Westland Elementary School

A couple of weeks ago we found out that Jack's Make-A-Wish was being sponsored by a local elementary school. They had seen a picture of Jack, knew a little bit about him, and learned his favorite things. For weeks the school raised money, based only on the flyer posted around the school. The administration asked if we could come to an assembly where they could present the check, and the kids could all meet Jack.

I was asked to speak a little bit about Jack's story. I did my best to summarize our eternity that has occurred over the past 4 and a half years, and make it so elementary school students would stay interested. Jack just had to be there. When he walked through the doors it was though royalty had entered Westland. The student council shook his hands and gave him hugs, and on our way to the Gym all the kids in line would give him "five" and tell him hello. Everyone was crowding around him, asking him questions about Lightning McQueen, and Disneyworld.

Jack was LOVING IT. He would just look into all the eyes of these strangers and smile. It was as though he truly felt gratitude in his heart. (We were particularly proud because he'd had problems with being nice to strangers lately...) He even volunteered to show off his scars, and was very proud of them.

After I spoke, we showed a slideshow of picture from Jack's birth to today, including some of the serious shots of him right after surgery, and the kids' response was so genuine and heartfelt, you could feel it in the whole room.

As a whole they collected over $1500 to help send our family to Disneyworld. It was so humbling to think of all these kids that were so happy that they were a part of this. It really makes you think about how special little kids are, and how they can be examples to us. There were a few children that brought gifts for Jack, out of the goodness of their hearts; they bought him CARS toys, Oreo's, Mater trucks, coloring books.... it was incredible. I'm so glad we captured all of these videos, (thanks to Nat for the FLIP and Mom for the filming..) because later on in life he'll be able to see how special he was to all these little kids at Westland Elementary school.

We hope that after we go on our trip, we can return to Westland to share with them the fun that we had, BECAUSE of them- and keep them updated on Jack's condition. I'm currently working on gifts for all 616 students....

Pat The Bunny

We pay many, many visits to the pet store. It is perfect for this time of year, when it is too cold to do much outside and the Zoo is MUCH too large of an outing to embark upon you can go to Incredible Pets and have your own animal experience. The best thing about this store is how accessible all the animals are. There are bunches of puppies up front in glass bins that you can reach right in and play with. Those are always the bigger dogs, alaskan huskies, retrievers, eskimo's, wheatens, etc.

Then right next to the check out desk are the birds. Jack loves those dang birds. If you stand there long enough one of them will jump right on your shoulder and take a nap. Some are more friendly than others. One time, there was

one sleeping and he was so precious all curled up under his wing, I just wanted to sit and pet him. But each time I touched him he'd shoot me a look of disgust at my horrible manners, then take 3 side steps down the rod and go back to sleep.

In the back are all the puppies primed and ready to go. They are your classic "doggie in the

window" puppies that stare at you with big eyes and press their paws up against the glass in hopes to make human contact. We always choose one to get out and play with. Usually a shitzu or a lhasa apso because they are so bouncy and playful- and Jack LOVES being chased by them. He'll run up and down the isles with a little popcorn ball bounding after him, then stop so it can chew on his shoe for a minute.

Starting the new year they usually have a well stocked case of bunnies. These fella's are shaggy, lion-haired rabbits with the droopiest ears and the twitchiest noses- it takes everything in me not to buy one.

But then I remember, I can just come back tomorrow and play with it. Without cleaning up it's poop. :)

Oh THAT'S Why...

Have you ever been invited into someone's home in the middle of the day to find their table beautifully set, flatware, place settings, et al? I have. And each time I would say to myself "why in the world do they have their table set. Ready. In the midst of all the things happening around the table, why are these breakable dishes chillin on the table."

Yesterday I went to IKEA. I really do love it there, I have always loved furniture stores. Walking around in those mock-up living and dining rooms makes me feel so excited that change is possible and I won't be looking at the same rooms all day, every day, if I just put a little creativity into them. Once I made it downstairs with my gift card, it occurred to me that I have had the same dinner plates since I was married. They are the ones we registered for. And since then, dished have broke, and we don't even have a complete set for four people. Now was the time to get new dishes. I perused carefully, keeping in mind that my manly husband would be eating off these plates, along with my manly four year old. I decided on some lovely ones that were an off-shade of purple, or magenta, thinking it was something new that would look great on my table.

I put them in the 59 cent bag I was forced to by in order to get them all to my car, and took them home. I washed each dinner plate, salad plate, and bowl. I moved all my old plates to the top shelf, for when we "really needed extra plates", then I washed the shelf of the cupboard and grabbed the new stack of plates to set them in their new home.

They stuck 3 inches out of my cupboard. Not only will the door not close, but they could very well fall and break all over the floor by the slightest bump. "How in the world!?" I thought to myself. Then I realized that the plates I currently have were even pushing the limit and the fact became quite clear that I have extremely shallow cupboards. My kitchen itself is narrow, and I know that the designer thought that the kitchen would seem much more open if they installed the smallest cupboards known to man, and could most likely sell the house.

And now, my table is set, and will be, until I find somewhere to put these seemingly gigantic, new dinner plates. I imagine that could possibly be why people have their table set all hours of the day.

Or so I hope.

FACT: