Factical Tuesday

The kids made up their own day today.  Factical Tuesday, name chosen by Nathanael.  They learn new things every single day, but they wanted to dedicate one day during which they learn "many facts about one topic" they choose.  They want to keep it going every week. This week's topic?  Raccoons and rabies. 

Stay tuned for next week!

A Day In The Life

Been a few days since our last post/update.  There have been some ups and downs and in-betweens, and finding the time/energy/oomph to blog has been a bit difficult.  But we're back and still raising money, and with only 66 days left until the Relay and a lot more to raise to reach our goal, we're back with a vengeance.


In the last week, Savannah has turned 4 (going on 16), joined karate, and has changed her outfit approximately 1,200 times.  Nathanael has added yet another occupation to his long list of things he'd like to do when he grows up (pharmacist, astronaut, animal rescuer, karate teacher, and now a robotic engineer), has taken a keen interest in entomology and ornithology, has mastered Jim Carrey-ish faces, and succeeded in getting the rest of us sick with some nasty virus.  We've had the sewer back up into our basement, a raccoon on our back deck, and a power outage.


Our last fundraiser at Nola's BBQ featuring the Skycoasters was a small success.  Somewhere on this ancient laptop I have the names of people to thank for their donations for raffle items.  We do have another fundraiser coming up in just a couple of weeks at local family restaurant Cheeburger Cheeburger.  We have items to raffle, and the restaurant will be donating 15% of their sales to our team for the American Cancer Society.  We're still so far from our goal, but we're all hopeful that we'll get there.  


Keeping the hope alive has been a bit of a roller coaster ride as of late.  We're still listening to Don't Stop Believin' and Jump to keep the message present in our daily lives.  It's harder for me than it is for the kids, but their youthful innocence and naivete can be infectious.


The kids are busy preparing something that they'd like posted on the blog which will get on here by the end of the week.  In the meantime, I thought some of the dialogue that has occurred in the time since the last post might put a smile on your faces, dear readers.  Thank you for your continued loyalty to our blog.  


There is still time to donate to our team, and if you'd like to do so on behalf on Nathanael and Savannah or in honor/celebration/memory of someone you love, please visit our team page here.  If you'd like to mail a check, you may do so by writing it out to The American Cancer Society and mailing it to:
Nathanael and Savannah Haskell
P.O. Box 506
Buffalo, NY 14226


And now, may I present "Overheard In The Haskell Household" or "A Typical Day In My House"


Mom: I'm nauseated.
Nathanael: Me too.
Savannah:  I'm lazy-eyed.

Savannah:  Make it a double!  (referring to the amount of fruit snacks she was getting, but still)

Savannah:  Hey Mama, take a whiff!
Mom:  Excuse me?
Savannah:  Oh, did you toot, too?

Nathanael, attempting to speak French: Clooka dooka f*cka troolay
*when asked what he was trying to say, he told me he was asking what the time was

Savannah: Do spiders have private parts?

Nathanael:  Girls are better than boys.  Oh...wait a minute.  That's not what I meant.

Nathanael:   Mama is WAY more fun than Daddy!

Savannah:  Mama, I've got an itchy spot right here.
Mom:  You do?  Where'd it come from?
Savannah: 'Cause I've been scratching at it.

Savannah, hitting their little table and in a creepy voice:  I give up, you scary table!

Nathanael:  Auntie C. texts you a lot.  I hope I get to text when *I'm* a pharmacist.
*for the record, Auntie C. does not text a lot, nor do I receive a lot of text messages.

Savannah: I need help wiping!

Nathanael:  I'm over homeschooling for today.
Mom: Now what do you think would happen if you went to regular school and you told the teacher you were over school for the day?
Nathanael: She'd throw me in the dumpster.
*again, for the record, we spend about an hour and a half total homeschooling at this age.  Not long enough for him to be "over" anything.  Little turkey.

Savannah: Do we still have lemonade?
*she asks this every day.  We haven't had lemonade since our lemonade stand in MARCH.

Nathanael: I need some tape for my microphone.
Mom:  Why do you need tape for it?
Nathanael:  Uhh....so I can tape it, of course.

Nathanael: I just put deodorant on.
Savannah: Regular?
Mom, knowing all he did was slap water under his armpits: Why did you put deodorant on?
Nathanael: Because my elbows smelled like sweat.

Most of this is probably "Guess you had to be there" funny, but trust me.  In the moment, the hilarity was too much.

A World With More Birthdays....

In honor of Savannah's 4th birthday today, would you please consider donating to a cause whose mission is to fight for and preserve *more* birthdays?

You can donate to Savannah directly here or to our team here.  Any donation, big or small, is                     wholeheartedly appreciated, and can make a huge impact in the fight against cancer.

For a world with more birthdays....that's our wish.

You say it's your birthday...

Mom here.  On May 15, 2008, our family became complete.  Savannah blessed us with her presence at 2:03 p.m., and made that presence known to everyone in the room.  One look at the sweet face, the beautiful blue eyes, and I knew I had a special, special girl on my hands.  Four years later and I have yet to be proven wrong. 

