Pumpkin Carving 2009

Jason's Pumpkin
Rita's Pumpkin

Eli's Pumpkin

We were browsing at Kohl's today and look what Jason found!!! I don't really want to put up the tree this year, but he wants to, so at least we have this to put on in memory of our little man.

Waffle House Fundraiser

So many thanks go out to all the folks up in Maryland who worked so hard to make the Waffle House fundraiser such a success! Aren't the crabs and t-shirts AWESOME? They did an amazing job; with the 20% donated from the restaurant and customer donations, they estimate they raised over $1000! (I think you can click on the pictures for a larger, better view of the shirts. I love them!)

www.uniteforthecure.com
We are so close to the halfway point for our goal! If you haven't donated and still want to, you can go here and it will have information and links on how to donate online or give you an address where you can mail a check. Thanks to the ladies from the MSN board who are dropping by wanting to help! You ladies are awesome!

Few more pics from the arboretum

These were all taken with our Canon Rebel XSi. I LOVE it. I am still waiting to take a class on how to REALLY use it and I'd love to learn how to do some editing too. Jason and I hope to make it our common hobby at some point. We do enjoy going and taking pictures together so for now, that's enough.

Mercer Arboretum

I had been wanting to get out and play with the camera, so we headed out to the arboretum today to see if we could find any good subjects. I was happily surprised to find butterflies galore! It was AMAZING to say the least. We also got to see a rabbit, squirrel, two turtles, and a few birds. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Friends are AWESOME!

My wonderful friends in Maryland have come up with a great fundraiser for Unite! Brandi and her amazing friend Stephanie are having this dinner at Waffle House on Saturday night to help us make our goal of $5000. I love that we have friends who care enough do to this. I wish we could be there, but I know they will do a great job spreading awareness and raising money to help end SMA! Thanks ladies! Love you!

A few pictures from the last bake sale...

We did the baskets again! Best idea and made for a nice presentation.
Thanks to my friend Sara we had lots of loaves to sell...and we sold them all! One lady bought 2 to take to a bake sale she was supposed to have made something for! :)

One more shot of the tables...

I had fun doing the sales, but I am glad we are finished. I LOVE baking, but that was so much to do in less than a month's time. I'm glad we were able to raise some much doing something that I like to do though.

Bake Sale #3

We had another great bake sale today! We raised $275 to put towards our Unite total! We had many people ask us about SMA so we were able to raise awareness AND money! I'll try to post a few pictures later, we used the same set-up as last time. I think I owe so much of our success to the time we put into making everything look a bit nicer and not as thrown together as some sales appear.

Thanks again to all our friends who helped with the 3 sales! We raised almost $1000 just doing bake sales! Can't beat that!

Another way to help!

If you plan on doing some online shopping for the holidays, please consider using this website. You can access many different stores by going through it and a percentage of your purchase will go to the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation and the effort to cure SMA. Pass it on to anyone you know who shops online!

Sorry it is been so long. It's a tough time for me right now and a busy one on top of it. I've been doing some observations at schools, my second class started up this month, and we had another bake sale this weekend. Busy, busy busy!

We did good again with our bake sale. We had to stay out longer this time, but we still managed to raise $270! We have one more scheduled for next Sunday at the Crosby Wal-Mart and then we will be finished with that. I would still like to come up with one other fundraiser, but we'll see. I'm tired and my motivation to do anything is super low right now. The holidays are going to be hell. I'm already struggling just to deal with Halloween. I can't even begin to imagine Christmas and the few days after....then January.

If you haven't donated to Unite for the Cure yet, PLEASE consider donating a little if you can. EVERY SINGLE dollar counts. We lost another 9 month old little girl this past week to SMA. I didn't know the family, but I cried for them anyway because I know their pain. I feel it every day of my life. WE MUST FIND A CURE. The clinical trial that Unite is helping to fund is the most promising research out there right now and we need to make it happen. $5 or $10...it doesn't have to be more than that.... Please...

Success!

We had a great bake sale today! We ended up raising a little over $400. The weather warmed back up today so we quit a little early. All of our chocolate goodies were melting and we were getting a little sunburned. It all went great and we received a lot of compliments on both the food and our set-up. I think the extra effort we took in our presentation really paid off. Thanks to everyone who helped make and eat our baked goods! My homemade dog treats were a bit hit as were the great cake bombs and brownies some wonderful friends made for us.

The next sale will be on October 10th at the Atascocita Kroger (West Lake Houston/1960).

Getting Ready for the Bake Sale!

Baskets of Goodies
Walnut Cranberry Pumpkin Bread

Cookies!

Cupcakes!

I'm excited about tomorrow...and SO nervous! Much love went into making all the goodies, so I hope people will come and enjoy them.

Looks like the insomnia is back again. I think the stores putting all the holiday merchandise out so early is really getting to me. Jason and I both stayed in a lot this week and seemed to struggle more than usual. Funny how you have a good day and then follow it up with a bad week. We both miss our boy so much. I have new flowers for his grave, but I can't bring myself to go out there. I know I can't handle it right now. I've been out there plenty in the past, but for some reason, I can't go right now.

I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed by the month of October and it hasn't even arrived. I have another class that meets on Thursday nights, my normal Saturday class, a cardmaking class, a party to throw, and 2 bake sales. On top of that, I need to study for the content test I have to take soon for the teaching program. You would think with all that going on I'd be staying busy, but I'm not. I just sit and stare at the computer or TV. My motivation is ZERO right now. I hope I can get all of my baking done on Saturday for the sale we are doing on Sunday. Wish me luck...or at least some good friends who will rescue me from the blahs.