Take some time this weekend....

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I spoke with my sister yesterday and she reminded me that there were some new updates this week on Brayden's progress. Please take some time this weekend and say some prayers as Brayden and his parents Jen & Drew continue their challenging journey.

Read the most current updates here

http://tinyurl.com/4osgw3p

What if your bone marrow donation could keep a family from losing their child?

Be the Match website http://www.marrow.org/
Ways to HELP & UPDATES via Brayden's Battle Blog
 

Capture this FLAG! Be PRESIDENTIAL! The COMMANDER IN CHIEF!

Click the image & Capture the flag and help trigger donations for Heart Health Programs!

Then Drink a Diet Coke and Capture more flags online!
http://www.dietcoke.com/hearttruth/index.jsp?cf=true

Now, go and Enjoy the REAL THING!

Brayden's Update and Prayer Requests

Here's the latest updates from Brayden's Mom & Dad.....

1.) Keep praying for 0% cancer and NEGATIVE MRD!
2.) Keep praying for wisdom for the doctors and us in regards to the potential donor!
3.) Couple of key things to be praying for about round 3 that we are gearing up for… (a) they say this is the toughest round come prepared, but unfortunately we aren’t that prepared because you can’t prepare to see your son wiped out–and for the most part he still hasn’t been there and has responded so well to chemo (praying against long and short term side effects!).

 

Don't forget to get TESTED! Be the Match website http://www.marrow.org/
Ways to HELP & UPDATES via Brayden's Battle Blog

A MATCH! Sort of - 1 in a Million

MUST READ Brayden's UPDATE! Drum Roll please......
 http://tinyurl.com/47qhokm

 Encouraging NEWS .....

What if your bone marrow donation could keep a family from losing their child?

                               
Be the Match website http://www.marrow.org/
Ways to HELP & UPDATES via Brayden's Battle Blog

What if your bone marrow donation could keep a family from losing their child? Can you imagine if you were the one that was able to save someone's life? It's a pretty powerful thought. Be the Match is a national database that matches donors with patients needing life saving bone marrow transplants. 

My sister has been helping Brayden and his family in this fight. Through prayer, volunteering at the Donor drive (See earlier post with a YouTube video she created), and also via "Brayden's Box of Love" - a collection of gift cards and donations for items they need as "extra ammunition" for the battle. As a result of Brayden’s 1st cancer diagnosis the family made a lot of lifestyle changes with organic food, clothes and many other things to simply remove any and all toxins from his body and life. Doctors believe there was a high correlation between the success of remission (of cancer) when the patients use both current medical treatment and natural lifestyle changes. 

They want you to know that to join the national registry of potential bone marrow matches is much easier than you would think. 

Potential donors must be 18 to 60, in general good health and willing to donate to any patient in need, said Paige Morrison, Be the Match spokeswoman. Participants will be asked to fill out a questionnaire and consent form, as well as submit to a cheek swab. The process should take about 10 minutes.

Be BRAYDEN's Sweetheart of a Match!

So it's Valentine's Day today and a lot of people are getting "Sweets" and "Gifts from the Heart" from their beloved .... in Anaheim there's a Sweetheart of a boy that needs a "Sweet Valentine MATCH" this February. Meet Braydon, He's 4 years old and needs the gift of a bone marrow transplant. Could you be Braydon's sweetheart of a match?

Drew Sodestrom holds a photo of his 4-year-old son Brayden, who is battling leukemia, during a bone-marrow registry drive at Richfield Community Church in Yorba Linda, Sodestrom hopes to find a bone-marrow match for his son.

• Learn more about Brayden and how to make the difference, His father Drew's blog: http://richfieldcommunitychurch.com/brayden/
• It's Easy to help join the bone-marrow registry, get a swab kit at bethematch.org. 
• BE BRAYDON'S MATCH OC Register article here 

Be a Sweetheart of a MATCH for Braydon (or someone else) by registering today...don't delay.

Check out the video my sister created for "Brayden's Be The Match Bone Marrow Drive" in Yorba Linda on Jan. 30th, 2011. 

