Operation Gratitude Candy Buyback

I haven't mentioned it here but I'm the sister of a deployed soldier. My brother who is deployed is 14 years younger than me, so unfortunately for him I've often thought of myself as second -in-command #2 Mom Figure rather than a sister to him. So when he decided to enlist it was very bittersweet for me. Be happy for the man who makes his own decisions while I still think of him as the sweet, crazy toddler with the kissing spot cowlick on the back of his head. 

Can't you tell, this kid wants CANDY!!

Halloween will be here before you know it and our kids will have oodles of candy to spare. Since I know first hand that my brother and his fellow soldiers LOVE sweet treats mailed to them please think about donating some of your extra candy to Operation Gratitude Candy Buyback. Here's a link to find a participating dentist near you. 

Goodness :: Leigh's Blankies

Sometimes you just can't help but be proud and amazed at the goodness of some people and I feel this way about my friend Andra. A little over a year ago she lost her life-long best friend in a car accident and in a tribute to her friend who was a nurse at Phoenix Children's Hospital she created Leigh's Blankies. You can read her inspirational story here about the hows and whys it all came about. She wanted to give children without much hope the secure feeling that a blanket provides so Andra began making these blankies. It's been so fun watching how these cozy flannel blankies have travelled locally and all over the world to China and Haiti making a difference.

{Leigh's Blankies}

{Andra with her crew}

{The blankets in Haiti}

Follow Andra and Leigh's Blankies good work HERE, I hope you're as inspired as I am!

April Food Day

Instead of playing pranks this year let's do something a little more philanthropic, it's fun and makes you feel good. The food banks are a charity that needs your help year round so please take a moment to think about those less fortunate than you. Here are a few facts:

• Feeding America is annually providing food to 37 million Americans, including 14 million children. This is an increase of 46 percent over 2006, when we were feeding 25 million Americans, including 9 million children, each year.
• That means one in eight Americans now rely on Feeding America for food and groceries.
• Feeding America's nationwide network of food banks is feeding 1 million more Americans each week than we did in 2006.
• Thirty-six percent of the households served have at least one person working.
• More than one-third of client households report having to choose between food and other basic necessities, such as rent, utilities and medical care.
• The number of children the Feeding America network serves has increased by 50 percent since 2006.
• Feeding America food banks provide food and groceries to 33,500 food pantries, 4,500 soup kitchens and 3,600 emergency shelters.
• 68 percent of pantries, 42 percent of soup kitchens, and 15 percent of emergency shelters rely solely on volunteers and have no paid staff.
• 55 percent, are faith-based agencies affiliated with churches, mosques, synagogues and other religious organizations; 33 percent are other types of non-profit organizations.

Please take a moment to check out Feeding America's website or the April Food Day blog and most importantly the

Feeding America's Donation page.

Thank you to Meg at Pigtown Design and Chris at Easy and Elegant Life for working so hard to make April Food Day a success.

Pencils of Promise

It's the middle of the holiday season and several bloggers have come together today in a collaborative effort spearheaded by Paloma Contreras of La Dolce Vita, in order to make a difference for a very deserving charity.

Pencils of Promise is a wonderful 501(c)(3) organization based in New York, that partners with local communities and organizations to build schools of early-stage education in developing nations for some of the world’s most impoverished and undereducated children. Sadly, there are more than 75 million children in this terrible situation worldwide.

Last December, the Pencils of Promise team visited a small village in Laos and by July 2009, they had built a new school for the village children who started attending classes on September 1st. This month, Pencils of Promise will be opening their third school and they hope to open the doors to education for more children in 2010. The goal of this blog initiative is to build safe, legitimate housing for the female children to have access to the school.

In the spirit of the holiday season, we are asking for your help today on behalf of these children. Just think of the enormous impact we could have if each person who reads this post donates just $1.00. If you are willing and able to give more (35.00 buys shelves for a classroom, $50 provides pencils for one year, $100 provides a teacher’s salary for three months and so on), it would be greatly appreciated. We are in the midst of the giving season and hope that you will find it in your heart to make a donation to this worthy cause today. Every little bit helps and together, we can make a difference!

Thank you so much friends and readers, there really no words that can express my gratitude for the positive impact this will have on a child who might otherwise never receive an education.

If you would like to stay informed about the difference Pencils of Promise is making, be sure to become a fan on their Facebook page.

Peace be with you this holiday season.

More about Nie

If you're like me and love to read about Nie please go and read one of my favorite online friends Jaimee Rose's article. It's heart wrenching, lovely and well-written, make sure you have a tissue handy. Good work Jaimee!!

{Photography by Cheryl Evans via The Arizona Republic}

Part 1 Part 2

Please pray for Kate

There is a local little girl named Kate McRae who is suffering from a brain tumor. This hits so close to home not only because she is the age of my children but the church that the family attends is around the corner from me and one of my girlfriends is a close friend of the McRae family. The McRae's are spending as much time as they can with their daughter while praying for a miraculous recovery. You can read their story here. Little Kate has a long road ahead of her and their entire family could use some of your prayers.

