How she got a carnival with pony rides for her 4th birthday

How she got a carnival with pony rides for her 4th birthday

Motherhood can pack a walloping dose of guilt at times, especially when your 4-year-old’s birthday lands at a particularly inconvenient moment with regards to time, money, health, energy, or even a working phone. This sense of guilt can then be further intensified when she patiently and politely reminds you 2 months later that you promised her a birthday party with cake and presents and friends.

Ouch.

So I had to come up with something fast, and just Mommy and Daddy around the dinner table with a cupcake wasn’t going to cut it. There had to be a party. And there had to be kids.

So now what?

Then my cousin, Amanda, came up with the most brilliant idea ever: her daughter’s school was having a spring carnival – we could meet up there, and then have cake and presents after.

So Gem and I baked brownies for her cake, and then we bought a bunch of frosting and decorations, and we put the girls to work decorating her birthday cake.  This was a job they took very seriously.

cake-43

Doesn’t that just look delicious?

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Yes, of course the grownups all politely made yummy faces as we each dutifully ate a piece.  🙂

And then there was the carnival.

There was a climbing wall: That’s my baby, waaaaaaaaay up there.

climbing-wall

And pony rides!

horses

A hug for the pony.

horse-kiss

Face painting, temporary tattoos, and her bestest friend.

tattoos

She got her big day, and she didn’t need to know this entire carnival was not just for her birthday.  Let’s keep that between us, ok? 😉

In Living Pink 2011 – Young Survival Coalition

In Living Pink 2011 – Young Survival Coalition

It sounds cliche to say that women who have faced down a life-threatening diagnosis really know how to embrace life. It is cliche. It’s not even always true. But my girls? My friends? They know how to party.

Suzanne Wastier - Young Survival Coalition

 

Friday night we celebrated and raised money for the Young Survival Coalition with our annual silent auction and dance party, In Living Pink.

The silent auction was wildly successful, and boasted donated items such as massage certificates, white water rafting, sight seeing cruises and flights, art, event tickets, A NYC package including Letterman tickets, Seahawks gear – autographed by players, jewelry, restaurants, vacation packages, and too much more to list.

Silent auction - Young Survival Coalition

So what does all this money we’re raising go to? Here’s a few examples:

  • $25 pays for a resource kit for young women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. This resource kit includes an organizer for tracking the onslaught of information that must be managed through treatment, an encouraging and helpful DVD “you are not alone,” a guide to services available to young women with cancer, and a chemo-hat – hand-knit by the mother of one of our members.
  • $50 pays for flowers for one of our girls in the hospital, or going through a rough patch
  • $125 pays for facility rental so we can bring in educational guest speakers on a wide variety of issues such as nutrition, dealing with the effects of treatment on sexuality, and post-treatment breast reconstruction.
  • $200 pays for the facility rental and therapist facilitator for twice monthly group therapy sessions.
  • $300 will send one of our members to our annual retreat at Harmony Hill
This is more than just a dance party, this event raises money that makes a difference.
But we do know how to have fun…
Nicole Taylor - Young Survival Coalition

 

Seattle Young Survival Coalition YSC

The guys, too…

YSC Seattle Young Survival Coalition

Hey, look, it’s me. (One of the best parts of having a 2 year old little girl: Gem declared me to be a “mermaid princess” before I left the house #mamaswoon)

Carrie Sieber Massey, Judy Schwartz Haley, Barb Greenlee

Thank you to everyone who contributed so much to this event, from the planning committee to the volunteers who put in so many hours the night of the party.

in living pink

The decorations looked amazing, Brooke from Movin’ 92.5 kept the party hoppin’, and Miss Shelrawka rocked the house.

Brooke Fox at In Living Pink, Young Survival Coalition

Thank you so much. I puffy heart love all of you.

 

coffeejitters border pink

You can learn more about my cancer story here:

my cancer story | Judy Schwartz Haley

 

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