Eat a Cheeseburger, Please!

I would personally like to encourage EVERYONE to go out and buy a hand for World Children's Day. November 10-20th - $1.00. I will be buying several...

We have used the services of The Ronald McDonald House in Camden, NJ. during one of our trips to C.H.O.P. (Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia). They were wonderful to my husband and kids while The Brawn and I were in the hospital. We have never been able to use the actual Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia - they are ALWAYS over-booked. We can never get a room at this location. Literally, for the past 2 1/2 years they have never had room availability!!

That tells you how much this house is being used!

The Ronald McDonald House is an amazing resource for families who have children in the hospital. The services that they provide, for the price that they charge the family is again, amazing.

Please support this charity - even if you don't want to eat a "chee-buger" as The Princess would say. Give a hand. It is only a $1.

You can read more about this program and find out exactly where your money is going....here

Dig Deep

Can we dig deep for a minute?? ....... I have been totally entranced with this story - every bit of the story!! I am in LOVE with her - in fact I want to whisper Happy Bird-day in her ear - every day for the rest of her life. I have been praying for her family, her, her kids, her husband....every day...do you think that God has passed along my whispers to them?

This story has made me think, it has made me cry and it has made me look at moments in my life and wonder....what if? It has also made me want to "BE" better in my every day life!

If something happened to me or my husband, who would take care of my children. Not just put a roof over their head or food in their bellies, but who would fill their souls with the love and nurturing that they need?

I have no sisters, only a brother - and we don't seem to be able to spend too much time together without there being a difference of opinions, plus he is 13 years younger than me and doesn't have his life together enough to take on 4 little peoples lives! I want a sister like her....I have actually always wanted a sister like her! I would even take a neighbor like her! I want friends like these. When this sleeping beauty wakes up she is going to be blown away by the amount of people who seriously LOVE for her and her family! I wonder if she will be able to take it all in?

If something happened to me, who would be there to take care of my husband and kids. Not just physically, but emotionally? Would anyone rally for them and help with the school, life and medical bills?? I really don't have that many "girlfriends", would anyone step in and coordinate this. Last year our son went through a pretty serious medical ordeal and we were out of state for 11 days and no one even made a single dinner for my husband! Our church is pretty small and quite frankly - there are not that many young families there!

How exceptional it is to read of her love for her husband, her strength and pride. I love that she is so open about her love of her husband. I wish I could be more like that. I wish that tomorrow we could start our marriage over again and not let every day "life" jade us of our love for one another. Because lets face it, most of us let the bills, the laundry and the sleep deprivation take over and tarnish the sparkle that used to be in our eye when we looked at our loved one - dare I say our Lover!

There are so many ways that this story has effected me, it has made me remember how precious every day is. Even on days where being a Mom really STINKS! We all have them - even when we pretend that life is perfect - those moments where the baby won't get in the car seat, the dog is in heat, the older kids miss the bus and give YOU an attitude about it, the husband wants dinner and you forgot to take plan something!! You know, one of those days.....just remember how lucky we are to have beautiful, strong willed children and a husband who cares enough to come home to us!

To remember to love deeply, and love honestly. Even ourselves....I love that she was so candid about taking pictures of herself (no pun intended). I love that her children can still see her beautiful face looking back at them even though she isn't there with them. This story has made me put myself back into "the" story of my kids life - how many pictures do you have of yourself or of you and your kids together - right now??

Most importantly, I think about how important it is to be honest to ourselves. If we want to be a something that is different that what other people "think" we should be - remember to be honest to ourselves. Be the parent we want to be, the wife we want to be, and the person that we want to be. Be open about our religion, our beliefs - whatever it is - just be honest to ourselves!

I have never met this beautiful creature, but I will hold a piece of her in my heart everyday, even when the hype is over and everyone is going back to their every day lives. I will remember her.

New meaning to an old saying

So, "Creating Life" and "Creating in this crazy place called Life" has taken on a new meaning for me in my new circle of what "everyday" life is!!! No more are my daily options about being able to "make stuff" and create new fun things. Now my days are about creating our life in my crazy days of life!! (AND NO, it doesn't mean that I am going to be adding any NEW LIVES to our family!!)

With that being said, today not much of anything useful created. lol! I swear this entire day just FLEW by!! I got up - got the one beauty off to school, got the two gents out of the house and then the princess and I went about a few little errands before going to the shop. Even got to attend story time. The Princess looked around at the other kids like "what are you doing here??"

The shop was BUSY today!! And the Princess was on a roll - she was a terror in a crown! Man, I don't know what to do with her!! She refuses to go to "Playschool" AKA - daycare or pre-school. None of my kids have ever gone to daycare before and I hate to start now, but she won't use the potty so NO pre-school! She is however a good warning bell for when a customer is at the window or about to come in the shop. She is so stinkin' cute, she says in her softest little voice - NOT, as LOUD as she can..."MOM...CUT-A-MER". That translates to "mom, customer".

Before I knew it it was time to get back to the house and collect my little people. Make dinner - get some off to practice and then get them to bed. I don't know how in the heck working moms do this everyday! But, now that I am doing it seven days a week I am sure that I will get the hang of it superfast!

The Superman is getting nightly feeds through an NG tube so that is always a pressure to get it set up early enough....if not it starts the whole day off on the wrong foot. He is such a trooper. Speaking of foot, I think that tomorrow when I get my cast off we are going to need to have his cast looked at because he feels like their is a blister in there. Ouch...

OK, that is all the daily nonsense for today....However, I will leave you with this little tidbit...I am thinking about becoming a vegetarian and changing religions. What do you think?? My mother thinks I am CRAZY!! Whatever!

PS: I was happy to read that Stephanie of NieNie made it through her surgeries today. What an unbelievable event this family is going through!

No shop pictures for you today, just this little Princess....

For the love of a Stranger...

Yesterday I was trying to rest my foot (broken foot - week 2 with a cast....I tell you about the rest of my cast wearing family members tomorrow) after my fun filled day at the coffee shop and I started surfing through some of my favorite blog ladies when I stumbled upon this story....you can read back through her sisters blog to get more information. I was unbelievably touched by this story - I read and read all about them. I can't get over how tragic and beautiful this is all at the same time. I am adding the donation button to my blog.
Go through and read about them, I know times are tight but if you can even donate a single dollar, please do it. We have medical bills because of my Superman, but they are nothing compared to the medical bills that this family is going to have! I pray that whatever the outcome is for this family that they have peace. I do believe that this families amazing Faith in God will carry them through. I can't even imagine the recovery process that they are going to have to go through. I burnt myself a few weeks ago on the espresso machine - scalding hot water and skin, bad combo - and the pain was horrible, and that was only my arm! I can not even imagine over 80% of my body! Modern medicine and her spiritual strength will need to come together here. Well, I am going to go cuddle with my children for a few minutes.....In other news....I actually went "into" my craft room today, shuffled a few things around and was very excited at the "thought" of being able to do a project. Completing a project might be a different story.....lol. I think I will start with something simple...like a bow or a bracelet!

You thought I ran away didn't you???

....You thought I ran away??....I am sorry...as much as I would like to someday it just too crazy around here for that to happen!!

I have lots of catching up to do! I have been "making" all sorts of crafty creations recently, Nice change from the past month! Have you ever crafted out of desperation??? Any good crafter has! So here is my "desperation" craft AKA my brothers Birthday Gift! LOL. It was his 21st birthday (yes, there is a BIG age difference between us) and I am sure he would have loved some cold hard CASH, but so would I....so he is going to have to get a job, OOPS, I mean be happy with my craftiness!! This is not an original idea, I actually give him a picture of my kids for every holiday :) He loves his Nieces and Nephews so I am sure that he enjoys and appreciates it.

