4/29/11: Big Apple Circus Fun!

Today we went to The Big Apple Circus!  We had so much fun and got to sit in the front row.  Our seats were really afordable also at $17 a piece after a discount code.

What a fun show and you are so close to the action, even if you aren't in the front row.  It is such a small seating area, any seat is a good one.  There were animals and Acrobats and all kinds of acts.

 These girls were amazing!  They bent ways I didn't know the human body could bend.

Me and Lauren on our girls day out with Claire and her Mommy.

 Hi there.

More acrobats.

Lauren enjoyed the ponies.

 So cute.

The girls had such a good time and Lauren said it was a Great Show!

4/27/11: Wordless Wednesday - Happy 3 Year Blogoversary

I can hardly believe that tomorrow is my Blogs 3 Year Blogoversary! 

Wow how time flies, and how far we have come.  Here was my Welcome Post 3 Years ago!

4/27/11: Make Mother's Day Moms4Moms Day

The Moms4Moms movement uses social media to support moms around the world this Mother’s Day, and I couldn’t be prouder or more happy to be part of this important campaign with all these other amazing bloggers.

Did you know?...

-  One mom dies (maternal death) every 90 seconds!

-  15% of all pregnancies result in complications during labor and delivery and sometimes are fatal.

-  Pregnancy is the biggest killer of girls ages 15-19.

-  For every woman who dies in childbirth, 20 more suffer from debilitating complications.

****We have the knowledge to prevent 90% of all maternal deaths.***

These numbers are truly shocking to me and it breaks my heart to think of children growing up without their mothers because something happened to them during childbirth.

Despite Mother’s Day celebration of motherhood, hundreds of thousands of women worldwide die during pregnancy and childbirth. The US ranks 50th in terms of maternal health care, meaning that 49 other countries provide better care! Moms4Moms’s goal is to “really make Mother’s Day about moms” by promoting the allocation of at least some of the money spent on gifts to mothers in need.

Leveraging the power of social media, Moms4Moms plans to raise awareness and funds for Christy Turlington Burns’ organization Every Mother Counts.

The Facebook page “Moms4MomsDay” focuses on two initiatives: micro-donating, which encourages everyone to give as little as $5, and old cell-phone donation through the group Hope Phones, which refurbishes old phones and donates the proceeds.

What if we each donated just a little bit of what’s spent every year on Mother’s Day? What if we asked for handmade cards and a donation to everymothercounts.org instead? Instead of a dozen roses from well-intentioned but completely unoriginal hubby, a life could be saved.  Moms4Moms is a movement started by Holly Pavlika, founder of the blog Mom-entum.  She partnered with the following twelve influential moms and bloggers to create Moms 4 Moms Day: Erica Diamond womenonthefence.com, Audrey McClelland momgenerations.com, Molly Gold gomominc.com, Beth Feldman rolemommy.com, Niri Jaganath mommyniri.com (I happen to know Niri personally and used to go to Gymboree classes with her), Katja Presnal skimbacolifestyle.com, Kelly Loubet everydaychildhood.com, Julie Cole mabelslabels.com, Linda Grant nycsinglemom.com, Katrina Carefoot ficklefeline.ca, Dagmar Bleasdale Dagmar’s momsense and Sherry Aikens babypop.com

We need you....

We are all reaching out to our large social media following to enlist other women to post about Moms4Moms to raise awareness and ask for donations on a singular day, April 27, hopefully across the U.S and globally.

There was also a huge #moms4moms Twitter party and since the project started, that hashtag was mentioned almost 21 million times on Twitter. Amazing!

Every Mother Counts is Christy Turlington Burns’ campaign to increase education and support for maternal and child health. The keystone of the campaign is http://www.everymothercounts.org/, an interactive platform providing the tools to raise awareness, education and action.

Want to help? Easy: spread the word by stumbling and tweeting this post, or share it via Facebook or e-mail. Ask people to donate a part of their Mother’s Day gifts. Or feel free to take any facts from this post and write your own post about Moms4Moms, even after today. We can all make a big difference in raising awareness — and donations – for maternal health.

Moms, did you have the birth experience you hoped for? Why or why not?

Were you confident in your own abilities to labor and deliver?

Whether your birth experience was empowering or left you feeling powerless, we have the power to make a difference. YOU have the power now to make a real difference.
Do something today.

4/24/11: Easter Festivities

As always we had a fun filled Easter weekend.  Finally the weather cooperated and it was beautiful on Easter Sunday.

We even got to go for a walk along Wollaston Beach, it was so nice out.

The Easter Bunny made a stop at our house and brought the kids wonderful baskets full of cool stuff.

The reveal Easter morning.

We colored Eggs.

We had an Easter Egg Hunt.

All dressed up ready to go.

All the cousins at Nonna and Nonno's house.

What a great weekend!

4/22/11: Allepo Shriner's Circus

We went to the Allepo Shriner's Circus for the 4th time.  We always have fun at this Circus and the kids are entertained for 2 1/2 hours for only $10 each.  Pretty good deal.

Lauren having fun!

The Elephants, there was a baby one, he was so cute.

4/20/11: Wordless Wednesday - Happy Easter!

4/20/11: Hop in and Join the April Blog Hop

It is almost Easter so why not join in the April Blog Hop from bloggy moms.

4/14/11: Evan's School Walk-a-Thon for Healthy Living

I love the idea our PTA had this year for the Spring Fundraiser.  Instead of selling something instead the kids did a Walk-a-Thon and learned about healthy living, got outside to enjoy walking, and had a great time!  The kids raised three times the normal amount for this fundraiser over previous years.  What an awesome idea!

I had the joy of walking with the Kindergarteners.  It was so fun, and Evan held my hand the whole walk.  I also walked with the 4th Graders which turned in to more of a Run-a-Thon than a Walk-a-Thon.  What a fun day.

 Ditson kids are cool!  There were great signs up all around the walk teaching the kids about healthy living, plus they got a water, bracelet, and ice pop when they were done.

 Evan even won a competition from the Walk-a-Thon to draw a picture and write what Healthy Living means to him.  He won out of all the Kindergarteners and got a pedometer!  We were so proud.

 Here is his picture.

 And what he wrote.

4/17/11: Lauren's 1st Competitive Gymnastics Meet

Lauren competed in her first Gymnastics Meet today in Bars, Vault, Beam and Floor Exercise.  The last Meet they didn't compete but this time they got to try it out.

I was so proud of her for getting out there and doing so well.  This was an unsanctioned meet but a practice for the little ones in Squirts to get used to the Competitive environement of a Meet.  All the kids did awesome and had a lot of fun, which is all that counts.

Lauren on Bars, her favorite event!

Tada!

Floor Exercise!

Vault:

Beam:

Awards, Lauren got 7th all around and got her first trophy!

Congrats to all the little athletes!

Here is some video:

Being announced:

Lauren Vault:

Lauren Bars:

Lauren Floor Routine:

Lauren Beam:

4/12/11: Easter Egg Hunt at Simonds Park

 We went to Simonds Park for an Easter Egg Hunt and some fun at the park.  The kids had a great time and loved seeing the Easter Bunny.

 Shaking his hand while waiting to start.

 Lauren having some fun running down the hill. 

 Evan getting some eggs.

 Lauren getting some too.

What a fun time!

4/13/11: Wordless Wednesday: Happy Birthday Princess Lauren

1st Birthday

 1st Cake

 2nd Birthday

 3rd Birthday

 And 4th Birthday