Need to be inspired one last time???

Alright friends.... it the final count down!!!

Team Bubba pillow case project is dead line is quickly coming up.

So, get those pillow cases in!!!! ;)

I can't wait to share with you the total.

Oh, it is awesome y'all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had an awesome Team Bubba pillow case project event in our Church gym.

It had been a VERY hard day for me.

I missed my sweet boy so much and kept breaking down all day.

It was so moving to show up and see how many love my boy and have been touched by him in some way.

We had sweet friends of Team Bubba stop by to drop off pillow cases that they have already made.......

 

and the rest of us got to work cutting, ironing, and sewing over 50 pillow cases in 2 hours!!!

 

WHAT!!?!?!? I know!!! TEAM BUBBA ROCKS!!!!

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone that came and those that help get everything ready for it!

TEAM BUBBA loves all of you!!!!

 

Staurday was HARD.... it was down right hell.

 

We set up our Christmas stuff.

 

Regan let me get away with not putting up my fall decor but there was no way she would let me get away with not setting up for Christmas.... and I wouldn't do that to her.

 

Each box was a memory..... Hubs and I both kept breaking down over and over.

 

That night Regan wrote a letter to Santa asking for the usual stuff but the last night broke me....

 

"Santa please make my family happy."

 

I promised her that I was trying to be happy and that I would look for things every day to make us happy. :)

 

 Sunday I decided that we needed to do something good to get us in the Christmas HAPPY spirit.

 

So, Team Bubba went and delivered one of our checker board quilts {these awesome quilts come complete with checker pieces so that they can play while they are in bed. Nana designed them.} and a matching pillow case.

 

I want you all to see first hand that something as simple as a pillow case can truly brighten a child's day.

 

I want you, Team Bubba, to know that your small acts of kindness are doing GREAT things!!!

Our friend "K" has spina bifida and just had to endure another crummy surgery.

 

We knew that he needed some cheer!

 

 

I don't know who needed this Team Bubba trip more... him or me.

 

I needed to feel close to my sweet Bubba.

 

I needed to know that during the hardest moments you can feel happy.

 

THANK YOU TEAM BUBBA!

 

THANK YOU for rocking this pillow case project!!

 

THANK YOU for remembering my boy!!!!

 

THANK YOU for giving me and my family a reason to be happy!

 

"By doing small acts of kindess we CAN do GREAT things!!"

 

We are going to be delivering the pillow cases to the hospital soon.

 

So, PLEASE get any pillow cases that you have finished to me.... times almost up y'all!

 

Contact me if you need my info..... picsbypresley@aol.com

{Regan}

A lot of you have been asking about my girl and it is long past due to have a post just about her.

Regan is a pretty amazing little girl.

Yes, of course I am partial BUT serisously... she is simply amazing.

I am amazed by her understanding of life, death, and enternal families.

I am in awe of her faith that she will see her Bubba again, period!

I am inspired by her love of life and determination to continue to live it happily.

Halloween was a hard one for all of us.

This has always been an over the top holiday that we can include Bubba in.

As tempting as it  was to simply skip the holiday all together, we decided against it.

Regan was Jasmine thanks to her Aunt Nancy that spoiled her on their last trip to Disney.

We met up with friends and went trick or treating!!

 Stanley was a hot dog and he had a who wore it best moment with another dog. ;)

 

We made it through another hard first with out our boy and the best part was that Regan was so happy to be enjoying some of the "normal" bits of life that we have always enjoyed as a family.

 

School has been hard for Regan this year. Regan has always been smart and that is not what she has struggled with, it is her classmates asking about her Bubba and his death. For the longest time Regan cried every morning before school not wanting to go. So, when things started to shift and she became more excited about school I could not have been happier!!!! She has been honored a couple of times this year. She is a very smart little girl.

I can't even tell you in words how grateful I am for her teacher.

We made sure to have her teachers changed after Bubba's death so that we could have Ms. F.

We knew that she would be the PERFECT person to help Regan through this difficult year.

 

Regan's soccer season is almost over and guess what y'all!!!!...

She scored her very first goal!!!!

I was screaming like a crazy woman and before I knew

it I had tears streaming down my face.

I was so proud of her in that moment.....

for sticking it out when she wanted to give up in the begining.

She inspires me so much!

 

 

 

Confessions of a Grief stricken Mama {part dos}

I’ve missed  you all…

have you missed me?

I took a week break simply because I was feeling kind of sad.

Ok, I take that back.

I was feeling super sad, tired, and just down right non inspirational.

So, rather than go on and on about how crummy I was feeling I thought I would take a break and wait for something wonderful to happen to tell y’all about.

I have so many blog posts started that I need to post but today I want to start on a funny note.

Remember my confession of a grief stricken Mama post???

Well, this one is right along those lines.

The other day a pipe in our kitchen burst.

