The Bay Area, a little piece of heaven 90 minutes away

Yesterday, Alexia, Aden and myself had a Grandma day. We drove to the Bay Area and spent most of our time at The Exploritorium. I have not been there for probably 15 years, it was awesome!! It really is an amazing place for kids (and adults!). After, we went Pier 39 for shopping and dinner. We had a lovely day!

Prayer request

I don't do a lot of prayer requests but am going to post this on my Blog because this family is as good as gold. The family and Baby Sean have been through so much and Sean has only been home for a couple days out of his whole life.

Please post a special thought on their CarePage, www.carepage.com CP name: sweetbabysean They really could use the boost. You can also post something on this Blog, and I will let them know to come peek at at any comments.

The 3rd Tooth and check out the new recipe to your right!

Also, I need to add that I have been meeting some incredible heart mom's via the internet. I really wish this was a resource when I first had Alexia, I just can't believe how easy it is. Not only that, but there are hundreds of heart moms out there who are just amazing and are so helpful in the projects I am doing. I just need to name some by first name only, I couldn't imagine a life without them!

Amber
Lindsay
Laura
Andrea
Awesome Mom
Alison
Jenny
Valerie (not me!)
Dina
Cheryl
Jeannie
Anissa
Karin
Michelle
Carrie
and Emily

Just to name a few!!

Food, Books and the Traveling Quilt

Last night was our Book Club. There are 12 women in the group and we rotate homes every month, so each only hosts once a year. We chatted about a book called Keeping The House by Ellen Baker last night, good read. The SAH mom's of the 50's were much different the the ones now. Could you imagine, 12 different aprons to match your dress/pumps that you wore throughout the day. My favorite part of the way we do our discussion groups is we bring food straight out of the book. Last night the theme was "comfort food" and we had a variety of dishes. The hostess last night made a bacon wrapped shrimp over risotto with a chipitole/cream sauce, it was so delicious it made me weep! She made it seem so easy, risotto takes alot of patience, and I have never succeeded in making it. This makes me think of 10 things that you can always find in my kitchen; you will notice risotto is not among the list.

1. Coffee Beans,San Francisco Bay French Roast (Costco)
2. Honey Bumpers Cereal,my son cannot live without them (Whole Foods)
3. Hemp Plus Granola, my husband cannot live without, it does not make for a positive urine test (Whole foods)
4. 5 pound bag of frozen strawberries, smoothies, Costco
5. Nancy's 64 oz, plain yogurt, smoothies, the Co-op
6. Dino Tots, they help in a pinch with a hungry 6-year-old boy (Raleys)
7. Chocolate chip granola bars same as above (Raleys)
8. Arizona Ice Tea to keep me going throughout the day
9. Peanut butter, honey and bread for my daughter who could live off it
And finally.... 10. Bananas we go through a bunch a day, breakfast and/or smoothies

We have put in a request to have the CHD Quilt be at our Symposium on the 28th of September. I never realized how beautiful they are, check them out when you have a chance. www.chdquilt.org

Last year's vacation

I just wanted to post a couple pictures of last year's trip to Trinidad, California. It is the most beautiful place in California ( I believe).

We are currently getting ready for back to school. Lexi goes back the 27th of this month, she is taking 19 units! And Aden goes back on the 5th of September. Aden goes to an incredible Waldorf school. He will be entering first grade and we are fortunate to have an amazing teacher for those 8 years of school (they keep the same one from first to eighth grade). Lex went to this same school and developed a love for writing, this was encouraged by her teacher. Aden has devloped a love for painting and anything to do with the outdoors! If you have a minute post a comment about your children's school and when it starts. I love to hear about these things!

Winner Announced!

I got to say I enjoyed reading all of the entries but Jenni's was quite funny. She is the winner of this contest, congratulations!! Stay tuned for more contests to help spread the word of Congenital Heart Defects!

Check out Jenni's blog below:

http://threejones.blogspot.com

Only a couple more days

There is only a couple more days to tell me why you need that great CHD hat. Put it into today's post or the one where I am standing next to the amazing Dr. Mainwaring. Tell me in your most creative way why the hat would be perfect for you. To see a pic of this wonderful hat scroll down on the right side and eventually it will appear.

Just added: a $50 gift card to Target! Good Luck!!

Below, a cute pic of my 2 wonderful children.

Exercise.

Six Months ago Alexia and I started working out (toning and stuff) at our neighborhood gym, 1,2,3 Fit. She is to steer away from aerobics but toning is so good for her. I really think they should include cardiac rehab for all older children, teens and adults who have a congenital heart defect. The picture
is of Lexi and her WONDERFUL personal trainer, Art.

PS: Don't forget to enter the CHD cap contest below the picture of me and my favorite surgeon, just offer your comment in that section.

Support Group

When Alexia was young and I mean 15 years ago, I belonged to the BEST CHD support group. We lasted about 10 years and then fizzled as the children had their repairs and started growing up, parents did not need the group any longer (that is the natural progression of things). I still feel the need to connect with other heart families and offer my support to "new" families starting their journey. We finally are on the roll for a new support group in the Sacramento area. It is held the last Thursday of every month at Sutter Memorial Hospital, with refreshments, speakers etc. If anyone, who checks this Blog is local feel free to inquire and stop by for a visit and meet others who are sharing your experiences.

PS: Don't forget to enter the CHD cap contest below the picture of me and my favorite surgeon, just offer your comment in that section.

Things are never what they seem.........

As I ended the 33rd chapter of the Deathly Hallows last night, all I can say is WOW, I was not expecting that one. For those of you who have not started or finished it, I will not go into detail. I will savor every last page knowing that I have no more books to look forward to but I will not tell my daughter that a book series got me majorly hooked. I will no doubt finish it tonight and will be left heartbroken for no more books to fill my need. Yes Alexia, all this time I adored Severus!

My daughter, Alexia, now has a Blog, solely devoted to Harry Potter. Check it out!
http://harrypotterfans-hpfan.blogspot.com/

What is the difference

Every Spring Aden plants a few things throughout our backyard. We do not have a full fledged garden by any means but we are able to get Thyme, Basil, Cilantro, Strawberries and pumpkins. This year we planted pumpkin seeds and we are a little confused as the leaves are different from one plant to the next (this has never happened). I took pictures because I want a gardners suggestion as to why this happens. Some of the leaves have a silvery pattern on them and the others are just plain green. We counted this morning and so far have 15 pumpkins (or what looks like pumpkins). The glare is the morning sunshine. Have a wonderful weekend!

PS: Don't forget to enter the comment contest for the CHD cap below. So far there is only one entry...I am a little sad about that.

Pumpkins...I think??

Bubbles

Thinkin'

My desire to learn to knit is huge, I just need to get my husband's Aunt out here to teach me, she lives in BC and I, in Northern California, pretty expenisve class if you ask me. If I wait a couple more years my 6 year old son, Aden could probably teach me, as knitting is part of their curriculum in his school, they start in First grade. My last desire was to learn how to cook, it happened and was relatively inexpenisve, a annual payment of $40 to Fine Cooking magazine.

Lot's going on in the CHD world for me now. We are starting a Support Group at the hospital for families of children with Congenital Heart Disease, I am the Chairperson for the Family Advisory Council at this same hospital (we focus on making sure the hospital has Family Centered Care) and I may be helping to take over a local Children's Heart, Non Profit. Am also working on our Children's Heart Surgery Parent Evening Symposium which is at the end of September.

Oh!! I did get 4 hours to myself yesterday thanks to a dear friend. Guess what I did, got my oil changed and oh yes, a 60 minute facial, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Below, pic's I have taken........