Relay for Life - this Saturday

Good morning.

Ok, we made it to hump day... the weekend is on the horizon! I haven't had much to share this week. I've been crafting like crazy with Paper Niche's April kit. It's amazing and keeping me SUPER busy!! I can't share my goodies just yet though, stay tuned!

Any weekend plans? I'm walking in the Relay for Life this weekend, here in Cooper City, Florida. My office formed a team and so, myself and 3 of my coworkers - including my mom - are all doing our part and "walking for a cure".
I've never participated in a Relay for Life before, so this will be a new experience for me. It starts Saturday @ 12:00pm and ands at 8:00am on Sunday. I'm borrowing a 6 people tent from a friend and we'll all be camping out and walking our tushes off. I'm also really excited to be bringing my son. I think it'll be a great experience for him! To see his Nana walking in the Survivor line. To cheer her (and all the other survivors) on. I think it's a really good thing for him to be there. Plus, in our family - it's probably the only "camping" he'll ever do ;).

I don't usually wander too far into my personal dramady (get it... drama/comedy) that is my life, here on my blog. Besides the random, everyday family stuff, I mainly focus on crafting here - it is my crafty place - after all. But I have mentioned on my blog before, my mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 Adenocarcinoma in her lungs back in July (2010). July 23rd, to be exact. Three days after my little one's 2nd birthday. Not the best day. Lots of tears and prayers since. The strengthening of our faith muscles started working out that day. I though they were strong, but we hadn't really tested them too awful much - now that I think about it. This kinda burst in and pushed us down a little bit. But my mom's one strong lady - you don't knock her down without a fight.

Last week, she had new scans. The results are not exactly what I had hoped for. So this pill isn't the miracle cure. That's OK. We know God's in charge. Honestly, I feel like the little neighbor kid in “The Incredibles”. He’s staring up at Mr. Incredible, and he says (to the kid) “What are you waiting for?!?” and kid answers “I DONO, SOMETHIN' AMAZIN' TO HAPPEN!!”. Yep, I’m waiting on something amazing to happen.

She'll start a new kind of Chemo next week and we're just going to continue to put our faith in God and know that he has a {PERFECT} plan. For her, me and everyone. She still has no signs of her cancer. She's been very sick - only from the Chemo. Started loosing her hair back in January (due to radiation she had to get because of a spot they found on her brain over the course of treatment). At first, the hair loss didn't really bother her. Until it started coming out more and more. Coming out in clumps. The loss of control was too much.

She read on the American Cancer Society's website that sometimes it helps people to take matters into their own hands and shave their heads themselves - helps with the lack of control. Gives them back the power. She decided to shave it - I did it for her. Here are some pics:
So, this is my mom before we found out about her Cancer (June 2010):

This is the day we shaved her (January 2011)
The before:


The after:

She's a trooper, because right after that, she took my son & niece to sell girl scout cookies in the neighborhood:

Then we all tried on her wig... for fun... lightened up the mood:
Here's Sal, my hubby - always the comedian:


My niece Paige:

My little Christian (the future wife is gunna LOVE this huh?!?):

And my little Lulu:

I just can't stop laughing when I see these pics!! Sal cracks me up!!! Also, Christian... I think he's really working that wig!! In case you're wondering why there's not a picture of me in here, it's because I looked REDONKULOUS in it... but also my camera's batteries died right at that moment {just in the nick of time, if you ask me}. I thought I actually broke the camera with how crazy I looked in it - alas, I did not.

So, wish me luck. I plan on walking/staying up all night. I'm hoping that my Black Friday shopping excursion fully prepared me for this adventure! I'm also hoping I'm not the fat girl they have to have air lifted out of there for, like, heat exhaustion, or something. Drink lots of water - check! All joking aside, I'm really excited. I'm sure I'll also be super emotional. What a year! I never imagined my mom would get cancer. She's always been so healthy. And she still is. If she didn't get kidney stones (and have a CT scan to check them out) we probably STILL wouldn't even know she was "sick". She has no symptoms. It's only the Chemo that's kicking her butt. Everything happens for a reason. I can tell you, it's been quite an experiance. Before I forget, if you'd like to donate to our team, here is the link to our team's page. You can read our stories there as well as get info on the event.

Lastly, Paige (WHO WILL BE 10 TOMORROW - YAY!!) drew this picture of herself & my mom. In it, my mom is wearing the knitted cap the ladies at the VA made for her :). This is what she wears around the house (the wig is itchy).
I love that little girl. And I love my mom. I hope to have her around for MANY years to come.

I just thought I'd share that with you today, just a little snippet from my everyday. Thanks for listening ;). My blog readers are simply the best, I'm so grateful to "know" you all!! I hope you have a great day - and a great weekend, just in case I don't get to post anymore craftiness this week :). Next week will be full of crafty goodness though :D.