Malia is Home!!

Hello! For those of you who have been following our little Malia story I wanted to share with you the latest update on her -- she and her family are home!! Yeah! Here is the latest update from her Mom:

Yes, we are home! It’s taking some time to adjust however and it’s been quite stressful. Malia is very happy to be home and we see more glimpses of her true personality when she has the opportunity to relax but most of the time she’s very angry and frustrated. We still need to make her do things she doesn’t want to do – I’m constantly battling her to shove some kind of medicine in her mouth or some kind of food. We’re having a very difficult time trying to get her to eat. They said that she may experience taste changes as a result of the chemo so on top of the loss of appetite, everything that she used to like she doesn’t anymore. So each night, we’ve made three separate meals for her and she doesn’t like any of it. My mom and Kyle keep telling me that she’ll gain her weight back but it’s very difficult to see her like this. Since the beginning of all of this she’s already lost 6 pounds and I’m really afraid that she’s going to have to have a tube in her nose for nutrition. At the same time, I also understand that the tube in her nose may just provide more of the nutrition that she needs than what she will intake on her own. It’s just heartbreaking to think of that though.

We took our first trip to the clinic today (kind of a surprise visit) because the medication that we need to give her every day (the shot) is still tied up in insurance paperwork. Sadly, I had to give her the first shot today in the clinic which she was very mad about. On the good side it really only took about 10 minutes before she allowed me to sit anywhere near her again and she also wanted me to lay down with her in bed tonight and sing her a couple of songs. I know she’s mad at us and I keep reminding her that none of this is her fault, she is not being punished, and it’s okay to be mad. I do know that she’s very cautious about trusting anyone right now and it just kills me that every time I feel like she’s beginning to trust me again, I have to make her do something else that she hates (like the shot today L). It’s only been a little over two weeks since this nightmare started but it really feels like months.

I have to say though, that the amount of support that is still coming in gives me strength. If my mother wasn’t staying with us right now to help, I really don’t know what I’d do. I went to get the mail and there were still so many cards coming in to her from people all across the country – people we don’t even know and it gave me such a warm feeling…thank you! We’ve received donations from friends and family to help with the medical bills – it is absolutely overwhelming and reminds me that you all are there and that you are reaching out to help. There aren’t any words that express the amount of gratitude and appreciation that we feel towards all of you.

Thanks to alll of you who have sent Malia your hand stamped cards ~ how awesome! If you would still like to send her a smile thru snail mail please see my earlier posts here ;o) I appreicate all of you!

Sneek Peek ~ Just For You!

How cute is this little guy, huh? This stamp set is another that will be available for us to purchase in the new SU! catalog ~ yeah!! Thanks to our SU! friends for teasing us with this!! How many memories does a sock monkey bring back to you?

Stamps
Sock Monkey stamp set

Paper
Baja Breeze card stock (4-1/4" x 1/2")
Chocolate Chip card stock (4-1/4" x 2-1/2")
Riding Hood Red card stock (8-1/2" x 5-1/2")
Very Vanilla card stock (3" x 3-1/2")

Ink
Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Pad
Riding Hood Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Stampin' Pastels

Accessories
Kraft taffeta ribbon
Stampin' Dimensionals

Instructions
Adhere Chocolate Chip card stock to Riding Hood Red card. Adhere Baja Breeze card stock to card. Tie Kraft taffeta ribbon around front of card.

Stamp monkey image in Chocolate Chip ink on Very Vanilla card stock and color using Stampin' Pastels.

Stamp heart image in Riding Hood Red ink on Very Vanilla card stock and color using Stampin' Pastels. Cut heart out and adhere to Very Vanilla card stock using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Adhere Very Vanilla card stock to card using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Stamp "Just for you" in Chocolate Chip ink below Very Vanilla card stock.

~Enjoy & TFL~

~ Meetin' Michelle ~

Yeah! What a fun day it was yesterday! I got to meet a fellow blogging/SCS Sister, Michelle, on her own stamping er' I mean stomping grounds ;o) lol

We toured her guest house out in a beautiful wooded valley area as well as getting a personal tour from her of her family campground -- we had such a great time! Thanks Michelle ;o) AND she was sooo generous and shared one of her Harley squash books with me!! BONUS!! I just love it and can't wait to fill it with pictures ;o) Here are a few pictures to share with you direct from Michelle's blog ;o)

Please go visit Michelle's blog for all the her deets - she has a very inspirational blog - you will also see that she is on my faves list over there on the right side of my blog!!

