Christmas Day 2008!

On Christmas morning, Daria was full of excitement and being so cute! She couldn't wait to get downstairs. When she finally came down, she went right to the Christmas stockings (which definitely surprised Shari ). The problem was that, of course, Shari was waiting with the video camera by the Christmas Tree (in the living room) and when Daria hit the bottom of the stairs she went to the fireplace which is in the family room. So much for planning!

Daria enjoyed all her presents. This year, since she was 5 now Santa brings all of her presents unwrapped so that she can see them all right away and not have to take the time to unwrap everything! Thank you Santa for this amazing present for Mommy, not having to wrap each and every gift!

Another thing that occurred this year was that Daria realized that Mama and Summer's stockings were empty. She told everyone for weeks that "Mama and Summer were bad and Santa didn't bring them anything." Shari wanted me to send a special "Thank You" to a person who shall remain nameless for not filling her stocking :-)

A dollhouse! Just what Daria asked Santa for! She must have been a good girl this year!

Posing with her Hello Kitty backpack

The gift-opening excitement

Daddy and Daria. This is what the holidays are all about!

Daria with her beautiful wooden bird from Nordstroms! Nordstroms decorates for the holidays each year with these birds and the first time Daria saw them, she fell absolutely in love with them. Tom arranged to get a bird for Daria and she LOVED opening this gift, as you can tell from her precious expression on her face!

Christmas Eve 2008!

The Olbrich family tradition is to decorate the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. This year, the tree got decorated on Christmas Eve morning instead of at night because Tom had to work that afternoon and evening. Shari's parents had come the night before so that they could be a part of the decorating which they have done each year.

The morning of Christmas Eve, around 7:30am, Shari heard little voices coming from downstairs. Shari knew that Daria was very excited about decorating the tree and that she had conversation with Tom the night before about what time they would start. Now, this is supposed to be a "family" tradition and there they were decorating the tree without anyone. So Shari asked them to slow down, get dressed and allow her to get some pictures :-) The tree did indeed get decorated and everyone enjoyed a special breakfast that Shari had prepared since they weren't going to be having their traditional Christmas Eve dinner.

The eager tree decorators!

Daria placing her ornament very carefully

Look at this ornament, Mama.

Daria and Pop Pop together on Christmas Eve.

First Night of Hanukkah!

Following are some pictures from the first night of Hanukkah 2008! This year, since Shari was still recovering from her treatment, Aunt Max was with the Olbrich's to celebrate too! Aunt Max made a yummy Hanukkah dinner that included Potato Latkes.

For the last 2 years, Daria has said the prayers over the candles repeating them after Shari. This year, right from the 1st night she started to recite them all by herself. Shari also decided that Daria was ready to be able to light her own Menorah by herself. Daria was so excited about this and told everyone that "she was saying the prayers by herself and lighting her own Menorah with real fire on the top." (which means that her candle was really lit with a flame). This was a very big to do in the Olbrich household this year!

Their Hanukkah tradition is to have Daria open 1 present each night of Hanukkah. And of course their crazy dog Summer gets in the act every year! She loves to open presents and rip up the wrapping paper. This year was no different.

What a big girl lighting the candle herself on her own menorah!

Daria helping Mommy light a candle too.

Happy Hanukkah everyone!

Daria and Mommy on the first night of Hanukkah.

Daria and Aunt Max

Summer enjoying her gift (and the wrapping paper!).

Chemo Round 3 update

Hi everyone,

On Tuesday, December 16th, Shari completed her 3rd round of chemotherapy treatment. Tuesday was a very long day for Shari. She left the house at 7am and didn't get home until close to 6:30pm. Despite being tired and drained, Shari did experience her usual Day 1 side effect of feeling "high" from the meds. Yesterday, Shari felt decent. There was some more significant bone and joint pain than she usually feels this early in her chemo cycle, but it wasn't too unbearable. Shari did also experience some nausea yesterday. Anticipating how she would feel in the next couple of days, and despite her side effects, Shari actually mustered the strength to complete all of her gift wrapping for the upcoming holidays. She is so inspirational!

