Family Fun

On the off chance that my parents ever leave town, my sister usually takes care of driving out to their house to take care of all the things that need to be done. Yesterday, she was too busy to go, so as a LAST resort, they had AJ and I drive out there to take care of the dogs.

My parents still live WAY out in the boon-docks where I grew up; and while some people view things as "being much smaller" than they used to be ... I happen to think everything seems MUCH bigger than when I was a kid (and unfortunately it's not because I am any smaller).


Look how huge those sunflowers are...
Don't let the cute face fool you; she's a hummmmdinger... as is her brother "Mr. York."

AND then, there's Ethel and Lucy... the outside 'puppies.' And they really are still puppies! Unlike the "little" ferocious dogs... they are very sweet and...

BIG!!!

AJ just HAD to go give them a bone, or 2 or 5....
They seem much bigger than the ROTs that I grew up with.

ummm... excuse me girls...

"Are you happy to see us, because we brought you a snack?"

NOOOOOOOO.... not him!!!
He's not the snack...

His HAT is not the snack!!!
"MOM.... Stop taking pictures and HELP ME!"
(Note to self: we really need to work on his tone !!)

Anyway...I did help him... finally.

I frantically called them, from the other side of the fence! (I'm no dummy) That's 300+ pounds of puppy. They'd never bite anyone... but they get excited to see him and try to lick him to death.

As I'm attempting to "save" my poor son; they ran out of the yard! So then I had to chase them around to try and "drag" them back into the yard.... for over an hour! URGGGGGGGGG.

They FINALLY got thirsty enough to let me drag them back into the yard (because there was NO WAY I could get them to do anything on my own), I drove straight to see my sister at work . I reminded her that our "sisters" all like her and her kids more than me... so she needs to make sure she's available (in the unlikely event that our parents ever trust us again with their precious pets) from now on.

And being the good aunt she is... she gave him some scrap booking supplies from http://ohforthememories.com/ to make sure he went home to do some actual school WORK.

so he did...
right after he called daddy to tell him about all the scratches on his back...
while I sat down to try to put my heart back in my chest!

Legacy of Love

I'm not sure why I can't wrap my brain around the fact that my mom and dad got married 40 years ago TODAY... Look how sweet they are, and they were just BABIES!!!

They're still so young... which makes them GREAT grandparents!!!
and very much in love... (which makes them a great example of how it can be!)

My parents gave us the world...

I know I'm one of the fortunate few that was blessed to have my mom and dad for parents! Not just because they gave me unbelieveable opportunites ... like going to TMC and hearing Johnny Mac every week; so I could meet Tony (I mean, so I could get a degree and support myself)...

Not to mention all the great memories that I have of Hume lake, pink oatmeal for V-day, golfing in Hawaii, or eating "gross" speghetti in Italy (ungrateful brat that I was)...

or one of my personal favorites... riding a camel in Israel.

How many people get to ride camels to Bethlehem... (Don't mind that I'm scared spitless and this Yahoo is playing "tonsil hocky" with the camel. )

Yeah... my mom and dad ROCK!

But the greatest legacy that my parents are leaving... is not only their love for each other... but their love for their grand kids too!

They really are the best grandparent's in the world... even though they spent today out of town... away from their grandkids... on grandparents day!

Happy 40th anniversary mom and dad! I couldn't be more proud of you than I am... and we love you more than words can express!!!

ps... we're holding your grandparent's day gift hostage until you remember to "call us when you get there" like you're supposed to!!!

Finally Dancin' With the Angels

We got the first call last night that my "great" uncle was in the hospital because he'd just had a massive heart attack. I HATE late phone calls... it's never good news after midnight.

I personally think he was "already dancin' with the angels" when I arrived last night, but he continued on throughout the day with the help of life support; until just a few minutes ago. His body finally decided he'd had enough, and that he wanted to join the party in heaven.

GOOD FOR HIM!!!

It's hard not to be sad. My heart just feels heavy, and I'm tired of crying (maybe something to do with no sleep in 48 hours)... but I know he's finally in Heaven with Aunt Lucy(His first wife of 40+years), in a much better place.

