6 years ago

Today marks 6 years since our baby Sam was born. He was born on December 30th 2002 and passed away January 9th 2003. It always makes Christmas a bittersweet time of the year. We are always so happy and excited for Christmas and then 5 days later we have a special day that is not always the happiest, but it is time we spend together and remember our baby. Today we bought 6 balloons and took them to the cemetery and let them go into the sky. It was so interesting; they first blew to the North and up high, high, high. And then the wind shifted and they blew right to the South, flew over our heads, and we lost sight of them as they disappeared into the sun. After we left the cemetery, in the car Sara said, "I know that Sam brought you lots of happiness and joy when he was born and when he comes back he will bring happiness and joy to our whole family." Tears welled up in my eyes. I can't believe how sweet and just right-on she can be about stuff like that. Every time we go to the cemetery she wants to say a prayer and it is always so special. We decided this year to celebrate Sam's birthday as a birthday and went to Chuck-E-Cheese's. Sara and Aaron had so much fun. Than won us a whole bunch of tickets so Aaron got a little football and Sara got a lipgloss set in a purse. This year, December 30th has been a good day.

Has This Ever Happened to You?

Have you ever hit a neighbor's car with your car and then THEY brought YOU cookies because THEY felt bad?

So here's my story. On Wednesday night I was headed to the church for a meeting at 8:30 PM. Aaron was already asleep and Than was in the process of putting Sara to bed. She started freaking out because I was leaving and had to give me a ga-zillion kisses and hugs. Than and I said our normal "good-bye" and then he told me to be safe. I left thinking, "Be safe? What's gonna happen to me on the way to the church?"

It was dark. The streets in my neighborhood are very narrow. I was distracted by an interesting display of Christmas lights down the street. Then I heard a little crunch. Oh, there was a car parked across the street? Why didn't I notice that? I pulled over so I could get out and assess the damage. I didn't recognize the car that I hit, but I could see that I had given it a good dent and a couple of scratches. I walked back home and told Than that I hit the vistor's car. He came with me to knock on our neighbor's door. I was scared to tell them what happened. We found out that the visitor's car that I hit actually belonged to a lady who lives a street away. Than teaches her kid in primary and she is a super sweet woman.

We all looked at the damage and then she called her husband to tell him what happened because he was away. She kept telling me how bad she felt and how she shouldn't have parked across from our driveway. Our street is way narrow, but seriously, where else was she going to park? She kept telling me that they would help pay for the damages and we kept refusing. Than said if she really wanted to do something, they could bring us cookies.

Yesterday Than talked to the husband after he got a good look at his car. Then Than called our insurance to make a claim and we got it all figured out. Later last night, the sweet lady sent her boys over with a plate of cookies.

So I was an idiot driver and hit a parked car while I was backing out of my driveway, our insurance premiums will probably go up, and we got some yummy cookies out of it. Not a bad deal, eh?

I Guess It's Time For A New Post

I am a serious blog slacker. My sweet hubby keeps on getting on my case for not updating the blog so maybe we should become one of those couples who share blogging duties. But I don't think he'll go for it. He's really not the "let's tell everyone all our business on the internet" type of guy. Yet, he likes that I started this thing and he likes reading what I write and he likes reading all your comments. In fact, sometimes he comes home and tells me, "You're up to 7 comments today." Oh, he's so cute!!

So what's our business today? Well, sometime in November Sara turned 5. If I were a better mom I might have posted all about it much closer to the exact date, but here goes.

This was the first year that we had a "friend" party. Sara wanted to have a fairies party and she wanted to invite some of her friends that are boys. So I had a little dilemma because fairies and boys don't really go together. In the end, we ended up having a "Frogs and Fairies" party. We played pin the wand on the fairy, leapfrog, and a hot-potato like game using a froggy beanbag. We ate yummy cupcakes from the local bakery (because cupcake making is not my thing) and I'm still craving them today. Sara opened her presents and then I put fairy dust on the girls cheeks and a frog sticker on the boy's. Oh yeah, only 1 boy showed so he was the frog surrounded by many fairies. When we finished all that, we still had about 20 minutes left so the kids wanted to watch TV. They watched "Blue's Clues" and played in our basement. Is that horrible? Next time, I will know better what to plan on and maybe we'll head to Chuck-E-Cheese.


Sara's real birthday fell in the middle of the week so I took her and Aaron to the zoo that day. The weather was beautiful and there was hardly anyone there. It was perfect. I'd go to the zoo everyday if it were like that. Well, maybe not everyday ...

That night we had a family party for her where she got her real cake and opened more presents. All in all, I think she'll remember her 5th birthday as a good one.

100 things

I copied this from Katie's blog because I wanted to see how cool I am. And she got from a friend (maybe for the same reason?). So if you are dying to find out for yourself, copy and paste the list into your blog and bold or highlight the items you have done. For me, the items I have done are in white. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

I've done fiddy. How about you?

