Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Watch Her Grow...

The time goes by so quickly at times...

It's hard to believe that just about two years ago we were all sitting in your hospital room with you...
Hoping for the best of outcomes...

Remembering how you were most like the "you we all knew" the week leading up to your birthday...

And that night I stayed until around midnight and we just talked and you rubbed my pregnant belly and talked to Chloe...
And then she kicked in response to your voice...

And you told her in your excitement with the biggest smile I think I've ever seen:
"You know your Grandmom...
I can't wait to meet you...
I AM going to spoil you...
Awww.... You know your Grandmom...
I love you little Chloe"

What a wonderful memory for me to have and a great story to tell Chloe as she gets older...

Well, here she is, being spoiled and loving life...

She loved getting new PJ's...
Especially the nightgowns for her to twirl around in...
(she is quite the show off, even at just 21 months old - today actually...)


And like her mother, she uses the Crayolas to draw on just about any surface...
This one spanned the wall and the fridge...
If they only had washable crayons when I was little...


She loves bubbles...
And when Dave is involved, there is nothing better in the world...
She just cracks up whenever he is around...
Definitely a daddy's little girl...


And Aunt Teren being true to her word...
She is teaching Chloe a lot of funny things...


Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Marsha Neal Studio Etsy Shop Sale...

40% off retail pricing on everything currently in my Etsy Shop...
Sale runs from 12 Noon EST on Thursday, September 3, 2009
Through Monday, September 7, 2009.

All items sold will ship on Tuesday, September 8 so I can combine multiple items from orders...

I will be working on uploading new items to Etsy so the shop has new stuff by tomorrow!
And if things are going well, I may put up even more... through the sale...

Have fun shopping - and I appreciate all your support!

Oh, and yes, some of the profits from this sale will start hitting the bank for the room that I want to have dedicated to "My Mom Pattie" at Tri-State Bird Rescue here in DE.
My goal is to raise between $2,000 to $5,000 for the room dedication!

So happy shopping!!!
And really... THANK YOU!!!

Here are some price breakdowns of 40% off:
Retail $50 will become $30
Retail $30 will become $18
Retail $25 will become $15
Retail $20 will become $12

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Honoring September...

Thanks Marie for commenting on my Marsha Neal Studio blog and mentioning:
Honoring September...

It is a phrase that is sticking with me, and I think I will use it for this special time of year...
I hope you don't mind (somehow I think you will be happy about it)...

September is my mom's month...
She was brought into this world on September 1, 1953
And left it on September 12, 2007

It was also her month because...
The length of days shortened...
School started back up...
And cooler weather was at the doorstep...
Which, if you knew my mom, meant that the holiday season was upon us...
And come October - the Christmas music started...
And the Christmas smelling potpourri was about the house...

This is the only picture I have here on my computer of my mom...
It's a new computer, and most of the pictures I have of her are pre-digital and need to be scanned in...

This coming Tuesday, September 1st, we will be having a small dinner here to celebrate the day she was born...

I think there will be some pictures gone through and lots of memories shared...
So I'll have to make it my duty to scan some in and tell some stuff about her life as I am told or remember...

I am also working on getting some stuff together to sell through my Etsy Shop under the category "My Mom Pattie" to help collect some monies to help dedicate a room at the local bird rescue to her memory...
She loved all animals, but especially her birds!

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Thoughts About Dedication


I've been wanting to make some pieces to be able to sell and have the monies go towards something as a dedication to my mom's memory.

First on my list is to have a room dedicated to her at Tri State Bird Rescue...
But I'm going to need some help...
Rooms or areas to be dedicated are around $2500 to $5000 for starts.

So I'm thinking of setting up an Etsy shop for called "My Mom Pattie" and donating all the profits from it to non-profit organizations in her memory.

I think there is a way too that I can set up a way to collect donations via paypal to go towards this for people that don't want to buy anything, but want to help out.

So I'm going to be making a bunch of pieces specifically for this.
I will ask some of my jewelry making friends to help by donating their skill and time to make some finished pieces for the "My Mom Pattie" Etsy shop using those pieces.

I think my sister Teren is going to do some drawings that we can use on some of my porcelain pendants. Stick figures are her specialty:
I know mom is happy about this collaboration... She always giggled at Teren's silly yet true to character stick figure drawings (you should play Pictionary with her... she and I kick butt on the same team!).

So after we raise enough money to have a room dedicated to her at Tri-State Bird Rescue, we'll move onto the next one such as to Cancer Research (something having to do specifically with Leukemia), and so on...

And with our 2nd pregnancy, Dave and I have decided to donate the cord blood. This will be associated with The Brady Kohn Foundation. We banked Chloe's cord blood with a private company, but this time, we feel confident donating it instead.

