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Sorry, this is late but......
The toys were delivered. Below is a photo of us delivering the toys at St. Louis Childrens Hospital in early December. We were AMAZED at the amount of toys we collected. Toys came from as far away as Ohio, and even Kade's school got involved and collect a huge amount of toys.
Thank you to all who donated, til next year.
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Last year about this time we held the first annual toy drive for St. Louis Childrens Hospital. We started the toy drive last year to "repay" Childrens for the toys that Kade received during a stay over Christmas two years ago. Last year we collected over 8 50 gallon bags full of toys. Go here to read more about our first ever toy drive.
Right now we are collecting for round two of the toy drive. We are off to a good start, and are in the process of filling the floor in Kade's room with toys. We would love to collect more toys than last year, and we might just do that.
If you feel compelled to donate please contact me via email (josh [at] ourfamilyof4.com) and we can make arrangements to dropoff/pickup the toys. Like we said last year the toys need to be new, and unwrapped. We are not asking for $50 xbox games, something as simple as a deck of playing cards or a board game will do the trick.
Written as a continuation of "Welcome to Holland" by Emily Perl Kingsley. My point of view as a parent mourning the loss of a child with special needs. This won't make sense you have not read the above "Welcome to Holland"
So, you were expecting a trip to Italy and got re-routed to Holland. It seemed to take a while but you became accustom to Holland, it's terms, technology, and expectations. Some would even say that you have become an advocate for trips to Holland, an ambassador if you will. You started making plans and expectations for your future in Holland. You could even say you are excited for what the future holds for your stay.
You awake one morning to realize that your trip to Holland has come to an unexpected end. You have come to LOVE Holland, and now you are being told to leave? You had plans, things left to do and see, but you have to leave. You have made friends, contacts, and started Welcoming Committees for new comers, but it is time to leave.
You leave Holland with wonderful memories of the tulips, the first windmill you saw, the beautiful Rembrants you got to see, and who could forget the wooden shoes. You will take with you amazing memories of your stay in Holland, although unplanned and unexpected, it was an AMAZING trip. You have made equally amazing friends, that will remain friends long after you trip is over. You will continue to be an advocate for Holland, knowing that a stay there will forever change your life. You will continue to support others making an unexpected trip to Holland, assuring them that they too, will have a trip of a lifetime.
However long or short your stay, you will realize that you are so very thankful for the unexpected turn of events that lead you to Holland. You leave, hoping that you help make Holland a better place than when you arrived. Then you realize, you might be leaving Holland, but Holland will, for the rest of your life, be apart of you.
In loving memory of Kade M. Bauman 02/07/08 - 10/14/2011
Please feel free to share and link to anyone who would get something out of this.
It is with a heavy heart that I write this. God called Kade home last night. Kade passed away peacefully in his sleep. We can only assume it was due to a seizure. Arrangements are as follows : Visitation Sunday Oct 16 4pm Church of Our Lady, Festus MO Funeral Mass Monday Oct 17 9:30am Church of Our Lady Festus, MO Donations may be made to Make-a-Wish of St. Louis or Variety Children's Charity St. Louis.
So we have had two radio show, and surprisingly the went really well. Below are the audio players for each of the shows we have had so far. If you want to listen live, or even call in, our show next show will be Oct 6th at 7pm CST at www.blogtalkradio.com/familynetworkradio
Almost two months ago I posted a photo a friend of mine sent me a photo from a Walmart in Nixa, MO. She was upset that they had placed Special Olympics tshirts in the off color humor shirt section. I explained in my post that it was disrespectful to Special Olympics that Walmart placed their shirts in that section. After that post I actually got a comment on this website from the Senior Manager of Walmart Media Relations, Dianna Gee stating that Walmart understood how the placement was disrespectful and Walmart was going to instruct their stores to find a better place for those shirts. She went on to explain that Walmart is a big supporter of Special Olympics and the proceeds of those shirts go directly to Walmart. I was very happy that Walmart responded, took note, and was going to take action.
However this morning I got a call from Annette, and she said she was at Walmart in Festus, MO and the Special Olympics shirts were back in the off color humor section. I asked her to send me a photo and she sent me this....