He was a "great" uncle... for many reasons; but the thing I loved the most about him was his love for family; especially towards my mom. They had a very special relationship... and I pray that I'll be fortunate enough to maintain that kind of bond with my own sister's kids when we're that far along in our life's journey.

My uncle was a wonderful husband and father...

He loved to have a good time with all the kids...and his brilliant smile will be what I remember.
Since he was a fireman "back-in-the-day," he appointed himself the job of lighting all the fireworks for the fourth of July every year.

I'm truely going to miss him, especially in this hat!!

Friends: Life is short... live with no regrets!

By The Books

I confess that I never read any "mommy books" or "how to books" that weren't a college requirement for my teaching credential.

*breathe, girls breathe*

I didn't take any kind of "birthing" classes either. NOT. A. SINGLE. ONE!!!

gasp.

Not because I didn't care, not because I didn't have the time... I just decided that I didn't want to know all the things that "could go, might go" wrong. Having listened to the doctors for the first 33 weeks of my first pregnancy, never thinking Kyle would be born... nor believing that his brothers would be possible... I could imagine enough trouble without the books including any other possible scenarios.

It worked for me... but I'm not about to tell another mom to do it "like that."

I was reading a mother's blog today on needing to ween her baby... and I thought I'd share my story of how I did it... because it worked SO WELL.

The boys are all about 14 months apart in age and I nursed all of them for about a year. Weening the first three was more matter of being in the third trimester of the next pregnancy than anything I did or didn't do. But then Caden had his first birthday and I remember thinking, "This is my last baby, and every "last" for him... will really be "the last for us."

I remember telling Tony about my mental check list: binkies... diapers... strollers... car seats.

He asked, "what about nursing?"

ummm... yeah, there's that too. ** What's HE thinking??**

Flash forward a few weeks...

We got invited by our friends to go to Hawaii for a week... with no kids.

Tony made all the arrangements, including having my sister agree to weening the baby while we were gone...

YEP... I kid you not.

I left all 4 babies... with my amazing sister... who spoiled the bajeebers out of them (with her 7 - year old twins as her helpers) for an entire week. I only agreed to it because Tony REALLY wanted/needed the time, and I figured it was finally time. Caden has always been a pretty easy kid... and didn't give her too much trouble (so she said... probably because I was having major guilt issues).

So... that's how my baby got weened... sorta

(Until, we got home... and I thought I was going to POP... and so he had a little smackeral of some, some. And darn Tony's hide... he just had to go and tell my sister... who was not too happy with me "after she'd gone and done all that work weening him for me.")

Family... I tell ya.

Reason 46834 I Married Him

We usually do holidays at our house because it's easy. We generally love doing it because it usually means that we are able to get things done around the house that we have been putting off. But for the Fourth of July this year, with baseball and everything else going on... we didn't think we could get everything together in time, so we decided to keep it low key... aka- not invite anyone. But, at the last minute- we (hmmm, Tony) changed his... I mean, "our" minds and decided... let's just do it!

For me, that means cooking and decorating, which I love to do.... but for Tony, it means cleaning and yard work, and getting to be with people... which he loves (the people part anyway).

I started cooking yesterday... and thanks to Ree ... my dad got his Jalapeno poppers, mom got her apricot dessert, everyone got the flag dessert, and a select few got blue berries with her yummy homemade yogurt that she shared on her blog the other day... LOVE that woman!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/07/bacon-wrapped_j/

And thanks to Jen at http://jennwa.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-02-28T20%3A33%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=7

The boys got to make they're favorite meat wraps... and a delicious dip that they devoured.

So it went like this... Tony decided we're doing the 4Th at our house Thursday morning before work. I go to Costco to get all the food, and I'm home and cooking by about 11a.m. I continue to cook until Tony gets home at 11:00 p.m., by which point I'm beginning to remember all the reasons we "weren't up for hosting a party." (My house is a mess, and it's not decorated for Pete sake!)

All six of us load up and head to Walmart to get the decorations I insist we need. (And I'm walking around a very crowded store thinking, "what's wrong with these people? Why aren't they home in bed, and what in the world are they doing out so late with their kids? Don't they know it's almost midnight? jeez! ... And then of course, I remind myself that my own 4 boys are racing their carts with their dad in the next aisle.)

