Update on my dad!

I just wanted to update everyone real quick that today it was confirmed beyond any doubt that my dad does in fact have cancer :(
If in the following months this proves to be a slow moving cancer, we can breathe a little easier so this is what we are praying for now.

I hate cancer :( It has claimed the lives of some many of my friends and little children... and from my 5 Aunts and Uncles (my dad's siblings), 3 have already died from cancer in the last 3 years. My dad is the 4th of the 6 children to be diagnosed.

I don't even know what this means for my generation or for my kids with a such a heavy history of this horrid disease so PLEASE keep us all and those who are fighting cancer all over this world, in your prayers. I have donated to cancer funds for the last 4 years... we have got to find a cure... Expect this year's donation to be a big one... :(

Addie on eBay

Yeah, took me a few months but I finished Addie... she is on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300351082000&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

3 days only :) I will do a layaway and offer free shipping if you use BIN and pay right away (i.e. you don't need a layaway).
I will be listing another baby later today so keep an eye out :)

Update on the Discover Dolls Show!!

Hi everybody!
I thought I would give you an update on the upcoming Discover Dolls Show in October in Peterborough, UK.

It is looking like I will be offering plenty of dolls. I am not doing any pre-sales this time so there will be plenty for you to chose from.
The way it's looking I will be offering 5 full size resins and the last of the Baby Mines (a girl with light brown hair!).
I will also be offering quite a few mini babies as well, some full sculpt, some with a cloth body.
I will also be offering two full size newborn OOAKs.

Lastly, I will not be attending the next show in June 2010 as it falls too close (or ON) my sons' pre-school graduation festivities which are typically held around mid-June. The sculpting class will not be held of course if I am not there :)
There is a *slight* chance I will make it *IF* the festivities are held on the 9th June but since even the school does not know that yet, I can't tell you until much later in the year and there is a chance by the time the school knows, I won't find a flight or a room in the hotel... hmmmm.

So... I still have 3 places for my October sculpting class ... and it might be your last chance for a whole year to buy a baby on the spot with a good discount. I am taking PayPal on the spot now, so you can pay with your credit cards too on the day of the show.
Also, after this show, pre-orders and custom orders will be suspended for a while as I am burned out and exhausted and I will take some time off sculpting on demand, to find my "mojo" again lol :)
So last chance people, there might not be a baby available for a while lol :)
(of course any pre-orders I have taken to date will be filled out promptly, I am just not taking any new ones!)

I am sure you will love the babies at the show and what a wonderful (early) Christmas present they will make :) They are all anxious to spend their first Halloween with their forever mommy so please stop by for a cuddle. You never know... your dream baby might await you! So come on! Treat yourself this Halloween...with a Kewy baby ;)

Babies, babies, babies!!!

Thanks everyone for your kind words and your prayers! I am happy to report, my dad got a 2nd opinion and new tests and the doctors are optimistic that is in fact a SLOW moving cancer that probably won't kill him... meaning my dad is 59 this year, this is a slow moving cancer, old age will probably get him first they said... they need a couple of more tests on his other organs to make sure everything is unaffected and if in fact they remain unaffected, his chances go up significantly!

The boys are adjusting and the teacher is not as freaked out as she was :) They return home happy and I am a happy mom who drives her boys to and from school in her MVP (multi-purpose vehicle and yes this is what our car is called; it's between an SUV and a town car).

And because I have "talked" your ear off in the last few weeks, here is some eye candy for you! New babies!!
These are available through "About Face" so please contact Joyce if you wish to adopt any of them. They are Small Miracles in resin. I am still amazed how the same sculpt can look so different with all the different paint and hair/eyes!
The first three are the same sculpt, amazing huh? I love sculpting in such a way that *painting* is what determines the final look of a baby. You can do so many changes with just paint, I love it...

Kind of messed up...

Sorry guys if you haven't heard from me in a couple of days but I am getting hit REALLY hard right now :(

First my dad who may have as little as 5 years left (or as long as 25!!0, they are talking about Monoclonic Lemphocytoma Lekaemia or something like that. I can say it in Greek but this is the closest translation I can get.

