Danielle Burkleo

my 25th birthday: the joyful life library

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well, the day has come. i have hit the half way to fifty milestone and i am FEELING it.
i kid, i kid.
i feel the same as i did yesterday really. except today i feel extra thankful for the 25 years i have been given and for the abundant blessings in my life. a couple months back i started to think about what i could do with my blog to bless others on my birthday…
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one of the greatest things about blogging for me is the relationships i have made and the friendships i have formed. i am sure a lot of you know heather. i am blessed by her friendship and so thankful that the Lord allowed our paths cross in this crazy blog world. although we have never met in person (YET…can someone say september!?) i still consider her one of my dearest friends. today is my birthday and it is also her wedding anniversary. my boys were each both born on the 19th. brody april 19th, foster november 19th. two of heather’s children, henry and piper, we both born on the 19th as well. henry and brody share april 19th for a birthday and piper was born on march 19th. we were clearly meant to be friends.
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heather has another precious child, samuel, who went home to be with Jesus at six weeks old. samuel was born with an intestinal birth defect that caused him to contract a terminal form of bacterial meningitis. heather has chosen to be joyful, chosen to walk worthy and chosen to glorify God in her life. she is a constant inspiration for me to be thankful in all things and she has taught me to view trials in my life as gifts. i will be forever grateful for that.
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after samuel’s death heather felt a tugging at her heart to help comfort and care for families with children in the PICU. while spending time there herself, she realized the importance of bringing a sense of normality to people in crisis. heather went right to work and created the joyful life library project.
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you can read more about the joyful life library here.
being able to be a small part of this project is such a blessing to me,
and i am so excited for you all to be a part of it as well.
the joyful life library project started off at cardon children’s medical center in arizona, and just this month has expanded to miller children’s hospital in long beach, ca and riley hospital for children in indiana.
all of the books purchased for this giveaway will go directly to riley hospital for children.
i contacted twenty five of my favorite shops and asked them to participate in my 25th birthday giveaway by donating an item to benefit the joyful life library.
all of these items will be going to ONE WINNER.

in order to enter this giveaway you will have to buy a book for the joyful life library. every book equals one entry/one comment. please leave a comment for each book you purchase.
heather made things super easy for us and set up an amazon.com account just for the joyful life library. you will be able to pick out the books you would like and they will automatically ship directly to the hospital. i love that each of you who participates will be able to choose the books you would like to purchase for these children and families.
what if each of you reading purchased one book for the joyful life library? can you imagine the lives that would be touched? the mothers that would be so grateful? the smiles on those children’s faces?
please keep in mind that amazon offers free shipping on all orders over $25 and please save your confirmation email from amazon.com once your books are purchased. i will need this forwarded to me if you are the winner.
here is what you are entering to win:
(brace yourselves)
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a huge thank you to each of the shops participating in this giveaway.
this giveaway will be open for one week.
the winner will be chosen by random.org and announced friday, april 29th.
my heart is so full when i think about the families and the children who will be blessed by these books.
thank you for being a part of the joyful life library project.
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Comments

  1. happy birthday! xoxo
    #1 i picked a "little critter" book because they are hysterical and i pray children at the hospital will get some laughs.

  2. enjoy your day today! xo
    #2 i chose "mr brown can moo-dr suess" because the funny sounds you read throughout make my little guy giggle-praying for joy in the midst of these hospital days for these children! xo

  3. meepmeep. you are twenty five. holler. god bless you, sweet girl!
    #3 chose a ruth krauss book "the happy day"-a very fave of mine. its darling illustrations and simple message is certain to warm up a cold hospital stay. praying for this project. what a ministry!! xoxo
    Psalm 86:10
    "For you are great and do wondrous things;
    you alone are God."
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

  4. Bless you for celebrating your birthday in such a manner and bless Heather for spearheading this cause!!

    I purchased From Head to Toe by Eric Carle – one of my favorite children's authors.

  5. Happy Birthday Danielle! I hope you have a truly wonderful day. I love that you are doing this! I purchased The Very Hungry Caterpillar because it's one that I read to my boys often. It's one of our favorites, and I love the thought of sharing it with another family!

  6. Oh wow, this is totally amazing & inspiring! Happy HAPPY Birthday to you, Danielle. I absolutely love the thoughtfulness & sincerity of this post, and I hope they get lots of books. I just purchased The Peace Book, by David Carr; an absolute favorite in our personal library. Best wishes & have a blessed day!

