So The World May Hear

You know Toto, right?

Rachael and Toto, my favorite Starkey Peeps!

You know, the one that dresses up as Santa for our Christmas parties?

Ali will never be afraid of Santa when you have Toto to start you out!

And giant teddy bears for birthday parties?

Yeah, well, he's at it again, doing good for others.

Toto works for a company called Starkey Labs that provides the best hearing aids on the market, from your grandma (most certainly MY grandma...Long story, but we can thank Toto for that too...) to some of the most famous celebrities out there.  (You wouldn't believe how many people that you know of that actually wear hearing aids!)  In addition to stellar hearing aids, Starkey Labs also raises money to support missions to outfit poor areas of the world with hearing aids for those that need them..."So The World May Hear!!!"  Here's the thing, I realize that I'm not doing the Starkey Hearing Foundation any justice in my diatribe on this blog, but if you want to read more about it, you can right here.

Here's where I fit into this mix.  Together with Toto and a few other friends, I am co-hosting a fundraiser for the Starkey Hearing Foundation and would be most humbled if you would support!

For those of my local friends that reside in Minnesota, we are having a gathering in Rosemount on Saturday, November 13th at Celt's Pub (ahem, okay, it's a Beer Bust...As much beer as you can drink from 8-11pm, many thanks to  Celt's)!  Entertainment by Aaron Ollswang and his sweet, sweet lungs and guitar.  Event ticket is $10.

Now, this part is for both my friends in Minnesota and across the nation alike.  We are having a raffle for some stuff that's the business.  For real.  You can ALL buy a raffle ticket and enter, and you don't have to be present to win!  Here are what you could stand to win:

• Adrian Peterson autographed jersey
• Adrian Peterson autographed football
• 1 night stay at the Courtyard by Marriott Bloomington
• 2 nights weekend stay at the Residence Inn by Marriott Bloomington, with 2 Nickelodeon Universe wristbands
• 1 night stay at the SpringHill Suites in Eden Prairie
• 1 night stay at the TownePlace Suites in Eden Prairie
• 1 night stay at the Residence Inn Downtown Minneapolis at the Depot, including 4 waterpark passes
• PC gaming package
• Nintendo DS gaming package
• Wii gaming package
• Xbox 360 gaming package
• TKO Audio car stereo
• Golf basket, including golf ball autographed by Arnold Palmer
• Vehicle window tint courtesy of Tint My Ride of Rosemount
• 2 variety liquor baskets
• 2 wine baskets
• Kids activity basket
• Movie basket
• Melaleuca products basket
• Bloody Mary basket
• Spa basket
• Variety of restaurant certificates

And perhaps the best prize that EVERYONE gets to win is the fact that you're donating to an awesome charity that helps those in need across the globe.

At the risk of sounding like Sally Struthers, if you can find the kindness in your heart, and the coinage in your wallet, then I would be most grateful for your support!  Please message me on Facebook, or email me at danielledambro@msn.com.

1 ticket = $2
6 tickets = $10
14 tickets = $20

Thanks in advance for your consideration, my friends!

October, You Sneaky Little Month, You

Okay, so I don't exactly subscribe to the above-mentioned decree of gamerhood one-hundo, but if for instance I were filling in the magic opinion bubbles on SurveyMonkey, I would have filled in the "Agree" to "Strongly Agree" choice when asked if I did.  For the record, I do really like science and medicine though.  I use both of those things a lot...And you can quote me on that, Ms. Lane.


Not only do I dabble in the video game arts once in awhile myself, but it is also my life.  My life because these guys pay my bills: 

 

As does this guy.  Scratch that, this guy's mom probably does the bill paying from upstairs while he explores Kalimdor from the basement:

Why do I tell you these things?  Because it's my sorry excuse for not posting in ages.  You see, in the gaming industry it IS Black Friday and Christmas as we speak.  We are currently in the thick of planning for the biggest shopping season of the year and I. Am. Swamped.  But hey, I'm not complaining in the least.  First, I am gainfully employed.  Second, I've got Nerds #1 and #2 (and their moms) taking care of home.  Third, it could be a lot worse.  I could NOT be talking about video games all day.  Nevertheless, when given the choice at the end of the day, I'd rather not spend any more time in front of a screen of any kind.  I'd rather drag race home to stare at these faces instead:

So here I sit owing this blog [and myself] a hellacious update.  All of a sudden, it's the end of October and we're thinking about ladybugs (this year's Halloween costume) when as far as I'm concerned we should still be thinking about mosquitoes.  Time sure does fly when we're having fun. 

To be fair, autumn is my second favorite season next to summer, and it might have even been my first if not for the fact that every day is a cruel reminder that the earth is preparing for stupid winter.  Yeah, that's right, winter, I said it.  You are a stupidhead and I hate you.  Phew...Now that that's out in the open, I can focus on the gloriousness of fall.  The beautiful colors and smells, and as Brennan and Dale from Stepbrothers would say, we can do so many activities!

Pumpkin patches are where it's at.

In addition to pumpkins, this patch grows giant rocking chairs

If all shoulder roasts looked like this, I'd probably become a vegetarian

One of Team Torres' favorite holidays is Halloween.  Yep, we're the nerds in the neighborhood who go all out with the decorations.  And since Ali isn't quite old enough yet to realize that we're those people, she gleefully participates.  Mwaaahahahahahahaha...

