Lately

Kairos moments lately:

Today: by Dakin's request, we rocked and sang and told Angry Birds stories in the rocking recliner.  For 45 minutes.  He said he wanted to stay there his whole life, and he asked me to sing our special secret song.  It was amazing.

He has become quite a little backseat driver: the other day out on the road I decided to speed up through a red light instead of having to stop suddenly.  He said, "I thought you were supposed to stop for yellow lights." I said, "No, you are supposed to slow down."  "Then why did you go through it?"

He has also been asking me about turning right on red.  Kid is ready for his driver's test.

I was expressing a desire for brownies, and this statement from the small one ensued:
"Yes get brownies. Brownies are good. I will drive the van to where the brownies are."

And another food-related discussion:
Me: "I am looking for something for dinner."
Small Dakin: "Butter is a good idea."
Me, laughing: "You think so?"
Dakin: "I am sure!"

And another:
"I'm hungry!" Me, trying to finish an email: "ok, hold on a sec." Dakin: "I'm STARVING. Get in the kitchen!!"

And one more food one (some of these are from clear back in June, but I am going over old Facebook posts for Dakin gems, and I would hate to not have any on here):
 "No, don't eat me! You're an omnivore. You eat meat. No, I said carnivore. You eat meat."

I reached over to tickle Dakin while he was hiding his face. He says, "You tickled me when my arms were up. That's mean. So you're a mean girl."

OK, I think that is it for now.  I have so many things I need to blog about.  I keep telling myself I am going to get back into the habit.  Sigh. 

Dakin QOTD

Our day nurse was stretching and said, "ow." Dakin asked why she had said it, and she replied, "Well, probably from picking you up (she was joking), but that's ok." Dakin said, "Well, if it's ok, why you saying ow for?"

Waiting for Daddy to come join him on the floor: "Are you coming or what?"

I swear, he is an almost-5-year-old body with a 15-year-old brain.

Strolling for SMARD: Heroes and Villains 5K and 1-MIle Fun Run/Walk

This Saturday at White Oak Stadium!!  Come dressed as your favorite superhero or villain!  All proceeds go to SMARD research.  Presenting Sponsor: Energy Weldfab!

5K registration: 7:30am
5K: 8 am
Walk/FunRun: 9:30 am

There will be a silent auction, as well as games and trick or treating for the kids.  Entry is 10.00, kids ten and under free.  5K registration fee the day of the race is 20.00, before it is 15.00

Call Devon at 903-374-1867 with questions!

Face

A few weeks ago, my sweet October 07 mommies were discussing where their children showed the most emotion: eyes, mouth, eyebrows, etc.  I thought and thought about it, and I couldn't figure out where it was with Dakin.

Lately Dakin has been trying his darndest to make mad faces at people.  And every time he does all I can do is laugh...it is all anyone can do, because his face is not set up for an expression like that.  Some children are made to frown or scowl.  I have discovered in the last few days that Dakin is not one of them. His face is joy: his whole visage expresses it.  The mad look or mean look on his face is so alien to him that it is literally laughable.

And I am truly glad about that.  He is happy.  He is inherently, deeply, naturally happy.  There are not a lot of people who can claim that...it is a gift and for it I am grateful.

So I figured out that with Dakin, it is his whole face that expresses his emotion.  And, strangely, I think I have known this all along: from the time he was tiny his nickname has been 'Face'-short for sweet face, silly face, mad face, whatever face he happened to be making at that moment.

Yesterday

Was an absolutely glorious day...one of those East Texas October days that make the hellacious summers absolutely worth it.

So I packed Dakin up in his power chair and we went and did one of his favorite activities: watching cars on the 'big road'.  There is a lovely lady on the corner of the street who just adores Dakin and tells us every time we see her how happy she is for us to come and use her lawn for him to watch cars...she is the sweetest thing and her house is perfect for it.

So we enjoyed the perfect afternoon watching cars.  Singing their colors, talking about them.  Seeing his smile and happiness as he looked at me.