  7. I just bought and sent Good Night Moon. It is an all time favorite of mine. This is an amazing opportunity and I feel blessed to have been able to contribute. Thank you! And Happy Birthday dear friend.

  8. happy birthday blog friend!!! oh my goodness…this is the coolest thing ever 🙂 i LOVE that you are doing this! i just bought several books to send to the hospital. i absolutely loved reading as a child and so i pray that this gift touches the lives of the children that read them. thanks so much for setting all of this up. book #1 Love You Forever. all. time. favorite.

  11. book #4…The Berenstain Bears Count their Blessings. Love Berenstain Bears. Love counting my blessings.

  20. book #5…The Little Critter: The Best Teacher Ever. I used to play school when I was little and would write different names in the fronts of all my books and then set them around the table and "teach" the imaginary students. I'm sure I thought I was the best teacher ever.

  21. book #6…Are You My Mother in Espanol. I don't speak spanish, but I'm sure one of those little sweet children do 🙂

  22. hi! just found your blog, this is such a great cause. you should be so proud that having this blog has led you to be able to do something so great so many people.

    i just bought "Curious George and the Hot Air Balloon" – i really hope whoever gets to read it enjoys it!

  24. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I remember my 25th like it was yesterday, and here I am now 30 wondering where the last 5 years went!

    Riley Hospital is in my hometown, and many people I know have been cared for there. My youngest nephew will be having surgery there in a few weeks. He won't be in PICU and he can't read yet (only a few months old!), but it's still good to know that someone will be enjoying these books while he's there! You'll notice that I purchased a few Curious George books. They're my husband's favorite, and are becoming the favorites of the little people in our lives too!

    Book #1 Curious George Goes to the Beach

  31. um, this? this is amazing. and makes me believe that at 25, we can absolutely live lives full of grace ~ this is what grace is all about.

    book #1: The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes

  39. book #9: Go, Dog. Go! (in Spanish)

    can i just say again how awesome this is? i love seeing bloggers use their talents/gifts/connections for something bigger. thanks for being an inspiration!

  42. and the spanish version of Are you my Mother (my kids' favorite…i know the book by memory)

  44. richard scarry please and thank you.

    lowly worm was my favorite character when i was five.
    FAVORITE.

  45. and freight train.

    my boys were obsessed with this one as toddlers.

    going…going…..GONE.

  47. and of course…..ALexander adn teh terrbile horrible no good very bad day because that book is all kinds of awesome.

    i hate limas.

  53. AND another harry the dirty dog and the lady next door because it made since to bring the total to an even number. 🙂

    danielle please feel free to fix all my typos because i always press submit before i catch what i wrote.

    and happy birthday…..it's craiggers birthday too.
    he is 37.
    ouch.

    AND this is the best birthday giveaway idea.
    love it. love books. love helping. love gratitude.
    love you.
    🙂
    i can say that because YOUR HEART is obvious…loud and clear.
    have a fabulous AMMMMAAAAAZING (like oprah) birthday.
    you are just a baby!
    25.
    sigh.

  68. The fourth.
    My last child of 4 was born at that hospital. Fabulous and thank you so so much for doing this generous and gracious birthday tribute to that PICU!

  69. hi. happy birthday dano. i bought a book in spanish since i am half mexican. i know, i know. no one believes me. anyway, this is a perfect idea. hope your day is the bomb.com.

  70. look at all these comments! Praise God!!

    i just purchased 'i love trains'. Emerson loves trains and i am overjoyed to think of how happy this will make a dear boy somewhere!

  72. Crap! Forgot to actually list my books last night. Ok, here goes….

    #1 GoodNight Moon

  75. #4 The Going-To-Bed Book

    Happy Birthday Lady! Welcome to the 25 club. Yay quarter century!

  76. Happy Birthday! This is a great way to celebrate!

    #1 Time for School, Mouse!

    Jessica H. (jah019@shsu.edu)

  88. I love the idea of participating in a giveaway means helping others! I gave The Peace Book.

  91. #15 The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear

    Jessica H. (jah019@shsu.edu)

  97. #21 Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business

    Jessica H. (jah019@shsu.edu)

  98. This is SO neat! It was so fun to order those book! It reminded me of some of my childhood books that i had forgoten about.

    What a blessing this much be to those families in the hospital.
    Thank you for letting us in and asking us to help out! It's blessed my heart.

    I ordered Big Max and the Mystery of the Missing Giraffe.

