Fall Traditions

Three of the four members of my family love fall. Bill loves the cooler weather (and of course, football), both girls love playing in the leaves, eating fresh apples and pumpkin muffins, etc. I like some of those things too, but knowing that the cold winter weather is just around the corner makes me not really LOVE fall like the other three do. I could do without the rain, cold blustery wind, and the bare trees. I do, however, like Halloween and Thanksgiving, pumpkin flavored everything, and football. Most of all, I look forward to some of the traditions fall brings to our house.

In the past we've always visited the local pumpkin patch, and the haunted house at the Children's Museum, but this year we tried some new activities we hadn't yet experienced in our town before - apple picking and Zoo Boo at the Indianapolis Zoo. While I missed going to our favorite fall festival and picking pumpkins, I liked that we did something new and different, and am hoping we can add these activities to our yearly traditions. And who knows, maybe we will change it up a little bit and find a new activity or two every year.

What are your fall traditions?

Baby Reef

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month, and as a way to help raise awareness, I wanted to share a story of at least one child affected by this horrible disease. I've written before about my friend's child, Braeden, who recently passed away from Neuroblastoma. Now I want to introduce you to Baby Reef, a baby with Acute Lymphoblastic (sometimes known as Lymphocytic) Leukemia, which is a cancer of the white blood cells.

I could tell you what I know, but I thought it would be best if someone close to Reef told his story in their own words. Here is what Reef's grandmother wrote, in her own words:

"Baby Reef was diagnosed with ALL at the age of 5 months. A seemingly normal, healthy baby, who, at his 6 monthly checkup was diagnosed and sent immediately to the pediatric oncology unit. I cannot begin to explain the complete and utter devastation to our family. Reef is our only grandchild and a joy to anyone who has met him. He has smiled his way through 7 months of grueling chemotherapy and now, at the age of 11 months is in total isolation having his bone marrow killed off in readiness for a bone marrow transplant (this took place on 8th September, 2009).

This precious little baby has been through renal failure and dialysis, seizures, infections, port insertion and now Hickman and central line insertion. He has been admitted to I.C.U. three times in his short life and this has been the worst emotional roller coaster any family could go through.

All the brave little cancer victims we have made contact with through the many hospitals Reef has been in have touched our very souls. All the parents having the same expression of hope, misery, hurt and expectation in their eyes, all understanding just what the other is going through.

Please pray for this little angel."

I also wanted to share the letter Reef's Uncle and Godfather wrote about him:

“Faith in the face of adversity” was the first thing I had inked into my flesh. It popped into my head, whilst doodling. And I thought nothing of it but I knew I needed to make it a part of myself. I don’t think I had fully appreciated the full extent of the commitment I was making to myself, to God, to you.

I stand here on the precipice of tragedy clinging to hope, holding strong to my faith.

Nothing has touched my soul more then the feeling of holding you in my arms and seeing you smile at me. It is something etched into the core of my being.

But the words that crept from behind a pair of tight cold lips, one normal Friday afternoon in a badly lit hospital ward, have forever changed me. 33 days ago I was locked out of your life with only images of you smiling at me behind the glass of my cell phone. Days ran into days, and as they did the images I received transformed, as one by one the pipes and tubes were removed to reveal the child I saw enter that isolated dark place.

A week ago, I got to hold you. You smile at me. You laugh and hide your head under that little blanket, pulling it off, smiling thumping your feet, but there is lead that runs through my veins and into my already heavy heart. That behind that beautiful smile rests something I cant fix, something I cant change.

I can’t let them see I am affected. I am told I need to be strong. The sound of your mobile brings me to my knees. The soft chimes echo in my head coupled with the thought of my big brother singing happy birthday to a boy I love, as he turns 6 months old, behind the closed door of a ward. You are wheeled off to have marrow extracted from your already scarred tiny body. One day when the other children ask you where you got the marks from, they won’t know what it took to get there.

This is not the end, I wish I could put my hand on you tell you the pain will stop, that all will be ok. But I cant. The road is long and you have taught me so much without being able to say a word.

As i write this i know, remission is only the beginning, you are almost there if not there already. But it means the doors will close again and I will see you through the glass of my phone for years to come. Will you remember me when this is done? Will I be a person you would want to know? Will you still smile? I don’t know if I will be able to keep the promise I made you when that needle cut the commitment into my skin but I know now that when I did it, I did it for you, even though you were not yet with me.

Reef I Love You. I will see you again a long time from now, not as just a beautiful face behind a tiny piece of glass. I will be able to give you my hand and I will show you all you could not see from the room you will have spent so many days in and that is one promise I will keep."


There are so many other children like Reef and Braeden. 36 more kids will be diagnosed with cancer today, 36 more tomorrow...and the next day, and the next, and the next. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.


