Congrats to The Gwendeloyn Strong Foundation!

Thank you to EVERYONE who took the time to vote for The Gwendeloyn Strong Foundation to win the Chase Community Giving contest. You can see the post about it here. Thanks to your votes, and thanks to Chase for extending the winners to the top 6. While The Gwendeloyn Strong Foundation did not win the first place award of $1,000,000, they did win $100K to put towards the cure of SMA.

I also want to thank Kendra for her incredible words, and for having the strength to take so many with her on her journey through SMA, and to continue to take us along as she grieves the loss of her angel, Makenzie. Through Kendra's words, Makenzie has inspired so many people out there, and I am very grateful for having the chance to get to know Makenzie's family.

P.S. I know I need to update with a "picture of the day" post. The pictures are here, I just need to get the post up. I will. Eventually.

Not My Husband Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I like to pretend that I am relatively perfect (ha), so today's Not Me, is really a "Not My Husband."

My husband did not make me stop watching TV last night so he could test out the new Roku for work because he needed to bring it back in today and then leave the Roku, it's box, cords, and remote laying on the living room floor.

My husband did not leave his beer bottle, full can of Dr. Pepper, water glass and empty Mountain Dew can laying on the coffee table today so that I would pick it up. Nope, my husband ALWAYS cleans up after himself.

My husband did not use the last of the dog food yesterday and then not fill up the container so that I would not have to do it this morning when I'm rushing around like crazy trying to get Hunter and I ready for our day. Nope, my husband ALWAYS fills up the dog food container when he empties it.

My husband did not complain about how messy my car is and not offer to clean it up for me since he knows how much I hate being outside when it's cold. Nope, my husband ALWAYS offers to clean out my car.

Please Vote!

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Hey Everyone -

This could be the most important thing you do today. Help find a cure!

Through the power of blog, I have recently become acquainted with a beautiful and inspiring woman who recently lost her 4 month old little angel, Makenzie due to a rare form of SMA. Before getting to know Kendra and her family, I knew very little about SMA, so I'm going to explain really quickly for those of you who do not know. SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) is a genetic disease that kills more babies than any other inherited disease. While these children are born perfectly healthy, it's usually only a matter of months before their bodies start to fail them - and once it starts, it does not stop. These poor babies will need 100% assistance in eating, breathing, and swallowing. 50% of them die before they reach 1. 90% before they are 2.

I urge all of you with a Facebook account to vote over the next week to help them earn the money to find a CURE for this horrible disease that is killing otherwise healthy babies.

To vote, go to: To vote, go to http://VoteForSMA.com

Thanks for passing this along,

Holly

Here is some more information below:

“Researchers at UC Irvine are really REALLY close to a cure for SMA, but they need funding to push it towards FDA approval. JP Morgan Chase Bank has committed to donating $5 million dollars to non-profit organizations and through a Facebook voting system, the voting for the BIG prize $1,000,000 (yes, one million) starts today, Friday, January 15th, 2010. We are asking that everyone go to the polls and vote for GSF so we can win and donate the money to end this cruel disease.

This is important for one main reason, $1,000,000 towards SMA research could actually END THIS DISEASE. Not "get the ball rolling" on research, not "hope for a cure," but actually end it. And, most importantly in my eyes, it could save the lives of children who currently have SMA. The research that is so close to FDA approval is one that could affect babies who already have SMA, and could completely remove them from symptoms.

Here are some facts:
Dr. Kierstad (UC Irvine) has dedicated his life to spinal cord injuries. He has already successfully performed a lab experiment on mice that allowed the previously-paralyzed animals to literally get up and walk. He is now focusing on SMA research. It is his belief that a groundbreaking surgery could allow the body to re-build the proteins that are missing in children with SMA.

Money is holding back a cure. Other diseases, such as breast cancer and AIDS, have massive amounts of funding and research behind them, but "cures" are still unknown. The "cure" for SMA is just around the corner, but nothing can be done until the funds are there to continue the research.

SMA is the #1 genetic killer of children under two years of age, and 1 in 40 adults (unknowingly) carry the gene to pass it on.

Voting is open (Jan 15 - Jan 22) and each person gets one vote per day. This is an effort sheerly driven by people voting: the GSF needs every single vote it can get. So, please, please, please, PLEASE vote and spread the word to every person you know.”

Pants on The Ground

1-8 thru 1-15

1-8:

We've started playing a lot of games lately. On top of all of Hunter's games, we've been showing him how to play Yahtzee. He is a very skilled Yahtzee player and can get straight after straight. We need to take him to Vegas...

