MooMama

Nine

2012-02-13T15:15:00.001-05:00

Another birthday celebrated on Friday. Lana turned nine! The themes for this year are "favorite colors" so Lana picked pink. Not much is different since her 6th birthday. She is still the fanciest girl around!

She wanted a super fancy birthday dinner so I made per her request: chicken parmesan with homemade macaroni and cheese. It had to be eaten by candelight.

She exclaimed that all her gifts were "Amaaaazing!" She could not pick a favorite one because she loved everything.

She wore a mood necklace she received and then proceeded to tell us that she was either "calm" or "excited" according to the color chart. I figured it leaned more towards the latter.

Before cake, she insisted on changing into a new fancy dress and sparkly jewelry. She was the queen of the table!

Lana has since traded in becoming a mermaid when she grows up for an elementary school art teacher. She loves art and is very creative! I believe she will be great at anything she sets her heart on.

Even if that happens to be becoming a mermaid. :)

Hope this year shines as bright as the ones before them, Lana! We love you!

Eleven

2012-02-04T15:46:00.002-05:00

I love this photo of Madelyn's birthday party last night. Kinda blurry, wrinkled tablecloth, just the glow of the candles and wobbly shadows against the wall. Perfect in its own way.

I love the way Isabella is gazing up at her sister.

I love that we gather together as a family for birthdays no matter what day of the week it is.

I love that my new sister-in-law, 40 weeks pregnant with our second nephew, came to celebrate with us.

I love that my sister bakes and decorates the most beautiful birthday cakes for my girls' birthdays.

I love that my husband is such a wonderful daddy to his six girls.

And, I love Madelyn so much!
For these past eleven years and forever.
Happy Birthday, baby girl.

Are you the GIVEAWAY winner?

2012-01-20T14:30:00.001-05:00

I cut out a whole bunch of hearts and put all your lovely names on them.

My assistant, Grace, pulled one name out of our big stainless steel kitchen bowl and the winner was...

ROSHANA who said her little boy and her stay healthy in the Winter by

taking fish oil supplements and drinking a ton of green/red&white tea.

Congrats to you! I will be contacting you by email shortly.

Also, a big thank you to all that stopped by and joined in the giveaway.

Enjoy the weekend! Stay warm!

What a Party!

2012-01-17T20:24:00.003-05:00

Lana planned a huge wedding reception party for her two bears that recently married on Christmas Day!

She handmade invitations for the whole family and tickets that we had to trade in for our meals. She spent all day decorating, planning a speech, blowing up pink balloons and planning a game to play with the guests.

Maybe party planning is in her future?

Here is the happy couple with their bridesmaid daughter dressed in purple.

Madelyn was Lana's party assistant.
I was also an assistant that she called, "Chef Olivia".

Romantic lighting was a MUST so forgive some of the blurry or flash photos.

Lana gave a little speech and announcement of the wedding couple.

The couple's first dance!

Everyone found their designated name cards for seating. Dinner was lasagna!

Dancing with Daddy!
All the girls patiently waited for their spin around the dance floor!

Yummy chocolate cupcakes for dessert made by Chef Olivia and

decorated by assistants Lana and Madelyn!

Photo op!

Evangeline was surprised to be attending such a GREAT party!

Lana planned a lovely wedding reception for her bear family!

She said she can hardly wait until next year

when she gets to throw their anniversary party!

* Don't forget to enter the Winter "Stay Well" giveaway! Two days left!

Some great tips on staying healthy written in the comments. Keep them coming!

Winter "Stay Well" GIVEAWAY

2012-01-13T09:41:00.000-05:00

This past December just marked three years that this little blog of mine has been around so I thought it would be fun to have a giveaway!

The beginning of 2012 brought a sweeping round of sniffles and coughs our way. It is difficult to avoid all illness with a large family and especially with children in school where they are exposed more readily. I think prevention is key to surviving the cold and flu season! We feed our bodies well, get plenty of rest, wash our hands diligently and take vitamins.

Even though we keep our immune systems in check, sometimes the germs do find their way in. Our family does not use any over-the-counter medications but we find that good old-fashioned, natural remedies help us to recover quickly and without unnecessary trips to the doctor's office.

