Stinks” shirt, which drew a few second glances.

After we picked up the boys at 12:30, we made the 2 hour road trip back home and both Peyton and Will were crying from the separation anxiety when we parted.

Peter and I had been offered seats at the 3rd annual Tampa Lyrics for Life concert Saturday night. Poor Pete ended up having to work so he couldn’t go…so I took off without him. Lyrics for Life is a charity foundation born from the hearts of the band Sister Hazel. The lead singer lost a brother as a teenager to Lymphoma and he has found this tremendous way to give back to the cancer community, both through raising funds for research and to improve the lives of cancer families. Lyrics for Life has a number of events nationwide, but the one in St. Pete tonight was an acoustic concert fundraiser to benefit the Children’s Cancer Center, the Pediatric Cancer Foundation and the Loneliest Road Campaign.

We have been a part of a lot of tremendous events and have had the opportunity to see what happens when people with lots of love, steely determination and a mission in their hearts go to work. This was one of those nights when I was just wowed by the impact that this event had. The music was so beautiful and touching, many of the songs were wonderful by themselves, but when the words were sang in the context of the reason we were together, they became more powerful and meaningful. They sang of making the most of life, finding happiness within yourself, there was a special song written and sang by a 16 year old Lymphoma survivor Hannah, and a song written and dedicated to the brother of Ken Block (lead singer). It was a fun night with friends from the Center, a spectacular musical show, and just another great example of how people can truly make a difference.

I hate that Pete didn’t get to go, he would have so enjoyed it. However, he didn’t miss the tie and dress-up clothes he would’ve had to sport, so it’s not all bad I guess.

Tomorrow, after church the whole family heads to the Children’s Cancer Center to kick off this year’s Big Buddy program. Last year we got to participate in this program and it was a very special thing for Nathaniel and Rachael to be a part of. It’s a program just for siblings of cancer kids and the Center pairs up a sibling with a 2nd year medical student from USF. They student spends the school year meeting up with the sibling, they go do fun stuff together, they take the time to give the siblings who are often somewhat left behind in the cancer shuffle some much needed attention and one-on-one time. Last year our kids had two wonderful students and we are looking forward to meeting the future doctors who are going to be our buddies this year.

Yes, it is just one thing after the other, isn’t it?? I won’t even begin to explain what a scheduling craziness next weekend is, I have a whole week to figure that out.

I just want to really thank everyone for the sweet words and encouragement through what was a rough week for me. Hannah’s passing was very hard on all those who loved her and while we were being there for her family, you all were busy being here for me. Thank you for your prayers, understanding and continued support through it all.

f.r.o.G…fully relying on God
–Anissa