Music to Our Ears

The power of music amazes me!  It can uplift and nurture your senses.  It can help bring peace and happiness.  It has definitely done all of that for our family.  Zachary was invited to sing the song he wrote for Caleb at the amazing venue of Jones Hall, downtown Houston, with the new partnership between Tx Children's & the Houston Symphony.  It was so special for Caleb and our entire family!  

They're decked out in purple, in honor of the Purple Songs Can Fly Studio.  Four cancer patients from Texas Children's Hospital also sang the songs they wrote, including a former American Idol contestant, so that was exciting for Zach!

Zach's sweet, innocent voice and words of support for his little brother even brought tears to the eyes of grown men. 

It may be summertime, but Caleb is still getting support from his school!  Our sweet friend, Heather Mize, was able to gather so many get well wishes from students, that she is STILL sending them to Caleb.  Her surprises cease to amaze us, including this video she & Lisa Cates orchestrated and sent to Cal with perfect timing, to help him get over his medication blues.  Talk about sweet little voices...

http://animoto.com/play/iSYqvsd1XhlDf9FrtcTTIg  
(to watch, you can cut & paste it in your browser.)

Speaking of meds, Caleb is now on the joyous side of steroids, our favorite time of treatment.  The severe food cravings and crabby moods are over.  He feels strong and healthy and super happy.  It's such sweet relief for us all. He's been going so strong all week, we can't keep up with him! 

We were not surprised at clinic today when we were informed Cal's blood counts are holding strong and that he's handling this phase of treatment well so far.

 It helped that Caleb had very special visitors over the weekend.  David's cousin, Rhonda, from Woodson, Texas delivered an unbelievable surprise from the 6th grade class she teaches.  This is a unique situation because there are only FIVE students in her class, in their hometown of less than 300 people!!!

Meet our future - and it looks bright!  These kids are amazing.  They put plans in place of how they were going to raise money in this terrific tiny town.

Soon, they got all the students in their school & everyone in their community on board... to raise money so they could give a donation in Caleb's name! 

They spent ALL YEAR gathering cans to sale to help "Cure Caleb's Cancer".

In true North Texas style, they were able to fill this entire cotton trailer with cans, multiple times!

We are amazed at their hard work, dedication, and giving spirits to a little boy they've never even met.  They even got their mayor in on the project to proclaim it "Caleb Day"!

These incredible children literally raised the money one dime at a time and would proudly turn in their change.  This young man came up with the idea to make bracelets and sell them & has been doing that since October!  

Soon, all students were helping.

They learned how to make the bracelets...

 

 Then they sold them one at a time!

 

This young lady hung up posters with Caleb's pictures on them, explaining his diagnosis, and sold more than $200 in bracelets!

What a beautiful feeling for Caleb, knowing these children worked so hard to earn every single penny.   They put all of their funds together for a grand total of $3,097.94!!!  Caleb still can't believe that others are going to be helped because of his cancer.  We enjoyed a special presentation of this "bigger than life" check to Texas Children's.

Cousin Rhonda helped the children make a video throughout the year, and Caleb just got to see it for the first time!  It's full of messages from the students & Woodson, Texas business leaders and families.

  He was very touched by it and wants to watch it over & over again.  Now he wants to meet them, so it will be music to Caleb's ears, when we get that trip planned!  We hope these kids know how much Texas Children's also appreciates their hard work and their donation in Caleb's name.

Thanks to the special people in our lives who go out of their way to enrich Caleb's life.  He feels your love and will be forever rewarded by your love.  You've truly made all of the difference.  You are beautiful examples to our children, and the perfect role models.

I'll leave you tonight with one of my favorite Bible verses: 
May the Lord reward you for your kindness.  Ruth 1:8    

We KNOW that will happen. Thank you & God bless.