Relay for Life...

Thanks to CANCER, so many kids will never see this many candles on their cake. I feel blessed to have three healthy kids but that feeling felt selfish as my dear friend Mimi was losing her four year old Julian to a horrible monster called, Medulloblastoma or brain cancer. Julian passed away in January of 2008 and the impact this sweet angel had on thousands of people around the world was divine! He changed lives! His faith and his strength was that of a superhero! That is why I walk in RELAY for LIFE...it is why I support CUREsearch...it is why my buckets of change end up in the slot for the Ronald McDonald House in the McDonald's drive-thru. This year I am walking with a group of wonderful people from my church. We are walking for our captain Becky who lost a dear friend, a newlywed named Meredith. Meredith lost her battle with cancer last year, she was in her early 20's. Even though my team shirts say Meredith's Miracle, my heart walks for all the babies, toddlers and precious kiddos that will fight this year. No child should have to go through what these kids go through. If you have never known a family dealing with childhood cancer, you have not known HELL! Visit the following carepages to get to know some families who will amaze and inspire you to change the world. Go to carepages.com and register..it's free and you won't get any spam. Then click on visit and type in the following heroes names (no spaces, all one word)... JuliansWorld passed away at 4 ColemanScott passed away at 5 (left his twin brother) SuperBay has been fighting for over 3 years and is finally off chemo! (You can also search my blog for the names Julian, Coleman and Bailey and see posts about them) These families are very close to my heart - like family. I ask you now to donate ANY amount you can afford to this cause. There are kids lives LITERALLY hanging in the balance. Please. Go to MY RELAY PAGE and pledge - even $1 - anything will help! Thank you and may God bless you for your generosity and your prayers for these families. ALL donors on my RELAY site will be entered to win some AWESOME prizes, jewelry, art, etc! Peace.

Goodbye Coleman...

At 10:45 last night, one of my favorite little men on the planet went to join his Cancer friends helping Jesus hold the babies. COLEMAN SCOTT LARSON was 5 but he touched more lives with his faith than most of us ever will in our lifetime. He is a true hero.

I have no doubt he is in Heaven making all the kids giggle, for Heaven's sake!

(this is my favorite Larson episode!) The Larson Team could really use your prayers! Caden is having a rough time. Coleman's celebration is on Saturday. Scott and Peggy are asking that those who want to send their love do so not in flowers but in donations to: The Hospice House of Fort Dodge, Iowa The Ronald McDonald House of Iowa City or curesearch.org Dear Heavenly Father, We can't pretend to know WHY. We can't fathom the pain the Larson's are feeling. But we know the plans you have for Coleman are far more amazing than what we can see here on earth. Our faith lies in trusting that you are the Almighty decision maker. Our faith lies in knowing these children who battle cancer do not battle in vain. Our faith lies in knowing here is a bigger picture, one we can't see. Lord, I ask that you cover the Larson family in a peace that surpasses all understanding. I pray that Caden holds onto the bond he has with Coleman and I pray he can feel him everywhere. And I pray for a cure for this beast we have come to know all too well. Bless the babies who still fight and give our hugs to those who have joined you in the clouds. In your Holy name, Amen

A CALL FOR COLEMAN...

If you are new to my blog...meet Coleman and Caden! Twins! Partners in Crime! Coleman is fighting a beast called Medulloblastoma - brain cancer! He will be 5 December 5th and has been fighting this beast for literally HALF OF HIS LITTLE LIFE! My good friend Mimi and I have made it our mission to pull out all the stops and give these boys the BES TWISMAS EH-VA! So, because Coleman makes such a CUTE REINDEER... Mimi likes to call this... RUDOLPH'S ROUND UP! Take it away, Mimi! "RUDOLPH'S ROUNDUP prizes are coming in steady. I got candles in today , they are 3 wick candles in a glass container shaped like Texas ! They are beautiful ... (not just cuz they are Texas shaped , well...), I will be getting some Cure Search stuff, a team Unite sweatshirt. I am also designing new Coleman and Caden TeeShirts. That will be a surprise for later..." For now it is time to get busy: I DECLARE RUDOLPH'S ROUNDUP OPEN . One entry: $5 or three entries: $10. (Maximum 3 entries , BUT donations for more welcome )The $$$ will go exclusively to TEAM LARSON (100%), please be generous, we want their holiday season to be as amazing as possible... You can either mail in the money for your entries and/or donations. Mimi Avery 111 Aviator Dr Fort Worth , TX 76179 Or paypal them at mimiavery74@msn.com If your heart is willing, please include a short(or not) note for The Larsons . Even if you paypal ,I will print the notes out for them . If you didnt quite get it, if you have questions, suggestions email me at myriamtx@yahoo.com To get to know TEAM LARSON, head over to www.carepages.com and register (it's free and takes 2 seonds) then type in ColemanScott (all one word) and start reading. This little man is AMAZING! You will fall in love. If you know of anyone who would be willing to give a donation to this cause, please feel free to post a link to me on your blog or FWD a link to your address book! We made a miracle happen last Christmas for Mimi's son Julian...let's see if we can do it again!

