We are Proud to Present ...

Miss Georgia Lee Moore.

The Cotillion was lovely. Each of the 120+ girls was escorted by someone special in her life, and a short bio was read as she made her way down the red carpet to curtsy. We loved, of course, seeing all of the girls dressed up and so excited, but even more, hearing about their inspirations and dreams. The administrators remarked several times that this was an especially tight-knit class, and that was evident by the number of names and faces I recognized from Georgia's daily recaps after school. These girls are not just learning academics, but also invaluable life lessons, the most important being how to be a productive citizen in a diverse and ever-changing world. They live and breathe the school's mission statement and will carry these words with them wherever they go:

The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders dedicates itself to prepare young women to attend and graduate from college, commit to a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle, lead with courage and compassion, and solve problems creatively and ethically in support of our global community.

I especially loved that the whole ceremony took place under the proud and watchful eye of Ms. Ann herself. We recently watched the new documentary All About Ann: Governor Richards of the Lone Star State and can highly recommend it. What a story.

Georgia thoroughly enjoyed herself from start to finish. She had her makeup done for the first time and finally got to don "the dress." She added some shiny turquoise shoes for spunk, and she was ready! And, might I add, beautiful.

Hiz Honah cleans up pretty well, too.

So proud of all of you. Shine on, sweet girls.

Rites of Passage

Tomorrow is the long-awaited 8th Grade Cotillion! Every girl in the class will be presented in this ceremony marking the end of middle school and the transition to high school, and then they will celebrate with a school dance. There have been rehearsals, etiquette lessons, and curtsy practice, and Georgia and friends have been so excited, I'm sure there's a countdown calendar out there somewhere. It will be a special night for a special group of girls, and we are all looking forward to it!

It's funny that the timing of this transition coincides with Georgia's transition to the survivorship program, which she'll be in until she transitions to ... college. Somehow I think that's going to be here before we know it! She's had another great school year, made even more new friends, and, as always, impressed and inspired us with her attitude and fortitude. As a surprise, she got her first phone - one that she's been wanting, although she's never complained about using my old one for the last year - and she was thrilled! She had decided on sunny yellow long ago, and luckily, much searching turned up ONE within 100 miles. Meant to be, I'd say.

She also got her cabin list for camp today, so it was pretty much like Christmas.

We've been working through another change around Peachy Keen HQ - transforming the playroom into "the study hall." Just perfect for the young ladies who love everything to do with school and projects and reading for hours - not so easy for the mommy who sees little girls playing dolls and dress-up in every corner of the room. But change is good, right? We have enjoyed making it happen together, and those two sweethearts even humored me with one last picture before we said goodbye to the playhouse:

A restaging of our moving announcement from 2005:

 

I can't wait to see the memories they make in the "new" room. Speaking of memories, we still owe y'all a recap of the blood drive, art show, and, of course, fundraising updates. Some things never change! : ) Stay tuned, and have a peachy weekend, y'all!

Moving On

One week ago, we marked Georgia's Two Years Off Treatment anniversary. The next day, we went to her last clinic appointment with Dr. Neff. It was fairly unremarkable, aside from the pesky cough she's had for three weeks, the fact that she is nearly 5'9" tall, and the reality that after four years and four months (to the day), she'll never walk those halls as a patient again. A happy, blessed event, but also a bittersweet moment, thinking of all the big work she's done there. 

 Last whiteboard message

 Dr. Neff, Holly, and Dina

My heroes

I'm not sure how you thank someone for saving your child's life, but if it can be done through tears of all kinds, I've thanked him a million times over the last four-plus years. Much love and gratitude always to P Neff and the Children's Blood & Cancer Center at Dell Children's. And friends, please, please support childhood cancer research.

Finally, from the St. Baldrick's blog today, a post about Ivy's beautiful note to Georgia. We are so very proud of both of our survivors!

Choo Choo!

The party train is officially pulling in to the station this weekend! Tomorrow is our annual blood drive, and if you're local, we'd love for you to join us! You can sign up for a donation appointment using these instructions or just drop by. We'll be happy to take your blood! We'll also have Georgia and Ivy's World Famous Lemonade Stand open for business and donations to the St. Baldrick's Foundation, plus some other treats and surprises, so come celebrate with us!

The fun continues on Sunday with our annual children's art show, also benefiting St. Baldrick's. Here's the write-up for this year's theme: 

Cancer is the Color Blue

When Ivy's sister Georgia was diagnosed with leukemia at age 10, their mother wanted to explain the diagnosis in a way that the six-year-old would understand. She also wanted to prevent any fear if classmates commented on their own experiences with cancer, especially if they lost someone to the disease. She told Ivy that Georgia had a disease called leukemia and that it was a type of a bigger disease called cancer. She assured her that there were so many types of cancer, it was like the color blue and all its many shades, so no one blue - and no one cancer - was like another. She said that Georgia's cancer would be cured, and after 28 months of treatment, indeed it was. This mini-collection from Parkside Community School's Upper Elementary is inspired by that story and the class's study of Pablo Picasso's Blue Period. It includes pieces painted by both Georgia and Ivy.

The art show is always such a fun event, and the kids love to see their work in a real gallery. Ivy's class really took to our lesson on The Blue Period, so the perfect theme was born, and we're looking forward to a great show!