Saturday, April 23, 2016

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2004. Mattie was two years old. That weekend we took him to the Reston Zoo. A favorite of Mattie's because it was small, not crowded, and very hands on! As you can see I was intrigued by both Peter and Mattie that day. Peter was feeding the sheep and Mattie was staring at the goats. Both boys glued to and engaged with the animal of their own choosing. 


Quote of the day: My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece. ~  Claude Monet

We divided and conquered today! We were able to do this because we went to Home Depot last evening and got ALL the materials we needed to work today. Which included plants and wood! Peter and I worked on two different projects. 

Peter has been creating schematics to build Corn Hole boards for weeks. This year at the Foundation Walk we are having a corn hole tournament. What is corn hole? 

Corn hole is like a bean bag toss. Specifically it is an American lawn game in which players take turns throwing bags of corn (or a bean bag) at a raised platform with a hole in the far end. A bag in the hole scores 3 points, while one on the platform scores 1 point. Corn hole tournaments are very popular now and we are trying to add this new activity to our event to raise additional funds, but also to give teens, young adults, and adults a lively activity. The prize for winning our tournament is an iPad. 

Designing the corn hole boards (Peter made SIX, because people are playing simultaneously, so you can't just have one or two boards) isn't as easy as it may seem. There are regulations one has to follow in terms of dimensions. We debated on buying the boards versus making them. Purchasing them would cost us close to $800. Though making them is labor intensive, we opted to do this. In addition, a girl scout troop at Mattie's school was looking for a building project for their bronze award. So next weekend, we will hand over the corn hole boards to them and they will finish assembling, painting and decorating them. So it truly is a labor of love for the Foundation. 

It took Peter over 6 hours today. He had drills, saws, and all sorts of power tools out. We had sawdust everywhere. In the morning it was pouring, but fortunately he was able to work on our balcony. 

While Peter was on one end of our home, I was on the other. I was determined to plant our deck space. That is no easy feat and typically I do it with Peter. This is the before photo!

Here is the finished product. 

Another view of our garden! 

What the deck now looks like from Mattie's Room!

This evening I picked up 25 peachy roses, each with a water tube. I then wrapped and bowed each flower individually. Why the flowers?

Tomorrow "Take the Stage," a performing company featuring local children is hosting a benefit musical for Mattie Miracle. Peter and I will be attending and after the show, I want to give each of the 25 performers a rose! We appreciate their efforts and energy they are bringing to this musical, as they try to help us raise funds for the psychosocial needs of children with cancer.