Hopebuilders 2012!!

Hey Gang!
It is that time of year again - you know, the one where I ask you for your money!! :) Seriously though, the 17th Annual Hopebuilders 5K is coming up on Saturday, October 20th.  This will be our 3rd year participating by raising money and joining the run/walk with our team - Oliver's Army.

I cannot stress enough what a wonderful event this has been for the last couple of years. Not only are we raising money to support the amazing work going on at Levine Children's Hospital but we gather for a morning of fun and exercise during a time of year in Charlotte that is absolutely lovely and the route itself takes you through a beautiful part of Charlotte.  I look forward to this event every year.

We have been so fortunate the past couple of years to have raised a significant amount of money and we are on the way to raising more money than last year - but every dollar counts! If you would be willing to make a donation to Oliver's Army, please click DONATE! Click on Sponsor Me.  We truly appreciate the support!

I am especially excited and honored this year as I was asked to be a part of the Hopebuilders Advisory Committee - we help to raise money and awareness for the 5k!

Additionally, Oliver and I will get to appear LIVE on Charlotte Today (a local tv show) on Tuesday, October 9th (don't worry, I will remind you to tune in!) to talk about our experience at the hospital and our team!  During September and October the show is promoting Hopebuilders and we get to be part of the program.....this should be REALLY interesting.
1 - It is LIVE
2 - They are having a 2 year old on the show.....yeah.

At best, Oliver will be totally cute, chatty and adorable and talking about stuff that it totally irrelevant. At worst, he will be totally cute and crazy.....but hey, who wouldn't want to fork over some cash for an amazing cause when you see this adorable mug???

Anyway, you all know how near and dear Levine's is to our hearts and we are so grateful for the love and support from everyone.

If you are interested in joining us in the walk, please click on this link to sign up for OLIVER'S ARMY!!

Thank you all!

The benefits of letting some of the house cleaning lapse.....

The kid has entertainment in the form of those tiny spiders that can take up residence along the baseboards and in corners..... enjoy!

Great blog post and just a fun video

Oliver is growing up so much and is a total sponge! He is extremely observant and has a great memory and loves to interact with everyone he meets including total strangers. I read a really interesting blog post recently that I thought was too good not to share. It talks about ways to tell children about the dangers of "tricky people" versus "strangers......click on LINK to read.... Now I don't want to be overly paranoid but at the same time I want to protect Oliver from the real dangers of the world without terrifying him. So I encourage you read that post, it was quite helpful to me and just made sense.

On another note, Oliver also loves talking on the phone.....he is getting better at it all the time and this is a really cute video I took of Oliver last week talking to Papa on the phone......

The conversation starts with Oliver and Papa "singing" the words to the Thomas & Friends song....then he talks about "1 2 3 go under water".... that is what he does in swimming lessons.....

At dinner the other night, he was drawing and wanted to put a crayon behind his ear....the yellow showed up better than the red :)