LAST DAY!!!!

Today, a donation has been made to our name by the Human Fund. The Human Fund -- Money for People. OK, I told Tom I would say that. Now, he'll probably admonish me for saying this but I have to acknowledge his contributions. Tom is a very close friend of mine and has made several big donations this year. He isn't doing it to be recognized (I realize nobody really is) but Tom really doesn't like to be the center of attention. But too bad Tom, I have to share with everyone what a great friend you are and how much we appreciate you!! THANK YOU TOM!!!!

Besides everything else that is going on right now that is special to us, May 13th marks a very important date for us. It is the 3rd anniversary of when we brought the girls home from the NICU. It was on this day, Mother's Day, 3 years ago that we nervously brought the girls home, put them on the couch and looked at each other and said "what do we do now?"

Since Friday is bank day, tomorrow (Thursday) is essentially the last day to receive donations. I think everybody that was going to donate has donated but we're still hoping for a last second surprise. As it is right now, we have far surpassed our $3000 goal. Absolutely amazing! More on that later.

Maybe I'll share another time why today was such a big day...but for now, just know that the timing of Lisa's injury was also bad because I had some important things going on at work. Staying home late last week because I was sick and not being able to work over the weekend actually added to the stress of today's events. Thankfully, we found a babysitter that helped Lisa out the last two days so I could go to work and focus on the task at hand. Now that is done and we can turn our attention back on this weekend's festivities.

I'm using that as my excuse for not really getting out and taking some good pictures/videos of the girls recently. Lisa told me tonight that she had taken some really cute pictures of the girls right before she tried to leave Friday and ended up breaking her foot. So here are those pictures...taken about 10 minutes before the incident.

Seriously...look at all that hair!!









The girls enjoying Toy Story 2 right before they left.

And a special treat...this was taken in the ER as we were waiting in our room. We didn't have to wait long before they came in and took off her shoe so this was literally in the first 3 minutes that we got there. And notice who took the picture. Lisa kept it together to still realize how cute the girls were even as she was in all that pain. I believe I was just around the corner in the hallway trying not to pass out at this moment. And as you can see, the girls really were adorable. As the nurse told us later, EVERYBODY was talking about them and going out of their way to walk by our room to get a glimpse of the girls.

If you are reading this, you have probably already donated. But just in case you haven't, please do so today! And if you know of anybody else that might want to contribute, ask them TODAY! Thank you everybody for getting us this far!

HUGE day!!!

Well, I knew a couple more donations were going to come in this week but had no idea my parents were planning this!! I hope some of you saw on the flyer that we sent out that my mom was doing a show for Longaberger to help raise money. Not only were we able to give away some great baskets to some big donors, she donated her commission from that show to March for Babies. Unexpected and HUGE!

Not to be outdone, my dad wanted to get in on the action so he waited until this week to give his donation. Well played, Dad!

Suddenly, we are over $3500!!!!

Thank you Mom and Dad for getting us WAY past our goal.

Needless to say, we have been a little short on time the last couple of days so no real great pictures or videos. I'm going to work on a great video this weekend as a thank you to everybody...until then, you might just have to put up with some less than stellar photography. Right before bedtime tonight, the girls were snuggling with Lisa for a few minutes so I grabbed the camera. I need to get a picture of her bruised ankle though...hmmmm, I need to make that happen tomorrow. But here is Lisa's current resting place. Pretty sad, I know.




I did find out today that bank day isn't until Friday so we have a couple more days than I thought to finish up. Get those donations in!!

Tragedy

Not the best title to a post ever but our lives have been centered around an event that happened over the weekend...instead of getting ready for the walk, we're just getting by right now. BUT we still do have 3 more days to raise money. Today, we received 2 donations. One for Mr. Anonymous (he must be LOADED!) and a second from a great guy in Montana, Matt Solum! Thanks to both of you for pushing us further past our goal!

Tragedy struck our household Friday morning. A lot of you have heard through facebook or otherwise...but to bring everybody up to speed, Lisa took a nasty spill on Friday. I had just called in sick for the second day in a row because of a sinus infection. I decided to stay home and rest while Lisa took the girls to a play date. She had just got them in the car when she realized she forgot the camera. She came upstairs to get it and on her way back out into the garage, stepped down and onto a shoe and turned her ankle. She went down in a LOT of pain. I happened to be walking by the top of the stairs when it happened so I was down by her side in less than 10 seconds. It was pretty tragic. As painful an experience it was for her, I'll have to live with that sound and then the sight of her laying on the ground screaming in pain. It was mind numbing.

Adrenaline kicked in and quickly got her in the car and rushed her to the ER. The girls, already in the car, were VERY concerned the whole time. "Mommy, are you okay? Mommy, don't cry. Be brave, Mommy!"

The diagnosis...Lisa suffered 2 avulsion fractures. This happens when the ligaments are stretched so far that the bone actually breaks away! Hard to believe that's even possible. The treatment is similar to a sprain. No cast and no surgery. She'll be confined to the couch/bed for the next week or so when she'll start putting some pressure on it. The ER doctor said to expect to be up and walking again relatively normal in about 4 weeks. We'll probably get a better read on that when we follow up with an orthopedist this upcoming Friday morning.

So that puts a damper on a lot of our plans. Lisa half jokingly said on the way to the ER "THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE SUMMER OF GEORGE!!" She really did have a lot of things planned these next several weeks. Seems like we've been waiting and waiting for May so we can finally get out and really enjoy Alaska and then something silly like this happens. So I would say Lisa is more tormented psychologically than physically right now. It's been rough for her to sit on the couch and watch me play with the girls, or chase them around, or cook, or clean, or whatever...and she can only sit there and watch. Hopefully the orthopedist will have nothing but great news on Friday and Lisa will be back sooner than expected.

