Caitlin & ~

Hello!  It feels like early Spring this week.   I am welcoming the slow transition into Summer.

It is much like an easy shift into life again for Caitlin also!  She is looking AMAZING!  The water weight and puffiness,
to put it lightly, is gone and in fact I now see that she was puffy in her face during dialysis. This I did not realize at the time.
The Port into her heart for dialysis came out after the transplant, just before she left the RUSH UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL...
It all adds up to a MIRACLE.
She is feeling better and better each day.  Sure, she has some changes in medicine/anti-rejection meds, but is doing well!  We are
so grateful to Bridget's willingness to give such an AMAZING GIFT of a KIDNEY!  Bridget has not yet received the OK to
head on out to New Zealand, but it is anticipated shortly.  I am sure she is anxiously waiting to be re-united with Myles.

Other news ~ We have two nieces in the same family who are expecting babies this Spring.  Actually, Jessica (& Ryan) has
already delivered a handsome baby boy and her sister Lacey and husband Glen are due in early June!   Their older sister Anna
and husband Mike already started the grandchildren rolling in for their parent's with Charlotte, who is to be three this year!
Sadly they all live out of my state.  But hey!  We will be able to get out more now that Caitlin is on her way back to life!!!

Now that I am better at crocheting, I decided make up my own Modern Crochet Baby Blanket ~ as I like to call it.  It is
not the typical baby blanket, I wanted something special for them.  So I used a modern twist on a French pattern.

This was so very enjoyable to figure out a pattern for.  Once the 

half-way point was reached it was a breeze.  I used metallic gold 

for Lacey who is told she may have a girl.  The metallic yarn is 

very soft and should be nice for a baby.   I love it.

 Metalic Silver 

Some lavender sachets with petit poms & flannel receiving blankets with crochet edging.

Adorable wooden petit hangers, poms added for fun.

Special Delivery on it's way!

*My Plan is to get back into the creativity mode = start designing again!

Links
Flannel Receiving Blanket

Kidney Received!!!

JOYOUS!
Have you ever felt almost numb  unable to convey an emotion equal to the event?  That is how both my Husband and I 
both felt this past week.  You are told there will be a transplant, but you know that the rug can still be pulled out from 
under your baby, your little girl, your young adult child.  Even on the day it could still be cancelled.  The Transplant surgeons 
must like what they see once they start operating.  You know it will happen AFTER it happens.  They protect 
both recipient AND donor.  A very good thing.

Caitlin is blessed.  No doubt, a recipient of a miracle.  Caitlin received a kidney from Bridget, one of her very best friends from High School.  
They have been bests since 1993 when we moved here.  Her smile gave her away as she walked down the quiet  hospital corridor toward us 
at five~ish in the morning on Wednesday (almost 2 weeks ago now).  Her Ausie boyfriend, Myles, along side of her.   Bridget.  A wide, happy & 
wonderful smile.  Eyes twinkling.  Bridget is a most, most lovely young lady!   She has gone off to college, worked and traveled.  Now, one of 
the most important journeys of her life has been taken, the giving of her kidney, a life extending gift for our daughter, Caitlin.  In 6 weeks time, 
God Willing, Birdget will be in New Zealand soaking up the wonderful landscape, starting another chapter of her life with Myles!  


Many, many loved ones have tried  to donate, some coming very close, See Jennifer.  All willing to donate one of their own kidney's.  
All willing to sacrifice for another person!  Some related, some good friends.  Pretty cool.


*To all who donate ~ THANK YOU!
*To all who try to donate ~ THANK YOU!
*To all who support, give after transplant care for their loved ones ~ THANK YOU!

Update & Snow ~ And Another UPDATE!!!

Hello and Happy New Year! 
*yes it is SPRING!  I am going to start posting more ~ Thank You for your Patience.
February :
I know it has been a very long time since you have heard from me.  I had hoped to have some wonderful news to share,
a transplant for Caitlin.  It went down to the wire pretty much.  In fact it was the last appointment for our donor,
Caitlin's cousin Jenny!  A wonderful young lady!!!  She decided to donate even though she was to be married one year
from the transplant!  WOW!  Amazing gift.  She came in from Denver for her very last appointment, easy peasy,
to see which kidney to leave in her and which one to take out for Caitlin!

We all laughed when we read in the brochure that ONE in 750 people are born with one kidney.  Ha!  That turned out to be
our Jenny.  I was with her when we were told she had only one kidney.  I fought back my tears.  Would her future be
the same as Caitlin's now is?  Thankfully they told us that she is strong and healthy, gee, she was approved to donate a kidney!
That is now changed.  She continues on her healthy life and I Thank God.

We still had to tell Caitlin, who had left us earlier to get to dialysis.  Everyone at the center was so happy for her.  Now
to  have to tell her this extremely sad news.  For Jenny to realize she could not help her cousin after all.   Immense pain for us all.

