Olivia
Meaning: Peace-The Olive Branch
Spiritual connotation: Walks with God
Scripture:
But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s love forever and ever.
Psalm 52:8
Today CC and my sweet friend Mandy hosted a garage sale benefiting Olivia's foundation. They worked hard all week pricing items, soliciting donations from other people in Mt Laurel, pricing and organizing. The sale started bright and early, too. 7 a.m. with people arriving at 6:30! As CC said, "it was like the loaves and fishes!" They didn't have a single item over $20 but managed to raise $900 in one morning!! Thank you so much Mandy, CC and everyone in the hood who donated their treasures to be sold on Olivia's behalf. I know our precious girl is smiling in heaven already knowing which children and parents this money will bless.
Cannon gets the husband-of-the-year award for rising early to sell our reclaimed items outside of his office with the help of Parrish, who brought his cash register and collected payment and provided change. Grandaddy Jack worked hard as well and sold 2 items the day before while at the office working. A photographer was taking pictures of children in one of the chairs and wanted to buy one so he struck a deal!
I have a source who makes WONDERFUL adirondak chairs, benches, long planters, and bird houses out of reclaimed antique wood. I am buying two chairs for my back yard. The frame is 100 year old cypress wood! I'm going to include a price list in this post in cast any one is interested in purchasing. My source can do custom orders as well if you have something in mind or would like something you see in a different color. CC will be selling them at our booth at the Mt Laurel Spring Festival on April 9th. We have lots more colors not pictured here, so please come out and check them out in person. I saw some reclaimed wooden planters and bird houses smaller than we offer for $120-$220 each! Our prices are very fair and the items themselves are so bright and cheery-perfect for Spring and Summer! Best of all, they are so unique. No two are exactly alike.
Reclaimed Furniture Prices:
Bird House $65
Small Bench $65
Medium Bench $85
Large Bench $110
Flower Box $85
Yellow Table $95
Green Table $155
Adirondak Chairs $155/ea
:: 20% of sales will be donated to the Olivia Charles Prickett Memorial Fund ::
Parrish and I are working on a Easter experiment. I wanted to grow easter grass inside a plastic egg with the idea that if it worked Parrish would have fun cutting the "hair." Then I thought it would make a cute and fun Easter gift for his Silly Seahorse classmates. I thought I could include everything the parents need to grow the grass in the egg in the bag with printed instructions.
So, my little helper and I set out to test my idea and ended up trying a few different ways. One in a plastic egg with grass seed sprinkled over wet cotton balls, one in a real brown egg shell done with cotton balls, and finally a plastic egg with the seeds worked into the soil. Parrish helped me wet the seeds with a spray bottle of water and then we replaced the egg lid to keep the moisture level high while we wait for them to sprout.
The look on Parrish's face says it all. We had a great time doing this project. I'll post instructions and a picture of the final project later (if it actually works!)
As most of you already know, Parrish's surgery is this Monday-March 28th. We have to arrive at the hospital by 8 a.m. so I'm doubting his surgery will begin until 10 or 11 at the earliest. Please keep him in your prayers. Some specifics from my prayer list:
-That Parrish's anxiety level would be low and that he will continue to view this whole thing as a big adventure, even when we have to say goodbye and he's wheeled into the operating room
-Our patience during the surgery as well as our anxiety level remaining low
-Our ability to be strong for Parrish. I pray we can laugh and joke and smile and encourage him, even when we are scared to death. I pray I won't cry in front of him or show him any of my anxiety.
-The doctors and nurses-that they will be well rested, clear headed and accommodating during his surgery and hospital stay.
-That he bounces back quickly from the surgery and tolerates the casts and pain as well as can be expected.
-That we are all able to sleep in the hospital and that Parrish will be able to rest comfortably at night when we get home from the hospital.
-That Parrish will not have any complications or adverse reactions to the anesthesia
-That the nurse anesthetist will be able to call and update us that everything is going well from the opertaing room
-That he will be able to return to school in 2-3 weeks to finish out the year and get some normalcy back in his routine before he's out for summer break.
Praise:
-The peace we feel about this now verses the terror we felt 2 months ago is a gift from God.
-For Roxanna, the child life specialist Parrish knows that will stay with him in the operating room before surgery
-For the nurse anesthetist Eric recommended to us
-For the gifts of friends and family that will keep Parrish entertained in the coming weeks
-For family and friends to love on us all and to help us with meals, chores, and errands so we can be 100% focused on our little man
-For all of the Olivia Foundation fundraisers and donations of time, money and goods.
Here is the antique day bed I mentioned in an earlier post. We set up his recovery pad in our bedroom with the tv at the foot of the bed on my chest of drawers. He LOVES his new bed and has been sleeping there almost every night since we set it up. It's the perfect little cozy nest for him while he's healing and I'm so thankful we'll have him close without him being in our bed. I was terrified that he would insist on sleeping with us and we would bump his cast and mess up the pins used to reshape his foot. So this is a great solution. It's a bonus that we know he already loves it.
I rented his wheelchair earlier this week and he has already been cruising in it! He has the best hand eye coordination of any child I've ever seen. He figured out how to make full turns and go forward and backward in under 2 minutes. He's incredible! I hope this doesn't mean wheelchair stunts in his near future.
Keep praying, friends! He is listening. I will try to do a quick blog entry sometime next week to update everyone on Parrish's status. He'll be in the hospital for 1 night and possibly 2, so we should be home by Wednesday at the latest.