Here is Michelle's SCS gallery for even more inspiration

Also, here is a link to her family campground, Hog Haven!

ETA: Here's Michelle and I today when we stopped back for a second to say 'hey' and so Michelle could see our bikes --

Thanks soo much Michelle! I can't wait to see you again and continue to chat with you thru cyber space!!

Stampin' Huggs~
Teresa

Sneek Peek ~ May All Your Wishes Come True

What ya' think? This is a sneek peek to a stamp set that will be available for us to purchase in the upcoming new SU! catalog!! YEAH!!! Thanks soo much to our friends at SU! for providing us this fun!!

Stamps
Heard from the Heart stamp set
Posy background stamp

Paper
Kiwi Kiss card stock
Pumpkin Pie card stock (4-1/8" x 3/16")
So Saffron card stock (4-1/8" x 4-1/4")
Very Vanilla card stock (8-1/2" x 5-1/2")

Ink
Kiwi Kiss Classic Stampin' Pad
So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad
Stampin' Up! Accessories
Linen thread
Clear buttons
Stampin' Dimensionals
5-Petal Flower punch
Scallop Circle punch
1" Circle punch

Instructions
Stamp Posy background image in So Saffron ink on So Saffron card stock. Curl edges of card stock, and adhere to Very Vanilla card.

Adhere strip of Pumpkin Pie card stock to card.

Stamp "May all your wishes come true!" in Kiwi Kiss ink on bottom of card.

To create flower, cut stem from Kiwi Kiss card stock and adhere to card using Stampin' Dimensionals. Punch out leaves from Kiwi Kiss card stock using 5-Petal Flower punch and adhere to card under stem using Stampin' Dimensionals. Punch flower from Pumpkin Pie card stock using Scallop Circle punch. Curl petals and adhere to card using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Punch out circle from Very Vanilla card stock using 1" Circle punch. Adhere to center of flower.

Thread Linen thread through Clear button and adhere to center of flower.

~Enjoy & TFL~

Miss Malia ~ An Update from Saturday ~

Good Morning Everyone!!

Here is an update from Miss Malia's Mom and Dad ~ it sounds like things are continuing on the up and up ... we continue to send them huggs and prayers!!

SATURDAY, JULY 26, 2008 04:57 PM, CDT
Things are continuing to go well. For now, at least, Malia is off the IV and as long as she is eating and drinking well they will only hook it up again tonight for some more meds. Tomorrow she will receive the two small pushes of the other chemo drugs and if all is well we should be discharged tomorrow. We are so happy at the thought of getting her home. Obviously it should make a huge difference to her mood (although one of the anti-inflammatory drugs that they are giving her is a steroid so it stimulates her appetite but also causes mood swings…which we’ve already experienced…UGHH!)

Kyle and I have already practiced giving the shots on oranges AND each other. The needle that we’ll be using is like a diabetic needle so you can’t really feel anything but a pinch but apparently the medicine that we’ll be administering does sting when it goes in and Malia is horrible about getting shots so I’m a little nervous about that. It’s always the fear and anticipation which freaks her out more than the shot so the first time will obviously scare her but the subsequent ones she will remember the sting and those are the ones that I’m dreading.

Unfortunately I am coming down with a cold so I’m having Kyle spend the night with her again tonight but I’m going to have to leave the hospital early because we’ve been given all her prescriptions so I need to drop them off at the pharmacy so they’re ready tomorrow…there are a lot! Apparently, one of the drugs that we’ll be giving her (the shot) is like $3500! HOLY COW – hopefully insurance will cover that.

We’ll keep you all posted and hopefully the next update will be posted from home.

Miss Malia ~ An Update ~

Hello Everyone!

