Thumbs up to Daddy

I had to work this morning and Greg was home with Sarah Grace. He made pancakes for her breakfast. He recently read in a magazine that a good husband/father should be able to make great pancakes or waffles (thank you, magazine!) to give Mommy a break every now and then. Of course, this required the purchase of a new pan and some really fancy/expensive pancake mix, but I am not complaining (well I did complain a little bit to Greg about the cost of purchase, but I'm not complaining anymore is what I mean)! Clearly Sarah Grace is not complaining---kudos to Daddy!!

The good thing about girls

Girls give you a good excuse to give yourself a pedicure (and, of course, one for them!). They also really take care of the family pet, tucking it in and even giving it a ladybug to snuggle. I can assure you that Lacey does not get this kind of love from me (not often anyway). :) Girls also tell you on a regular basis "You are the best mommy in the world" (this sometimes guilts your son into telling you the same thing, if he is in earshot of this comment). They are snuggly and lovey and are born knowing how to have girl talk.

future paleontologists

Sam is home from school again today. This is the last day, even if I have to send him medicated, otherwise I will need to be medicated. Anyway, this is Sam and Sarah Grace excavating dinosaur bones which we then pieced together to make a dinosaur. When you have had sick kids home for awhile, you become desperate. We have had this kit since Christmas and Sam has asked on a regular basis to do this. Knowing that it would be a team effort, I have put him off, until 4 months later, I decided to be a good mom. If I had known how easy it was, we would have done it 4 months ago. They had a big time.

Nana

This is a picture of my Nana (Mom's mom) who passed away yesterday. Others in the picture are my Aunt Cindy and my cousins, Taylor and Shelby. I will always remember my Nana as a woman of great dignity, style, and grace. Nana was born in England and she and my grandfather met during the war and were married for over 50 years. As my Dad said on his blog, they are "together again". My grandad passed away in 2002. I have spent yesterday and today recalling my wonderful memories with Nana and Grandad as I feel good memories are the best way to honor our loved ones who have passed. I am sure my Grandad welcomed her with open arms. We will miss you Nana.

Good timing

This is no date with my husband, but it sure does make me want to date my husband! There is nothing sexier than a man bringing you flowers completely unsolicited. Thank you honey....you have no idea how much I needed this today. This makes me want to go change into a shirt without throw-up on the sleeve. :)

Mommy is very tired

It doesn't matter how cute they are, or how much you love them, when you have been cleaning up various bodily fluids for nearly 2 weeks, you get REALLY tired. Being a mom is about 97% loving them with all your being and 3% (maybe 5% this week) cleaning up bodily fluids. Sarah Grace is on the mend now, but Sam began throwing up last night. He has complained about a belly ache this week, but being the super Mom I am, "no fever, go to school", he has gone to school. Yesterday, he almost talked me into letting him stay home, but "no fever" won out. When he came home, he ate a LOT of pizza for dinner......and we just had the carpets cleaned last week. You can guess what I was dealing with, of course, right as I was about to drift off to sleep.

Greg got booted to Sam's bed, which had to be totally stripped and re-made. This morning, before 8 a.m., I am mopping, cleaning carpets, and working on laundry.

I was supposed to go on a date with my husband tonight. That is NOT happening. **sigh** Instead, when he comes home, I will be looking VERY un-dateable (I know this is not a word), and likely still in my bathrobe. One word you cannot attach to motherhood is glamorous!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy 65th Birthday Dad! This picture was taken Easter 2008, about 2 months before Dad had a heart attack, open heart surgery and was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease. It seems impossible to believe that this was only 1 year ago, and we were blissfully unaware what was to come. My Dad has survived this horrible ordeal with strength, grace, and courage, and a whole lot of love, prayers, and acts of kindness from friends and family.

My Dad is my hero. He is a man with tremendous virtue, family values, and kindness. I do thank God every day that he survived this difficult year. I also pray to God that we will have many more years with this great man. I love you Dad!

Memories of a dear friend

This is a picture from our wedding. The man in the grey suit, Ron, passed away last Friday. We will miss him terribly. He became very important to us when my father-in-law passed away in January, 2004. He was a very dear friend of my father-in-law and took Greg under his wing when his Dad passed away. The loss of a parent is so overwhelming and Ron was always there for Greg to share memories of his Dad and to lend moral support to him when needed. He was a man so full of life, love, and laughter.

We will miss you, Ron. We are praying for your family and loved ones that they may find peace in the months to come. We know they have so many wonderful memories with you that will help them get through this difficult time. We also know we have another special angel in Heaven looking out for us.

My husband

Oh yea, this guy deserves honorable mention, as well. This is my husband, Greg. I showed him my blog for the first time last night. He thought it was "pretty good" but wanted to know where he was. Can you see where Sarah Grace comes by her love of being in the spotlight?!?

