Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Fundraiser

So I'm not sure how many of you that will read this walked for "Team Wester" with my family, friends and myself to support our good friend Jeff Wester who was a true fighter. We now have another opportunity to raise money for a great cause. The Gateway chapter for The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is holding the Springfield Wine Opener on March 23, 2012.

The evening will start at 7:00 and they will have over 20 wines to sample. They will also have entertainment, silent auction, raffle, wine grab bag and many other fun activities. Everyone will go home with something other than the pure joy of helping out a great cause. So if you know someone who has or is fighting cystic fibrosis please come and help support them. It will be a great time. Tickets are $50 in advance or $60 at the door. You can purchase ticket online at: http://gateway.cff.org/wineopenerspringfield  

This is a cause that feel real strongly about and I hope to see many of you there! Don't forget it's cocktail attire! Here is a picture of Alivia and I before we headed to the Great Strides Walk for Team Wester.

Proud to be a Giddens

I just read a document that really hit home to me and made a feeling that I have always had a whole lot stronger… I am so proud to be a Giddens. My life has always been great. Even in the tough or bad times I am surrounded by such a strong family that the bad never last long. Not one person can say that they have a perfect life and I am not saying that at all but I do have the perfect family.

At the end of the month my father will no longer have the burden of being a business owner. It hasn’t always been a burden to him but owning a business is not an easy job. He has worked so hard his whole life to create a very successful company that has done so much more than just business. Any chance that he had to do something good for someone within the company or outside of the company he jumped on it. And he did so without any hesitation or the need for recognition. And during all of these years of hard work, dedication and philanthropy he has had an amazing woman by his side, my mom. Outside of being my parents they are two of the most amazing people that I know and words can’t even express the respect that I have for the both of them.

And then you have my wonderful sister, Chrissy. I guess this is where the phrase “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” comes from. Just like my parents she donates her time and money to help so many different people and organizations. I am so proud of her and my brother-in-law for the people that they have become.

Somehow I managed to marry a woman that lives by the same principals as the rest of my family. Just like my parents, sister and brother-in-law she jumps at any opportunity to help others. I thought that helping me was a full time job but she somehow finds the time to do good for others. She is so amazing!

So I plead to all of you that read this please join our “38 Moments” campaign tomorrow March 8. Try doing 38 random acts of kindness, you will be amazed how good you will feel. For the full story about “38 Moments” please read below. I was thinking about it today and 184 people read my “38 Moments” blog and if all 184 people did 38 random acts of kindness that would be 6,992 randomly nice things done tomorrow. To me that is just amazing. So good luck and let me know how it goes. 

38 Moments

      On this post I will be stealing a post that was made by my sister, Chrissy George. March 8 we will celebrate Stephanie Phillips birthday. Since the day she passed away my family and others have done our best to make sure she will always be remembered and that her birthday will always be a happy day for her two little boys. My sister read a blog about a girl who turned 30 and instead of being down about turning 30 she decided to do 30 random acts of kindness. So my sister started what I am calling the 38 Moments Campaign. Here is what Chrissy wrote:

"So here is my challenge to you.  I am going to spend Thursday March 8, 2012 spreading the love.  I vow to have 38 momentsin that day that belong to someone other than myself.  38 moments where I will return the love to the community that we received in our time of trial.  38 moments dedicated TO someone else in HONOR of her.  I KNOW you are all up to the challenge.  Anyone can participate from anywhere.  It can be anything from holding a door, to paying for someone's meal.  A plate of cookies in the teacher's lounge at your child's school or  a visit to a nursing home.  Call someone who needs cheering up.  Ask the bank teller how his or her day is...and listen.  It doesn't have to involve money, but if you have extra to spare...buy a handful of $5 gas cards and hand them out with sweet notes.  Make a special breakfast for your family.  Slip a little surprise in lunches or backpacks before you send them out the door.  Volunteer somewhere.  How fun would it be to hand out lollipops at the DMV while people wait?  This may challenge many of us to step outside their comfort zones...but again, I think we are up for that challenge!!"


You can follow her blogs at:
www.claireandcocosmommy.blogspot.com
www.stephsgonnawin.blogspot.com

My Rant

So this weekend I have been thinking a lot about some of the people that post things to facebook and other social media sites. FYI: this is going to be a little bit of a rant. I have a lot of respect for all of the single parents out there, I’m sure it is very hard to do everything in your household. I consider myself very lucky that I don’t have to worry about a lot of thing when it comes to the kids, our home, and our bills. When I get home from work the only thing I need to do is kiss my wife and then play with the kids, which rocks! And again I’m sure it is very hard to do all of that alone. So now to my rant and I will keep it short. If you are going to leave your kids with someone else while you continue to do everything that you did before you had kids maybe you should grow up. So if you leave your kid(s) with your parents or someone else every weekend so you can go “out” or if you change your relationship status on facebook more than once per year you need to take a good long look at your life. How confusing do you think that might be for a small child? 

While I’m typing this one of my girls is taking a nap and the other one is resting because we have been wrestling. Going out to a club will NEVER be better than what I have been doing today. All parents deserve some alone time every once and a while but not all the time. With that being said here are a couple pictures of our day.

Alivia didn't really want me to take this. She was watching a show on my iPad

Elise walking around

Elise coming at me