Mom

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to mom today!!!! She has always done so much for all of us and especially in the last two years since dad has been gone, she has been the glue to hold us all together. As she retired this year she embarks on her new journey of life. She deserves the very best of everything. She is always there for us and for the grandkids. She is the greatest mom and the BEST Grandma ever and she has such patience and love for each grandchild. She knows even when she has them all how to make them each feel special and loved.

She will not allow any of us to yell at the kids at her house and if we do she is right behind us picking up that crying child and comforting them either with a simple hug and kiss or a cookie. She says "She is Grandma and she can do it if she wants " LOL

She is strong, she is beautiful and she is there for anyone that needs her. She can't hear worth a lick and it is like talking to a wall but we LOVE her anyway.

I hope you have a GREAT day today - I know you are busy with lunches and dinners, but just by some chance that you do read this today, wanted to say HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY and I am so glad to call you my mom.

We all LOVE YOU! Have a great and beautiful day..............

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Bad Blogger

oh my goodness - I did not realize it has been a week since I have posted a boring story about me or my kids - with it being summer besides work I am just not near a computer that much. I know that is a good thing but also a bad thing in that I haven't been on here for quite a while.

I have been thinking about changing it up a bit anyway but I guess that means I would have to be on here more :) Just been busy with summer and well, the almost end of summer. Doing a lot of swimming and as little yardwork as possible. With as hot as it is, we are kind of in a "can't do too much because of the heat" mode LOL. Jeremy made the comment the other night at mom's how when we were kids mom made us go outside from sunup to sundown - she didn't want to see us in the house and actually back then it worked out better since we grew up with no A/C. I told Jeremy it makes you appreciate the AC now and I don't make my kids go outside like that because then that means I have to go out and watch them :)

Logan is doing great at swimming. He swims with swimmies on of course, but his new thing is swimming the length of the pool on his back. He insisted I take this picture of him so everyone could see that he could do it.

Logan showing everyone he can lay on his back, and Brayden with that look of "Who Cares" :)

Logan at Grandma's Pool

Logan at Toys R Us - We were there for about an hour. He LOVES his bulldozers

Lydia, Logan and Brayden at the Festival. Brayden was making them laugh hysterically

I go back and forth about joining a pool for the summer but it is so nice to be able to go to Steve's mom's pool and to be able to be in a bathing suit and know it is just your husband or your family looking at you. I hate being in a bathing suit - worse thing ever.

Brayden has accomplished swimming under water this year which is a great feat. It is amazing to see how much they have grown since the beginning of summer - now they are little fishies.

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far - sad to say that school starts in less than 4 weeks for most - summer just flew on by just like life does. Do not take a day for granted. Enjoy each day, each moment!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!!!

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Busy but FUN Weekend

it is Tuesday, and the days are seeming to run together. Been busy with just working in the yard and at the house and trying to give the boys a fun Staycation - but I guess I really can not say we are not going anywhere. Our whole family, all five of us with our families and mom are headed down to Cumberland in a few weeks for a small mini trip. It is something mom and dad have always wanted to do so we are going to do it. I just hope we make it all back alive.

Think about it: 5 of us kids, with mom, and 10+1 grandchildren - not enough alcohol :)... You think growing up you didn't get along with your siblings let's see how we do with everyone together. LOL

Actually I think it is going to be a lot of fun. I can not wait and the boys are super excited. Had a great weekend. It was busy but we had a lot of fun. Friday night we had a neighborhood party that lasted way into the night, then Saturday night we took Brayden out to get his bike for his birthday. He was so excited. And then Sunday, Brayden, Logan and I along with Jen and Olivia went to KI Waterpark - I didn't think I would like it but I LOVED it. I haven't been to a water park for years and we had so much FUN. The boys were fantastic and they loved it so much. They can not wait until we go back. It was really a great time and a lot for them to do, especially Logan. It is one of those things where you feel self-conscious walking around in a bathing suit and then you see the other people there and you are like, well heck, I don't look that bad :) LOL.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far. I hope you are able to stay cool with it being outrageously HOT - it is crazy what the weather is. My goodness.

Have a great Tuesday.

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Blink of an Eye

in a blink of an eye and summer is already almost over for the kids. We received a packet yesterday from school already with the school supply list, cafeteria schedule etc. It is hard to believe that they will be back into school in 4 weeks. Where in the heck did the summer go? I believe that once you graduate high school your life goes full speed ahead and before you know it you are planning a 20year high school reunion and you have a third grader :) Time just goes by too quickly.

