Hello and goodbye again :)

Well hellooooo :)) Anybody left out there? I  am just popping over... I  nearly didn't get on as I couldn't remember log in details! All those years writing so often on here and they were just not available to this sieve I call a memory :))

Any how just to say all is well with us.. Unschooling teen now :)  Not too much to write about really.. lots of sleeping going on.. Or rather lots of sleeping late into the morning balanced out by not much sleep til the early hours ;) Typical teen stuff happening and some not so typical - not behaviour she is adorable ( although the mood swings do happen ) but more to do with anxiety -  and challenging for us all but we are working our way through...

I have another - I know *yet* another ;) - home on the internet. This is where I will be rambling  regaling you with my witty repartee :))

Lusciously Loopy

pop over and say hi :) xxxxx <3 br="" xxxxx="">

Running total.....

I have updated the just giving page with all the money we have actually collected in and the total is now £1489.99!! We have pledged sponsorship still to collect of approx ( not sure of the exact figures of family and friends who have been collecting sponsor money for us ) £232.50 so should have a grand total of £1722.49! How amazing. There are still donations being made to the Just giving page so it could rise again before the end of play :-))

Border news clip

This is a video of Milly and I on Border news tonight! The clip starts with an adorable little guy also helping others <3 br="br" nbsp="nbsp">

Full Report: Children champion young cancer sufferers from ITV Tyne Tees on Vimeo.

Hair Shaving....

Here is something I wrote on facebook the night before the hair shaving event....

Well...Here we are the night before my daughter shaves her hair for charity:-) There was a time last year when when Milly contemplated having one side of her hair shaved. I wasn't surprised when she came to me with that plan and was happy to look through styles with her but then she decided against it.... I have to say I wasn't surprised when she said what she wanted to do for charity either and h

ave been more than happy to help her reach her goal. 

It has been a bit like when you get a pet and the initial days are high excitement and lots of time is spent with the pet then gradually Mum and Dad end up taking over ;-) I knew that when we set off though - it was a long road with the date we set being six months in advance and I expected to be the one doing the day to day stuff with Milly doing the most important part tomorrow:-) 

In conversation today someone said to me that she must be a very confident young lady. That made me think that there are many of you who don't know Milly and I thought now might be as good a time as any to give you an insight into a teenager who is happy to shave her hair off.

Milly is a normal teenager with all the insecurities that this time of life throw at us. Some days she is confident and happy with herself and other days less so. Mood swings are a day to day part of life just now. She is also very gentle and loving.

She has always been a very sensitive and empathetic child and feels things deeply. She is a delightful daydreamer with a head full of stories . Sometimes she has a maturity, wisdom beyond her years and amazes me with her perception and take on things. She can also be very childlike, loud and giddy and has a sharp wit :-) 

Some weeks ago Milly experienced a series of panic attacks and since then has found it very hard to leave the house. We are working through that with her and are helping her to overcome her fears. This means that tomorrow night is challenging to say the least.

Milly is determined to go through with it though. She is so very excited to shave her hair off and is not at all anxious about that. We have all worked together to find ways that will ease her anxiety. She will be surrounded by family, friends, a bunch of new friends and people who have come along to support her fundraising...With the dancing, the excitement and the steps we have in place we all feel hopeful that she will enjoy herself.

Milly thought she would feel less awkward if people knew how she was feeling. She has written something that Alan will read out for her that lets people know about her anxiety and explains why she might need to get up during the hair shaving. 

So there we have it.... not necessarily a confident girl at this moment but a very brave one. In the words of one lady who commented on a post.... a top bird :-)) 

Alan and I are so very proud and our hearts are full of love for her. Can't promise there won't be tears tomorrow night ;-) 

In Milly's words Stay strong and shine on♥

After the event last night...

