Great and Grateful

Today, Georgia is 3.5 years off treatment, with 1.5 to go until she is officially cancer-free. In other words, YAY!!! Yesterday's survivorship appointment went off without a hitch - her counts were perfect, her bone density has improved, and all signs continue to point to more of the same good news. We were very lucky to also have a nice visit with Dr. Neff, and it's clear that these two still enjoy talking about Harry Potter and sharing bad jokes. 

Our warrior and her shaman 

We never, never take for granted that Georgia is where she is now and that she has a very bright future ahead of her. How desperately we want that for all kids fighting cancer. One step in reaching that goal is by supporting our efforts for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which not only funds research, but also infrastructure grants. Recently, our own clinic received one as part of a $2 million award, so local kids fighting cancer will now directly benefit from the generosity of donors like you, our Friends of Georgia. Thank you again - and again - for taking this journey with us and helping us raise awareness, hope, and funds for research. We couldn't do it without you!

Love and Light

Last year at Circus Couture, I had the pleasure of meeting magician Criss Angel. He was gracious and giving and so wonderful with every one of the childhood cancer fighters in attendance. His kindness and generosity have touched so many families, and now Criss needs our support as his 20-month-old son, Johnny, has been diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. We know that childhood cancer can strike any child, anywhere, so we must make research funding a national priority in order to provide these kids with better treatments and, ultimately, cures. For Johnny, for Georgia, and for the 46 kids who will be diagnosed tomorrow, PLEASE ‪#‎StepUp‬ with us and help fund HOPE.

 Sending love, light, and strength, my friend.

35 Million Thank Yous!

Thanks to your support of the Peachy Keens this year, you've helped the St. Baldrick's Foundation raise $35 million for life-saving research! And if you look closely, you can see Georgia holding up the 35 banner in this picture, taken at the rocket launch we went to last month. We're all in there somewhere, celebrating this huge milestone and saying thank you to our generous donors.

Georgia has a survivorship appointment next week and will hit 42 months off treatment the next day - 3.5 years! Every day further from her last chemo is one day closer to the 5 year mark, and we can almost taste it at this point. She's doing so, so well, and we desperately want the same outcome for every kid diagnosed with cancer. So we'll keep doing what we can to hit more fundraising milestones and see more pictures like this. Next stop: $36 million!

Precious Time

Circus Couture was a huge success and such a cool event! It's a night of performance, art, and fashion, and proceeds go to the St. Baldrick's Foundation and the Children's Specialty Center of Nevada. I was thrilled to be the winning bidder on a piece of art called, "Precious Time" by Don Micheal, Jr., which you can read about here. It's a joyful piece and will soon find a home in our kitchen.

The girls received their first report card of the year, and - surprise! - we've got TWO smartypants in the house! Also, Ivy has been working on an enrichment device that she designed and built for the African Grey Parrot at our local zoo, and Georgia took the PSAT this morning. She'll take it for real next year, and then the SAT will be right around the corner! Both girls will be visiting colleges later this month and into next - Ivy to UT and Georgia to two or three East Texas and Louisiana colleges, including (we hope) Tulane. Last year, they switched it up for the sophomores and took them to Oklahoma instead, and Georgia was thrilled that they went back to the usual trip for this year. Sorry, Sooners. : )

The first swim meet of the season is this week, and our girl is now the breaststroke specialist for the mighty Ann Richards swim team! She's got four events to swim, so it'll be a busy day, but she is really ready to hit the water. She has come so far in the last year, and we're very excited to see her compete again. Pics and a report from the deck to come!

Whew!

It's been a busy week, and the biggest and best part was celebrating Ivy's 12th birthday! First, we had bookend birthday cakes at home:

 Traditional birthday morning wake-up call

 More cake - and presents! - after dinner

Then, the whole crew plus Ivy's friend, Eden, went on a high-flying adventure - indoor skydiving! It was such a blast, but actually, it was also a bit of a workout! Everyone enjoyed it, though, as you can see ...

The Flying Ivy!

 

The Flying Georgia!

Really, really fun - y'all should try it! Back on Earth, Georgia shared one of her poems from creative writing camp at the Badgerdog anthology book release. Ivy had choir rehearsal that morning, so she missed the reading (and the picture : )), but Cousin Claire was there to get her book!

On Sunday, Georgia and her brave, sweet daddy went to the ACL Music Festival at Zilker Park. This was their second adventure, and again, they met up with her friends and their parents and had a wonderful time. We love Austin, Texas!

15.

This is Homecoming Week at Ann Richards, so among the dress up days they had was Decades Day. Our 20s and 50s girls say, "It's the berries, Daddy-O!"

And finally, I'm off to Las Vegas tomorrow for the Circus Couture St. Baldrick's event I attended last year. I'll be meeting up with my best Momma partner-in-crime, Alyson, and we'll be doing some groundwork for bringing the 46 Mommas to Vegas this summer for our Lucky 7 shave! We're so excited about this great opportunity - especially because we'll hit TWO million dollars raised next year! - so stay tuned for more details. Until then, thanks for Keepin' Georgia on Your Mind ... and Viva Las Mommas!