It's in the bag!

So our regional grocer Dillons is sponsoring a design contest for a reusable bag. They give you a choice of their predetermined design elements, you mix-n-match to create a design to go on the bag. Once you have a design, it's put up with the others in a voting contest. Guess what? We made a design for The Kyrie Founation!!

Board member Melissa had this great vision of creating awareness by having the logo live on bags everywhere. Great thinking, eh? ;)

So here's the deal: you can vote here once a day EVERY DAY until May 21, 2010. Winners will be announced May 28, 2010. Over the past couple of years we've had our share of fundraisers, but this is our very first awareness-raiser!

Save the Date!!!!

Presenting

Bishop Carroll High School Track

8101 West Central

Wichita, Kansas

We're offering the fundraising challenge again this year, too, which means you can form a team to raise research funds for the Twilight Walk.

A HUGE thank you to Bishop Carroll High School for allowing us use of their beautiful facilities again. Wasn't that a fantastic place to host the event last year? Clean, convenient, safe for kids. Love it.

Our event logo was design by our dear friend Shawna Carpenter Stobaugh of Nonna Illustration & Design. She has been a loyal contributor to our annual art auction in Kansas City and a faithful friend to the foundation. If you have a chance, you should check out her Etsy shop. Super cutesy stuff! Thank you, Shawna, for lending us your terrific talent once again!

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for good decisions.

You know the kind of good decisions that save you from long-term peril, like deciding to wear your seat belt or to start a savings account. I like those. I like the kind of good decisions that no one ever knows you made, like when you hold your tongue or when you forgive an offense. I also like good decisions that redeem bad ones, like when you choose a wiser path in the same situation you chose a not-so-wise path before. That's my Fertilizer Theory at work, when a not-so-great choice makes you an infinitely more compassionate, active or better person in the long run. In my opinion, it wasn't so bad after all. ;)

I'm thankful for when we decide to do good. There's always this little tenuous moment: Are you or aren't you? Are you in or are you out? Will you be there or not? Excuse or in full throttle? Speak up or stay quiet? Make the phone call or  do something else? Give now? Give later? Will there be a later?

I root for the good guys in the movies. Chances are you do, too. So it's no surprise that I root for good decisions, too. Not to say they always happen. And that's okay because you get a ton more chances to make good ones happen, sometimes even in the very same minute!

So I'm thankful for everyone's decisions to attend the Goddard family fundraiser last Saturday. I'm thankful for everyone who supported Andover Central's Hit for the Cure. I'm thankful for all of our Facebook fans, for everyone who has made GoodSearch their home page, for everyone who has signed up to sponsor the Kyrie Klassic Golf Tournament. All decisions that add up to the total good.

What are you thankful for today?

Hit for the Cure a Sweeping Success!

Oh, how lovely these young ladies are! Jamison Coyle with KSNW Channel 3 was on-hand last night to catch the girls softball team from Andover Central in action—their goodness in action.

Coach Rita Frakes, teammate Kimberly Chamberlin and Lacie with The Kyrie Foundation were interviewed. You can see the story for yourself right here!

Here's one of the memory & honor boards. I can see little Anna, Sicily and Kyrie. Can you?

A quick hug.

Sweeties working the sweetest concession stand in town!

The team!!!!!!!!!!!!! (plus a couple extra little hitters.)

And for those of you who haven't met Kyrie's little brothers, introducing the cute little tater tots: Kamdyn and Kolbe.

Once again, we are humbled by these young women who not only have the courage to use their talents to fight cancer but who also consider The Kyrie Foundation as a beneficiary of their goodness. It never fails to choke me up when kids and young adults—with so much life and opportunity ahead of them—take a moment to bring others into their jubilant, altruistic energy.

We thank you, volunteers and donors, for really, God-honest-truly making a difference. We thank you, Susan Jae, for being our eyes/camera on the ground. ;) We thank you, Coach Frakes, for organizing and promoting this special event where joy & generosity collide. And we THANK YOU, Andover Central softball girls, who continue to inspire us with your kindness and your enthusiastic spirit for making the world a better place!

Hit for the Cure in Andover TONIGHT!