Very tired and about to unwind in a hot bath but....Milly did it and went right down to the scalp!! She now has a velvety scalp that we can't stop stroking:-) I didn't manage to get any pictures but others there will have and we will get so

me to you all soon:-) Border Tv were there and it will be on the news Tomorrow lunchtime and teatime. I am sporting a very large flower on my cheek painted by Amy:-) It was a very daunting experience being filmed and I think we coped ok but will see how it turns out . If it turns into any more money raised for charity then it will have been worth it:-) After costs of £81.00 the total raised by those that came tonight was £254.34. A really significant amount from around 50 people a number of whom were children:-) We *think* that when we tot up the sponsor money outstanding that friends and family were collecting for us she will have reached her target. 

Anybody who feels they would like to contribute can still do so online on her just giving page...

https://www.justgiving.com/teams/Millyraisingforcharity

Before....

After...

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Online auction details,,,

Why don't you pop over to the facebook page to see the wonderful items that have been donated  for the online auction...

So far there is.... 
motorcycle memorabilia from the  2011 125cc British gp champion, 
Two lots of hand painted glassware,  a stunning, hand felted, hand crafted bag, a charm bracelet, a magenta pink nail polish pendant necklace, 4 free hours for a commission to have a logo/portrait drawn in a manga style, a half hour clairvoyant consultation by phone or skype,  a Batman beanie hat hand knitted from newborn size to adult, a professionally presented family tree, Gordon the crochet hand puppet is in need of a good home :-),and an eco friendly crochet tote bag,.

All these people are part of the SGP ( super generous people ) gang.... This includes everyone who has donated their products, money, time, to helping us raise money.

There have been more items promised and I am just waiting for the details to come in..

Big love to you all <3 br="br" nbsp="nbsp">

Sunny days with friends...

So many things to do that have taken the little energy I have :-) 

Something had to give and blog posts have been that thing...

Ah well... Although tiring, life has been good..

 A few things sent along to try us and the prospect of a Tribunal next week is weighing me down a bit. The process has been going on since before Xmas ...

Once that is out of the way I will be able to move on... 

Whatever the result is it will be for a reason ...We might not see that clearly in the moment... but life has taught me that there is always a reason.... even if it isn't immediately evident...

We have managed to get out and enjoy a few days with friends :-)  

Allonby beach with Maria, Millie, Grandad and Devan.

Just a few pics as my phone is playing up and won't let me take the photos off on to the laptop:-/ It will mean a phone call to Sony to sort it and these things are never easy are they? Always need to leave twice as long as you think so it will have to wait until a day I have a free couple of hours....

I took my camera but it isn't as easy to keep handy as my phone is and I forgot to get it out once we had met up..

Here are a few I took whilst we waited for them.

It was a lovely sunny day -  a very nice change form the sogginess we have been experiencing ;-)

We had a chat whilst the kids had fun on the park...Milly relived a bit of her childhood as Devan is now into Harry Potter and that factored heavily in the game play. Chips and ice cream were also enjoyed by some ;-)

We took Devan back with us and then Maria and John - known to most as Grandad - came back to ours for a cuppa.

This week we had plans to meet Liz and the girls at A sculpture valley walk.

We got there via a circuitous route...Ahem, yes I got lost and quite spectacularly! So after an hour driving round country roads - without a soul in sight -we found a nice farmer who was able to guide us:-)) 

I have known about this park for years and had never got to visit it but after someone posted a picture on Facebook it reminded me.

The setting was wonderful, tea room was lovely and the cake was delicious:-)) 

There was an art gallery but I didn't get a good look at it so can't make a comment.. 

The sculpture park was.....Erm... tired would be a kind way of  describing it... The premise of a sculpture park was appealing however the execution of it left ( in my opinion ) a lot to be desired...

The weather was lovely so that was a positive and Liz, Catharine and I walked round looking at the sculptures whilst El and Milly sat discussing books :-) 

Milly is not keen to return even the lure of a stone circle and fabulous views won't change her mind. 

Saturday night fever started the trail...

We moved on to find that the advertised willow labyrinth with a bench at the center was no more. The labyrinth was simply a mowed path through some weeds...