 I know… right!?!?!  Grrr….

I feel like I should give a little back ground by letting you know that I don’t really care for our plumber. He is always late, rude, and well just kind of odd BUT since we rent we don’t have a say as to who comes into fix things in our home so I just deal.

So, I was at my computer in the living room editing pictures and rocking out to Sir Mix a lot  when all of the sudden the plumber came into the living room and stood next to me just staring.  At this point I removed my ear buds and asked him if there was a problem.   Plumber then looked down, cleared his throat and said…. “ummm… I saw your son’s funeral program on your fridge… umm…. I am so sorry…. Um…. Really sorry.” Then before I knew it plumber was awkwardly hugging me.  {Really!?!??!?! It took everything in me to not start laughing at how awkward and horrid the entire situation was.} THEN as if it couldn’t get any more uncomfortable his assistant comes in the room and with a puzzled look on his face asks if everything is ok? Who knows what was going through this poor kids head. Sheesh…  At this point plumber tells assistant {that is covered in tattoos and sweat} about my sweet Bubba at which point assistant felt the need to get in on the love fest. SERIOULSY!!

 If I haven’t painted enough of a visual for you let me ….

Here I was standing in my very own living room ALONE with two men, one of which annoys me, and the other new kid sweaty, uncomfortable, and coming into my home for the first time and hearing this super fun news.  One of them is holding me in the most WEIRD, uncomfortable embrace EVER and the other patting my shoulder and trying to get in on this OH SO tender moment.

 

At this point I started to laugh out loud. Nope, I am not even kidding you. I am sure they thought I was a heartless, cold mother but the reality of the situation hit me like a ton of bricks, as if watching the entire thing play out on a sitcom. At this point they looked at me with smiles and confused faces, no doubt wondering if I was losing my mind. Then if the entire situation couldn’t get any more awkward I started to laugh even harder because of the puzzled looks on their faces.

 

I tried to shrug it off with an “oh… I’m sorry I’m just not a real touchy feely kind of gal… so are y’all done in there.”

 

Then this is where it gets even better folks….. 

Plumber looked at me and said “ummm…. No … no were not.”

Yup, I was stuck in my home with this two guys that I had just laughed at!!!! ….for another couple hours. I was ready to run for the hills…. The beach….. Shoot anywhere!!!!!  I wanted to be anywhere other than my own home.

So, then I text my sister….

“Umm…. You know that awkward moment when your plumber comes in and hugs you because he sees your son’s funeral program.”

To which she replied…”OH, you have to share that one.”

So, I am hoping that by then end of this you are all laughing pretty hard at this one because well yeah, I mean seriously… seriously y’all how many people can say…  “you know that one time my plumber felt the compulsion to comfort me.”

 

I am trying laugh my way through my grief when I can.

I have the rest of my life to feel sorry for myself......

 so today we will make the best of what we have been given. ;)

 

By doing small acts of kindness we can do great things!

Go HERE to learn more about Easter Seals and all
that they do to serve those with disabilities.

Team Bubba on the go!

 

Need to be inspired?? {part 2}

Hey my friends!!!

Remember how we are having an awesome


Team Bubba pillow case project!!!

Remember all of the sick kids at Miller Children's hopstial that will benefit from them???

{My sweet boy outside of "his" hospital on one of his treatment days.}

 

 

Well, I thought it was time for y'all to

 

 be inspired yet again by Team Bubba in action...

 

What's more inspiring then a group of girls that want to

 learn to sew just so that they can make pillow cases for sick kids??

These sweet girls range from the age of 7-11 and they did awesome!!

What's more inspiring that a sweet mom and an awesome Nana that shared their talents.

I love these girls and feel blessed to be their Sunday school teacher. ;)

 

 

A sweet friend of my sisters has been hard at work and she has never even met our Bubba!!!

 

 

 

Our Disney friends the Devine family organized an awesome pillow case project! 

{all the way in New Jersey}

I hope you are as inspired by these pictures as I am.

{tears.... lots and lots of tears}

There was an entire school in New Jersey that got together to support

Team Bubba!!! 

These wonderful women got together and with in an hour.... 

managed to make 20 pillow cases for Team Bubba. 

Just think of all of the sick children that will smile when

they see their new pillow case. ;)

Many of these wonderful teachers were hit by hurricane Sandy.

Please keep them in your prayers.

 

I am so grateful and touched by the kindness of others.

 

I am so touched to know that Bubba and his story is

still touching others and inspiring them to do good.

 

I am so grateful to know that even in the hardest and darkest of moments

you can still find light and beauty if you look for it.

 

GO TEAM BUBBA!!!!!!

 

Keep it up and keep sending my pictures!!!

 

 

 

I have no doubt that my sweet boy is smilling down

on all of this good work being done in his name.

By doing small acts of kindness

we CAN do GREAT things!!!