**If you want an easy way to help, go to Chili's Bar and Grill today, September 28, for lunch, dinner or even just a snack. 100% of the profits will go to St. Jude's Children's Hospital to help fun childhood cancer research.****

Get Your Gold On

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and today, September 12, 2009, is Childhood Cancer Awareness Day. I wanted to have a post written and up this morning, but life is just crazy busy right now and this is the first chance I've had to sit down and write anything.

If you've read my blog before, you already know that cancer is one of my biggest causes, especially when it comes to children. You also probably know that one of my closest friends from childhood recently lost her 3 year old son to Neuroblastoma. This is a friend I just reconnected with last October, just about two weeks after I wrote a post about Childhood Cancer Awareness month. I thought it only appropriate to repost it today, updating it with some current information and some pictures. I didn't include any pictures when I wrote that blog, because I didn't personally know anyone who had a child with cancer. Sadly, that is no longer true.

Here is what I wrote last September:

*****
Last week I posted some thoughts about cancer, just after watching the Stand up 2 Cancer special on t.v. When I posted my thoughts, I didn't realize that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Since so much attention is often given to adults with cancer, I feel it is important that we not forget there are children fighting this disease as well.

Here are some childhood cancer statistics:

• On the average 12,500 children and teens will be diagnosed with some form of cancer each year in this country.
• Each school day, 36 children are diagnosed with cancer.
• One in 330 children will develop cancer by age 20.
• Although the 5 year survival rate is steadily increasing, one quarter of children will die 5 years from the time of diagnosis.
• Cancer remains the #1 disease killer of America's children - more than cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, asthma and AIDS combined.
• In the U.S. almost 3,000 children do not survive cancer each year.
• Over the past two decades, only ONE new cancer drug has been approved for pediatric use.
• Currently there are between 30-40,000 children undergoing cancer treatment in the U.S.
• As a nation, we spend over $14 BILLION per year on the space program, but only $35 MILLION on childhood cancer Research each year.
• There are 15 children diagnosed with cancer for every one child diagnosed with pediatric AIDS. Yet, the U.S. invests approximately $595,000 for research per victim of pediatric AIDS and only $20,000 for each victim of childhood cancer.
• Research funds are scarce as most money is diverted to well-publicized adult forms of cancer, such as breast and prostate.
• Right now, this second, somewhere in America, there are 7 children fighting for their lives who won't live through the day.

Updated for 2009:

There is a great way for people to get involved that don't otherwise know how to help. On September 28, Chili's Grill and Bar is donating 100% of their sales to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Take a night off from cooking and cleaning dishes and go to Chili's for dinner. You will be helping a great cause and getting a good meal too!

You can also visit Chili's any day during September and can contribute to St. Jude in multiple ways:

• Make a donation to St. Jude and receive a Create-A-Pepper chili pepper coloring sheet. Decorated sheets will be displayed in restaurants nationwide throughout September.
• Purchase Create-A-Pepper T-shirts that can be customized with permanent marker.
• Buy a customized Create-A-Pepper key that can be cut for use at home or the office..
• Visit www.createapepper.com to make an online donation.

******
There are so many other ways you can help. Give up a little bit of your lunch money and donate to Lunch for Life, which raises money for the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation. Help to spread cheer by volunteering at a local children's hospital. Prepare meals or help provide childcare for families who have children in the hospital or sick at home. Donate blood or bone marrow. Or just simply take the time to help raise awareness. For starters, get your gold on this month. If you don't own any gold clothing, go to your local fabric store and buy some gold ribbon. Spread the word on Twitter or Facebook. Write about cancer on your blog. Just taking the time to do something so simple can help more than you can possibly know. DO IT.

I am hoping to share some stories about children with cancer this month to help raise awareness and put a face to this horrible disease. I already have a couple of stories in the works. If you know anyone who would like to share their story, please send me an email. I am more than willing to talk about these cancer warriors and give them the spotlight they deserve. I only wish I could do more.

**Other sites to visit:

www.nbhope.org
www.superbub.org
www.curesearch.org
www.teamunite.net

Meanies

Photo by Derek Jensen (Tysto), 2004-September-11

For years I've sheltered my girls from seeing the news, typically because there is just one bad story after another. I didn't want them to know that the world wasn't all unicorns and princesses, and that life generally isn't a fairy tale. However, they are becoming old enough to know better, that the world isn't always so nice.

My need to shelter them from the news started when I had the TV on during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Kiki was four and had been playing in the next room. I didn't think much of what was on TV because after all, they were just talking about weather, and she never seemed to pay attention when the news was on anyway. Kiki had been singing and playing and then all of the sudden she was quiet. When a normally not so quiet child becomes quiet, that usually means trouble, so I looked over to see what she was doing. She had walked into the family room and was standing just staring at the TV. Before I could turn the TV off or do anything, she asked "why are people standing on their houses, Mommy?" I found the remote and quickly turned it off, and told her not to worry about it, that it was just a TV show. She wasn't buying it. "Mommy, what's a hurricane? Can a hurricane come to our house? Are we going to lose our house too?" Obviously she picked up on more than I had realized. All of that time she was playing and singing she was also listening.