Oh, and his Yahtzee skills are only enhanced when wearing his Power Ranger mask.

1-9: Hunter has been OBSESSED with taking pictures lately. Sound familiar? Chase blames me..I'm not sure why. Anywhoodle, Hunter is always asking me to take his picture, and is constantly taking pictures of both Chase and I. The only problem with his little camera below is that the flash is UBER bright and Hunter holds it UBER closer to your face.

1-10: January wouldn't be complete without a bath picture. Nutty loves his baths.

1-11: Continuing with things that Hunter likes, he's also totally obsessed with oranges (and the color orange). He would eat 12 (or more) a day if I let him. What's even better is the way he says orange. It's like "Owwannnngee."

1-12: Last Tuesday, it hit nearly 60 degrees, so we took advantage of the unseasonably warm January weather by heading to the zoo. It was beautiful, and we had tons of fun. Saxon and Hunter were SO into it this time. They loved talking about all the animals, what colors they were, what sounds they made, etc. It was really fun!

1-13:

The next day, we headed to the museum with Mandy. Two days in a row without naps turned out okay for Hunter, but, Mommy's not ready to give up naps yet, so Hunter will continue to head to his room at 1PM on most days.

The museum was a lot of fun. Hunter, like at the zoo, loved talking about what he was seeing. It's fun watching his vocabulary develop.

Oh Mandy...

1-14:

I taught Hunter how to spray whipped cream in his mouth. This is a skill I believe all three year olds need to know!

My kids!

My nephews (and son) are the best...

So is my niece...

And my niece and nephew in Arizona are not forgotten...I just don't have any new pictures. Dawn, you should work on that.

Not my child Monday

*My child did not decide on the first day back to school that he wanted to sleep in whereas all during break, he got up early.

*My child did not dump his Fruit Loops all over the living room rug this morning.

*My child did not ask the new girl in school today why she was not a boy.

*My child did not throw a mini tantrum walking out of ToysRUs because I told him we needed to go to Target to buy his toy instead.

and last but not least...

*My child did not just look at me and say "Daddy is the best" when I'M the one who got up early with him, helped him pick up his Fruit Loops, took him to school, and then took him to ToysRUs and Target and let him buy two new toys.

January 1-7

January 1st:

We spent New Years Eve at Chase's Dads house, so it was nice waking up that morning to a delicious breakfast of blueberry pancakes and bacon.

Hunter helped us pack up our bags by hanging out in the laundry basket. Do you see that pink thing? That's my new Snuggie - even though Chase hates it.

That night, while Chase took pictures at his friend's wedding, I hung out with my parents and sister. We played Spoons for a few hours...

My sister is really nice...

January 2nd:

After a lazy day at home, we met The Anderson crew for dinner at C.B. & Potts. If you ever go there, get some Loaded Waffle Fries for me...YUM!

This is Chase's cousin Lucy. She's 2 weeks younger than Hunter, and is uber cute with those chubby cheeks!

January 3rd -

Hunter had $55 MORE to spend today at Wal-Mart. We bought a new book for his Bugsby reader (very cool if you have young kids...), and Nutty picked out some cool new monster trucks. So today's picture of the day is Nutner and his new trucks. He still has $35 to go to buy some new boat accessories for his Fisher Price Imaginex boat (also a very cool toy for little boys.)

January 4th: Okay, I'm not a liar, so I'm going to confess that the picture of my Mom and Hunter was taken today (Wednesday). My mom grew out her hair specifically so she could cut it and donate it to Locks of Love, which she did on 1-4. The first picture is her braids that are ready to donate, and the second one, taken today is of her new short do! Cool, huh?

January 5th:

Hunter and I spent Tuesday in Franktown with Hunter's friend, Saxon. They love to play each other, and I truly think they consider each other best friends.

January 6th:

I ventured beyond our normal eating habits of pizza to make Eggplant Parmesan on Wednesday night. Chase was totally thrilled, can you tell? Let's just say that Chase ate pizza rolls for dinner, even though Hunter and I thought the Eggplant was delicious! Doesn't it look good??

Hunter is pretty much a huge copy cat. At least he's a cute copy cat...

January 7th:

Again, at Saxon's house. Sometimes, it's necessary for me to put the kids in lock down.

Whoo hoo for successfully completing my first week of my New Year's Resolution! Let's see if it can continue through week two!