urbanbundle

it’s been a while since a true blog post. i felt this story really deserved a special mention.

back when haiti was hit with the devastating earthquake, we watched the music benefit on t.v. and anya watched with us. she asked what happened to all those people and why were they living in a place “all crumbled up.”

john and i always do our best to explain things in a way that anya (who is now 5) will understand. she’s very smart and thinks about things and tends to never forget (this can be both a blessing and a curse, by the way.) we explained that there was a very bad earthquake and a lot of buildings were destroyed and lots of people got hurt. anya then asked “are there kids in haiti?” “yes”, i answered. she said “are we going to help them?” “yes, we sent money.” i answered.

so, fast forward about 3 weeks or so. anya came to me one afternoon with a little cloth purse filled with coins. typically we give her any spare change and let her put it in a piggy bank. when said piggy bank is full, she gets to go do something or pick out a toy with the money. when she showed me the purse filled with coins, i said “wow, you better go put that in your piggy bank so you don’t lose it.” she said “no mommy, this money isn’t for me. it’s for kids in haiti.” my eyes began to well up. i felt warm inside and so very proud.

“that’s a very good thing to do.”, i said. and she wandered off and put the little purse in a safe place.

since then, any spare change she finds, it goes straight to that purse. today, she said she wanted to use the money in her piggy bank as well to send to haiti.

for all the days i’m frustrated with my head-strong 5 year old, this makes it all worth it. i know that she gets it. she’s able to feel compassion and knows it’s important to help people.

i heard these phrases so many times…
“they grow up so fast!”
“cherish this time because before you know it, they’re all grown up!”
“it goes by too fast!”

wasn’t she just this little a few months ago?

has it really been 2 years?!

and here i am all melancholy about my little baby turning two years old on saturday.

she did grow up so fast. yet she’s still such a little peanut. it’s hard for me to believe she’s two.

happy birthday, sweet stella grace!

here’s this weeks post for iheartfaces. the theme is “my story in photos – summer edition.” be sure to click on the button above to check out all the other great entries!

for relief from the heat, i try to take my kids to the sprayground at least a few times during the really hot summer days. it’s a favorite for us, and the best part is that it’s completely free! how can you beat that?!

we pack lots of snacks and drinks and splash for hours. warning: if you bring your sandwich into the sprayers, it gets a bit soggy.

we bring water toys and buckets to fill.

it makes for a great day. and very tired kids when all is said and done.

my idea of a perfect activity for a hot summer day.

for those of you that know my little talker, this story will come as no surprise to you.

for those of you that have not had the priviledge of meeting my little stella, well…you’ll just have to take my word for it. she talks. she talks a lot. she speaks in full sentences. did i mention she’s not 2 years old yet? yea. it’s pretty insane. and to top it all off, she’s small for her age. it’s like talking to a 4 year old in an 18 month old body.

yesterday she came into the kitchen and said this:

“mommy! i so mad!” (she was also crying a little bit.)
“oh no…why are you mad, stella?”
” mommy, i have boogs in my nose!” (pointing to her gross snotty nose.)
“what should we do about that?”
“i don’t wike it, mommy! i want to hode you!” (i love that kids say “hold you” – it’s the cutest thing ever.)

we had an entire conversation about her nose and why she was mad.

i sometimes have to step back and remind myself that i’m not talking to my 4 year old. i’m talking like this with my nearly 2 year old.

i love that i can just ask her what is wrong and she will tell me – in a full sentence. i can ask her what she wants and she will tell me – in a full sentence.

on the flip side, i have a feeling i might be in trouble in a few years.

but let’s just focus on the now.

john and i got married under some special circumstances.

we got engaged in february of 2002. we planned on getting married the following spring, but
john’s mom clara was diagnosed with very advanced colon cancer in may of 2002. we decided to do an
impromptu wedding so his mom could be there to witness our nuptials. we had about a day and a half to
get all the logistics ironed out. we only had two other guests at our wedding besides john’s parents; his sister katie and his sister mary, who was visiting from minnesota to help out with their sick mother.

i’m glad we were able to give clara this gift. i know it meant a lot for her to see her “baby” (john’s the youngest of 8.) tie the knot.

clara went to heaven on august 30th, 2002.

by the time our 1 year anniversary came around, we thought instead of doing another wedding, we would just throw a big reception. we were already married and felt we just wanted to get our family and friends together to celebrate.

in july of 2003 we threw a huge reception. we even did our own invitations.

