Ho Hum

This is kind of a ho hum kind of day here. It is about 20 degrees outside and this is the third day of staying home. Today is the first day of attempting potty training. As you can see in the below pic of Madison, she is geared up in her ballett shoes, sun hat, and potty traing panties....this morning she went into our bedroom and said "Daddy, you wear panties too??"We have yet to use the potty and it is 9:00 am here.....I bought a big bag of M&M's for encouragement......but mostly I have been chowing down on them......OH OH I spoke to soon....she just went on the potty!!YEAH!! 4 m&m's for Madison, 4 for Parker for the encouragement and 4 for mommy!!

Below is a pic of Parker praying.....he loves to eat. This morning he promptly climbed up in his chair, folded his hands and said "Dear Jesus" then screamed EAT EAT!! He is such a funny guy.

Stuffed To The Brim

Well, as usual, I managed to stuff myself to the brim on Thanksgiving. There was all sorts of yummy dishes from my family's to Matthew's. We really had a great day and the wildflowers held up great on one 30 minute nap in the car driving from one party to the next. They were happy and had a great time playing with my cousins at my aunts. We were able to spend time with lots of family and played some fun games in the evening at my aunts. I hit Kohl's on black Friday with sister, sister-in-law and mother-in-law and it was pretty crazy. But found some great deals and it was fun to be in the crowds. All in all, it has been enjoyable holiday weekend, complete with several leftover turkey sandwiches! Here are some pics from the day:

Two Empy Seats

This year I anticipate the holidays with very mixed emotions. I am so excited to share the holidays with my wildflowers. It is so very fun to experience Thanksgiving and Christmas thru their eyes. Just this morning we woke up to snow and Madison was so in awe that the snow was on top of our house. Tomorrow we will head out to my in-laws for lunch and then my aunt's house later in the afternoon, but there will be two empty seats at our Thanksging this year.
This last year has been a challenging one for my family as well as my husbands. We both lost the matriarchs of our families. My grandma Irene, who is my mom's mother, past away in her sleep 2 days before Christmas last year. Not a day goes by that I don't think of her and miss her. She would always call to see how my kids were doing and to find out when the next time would be that I would bring them down. We tried to at least go down there once a week. The day before she died we were down there at my moms and I called and asked her if she wanted to come to lunch with us, but unfortunately she had already eaten. As I loaded my fussy children in the van about to leave my moms house that evening, I thought I should just run in to Grandma's and say Hi real quick, but then the kids were cranky and tired and I didn't want to deal with it, so I headed home. I knew I would see her in two days for Christmas. This will haunt me the rest of my life. The next morning my mother in law came to watch my kids so that I could run to the mall because I still hadn't gotten my Grandma's Christmas present. I was about 2 minutes from my house when Matthew called and said that my mom had found my Grandma in her bed where she past away in her sleep. At that point my world came crashing down and it just hasn't been the same since. She was what you would picture as a grandma.....always loving, always kind, always wanting a visit, always willing to pray for you, just always everything you needed. She was just so wonderful. She was the glue that held our family together, and this past year has been such a challenge for all of us to live life without her in it.
Below is a picture of my "Grandma Reen" taken last Thanksgiving at her house where our dinner was. I would have never thought that a month from them she would be gone.


My husbands family has also suffered a great and unfortunately very tragic loss this last summer. His Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Sydney were driving into town to attend a grandson's ball game, when a women driving south bound swerved into their lane and collided head on with them. The impact was mostly on the passenger side where Sydney was sitting and she was instantly taken from us. His Uncle Jimmy was flown flight for life to the hospital were he was able to recover physically, but after being married for 46 years, will probably never recover emotionally. They were the kind of couple that did everything together. They loved to golf and take trips, being recently retired. They raised a wonderful family together. Matthew grew up on the ranch with them and she was his second mother. This has been a tremendous loss in my husbands family and we are almost still unable to fathom that this has happened. She was such a wonderful woman. You just wonder God's reasoning when things like this happen.

Below is a picture of Sydney taken in 2006 at Matthew's sisters wedding:

So, you see, I look forward to this season with great anticipation and great heartache at the same time. It's an odd combo to have in my heart and sometimes it's hard to mix the two. It has taught me that you never know what is going to happen to your loved ones and to appreciate them and don't ever hesitate to say "I love you" at any given time. T0 all my friends and family that read this, I appreciate you and am so thankful to have you in my life. I love you.

Dancing With The Stars

The wild flowers love to watch Dancing With The Stars. Last night was no exception. Madison wanted to put on her ballet dress so that she could dance and Parker wasn't happy until he had a dress on also! So, I put him in Madison's Bronco cheer leading dress and off they went. Bruno and Mary Ann would have scored them highly I am sure!! We had lots of fun watching them!!

The Mom Song

We seen Anita Renfroe at Women of Faith this fall and she was so great....you have to check her out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM

Room Make-Over for My Wild Flowers

Parker recently moved from our bedroom into Madison's room. To celebrate this move, we made over their room. I had this grand scheme in my mind of how it would look, and it pretty much came out the way I had planned. They share a room because our basement is not currently finished and there are only two bedrooms upstairs in our 1911 home. So, I split the room in two and Parker side got the blue and brown treatment and Madison's side got the pink and brown treatment.......take a look and tell me what you think....

Here is Madison's side:

Parker's side:

Reconnecting

Recently I have reconnected with my dear friend Bonnie after about 7 years or so.


I have known Bonnie for probably about 15 or 20 years.......just saying that I have had a friend that long makes feel REALLY OLD!! Anywho, we first met going to Quaker Ridge Camp together when we were 10 or so and then in our later years, we attended Barclay College together. We have had lots of fun times together and it is so great to have a friend that you can just pick right up where you left off with. Life just has a way of separating people, and when you get to reconnect, it is such a blessing.



She has 3 boys ages 4, 3 and 2 months.....needless to say she totally has her hands full. It is so great because our kids are similar in age and they can play together fairly well while we are able to catch up. The wildflowers had a great time playing on the tramp and in the sand. It was a beautiful day here today, in the 70's.......LOVE THAT!! I am looking forward to many more playdates in the near future....

Having fun on the tramp....

This wildflower had all the fun he could handle.....not even a chocolate chip cookie could keep him awake!

Tricks and Treats

We had a lot of fun celebrating Tricks and Treats day! My parents and sister and my husbands brother and parents came for a chili dinner, complete with salad, cornbread and of course apple pie.....which of course I did not make! Compliments to my mother for the delish pie! We hadn't had time to carve our pumpkin so when Papo Larry came, I gave him the job....it came out pretty cute.

Parker was a cute little aligator and Madison was a darling Lion, which she insisted was a kitty....so I went along with her on that. You know you can't really argue with a 2 year old and ever come out the winner. The kids, myself and both Grammy's went up and down our block trick or treating and made a pretty good killing in the candy department.

I think both Grammys had a fun time taking the kids around, and I know I did. You always dream about sharing all of the fun little things that you experienced when you were a child with your children, and when you get to it is really special. Madison really had a fun time especially.