It was like time just stopped.  It was wonderful.

And, because nothing with Dakin can pass without some bit of hilarity ensuing, the following conversation took place:

Me: "You have cute hands."
Dakin: "And a cute head. And a snot nose. That's really bad."

Stay tuned for tomorrow and the pumpkin drama.  

Pumpkin Patch 2012!

Oh yes, it is that time of year again! 

Pumpkin Patch time!

We had to come to Dallas for Vent Clinic, so we did as we always do and headed to the pumpkin patch at the Dallas Arboretum.  I can't help but rave about this place--it is amazing.  From the moment you walk in to the Arboretum, there are pumpkins lining the walkways, piles of various types of pumpkins and squash here and there...literally, tens of thousands of pumpkins.  Best part?  It's handicap accessible!



It was a beautiful day and a perfect one for our annual patch excursion.  After, we headed to Whole Foods for lunch and then vent clinic, which, as usual, went just fine.  He looks great, no complaints or worries!

And since Blogger evidently still has a grudge against me it will only let me post two photos.  BOO. 

(**edited to add that I tried a different browser and it will let me upload! YAY!!!!!!!)

I have been sorely neglecting this blog of late.  Life has been pretty hectic since Dakin started school.  I don't want this time to be getting away from me--Dakin is so funny right now, and I just love spending time with him.  So I decided I am going to start doing a (hopefully) daily entry, even it is just a Dakinism or a Kairos (God's time--a moment that is precious and lifted out of regular time) moment.  I don't want to forget anything.  Even if stupid Blogger won't let me post pictures.

More Dakinisms and School Update

School has gone extremely well thus far.  He has missed quite a bit....we are still trying to gauge his strength level, so he hasn't had an entire week just yet.  But he is really enjoying it.  The little girls in his class have all befriended him as well, which really makes my heart happy. I love how oblivious 4 year olds are to difference....wish we were all like that.

Anyhoo: Dakinisms

I tickled him, and he started brushing his ribs where I did it.  He said he was 'brushing the tickles off.'

Today I was really tired, and expressed it by saying how exhausted I was.  He said, "No! You're not exhausted!" and started hitting me, saying, "I will hit exhausted out! Out! Out, exhausted!" Strange child.  :)

First Day of School!!!

OK, OK, so I know I was supposed to blog all this awesome summer stuff, and I am still planning on doing it, but I HAVE to blog this.  Guess what Monday was?



FIRST DAY OF PRE-K! (dun dun dun....)

You may notice a conspicuous absence of photos here.  See, I have a lovely one I wanted to upload, but guess what?  Blogger is being a jerk and won't let me upload photos for some inexplicable--and probably stupid--reason.

So, you will just have to imagine how happy he was.  While getting ready, he told me, "I'm so excited!"

We got there and played with play-doh for the first little while, then headed to lunch, which he refused to eat (not atypical...he won't eat in unfamiliar situations).  But he had fun watching the other kids eating and having one of the little girls boss him around. 

After, they had recess while he stayed inside (too hot), and then a few activities.  It is a half day class, and I think that is just right for him right now. 

Anyway, it went well!  I didn't go the next two days, but Dakin's nurse tells me it is going well.  The kids are trying to interact with him, which makes me happy, and one of them has proclaimed Dakin to be her friend, which gives me little glowy feelings inside.  :)  I love four year olds...they are so blind to everything that adults see as reason to separate people. 

So yay.  I think for now this was the right decision.  We will continue to see how it goes.  I have to say that it was immensely satisfying to take him to his first day of school--a day I wasn't sure we would get to.  I was having a hard time keeping the grin off my face.

You may feel free to suck it, SMARD.

:)



 

(I will try to get Blogger to call off its vendetta against me and allow me to post photos.)

And a bit of Dakinisms for your enjoyment:

Me: "You need to realize you aren't master of the universe."
Dakin: :"Well, I thought it was a brilliant idea."