my favorite thing of all was our “guest book.”

we decided to have a couple of polaroid cameras at the entrance and people were asked to take a photo of themselves and then write a message to the bride and groom on special paper we had sitting out.

the photo and the message got dropped in a bag and later we put them all in a book. i love looking back at what people said to us.

i think this means so much more than just a one line note in a guest book. the guests seemed to enjoy participating too.

we have lots to be thankful for and this book shows us all the people we are so blessed to have in our lives.

i’ll leave you salivating over our cheesecake (neither one of us is overly fond of regular cake – so we had these made instead.)

i love looking back at old photos of the kids. i thought i’d look at some from a year ago.

so much changes in a year.

they grow so fast.

here’s anya in 2008 and in 2009 – still smiling

here’s stella in 2008 and 2009 – still a petite little thing

stella is almost 2. i can’t get over it. where did my baby go?

busy days means not a lot of time spent blogging.

but, i wanted to share some photos from a recent trip we took to the san ramon kite and wind festival.
though i didn’t take any photos of kites (or wind for that matter)

i did get these pictures of anya on the airplane ride.

she wasn’t having any fun. not at all.

i love this one of john throwing stella in the air.

or catching her out of the air.

depends on how you look at it.

stella really loved the purple balloon.

really, really, loved it.

it was a fun family day.

is it really happening? 

wasn’t she just this big last week?

my little girl is growing up so fast!

where did the time go?

can i keep her this size forever?

i know i can’t. but i can wish, right?

my little princess started preschool today. no tears (that i know of.)

i hope she is kind.
i hope she remembers to say please and thank you.
i hope she remembers how to share.
i hope she makes lots of new friends.
i hope she listens.
i hope she misses her mommy, just a little.

well, he did it! john raised $1564 for the st. baldrick’s foundation for pediatric cancer research.

i was so glad he raised as much as he did during these hard economic times. our goal was not met, but he was in third place for the most money raised by an individual at this event at the uc davis cancer center.

we wanted to do something fun with john’s hair this year. why not, right – i mean it’s going away anyway. so we decided for every $10 people donated, they got a “ticket” entered into a drawing to decide what color to dye his hair.

the winning color…pink. bubble-head pink, to be exact.

because his hair is so dark, thick, and did i mention dark? we had to bleach it first. i couldn’t have been happier about playing hairdresser. it didn’t matter if i messed up!

home bleaching kit in hand, i went to work. surprisingly, his hair began to lighten immediately after application.

i was pretty shocked. unfortunately, without the help of a salon dryer, we never got his hair fully blonde. in fact, it was a lovely day-glow yellow. pretty.

next came the application of the bubble-head pink. i just love that name. there was no way for me to apply this stuff without getting it all over his scalp. oh well…new nickname, “pinky.”

so, needless to say, it was a great event again. lots of people turned out again all with the same mission and what a great feeling to know we played a small part in helping these kids.

we still desperately need your help. even if it’s just $1 – it all counts and makes a difference. donations are down this year – for all the obvious reasons, the economy, etc. times are tough. but lets all do our part to blast pediatric cancer!

st. baldrick’s is the world’s largest volunteer-driven fundraising event for childhood cancer research. thousands of volunteers shave their heads in solidarity of children with cancer, while requesting donations of support from friends and family.

at a st. baldrick’s event, something amazing happens. people who normally shy away from the very thought of childhood cancer find themselves compelled to support this cause after looking into the face of these brave children who are smiling broadly as their friends and family members proudly display their newly shorn heads.

volunteers and donors see it can be fun to support a serious cause. young cancer patients and survivors see how many people care. and researchers see st. baldrick’s funds helping to find cures!

last year, john raised over $2000 for childrens’ cancer research. at the event, the emcee asked the audience how much they would pay to see john shave one of his eyebrows off; to which he responded “it better be a lot of money and i’m shaving both!” i can’t remember the exact dollar amount, but i think he raised almost another $500 cash at the event by shaving both eyebrows and his goatee. i couldn’t get over the number of kids participating in this event in honor of a friend or relative that was battling cancer. it really warms your heart to see so many kids there for such a great cause.

this is a very fun event! john is participating again this year at uc davis cancer center on march 12th. i’m here to solicit your help with anything you can give. times are tough, i know. the one thing i keep telling myself whenever i get down about the economy is that at least my family is healthy. not everyone can say that.

if you would like to donate, please go to john’s page and follow the links.

here are some photos from last year’s event: