Thanks and Giving

After a fantastic meal and time spent with family yesterday, we are still giving thanks for the many blessings and opportunities we enjoy. Those who are less fortunate are never far from our minds, especially those families who have an empty chair at their table because of childhood cancer. 

Following the shopping frenzy of the weekend, we are once again encouraging our Friends of Georgia to participate in Giving Tuesday with us. This national day of giving began in 2012, and every year, we ask for your support for childhood cancer research and the St. Baldrick's Foundation. This year, to celebrate the success of our Georgia and the Peachy Keens Hero Fund - thanks to all of you! - the foundation gave us a shout-out in the 2015 Annual Report and have prepared a special graphic for us to share on Tuesday. Our sweet Ivy is just $86 from raising $4,000 this year, and overall, our Hero Fund is just over $700 from raising $50,000 this year! We never dreamed we could meet a goal like that in one year - our goal was $15K, remember?! - and now we are sooo close! How wonderful if we could get there by Giving Tuesday! If you would like to help us fund the latest and greatest childhood cancer research, please consider a donation to Ivy's page or my page, and we can hit that $50K goal in no time!

We are grateful for each one of you, for your donations, and for the research that saves the lives of kids like Georgia. Happy, Healthy Thanksgiving!

College Girl(s)

Well, the Louisiana college trip was a big success - and a big adventure! Many of the girls in Georgia's class had never been to New Orleans, so she was an expert tour guide and loved showing her friends around the French Quarter. Oh, and the actual college visits went really well, too! As expected, Tulane was her favorite stop - and currently at the top of her choice list. They have an incredible creative writing program, should she go that way, and the size of the school suits her perfectly. BUT, we are still so early in this game, we know there is much more to see and do and discuss, and Georgia will change her mind a hundred times - as she should - before the final vote is in. It's just all so exciting to think about!

ARS Shining Star and U of H Cougar

Part of The Gaggle at LSU

Part of The Gaggle at Tulane

Sassy Pants showing off her class shirt

On the homefront, Ivy impressed us at her student-led Sixth Grade conference last week. She shared several pieces of her work, told us how she fulfills each part of the school's mission statement as well as some additional character traits, and gave some insight into her own thoughts on college. What?! It's hard for this mama to think about one little bird leaving the nest, much less two, but actually, it's one of the best parts of the Ann Richards School - showing these girls that they can ALL go to college, graduate, and change their world. They start talking about it from the very first day of school, without pressure but with lots encouragement and support. Of the three graduating classes we've had, over 70% of the girls are the first in their family to go to college, so the impact that this school is making on their lives, and their family's lives, is immeasurable. We are so grateful to be there!

Ivy Francis Moore, Class of '22

Special

Yesterday, the St. Baldrick's Foundation launched a new branding initiative that we think says it all: Kids are special. Let's treat them that way. Brilliant! The idea is to remind the world that children are different from adults and their care should be, too. The foundation will have a series of commercials, print ads, and billboards to spread the message, and they're inviting all of us to share pictures of our children being their little goofy selves with the hashtag #KidsAreSpecial. Wonder if I can find any goofy pictures of Georgia and Ivy? HA! Read more about the initiative here.

Our own special girl left for Louisiana today with the rest of the Class of '18, raring and ready to visit some colleges - and have some beignets! They'll stop at the University of Houston before heading to LSU tomorrow and Tulane University and Loyola University on Friday. It will be a whirlwind trip, but Georgia's going to be making some great memories ... and maybe some plans? ; ) Full report when she returns!

Triple A

To say that Georgia had a great swim meet last week is putting it very, very mildly. She was a BEAST! Just consider this: 7 seconds off of her 100 Free; 5 seconds off of her 50 Free and first in her heat; and 9 seconds off of her 100 Breaststroke from three weeks ago and second in her heat. Boom! And she had so much FUN, to boot. She's having a great season, improving every day, and we're loving watching every second.

Moving from athletics to the arts, feast your eyes on this incredible piece she created - an interpretation of Antigone inspired by the myth of the Three Fates.

The basic myth of the Three Fates is that they are the ones who control one’s time of death. Clotho, the first Fate, spins the thread of life, Lachesis measures the length of the life, and Atropos inevitably cuts the thread of life, bringing death. I wanted to use this Greek death myth in this piece so as to represent the theme of tragedy that was very evident in Antigone.

Each one of the colored threads is associated with a character that dies, except for the orange thread. It is the only thread left trailing while all the others are cut, so naturally it represents Creon and how he was forced to continue on after all of the people he cared about were gone.

When people view this piece they’ll probably think, “wow, that’s really creepy…” Good! That’s exactly what I want them to think! The morbidness of tragedy is evident in most of Greek theater, especially in Antigone, and I definitely was inspired by that aspect of the play for this piece.

Athlete. Artist. And straight-A Academic for another six weeks - so proud of our girl!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

At least some of it. In case you didn't know, we've had a lot of RAIN these last few weeks! Georgia's second swim meet was rescheduled and then cancelled due to the weather, and we were all hunkered down at school on Friday during a tornado warning. There's been flooding in the area, not quite to the extent of the Memorial Day floods, and thankfully, the creek *right* next to our house has held its banks for the most part. We were afraid our Halloween plans might get soaked, but we caught a break, and it was actually a very nice night. We have the best neighbors on the planet, especially when it comes to holiday celebrations, so Georgia invited her gaggle over, and they had a ball.

Happy Halloween from Joy and Disgust!

Chip and JoJo from "Fixer Upper" stopped by to give out treats
and talk about shiplap

Ivy's very organized haul

Just the sweetest bunch of girls! 

We're closing in on the end of the second six weeks of school, and the week before Thanksgiving is Georgia's college trip to Louisiana. Where has the year gone?! In a little under two months, we'll be celebrating Georgia's Sweet Sixteen and her sixth year since diagnosis. Incredible! So we really need the weather to cooperate - we've got parties to plan!