First Reconciliation

tonight Brayden is on his first journey of his faith - he makes his First Reconciliation. I have mixed feelings about it honestly. I do not believe that we should have to go to a priest to "confess" our sins when we can just talk to God directly. I know that will make some of you upset and I am sorry. But I just think we need to talk to God, one on one, we do not need and excuse me for saying this a "middle man". We should be able to just open our hearts and just everyday, confess our sins, everyday ask for forgiveness and do our penance.

I am going to keep mum on this because I do not want to upset people. It is a big day for Brayden as he becomes closer to God and as he is learning to understand the conscience and what is right vs wrong. It is a journey that we e all are on everyday.

What a yucky day - great day to stay home in bed and curl up with a good book or a good movie. Last day of November - snow in the forecast, cold air around the corner - woo hoo!

I hope everyone stays dry today and has a great Tuesday.

Miss and love you dad!

Much love to all,

Yuck

Monday morning, oh how I do not like you. It would be so nice to be able to have that job where you work three days and with family the other four. This time off just went by oh to quickly and now today I go and perform a job and do the things I am suppose to do - oh where, oh where is that winning lottery ticket :)

Had a great weekend and holiday - it was hard, as they always will be. But it was so nice to hang out with the boys for the four days. Saturday we all went over to mom's. It was her and dad's wedding anniversary and we, well I, didn't want her to be left alone. So we all went over there to watch the ND football game and eat chili. Yesterday everyone pretty much chilled at their own homes, catching up on laundry, getting ready for this wonderful work week ahead.

Suppose to be somewhat nice weather this week - I hope everyone has time to enjoy it and are really able to enjoy the things that matter most this holiday season.

Have a great Monday.

Miss and love you dad,

Much love to all.

Happy Thanksgiving

i know a day late but just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful weekend. Missed dad a lot yesterday - really all the time but he loved the holidays and always having everyone around - just isn't the same without him here. A huge hole/void in our life, that will never go away. It was a dreary rainy day, a perfect day to lay in bed and watch movies with the boys and then take naps.

Again, always eat too much and feel it the next day. But I am not one of those crazies that head out on Black Friday - we have made it our tradition to not the leave the house unless it is an emergency and we put up our tree today - the boys are super excited - I love Christmas with all of the lights and decorations, it just adds so much more to the house :)

I hope for those of you who brave Black Friday are safe and find your deals, us other sane people will be indoors either working or spending time with the family.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all.

Beautiful

What a great song: especially for all of those days that you don't feel beautiful, rather it be a bad hair day, a pimple on your chin or someone putting you down, always remember you are Beautiful, because God created you to be you - and he loves you.

You will need to turn the music off at the bottom of the screen to hear this song, but it is a wonderful song.

Stay dry today everyone.

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all,

Been sick

sorry for not posting yesterday - I have been fighting a huge cold. Lost my voice and I just haven't feeling like doing anything - I know, like I do anything anyway :) Just the weather changing and everything in our house having it and going to mom's and kids there having it - bound to get sick. I hope it clears up by Thursday - for the big turkey lurkey day -

Have to go to another school conference today - this one is Brayden's. Here is the standard thing: he is a good student, he listens very well, but his handwriting stinks. He is a lefty and he writes like his uncle's :)......

I try and try to make him take his time but he is just one of those kids that just isn't going to have good handwriting - oh well, it could be worse huh.

So much for the nice weather - it is cold out there today and it is only suppose to get colder - guess I will not be getting better anytime soon. LOL

I hope everyone is having a good week.

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all,

Beautiful Day

what a beautiful day it was today - my goodness - wow. Another busy crazy weekend but it also made me feel so old. We had our first meeting for our high school reunion and it was GREAT to see everyone who is on the committee, I can not wait to see everyone else. It is funny in going through the yearbooks you always write BFF, forever and forever, we will never loose touch etc, and yet mainly because of life you do - I am just excited to see everyone and to pick up on some of those friendships that were lost. 

Thank goodness it isn't for another year so that gives me time to loose the lbs that I need to :)... While I was at the meeting Brayden had a soccer game and did great - he had two goals, it figures since I wasn't there, and Aunt Jenny was kind enough to take Logan for a couple of hours. Her report was that they had a great time, but he sure does talk alot! I said I know, welcome to my Logan world. But here are some pictures of his day with Aunt Jenny, Olivia and Cary.

Case will be coming home this weekend for Thanksgiving - yeah. Tonight we celebrated Sean's birthday and everyone was there except Amy. Her husband and oldest son are playing in a football tournament next weekend and she is busy getting them ready.

I just can't believe it is already the end of November - it is just craziness how fast this is going by - it is like a blink and life has already passed by. I hope everyone had a great weekend and doesn't have to work too hard this week. It should be an easy week for most people.