When my mom was sick, a stem cell transplant from her brother (a perfect match) was the one thing that was going to potentially "save her" if she would've made it past all of the infections. But Pneumonia settled in and as her Doctor said, the Leukemia cells really liked her and just wouldn't let go. The cells were like little injured soldiers in her body, and just couldn't be stopped - not even with all the chemo and drugs - they were always there and kept going...

The whole issue of stem cell research was something I walked the line on until I heard about umbilical cord stem cell donation and talked to so many nurses and doctors at the hospital about it and the benefits. And really, I'm not going into it here - this is not the place...

But one day, if I have to go through what my mom did, or if Chloe does, or anyones else the I know... I sure hope that they have a stem cell match in the donor bank or a sibling match (my mom had 4 brothers, and only 1 was a perfect match), so that there is a viable treatment option available for them after getting through all the pain and agony of having such a bad disease or cancer...

With my mom, the donation of stem cells from my uncle would've given her a new supply of white blood cells if they were accepted by her body. Her dilapidated immune system would've been washed, and this new supply would've given her body the things it needed to heal and build up her immunity again. This was the one shining light at the end of the treatment tunnel that she struggled to get to.

The "if only" were:
If only the Leukemia cells would be all gone,
If only she could avoid deadly infections,
If only the stem cell transplant would take.
So out of all those "if only" things, having a perfect donor match was the first stepping stone for hope for her.

So I hope that you may consider helping us out with out venture as I get it set up.

Mom loved feeding, listening to, watching, and "talking" to the birds - indoors and out.

Even one of Chloe's first things she could do was to make that puckering "talking" noise at the birds whenever she heard one or saw one. She would pucker up and point...
Mom would love that!!! They would probably sit and look at all the different birds together (like Chloe and I do...).

Updates will follow (side bar will be updated with the Etsy Shop once it's set up).
Thanks!!!

Friday, July 31, 2009

Summer Stuff Goes On...

It is crazy how fast time goes by.
And it's so weird sometimes looking at pictures of Chloe growing up and to think that you aren't here (not in the physical sense) to be able to see your reaction.

How different our lives would be if you were with us...
Some things wouldn't change, but really, it's as if I'm on a different path, an alternate road in life without you...
Still never would've thought I'd be here experiencing this without you present - not ever...
So that disbelief continues - I don't think that will ever be something I get over...

So here are some pictures of what Chloe has been doing this summer I thought you would love...
Here she is walking in a pair of mommy's shoes.
She loves the shiny beads on these...

Beach hair...

She loves the sand and picking up all the rocks and shells she can find...

And she loves hanging out with her good friends...
You would've loved to see Chloe and Jamie together!
I know you were excited that Natalie and I were going to be having babies close together and thought that was so cool...


And I know you would've laughed as much as Natalie and I did as Jamie noticed the Sesame Street characters on Chloe's diapers (he has environmentally friendly ones without characters) and kept pointing to them on the back and front of the diaper... Saying in an excited high pitched almost 2 year old voice: Elmo, Cookie, Monkey, Big Bird!!!

It was SO funny and sweet...
I know you would've loved it (and probably do...)
Miss you every day mom...

Thursday, July 16, 2009

St. John's Wort Made Me Think Of Mom...

I was snapping pictures in the garden and happened upon this arrangement of seed/berries on the St. John's Wort.

To me it invokes a lot...
To those of you reading this post, what do you see?
Look at the image before you read my comments below...

My head tells me: St. John's Wort - I can see why this would get a Saint's name - and could go in that religious direction - and for it's medicinal purposes (maybe not this exact species, but in general...)

But when I look at it without a name put on it by man...
I see a a human figure...
A head on a body with two outstretched arms & hands...
The feet below all the way at the bottom, in a singular position.
And the largest bloom being in the area of the womb...

And do you notice the two leafs behind the blooms...
Wings perhaps? A little beaten and bruised, but still there...

Very feminine to me...
Very angelic as well...

It made me think of my mom for many reasons...

Just thought I'd share...

Thursday, July 2, 2009

1 here, 2 on the way


Babies are such treasures...

I wish you could've physically met and been around for your grandchildren...

Chloe is turning into such a funny little girl.

She love her bags (this one of yours is her favorite!)


Jamie is due with Taylor at any moment now...
Please, if you can, help her & Nick through the delivery.
I know you will be there with them!

And we're happy with our #2 on the way, due to arrive January 13th or so.

I told Mrs. M. the other day that if anyone doubts that you had anything to do with me being pregnant both times with babies due around your favorite time of the year - they didn't know you at all! And if things work out that I have this one early too - we will surely be having a Christmas baby this time...

How you would've loved this!!!
Thanks Mom (I know you are enjoying it from where you are)!