September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Did You Know?

• 43 Kids are diagnosed with Cancer Everyday
• More than 40,000 children are in a cancer treatment center each year
• It is the LEADING cause of death by disease past infancy
• The cause of most childhood cancers is still not known.

Awareness

It’s unimaginable to me how one day anyone, especially a child, can go from being seemingly healthy to not. It’s hard to talk about and to listen to when you bring up childhood cancer. So many people have a connection one way or another to cancer. Whether it’s themselves, a family member, a friend, a mentor, someone they know that was affected by cancer. It’s not easy on anyone (at any age) and for a child going through it, how do you even try to explain things? There’s no cause and effect. It’s not a situation of because you did ‘this’ then ‘that’ happened. There’s no logic to it.

#standwithsupersammy #hopeforsammy

We have to talk about it. It’s difficult and painful to try and think about let alone talk about but we have to raise awareness. We have to push through so that research is done to find safe ways to treat childhood cancer. Treating a child is different than treating an adult with almost any medical circumstance. If we push it away and try to avoid it because we don’t know how to deal with it and it makes us uncomfortable, nothing gets better.

The Adventures of Super Sammy

The cause of most childhood cancers are not known. Research for better, safer treatments is critical to keep kids alive and well. Share on X

 

A while back, I had stumbled across a Facebook Page called “The Adventures of Super Sammy.” From the moment I saw a picture of this little boy, there was something about him that captured my heart. He’s strong, he’s a fighter and I’d be willing to bet he’s got some feisty-ness…you can see that in his eyes. I don’t just say that, I absolutely believe it. In following their Facebook page and website I can’t see that these are qualities that he has probably inherited from his parents. His story is not an easy one to read, but it’s important and that is why I want to share it with you.

Sammy’s Adventure

On her website, Sammy’s mom tells their story. “On Wednesday October 19, 2016 our lives as parents was shattered” Sammy who at the time was a healthy 4 year old suddenly started showing symptoms of neurological problems. His mom recalls how he was sick early on Monday but had gotten better by that afternoon. Wednesday when picking him up from school she learned from his teacher that he had been sick about 10 minutes before she got there. He wasn’t quite himself, not wanting to play his favorite “red light, green light” game at PE as well as being very calm and a bit more clingy than usual. When they arrived home, he stumbled backwards when he tried to walk. In that moment, his mom realized this was not just him not feeling well. She wondered if he was feeling dizzy. She recalled when her spouse had vertigo and he was dizzy, nauseated and threw up with it. This lead her to wonder if it was something neurological so she called her pediatrician who instructed her to take him to the ER. By six o’clock that night, she was told her son had a tumor on his brain. “What started as a normal day on Wednesday was now ending with brain surgery on Friday morning.”

Surgery & Diagnoses

In the days following the surgery, they were told that Sammy had Medulloblastoma, a form of pediatric brain cancer.

What is Medulloblastoma?

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor of childhood, and it accounts for about 20 percent of all childhood brain tumors.

• Between 250 and 500 children are found to have medulloblastoma each year in the United States.
• Most medulloblastoma tumors are found in children younger than age 16, but they can rarely occur in adults.
• Medulloblastoma is slightly more common in boys than in girls.

The Effects

On top of all this, they found that Sammy had been impacted by the surgery and suffers from Posterior Fossa Syndrome (PFS).

What is PFS?

The symptoms of posterior fossa syndrome include problems with speech and language, motor skills, and mood changes. Symptoms can be different for each person. Most symptoms improve in weeks or months while some symptoms may continue for years following surgery. People who have more severe posterior fossa syndrome symptoms early in recovery are more likely to have symptoms that last longer.

This meant that on top of having to go through chemotherapy, his ability to talk, swallow as well as his gross motor functions had been impacted. He couldn’t walk, sit, or have purposeful movements. While these symptoms can improve with time, he would still have to go through physical therapy to help re-learn these things.

Home…and Relapse

Sammy got to go home in June 2017, however on September 2, 2017 he had a relapse. On his Facebook page his mom noted that after reviewing their options they will be moving forward with proton radiation therapy.

Follow Super Sammy and his journey through Facebook or their website adventuresofsupersammy.com

Please keep Sammy and his family in your prayers. Regardless of how the situation may appear to our natural eyes, I ask God to guide his medical team and his family, and to heal him completely. I’ve seen him do it in the past and I know that he can provide that miracle for Sammy.

Isaiah 53:5 tells us that “By his stripes we are healed.” I’m praying that scripture for Sammy. I’m asking God to heal him and know that he and his family will give God the glory for it. Remember his family as well- his mom, dad and little brother. I pray God holds them all extra close and gives them strength as they face this battle together.

