Operation: Love ReUnited

Many thanks to my friend Maryanne who posted about Operation: Love ReUnited!

Like Operation Marine Corps Kids donors, the photographers involved in Operation: Love ReUnited are offering their time and talent to say thank you to our service men and women and their families. I think that they're doing some amazing work, and wanted to help spread the word about their efforts.

The founder of Operation: Love ReUnited, a photographer and Air Force wife, posted this about the organization's efforts:

I started a foundation called Operation: Love ReUnited. OpLove supports U.S. Military Enlisted Families with patriotic images of their enlistment, importantly before a deployment, and more importantly at their reunion when the deployment has terminated and the soldier is safely home- most people are so overwhelmed by emotions they forget to simply point and shoot their child's first hug after MONTHS of being apart from their daddy or mommy.

OpLove helps families find supporting photographers in their area to take patriotic images of their family before a deployment and then again at their homecoming usually in an airport. The photographers waive all sitting fees, and send a 4x6 printed album of the pre-deployment images to the deployed soldier at no cost to the family once he or she are stationed. The photographer can then offer the family any amount of courtesy products or prints, percentages off- they see fit. The website is only to help families locate a photographer. The families are not obligated to purchase anything.

Many photographers all over the nation are involved with this project. Here is a link to some photos that one photographer in Oregon took in 2007. The photos are beautiful and I can only imagine how they would be cherished by our military families.

A note from another expectant mom

Earlier this week I received the following e-mail:

I was just browsing the net and found your site. I just wanted to say I think it's a wonderful thing what you are doing. I myself am about to give birth to our first child and my husband is deployed. Us mom's left at home to take care of all the mom and dad duties need all the help we can get.

L

I wanted to post the note for all our donors to read. For all of you who spend your time and direct your talent towards this cause, thank you. Mom's like this one really do appreciate all your gifts.

To date we've sent gifts to hundreds of families, and through word of mouth and this blog, we continue to reach additional families.

We'll be sending a gift to this mom when her baby is born.

Thank you for your continued generosity. Every gift that we receive is sent to a child with a parent serving in our armed forces. Your donations go a long way in showing these families our gratitude and support.

A Thank You Note

I'm sure you remember our Army Family who recently adopted five children. Today in the mail I received an amazing thank you note from them! I wish I could post the card, but sadly my scanner is broken. Each of the five children colored on it for us, and it's absolutely precious.

Here is what they said:

Dear Melanie from AL, Judy from PA, Cindy from MI, Laura from AR, Kathy from AL and Delia from IN,


We can't thank you enough for the home made presents. They are wonderful and absolutely beautiful. The kids love the hats and ponchos and my youngest, Abi loves the toys. She is learning her colors now with the ball/pouch toy.


It was incredibly thoughtful and generous for you ladies to make such wonderful, heirloom gifts. We have been touched by your generosity.


Warmly,

Oscar, Aimee, Sheba, Hadassah, Isaiah, Candace and Abigail

I think that on behalf of everyone at Marine Corps Kids (and Army Brats, too) I can say that it was our pleasure to send you this small token of our appreciation. Congratulations on the recent growth of your family! We wish you all a lifetime of happiness together!

Thank you Oscar for your service, and thank you to your entire family for your sacrifice.

Welcome Valdryk!

This delicious baby is Valdryk, and he's three days old!

If you've been reading the blog, you may remember my first post about Valdryk back in September. At that time he was a tiny little adorable peanut. Valdryk's mom and dad had a few scares in early pregnancy, but little Valdyrk fought like a warrior (his name is a Nordic name meaning "warrior") to stay with his family, and last Friday he was born. He's 7 lbs 15.4 ozs of adorable healthy baby boy!

I've been corresponding with Valdryk's mom for the last few months, and was anxiously awaiting his arrival. When I received an e-mail with his picture and birth announcement this morning, I couldn't have been more delighted.

Valdryk's daddy is serving overseas, and wasn't home for the birth of his baby boy. His mom assures me that Valdryk is the spitting image of his dad!

A gift for Valdryk is all packed up and ready to be mailed. Along with it, everyone at Marine Corps Kids sends Congratulations to the entire family! We wish Valdryk a lifetime of happiness. We wish his mom and older brothers and sisters a lot of joy. And we wish for peace and for Valdryk's dad to be able to come home soon.

Welcome, Little Warrior! We're all so glad you're here!

A Message from Base

So many people have donated beautiful items to Marine Corps Kids. Most of the items that are donated are sent to the Marine Base where family volunteers distribute them to the families as babies are born. Here is part of an e-mail that I received from one of our volunteers on base:

"....as for the families that you all have helped they are well into the hundreds. The gifts you send are not just going to the babies but to the older siblings as well and some to the mothers who are waiting on their little ones to be born.

The moms and kids all love it and are so grateful."

Sometimes when we send a donation, we wonder where it ends up and if someone is using it. Your donations have been distributed to hundreds of families. Those families appreciate your donations as much as we appreciate the sacrifice that they and their loved ones are making.

Thank you all for your continued support!

Free Pattern for Baby Leggings

BabyLegs are all the rave with new moms, and they’re awfully darned cute, so when my niece asked me if I could crochet a version for her daughter, Olivia, I was delighted!

I worked and reworked the pattern, and eventually came up with "Livie Legs".

These are a fairly simple crochet pattern, and I think one that would be great for Marine Corps Kids donations. You can find my pattern here or through the link in the pattern section of the Marine Corps Kids Blog.





If you don't crochet, but like the idea of hand-made baby leggings, there is a very simple tutorial on the web that shows how to sew them using a pair of ladies sized knee-socks.

Here are two pairs that I made using the method described in the tutorial.


These literally took less than 15 minutes to make, and cost less than $3 each. The tutorial can be found here or through the link in our pattern section.

More beautiful donations from Judy and Lynn!

Judy from Pennsylvania has been a wonderful supporter of Operation Marine Corps Kids, and I'm always delighted to see the cute sets that she sends for the kids. This week I received another box from her, and once again I was ooh-ing and aah-ing over the adorable projects that she made and donated. The sweaters, hats, booties, toys and pillows are adorable, but I absolutely flipped over the cute tooth pillows that she made!


Judy sent 14 fabulous sets for the kids, and I know our Marine Corps Moms will be delighted to receive them!

I also want to send out some special thanks to Lynn who has sent more hats for the children than I can count!

Thank you both so much for your continued support and generosity!!