Shari's friend Max (or Crazy Aunt Max) returned from Boston yesterday and will stay with Shari through Sunday. Max is such a wonderful support for Shari, Daria, and Tom.... making sure that they all have what they need to make it through these tough days of Shari's chemo cycle.

Please keep Shari in your prayers over the next several days. These are the days that are the toughest for her in her chemo cycle and she will experience the worst and most significant side effects over the next few days.

During her treatment on Tuesday, Shari and the oncology team revisited Shari's targeted therapy regimen. You will recall that Shari was having significant reaction to the targeted therapy drugs (severe body rashes). She had been taking the drug 2 times per day, but when the reactions started, they discontinued the drug altogether until her body healed. Shari then started taking the targeted therapy once per day. She has not had any of the severe rashing during this time, although she does still have itching and peeling of her hands and feet. Because she has reacted fairly well to the once per day plan, they decided on Tuesday that Shari would start taking the targeted therapy drugs 2 times per day, every other day. On the days in between, Shari will just take it once per day. Please pray for Shari that this gradual ramp up will work for her body and not cause her any severe reactions as it had before!

Shari's next chemotherapy is now scheduled for January 5th, but may be pushed back to January 12th. We will update the exact date in a post soon.

Best,
Shannon

A Rose is More Than Just a Rose...

Shari just completed Round 3 of chemotherapy yesterday (an update on that is coming next). Before we get to that, though, we want to tell all of her friends and family about Shari's "Rose Angel". The day before each of the 3 chemotherapy treatments that Shari has completed, Shari has found a rose on her front doorstep. The rose is always accompanied by 7 different inspirational quotes written on index cards and paper clipped to the rose.

The rose is given to Shari anonymously. She genuinely has no idea who keeps leaving her pre-treatment rose and inspirational quotes for her. While one part of Shari is very curious about who the mystery gifter is, another part of her happy to have it remain a mystery. She is very thankful and appreciative of this anonymous "Rose Angel" who is so thoughtful and provides her with this wonderful pick-me-up right before each of her treatments.

So, to Shari's "Rose Angel" whomever you are, Shari wants you to know this.... She appreciates you and your generosity more than you can know. Your gesture really puts a smile on her face and helps her get through her tough days. You are very much loved and appreciated!

The Nutcracker Tradition

With Daria being the ballerina that she is, Shari has started a tradition with her to go see the Nutcracker Ballet each year during the holiday season. They've been doing this together for the past 3 years. Their yearly tradition looked slightly different this time because Shari and Daria went to see a different production of The Nutcracker and they went with several of their playgroup friends! My daughter Madison and I were part of the group that went to The Nutcracker, and Madison and Daria both had a great night! And, truth be told, Shari and I had a great evening out as well! We got the girls dressed up and took them out to dinner before the show. They were so excited. Here are some pictures:

Shari and Daria at dinner.

Daria showing us her best ballerina moves.

So graceful.

Best friends.

Shannon, Daria, Madison, and Shari enjoying our night out together!

More updates soon,

Shannon

Birthday Blessings

On December 10th, Shari celebrated her 29th Birthday (Again!) :-) To celebrate this very special occasion, Shari had a Birthday Tea with Tom, Daria, and her dear friend Jann. This was a perfect opportunity to celebrate all that is wonderful in Shari's life. Here are some pictures from that fabulous day:

Aren't they a beautiful family?


Mother and Daughter

Aunt Jann, Daria, and Shari

Precious angel

Happy Birthday, Shari. We all wish you a year ahead full of health, blessings, and happiness!

Shari is so stylish!

On 11/22, Shari's friend Mair came over for the "final buzz" and they took off the remainder of Shari's hair. After this session, Shari was mostly bald, although there were still a few small patches of hair remaining. Daria got to help this time around and as you will see from all of the smiles in the picture, they had a great day together!