Let Sammy Know You Are Fighting With Him

I hope that you’ll visit Super Sammy’s website and/or Facebook page. You can leave him an encouraging note or just let them know you’re praying (https://www.adventuresofsupersammy.com/p/pray.html), You can also donate to his the Puma Family and/or send a Challenge Coin (https://www.adventuresofsupersammy.com/p/challenge.html) to Sammy as well.

Raise Awareness To Support Childhood Cancer

I encourage you to raise awareness and support about childhood cancer. Whether financial contributions to a charity, running a race, participating in an event, writing a blog post, whatever it may be. Kids deserve better. In a world where cars can drive themselves, and we can hold a computer in our hands, I have to believe that if we keep looking we can find safer, more effective treatments for childhood cancer. Fight for Sammy, and all the children and families that are affected by childhood cancer. It’s a difficult subject, (one that I’m crying through as I write) but we can’t try and avoid it by looking away.

If you’d like to support Sammy and his family

www.facebook.com/smoresamuel
www.paypal.me/pumafamily
www.gofundme.com/pumamedicalfund

 

The History Of Grandparents Day

Marian McQuade hoped to establish a national day that would honor grandparents, and in 1970 she began a campaign to do so. McQuade raised awareness about senior citizens throughout the 1970s. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter declared the first Sunday after Labor Day to be National Grandparents Day. Each year, the president issues a proclamation to keep the tradition going.

Not Your Average Commercial Holiday

Grandparents day isn’t a “buy a card and some flowers” commercial excuse for a holiday. There are actually three purposes for National Grandparents Day:

1. To honor grandparents.

2. To give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children.

3. To help children become aware of the strength, information and guidance older people can offer.

A Family Day

Mrs. McQuade envisioned Grandparents Day to be a family day. It was about families enjoying small, private gatherings or family reunions celebrating your family’s heritage.
National Grandparents Day is the opportunity to publicly affirm the identity and importance of grandparents and the vital role they play in families. While it’s not your typical commercial holiday, it is about giving- sharing hopes, dreams, and values and also setting an example for future generations.

Gifts

Although it’s not about gift giving, the kids still love to get a present.  Here’s some of the ideas for gifts…

(Note the links below do include affiliate links.  This means that if you decide to purchase something I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.)

Aprons for Grandma – My mom is a fantastic cook and the kids LOVE to help her in the kitchen.

Aprons for Grandpa– Is your Grandpa a grilling king? I know my Dad is King of the Grill in our family.  The kids will tell you…”Papa makes good steaks!”

My kids LOVE to help their Grandparents cook…Cooking Supplies for Grandma & Grandpa

For the Sports Fan Grandparents.

 

Create a SmugMug album to share with Grandparent, or upload and order photo prints and gifts. What Grandparent wouldn’t love to be able to access up to date photos of the family? Plus, your photos are safe and secure.

Do you visit the Grandparents often? This Box Of Challange is a fun activity for the family to do! We do Tuesday night dinners with my parents, and the kids are over there through out the week as well.  This is a fun way to mix things up a bit!

More Gift Ideas:

DIY Gift Ideas

My Favorite Finds On Pinterest

Imaginative Play

This post includes affiliate links. This means if you use the links I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you*

My kids love imaginative play. Pretending a section of the floor is lava that they must get around, saving a stuffed animal from ‘danger’, Princess Rapunzel fighting off an invading dinosaur are all things they come up with. Almost anything can be used in imaginative play, boxes, toys, rocks, dress up clothes…you name it.

They especially love being able to dress up. It’s not uncommon to see a superhero, princess, ballerina, or storm trooper walking around. The problem I’ve found is that costumes are expensive. They can be found on sale at Halloween but it’s gotten to where they are so picked through there’s not much of a selection or I can’t find the right size.

The kids are kind of funny when it comes to the material of costumes. My son will typically wear a costume for about 10 minutes max and then it’s itchy or annoying him.

I don’t know about you but, from what I have found a lot of Halloween costumes aren’t exactly quality material. I haven’t bought “cheap” ones either, these have come from well-known stores like the Disney Princess one I had to wash and then the bottom seam was all tattered and coming apart.

Both kids have gone through recent growth spurts and so a lot of their old costumes aren’t fitting anymore. They both asked for capes, the towels they were using weren’t staying on while they were trying to play. This not only annoyed them, but I had to stop every 3 minutes to try and re-adjust/fix it. I went online to do a search and see what I could find, initially thinking I would try and make it.