So that is it.  We go on looking for a donor.  I contemplate how God must be saying,  "I got this", for we have had quit a number
of donors match and make it to near a transplant date only to be turned away after all.

I like this quote that goes something like this: PRAY, PRAY and keep rowing the boat.

NOW ~  In our neighborhood I have seen a number of snowmen but no snow forts, which are a personal favorite of mine.
We had a snow fort every year in our parents front yard.   Once we had two forts at one time.  That would have been when
my brother was involved with his friends.  We always tried to use the big chunks of snow from the snowplow coming through.
We filled up our snow saucer (remember those?) with them, some taking up the entire saucer!  We had many a good snowball fights!
No ice balls etc.  We governed ourselves in snowball fighting etiquette and no one was ever hurt.

Caitlin and her brother Doug made "snow houses" complete with snow chairs and tables and roads... ROADS courtesy of Doug!
They made the fort around our light post in the yard so they could enjoy it in the evening dusk.  They made them the only way
a snow fort can be made, entirely by themselves each year.  Great Fun and Great Memories!

What where you or your children able to make in the snow through the years?

Thank you for keeping up with me, I see you have been checking in, apologize but I had to wrap my mind around things.
I also know that we are not the only ones with challenges, so many others are in my prayers.

 *images from Pinterest

Hello!
The news today is ~ Cailtin's shop is open again!  Yes, for the first time since her not so fun 2012 Valentines Day date with
the ER and days of hand holding in ICU she is ready for a bit of fun in limited amounts.

We are still patiently waiting for a transplant ... this is a roller coaster ride we have found.

I will be back soon on another wonderful and amazing transplant of a different kind and of U.S. importance!

On to FUN CULT

With Kindness & Love,
Mary

Here it is... the final piece of my little puzzle...  can you tell what it is?  Does it remind you of anything?? hehehe.
Square #39
 

Does this give you a clue?


And what about this one  these two!
LOVE IT!


 And baby will make three ~


So then you have the petit version ~



Yes, it is in celebration of the banners that my daughter has designed. I love them!
And as you can see, BIG girls and boys love them also!!! :)

Oh, want one too!  Just pop over to NICE.

Links ~
NICE ~ my daughters shop
Wedding photography
"HOORAY For Babies"
Amy :)  See her finished embroidery sampler!!!

I will show you my finished sampler tomorrow for I have one more to share with you #40!

Hugs,

Mary

Today is the day, the Saturday before Easter, that my family decorated eggs.   My Mom would "cook" up a huge batch of eggs so that we all had several to decorate.  I had one  older brother and 4 younger sisters.  (We had a lot of fun!)  For our own family we had the same Saturday tradition.
I remember the very first time my daughter Caitlin  was old enough to color Easter eggs.   I was in the Kitchen with the eggs all ready, and getting the dyes in the coffee mugs ready for her.  In she comes ~ about 2 years old, with her paint brushes!!!!  She wanted to "paint" her eggs just like she saw  the "Easter Bunny" depicted doing!!!  So I let her do it this way and they turned out beautiful :)  A few years later,  my second child, Doug, liked to dunk his eggs... as much as possible :)
#34 Easter egg .... ready and waiting in the Easter basket!




Links ~
Amy

Hugs,
Mary

Growing up with a big brother and four younger sisters was wonderful.   One thing that my parents did with us was to take us camping.  NOT in the middle of the woods but on the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan.  Water, waves, sun, sand, Dunes and at the beginning of the little walkway out to the lake from the camp parking lot, a little store.  By sweeping this walkway from the petit store to the opening where the walk opened down to the beach I could earn my own money for a fudgesicle. There was a coke~ a~ cola machine but I was more interested in frozen chocolate.  Oh, and being noticed by the older boys!   There were also trees on top of the dunes on each side of the walk and our camping area.  Trees with VINES (Tarzan like vines) hanging down!  Once, my brother and his friends decided to grab on to a vine and went sailing out just over head of our tent,  softly landing on the sand.  Of course there was heard the mandatory Tarzan yell (we all liked to watch the old Tarzan movies).
Our tent was much larger than the petit one in my 1"x1" square.  but you get the idea of what fun camping can be for kids... now mom's... they do sacrifice for their children in this:)

#19  Camping :)


Caitlin sent me a link to an interesting vacation site... look what YOU could "camp out" in! 
Remind you of anything????  hehehehe

Hugs,

Mary

owl city

Caitlin and I Thank You for voting in The Poppies Awards!
Don't forget to check out  Poppy Talk

Owl City - New Music - More Music Videos

Inspiration!  I like this ~

Hugs,
Mary

Vote For Caitlin!

