What's In the Box? | Go-Go Kim

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Wednesday, June 18, 2014

What's In the Box?

This box...

the one with the lock, that came from Afghanistan from the boy that left last October.


THIS AWESOMENESS!!!!

Last December Penny Barnes, the wonderful owner and quilter at Pb & J Studio, Ireland quilt tour guide and all around FABULOUS lady sent me a message on Facebook.  She warned me that I would need a tissue...

Yes.... So yesterday you saw my posts about spending the day getting crafty with the second graders where our youngest son John teaches. We set up a photo booth and did silly pics and decorated a wooden frame to look like a snowflake, gifts for the parents. After putting away the paint and glitter we had a little chat about patriotism. Second graders don't know a lot about that word. But, they do know about people serving in the military and some have even had family members serve. For our final project, each of the kids were given a piece if white fabric to draw a "thank you" picture with fabric markers, thanking a special soldier I told then about who,is currently deployed to Afghanistan and away from his family. I explained that their fabric pictures would become a part of a quilt that I would be sending to this young man. I wanted to share with you some of the drawings I'm looking at this morning....
No! OMG really...I DO need tissue!!!!!



Seriously, if you ever see this woman...HUG HER!!!! TELL HER HOW FABULOUS she is!!!! I love her!!!!




Here were some of the photos she sent to me




This one is very special  "This is Keighly....she has cerebral palsy and I was told we wouldn't recognize anything she made....but she was so excited to participate so we just traced her hand...."

Penny's son John is a school teacher at Otter Lake Elementary School and has the most incredible group of kids. Penny had a great time creating this surprise for a soldier, but not just any soldier...MY SOLDIER...they were making a quilt for Michael!

Needless to say, I was speechless! Penny sent me this message...
"xox I think it will make a great surprise for your son...so shhhhhh....no telling. But I just had to share this morning...."

I needed a BOX of tissues!

She shipped off the quilt to Michael and he was COMPLETELY overwhelmed! He loved everything about this treasure. We were lucky enough to have Facebook messages and so we were able to talk about somethings if he happened to be online. We decided that sending something to the kids from Afghanistan would be fun for them. So Michael wen to the a Baazar that the locals had on base and bought some treats for the kids.

Mr. Barnes made this video reading the letter from "Soldier Mike" to his class :o)







And this one is a HOOT, where he shares what "Soldier Mike" sent to the class.  I was rotfl!  Kids are awesome!  I think it is very cool how he makes this a unit study.  I wish Adam were going to be in his class next year!





Michael LOVES these kids!!!!!  I do too!!!!


So we were able to get the box opened and this is what was inside...

This quilt was such a great comfort to Michael so far away from home.  Made with love by people he did not ever meet that will stay in his heart forever!


These are the met precious blocks ever!


Penny's quilting is perfection!


Thank you Mr. Barnes and all of your second grade class for sending Michael this gift from the heart to let him know how much he is supported.


I do apologize for how long it has taken me to get to this.  I honestly did not realize how difficult this deployment was for me.  The boy will be coming home next week.  We will finally get to lay eyes on him and count that nose as being home.

The support I received was above and beyond what I ever could have imagined.  I could not have made it through without so many loving generous people.  I am possibly the most blessed person in the world.

THANK YOU!



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19 comments

Linda Coleman said...

Oh Kim I was in tears reading this. I'm missing my daughter who is only away for a week so I can't imagine how you have missed your son being away so long. Love that quilt which is surely a treasure

Gene Black said...

That was so sweet. Thank you for sharing the videos.

MaterialGirlQuilts said...

Kim, this is so wonderful!! I agree, Penny is something special and so are those kids :) Thanks so much for sharing and the quilt is a beautiful masterpiece of love :)

http://thankfullga447 said...

There are good people in this world I am so glad Michael is coming home, that hug will be the best.

Needled Mom said...

How very touching!!! Please pass me a tissue. The quilt is absolutely beautiful too.

GO STARS! said...

Beautiful quilt - so glad your son is able to have a piece of home that means so much. The videos were precious. What a special thing for him to send something back to the class. They will remember this for many years.

Debbie said...

Wow this is precious! And how very very kind.

Sherri said...

Wow! Such an amazing story!

Paige said...

What an incredible way to honor your son for his service!

Mara said...

Wow, that is so sweet and the kids are great, were rich!

margaret said...

not a dry eye in the house, such a moving blog, thank you for sharing this with us and have a wonderful time with soldier Mike when he returns in the next few days. I cannot imagine how hard it is for family of soldiers serving overseas, I pray peace will come and one day it will not be necessary for your boys to risk their lives in the mane of peace

SewMisadventurous said...

In all my imaginings about what was in the box I never came up with this, but WOW is pretty much all I can say. I think it's a genius idea, and the block from the little girl with CP, where they traced her hand, was the final straw, read the rest through my tears. And we are just as grateful over here in the UK for the service of your soldiers, helping to keep the world safe.

Busy Little Quilter said...

This is so precious! Thank you for sharing.
I'm so glad that he made it back safely. He was in my prayers, as well as you and your family.

Katy Cameron said...

Aww, what a lovely gift both ways, so glad you get him home soon!

Run 'n Stitch said...

Wow...what a great blog post. Thank you for sharing!

Vera said...

I was wondering about that box but this is really special! just wow!

Indianna said...

A well deserved gift and happy he's home safe x

Christine S said...

That is so awesome, what a wonderful quilt!

Sarcastic Quilter said...

Seriously, there is a reason I avoid posts like this but I was compelled b/c it's your post. Dang it! Love those kids, love your boy!

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