Making monkeys and prayers for Oklahoma

First off, I want to say that Oklahoma has been in my mind and on my heart, as I'm sure it has much of the nation's. I was born and raised not too far from all the destruction and I'm heartbroken for those who have lost so much.

I tried to write a post about it but everything I wrote sounded trite and meaningless. All I can say is that I pray for the families rebuilding and that I'm so grateful for all the financial and material donations that I've seen pouring in.

My five year old and I were discussing it the following day and I asked her what she thought the kids who lost their homes would want us to send. I thought she would say something practical like food, toothpaste or  diapers for the babies. Instead, she said "If I lost my home I would miss Illabelle." This refers to a stuffed monkey my mom crocheted for her second birthday. For her fifth birthday, she received Jubilee (boy monkey) and after a whirlwind courtship of one day, they were married. I have it on good authority that Baby Jubilee will be joining the family in due time (he's already hidden in my mom's closet).

Anyway, Big Girl is quite attached to her monkeys, so she told me she wanted to make monkeys for the children who lost all their things.

I got right on it and recruited help from my knit/crochet group at church. I'm not sure how many monkeys we will end up sending but I got a huge positive response to the idea. Of course, along with monkeys will go many prayers for healing and recovery.

Monkey in progress. I used this pattern from another blogger. Although after taking this picture, I realized I sewed it together wrong. Genius.