Pictures, Pictures, Pictures...

As a father who has two very active kids, I have built over 50 GB of pictures of the things we do. 

It's just so easy when you have a subjects like these:

I take pictures, it's what I do.

Technorati Tags: Children,Photography

Hey, here's something you can do...

...click on a link to support the fight against Breast Cancer.

Every year over 40,000 women die from breast cancer... one in eight women either has or will develop breast cancer if their lifetime.

If detected early, survival rate is increased dramatically. So, the reason for this post is that I committed to telling at least 10 people, at least once a month. The goal is to continue doing this until I run The Columbus Race for the Cure in 2008.

So, Please tell ten friends to tell ten today!

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman.

It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on "donating a mammogram" for free (pink window in the middle).

This doesn't cost you a thing.
Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising.

Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

If you're curious as to whether this is really spam or not... check out this site for more background information: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/charity/mammogram.asp

Technorati Tags: Breast Cancer Awareness,Causes,Mammogram,Think Pink

Children and the Reality of Death

This is a true story. I swear, it happened on Wednesday (12/12/07 7:58 a.m. to be precise). The kids and I were getting ready to go to school. I was helping Vivian get her jacket on. She said to me, "Mommy, do you miss Max?" Max, our beloved family pet cat, died about 2.5 years ago. We loved him, and buried him in our backyard. "Yes, Vivian. I miss him very much sometimes. But, I also try to remember that he was very sick just before he died, and I like to think that he is in a better place now." Christian, age 3, without skipping and beat, and with a puzzling look on his face, replied: "Under a rock, mommy?" It was really hard not laughing as I replied, "No honey, I meant with God in Heaven, sweetie."

Viv's Daily Workout Schedule

Aside from the normal activities my 6-yr old loved to do, she's starting to do a daily routine of working out to keep in shape. 

This is more so for her to build up her core for gymnastics.  Here's a small glimpse of what she does.

Mon

5 minutes stretching
12 - push-ups
12 - sit-ups

Tue

1 hours at the gymnastics

Wed

5 minutes stretching
12 - push-ups
12 - sit-ups

Thr

1 hours at the gymnastics

Fri

5 minutes stretching
12 - push-ups 
12 - sit-ups

Sat

5 minutes stretching
12 - push-ups
12 - sit-ups

Sun

Rest

Technorati Tags: health and fitness,children

No, we did not get a dog.

Vivian's been wanting a puppy for as long as I can remember...

I wouldn't mind getting a puppy either, we're just not ready for it.

However, if we did get a dog, we'd probably get an American Eskimo.

They look like this, when they're older... 

I'd name him/her Snowball.   

Where did it all go wrong?

Alright, I am sure that you are wondering what we did this weekend. It's Monday, that's the typical inquiry you get, so here goes... In a nutshell, we forced the children into hard labor. The Big Day (Christmas with my parents) is approaching quickly. Every other year, my sister and I take turns "hosting the parents". Don't get me wrong, I have a great time with them, have dinner made for me every night, play games, and more, but I can never seem to get my house prepared for their visit. It ALWAYS comes down to the last minute. SO, this year, is the first year we started 'early'. We started upstairs, hoping to get the worst parts over first, not unlike eating your brussel sprouts on your dinner plate and saving the steak and potatoes last. We basically purged and rearranged both kids' rooms, and then started on our room. We extricated 3 bags of giveaway clothing from Vivian's Room, and 2 bags from Christian's Room. The kids were both 'required' to help do this in each of their respective rooms. And I only had to make Santa Threats a few times. The kids are super excited about their new "rooms"... and then we moved onto the Master Bedroom. Ummm... Yeah... I quickly saw my dreams of a completely clean and tidy upstairs poof away. I also came to a quick realization that not cleaning your closet for 15 years is a BAD THING. So far, we are up to 18 bags for Salvation Army/Kidney Foundation. And we didn't even finish. There is still so much to do, and I am hoping and praying that we can finish this week upstairs, so that we can start downstairs next weekend. Not to mention, at some point in the next 2 weekends, we need to go Christmas shopping and hang up our decorations.... not to mention the regular home maintenance that needs to happen, too... AHHHHHH! Feeling a little crazy and panicky now...