Good bye Upward

Good bye Upward...we'll miss you (sniff!!)

The Little Things Count

If you've ever wondered whether the small things you do in life matter then you should read this letter. My sister in law, Elaine makes toys for the Toy Society. She recently did a toy drop outside a Children's Hospital in Sydney. Someone found the toy and sent an email of thanks to Bianca who runs the Toy Society. She passed it onto Elaine.

From: Kerrieanne
Date: Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Subject: Thank you for the toy.
To: thetoysociety@gmail.com

Hello, my name is Kerrie. I am currently living at Ronald McDonald House Westmead whilst my 2 year old son has Chemotherapy to treat his Luekeamia. We live in Bellingen NSW and found out about Alex's cancer 3 days before Christmas. Since then there hasnt been alot to smile about. We take alot of walks as Alex also has a rare blood bacteria which means he can not play with the other immune suppressed children. He isnt allowed in communal areas including Starlight room, Playgrounds etc. His life is spent in issolation. Try telling a 2 yr old he cant play on the swings!! Its frustrating as we have a swing set and lots of activities at home but at the unit in issolation we have a courtyard with nothing in it. Im telling you all of this so you can really know how much finding your beautiful little hand made boy toy today on one of our walks really means. As it was on the Rememberance Statue i initially thought it was left as a token and when it said "Read Me" I thought it may have a story of significance. Alex thought he was lovely and smiled from ear to ear (something we dont see often these days). When i read he could keep him i litterally teared up with emotion. These are trying days and such a beautiful act of kindness should be recognised. Thank you so much from my family and especially Alex. You gave a little 2 year old boy going through the biggest fight of his life a reason to smile. He now has a friend to keep him company, he has called him 'Yellow'. I have as little reason as to know why?? but thats the name he's chosen. As i write this he is watching 'Bob the builder' with 'Yellow' perched beside him. So, Yes your beautiful toy has found a very good home with a very deserving boy and i am eternally gratefull. Such a wonderful thing to do.
May God Bless you and watch over you.
With sincere gratitude
Kerrieanne

Yes...the little things really DO matter. Good job, Elaine!

The Eyes Have It

Isn't it amazing how our eyes work! Ingenius really.
As I get older I notice my body changing. Some changes I am happy with...others...not so much! Getting glasses for me a few months ago made me realize how much I take my body for granted. I have just always assumed it will keep on doing what it has always done without any additional fine tuning or upkeep. I have tried to exercise regularly but there are things that whether I like it or not just deteriorate with age. My eyes certainly are one of those things.
My son borrowed an "I Spy" book from the library yesterday and we spent time together last night looking through the pages, trying to find all the hidden objects. As he found the objects he would point them out to me and for the most part I could see them all but I was a little distressed to realize that a couple of the objects were just too small for me to see. I am putting off a visit to the optometrist to get stronger glasses as denial seems like the best course of action at this point.
But the funny thing about eyes is that we can all look at the same thing and often see something different. My daughter looked at the picture above and said it looked like the heads of pins. My son said that they looked like cells dividing in a lab experiment. Neither was right....but both are interesting observations!

HVD

Nothing says it like a candy covered cookie!

Back to the Blog

So I've had a break from the blog and a lot has happened it seems in my absence. The bushfires in Australia have been devastating. Thank goodness none of my family were affected but my heart goes out to all the families that were. If you are crafty and want to help the victims, the Toy Society are collecting handmade toys for children affected by the fires. Other donations to help aid the victims can be made here.

A thank you also to Aimee Mobley for her lovely package of handmade gifts that arrived yesterday...just in time for Valentines Day. My kids will LOVE them.

I have to tell you I have had somewhat of an epiphany during my days of non blogging. I hadn't realised quite how much time my blogging was taking up so I am determined to try and limit my blog hopping. You know ...you read someone's blog and that has a link that you follow to someone else's blog and so on and so on. I really can get lost in the blogosphere for hours. So I am going to attempt "Responsible Blogging" ...we'll see how that goes. If you see my comments all over other people's blogs you know that I haven't been very successful!