Sun Safe

I read a great post about sunscreen the other day & have to share. Here is the original post:

http://sewcurly.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-personal-sunscreen-psa.html

I can't believe that the majority of sunscreen on the market only protects you from burning and not from skin cancer. That is horrible. Right after I read this post I checked the babies sunscreen, which is a brand I normally trust, and it failed! So here are the main points:

• The active ingredients need to be either Zinc Oxide or Titanium Dioxide

• No sunscreen is water-proof or sweat-proof

• Use SPF 15 or 30 anything higher does more damage because of the chemicals needed to make it that high

• Apply every 2 hours

Thought this was worth sharing!

Fathers Day 2011

I was lucky enough to celebrate half of Fathers Day weekend with my dad and the other half with my hubs. The baby and I went down to San Diego on Friday night so we could hang with my Pops on Saturday. My nephew flew in and it was great to see the 'guys' together.

My dad is simply the best. He is smart, tough, believes in hard work, believes in a healthy mind & body, believes family comes first and has always been there for me no matter what. I'm lucky to have such a great dad.

Sunday John had to work a little in the morning, but then we were able to BBQ with his brother's family and his mom. It was very casual and relaxing. Father's day is a little bitter sweet for John because while I'm sure he is so thankful and happy to celebrate his 2nd fathers day with his son, I'm sure it makes him miss his own dad a lot. John is a great dad and I'm sure that has a lot to do with the example his dad set for him.

(Here the boys are opening up his gift :))

I hope everyone had a good Dad's Day!!

I saw this on Pinterest and I love it...

PERCEPTION

. . . Something To Think About. . .

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children.. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly..

45 minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

The questions raised:

*In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

*Do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.

How many other things are we missing?

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I love this for so many reasons. I like that all the children wanted to stop and listen. They are such pure little souls. It is such a reminder that beauty is everywhere. You might see it, hear it or feel it anywhere at anytime.

Weekend

Yesterday we traveled down to San Diego to hang out with some friends that are moving to Philadelphia this summer. We dropped John off at my folks and went downtown (Gaslamp) to check into our hotel room. We stayed at the Andaz (formerly the Ivy). It was a very modern, cool, hipster, wine bar, night club, rooftop bar, cool guy hotel. Honestly, it was great, but John and I realized that we are just not those people.

We left the hotel and met Brian & Tina for some beers, margaritas, chips & salsa. Hung out for a couple of hours & then went back to get ready for our fabulous dinner. We had reservations for 6 at George's in La Jolla. It is an amazing restaurant. It has mouth watering food. We had drinks, steak dinners, wine and sampled ALL the desserts! Here is the view from our table:

It was awesome! We were all pretty full after dinner. 4 of us stopped by a friends house to say hi, but we were back at the hotel by midnight. ((Perfect, in my book))

When we got back to the hotel - it was popping! They asked us again if we wanted our VIP passes to the nightclub. We declined. The music was loud. You could hear it from our room. People were everywhere. Guys with tight shirts and too much cologne, girls in 5 inch heels & mini skirts, loud, super drunk people. I told John, "that is just so not my scene anymore." That was never John's scene - thankfully! Anyway, we secretly laughed and spied on some of the people.

We had a great time together and we both missed the little guy terribly. We picked him up from Nana & Papa's around 10ish and headed home. Here is a little video of him giving "5".

Last Weekend

I forgot to blog about Memorial Day weekend. We should always have 3 day weekends. It allows you enough time to get stuff done, have fun and relax. All in agreement for permanent 3 day weekends raise your hand? :::raising both hands & jumping up and down:::

We had friends over, bbq'd, washed are cars, played in the sprinklers, tried out Five Guys Burgers, got frozen yogurt, hung out with Papa, went to Target, visited with Grams and a couple Aunties, made brownies, got to see Mandy, Jonas, Tias, Heather, Hugh and the usual gang. It was a GREAT 3 day weekend! Here are some pics...

My new toy! I love, love, love it. It is from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. It makes one cup of coffee, tea or espresso. Delish!

We pointed out all the "burds" and "planes" in the sky.

Freddy the raven has become very social. He runs through the sprinklers.

We hung out with Papa!

We snuggled with Grams.

We did broom martial arts in the front yard.

We had friends over and "worked" on the track.

We played outside in the water every chance we got!

15 months (and some change)

Dear John Walker,

Today we had your 15 month check up. You are actually about 15 ½ months old. This is such a fun age. You are discovering everything! You are a pretty passionate, happy kid. When you are happy, which is most of the time, you are all smiles and giggles. When something makes you mad?? Man, you get irritated. It is pretty funny, although you don’t think so of course. You are trying out new words almost daily. You are such a great mimic sometimes.

Favorite foods right now:

Pickles (still your all time favorite)

Hummus

Mustard

Raisins

Broccoli

Oranges

Newest words:

“Hey dude”

“All done”

“John”

“Pretty”

“Outside”

“Five” (I think you are saying 5.. I’m not totally sure about this one)

Oh and you did say “Papa” clear as day a couple weekends ago & Papa was THRILLED!

Sleeping:

Well last week you were IN YOUR CRIB until early morning. You would wake up & want a drink & then back to sleep. BUT… starting 3 days ago you decided you HATE your crib. UGH! Back to the drawing board.

Bath time:

Out of the kitchen sink & into our tub and you LOVE it!

Nap time:

I think we are slowly going down to 1 nap. You have a pretty decent one around 11/11:30, but you just can’t make it to bed time so lately you have been trying to pass out around 6 or 7 which ruins bedtime. Your sleeping is kind of a mess right now. L

New favorite activities:

You finally like me to read to you! It has taken some time, but you started bringing books to me.

Today you got two shots. I was so nervous about it, but your doctor assured me there is nothing to worry about. You have to be up to date on your vaccines by the time Montessori starts (3 months away.. tear..). I don’t want to have you pumped full of vaccines right before, so I have had to try and catch you up. Today you got the MMR (AHAHAH! This one scares me) and chickenpox. You and Nana met me at the doctors. You were so sad after your shots (note to self – don’t make appointments at naptime). It was heartbreaking.

You are such a fun little person. You are the best thing to happen to us and we love you so much!