Happy Halloween 2011

Let's see if I still remember how to do this...

Truman - Spy vs. Spy, Ryan - Nerd, Nick - 13 and not sure what he wanted to be, Emily - Disco/70's Girl

This year we went trick or treating with Ryan's best friend Truman. They moved into a new house this past summer that is in a pretty big subdivision. This is a change from our normal tradition which has included in the past going to some houses in the country, some in town and maybe a small subdivision. Traditions have been hard since my mom passed away because she was such a huge part of every tradition we have. The kids have pointed out numerous times that we were very lucky to have had such great times with her and that we need to look back on that and be grateful (amazing how much wisdom they have). Anyway, the big subdivision thing paid off. The boys weighed their bags when we got home and they each have a little over 10lbs. of candy! I'm a little mortified but they are loving it.

This dress was actually my grandma's. I found it in a pile of clothes that she had brought to our garage sale to sell a few years ago. I thought it was cool so I set it aside. Emily saw it in a box awhile back and decided she wanted to wear it. We planned on surprising my grandma but sadly she passed away a few weeks ago. I was able to tell her about it and she got a good laugh out of it. I'm going to try and find a picture of her in it and will post it if I do. I did have to shorten it quite a bit :)

I Want To Blog

I want to blog...I really do...

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Healing

Life is slowly getting back to normal at our house. Nothing feels "normal" yet but things have been going on since February that have been life altering. Most of it I am not quite ready to share but I hope that someday I will be. The kids seem to be adjusting well to life without Grandma which I have to admit was a little weird to me at first. I didn't want them to be sad but I didn't understand when they seemed to move on with life so quickly. Then at dinnertime I would listen to them pray and ask God to help them not be sad. I realized that because of their child like faith they are ok with things. They know where Grandma is and they have complete confidence that they will see her again. I can't begin to describe how alone I feel at times. I heard someone say awhile back that when you lose your mom it truly feels like your an orphan. I couldn't agree more. I miss calling her just to talk. I miss just doing nothing with her. Even though I had a chance to tell her how much I loved her and how much she meant to me I still want a few more minutes to hold her hand and talk with her. But as my mom told me right before she died it will only be a minute until I see her again.

July 15, 1945 - April 20, 2011

Please Pray

My mom was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer yesterday. This has come as a complete shock to all of us. We have been told that treatment would not likely help her. My heart is broken. If you could please pray for her and our family we would appreciate it.

Emily's 8th Birthday

January 18th was Emily's Birthday. Somehow my baby girl is 8 already. We were planning on celebrating it on Saturday with extended family and her first friend sleepover. Needless to say she was pretty excited. Unfortunately she woke up with a sore throat yesterday. She was so good about resting all day so her party wouldn't be in jeopardy but last night the fever started and today it only got worse. We decided to reschedule in a couple of weeks so she doesn't share with everyone.

She did get to party a little on her actual b-day so hopefully that will tide her over :)

My girl likes her tradition. We got her chocolate chip muffins a couple years ago for breakfast and now every year she plans to have them for breakfast. You won't hear me complaining. I love chocolate chip muffins.

Josh waiting for Emily to get off the bus so he can give her a bouquet of flowers.

This is another tradition that started when she was about 2. I love this one because I love to see my husband treating her like I hope she will expect to be treated later on in life. I think that bond between father and daughter is so special. She ran off the bus so happy to get her flowers and hugs from her Daddy. The bus driver honked about 10 times so I think she thought it was pretty cool too.

As Josh posted on Facebook this is his beautiful girl

You gotta love a man who isn't afraid to arrange flowers with his daughter :)

Opening her presents from Ryan. It's amazing how the little things still make them so happy at this age.

One of the presents we got her is this art set that has an easel built into it. She LOVED it and drew us pictures all night. I loved it because it was on clearance at Michael's for $10 marked down from $50!!!

I didn't tell her what kind of cake I made for her because......

I wanted to surprise her with this cool tye dye cake. I found the recipe on a friends blog. If I knew how to link anything I would send you there but I'm afraid I am still pretty computer illiterate. If anyone wants the recipe feel free to let me know and I will get it to you.

She thought it was very cool but only ate a couple bites. Not a big dessert girl.

Later when I went to tuck her into bed I found her in her room reading her cards from her brothers. She made sure to put them in a safe place and told me how special they made her feel. I am so thankful that they do actually love each other!!!