My daughter Caitlin has been nominated for a POPPIE Award!
WOW oh WOW! Can you feel me beaming :)
It would be great for us to get behind her and vote for Nice.
We have from now until January 29th at 11:59pm.  Thank you, Thank you!  OH MERCI!
Just click over the "POPPIE Award" link above : and scroll down to "Nice".
Caitlin Thanks you also :) :) :)

xo,
Mary

On THE trail of a great GIVE*AWAY! My daughter is in the new Kayte Terry book. To catch up and join in just hop over to Nice-etc.!
It is thrilling for her to be a part of one Kayte's books!

Caitlin also has some great new gift products that she has designed! Check out the new clocks. They are absolutely beautiful.

Where have I BEEN!? Right here in my humble abode working away... I have been busy this fall with several projects for a design firm, Truffles. LOVE her designs and her seamstress are AMAZING! I am hooping to have a wee tree trimming party for our family. Yes, we still have no decorations on the tree. Lights are all in place though!

While out for a tiny Gift shopping moment we happened upon some REINDEER!!!
MY very first reindeer sighting!!! They are such beautiful animals.


Ok, well, I really did see them and my husband took some photos of them with his phone but they will not load unto Flickr so... use your imagination.. just like we have been doing all of these years for Santa's Sleigh :) So sorry.
I hope to be back by Wednessday. WITH some kind of photos!

Look what I found when I opened my blog this morning!
A Beautiful New BANNER!!! Hmm, I wonder what pretty angel did this for me? :)

Oh Merci Caitlin!!!
I LOVE IT! It is just what I would wish for... lovely colors also!
This is especially nice because Caitlin is very busy with her shop!

That is not the only especially nice thing that Caitlin did for and with me lately!

On Friday, early evening, she phoned that she was on her way home and
we could go out on an errand to get a certain book *(more on this at a later date).
When I opened the car door ~ hmmm, the scents from her car were lovely.
I thought that she and her friend Taylor had gotten coffees earlier and the
aroma lingered. But no! There were two cocoas in the cup holders, one for
each of us!!! Now how thoughtful is that !!!

We ended up at the local Antique Shop where we each found just the right
amount of treasures.
Here is one of mine~ another little Angel ~



Hugs,
Mary

Oh Merci ~ NICE

I have returned... bearing gifts! Well, gifts for me! From Nice!
As many of you know that follow Merci-Notes, I have been helping Caitlin, {Nice} get ready for this years Renegade Craft Fair. She always thanks me. Last year she surprised me with a box of these~



My very first business cards. Caitlin designed them herself! Love them.
This year she gave me the OH SO CUTE vintage coin purse to carry the cards in!



As you can see in the above photos she also gave me a soft white leather journal,
which I shall use for drawings, and a beautiful towel that looks like it could be one of Kath Kidston's very own!!! I hope one day to have something that she designed.
The roses are from the dear sweet hubby who brought them to me this past Saturday, our anniversary, with a mini breakfast and a nice cup of cocoa, minus the whip, from Starbucks.
AND he had it set up on the patio!!! I love our patio and we have not been using it much this summer and he new this~ so this was also especially nice!

Back to Caitlin, she always gives me surprises gifts, like extremely cute tank tops or tops... She just gets them and gives them to me!!! However I still can be mad at her right now... You probably can figure out why! Guess, and I will let you know who is first to be correct.
not happy, sad.
*i think she owes me a complete redesign of my blog for this one!

Hugs, please give me one also!
Mary

Pretty Stacks

Having both a son and daughter that are talented and creative minded makes for a busy household. Right now, for example, Caitlin is getting ready for The Renegade Craft Fair and I get to help her. Mind you it is the less exciting work but non the less it is enjoyable to be of help as she gets on her way. What is my job of the moment? I am the Chief CEO of stitching down trims ends. Soon to be promoted to CFO of sanding and then I am hopeful of becoming a letter cutter! :) Unfortunately no travel abroad is needed for these positions, but if the opportunity comes, I would grab it in a stitcher's minute! :)



I must say, thank you all for stopping by, those that leave such sweet words and those that come and pop in for a visit. :)

Hugs,
Mary

Bouquets Ready For Delivery!

Visit Oh Merci :)  and Nice :)

Just making a special post to let you know that my daughter Caitlin is having a sale today!
Nice will be a part of an exclusive event/sale happening tonight in Etsy's Virtual Labs, hosted by the lovely Marichelle of Heart Handmade! Stop by the lab at 6pm central / 7pm eastern time tonight!

And today until 9pm central / 10pm eastern time all Mini I Love You Banners are 25% off!
You will be refunded through paypal once you make your purchase!