Enjoy the weather tomorrow because it suppose to turn really cold by the end of the week - yuck!

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all

Weekend

It is the weekend before Thanksgiving and Christmas is only a few weeks away. I am still waiting for that money tree to sprout some more leaves. :)  Suppose to be somewhat nice this weekend - at least no snow yet. Happy hours, soccer games, party planning and finish it all up watching the Bengals loose and mom's for dinner - just a typical weekend.

I need to get this Halloween candy out of my house. I have no will power and I am eating it all. I love to have a small piece of chocolate before I go to bed with some milk and it is killing me - adding extra weight on that I do not need. It doesn't help that work always goes and gets fast food or something that isn't good for you. I normally pack but what is the point if the next day you blow it. Man, I need some more will power!

More, more, more will power.

I hope everyone has a great weeknd.

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all,

What a Night!

so we played our volleyball game and lost - ugh. We should have won but we didn't and yet we had so much fun. In the middle of the night I can hear someone getting sick and it is Brayden - ugh!. There is nothing worse than when a child is sick. There is nothing you can do for them, they barely make it to the restroom and as soon as you clean it all up, put the new sheets on and get settled back in, you start the whole process all over again - it is draining and worrisome.

Needless to say I am home today with a sick child and I am exhausted. still doing laundry and cleaning up the remants - it is crazy. It makes me admire those nurses even more, for them to do what they do day in and day out - I applaud you!!!!!

At least it is a yucky day to be in with it being cold and rainy. It also allows me some time to catch up on some reading that I haven't had the time to do - hopefully I can get to it!

Mom called me last night with sad news: Mrs. Nagelesien, our first grade teacher at St. Anthony passed away this week - she taught all of us with the exception of Jenny. Jeremy and Sean went to school with her grandkids, Amy even knows her son - she was a great, sweet lady and our family loved her. She will be missed.

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all!

Hump Day

Happy Hump Day everyone - yeah, week is almost over. Just received an invite to help plan my 20-year high school reunion - Yikes! I can't be that old yet :) It is our big tournament tonight, I have to play the best I can because my sister in law Mindy is on a mission to win a t-shirt. I keep reminded her that she is about 15 years younger than I and she can move a lot faster LOL. I guess I have to put my game face on, I wouldn't want her to kick me off of the team.

What a yucky day yesterday was, it was a perfect day to curl up and read a good book and take a nap - that is what I should have done, it would have been nice to have a day like that. Big teacher/parent conference tonight at Little Red - still cracks me up that they have these conferences for little 2-3year olds - what are they going to tell you that they don't share their goldfish....

So we will see if my little brut is a brut at school too - hopefully he isn't and he is just his cute charming self but we will see.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far -

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all,

Be content with what you have, for God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid." - Hebrews 13:5,6

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all!

Yuck - Monday

I really despise you. I didn't sleep at all last night and I feel terrible today - just yuck. This weather changing sure isn't helping things either. Still looking for that four day a week career :)...

Today is Sean's birthday - Happy Birthday!!!! I hope you have a great wonderful day and all your dreams come true. Thank you for stepping up and taking care of mom and all of us when we needed it. I know it has been hard on you too since dad died - but he would be so proud of you. You are exactly like him and that is a comfort to me at least. I love you and I hope you have a great birthday.

I hope this Monday goes by fast and this week actually. Just a blah, blah day.

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all,

Please Monday

don't come - I hate Mondays. I do not sleep well on Sunday nights, never have. We need to work in a world where they allow us to put family/friends first, where we have four day work weeks and three day weekends. Where the office shuts down for the Christmas holidays - if we were to get everyone on the same page then I do not see what the problem would be here.

Had a great weekend - had a retirement party on Saturday night where Mindy and Jeremy were the bartenders and they did a great job and Jeremy didn't embarrass us :) But it was a lot of fun to see everyone and just to have a night out. Today we just did piddly things in the house. I love days like this. Where you really have no where to go and you can just lay in your pajamas' all day - take your time with the laundry, play Toy Story with the boys, read and just be a family. I cherish these days. Brayden and I were looking at his baby pictures and the urge struck again but I will not tell Steve :) LOL....

I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather, Not sure what the week ahead is going to hold but I hope everyone has a blessed week and cherishes every moment -

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all

It's Friday

and it was a beautiful week and should be a nice weekend. I wish the weather would stay like this forever! Another busy weekend ahead of us with soccer games, parties and of course mom's house. I love the weekends, I love spending time with my boys - and it seems this time of the year is the busiest with parties and soccer games - always doing something

Work is a little slow today, but then again it is one of those days where I just do not feel like doing anything - I think it is the case for everyone today - just a blah day.

Counting down the hours until I get to leave - happy hour here I come :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoys this beautiful weather - enjoy your time with your family and friends. Hugs and kisses to all.

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all!

