Wordless Wednesday: Daddy's Girl

St. Baldricks Foundation

I am very proud of a choice my husband has made. He is participating in this years St. Baldrick's Foundation fundraiser at Helen Fitzgerald's Irish Pub on March 5 at noon.

I was introduced to this by a friend of mine, Kierstin. Their neighbors, the Long Family lost their son Charlie to neuroblastoma. He was diagnosed April 2004 and passed away September 2006. For two years Dave and I have donated to her husband's participation of this event. Last year after the event I mentioned to Dave about it and he was on board.

Not only did Charlie's fight touch me, but the fight of my cousins' son Gryphon touches me every day. I can't imagine what goes through Heidi and Tom's mind if he gets sick, or what they went through while he was getting treatment. But I know because of this foundation medical teams throughout the US are able to discover new ways to help fight this disease.

Currently one of my best friend's nephew is undergoing experimental treatment for his battle against neurofibromatosis and neuroblastoma. He is currently being treated by the National Cancer Institute Pediatric Oncology Center in Bethesda Maryland because here in St. Louis they have tried all the treatments that are available for him.

So if you could find it in your heart to help out this wonderful foundation, please go to Dave's page to donate. You can also click on the picture of the 3 boys (to the right) to go to Dave's page.

Every little bit will help him reach his goal, and it would be great for him to exceed it. Dave has a great heart and by him doing this shows it even more, not only is he honoring Charlie's life buy participating, he is supporting the medical field in finding a cure for Cameron as well as celebrating Gryphon's strength and triumph over his battle with cancer.

PS. If you come out of blogger, you will se a new blog design as well as the link in the side bar.

Bike Riding Fun

In February we were getting spring fever so we got the kids out of the house to ride their bikes. Chloe had lots of fun pushing Caelyn around on her tricycle she got from Santa.

Look who else got in on the bike riding fun.

The Godfrey Corn Maze

The weekend of Oct 17 and 18th, we just had Caelyn. Chloe went to the lake with my parents. Not only did she go to the lake, but she also went into Branson, MO to go shopping but she got to spend a day at Silver Dollar City. She told us all about it. She loved all the rides, she even rode a big roller coaster, put her hands in the air, and screamed. She also told me that she told Grandpa that there was nothing to be scared about on the rides. At one point my parents called me to tell me how the day was going and said they tried to get her to go into one of the toy stores there and she didn't want to cause she wanted to go on a ride. Our girl loves roller coasters..lol So while Chloe was gone we took advantage of being able to spend some one on one time with Caelyn. My friend Leanne emails about going to the Great Godfrey Corn Maze so I mentioned it to Dave. We decided to go and asked Aunt Cindy to come along too. Besides Dave being anti-social to the girls that I knew it was alot of fun. Dave and I had actually been there 6 years ago, but have never made it back since having the girls. I think this is something we will start doing each year. It was alot of fun and I think if Chloe was there it would have been even more fun.

Every year the maze theme is different. I want to say when we were there before the theme was the Wizard of Oz. This year it was Medieval Times. So if you were looking at the maze from above you would see a knight on a horse and a castle. When you go into the maze (which is actually 2 different sections) they give you tasks to complete to be able to find your way through it, they also give you a flag that you can hold up if you get lost in there. The first year they were riddles to figure out and specific points to tell you which way to turn, this year you had to find numbers with hole punches. For some reason I don't remember it being as easy as it was this time. WE started off doing phase one of the maze, then we moved to the corn crib (it is a giant sandbox, but corn instead of sand), then on to phase two. They also offer a hay ride and "dragon" rides (which were kiddie barrel rides).

Dave turned 30

So on September 10, Dave turned 30. I had known I wanted to do something special for hi so I threw him a surprise party. With the help of his friends Eric and Chris, I was able to pull it off. I invited about 20 of his friends over to help celebrate the day. There were a few times he questioned things, but I was always able to cover my trail. The first major one was when his work decided that having 2 teams of guys to work the Saturday shift was not going to work. When the initial Saturday work schedule was passed out the weekend I picked was a weekend he had to work. I picked that weekend for that matter (and it was also the only other weekend in September that I didn't have to work). Well when I found out he wasn't working I had to go to work. So I called his shop Foreman and asked him to put Dave on the schedule for that day, I explained the situation so the problem was solved. All in all it turned out great, we had a good showing. He did end up coming home a different way so he recognized a few cars, but he was still surprised that I threw him a party.

My friend Ame Dickey of Dickey Design made the invitations and I got the yummy cake from The Cakery Bakery. I also got a GREAT deal on the lounge furniture through Exclusive Events, Inc.

We are having a party...

so things are getting done around the house. It's it how it always goes..lol. So I showed you the patio in this post. Well now we (or really Dave) have been working on refinishing the patio furniture we got from my parents. They purchased it back in 2004 for our engagement party and well the pieces we have were only used then. My parents took the couch and 2 rocking chairs to the lake and use them on their deck (which I would really like those pieces but beggars can't be choosers right). So we got the table 5 chairs and the swing. Well really we don't have a table anymore cause hooligans (man don't I sound old there) dumbed our table one night and broke the glass as well as bent the frame so it does need to be replaced.

Since the furniture hadn't been used in over 5 years, there was a lot of rust on the pieces. Dave sanded them and primed them up with something to stop the rusting (car grade of course..lol) and then because I really wanted black furniture, that is what he painted them. The next step that will probably not happen prior to the party is to recover the cushions. I have some flower pots that I painted earlier this spring in red, orange, and yellow. I would love to find something in stripes or circles in these colors. I also have found a really easy way to make a slip cover for the cushions so you can unzip them and throw them in the washer, how great is that?

