Thanksgiving 2012

We spent Thanksgiving afternoon in Nashville with Keith's family. The crowd was a little bigger than usual because most of the family came into town so they could be here for Stanley's celebration yesterday. It was cute watching all of the younger cousins (second cousins? I'm not sure how that works. They are the children of first cousins.) running around together. We ate lunch around 1:00. Etta was her usual picky-eater self. She only ate a few bites of mashed potatoes. Daniel, on the other hand, thought this was the greatest day of his life! This kid will eat anything you put in front of him! nom nom nom!

After lunch, we spent some time outside. It was a beautiful day!

I left with the kids around 4:00 or so when they started to melt down and Keith stayed for a few more hours to visit with his family.

GiGi's Playhouse!

Okay. So, here it is. My official blog post about GiGi's Playhouse!

GiGi's Playhouse is a non-profit organization that benefits people with Down syndrome and their families.

From the GiGi's Playhouse "About Us" page:

     What started as a local playhouse in a suburb of Chicago has turned into an international phenomenon, spreading awareness and inspiration to everyone it touches. GiGi’s Playhouses are Down syndrome awareness and educational centers that provide resources, specialized teaching, and support to individuals with Down syndrome, their families and the community.
     GiGi’s Playhouse centers evolved into educational centers with a focus on national awareness for Down syndrome. All of our programs are free to our families and are therapeutic in nature. Each of them are designed to work on specific skill development in several areas including speech and language, social development, and fine and gross motor skills. Our literacy program alone teaches thousands of kids with Down syndrome to read around the nation! The newest awareness project “One Million Voices”, along with our “i have a voice” campaign, seeks to change outdated perceptions and replace those images with beautiful, thought provoking, intelligent images.
     In just 9 years, 12 Playhouses have opened and there are more in the works! GiGi’s is committed to the important mission of spreading positive and accurate information about Down syndrome through education. We know that by helping individuals with Down syndrome reach their highest potential, we can change outdated perceptions that people may have. The end result is a world that is empowered with knowledge, compassion, and inspiration – what a better place for all of us!

Here are a couple of great videos to give you an idea of what a GiGi's Playhouse is:

Eight months ago we had our first meeting looking for people who would be interested in volunteering and working toward bringing a GiGi's Playhouse to Nashville. We had a pretty good turn-out at that first meeting, but over time, people's other commitments have kept them from being as involved as they may like to be. Our little board has whittled down to about 6 dedicated members. We KNOW we need this resource in Nashville so we keep plugging away!

We have had a few small fundraising and awareness events and have managed to raise a *little* money (you can read about a few of our events here), but nothing game-changing and the truth is, we're just trying not to burn out. Getting a non-profit off the ground is a lot more work then I ever imagined! We need about $70K just to get our doors open and it will take about $100K for us to keep going each year.

A group of us went to Chicago a couple weekends ago for the GiGi's Playhouse National Board Workshop. Most of the information pertained to Playhouses that had already opened their doors (or were VERY close to doing it), but we still gained a lot of information and, more importantly, made some wonderful connections with the other Playhouses!

Our "Gangsta" rental car

The first day was for the Site Coordinators and Treasurers. Kim went to the treasurer meeting and the rest of us went to the site coordinator meeting (since we don't actually have a site coordinator yet).

My best "tour" of downtown Chicago happened when we got lost on our way to the hotel on the first night

Dinner at Giordano's for some famous Chicao-style deep dish pizza! (we were SO freakin' tired)

Day Two: We spent the ENTIRE day in this theater. 8:00am to 5:00pm. The only time we got to look out of windows was when we were moved to another conference room for lunch and a couple of smaller break-out sessions. It was a really long (and at times, emotional) day!

(I spy Melissa)

The Chicago location's "Drama Club" came in to entertain us for a bit. They were so stinkin' cute!

After the all-day workshop, we headed over to a dinner provided by "Inc" (we learned while we were there that this is what they call "national"). GiGi was there! AND we somehow ended up sitting at the table with Nancy Gianni (GiGi's mom and founder of GiGi's Playhouse). It was a really great night making connections and getting to know other Playhouses (and watching GiGi dance around with her iPod/headphones)! 

Whew! The "Windy City" sure is... WINDY!

It was a great trip and we feel fired-up again. It's time to regroup and write a business plan and raise more awareness and build our board and seek corporate sponsorships.

So, how can YOU help? You can spread the word about GiGi's Playhouse and what it would mean to our community! You can email us at nashville@gigisplayhouse.org and let us know that you are interested in volunteering! You can "follow" us over on our Facebook Page. You can donate by either mailing a check made out to "GiGi's Playhouse, Inc" to PO Box 680422, Franklin, TN 37068 OR you can follow this link and make a donation through PayPal from our GiGi's Playhouse page by clicking here. PLEASE be sure to mention "Nashville" in the memo section of PayPal. GiGi's Playhouse, Inc. is a 501c3 non-profit and all donations are tax deductible!

Lito & Lita Visit- Nov 2012

My dad and step-mom came up for a nice long (12 day) visit early in the month. We had not seen them since our trip to Tampa in the Spring. Etta hadn't grown too much (she DID get a little taller over the summer), but it was neat for them to see how much Daniel had changed and grown in six months. We spent the time visiting and they got some shopping done and we had lunch out a few times.

We spent one of our days up in Downtown Nashville, having lunch and wandering around downtown. I forgot to take my nice camera, but we managed to get a few decent shots with my phone.

While they were in town, I left town for a couple of days for the GiGi's Playhouse National Board Workshop in Chicago. I'll do a separate blog post about that, but while I was gone my parents were around to help Keith out with the kids so it worked out.

Also while I was gone, Keith lost his Uncle Stanley to a battle with lung cancer. I am thankful we got to spend some time with him at "Zellerfest" in October. The family is having a celebration of his life this Saturday at Keith's Granny and Pop's house.

So, after I got back from Chicago, we had a few more days to spend together before they headed back to Panama.

(anyone else notice dad's "ticker" scrolling across the bottom of the tv? *sigh*)

It will probably be another six months before we get to see them again. By then, Etta will be even taller, Daniel will be driving, and we will have a third baby!