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I haven’t either.

I used to think that registering as a bone marrow donor was a complicated thing. And that if you ended up being a match, donating bone marrow was even more complicated…and really awful and painful. I have honestly never even thought that I needed to register as a donor (dumb, I know)…until Sydney. Sydney is the 9 year old niece of our good friends Dave and Amanda. She is now in her second battle with leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant.

I just need to insert something right here…I hate cancer. 🙁

Did you know it is super easy to register as a bone marrow donor? I had no idea either. It takes about five minutes and all you do is swab the inside of your cheek…that’s it! If you can’t find a bone marrow drive near you, you can actually order a kit online (for free) and swab yourself at home. And if you love a good party, invite your friends or co-workers to join the registry along with you and host a swab party! Who knew you could have a swab party?!

Isn’t Sydney adorable? We have been praying hard for this sweet girl and my mama’s heart just aches for Sydney and her family. Childhood cancer stinks. And if you are like me you always wish there was something you could do to help. Well, this time there is! And the great thing is not only could you possibly be helping Sydney but also others who are fighting blood cancer.

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The flier is for our local drive in Newton that is happening next weekend, but there are lots of ways everyone can get involved:

LOCALS…

 If you are between the ages of 18-55, meet the health criteria, and live in the Newton or Wichita areas mark your calendars! There are two drives going on around here which makes it so easy for you…all you have to do is show up. Remember…it only takes about 5 minutes.

Newton:
Saturday, November 16
9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Koerner Heights Church
320 N Meridian Street, Newton, KS

Wichita:
Tuesday, November 19
10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Asbury Church 
2801 W 15th Street, Wichita, KS

NON-LOCALS…

You can still help! Did you know you can order a kit that will be sent to your home, swab yourself and send it in? Or…that you can host a swab party and invite friends and coworkers to get on the registry along with you?

To order your kit and register online go to Delete Blood Cancer.  Under Quick Links click Become a Donor/Register Online.  This will take you through the process to order your swab kit.  In the personal data section there is a drop down menu that asks where you heard about Delete Blood Cancer and you can choose “Sydney Balzer”  so that everyone can be linked in order to see how many people were added in honor of Sydney!

COLLEGE STUDENTS…

YOU ARE NEEDED!! College students, ages 19-25 have the BEST marrow for transplants…they have the lowest rate of their marrow being rejected next to siblings! So, if you are a college student would you consider registering online by ordering a swab kit or hosting a swab party on your campus? Go to Delete Blood Cancer for more information.

WILL YOU CONSIDER DOING THIS SOON??

Right now Sydney has two possible matches from the donor list and neither one of them can be located. Friends and family are spreading the word and hosting drives in order to get as many new names on the list as possible. The plan is for her doctors to run a new report sometime after Thanksgiving when all of these drives are over. Would you consider ordering your swab kit or hosting a swab party before then too? We’d love to get as many new names on the registry as possible and we are praying that one of them would be Sydney’s match! You can join us in praying for Sydney too!

If you order a swab kit or host a swab party I’m sure Sydney’s family would love to know…so leave a comment! And if you have any questions you can leave a comment or visit the Delete Blood Cancer site. You can find a few more facts about bone marrow donation and what happens if you are selected as a match below for those who are wondering.

To learn more about Sydney’s story watch this local news segment and follow the Team Sydney Facebook page.

*all information gathered from Delete Blood Cancer

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  • Christine - Already in the registry but praying hard for this little girl. My brother underwent transplant 4 years ago.ReplyCancel

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    Jess Reply:
    November 10th, 2013 at 11:11 pm

    Christine-So thankful your brother found a match. Thanks for praying!

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  • Beth - I’ve been swabbed! And it is the easiest thing ever. A bone marrow transplant saved my sweet friend Leigha’s life and I am thankful everyday to the stranger that donated to her.ReplyCancel

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    Jess Reply:
    November 10th, 2013 at 11:11 pm

    Beth-How awesome!

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  • Elaine - I am so glad to hear you are doing this! I am already registered and it was so quick and easy to do. If you are lucky enough to be a match for someone, I think any sort of pain or discomfort you have to go through would be worth it 100 times over if it means you are saving someones life.

    It’s very important that after you are registered you remember to update your contact information any time you move, change phone numbers, emails, etc. so that you can be reached if you are a match.ReplyCancel

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    Jess Reply:
    November 10th, 2013 at 11:10 pm

    Elaine-Yes, so true. Any pain and discomfort would be worth it if you had the privilege of saving someones life!

