Will it ever stop?!

Lets look at it this way:

Week before Christmas:
Sam gets flu bug and misses school Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
Nash gets flu bug and misses school Tuesday.
Caleb gets flu bug & is sick until the following week.

Christmas Eve:
Caleb appears to be on his death bed.

Christmas Day:
Travis & Brooke get flu bug.  Travis STILL has a nasty hacking cough.

Friday January 19:
Sam get sicks.  On Sunday we go to Instacare to be told she has Influenza.  She misses the entire week of school.  Has fever of 103 entire time - that's being on ibuprofen all day every day for the entire week.

Thursday January 24:
Caleb wakes up with temp of 101.4.

Friday January 25:
Rather than go to SLC to the conference I'm registered for for work I stay home and take all FOUR kids to the pediatrician's office.  Get told Caleb just has croup.  Get three days of Dexamethasone for Caleb.  Get Brooke a flu shot.  Caleb's temperature hits 104 this night.

Sunday January 27:
Caleb finishes the last of his Dexamethasone.

Monday January 28:
Really shouldn't send Caleb to daycare but have students doing presentations (that were suppose to be done the week before Christmas but I had to cancel classes).  Send Caleb to daycare double dosed on ibuprofen and acetominaphen.
Take Caleb back to Instacare after work.  Spend three hours there to learn that he doesn't have RSV, it's "just the junk in the air that's viral that's going around" and I'm "doing everything that can be done". Find out the "best recommendation" the dr. can give me is to get some saline nasal spray for Caleb.  Come home very irritated.
Get kids ready for bed and send them off.  Caleb is fevering again and is struggling for air (again/still).  Nash starts coughing....Nash starts croup coughing....Nash has fever.
Brooke wakes up after being asleep for about an hour.  Brooke has fever.

BAH!  I'm digging a very deep hole, climbing in and not coming out until June 1st!  What I don't understand is that I have 95 students in four different schools.  How the heck have I managed to be the ONLY person in this house that hasn't gotten deathly ill?  Seriously!  I hope God knows I consider this to be a VERY cruel joke on his part.

Relay for Life 2013

This year is my FIFTH year doing Relay for Life and my FOURTH year as being a committee member.  This year I am the chairperson for sponsorship again.  I'm hoping that we can raise more money through sponsorship this year than last year.  Last year we raised about $7,000 (which I'm told was twice what they did the year before, hence the reason I'm chairperson again - actually, I was told as long as I want to chair sponsorship, it's all mine).  We raised about $85,000 for the entire event last year.  That was about $10,000 less than the year before - in all honesty, I'm fairly certain that the torrential rain storm we had during Relay was the culprit because it killed a lot of the fundraisers people had planned to do up on site.

Our kickoff event is this Wednesday.  It is our second annual Dancing with the Relay Stars.  It's just like Dancing with the Stars, but the dancers are raising money for Relay.  I have volunteered to help at the event again this year.  It will be held at the Logan Rec Center again this year.  We have quite a few stars dancing this year too.  The USU ballroom dance team acts as choreographers for the dancers - which I think is pretty awesome.  They have also arranged to have several different dance companies bring teams in to dance while money is being counted (nope, Sam's not dancing - lucky for me).  We also use this event as a charity event for the food pantry.  People who come and bring a canned food donation get the price of their admission reduced.  Last year we were able to collect quite a few cans for the food pantry so I'm hoping we can do that again this year as well.

As for the plans I've made for my own Relay team...well, not all plans have been figured out but I'm kinda use to flying solo on this one.  I know I will have team members but most of them don't sign up until about April!  

**Travis had suggested two years ago that we appeal to the men.  I had promised him we would do so through our raffle & our shirts last year....and then I forgot.  So, to honor that promise, this year we will be "Huntin' for a Cure."  We will also be raffling off something that will appeal to the men as well as the women...perhaps a fishing pole?  Travis wants to raffle a gun but I'm pretty sure we won't be able to get one donated and I'm not assuming that liability!

**I'm planning to do a silent auction on the blog again this year.  I would like to do that about the first week of March so keep an eye out.

**I know I will be doing a yard sale again this year.  I've been collecting items in my basement since the end of the last one last May.  The pile is growing out of control!  If you have any items you want to get rid of and would like to donate them to the yard sale let me know.  I'm more than happy to come pick items up.  I'm planning to do the yard sale in early May.  I know we have a dance competition one of the first Saturdays & I believe the second weekend is Mother's Day.  So, I'll keep you posted on a for sure date.

**If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to my team (or register to be a part of my team), you can do so here:

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=50483&pg=personal&px=2086508  I set my fundraising goal for $100 but I'd really like to beat what I did last year.  Last year my team did about $1,700 & I raised about $1,400 of that.  I really wanted to earn my red "Grand Club" shirt last year.  I'm hoping to earn another one this year as well.  That means I have to raise at least $1,000.  

**If you'd like to donate but can't afford to donate money I'd love donations for the silent auction.  Anything you can do helps us find a cure for this rotten disease.  If you know any business owners that would like to participate by being a sponsor let me know!

**And in case you don't know, here's why I Relay:

I started to Relay in memory of my Grandma Lea.  Now I have the honor of Relaying for so many others.  But, to be honest, this right here is why I keep Relaying:

I Relay for my family

I Relay for my Grandpa who kicked Cancer's Butt more times than any one person ought to have to

I Relay for my Littles because Heaven forbid I ever lose one of them to this horrific disease

I Relay for my "Other Mother" who kicked Cancer's Butt

And I Relay for my friends who have kicked Cancer's Butt

Basically, I Relay because it's a way that I CAN make a difference in this very large world.  It's a way for me to be involved in my community and help others who are in need.  It's a way for me to honor my Grandma and the fight she made.  It's a way for me to show my children the importance of caring about those around us -  because in the end, we're all human.