Monday, July 26, 2010

Will you join me in helping to make a child smile?

Please consider joining me in making handmade pillow cases to be delivered to terminally ill children here in Long Beach. I (we) will be partnering with Craft Hope and ConKerr Cancer for this great project. Please click on the organization names above to learn more about how each are making a difference in the lives of others.

I will be accepting pillowcases until Sunday, September 12th and will be delivering them to Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach before the deadline of September 15th.

SEPTEMBER IS CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS MONTH


Click HERE to see how you can help make a difference in the life of a child.

Click HERE to link to an easy pillow case pattern.



Here's a little about ConKerr and how it was started:

“ConKerr Cancer: A Case for Smiles” was started when Ryan Kerr was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer at the age of twelve. Despite his illness - and many, many trips to the hospital - Ryan lived a full life of school, sports and friends. To make his hospital room cheerier, his mom Cindy began making fun, whimsical pillowcases to brighten up his day and put a smile on his face. Ryan liked them so much that Cindy started making pillowcases for the other children in the Oncology Unit. In a short time, the pillowcase project grew in amazing ways and has provided more than 210,000 pillowcases to sick children. Thousands of volunteers from across North America and South Africa have joined in so that ConKerr has more than 117 chapters serving over 170 hospitals.

ConKerr Cancer volunteers also visit oncology units and outpatient clinics in order to guide young patients as they learn to sew pillowcases for themselves, their family and their friends. Volunteers bring all that is required for the children to design and create the perfect masterpiece. Girls and boys, mothers, fathers and siblings, all join in for this fun distraction during one of the most stressful experiences of life. But the benefits go far beyond distraction. The activity boosts the children’s self esteem, confidence and sense of mastery. They are so proud of themselves when they see what they’ve made that they flash giant smiles of satisfaction!

ConKerr Cancer has been able to make wonderful progress towards fulfilling our goal of making hospital stays as pleasant as possible for chronically ill children and their parents. Simultaneously the pillowcase project has fostered a spirit of community and volunteer service in communities across North America. Unfortunately the number of sick children never ends, and we must continue to expand our efforts to help brighten sick children’s lives and raise awareness about childhood cancer.

We hope you will join us – we guarantee it will put a smile on your face too!

Please e-mail me (Nicole) directly at: summersfamily09@gmail.com with questions or to get additional information regarding dropping off your pillow case.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

There's nothing better than a day at the beach enjoying the simple things


like the smell of the ocean

or discovering something moving in the sand
or the feel of the water on your hands and feet

or getting a little dirtier than you had planned

or working together to build something special
or eating tuna sandwiches in the sun

or flying your towel in the wind

or just chewing on some keys

It was a beautiful day filled with lots of love, kisses and cuddling






I blogged about this special day awhile back on Annabelle's blog. Click HERE if you would like to see that post.
Seal Beach, CA - May 22, 2010

Our little skater dudes



Watch Benjamin in action

Check out Jack


These cool skateboards were bid on and won at Brent's fundraiser at Peppino's Italian restaurant in Foothill Ranch, CA on May 18th.

(yes that means these pictures are from May 19th - better late than never!)

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

A Mother Remembers

I came across this youtube video tonight of a mother retelling her son's birth story as a tribute to him on his birthday. I enjoyed watching it and thought I'd share. It's an emotional video but also uplifting.



Here is the link to her blog:

Sunday, July 11, 2010

A bump in the road for my nephew Brent - please pray


I write this once again asking for prayers and positive thoughts for my nephew Brent. Pasted below is the latest update as of today (7-11-10).

Here's a picture of Brent with the boys this past 4th of July.










Hello All,

It is with very heavy hearts that we share the results of the most recent CT scan. Fluid continues to increase near the right side of Brents brain. The doctor is concerned and wants to be pro-active and has recommended surgery to remove the fluid. Surgery is scheduled for this Monday at 11:10 at Mission Hospital.

Thank you for the prayers for our son and may God continue to watch over us ALL and give us strength in our lives.

Love Always,

The Sirignano Family

____________________________________________________________________

Brent asked that his surgery not be publicized as he didn't want to make a big deal about it :-( but it seems he had a change of heart and let his parents post about it on the "official update blog". He is making such progress and is understandably disappointed to have to be going back in for surgery which will require a few days to a week hospital stay and missed therapy appointments. We were with him on Saturday night and he was in good spirits and positive as always.

I am asking that you PLEASE, PLEASE PRAY that his surgery will go smoothly and that he will recover quickly. Thank you all so much for holding him and my sister & Ed close in your hearts tomorrow morning. I know my SB mommy friends know exactly what my sister is going through right now. The pain of sending your child into surgery is just horrible - my heart aches for her right now but my head knows that everything will be alright. I believe in God's healing power, the power of prayer and the strength of our family.

The beauty of family

My two wonderful nephews - Brent with his younger brother Eddie
July 4, 2010

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy 4th of July





From our family to yours!