Besides being a mom to some awesome little kids, I’m a mom to some awesome big kids, too ❤️
One of those big kids is getting married next month. It’s a weird place to be. He’s my baby, but he’s not 😔
He was the first little one to call me mom. The first to hold my finger and smile up at me. The first to think I hung the moon.
I really like his soon to be wife. She just fits. So I was very honored to be able to make their invitations. It took some time, there were 150 of them, but every single one of them was made with love and wishes for an amazing future.
I was able to play with wax seals and had an absolute blast coming up with just the right color combinations for the wax.
This is the outside. The band holds everything together and simply slides off to open it.
Once opened, invitations, registry info, rsvp info, and map info can be found inside. And of course, a picture of the sweet couple.
I found the file in the Silhouette design store and cut out the envelope pieces and attached them.
Then I gathered the info, printed it, and cut it out. All of the cutting was done on my Silhouette Cameo. There’s NO way I would have been able to pull this off without that machine. It’s one of the best paper crafting tools I have 😀
Last night I had the opportunity to speak with someone about Bandit and all the good he does. We also talked about why he’s “dressed” in his vest and shoes, and why we have a good leash. Besides being really attached to these pups, service dogs are NOT cheap and we come to rely on them. We take MANY precautions to make sure they can do their jobs and not be injured or lost.
I looked at her and then at the new to me car we downsized to last week, and then back before saying, “This pup costs more than the car I drive.”
So why put in all the time and energy for fundraising? We’ve been trying to fundraise through out covid, when things are uncertain and topsy turvy. Why sit back and come up with ideas you *hope* will help bring some donations in? Honestly, it can be very overwhelming, and I’d really hoped to be much further along than this.
But then there’s a day like we had this week. And it reaffirms why, and it motivates me to try harder. Because Bandit reaches my son on a level I can only dream of.
JJ has started hyperventilating when he’s upset. And of course asking him to calm and breathe doesn’t work – it doesn’t work for most people I know.
But I asked him to come sit with me – which he did and that’s HUGE for him, he usually shuts down and shuts us out. We did some of the things we’ve found that *may* help him calm, but it’s very hard to focus and concentrate.
But Bandit, that boy was on it. He came to us (he wasn’t far) and INSISTED on attention, lol. At first JJ wasn’t touching him, but Bandit wasn’t deterred, he kept rubbing up against his boy.
I helped my son reach out and start petting Bandit, start running his hands through the hair on top of Bandit’s head. And when JJ put his hand on Bandit’s neck, Bandit moved so JJ’s hand ended up sliding down and back up Bandit’s back.
Very quickly, JJ was able to calm and start actively regulating himself. Then he pet his dog on his own. Once he calmed, we talked and ironed things out and he was no longer upset.
I don’t think I could have done this without Bandit. I’ve always been on the outside. And when JJ can’t regulate, we go for DAYS of him trying to get back on track. And it’s hard and exhausting for everyone.
THIS is why we do the hard things.
I’m so grateful for Bandit and for finding Paws 4 Autism ❤️
As always, here’s a link to JJ’s fundraising page. Because Paws 4 Autism is a not for profit organization, ALL of the money we raise goes directly back into the organization to help provide dogs for other children who need a buddy like Bandit.
Thanks for stopping by, and look for some fun fundraising ideas coming up 😀
ajdurrant 