I just wanted to post the latest news on little Malia ~ it sounds as though things are going very well ~

THURSDAY, JULY 24, 2008 10:10 PM, CDT

Okay, well the day has come. They are starting the treatment tonight (well, actually they are doing the prep hydration now and the actual chemo will start at midnight). It was definately a little overwhelming today when I met with the Nurse Clinician and the Social Worker so they could explain all the meds and possible side effects to me. It just reinforces that this is real! So Malia will receive one med through IV for 4 hours at midnight and fluids and three different anti nausea meds every 4 - 6 hours through her IV and then on the 3rd day she'll receive two extra med pushes (syringe) through the port. She'll also receive a shot of meds that will help combat low blood cell counts (which I'll have to give her at home) every day until her cell count is satisfactory. So if all goes well and she's doing everything she's supposed to (eating, drinking, potty, etc.) we'll hopefully be able to go home on Sunday.Once we are discharged from the hospital we'll have to come to the outpatient clinic 1 - 2 times a week for blood cell count monitoring. We are definitely anxious to get her home because she is beyond frustrated here. But for a 3 year old who is painfully shy to begin with, she is doing very well with only a handful of maniacal tantrums...which are always fun!

Once again, thank you to everyone who has sent their thoughts, prayers, notes and love our way. It truly has made a huge difference and we are praying that we will only have positive updates from here on out.


FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2008 09:09 PM, CDT

We’re still officially in day one of chemo and all seems to be going well with the exception of an inconvenience early this morning. Somehow, Malia seemed to have knocked her needle in the IV so that it shifted and it was no longer administering the meds into the vein. Luckily, we think we know exactly when it happened and right at the same time the pump finished its cycle and hadn’t been reset yet so very little if any chemo went into the tissue. The fun part about all that is that they had to pull the needle out of the port and re-access it with a larger needle without using any of the numbing cream – obviously Malia was not pleased! L Now considering the tantrum that she threw the other day when they changed the needle, this one wasn’t so bad. It was at 4:30 in the morning however, so needless to say, the day didn’t start out on a high note. One positive thing is that the anti nausea meds seem to be working so far. Malia had the best eating day since we’ve been in the hospital today. Hopefully she’ll keep that up.

Our Oncologist came in to see me today. It’s the first time I’ve met him as we’ve been working with the “On Call” Oncologist this whole time. The doctor who will be overseeing Malia’s case is the solid tumor specialist and the official diagnosis came in while he was out which is why we’re just meeting him now. Anyway, he’s a very nice man and we’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about him from the other families on the floor. He explained to me that he viewed the scans himself and said that there was a definite margin around the tumors so they knew that there was no cancer left behind. Because of this she is actually considered stage 1 instead of stage 2 which only reinforces that we caught this as early as we could have J. He went over the plan again and the only thing that is different from what we thought is that she will have 4 rounds instead of 3. He said that over 92% of patients diagnosed at stage 1 who received 4 rounds of chemo, went on to become clinically cured. So this is great news!

If all goes well, we will get to go home on Sunday but will have to come into clinic regularly in between inpatient chemo which will be every 3 weeks. Will write more updates soon.

Joy Fold Card

Hello Everyone!!

Isn't this just the prettiest card? I just love the colors and the layout! Once again, our friends over at SCS are ohhing and ahhing us with a new technique ;o)

Here is a link over to the step by step turtorial on SCS -- go create one of your own now!!

Variations
Open it on topMake your card base a 5 1/2" x 7 1/4" piece of cardstock and score it at 4 1/4".Create your flap from a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece of cardstock and score it at 2 3/4".Try different sizes

~ TFL & Enjoy ~

Miss Malia ~ An update from Tuesday

A recent picture of Malia before her trip to the hospital

Hello Everyone!! WOW! Thanks soo much for all of your support you have shown for little Malia ~ what an awesome feeling to know so many thoughts are going out to her in the form of cards -- I appreciate each and everyone of you!

If you are interested in sending Malia a card please refer to my initial post here - that has her snail mail address in it.

Here is the update from her Mom as of tonight:
TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2008 10:34 PM, CDT

Well, not a whole bunch to update today. We did hear that the final diagnosis is definately HB but we're still unsure as to when treatment will start. They had even mentioned the possibility of sending us home before the first round to allow more regeneration time for Malia's liver. It appears, however, that everyone is okay with us moving forward with treatment as long as the next set of kidney and liver function tests come back good. The only thing we're really waiting on is "Little Miss Princess" and how well her body is recovering (ie. potty, eating, etc.) If all is good in that department, then we'll receive round 1 before we go home.We'll keep you all posted when we hear more.

