Habitat for Humanity

So I lead a team at work to help improve morale and increase team building within IT. I was asked to expand this and include people from other sites in the activities. As part of that, I get to plan Community Service days and we recently finished 2 days with Habitat for Humanity.

The first day it SNOWED all day. It was so cold! But that house was pretty far along and we hung dry wall, moved wood, and prepped the 2nd floor for drywall.

The second day was yesterday - it was so nice out! But because of the location and the recent rain we have had, saying it was a mess doesn't give it justice. The head of the worksite called me on Wednesday and asked to make sure everyone wore boots, the foundation work they had done so far had caved in and there was a lot of mud. I didn't know what to expect but I can tell you that I did NOT expect that much mud. It was crazy!!! After we moved buckets and more buckets and more buckets of mud, and removed 2 people from the mud after they got stuck, we were able to move to some less messy activities and it ended up being a gorgeous day. Here are some pics from yesterday that people have sent me so far...

Before we got started...you can see from behind we didn't have too much space to work with

Check out all that water!!! You can see the water line where it had creeped up to over night...we were able to get all the water out and fix the foundation around it by the time we left - I think everyone slept good last night!

Happy (almost) Halloween

So where will you be tomorrow? Let us know and you may get a visit from a certain Trick or Treat-er and her traveling dance party....(that is your hint - any guesses?) Kristin and I will be taking her all over after her nap so let us know if you'd like us to stop by and we'll see what we can do!


Also - to promote the new J&J estore, they have a deal of $4.99 flat shipping for orders placed by Sunday (Nov 1). The new store can ship directly to you - no need for me to bring it to you anymore. So if you would like to place an order, let me know and I will get you set up.

HAPPY FRIDAY and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Gotta love the internet

So Dan and I couldn't decide (or agree upon) what Claire was going to be for Halloween. I was looking on the internet and found a cute costume that we both liked. I wanted to order it, but I HATE paying for shipping. So I googled One Step Ahead coupon code and found a code for 15% off your order. So I put it in, it worked, and I was happy to save some money, who isn't these days?

Yesterday I ordered a sweatshirt from LL Bean and gave good old Google another shot at coupon codes. Sure enough - a code for free shipping. Happy again!

And of course you know good things come in threes. We have had our eye on Puerto Rico flights for a while now. When I first looked they were $300 each and we didn't buy them. Of course the price kept going up, up, up so I set a fare alert so I would be notified every day the price was under $350 (thank you Kayak!) . I have been getting the E-mails randomly that the tickets were $350 or $330. Yesterday I said to Dan that we should just buy them at $330 and stop worrying about it. We didn't buy them last night and guess what was in my inbox this morning? The price dropped to $300. Dan, Andrea, Claire and I are now proud owners of 3 tickets to Puerto Rico (Claire is still a free lap child). And to make it even better, we got bumped last year and Andrea still had a $300 voucher left, so she is essentially flying for free.

This is why I love the internet :-)

You should check this out...

So Miss Claire is learning new stuff every day. Over the weekend, Peter and Peggy came to babysit for Claire on Saturday while Mere and Dan had a date day and I had a friend visiting from college. Saturday morning we were playing and learned Claire has a new word - PIPERE!!! And Papa so Grandpa Pete and Grandpa Don should be very excited! She's still working on Nana and is a much bigger fan of saying Dada instead of Mama but check out the video...

http://snider.aboutmybaby.com/video/115917

HELP BAIL ME OUT OF JAIL, AND HELP ME RAISE MONEY FOR MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY!!!

Hi Everyone:

 

As many of you already know, I am participating in the Muscular Dystrophy Association's Lock-up. They are sending the police to pick me up at work tomorrow, where I will proceed to a restaurant, get a mug shot taken and get one phone call... hopefully to raise more bail money.

 

I have sent some of you emails, and am greatly appreciative to those who have so generously responded. I have raised over $300 thus far, but would love to raise enough money to send one child with Muscular Dystrophy to the MDA Camp,  which costs approximately $800. With your help, we can do this!!!

 

If you are willing to help not only bail me out of jail, but much more importantly, help a child with MD. The money raised helps MDA provide medical equipment, clinical visits, support groups, and so much more to those in need. 

 

Here's the link, I hope you can help me help those with MD. 

https://www.joinmda.org/MyLockup/MyHomepage/tabid/104675/Participant/ncaronbeca/Default.aspx

 

 

                     Thanks!

                        Nicole

Friday Morning Chuckle

I found these boots at Kohls and had to buy them. And of course I had to put them on Claire after her bath (with nothing but a diaper) and take lots of pictures. Is that what parents are for?

OK, admit it....you laughed, I sure did.....