Anyhow, somewhere along the way between getting the plates and getting some flags, I get the bright idea that we need pillows that are "4th of Julyish" too. How hard can that be???

I'll just buy a new sewing machine (I've never sewn a stitch in my life), and get some material. After all, how hard can it be to sew a square! I'll just whip some out when we get home, because it's very important to decorate! Right mom?

So, at 3 a.m. my hubby and I are doing just that! He was so great... we watched the instruction video and he finally got it all working for me (because I couldn't even thread the darn thing. I knew I was in trouble when it came with a instruction DVD. My own personal take is that it should have at least come out of the box ready to work for goodness sake. Oh well no.) By 4:30a.m. we had it basically done, all 7 pillows, but not quite. My mother, who puts Martha to shame, came to the house today a few hours before the guests arrived to "get it all finished before everyone showed up." Dad ate, I mean... cooked the poppers and got most of the food ready. My sister came early too... and she brought in the troops... The best kids on the planet = Josh + Cassandra. Josh keeps the boys out of the way and busy playing ... and Cassandra is a miracle worker who pretty much cleaned up and put out whatever we needed.

By the time everyone got here, we were pretty much ready. What a fun day! I love serving people and seeing people enjoying themselves. But most of all... most of all I'm thankful for a hubby that's still willing to do all-nighters with me (like we did back when we were dating)... and put up with me and my "great ideas." And I'm sure thankful for my great parents and sister who still know how to pull together and "getter done." Good times, good times!

so...

Happy 4th of July everyone!

ps- I'll be sleeping in tomorrow for sure!

Happy Father's Day Daddy

Happy Daddy's Day Dad!

I love you... and so do all these boys + 1 princess...


You're the world's best Dad... and grandpa!

See this pix of Rufus and you... brought back so many good memories...

We sure had it good! How'd we get so blessed to get you for a dad???

I love that you're a father that we've ALWAYS been able to look up to and admire as you continue to be a wise, and godly man (in spite of us, sometimes... *grin*)

I don't know how we got to be so blessed to have you as our father... but I'm sure thankful that you are!

I love you dad... and I'll never get tired of Cinderella!

LUV,

Cardo

Mother's Day

AJ shared his cooties with Caden and his beloved mother... so we spent the day in bed. But we're better today, so it's all good. I got some much needed rest, and the boys got to just "hang out with dad."

Only 17 teaching days left for this year, so I'll be rushing around like a maniac getting the yards ready for 7 team parties, and 6 class parties! OY! But, it's so much fun to see the kids all crazy and excited. It's also a BIG motivation to get a few of those things on the "to-do" lists actually get crossed off. The hard part will be in deciding which projects to tackle first, and which ones I'll be ok with not getting done... because the reality is... there's NO way we'll have time to do it all.

The most important party we'll be hosting is the the twins 8th grade graduation party. I want it to be really nice for them because they are the best niece and nephew we could have!

Size Matters

My parents have the greatest Easter egg hunt around! All the eggs are filled with money, and in our "ultra competitive" family... it's not about the $$$ (necessarily)-- it's all about finding the "golden egg."

Since some (mostly mine) of the "grand children" have been "too disappointed" in the last couple of years with not finding the golden egg--- this year a special egg was made for each child with their name on it with $.

So as to not "disappoint the big kids," our parents made up eggs to do a hunt for my cousins and I. After the kids did their egg hunt, we had a separate egg hunt for the "adults only." You've never seen so many 27 to 39 year-olds in such a hurry to pick up plastic eggs! What a site! This year was even better because my aunt AND my mother made up "Golden Eggs" with $100 inside! So here we have... both winners! Tony found my aunt's egg, Matt found my mom's.

The most competitive people on the planet... each a winner... each with $100 eggs...

To which my darling says, "Yeah, but mines bigger than yours!" And Matt fires back, "size doesn't matter."

... hmmmm.... boys, boys --- and it was all down-hill from there! We're still laughing!