Then my boys aren't adjusting to pre-school, and I know, I know, it's only their 5th day but Cody had a *MAJOR* meltdown yesterday (wanting mommy) and John bit a classmate AND his teacher and peed on himself twice... and today I confronted a VERY freaked out teacher who called the principal as well... Things like "they are not ready for school" were being said... When I told George we had a *major* fight... apparently my "coddling" of the boys is to blame for all this :( (don't get me started, I know it already :()

Then I went for a hair cut and basically she chopped ALL my hair off. I look like a recruit... I look TERRIBLE and not even remotely cute. I look like a MAN.
I know it's only hair and it's silly compared to everything else but it has really brought me down.

Then the show is coming up and apparently another class has been booked and I didn't know about it and now I must find a way to leave the boys for 10 days and there is nobody to take care of them for that long. There is just no way... 7 days was a stretch as it was :(

And this week, with only 3 actual weeks to go before I leave, I worked zero hours! I spent those days between taking the boys to school, running a few errands, then getting calls to go get them because they want to go home :( and of course, therapy, let's not forget that... so basically, I only get maybe 2 hrs per day free in which I need to cook, clean and presumably, sculpt.

I am THIS close to calling it a day... is it even worth it? Seriously? I decided I am not doing the June show in 2010. There is a very high chance it falls on the weekend of the boys' graduation/end of year ceremony (yes here in Greece, we get diplomas for every school year we complete and there is a big ceremony and the kids dance in costumes and put up a small play etc etc).

Oh! And did I mention I AM SICK!? Of course it had to happen now.. because, seriously, any other time it would be too bloody easy... ha! So I feel physically shattered and emotionally I am a mess. I can't stop crying... it's been a bad week...

So if you haven't heard from me, I am sorry. I will get back to you.. I am having a very rough time right now and it doesn't happen to me often, but this time I can't see the light :( there is no light!

Please pray that the boys' teacher will calm down and won't give up on my kids... and that my dad will be alright... and that this virus goes away... and that I will be able to sculpt so fast, your head will spin...
I'm sorry this is not a cheery post but I am really struggling right now...
Thanks for listening people...

What does your dad mean to you?

My dad is the most awesome person in the world!!
If you met him, you would think so too...How close are you and your dad?
Because let me tell you, I am VERY close to mine!! He lives next door, I see him everyday, he is an active part of our lives...
He ADORES kids... when I had the boys, you would really think the guy had just been made President of the Universe and was given the Keys to Heaven. THAT's how happy he was and he has been a part of their lives every single day.

My dad really is the guy that fell down 7 times and got up 8... Orphaned at the age of 3, he lived a poor life, then my mother happened to him (please don't me started on my mother!), and she kicked him out *for no reason at all* with nothing but a case of clothes.
My dad got up yet again... and today he has his little apartment, his car, his job in an elementary school which he loves...

My dad was scheduled to have abdominal surgery today... Instead they came and told him they are sending him for more tests as leukemia is suspected.
My dad lost 3 of his 5 siblings from cancer in the last 3 years so there is a heavy history there.

I am so drained today... I spent the day with him today. I feel like I was hit with a ton of bricks but my dad keeps smiling.
"God will provide" he says often and blimey me, He has!
Please prayer warriors... this is a person that has so much to give... Please say a prayer that he does not have cancer...
My dad's name is Constantine (Cody or Gus as they call him).
Here he is with his elementary volley ball team. They have won many trophies and he also coaches the chess club.. He is such a talented guy!!

Waaaaah, vacation is over!!

So that's that then... summer is over but we had a great time when we went away!!
Even with the rocky start lol... John's eye is great, the trauma was minor, only required 3 days of patching, and everyone had a good time, nobody was hurt but... Cody stopped eating on our last day. His teeth hurt... turns out he need 3 teeth de-nerved and sealed... and John needs some dental work too (sigh, those preemie weak teeth!!) so we are looking at $1000 ... obviously we've already started with Cody since it got to the point he couldn't chew, almost done with one tooth, two more to go...

Here are a couple of pictures from our vacations... As we say in Greece, happy winter everyone...