sleeping under the stars

here is hayden and willoughby sleeping. (willoughby is the little, white, curled up furball at the edge of the bed). youll notice there are planets hanging above his bed. when auntie diane was in town; they decided to recreate the solar system in his bedroom. kinda cool. and you cant really tell, but the planets are sort of in the right order. you also cant really tell that the sizes and colors are somewhat accurate as well. jupiter fell down and is still on the dresser, waiting for me to tape it up again. and pluto is is actually right behind where i took the picture. you cant see it, because its the planet furthest from the sun. so hayden hung it by the bathroom. this is totally our idea of camping. 

a complete nonsense blog for monday

im prefacing this by saying that this makes no sense. at all. but im writing it, because my husband will appreciate it.

driving to school today, hayden says, completely out of the blue,

"can we call the news?"

obviously a bit dumbfounded, i asked him why we need to call the news.

"because i have to call them to tell them something"

ok...well im trying to figure out what my kid needs to call the news for; because hes not really giving me much of a reason. but then he says, 

"well...you know how daddie doesnt like ohio or michigan state?"

"uh...yeah, ok", i say.

"well, maybe the news people can put ohio and michigan state away together"

see...i told you. it makes no sense. 

happy easter...

...from the easter bunny

its here!

spring has shown its first sign! here is our first bloom! (amongst the dead stuff from last year.)

hayden is deep in conversation with this daffodil. i hope hes telling it to make sure his other flower friends start blooming too. even willoughby is enjoying the weather. (sidewalk chalk art provided by hayden and his cousin toby)

the buckfire bunch

heres the story

of a girl named lori

who was bringing up a kooky, little dog

they were living scatteredly

in a tiny apartment

having fun in the LA smog

heres the story

of a man named buckfire

who was complacent raising two cats* of his own

it was the three of them

living uneventfully

in their suburban michigan home

til the one day when this artist met this normal lawyer

and they assumed it wouldnt be much more

than a lunch

but these two

tied the knot and added hayden to their chaos

thats the way we all became the buckfire bunch!

* when i met dan; he had zeke and zelda. zeke unfortunately passed away a few months before hayden was born. the cat on the bottom right is sammy. he is happily a newer addition, but not a replacement for our beloved zeke.

my little love

tonight my mom asked hayden if he wanted to sleep over their house.  he said yes. i asked him, "you mean youre going to leave mommie?"

hayden responded, "dont worry mommie. ill always kiss you when i come back!"

"I get by with a little help from my friends" - John Lennon

i feel the need to post this. not because its soooo very good to my ego; but to show what kind of friends i have. i have the bestest friends ever. i am fundraising for relay for life, which benefits the american cancer society. i have been the #1 individual fundraiser for the past two years. am i tooting my own horn? absolutely not. because i didnt do it alone. my friends and family have helped me in this venture, and i really want to toot their horns! i just happen to be the lucky recipient of some kind words, and lotsa help from really amazing friends.

_______________

from my friend peters blog:

I have this friend. Wait, let me backtrack. I have this other friend, his
name is Dan. We pretty much grew up together, but lost touch as adults. A couple
of years ago, I was at the mall with my little girl, and I saw a kid with a name
tag from the same school as my kid. On the tag was his last name. I took one
look, and I knew it was Dan's son. I'm sure Lori had something to do with it,
but the boy looks just like Dan.

I know Lori was involved with making
the kid because she gave birth to him. A few weeks after mini-Dan was born, she
went to her follow up OB visit and was found to have metastatic ovarian cancer.
She and Dan have sought the best care available, and because of that she's still
alive (and usually well) today. She has a very cool attitude to her disease: she
calls it her "job", and the infusion center is her "office". Thankfully, her
office is very close to mine and I get to visit her at work.

Re-establishing my friendship with Dan has been great, and my wife and
I have become great friends with Lori. And PalKid is rather fond of mini-Dan.