I bought a few of my favorite things to share with you

as a powerful "Stay Well" gift this Winter!

   *Seventh Generation hand wash in Fresh Citrus! Not only is this hand wash free of triclosan, dyes and synthetic fragrances but the citrus scent will lift your spirits from those Winter blahs!

   *A Tea Sampler from Traditional Medicinals (Gypsy Cold Care, Organic Echinacea Plus, Organic Throat Care and Breathe Easy). These teas are great and the kids can drink them to soothe sore throats and coughs because they are caffeine free!

   *Feeding the Whole Family: Cooking With Whole Foods by Cynthia Lair. I have a copy of this book myself and have not even begun to skim the surface of the recipes in here! As I wrote about before, we eat as a family unit at meals (I am NOT a short order cook!). We want to raise healthy eaters and I find that this book provides a lot of great information as well as easy recipes that the whole family (even our littlest Evangeline) can enjoy together.

Would you like to win this little Winter package of goodness?

Mastitis, Good Things, and Wizards

2012-01-06T20:03:00.000-05:00

We are entering our first weekend of 2012. I began the New Year with a household full of sniffles and coughs. Then, Tuesday, I was struck with mastitis. For anyone that may not know, mastitis is a pretty nasty breast infection that usually occurs in breastfeeding women. Its symptoms are similar to those of the flu plus the infected breast gets swollen and does not feel good at all. It cleared in a day and a half (and thanks to my Mom who came bearing bagels for lunch the day I was incapacitated). I am almost brand new again!

The Christmas tree is dismantled and finally out of the house and my husband kindly dropped it off in my parents' backyard last night where it will hopefully house birds and squirrels this Winter. Perhaps it can even provide some firewood in the Spring for a few backyard bonfires.

With the tree being out of the house, I had only today to attempt to clean up massive amounts of pine needles. Unfortunately, no matter how meticulous my sweeping, I will no doubt be finding stray ones for the next 6 months. Ha!

I hope to settle into January next week with a fresher outlook. I am looking forward to a big Winter purge of items. An eight person household tends to collect more than needed and I want to bring us to a manageable level.

I also have a wonderful stack of books that I borrowed from the library that I am anxious to start reading. I set a goal to read 25 books this year on Goodreads. I hope that two books a month will be a nice pace for me.

Another good thing is that I hope to try more recipes this year in order to add to our family recipe book. I want to include more vegetarian (or less meat-based) recipes as well. I bought Feeding the Whole Family awhile ago and hope to find some more keeper recipes within its pages.

Which reminds me! I have a little "Winter Stay Well" giveaway coming up next week so keep a lookout for that!

I am off now to heat pretzels for snacks ( Madelyn has a friend over tonight! ) and then we will be awaiting the news on who becomes the Russo family wizard. (I know, crazy. Right?)

Nevertheless, we are taking bets.

9 Months and a New Year

2011-12-31T14:28:00.000-05:00

Tonight we say goodbye to 2011 and prepare to usher in a New Year! There will be snacks, late-night games, cousins playing, family laughs, the writing of resolutions and backyard bonfires!

I could not let this year slip away without writing a post about our Evangeline. December marked her 9 months old and I wanted to document what this little girl has been up to!

She is becoming increasingly independent! She is pulling herself to standing and walking along furniture. Her sisters will hold her by one hand and have her walk next to them. Sometimes she has to grab onto their legs to steady herself but she is learning. One baby step at a time! We predict that she will probably be walking before our newest little nephew arrives in early February!

Evangeline is also waving goodbye and hello! Sometimes she gets so excited she uses both hands to wave. She also seems to makes a sound that resembles, "Hi" while she waves. She always gets a "Wow!" from her sisters when she says this.

Just recently, she has begun to play peek-a-boo. She finds it highly amusing to hide herself behind a blanket (or the shower curtain, or a pillow, or her sock monkey) and then peek around it so we can shout "peek-a-boo" at her! She thinks it is just about the funniest thing she has ever experienced!