Dakin to Daddy in the van: "Why are you going so slow?"
Daddy: "Because I have to go slow.  I can't go faster than the speed limit."
Dakin: :"But Mommy can."
(That's right.  He understands. :)  )

Berry Picking

OK, so we went berry picking like the 4th of June. And here we are near the end of July.  Where on EARTH has this summer gone?!?!!

ANYWAY.  Berry picking day was one of the best days ever.  I loaded Dakin up and headed to the walking path, and then met one of my best friends and her son K, who is Dakin's best buddy.  We headed out the berry patch.

It took us about 2 months to get there, since people in East Texas can't give directions worth a darn ("Turn left at the tree the lightning split in two in 1912, go til you see where Old McDonald's farm used to be...").  We finally found the patch and headed in!

All direction jokes aside, this patch was beautiful.  There were gorgeous flowers and rows and rows of berries.  So we just loaded our baskets up.  I am kicking myself for not having like 50 arms that I could have picked more blackberries with.  They were DELISH.  And far too few in number.

So we had a lovely time with our friends.  We headed home, saw a deer, got stopped for forever at a train crossing, and then was haunted by the same train on the way home (Dakin LOVED that.  He HATES train horns.)

It was a bit of a drive home, so Dakin sampled some berries!  Yes, he actually ATE some blackberries!  And we had fun jamming to "Drive By" by Train--he knows the words and he and I were just singing and jamming and eating blackberries.

It was a beautiful day.  One of the best.  And then when we got home he told me he was mad because I didn't let him pick any.  (I just wasn't thinking!!! ACK!  He was helping hold the baskets!) So I guess we just get to go back next year.  :)

Dakin and best buddy K

Blackberry face!

Bits and Bobs

And another 'My-kid-is-so-cute-and-I-just-have-to-post-every-last-little-thing' post.
 
Today was a gold mine of Dakinisms. I love seeing how his little mind works. I did something that was annoying him, and he was wiggling closer to me to lick me (his only form of self defense haha), and I fixed him with a stink eye or said something...can't remember which. He looked at me for a second, started wiggling back, saying, 'beep, beep.' (like a truck backing up...perhaps you had to be there but it was hilarious).

We were talking about one of his newest favorite subjects-dinosaurs. We were discussing the Confucisornis, and whether it was nocturnal. I said 'If it was nocturnal, it slept during the day. Like Mommy. Mommy is very tired today.' He responds, 'Confucisornis is tireder than you, Mommy.' Well, excuuuuuse me.

He was so silly today, but a little whiny, so I pointed it out to him, saying, 'you are very cute and very whiny.' He says, 'Hmmmmm. That is not how that goes.' I laughed and said, 'Ok, you are very cute and...' He piped in with 'smart.'

Ok. TOMORROW, I WILL blog about our blackberry picking trip, which was one of the awesomest days EVER.

Happy 4th!

Hope you had a fantastic 4th!!

 Captain America Dakin--I made his shirt from this tutorial I found on Pinterest.  I was happy with how it turned out!  The silly face is his 'mirror face'--the face he makes in the mirror when we carry him to the bathtub.  No, he doesn't think much of himself at all.  Eye roll.  :)

This 4th was also a first (see what I did there!? Oh, I kill me) in that we did sparklers for the first time with Dakin.  He LOVED it.  This is something I have been planning for years, but we just never did.  A huge grin lit up his face the whole time as he requested different colors and had fun waving the sparklers.  Definitely one of those top ten memories. 

No other fireworks for us, though...Dakin has this massive noise phobia that will occasionally lead to tears and demands to be taken somewhere he deems safe, and it is usually so hellishly, bibically, devilishly, who-opened-the-portal-to-hell hot warm here at this time of year we have never tried a real fireworks show.  But the sparklers were enough for us this year.  Awesome. 

Summer Sun...Something's Begun

Hello! Long time, no see! (Where you been, anyhow??) 

So it is summer.  My LEAST favorite time of year.  It is too dang hot around here. 