RUDOLPH'S ROUND-UP!

You are all the most incredible people on the planet! Why isn't the news filled with more of this kind of story? If the world is filled with so many selfless loving people, why is the news loaded with the CRAP people do? You all need to be on the news!

But you all need to stop patting ME on the back! That is just ridiculous. You all stepped up to the plate and almost before you finished reading my post!

I PAT YOU ALL ON THE BACK!

So, you are all patiently waiting for the announcement of PLAN B!

PLAN B has been affectionately named...

RUDOLPH'S ROUND-UP!

I am going to let Mimi hi-jack my blog and tell you all about it! I wish you could HEAR her, she has a cute Texas-French accent! LOL!

Take it away, Meems!

"Well, I want to do a "Cyber Raffle " this time , with one big prize which would include a couple of Juju things , a couple of wristbands , maybe a cancer sucks shirt ( I will figure it all out) then a couple of smaller prizes. I could sell "tickets " thru paypal or $$ in snailmail , like one for $5 and 3 for $10 . Then on a set date do the drawings online , make a video of the boys drawing the winning names. This should raise more money . And it will be for Team Larson. Call it "RUDOLPH'S ROUND-UP!" I dunno... The kids have so many toys (Peggy's and mine!!) that I thought we can still be part of their Xmas and raise enough money for them to maybe go see a show or get a nice meal delivered to their home... Just ideas...Oh and if anyone would be interested in donating a couple of prizes it would be awesome!"

So, there you go! So far she has some great prizes donated:

Creative Memories Fall Kit

Inspirational Necklace

Lap Quilt

Child's Cancer Bracelet

NAMESAKES of COURSE!

Earrings

Cookbooks

Photographs

Fresh water pearl bracelet

and much much more!!

If you would like to donate a prize for RUDOLPH'S ROUND-UP please email Mimi @ myriamtx@yahoo.com

She is hoping to have all the prizes mailed to her so she can distribute them as the winners are chosen! Easy for YOU! Just mail it to Mimi and you are DONE! Easy enough, right!

I feel so honored to be associated with so many AMAZING people! YAY ME!

The main thing I ask is that everynight when your head hits your pillow you pray for sweet Coleman and the Larson family! EVERY night! PLEASE!

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I am off to meet Kate in the morning! Will have pictures for you tomorrow! Will be giving her 8 NAMESAKES for her kiddos! I hope she likes them! Dawn and Mimi have told me that they have bail money scraped together incase Kate calls security on a CRAZED CRAFTY WOMAN wearing a "Kate's MY BFF" T-shirt approaches her with a large gift bag! Relax girls! I am going to be sweaty calm and fidgetting collected!

Until tomorrow! Goodnight AMAZING PEEPS!

Do you want the good news or the bad news?