Everything is slowly coming together but I guess that is like anyone in a house, baby steps. My dad is going to help with a few things that need to also just get done (not just because we are having Caelyn's party here). I have the office 99.9% done to the way I like it, the TV room is only missing a bookshelf, the dining room is complete (or will be 100% when my Aunt Lisa comes in town for the party to help cover the dining room chairs). Just normal household things that need to be done, but I am super excited to be getting things in better order around the household. It feels like a never ending battle.

Swimming Season

Chloe has really gotten into swimming so we decided that we would get a little blow up pool for the backyard. Well it was the best 5 bucks we have spent so far this summer. Chloe, Caelyn, and Dave get that bad boy out quite often and go for a "swim."

Happy Father's Day

Today is Dave's third Father's Day. It is amazing how fast time flies. He got a massage from the girls and I this year and enjoyed it very much. Today is a realxing day for all of use as we are going to also visit with his dad and my parents sometime today.

I cooked him Banana Nut Pancakes, hashbrowns and bacon for breakfast and tonight (with my parents) we are having ribs and pork steaks with cole slaw, baked beans, garlic bread, and fruit salad and maybe a cobbler, if I feel up to it.

So Happy Fathers day to all the dads out there, whether you are waiting on your miracle or they are all grown up we hope your day is wonderful.

Florida Fishing

So Dave and my dad pretty much fished the entire time we were down there. Dad turned Dave into a fishing lover. They didn't have the best of luck but they had fun which is all that matters right.

My dad caught a keeper Sturgeon and yes that is a stingray in the bottom right. Dave caught that off the dock in the canal.

3 months late is better than never...right?

So our family vacation to Florida was bitter sweet. It was the first and last time Caelyn would vacation in the house I grew up vacationing in. While I know this is for the best and we can do so much more because of it, it is still really sad. I mean how many kids still could go to a special place that you shared with your Grandma. I think I took it harder than my mom and dad when they told me they were selling the house. Honestly it still makes my stomach hurt to think that this memory is gone and all I have are memories, but I know there will be so many more things we will be able to give my kids (cough~Disney in two years~cough).

So on with the happy pictures. This year we went for Chloe's birthday. We actually were there on her birthday and had her a Nemo swim party. It was so much fun and Chloe's Great Great Aunts and Uncles got to enjoy it with her.

Get on the Spirit Bus

This past Saturday was the Lindbergh School Districts SPIRIT Festival, with is an all day event full of entertainment for the entire community. It starts off the morning with a parade from Sperreng Middle School to the High School. The parade featured each school with in the district, the high school marching band, and so much more.

The goal of the SPIRIT Festival is to strengthen the sense of unity between Lindbergh schools and the community. Proceeds benefit the 5,000-plus Lindbergh students from the early childhood program, five elementary schools, middle school and high school.

With an emphasis on family participation, more than 15 rides and many game booths for all ages are featured on the LHS campus.

We went twice that day. From 10-12 because Dave was going to the track from 1:30 til who knew when to be Eric's (Heavy E) pit crew and then again from 7-9. The evening times we tried to get Miss A and family to come out but they just couldn't fit it into their schedule (they are moving at the end of this month so they are uber busy!).

These pictures include the Tea Cups, The Spinning Dragons, the carousel, and the Train. It also includes her Rainbow (note the lady who did the rainbow DID NOT know her Roy. G Biv)

The next collage is of the roller coaster ride. This ride was "totally awesome" as Chloe put it getting off the first time. She loved it so much she rode it another 8 times that day.

This one is of Dave and Chloe at the end of one of those blow up obstacle courses.

Then like I said later that evening we went back after Caelyn took her nap. I had alot of fun watching Chloe enjoy the rides and even though it was alittle chilly it was still a nice day outside. So these next few shots are from that evening while we were there. Even though Chloe missed that Miss A could not make it, she didn't stay sad long.

One thing we did that evening that we didn't do when Dave was with us was walk the entire festival. That night we walked up by the bigger rides. I knew there was a Ferris Wheel up there that Chloe wanted to ride because you could see if from the parking lot. When we were walking Chloe saw something I did not. I didn't see anything she could ride on her own nor did I see anyone that I knew to ask if they would ride the Ferris Wheel with her, so we headed back to the kids area. Chloe then started saying something about wanting to ride the cars. I didn't know of any cars down at the kid's area. And I kept telling her there were no cars. We walked the game area thinking she say a car game there, but nothing. Finally I asked her to show me, well she was right. On the upper lot there were bumper cars. But I couldn't take her on them, I had Caelyn and surely they wouldn't let all three of us ride them. So once again I went on a hunt to find someone I knew. Chloe kept begging (and I do mean at this point she probably would have sold Caelyn just to ride the bumper cars) to ride them. I didn't know what to do. Then sitting on a bench right in front of the bumper cars I see a group of young girls and a mom. I walked up to the mom and ask them if I could ask a favor. I asked if one of them would mind if Chloe rode along with them. The mom jumped right in and said no and volunteered her daughter. Chloe's grin was from ear to ear. Totally worth asking a stranger. Well as Chloe rode with this little girl (who's name escapes me) I find out that this mom is a kindergarten teacher at the elementary school we think Chloe will go to.