I just feel like we haven't done too much with the kids this summer. Don't get me wrong, they are having a blast with both Grandmas and spending their days swimming, aggravating each other LOL, and just being kids - like they should be doing. I am excited to take them to the water park this weekend. Brayden said to me last night, mom I am so excited about this weekend, we have something fun every single night to do - I love to hear that. I always worry that the kids will be bored or that I am not giving them great childhood memories.

Speaking of memories, does anyone remember the hot air balloon races that used to happen a long time ago. We were talking about this the other night and I remember as a child one day during the summer not exactly sure when, but being able to see a lot of hot air balloons from our backyard. In fact they would fly right over mom and dad's house and I remember we would always try to look for the next one and then we would pick out our favorite ones. I thought it happened around Labor Day. Steve said he thought they started out up at Thomas More. I loved watching those, it was so much fun. That is on my bucket list of things to do one day - to go in a hot air balloon. How cool would that be!!

Another beautiful morning - what a beautiful sunrise it was with the sky the way it was. It makes you think God for another beautiful day. I hope everyone has a great weekend plan and is able to be with the ones you love. Enjoy it and be grateful for each day :)

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Bad Blogger

ben a bad blogger this week, I know, sorry:(. Just going through a software upgrade at work and have had to put in a lot of hours to get it going. Hopefully that will be over soon.

Aunt Bernie is coming into town for a whole month - YEAH!. Theresa and Gary flew down there today and are driving back with her. So she will be there for Uncle Dave's annual pool party. I will be so happy to see her.

Other than that, not really too much going on. Just a lot of working and trying to stay cool.

I continue to pray for some of my friends who are going through a rough patch. If it wasn't for selfishness, greedy, vanity, hypocritcal, scam artist ways of one person then they would be alright. But it only takes one person to destroy many lives. It will come back to haunt that person, an eye for an eye.

I read this passage today and it just made me think of the whole situation my friends are going through.

Matthew 7:3
Why worry about a speck in your friends eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, "Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye, when you can't see past the log in your own eye" Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friends eye"
 Any whoo - just a venting night. I know my friends will be okay, this will only make them stronger. And that "person and people" that did this to them, they will get what is coming to them, maybe not until they meet up with God, but they will.And you wonder sometimes how people can even sleep at night? Enough - not wasting my time anymore on speaking about it.

 Logan has been sick all week and praying that he feels better soon. Not sure exactly what he has but he does have something. Busy weekend ahead with old neighbors coming into town so big gathering tomorrow night in the Doe, then high school reunion meeting, dinner with the fam and Jen and I are going to be brave enough to go public in bathing suits. The horror of it all :). We are going to take the kids to KI this weekend, so it should be a lot of fun.

I hope everyone has had a great week - Enjoy tonight because next week - 95 all week! Yikes!!!

Miss and love you dad - so much.

Much love to all,

Summer Fun

here are some random pictures from our summer so far. Had a great time at the St.Pius festival this year - had a nice group of us that sat in ride land, glad to say I am not the only one that has to be there - and lucky for us, the Miller Lite Booth was right there :) LOL. I hope everyone is staying cool, this weather is miserable.

Happy Monday Everyone!!!!

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

We are Growing

yep, our family is growing by one more little one. No NOT ME, although I wish I was :).... The crazy kids adding to their little family is Jeremy and Mindy! I know, three kids under the age of 3, they are asking for it but it is God's plan! She is already 5 months along and is due in November. They are extremely excited to add to their family, especially since they are having a boy - Woo Hoo!

Jeremy says they will be done after this, but we will see. We all know how that goes LOL. So I wish them all of the luck in the world and I am excited to meet our new little addition come November.

On sadder news, please keep Karen Timmerding Lunsford (Uncle Wally & Aunt Bernie's daughter) in your prayers. Her husband Rick, passed away yesterday morning of cancer. Tonya is suppose to let me know when the arrangements are so I can let anyone know. He has been battling cancer for the last year and finally lost his battle yesterday morning. We all know how hard that is and what a terrible thing it is to go through. My heart and prayers go out to her and the kids while they struggle through this.

The weekend is here - and it is suppose to be a hot one, well after today. I thought I saw 95 somewhere in the forecast- yuck! I hope everyone has a great weekend and is able to spend time with family and friends.

