Life as a Leach

Ok, so not totally wordless.  Ignore me in this picture and focus on the cute 2 year old clasping her little hands.  :)

 Caleb's date for the gala was the lovely Abby O., who we have known for a very long time.   She was actually there to help us take care of Caleb and Abby, but don't tell Caleb that.  As far as he knows, she was his date.  Shh!  :) They danced the night away, and he may have even asked, "May I have this dance?" when "Call Me Maybe" came on.  The excited words, "Oh, this is my jam!" may have even come out of his mouth!!!  I can't make this stuff up, folks! He did save one dance for his Momma! In all seriousness, Abby was a humongous help and we were so thankful to have her there!  She was wonderful about taking Abby and Caleb to the Green Room for a few minutes when the talking got a little long, and waited on the wings while we spoke just in case we needed to send an antsy little person off stage...we did!  Plus, she's just a super fun girl who goes with the flow and put up with tight quarters in ...

 These two pictures just totally capture my children.   First, there's Caleb, as James Bond.   The hand on the lapel and the mysterious face were alllll him. Annnnnnd then there's Abby, my wild child!   She was going nuts on that dance floor, jumping up and down and twirling herself around.   My life is never boring.  If I am in need of some entertainment, I just find my kids.  

Ready for the play-by-play of the Gala program?  Warning: there are lots of pictures!! A children's choir opened the program by singing a personalized version of "Seasons of Love" all about the Ronald McDonald House.  It was very cute! The lovely Sandy Pagnotti, executive director of RMH Baltimore (and beautiful inside and out!) shared some remarks. Side note:  There have only been 3 directors in 30 years!  Doesn't that speak of the dedication and love these women have for families?!?   Extra side note:  That's our sweet, beautiful friend Elizabeth in the picture with the directors past and present! This is sooooo cool...this is the VERY first family to ever enter RMH, 30 years ago!  They somehow located them and they were able to share their story.   Joe Ehrrman, former Colts football player, was the man responsible for building RMH 30 years ago in memory of his brother.  Without his financial sup...

 The gala committee did a phenomenal job with the decorations.  There were so many tiny details that did not go unnoticed with us! There were pictures of kids as the backdrop of the stage--we knew almost all of them!  I loved seeing those smiling faces! Each place setting had a menu with a different child's picture and story on the back.  Gala-goers got to read about 800+ different children that have walked through the doors of RMH!  You may remember that one of our friends recently lost her son Malachi, who was a fellow trach kid.  When they sat at their place at our table, Malachi's sister had his picture and story at her place!  It was such a sweet moment for them. Whether they meant to or not, the gala colors coordinated perfectly with the colors in the carpet!  It really looked nice with the yellow, red, and blue. These trees lined the hall of the hotel where the cocktail hour was.  There were 700 pictures of kids...

Ronald McDonald House of Baltimore's very first music video!  It's just about the perfect song for The House That Love Built, don't you think?

The gala was...amazing!  I have so much to share that I am going to break it up into a couple of different posts!  It was such a celebration of 30 years of supporting and loving families through some of the toughest times in their lives, and we were thrilled to be a part of it. It was such an honor to share a little of our story, along side of our beautiful friend Tammy.  You may know her better as Brooke's mom, and she did a wonderful job of sharing about Brooke's battle. Our role during the gala was for our two families to share our stories, ping-pong style.  We then transitioned into telling a little about the amazing support of the two families who were to receive the Spirit of Children Award.  Our two families had the honor of presenting these two families with the awards. We are so thankful to the Paterakis family and to the Maryland McDonalds Owners' Associations for all of the support they give to RMH.  THANK YOU for ...

I'm sorry for the lack of posting!  Between the hurricane, entertaining children stuck inside for three days, Halloween, and packing for our weekend away, it's been put on the back burner! Tomorrow is the big day--the 30th Anniversary Gala for the Ronald McDonald House of Baltimore!  We're very excited to be speaking and have been practicing our script for a couple of weeks now.  We are staying in Baltimore for the weekend because of rehearsals tonight and tomorrow morning. We've all got our fancy outfits to wear, and I took the opportunity to get a very fun new hair cut and use a gift card to get my nails done.  (By the way, having a man  do your nails while he is munching on some kind of seed/nut thing and lacing his fingers through yours while only speaking to you in Korean is in no way relaxing.  It was one of the most awkward experiences of my life.) I promise lots and lots of pictures--and hopefully a video--of our exciting adventure.  It w...