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Saturday, May 18, 2013

Help Kaitlyn Fight Hate and Bigotry


Kaitlyn Hunt is a high school senior who should be getting ready to graduate. Instead, she just got arrested and expelled from school...for dating. Yes, dating. Something nearly every high school kid in this nation does. Except...you probably guessed it, Kaitlyn is gay. How can someone get arrested for gay dating? Kaitlyn started the relationship with another girl when she was 17 years old. This girl is younger. As soon as Kaitlyn turned 18, the parents of her 15 year old partner lashed out in hate and took every measure they could against Kate legally, plus petitioned to get her expelled from the school.

Look, I was a teenager once. When I was 18, I started dating my first ''official" boyfriend. Guess how old he was? 16. This could have just as easily happened to me! If the parents of the boy I dated at 18 had not liked the fact that he was my boyfriend, they could have had me arrested. I'm sure there are hundreds of thousands of cases just like this. Teens meet at school and start dating. It is a time in their lives when they are curious and start to explore sexual avenues. One of them turns eighteen years old. No matter how mutual the feelings and consent are, after 18, it's illegal. Yet, in most cases, no legal claims are made because parents of the younger teen know that it has been an ongoing relationship of mutual consent.

Now, I'm not here to argue whether gay is right or wrong. I'm not standing up for homosexuality. I'm standing up for a person, Kaitlyn, whose sexuality is an issue between herself and God. I do not think this person should have a destroyed future, be labeled and identified as a sexual predator, not be able to graduate and have to take her GED, and a host of other things that are happening and could happen if someone doesn't do something. I signed the petition to stop the prosecution of this girl. If you believe that what is happening is wrong, please sign it too.

If you are a parent of a teen, I urge you to think of how this would impact you if Kaitlyn was your daughter. Thank you for your time.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Induction Phase Almost Complete- We hope!


We have been at this cancer thing for a month now. I think I'm finally out of shock. That took a while, just realizing that it's really happening. Things have been pretty good this week. Anna has been up and about wanting to play, and we found out this week at chemo that she's almost finished with her induction phase. 

When chemotherapy starts, depending on how far along the cancer has progressed, there is a period of intense treatment. I think people's initial treatments vary, but for Anna who has a very agressive type cancer, her treatments started on a weekly basis. If you or your child is diagnosed with cancer, you'll hear about a "stage". Anna was in stage three, which is pretty far along, actually. Phase one was when it was just in the lymph nodes in her neck and spread to her chest (so in one general area), phase two hit when the cancer went to the nodes in her abdomen (so it will jump to another part of the body but was still in her lymph nodes), phase three was when it presented in another organ (rash on her skin), and had she had it in the bone marrow it would have been stage four. 

Staging can be so scary to hear about, but for lymphoma staging is not quite as scary as some other cancers. It tells you how far the cancer has progressed, and in some cancers the farther it progresses the harder it is to treat. Now, don't get me wrong, a high stage is scary no matter what, but for a lot of the lymphomas, it really just tells you how intense and how long the treatment will be, but they usually expect the same outcome. So, we tried not to freak at stage three cancer. 

Anna has had 4 weekly chemo treatments and has one more before "re-staging".  The goal at this point is for her to have a "complete response", which means that this more intense treatment in this induction period will have knocked out ALL of the cancer. Then will start the year (yes year) of maintenance, which requires less frequent chemo. So we're hoping for the best, believing for the best, and ready to get this last initial treatment done soon so we can see where we stand now.

Thanks for standing with us and praying for us! 

Monday, May 6, 2013

Why You Should Treat Your Children's Teachers Very Well


I have a guest post for you today by Sara. It's a great article, and as a former teacher I can tell you, she's right about this:

If your children are in daycare or school, they spend some 8 to 10 hours a day with a teacher--thousands of hours by the time they reach the age of 18. These relationships are extremely important and formative to our children. In his 2012 State of the Union Address, President Obama pointed to a recent study that found teachers not only impact our children’s academic success, but also their earning potential and even chances of becoming pregnant in high school.

Clearly, if we really care about our children, we must care about their teachers. Unfortunately, most teachers are under-appreciated and under-paid. As a society, we place very high expectations on our teachers, but give them very little in return. Sometimes we forget that teachers are people too. Just as we like some coworkers and dislike others—teachers like some students and dislike others. They like some parents and dislike others. We don’t want to think that about teachers, but it’s just human nature.

Of course, there are cases of abuse in daycares and schools—we’ve all heard those horror stories—but what I’m talking about is something much more subtle than that. 
• It’s the difference between a nursery teacher who just loves cuddling and rocking your baby, and one who does it because it’s part of her job.
• It’s the different between the teacher who mediates fights when students tell, and the teacher who notices your child crying in the corner, being tease, or bullied and takes proactive action.
• It’s the difference between the teacher who offers required tutoring once a week, and the teacher who will email you back in the evening to explain how to multiply fractions so you can help your child with homework.

How we treat teachers has a direct correlation to how much they enjoy their job and the quality of their relationship with our children. This is why I believe parents should treat daycare and school teachers very, very well. After all, they care for our children when we are not watching.

I don’t know about you, but I want my children’s teachers to like them, look out for them, and enjoy spending time with them. Here are a number of very practical ways to show teachers how much you appreciate them.

Volunteer and bring in supplies. Teachers have very practical needs. Most take their job home with them at night and buy at least some of their own classroom supplies. Volunteering for field trips and other classroom tasks is always appreciated. Also, donating supplies to your child’s classroom are a tangible way to help the teacher.

Give nice Christmas gifts. I’ve always made it a practice to give my children’s teachers $50 gift cards for Christmas. This may seem extravagant to some, but for me it is money well spent. Of course, there are nice gifts at every price range. Throughout the year look for items on sale, or use coupons at NerdWallet. Sometimes the Parent Teacher Organization distributes information about what teachers like which can be helpful in finding the perfect gift.

Practice regular random acts of kindness. Everyone at my kids’ elementary school knows me as the mom who brings the teachers coffee. I try to bring a fresh, hot cup of gourmet coffee to each of my children’s teachers at least every couple of weeks. Giving teachers flowers, for no reason in particular, is another nice way to brighten their day and the classroom. If you use Proflowers coupons you can get high quality flowers year round.

Remember, building goodwill with teachers is not all about giving gifts. Perhaps the most important things we can do is parents is treat teachers with respect, especially in instances of conflict. Speak respectfully about teachers and support their classroom expectations. When issues come up, be diplomatic and follow the school’s escalation policies. 

Teachers are so important to our children’s lives. Invest some time in getting to know them. Actively support them. Treat them very, very well.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Running out? Run In event at Publix May 15-22nd!


From May 15th  through May 22nd , look for the “Running Out? Run In.” event at Publix® to take advantage of great savings on some of your favorite brands from General Mills and Procter & Gamble, like Charmin, Crest, Totin's and Wheaties.  In addition to this, if you purchase $30 of participating* items from 5/15 through 5/31, you can mail in to receive a $10 Publix® gift card to use on your next shopping trip!  (For more details on this great rebate, please visit www.runningoutrunin.com)

*Participating products: Wheaties®, Cascadian Farm®, Honey Nut Cheerios® Medley Crunch and Total® Whole Grain Cereal (assorted varieties); Hamburger Helper® and Suddenly Salad® (assorted varieties); Totino’s® Party Pizza (assorted varieties); Totino’s® Pizza Rolls (40ct, assorted varieties); Yoplait® Light Yogurt with Granola (assorted varieties); Yoplait® Go-Gurt (8ct pkg 2.25oz, assorted varieties); Gain Laundry Detergent (100oz, assorted varieties); Dawn® Dish Detergent (20-24oz bottle, assorted varieties); Charmin® Basic Bathroom Tissue (12 double roll pkg, assorted varieties); Bounty® Dura Towel and Bounty® Paper Towels (1 King Roll, 1 Big Roll); Crest® Toothpaste (8.2 oz) + Oral-B Indicator & Complete Manual Brush (1ct) assorted varieties; Herbal Essences® (6.0 -10.7oz, assorted varieties) and Vidal Sassoon Shampoo/Conditioner (12oz, assorted varieties)  

Losing Hair With Chemotherapy


We are bald! It's been a tough week since the last update. Anna ended up back in the hospital with no white blood cell count. Thankfully (and we always try to look at the bright side) it was not from any infection. It was just the chemo that knocked her count out. It also marked the beginning of hair loss. We started to see it a few days ago and it started fast. The doctor explained to me that the reason you go bald is because the chemo meds attack all cells that grow rapidly (like hair). They can't just target the cancer cells (I wish they could!) 

So, when we got home I was going to shorten her hair a little more. however, when I turned on the clippers she was afraid of the noise, so I thought...if we have to go through this let's just do it once and be done. It was a tough tough night. She literally cried for nearly two hours after we shaved her head. It was so traumatic and I tried and tried to explain to her why I had to do it and what was going on. She kept changing the subject...she just didn't want to talk about it. I told her right then I'd do it too, and I really wanted her to want me to, but she didn't. The next day after she'd gotten a little more used to it we put hats on Minnie and Daisy and I asked again, "Are you ready for me to cut my hair off now too?" and she said, "Yes and wear a hat like me!". I was so relieved and so happy she wanted me to. Silly as it seems, I felt guilty having hair after I had to shave hers off. I needed to do it for her, and I needed to do it for me.  

I thought I'd have the same reaction about going bald, but after the night we'd had with hers, I was just so happy and excited to go bald. After weeks of saying she wouldn't take a picture she wanted to jump in the picture with me because she said she looks beautiful in her hat. Which, of course she does! She doesn't like seeing my bald head or hers, but she likes that we wear hats together and that we are in this together. We are told that hair can start to grow back when the chemo meds get milder, or may not grow back until three to ten months after treatment ends.

We have been getting to skype with precious Essie-Pooh and have some face time. Silly face time! She pulls on the sides of her mouth and sticks her tongue out at us. She's so cute and precious! Her "GiGi" sends us pictures of her in pretty clothes and having fun. We miss her dearly. We wrote her a letter through the mail yesterday so we hope that gets to her ok and that she has fun with the stickers we sent. We're just getting through one day at a time

I still forgot the P.O. Box, but I will get to it soon. I did write a help page with prayer targets, a donation button, and an explanation of what we use funds for. Thanks to those who have asked me about it, it means so much to us that people care. God bless,

Laura