Sneek Peek ~ Love You Stamp Set

Hello! Here is a sneek peek of a new stamp set that will be availabale for sale in our new Stampin' UP! catalog due out very soon ;o) Thanks soo much to our friends at SU! for tempting us soo with this!!

Stamps
Dreams du Jour stamp set
Canvas background stamp

Paper
Baja Breeze card stock (3" x 6")
Chocolate Chip card stock (1-1/2" x 1-1/2")
So Saffron card stock (1-3/4" x 1-3/4")
Whisper White card stock (3" x 1/2")

Ink
VersaMark pad
Accessories
White Stampin' Emboss powder
Vintage brads
Stampin' Dimensionals
Heat tool
1/16" Circle punch

Instructions
Stamp Canvas background image in VersaMark ink on lower half of Baja Breeze card.
Adhere Whisper White card stock to card. Punch two holes through strip using 1/16" Circle punch. Attach Pewter brads to card. Stamp Love image in VersaMark ink on Chocolate Chip card stock; cover image with White Stampin' Emboss powder, and heat emboss. Adhere Chocolate Chip card stock to So Saffron card stock. Adhere So Saffron card stock to card using Stampin' Dimensionals.

How fun!!

~Enjoy & TFS~

Miss Malia ~ An Update from the weekend ~

Hello Everyone! I wanted to share some encouraging news with all of you in regards to little Malia! It's wonderful to see this progress before they start the chemo - which should start this week!

(The pictures I am posting are, of course, before she went into the hopsital)

From Malia's Mom:

SUNDAY, JULY 20, 2008 11:51 PM, CDT
Another good day! Malia is still doing well even though she started the day off in a bad mood. She was sound asleep when the nurses came to tell us that they were coming to get her for her surgery and she needed a sponge bath before. So we had to wake her up to bathe her and she was not at all happy with that!

The procedure to implant the port-a-cath went great. It only took about an hour and after Malia woke up from the anesthesia she was very talkative and interactive (I wasn’t really expecting that). She was still a little loopy from some of the “happy” drug and once the anesthesia fully wore off she was in a very touch and go mood before she finally conked out and took a long nap.

The drainage tube as well as the IV in her neck (I forgot the name of it) have been taken out so all she has is the IV fluids running into the port; so only one “tubey” as we refer to them – definite progress! Hopefully we’ll find out more about when they’ll start chemo tomorrow and all the details of the treatment. I know they are really just waiting on Malia to see her showing all the signs that she’s ready. Since it’s going to zap her energy and health they want to make sure that she has enough energy to start with. We’ll keep you all posted.

BTW – I’ve shown Malia all the cards that we’ve received and she loves them all. She loves to “read” them – really she just inspects them as she thinks they are all very pretty. She’s always admiring the pictures that other kiddos drew for her like the ones from Ryan Walters and Daylia Garland. She also loves her balloon bouquets and gets upset if anything is blocking her view of them. While she was in the OR today, one of the Child Life Specialists on our floor took her balloons to the gift shop and had them top them off with helium so they are all flying high again! One of her friends, Izzy Bombard, and her family sent some beautiful balloons and one has a picture of a little girl on it. She says it’s Izzy bringing her the bouquet. All the gifts and cards really brighten Malia’s days; thank you all for that!


SATURDAY, JULY 19, 2008 04:58 PM, CDT
Wow, the power of the popsicle; Holy Cow! Okay, so I had seen a very positive change in Malia’s demeanor last night when she showed me a glimpse of the old Malia (or as close as we’ve seen in a week). Over the last week, she’s been understandably withdrawn and kind of depressed but last night she became more talkative and started asking all the same 3 yr old questions that you would expect i.e. why this and what’s that etc.

Today was a little more of the same old same old with the exception of a few occasions when she smiled or talked a little more. She was a little more receptive to juice and I finally got her to eat some Jello. Then she ultimately agreed to have a popsicle (this has been day 7 of no food). I don’t know what was in that popsicle but soon after she had her fill, she said she wanted to go to the playroom and what’s more is she wanted to walk. So we grabbed Wall-E (that’s what we’ve named her I.V. pole) and got her jammy jams on and she walked to the playroom all by herself. We played for a little bit (Daddy, Grandma and me) and then she walked back to the room. Now that she’s in bed she’s being her goofy self and wants to go back to the playroom when they reopen in a couple of hours.