Shari is ready to become bald!

You can see Daria's hand in the picture "helping" Aunt Mair!

Daria got a turn with the clippers too!

Saying goodbye to Mommy's hair.

And embracing it all with ..... SMILES!

And after this buzz session, here is how Shari is working her new Bald look. Doesn't she have the best head shape?

To top it all off, here are some of the FABULOUS hat and scarf looks that Shari has been wearing lately. She looks so very chic!!!

Stay tuned for more fashionable updates soon :-)

Round 2 of Chemo

I (Shannon) was away just as Shari was completing Round 2 of her Chemotherapy treatment, so here is a recap of her experience in her own words. This is a post of an email that Shari sent to update friends and family on her status.
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Dearest Friends and Family,

I hope this email finds you all well. I appreciate all the emails, blog responses and phone calls that I have been receiving. The love and support that has rallied around me and my family has been unbelievable and the word of Thank You sometimes just doesn't seem like enough. So without knowing what else to say, Thank you from the bottom of my heart. We are so grateful.

I decided to write to everyone now that I have completed Round 2 of my Chemotherapy Treatment. Shannon is away for a couple of days and I thought that I would like to send out an email update myself. I will ask her to add this to my blog as well just in case I miss anyone. Also a special Thank You to Shannon for updating my blog and keeping everyone informed. Just in case you need the blog address again it is www.daringtoshare.blogspot.com

Update on the port that was implanted two weeks ago, it seems to be adapting to my body very nicely. There is still a little discomfort but on the most part it is healing very well.

Light to the targeted therapy (oral meds), Nexavar, and the ongoing rash reaction that I have been having. The reaction was so bad that we held the meds for 7 days and restarted this past Wednesday evening dose only and I had another reaction, so we decided to hold it again. We reevaluate the situation at my appointment on Friday and decided to restart at a much lower dose so that my body can adapt to it more gracefully. I had been taking 2 pills 2 times a day and now I will be taking 1 pill a day. Wait for my body to adjust and try to add more. I started last night and it seems that I have not had any reaction. So far so good.

So yesterdays treatment was unbelievable. Since I now have a port there was no accessing my veins for an IV, it would be my first experience accessing the port instead. I was a little nervous of the unknown but was very excited as well for not having to use my veins. My dear friend Jann, lovely Alice and a surprise visitor Leah, the best buddy anyone could have from my DSS class were all present with me. The nurse got all her stuff ready, draped me, cleaned me all up and said "OK, take in a deep breath and exhale and I will insert the needle." I said OK please wait one minute and I took in a cleansing breath and said "OK now I am ready". She said again, "Take in a breathe, blow it out, here we go, OK all done." I said, "All done, that's it." She said "Yep that's it." And then I screeched, "That's it, all done, yea!!!!" I was so happy. It was so easy, and I feel so blessed. The whole time that the infusion was going in I felt nothing. It was terrific.

The whole day takes a really long time but for some reason yesterday didn't seem as long. I still got high as a kite and felt a little woozy and high leaving the hospital but I felt great. I eat lunch, rested and had great conversation with friends. What more could anyone ask for.

Today, I feel a little under the weather. A little nauseous, a little tired, and a little weak. But all in all I am fine. The next couple of days will be more challenging for me and then I will start to feel a little better. By week 3 I will have my energy back and feel like me again, just in time to start again.

This week my dear friend (my wife) Max or Crazy Aunt Max, that some kids call her, is here with us from Boston to take care of me, support Tom and care for Daria as well. We are so grateful to her for being here with us and loving us just the way that she does. Thank you Max for making it possible to be her with me this week and for just being you.

Lastly, if you would please continue to hold my vision with me that I am "The Miracle". I am holding for the disease to shrink and be gone from my body completely. Please continue to see me strong, healthy and vibrant as I continue on my journey of complete health.