Oh, and don't think that mama hasn't been having a little bit of fun too.  I don't want to brag, but I again hobnobbed with a major celebrity last weekend.  I only got to hang out with...ahem...THE WORLD'S LARGEST BALL OF TWINE EVER!  Yeah, I know.  

Ummm...Can I have your autograph?  Oh, you're kind of tied up at the moment?  Okay.

Mr. Twine currently resides in a little town in Minnesota that, when coupled with the experience of enjoying your libations at a "set up bar" across the street, just might be the best place on earth!  I dare you to name one person that wouldn't want to bring their own bottle of booze to the bar and then get charged eighteen thousand dollars for a glass of soda!  Why would you leave the comfort of your own home for virtually the same experience, you might ask?  Let me tell you why.  These "set up" places are a people-watching gold mine.  I have not seen so many non-ironical mullets in one place since the Def Leppard tour of 1987. 

The barkeep fixin' to filtch our jug o' booze.  Don't you dare judge on the Strawberry Schnapps

But I digress, this blog is meant for talking about my best girl, so that's just what I'm going to do.  How 'bout that whole having a two year old thing, huh?!?  It amazes me to actually think about these little milestones called years and the differences betwixt each one.  Two years ago, for instance, I think of how Alessandra was nothing but a wriggling mass of motor nerves and poop.  A year ago she was crawling and pulling up (and still pooping).  And nowadays...well...She walks (runs, does the splits, climbs, dances and leapfrogs) and talks (converses, opines, sings, interrupts, demands), and still poops.  


And speaking of pooping...We did go ahead and get her a big girl potty.


Ummm...

...Yeah...We're not quite ready for potty training yet, it seems.  No, seriously.  The girl would sit in her poopy diaper for two hours if we let her.  It's gonna be awhile.  The potty does look really awesome in our bathroom collecting dust, though. 

In other big girl news, we have now discovered an extremely reliable and adorable method for avoiding forced-to-sit-in-grocery-cart struggles.  We now BOOC (Bring Our Own Cart)!  Alessandra picks out her own groceries and puts them in her cart and then puts them up on the conveyer belt and carts them out of the store after we are all done.  The bonus is that we always hit up the produce section first, so she always goes for the bananas and strawberries that take up all the room in her cart so she can't fit any of the more frivolous items in.  Let me tell you, I had NO idea how many kid-trap items these stores are putting on the bottom shelves at their eye level!  The sheer amount of squeeze yogurts, boxes of cereal, and bottles of vitamins I've had to wrestle out of those little arms! 

In addition to prolific shopping, Ali is progressing quite well verbally, and I also continue to be amazed by her recognition of  every random object we pass.  Her knowledge of the world around her is seemingly picked up from each conversation, television show or book we come across, and one time will do the trick.  Needless to say, cursing has become a lot less popular around our house which is quite problematic for me.  Yeah, you try exclaiming "FUDGE!" when you've just been nipped by hot bacon grease, or just slammed your toe into the leg of the couch and hit that perfect nerve that delays the inevitable pain for just enough time to take it from bearable to gnarly.  So, while we grownups' sentences are becoming a little less colorful, Alessandra the Great's are growing into a BIG box of crayons.  Like, the kind with the built-in sharpener in back.  She is utilizing pronouns, adjectives and possessives properly.  (Mama's blue car, my cute shirt)  She's incredibly empathetic and recognizes the emotions of, well, everything:  People and inanimate objects alike.  All the Halloween stuff is "angry...raaarrr!"  And probably my favorite thing is that she is catching on quite well to sounding out letters.  (Thanks Fridge Phonics!)  We are trying our hand at sounding out whole words, but my budding genius is not quite ready for that yet.  Just like the potty, I'll never ever make her until she's ready, but I'll be over her shoulder testing it out once an hour just in case, don't you worry!  As for counting, she has plateaued at 15, officially.  She counts beautifully up until 15, and then she just repeats "wateen, wateen, wateen, wateen..." over and over again.  Hmmm...Do I smell a new exaggeration number opportunity?  I'm always looking for those.

For Alessandra's birthday we had what I like to call a "Piecemeal Party".  Honestly, give me the bad mom of the year award, but I didn't feel like planning a giant birthday party that she wouldn't even remember.  So, we celebrated with Ali's (and mommy's) best friends on one occasion and our family on another occasion which ended up perfecto!

Vikings gear and remote control cars?!?  Only thing that would make this scenario better would be beer and BW3's!

Grandma and Grandpa Torres came to celebrate all the way from Michigan

Isabella and Alexis came over for a giggly sleepover

The many hats of birthdaydom

So, tack on another trip to Phoenix and one to Chicago before that and you've got our fall so far in a nutshell.  Hopefully I can start updating on the regular again, and especially since there are some exciting things coming up!  Halloween is next weekend and we are heading to HallZOOween (I know.), so that should be cute times wateenbajillion.  (Told ya.)  Plus, we had our 2010 family pictures taken downtown at St. Anthony Main this past Saturday, so those should be ready to share in a couple of weeks.  Yay!


Have a SPOOKY Halloween and give yourself a hug from Team Torres!