  99. #22 Snow book & CD set

    Thanks for letting me be a part of such a wonderful birthday celebration!
    Jessica H. (jah019@shsu.edu)

  106. Holy cow! I had to go back and re-read the instructions… only ONE winner gets all of that!! WOW! As much as I really really want to win (especially the gorgeous "joy" wreath), I am very excited to know that some children and caretakers will find joy in reading just like my son and I do. We are huge Sandra Boynton fans at the Kroh house so naturally book #1 was "Snuggle Puppy"!
    DanaLKroh[at]gmail.com
    http://nestofkrohs.blogspot.com

  107. And book #2 is "Doggies" also by Sandra Boynton… again, I adore her books :0)
    Happy birthday to you! Hope that it is a blessed day and am really inspired by your choice to give back on your birthday. Something to consider when I celebrate my 25! Woot woot!
    DanaLKroh[at]gmail.com
    http://nestofkrohs.blogspot.com

  109. And There Was an Old Lady because it's a classic and I remember singing the song with my sister when we were little! And again, happy birthday to you. And, you are too stinkin awesome to do this for your bday!

  118. and Blue Hat, Green Hat. Sandra Boynton's books are always so much fun to read with the little ones!! Happy 25th Birthday!

  126. I picked "Time for School, Mouse!" These books are great for beginning readers! I use them in classroom.

  127. The second book I choose was, "Caps for Sale." This is one of my all time favorite books ever. We acted it out when I was in school. The kids will love the monkeys!

  128. Board books are the best and last a long time. For that I choose, "Little Blue Truck Board Book."

  129. I also choose, "Buenas noches a todos/ The Going to Bed" book. A great book for all! Can you tell I love books?! What a great project!

  130. I was so happy to order a Sandra Boynton book to send to the hospital- my kids LoVe her work:) Hope you've had a marvelous birthday and love the blessings that are taking place through this fun give-away!

  134. And a little bit of "Donde esta el ombliguito", since belly buttons are apparently littler in Spanish….

  135. And "Opuestos" to round out the Spanish collection….

    I'm so glad that you are taking on this project!

  136. So amazing! Happy Birthday!

    i just picked "rosie's walk"

    God Bless you and your great big heart!

  138. What a great idea! I'm getting one to represent each of my healthy children that God has blessed me with!
    #1 I love trains

  143. What a great idea…happy birthday! I donated "If You Give A Moose A Muffin…" (because it's so much fun to read!)

  144. Oh, and I also sent one called "Peek-A-Moo!" It's my son's favorite book, and he's loved it since he was only a few months old!

  157. Just sent one! Thank you for doing this. 🙂

    deana rooks
    Deanarooks[at]gmail.com

  158. happy birthday danielle! what a great way to celebrate! i bought Corduroy- in 1st grade we each got to take Corduroy home for a week and write a journal of what we did with him. i love that little bear & i hope these kids will too 🙂

  159. Happy Birthday Danielle! I can't pass up on this fabulous cause and fabulous prize pack. So many shops I love. This is for book number 1!

  162. Happy Birthday Danielle! Grouchy Ladybug is on it's way!!! <3 🙂 Had to, total ladybug lover over here!

  166. Love what you are doing here! My mom is a kindergarten teacher and taught me to love books!

    I bought "If you give a mouse a cookie…" Classic!

  168. And "Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!"

    Also, I'm a nurse with a special place in my heart for the PICU! Great project! Happy birthday Danielle!

  169. Hi Danielle! I've been reading your blog for a while now, but this is the first time I am actually commenting! So great what you are doing to celebrate your birthday – I bought two books for a fabulous cause!

    #1 – Harold and the Purple Crayon – because its awesome.

  173. What a great idea! I bought "Freight Train" in honor of my 8 week old nephew Zane. He went home to Jesus after spending some time in a PICU in Kansas. What a blessing this will be for the families in Indiana.

  175. I immediately connected with this cause because I lost my son when he was only eight days old. I was floored to see that the Joyful Life Library expanded to Miller Children's this month–that's where my son died.

    Book #1: If you Give a Cat a Cupcake

  192. Thanks for doing such an awesome thing for your birthday! It's a great idea that I just might steal! 🙂

    #15 Biggest, Strongest, Fastest (second copy)

    Jessica H. (jah019@shsu.edu)

  193. I sent Inside Freight Train by Donald Crews. I'm brand new to your blog (just became a follower today!) and this was the first post I saw– love it! What a wonderful cause! I'm a preschool teacher/ wanna-be children's book writer, so I definitely know the importance of books!

  197. Book #2: Shake My Sillies Out (Raffi songs to read) by Raffi because I loved Raffi when I was little 🙂

@danielleburkleo