Cinnamon Buns Changing the World

Yesterday, my friend Krista took 50 of my mom's homemade cinnamon buns and a bunch of awareness ribbons and brought them into her work. She asked $1.50 per cinnamon bun and$1.00 a ribbon. She arrived here yesterday with $174.00 for Unite for the Cure. Wow! Krista told me that the ladies in her office were pretty excited and I'm thinking that they must have been! Thank you so much Krista and all of the men and women who supported our effort. Thanks of course, to my mom who made all of the cinnamon buns from scratch. They will be available at the fundraiser next weekend as well.

One more week! We look forward to seeing you all there!

Love to you all,

Kristen

Coming Together

The last week has been quite tiring but things are definitely coming together for Georgia's Journey of Hope. Ticket sales are quite good and the t-shirt sales have been great. I feel the need to clarify some of the information on the t-shirts. The toddler sizes come in pink and blue. There are also youth and adult sizes in a variety of colors. I have ordered a few more ladies long sleeve tops in chocolate brown because several people have been asking about them. The toddler and youth shirts are being sold for $15, the adult shirts are being sold for $20 while the long sleeve shirts are being sold for $25. All proceeds are being donated to Unite for the Cure.

I haven't been doing much blogging lately as there aren't enough minutes in the day to get everything done. Calla came down with a bad cold a couple of days ago. For someone in perfect health this would be no big deal but she is asthmatic. We spent a lot of the night before last up with her working on her breathing. We avoided the emergency room and today she was feeling much better. The thought of taking her into Emergency actually had me sick to the stomach. It has never been a bad experience with Calla. In the past she has received a ventolin treatment and then we have left. The last time I was there however, I was with Georgia. Watching Calla struggling to breathe has always been difficult but now I find it torture.

I let her go to school today because she did seem significantly better and it was picture day but I had my cell phone next to me at all times. I even debated calling the school at one point to ask how she was. Wow! I really am starting to feel crazy! Did I mention that the school is across the street?! Can't really get much closer!

It has been another long day and despite the fact that there is more fundraising stuff to do and there is a load of laundry waiting to be folded, I think that I may take a break and watch Grey's Anatomy. The PVR is all set up and it is my favorite show! In fact, it's kind of the only show that I really watch. I'm kind of excited now!

Love to you all,

Kristen

The Littlest Big Girl

Not so long ago my mom, also known as Grandma had two girls. They were originally referred to as her little girl and her baby girl. That was until the baby didn't want to be called a baby anymore and the little girl insisted on on being called a big girl. This worked out okay for Grandma because she was blessed with yet another girl that she referred to as her baby girl. Somewhere along the way however the little girl no longer wanted to be referred to as being little and Grandma had to improvise. The little girl is now called the littlest big girl.

Today the littlest big girl started her first day at pre-school. She proved that indeed she was a big girl as she ran off to the painting centre and waved good-bye to mommy without a second thought. It was mommy who shed the tears out in the parking lot. The littlest big girl was off to school and the baby girl had disappeared 5 months ago. Mommy was left alone. And, while mommy was so proud of the littlest big girl and so happy that she was able to run and to learn with her friends she couldn't help but wonder why she was left alone...

So proud of you Maya! Your smile always melts my heart!

Love to you all,

Kristen

Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Parks' 4th birthday. Truthfully, we don't know Parks, his mom Jenn and his dad Keith that well. We have met them through close friends and see them a few times a year at birthday parties and get-togethers. They do live in the same neighborhood so sometimes we see them at the park or out walking. We were very touched however, when they invited us to join them today as they had asked all of their guests to make donations to either The Children's Hospital or directly to Mike and me for Unite for the Cure. Parks didn't seem fazed at all by the lack of presents. He was too busy jumping in the bouncer and throwing water balloons! Everyone had a great time on one of the last beautiful days of summer.

Thank you so much Keith and Jenn and most especially to Parks. What a big boy to give up presents on behalf of others! Here are a couple of pictures!

Calla and Maya about to climb into the bouncer.

There's Mike taking one for the team. He was soaked by the time the kids were finished with him! : )

Love to you all,

Kristen

Check them out!

Today I went down to pick up the t-shirts to raise money for Unite for the Cure and must say that I am quite impressed. Thank you so much to Eli and the amazing staff at Special T Shirt Company. They were so kind and helpful and tried to offer a discount wherever possible. They also posted the petition flyer in their staff room and many of them signed it. The following pictures aren't the greatest but I wanted everyone to kind of get an idea of what they look like.

I found a couple of cute models to show them off. They are actually quite big. Calla is wearing a 4T and Maya is wearing a 2T.

Here's my t-shirt...long sleeves for the long cold winter!

I now have the t-shirts ready to sell. I have already pulled out the ones that some of you ordered and I will make arrangements to get them to you soon. Thanks for all of your support.

