Gianna's 3rd Halloween/Birthday Bash

Thank you to all those who celebrated with us in a Mad Hatter kind of way.  The kids all had a blast with a surprise halloween puppet show and beating up the pinata.  We were blessed with a beautiful and sunny weather so the kids spent most of the time outdoors in the playground area while the adults socialized inside the rec hall. 

The birthday girl with cousin Gerard.

Dylan (Mini-Stacie) trying to rip Barney open.

G along with Lil Nick, Tyler and Audrey.

Notice of Action

I was deeply saddened to hear that the Governator eliminated $256 million in funding for Calworks Stage 3 program beginning November 1^st, 2010.  This means that if you’re childcare or school is being fully or partially subsidized for more than 2 years, then your service will be terminated.  This allows family to stay employed so we can work.

California’s unemployment rate stands at 12.4% and may go higher with this recent budget cut.  This cut is a direct assault on our children.  This will greatly affect 1300 children & over 900 families.  In our case, we are fortunate enough to keep Gianna in preschool.  There isn’t much choice.  I can’t pull her out of school!  But I can’t imagine what other families who has to pay rent, tuition, utilities and food must struggle with. 

Let the Governor hear from you.  This is truly serious.  Families can go unemployed or homeless.  Send him an email or call the State Capitol (916) 445-2841.  For more information, visit http://parentvoices.org/

My girl loves to potty all the time...

After 6 months of potty training, the notion of using the potty for wee-wee and poo-poo finally settled in. I was on stress mode after we received the acceptance letter from her preschool, which required all students to be potty trained. I did everything the books, internet, friends and family told me, but nothing really worked. Not even bribing worked!

I borrowed a DVD from the library about potty training. (This was actually a third video we watched about this.) She must've really liked it since she wanted to copy the main character using the potty. She sat on hers & low & behold she tinkled! We were making strides on completing her potty chart. For next few days, she just kept on going number 1 & 2! Now that her chart is complete, we can take a trip to the zoo as promised.

Who is your favorite progressive?

The Nation is starting a Top 50 most influential progressive of the 20th century. They are still building the list & are looking for more submissions.

We were lucky enough to visit Jane Addams' (#2 on this list) Hull House in Chicago in 2009. Not only was she a founding member of the ACLU, but she also pioneered social activism for women.

(Hull house has a strict rule of no photography.)

Food Rule #4080

Most families usually consume some sort of pesticide found in produce unless you buy strictly organic.  Fruits and vegetables with soft skins are very much susceptible to this, so the Environmental Working Group published a list from the best to worst.  Consider the first 25 to be on your ok-to-buy-non-organic list like your kitchen staple of onions, bananas and tomatoes.  The bottom 25 contains 47-67 pesticides per serving.  The list is based on pesticide tests conducted after the produce was washed with USDA high-power pressure water system.

Government officials claim that pesticides in low amounts aren’t harmful, but we consume these mixture of chemical substances for over 30 years, so you make the call.

Rank	Fruit or Veggie
1 (Best)	Onions
2	Avocado
3	Sweet Corn (Frozen)
4	Pineapples
5	Mango (Subtropical and Tropical)
6	Sweet Peas (Frozen)
7	Asparagus
8	Kiwi Fruit (Subtropical and Tropical)
9	Cabbage
10	Eggplant
11	Cantaloupe (Domestic)
12	Watermelon
13	Grapefruit
14	Sweet Potatoes
15	Honeydew Melon
16	Plums (Domestic)
17	Cranberries
18	Winter Squash
19	Broccoli
20	Bananas
21	Tomatoes
22	Cauliflower
23	Cucumbers (Domestic)
24	Cantaloupe (Imported)
25	Grapes (Domestic)
26	Oranges
27	Red Raspberries
28	Hot Peppers
29	Green Beans (Imported)
30	Cucumbers (Imported)
31	Summer Squash
32	Plums (Imported)
33	Pears
34	Green Beans (Domestic)
35	Carrots
36	Blueberries (Imported)
37	Lettuce
38	Grapes (Imported)
39	Potatoes
40	Kale / Collard Greens
41	Cherries
42	Spinach
43	Sweet Bell Peppers
44	Nectarines
45	Blueberries (Domestic)
46	Apples
47	Strawberries
48	Peaches
49 (Worst)	Celery

After spending two years in a family daycare, Gianna is off to a bigger pond. We researched tons of schools in SF & we decided to go with Little Bear School on Ocean and Geneva Ave. We couldn’t be any happier. Though Gianna may be in the 3% minority population, they offer a great curriculum. They even offer dance, yoga & gymnastics weekly. The school has so much space which includes a playground & even a parking lot (a big deal for SF!).

One of the prerequisites is to be fully potty trained which we were a bit nervous about. But during orientation they stressed to the parents how they understand that this is a new environment to the kids and they expect accidents to occur. We are happy to report that no accidents happened on the first day and she pee pee’d on the potty! She did very well today and not even a little peep when we left her this morning.

East Coast trip

Lexie, Gianna & Mommy @ Central Park

We spent our first family summer vacation in New York which coincidentally was Kathleen's wedding.  Okay, fine, it was actually the other way around.  Kathleen finally tied the knot after 11 years of waiting!  haha!  The wedding was held in New Jersey which paved way to a visit to the Bronx Zoo for Dan & Gianna.  I was able to meet up with some old friends as well & Gianna had the chance to hang out with her godfather in Philly for a day.

More pix here .

Practicing her jumpshot @ Drexel University

Blah, Blah, Blah

So I finally jumped the bandwagon & decided to blog, just not quite sure on what.  (I have a feeling this is going to be an ode to Gianna.)