It's going to be a great Kansas evening for some softball!

Coach Frakes tells us that some of her kids contacted the news, so there should be coverage of all the do gooding tonight at the field. Andover Central plays at 4:30 p.m. at Andover Central High School on the softball fields behind the school. (603 East Central off of Andover Road.)

A couple volunteers have generously donated their time to run the concession stand, from which pediatric brain cancer with get money for research! Woo-oo-hoo!

For those that haven't been to Hit for the Cure, Coach Frakes and her team raise funds for charity based on open donations or a certain amount for a certain number of hits—whatever the girls choose. On display is a lovely memory & honor board comprised of submission from anyone who wants to remember or honor someone they know who has battled cancer. It's such a special way to keep love real.

GO JAGS!

Good thought on this Monday.

And while it takes courage to achieve greatness, it takes more courage to find fulfillment in being ordinary. For the joys that last have little relationship to achievement, to standing one step higher on the victory platform. What is the adventure in being ordinary? It is daring to love just for the pleasure of giving it away. It is venturing to give new life and to nurture it to maturity. It is working hard for the pure joy of being tired at the end of the day. It is caring and sharing and giving and loving…
Marilyn Thomsen

Calling all golfers!

Hot on the heels of one fundraiser is another—and this one is BRAND NEW for 2010!!!!!

It's our very first charity golf tournament!!

Saturday, August 7, 2010
Sierra Hills Golf Club
13420 E. Pawnee
Wichita KS
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Register as $100 per golfer or $400 per 4-person team

Shot Gun Start • 4-person Scramble with Best Ball

Entry fee includes green fee for 18 holes of golf, team cart, goodie bag, t-shirt, lunch, driving range balls, 2 beverage tickets.



We're absolutely thrilled to be able to present this kind of opportunity this year. So if you having been into scrapbooking or cookbooks, this is your chance help!


Plus, we are lots of opportunities for businesses to sponsor the event and gain promotional good will with our golfers. So if you or someone you know would like to  sponsor, we'd LOVE to have the support. Just contact the fantastic Wendy Wilkinson at wendy@kyriefoundation.org.


This event logo was design by Eggbert/Elf Rita with assistance from her talented students at Andover Central. And speaking of Andover Central ...


If you have time, the state champion Andover Central Girls Softball Team is hosting Hit for the CURE on Monday night!!!!!! Rita's students have designed a very special t-shirt for the event and plan to donate their fundraising to a couple great & worthy causes — including The Kyrie Foundation!!!!!!! The girls actually suggested it to Rita—can you believe how lucky we are to have their support?! These girls amaze us.

The girls start at 4:00 p.m. at Andover Central High School on the softball fields behind the school. (603 East Central off of Andover Road.) 

And I also want to mention that for anyone who likes pancakes (and that's just about everyone with a mouth), please try to attend a very special fundraiser tomorrow morning for the Goddard family organized by our dear friend Jamie. This family has been loaded by just too much recently as you can tell from this story. On Good Friday, we asked if our dear Easter Bunny and Eggbert could make a special visit druing their Wesley trip because Marianne was in the hospital that day recovering from a tumor removal from her brain. It's another easy way to do good.

Tomorrow, Saturday, April 17
Clonmel Hall in Viola (off of K-42)
8:00 a.m. to noon
Chris Cakes • silent auction • raffle

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for blooms. Isn't it awe-inspiring to see how virtually overnight a barren tree can sprout green leaves? How you see a tulip leaf one day and a whole pink tulip the next? We have hostas that were wee baby greens earlier this week, and last night I was gobsmacked at the discovery of broad, beautiful leaves soaking up sunshine.

Growth happens right before our very eyes—too subtle to catch it minute-by-minute, so fast that you miss it while you sleep. Kind of like children. One afternoon you wonder if you can handle another diaper, and the next thing you know, you're taking photos at a high school graduation.

This past weekend the foundation emerged with its first bloom of the year, too. Seeds planted awhile ago sprouted this Saturday, and there are wigglings of other seeds growing beneath the surface, waiting for their season as well.

Astounding, really, to see development, progress, upwardness.  Astounding and blissfully wonderful. That's what I'm thankful for today.

