Baby Goes Swinging

... no, not that baby. Alli's baby!

While Alli started out on the swing ... for a whole minute or two ... it was "Purple Baby" who got the 30 minute ride (covered in sunscreen, even!). She sure is good at nurturing her baby, from feeding, changing, to pushing on the swing. It totally transfers over to how she interacts with Charlie, she will play with him and feed him puffs, and keep him quite entertained while Mommy catches up on email, etc.

Sucessful Garage Sale Fundraiser

Saturday's Garage Sale that was Hana's and my fundraiser for our Breast Cancer 3-day walk was a sucess! We spent 8 hours the night (and early morning) before, sorting, organizing, and pricing items from more then 10 families who so generously donated to this event.

Unfortunately the cold weather/rain probably kept some folks away, but there was still a pretty good attendence. Seriously, we picked this date months ago, and it's been 80-100 every day for at least 3 weeks leading up to this and this is the day it has to rain?! *sigh*, shaking my head ...

While there were several items leftover that we're saving to sell at LMC's Swap Meet this summer, we still managed to raise $416 for our team. That was great progess! Thank you so much to everyone who donated items or time to our efforts. Stay tuned for more fun events throughout the summer!

Charlie and the Bear

At playgroup this
week at Amy's house,
Charlie introduced himself
to their giant bear ...
Nothing like a literal
giant bear hug to make
you feel warm and fuzzy!

Fundraising for the Breast Cancer 3-Day

Last night Hana and I hosted a Close To My Heart fundraising party where the consultant graciously donated all commissions from sales made at the party to our team fundraising efforts. After the party, Hana and I drove around putting up Garage Sale signs all over Livermore. Tonight we'll try to pull all the donations we've received from 10+ families into some sort of organized chaos and get it all priced.

Garage sale is tomorrow from 7am-noon and of course, after weeks and weeks of beautiful 80-100 degree weather here in sunny California, Saturday early morning there's a good chance of drizzle. You have got to be kidding me, right? *sigh*

We'll also be selling breakfast, so if you're a local, stop on by!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Yesterday was our 8-year anniversary! While we couldn't swing our annual trip to Hawaii with everything else going on, we did get a night out on the town. Went into S.F. to Fisherman's Wharf and had a great seafood dinner with a great view, and it was nice to take our own sweet time, not stuffing down the food to deal with a child or two! Walked around the wharf after dinner trying to find dessert, but good grief, people sure don't stay open very long on Tuesday nights!!

The 4Runner finally sold! Hallelujah!

Ugh, after 8 months of Craigslist postings, we finally sold the 4Runner! We are glad to have the garage space back. After the guy took it home, Alli helped Dan wash the truck.

Charlie didn't wash a car for us, but he continues smiling his cheesy grin day-in and day-out!

A Day at Stanford

Sister-Brother Bonding Time!

Saturday we attended a wedding down at Stanford's Memorial Church.

It was a beautiful (hot) day, but Dan was a good sport about having to wear a suit. It was reminiscent of a particular 105 degree wedding day 8 years ago! Charlie and Alli both behaved (fairly) well throughout the ceremony. Unfortunately the ceremony started late, so I had run out of most of my entertainment tools and snacks before it even got started. Alli and Charlie happily munched away on puffs most of the time though. So nice that Charlie's big enough for that now!! Then they closed all the doors to the church because the procession was about to start ... at that moment Alli leans over to me and says 'Mommy, I have to go potty'. OF COURSE YOU DO! Should we just join the wedding procession?! Well, we couldn't get to the bathroom that was in the back of the church because that's where the bridal party was lined up. I asked her if she could hold it and she shook her head 'no'. *sigh* So then I remembered from the baptism that there was a bathroom at the front of the church right next to the office/minister's quarters/etc. So we snuck up the side of the church and made it in there just in time. When we came out of the bathroom, the minister, the groom and the groomsmen were all lined up to enter from the side. *double sigh* I guess we were just destined to be part of on procession or another! So when they entered the church, we followed them out, but smartly did not turn to go on stage with them... Alli was entertained by watching the girls and women come down with their flowers. Everyone says to entertain toddlers in church with books / coloring books. Alli does not consider that entertainment. SHe wants to talk about what's happening and stuff puffs in her face. She almost had a meltdown, but thankfully the ceremony was short and they both made it through. It was SO hot in there, we were relieved to go back outside where there was at least a slight breeze.

We were greeted by a high school aged drum and bugle core (with whom the groom volunteers his time), and it was quite impressive. Alli danced while sitting on Dan's shoulders and I held Charlie who was kicking in excitement the whole time.

Alli giving Dan a head massage while we watched a drum and bugle group play in the Quad:

At the reception Dan and I got a little break for dinner while the children played in the daycare.

This is what Charlie looked like when he returned from the daycare: His hands and feet had been colored green by someone ... I don't know if it was Alli, or a new "friend" that did it ... but pretty funny.

Then Alli came out to dance with us, and that little princess danced until 10:30 p.m. She was having so much fun with the live band. Then she'd tell us "I need a drink of water", so we'd go back to the table, get hydrated, and then she said "C'mon Mommy, let's DANCE!".

"First Dance"

We fully expected her to crash in the carride home, but she decided to talk talk talk the whole hour home instead. phew! I guess it worked to keep Dan and me awake!

Alli's 3-year old pics

We got Allison's 3-year-old pictures back. Attached are a few of our favorites.
I will post Charlie's when the come in next week ...

Alli's new bed

Okay, in all efforts to not have a princess-y girly-girl girl, Alli has definately gone down that path on her own! She still loves her trucks, never fear, but the baby-dolls/stroller/purse obsession is very strong too. So how could we pass up this "Dollhouse loft bed" when we saw it?! Alli loves crawling up in there and peeking out the windows. She had fun helping Daddy assemble her "hosue bed" over the weekend. :)

Training hike with the kids

Our weekly training hikes for the Breast Cancer 3-Day with my hiking partner Hana have been going well. So far we've hiked Morgan Territory, Lake Chabot, and Mt. Diablo. Hana has come close to killing me, but hasn't quite gone over the edge yet!

Last weekend Hana was on a family vacation so Dan stepped in as my hiking buddy to keep me on track. We took the kids along in their front/back-packs, and they had a blast as we hiked around Lake Chabot! Alli sang country songs most of the time (that's my girl!) and Charlie kicked/waved/drooled/spat at every hiker/biker that passed by.





















The extra weight of Charlie in a pack had my legs yelling at me all night, but was obviously a good training exercise!