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    • Jess - Elaine-Yes, so true. Any pain and discomfort would be worth it if you had the privilege of saving someones life!ReplyCancel

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  • Celine - What a wonderful thing you are doing. I hope they find a match. Is this only for Americans? I am Canadian.ReplyCancel

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    Jess Reply:
    November 10th, 2013 at 11:09 pm

    Celine-check the website http://www.deletebloodcancer.org There is a contact tab with email information if you want to email them with more questions!

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  • Allison - I’m so glad for this post since I’ve been meaning to register & end up either putting it off or forgetting. Both my husband & myself just registered, so I hope we’re able to match someone & help in some way!!ReplyCancel

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    Jess Reply:
    November 10th, 2013 at 11:06 pm

    Allison-that is so great! Thanks so much for helping.

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  • Kathy Apple - Hi Jess. I was swabbed a few years ago thru Be The Match. I hope Sydney finds her hero. Praying for her.ReplyCancel

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  • Amanda - Jess, thank you so much for getting the word out! It means so much!!! I know that there are more people other than Sydney needing a hero…and I know God has a plan in all of this! Thank you for being a part of it. Love you!ReplyCancel

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  • Aimee - Oh my heart aches for this family! We have just recently experienced this awful disease called leukemia with my best friend’s son (who just happens to be my 7 year old son’s best friend)! He found out a month ago he has leukemia and is battling with a rock star attitude and doing really well so far! YES….cancer stinks! He amazingly so far does not have to have a bone marrow transplant as he has the ALL for of it and not AML but we as a neighborhood all offered to donate bone marrow if needed! I will be praying for this sweet girl as I pray for my little pal Parker as they battle leukemia together! The one thing that this stinky cancer has taught us is how to come together as a community and how to form prayer chains that spread from one end of the US to the other!ReplyCancel

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  • Patti - I was swabbed 5 years ago thru Be the Match as one of our local firefighters was fighting for his life. Thank you for raising awareness for this cause.
    Patti from Northwest IndianaReplyCancel

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  • Kristen - I just registered and sent a bulk e-mail to all my friends and family to do the same! Didn’t realize how easy it was to register. Thanks for raising awareness. Praying for everyone that is waiting for the right match everywhere.ReplyCancel

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On the last day of October the boys dressed up like cows and we went to Sonic for dinner. We couldn’t pass up the fifty cent corn dogs! We met up with the boys’ cousins too…because it is more fun to eat corn dogs with your cousins of course. We stopped and took a few pictures in the pretty fall leaves and then it was time for trick-or-treating. Levi was all about running up to the doors with his cousins. The faster he could get from house to house the better. Griffin was all about the candy but wanted to stay close to mom and dad. He was so excited whenever he got a dum-dum…they are his favorite. We even had a little reminder of Cora because cousin Max dressed up in her cow costume. The day ended with some sweet memories and lots of candy to eat. 🙂

Posted in: family
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  • Jody - Gotta love corn dogs!ReplyCancel

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  • creole wisdom - So fun, Jess. I love how you and your family choose to celebrate that holiday. The costumes are perfection. I recognized that cow costume immediately from reading your archives.ReplyCancel

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  • Stefanie - I’m glad you had such a fun day! The boys looked adorable, and I love the reuse on the cow costume!!!ReplyCancel

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  • Patricia - Are these the most adorable children ever ? OMGoodness – they are so sweet….enjoy every single moment (I know you do….. )ReplyCancel

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    Jess Reply:
    November 10th, 2013 at 11:07 pm

    Patricia-thank you! Yes, I am so thankful for each moment.

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  • Beverly - How did you make numbered tags on the boys headbands? They are soo cute!ReplyCancel

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Have you seen the new This Thing Called Family line over at DaySpring?

They sent me a few products from this line and I am in love with everything. Seriously, every piece is so fun. And this O Holy Night Wooden Nativity is perfect for my family.

A few years ago I was challenged by these questions I read in Noel Piper’s book, Treasuring God in Our Traditions:

How will our home look if our celebration is a picture of anticipation and waiting for God’s plan to be completed, a picture of our joy in the salvation he has begun for us? What visible things will fill our house as we celebrate what God has done through Jesus?

Ever since then I have been looking for things to fill my home with during the Christmas season that point to the anticipation of waiting for God’s plan to be completed. I want my kids and the people who come through my home to sense that anticipation. I think this nativity will be the perfect addition. I love it because it it will look adorable sitting on a shelf but the boys can also play with it…it’s durable which is important around here these days!

There are so many other great things in this line like this Believe Christmas Garland.

The letters are painted on wooden ornaments and attached to a ribbon. The glitter makes them sparkly and fun!

So cute, right?!

There are ornaments too. The Joy owl is my favorite.

Such a fun ornament and I thought it would be perfect to tie onto a Christmas present too!

Aren’t these wooden houses great?! I can’t wait to put this one out at Christmas. This is the Let Heaven And Nature Sing Wooden Sculpture but there are several other Christmas houses too.

These would be perfect to have around your own house or give away as a hostess gift or at a gift exchange.

If you are looking for a meaningful Christmas card they have those too! Check out these O Holy Night Cards.

I can hardly believe today is the first day of November. Seriously, how did the year go by so fast?! But getting this box of Christmas products made me excited to begin anticipating the celebration of Jesus’ birth and all that means in my life. I have been thinking a lot about what I want that to look like in my home and how I can prepare my own heart. I hope to share more about that with you soon!

Do you love This Thing Called Family as much as I do?

DaySpring is offering 25% off the entire This Thing Called Family Line to my readers! Yay!

Use code TheMacsChristmas (valid November 1-8)

Happy Friday…and happy shopping! 🙂

disclosure: affiliate links used

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  • Things With Wings - Thank you so much for sharing our line with your readers! Your photos are beautiful! I know our paths have crossed before, and I’m sure they will again! We agree that our homes should be places where we surround ourselves with messages and visuals that are meaningful and point to Truth! -jill at Things With WingsReplyCancel

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  • elizabeth - i love all the great holiday things you do with your family and the wonderful nativity set.ReplyCancel

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Levi is getting old enough that he has a definite opinion about his birthday party themes…which means he also has a definite opinion about Griffin’s birthday party themes too. I love it though. It makes it so much more fun to plan a party for your kids when you know they are going to think their party is awesome. It makes them feel special and that is the whole point! So when we we started talking about Griffin’s party Levi and I decided that he should definitely have a cow birthday party. Cows are his favorite. His first and only word for a long time was “moo”. And he loves milk. It was pretty much a no brainer. Once we decided on the theme, every time I asked Griffin what kind of party he was having he would say, “Moo!” It made me smile every time.

I was wanting to do something different than a barnyard party. Something more cow specific and black & white. During all this planning Megan had asked me if I would want to review one of her fabulous canvases. I of course said yes and just had to pick the cow. It has always been my favorite. And it just seems like a farm wife needs a cow canvas in her house, right?! When I opened the canvas I knew I had to use it for Griffin’s cow party too. It was the inspiration of it all.

Lauren of Lauren Haddox Designs designed the invitations and all the printables again. You have to go look at the invitation…I love how it turned out! She always tweaks the designs until they are just like I had envisioned them. I had wanted to get milk glasses but they were pretty pricey so I just had her make a milk label and stuck it on mason jars that I already had.

I made cow ear headbands as favors for the kids (more on those later). I originally planned to package them up with the cute “thank moo!” tags but then decided to just stick them in a basket so the kids could wear them for the party.

We painted cow noses on the kids and they all looked so adorable.

We did our best to get a shot of all the little “cows” but it proved to be quite difficult. I think we managed to finally get them all in but the birthday boy was screaming by the end of this little photo shoot.

I decorated the picnic tables with black buffalo check fabric, white lanterns and cows.

The cows all belong to my boys. We just gathered every cow we could find in the house and they put them out on the tables. They loved helping.

After dinner we cleared off the drink table and brought out the desserts.

We had animal crackers, Oreos, and cupcakes.

And ice cream too.

It was so fun celebrating Griffin turning two! What a blessing this little guy is to our family.

Happy birthday, Griff!!

* * * * *

If you love the cow canvas as much as I do, Megan is offering my readers a discount on all canvas wraps in her shop. Yay! Now that the party is over my cow canvas is hanging in our eating area…I love it so much! There are so many great ones so make sure to click over to her shop and check them out. These would make such a fun Christmas gift too! Enter code THEMACS15 to get 15% off any canvas wrap order.

