Category Archives: Grade Schoolers

Local Child Beauty Battles the Beast Within With Grace and Strength

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Take a look at her face. Isn’t she darling? This is Natalie Fleischaker. She is sweet, smart, and strong. However, no one knew how strong until she faced every parents’ nightmare. Childhood cancer.

Natalie goes to school with my girls, as well as her brother and sister. Her diagnosis has left our community in shock, hugging our children tighter, and an overall feeling of not knowing what we can do. Yet, there is something you can do. “WE LOVE NATALIE!” fund drive sponsored by Nurse Mommy Laughs is where you can help out their family. Any monetary contribution will go directly to their fund and will be deeply appreciated.

Here is a little bit about Natalie, from her Daddy:

“Natalie Fleischaker, age 8, is battling Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), which is an inoperable brain tumor. Natalie’s tumor is centrally located in her brain stem and is therefore inoperable due to its close proximity to the nerves that control essential involuntary body functions like breathing, swallowing and heart beating.

Natalie is a 2nd grader in Overland Park, Kansas. She enjoys school and is a good student. Her favorite subject is art and she is very talented. Natalie uses her creative mind to turn everything including what some would call trash into colorful creations that represent her thoughts and feelings about life and the journey she’s currently on. Among her favorite forms of art is painting and her family is very fond of her many pretty pictures.

Natalie also loves her new dog Meg and Taylor Swift. Her entire 4th year of life, Natalie went to sleep listening to Taylor’s album “Fearless” and hopes to meet Taylor when she’s here in Kansas City in August, but her doctors are suggesting she may only have 3 months so unfortunately August may be too late.

Natalie’s tumor is no longer responding to treatment; and in fact has begun growing, so her doctors have taken her off chemo, indicating there’s unfortunately nothing more they can do for her at this time, other than help maintain her comfort and get us as many good days as possible to make lasting memories. So we’re taking the path of preparing for the worst having met with local hospice on Friday.” Steve Fleischaker (Father to Natalie)

Thanks to Make a Wish Foundation and Give Kids the World who were responsible for giving Natalie and her family a trip to Disney World in Florida for Spring Break, she was able to spend some quality time with her loved ones and her favorite Disney characters. Unfortunately, their trip was cut short by a hospitalization and are awaiting word that Natalie can return home with the rest of the family.

“Please pray that we are able to find a private flight for Natalie and one of us to get home as the doctors here indicate a commercial flight probably isn’t in (Natalie’s) best interest right now and that if commercial is her only option then they probably won’t authorize her to fly for several days. Lastly, please just pray that we can get our baby and the rest of our family back to Overland Park where we can be together and enjoy each other for as long as possible,” Steve Fleischaker

Donations are confidential and if you have any questions or want to donate by check instead of through the donation site on the sidebar to the right (or on the bottom, if you are reading on your cell phone), please send “Stacey Hatton” an email at nursemommylaughs@yahoo.com with the words Natalie Donation in the subject line.

Thanks so much for your generosity and for helping make this family’s journey a little bit easier.

Stacey
(Nurse Mommy)

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Choosing a Family Pet is Hard

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I finally did it. I gave in and let the girls have a pet. We have been planning on getting one for years; but the problem was every time we started discussing what we wanted, we couldn’t agree! This is what happens when you marry someone opposite of yourself and teach your children to become free thinkers. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

I only slightly jest because they drive me crazy every other hour of the day, but I loves ‘em fierce every other second of the time!! So back to our family pet. Back to when my Hubby and I got married…

ogirlvetdogfood

Hubby had two large slobbery dogs. One was nice and smelly and the other was crazy as crazy gets – yet did not suffer in the odor department. Labradors are apparently very nice dogs for people who 1) like to be licked in the face by large wet tongues, and 2) pick up tumbleweeds of dog hair every day, akin to an outdoor scene from Bonanza. Since neither of those appealed to me, the cats and I bonded more.

Usually cats can blend together well when need be, that is unless you have one that is a theatre diva. I say this because I got mine literally in a theatre. Don’t most people pick up their kittens from the orchestra section in a cardboard box lined with the want ads? Vibrata, I named her after the character I was playing in the show in Dallas, TX, was my great travel companion. For the next fourteen years she traveled with me from state to state, usually sitting wrapped around my neck like a fur collar, as I would drive to the next show. And you wonder why I was called Circus Trash at a truck stop once! She was a Diva. A princess. When she was de-clawed, she hobbled around like she was looking for a walker or a cane for months afterwards. Even sat up like a Meerkat instead of on all fours. Soooo dramatic! Needless to say, she did not appreciate it when I left the theatre life and got married to a man with so many four-legged roommates. It was the Furry Brady Bunch sitcom we had hoped for.

