Pondering an upcoming holiday

Right off the bat, I DID NOT make these cupcakes...Yet. But, I am making plans to do so on September 21st, as it will be International Day of Peace and also World Gratitude Day. Brainstorming other ways to celebrate a day that sounds like it has so much potential! Maybe a trip to the Humane Society to walk dogs? A litter pick-up walk? Take food to Matt Talbot? Get a tattoo of a dove? Looking forward to September 21st!!!

Mary Jane for babies?

Willa got her first pair of vegan, hemp shoes!!! So cute and comfy. They are Isa Booties and we found them at CircleMe.

So many chances to help St. Monica's!

Hello, friends and family! Want to give you all an update on an awesome fundraiser that I get the opportunity to be a part of this September. It is called the Amazing Chase and it benefits St. Monica's behavioral health treatment organization. I am part of a team with three other girls (brooke petermann, Melanie Nebesniak, and Amber Smith) and we will compete against 30 other teams in a great big puzzle-type race that takes place all over Lincoln on Saturday, September 18. The goal of the whole group is to raise $60,000 to help out the women that the organization serves. Last year, the top fundraising team raised over $9,000. I would LOVE to see our team break $10,000! (Not to mention that the prizes are super-sweet, like a trip to the Dominican Republic and Las Vegas). The more money we raise, the earlier our start time will be for the race and the better chance we have of winning. Here is the website for St. Monica's, in case you are interested to learn more about their life-changing services or about the race: http://www.stmonicas.com/

We have a few projects in the works to help out with our fundraising efforts, and a few others that we are still cooking up so I will keep everyone up to date on ways they can help out.
On August 19, 20, and 21 we are holding a garage sale at the home of brooke petermann (8800 Garland St) and all the proceeds will go to St. Monica's. We invite you all to come and pick up some great deals! But prior to attending the garage sale, we are looking for anyone who has a few things in their garage/basement/spare bedroom that are collecting dust or stubbing your toes when you enter the room. Anything that you would like to be rid of and that could bring in a few dollars/cents when the right person comes across it. If you have anything of the sort, please contact me and I will come and pick it up! You will never have to see it again! Yay! You can call me, text me, email me, tell my husband and we will run on over and get it. My number is 402.890.1737 and my email address is allisonvanboening34@gmail.com. It would be best if we could get it by next Wednesday evening, as the sale starts on Thursday, late afternoon.

Another really awesome deal that I would like to extend to anyone wishing to donate corresponds with my cleaning business, Purely Maid. I would like to offer to anyone donating $50 or more, a deep cleaning of all of their bathrooms. And, if you are really feeling charitable (or really not liking to clean) I will clean your whole home for a donation of $150 or more. OR if you would like to make the donation and give the cleaning as a gift to a friend, loved one, day care provider, boss...we can certainly work that out. All I ask is that the donation be made by September 15 and that the cleaning be scheduled by the end of this calender year. Monetary donations can be made directly to our fundraising site: GI Gals or a check can be written to me to be donated at the end of the collection period. Please feel free to share this information and the cleaning offer with anyone you feel would be interested! We are really motivated to WIN THIS RACE and to do great things for the women at St. Monica's. Please check back, as we have a few more FUN ideas in the works...Thank you for your time!

A project is underway.

New flooring has been purchased for the porch! I would say to look for before and after photos in the coming weeks but I don't think we took a before photo and now its not really "before" anymore. If you haven't seen our porch, picture a stuffy, storage place for recycling. That kind of smelled funny.

Magical

I am so very glad that brooke chose Roald Dahl for book club. Normally I can't read during my night shifts, as it makes me too tired. But I am very motivated to stay awake for reading this book! And, because I can't NOT throw a little Willa in, she accompanied me to the library for the first time today to pick up the books. She loved it!!!

Sending our love to Baby Sam

A few months ago, I posted very briefly about Baby Sam Bennett. With a very heavy heart, I share with you all that she was fitted for her angel wings last Tuesday, at 9 months of age. Such a HUGE message of love, hope, and strength in such a TINY package. There has not been a moment in my life the past week that I did not think of the Bennett family and of Baby Sam and of heaven and of angels. There was an article in the Journal Star today about Baby Sam's friend, Baby Morgan, who also passed away from the same genetic disorder, spinal muscular atrophy. Baby Morgan's parent's were quoted saying that they treated every day with Morgan as if it were Christmas or her birthday, as they knew that time with her was so precious and so limited. It makes me wonder why we don't all treat all of our days this way? With our babies, our older children, our spouses, our parents, our pets, our friends...? So that is what I learned from Sam and Morgan, and that is my new goal in life. God bless their families and friends who sill stay on this earth awhile longer to spread their message of love a little further.

I wanted to share a link to the blog posting that contains pictures of the pink balloon release that was held Friday evening, in honor of Sam. The photographers, Holly and Jared of The Moment It Clicks Photography, donated their time and talents to capture these beautiful moments for the Bennett family. We were so glad to be a part of it.
the moment it clicks photography
If you meander your way a bit further down their blog, you will also find a little snippet from the pictures they took at brooke and Brian's wedding! They do amazing work.

ps. sorry, I realize a blog post with no pictures is boring, but I got a little wrapped up in trying out new backgrounds and now its late and I'm yawning. But rest assured that had there been a picture, it would have been of Willa.

Baby sign language story...

I have a story to tell that only a mom or a friend of Willa will appreciate. So if you are neither of those things, it might bore you. But first is this darling picture of Brad and Willa taken on Father's Day in the Haymarket. We went to Buzzard Billy's for dinner when Brad got off work. We sat on the patio there and watched the hail come down!

Now for my story...Ever since Willa was about 4 months old and started having small amounts of rice cereal, I tried to teach her the 2 little baby sign language phrases I knew. I learned them from a coworker. They were "all done" and "more". I would show her both as we were eating the cereal and she would look at me like I was loony. Then as she got a little older, she would just laugh when I would do them. Never once did she imitate my actions or indicate that she was remembering or trying them. So probably about a month ago or so I just stopped showing them to her. I figured she would just learn to talk and we could skip the signing. When she is "all done" she just presses her lips together and grunts at me. Good enough, right??? Well, a few nights ago I had a little bowl of mashed avocado that I was feeding her with a spoon, and then a little bowl of black beans that I gave her a few of and she was feeding them to herself. She had eaten all the beans on her tray, so I tried another bite of the avocado and she did the lip thing and turned her head. I said "are you finished eating?" and she looked at the avocado bowl and did the sign for "all done!" Completely out of the blue! I thought it must be a coincidence. How on earth would she remember that from months ago??? So then I asked her if she wanted more beans and first she clapped a few times and then it turned into the sign for "more." I was just amazed! It was like we were having our first conversation! And she seemed SO proud of herself! All of the sudden, she seemed so grown up that it was almost eerie. On that same evening, she also gave me a big hug when I asked for a hug, and she pointed at the flowers in the book we were reading when I asked her to point at the flowers. It was the most fun to watch the learning process take place!
I know, that story probably seems lame to everyone but me, but its my new favorite:)