the little things

Sometimes it really is the little things that can make such a big difference. 

As you know, September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month.

I am sure it can be overwhelming when wondering what you can do to help. I know I have felt that way watching my friends go through this with their son. I can not always give financially to the cause, but I can give of my time and effort. 

So here is what I decided. I saw that Stacy (Ollie's Mom) had decorated their van to be almost a mobile billboard. I loved the idea. I thought to myself, This is something I can do!!

This cost me $2.95 and about 5 minutes of my time. I plan on leaving it on our van throughout the month of September. I bought these Crayola window crayons. They worked AWESOME!! I have the window markers through crayola as well, but they did not show up that great. 

Anyways, my point is that you never know who may see this message and be willing to give. 

Down in the corner of our van it says, "Every Day Matters". 

It really does to these kids. 

So what is 30 Days of driving around with a great message on my van.

Nothing.

Please consider getting the word out about Pediatric Cancer. It really is under funded in comparison to other cancer research.

 I was on the website today called, I Could Be Your Child.

I just sat on the couch and sobbed. It could be my child. I remember so vividly having the conversation with Stacy before Oliver went to get that first MRI. 

We were sitting together chatting and she said she felt nervous, what if his cross eye was from a tumor. We both dismissed it and said no way. I am sure we were both thinking, that could never be my child.

But it was. 

It could easily be.

There are so many silly things that get reposted on facebook and other social networking areas. Why not take the time to do some good and get a good message out in what ever way you feel comfortable. 

I know it would mean the world to all those families struggling with this horrible disease.

our bags are packed, were ready to go....

well we got everything ready and on Thursday morning this great group of guys showed up and had all of our stuff loaded in about an hour and a half. it went so smoothly i could not believe it. we really appreciated all of their help. it would have been much harder with out their help. thanks so much to the following fellas!!
mike j.
anthony n.
derek j.
phil c.
carl h.
elders
mike L.

Ollie's All Star Bash

February 20th 2009

Well we did it. We pulled it off. Last night was Oliver's All Star Bash! It was AMAZING!! Everything went pretty much according to plan. There are always hiccups here and there but for the most part the night went very smoothly. I got there around four so that we could finish up some last minute details. We had over a hundred volunteers that needed to be organized and told what needed to be done. We had the most amazing volunteers. They were all UNI students and had been coordinated through a lady named Jen Beck. I will forever be grateful to them. Without them the night would not have been such a great success. They were super helpful and great with the kids! So here are pictures of the night!Oliver and his family were picked up in a limo and brought to the location.Here they are pulling up.Oliver being greeted by the limo driver as he exited the limo.The Palmer Family.
Oliver, Stacy, Jaren, Eden, Ed (minus their two month old, who was to sick to attend)
As they entered the building their were Camp Adventure (UNI students) lining the stair way waiting and cheering with confetti.Here they are getting ready....Here is his big entrance. I think he was a little shocked. A lot of people were cheering. I think he got a little nervous. ;0)Here he is. The big man of the night! He looks so sweet and handsome in his tux.
Once the Palmer's arrived, it was time for the party to begin.
Downstairs we had food and games for the kids.There were so many fun tables and activities set up. Camp adventure kids had tables set up to make fun hats and other crafts, Jiva a local salon set up a table and were giving all the little girls manicures. There was a balloon guy who was making just about anything you could think of out of balloons for the kids. There was a flat screen set up with a wii in the corner for kids to play different wii games. It was really amazing and I think all of the kids had such a good time.
While everyone was eating we had some guests arrive. The local fire department decided to drop in. They asked Oliver if he would come outside for a minute. Then they surprised us all and scooped him up, set him in the truck and starting fastening him in.After they got him all buckled in, they put a head set on him so that he could hear the other guys in the truck. Then....they let him pull the horn! How fun. Stacy, Amy and I were joking about how most grown men we know would probably like to do the same thing!The surprises just kept coming. After checking with Ed and Stacy, they turned on the sirens and took Oliver for a ride around downtown. We were all standing outside and could hear the siren as the toured the downtown area. I know Oliver thought this was pretty cool!
After they got back, there was one more surprise.The Fire Marshall made Oliver an honorary Fire Fighter. It was very sweet. I believe he got a badge and a tee-shirt that said fire fighter.
The night did not end there.We had another special guest. The Bucks, a local baseball team's mascot came to enjoy the evening and greet people that were there.
Once dinner was over, people started moving upstairs to the dance floor. We had a DJ set up as well as a silent auction and raffle. Here is Uncle Bryan, Grandma Young, and Oliver!Cullan rocking his balloon gear. The balloon guy was amazing! He was so great with the kids. People were waiting almost thirty minutes in line at some points just so their kids could chat with him and get a balloon.Here is Jaren, Oliver's younger brother playing with his balloon sword.The dance was great. The DJ played fun music and everyone had a great time. These are some friends of ours from church that I snapped a quick picture of dancing. Eric and his daughter Addy.One last special guest for the night. TC the Panther mascot from UNI came to dance the night away. Oliver was so funny. When he got to meet TC he put his hand up on his head to cover up his Hawkeye logo. He said he did not want TC to be upset with him. What a sweet kid.The party was AMAZING. People were so generous and I think that everyone had a fun time. I think that the dancing started to tapper of around 10:00 or 10:30. Again the UNI and Camp Adventure kids were great. They helped clean up and tear everything down. All the work was done in no time at all. So after everyone had left and everything was said and done, we decided to get one more picture.So here we are. The Committee Gals!
Starting on the left side, bottom.
Bridget B, Andrea G, Stacy P
Right side back to front
Jen B, Myself, Amy B, Meghan H.

