Today is a wonderful 28 degrees Cesius

That's Pretoria for you - from Winter to a Spring of almost exactly a week and then summer all the way to April at least. No doubt we will have a short cold snap again but this weather makes me very very happy. It's sandals to work weather all the way!

There are heaps of things happening in our little world at the moment - a very important evaluation for Mr L tomorrow, ballet course and mock exam for The little Miss and Mr C just did his first school project. I also am very low key and hastily organising a party for the boys. Somehow time has just slipped by but I have a feeling it is going to be an easy and good one. After a bit of a search I think we have the perfect venue for their bicycle Lego party. (I know? But they are two and agreeing is difficult - and it may still become a bicycle train Lego party but who cares?).

This is however not what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about what I guess no one of us ever want to even think about - Childhood cancer. Of course the newest scare is the loomband charms that can cause cancer if sucked - honestly I do think some of these scares are totally overrated and unnecessary. Regardless we have chucked away the offending charms, checked that we have the proper types of bands and substituted the charms by digging into the craft box and coming up with some great alternatives. (as modeled above by the Princess)

However we may regard or not the above, the reality of childhood cancer is there. Our school has been shocked this year by the very sudden cancer diagnosis of one of our little grade RR kids that is indeed very very sick. It took that it hit one of our own for the school to wake up and do a fundraiser for kids with cancer. So last Monday and this Monday we had at Cupcakes of Hope party at the school and I believe a tidy little some was raised for the cause. On the first Monday all Cupcakes were sold out between the grade R to grade 3 classes - this Monday we planned for 3 times the amount of cupcakes.

Our contribution this Monday

We would all like to think that this can not possibly happen to us or our children but the reality is that it will happen to 1:9000 children in South Africa before the age of 14. So, organize a party - in my link above is all the info. At your work, at your school, anywhere - and spread the hope.

Also, please read below and take note:

If in a child fever persist and your doctor keeps prescribing anti-biotics, ask for the basic cancer screening - it is a simple test. Look out for:

SAINT SILUAN* WARNING SIGNS FOR CANCER IN CHILDREN

S: Seek: Medical help early for persistent symptoms
I: Eye: White spot in the eye, new squint, blindness, bulging eyeball
L: Lump: Abdomen and pelvis, head and neck, limbs, testes, glands
U: Unexplained: Fever, loss of weight and appetite, pallor, fatigue, easy bruising or bleeding
A: Aching: Bones, joints, back and easy fractures
N: Neurological signs: Change in behaviour, balance, gait and milestones, headache, enlarging head

*Saint Siluan was a Russian monk who died on Mount Athos in 1938. He prayed ceaselessly for all humanity.

The most common childhood cancers are Leukemia and brain tumors and it is suspected that some genetic link is possible in most cancers.