"Kiss the Toad Creations" - Capes for Kids

August 2011

The kids received their personalized capes from "Kiss the Toad Creations" and had a fun time modeling them for me in the front yard! Please visit her page and read more about how she came up with this great idea!

"Outstanding Ollie"

"Energetic Eden"

"Jazzy Jaren"

"Phantastic Phineas"

The backside of the capes -- Heroes in reverse!!! Ollie, Phineas, Eden, Jaren

Batman

Batgirl

Curious George (so fitting for Finny because he is into EVERYTHING!!!) & Spiderman

THANK YOU, Kristi Rotarius from Oregon for sharing your love and sponsoring ALL FOUR of my kids capes!
THANK YOU, Barbara Casados for using your talents to create such darling capes so the kids can be heroes EVERY day!

THEY * LOVE * THEM

Gifts from Sweet Friends

Oliver's 4th grade teacher, Mrs. McCombs, stopped by with some gifts for the kids a few weeks ago. We chatted for several hours and it was nice to have her in our home again. She tutored Oliver once a week last year along with Oliver's counselor, Mrs. Hay.

This was a hit with all the kids!! We had to go outside and try it out in the dark!

Yes, that is a Harry Potter scar on his forehead. I think Oliver drew it on for him!

Jodi heard about Oliver and has been following his story for the last couple of months. She has sent Ollie several packages full of fun things for Oliver to do. I hope we can meet her soon as she is our northern neighbor in Minnesota! Thank you for your love and prayers!

How cool... it's a mini Hogwarts!

She also remembers the other kids... :O)

I have to say that I try to get a photo of Oliver with every gift he gets and who it's from. If you don't see a picture of a gift you've sent him, it's most likely because I wasn't home when it was opened and the contents have been well played with -- all throughout the house!!! :O)
THANK YOU all so much for thinking of Oliver and wanting to help him throughout this journey. He loves checking the mail and seeing if anything is for him. It adds a bit of excitement to his boring day with mom!!! It also gives him something else to think about instead of fearing the uncertain future. Again... THANK YOU all for thinking of Oliver and sending him goodies and sweet notes full of encouragement and jokes! They help to buoy us ALL.

Down on the Farm

August 2011

Today we had the wonderful opportunity of meeting Angel Dominic's family here in Iowa. He also battled DIPG but unfortunately passed away in September 2009, only a few months before Oliver's diagnosis. Dom's grandma, Marla, painted many eye patches for Dominic, I think she said over 70, and after Oliver's diagnosis we received a box in the mail with a few, featuring - Spongebob, a guitar, baseball glove and bat as well as a smiley face. She's painted hundreds of them for kids that have struggled with double vision because of this type of tumor. He loved them. After a while I started to paint him some as well.

It took far too long for us to get out to visit Marla and her family on her farm, about 2 - 2 1/2 hours away from us. She had called me early on in this journey and I was so grateful that she reached out. We talked for a long time and I was so happy she called. She told me a lot about Dominic and the one thing that stuck out was his love of eagles. Every time I see an eagle, I think of him.

Unfortunately I didn't get to meet his parents since they were working, but I got a chance to meet several of his cousins, his aunt, grandparents and his brother and sister. Marla said it was the first time they'd ever met another child that had the same thing Dom had. I just kept shaking my head. It doesn't seem real. It just doesn't.

The minute we got there, we were greeted with a hug. The kids immediately started to play with one another and we were shown all around the farm. We all got a ride around the place on the golf cart which unfortunately broke while we were there! Eden clicked right away with Dom's cousin, Hailey who was close in age to Eden. They jumped on the trampoline together all day long! The kids jumped on the trampoline, they played video games, picked some vegetables from the garden and saw all the animals of course! Marla had two new piglets that she wanted Oliver and Eden to name and they came up with the highly original names....... "Babe" and "Wilbur". They had chickens, two horses, several cows, kittens and the piglets. Oliver LOVED it. I knew he would because he loves animals so much. He told me he would love to have a place like that.

Marla and I got to talk a lot about the journey. As horrible as it is to talk about, there is a great comfort sharing thoughts and feelings with someone that 'gets it'. I felt so comfortable there... like we were family. It was such a wonderful visit. I hope that we can go and visit there again soon!!!

Chasing the chickens!

Finny playing in the sand where Dominic would always play.

Ginger

Oliver -- one of the wild animals!

I LOVE this picture of Lennon smiling, bringing the chicken around for the kids to pet.

It was surprisingly soft!

Buddy and Anne - The horses
Lennon, Ollie, Eden

Eden, Hailey, Jaren and Finn with Babe and Wilbur

Cute lil' pig butts!

Katie, Dominic's aunt, Eden and one of Dom's cousins. Eden was driving the golf cart for the first time! WATCH OUT!!!

Hailey and Eden

Finny eating his ice cream cone. Why he scooped it out of the cone with his hands to eat it is beyond me!

Picking some veggies from the garden.

Playing with a caterpillar

Logan, Dominic's cousin and Oliver

Eden and Lavender, Dom's sister. She had the most beautiful head of red hair!

Trying to blow on a blade of grass to make it whistle.

I LOVE this picture.

I love how Finn is just hangin' with the boys. Finn with Hunter, Dom's cousin, and Lennon, Dom's brother.

I hope Marla doesn't mind me posting this sweet memorial in Dominic's memory. You can see it as you drive up the driveway next to a shed on the land. It choked me up quite a bit to stand there in silence and think of what Dominic was like and what he and his family have gone through. I thought of my own journey with Oliver and couldn't help but cry thinking of him and all of our DIPG family. It was certainly a very special place.

Oliver and Marla "Granny on the hill" :O)

Ed getting jumped on by all the kids! He's my big kid!

Oliver taking some time to see the animals again before we left. Here he is trying to bond with the chickens... walking like them... :O)

Oliver and Babe

Babe and Wilbur

A perfect end to a perfect day.

THANK YOU, MARLA and FAMILY!!!

***


A few days later Oliver received this in the mail...


Oliver and the sign Marla painted of Babe and Wilbur! Too cute!