Veterans Day

They Did Their Share

On Veteran’s Day we honor
Soldiers who protect our nation.
For their service as our warriors,
They deserve our admiration.
Some of them were drafted;
Some were volunteers;
For some it was just yesterday;
For some it’s been many years;
In the jungle or the desert,
On land or on the sea,
They did whatever was assigned
To produce a victory.
Some came back; some didn’t.
They defended us everywhere.
Some saw combat; some rode a desk;
All of them did their share.
No matter what the duty,
For low pay and little glory,
These soldiers gave up normal lives,
For duties mundane and gory.
Let every veteran be honored;
Don’t let politics get in the way.
Without them, freedom would have died;
What they did, we can’t repay.
We owe so much to them,
Who kept us safe from terror,
So when we see a uniform,
Let’s say "thank you" to every wearer.
By Joanna Fuchs

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THANK YOU to all of those who have had or who are currently service our country. Thank you just doesn't seem enough!

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all!

Happy Veterans Day

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Be Grateful

When you can get free from the demands of your ego, you also free yourself from most of your self-imposed limitations. In practicing genuine humility, you will find enormous power. Get beyond the desire to control others, and you vastly improve your ability to control your own actions. Let go of the need to be right, and you open yourself to experience new truth. Get free of the need to blame, and your own sense of responsibility grows stronger. Stop seeking to place judgments on others, and you're free to powerfully improve your own actions. Give up the thought that you're better than everyone else, and a whole new world of opportunity opens up to you. Stop seeking unfair advantage, and you're free to develop an unstoppable effectiveness. Quit demanding the most and start expecting the best. You'll experience a level of true abundance that you never before could have imagined. Live each moment with humility, love, respect and gratitude for the whole of life that surrounds you. And you will find a treasure that has no end. Ralph Marston

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all

Ms. Jordyn

here are a few pictures of Ms. Jordyn, Jeremy and Mindy's youngest girl - how cute is she? It is funny to see the babies interact with each other. They all love each other, especially if there is one smaller than them. Logan always plays with Kali, Jordyn and Will. Will and Jordyn just look at each other, as if Will is saying hey, there is someone smaller than me here. It is just too funny.

What a beautiful night and morning - I love this warm weather. Logan was so excited to play in his sandbox I couldn't get him to come in when it was dinner time. He loves to play outside. So much for the Bengals huh - Ugh!

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday and enjoy this beautiful weather!
Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all.

Indian Summer

I guess it is ready to get cold after all - this week is suppose to be beautiful weather - crazy huh, and people wonder while they are sick all of the time.

It was a nice weekend - relaxing. Had a great time at mom's last night - everyone was there and it has been a while since all five of us plus families have been there. There were some missing but nonetheless it was fun. Crazy as always with all of the boys running around and the babies crawling/walking around. Wouldn't want to have it any other way.

It is hard to believe Turkey Day is in two weeks - where did this year go? This time of year is hard, missing dad a lot - and the people that say with time things get easier, I haven't hit that time yet - still hurts, still missing him like crazy - especially during this time of the year. :(

I do hate this time of the year how it gets dark too early. Here it is going to be a nice week, where the kids can get out and play but by the time we get home from work and school, it will be getting dark. Yuck! It is almost depressing because it seems like you are stuck in the house all of the time.

I hope everyone has a great Monday and week. Enjoy this beautiful weather.....

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all,

Fall Back

i just realized I didn't post anything on Friday - I kept meaning to and I was busy at work and then just ran around Friday evening. Mom offered to watch the kids so Steve and I jumped on our Christmas shopping - and it was packed out there - we should have just gone to a bar instead :)

Pretty relaxing weekend. Brayden had his first indoor soccer game yesterday. Yet another new coach, new players, new field - it stinks that he gets use to the teammates on his team and his coach and then the next season, the coach doesn't coach or he has to move up - we are thinking of him trying out for select soccer next year - he really loves to play and he is quite good - so we will see how that plays out.

The boys are actually playing well together this weekend, I hear these little conspiracies going on and it is just funny to listen to them, especially to Logan. He is trying to hard to be like Brayden - so hard. Heading over to mom's tonight - it seems like it has been forever since I have been over there and in actuality it has only been two weeks. But for me, a long time :)

I hope everyone is having a great weekend and enjoying that extra hour in the day -I wish I could have used it to sleep but my two year old is a morning bird LOL....

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all!

Ten years ago....

ten years ago today I wore a dress that I loved, I was surrounded by all the people that I loved: family, friends, co-workers, I had my sisters and one brother by my side, I walked with dad down the aisle, I waited for dad to come from the bar to have our father/daughter dance. Ten years ago I felt on top of the world for it was my wedding day. The day was perfect and couldn't have gone better. The flowers, the music, the groom, the wedding party, the family and friends, the reception, the dancing - everything was perfect.

It is funny how even then technology isn't what it is today. Ten years ago, digital pictures weren't common and so unless I scan pictures in I can't post any pictures up here from my wedding, except this one that I have posted before. It is from my dance with dad - dad loved to dance.

No one tells you how hard marriage is - how it is really a marathon and not a sprint. How it takes a lot of patience, a lot of understanding, a lot of letting go of silly things, a lot of forgiveness, of acceptance, of being kind, of communication, of being there, emotionally and physically, a lot of heartaches, a lot of laughter and tears, alot of respect and a lot of love. We knew we were complete opposites - complete. And it isn't a bad thing but sometimes it isn't a good thing either. To put it mildly we have been put through the winger. The greatest impact of our lives was going through losing our fathers within a year of each other. To watch each other go through the hurt and the pain, the loss and the grieve - it was unbearable and put a lot of stress/strain on us, BUT it also brought us closer - it brought our family closer. We appreciate now every minute of every day that we have together, with the boys, with our brothers/sisters, with our aunts/uncles/cousins, with our moms. We have realized that life is short and we have grown in our faith and we have grown as a family.

Even though we have only been married ten years we have been together for eighteen - crazy huh. Here is to another eighteen of laughter and joy and heartaches and pain - here is to another eighteen of crazy times with the boys and with our families. Here is to all of the married couples who have survived this crazy thing called marriage, called life.

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails...But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7,13

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all,

One of those days

it is amazing how much we rely on technology. I remember back in the day (LOL), where we didn't use computers or cell phones or I pods etc. and now it is like we are all addicted to them. My computer at home has been down for about two days and it isn't me that is missing it as much as the boys. They are both alloted times to where they go on there and play their games or with Brayden he has been making a Christmas list for 2 weeks now ( :) ). Luckily Grandma Jean let us borrow Toy Story 3 until Santa brings our copy and we watched that. I think Logan watched it three times in one night.

It is a great movie - it is one of those movies that make me cry every single time I see it - never fails. But computer will be fixed today, and the boys will be happy - but it is just funny how much we rely on technology and if you don't have a computer now a days you are really living in the stone ages.

This was on greatday.com today - it is so true. Some people just never think they have enough when they have the world at their feet. And if they feel that way - the one thing that they are probably missing that could make them finally feel like they have enough - is God's love. Having the faith and trust and love in God is all the happiness anyone ever really needs. All else will follow.

Some people always have enough, and other people never have enough. The difference isn't in what they possess, but in what they need. There are people with warehouses full of possessions who still don't have enough. And there are people with almost no possessions who have plenty. When you have a strong sense of need, it gnaws at you constantly and pulls you down. That's much different than being confident in having enough and enjoying the peaceful power it brings. Yes, there are desires you have that are not yet fulfilled. But do not give up control of your fulfillment by diminishing those desires into needs. Instead of needing what you desire, treasure the desire itself and the opportunity to fulfill that desire. Allow yourself the powerful confidence that comes from having enough, and from that confidence will come even more. Whatever you have now is enough for now. Joyfully, thankfully, peacefully accept the wholeness and completeness of your present abundance. Ralph Marston

Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all,

Vatican Splendor Trip

Here is a message from Uncle Dave on a trip he has planned:

Hello all,
I have a bus trip planned to see the Vatican Splendors exhibit in Pittsburgh.

December 1, 2010 departs 10:00 am , overnight, and return December 2, 2010

Only about a 5 hr bus ride.

Please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested.

Also have a Canadian Pilgrimage scheduled for May 16, 2011

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I hope everyone has a great Tuesday - enjoy the warmest day of the week :)
Miss and love you dad.

Much love to all

And so I cried....

 Excited to be at the wedding on Saturday night. Just to have a night out without the kids it has been so long and we had so much fun. I did cry though - I know. Lynn danced with her father to "Through the Years" by Kenny Rogers and that was the song all three of us girls danced to dad with. It hit me harder than I thought - sorry Aunt Sandy for making you cry too but thank you for comforting me. It was a beautiful wedding and we had a great time and it was wonderful seeing everyone.

Cousins Chloe and Ethan/ Brayden and Logan



But I want the lightsaber!!



The kids got their bag full of candy last night - Logan was cracking me up. He would go up to a house and say Trick or Treat and then he would say his thank yous and he would come and say mom did I use my manners? After about the tenth house he would say now what were those words I was suppose to say so I would tell him and he would say oh yeah - it was just funny. We made it about an hour which first us is a long time. Do all of that dressing up and getting ready and it's over but the kids had fun. We did have a melt down even before we started, because our Buzz Lightyear wanted the Jedi's laser so he had a 2 year old moment, but he got over it quickly when he started getting candy. Next stop - Thanksgiving.



I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday - stay warm, the cold air looks like it is hear to stay :(

Miss and love you dad,

Much love to all!





Buzz running for it