Please know there are other drives in CA & the ongoing online drive. Brayden, of Anaheim, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in April 2009, but chemotherapy put it into remission for 20 months. Then he got sick again and was admitted to CHOC Children's in Orange for another round of chemo in December. He has finished his second 36-day "bloc" of treatment, and he was home for only five days before he returned to the hospital with a fever last Wednesday. He is tired but is in high spirits, riding his Lightning McQueen bicycle in the hospital hallways, his father Drew said. When he was first diagnosed, "We told him to kick cancer's butt," Drew said. "Then he got it again, and he said 'But I already did that.' "That was one of the most heartbreaking things for me," Drew said. "I told him, 'We have to do it again.'

Let's continue supporting Brayden & his family! Spread the word!! Thanks to everyone who came to the drive, for joining the online registry & contributing to Brayden's Box of Love.
 

Some Notes on BEING A MATCH. . .

A patient's best chance of finding a match comes from a sibling or someone else with the same ethnic background. But 70 percent of patients in need of a transplant lack a suitable relative. About 10,000 people every year are diagnosed with a disease for which their only chance is a marrow transplant from outside the family.

If there's a preliminary match, the donor is contacted for further testing. There are eight data points examined, and at least seven of the eight are needed for a transplant to occur. Contrary to popular belief, most bone-marrow donation is painless, says Paige Morrison, a Santa Ana-based spokeswoman for Be the Match. Seventy percent of cases involve a blood draw after certain stem cells are isolated, a process that takes several hours. The rest of the time a needle is used to extract the blood-cell-rich red marrow from the hip bone, an outpatient procedure in which general anesthesia is used.

From the OC Register: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/match-286258-brayden-marrow.html

HOORAY IT's a TiNy GIVEAWAY!

click here: to ENTER today!
You can win this CBTL™ Single Serve Beverage System by The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®! But more importantly a chance to sign up and be a part of a team of people making a difference for kids with cancer! Make a DIFFERENCE in 2011....MAY 1st

Sign up and MAKE a Difference! THANKS @TinyOrangesOC!

The History of Sweetheart Candies

One of America’s oldest candy companies, Necco was founded in 1847 in Boston by Englishman Oliver Chase, who got the business off to a good start by inventing devices that cut candy lozenges and pulverized sugar. Necco first sold confections similar to Sweethearts, but in the shape of scallop shells. Messages written on colored paper were tucked inside the fortune cookie-style candy. Fourteen years later, Oliver’s brother Daniel designed a machine that stamped words directly on the candies with red vegetable dye. The treats became popular at weddings and were considerably larger than today’s hearts as they could accommodate wordy relationship advice such as “Married in White, you have chosen right” or “Married in Pink, he’ll take to drink.” By the early 1900s the shape of the candy had changed from shells, baseballs and horseshoes to hearts. As the little hearts grew in popularity, the missives grew shorter: “Miss You,” “Love U.”

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/The-History-of-Sweetheart-Candies.html#ixzz1E1CGvmL5

Evening in San Clemente

Feeling thankful and blessed for so very much. . .

Cheers with the neighbors tonight. Nice time!

Hello Twenty-Ten - Reminders of Lewis and Clark

A New Year - a New you - cliche resolutions - lah lah and all that.

My thoughts turn to Lewis & Clark with the recent turn of the calendar year and the collaboration they shared on the Expedition of their lives. If not for their endeavors we might be a country of ?? states and not 50.

The key to their journey:
href="http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/collaborate">collaborate

Confluence
As my trusted friend and mentor used their epic journey as inspiration for "The Expedition" - a collaboration of artists with varied disciplines - I find myself revisiting the principles I learned through this most unique experience quite often. How the confluence of thoughts & ideas meet with the creative projects required of me day to day, pretty much fascinates me. 

Some of the words to keep in mind as I venture into Twenty-Ten:
Preparation
Object of my mission
Discovery
Trials
Independence
Scouting
Interpretation
Perseverance
True North
Journey

Little known fact,  Meriwether Lewis discovered the Woodpecker along their way............

Woody is still my Favorite!