On to the sculptures.....Some of which were interesting and some of which were less so ;-)) 

You can make your own mind up....

Milly and I liked this one...

There were of course many wonderful natural sculptural shapes. 

In the gift shop Milly found this card. 

She had always liked to list her hobbies as swimming and Tennis, the truth of the matter was that she happened to be quite petrified of balls and the strong possibility of having water splashed in her face made her reluctant to enter the pool, but she was never quite sure if sitting on the swing looking whimsical could actually be classed as a hobby... 

Soooo perfect for Milly who adores her swing and spends many a happy hour in whimsical thought :-)) 

Most excellent news :-)

A blog post with some FABULOUS NEWS!! 

http://shavingmyhairoff.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/unbelievable.html

We are so amazed at the generosity shown by people! 

Total funds raised now stands at £280.00 with £ 79.00 pledged and more to come tomorrow...

There is going to be an online auction - got to plan a date for that and ask for a few more donations...

We have the opportunity to do a bag pack at Morrisons but need at least 15 people to help out in shifts. Trying to get that many people together on one day isn't that easy...

I have ideas for ways to do it but as yet not had time to put them into practice. 

It seems on average people have made between £300 and £400. 

It would be great if we could do two... One before she shaves her hair and one after...

I have had many ideas for the actual hair shaving event on the 12.12.12. So far non of the ideas have panned out as the people I have asked are unable to help for one reason or another. I have a very active imagination and some of the ideas would work but would require far more energy than I have to give. I have to keep the whole event within my limits whilst ensuring I don't give half measures - if that makes sense? Alan and I are fully committed to helping Milly raise the funds and make as much money as is possible for the two charities. I would hate to get to the end and wish I had done more or dreamed bigger....

There is going to be an *act* of some kind. Preferably Xmas related - we are hoping for a choir/group to perform. Milly and I are going to go round and ask local businesses for raffle prizes on the night and we aim to have some kind of food and drink to be sold...  

Good job we have a good few months to get it all sorted! 

This fundraising malarky is far from easy but days like today make it so worthwhile.

A new post about adding The little Princess Trust as another charity to raise money for.

http://shavingmyhairoff.blogspot.co.uk/

New link on the side bar.

From Milly's blog 

Lynn here :-))

We have been thinking of ideas to keep the blog updated and to get more people reading with the hope that will encourage people to donate and we can raise as much money as possible for Cancer research.

Milly wrote this on her JustGiving page

A few months ago I watched the film "My Sister's Keeper" About a girl with cancer, it touched me deeply, there was a bit were she was saying she was a freak for being bald and I thought about it and got to this, shaving my hair off for cancer research charity.

We are very aware that Milly is making a choice to loose her hair and that many people with Cancer don't have that choice.

As we share Milly's story of her fundraising efforts we thought it would be apt to hear from people who have been through / still going through Cancer to hear their story about the process of loosing their hair and how it affected them.

We don't mean to be insensitive. 

Nor do we want to make light of the situation - unless of course that is part of your story and how you coped.  

If you feel that you would be able to write your story and share it on here or I would love to hear from you.

If  you know of someone who may feel able to please pass on this request. 

You can write it and send it to me to be posted on the blog. 

My email is bamberh@aol.com. 

" Stay strong and shine on" <3

Firstly, an apology to those of you who are seeing this on the other pages I have posted this. I am trying to keep as many people as possible updated on the progress of fundraising and plans we have for the future :-) 

Posted on Milly's face book page this morning..

Good Morning! Lynn here :) I have been deputized and will be adding updates on here alongside Milly :) 

We are having regular planning sessions to discuss ideas and plans to hold an event on the day she has her hair shaved off are coming along. More on that as we have something concrete to report. 

The fundraising pack has arrived and we are going to get the sponsorship forms photocopied and start by knocking on doors in the village and asking family and friends to sponsor Milly.

We hope that some family and friends will take a form and spread the word further by asking their friends and workmates to sponsor her. ♥

Justgiving total stands at £114.00 :-))