charity work, and more

Jude had a much better night. He began getting very upset when we first put him to bed, so after about twenty minutes I just took Jude into my room. I unhooked him from the machine, and gathered him up into my arms, and took him to bed. I snuggled him up, and he fell asleep. When Mike came to move him back to his bed Jude wasn't upset, but did wake up restless. Mike said he held his legs down because of the tone issues, and Jude fell fast asleep. He woke up about 4:30am, but he went back to sleep after about fifteen minutes. Today when Charlotte got there, Jude was all smiles for her.

So I have to confess that Emily's Smile Boxes has been rather stressful lately, and I hate that. I love the charity, and I want to see it continue to grow. I am having the hardest time getting donations in, but the requests for the boxes are only multiplying. A lot of the reason I cannot get the donations is because I work full time in insurance, not in the charity. Therefore, I cannot run up to local stores to participate in fundraisers. Also, the same people seem to donate which is awesome, but I need to reach a broader spectrum of people. Recently a little boy requested a box and he has been battling Leukemia. The news of his box reached many others dealing with the same issue, and they are requesting boxes. I am determined to make sure that every child that wants a box has a box. Although, each box is about $7, and shipping is costly. On top of that we have the Emily's Smile Boxes Christmas party coming up.........just supplies for that party is $1700 - $2800. So I am thinking about inventive ways to continue to fund raise. I also had a friend set up an online fundraiser through upper case living. She is donating 50% of the sales to Emily. If you know anyone interested please let me know. http://stormy.uppercaseliving.net/OnlineCatalog.m - be sure to select Emily's name in the top right corner. Emily's charity is getting older, and I know older charities can have a harder time finding funding. We will make it work tho.

One quick funny story. As mentioned Mike and I are going on vacation in February. Well I have to think ahead regarding saving for the trip, clothes, food, etc. So I asked Mike what type of clothing I should get to take with me. I fully expected the reply: shorts. He said, "Well a couple of sundresses for dinner, a nice dress for a nice restaurant, a few bikini's, some shorts, a light jacket......" and he went on. Who knew he would have such a description for clothing!!