This is a picture of Greg and Sam on their way to a UK football game last fall. They are two peas in a pod. The day Sam was born, he looked EXACTLY like Greg. The doctors even laughed about it, stating they had never seen a baby look more like 1 parent. It seemed that I was merely an incubator all of those long months! However, I do think I can accept a little credit these days. I can definitely see a little of myself in Sam now (don't tell Greg...oh yea, you may read this).

Greg has always been able to make me laugh, even at times when all I felt like doing was crying. He has a terrific sense of humor. He is kind and loving, a good husband and father--is that good enough honey :)? I'm not saying it just because he may read this, it really is true. He is another true source of happiness in my life. We will be married 7 years on July 20.

Sarah Grace Star

This little girl is STILL sick. She developed a fever last Tuesday evening and we still have a fever today (1 week later). She has been to the Dr. twice and they assure me it is just "viral funk", but we have never kept a fever this long. It is a really BIG bummer. I hope she is feeling better soon.

These pictures were taken back in the Fall (2008) at preschool. Sarah Grace was "star of the week". As star of the week, you get to walk through this curtain which cheers, help the teacher, bring snack, pass out snack, sit on a star mat, be line leader,....you get the picture. Sarah Grace REALLY enjoyed being star of the week. Being the center of attention is always a good thing as far as she is concerned! She told me the other day, "Mommy, there is NOTHING better than a party!" and all of her expectations for her upcoming birthday party. This is a little worrisome for me because we kind of went overboard with Sam's this year....we had a family gathering on a Sunday, dinner out on the actual birthday, and a birthday party for his friends at the bowling alley.....I'm not sure if I am willing to go through this all again with Sarah Grace, but I'm going to have to figure something out!

Last year, Sarah Grace and her best little girlfriend (whose Mom happens to be a dear friend of mine) went out for their first pedicures (Moms, too!) followed by lunch at PF Chang's. I need to start thinking about this year......as she clearly is!

My inspiration

I am working on my page aLOT today....(this requires much child neglect on my part...please don't report me)--- anyway, my BIGgest inspiration is my Dad. This is his page, if you should like to visit---www.lexpage.com. He has recently finished his chemo/radiation treatments and we are very hopeful for a bright future for him. He will have follow up visits to the doc. this week. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Loves of my life.....

Food and Family

These are my 2 loves...food and family. This was my first annual Super Bowl Paella. Greg loves to take pictures of our favorite dishes, and I have to say my paella is really good. Cooking is one of my greatest passions. It is great therapy to me to spend time in the kitchen cooking for/with my family. I love to try new recipes and my current favorite cooking mag. is Everyday with Rachel Ray (that is not where I got this recipe). I also adore watching Food Network--probably could do this for an entire day (have never had this opportunity). I spend time on foodnetwork.com, too. I'm not sure what this says about me, but chopping is one of my favorite things. Some people find this very tedious, but I find it heavenly. If you have any chopping jobs you need help with, I am your girl! My other favorite thing to do with food, is to find a creative way to use my leftovers. This is one reason why I love to make soups. I can make a soup with just about anything (and no recipe). I made a crab bisque this weekend with leftover crab meat and leftover asparagus and spicy rice from another meal. It was a masterpiece if I do say so myself!

Love this picture!

I love this picture of Sam and Sarah Grace. It is not a current photo (as you can see), but there are some pics./memories that you just really want to hold on to. This was Sam's first day of preschool, and as you can see, I believe Sarah Grace was ready to go (and stay) with him. She really idolizes Sam and he is really sweet with her, too. I am not saying that we don't have our moments of rivalry, because trust me, we do. But, overall I would say we are blessed to have two children that truly do love each other and enjoy being with each other.

They used to hold hands in the car...Sarah Grace would say "Would you hold my hand Dammy?" (before she could say her s sound) and hold out her chubby little hand in his direction. He would then oblige for a short period of time until "his hand was tired". It is these little moments in life that I hope I never never forget. My memory is short these days, though, so hopefully, that is the gift blogging will give to me. It seems impossible to believe that we could forget these moments, but I know it can happen.

Beautiful day in KY

Today is the first day when I am thinking...yes, I think Spring is FINALLY here to stay. Unfortunately I have one sick little one, so we have been pretty well restricted to home. This is not all bad. I find myself almost enjoying sick days (these days) because it is one sure way to make me slow down and tend solely to my little one. It is so hard to "live in the moment" when there are just so many durn Mommy jobs to do. I am really trying to take time these days to stop, breathe, and listen to my children as I know these days are few. I don't want to look back and wonder why I was so busy with laundry, bills, and "to do" items that I didn't take the time to enjoy watching my children grow and develop. I believe today I will open the windows, "breathe", and take a good listen to my babies.