I decided then that I would never have the news on in the house when the girls were awake. To me it just wasn't worth the risk. However, I knew that I couldn't do this forever, that eventually they would go to school and would hear other kids talking about events on the news. So I've slowly and selectively allowed them to see some news stories I thought they could handle, with me sitting with them and explaining it to them. There is only one topic I've completely avoided: September 11, 2001.

I have really grappled with how to explain this day to them. First of all, on September 11, you can't really turn the news on without media showing the images over and over (and over and over and over), and that is definitely something I am not sure I want them to see just yet. But I know they are going to hear about it eventually, and it could very well be on the school bus. I know the school celebrates Patriot Day and the children are encouraged to wear red, white and blue that day. Last year I know they were not told the purpose behind Patriot Day; Boo was just a Kindergartener, and Kiki was in second grade. I asked the teachers and found the kids were not told anything about 9-11 specifically, but that the focus was more on celebrating our country's heroes - police officers, fire fighters, rescue workers, and of course, our soldiers. The girls decorated flags, sang patriotic songs, etc., but not much else.

I know the time is coming though, especially for Kiki, who is now in third grade. If I don't tell her about it, she is going to learn about it on the school bus, the playground or in the cafeteria. Or it may be that she learns about it from her teacher, which would be better than hearing about it from another child. I know her teacher would tell about the events less dramatically, and much more factually, than a nine year old child. I worry some, because Kiki tends to internalize these types of things. She often shows empathy and even cries when she hears about people who suffer. She thinks about stuff like this for days, and wants to know as much detail about it as we will tell her. I also know that she would worry this type of thing could happen again.

How do you tell your children about something like this? Eventually all children know that there are "bad guys." This is evident whenever you visit any playground and spend some time watching children playing games like cops and robbers. Our girls know first hand about some of those "bad guys" since some of those very types of hooligans broke into their cousins' house and stole their electronic toys and Halloween candy. I've warned them about the dangers of strangers and how important it is to stick close to Mommy and Daddy when out in public. They even know the sadness of stuff like kids who are sick and even sometimes die from cancer.

But how do you explain the events of September 11, 2001? How do you tell them there are people so mean in our world that they wanted to kill thousands of people in one day? That they wanted to blow up buildings and airplanes, and take away lots of mommies and daddies, all because they hate us so much? I can't even begin to think of how to tell them.

I do know I want to tell them the gentlest way I can, and focus more on the heroism of that day, than the horror. Teach them that we should always honor and respect our soldiers, police officers, firefighters, rescue workers, and everyone else who puts themselves before others. After all, isn't that what we should all remember about this day? That in the face of adversity, our country stood UNITED and refused to let the meanies win.

Jumpstart Virtual World

The kind people at Knowledge Adventure recently offered me a free membership, and asked me to try out and review JumpStart's 3D Virtual World for kids. I have used JumpStart products in the past, both as a teacher and a parent, and always have been impressed with their games, which reinforce and teach skills that children are learning at school, yet are fun to play. From their website: "JumpStart is an award-winning adventure-based 3D virtual world that is super-personalized, wildly imaginative and really fun, but don't let that fool you - it also teaches math, reading, and critical thinking skills so kids get a real jump start in life."

My girls have never been big computer or video game users, so I was curious to see how they would like the JumpStart website. We've owned a few of the popular gaming systems, yet they just don't ask to play any of them that often. They'd much prefer to play with their toys. However, after spending just a few minutes on JumpStart, they were hooked.

Boo played first and loved that she could create her own "Jumpee," (avatar) character, picking out everything from hair color to clothing and choosing a name. She spent quite a long time doing this, wanting her Jumpee to look just like herself. Instead of going off and doing something else, her older sister Kiki was right there next to her watching, and helping her as she needed it.

After Boo created her Jumpee, she immediately went off exploring. There are many areas to explore, including two virtual worlds, "Storyland" (ages 3-5) and "Adventureland" (ages 6-8). I started Boo off in Storyland, even though she is 6, since this was her first time playing. She doesn't play computer games that often and I wanted her to feel comfortable and get used to the game first before having more challenging activities thrown at her. I like the ease of navigation in this software. In Storyland, for example, the child can just use the mouse instead of navigating a keyboard to find her way around.

Kiki started off in Adventureland first, and had no problems at all figuring it out. Like Storyland, the child is first prompted to create a Jumpee character. Since it is geared towards older children, the challenges are a bit harder, and the keyboard and mouse are both needed to navigate the world. There is also more reading involved, and of course the learning games are a bit harder.