Long story, short: they all died that year. Yes, all FIVE of them. Honestly, Vibrata had nothing to do with it. Even though she did have that look in her eye like she would take them all down, but seriously I think she was the second to go, so we had to rule her out as a suspect. Natural causes and cancer and just being old and crazy did them in at the end. It was a very sad year.

But after that, my Hubby and I started having kids and didn’t want to focus anymore attention on animals. We said when the children were older we would get them a pet so they could have that experience and learn responsibility.

So he’d say, “Dog.”
I’d say, “How big.”
He’d say, “Big. I don’t want a dog that looks like a cat.”
I’d say, “But you like cats.”
“I know I like cats, but a dog should be a dog, NOT a cat,” and so on…

Ten years later we got a cat!

Cute, right?!

Cute, right?!

This is our “cat.” The girls made cookies at grandmas and brought a bunch of them back. (Thanks a lot, MOM!) All of the cookies were eaten with the exception of this dear one.

Munchkin #1 who has a bit of a problem with letting go of stuffed animals…

This is only a slight exaggeration! Girl has a problem!!

This is only a slight exaggeration! Girl has a problem!!

…apparently, also has a problem with letting go of animal cookies. Not only could we not eat this cookie, but no one was allowed to throw it away. It has been 3 weeks since “cat” joined our family. She doesn’t jump on the bed. No odor problem (yet)! And no litter box. I’m growing very fond of our pet choice.
The only problem is, the girls haven’t named her. Do you know why?

They are just like their parents, so they can’t agree on a name!

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Rodin’s Unknown Sculpture: The Pooper

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00200025053 (1)When my husband suggested we spend the day at the art museum with our children on his birthday, I must say I was a little surprised. We had been there in the past. We all had enjoyed our time there, but I never thought it was the BEST time we had had as a family. I figured my Hubby would want to try out electric guitars with the kids, or go bowling or something involving an outdoorsy activity like skeet shooting. (I’m kidding!)

The only thing we shoot together as a family is the sh*t and we won’t even acknowledge that!

But when it’s a birthday in our house, you are the King or Queen for the day, and whatever you say…GOES…without question or eye rolling.

Art museum it was!

For some reason.

I have no clue why, but I wasn’t in charge, and WHO am I to question the birthday boy? Fine. *sigh*

I don’t really have a problem with relinquishing the reigns, right? As long as it’s a good idea that everyone will enjoy.

So on to the art museum we went – and it IS spectacular. I personally love our museum, but in moderation and with the right guests. Unfortunately, I didn’t think I was with the best choice. As far as I have analyzed museums and the people who frequent them, there are several different types of participants. You have the:

The Thinker
In our family of four, we have a Reader, a Glancer, Lounger and a Bi-Focal. This was going to be another frustrating museum adventure or I needed to come up with something else. After a quick game of “I Spy” after we lost 50% of our group in the first 5 minutes of the trip, a game of find “What Type of Art Moves You” was taken up. Now this wasn’t thrilling for the Reader of the group, but the rest of us found this interesting how each member of the family appreciated different aspects of art in every room.

We would silently enter a gallery and were to look at each piece of art and then decide which piece “moved” us. We would come back together and share which one and why. I think it may have been easier for the right-brained family members (aka creative vs. analytical) because Munchkin #2 would go on and on why she thought something was beautiful and what it meant to her and the Reader (my engineer, Hubby) would point, nod and grunt, “That one.”

Good talk, Reader!

It’s okay, I can’t build a bridge or an airport, so I can’t really fault that!

When we entered the Nigerian sculpture room, both my daughters stopped to stare at a wooden statue of a warrior. Munchkin #1 whispered to her younger sister, “Look, I’ve seen these before. She’s trying to poop.”

Munchkin #2 didn’t respond, but leaned in closely to the glass almost pressing her nose to it. “That’s a really big poop!” And she burst out laughing loudly. A genetic gift she was granted from me. Everyone in the gallery turned to the child’s guffaw to see what could cause such an uproar.

There on the other side of two young girls noses pressed to the glass case, was a naked man statue who was sporting a wooden woody. I thought to myself, “Where do they see the poop? He’s not pooping. Ah…”

Yes, apparently this nurse had not discussed male genitalia with her children. Now they had seen baby boys having diapers changed, but that had been awhile. And they had seen other toddlers streaking when they were young, but I guess that wasn’t a memory that stuck with them, for they were sure of what they were seeing.

On their father’s birthday, we took them to a museum that showed art sculptures of women standing up and taking a poop.

Art really IS in the eye of the beholder!

Any embarrassing stories out in public lately with your kids? Please share in the comments so I don’t feel so all alone!!

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