However, this summer is special, because it is the LAST summer that my boy will NOT be in school.

That's right.  At the END of this summer, Dakin will go into PreK. 

Yikes.

So while I am collecting the pieces of my heart from the floor (and trying to breathe), I am trying desperately to have the BEST SUMMER EVER.  Which around here means to do something amazingly awesome EVERY DAY.


Fortunately, I have been cyber-hoarding ideas on Pinterest for just such a situation.

So, we have been making bird feeders for the fat cardinal who lives in the backyard with his girlfriend..

And we have been painting on the driveway...

And using monster trucks to paint...

 And applying tattoo after tattoo.  This is the first year Dakin has actually been into them...and of course they are of his beloved monster trucks. 

We have also randomly been making Halloween stuff.  Well, ok, only one Halloween stuff, but you know how we are around here (only four and a half months to go!!!!).  Dakin saw me looking through my Pinterest page and saw this skeleton--he declared he wanted to make it.  So we did.

He named the skeleton Witch.

So this is the first of much awesomeness to come.  Brace yourself. Hold on to your hats.  It's getting crazy up in here.

(Also, the latest Dakinisms:

Daddy was pretending to bite me and Dakin says, "NO! She's my best friend!!" ((AW, heart melted!))

We were putting him to bed and he was asking what everything was saying (he is at a stage where he thinks things talk...).

Dakin: "What is the sun saying?"
Me: "The sun is saying it's time to go to bed."
Dakin:"What is the sky saying?"
Me: "The sky is saying it's time for bed."
Dakin: "What is the [ceiling] fan saying?"
Me: "The fan is saying it's time for bed."
Dakin: "No, the fan is saying WHEEEEE!"

haha)

Big Boy...Sometimes

I was attempting--in vain-- today to snuggle with my little man. He refused. When I asked him why, he said' "I'm a big boy." However, that didn't stop him from snuggling later and asking me to sing our secret song while burying his head in my neck. It was an absolutely glorious moment.

I win.

Other little gems from Dakin lately include: Him getting annoyed with me about not getting to play Angry Birds, and saying, "Devon. I have a question. Angry Birds. That's it." (Devon? When did we get on a first name basis??)

Following that conversation, when I asked him what Daddy's first name was, he informed me it is Superman. (which is true, incidentally, though he would never admit it.)

Dakin wanted me to buy him Angry Birds Rio two days ago, and I kept refusing. He said, "It's Mothers' Day. You HAVE to get Rio."

We were watching ABC World News the other night when they did a story on sleep apnea. He asked what it was about and I told him it was about people who couldn't breathe when they slept and that they needed to do something about it. He said, "Get a trach!" HA.

His new thing is saying that he is trying to make me laugh, which he does a good job of...he is hilarious right now.

Lastly, his nurse had just gotten done suctioning him and evidently the vent wasn't making him happy. He fussed about it to his nurse and he finally said, "Va, (that's his nurse Jane.) I'm supposed to BREATHE."

The Zoo (Revisited)

Earlier this month we took advantage of the nice weather to visit the zoo once before it gets devilishly hot around here.  It was just Daddy, Dakin and Mommy this time.  Dakin had a great time.

This little otter had so much fun going back and forth with Dakin.  It so so fun to see Dakin enjoying these experiences...it is a blessing and a joy.

After, we visited a store and had some lunch.  Unfortunately, the zoo air plus a lot of suctioning that weekend led to a lousy breathing weekend for Dakin...but he is better now, thankfully. 

Lately

It has been so gorgeous here lately...broken foot notwithstanding, we have tried to get out as much as we can and enjoy it before it turns devilishly hot.  We have been enjoying walking and letting Dakin drive around in his powerchair.  I do have one thing to chat about, but other than that there really isn't a tremendous amount to report, other than just the joy of living our normal.  Just to record a few things, though...and here is where I do it. 