 

Little Adventures

I came across Little Adventures and fell in love with their selections, not to mention their affordability. They have the most adorable princess dresses! Including a Cinderella Day Dress that I have never seen anywhere else.

Selection

My favorite part though, was the selection of heroes and adventure. There are capes and tutu’s that will appeal to girls, as well as capes, knight costumes, and crusader costumes that boys will love. Did I mention dragon wings and capes with swords? They have those too!

Sword and Shield Set – Red

There’s also a wide variety of mask that you can purchase to mix and match.

 

I purchased two capes (they came with mask), one for each kid.

It didn’t take long at all for me to receive them. They kids were ecstatic!

 

Quality

The quality of them impressed me a lot. I sort of expected just a piece of material made into a cape. This was a finished product. There outside it a velvet type material but the inside lining is a smooth satin like material. There is velcro on the front to attach the sides. The fantastic thing about this is that a lot of times with capes that tie the kids wind up “choking” and that hasn’t happened. The velcro holds securely but comfortably.

So far, these have held up very well. They have been worn a lot! I have constantly had people stop me to tell me how cute they are or ask where I got it.

Discount& Give Away!

I’ve teamed with Little Adventures to be able to offer my readers a special discount! Use LMB15% (Good. Through 9-10-17) to get 15% off your purchase at Little Adventures.

Want to win a $30 credit to use at ?

Here’s how-

Go to Little Adventures, take a look around and comment on this post with what item you like best.

Bonus Entry if you share this post on social media  with friends!  The winner will be selected on August 31st!

Benefits of Imaginative Play

UPDATE: Winner of the $30 credit is Nickie! I will be emailing you the information! Congratulations!

Dont forget! The discount is through September 9th!!

Imagination and Creative Play for Kids

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”-Albert Einstein Share on X

Imagination

Imagination is the door that leads to endless possibilities. Imaginative play encourages cognitive and social development in children. Through it, kids learn creativity,  how to think outside the box and be resourceful.

Without realizing it, they are learning about the world. They learn skills to manipulate materials, express themselves (both verbally and non-verbally), plan, act, interact, react, and try different roles.

From The Scholastic Website -Young children learn by imagining and doing. Have you ever watched your child pick up a stone and pretend it is a zooming car, or hop a Lego across the table as if it were a person or a bunny? Your child is using an object to represent something else while giving it action and motion. But this pretend play is not as simple as it may seem. The process of pretending builds skills in many essential developmental areas.

“Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age and dreams are forever.” Walt Disney Share on X

Early Childhood Education

Early childhood education uses critical thinking skills and creative problem solving abilities as goals for a child’s development.

Critical thinking skills and creative problem solving skills are developed through imagination, trying new things and experimenting.

Participating in activities such as playing with playdoh, creating a “recipe” by mixing dirt and water, splashing in puddles or pretending to fly- we are furthering a child’s development.

A great example of this is talked about in Mom Loves Best article- Why Playtimes is an Essential Part of Childhood Development

Social Benefit

It also helps build social/emotional development when kids are able to contemplate different solutions- leading to their confidence being built and therefore being more comfortable interacting with others.

Imaginative play opens up a world of endless learning opportunities.

“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” Albert Einstein Share on X

Give Away

**This section includes affiliate links. This means if you purchase something using the links I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you**

Stay tuned… tomorrow I’ll be talking about Little Adventures and there will be a chance to win a giveaway!

Christmas In August

*This post includes affiliate links. This means if you decide to purchase something from one of them I may receive a small comission  at no additional cost to you*

I know it’s only August and you’re not ready for Christmas topics yet.  Hear me out though… there are somethings you have to plan in advance for because they sell out quick.

Im not talking about the latest toys or video games.  I’m talking about

Yes the video is from 2013 but Christmas Jammies are timeless ? Especially when the whole family rocks them. It never fails though, they sell out fast and then you can find all  but one pair which is why I’m sharing this with you now :).

Plus, they are On Sale right now! Some are 50% off or more.

Christmas Jammies

Silly Jammies-

Cute Jammies-

PatPat.com has a lot to chose from. They don’t only have Christmas Jammies by the way.  They also have Mommy & Me outfits, as well as clothing for all ages as more.

 

PatPat-Daily Deals for Moms, Dads, Babies and Kids up to 70% off on some items – For Real

 

 

Not feeling pajamas for the whole family? Check out this one for baby…

That right there ☝?is just golden.

Use the link below and code NEWCUS to get 15% off!

[the_ad_placement id=”content”]