Today's wisdom:

"So many people think that practicing an art is a good way to make a living. Practicing an art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow...it's not a trade." - Kurt Vonnegut

 Kerne Erickson Vintage Artwork

The BLOGGER BALL BLOGGERIFIC!

Got to kick up our heels tonight as a friend and I attended the "Twitterific" 2nd Annual OC Blog Crush Blogger Ball at the Embassy Suites Anaheim South! The room was max capacity with OC Bloggin' people, Twitter live feeds and fun conversation! So great to meet each of you tonight! There were "Blogitos and Twittertinis" Bottles of cold Orange Crush and a wonderful sampling of tasty treats from Embassy Suites Restaurant. . .And then. . . there were SWELL door prizes! 
Thanks to Suzbroughton of broughtonhospitality.com & #ocbloggerball for picking my #105 ticket! (I was SO excited!) I know an amazing time awaits at Andres hotel-Palm Springs! http://tinyurl.com/2e94vtt  Will definitely have to have the bartender make me a few of those Orange Crush Twitterinis!"Absolutely Bloggerific!"

The festive orange table decor and OF COURSE Orange Crush sodas made me think of Satellite Market on Katella and how my brother and sisters and I would walk there to get a Crush, and boy there was nothing cooler than drinking a Crush with my big brother and older sisters on a hot summer day. . .and from a frosty bottle not an 'ol aluminum can!

The "Sputnik" was replaced with a painted sign (Oh TOO Bad) 

Thanks AGAIN Joni aka http://twitter.com/PopArtMinis for the invite! Thanks also to

theglamlife   SuzBroughton   blogcrush   ESAnaheimSouth for a great event tonight!

stay frosty!
sanclementebetty

Just in From NEW YORK!

We're excited because this weekend launched the 107th International Toy Fair in New York City!

Our team from Charisma is there, Peggy, Joni, Tracy and Tony, all working hard and talking Dolls-Dolls-Dolls!

The dolls look their New York best and the the mood is excitement and enthusiasm for 2010!

Thanks for the photos Joni!

Simply Delightful!

 

  

 

DREAM DOLLS for the Holidays!

WOW!

We're so excited to be able to kick off the Holiday Season with this oh-so special Online Exclusive Collection!

Marie Osmond's
“Artist Signature Heirloom Collection”

Collectible dream dolls, exquisitely costumed with amazing details and sculpted by some of the most gifted doll artists in the industry. . . truly works of art! And what makes three of them even more special is their signature medallion - inspired, hand crafted and signed by the artist themselves. With “Happy Birthday Sissy” her special signature piece is a signed photo and silver heirloom photo charm.

We couldn't wait for the launch of these dreamy dolls....they are true works of art!
Each and everyone artist out did themselves......heartfelt and handmade directly to you!!

Bring home a signature heirloom today!

Click Here for all the details

Today is COURAGE DAY Support Breast Cancer

Today is COURAGE DAY!
And October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Today begins Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and is often called "Courage Day."

Brighten someone's day that's a survivor and help them fight the fight with the warm smile and empowering message of this Keepsake Doll! There are 4 in all with thoughtful banners of encouragement. Get yours here today!

Blog with us and tell us your stories of how a doll has made a difference in your fight or how you've helped by giving a doll to someone to help lift their spirits! We love it when you let us know "What a difference a Doll Makes!"

A reminder...from FRIENDS LIKE YOU!

Hi!

I was looking at Marie's 15 Years of Friends book and was happy to find this quote....

"A doll should be a gentle reminder to stop "doing" life and start" living it.

What would we do without Doll "FRIENDS LIKE YOU!"

Have a great Day!

bj

I sure work with some wonderful people!

CUPCAKES!

OH MY look what I found.....For EVERY Cupcake Maker...Lover...Enthusiast!!

This "SPRINKLES" Cupcake Doll is a MUST Have.

Check her out here:
collectibledolls.charismabrands.com/Detail.aspx?catid=201&cs=mo&id=1978


Made by Entertainer Marie Osmond, of "Donny and Marie Show" fame, she's a Doll Maker too!

I can't wait to get mine!

My Life In AMERICA

Nocturnal Surfing
Leslie Lerner

Homage to Andy-2

Homage to Andy