Thank you for being apart of my life. I feel so grateful and blessed.
God Bless us all.
Loving,
Shari

Rash, Rash, Go Away!

By the end of last week, Shari had started to experience some pretty unpleasant side effects from the targeted therapy drug that she is taking. As of Friday, the body rash that Shari was experiencing had spread and soon covered 95% of her body. Shari has described the body rash as being very similar to having a bad sun burn (And, as a melanoma patient, the strange irony of this has not been lost on Shari at all!). At first, her skin was red and raw and blistering in places. She was having significant difficulty in walking because even the bottoms of her feet were effected. Her skin then started to look purple, just as a bad sun burn would look. And, then her skin started to peel.

Shari and the oncologist's office decided late last week that Shari would stop taking the targeted therapy drug temporarily until the body rash started to calm down. Shari discontinued use of the drug over the weekend and touched base with the office on Monday. They decided that her skin had not healed enough to begin the drug yet and decided to wait until Wednesday. Shari did take her first dose of the meds on Wednesday, and overnight last night was greeted by the full body rash having returned :-(

She is not taking the meds today, but is suffering quite a bit both from the rash as well as from a night of fitful, poor sleep. Around 3am last night, Shari was in significant pain and quite itchy. She took some Benadryl and also tried to put ice packs on her feet to numb them because they hurt so badly. Remember that tomorrow Shari has her second round of chemotherapy and needs all of the energy reserves she can have, so this episode is poorly timed. Shari will be speaking with the oncologist tomorrow regarding how they are going to proceed with the targeted therapy given her reactions to the drug. One choice would be to take a smaller dose of the drug and hope that as her body got used to it, she could ramp up to the higher dose over time.

Also, this weekend, Shari decided it was time to try out a new hair cut :-) Shari had started to experience some hair loss, so she made the decision to "buzz" her hair to make the hair loss process a little more manageable. Shari's friend Mair came to the house on Sunday to complete the next step in her hair transformation. Shari said that she shed some tears but mostly had laughter. She was listening to Indigo Girls - Right of Passage ("Galileo") as Mair started to buzz it all away. That song is really important to Shari because of a personal meaning from a class that she took a long time ago.

Here is Shari before:


And, here she is after with her "buzz" cut:

How awesome does she look?!?!?! So beautiful!

Shari told me today that her hair is starting to fall out more regularly now, and so she may choose to buzz her hair even shorter. I'm sure we'll have more pics to share when that happens. Shari has chemotherapy scheduled for tomorrow. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers! We will keep you posted.

Peace,

Shannon

Update on Shari

Hi everyone-

Shari is doing fairly well this week. She has experienced some fatigue, bone pain, and some rashes on her body in the last 10 days since her treatment started. However, all of this has mostly been manageable for her and are all expected side effects.

On Wednesday, Shari went to the hospital to have a port put in her chest. From here forward, her medicines will be administered through the port, instead of having to give her IV's every time she goes for treatment. She has had some discomfort and soreness at the incision sites, but is overall doing well from that procedure.

Shari's next chemo treatment will be next Friday, November 21st.

Please keep Shari in your thoughts and prayers and keep holding her vision that she will be a "miracle" and eradicate this cancer from her body!

Best,
Shannon

Touched By An Angel...

For anyone who may be doubting, there are still alot of really great people in this world...People who will go out of their way to assist a stranger for no other reason than to be nice and to help someone out. Shari met one of these selfless people two weeks ago.

The weekend before the historic presidential election, Shari was at home, preparing to cut her hair before her chemo treatment started a few days later. Out of the blue, her front door bell rang. Shari answered to door to find a friendly campaign worker canvassing her neighborhood reminding people to get the vote out! As he talked to Shari, she mentioned that it was going to be hard for her to make voting work in her schedule (she needed to leave for the hospital that morning by 7:30am for her first chemo treatment!), but she was going to try her absolute hardest to make sure she voted. She was especially concerned by the prediction that lines would be long at her polling place, and she wouldn't have the time to wait.