Happy Friday Everyone!!!

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Hard to Believe

that today marks the day that it has been two years since dad passed away. I remember every detail of this day two years ago. Waking up with my brothers and sisters, talking, crying and laughing. I remember saying the rosary with everyone in the room all the aunts and uncles and all of us. I remember there wasn't a dry eye after saying our prayers because I think we all knew that today was the day. I woke up with that feeling and I remember Aunt Rita and Aunt Joy saying the same thing. That they didn't know what it was but they felt like today was the day - the day that God was taking dad home.

It is funny how certain memories stick with you. Most days I can not remember what I did yesterday, but July 7, 2009 I remember vividly. It was a very sad day but yet a very beautiful day in that we were lucky enough to say goodbye. We were with family and on that day I realized how lucky I am to be part of this family. Family is everything in life you know. We are only here on this earth a short time, and friends may come and go but family is always there for you - no matter what.

They say with time losing someone it gets easier - I am still waiting for that time. I think it gets bearable but you never forget nor should you. Dad was a great man and he is missed by many but I know he looks down on us everyday and he wants us not to worry, not to be sad but to enjoy life and to keep his memory alive. I find comfort today in knowing that he is in a much better place and in knowing that some day I will see him again.

I miss him terribly and my heart aches to see him. But his memory lives on through me, through my brothers and sisters, through the grandkids. He is still all around us and I feel his love and his arms around me all of the time.

Memories - I want the good ones to stay around, but the bad ones can leave anytime :)

I hope everyone has a great Thursday - it is a hot one out there so try to stay cool.

I love and miss you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Can't Believe It

I can't believe that they found her not guilty. Steve and I had been watching bits and pieces of the trial here and there and we had just said last week that she is going to be found not guilty because there is not enough evidence to truly convict her 100%. It is sad, isn't it. People in this world, who do bad things, whether it be murder someone or something else that isn't right, sometimes they do not get the justice that they deserve. The hardest thing to do is to sit back and just let it go. In the end, those people will get their justice, things will turn for them. Sure they may be live their life like nothing has happened, continue to be the party girl or continue to live life like they did nothing wrong, but in the end, they will be judged. In the end, what goes around comes around.

My heart goes out to little Caylee - she has been lost in all of this. She is God's angel now where she is protected and safe.

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And here is what I definitel can not believe. We made it into our volleyball tournament - I know it is a shocker. We use to be so good and have won the tournament a few times, but as we get older, we stink more and more each time. It takes us longer to get up from a dive after a ball, takes a bit more energy to spike those balls but yet we have the same energy to drink our drinks :)

So tonight is the night and we will see how we do. But no matter what we will have fun!!! And that is all that matters.

I hope everyone has a good Wednesday - stay cool!

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Eventful

What an eventful weekend! Whew, almost glad to be back to work to just take a break, I said almost :). We celebrated two birthdays this weekend with Brayden turning 8 and Cary turning 16 on the 3rd. They are birthday buddies, but I am not sure how much Cary likes it - I think he would rather have his own day - and who can blame him :). But we had cake and ice cream for both of them at mom's on Sunday and as you can tell by some of the pictures they did more than just eat the cake LOL

Yesterday we spent all day in Edgewood starting out with the parade and getting soaked, then we took a family nap together and went back up to Steve's mom's house to celebrate Brayden's birthday,down to Steve's sister's house and then up to the firworks - it was a long day and as I was the only one that had to get up this morning, I am pretty tired!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and was able to spend some time with family and friends, it was definitely a hot one especially on Sunday. Doing yardwork was miserable!

Happy Tuesday!!!!

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

What a week!

sorry for not posting most of the week, it just has been a crazy week. Work is converting to a new software program and guess who gets to be in charge of it, woo-hoo. So I have been working a lot of hours, a lot, it stinks but I know it will not last long. And besides it has been a quiet week, nothing too exciting happening.

Didn't sleep much last night probably because of work and this time of the year, this weekend reminds me of dad. Today would have been the day we knew the end was near - it is hard to believe it has almost been two years - WOW.

Big weekend - Brayden's birthday, parties, parades, fireworks, etc.... I hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth - I am sure I will post sometime this weekend, just wanted to let you know, that yes I am still alive, you know in case the big whole two readers were wondering :)

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,