Walking for the Cure!

Today Spahr's Stars walked for a cure. By this morning we had 130 people on our team and have raised over $4,200. I know lots of people came with donated money, so I am sure we met our $5,ooo goal. Although the race is very uplifting, for us it was bitter sweet. I was very torn up at the end when the survivors walked through their own finish. I was wishing Charleen was able to walk through.

Susan made a great sign for us and we gave it to her son and his family to carry. It was a great morning. Next year, we will make our own shirts and have even more people!

Congrats Kel and Kev!

I am so thrilled to be going to my oldest and dearest friend Kelley's wedding reception tomorrow. She and her lovely husband Kevin were married in a private ceremony in the Bahamas last month. After seeing her be soo lonely these last few years, I am so happy to see her married to her soulmate. I have always said she should never pick her own men! Match.com did just as good as a job as I would have done (even though you could have been a Zanchetti). I have never seen her so happy and at peace (except maybe when we were 19 and ruled the world). So I can not wait to celebrate with them tomorrow!

My last sad post...

I am sure tomorrow I will wake up with my positive, let's move forward attitude, but I have to get this out. Tonight we said goodbye to Charleen. I guess I was thinking that tonight would bring me closure, but it did not. My heart hurts. It did help to go through all of this with my friends. Of course, Bobbi gave me specific plans on what I had to do at her funeral. Good thing she is never dying so I never have to use it.

So I promise after today, all of the mention I will make about Charleen is how we are working to celebrate all she did for the kids in our community. I will go back to channeling my energy into positive ways. But today, I am sad.

Didn't race fast enough

Our friend Charleen lost her battle with breast cancer yesterday. This comes less than one month from diagnosis. It was a very hard, emotional day for us all at school. Mixed in with our grief are feelings of being angry with Charleen for not getting her regular mammograms and taking better care of herself. For those who do not know her, she is the kind of person who would never let us get away with not taking care of herself. These next few days will be very hard on all of us big kids who will miss our school mom and her wonderful baked goods she would make to show us her love!

So sadly, I am now racing in memory of instead of support of my friend Charleen. If you would like to support the race for the cure on September 14 or would like to contribute to our fundraising efforts, please click here.

"Run, Alex, Run!"

Yesterday Alex had his first cross country meet. I could not believe how many kids were there. There must have been nearly 1,000 kids from grades 7-12. I was VERY proud of Alex. He has only been running for 2 weeks and he finished the race (7-8 kids dropped out half way). He was very happy he was not the last one to finish (there was one kid behind him). I think by watching the other races Alex learned that he should maybe be pushing himself a little harder. Regardless, I was SOOO proud of him!

Well, she looks smarter...

Abby got her new glasses today. This came just in time for her to get her braces off her teeth next week. She is amazed by how crisp and clear things are around her. This year she is in middle school and has been put in a class that will be a challenge for her. This is the 5th day of school and she has already forgotten 2 of her homework assignments as school. She looks good, though! It is always the teacher's kids!

Anyone want to place bets on how long it takes her to lose them?

My big girl!!

Well, its official. All 3 of my kids are in school. And although my childcare costs have cut dramatically, it was still very sad for me to have my last first day of kindergarten to get ready for this morning. She was up with the first sound in the hallway when Alex and Abby got ready. I was a little happy about this because I got to do her hair instead of Daddy. She decided to have Daddy drive her to school today so there are no getting on the bus pictures. She gets to ride the bus to the babysitters after school. When I asked her about her day she told us she ate all her lunch, colored a picture of an apple tree and played with boys named Thomas and Joey. What every girl wants from a first day of school!!!!