After hearing her story, this kind man told her that he wanted to help her out. So, he told her that he would go to the polls early on Tuesday morning and wait in line for her so that she could pull right up to the polls when they opened at 7am and take his place in line and vote. The man gave Shari is cell phone number and told her that whether she came, or not, he was going to be there waiting in line for her.

The night before, the man called Shari and reiterated his commitment to waiting in line for her so she could vote quickly and get on her way to the hospital. Shari still wasn't sure how her morning would go and if all of the timing was even going to make any of this possible, but she surely appreciated the man doing this for her.

Tuesday morning, Shari was on her way and called her new friend to let him know she was coming. As promised, this man had been waiting in a long line and when Shari arrived, he gave her his space in line. He then proceeded to go all the way to the back of the line to wait his turn to vote.

This seemingly small gesture made a huge difference in Shari's life! You never know how impactful your kindness can be and Shari was so appreciative that this "voting angel" was sent to her!

Shannon

Empowerment!

Once Shari chose to do the chemotherapy and targeted therapy treatment that began this week, she knew that losing her hair would become a reality at some point in this process. Shari has embraced this reality and decided to be proactive about it!

Shari wanted to cut her hair short in anticipation of the chemo side effects, before she started treatment and started to possibly feel ill. On Sunday, her dear friend Mair cut her hair into a fabulous new short style! Shari looks beautiful.

Shari, before

Shari, after

Doesn't she look fabulous?!?! In other "hair" news, Shari and her friend Jan started the process of wig shopping last week. They went to a boutique in West Chester and were introduced to a HUGE variety of options she has for head coverings, including wigs, partial hair pieces, hats, scarves, and headbands. Shari found a few things she really liked there including a wonderful wig that she hopes she may be able to get in the coming weeks! Check out her pictures.

I love this shot of Jan and Shari together! Don't they look adorable?!?!

That's it for tonight. Tomorrow I'll update you on Shari's wonderful voting story. There are some really wonderful people in this world!

Shannon

We Interrupt this Regularly Scheduled Programming....

Hi everyone!This is Shari's friend Shannon. As many of you know, Shari has been diagnosed with melanoma and has recently found out that the melanoma has spread to her lung. Shari began a chemotherapy and targeted therapy treatment program as of yesterday to fight the melanoma. We know that Shari will be successful in her fight, but she can use all of the support that she can get along the way.

Shari has asked that I act as a communicator with all of you, her loving supporters, as she goes through this process. This is a job I will happily accept. In light of this, I have "hijacked" Shari's blog and will occasionally update you here with her progress.

Shari provided an update yesterday after her first chemotherapy treatment and here is what she had to say:

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Today, Tuesday, November 4th I started my first chemo and targeted therapy treatment. And after 1 small issue in the morning (I was never scheduled for an appointment in the calendar for today's treatment) and 1 small issue once I started the chemo (I had a small rash reaction that made them stop the meds and check with my Dr. that took about 45 minutes before receiving clearance to continue) I think the day went smooth and easy. I was very tired and floating around from the Benadryl that they gave me and then got very high from the steroids. The combination was overall good.

It has been almost a 12 hour day since I left my house and got back home but (I DID VOTE, YEA!!!!! can't wait to share that story, another time) I am tired and ready to relax, get out of my clothes and retire for the night.

Thank you for all your support and love. I will update often and keep you up to date on my progress. If there is anyone that I have missed please let me know. And you are welcome to share my "Miracle" progress with anyone that would like to know. My oncologists vision is to maintain and stabilize the disease and I would like to take it a step further I want to be "The Miracle" to shrink the melanoma and it be gone from my body completely.

God Bless us all,
Light, love and laughter,
Shari
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Please keep Shari in your thoughts and prayers. I will update here regularly so please check back!