What are you thankful for?

We scrapped and we meant it!

What a fabulously wonderful time we all had on Saturday, eh? With a 75-seat max, we actually made room to fit over 80 scrappers! And we're so happy we did. The more the merrier, indeed!

We owe Family Church an enormous debt of gratitude. This is the third year in a row that they have allowed us to use their space, which is perfect to hold all of our scrappers and vendors, volunteers. The kitchen is brilliant, and I lost track how many times I heard compliments about the women's bathroom. It's just nice. So nice. They are so nice.

Another nice thing: two young men needing to log a few service hours came to lend their muscle and, boy howdy, did we need it! Thank you Kyle & Forrest for unloading tables, setting up tables, unloading behemoth boxes, helping the ladies unload their scrap supplies and for passing out freebies. AND ... they donated their tips back to The Kyrie Foundation! So relieved that the future of the world is in the hands of good young men like these. ;)

A big thank you to Wendy for being our shutterbug. Why? Because I forgot my camera for the third year in a row. Can you believe that? Luckily, Wendy was everywhere capturing everything. Including the bestowal of our first-ever Goodness Awards to Susan Eckel and Rita Frakes for their Wesley hospital visits, to Christy Freeman for generously volunteering her time and energy as the Kyrie Krop's committee chairperson for the past three years, to Terry Casley, our Bead Queen, for donating her time & talent to create the Kyrie Foundation bracelets and to Stephanie Murrell for singlehandedly, out of the blue, organizing an entire vendor booth fundraiser on her own for us. We are so blessed, so honored to know you all. Thank you for making room in your lives for this mighty cause.

 Lots of hugging and a few happy tears.

Another round of thanks to our brilliant sponsors, without which there would be no goodies in the goodie bags, no freebies, no door prizes and no goodness garage sale. Thank you to K&Company, Fiskars, Purple Cows, Heidi Swapp, Making Memories, Jesse James Bead Company, Autumn Leaves, EK Success, Inkadinkadoo, Tim Holtz and Frozen in Time. AND to our generous vendors Cara with Scrappin' Boot Camp, Scrappy Chicks and that great scrap store they set up, Terry & Linda with Creative Jewelry by TLC, Niki with Uppercase Living, Tarra with Creative Memories, Kathy with Close to My Heart, Natalie with Cuddlebug Baby Gifts, Stephanie with Scentsy and Brittany with Premier Jewelry!

Each year Melissa, Trish and Lacie make sure that no one walks away hungry. Can I get an "amen"?! Thanks to their endless e-mails & phone calls, this year we received donations and discounts from McAlisters Deli (+ their famous sweet tea!), Michael Snell catering, Art's & Mary's Homestyle Tater Chips, Goddard's Pizza Hut and their delish Tuscani pastas and Spear's famous pies! I'm still full!

Earlier that morning, I overheard a few ladies wonder if the massage therapist would be at the krop, hoping she'd be there. Then, after a few hours of heavy-duty scrapbooking, ta-da! Amanda arrived on the scene to relieve crafting cramps and any end-of-the-week tension. Amanda has donated her time and talent for the third year in a row. Lucky to have her generous heart helping the foundation. Honored to call her my sister. 

Around three o'clock, we all munched and raved over Kyrie's great nana Norma's unbelievably amazing snickerdoodles, peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. I think this could be the real reason why we all show up for the krop. ;)

Congrats to our grand prize winner, Laura Knipp! She was so excited when she won that she was shaking for a good five minutes!

So, if you were there, I hope you had a marvelous time and hope that you understand why your goodness is so important. If you missed it, stay tuned for next year!

 (p.s. More photos on our Facebook page!)

Tomorrow, tomorrow!

Hope you're looking forward to scrapping like you mean it tomorrow with us! I certainly am. Have the iTunes and the car loaded, ready to spend the day having a good time.

