Barium Springs Home for Children

Today was the big day. No, not our move date but the day I took all the donated goods to the Barium Spring Home for Children. But let me back up a bit.

I had a yard sale on Saturday. It went okay. More people arrived than I expected and I actually made more money than I predicted. Afterwards I boxed up all the left over items - there was no way I was letting them back into the house! I have to say that I had a moment (or two) when I was folding the clothes and sorting them into boxes. How silly of me to be attached to certain articles of clothing! The cute little Gymboree sweaters. The snow suit. The dresses the girls wore at Christmas. I could tell you where or who we got everything from. But they had to go. So if they are going to go anywhere why not include it with the other donated items to Barium Springs?

Left over items from the garage sale.
Seven large moving boxes filled to the brim!
(I'm almost embarrassed to see how much stuff we have!)

Last night I sat down to do a bit of sewing - to finish up some bibs that I had been neglecting. To my horror my sewing machine WOULD NOT WORK! After my mini-freakout I looked at it as a sign that I had done enough. Did I reach my own personal goal of making 100 bibs? No, I didn't. But that's okay. It really is.

Thank you to Chickpea Sewing Studio for the free and easy bibs tutorial!

All items that were donated were loaded into my van - minus the handmade items. These special items were put into two separate piles. Blankets and hats in one container and bibs and burp cloths in another. On the outside of one of the containers I wrote:

I hope I didn't leave any states/countries out!

There was a total of 105 hand made items! Included were:

• 12 blankets
• 79 bibs
• 7 hats
• 7 burp cloths

If you include store-bought bibs and blankets we had an additional 11 bibs and 33 blankets. Everything else, clothing, shoes, household goods - TONS. And I mean TONS! Take a look at the Flikr photo show on the right side of this blog to see how much stuff was donate!

As scheduled I met with the donation coordinator of Barium Springs - Barb Carlson. What an awesome lady she is! She is a total breath of fresh air. I thoroughly enjoyed talking with her and wished I could've met her sooner! In accepting all the items she was incredibly gracious and appreciative to say the least! Barium Springs is so lucky to have her working for them and I am blessed to have met her!

Posing for a pic with Barb and all the handmade items.
You didn't want a picture with all the cardboard boxes, did you? ;)

So that's it. It's so strange for this whole thing to be over with. It started off as a project to give back to my community and in turn something was given back to me. You can call it a life lesson of sorts. A few things that I learned are that:

• People are good.
  
• People want to help. Don't be afraid to ask. Not only do people want to help but they appreciate the opportunity to do so! I can't tell you how many people thanked ME for allowing them to be a part of this project. It blows my mind!
  
• Sometimes it's the total stranger that comes through for you (again and again and again!)
  
• Be prepared for roadblocks because you will have them. And when you do try going with the flow because in the end it could be a blessing in disguise.
• SO.MUCH.MORE!
  

As I wrap things up I just want to thank ALL of you that helped me through this project! Those of you that donated items, blogged about it, or simply supported me by commenting on it! I couldn't have done it without you.

Our Trip to Virginia....

Lots of catching up to do and so little time to do it! Let me start off with our trip back to Virginia.... We had a wonderful time. The Virginia schools were still in session and we were invited by Kailani's previous 1st grade teacher to join her class for a reunion/party. I was literally teary-eyed when we walked into her classroom. Such fond memories even if was only six months ago that she attended school there. Her teacher is fabulous! We also ran into her reading teacher, kindergarten teachers, and even the school principal. It was a great reunion for all of us!

While in Virginia I also collected some donation items from my best friend for the Barium Springs Home for Children as well as some beautiful handmade blankets from my friend Dawn. Pictures to follow in a separate post!

We also spent a lot of time with friends:
And family: But not all was good. There was the meltdown (or two or three) and tears:

(Those would be MY glasses that she decided to throw on the ground....)

On our way back to NC we stopped in Virginia Beach to visit with one of my girlfriends from Hawaii. She had the fabulous idea of eating at a fairly new restaurant, Aloha Hawaiian BBQ.

I walked in and felt like I was back home. Not to sound like a big sap but I felt teary-eyed (again!) I've been totally without "local kine grinds" for almost three years now so I had a difficult time choosing what I wanted to eat! One of everything? Is there a sampler platter?
I decided to order three different plates to share between myself and my girls. Spam moco, barbeque chicken combo and the barbeque chicken & chicken katsu combo. As I paid for the food the girl asked, "Would that be all?" My answer? "For now."

Fork? Who needs a fork?

If you looked at the customers in the restaurant you would think that there were all from Hawaii. These boys look like local boys but they are not. They did mention wanting to go back to Hawaii with me. :) The girl in the picture is from Kalihi of all all places!


I'm so glad my girlfriend recommended eating there!

We also stopped by my favorite peanut store - "The Peanut Patch" where they sell Feridies peanuts. I have never had peanuts as good as these!


Now that we are back in NC and the movers are coming a few days I've got to get busy!

Out of Town.....Craft Hope......Blankets

I am currently out of town but have computer access - if that's what you want to call it. This computer I am on has the slowest-ever connection. I think I'm going to die. If I'm posting less on here this week that's why!

Just in case I don't get to post for awhile I wanted to remind everyone that is helping out with my donation project to the Barium Springs Home for Children that the bibs, blankets, etc. are due on Monday, June 22nd. If you need my address please message me!

Speaking of blankets....Craft Hope has announced their thrid project! Craft Hope has partnered with The Miracle Foundation to provide blankets, beanies and booties for newborn babies in India. The deadline is July 25th - sooooo..... if you have any extra blankets you want to donate but can't make my deadline won't you consider donating it to Craft Hope? For more info on Craft Hope and project three click here:

By the way - the latest count for dolls made and donated for Craft Hope's second project is 340! Isn't that awesome? I was so happy to be a part of it!

Blankets from Karen

From Karen - Newport News, Virginia

Polka dots have arrived!

Yesterday I received a package from Karen of Newport News, Virginia. I met Karen while living in Virginia through our local babywearing group and mom's club. She sent three polka dotted blankets that she had made to donate to the Barium Springs Home for Children! Don't the dots just make you smile? :) THANK YOU KAREN! You know I absolutely mean it!

Bibs from Kim

From Kim - Ontario, Canada

Look what sweet things arrived in the mail today? Kim from Ontario, Canada sent twelve handmade bibs to donate to the Barium Springs Home for Children! Some small, some large....but all are super cute and super soft! Kim, from the bottom of my heart I thank you for sharing your talent and being so generous in sending so many bibs!

On that note - we are getting close to the deadline for sending in bibs and/or blankets. Remember, Monday, June 22nd is the final deadline! Several people have been in contact with me and will be sending in items to donate. I'm looking forward to receiving items from Virginia, California and Hawaii! I'll let you know when they arrive. Thanks everyone!