Her surgery to insert the port-a-cath was rescheduled for tomorrow at 11:00 and if she continues to improve the way she has these last 24 hours then I imagine they’ll start her chemotherapy within a few days so we can go home.

We’ll keep you posted and once again, we can’t thank you enough for all the support and encouragement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are interested in sending Malia a card, please see the post from the other day - I've included her mailing address there!

Many Stampin' Thanks!!

Amazingly Simple Home Remedies

I thought these to be very useful hints ~ and I thought you would enjoy reading them too ;o)


1. AVOID CUTTING YOURSELF WHEN SLICING VEGETABLES BY GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO HOLD THE VEGETABLES WHILE YOU CHOP.


2. AVOID ARGUMENTS WITH THE FEMALES ABOUT LIFTING THE TOILET SEAT BY USING THE SINK.


3. FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SUFFERERS ~ SIMPLY CUT YOURSELF AND BLEED FOR A FEW MINUTES, THUS REDUCING THE PRESSURE ON YOUR VEINS. REMEMBER TO USE A TIMER.


4. A MOUSE TRAP PLACED ON TOP OF YOUR ALARM CLOCK WILL PREVENT YOU FROM ROLLING OVER AND GOING BACK TO SLEEP AFTER YOU HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON.


5. IF YOU HAVE A BAD COUGH, TAKE A LARGE DOSE OF LAXATIVES. THEN YOU'LL BE AFRAID TO COUGH.


6. YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN'T MOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN'T MOVE AND DOES, USE THE DUCT TAPE.


7. IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.

Miss Malia ~ An Update ~

Hello Everyone!! I just wanted to post an update on our little Malia that her Mom sent out last night ~ Thanks again for all of your support!

FRIDAY, JULY 18, 2008 05:21 PM, CDT
Yesterday we received some very positive news...YEAH! We spoke with the oncologist and he said that they were still waiting for one test to come back from the pathologist. Even though they cannot give an "official" diagnosis until that comes in, everyone is in agreement that they do not think that it will be anything different from the working opinion of Hepatoblastoma. He also said that the entire panel of oncologists, radiologists, and pathologists all agree that the little "thing" near the heart does not appear to be tumor material and that it's nothing but a cyst. So, they will not be doing a scope to go after it. Of course, there will be more CT scans to monitor it and if anything changes then they'll explore the idea but for now it's nothing but a cyst.

He also told us what the plan is for chemo. We're very happy because it's much less than what we were anticipating...YIPEE! It will be in patient but it will only be 3 days and will only be 3 months (3 days per month in the hospital). How great is that?!

One other interesting thing is that Malia has actually had a pregnancy test. Apparently some tumors secrete HCG which is the same hormone that the placenta secretes during pregnancy. They ran that blood panel when Malia first arrived here at the hospital and the doctor was expecting it to come back completely normal. The normal amount of HCG in a healthy body is 6, Malia's came back at 300,000! This is a bit odd because nobody on this panel had ever heard of Hepatoblastoma having increased levels of HCG. The doctor had researched other literature and there were some cases that were cited that did have both increased levels of HCG as well as AFP (another marker which was expected to be elevated from the tumor). The interesting thing is that the doctor ordered this test again now that the tumors are gone and it came back at a level of 15! What a huge difference. He said that he's taking that as confirmation that there is no more tumor. So that, combined with the appearance of the "thing" in her chest is why they are not going after it unless the appearance changes.
Because of some of these oddities with Malia's case, we are giving consent to have the tumor and some of her blood, along with some other samples from Kyle and myself to be sent to the Children's Oncology Group (or something like that) for research and analysis. That way it can be recorded and hopefully aid other families who are entering into this process.