{Kate}

In the meantime two of my girlfriends have generously offered their goods and services in an auction with proceeds directly going to the McRae family.

Kim from TomKat Studio has an invitation package to bid on.

Tina from Live.Love Photography has a photo session to bid on.

There could be other auctions going on right now but I'm going to start with these. I thought I would share this with you because the McRae family could use your support and Kim and Tina are great people with huge hearts and wonderful products. Please keep this family and all sick children in your prayers today, I would really appreciate it.

Let's help Zach and other kids too!

For those of you reading in Arizona I would love your help, I don't know if you're a letter writer but this is one of those times that letters are needed. This is a post from Amy asking for our help and support for children with disabilities, one more letter could mean so much!

Please Advocate for Zach and OthersNever in my life have I been so effected with State budget cuts made in response to our economy. For the first time my family is experiencing what it means when children with developmental disabilities no longer receive services due to budget cuts. Zachary has been receiving physical, speech, occupational, and developmental therapy four times a week now since about 1 month of age. He now will no longer receive any therapy funded by the State. Therapy is crucial for him. He is still not sitting, holding a bottle, eating food with his hands, or playing with toys. That's not to say he hasn't had his accomplishments. He has worked hard with his therapists and can now lift his head, eat baby food, roll over and he has started "babbling." To put this in perspective, Zach is one year of age as of the 15th of this month. He desperately needs these services to be given a fair chance of basic skills such as eating, walking and talking.We have asked so much from you this last year. We have appreciated your prayers and support more than you know. We are asking once again for your help to advocate for Zach and the other 4000 families in this same position. I have enclosed directions and a sample letter to encourage your legislator to reverse this decision. Thanks again for your support.
-Amy

Amy's sister Andra has posted a sample letter and links to find the legislators in your area.

Get in here

This Christopher David Ryan print expresses exactly what I'm feeling right now for all of you that commented on my Cans for Comments. Any of you that shared what you thought I should buy, you'll be happy to know that those items are included in the food that is being donated.

I'm hoping to make this a yearly tradition here on this blog and hopefully next year I will get oodles more comments. My 4 year old, my 5 year old nephew and I are on our way to drop off the donation. I'm hoping to make this a learning experience for them too. Love to all of you!!

Cans for Comments

I just saw this idea on Blue Orchid and decided that it will be the perfect holiday helper-outter. I always donate to a local food bank during the holidays but this year I think this will be a little more fun because you will be helping me out.

Please leave lots of comments and I promise not to pick out anything gross! Happy Holidays!

[I guess I should specify I will buy one can of food for every comment, so all you lurkers out there please say hi or what you think I should buy.]

Gracias!

If you can't tell I've been in a blunk (blog funk) I can't seem to keep a thought straight in my head lately. I have so much going this week I'm constantly thinking of what's next on the agenda. So I thought I would take a minute to say a very public thank you to one of the coolest girls I know. Lisa is one of my Pilates clients, not only is she super funny and nice she's also a cooking baking genius.

And a fabulous knitter.

Last night I was pleasantly surprised with my bucket o' cookies and coffee to go with them. Lisa I'm in heaven, yum! Thanks again for being so cool.

Key to the Cure

It's October the month of pinkness, I'm loving the Key to the Cure Tee designed by Karl Lagerfeld and modeled by my girl crush.

Do what you can this month buy Breast Cancer Awareness goodies, support your friends and remind yourself that affects us all.

Love for Nie Nie

Many of us here in the Valley have been following the story of blogger, Stephanie Nielson of NieNie Dialogues. She was in a plane crash with her husband recently and they are currently in the hospital with 3rd degree burns covering most of their bodies.

Gabrielle at Design Mom has set up Love for Nie Day, it's lots of auctions with proceeds going to help their recovery. Please go check her out because there are so many wonderful services and goods to be bid on.

So while you may not have any money to spend a little prayer and good wishes sent their way would be so appreciated. Thanks for being so cool!

3-Day Walk

I know most of the time I'm busy talking about my laundry, love of coffee mugs or trashy TV but sometimes I feel that I have to use my power of gab for something good. I know that most of us have been personally touched by cancer in our lives and sometimes it takes a little nudge to do a little something about it. Well I would like to share the story of my friend Meredyth who was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was pregnant with her second child, I didn't get the pleasure of her friendship until after she was through the first surgery and the birth of her beautiful son Max. Thankfully for me and our family she made it through because our lives are so much better for the friendship that they share

This year Meredyth is walking in the 3 Day for the Cure with her husband and sister. You can read her story here and her husband's here, basically what I'm asking is if we each take a minute to do what we can for those we know who may be walking in the 3 Day for the Cure or for those who may be suffering with some sort of cancer, because it really does touch each of our lives.