- Links -

Info on the Shop Live event:
http://www.hearthandmadeblog.com/2008/02/shop-live-on-etsy.html

Direct link to Etsy's Virtual Labs where Shop Live will take place at 6pm central / 7pm eastern time:
http://www.etsy.com/virtual_labs.php

Nice shop: www.nice.etsy.com

***VOTING HAS STARTED***

Hello! I know I have left the "Big News post up all week! But this is BIG!!!! Did you see that "Jay" from the first season of Project Runway is in the group also!!! Oh that's nice, but we are voting for "NICE" hehehe! This is a really great contest with some cool stuff!
Remember, there is another artist who's name is similiar. JUST go for "NICE" that's it : )
You can go Vote for NICE now thru July 13th. You can only vote ONCE!

To see her Very pretty Deer Plaque, see the post directly below this one!
******THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS******

"The Next Big Thing"

If you want to help spread the word, you can download this badge, put it on your blog, and link it to here!

VOTING BEGINS JUNE 18TH! Thank You Natasha for pointing this large fact out to me!!!

To download the badge:
1) Windows/PC
- right click on image
- save as (save to hard drive)
- upload to flickr
- use on your blog with link to Fred Flare site

2) Mac
- click and hold mouse on image
- save as (save to hard drive)
- upload to flickr
- use on your blog with link to Fred Flare site

This is my BIG NEWS!!! : ) Caitlin, my daughter, entered Her Deer Plaque (as seen above) in the Fred Flare "THE NEXT BIG THING" contest. She became one of 26 finalists!!! We are very excited! Now, starting today you can VOTE for your favorite, {perhaps Caitlin : ) } and you can also purchase this special Fred Flare exclusive Deer Plaque Design. Fred Flare has them available on their website! That's right , you cannot find this exact design anywhere else...She has made this especially for you! : ) Douglas, my son, screen printed her logo across the back of the plaque instead of using her usual tag. It all looks amazing!!! I am very proud of their work!!!
So if you would like to help her to ****WIN* ***And if you would like to purchase this very pretty Deer Plaque just go to
FredFlare Voting begins June 19th (be prepared for the proud mom to send you a "bulletin"). I believe you can purchase now, if you desire.
At this time I do not know how long the voting will last. This is the unveiling day. Yep! Caitlin {Nice} is one of those being introduced on opening day!!! Thank You for coming to see and be apart of our "BIG NEWS"!!! I hope you find this very fun!
And remember to let all your creative friends know about this venue for themselves next year!!!

Let's Go Shopping!

Caitlin's shop!
Caitlin has just added some really great new items to her shop!! We, rather YOU, are lucky that she is parting with them. There are always pieces that I wish she could keep...but then there would be no shop! The owner of Bountiful, in Venice, California has no problem even selling her very own bed right from her bedroom!!! Now that is courage! I guess when we give up things there is then room for new things. I feel the added bonus of knowing the joy that the new owner has in placing it in their home!
The photo above has the coolest pieces in it!!! I see so many uses for it other than the perfect baby room additions!!! How sweet they would look! And check out the cute snail, yes I said cute snail. It was made in France! It is a bank!!! I love going with her scouting for new things...it keeps me fresh on what is happening. I also feel energized! I was able to get a White Fire King casserole dish complete with it's cover! I need one of those! And for me it is the perfect color. I will have to make something in it and take a pix of it for you. Of coarse I am thinking desert right now because I am hungry. But something really healthy sounds superb!
Well, back to the chandelier....if I end up not liking it I can always re-do it easy enough. I just have too many ideas for it! Have a great Friday!

"We Love To Laugh"

What fun we all had over at Kari's Tea Party!!! I felt like the song in the movie Mary Poppins..."We Love To Laugh", long and loud and clear! (which by the way was sung during a tea party!) The guest list was amazing! And Kari planned so well, thinking out every detail so all went swimmingly well! And what a DELICIOUS array of treats!!! I have used more than my normal amount of experlatives and exclamation points the last two days!!! Kari's home is beautiful, warm, inviting, "HOME". My favorite definition for a home.
Kari, Thank You so much!

Are We There Yet?

Well, this is not about a great weekend adventure AWAY. However, it is another type of adventure, also one in which the anticipation of "are we there yet" abounds. The pretty projects are done, as well as the cute ones. There are feathers of two types of birds involved. The first type, stunningly beautiful and from nature, the second is a spring tradition of cuteness and man made. I am excited to set them all free to fly off to there new homes. Well, I do have my favorites, they will be very hard to part with.
My daughter Caitlin has helped me immensely. You can find her at Nice-Etc at the left side of under "Pretty Places". She introduced me to some wonderfully talented writers and craft artists here in Blog Land. She was also in the Renegade Craft Fair, in Chicago, last September where I was thrilled to see and to know that there are so many young people who love crafting and have a wonderful edge to there products. You can find Renegade Craft Fair here
Caitlinhas made a beautiful banner for me to announce the shop opening. I cannot wait to show it to you. Hopefully the unveiling will be this week! Maybe even tomorrow!! Stay tuned.
Also, Thank You vey much for stopping by and for your patience.