Firstly, however, we had our first meeting with the school.  They seemed great, very open to accomodating Dakin and his needs as much as possible.  He seemed to enjoy the experience, and said he wants to go back.  The jury is still out, though...I want so much to keep him here with me, but I don't know if that is what is best for him.  I need to do more research.

Dakin in a 'tent'.  :)

Anyway, now to the other stuff:

We were outside letting Dakin drive around, and I wanted to hold his hand (I am just cheesy like that).  At one point I let go, and he asked to hold mine again.  :)  I love that he is little enough that I still get to enjoy things like that.

Dakin, talking about the English Bulldog across the street whom he absolutely loves: "He talks crazy in Spanish!"  (huh?  haha!)

Dakin naming dwarves: "Sneezy, Sleepy, Grumpy, Badger."

For Super Why viewers: I laid Dakin down on my bed so we could work on Spring Cleaning in there, and he insisted he be put on the floor. I asked him why not the bed, and he said "Because it's my story. Dakin needs to lie down."

Dakin, irritated at me for whatever it was I wasn't doing fast enough for him...
Me: "You are being--"(he cuts me off)
Dakin: "Patient!"
Me: "No, you are being IMpatient!"
Dakin: "No, I am OUTpatient!"

Whew, ok.  Glad all that is recorded!

Easter!

We once more have a USB that works!!  Just in time for Easter...hooray!  We had a fantastic Easter weekend--probably the biggest highlight of it was that Dakin was actually excited about it this year.  He was pumped for the egg hunt, excited for the Easter Bunny--it was really cute to see him so excited.  So, without further ado: Our weekend.

First up, we had the egg hunt at the church.  Dakin loved it, and the friend in charge made him a little patch to hunt in all by himself so he wouldn't be competing with two-legged, quicker small beings.  Look at his face!  So happy.

And Easter morning.  Mommy's foot is still broken, so no church for us today, but we had fun at home.  He was happy with his basket, which was comprised of monster trucks, a semi and a bulldog toy.  Ignore the respiratory equipment in the background. 

 He wavered between naming the dog 'Dog' and 'Spanky', but finally settled on the latter--Spanky is, of course, the English bulldog who lives across the street from us and who is Dakin's best bud.


We made some nest treats (almond bark, chow mein noodles and cadbury mini eggs).  Dakin had fun helping stir and put the eggs on.

Then we dyed eggs.  I thought we would try three different methods this year:  plain old dyeing, volcano dyeing, and swirl dyeing.  Hence the sheer amount of STUFF needed.  Too bad I didn't buy the big bag of baking soda...and yes, that is a computer monitor in the back.  We have a new one and I haven't gotten around to recycling that old one because my foot is kind of broken.  So it is living on the table.  Hush.

 Dakin loved the volcano dyeing...he loves anything involving vinegar and baking soda.

 And then we headed outside for our egg hunt.

The Easter Bunny hid 5.00 in quarters for Dakin to find.  He was pretty happy about that. 

All in all, an excellent Easter.  Hope yours was excellent as well!

Magic Moments

So, it has been a month. And I apologize profusely for that. I had been delaying posting because I was lacking a USB cord for my camera. Now I have a newer, even more excuse-y excuse in that I have broken my foot. Sooooooo....yeah. No posts.

But I do want to jot down a few things...another one of those more-for-me posts. Just stuff I don't want to forget. And once both foot and technical issues are resolved, I PROMISE, nay, SWEAR that I will get back to posting as I should.

1. Dakin is obsessed with letters at the moment. Since he figured out he can read, he has been asking to spell and sound out words all the time, and telling me what words begin with. He just loves all things letters!

2. The other day he was lying on the floor-we were doing something, don't remember what-when all of a sudden he says, "He talks crazy in Spanish." I asked him who he meant and he said, "Spanky."-the English bulldogacross the street that is just one of his favorite beings ever. I have no idea where he got the idea that Spanky talks crazy in Spanish, but whatever. It was quite a funny moment.