I can not say enough good things about Jen B. and her volunteers from UNI and Camp Adventure. I am also so grateful for everyone who came out to support our event and to enjoy the evening. My heart has been filled to the brim with love for complete strangers. Multiple people who stopped me that night and told me stories about how they knew the Palmer Family or how they did not and just came. I have been humbled by the kindness of others and hope that I do not soon forget the feelings I have had through the experience of these last two fundraisers.

If you would like to know more about Oliver and his condition you can go to his website below.
Oliver Palmer

tomorrow!

tomorrow is the day. Oliver's big benefit dinner is tomorrow! i have been stressing about this. worrying about how it will go over and tonight after seeing it all set up and ready to go...i feel great!! I think it looks amazing. I think everyone will have a blast. I think this is something that will be super fun for Oliver and his family and that will make great memories. I can not wait!! Pictures will come...of course!
Just in case you did not know...
Ollie's All-Star Bash
Saturday Feb 20th
5-11 @ The Masonic Center
Super family friendly and super fun time!!

Relay for Life!

(Oliver Palmer, Halloween, 2009)
Garran and I have been invited to participate in Relay for Life with the Palmer Family. They are having some friends and family participate this year due to Oliver's condition. We have been asked to participate with the family, so I am looking for help. If you would be interested in sponsoring me in this event, please click on the link below! We are very excited to do anything we can to help this great family and this sweet boy.
Relay for Life

An Amazing Experience

yesterday was a truly amazing experience. we held our "filler up" fundraiser for ollie. we were at crossroads hy-vee from 11-7. i was overwhelmed. the kindness of strangers is truly amazing. i was in charge of the crossroads location. it was so cold. i think the high was 11. we had the best volunteers. even though people were cold they worked hard and stayed late. they were awesome. here is a picture of me putting some of our first donations in the bucket.

it truly was FREEZING!! here are some of the volunteers i worked with. this is Malissa. she goes to church with us. chris o. also goes to church with us. my sister in law even came out to help!
i was brought to tears multiple times by the kindness of complete strangers. people would drive through the gas station and say things like " i don't need any gas, but i saw your story on the news" and would just hand us money. we had other people that would come through, hear what we were there for and say "well i don't have much money" but they would put 9 dollars in their tank and give us the extra dollar. i have multiple stories of kindness that i will have to record another time, but it was a very emotional day. this man here was definitely a good Samaritan. he came and got gas, gave a donation, and then went inside and bought all the volunteers breakfast because he said we looked cold. he then pulled his car into the gas station and parked. he said he had some work to do on his lap top, so he would just sit and if any of us needed to warm up, we could go sit in his car for a few minutes. he was very kind. speaking of kindness. this is Libby. she was the store manager at the crossroads location. she was AMAZING!! she brought out free hot chocolate for the volunteers all day long, along with free hand warmers. she was constantly out checking on us and even brought us some lunch. this is stacy, my good friend and olivers mom. she went to each gas station yesterday and worked with the volunteers. here she is with susie!stacy & meghan
it was so stinking cold. this was only about three hours in and i am pretty sure i was numb from the waste down at this point. this is myself, amy b, and stacy
amy is on the ollies all stars committee also. she floated with stacy yesterday and helped at each location. these two ladies are so much fun. i was glad we got to work together for a while yesterday.
after it started to get dark, it became brutal outside. it was so cold. people would ask me "aren't you cold" my response was "i don't think there is a word that describes what i am right now"!
i can not stress enough though how great everyone was. it was so much fun working yesterday. despite the super cold weather, it was a blast. here is andrea filling it up!! she looks like the blue bandit robber. ;0)this is karen, olivers grandmother. she is so funny. she was cleaning windows and pumping gas. she is so much fun to have around!!
like i said, after the sun went down it was so insanely cold. but i had such great help. here are a few more of our volunteers. the boecksthe freestones & the rodabushs
yesterday was a wonderful day that far exceeded anything that any of us could have dreamed of. despite the cold, the five layers I had to peel off, and the shivering that did not stop until around 3:00 am, IT WAS COMPLETELY WORTH IT!!
i am grateful that i was able to do some service for a dear friend and her family. i am grateful that so many people gave of their time and financially. it renewed my hope in the kindness of strangers. i could not say enough good about how yesterday worked out.(garran, elders, randy @ logan)
i also have to say how awesome my husband is. one of the other gas stations was running low on volunteers so he spent the whole day 11-6 pumping gas at the Logan location. i am married to a great man and i know it was a moving day for him as well. i think both our hearts were touched by the kindness we experienced yesterday.

Filler Up For Ollie

**TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY**
Tomorrow is our first BIG fundraiser for the Palmer Family. I am so excited. I just have a really good feeling that it will go really well. We will be at all Metro Hy-Vee Gas stations in the CF/Waterloo Area. (Logan, Crossroads, College Square). We will be there from 11-6 filling tanks, washing windows, etc. We would love to see you!! Hy-Vee has announced that they will give a significant gas discount with any $30.00 purchase in the store. Please come out and support this wonderful family!!

Head Shaving Extravaganza!!

well last night we attended the Bald is Beautiful: Head Shaving Extravaganza for Oliver Palmer!
we had so much fun. there was a great turnout, and the kids had a blast playing.
our after shot does not have as many because some people left before i could get them all in. however, here is the star of the evening...Oliver did awesome shaving his head and was pretty much all smiles.
here are a few other before and after shots.Ollie's grandpa Palmer**garran **Krista did not go completely bald, but she did give a good bit to locks of love!i had so many before and after pics i just had to collage a bunch.the picture on the left is Oliver with his grandma young. then the one on the right is the fun beginning!!Stacy and her mom were so funny. Karen was super brave and went for it. off went that hair!!
after Ollie and grandma went, we pretty much just lined people up and started shaving.grandpa Palmer is all business, Ollie is rocking it, & one last kiss goodbye to all that hair.mike & randythese boys were so sweet & well who could not use a good laugh...i had some fun with his hair before we went completely bald!Oliver was so excited to shave his dad's head. it was so funny. he was just laughing and smiling as the hair fell to the floor.time to bic those heads. this is garran shaving ollie's grandpa's head. it was like a barber shop at church last night. ;0)ed finishing up Oliver's head and then having a little fun with his own.while we wish we did not have to meet under these circumstances, we had a great time and sent home 21 people with beautifully bald heads. i was so glad i was able to snap a quick picture of the boys with Oliver. they just love playing with him and his brothers and sister. we were so happy to be there to support our friends last night.
if you would like to learn more about Oliver's condition, you can go to
www.olliesallstars.blogspot.com