Aaron's Favorites

• Shaking the gate at the top of the stairs like he's in prison and wants to get out.
• Opening and slamming shut the entertainment center doors.
• Hitting his sister in the face with anything he can get his hands on.
• Getting all the cups and bowls out of the kiddie drawer.
• Playing in the cat food and water.
• Eating the cat food.
• Putting cups and lids and toys and Halloween candy in the cat water.
• Lifting the toilet seat and lid.
• Sticking his fingers in my mouth and nose.
• Crawling on the concrete driveway with bare knees.
• His dad.
• Taking the knobs off the stereo.
• Everything in his sister's room.
• Messing with the computer while I'm trying to type a very important post.

AND

• Soft, fuzzy blankets for snuggling.

I LOVE being a mom to a one-year old. I mean it. I really do!

Just Because I'm a Follower . . .

Seems like everyone is posting about Halloween, so I guess I should too. A couple of weeks ago I was feeling like we don't go out and do enough fun stuff together, I mean just me and the kids. So I took the kids to "Pumpkinland" and we had a great time. Aaron was very sleepy, but he was a trooper. Sara thought it was the best thing ever. We found our way through the corn maze, she got to play on the bouncy slide and in the bounce-house, we played at the regular park, and went through the "light" alley. Then we picked out our pumpkins. Or rather, Sara picked out a pumpkin for me, Than, her, Aaron, and our cat Bronco. And she picked them out by size so Aaron's was the smallest and Than's was the biggest. Somehow she thinks that our cat is bigger than both her and Aaron. He is a big cat, but not that big. Sara loved her pumpkin so much that she wanted to sleep with it when we went home.

Sara sitting on some hay.

Messing around.

Aaron thinks that getting his picture taken is serious business.

A few days later we went to a Halloween party. Sara wanted to dress up as a kitty so I bought some face paint and make-up stuff. We were in a big hurry that night so I left everything out in her bathroom. The next morning was Saturday so Than was being his sweet self and let me sleep in. I guess that Sara was being exceptionally quiet for a long time and when Than went to check on her, he found her in the bathroom, all dolled-up. It looked like she put pink and purple war paint all over her face.

Ain't she a beauty?

Like I said before, Sara absolutely loved her pumpkin. We've never actually carved pumpkins as a family, but I thought that we'd give it a try this year. Well, Sara wanted none of that!!! How could we possibly cut the pumpkin that she adored so much? So we let her paint it and we left the others on the front porch as-is.

What a masterpiece!!

And now to the big day!!! Sara got to dress-up for preschool and they had a little Halloween party. They had a parade through the halls and she even got candy from all the kids in her class. Our plan for the evening was for Than to take the kids out Trick-or-Treating and for me to hang back and pass out the candy. But Aaron's been feeling miserable because he's got another ear infection. I hadn't yet taken a picture of both kids in the costumes, so I got Aaron all dressed up just for a few pictures. He wasn't having any of it. He screamed and screamed, but I had to get a picture, right? Anyway, Aaron stayed home with me and we made chilli and cornbread with honeybutter (our Halloween tradition). Also, Aaron had his first lollipop so the evening wasn't a total bust for him.

Than and Sara went trick-or-treating with Sara's friend Josie and her Dad. They got too much candy from everyone and hot chocolate from the Mackay's and homemade doughnuts from the Perry's. It was so great that it was nice enough outside to not have to wear jackets, but it did rain on them a bit. The end of Sara's tail was fluffy and white when she left and wet and gray when they got home. To end the day, we had some family visitors come over and we hung out for awhile. It was a fun day, but boy am I glad it's over!!

Sara the kitty.

Look at that lion roar!

Yummy.

Poor Sweet Boy

Before we left for Chicago, Aaron was looking not well. I took him to the doctor and it turned out he had a minor ear infection. The doc put him on some antibiotics because we were going out of town and so it wouldn't get worse while aunts and uncles were caring for him. When we got back, he still had his runny nose, but he seemed good enough. Then, on Saturday, he slept until 10 am and when he finally awoke, he had some hives. I took him to an instacare where they told me it looks like he's allergic to penicillin. Yep, allergic to penicillin! And his ear infections had gotten worse. They gave us an different kind of antibiotic and we were on our way. His hives really flared up on Sunday and Monday so I took him back to the doctor and got a prescription to really get rid of them. The poor guy had pink splotches all over his body--his legs, tummy, back, arm and face. Today he's looking a lot better. The funny thing is he hasn't seemed really fussy about it. I guess that's not a funny thing, it's a good thing.

And then, this morning, when I got him out of his crib, his pj legs were all wet. I couldn't understand how his diaper could have leaked so much that his little footsies were soaked. When I unzipped his jammies, I found his diaper rolled up in a ball, stuffed down one leg. And to top it all off, it was poopy. What a way to start the day!!