DAY 26! 26 Days of March of Dimes

WE MADE IT!

Today was Walk Day!  26 posts in 26 days! SO happy we made it!

So, Let me recap for you.  It started raining about 6:30 this morning.  Registration for our walk was set for 9:00am; the walk was to begin at 10:00am.  It rained. And the wind blew.  And it rained.  And it rained harder.  Then it rained.  And it RAINED.  And the wind blew.  And it rained some more.  It was still raining at 11:30 am when we left.  It was a lot of rain.  (Got it?)

So, we had to scramble late last night for a rain location since we knew the rain was in the forecast.  SO THANKFUL that worked out.  Even though we were super bummed we had to forgo the walk, and simply do the "program" part of it indoors.  Somewhat surprisingly, we had a GREAT turn out!  And it was a lot of fun!  I'll let the pictures say the rest.  I'm tired.  And ready for bed...

Emma & Lara showing off our banner before we head out

Wet. Wet. Wet.

Lisa and Britt ditched their shoes and socks for the parking lot lake

This was a common site by every door

Super AWESOME Super AMAZING cupcakes from the BRAND NEW Bella Maria bakery!

Recognition Beads and color chart

Team Finn's Fans & Roman's Empire banners

My VERY special and thoughtful gift from my Sister-In-Love!  (those are my 4 kids' birthstones!)  And, those are rain spots on my T-shirt.  'Cause it was raining.

Me and My Miracle! (Sporting my parent and committee member beads!)

Back of Finn's Shirt: Team Finn's Fans- 26 Weeks, 84 Days in the NICU, 860 Grams, OUR ADVENTURE

Back of Team shirt: "As soon as I saw you I knew an Adventure was going to happen." Winnie the Pooh

Pistol Pete is a Finn's Fan!

Did I mention it was raining?  Jake, Lara and Emma loved it.

Presentation time!

Team Finn's Fans!  Grandpa, Nana the Wonder Sitter, Me, Finn, Britt, Lara, Emma, Jake and Aunt Paula

It was really a good time.  Team Finn's Fans won awards for the most money raised over-all, the most money raised by a family team, and 2nd runner up for T-shirt design.  The Six Dream Weavers also received a nice plaque for being 2013 Ambassador family, and Britt & Betsey each got recognized with small gift for being on the MFB Committee for this year.

We want to thank all of YOU for helping us reach our goal!  As of bank day on Thursday, we had raised just under $2600 dollars.  Based on feedback we received from the Adorable Affordables sale, the March of Dimes cut outs are selling like HOT CAKES!  I bet we reach $3,000 before we are done!  SO EXCITING!  The babies love you for loving them!  See ya next year!

March of Dimes March for Babies 2013 UPDATE

It's hard to believe we are only 40 days away from the 2013 Stillwater March for Babies!  We are working with our committee to raise corporate and business sponsorships, but our family team has set a LOFTY goal, and we need your help to get there!  This banner shows we have raised $195 of our team's $1575 goal.  (In honor of the 75th year of March of Dimes, we chose a number ending in 75.)  WE HAVE SUCH A LONG WAY TO GO!


So, here's a couple of ways you can help us get there!

**Go donate on line!  We have a secure Page through March of Dimes called Finn's Fans.  They make it super easy!  Every donation makes a difference.

**Buy a Finn's Fans T-shirt!  Click HERE for the link to the sign up page or HERE for full T-shirt details.  The more shirts we order, the price goes down, and the donation to the March of Dimes goes UP!

**COME TO BUNCO FOR BABIES THIS THURSDAY NIGHT!!!  There is a $15 entry fee, and all proceeds go to help Team Finn's Fans raise their donations!  There will be snacks, drinks, swag bags (door prizes), and cash prizes for winners of the games!  NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY - I WILL TEACH YOU!  You don't want to miss this!

click for larger version of flier

We are going to have another fun get together fund raiser here in a couple of weeks, too.  I'll keep you informed on that one as the date gets closer!

As the 2013 Stillwater Ambassador family, we really want to work hard and meet our goals!  Will you please consider helping us? With YOUR sponsorship and participation in the 2013 Stillwater March for Babies on Saturday, September 28th, we can help the helpless and address the problems that cause prematurity, birth defects and infant mortality. In addition to sponsorships, we are always looking to expand our teams! If you are interested in learning how your company can form your own walk team, we can help you with that as well. I hope you will not pass up this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of families.

Finn's Fans 2013 shirts will be...