If there is not something to hide herself behind, she will simply turn her head to one side and then whirl back around awaiting her "peek-a-boo!" and a fit of giggles! It is darn cute.

Evangeline is also working on her sixth tooth! (Is that even possible?) She has been using her pincer finger skills to pick up small pieces of food and navigate them to her mouth. She is still breastfeeding throughout the day and night and eats with us at every meal. She eats a modified version of the meals that we all eat as a family. So far she has had no aversions to any foods we have fed her and she is eating well! Yea, Eva!

Well, I am off to finish the focaccia bread that I will be bringing to my parents' New Years Party tonight. We are having appetizers for dinner and then ice cream sundaes to ring in 2012. (Guess I will hold off on the "lose weight" resolution until January 2nd. Hehe!)

Catch you on the flip side!

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." ~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Holiday Cheer

2011-12-27T23:54:00.000-05:00

Dropping in to say "Happy Holidays" to all! We had a wonderful Christmas Day! We are lucky to have many friends and family in our lives that are generous and thoughtful and loving. We truly appreciate them all!

A big "Thanks!" to all my readers that drop by and make this blog shine a little bit brighter!

May the New Year bring you as much joy as your heart can hold!

Checking It Twice

2011-12-07T14:03:00.001-05:00

It seems I have been away from blogging for almost two weeks now! Tsk tsk. I have been making lists and checking them twice trying to get all in order for the upcoming holiday which is now just 17 days away! Eee! You can imagine my to-do list with so many little ones to make Christmas magical for.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus seem to always get the job done though, so I should not worry as much as I do.

Here is a bit of what has been going on in our world the past two weeks:

Little Evangeline took her first romp in a leaf pile with her sisters!

My two Hope monkeys for Craft Hope's latest project safely arrived at their destination.

I made the black one to replace the blue one that captivated Grace's heart.

I made a new ruffled tree skirt using this tutorial from Prudent Baby!

Forgive that the photo does not show the finished binding at the top.

It has now been completed and looks awesome under our decorated tree!

Also, last weekend Evangeline and I took a trip to a Christmas tree farm

to help my brother get a tree for his apartment!

Now I am off to have a cup of good cheer ( some green tea with honey )!

Hope to see you all sooner than later!

Cute Baby Pics While You Cook

2011-11-24T11:11:00.000-05:00

Oh, this sweet baby face! I love her! I thought while everyone is preparing for their yummy Thanksgiving dinners, I would post the photos of Eva turning 8 months! I am currently baking the Challah bread for my parents' Thanksgiving feast. It smells delish over here!

Evangeline has been pulling herself to standing recently. She wants to start running around with all her older sisters! On this day, she pulled herself up from the floor on my leg and then let go. She probably stood on her own for a total of one second flat. Madelyn was super excited for her and starting shouting and clapping which made Eva a very happy girl.

She loves making noises with her tongue and flapping her hands excitedly during her photo sessions. She has Madelyn behind me trying to make her smile but she winds up giggling and kicking her legs so fast which causes for mostly blurry photos!

Madelyn told her Daddy was coming home soon which made her start saying Dadadadada and shaking her arms around until I thought she was liable to take off flying!

Here she is showing off her choppers! She has two on the bottom and working on her second pair on top. She loves to eat and she really enjoyed the soups I have made recently. A quick mix with a hand blender and I have the perfect first foods for this tiny girl!

After all that modeling, she yawned and decided it was time for a nap! Ah, the life of an 8-month old!

* A special note for my Mom who is cooking a giant meal for 20+ people with the help of my Dad and siblings (on her birthday nonetheless!) Happy Birthday Mom! I can't wait to eat your homemade stuffing tonight. It is the best and so are you! Without you, I would not have become half of the mother I am today. I love you!

Thankful

2011-11-23T16:00:00.001-05:00

Sophia made this little Tree of Thanks last night. She wanted to draw a picture of her family for the inside of the frame. She had to redo it three times because someone was always getting cut out of the picture. She finally fit all eight of us inside!

I then helped her write thankful leaves to glue on the tree. She picked them all herself! Made her Mama proud to know her heart is full of thanks for all the wonderful people and things in her life!

The little things I am thankful for today:

a play date with cousins at Grandma's house today
taking an unexpected nap with Evangeline while visiting
dinner waiting in the crock pot
the string of colored lights Mike hung in our living room
our thoughtful girls that collectively made their Grandma a present for her birthday tomorrow (without any input from me!)
being able to spend another Thanksgiving Day with all of my family

I am also thankful for all the readers that come by and take the time to read my blog! I loved the comments on my Craft Hope: Sock Monkeys post. Thanks!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday weekend!

Craft Hope: Sock Monkeys

2011-11-18T19:05:00.001-05:00

I finished sewing up my two little sock monkeys for Craft Hope's latest project. The deadline is November 24th, which is not only Thanksgiving but my Mom's 60th birthday this year! Big day!!

Grace was very smitten with these monkeys, especially the blue one. She told me blue was her favorite color and she wanted a blue monkey too. I explained how I was sewing these monkeys for children just like her. I said the children were sad because they had lost many things from bad fires in the places where they lived. I told Grace I would be shipping these two monkeys in the mail as soon as I finished them. She nodded.

I told her that we could go pick a pair of pretty blue socks, though, and I would make her a sock monkey too! She was excited about that! Isabella wanted one too, "A rainbow one!"

Gracie watched me piece together the monkey. She said she loved the blue heart so much. She said, "I want a blue heart on my monkey!" She held the little arms and ears for me, waiting for me to finish one piece so she could pass along the next.

Before the blue monkey even had his eyes sewn on, she would hug it and kiss it. She told me she loved this monkey. She said, "He's my best friend, Mom!"

At last, she started asking if she could keep him. "Please, I want him. I love him. So much! Please, Mom. Really, please. I love this blue guy."

How could I argue with her? She helped me bring this monkey to life! How could I pack it in a box and send it away?

As I sewed on the last eye, I handed over her monkey. In a dreamy voice she said, "Really? Oh, thank you, Mom." She was so very happy and spent the rest of the afternoon with her monkey best friend by her side.

Since my goal was to send two monkeys to Craft Hope for this project, I am going to buy another pair of socks and make a companion to send along with the pink monkey. I will pick up a rainbow pair to sew a "best friend" for Isabella as well!

Again, the deadline for the project is Thanksgiving so there is still some time to send a few monkeys if anyone reading wants to participate! Get all the details here!

Stay Silly

2011-11-12T10:26:00.001-05:00

“Life is too important to be taken seriously.” ~Oscar Wilde

This is what can happen when her Mama is cleaning the table of dishes and she is still strapped in her high chair. Her sisters decorated her face with a fake mustache and proceeded to laugh and call her names like Mario and Little Chef. She took it in stride and then proceeded to eat her mustache.

Stay silly this weekend! Enjoy!

Imperfect Perfection

2011-11-11T17:09:00.001-05:00

I baked this chicken pot pie the other night. My favorite recipe from my Mom. An "I have leftovers for every meal the next day" kind of favorite.

The crust was a bit too crumbly so when I put on the top layer it turned into a hot mess. It cracked and I had to piece the edges together. I did not make fancy cut out leaves for the top (although I have on occasions.)

The pie, as ugly as it looked, was delicious. Madelyn and I broke into the imperfect crust in minutes, Evangeline ate the warm insides full of chicken and carrots and peas and potatoes and cream sauce. She loved it! The others ate leftover chicken mixed into chicken salad sandwiches with some butter noodles sprinkled with parmesan on the side.

The kitchen was a mess, fallen noodles were littered under the table, Evangeline would grunt at me each time she wanted another bite of food, the television had not been turned off and was a bit too loud... but still we had a delicious meal together as a family.

Perfect despite its imperfections.

I have been reading several blog posts lately that focus on a disillusionment that some bloggers may give their readers of their "perfect" lives. I know that I like to post about the positive moments in our family life and I assume other bloggers do as well. I do tend to throw in some worst-day-ever posts because I like the reminder that I can not do it all and that is ok.

I am not sure people would be very inspired if I posted photos of my dirty dishes or the giant piles of fabric I have thrown under my bedroom desk or the crying faces when some little one gets hurt. For every beautiful photo I post, there are hundreds I have that aren't.

I don't keep up on laundry most days. I don't have a perfectly clean home. I don't get to read to the girls every night like I would like to. I don't have time to craft/bake/write half of the things on my wish list. I don't even get out of my pajamas some days.

But, this is my life!

Perfect despite its imperfections.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T22:53:00.000-04:00

Halloween 2011 was a great one. Our annual Halloween party rocked! Tons of food, pulling together last minute costumes, a spooky house, and...snow? Yes, the first snowfall of the season this past Saturday. Unbelievable!

There were some amazingly creative costumes from my family this year. SO good. We had an old fashioned doughnut on a string eating contest and I made a Witch Pitch game after seeing it on Pinterest. My sister, Tessa won Most Creative and Best Overall in the costume votes and Sophia won Prettiest Costume with her sparkly, glow-in-the-dark Monarch butterfly wings.

Halloween night sent our twin witches, a pair of super cool rock stars, and a beautiful butterfly into the darkening neighborhood with their Dad, pillowcases in hand, and green glow sticks around their necks. I stayed behind with our bluebird of happiness, handing out candy, chatting with neighbors, keeping Evangeline warm in my jacket and rocking her to sleep.

There was a lull in between the groups when I could hear the echoes of "Trick or Treat!" voices knocking at distant doorsteps. I wondered where my own trick-or-treaters were and wished them home soon to sweep inside with their laughter, chocolate and tales of childhood Halloween nights.

Thoughts

2011-10-25T17:16:00.000-04:00

I woke this morning early to Evangeline coughing. Her breath raspy, her body warm with a mild fever. I knew not much would get done around the house because I would be on the sofa under blankets, nursing her, watching her sleep. I am grateful that I have that choice, to be with them on their sick days to comfort them and make them well again.

Today I grabbed the slow cooker and prepared a pot of southwestern beans. I opened the back door to let the wind rush in and the twins rush out to swing and slide while I sat watching from the dining room chair. My feet propped up, a baby on my chest, dreaming of Halloween costumes I have yet to finish.

Tonight I plan on grilling hot dogs to go with our pot of beans, then roasting marshmallows afterwards. A mid-October picnic which just happens to be my favorite kind.

Much later, I am heading out for a late night scary movie with my Dad, brothers and sister. I feel a twinge of sadness leaving my tiny girl sick at home but the guilt fades quickly knowing she is home with her Daddy. He is more than capable of making her happy until I return home again. I will miss her all the same.

Happy Tuesday to you all! Hope you are enjoying this perfect October evening!

Seven months

2011-10-21T14:24:00.001-04:00

Evangeline has a tooth! She is making quick work of a second one, also!

What lovely things does this seven month old babe fill her day with?

She is crawling like a champ now! Sometimes she crawls with one knee down and one leg in the air. It is a half crawl / wants to walk thing going on. She is trying to take after her big sister, Madelyn, who never crawled on her knees!

This will be her second month of eating food! I am a huge believer in Dr. Greene's White Out Campaign so Eva is chomping away on great real foods. She has enjoyed bananas, organic yogurts and applesauce, oatmeal, sweet potato, carrots, peas, wild rice, ground beef and chicken as well. All the food she eats is usually what we are eating together during family meals!

Evangeline is already beginning to pull herself to a standing position without help! Eeee! Just this morning she was standing at the bottom step in the living room! Oh no... time to break out the safety gates!

She is babbling up a storm! Babababa and Dadadada is her current topics of conversation but no Dada/Daddy connection to the words yet. Soon!

Evangeline is a personable, loving, amazing little person! We can not wait to see what sunshine she brings to us next month!

Weekend Photos

2011-10-18T09:34:00.004-04:00

Another great trip to the Old Homestead Tree Farm and Pumpkin Patch. We have visited every year since Madelyn was born and take a photo in the pumpkin cart of our growing family. One of these days I will have to dig up every photo from all 11 years!

Pinteresting Halloween!