As far as our sweet Malia, she's doing well. She's been in pain but the morphine is definitely helping. Kyle and I have just gotten to the point now where we are not asking if she wants to do something, we're approaching it as though there's not an option to not (i.e. drinking fluids, getting out of bed, etc.). She is definitely experiencing some depression but we can tell that the more we get her out of bed and out of the room, she does better and interacts a little more. We took her out of the room for the first time yesterday and Kyle basically just carried her around the unit floor after much protest and crying, she finally calmed down and I think she enjoyed it (as much as she could). Before we got her back into bed, we had her stand on her own two feet (obviously with our support) and had her take a couple of very slow steps. That completely wiped her out and she slept for hours after.

I went home last night so I could get some uninterrupted sleep and see Makena in the morning (which she was very happy about) while Kyle stayed with Malia. Before I left we got her in the wheelchair and wheeled her around the unit floor for a bit before going downstairs to just sightsee and explore. Again, at first she protested but once we were out she wanted to stay out. When we got back, she again stood up and took a couple of assisted steps and it was without as many "owies" and tears. We were giving her medicine about every two hours or when she was starting to complain about pain again. The great thing is she actually went from 12 midnight until I got here at about 7:45 am without additional morphine and Kyle said that she was moving about in bed with no problem at night. So we're taking baby steps but she's definitely moving in the right direction.

This morning she had to go downstairs for some testing of her kidney functions so that they have a good baseline to monitor during chemo. The doctors are all in agreement that she's not ready to go into another operation to put the port-a-cath in which is the central line they surgically implant to administer the chemo. She still needed a bit more time to recover but it looks like they’ll be doing that tomorrow. So we'll be in the hospital at least another week and a half before we can go home. We are so thankful that we have so much support from our friends and family that are helping; not only physically helping with Makena and visiting Malia but the amount of support that we're receiving with messages, emails, etc. is very comforting and definitely helps us feel that we are not alone. Thank you! We love you all.

Mid Life Funnies

Hi there! I thought this was just a great laugh ~ I wanted to share it with you too ;o)

Needed: Happy Mail for Miss Malia

Hello Everyone!!

My heart has just been breaking ~we got word this past weekend that my cousins daughter, Malia (ma-lee-ah) who just turned 3 in May was recently diagnosed with a form of cancer called Hepatoblastoma which is a very rare cancerous tumor which originates in the liver.

It started right before the fourth of July when she started getting tummy aches and then vomited abruptly. She had a fever for one night but then all seemed well. One night, about a week and a half later, she had some really really bad stomach pains. For the next few days, she had a low grade fever off. On Friday the 11th, her Mom called the doctor because she had a little tinge of blood in her pull-up. Her Mom then found a hard spot on the right side of her tummy (which she thought was apendicitis but soon found she was wrong). At the ER, they took pictures of her belly and found a huge mass near her liver which needed to be looked at by other doctors. They went to Phoenix Children's Hospital on Saturday, July 12th and after taking more pictures and some blood tests the doctors knew that they had to do surgery and during that surgery they confirmed that it was cancer and took it out.

Forward to Tuesday, July 15th: Here are words from her mom: We spoke with the oncologist this morning and even though we are not 100% out of the woods yet things are looking really positive at this point. We still need to wait for the microscopic pathology reports to confirm that there is no more tumor in the liver and that it is indeed Hepatoplastoma. The working assumption right now is that it is Hepatoplastoma. As far as the liver goes, it was at stage 2 and she will need at least a moderate level of chemo. Now there's one thing that I did not mention last night and that is on the 2nd CT scan there was another area of concern (for lack of a better word). There was a little something that showed up near the heart. Now I can't remember what he called it but he said that it could be a simple little cyst that is made up of abnormal lung tissue. Many people have them without knowing it and they are generally only found when a CT scan is being performed to find something else. He said that's what it appeared to be on film but they need to check it to make sure that it is not another tumor. Because Hepatoblastoma's favorite place to spread is the lungs, this would be an odd place to find it but if it was indeed a tumor, it would mean that the cancer was at stage 4 rather than stage 2. Obviously we are hoping that it's just a cyst. The main goal for Malia over the next couple days is to rest and that's it. We probably will not receive pathological updates until Thursday at the earliest and then when she's ready, they will use a scope to check out this little thing near the heart. Depending on those findings, that will determine when and how much chemo she will receive. We are certain, however, that we will not be going home until she has received her first round. Keep in your hearts, thoughts, and prayers that this "thing" near her heart is a simple little cyst and that what they pulled from our girl's body was the Hepatoblastoma and nothing was left behind. That way we can start on treatment to ensure that it never comes back. Many thanks and much love to you all.