THE BAD NEWS: The Director of Public Relations from JOHN DEERE emailed me today with this response: Thank you for taking the time to contact John Deere. Although it is always difficult to learn about the struggles of a young person with serious illness, we were encouraged by the information available describing the strong spirit of Coleman Larson. Deere provides millions of dollars annually through corporate donations and the John Deere Foundation to non-profit organizations that address world hunger, community betterment and education. Each year, John Deere is asked by hundreds of worthy organizations and individuals to help their cause. While it is clear that nearly each request is worthy, we must decline many of the opportunities. Our charitable-giving guidelines do not allow donations to individuals or to organizations in honor of an individual. In addition, our guidelines do not provide financial support to health care research. Through our considerable tax contributions annually, we believe we help support significant government-funded medical research that someday might find a cure for cancer and other deadly diseases. We appreciate the well-intended effort to initiate company support for this family and we hope you understand how our guidelines simply do not allow Deere to assist in this way. We encourage you to help where you can and we will remain hopeful for a positive outcome. I know, I know. You just threw your keyboard across the room and you are pacing and mumbling in a tone that makes your family members back away. ....KEEP READING.... Let's just re-group. Put on a new attitude and move on. There is something out there that can be done for TEAM LARSON! I have always said, "Out of every negative comes a positive." We may not always SEE it right away but at some point you can almost always look back and say, "Ooohhhhh, that's why..." So, JOHN DEERE saying no just means we had to get them out of the way so the REAL idea/event/inspiration can get to us quicker! And Mimi is already in the planning stages of Plan B! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT send emails to JOHN DEERE telling them ....well, saying the words you are thinking right now...let's be growED ups :) and move on...FOR COLEMAN! THE GOOD NEWS: Curt McCormick from WWW.CURESEARCH.COM contacted me also today! He was very excited about what we are trying to do and will be doing what he can to point us in the right direction when we DO (I said WHEN, not IF) find a company that will support Childhood Cancer and donate in COLEMAN'S name! Check out the CURESEARCH blog tomorrow - I think you will like what you see. This was Curt's email: Michelle, What a great idea! This is Curt McCormick from CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation. I saw this on Google alerts, and just had to write in.I'd like to feature your blog today on our CureSearch blog. I hope this helps you with the John Deere initiative, and helps direct more people to sites like yours, which are so innovative and thoughtful regarding curing childhood cancer.You can check out the CureSearch site at http://curesearchnccf.blogspot.com/...and PLEASE KNOW what an inspiration you are to us. Folks in the childhood cancer community are so wonderful. We know who we work for at CureSearch, for you and for all these kids!Congratulations and good luck with your idea. Email me offline if you want to talk more. Best regards, Curt McCormick So, let's keep plugging away! Let's keep smiling! And don't stop PRAYING...FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!

Let's see what JOHN DEERE can do!

**(scroll down and read previous post about TEAM LARSON if you haven't visited in a couple days! They need you now more than ever!)

Alright readers...here is the plan, after speaking with Lori H (one of my readers), Christina M (a friend from church) and Mimi, like SHE needs an introduction (carepage: JuliansWorld) :) we have collectively agreed that although it would be great to bombard TEAM LARSON with oodles and oodles of John Deere merchandise for Christmas, what would make the biggest impact would be this:

LET'S SEE IF JOHN DEERE WILL CONSIDER MAKING A LARGE (like their combines-large) DONATION TO WWW.CURESEARCH.ORG in COLEMAN'S NAME!

FOLLOW THIS LINK and make your voice heard, for Coleman! DO IT NOW! Go tell them how Coleman has touched your life, tell them how you cry for him, tell them how they can help by donating to WWW.CURESEARCH.ORG in his name. Leave the carepage.com link and ColemanScott page name for them to read about him! Then, leave a comment here that you "did the duty" and we will keep track of how many of you pitched in for Coleman!! Now.....FORWARD THIS to everyone you know!! Let's see if we can crash their site! (just kidding) Let's just strive for filling their mailbox! :) Thanks and may you be DOUBLY BLESSED for all you do in spreading the word! Above all PLEASE PRAY FOR TEAM LARSON! WE LOVE YOU TEAM LARSON!

Something BIG for Coleman...

Don't click on anything else on the internet until you read about my precious little friend, Coleman Larson. And, if you have ANY connections to the "powers that be" at John Deere, I emplore you to contact them and see what they can do. PRAY! PLEASE! We all have one BIG contact in Heaven...call on Him. Pray for a miracle! If you do NOTHING else...just pray! Coleman Larson is 4, he will be 5 in early December. His twin Caden has been a trooper for the last 2 1/2 years that Coleman has been fighting a beast known as Medulloblastoma... BRAIN CANCER! Together they are TEAM LARSON! Coleman has endurred brain surgery, chemo, radiation, CT scans by the dozen, MRIs that he no longer has to be sedated for...he is a pro, multiple lines, port-a-caths, a stem cell harvest and transplant and two relapses. His fight is getting harder and there are less and less options for him. How can a doctor look into these eyes and say, "We are out of options."?

I am on a personal mission to bring the BIGGEST SMILE ever to this little face. His beautiful Mama, Peggy, gets some HUGE smiles out of him and so does his Daddy, Scott, and brother, Caden...but if we all come together and see what we can do...I think we can beat them all!