2011-10-04T14:02:00.001-04:00

Have you been decorating for Halloween yet? I have! If you are a Pinterest junkie like I am, you have been pinning some incredible ideas and inspiration for cute and creepy decor. Amanda at The Modern Marigold is having a Tuesday Pin-did Challenge! To DO something from your Pin boards, from someone else's boards, or just an idea that you have been meaning to get to in general! I have endless amounts of those.

I noticed this link from Dana @ Made popping up a lot. Have you seen it also? A indoor haunting of bats flying across your wall! Yes! I download the template from County Living, grabbed a pack of black cardstock and got to tracing and cutting out oodles of bats! Just needed a bit of time to sit down uninterrupted and I got them cut out quickly!

Now, I too have a spooky wall of flying bats leading you directly to the Count...who according to the sign, is in need of blood donors! Muhahaha!

I'm linking up to The Modern Marigold's Pin-did Challenge! You should too! Go check out the other links.

Men In Kilts

2011-09-29T14:11:00.000-04:00

Yes, it was our annual trip to the Celtic Classic! Men in kilts, parades of bagpipes, roasted corn and turkey legs, cigar smoke in the air, caber tossing, pushing through crowds to secure a seat for the Glengharry Bhoys under an unbearably warm tent and late night shopping under brightly lit stalls for the perfect color claddagh ring for little girls' fingers. Later, we head back to the car (all 18 of us) where we stopped for pizza and claimed the entire restaurant to ourselves! Good times!

And the winner is...

2011-09-22T21:08:00.000-04:00

Hooray to Kristie! Are you watching? You just won a download of

amazing software from MyMemories.com! Lucky lady!

Thanks again to all who participated in the giveaway!

Half Birthday

2011-09-19T23:32:00.001-04:00

This sweet faced baby turned 6 months old today! Evangeline sits up without support now, is starting to get into a crawling position (Madelyn and I saw her take one forward motion the other day!), and she continues to show off her toothless smile!

She also loves to clap which she learned because she has such a big audience at home encouraging her to crawl. She is such a good girl, and funny too! I find it amazing how tiny people develop a sense of humor. She will blow raspberries and then wait for her sisters to laugh. We also play peek a boo or make silly faces with her and she will just giggle like crazy!

While Daddy stood behind me trying to make her smile for the camera, she was kicking her feet and scooting around in the rocking chair so fast. I am surprised the photos were not all a blurry mess!

* Don't forget the My Memories Scrapbooking Software Giveaway ends Wednesday night
@ midnight! I am surprised there are not more entries!
Any digital scrapbook fans out there? Enter HERE!

Fun Fall Giveaway! closed to entries

2011-09-16T06:00:00.000-04:00

To celebrate some super Autumnal temperatures today, I think it is a perfect day for a GIVEAWAY!

My Memories wants to give a copy of their My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbook Software to you! A $40 value!

A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to explore scrapbooking. I got myself a nice big red album. I picked out endless amounts of pretty papers and bought stickers and embellishments galore. I selected and printed photos, bought glue dots and other adhesives, searched for paper punches of shapes and decorative edges.

You get the idea... it started getting more and more expensive with each glorious page I produced.

When My Memories contacted me, I was excited to try their software. It was a quick download (system requirements:Windows XP / 7, Mac OS X) and I jumped right in creating pages.

They have a ton of free content that you can download and install right into your program!

I picked out some free beach themed downloads, Sea Memories and Sea Breeze Frame and went to work creating some memories from our recent trip to Ocean City this summer.

I put some pages together fairly quickly once I played around with all the features. This software has definitely sparked a renewed interest in scrapbooking for me!

Check them out!

Oh! They also have so many kits to download that can be used for whatever designs your heart can dream of. The best part? They can be used over and over again for just a small cost.

Certainly not like buying one tiny pack of stickers that is gone after one page!

Here are some favorites I picked:

Autumn Days


Back to School

Forest Whispers

Birthday Bash

If you get super addicted to your digital designing, you can even join their monthly Design Club and get loads of perks. A great deal if you plan on creating a lot of memories!

I could go on about this software forever. I was truly impressed but you will have to go explore their digital scrapbooking site for yourself!!

