Knox's Garden

Finally, I've gotten Knox's Memorial Garden into good shape. I've been keeping my eye open for a tree that won't get too large (since we rent) I can take with us if we ever move (although, I LOVE our house and where we live!) and my mom recently found a magnolia she loves, and although I adore them, and love how they bloom, it would grow too quickly for the tiny little garden.

The neighbor was over with her grandson, and during our chitchatting over the kids, I ended up telling her how her grandson, is roughly Knox's age. Which for her, kind of explained why we have a (sort-of) creepy little angel in the front garden as well as a pretty stone with some wording on it. She generously offered up a Japanese Maple that has been living in a pretty ceramic pot over at her house, but she mentioned she never found anywhere she fell in love with putting it. She has a gorgeous yard, and beautiful plants, so I don't know how she didn't find a place, but I ended up with a pretty Japanese Maple, and it looks amazing in the garden. After looking around online tonight, I think it might be some sort of an 'Orange Dream' Maple. Not sure though!

I can be honest here; I'm not religious much at all, I'm pretty open to what happens when we die. Don't get me wrong, I judge no one regarding religion, I have no reason to believe that anyone or anything is wrong. I know there is SOMETHING bigger, and SOMETHING great to look forward too and I will be with my little boy (daughter and soon to be husband) somewhere after I die- but until then, I'll keep my eyes, ears and heart open for something I feel 100% confident in. I've read a lot of books since Knox died, one being The Blue Poppy & the Mustard Seed: A Mother's Story of Loss and Hope by Kathleen Willis Morton and the Dharma she talks about really makes sense to me, I'm a very organic/naturalist type person. I also think that I've read some good Christian based books that were beneficial but a little too religious/preachy for my tastes. One of those books is 'I'll Hold You in Heaven' by Jack Hayford. I really am all about the saying- 'To Each Their Own' and the whole 'Live and Let Live' thing. People really need to just do and believe in what makes them happy. After such a large tragedy, I am a total beliver in something bigger, but I'm open to learn and talk, but not be preached to.

The stone reads:

'A gift for such a little while,

your loss just seems so wrong,

you should not have left before us,

it's with loved ones you belong.'

There are three Hydrangeas, that aren't in bloom right now in the garden (I know, they'll get bigger each year!) I planted LOTS of bulbs, that I'm just waiting to see what they are because I've since forgotten. The crocus came and went, and were adorable popping out over all the weeds that had taken over in the winter.

My favorite poem to end with:

'Perhaps they are not stars in the sky, but rather openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy.'

Bridal Shower Easel Thank You Cards!

I know, I know... my shower was only last night, but of course I need my 'fix' of paper slinging once I got home, and was snooping around on Lauren's Creative and saw this adorable little easel card she made for the My Pink Stamper Challenge. I made this card for the same challenge.

So, back to the story. I wanted to get the Thank You cards made for all the beautiful and amazing gifts I was given at my shower. After seeing Lauren's Creation, I knew I wanted to do something similar. They all are the same pattern, so I could crank 12 out at once, instead of making them one at a time, because Lord knows if (or when) people would get thank you cards!

I made the card, using the dimensions from Nicole, over at Canadian Nickle Scrap'ns video. She has got an awesome video that totally simplifies what looks like a tough card to make, but it's actually pretty simple!

I hope you enjoy! Also, we will be doing some blog candy here in the next few days, so get ready to pass the link around to enter and win!

My Bridal Shower!

Yesterday was my bridal shower. I got so many goodies! I loved spending time with my friends and family, and can't wait for my soon to be SIL's next weekend, since there won't be ANY attention on me!

I got Scrapbooking goodies from Rachel!! :-) I'm not actually sure what I am opening right here...

*blush* a little treat for Hawaii!

All the gifts!

The cake!

I actually made all the thank you cards last night, and just need to write them out and mail them. I made eisle cards but will have a whole other post on that later!

Saturday's Projects

Generally, Saturdays are our family days. We usually eat waffles for breakfast, lounge around the house and watch kid movies or TV most of the day if it's yucky out, or play in the front yard when it's nice out. Yesterday was especially nice!

First thing, Adam washed the cars and Zoe wanted to help so once she got her shoes on, off she went!
She felt the need to find every toy that 'Sophers' or our little dog, Sophie had drug outside and throw it back into the house.

We played in the front yard, with the neighbor's grandson, Jackson who is just adorable, it's funny for me to see since he's just a little older than Knox would be, the kind of things that my little boy would be doing if he were here.







Of course, they are both adorable, and had a blast in the 'playground' of our big front lawn that was set up with a maze of tunnels, tubes and forts as well as a pop up car.

They had LOTS of fun playing together!

I got the chance to swing by Joanne's on my way home from the RC Track, since we also spent the afternoon there, and got the DCWV Flower Shower Spring Pack (which I already have, but paid just about full price for) on clearance for $8.97!! Now I have two packs of this paper, but a total score! Plus, I love it and have already used all three sheets of many patterns in it. Also.... (drumroll, please) my Peachy Keen Stamps showed up! They have lightning shipping, because I just ordered them Wednesday I believe.

So, I got to spend my evening, once bedtime came (which was a little early thanks to her lack of napping most days now). I did a few things with my new stamps.

I love how the full layouts ended up! I had the 'cloud' layout (if you could call it that, since it was at a lighthouse) already made up, but added the stamping to give the clouds their faces.

Also for the balloon layout, it was her second birthday and her blowing out the candles, I used their faces as well.


Of course, I also did a layout, without and Peachy Keen Faces, but it was cute too! Also a birthday layout but her licking the spatula of frosting, the day I made her cake. I love how it turned out.



My Bridal Shower is today, since we're getting married June 12th, so I have got to get my butt in gear, to get my extra nap in(heehee) before I need to do my hair, get dressed and head out to my moms. I hope to have some photos to share of that too later!

Have an AWESOME Sunday!

Cheers!

Dawn

My Pink Stamper Challenge, green, brown and yellow!

Enjoy!

Dawn

TEARS Foundation, and the upcoming Walk and Rock!

Baby Knox @ 38 weeks or so. Ultrasound taken at Sonosite Ultrasounds in Bothell, WA.

Imagine planning and setting up a nursery for a child you’ve expected for nine months. You spend as much time and money as you can to have every necessity for when you get to bring your bundle of joy home, and be as prepared for them as possible. Many people take time off of work to become familiar with their new child and very few get paid for the 6-12 weeks they take off to recover from childbirth and caring for a newborn as they prepare to go back into the workforce.

Our First Family Photo with our healthy baby boy and his big sister.

Now, imagine that you’ve done this and then you didn’t get to bring your precious baby home with you, or you get home and use the resources you’ve lined up to have your precious baby die due to one reason or another. You now have to continue with your life, with no child to cuddle and hold; stressed about finances because your baby has died. This is a reality for many families in our communities.

I am making this blog post to tell you about the TEARS Foundation. This is a foundation that helps families out in their worst and most difficult times. I can tell you from experience that losing a child is the most horrible thing that a parent can ever endure. On top of this emotional burden, there is the added financial stress of planning and paying for a funeral or memorial service along with cremation or burial costs associated with the death. Knox and his big sister, Zoe Summer 2009.

All this; after you’ve exhausted yourself financially for this wonderful gift to arrive! Unfair, cruel and devastating are only a few of the words I can use to describe the feelings that a newly bereaved parent feels.

This is a short segment about the TEARS Foundation, that was filmed by King 5 News in Seattle, and we were lucky enough to be included in their story.

I am familiar with the TEARS Foundation because on August 17th of 2009, I found my infant son, Knox unresponsive and unconscious in his bassinet during his afternoon nap. After a long struggle to save him myself; being transported by ambulance to Providence Everett Medical Center, and airlifted to Seattle Children’s Hospital; Knox died from his extensive injuries while Sudden Infant Death Syndrome stole his life. On top of our roller coaster ride of discovering my child dead in his bed, being resuscitated by E.M.T.s, fighting to live in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and eventually dying we now needed to plan how we were going to pay for his cremation and memorial service. We had, like so many other unprepared families used a very large portion of our savings on preparing to add another precious child into the family; buying a crib, clothes, diapers and other necessities and left us with very little for such a large cost, so suddenly. The TEARS Foundation stepped in, and paid for about half of Knox’s memorial service and cremation costs. Had they not helped, our four-month-old son may have sat for days or weeks in the funeral home until we could organize the funds to cremate his little body and bring him home one last time. We are blessed enough to have such amazing families that were able to cover the remaining costs beyond what the TEARS Foundation weren't able to cover.

Our family at the March of Dimes, March for Babies May 2009, Knox was the youngest 'walker' there at only two weeks old!

The TEARS Foundation is a local (Washington State Based) 501c(3) non-profit organization that seeks to assist bereaved parents with the financial expenses they face in making the final arrangements for their precious baby who has died. Many of the founders and volunteers at the TEARS Foundation have experienced the loss of their own baby, and want to reach out in this way to support newly bereaved families in their devastating time of sorrow. The TEARS Foundation relies on donations from caring people and businesses in order to have sufficient funds on hand to offer assistance as needed.



Through this tragedy in my life, I am determined to help other families who have lost children. Many people, grandparents and parents alike do not realize that premature birth, birthing problems, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, many types of illness and cancers actually do kill thousands of babies in our Country each year. I am posting this up to ask if you would be willing or able to make a fully tax-deductible donation to the TEARS Foundation to help other devastated families make it through the hardest days of their lives.




Please check out the TEARS Foundation’s website: www.TheTEARSFoundation.org to learn more about them. We are taking part in their annual 'Walk and Rock' at Safeco Field, in Seattle on June 26th just days after our wedding to support their cause and earn donations towards their amazing cause. Feel free to look at Knox's Team site, and donate their if you wish to. You can also see his videos, photos of read his story in more detail.

I hope you enjoy the videos of our little guy during his time on this earth! We miss him dearly, and I wanted to share the last photo I ever got to take of him, before heading out shopping with him and his big sister that afternoon. This photo is from Sunday August 16th, 2009. I found him unresponsive August 17th, and he passed August 18th.