I really like the way JumpStart caters to different age groups. Storyland is very simple for kids to explore, yet challenging enough to keep their interest. I also like that they get oral instructions and can ask for help, just by clicking on a question mark symbol in the corner of the screen, as frequently as they need it. They also have tasks to complete and are rewarded with stars when they complete a task. When they finish one of the many learning games within their "land," they are rewarded with coins, which in turn they can spend on virtual clothing and objects for their Jumpee.

I also like that as the child completes tasks or "missions" the game gets a little harder, and keeps the child's interest. Because it is online, the game continues to change and be fun for kids to play, unlike CD games which often come to an end after a child completes all of the tasks.

The fun is just beginning, as JumpStart creators are continuing to add more to the site, including "Futureland," which will be geared toward kids in 3rd through 5th grade, and "Marineland," an extension of Adventureland. They also recently launched a multi-player feature, which allows the Jumpees to interact with each other and chat for even more fun. Because real names are never used, and the chat is "canned" (children pick from a menu of phrases, such as "Hello, how are you today?") this keeps the conversation safe and secure for your little ones. With all of these features to explore, I know my girls will never be bored again on a rainy day!

The wonderful people at Jumpstart.com have offered to give away a free 3-month membership (value of $24) to one lucky reader. Membership includes access into a members-only area, software downloads, and more!

To enter, go to Jumpstart.com and check out the free areas in the virtual world, and then come back here and leave a comment telling me what you/your child liked about it. You can also earn additional entries by tweeting about this contest/post using the hashtag #momexperience with a link to this post.

Contest is open to US residents, and ends at 11:59 EST Sunday, September 13, 2009. The winner will be contacted via email (so be sure to leave me a valid email address) within two days of the contest end. Good luck!

As of 9/14/09***This contest is now closed***

CONGRATS to DesignHERmomma for winning my first ever giveaway! Thanks to everyone who participated!

Our Fair Adventure

We have had children now for 8 1/2 years, yet we have never bothered to try to take them to the Indiana State Fair. When they were younger, I figured they wouldn't enjoy the heat and the crowds enough to take them. Stupid thinking on my part really, since the admission for kids 5 and younger is free.

Well, now they are old enough that they know about the fair, want to go to the fair, etc. Boo, especially, LOVES pigs and knows there are some to be found at the fair, so of course she wanted to go and I figured, why not? However, mother nature had other plans in mind for us, since the best weekend for us to go it was 90 degrees with about 87 percent humidity. Needless to say, the pool definitely won out when it came time to plan that weekend's activities.

Weekdays are not a great option either, since school has started already. Yeah, you heard me right, school started here August 11. Seriously. Who is the brain child that thought early August would be a great time to start school, when it is 90+ degrees out? I could write a whole blog post about that since it annoys me so much. Anywhooo. . . so we can't go during the week very easily now that the girls are back in school. However, since the local paper decided to be nice and publish free fair coupons this week, I figured we could go for a few hours after school one day.

Yesterday after school got out, we ate an early dinner and headed to the fair. I knew taking my pig obsessed daughter Boo to see the pig races was a must. We had enough time to explore some of the kid activities before the races started at 7:00. We saw people starting to gather about 6:40 so we found our way to a seat, just in time for it to start sprinkling. No big deal, right? After all, what are a few little sprinkles? Well, those sprinkles quickly turned into a torrential downpour and we had to abandon our front row seats to find shelter.

Boo of course was freaking out because she 1). hates storms and is terrified of thunder 2.) the weather was raining on her "pig parade" and she was afraid the races would be canceled. Mother nature decided to play nice this time, and the rain passed through quickly, just in time for the pig races to start. To say Boo was ecstatic is an understatement. That child was so happy she was speechless, and that NEVER happens.

The girls did enjoy the fair but I felt like we didn't have enough time to truly explore all it has to offer. We did see some of the kids stuff and of course toured the animal barns, but we only saw about half of what was there. And even though I enjoyed seeing the smiles on their faces, I was reminded I am not really a state fair kind of gal. So many people I know LOVE the fair with the animals, music, rides and greasy fried foods (chocolate covered bacon? Seriously?!). Me? Notsomuch. But I know for the girls' sake, we will be going back next year.

The girls "planting" their garden

Boo picks her potatoes

This tomato looks good

Not quite like the apple orchards we went to when I was a kid

Is this really where milk comes from?

Look what we earned from all of our work!

Proud of her purchase

"Why do you need a picture of me holding Froot Loops?"

Front and center for the pig races! (note the dark sky behind her)

Mother Nature's surprise

Awwww!

"Piggies!"

Kiki's favorite - bunnies!

Wordless Wednesday - Sprinkler Dog