Playing Catch up

Sometime life gets so busy I get behind on my blogging/journaling, okay maybe not sometimes maybe most of the times, but I’ve promised myself for my kids that I’d keep up with it so my kids know the important stuff that goes on in our lives and so they know how much they mean to us!  So yes I’m playing catch up, but I tell myself at least I’m doing it, right?

So I’m going to start with Oct. and do a few highlights from Oct, Nov. and Dec… I know three of the most important months of the year, I could never forget those months!

In October we had a few very special events that I don’t want to forgot, the first is that my favorite little guy turned the big “6”, yes I said “6” I can’t believe my once baby Cooper is now a big boy! And for his birthday this year he wanted to invite some friends to bounce u! There were about 10 kids and it was beautiful they could literally bounce off the walls and guess what it was okay.  That’s the beauty of bounce u the parents sit and chat while the kids jump, run, bounce, yell and just have a blast, then after spending a couple hours bouncing they get to go have cake and pizza and then the best part of the whole party according to Cooper~ OPEN PRESENTS!  He pretty much scored and had a blast all at the same time!  We love our friends and family they are so wonderful!

Then a few days after Coopers birthday was my mom’s day!  It was the mark of passing 1 year ago!  It was a very hard day for me I have to admit, but I’m so truly blessed I have my wonderful little family and my AmAzInG sister to help me get through these type of tough days!  It happened to fall on a Sunday which was blessing because we had family night that day so we were all going to be together as a family which made it nice!  That’s the way my mom would have wanted it, us being together celebrating her and her memories and just smiling and laughing together and telling mom stories!  She really loved seeing us together as a family and watching the cousins play together!  On her special day we meet together at her gravesite and brought her flowers and then came home to Erin’s house and had a mom meal, her favorite Sloppy Joes!  Finally we ended the night with sweet bliss, Caramel Apples, a family tradition that we ALWAYS did with mom!  It’s the one Halloween thing she LOVED to do with us!  I think she really liked to see the creations the kids would come up with! She sure is missed but NEVER forgotten!

Finally to end October is spooktacular Halloween!  Love it!  We did pumpkin carving like a few days before Halloween cause the pumpkins don’t last more then a day or two here cause of the heat, It’s annoying, but the kids LOVE it and I think us parents secretly do also.  We also took in a Fall Festival at a local farm like we do every year with some of our neighbor friends.  That was super fun!  The kids love doing that and we always come home super tired and super dirty, that’s how you know you’ve had a good old time!  Then come Oct. 31^st Halloween day and the kids got dressed up in their costumes, this year Brielle was an 80’s girl~so cute and Cooper was the Character from Scream the Movie…with me kicking and screaming the whole time!  Seriously Cooper can’t you be something cute like a dog or something, no you have to be something scary and ugly!  Uggg, but everyone said, “oh look at him he so cute!” WHAT!!!  Anyway, they had a blast and we always have fun going over to Colby’s sister’s house and seeing what everyone else is going to be!  It was a good night and the kids come home after trick or treating with lots of yummy loot, of course I took a few pieces here and there, it’s the benefit of being the parent! 

I must say October was a pretty good month, like I said I missed my mom terribly but I know she’d say enjoy this month and remember our good times and make more wonderful memories with your family for years to come

Christmas Letter 2011

two amazing women

A couple of weeks ago we were so lucky to have a few lovely ladies come visit us and stay the day with us, their names are Pailin and Pao and they are from Thailand!  Pailin was a Foreign Exchange student who used to live with my mom and her parents when my  mom was in High School so they become super close, so we’ve always considered Pailin a part of the family, therefore it was a real treat to actually have her come to our house and visit! 

We had a wonderful time with them just taking them around a few tourist spots and we even got to make a stop at mom’s cemetery plot which was a very touching and emotional trip for all of us!  I know that Pailin misses my mom very much!  Finally we got back to my house and the ladies made us a special treat, authentic Thai dishes!  They were so delicious and I’m so excited cause I think I got the recipe figured out so I can make it again, Yeppie!  Then after eating our yummy food we all sat together as a family and watched the dvd of my mom that we made for her funeral, it was super hard to watch for everyone, but also beautiful at the same time.  My mom was so lovely and special and we just miss her so much!  She touched so many lives in so many ways and it was fun to celebrate her together as a family! 

Thank you Pailin and Pao for coming to our house and making memories with us that we’ll never forget!   You both are beautiful and amazing woman!

and it all started with two

We had lots of fun visitors in Oct. and it started off with Grandpa Tom and Grandma Cheryl!  They drove here and spent a week or so with us and took time to see every grandkid in every activity that they could.  It was such a special time and really meant a lot to all the kids.  We had so much fun just hanging as a family watching soccer, dance, tumbling, etc and EATING, EATING, EATING… Another special treat was getting to go to their hotel and swimming.  The kids LOVED that!  Thanks Dad and Cheryl for coming and spending time with the grandkids they really loved it and I loved seeing you make so many beautiful memories that we’ll never forget! 

Mom’s 1st Heavenly Birthday

Well today was the first year I had to celebrate my mom’s birthday without her.  I never thought I’d have to do that, but today was that day.   Oh how I wish she was here to celebrate her big day with us because I miss her so!  There is just so much I miss about her, I miss her smile, I miss her smell, I miss her sweet voice when she says I love you more or Hey Bert, I miss her words of encouragement, I miss her random talks about TV shows, I misses everything about her!  Sure I could of sat here and cried the day away, I tell you part of me wanted to, but the other half of me said, Bert mom would be super upset if you did that.  So Erin and I planned a little sister day filled with memories of mom and traditions for years to come.  We ate crapes at Crackers, watched “The Help” at the movies, got mom flowers for her cemetery plot, let off balloons with handwritten notes for each person in our families, and then had beautiful, heavenly, white cupcakes in mom’s honor.  It really was a day that I’ll never forget!  I laughed and I cried and I know mom would have been proud of us girls remembering her the way we did, we celebrated her instead of mourned her the whole day and I know my mom and that is what she would have wanted.  I love you more mom!