A Great Cause

This Sunday is our annual "Running for Hope" walk.

The run/walk is "Running for Hope" the $ goes to the Ronald McDonald House and Hope Children's Hospital. Two of the most important and meaningful places to my cousin Liz and her husband Ted. Their son Leo was diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) before being born. He actually had multiple defects; within 24 hrs of birth he had open heart surgery. He had multiple complications, lots of ups and downs but through it all he fought to be here. The Ronald McDonald House at Hope opened in Dec. 2009, Liz and Ted had already been at the hospital a few months before sleeping on waiting room chairs, in the car, a nearby motel, anywhere to be close to their son. So when the house opened up it gave Ted and Liz a home, an opportunity to take care of themselves, most importantly a place that was as close as they could possibly be to their son. Knowing they could be there in a heartbeat when and if needed was such a relief to them, one less thing to worry about. 15 months later after multiple surgeries and a tracheotomy they were able to bring Leo home. He was at home a little under 3 months when he became an angel.

We do the run to honor his spirit, his strength, his courage, his determination, and to help families who need the Ronald McDonald House. We do it to support Liz and Ted in a very small way and to let them know they are an inspiration to us all.

Please donate and make a difference. If you donate a minimum of $25 you will be entered into a raffle for a new coach purse!

http://www.active.com/donate/runningforhope2012/LeoSak

Every year there is more and more of us and it's great to see family and friends come out and support this great cause. Leo wasn't with us long but his strong desire to fight left an ever lasting impression in all of our hearts.

Our first walk:


Last year:

Memorial Weekend

We had a lovely Memorial Day Weekend.
Friday, we went to Red Lobster, by the time we were seated D was ready for his food and letting us know in a bratty way.
Saturday and Sunday D spent it with his grandparents having tons of fun while we ran errands, dined at night and relaxed. We went to eat at Cooper's Hawk, I like the place but a pregnant lady cannot take an hour wait especially when a 30-40 minute wait was promised. All was well and we enjoyed dinner and company with our dear friends.
When D got home on Sunday, we made pizza for dinner, went to the park and crashed.

On Monday, we searched on line and cruised to find any open places to have fun but it seems like everything was closed for the day.

We did what responsible home owners do with no place to go, yard work.  D ran around and had a ball with the water hose and "helped" clean. We got our table and chairs out and cleaned and we attacked the ants in the back yard. I also washed windows, no ladders involved!
We are looking forward to a good burger and corn on the cob this evening and maybe a bike trip for some ice cream if it doesn't rain.
Hope you had an awesome Memorial Day Weekend!

Let the summer begin

Daniel's preschool had a little end of the year party yesterday.
I had to drop him off at 8:45am, go back at 9:50, then leave at 10:30 to get to work. Fun times of a working mom!
He's fighting a cold so after 2 hours of being outside he was DONE.

the kids enjoyed games

and snacks

they received adorable memory books from their entire year of school filled with pictures and art work. I'm glad they did my job of scrapbooking.

The kids had to bring 3 crayons each to make this work of art for the teacher as a gift.

Daniel's favorite girl at school. Jessica will be going to kindergarten. He'll have to find a replacement.

Grandma and Grandpa came too so mommy could dart back to work.

I was hot as hell, my allergies have kicked in. D and I were pretty miserable outside.

We are ready for the weekend!!
Have a safe and wonderful Memorial Day!
We are going appliance shopping for our hopefully happening soon kitchen remodel. (GASP!)

Top 10 things to know about the first year of preschool

This post is intended for adults, although I'm sure the list might be similar if you ask any 4 year old.

10. Making creative lunches sucks when peanut butter, GoGurt, anything that MAY spill or get your kid dirty is on the list of "We suggest NOT to pack these for kids" that is handed out at the beginning of the year. Daniel has stopped eating his jelly sandwiches all together.
9. The amount of paperwork in the "red folder" to review, fill out or remember can make any scatter brained mom nuts.
8. This may be specific to private schools but I doubt it...the amount of fundraisers and requests for donations is crazy. I have never gone through so many checks in one year.
7. I need to ask my boss to double my days off next year just to account for the amount of days D gets off of school during the year. That's not including X-Mas and Spring break.
6. Teachers and their assistants remember cute shirts you put on your kid, then they mention it to you, then you think you have to keep it up and continue to dress him in cute shirts and you drive yourself nuts at night picking out outfits.

5. Kids pick up the good and the bad. Everyday D brings something new home, usually a new attitude.

I'm sad mommy

I'm angry

I'm happy

I'm excited

I'm smiling one last time and then I will lose it. He did!

4. When your kid's teacher is like 8 years younger than you, slimmer, blonder and more tanned you can't help but to step it up at every parent/teacher conference with a cleaner pony tail, some lip gloss and a pair of non-stained pants. Especially if hubby is coming along.
3. Every notification that says "The Health office would like you to be aware that we have (insert illness, virus here) in our school, please ensure your child is vaccinated" makes you want to pull them out ASAP and disinfect the entire house.
2. Get ready to be invited to tons of parties. You'll be excited at first until your budget takes a beating and right in the middle of a Saturday you have to drive your kid to a party and stay there because that's what good parents do. Your entire day is shot to hell. Your kid is cranky and tired afterwards and wants the toys he just saw his friend open. FUN TIMES!
1. You'll meet tons of moms that become great friends because they have done this roller coaster the year before and you'll cling to them and collect their numbers so you can one day ask them "what kind of a F#ing flower are we supposed to bring again?" or "when is this SH$%# due?"

I survived the first year of preschool. Tomorrow is his last day of the year. Now for the summer...

HOT Weekend

It was a hot weekend. We made the best of it, cooling down in the back yard. I slaved away planting veggies D ran around like a wild man.

I caved and bought him Crocks. I don't like them and I think they are an accident waiting to happen but it's a good alternative to water shoes.

That is our second and LAST ball. These things SUCK. They work for a total of 10 minutes before half the thing fills up with water. It think the tiny hose inside couldn't handle the water pressure and burst AGAIN. We will be enjoying a good old fashion sprinkler next time. This time last year he wouldn't even run through it and this year he's a pro. He gave his tricycle a good wash.

We went to the park early in the morning. It was so darn hot we didn't last too long.

The park was empty. Poor little guy usually runs like a maniac but he was even too hot.

MIA

I'm back to blogging. We have been quite busy lately. I took a much needed break and didn't think I would want to blog again but I did miss it. I also realized that blogging forces me to take pictures of memories.
In the last couple of months we have:

1. Celebrated a 4th birthday for Daniel

  2. We have been attending some end of the year performances

 

 3. We celebrated Easter

 4. We have been enjoying the beginning of Spring

5. Daniel got a big boy hair cut

BEFORE:

 AFTER:

And our biggest announcement is that we are going to be adding another member to our family in November. We are 95% sure that it's a BOY!! We are excited and starting to prepare D to be a big brother, we know he will be great.