365

December 31st, 2010, 8:16am:
I had finally fallen asleep on my husbands lap.  After being awake for the entire night, sitting with my mom, holding her hand, trying desperately to not loose all hope.  I finally laid my head down and closed my eyes.  45 minutes later I was awoken by my sister.  "Shes gone"  is all she said.  I looked at her and said "no".  I knew what it meant and I wasn't ready for it.  She held my hand and said it again, as if to convince herself of the truth.  "Yes Paige, she is gone"  I sat up and tried to understand.  But all I could do was think about breathing.  One breath in, one breath out.  My aunt said do you want to go say goodbye.  I nodded yes and started to walk down the hall into the room where I had grown up to kiss my mom one last time.  My husband walked beside me and held me up as I entered the room.  She laid there looking so peaceful.  But the minute I entered the room I knew it wasn't her anymore.  There was no life and it was very evident the moment you walked in.  I closed my eyes tight and leaned over and kissed her forehead.  I whispered in her ear "I love you.  Thank you for being the best mom ever"  I turned and walked out and fell into my husbands arms and wept.  Everything after was a blur.  I wanted to run out of the house.  I wanted to go back to sleep.  I wanted to go back in one last time and just lay with her.  But I knew nothing was going to make me feel any better.  Life at 8:16am was forever changed. 

365 days later myself, my sister, my husband and my children, let balloons off into heaven.  To celebrate the life my mom lived.  We each wrote a special note on each balloon and watched 7 balloons dance into heaven.  It was magical.  I am so proud of my family.  We did it.  We endured one of the toughest years I could have ever imagined and we came out  stronger and closer than before.  Goodbye 2011.  Hello 2012.  May you bring us even more peace, strength, love and happiness.

Water

Water.  I don't ever think about how amazing it really is.  Or the fact that at any given moment I can get some fresh, clean, cold water.  From my faucet.  From my refrigerator.  From the market.  From the hose.  Did you know that a lot, I mean A LOT of children go without clean drinking water. I can't imagine not being able to make Lucys bottle or fill the kids water bottles up for school.

 

Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren't strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses.

90% of the 30,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are of children under five years old. Many of these diseases are preventable. The UN predicts that one tenth of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply and sanitation. 
 taken from charity:water

Did you know there is something that you can do to help.  By donating just $10 to project 320   you can help change all that?  And did you know that by donating $10 it will enter you in giveaways on not just this little blog but lots of others?  How easy is that?  And how amazing to be able to fund a well that can provide clean drinking water for 10 YEARS!!!  

Here is my giveaway:

My sister in law and I are making flash cards for babies and toddlers.  They are perfect for your little ones imagination. I will be giving away the ABC set and the Animal and Insect set.  The ABC set  has 26 front and back handmade cards displaying the alphabet.
They Animal and Insect has 16 front and back handmade cards.
 Each card is laminated so you can easily clean them. Held together by a colorful ring so you or your child can easily flip through them.
Bright colors and original artwork will help your ever curious child learn and their imagination grow.
You can see more at our site, Flip to my Lou.

You can enter by donating just $10 to project 320.  One donation gets you one entry.  A $20 dollar donation gets you 2.  And so on.

Visit The Project 320 Blog to see all the other giveaways.

Spread the word about this amazing fundraiser and Good Luck!!!