Tick Tock

How is it December already?! Next thing you know, it'll be a very special girl's 12th birthday! Time does fly, indeed.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving in San Antonio with both of Georgia's great-grandmothers and cousins and aunts and uncles to spare. We've almost got all of the Christmas decorations up, and tomorrow, it's back to the clinic to check counts. It looks like Georgia will have two more appointments this month, but hopefully NOT on her birthday! Been there, done that.

In fact, we're nearing the two year anniversary of Georgia's diagnosis, which also happens to be the day after her birthday and New Year's Eve AND our wedding anniversary. We like to double- and triple-up on our special occasions around here - we're very organized like that. But it sure makes card-buying difficult. : )

So we're looking forward to the next few weeks of fun and festivities and will probably kick things off by watching one of our favorite holiday movies: Elf! And starting today, you can help Georgia's pal, Will, raise money for Cancer for College by entering to win an autographed copy of the movie!

See you next month!

Today and Every Day, We are Giving Thanks.

Because of all of our many blessings, especially Georgia's continued recovery and the love and support we've received from you, we are so very thankful this year. The St. Jude Thanks and Giving campaign is a wonderful reminder of just how blessed we are, so we encourage you to support one of the many retail partners that are raising funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. And you might see this sweet trailer during your holiday movie excursions as well.

Another way to help is by making a donation to our friend, Claire, who is running the St. Jude Half Marathon in Memphis next weekend. Claire and her sister, Gail, have been devoted Friends of Georgia throughout her treatment, and we're so impressed by, and grateful for, their continued dedication to the fight against cancer. These girls live by the motto "Life is Good," and despite the ups and downs of this journey, the Peachy Keens wholeheartedly agree.

Good luck, girls!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Auction: Part Moo

Here are just a few of our favorite cows - really, they were all wonderful. Just prepare for pun overload! And the clip at the end is a video of the video Georgia made at the clinic. It's kind of hard to hear her over the auction crowd (we were all still processing the fact that ""Cowch" had just sold for $150,000!), so I'm hoping to get a copy of the original clip and will post it if I do.

In other news, yesterday's clinic visit went well, but Georgia's ANC is still pretty low (520), so we're holding her oral chemotherapy meds for two more weeks. She's had the croopy-coughy-crud (actual diagnosis, right?), so that's probably not helping anything, but hopefully, the time off - plus steroids and her antibiotic - will get that white count back up to normal. She's feeling good and brought home another straight-A report card. That girl!

Cowcycle

Hill Country BeauxVine and Cheese

Bat Cow!

Flamencow

Texas Moosicians

Gilded Lily

Insert Cow Pun Title Here

To say that the CowParade Austin Auction was a ginormous success (and a whole bunch of fun to boot) is a ginormous understatement. Two days later, we are still trying to come down from the rafters! After the herd of 40 live auction cows and 20+ silent auction cows were spoken for, nearly $1.5 million was raised for Superhero Kids and the Children's Blood and Cancer Center - amazing! The house was a-rockin' for sure, and we celebrated with friends old and new each time the gavel went down. There was just so much happening, I have to split my on-the-scene report into two posts - my fingers probably couldn't handle it all at once. So, we start at the top:

Samia and John Joseph, the founders of Superhero Kids, are two of the nicest, most gracious people you'll ever met. They were genuinely shocked by the wild success of the event, but I know they are thrilled with the amount of help they can offer families at the clinic well into the future. Congratulations and THANK YOU, Samia and John!

Georgia and Ivy test out "Cowch" - which turned out to be the world record-breaking cow,
fetching $150,000. I'm sure their little booty prints in the cushion are what did it.

True royalty. And Miss Austin was there, too.

Another $150K-er, the Vince Young Champion Longhorn - the only one ever created in over 70 cow auctions around the world. Which, I guess, explains why Georgia is making antlers on Ivy's head, and Ivy is flashing the "Hang Loose" sign. Where have I gone wrong?

 We were very pleasantly surprised to run into Dick and Tweety Eastland,

the directors of Camp Mystic - so great to catch up with them!

Georgia and the rest of the Superhero Kids (including our good friend, Caitlyn), 

presented a "Micro Moo" to one of the main event sponsors.

And this guy wanted a picture with Georgia.

More to come, including Georgia's video clip and some cow pictures. The artistry was very impressive - click here and scroll through the gallery to see some creative work!

The Boss

What a night! We were invited by our friends at the Make-A-Wish Foundation to see the "Bakin' with the Boss Tour" - aka Buddy Valastro from The Cake Boss. It turns out that Buddy is a huge supporter of Make-A-Wish, and baking with him has been a wish granted for many children over the last few years. Big thanks go to Kathryn, Lauren, and the whole Central & South Texas chapter for including us!

The show was great - he told stories about his family, how he got started, and some of his baking secrets. He also had a lot of volunteers from the audience come up on stage for some decorating competitions. It was hilarious to see what some people came up with! I just wish I could have gotten my hands on one of those piping bags full of icing - yum!

After the show, we were able to have a few minutes with Buddy, get some autographs and a quick picture, and thank him for his support of Make-A-Wish. He was so sweet, gave both of the girls big hugs, and is sporting a Georgia bracelet as we speak. What a guy!

Fuggedaboutit!

Highs and Lows

All is well - just a quick update. Monday's clinic appointment brought with it low counts, as in "your-ANC-is-370" low. Luckily, we've all had our flu shots (have you?!), but we've stepped up (even more than usual) our Moore Family Infection Prevention Protocol (TM), which mostly involves a lot of hand washing, dish washing, and clothes washing. And we're holding chemo meds until Georgia's next appointment on the 17th, so it's all antibiotics, all the time, for now.

So them's the lows. As for the highs - Georgia is feeling pretty great and is on target to bring home another stellar report card next week. And we've got big plans for this holiday weekend, starting with tickets to see "The Cake Boss on Tour" at the Paramount Theatre tomorrow night. Then it's off to herd those painted cows at the auction on Sunday, where we hope to see a lot of money raised for the clinic and Superhero Kids! Gonna be a fun one!

When Cows Fly

Thanks to our friends at the Starlight Children's Foundation, we enjoyed a beautiful boat ride and "tailgate" party on Lady Bird Lake today. The weather was perfect for the trip and didn't turn cloudy until we pulled up to the dock to disembark. We were joined by several families from the clinic and one of the families who was at Give Kids the World with us, so it was nice to catch up and see how well all of the kids are doing. There was great Mexican food and goody bags that included bubbles - just right for the windy day. We always have fun at Starlight events and appreciate all the donors and volunteers that help make them happen!

Wait - what's that hanging from the Congress Ave bridge in the background?

Why it's ... Bat Cow!

Yep, as part of the fast-approaching CowParade Austin Auction this weekend, this awesome piece will be sold to the highest bidder in support of Superhero Kids, which provides funding directly to the Children's Blood and Cancer Center (ye olde clinic) to enhance the quality of life for patients and their families during treatment. Sam and John and all of their volunteers have provided lots of fun activities and such positive energy to the infusion room - it's always great to see their smiling faces! We're thrilled that their organization (which was founded the same month that Georgia was diagnosed) is getting this recognition and support, so if you're looking for the perfect thing to finish your house, go bid on a cow! Oh, and Jay Leno will be there.

Off to the clinic on Monday to check counts - have a great week, y'all!

Trick But No Treat

Boo. Georgia was sick yesterday, so she missed out on all of the Halloween festivities. I picked her up early from school, and when we got home, she crashed for four hours. She felt a bit better when she woke up, but an hour later, she was ready for bed. She never had fever, thankfully, and whatever it was seemed to be gone by this morning. I told her about the school Halloween carnival I missed when I had chicken pox in 4th grade and how for trick-or-treating the next week, Lolly made me wear a sweater over my costume - which was a hula outfit. Kinda took away from the authenticity, I think.

So no official Halloween pictures to share, but luckily, our favorite "bookworm" and can-can dancer made an appearance at the Parkside Fall Festival last weekend:

SO happy to see old friends!

Sack race with under-the-sea facepaint

Ivy and Gracelyn, set to trick-or-treat

And today, Happy Birthday to the best Daddy ever!