Shannon

Conversations With Daria

So once again I had an another amazing conversation with my daughter. Today's subject was about age. Some how we spoke about life and after life. Yes she is only 5 years old but we talk about everything. Today was no different. So as we spoke she mentioned that Daddy was old. I said why do you say that Daddy is old Daria? She said because he wears glasses. I really wanted to laugh. Instead I asked her, but Mama wears glasses also. She said not all the time. Only old people where glasses all the time like Daddy. I said, oh OK. I had to bite my tong. And there we have another wonderful conversation with a 5 year old.

Blessings,

Shari

African Safari Adventure

Today turned out to be such a beautiful day even though to weather people again called for a day of rain. We had none. It was overcast in the am but absolutely warm and sunny all day long. So off we went to the African Safari. We decided not to tell Daria where we were going for the day because we knew she would be so excited to see all the animals live and up close, we decided that surprising her was the way to go and to see her little face was worth the wait. And I could capture it all on film. But no, Mama forgot her camera. Again! That's another story. Someday, I will get better at remembering.

Anyway, on with our day. We decided to invite Grandma and Pop Pop because they live so close to Africa, so we met them along the way and they joined us for the rest of the adventure. Daria was very excited to share the day with them too.

So when we finally arrived and was waiting in line to drive in there were animal pattern flags flying in the wind and Daria saw them and said , "Are we at a Safari?" I had no idea how she knew, but she was right. So there was no turning back now, the excitement was there and now we just needed to get into the park. As we were waiting in line, there was a whole herd of buffalo crossing the road just inside the gate. Daria was so excited to see the buffalo. And once we got in, there they were free, roaming around, and getting close to our car. Boy are they huge animals. I forgot how big they are. Daria's excitement was contagious. She just couldn't sit still. She was screaming and cackling. I was so excited about her excitement. And as we continued to drive through the 4 1/2 mile route, which took over 2 hours, each animal that we saw Daria just squealed with excitement. Towards the end of the 2 hours we came to animals that were very lazy, sleeping, hot and not interested in letting us see them. So next time we decide to do this we need to go earlier in the day. But that was OK by us, we all had a great time.

So the highlight of the day was when we saw the Giraffes. At fist they were far away from the road but then they started towards the cars and there they were standing right above us looking down at us. I felt sooooo small and vulnerable. It was a very interesting feeling. So anyway, the car next to us got the giraffes attention by holding apples out of the windows and the sunroof. This is an absolute no no. The rules all say no windows open, no feeding the animals, No No No!!!! There they were feeding the giraffes. I explained to Daria that they were breaking the rules and that could make the animals sick. Then the people in the car fed the giraffes pretzels and Daria totally understood that couldn't be good for them. She was correct. Even though they weren't doing right, we stayed there and watched those gorgeous animals close up and personal. It was definitely the best part of the day.

After our African Adventure we had a late lunch together and came home. I was a long day, an exciting day, a day that we will remember for a long time.

Blessings,

Shari

Coversations With Daria

So the other day we received a letter from Daria's Fantastic Fives teacher Miss Cynthia. Miss Cynthia introduced herself in the letter, told her how excited she was to have her in her class and explained that she had enclosed her first assignment. Daria then asked, "Mama, what is an assignment?" I explained that it is work that you need to so, homework. I continued reading the letter and it said to place 2 or 3 of your favorite items inside the bag. Daria again asked "What is an item?" I again explained that it is an object or a thing, something that you like. And I then said do you understand? This is a homework assignment that you need to do before school starts. And with that out of my dear sweet 5 year old daughter's mouth comes "I DON"T WANT TO DO ANY HOOOOMEWWWWORRRRK!!!" With all the whining to back up the statement. I just couldn't believe my ears. I felt like I was talking to a teenage. Not my 5 year old. If this is happening now then what will happen when she is a teenager. Inside I was just laughing and also crying. I was laughing because this was just too funny and crying because this was my future. Look out world here she comes!!!!

