About Me

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Bakersfield, CA, United States
Hans was a busy, happy, sweet and fearless three year old when he was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. He fought his disease like a "gladiator" for nearly 6 years. Hans was an animal lover to his core. He was 'guarded' at home by his three cats, Black, Orange and Cotton. He also had his Golden Retriever, Honey, to keep him company. Hans enjoyed swimming, biking, gardening, grilling (he had his very own grill!), horseback riding, playing video games, building Legos, and flipping between Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Animal Planet. Hans loved all members of his family and he was a loyal friend. He had to go through a lot of treatment in his life. But Hans powered through it. His attitude was let's get this done! His motivation was always to get back home, to his family, pets, favorite foods and pool.

Friday, December 04, 2009

Bake Sale Results

"It'll be a great day when Education gets all the money it wants and the Air Force has to hold a Bake Sale to buy Bombers." - author unknown

Substitute Pediatric Cancer Research for Education above and it works for me today. I guess I saw this bumper sticker enough in my youth (I think it was pretty big in the early '80's, esp. on Volkswagens) for it to make an impact.

Well, since Pediatric Cancer Research funding falls far short of getting everything it wants, we shall hold bake sales. I want to thank my friends and family, the 'bake sale goddesses', as I think of them, who bake their buns off for a cause. We had a good bake sale with a total of $1922 raised for the CNCF. Not bad for a day when I'm totally out of state and we had a rare Houston Snow Storm. Thanks to my mom (Grandma Stephanie) and Michelle who staffed the sale all day, and to Mayada and Shannon who were able to work as well. Thanks to the dozens of bakers that made this sale a success! I appreciate it! We sold almost everything we had. So, I think the key to success is retaining our bakers and recruiting new ones.

The next TCH Bake Sale is already all set for February 12, 2010. I can't believe this will already be our third annual Valentine's Day Bake Sale at TCH. I just crunched some numbers and it looks like we did about $8,200 in bake sale sales in 2009, and $7,200 in 2008.

In a Hans update - we are doing okay! Hans is okay. His cold is getting a little better, I think. He still has a bit of a cough, but I'll hope he'll be okay for the Bone Marrow Procedure tomorrow, esp since it is a much shorter sedation then the MRI would have been. We have moved to the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House. It is pretty sweet to be here. The rooms are actually bigger than the Sheraton, there is free food, cheap rent, and all kinds of perks! We've actually had to go out and do a little shopping b/c we had only prepared for a three night stay. But, that was alright with me. The downtown Macy's here is really pretty at Christmas time, so nobody had to twist my arm to get me to go. Friday I actually got my haircut. Before the appointment we all got out for some sightseeing. Yesterday we got to see the Philadelphia Flyers vs. the Washington Capitals (NHL). We tried to pack in some fun before Kevin left today. Hans did pretty well saying going bye to his daddy today. He's pretty incredible and is handling all of this remarkably well. It suddenly got pretty cold here, and we had some snow last night. It's actually a little prohibitive for on-foot sight seeing, but we've got some good books and we're on the "Mansion" side of the RMH, and it's actually a nice big room with a view!


I'll update more on Elle another day. She has A LOT going on - my mom has been working hard keeping up with her. A lot goes into raising a fabulous girl!

Lara

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the update, Lara!

The flexibility and good humor that prevails in your litte family is amazing!

Cheers to all...
Thinking of you with love...
Aunt Susy

Anonymous said...

Courtney and I are thrilled that the bake sales bring a focus on these precious kiddoes and the fight against childhood cancers. John was trying to snitch a cupcake or two, but he was told that we could spare none!

Know that your family is always in our prayers and our hearts.

The Sweebe family

Anonymous said...

Lara,

We'll be waiting with bated breath for your next post. Just know we're always here praying and sending our love.

With love,
Shelley

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad to hear that the bake sale went well! Good job to everyone who participated!

Also glad to hear that you've been able to enjoy a little of what PA has to offer.

All my love,

Roxie