My craft desperation, I mean my lovely thoughtful gift, took about 30 minutes - yes I knew his birthday was coming...I was just procrastinating!! And I already had supplies on hand as any good hoarder, again I mean good crafter, does. I grabbed a few photos from my files, printed them in the 3x5 size, got a few pieces of paper, and a scrapbook size (12x12) frame that I actually had on hand. You could also do it with an 8x11. I didn't even have time to clear off my work desk, so I sat down on the ground and had a little "circle time" with my materials.

TA-DA!!!

I thought it turned out really cute!! Not a masterpiece, but for a 30 Minute project, not too shabby!

Then....on another crafty little adventure we decorated these cute little "Piggies" for our church. Our church is participating in the Heifer Project so the kiddies each decorated their very own piggie that we are planning on "fattening" up and then donating the money at the end of the Sunday School year. After the piggies are emptied, they are going to auction them to other church members, or if you can't bear to part with your piggie - take pictures of them to make into note cards also available for auction. I plan to get involved in the picture taking, can't you imagine how fun it would be to take the piggies "on location" and put them in a fun setting that matches their personality!! Fun, and charitable!! Love it!! I think they came out pretty cute! There are only 3 of them here, the other little piggie has gone missing! He is actually hiding from the big Big Bad Wolf...otherwise known as Miss Lil' who is in love with the Piggies! Oink, Oink...she loves to talk to them and oink at them. It is too cute! Anyway, I am rambling...

And on more for today's post...we made these yummy cupcakes last night...which you will be shocked to know are not only VERY YUMMY, but they contain a spinach/blueberry puree and are basically SUGAR FREE!! Which I PROMISE you - you can't even taste!! One of my guy's can't have sugar & carbs in the "simple" form so I am always looking for yummy treats that are sugar free or darn close. You can find the recipe for these little yummies here. My daughter made the cute little cupcake toppers and picked out the icing color.

There you have it...all the cards on the table! I am on a mission to finish the cutest little apron set for the me and the kids. I will show em' off as soon as they are done!

Did you miss me????

No, I didn't run away or go on vacation....Nothing that fun!! I just got buried in life and my craft studio...I enjoyed the craft studio part better!! Made a few cute little outfits for a girlfriend...a cute Easter shirt...and started on some bows, worked on invitations.

I did discover a few things (besides dust bunnies and a wealth of scrapbooking supplies I forgot about) these past couple of days....I have pretty great kids who are "caring" and "care" about other people. I see them take their ability to "make something with their own two hands" and give it to someone else to make a difference. Even something as simple as a birthday card can make a difference for someone!

My daughter did something completely beautiful ~ sweet ~ selfless ~ and totally caring for someone else today. Someone she has never met, and will never know. It makes me a little emotional to really "think" about it. So your asking what did she do??? Well.....let me preface this by saying that she knows that I am participating in a huge auction/effort to donate $$ to the surviving family of a woman who was killed with four of her children by a drunk driver on New Years Eve. Today she wasn't feeling well so she stayed home from school and while she was upstairs she decided - on her own -to make a necklace to add to the auction efforts. She brought it down to me and asked if I would auction it off for the family. It is a beautiful necklace and was carefully made by her, to the best of her crafting ability. I am so proud of her, she is a beautiful girl inside and out!!!

Search Ebay from now through the 20th, with the search terms "Beth & Angels". Ebay prohibits us to tell you that the money from the auctions will be donated to the families of the surviving victims - but all money is being donated, some sellers are taking out their fees but donating everything else!

Ok, the second thing I figured out this weekend....I found that I let myself get buried in life and didn't take time to "capture" the moments that were burying me!! I barely took any pictures this past year!!!! I have 4 digital cameras. one always within reach, and barley took any pictures!! What is wrong with me!!! I am feeling very "reflective" right now because my "baby" is turning TWO on Friday!!! TWO ~ where did two years go???? And then on Monday, one of my other "babies" is turning 10....how do these things happen!?!?!?

So part of my FOCUS is to Focus on keeping track of all those little details....each and every one!!! More photographs...More pages to scrapbook....More cards to make...yeah! My ADD just kicked in.....ahhhhh