My Memories is also offering all of my readers a great deal!! A $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store!

A $20 total value by entering the code: STMMMS12701

So are you ready to win your own copy of

My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbook Software?

Please visit their site and leave a comment on this post sharing your favorite Scrapbooking Kit.

The giveaway will close at midnight on Wednesday, September 21.

The winner will be picked by random.org and announced Thursday morning.

This giveaway is for a download of their software, so remember the system requirements are for Windows XP / 7, Mac OS X only!

* * * Good Luck * * *

Now go outside this weekend and make some memories!

Find More My Memories @
Blog- http://blog.mymemories.com/
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593
Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/MyMemoriesSuite

I remember

2011-09-11T14:23:00.000-04:00

Photo credit

I remember waking up that morning at the same time we did most mornings, around 7:30. Daddy was already off to work. Madelyn was seven months old. We had been living in our home for barely three of those.

I remember we started that day like we did most every day. Pulling up the blinds, we would lay in bed backwards, watching the leaves sway from the tree outside the window.

I remember eating breakfast, feeding Madelyn, then putting her on the floor with toys. She was crawling by then.

I remember turning on the news like I do every morning. I remember watching video of a plane hitting one tower of the World Trade Towers. My husband called to ask if I had heard the news. What a terrible accident, we thought.

I remember the fifteen minutes in between, watching the reports, speculating. I remember still watching when the second plane hit. How my heart sunk.

I remember the terror I felt like I had never before. I remember calling my husband and telling him he should be home with us now. I remember holding Madelyn while I watched the TV, rocking her back and forth. Holding her tight.

I remember calling my Mom to talk about the horror unfolding. I remember telling her to call my father and brothers and get them out of the city. I remember wanting them all home so they would be safer.

I remember watching those two towers fall in less than a minute.

I remember all day fearfully watching the news, the uncertainty, the tears, and wondering what the future would hold.

I remember the police officers and firefighters and paramedics and kind citizens that helped that day and far beyond.

I remember that nearly 2,819 people died that day in a terrorist attack that should not have. I know that the families of those people must live with that sadness forever.

I remember all of this, 10 years later.

I remember.

Reflections of Summer Days

2011-09-06T15:01:00.005-04:00

Today the girls are back to school again. Sophia starts Kindergarten this year. She is excited! It seems like it took forever for Sophia to get to this stage. I always think there is this grand expanse of time that the little ones will be home with me but then school flies upon us faster than the beating of my heart.

We had a fantastic summer! People tell me it went by too fast; that they wish it could linger just a bit longer before Autumn settles in.

Some told me they could not wait to get the kids back to school and the routine and rhythm that it brings.

I feel I get tugged in a bit of both directions.

I love the Summer days at home with all our girls! No alarm to wake us, no routines, and our devil-may-care attitude! We had the pleasures of sleeping in, making three different breakfasts for twice as many kids, biking and playing outside until the sun went down, reading in bed until all hours, and spontaneous day-trips with Daddy on the weekends.

This past Sunday, we packed the car full of towels and jackets, filled our water bottles, grabbed some books and a change of clothes and headed to the shore.

I hope the girls remember that Mom and Dad were kinda cool (and maybe a little bit crazy) to pack six kids in the car and take off on one last summer adventure!

We had one last hurrah building sandcastles on the beach, the girls jumping in ocean waves with their Dad while I soaked in the sunshine with Evangeline! Met up with my brother and his sweet babies. Ate a crazy delicious pizza dinner from Mack and Manco’s while sitting on a bench huddling together from the sea breeze. Raced to the car to get our jackets afterwards, then arcade games with the little girls giggling and stuffing their pockets full of candy and caramel popcorn!

Plus a mandatory search for mood rings before our trip home again! Of course!

Mike even found his way out of Ocean City in record time! Bonus!

These are the days we are unlikely to forget. The days from the ordinary that we tuck in a back pocket of our heart to reflect on and remember in years to come. We are counting down the days until we meet our old friend, Summer, once again.

Until then we are looking forward to the splendid days of Autumn and all the goodness that this season brings!