You, our clients are absolutely amazing - yes YOU!! My plan was to thank all of those people who donated baby, and household goodies on this newsletter however I seriously cannot fit all of the names. I am shocked and unbelievably surprised at the generosity of people. I have been given cheques, furniture (brand new), lots of baby clothes, baby furniture, HUGE hampers, toys, even a brand new bike, the list just goes on and on.

For those of you who are not understanding this I am helping with setting up a home for homeless young mums so that they can live in with their babies. These women and babies have been abused most of their lives so my plan is to help these mums experience a fantastic life and to become the loving and nurturing mum those babies deserve. I work with goal setting, self-esteem growth, going back to school/work to get an education and lots more.

WOW- so all of the donated goods have helped so very much to get these girls started in the newly built home. The first lot of girls move in, in March 2010. I will keep you updated. Fact - did you know every 5 minutes in Australia a child is abused either mentally, sexually or physically.. We need to help put a stop to these poor little babies from being murdered time and time again-too often.

For those who helped I say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus? Claustrophobic.
Anonymous

Did you ever notice that life seems to follow certain patterns? Like I noticed that every
year around this time, I hear Christmas music.
Tom Sims

Christmas is a time when everybody wants his past forgotten and his present remembered.
What I don't like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day.
Phyllis Diller

The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C.
This wasn't for any religious reasons. They couldn't find three wise men and a virgin.
Jay Leno

Anyone who believes that men are the equal of women has never seen a man
trying to wrap a Christmas present.
Anonymous

Why is Christmas just like a day at the office? You do all the work and the fat guy
with the suit gets all the credit.
Anonymous

Christmas is a race to see which gives out first - your money or your feet.
Anonymous

I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included.
Bernard Manning

Come to me. I want to plow you like a Calgary driveway at Christmas.
John Cleese, "Mony Python"

There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.
Erma Bombeck

There are many factors that influence the growth and success of a business. One of the most important is determination. Without the will to succeed, many business owners find it hard to deal with the many obstacles that litter the road to success. For the team at Signs'n'Banners in Victoria, that 'True Grit' spirit has seen a hobby grown into a vibrant business that's firing with all guns blazing.

Partners Stacey and David are the duo behind Signs'n'Banners. For David, creating signage was really a backyard business/ weekend hobby. Already friends, I approached David with the idea of turning Signs'n'Banners into a fully functioning, successful signage shop. We both agreed. “As this was just a newly established business I was excited about the challenge”. I started being involved in the business in February 2007, by September 2007, Signs'n'Banners was a 'Business Achiever' 2007 finalist in our local paper.”

David's background is in mechanical engineering. However, he later went on to study marketing, real estate and quality control. Before Signs'n'Banners, David's work experience included a diverse range of fields such as quality control, sales of capital equipment and printed goods, and working in the field of real estate.

For myself, the road that led to Signs'n'Banners' has been an incredibly hard but inspiring one. I have lived life without my mum, was abused at age nine, fell pregnant at age fifteen, had a second child at age nineteen, and at one point when my son was three and my daughter was four months old, I was homeless and sleeping on a friends floor. For me, the hard years continued as I suffered a life of domestic violence. “Now you may be thinking this is a sad and sorry story, however these are my lessons I have learnt in life that are now my gifts to give and share with others”. “I discovered my higher purpose in life and that is to help other young mums gain back their self-esteem, discover their passions in life and to take action to achieve them.” I now have four delightful children Josh 13, Tahlia 10, Jack 8 and my little bub Toby 9 weeks. My life is finally where I have visualised it to be for many years.