Advent calendar Day 2

Instructions for the second day of the Advent calendar - read Christmas stories -and I chose two classics. Reading these to Cruz and Lucas reminds me how having children makes holidays so magical and special, something that we lose on the way to adulthood. I'm thankful to my sons for renewing my joy and excitement in the season.

P.S. We are on a mini-vacation at the moment, but I brought the Advent calendar bags with us so we wouldn't miss a day. Check back for a future post on our little getaway!

Advent Calendar Day 1

Cruz was super excited to open up the first bag on our Advent calendar today! Inside was a slip of paper that said "Make an Amazing Christmas Tree". I pulled out a kit that I bought with a tiny little tree, mini garland and star, plus some other key components. It's "amazing" because it appears to just be a cardboard tree upright in a plastic dish. But when you pour in the "miracle water" that comes with the kit, 12 hours later you're supposed to have a fuzzy little Christmas tree! How fun is that? Here's Cruz stringing the garland on to the tree after we separated all the little branches out.

Right before he went to bed, Cruz checked on it and spotted a bright green patch on the tip of one of the branches. We are all excited to see what our little tree will look like tomorrow when we wake up! 

Update: here's the finished product - so much fun!

Advent Calendar

This year I was inspired by one of my favorite blogs to create an Advent calendar for the kids. I wanted it to be easy, functional and reusable every year. I found this wooden frame with chicken wire at a craft fair when we visited Apple Hill last month. I love how rustic it looks and I have some ideas of how I want to use it, but I thought it would be perfect for an Advent calendar.

Shabby chic

I went to my standby website Etsy and found these adorable linen drawstring bags that are stamped with christmas trees and bells, and numbers 1-24, from the store Crafty Clementines. I also got the clothespins there. These bags are probably a super easy DIY project, but let's face it, I just don't have the time! 

Simple and cute

And voila! It took just minutes to clip the bags on. I haven't filled them yet, but I've got about 7 items so far, and I also plan to put pieces of paper in some of the bag that have a fun holiday activity to do. For example I'll put slips of paper that say "listen to Christmas music" or "look at Christmas lights in the neighborhood".  I wanted the Advent calendar to get us all in the holiday spirit and I didn't want it to be only about material things.

Happy holidays everyone!

Post Race Reflection

Almost two months later, I finally finished writing a letter that I will send to all my donors who helped me exceed my fundraising goals. My minimum requirement was $2,400 and I raised $4, 335! I am so deeply grateful to everyone who made a donation so I wrote this letter to share the entire experience of the marathon, since I could not have made it without them.

Dear Family and Friends,

I came, I saw, I conquered 13.1 miles! I am proud to report that I successfully crossed the finish line at the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco, on October 14. It is an experience I won’t soon forget. What started out as a way to give back to others and to try something new, ended up being a personal journey of sorts, and I emerged a better person.

In the early days of my training I realized it was going to be an emotional experience, which I honestly hadn’t anticipated.  As I shared in my fundraising letter, one of my motivations was to honor my mom who I lost to lymphoma in 2005. Every Saturday, on our long training days, I would find myself thinking about my mom and remembering her struggle the last 9 months of her life.  As I confronted these details again, I was saddened yet bolstered by these memories. I thought of the countless patients and their families going through the same struggle, and although I shed some tears as I covered those training miles, I became resolved to walk and run for those who cannot. Week by week, I covered more and more mileage and with the help of Team in Training, I achieved goals I never considered before.  And when I doubted myself and my ability, I thought of each and every one of you that sent me a donation and believed in me, and I pushed forward with renewed confidence.

The Nike Women’s Marathon benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) and this year 25,000 women and a few good men (!) participated in the event.  As expected, the race course was scenic and spectacular as we wound our way through San Francisco. Aside from the natural beauty, there was no end to the supporters cheering us on throughout the course, brandishing funny signs, clanging cow bells and offering words of encouragement.  During the last mile and a half, I began “talking” to my mom in my head, telling her that this race, this effort, was so that her battle with lymphoma was not in vain. I am picking up where she left off, and continuing the fight against blood cancers, so that one day, there will be no need for this marathon. I hope she is proud of me and I hope I have made you proud as well.

To simply say this was a “good experience” doesn’t do it justice; there are simply too many layers. First and foremost, I raised $4,235.00 for LLS.  I am truly touched by every single donation I received, and in this economy, I don’t take that generosity for granted. Secondly, completing this marathon has spurred me to tap into my own potential. Now I think to myself “well, I never thought I’d complete a marathon but I did. So what else can I do?”  The possibilities are endless!  Lastly, I have found a sense of peace in my heart. In the words of Maya Angelou “I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver”. Helping others in memory of my mother, has afforded me that liberation.

Once again, my sincerest thanks to you for your support and encouragement. I could not have made it across the finish line without you and it is with gratitude that I share this accomplishment with you.

                                                               

                                                                                                                                Warmest regards,

                                                                                                                                             Gigi

Light the Night Walk

On October 27 we did our first Light the Night Walk in Walnut Creek. Light the Night is another event sponsored by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and is a casual, approximately 2 mile walk for survivors, patients and supporters of people with blood cancers. It also is for those who walk in remembrance of someone who lost their battle. 

We registered ourselves as TEAM CARINA and made these fun t-shirts and hats to wear.

Here's Dad, his daughters and (most) grandkids

Everyone who walks gets an illuminated balloon - red is for supporters, white is for patients/survivors and gold is for in memory. The pictures don't do it justice, but it's a very moving sight to see so many illuminated balloons all at once.

Grandpa gets stroller duty

The whole family minus Randy

Me and Ate

In the first couple of years after my mom died we would all get together on her birthday and have dinner. As the years have passed, we've stopped doing that, mainly because of busy schedules I think. I look forward to getting the family together for these types of events and remembering and honoring our mother this way. It's good to see that we are not the only ones who have dealt with this struggle and that there is still more to do for those who are fighting now.

Cheeeese!

Looking at this picture just makes me smile.

Lucas' First Haircut

The day finally arrived for my Lucas to get his first haircut. From his newborn days Lucas already had interesting hair - he seemed to have a little Mohawk which then morphed into a fanned out tuft in the back. His hair soon became indicative of his personality: crazy, unique and unpredictable!

We waited this long to cut his hair, not because of any cultural superstitions, but more because we couldn't figure out how to approach it! Randy and I joked that he seemed to have 3 hairdos on his little head: receding in the front, spiky on the sides, long in the back.

His hair had gotten so long that it grew over his ears and was past his shoulders in the back! We finally took him to my hairdresser Le in Benicia last Friday afternoon. Lucas reacted exactly as we expected - he screamed and cried the entire time, even though we gave him a lollipop as a distraction.
Good thing we left it to a professional, Le had him trimmed in no time despite the ongoing meltdown.

First snip

Unhappy camper

Trying to hold him still

Are we done yet?

The change was amazing! His little face appeared chubbier, he looked older and lo and behold, we could see his ears! I am so happy that we can see and appreciate more of his smiling face.

Profile shot 

A lollipop for his troubles

Cutie patootie