These are just a few of my favorite things

Blogs, that is. I really enjoy reading about and learning from other people's lives, and the internet is fantastic for that. I have come across some amazing blogs that I check religiously and want to share. Some have similar themes, but most are very different from each other. It all started 3 or 4 years ago when I heard a little girl named Krista Brewer on Kidd Kraddick in the morning as I was driving to school one morning. The short story is that she was fighting cancer and they had just given her a popcorn machine because she loves popcorn. They mentioned her website and I made a mental note to check it out when I got to my office. Somehow I managed to remember without making myself a note and I was hooked. It was pretty much a journal of her struggles and triumphs of battling cancer. I still follow her site to this day and am saddened because her family just found out a month or so ago that there is nothing more that can be done for her. She is on her third battle with cancer and is only 10 years old! http://www.kristabrewer.com/

On the site, her mom listed other children who were also fighting cancer so I checked out those sites as well. One was for Jacob Duckworth, an absolutely adorable little boy who is a triplet who I think was 4 or 5 at the time. His mother's writing was so captivating. Sadly he passed away two years ago, however she continues to blog about her family. In August of last year, they adopted a cute little girl from Guatemala. http://faithfulfroggers.blogspot.com/

It was through these two children that I started following many, many children with childhood cancer. I now know more about it than I ever thought I would. Their journeys are amazing and very different from each other. Some others that I follow which is just a small handful:
http://www.midgetsandmoonpies.blogspot.com/
http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=jaxonburns
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/adamwisdom
http://caringbridge.org/fl/sydneysims/
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sinjinandrukates
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tylerthompson

Somewhere along the way, I started discovering other people's blogs as well, not just children with cancer. I think one of the most touching and tearfilled blogs I have ever read is this one...
http://www.audreycaroline.blogspot.com/ ...the mom found out early in her pregnancy that her child was not going to live. She had the option to terminate the pregnancy or go through with it. Well, she decided to go through with it and her story is absolutely amazing. Her faith in God is so unbelievable and enviable. Sometimes, I wish I had that kind of trust and faith. If you do read it, start at the very beginning and be sure to have a box of kleenex by you.

I found this next blog I think from the one above. http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ This one started out a little on the sad side, but has since improved greatly in the last few days. You'll have to read it to find out what I am talking about. The mom is hilarious and very entertaining. To protect her kids identities, she has given them pseudonyms. The oldest at 3 is Big Mac, the next at 2 is MckNugget, the baby at about 9 months is Small Fry, and the baby she is pregnant with who has a heart condition is MckMuffin. She is MckMama and her husband is Prince Charming. If you scroll down, on the sidebar are the topics she has written about. There are some really interesting subjects, that make you think a little more...like they got rid of their TVs! When I first read it, I thought she was crazy, but now, not so much.

A more lighthearted blog is http://wilkinsonquints.blogspot.com/ . This family lives in Cedar Park, Texas, and they had, I believe a 7 year old boy, and 4 or 5 year old girl and wanted one more. You know how that goes...they got 5 MORE, completely adorable quintuplets. There dad creates videos called the "Quint Olympics." that are really cute.

I guess I should have put a disclaimer on here that most of these stories do not turn out happy, although there are some that do. If you think your life is perfect and nothing can happen to you, reading one of these blogs will knock you back down to reality in a hearbeat. It is so humbling to read these stories and watch how these families grieve and celebrate life all at the same time. I just hope that if I am ever in a similar situation, I can have the kind of strength and grace that these families have.