I love being my kid's mom

They are awesome. They are funny, sweet, cuddley (with me at least), smart and so cute I could gobble them up! I love their squishy cheeks, both pairs ;) , their little piggy toes (even when they stink - actually it's kinda crazy cute that they stink sometimes - like they played so hard their feet sweated so much they are now stinky and their just little people feet. I know, I'm nuts.) I actually like it when they climb or walk all over me (kinda like a massage) even when they are laying on my head. Which that's bad because then they think they can do it to anyone.  I secretly feel awesome when they get hurt because I know they'll come running to me and only my kisses can make them feel better- of course I only feel awesome when it's not a big owie, I'm not that nuts. They think I'm the cat's pajamas. And I think they're the bee's knees. I love their little voices and funny way of saying things "peanut chubby samich" "apple tree" for apples - both those are Casey's.
Today I commented to Jeff on how I thought Ben was growing because he was so hungry today and his jammies were looking kinda short. Bennett said "Yeah because I want to know everything. I don't want to be a boy, I want to be big." Then he paused and said "But I'll still be yours." I died. There cannot be cuter kid out there.
The other day I over heard Jeff talking to Bennett, he asked why Benny asks so many questions. (Seriously Ben asks why after every explanation).  He said "because I want to know every thing."
And one day I heard him say to Jeff "When I see something delicious, I eat it."
His vocabulary surprises me daily. I need to write this stuff down so I'll remember it. If you ask him what he's saving his money for in his piggy bank it's to buy a sister. He calls her Sally.
Today he was jumping on the couch and Casel was sitting backwards on it and Bennett accidentally bounced him off and he smacked his head on the hardwood floor (which was like the 6th time he bonked his head today - the kid is fearless and klutzy, not a good mix) and Bennett looked at him and said "See Casey, that's why you don't jump on the couch." He did say sorry unprompted and give him a kiss. I love Bennett's sensitivity. He really wants to be a good boy. He was terrorizing Lucy one day and I told him he hurt her and that she's not like us, she can't tell us when we hurt her and that will make her afraid of him. He felt really bad, you could see the expression change on his face and he said "I want to give Lucy a hug" so he hugged her and said sorry.
We were visiting my mom's and made a craft of foam egg people. There were boy eggs and girl eggs (Easter craft my mom couldn't wait for Easter) and Bennett was playing with them and said "This one is in love with that one, she's his girlfriend and it makes him cry". And we asked why it makes him cry and he said "because he loves her so much." !!!! I didn't know my son knew anything about girlfriends and love. I figured it was because there's this book I read to him called Love You Forever about a mom who goes into her son's room as he grows and holds him after he falls asleep and rocks him and tells him how much she loves him and then he does that to her when she's old and dying and then he starts doing that to his daughter and I cry every time I read it to him and when he asks why I'm crying I tell him because I love him so much. (I never pick that book out to read, I only read it if he asks me to, seriously cry every time. )

Casey McBean is growing fast. Talking all the time. Here's some Casey translations for you:
"Queaze" - please
"Apple Tree"- apple
"peanut butter chubby samich"- pb&j sandwich
Woosy- Lucy
Thwoosty- thirsty (sounds a lot like Lucy)
Woosy bite you- Lucy bit me (it's because I tell him "Lucy will bite you..." when he plays too rough) and she never bites hard just playing
Muddah- he wants to read "Are you my Mother?"
What the HECK!- in my defense he may have gotten it from Toy Story 3, but probably not.
That's all my brain can think of right now. I find it interesting he calls me Mommy and Bennett calls me Mama.  I don't remember a time when Bennett called me Mommy. Once I commented to him something like "Ben you should say 'Gee Mom, thanks for...." trying to get him to be polite and he said no he didn't want to say that. I thought he was just being a stinker but he said he didn't want to say "mom" he wanted to say "mama".
I love this time in my life right now. I love my little family so much it hurts my heart because this time will go by fast and then one day a stinky teenage boy will come home from school, probably fight with his brother and ask to borrow the keys to the car so he can take his girlfriend on a date. I hope my boys always stay my pals.
 They are truly awesome. I am in awe of them, these little beings. I get to be their mommy. I am so blessed.