Love to you all,

Kristen

Trash the Dress

On Sunday my friend Tanya Lynn and her friend Carrie Ekosky, both photographers got seven gorgeous women together in their wedding dresses for "Trash the Dress". They spent some time in the Exchange district and then some time down on Bird's Hill Beach. Please take the time to read Tanya's blog about this amazing day. http://www.tanyalynnphotography.blogspot.com The group raised over $1000.00 and all proceeds are being donated! Thank you Tanya. Thank you Carrie. And, thank you to all seven women that took part in this very special day. Georgie's eyes would have been almost as huge as her smile as she watched all of you let go of those pink balloons!

Love to you all,

Kristen

Inspired

I didn't really feel like writing tonight but I came online to check on the other families via their blogs and was inspired. I only write when I feel like it and lately I don't often feel like it...mostly because I don't have a lot of time to sit down and reflect. I checked on the Unite for the Cure site and another family included the following quote in their reasons for accepting the challenge:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead

Ahhh...

Remember my club? I believe that I said something about not underestimating our power. I asked you all to help us fight instead of watching helplessly from the sidelines and so many of you are stepping up. I also read the Daily Dakin about a little boy who continues to fight. His mother has decided that before she takes her last breath she will see this disease eradicated. I wrote back to her in agreement. I actually decided that quite some time ago. SMA will be eradicated and all of you will have been a part of that.

If you still have some doubts regarding the importance of the stem cell trials down in California then please spend some time reading some of the blogs I follow. So many families are still fighting with their little ones and they deserve a fighting chance. These children deserve to sit up, crawl, walk, eat, breathe and swallow on their own. These children deserve to not only celebrate their birthdays but blow out their own candles!

Our family total for Unite for the Cure stands at $1800.00 right now. That does not include the $400.00 that we made on the weekend. Thank you to all of you that have helped to make that happen. There are many more ideas being thrown around and put into action. I have no doubt that we will raise the $5000 nor that my club will raise the $100 000. Georgie would definitely approve of what we have done.

Love to you all,

Kristen

First Day

On Friday we walked Calla to school for her first day of kindergarten. She seemed quite nervous upon arriving but followed her teacher into the school without a fuss. When I picked her up a few hours later she came bouncing out talking non-stop about all of the things that she had done and asking when she could go back. Having Calla feel happy and secure has never seemed more important to us. We are so thrilled that she had a great first day!

Maya missed her big sister but seemed quite excited for Calla and can't wait to go to pre-school in another week.

There she goes!

Love to you all,

Kristen

The Garage Sale

Well. after lots of help from family and friends we joined our community today and had a garage sale. Thank you to all of you yet again that donated items, helped me get organized, showed up ready to buy or just to smile. Thank you especially to my mom who stood at the Unite for the Cure table for 7 hours telling complete strangers why it is so important. Even I don't have the energy for that!

In the end we raised $895.00 for pediatric palliative care in the city and $405.00 for Unite for the Cure. That's $1300.00! Not bad for a day's work. Thanks for the cinnamon buns mom, the chocolates Abby and Natalie and the ribbons Tanya.

Once again we find ourselves overwhelmed by your generosity and kindness. We continue to find our spirits uplifted by all of your support. I'm too tired to write more tonight. I plan on relaxing in front of the television with Mike and a glass of wine. Tomorrow I'll post about Calla's big day.

Love to you all,

Kristen

Housekeeping

I have been letting my entries slip the last couple weeks. My apologies but I have become quite busy. Mike and I have been getting things ready for Georgia's Journey of Hope, the garage sale, Unite for the Cure as well as balancing all of the everyday activites like work, grocery shopping and back to school. Firstly, I want to draw your attention to the right side of our blog where you will now find a link to the fundraiser website. It remains a work in progress and we would love to have any suggestions or feedback about making it better. I plan on spending some time on it after the garage sale.

The flyer announcing the fundraiser should be ready by the end of today. All volunteers will receive a copy via email but if anybody else would like one please contact me. I am still in need of a few volunteers to help with facepainting so if anyone is interested please let me know.

I also wanted to send a big thank you to a few people. Thank you to Carol and Colin Rogers for their generous donation to Unite for the Cure. Thank you to Abby and Natalie Rich for making chocolates to sell at the garage sale. Thank you to Tanya Francis who is working on awareness ribbons to be sold at the garage sale and the fundraiser. Thank you to all of you that have offered and dropped off stuff to be sold and to all of you that are coming at different times to help me get organized. I don't know what I would do without all of you.

Before signing off I just wanted to say to Sue, "The Outlander series is one of my favorite series ever written. I have read the first three books several times and I rarely read a book more than once. Did you know that there is a new book coming out on the 22nd? I won't be touching it until October 4th!" : )



Love to you all,

Kristen

PS Calla starts school tomorrow. Stay tuned for pictures!