And as if all this weren't enough, Lori gives talks about cancer, and
has her own blog. In fact
everything about Lori is cool---except the
fucking cancer (you think you've got a lousy job...).

Even though raising a kid and dealing with cancer is a full time job,
Lori does other pretty cool stuff, and part of that is raising money for cancer
research through
Relay for Life. This event is not only good for helping support the fight
against cancer, it's also great for survivors and their families, giving them
another way to fight back and "feel the love".

So, I know the economy sucks---believe me, I know. But if you have even
a buck or two to spare, head on over to the website and give a little. Really,
if even a few people give a few bucks, it will go a long way.
_________________

an email sent from my friend steph p. :

Hi everyone,

Lori is a friend of mine who was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer at her
6-week postnatal checkup following the birth of her son Hayden. She is an
amazing, brave, funny, smart woman who has been fighting this horrible disease
with humor and strength for over 4 years now, and she is determined to see her
son grow up. I told her she will, and that we will tackle the teen years
together! Anyway, she is actively involved in Relay for Life for the American
Cancer Society and I wanted to encourage you all to visit her page through the
link below and, if you are able, make a contribution.

Thanks!!!

__________

from my friend dani g's blog

(and just an fyi. dani is involved in every organization known to mankind...and serves as a chairperson on every one of them. how she has the time...ill never know. and she quotes music lyrics on every one of her blog posts. the title of this post is inspired by her!)

Take that cancer!

"I'm a survivor
I'm not gonna give up
I'm not gonna stop
I'm
gonna work harder
Keep on surviving!"

-Destiny's Child

Do you know my friend Lori??
She's unbelievable. A true warrior. She's at war with tiny, ugly cancer cells.
She's been surviving Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer for 4 years. FOUR YEARS, people!!
That's some crazy shizz right there. Lori's cancer was discovered shortly after
she gave birth to Hayden. That means that he formed with cancer all around him.
Truly a miracle child. And you should see him.... gorgeous!!!

Anyway, Lori is a great friend to me. I love her so you should too.
On June 6th Lori will participate in the Relay
For Life. We'll be out there walking the track with her and cheering her on
in the fight of her life.

We all know someone with Cancer who will benefit from the work that the
American Cancer Society does. Take a minute to look at Lori's
Relay For Life page. Give money if you can. If you can't, at least read her
words and then share the link with others. Each dollar Lori raises goes straight
to ACS and helps everyone we all love who is surviving with Cancer.

________________

from my mother in law,

many of you have been very generous in the past--this is not a solicitation from me-simply click on to see how Lori is doing--she is very upbeat telling you she is great--she has had four blood transfusions and a platelet transfusion in the last 6 weeks. Never a complaint and never a "poor me"

crushing cancer one step at a time

relay for life 2008

i dont really like to ask people for money.

well...thats not entirely true. my husband and my parents will tell you first hand that i have no problem asking for money. but this is different.

i am a very big believer and supporter of "relay for life." a truly exceptional event put on by the american cancer society to raise funds for...well...you guessed it. i always donate to every cause. i figure that if someone asks me for help..than it is obviously an important issue to them; and i always want to support my friends.

i got involved as a fluke, when i was asked to speak at this event 4 years ago. im not a big "lets get together, hug and rally together" type of person. but feeling the love and support this event provided was so addicting. the following year when i got more involved, i experienced the human condition at its finest. when walking the first "survivors lap" with my family; people i didnt even know, lining the track were applauding for us. and crying with us. and people coming over to give my then 2 year old son, who circled the track on my dads shoulders....teddy bears, bubbles, balloons and toys. it was incredible. now it is an event my whole family is pretty much obsessed with and looks forward to every year. i have said in the past, and ill say it again...that if everybody experienced a "relay for life" event...that there would be world peace! :)

please click the link below and check out what i have to say about "relay for life." id love to collect as much money as i can to help soooo many people. every little amount helps. its ok not to donate too. i get it. really...i understand. but at least check out my page and see what you think!
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY09GL?px=4218989&pg=personal&fr_id=14484