Wednesday 13 April 2011

Donations for The West Whizzyland Way Walk

Here's a page for the walkers of

The West Whizzyland Way Walk

to link to for their sponsors and donations...


Best of luck with your Fund Raising and


Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!





Hugo

I thought that it was about time that I posted some photos of the one, the only...

I have to thank Sarah Kidd for the love, care and attention that she puts into each individual and unique Hugo...

I think that each stitch goes someway to show that she puts her heart and soul into Hugo with the hope that he will make a little one's day a little brighter...




Hugo Mouse


Hugo & Friends


And some of the little details I adore...



A heart full of hope x


Each little stitch of love



And to the shining stars, Eilidh and Hugo, with
Love & Laughter,
Hope & Grace,
and
Touch & Tickle.




Best buddies


Thank you, Sarah for being so very inspirational
xxx

Monday 11 April 2011

the MADs!

I've been nominated in the MADS 2011 which celebrates the best of UK Mum and Dad blogs!

What's more I've been nominated for the Most Inspiring Mad Blogger Award sponsored by Mothercare... how awesome is that!  Especially considering I'm just trying to do my best for my daughter! 

So if you would like to nominate me again - the blogs with the most nominations go through to the next round - please hit the button on the right and fill in the form..





Sunday 3 April 2011

A Retirement Gift

A Retirement Gift and yet so much more...

My friend's dad Kenny has worked for the past 30 years for North Lanarkshire Council as an Emergency Planning Officer. 

He retired last week and he decided that he wanted his Retirement Gift collection to go Eilidh and her Whizzy Wheels...

Well... he has just donated £315 in cash (and there has also been a few paypal donations too.)

How totally fantastic!

We are so very humbled: Thank you, Thank You, Mr M!

oh, and "Happy Retirement"...
Enjoy being a full-time Grandpa and Taxi Driver
;)

Movie Madness

The Primary 1s and 2s of The Compass Primary School in Haddington hosted an "Enterprise Movie Party", raising a fantastic £235.00 and they decided that they would really like to donate the money to Eilidh's Whizzy Wheel Fund ...

How inspirational!

Now that Spring is springing and Eilidh is enjoying being outside a little more we think that it might be time to consider a trike (Tomcat Trikes) for her and would love to dedicate this money from The Compass to that - I hope that they approve!

So a BIG Thank You! to the Primary 1s and 2s @ The Compass

and a huge kiss....
mwah!
from Eilidh

Saturday 2 April 2011

It's Snappie Time!

The adventure that we have been fund-raising for happened last week and we have so many "thank you"s to offer to everyone who made it possible for Eilidh and our family; without you this would never have been possible.  We are forever indebted to you kindness and generosity so

thank you, thank you, thank you!

For us however, thank you will never quite be enough to cover the magnitude of the gratitude that we feel.

Our trip to Cambridge was an adventure and we were welcomed at DragonMobility with open arms.  Finally we got to meet Dan, Ruth and the some of the DragonMobility Team.  Each one has played a huge role in getting Snappie ready for Eilidh.

And then there was the Snappie Moment...
Glorious in Red and Eilidh's!


We spent the day getting to know Snappie:
her DCB, her elevators, her seat, her brakes (and there are 3 sets of brakes!), her batteries, her standing frame and the emergency "oh, my goodness! she's out of control!" button aka the off switch!
We read the manual... well, flicked through it really...
The seating was adapted, the DCB moved, the footplate played with...
And Eilidh?
She watched curiously and a little apprehensively.
She stood in Snappie...



yipee! i'm standing tall!


And she sat in Snappie, Bella always by her side or near by:



bella along for the ride...



Niamh stood on the back - the moment that she has been waiting for since we first met Lou (which now seems forever ago! - a proud big sister, putting her trust in Eilidh's driving completely!

Eilidh played with the buttons:
yellow up to the sun,
green down to the grass
and red the most cute "peep! peep!"

We helped Eilidh outside and, for the first time she was able to imagine exploring the outside world independently.
We coaxed and cajoled...





& Dan tried his magic...


what's up?  let's go!

But Eilidh wouldn't move!
Bella drove.
Mummy drove.
Daddy Drove.
Eilidh "peep! peep!"ed.
Eilidh wouldn't (but not couldn't!) drive independently! 
Oh, she's so, so canny!  Why drive when you have chauffeurs?

And then it was time to leave:
We (David) learnt to dismantle Snappie and drive her into the car boot: and yes! she did fit - hooray!  Thankfully, the original Yellow Peril was designed to fit into the Everard's VW Passat Estate some 30 years ago so it was able to go into car of the same model!  Thank goodness...

out & about at Wimpole

We were lucky enough to be able to spend some time with the Everards the next day at Wimpole Estate on the Home Farm with lambs and piglets and chicks and some blooming awful driving of the Snappie on our part...  we hit walls, gates and ran over our feet numerous times...  I think I still have the tread marks on  my boots as evidence! Spring had sprung and finally Eilidh was on her way to some outdoor independence, exploration and fun!!! 

We had a great day out with a truly inspiring family who have helped enable Eilidh, and so many other Dragon Riders, to live their lives and explore their worlds more independently and have fun on the journey too. 

Thank you, Dan, Lou and Ruth and all those at DragonMobility for your vision and dedication: you inspire us!


And so we are home and coming to terms with the new addition to the family... Snappie is so very welcome but she brings the realisation that our lives have changed and that Spinal Muscular Atrophy is so very much part of it. Eilidh is teaching us and showing us the way - it's funny, we think that we teach our children, but actually it is very much the other way... even if Eilidh is still needing some chauffeuring...

And to end, Thank you! once again to everyone who has made this possible... to everyone who has donated, to The Ceridian Pay Back Foundation, The Jospeh Patrick Trust and to Turbo Trust, to the Fun' Raisin' Crew at NAG, to The Wheelie Good Dane girlies, to all Fish's Fans... we could go on, but the sentiment is the same...

THANK YOU to each and every one of you!

From the bottom of our hearts we are grateful and forever indebted
Much Love
The Whizzy Macfarlane Family
xxx




Home and in the garden - spring has sprung!