1. Still tons more Disney pictures to come as soon as I get around to editing them all. In the meantime, check out this adorable new Dooney & Burke bag I picked up at Disney. It just makes me smile and makes me happy everytime I carry it.

2. Anyone interested in buying an almost brand new umbrella stroller? I bought it one day before leaving for Disney, used it for one week at Disney, and now have no further need for it. I purchased it for $80 and am selling it for $40. It’s still in perfect condition and comes with a carry bag. It weighs 11 lbs and folds easily. I’d rather not ship it, so you’d have to be able to pick it up. Email me at bethbeyrer@yahoo.com or leave a comment here if you are interested.

3. Working on our family’s coffee table books (since I don’t scrapbook anymore, I now make up books with all of our family photos for each year and have them printed). I finished 2008 and am thru July of 2009 but still have all of 2010 to do. I’ll post some pictures of them when they are all done and printed. I’m hoping to have it done within the next two weeks. Probably overly ambitious but I’m going to give it a shot!

4. The 2nd annual blood drive for my friend Rob Sullivan (his wife Suzanne is my co-host for the 80’s party next month) is coming up soon. I’m unable to donate blood so I’ll be there to take pictures again this year. Please consider donating blood. The blood bank can always use more!

5. A little bsquared business- the calendar for May is almost completely booked with only 3 spots remaining for the month. If you are interested in booking a date in May, you might want to do that really soon.

6. There are 4 bsquared pictures in this week’s local paper. I didn’t get credit on any of them, but they are all mine. And I’ll be photographing the RVC Education Foundation Gala again this year. Hope to see some of you there.

7. I slept until 12:45pm on Sunday. Like the old days. Thanks JohnnyB! That was so nice!!

Jack & Patrick decided all on their own to participate in the St. Baldricks Fundraiser this year. For those of you unfamiliar, St. Baldricks is the world’s largest volunteer-driven fundraising program for childhood cancer research. The Foundation now funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government. Since 2000, events have taken place in 28 countries and 50 US states, raising over $87 million. More than 144,000 volunteers– including over 12,000 women– have shaved their heads in solidarity of children with cancer, while requesting donations of support from friends and family – each one becoming a walking billboard for the cause! I’m so happy and so, so proud that they are doing it!!

I loathe their shaggy hair (it’s never this long and yes, I do realize that it’s not really all that long), but I just have to keep telling myself its for a really good cause.

Cause I know some people will ask, Jack is on the left, Patrick on the right.

If you’d like to help out and donate to the cause, you can support the boys directly. Find their pages here:

Jack’s page (it says John B.) http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/participantid/421571

Patrick’s page: http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/participantid/421585

And of course there will be pictures immediately before, during the shaving and the after effects posted here to the blog. They’ll be getting shaved on March 19th and the hair will be growing until then! Thanks so much for supporting the boys, they’ll be so happy to see any donations on their pages!

I’ve always had a really soft spot for the men & women serving our country in the armed forces. So soft that sometimes I start tearing up when approaching them to say thank you for all they are doing. And I always make sure if I do see a soldier, I do say thank you.

I’ve had this project in my head for a while and am finally doing something about it. I had originally (and still do) wanted to do a few free mini sessions each month for deploying soldiers and their families so that they will both (the soldier leaving and the family staying) have photos of eachother to hold on to until they get back. But I have found that it’s really hard to get in contact with anyone in the military to get that started, even after numerous phone calls and emails. Unless you know someone, it’s next to impossible getting in touch with someone enlisted that can help me get the word out. **(so, on that note if any of my local blog readers do have any military contacts or know of any enlisted men or women who will be deploying anytime soon and would like a free mini session from me, please, please, please get in touch with me by leaving me a message on the blog, on Facebook or by email (bethbeyrer@yahoo.com)).

So, since I can’t seem to get the photography project off the ground (as of yet), I felt like I had to do something to show the troops how much I appreciate their sacrifice and service. So after some research into different organizations, I’ll be sending a bunch of boxes each month to soldiers in Afghanistan. I have an address for a soldier over there with a list of some of his/his unit’s requests. I found them on Anysoldier.com. I am also going to be sending some boxes to Operation American Soldier where they send packages to soldiers who get very little (or sometimes even NO) mail.

Here’s this month’s boxes and a list of what’s in each one.

2prs white tube socks, 2 pkgs beef ramen noodles, 2 pkgs Ritz bits with Cheese, 1 pkg mini choc chip cookies, 1 box EasyMac, 1pkg chicken ramen noodles, 1pkg goldfish, 1 pkg twizlers, 4 nature valley granola bars, 9 quaker choc chip chewy granola bars, instant coffee pkg, 1 mini can spagettios w meatballs, 1 mini can tuna, 1pkg choc chunk brownies, 1 pkg milanos, 5 slim jims, 1 deck of playing cards, 2 chap sticks, handful jolly ranchers, loofah, 1 paperback book, 1 video, 1 pkg candy buttons, 1 pkg candy drinks (you remember those wax bottles w the sugary drink in it), paper, envelopes, 2 pens, handmade cards from the boys, and a letter from me.

I’m hoping that I hear back from the guys that I’m sending to and they send me a request list for another set of boxes, or even a new unit’s address who could use some cheer. I’m also hoping that the boys get some pen pals- some real life heroes (not celebrities, not musicians, not sports figures- but REAL heroes who risk their lives daily) to write to. And next month, I’m hoping to send even more!!

I’d love it if any of my blog readers would like to contribute to the cause, or even send out your own boxes. I’m happy to take donations (either for stuff or funds to buy more stuff). It doesn’t matter your political stance, your feeling on the war, your feeling on American troops being sent to all of places they are stationed in the world. These guys give up their whole lives to serve our country. The conditions they face are everything from scary to beyond imagination. (I found some pictures online of the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan sleeping in what looked like graves while on patrol. Holes dug in the dirt. That’s where they sleep. In the hot and freezing desert. I will do my best to never complain again about being hot, cold, hungry, tired, etc.  When I think of them out there for months at a time the mommy in me says I have to send them some comforts from home.

Thanks for reading!