Blog Hop

First time trying this. Lets see if I can get it to work. :)

Hug-A-Hero

This is something I want to do!

Hug-a-Hero is not what you are thinking. I hug my husband and kids often (ha ha).

Being part of a military community I see a lot of what a deployment does to each part of a family. Not just my own family but other people I know. It affects the spouse, the parent and beyond. I want to help and I know that I can only help in a small way.

I've seen a few dads leave the last few months where the little ones are so little they don't know what is going on. Grandmas are coming down to "visit" for months and daddy is going away. Or there routines are changing because mom now has to handle everything on her own and she is making do with the time she has. This is true of every deployment. Thankfully the boys handle deployments as well as can be expected. Maddie has only been through one and she was small enough she really didn't know what was going on. This time she will be two and will definitely know what is going on. She's the one I know I am most worried about.

I want to start ordering Hug-A-Hero dolls for kids who are in need of support and whose family may not have the knowledge of the doll or may not be able to afford one.
Wait a minute?! What's a Hug-A-Hero doll you ask. :)

Basically, you take a photo of the family member and it gets put on the front. The back is a design either their uniform or a solid color.

These come in many sizes. But to keep the uniformity of it all I think I would stick with one size.
There are 12" 17" and 3 Feet. I believe that 12" would be the right size. It could fit inside of a backpack if needed. The cost is $23.95 plus $5.35 in shipping for each doll. I would love to do everyone all by myself but I couldn't.

I'm debating on doing this a few different ways.

1. Setting up an email address for this alone. Trying to figure out what that email address should be.

2. Setting up a paypal account for this based off of that email address. Depending on how fruitful this idea is a bank account all of its own so everything can be easily traced.

3. My most difficult area would be setting up an application for each order. I know that I can't order on a first come first serve basis because of limited funds. I would need to have a way to decide who is more in need of this items. Whether it be their first deployment, their 8th deployment, they are in trouble at school etc. Any suggestions would be awesome!

So - What started this thought process? There are two little boys at the daycare my kids go to. They are four and one. Dad left right before Christmas. They were being taken out of daycare because mom's schedule was different daily and her mom came down to help. Well these boys have been in daycare since they were born. Now they are at home with grandma. Which is great! But not only did their dad leave, but so did their routine and their friends. I felt bad. I discussed this idea with girls at daycare and they all wanted to chip in to buy these two boys a doll. So became the idea.

I would love to have all the thoughts and feedback that anyone could offer. I want to make this happen I just need to know that I am on the right path.

Thanks so much for reading this far!!

Welcome Back Me!

From here on out I am going to post more. I promise.


Obviously life is chaos just like the title of our blog. lol

I've got a few ideas forming in my head.


How many of you made New Years resolutions?

I did and I didn't. I didn't promise to lose weight or stop smoking or not drink as much Mt. Dew (I wouldn't have been able to do the Mt. Dew one at all!!).

My resolutions were more personal growth:

Run at least one 5K ---- Getting ready to do that one March 5th. And looking toward my second one.


Help others more often ---- This is something I am going to post more about next and want your ideas and maybe your help with.


Get myself organized ---- I'm working on this one. I've thrown a lot of paper out and I've gotten rid of some stuff. Still a long way to go.


Jeff has a possible deployment coming up and I think that with him gone that I will possibly get this one accomplished before he gets back.

I also want to learn more about my camera, cook more (learn new recipes) and I need to redesign my blog page.

Latest picture of all three kids! :)

Wordless Wednesday - Copy Cat

My Maddie Blog

Don't forget to check out Maddie's blog too. I don't keep it up as frequently as I like but I always add pictures in the very least.

www.madelynnbyrd.blogspot.com

Something new around the corner?

I have been kind of bored with my blog lately and not updating it as faithfully as I would like. Therefore I think that I am going to turn a corner and have a purpose with the way I write. I am going to write more about military life and how things work out but more importantly I am going to address a creative side of myself.

I am always looking for ways to invent my creative side. I am a Jack (or Jill) of all trades and master of none. Therefore, I am going to make myself a master. Master in the kitchen.

I am going to explore recipes that I haven't made before and even my old favorites. I'm going to let you know how they turn out. Good or bad. I will probably even have help in the kitchen in the way of a precocious four-year old.

Please send my way recipe links or names that you have always wanted to try and are afraid to try or something you like that is interesting. I want to try them all. I collect cookbooks so I will not have a shortage of ideas but I would like some challenges from you all as well.

Wish me luck!

Wordless Wednesday - Jeff's Bday Collage (3/13/10)