3. As a reward for using the potty the other day I got him some new apps for his iPad. One of them I got as a freebie, not really thinking he would like it. It is a game where it asks you a question about a state and you have to choose the correct one out of four. You can then drop the state and have to make a stack that goes up over the line. ANYWAY, he LOVES it. He played it for five hours the first day he had it. And has played a lot more since then. As a result, he can now identify a good portion of the US states by shape alone. He is amazing. They also have a country game he has fallen in love with.

4. Today was a lovely day. It was gorgeous out and we took Dakin outside in the sunshine. It was sheer joy watching him 'walk around,' as he says. He even got to chase a little bird around and he loved that. He has also seemingly gotten over his fear of birds...I told him a little fairy story about the birds being sad that he didn't want to be friends and now every bird he sees he says hi to. He is still a little wary of the LARGE flocks of grackles we get around here, but they are admittedly scary. But yay for progress on the bird phobia!

5. He has also started to get over his fear of noise. We have been out a lot lately, and the lawnmowers are running. That would have sent him into a panic last year, but now he is ok with it.

6. Lastly, he has been very lovey lately. A lot of "I love you, Mommy.".


OK, talk to you all SOON.

Genius

Do you know Natalie Merchant's song "Wonder"?  I love it...it is one of those songs that just rings of Dakin to me when I hear it.  Especially this week.  Here is the chorus:

'O, I believe
Fate smiled and destiny
Laughed as she came to my cradle:
"Know this child will be able"
Laughed as my body she lifted
"Know this child will be gifted"
With love, with patience and with faith
[He]'ll make h[is] way.'

I am now proud to say that I am the mother of a not-quite-four-and-a-half-year-old who can READ.

Yep.  Read.  He has known his letters and sounds for a while now, and on Wednesday we put it all together.  He read.  He sounded out words like 'fat' and 'box' and 'mom', and the more he did it, the less he had to sound out: he was sight reading them. 

So someone just needs to call up Harvard and tell them that Dakin is coming.  In 14 years: get ready.

(Still no USB cord...sorry for no pics!!)

Hide And Seek

Guess what I got to do on this dreary, rainy day?

I got to play hide and seek.  With Dakin.  He hid, I sought and vice versa.  All of this was accomplished with the help of his powerchair, which is very good at driving now.

It may seem like a small thing, but this is pretty amazing to us: he can drive himself into a room, turn around, come out...do what he likes.  INDEPENDENTLY.  It is life changing for both him and us...of course I keep an ear on him, but he can explore without me having to hover over him.

It. is. incredible.

So we used that newfound independence to play hide and seek.  He loved it, though he didn't quite get the concept: as I was 'searching' for him, I would say, "Where is Dakin?" To which he would give away his location by answering "I'm in here!"

I posted it on Facebook, but I must reiterate here: I have done so many amazing things in my lifetime: swam with dolphins, hooped with fire, had my first kiss in Paris, lived abroad...the list goes on and on.  But playing hide and seek with my sweet boy makes the top ten most breathtaking moments of my life. 

(No pictures: I apologize, but I need a new USB cord for my camera). (Also: I need to note a few things here so I don't forget them, as I know they aren't written in his journal.  1. He used to say 'yeah yeah' for yes, and 'noi' for six.  Don't know why.  2. He has said some highly amusing stuff lately that I wanted to record: I accidentally bumped his head transporting him from his room to the living room the other day ((he has gotten so long!!!)) and later on he told me to 'Hug and talk about my poor little head.'  Then the same day he was helping me make Valentine presents and I was having a ribbon issue.  He, never one to like wearing socks, said, 'Take off [my] socks and talk about the problem.' It was just so...grown up sounding. And hilarious. 3. He looked on the kitchen counter and saw the bananas--he said they were 'snuggling', and outside the other day he wanted to follow the neighbor's bulldog because Dakin was 'afraid he might fall'. )

Dakinisms

In the last 6 months or so, Dakin has REALLY caught up on his speech.  He is more or less exactly where he should be now, and it is so fun to hear him articulate his thoughts.  Here are some of the gems of late:

(Playing with rubber bands, he had them stretched and said they were swimming.)  I said, "It's swimming?"  He said, "Rubber bands don't swim!"