I know you are DYING to know what color theme the shirts are going to be.  And, I know you're DESPERATE to know who won the fun prize.  (Almost as much as our kids want to know WHERE we are going on our Road Trip, WHAT we are going to be doing and seeing, and most importantly HOW LONG are we going to be in the car - but the have some more waiting to do...)  But you are in luck, the winner is being revealed RIGHT NOW!

I would like to thank all of you for playing along!  It's fun for us to do this, and it's a fun way to keep you all involved in the process.  We truly believe in the Mission of the March of Dimes, and are so incredibly blessed to have been chosen as the Ambassador Family this year for Stillwater.  The votes are all in, they have been tallied and re-tallied, and even though my husband negotiated VETO POWER from the contest marshal (me), it didn't have to be used!

Number 4 and Number 6 would like to bow out graceful with their one vote each...

 Number 1 is out - didn't even come close...

 Three way tie with SEVEN votes each for 3, 5 and 8...

Number 7 was a real *crowd pleaser,* led the race most of the way, but was TAKEN OUT right at the end of the voting period!  Too bad Number 7...

AND THE WINNER IS...

YAY!  This was my fave!

Shirt Number 2!  Teal with bright yellow print!

15 people voted for that color combo, so I used random.org to generate a winning number from the 15 participants.  Our winner is: Tyanna B!  

CONGRATS!  

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! (Click for larger version)

When the Dream Weavers get back from vacation, we will start the sign up process for purchasing T-shirts!  We are so excited to see everyone in these shirts come September!  We also have a few other fundraising plans up our sleeves!  Maybe another Fuzzy's night, a thirty-one party, and Bunco for Babies!  Keep watching the blog and Facebook to find out more!

We can't decide!

The Six Dream Weavers use the word "Adventure" a lot.  We don't like to sit around.  We go out looking for for things to do.  We take the back roads.  We stop and smell the flowers.  Britt and I often don't tell the kids what it is we are going to do, just that it is an adventure! (Including the Weaver Family Road Trip 2013 that is looming VERY near on the horizon!  The kids have no idea!)  Sometimes they love this, other times, they are exasperated..  Their individual personalities play a role in that as well.  All that to say, we love a good adventure!

We've been enjoying our summer full of adventures - nature camp for the 3 big kids, swim parties and trips to the pool, New Student Orientation on a constant loop for Britt, Vacation Bible School, a little surgery for me, and Nana the Wonder Sitter and I went to Dallas for 5 days for the International Grand Convention of our sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. (I went to the one in Arizona 2 years ago shortly after I found out I was pregnant with Finn...)  Finn has gotten sick a couple of times and ended up at the pulmonoligist, but nothing severe.  And, he had a hearing check up with Hearts for Hearing and is still within normal ranges but hearing more robustly from his left hear than his right.  He is now 21 months old - hard to believe he is 3 months shy of his 2nd birthday!

click to see larger

Which brings us to our next Adventure!  If we are creeping up on Finn's birthday, the Stillwater March of Dimes March for Babies MUST be on the horizon!  Mark your calendars and SAVE THE DATE!  September 28, 2013 at Willard Lawn on the OSU Campus.  Britt and I are working hard with the steering committee to make this a wonderful event, and we were blessed to be chosen as the 2013 Ambassador Family for this event.  Britt even chose our 2 mile route around the beautiful Oklahoma State campus - hitting all the highlights and MUST SEE spots!

And of course, no event is complete without a t-shirt.  That's where YOU come in! HELP US DECIDE!  After about a hundred drafts, we have finally settled on a design.  And we are going to use CustomInk.com to print the youth and adult shirts.  (Still looking for a vendor for the onesie for Finn...)  But, the color combinations are ENDLESS!  We need your input!  (Keep in mind that March of Dimes "official color" is purple.)

Here is a graphic of our 8 favorite color combinations.  Please choose your top 2, and leave a comment ON THIS BLOG and I will keep a running tally.  Voting ends on Friday, July 12, 2013 at 4:00pm CST.  I will post the winning color combo on the Early Adventures of Finn Facebook page and here on the blog.  I will then choose a randomly drawn person who choose the most popular color combo, and I have a fun little March for Babies gift for you!  SO EXCITING!

So, here we go!  Here is the picture, and a description!

Click to see larger version!  DETAILS!!!

 Option 1: Carolina blue with purple  Option 2: Teal with yellow
 Option 3: Sky blue with navy           Option 4: Natural tan with coral
 Option 5: Metro blue with lime        Option 6: Yellow with teal
 Option 7: Purple with orange           Option 8: Lime with royal blue

Let the VOTING BEGIN!