Birthday Season

It's creeping upon us.

I don't have any photographs to share in this post but there will be some coming up in the next post. I promise (I got my mothers day/ birthday gift yesterday and I've been putting it through it's paces; a lens attachment for my iphone that has wide angle, macro and fisheye options; I'm super giddy about all that) in the meantime I'll keep this post as short as I can.

Usually for all the birthdays we go to each summer I get all the same thing for each child we celebrate with, and I always give something art supply-ish. Getting all the same thing for everyone means that shopping is less of a hassle and if I shop at the right time cheaper. We've been on a pretty tight budget ever since the Peanut came on the scene and now with the Bean here and the Husband headed back to school we are even tighter in the budget department.

I go with art supplies because a gift of art supplies is different from what they'll get from the other kids and because beyond crayons markers and the odd set of watercolours; kids don't really get stuff that they can be creative with on a regular basis. That said; I do have some fabulous Mommy friends who stock their kids up often but a little bit of something new is always welcome and just what the doctor ordered to get the boredoms out of the house.

In the last few years our gifts have been:
watercolour paints and glitter glue
sketch pads and pastels
Buddha paper (paper that changes colour when wet but then dries back to normal) with paint brushes
and last year it was a packet of watercolour paper and water soluble pastels

I won't say what we're getting this year since party season isn't on just yet, but suffice it to say that it will hopefully help those creative minds get going.

Birthday season starts off with the Peanut. She turns six in eight days and we'll be celebrating on the following Monday. It's a long weekend here and Monday seemed to be best for most of our friends to join us. We're keeping it simple. The theme this year is Using Your Imagination and we figured the best way to do that was to fill our back yard with moving boxes and let the kids use their imaginations to build obstacle courses, hide in them for hide and seek and create towns, space ships and whatever else they can come up with. I can tell you now that it will probably be nothing like what I've listed here and most definitely better.

Each child will go home with a personalized paper doll with a selection of clothes to colour, collage and decorate as they see fit. I've got costumes of astronauts, cowboys, rock stars, pirates, fairies, ballerina's and just plain old being you clothes for them to make up for themselves. I'm pretty excited about them and thinking of adding something similar in the Etsy shop. I'm seeing some potential to get into a niche here and I'm having fun with it as well.

In other news my nephew had his second transplant on Monday. No news is good news as far as we are taking things. We've heard very little except the odd photograph and facebook status. He's off the breathing tube and has even had a stint in his Mommy's arms which I'm more than sure has done him a world of good.

We're still sending out all of our healing thoughts and prayers to him he's got a long way to go but he's getting there each day.

So what types of things do you like to get for your kids birthday gifts? Do you go the experience route and get a class for them to take, a night out to the movies or a play or do you stick with toys and books or (heavens forfend) clothes? Share, please I always like to know what works best for other people.

Beating The Odds

So here's the thing, even good news is tempered by possibilities that are not so bright and sunny.  But good news is good news none the less. Today my niece and my sister sent out a facebook update that the CMV virus has lowered from 200,000 to 54000 on Monday and today down to 4500. 

To take the words out of my sister's mouth; hopefully this horrible virus will be destroyed and allow Lindens blood stream and organs some much needed rest to repair themselves. Monday Lindens second stem cell transplant will take place. His amazing mother will start her treatments tomorrow to empower her stem cells so her baby has a fighting chance! Keep up the prayers we need time on our side, no viruses and Lindens organs just to stay strong!

For those of you who have sent your prayers and thoughts Linden's way thank you so very very much and please keep them coming. His situation is measured minute to minute and all good thoughts do their part to help get him to where he needs to be. After being told that he could go at any time this news is breathtaking. It's a fantastic step forward for him. 

Prayers and Then Some

Eyes open, a rare and beautiful sight lately

I was going to post about my Gran's memorial but instead I have to post about my eight month old nephew, he is in my thoughts so much these days, when I hold onto my own two healthy and happy girls the most. I was finally able to go to the hospital to see him and give some physical support to my sister and niece yesterday.

Linden is not doing well. His journey has been filled with ups and down so very high and so very low that they rival a roller coaster for how quickly things can change with and for him. This is why even though things right now seem as though there is no hope that I hold on to the hope that he will somehow spring out of the depths that he is in right now.

My niece, her partner and my sister were called into see the doctors yesterday and told that it will take a miracle for Linden to survive. He has been fighting a viral infection solely on medication because he has no immune system of his own, he is on three different life support machines because his blood pressure is dangerously low, his heart rate is dangerously high and he is unable to breathe on his own. The virus he has, has dropped by half through the medical treatment he is receiving, but it still rages through his body and they have him on dialysis to take the pressure off of his kidneys as they flush all the toxins and extra fluid from his body. He is in danger of going into cardiac arrest at any time. They were given the options yesterday:

They could turn off the machines and let him go.
They could leave him as he is, hope that he comes out of it and his heart doesn't stop
They could continue treatment and take the next step of giving him some of their own white blood cells in the hope that any white blood  cells will help to fight the infection. The danger here is that neither his Mommy or Daddy are a perfect match and the transplant will end in complications.

They have decided to honour the efforts Linden has made so far to live and they will keep up the fight for him; . Today they will be transplanting thier own cells with fingers crossed and all the prayers of family, friends and people who have never met them or Linden behind them.

For all of you who have sent your thoughts, prayers and healing energy to them at my requests already I thank you so very very much.  I ask that you continue to keep Linden in your thoughts if you follow no particular faith and prayers no matter which god/s you place your faith in. All positive thoughts no matter what form they take will help Linden out.

I will try and keep updates here as things progress. Since the ride Linden and his family are on is so very unpredictable (they measure things in the terms of good minutes/ hours instead of days right now) they aren't keeping everyone posted with each change unless the change is a drastic one positive or not.

some things fall by the wayside

which is what happened with my Orange List project. This year I just couldn't get into reading after the first few books and it has taken me up until the last three weeks to actually feel a yen for a little reading. So what got me between the covers again?

Oddly enough it was a combination of a little Terry Pratchet "I Shall Wear Midnight" and a dash of autobiography featuring Anthony Kiedis' "Scar Tissue".

I started reading again on my trip to Alberta. I took the girls with me to attend my Grandma's memorial. I'll post a little more on that soon. I absolutely have to share the elegant and beautiful urn that my uncle chose.

Black Out Speak Out

Please join me, click the image below:  take action, speak out.

Silence is not an option, which is why I'll be turning off my inside voice today