The other bit of good news in all this is Lisa's mom was already scheduled to arrive this upcoming Friday night! She was coming to join us for the walk and the girls first dance recital. So it is a very timely visit indeed. We called a babysitter that we haven't used before to come over and help out Lisa tomorrow so I can go back to work Tuesday and Wednesday. We'll play it by ear Thursday and Friday...but thank goodness Eileen is coming when she is.

Now...all that to catch you up on our lives...but all you really came for were some pictures. Needless to say, we haven't had the chance to do much exciting lately. The girls and I have been finding ways to entertain us...playing ball outside, bike rides, chasing each other, drawing, and of course jumping off of the step stools (or as they say "skep skools".


I didn't get a picture of it but Alyssa was actually landing on the green carpet. That is a LONG jump! We were both pretty impressed.







So sorry for the somewhat lame pictures this evening. Hopefully we will be doing better each day.

And don't wait any longer to donate. Last day to donate is this week. I'm actually not sure if it's Wednesday or Thursday so donate early to be sure!!! Thanks again everybody for the well wishes and the donations!

Obi Wan made a donation today!!

Well, maybe not THE Obi Wan but a very important Jedi Master. Tom is my mentor. Tom and I were paired at a leadership workshop in the fall. He's been guiding me through some career and personal development and is an amazing person! I honestly wasn't expecting it today...I didn't realize he had been following our progress but sure enough, Tom donated! Thank you, Tom!!!

Lisa and the girls took off for Eagle River Nature Center while I stayed home and worked on the bathroom. I'm pretty sure I have a sinus infection so the break home was a welcomed one...but I sure wish I could have been there with the ladies.



Lisa met her friend Jen and her boys Avery and Noah there. Looks like everybody had a great time.










Oh, how I wish the good camera was there with everybody. Still a great picture.



Time for a picnic.


I have a funny story too. Before they left this morning, the girls noticed a spider on the wall. They were a little concerned but okay with it. Lisa was closest to it (that's the story I'm going with) so she got a kleenux and killed the spider...so she thought. The girls asked to see it. Now Lisa SHOULD have just continued on to the toilet but she wanted to satisfy the girls' curiosity and show them the squished spider. Well the spider wasn't quite dead. Just as Lisa is leaning over to show the girls, the spider jumps out back onto the carpet right next to where the girls were sitting. Lisa SCREAMED!!! The involuntary scream not only scared the be-jeebus out of ME...it REALLY scared the girls too. They immediately started crying. I was okay. I just spit a little coffee on the puter.

I'm telling this story because well, it was really cute when they were both crying hysterically but it also set Lisa up for a fun day. Every little bug or mosquito the girls saw today turned into a BIG deal. They were freaking out all day long. We could be in for a loooong summer!

So 9 days to go! Get those donations in!!

$3000....and change!!!

WE DID IT!!! Today, Lisa's mom donated enough to get us to $3000! And then Renee swooped in and got us over the top! Thank you Renee and thank you Eileen!

Well, I kinda had a hunch that one of our parents was going to get us to our goal. So my idea was to give that lucky individual a framed picture of her choice. So Eileen, go through and pick a picture from the blog and we'll blow it up and frame it for you!

Today...a couple pictures of our morning's adventures outside.









Alyssa had a hard time getting her helmet to fit right.


I believe Nana had it right. Alyssa was the first elephant and Katy was #2. Well done, Nana!

Now it's time to see how much we can make! You all have done amazing so far but we still have 10 days to go. Let's do this thing!!!

LATE donations!

I just happened to check before I went to bed and noticed 2 late night donations just rolled in. First, Mr. Anonymous (notice the missing " ") donated AGAIN! Thank you, Anonymous!

And two very special twin boys (2 year olds) Noah and Avery stayed up way past their bedtime, logged on to the Internet, and made a donation! Thank you Noah and Avery (and their parents too)!!

Well just in case, I had a video ready to go. This was taken on Thursday at dance class. This is the girls rehearsing "The Monkey Dance". They'll be wearing the elephant costumes next Sunday and doing this on a stage. I hope they are enthusiastic next Sunday as they are here.

So suddenly with these two donations, we are only $230 away from our goal of $3000! I have a hunch there might be a few that are waiting to donate until we get close to that $3000 mark so they can be the ones that put us over. Well, if you're one of those people, just know that I've saved something special JUST FOR YOU! You want to be that person!

WONDER TWIN POWER!!!!!

...ACTIVATE!!!!

Ok, not yet. We had a couple special requests for a video of the girls saying "Wonder Twins power...ACTIVATE!" Our requests have been met with some resistance so this will have to do for now. Thank you next door neighbor Lisa for your donation today (and the Wonder Twin request). We'll make it happen as soon as we can.

Pop quiz. Who is who?? Not so easy to tell when they are in their costumes.


Somehow the sit-and-spins turned into stand-and-spins.



...a couple pictures of the girls waking up together after a short nap today.


This might be the longest video we've posted. We were just having some fun at dinner time and decided to run the camera while they were goofing off. We didn't get anything in particular that was hilarious but still fun to hear them talk and laugh with us.

Great weekend. Big week coming up...I think we have plans almost every day plus I'm going to start riding my bike to work this week!! Keep the money rolling. Let's hit our goal this week so next week can be all bonus!!