Knox, Sunday August 16th 2009 headed to the Northgate Mall with mom to meet Auntie Jessica!

Again, any donations are appreciated! www.firstgiving.com/teamknox

Packaged card set

I am a member of the Mothers & More of South Snohomish County, chapter 147. I'm also the membership coordinator. We are having our chapter meeting tonight, about Reconnecting with Yourself. I get to bring a good friend of mine with me!! Yay!

I also decided to make a little packet of cards, to take with and donate into the prizes if we end up doing raffles or anything like that. I've never been to a chapter meeting (in two years) that was at The Rock and not had drawings, raffles and games. So, I'm thinking they'll fit in well.

Here are a few photos of them, all put together and in the little cello bag I used. I had this one holding some cling mount foam, but pulled it out and with one small fold, the cards fit great.


I will probably be buying some from clearbags.com soon enough! I def. need to find some way to package them up, as I plan on being in a craft bazzaar towards the end of the year at a friend's church!

Once Upon A Princess... up and on the wall!

I shared this post late last night, once I finished my wall hanging from Once Upon A Princess.

I know I said I would get it up on her wall today, and as I said- she saw it and then literally drug me to her room to hang it up!

Because, really- somedays you just feel like a princess!

Review Time: Creative Memories (my first time using their stuff)

With this review going on over at Scrapbook Reviews, which is a favorite of mine to get ligitimate reviews before I buy things, I saw this review on Creative Memories this a.m. which convieniently I had splurged on and purchased a paper pack from them last weekend.

I purchased the 12X12 Beautiful Day Additions Kit for $9. I didn't really pay any attention to what came in it, assuming that is was $9 and chalked full of papers. Had I read the package, I would have known what it came with- but I didn't so that was completely my fault! The heavyweight cardboard to protect the papers tricked me! I was dissapointed to find out that it only included four (4) sheets of double sided paper (light weight, but beautiful patterns!) 8 double sided photo mats (5X7 I believe) and two sheets of stickers. The 'title' stickers were more of accent stickers in my opinion. But- the 'epoxy-like' (as CM describes them) stickers were good. They were a good, heavy quality and I did have to peel a couple off and restick them, since I hadn't placed them perfectly. There was no chance in H-E- double hockey sticks I was getting the 'title' stickers off once they were stuck on, especially on their paper. Maybe, on heavier, or textured paper (like DCWV textured paper) I would have possibly stood a chance, but not using their products exclusively.

One thing I did fall in love with, actually I fell into an infatuation with it- was the Corner Maker. I used it on the Princess and the Pea Layout I did while cropping and I loved how smooth the cut was. It took basically no pressure at all, caught all the scraps/trimmings and is actually a fairly decent price. At $9.00 I would buy this. I will be getting one, and using the awesome Creative Memories consultant that was there to do so. Karen Smith was our Consultant at the crop, and she brought lots of goodies to look at and let us use. I really appreciate how great she was about sharing her tools! I probably won't be getting anymore paper from Creative Memories, I do think the price point was much too high for what I got, but I did like the patterns, which tempts me to spend too much on paper just to get more. Lucky for my logical brain, the set I fell in love with is limited edition, and I doubt I could get more without hunting (and my wallet *and fiance* will thank me for not going on that hunt). You can see I used it on the photo, and the 4 (ha) mats I have under it.

They have lots of adhesive options, which is great, but as we were using their Precision Point Adhesive which was $6 per pen. I noticed it was almost identical to my Zig 2 Way Glue Pen with the fine tip. I paid a whoppin' $2 for each of my Zigs, not on sale or anything special- so I can't seem to think that their could be better for $4 more! The link to the Zigs, I found them online for $2.24 per pen. I actually prefer the chisel tip, but I think I shoot through those much faster, maybe because of the larger tip. Those are only $2.50 each at my local Walmart (the link if for the top Zig pen, and at Walmart I buy the third one (chisel tip) down.)


I also used their Tape Runner, while doing the make and take, and I liked that when the adhesive 'tape' goes down it is in little strips so you never have to worry about not getting a clean edge. Again, the price is the killer part. At $8 for the runner, and 34 feet of adhesive, it breaks down to about .24 cents a foot, which really isn't affordable, especially if you're an adhesive junkie like me. I have my ATG Gun, that cost me roughly $43 dollars, and I bought 6 rolls of tape with it, for a total of $15.24. The gun, plus shipping and tape was $75 dollar-ish. Which breaks down (including the cost of the gun!) to only $.11 cents a foot! Remember too, that is INCLUDING the ATG Gun itself! I didn't go with Gold Tape, which would have ended up more expensive, but really I'm not all that concerned with the acid free (I know, tisk tisk, right?). Next time I order tape I will get it through the Tape Depot, and go with an off name tape, to save a few more pennies. For 12 rolls, or 1296 FEET of tape, it will be $23 bucks. Did you know that works out to less than $.02 cents per foot!?! Amazing, right? I know, I'm a nut.



I hope you enjoy my review, and please- let me know your thoughts on their products too! I always love to learn about new stuff!