Coleman and his family are in IOWA. But they are "regulars" at the Ronald McDonald house in NYC. I need YOU, those of you who kept reading even though tears are streaming down your face, to help me come up with an idea, give me a connection to make this Christmas one Coleman and Caden will never forget! THE BESTEST EV-A! Cause if TEAM LARSON has taught me ANYTHING it's to NE-VA DIV UP!

Coleman and Caden will tell you exactly what they think of Cancer if you ask.

I did.

This is what they said:

Coleman explains, “It’s hard to be hooked up to a pole all day when it’s a sun-shiny day, ann be in your hos-pita woom all day when yoa don’t wanna be there ann wish ya tould be outside in-said, but NO, ya tan’t. I wish that no more tids would det tancer, tuz it's tewwible to haffa do all-a the suff what ya dotta do. If no more tids dot it, then we tould all yust be no-mal wif no more pokes."

Coleman’s twin Caden chimed in and gave his two cents, “Cancer is the worse day of my wife (life) because you don’t getta pway wif your brudder when ya weally want to. Sometimes the hospital is fun …if ya aren’t froe-in up wike Coleman does sometimes. I wish that no tids ever det tancer, so they tan haff fun all-a their days until they be daddies."

WON'T YOU HELP ME DO SOMETHING?! PLEASE?! DON'T TURN AWAY.

LEAVE YOUR IDEAS, CONTACT ME, FORWARD THIS LINK TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. COLEMAN NEEDS YOU NOW! Thanks for hangin' in there and loving Coleman already!

For more info on Coleman Larson and his family, go to http://www.carepages.com/ and register (it's FREE and takes seconds). Click on Visit and type in ColemanScott (all one word). Be prepared to fall in love. This is ONE AMAZING FAMILY!!!!!

I'd like to thank the Academy!

Dear sweet Rachel over at Once Upon A Miracle gave me this award! Yay! I am so excited! You can tell by my sidebar that I LOVE blog awards! I almost have 10! I feel so loved! I will keep the list growing as long as I get them! A SCRIBBLER AWARD is a big deal for me because I scribble both in word and sketch! I have been working feverishly on NAMESAKES for the Gosselin 8! I feel so honored to be able to give them a piece of ME! I finished Kate's book and I think she is even more AMAZING now that I have a peek inside her heart and not just a peek into the chaos they show on TV. Can't wait to personally hand her the NAMESAKES for Cara, Mady, Collin, Leah, Joel, Hanna, Aaden and Alexis! I hope they like them! These NAMESAKE recipients loved theirs... and I couldn't be happier!!! Once again HONORED to give them a piece of my HEART! If you haven't had the HONOR of meeting TEAM LARSON, please head over to http://carepages.com/, register (it's free and takes, like, 2 seconds!) Click on Visit and type in ColemanScott (all one word). He will be your new boyfriend! Promise to pray for his healing! OK...I am off to re-do the Gosselin NAMESAKE that took me 4 hours to do yesterday...it just wasn't right....but I think I got in now! Trying to finish 4 a day! Wishful thinking, right? I need some cheerleaders, please! ;) Oh, I pass the Scribbler Award onto: Kim @ Bugs & Bunnies because she is an AMAZING writer in the same stage of this "Getting Published" Game as I am! Peter @ Stellar Cafe because he is an AMAZING author/illustrator and great friend! One of my biggest CHEERLEADERS (only he doesn't wear a skirt! LOL!)! Dawn @ Because I Said So because she is an AMAZING friend and another of my biggest CHEERLEADERS (and she's dang cute in a skirt!) and...and...and...she received her BOOK in the mail yesterday and has been giggling ever since!! Go over and check her out...pre-order your book! It's gonna be a GOOD ONE!!!

The Larson's NEED YOU!

Please go to carepages.com and visit ColemanScott. He and his family got devestating news yesterday regarding Coleman's cancer. PLEASE let them know you are praying for them, leave them a message. I cannot imagine hearing the words, "it's back!" after what they have been through. NO CHILD (or their families) SHOULD HAVE TO ENDURE THE HELL THAT CANCER IS! If you don't know Coleman, give yourself a treat. He is absolutely PRECIOUS! as is his twin Caden. Please watch this next video made by his mom, Peggy, listen to the words, cry and make it your mission to do SOMETHING for a kid with cancer, something for research, sign the Childhood Cancer Petition, SOMETHING! I am sick to my stomach! HELP!