* * * * *

sources:

cow canvas – Whatever shop

party invitation & printables – Lauren Haddox Designs

outdoor lanterns and lights – Target (old)

paper table cloth – Target

paper straws – Amazon

cows – Orscheln’s (they have them on Amazon too)

Prince Lionheart Wheely Bug Cow – Amazon

cow ear headbands – made by me

disclosure: amazon affiliate links used

Posted in: celebrate , griffin
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  • Alisha - Adorable! =) You throw the sweetest parties.ReplyCancel

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  • Mary Ann - Happy Happy Birthday Griffin….what a big boy!! Cute decorations and fun birthday theme. You are so clever!!ReplyCancel

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  • Micah - You throw the best parties, Jess. This is just amazing!! Did you know you can buy those Starbucks brand frappuccinos in four packs at target and peel the labels off? Still pricey but if you are committed to having them it’s a little cheaper than just buying them outright ;).ReplyCancel

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  • Jane - What an adorable party!!!! Looked fun and super cute theme! Happy Birthday, Griffin!ReplyCancel

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  • Carrie - Now That’s A Real Cow Party When Your Cows Have Ear Tags! (Crazy Phone Is Making Everything All Capitalized!)ReplyCancel

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  • Sian - I love seeing these milestones with Griffin. It’s always just a few weeks before the same ones I share with my little, now two year old, boy. Am so glad I found your blog (almost two years ago) with your sweet photos of griffin month by month on Pinterest. Looks like you all had a lovely time 🙂ReplyCancel

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  • creole wisdom - You have such a knack for this! I love every details especially the simple and beautiful table coverings with cows! Happy birthday to sweet Griffin! He is darling 🙂ReplyCancel

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  • sarah - I don’t think I’ve ever commented before, but this post reminds me that I would LOVE to see updated pictures of Griffin’s room progress! Looks like it was an awesome second birthday party!ReplyCancel

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  • molly - what a great party! so fun! when my oldest turned two we also did a cow themed birthday party. it was so fun. I loved the cow tags! that’s awesome!ReplyCancel

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  • Renee - love it, soooo cute!ReplyCancel

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  • Margaret - Love to see your family! As a dairyman’s daughter I am loving those cow ears with the tags and all the dairy products used in the menu!ReplyCancel

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  • leiah - Ok, those headbands are the CUTEST ever!ReplyCancel

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  • Melissa - Joel is better?? Yay! ?
    Super cute. You do such a great job!ReplyCancel

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  • Laura - Oh.my.word. This is sooooo cute! I love your creativity!ReplyCancel

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  • Jen - This is the cutest! I love watching your boys grow up, they are adorable!ReplyCancel

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  • awbree - This is the cutest party idea! I adore it! And I love the head bands. Looking forward to the tutorial 🙂

    ps…I want your house and your land. Every picture you take is so beautiful. I am so happy that I found you through Instagram 🙂ReplyCancel

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  • Brittin Olson - How is Joel doing? His face appears to be back to normal. I hope you all are healthy and well!ReplyCancel

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***I updated this post with a few more deals…some of which end Monday, 10/28***

There are a few DaySpring deals this month that I wanted to let you know about…

Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter - 12 Day Holiday Countdown

The 12 Day Holiday Countdown Calendar is only $9.99. This is a GREAT deal and what I love about this calendar is you can use it for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I had fun using this calendar with my kids last year…you can read my review here.

Wonderful Grace - Carved Wooden Serving Tray

The Wonderful Grace – Carved Wooden Serving Tray is also on sale this month for $19.99. This would make a great gift!

Hurricane Candle Holder Set - Includes Six Sleeves

This Hurricane Candle Holder Set is beautiful! I had these in my home until last Christmas when we had an unfortunate accident occur when my oldest boy knocked one on the floor.Needless to say it didn’t make it. Oops! I may just have to order another one someday. They’ve changed this set so that it now includes two sets of sleeves…three nativity sleeves and three year-round sleeves. Through tomorrow (Monday, 10/28) you can save $54 on this set!! Use code 60DAYS to save 60% through Monday.

The Birth of Jesus - Recordable Storybook

The recordable storybooks are also 60% off through Monday, 10/28. I think these would be such a great gift to receive from a grandparent or loved one who lives far away. How fun would it be for a child to open one of these books and hear their grandpa or grandma’s voice?! There are quite a few to choose from and several Christmas ones like The Birth of Jesus. Use code 60DAYS at checkout to get 60% off all recordable storybooks.

Make sure you check out the rest of the October specials and sales here.

And if you see something else you love, you can also get 40% off any single item through the end of October with code: EARLYGIFT

Maybe you can get a head start on your Christmas shopping! DaySpring has some awesome new products. I’m kind of partial to the new O Holy Night – Wooden Christmas Nativity. It is so great and I will be sharing more about it with you next week!

Disclaimer: affiliate links used

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  • Emily - I have been wanting to get recordable story books for my kids great-grandparents to record for AGES and they are always $30!!! This was an AWESOME deal and I really, really appreciate you sharing! I also picked up Aubrey Bunny and am so excited to have it for my daughter 🙂ReplyCancel

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