It Is Lame

That I've been slacking so much on posting to my blog.So an update on our fam:  I am fully recovered from my surgery. I had so much help from my mom, Jeff's parent's, my sisters in law, and my ward family. Thank you everyone for loving my little boys and taking care of them when I couldn't and for all the freezer meals, it helped immensely! I have the best ward, seriously. I hate to ask for help because I hate putting people out. But I didn't even have to ask! They just are so awesome.
Bennett is doing great in school. We went to a parent night at his school this week and I haven't seen him that excited in a long time. He was showing us everything- even the bathrooms :) He introduced Jeff and I and Casey to his teachers with out us even asking him to and introduced us to his friends Quinton, Zane, a boy who he forgot the name of, and his girlfriend. Yes. He has a girlfriend. Okay, okay, so he calls his friends that are boys his boyfriends too, he has no idea what any of that means. It was funny, the girl's family walked by us and Bennett yelled "That's my girlfriend!" (I guess he forgot her name too) but the mother of the little girl turned and laughed. It was so fun to see all his little crafts  he made hanging up on the walls.  His teacher says he's a great helper and takes his job as line leader very seriously. He loves going to school, he just gets right out of the car with out crying or anything (even has that smile on his face where he's trying not to smile because he's so excited). I'm so proud of my little man!
I've been trying to start my photography business again and I'm getting into Pampered Chef which I'm really excited about and doing Relay For Life stuff.
We've been redoing our back room. The carpet was just gross out there. FYI if you plan on getting a puppy, consider also getting pergo floors :) It was really bad to begin with though, the back door is in that room and mud just would get tracked in. So we are putting some laminate flooring down and I painted the walls a milk chocolate color. It looks so much better and the floor isn't even down yet! The floor will be dark walnut.  I'm trying to convince Jeff to let me do a faux board and batten look around the room to go over the wainscotting we currently have in there. It's a big job so maybe we'll have to do one wall at a time. After it's all done we'll have that be our dining room with a desk for my crafts and sewing.  Where the dining room table is now there used to be a fireplace that they sealed up. Jeff wants to put a pellet stove there and get rid of our old, loud furnace. It's a great idea (especially if we put a fireplace mantle around the stove) but I think it's a bigger project than Jeff has in mind.
The boys are now sharing a room and doing awesome! I wonder if Casey feels safer with his big brother in his room with him. It's fun to listen to them chat before they fall asleep although they don't do it very often. They are such good friends and I hope they always love each other as much as they do now. The other day Casey bonked his head and when I was holding him he was calling for Bennett so Bennett came in and he asked Casey what was wrong and Casey said "I bonk head" and Bennett kissed it better, then Casey was fine. I bet they really bonded over my recovery period when they had to rely on each other when they'd go to other people's houses.
So now that the boys are sharing their room, Jeff and I have our room back which is sooooo nice. We were in the back room before.
Casey's hair has still not been cut. He's talking so much more. The other day he was playing with our vacuum cleaner and got yogurt all over it and I said "Oh Casey..." not even really mad just annoyed and he said "I sorry mommy" I didn't even know he understood the concept of sorry. It broke my heart, so sweet. He is constantly talking to himself or us. And he sings to himself. He reminds me of Boo from Monster's Inc when she's going to the bathroom singing. You can't really understand what he's saying exactly.  His favorite song to sing is the Buzz Lightyear song when Buzz finds out he's a toy and tries to fly but falls. He's pretty good at remembering the words.
Lucy is doing great although she's becoming more brave which is not that great because if she gets out of the house she'll head right to the park. We cut her mop of hair, now she looks like a cocker spaniel and a million times cuter! We love her to pieces! She's still my dog though. :) She does have a problem with loosing control of her bladder when she gets excited. So if you come to our house or when you meet her, just don't pet her until she calms down or talk in a high pitched voice. Yesterday we got rid of an old recliner that was in pretty good shape but we just listed it for free on craigslist. A guy came to get it and when he came in Lucy jumped up on it and he pet her and she peed. Just a little, don't know if he noticed cuz he sat down in it right after. Oh well, it was free. Nothing a little soap and water won't fix.
Jeff has been busy at work. I'm so lucky he gets to come home every day for lunch and is off by 4:30.  I love that guy so much. He is the worlds best daddy and husband. He's had a lot of stress this past year and had to fill in for me a lot and he has handled it amazingly! All the while with a sense of humor that helped more than anything.
So that's us right now. I love my little family, I'm so thankful for all the laughter and love in this house.

Relay for Life 2012

After attending the Relay for Life in Albany and Eugene to walk the survivor lap, I really wanted to participate on a team next year. Some lovely ladies from church ran in my name this year and it really touched me. So in 2012 I will get to be on their team!!! I am so excited!

Their team did extraordinary this year! They came in 6th place out of 58 teams in overall fundraising and raised $4,228.16! Their team goal was $30000.
Overall the Albany Relay for Life for 2011

• grossed $146,597!!!
• Most luminaries EVER- 1500 luminaries = $7,500 in luminaria sales!
• the most fundraising teams ever- 58!
• 170 Survivors
• Over 1,050 participants
• raised $3,398 in silent auction

Our team goals for 2012 are to have 10 team members and up to 18 if we can, get at least 25 survivors registered for the relay, sell at least 100 luminarias, our team fundraising goal is $8000 with individual goals of $300. I know with the hard work of our team and some fun creative fundraising we can reach our goal, so stay tuned to my blog for upcoming fundraising events if you'd like to help out.
If you'd like to help support our team please join us! Become a team member or a team supporter where you'll:

• attend relay with us
• help with fundraising and attend fundraisers (help spread the word about events, donate goods or services to the team, etc.)
• Help us find survivors
• attend meetings and find out ways to help if you want

If you would like to be on our team you can register online at the Relay for Life website. If we register before October 1st, 2011, then 100% of our $125 registration fee will be credited towards our team fundraising!  The relay will take place next year June 22nd 4pm - June 23rd 10am. 