Soo..with that all being said I asked her family if it would be ok if I spread the word amongst my "stampin' friends". If you would be willing and have the time could you please send Malia one of your hand stamped card creations? It doesn't have to be fancy by any means but I think she will absolutely love to receive "get well mail" ;o) Her Mom and Aunts have gotten into stamping lately too -- so I know they will appreciate all of your different creations!

Here is her address:
Miss Malia
3330 E. Canary Way
Chandler, AZ 85286


Thanks soo much for your loyal readership here and I will thank you ahead of time for any cards you are able to send ~ You'll make her day a little brighter!

I'll keep you updated with her continued progress ;o)

Stampin' Huggs to all of you!!
~Teresa

Punkin' Patch Peek

Hello All!!

It's early in the punkin' growin' season but I thought I would snap a few pictures just to show the progress! I should have taken some when the mounds were just mounds before they started to grow! I can't believe how much they have grown in just the last few hot days! Wow!


We have planted all sorts of different varieties from little pumpkins to big pumpkins to white pumpkins to gourds to watermellons...so it will be fun to watch this patch progress!
Here are just a few close ups - the blossoms have really popped the past day!
And...one last picture to show you - this is a huge thunderhead to the south of us tonight. It was just beautiful on our side (north side) but on the south side of this beast it was raining buckets with high winds and golf ball sized hail. WOW!

I'll post pictures of the patch as we progress thru the summer!! I hope to have large yields and we will have fun having the kids come out and pick their own out!

~TFL & Enjoy~

Good Stuff!!

Have you seen the latest in home decorating the creative way?? Stampin' UP! is now currently offering some good stuff for just this!

Our Décor Elements product line is an extension of our Definitely Decorative home décor line. Décor Elements is vinyl artwork for walls, mirrors, windows, or other hard, smooth surfaces.
Stampin' Up! has long advocated decorating your home using Definitely Decorative stamp sets. Décor Elements takes that same idea and uses a different medium to accomplish the same mission-making your home a beautiful representation of your style!

These new products are available now!! I love this new product and can't wait to help you decorate your home with decor elements!

Christmas in July!!

Hello Everyone!!! I wonder if it's as hot where you are as it is here in the midwest? We got into the 90's today for the first time all year ~ now I know some of you are just laughing at this as you are in the triple digitis and have been for quite some time (sorry Sista' Mike -- I know you are living in your pool this time of year!) but I think for us here it's just the beginning of the hot stuff!!

So thinking about something cool ~ I thought of these today -- and I actaully bought some bulbs after Christmas last year on clearance so I could make some of these this year ;o)) Now may be the time to create, huh?

Once again, I found this inspiration from my fave stampin' site ~ SCS!! ;o) If there were a town named 'splitcoaststampers' I think I'd wanna move there ;o)) hehe!!

So follow this link (you know, like to a virtual address in splitcoaststampers'ville) to the awesome tutorial that Vickie Maduzia has created for us!

You may just start 'seeing clearly' on these hot summer days too ;o)

Here is a whole gallery full of ideas related to Glass Ornament inspiration ~ take a break, grab a glass of iced tea and begin to create!!

~TFL & Enjoy~

Happy Monday!

Hello Everyone!

Hope this finds you back in to the Monday grind from a wonderful holiday weekend!!

I wanted to share a fun blog candy contest with you -- it's over at Michelles blog -- a gal that I am personally gonna meet in just a few shorts weeks when we head out to the Black Hills for the motorcycle rally ;o) I'm looking forward to meeting her in person!! Go check out her awesome blog: 2stampis2b

~TFL & Enjoy!~

Love & Liberty ~ Happy 4th!!

Here is wishing all of you a very happy 4th of July!!! Enjoy your time with family and friends!

This awesome card was sent to me by my Arizona SCS Sista' ~ Michaeleen! She is soo on top of it to get these cards done AND out before the holiday!! WOW! I am always impressed by her work ;o)

Thanks for sending me such fun mail Sista!! Yer' the bestest!!

TFL & Enjoy!