A Mountain of Change for Hope

My Mommy heart is full! A couple of weeks ago, Jaret and I were at school in chapel. The principal of our school, Mrs. Huffman, was talking about a dream she has had for years. She spoke of the challenges of this dream and how it almost was lost in her heart. However, recently she felt it being reignited and she is about to make it a reality. The dream - to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. She has scheduled the climb for this summer. She tied this dream of hers to another heart's desire - to help our school raise enough money to purchase a van for Hope and her family. With preparations underway for Hope to return home after four long months in the hospital, they need a special van. Mrs. Huffman brought up the idea of "A Mountain of Change for Hope." Basically the idea is to raise a mountain of change that will go toward purchasing a van. She spoke to the students about raising their own money and figured that if every student brings in $20, we would have enough (with monies already raised). She then went on to ask the students to raise their hand if they felt they wanted to be a part of this to help Hope and her family. There was Jaret sitting in the front row, eyes on Mrs. Huffman, attentive as ever, and the first one to raise his hand, and one of the only ones in his Kindergarten class. My heart was full and it brought tears to my eyes. When Jaret got in the vehicle after school he was so excited to tell me about chapel. He was telling me like he forgot I was even there. It was cute. His enthusiasm for hearing that Mrs. Huffman is going to climb one of the biggest mountains in the world was just bubbling over. He then told me that he needs to empty his piggy bank when he gets home so he can give all his money to Mrs. Huffman to buy a van for Hope. He was so excited and went straight upstairs to his room when we arrived home to empty his piggy bank. In fact, his friend Kira came to the door but he told her he would come and play later because he was counting his money to give to his friend, Hope. When Kirra saw what Jaret was doing, she wanted to help Hope too. So, Jaret helped her count her money in her piggy bank to donate to the cause as well. How can my heart not be full when I see how giving my son is and that he wants to help someone in need? Okay, getting teary just writing this... We have until the beginning of May to raise money. So with that in mind, I am donating all my commissions from my Stella & Dot sales when purchased for Heather Peacock's On-line Show (now through May 5). With Mother's Day just around the corner, it is the perfect time to buy gifts and help support this worthy cause. Shop on-line now and thank you for your support: http://www.stelladot.com/style/trunkshow/145a2a20-8db8-11e1-ad30-005056b55330 The picture below is taken when the kids and I took lunch up to the Peacock family on Saturday. Hope was alert the whole visit. She communicated well with nodding her head and shaking it no to questions asked. She giggled and even blew us kisses. However, when I went to take the picture and Gabi crawled up beside her, Hope just wanted to snuggle in to her sister and fall asleep. Kirra loved sitting on the bed next to Hope holding her hand and telling her all about her upcoming Dora birthday. Precious moments. Love seeing my children's compassion - again, my Mommy heart is full!