January 29, 2012

Well, Happy belated New Year! We are heading into 2012 with positive thinking and humbled hearts! I know its been forever since my last post, I will do my best to catch you all up.



At my art show...looking so handsome!

December 2-I had my first official art show! I was VERY excited. It took me months of planning and painting to prepare for it. The art show was held at The Gallery 19 Below. Several months ago Joy (a friend of mine who is creative director and editor at 19 below) asked me if I would want to join her and another one of our crafty friends-Jamie Lyon, for an art show at the gallery. I of course said yes!! It was so cool too, because all 3 of us-without any coordination or talking-had very similar subjects. Lots of birds and trees. lol It was such a fun show! I really had so much fun. That was my first and I hope to do more in the future! I actually received several painting jobs from that show. I got a lot of positive feed back on my work. It was a very cool experience and I am so thankful that I was able to be a part of it! You can check out my art blog at www.punkparlor.blogspot.com! Let me know if you need any art for your humble abode!



A glimpse at some of my art. (the white wall has my art hanging)

Christmas: We had such a wonderful Christmas this year. Several months before Christmas we were introduced to the 'Blanket Fairy'. Its an amazing organization and if you haven't heard of them you should definitely check them out. http://theblanketfairy.weebly.com/ Its such a great thing that they are doing! Blake was selected to be part of their 'Christmas Hope Fairy' program. Basically an anonymous volunteer receives Blake's info and helps with Christmas. Its so miraculous how when things are tough and you arent sure how they will ever work out...God opens that door. This has been a consistent part of Blake being diagnosed with his brain tumor. I am always amazed at the way things work out. Confused? Let me back up a little.




So excited to get his 'Blanket Fairy-Christmas Hope Fairy' present!

This past year things have been tight financially for us. We make the bills each month but its been hard to buy any of the extra things (i.e. clothes for our very fast growing little boy, shoes, ya know all the extra stuff beside bills/gas/groceries) When I started my part time job, it was perfect timing and we really needed the 2nd income. Although I found a part time teaching job, a few weeks prior to me starting, all overtime was cut from Phil's job. It really stinks but I dont feel I can complain because we are making enough to survive-things are just tight. So here we are working to make the bills and Christmas is right around the corner. We sat down and decided that we would have to tell our families that this year we couldn't afford presents for all the kids. (We usually buy for just the kids in our families-Blake has 5 girl cousins and 1 boy cousin) This was VERY hard for me to do, because I look forward to giving gifts each year. I think I might have cried when I told my mom. I know I'm a wuss. So, Phil and I were trying to figure out how we were going to buy Blake anything for Christmas. I know its not about the presents, but if you would have heard Blake talking about Santa and what he wanted...you too would have done anything to make it happen. lol He was SO into Christmas this year!



Can you see how excited he was! lol Love this pic!

Ok, so you already know we get hooked up with the Blanket Fairy and I am so excited! We honestly didn't think things could get better...well guess what-it got A LOT better! After work one day I saw I missed a call from Blake's school. I listened to the message and it was from his counselor-Lisa. Hmm what was this about I wondered. I called her back and after playing phone tag, we finally got to talk. She explained that each year this church in Lee's Summit asks the school to pick 2 kids that they can help with Christmas. Lisa said Blake was the first kid she thought of. She said Blake has made such an impression in the school, and meeting us-our family, has really inspired a lot of the staff. She went on to say how we are such a deserving family after everything we have been through, and how we have such a positive outlook, and how after everything Blake has been through he is such a happy and inspiring little boy. She said she didn't know if we needed it but she wanted to call and offer it to us. I was so surprised-and SO thankful-and so taken back! My heart was just melting! I let her know that in fact we could totally use the help, and how thankful I was that she had thought of Blake. She asked me what he needed and what kinds of things he liked. She let me know the day we could pick up everything, and that was it. As soon as I got off the phone I balled like a baby. God was looking out for us once again. Let me just tell you that the church-Holy Spirit Catholic Church-totally hooked Blake up-as well as us too! I'm talking a TON of clothes for Blake from Old Navy-coat, snow pants, hat, gloves, socks, several pants, several shirts, a pair of shoes...it was crazy! Plus Star Wars Lego's, a Star Wars Light Saber (the kind that lights up with sounds!!), Batman Car,  even hair spray for his faux hawk. lol They also gave Phil and I gift cards to Target & Hy-vee...we were in tears when we got home and looked through everything. (no it wasn't wrapped-oh and they included some wrapping paper and tape along with boxes for all the clothes!) AMAZING!! I'm sure I forgot to list some stuff because there was a lot. I cannot thank them enough. It really made our Christmas!! I will forever be grateful for what they provided us!

By the time Christmas was here I ended up painting canvases for all my nieces and my nephew since I had bought a bulk pack to replace the ones I sold after my art show. I think they loved them. Home-made gifts are my favorite! It was such a happy holiday! I still can't believe the way things work out.

So here we are and its almost February. My birthday is coming up on the 12th and I will officially by the BIG 30! I am not really sure what we are going to do to celebrate, but I do know that a Hello Kitty ice cream cake will be a part of it! I love Hello Kitty!! :) I may be 30 but I still feel like a kid at heart. I have always told myself that I will NEVER grow up and I want to stay a kid at heart forever! I hope I can continue to live that way! It sure is a lot more fun!! I still love to play with Lego's and Barbies, I love to sit and color with Blake, and I am a sucker for the toy isles! Ha ha! Life is pretty great right now!

Ok-now for the 'medical' part. Feb 7 Blake goes in to get fit for a leg brace to sleep in. His tone is pretty bad right now. Botox didn't really work this time-or maybe it was a combo of his growth spurt and cold weather. We wont really know until his next Botox apt. Tone is a pain when its bad. Constipation and tone go hand in hand-tone causes constipation which causes tone which causes constipation...you get the drift. Thank goodness for Mira lax. It really has saved us-Blake really! lol We also meet with our neurologist on the 29th. I always look forward to our appointments with Le Pichon. He is so great! April is our big trip to Texas. I'm still looking for some financial help to get down there-so if you know of any organizations that do that sort of thing...please email me! I would really appreciate it.

I want to end this post by saying how unbelievably thankful I am to have all the supporters and followers praying and continuing to keep Blake and our family in their prayers. We have been so blessed through everything we have been through. I know God has had a huge part in our path, but we really couldn't have gotten through all these years with out the love and support of all of you. So thank you for caring and loving us and never forgetting about us! We really appreciate you all!! Sending you all my love!! xoxo -Mandy