This is my cousin Whitney and I at the Eugene Relay for life. We walked the survivor lap together, she survived  Hodgkins Lymphoma. Go Green Team! ;)

What do your relay donations support?

• Research The society is the largest source of non-profit, non-governmental cancer research funding in the U.S., investing about $130 million each year. They've funded 42 researchers who later went on to win the Nobel Prize.
• Education Following the Society's wellness and cancer-detection guidelines can save your life and the lives of people you love. They publish educational materials and programs on early detection and prevention of cancer for the community, our schools, physicians and cancer patients.
• Advocacy They fight for life-saving laws to increase federal research funding, reduce tobacco use, promote early detection of cancers, improve access to and coverage of care, and support cancer patients.
• Service They provide many patient and family support services to help people with cancer during and after treatment. Anyone, anywhere can access cancer information and support 24/7 at 1-800-227-2345 or at cancer.org. 

                     On average EACH week the American Cancer Society provides the following services and programs to reduce the impact of cancer on Oregon:

• 4,485 visits are made by state residents to cancer.org
• 127 people contact the American Cancer Society from our state via our 24-hour information line at 1-800-227-2345
• 104 State residents receive cancer patient related information or services from the American Cancer Society
• 3 Visits are made by Reach to Recovery volunteers to breast cancer patients
• 49 trips transporting cancer patients to treatment are provided by American Cancer Society Road to Recovery volunteers and other transportation programs
• 23 gift items such as turbans, prosthesis, or durable medical equipment are provided to cancer patients living in our state
• 18 wigs are provided to residents of our state
• 16 free or reduced rate accommodations are provided through our Patient Lodging program to cancer patients and their families traveling long distances for treatment

What your gift can do:

• $5-an hour of toll-free access to the National Cancer Information Center, providing support and valuable info for newly diagnosed cancer patients anywhere in the country. (This is the scariest time, when first diagnosed, you don't have any results back but a boat load of questions and concerns, this help line really...helps.)
• $25- an interpreter for a 10-minute call to the National Cancer Info Center (1-800-227-2345)- providing priceless information for a patient newly diagnosed.
• $100- Can provide a gas card to a patient to help them get to treatment appointments and relieve financial burden.
• $75- Can provide a woman battling cancer with a complimentary bra or other personal care item from their TLC catalog. (After my mastectomy they provided me with a special tank top to hold my drainage tubes, pain killer medicine tubes and breast prosthesis along with the actual breast prosthesis. I cannot tell you how helpful that tank top was for holding my tubes.)
• $100- a wig 
• $75- cost of training and providing resources for the Reach for Recovery volunteer to visit and provide ACS resources to a woman just diagnosed with breast cancer.
• $350- Value of Look Good-Feel Better consultation giving a cancer patient the opportunity to learn how to care for her changing skin during treatment including simple tactics for drawing eyebrows on her face and impacting her sense of well-being and self esteem. (Imagine loosing your breasts, your hair, your eyelashes - all your hair, possibly your ovaries and possibly uterus removed depending on what type of breast cancer you have, having ugly scars and burns not to mention the weight gain for breast cancer patients because the chemo we get doesn't always make us loose weight and because you're not feeling well enough or energetic enough to exercise plus the burden of having cancer. You are just depressed, you feel ugly and unwomanly. This can really help lift your spirits even for a short time.)
• $2,500- pays for 1 year of collage scholarship awarded to eligible young cancer survivors to help relieve the burden on families facing costly medical bills.
• $150- lodging to a patient to help them get to treatment and ease financial burden.
• $10- petri dish for cancer research
• $15- 50 test tubes
• $20- the cost of DNA taken from 5 of the 1,200 cases during American Cancer Society's Prevention Study II, which helps researchers understand the genetics of cancer.
• $30- a glass Erlenmeyer flask, which allows researchers to mix and/or store different substances, including potentially beneficial drugs, to discover their cancer-related effects.
• $350-provides 1 Gel Box, which researchers use to isolate DNA and identify differences that may impact cancer diagnosis or treatment.
• $10- Pays for a one-year membership to American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). Members take action on legislative issues consistent with the Society's leadership role in cancer prevention, early detection, treatment, and survivorship. 
• $50-Supports advocacy campaigns to increase funding for cancer research or smoke-free laws.

I thought that was interesting to know where your donation dollars actually go and how they help, they really do help.

If you've lost a loved one to cancer you know how hard it is when their birthday comes up every year or during holidays or the anniversary of their death. You can still remember them on those days and feel good about donating in their name as a gift to them, help another cancer patient live for another day. 

Thanks for reading this and weather it's financial or with service, any help is appreciated.  I have so much appreciation for all the donation dollars that helped me get through this and all the love and support and service from my family, friends and church. I cannot express my gratitude. It has been an amazing, humbling experience. I look forward to being able to pay if forward. 

The Best Big Brother EVER!