Happy birthday, Savannah.  You are my sweet, smart, funny, beautiful and sassy girl, and I am SO proud of all you have done in your short time here on this earth.  You are helping to change the world, my girl, and you bring a light to this world that no one else could ever bring.  May all of your dreams come true.  May happiness and love always be at your side.  May you always know how special you are to me and how much I love you.

I'll love you forever

I'll like you for always

As long as I'm living

My baby you'll be.

~Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

On 80s Music

Nathanael, age 3.
Savannah, age 1 1/2.


Who would've thought they would turn out to love old-school 80s rock?  Much to my husband's delight, even now at 5 and 3, they love to listen and dance to the cleaner songs that we grew up with.  Thankfully, they still don't catch the meanings, whether hidden or not so hidden, behind the songs.  They get this first line or two but what really captivates them both about any music is the melody.  


The rock obsession started with Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'."  My husband happened to have his iPod on shuffle the other day, and Van Halen's "Jump" came on.  They were immediately in love.  I've heard the song
many times, but never picked up on the first line.


Nathanael did.

"I get up....and nothin' gets me down."

Nathanael: Mom!  This is a great song for the Relay For Life!"

Mom:  Why, buddy?

Nathanael:  Well, because "I get up and nothing gets me down" means people with cancer shouldn't let cancer get them down.  They can get up and fight!

Savannah:  Like Gran.

Nathanael:  I hope she doesn't let it get her down.

Mom:  You know, of all the times I've heard this song, Natty, I've never paid attention to that lyric.  I think you're right.  I think that's a great message for the Relay.  Do you know what the next line is?


Nathanael: No, not really.

Mom:  It's "You got it tough, I've seen the toughest around."  That kind of reminds me of Gran, like something she or anyone else fighting cancer could say.  Should say.  Your Gran is one tough cookie.


Nathanael:  I know she is.  I'm proud of her.

Savannah:  Me too!

Mom  I'm proud of her, too.  She's the bravest of them all.  She's roaring her mighty roar (*we just finished reading Where The Wild Things Are*) at that nasty wild thing called cancer, and we just have to keep hoping that we can help her and anyone else who may be fighting cancer to feel like they can get up and not let their sickness win in terms of getting their spirits down.  

Hey, cancer - "I ain't the worst that you've seen."  My kids are coming after you.

Don't Stop Believin', brought to you by Excedrin Migraine

I kid, I kid.


A little.


There are many things my beautiful children do well for ages 5 and 3.


I say this with my heart full of mother's love, but....singing isn't one of them.  


Both kids, particularly Nathanael, have been singing the refrain to Journey's Don't Stop Believin' this past week.  It has become our unofficial theme song around here.  The kids don't understand the lyrics, obviously, although Nathanael thinks it's cool that the guy singing the song took a train at midnight.  They hear the words "don't stop believin'," though, and their thoughts go immediately to Gran.  They refuse to do anything but be filled with hope and won't stop believin' that their fundraising efforts will help change the world, even Gran's world.


Nathanael asked me a few days ago if he and Savannah could have a "dance party" to Don't Stop Believin' to put on the blog so that they could remind our readers to "never give up hope."  How could I resist such a request?


Simon Cowell would not approve.  It's loud.  It's shrill.  But their intent is obvious, and the unexpected message at the very end comes from their mouths, their hearts, and is filled with inspiration that, in my opinion, is infectious..

On pride

I believe the children are our future

Teach them well and let them lead the way

Show them all the beauty they possess inside

Give them a sense of pride to make it easier

Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be.

I realize how cliche this may be, given the recent passing of Whitney Houston, but this particular verse from Greatest Love of All has been going through my head for the last few days.  When we last checked our P.O. Box, someone included a note to me that said "It's children like yours that give me hope for our future."  As a mom, that is perhaps that greatest compliment I have ever received.  

My husband and I don't feel as though we have done anything differently than any other parents.  We love our kids.  We teach them right from wrong.  We teach them that love, honesty, and kindness and the most important virtues one can possess. These children of ours, ages 5 and almost 4, have taken what we have taught them thus far and run with it.  Every word on this blog is truly from them.  Every expression of love is unprompted.  Every expression of desire to fix the world and rid the world of "the kind of sickness Gran has" is genuinely theirs.  We feel incredibly blessed to have these two.  They're good kids.  They're not without their days, as all young children have, but the sense of pride we have for them is overwhelming, especially since the planning for the Relay has begun. They have become an inspiration to others, and have been invited to participate in other local Relays.  They have a following of celebrities, athletes, top-level professionals, musicians, and regular people like ourselves.  People are inspired by them, and I hope that, one day, they realize just how amazing that is and how amazing Daddy and I think they are.

I think I had a good teacher growing up.  My mom taught me well.  My mom taught me the importance of inner beauty and what made me unique from others.  To this day she reminds me.  She told me, and still tells me, to be proud of who I am.  I hope that I can do the same for Nathanael and Savannah, and that they grow up knowing how special they are, no matter what they do, no matter what they become.  We'll always be proud of you, kiddos.  We love you more than all the stars in the sky.