Blessings,

Shari

A Day Of Rest

So today started out to be a day of much needed rest. Tom decided this morning that he wanted to go to the beach for the day. After much debate inside myself, I decided that he and D Rose should go without me. And that I should spend the day at home catching up on all the needed rest that I manage to not get. Besides, the side affects from my treatment (I will explain later) are now kicking in. This of course is a good thing but it does take it's toll. So driving 2 hours to the shore and 2 hours home from the shore, spending time on the beach in the sun and walking on the boardwalk, although to most of you sounds like a wonderful day, to me would have been exhausting. So I made my chose and opted to stay home and I sent the two of them off by themselves.

At the beginning of the day I was sooooo happy. Alone in the quiet with my class work, my new blog, my book that I want to finish reading and of course the Olympics. I was set. I had to run to the store for a short errand and was back by lunch time. I made myself a nice lunch and then it hit me. "They must be on the beach having a great time." "What have I done, why did I decide to stay home?" And lets just say that it went on and on and on from there. Most of the time I was trying very hard to be content in my quiet and then the one in my head would start and not let up.

All in all, I had the day of quiet I needed so much. I completed a lot that I wanted to get accomplished and had rest, quiet rest. On the most part I am grateful for days like this and I also wish that I had the energy all the time to just pick up and go like I used too. That day again will come.

Blessings,

Shari

Do You Want to Win $100????

Lands' End is one of those companies that really value moms' opinions. Here's a way to have your voice heard and really make a difference when it comes to preparing for the upcoming winter months. Please take a few minutes to complete the 2008 Lands' End Outerwear Survey.

The survey consists of 19 multiple-choice questions. Upon completing the survey, your name will be entered to win one of five $100 Lands' End Gift Cards. To be eligible to win, you must complete the survey by midnight (CST) on Thursday, August 28th.

Take the Survey Now!

And being the blogger that you are... we'd love for you to share this survey opportunity with your readers. If you put up a post with a link to this survey on your blog before August 28th, please send Natalie Zupo, nzupo@bsmmedia.com, an e-mail with the link to that post and we will enter your name a second time for your chance to win one of five $100 gift cards from Lands' End!

How easy is that? Hope to see you on the winners list.

Blessings,

Shari

A Visit from my Sister

Celeste and D Rose laughing together

Celeste, Nicole and D Rose enjoying being togehter

D Rose had a very busy Thursday. First we had a visit from her best friend Madison. They got to play and play and even have lunch together. Which is always a highlight of the day. Then after lunch we were supposed to have rest time but we were just too excited because we knew who would be coming soon.

Then finally around 4pm D Rose's older sister arrived with her daughter Nicole. Everyone was so excited and the toys went a flyin'. Everyone got into the act. Celeste and Nicole spent the night and the next day we went to the park for some fun and water play. Everyone had a great time. It's always great to have a visit from them. It is a shame they don't live closer so we can see them more often.

Thanks for the visit. Can't wait til next time.

Blessings,

Shari

Testing 1, 2, 3 Testing

Here I am learning about how to blog. Yes Girls I said Blog. Can you believe it? I can't. But so far so good. Thanks Shannon for all your assistance and your friendship.
Blessings,

Shari

No Grandma and Pop Pop You Can't Go!!!

D Rose keeping Grandma and Pop Pop hostage

So Grandma and Pop Pop came for a visit. Right before they went home my mom shared a story about me and my siblings when my grandparents came to visit us when we were kids and how we never wanted them to leave. My brother, sister and I would barracade ourselves infront of the door so that they couldn't leave. As my parents were getting ready to leave D Rose disappeared. My parents said their goodbyes and headed for the door and what did they find, little Miss D Rose sitting infront of the door blocking it and saying "You can't leave you can't leave". How cute was she?

Blessings,

Shari