Friday, April 24, 2009

Race for the Cure





May 16th is approaching again and my family and friends will gather downtown to participate in the Race for the Cure in honor of my mom, a breast cancer survivor. As much as she can drive me crazy, I don't know what I would do without her. Collin could not dream of having a better Nana to take care of him. She is there any time we need her and it is so nice to know that when Collin is not with us he is with someone that loves him just as much as we do.

Cancer is a dreadful disease that has touched everyones life in one way or another.Just last week a close friend of my mom's died of ovarian cancer. This hit her very hard because her friend went and had a pap smear as soon as she found out my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had been putting off going to the gynecologist for a couple of years and that was the push she needed to go. She was in her early 40's and now she is gone. I'm sure my mom is thinking what the rest of us are...that could have been her.

Thank goodness it wasn't!! We will do our part by honoring her battle and her victory on May 16th. Please, if you are able, click on my donation page and make a small donation.It's really easy and every penny counts-I know times are tough!

Thanks in advance!!

Word Explosion

I think that Collin has officially hit his language explosion. My mom babysits him and she claims he said his first complete sentence. I didn't hear it so it doesn't count in my book but she claims he was on the phone with Brylie and he said "Brylie it's raining" as plain as day. Today I started to notice that his annunciation has really improved over the last few days. He brought one of his toys to me and I said "thank you for the birdhouse". He looked at me funny and said "birdhouse" loud and clear. He must have repeated it 50 times the rest of the day and every time you could tell he was so proud of himself! I can't wait to hear what he says next-LOL!

Wordless Wednesday explanation

Since it is no longer "Wordless Wednesday" I can explain the picture. Collin has a new love of all things pirate. I have no idea how this came about but it is amusing none the less. In the picture he had taken the lid from his frog humidifier and put in on his head. Then he took the piece that screws into the bottom and held it up to his eye. He came out in the hallway and yelled "Mama" when I came to look at him he yelled "AARRRR I'm a pirate"! Not only was I amazed by his creativity but also the fact that I understood what he said. Very funny!

FFF-Theme:Me

This was a hard theme since I am the picture taker in the family. After a lot of searching I was able to find a few-mostly with my favorite little buddy!Only one is a "true" self portrait. I needed a FB pic in my OSU garb. For more FFF, go to Kiss the Frog 4 Me.








Guatoberfest Cruise 2009

My soapbox about the Advent Conspiracy

I came across this video on another blog. I have to admit I only looked at it for entertainment value. I assumed with a title like that, it had to be some wacko conspiracy theory and who doesn't need a good laugh. Suprisingly enough it really touched me and made me think. It didn't grab my interest because of it's religious value, because that's not really my thing. I am not the type of person that flaunts religion or believes in pushing your beliefs onto others. It touched me because of it's human value and because it shows me how quickly I forget.

When we were in Guatemala it was truly a life changing experience for a myriad of reasons, only one of which was bringing home a baby! We saw poverty that we could never imagine in this country. I remember thinking when I was there that despite all of the stress of the situation, I was more at peace than I had ever felt in my life. Among other things, there was no pressure to have more...there was nothing to have. People just lived their lives. Families worked together, lived together in cramped housing-if they had a roof over their heads at all-and they were happy! We were forced to enjoy eachother without our "creature comforts" and I loved it. I now remember hoping that once we got home, I would never lose that idea that we don't really need much at all. I realized our society makes us think we need more but we really don't. And after watching the video it makes me realize that I have failed miserably.


I had made up my mind that in order to honor my new found attitude and our sons heritage, we would sponsor a Guatemalan family every year so that they could have food and heat and their children could go to school-things we take for granted on a daily basis. For some reason I can never seem to find the money to do that- BUT- I can find the money to buy coffee every day, sometimes several times a day, Collin will see a room full of gifts on Christmas morning, I can go out to eat, I can do whatever I want for the most part. My priorities have gone right back to where they were before I experienced Guatemala and it makes me sad. That is the reason that I am posting the video in a permenant spot on the blog, so that I am constantly reminded, not only during Christmas but all year to give PRESENCE to my friends and family not PRESENTS and to give back to something that I feel very strongly about. I don't write this to push Guatemalan charity or any charity but to encourage anyone reading this to slow down and take a look at your life and see what means the most to you and see where it takes you.

Advent Conspiracy