And next week? Oh my, do we have stuff to talk about, so stay tuned! ;)

Update on Edouard

Courtesy of Edouard's aunt's sister, Jill:

I talked to Stephane yesterday, and he said Edouard had been through several days of chemo, lost his hair, and was back home for a few weeks. He couldn't wait to watch some hockey, which is his favorite, so that was a good sign. He will go back for another round of chemo at the end of April then come back home to await the decision on how to proceed. The great news is that the tumor has not grown or spread to any other place! He will definitely need another surgery to remove the rest of the tumor in the near future and needs your prayers through it all.

I'm sending prayers to Canada. I hope you are, too!

The Day the Angels Came

The Day the Angels Came
a grandpa's prayer and poem for Kyrie Dawn

Wednesday, April 4, the day we heard of the explosive growth of the tumors

Alas! O, Lord what is it that I hear?
Is it Your angels coming for our Kyrie Dawn?
O, please Lord, keep them at bay--
If just for one more day.

Thursday, April 5, Holy Thursday

O, Lord, what is this I hear?
Is it that You need another little angel to be near?
O, please Lord, please Lord, don't take our Kyrie dear.
Could You please keep Your angels away,
and we could have her just one more day?

Friday, April 6, Good Friday

O, precious, sweet Jesus, is this the day?
No, no, dear Lord, not today--
This is Your day that You died to save.
Again, please Dear God, let us be selfish
and keep sweet Kyrie another day.

Saturday, April 7, Holy Saturday Easter Vigil

Thank you dear God in heaven
for yet another precious day--
For we all know things will be done your way.
Little Kyrie Dawn is fighting so very hard--
Yesterday she three her ball three times
till her tiny arm got tired.

Angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom God's love entrusts her here,
Ever this day be at her side
To light, to guard, to rule to guide. Amen.

Sunday, April 8, Easter Sunday

Dear God in Heaven, Your angels came last night,
As we all knew that someday they might.
They came around the hour of seven
to take our precious one to her
special place in heaven.
Sweet Jesus, we know that you, too, love the little ones,
so to You we give You our little Kyrie Dawn--
And in the end, it is always Your will that will be done.

Amen.

Love,
Papa

Incredible.

Rare and true, butterflies blue.

Good Friday, indeed.

We hope you had a chance to include an extra child or two in your Easter plans this year. Here's our pre-visit inventory report from our beloved Easter Bunny who is ready to make her big trip to Wesley PICU tonight!!

This Easter Basket is full of goodies from a neighbor of Jordan & Lacie's. Their Sunday School Class contributed ... Sweeeeeeet!!


31 stuffed bunnies!
16 blue for boys - 15 pink for girls

Grandpa Thome's donation always helps purchase the stuffed bunnies that the Easter Bunny give to each child! A special contribution that is so appreciated!!


As of Wednesday ... 21 of the 31 children on the Wesley Pediatric Floor were 3 years old and under! Sooooo...LOTS of "baby"/"little-one" items this trip!!


Lots of PINK for the little girls we'll visit ... we always have a Princess or two!


Can't go wrong for the boys with cars and trucks and water balloon and army men and darts and....


How boring to be stuck in a hospital bed...
Games! Games!! and more Games!!!
This will keep em' busy!!!!


Always POPULAR ... things TO DO!!

Craft Kits - Stickers - Color Books
Crayons - Markers - Paint Sets -
Activity Books - Puzzles
Sidewalk Chalk - Card Games

WOW!!!!


Kathleen's mom & grandma come through again ... more homemade blankets stitched with love!





and
Ben Hopper...K-State Student Union Program Advisor!
Thanks for the KSU t-shirts & puzzles!!




A little of this and a little of that...
ALL add up to an awesome collection of donations!!
Something for everyone...
thanks to 28 friends & family who
oh-so-generously donated items - money - giftcards!!!

A BIG Bunny Hug for everyone!!!!
luv,
E.B.

In the spirit

of Easter Bunny and Eggbert's visit tomorrow:

You can understand and relate to most people better if you look at them - no matter how old or impressive they may be - as if they are children. For most of us never really grow up or mature all that much - we simply grow taller. O, to be sure, we laugh less and play less and wear uncomfortable disguises like adults, but beneath the costume is the child we always are, whose needs are simple, whose daily life is still best described by fairy tales.

Leo Rosten
American Educator