(With his nurse, watching videos on the iPad.  One of them doesn't want to load) J: "I don't think it's loading, baby." Dakin, pointing to circular thing on the iPad that runs when it's thinking, "See that thing?  That thing means it's LOADING." (evidently said in a tone that made Jane feel stupid...he has quite a bit of attitude).

Me, checking diaper: "I think you're wet." Dakin: "I think I'm don't."

Dakin: "Don't tickle me.  I like kisses better."

And the best one: "Mommy, I love you a lot." Me: "I love you a lot too." D: "I love you one more."

He has also recently threatened to put me in time out for saying the word crazy, and on December 26, he said "I love you" spontaneously to me for the first time...it was awesome.  Now I get to hear it all the time!

Trash for a Cure Fundraiser!

HI!  It's been a while, I know...but one of my New Year's Resolutions is to be better with blogging.  And so here is the first attempt at keeping that promise.  So....without further ado...

TRASH FOR A CURE.

What is this, you ask?  Only the easiest and most perfect fundraiser EVER.  See, there is an awesome company called TerraCycle that will take hard-to-recyclables and upcycle or recycle them: things like Malt-O-Meal cereal bags, etc.  And they will GIVE YOU MONEY for said items.  .01-.02 cents per item to the charity of your choice.  They even pay the shipping so you can get the items to them.  This is a win-win all around!  Money for charity, they get stuff for their products, and the earth doesn't have to take a bag that will NEVER.EVER.ROT.

This project makes my heart sing!

SO: Trash for a Cure.  We are going to gather hard-to-recycle items to send to TerraCycle to raise money for SMARD research at the Jackson Laboratory.  Now, 2 cents may not seem like much, but if we can make this big, it can make a real difference in finding a cure for Dakin. 

Anyone can help, anywhere in the country!  Are you interested?  Here's how!

1.  You can choose an item group to gather (talk to friends, host a drive through a church or scout or any kind of other group), get a bunch of it, and send it in to TerraCycle through our group account (again, TerraCycle pays shipping, so this is free!!)

2.  If you are local to the East Texas area, you can choose to gather or host a drive for all of these items and give them to me and I will ship them!

If you are interested in organizing a drive, I will have flyers available early next week--just let me know!

SO WHAT KIND OF ITEMS CAN WE GATHER?

You can choose any one or more of the following, or all of them if you are local to the East Texas area!

1.  Candy wrappers: individual candy wrappers, large candy bags, and multi-pack candy bags.

2.  Cereal bags: Malt-O-Meal, Three Sisters, Bear River Valley, Isabel's Way, Sally's brand cereal bags, and any other bagged cereal.

3.  Oral care items:  toothpaste tubes, toothpaste caps, tooth brushes, floss containers.

4.  Drink pouches: aluminum drink pouches, plastic drink pouches.

5.  Personal care and beauty items: lipstick cases, mascara tubes, eye shadow cases, shampoo bottles, conditioner bottles, bronzer cases, foundation packaging, body wash containers, soap tubes, soap dispensers, lotion dispensers, saving foam tubes, powder cases, lotion bottles, chapstick tubes, lotion tubes, face soap dispensers, face soap tubes, face lotion bottles, face lotion jars, eyeliner cases, eyeliner pencils, eyeshadow tubes, concealer tubes, concealer sticks, lipliner pencils, hand lotion tubes, hair gel tubes, hair paste jars.

So, as you can see, there is a TON of stuff from which you can choose to collect if you are out of town, or all of them in the East Texas area.  And remember, all the proceeds from this fundraiser will go to SMARD research at the Jackson Laboratory.  Trash for a Cure is an easy, eco-friendly and fun way to cure SMARD!  I hope you will join us as we help collect Trash for a Cure!

Any questions:  email poundoutsma@gmail.com