Monday, January 19, 2009

Another amazing friend.

My dear friend gia and I have grown up together. She has started this AMAZING new non-profit that provides a summer retreat for foster children that are nearing the age of 18. Sadly many foster kids in their teens end up on the street because they are too young to support themselves but can no longer rely on the foster system. As a fundraiser to kick off her first retreat in 2010, she published this calendar on her own!!! Many people helped ofcourse, but it came to her in a dream, she followed it through, and now has these very green calendars for sale. Check it out!
http://soulbeautiful.org/

The best friends.


My friends are so darn sweet. Can you believe how crafty they are? For my son's birthday, Nikki made him a super sweet super hero cape, in his favorite color with his initial. She also sewed a headband for me on my birthday, all because I had mentioned I was trying to let my gray come in and grow out my color.


Gretchen drew my name for the annual Jitterbug gift exchange. She made these CUTE potholders and washcloths with a dishtowel. Love that I see a little bit of her in my kitchen each day since she lives across the country. They're pictured here with my husband's yummy weekend pizza. The kids prefer their own little calzones that they make with him. Mmmm!


And while there's no photos of Wendi's thoughtful gift, she gave me a kid-free day on my birthday, so while my daughter was at Kindergarten, Wendi watched True all day!! One of my favorite gifts all year, much as I love those kiddos, I'm sure you can all relate.


Tuning forks.



My friend Nikki is an acupuncturist and she has had a profound impact on the quality of my family's life together. She has helped me, as a person who has struggled with depression for years, not only manage my symptoms but find joy in my everyday life and peace in my mind. She has helped my three-year-old son tremendously as he battles strong moods, power struggles, and the given challenges that comes with being three years old. He went from daily tantrums that made mornings so unpleasant for us to having just enough distance between his patience and his anger to identify his feelings and begin to succeed in using his verbal skills to label emotions and frustrations. My husband and I are thrilled and awestruck at the peace she's brought to our little guy, after a very long stint of looking into every option for parenting styles, diet, etc. Thank you Nikki for stregthening our family unit and enriching the quality of our lives!!

Bowling.
















We have discovered a classic family favorite: our kids' first bowling night!

My three favorite people.











Time flies.
















It's been an eternity since I've posted so here are the recent photos!