Wednesday, April 28, 2010

GATOR of the month ~ Sadie

We are the proud parents of yet another GATOR of the month!!!

Today we had the privledge of celebrating Sadie as she was awarded a GOOD CITIZEN certificate. Afterwards we enjoyed a private "photo opp" and then some world famous cookies and some SWEET punch. YUMMY!



So proud of my Gators and all their hard work!







Monday, April 26, 2010

Ummm Hmmm Stevie B's

Ethan and Madison's teacher was SO kind and scheduled a field trip to MY favorite place and of course she let me chaperon it...


Ethan adding his personal touch
to an already outstanding pizza
a little healthy sibling rivalry

who's dough is better?

Madison and a few BFF's

Of course the photo opp wouldn't complete without a shot of Madison with her hands on her hips :)

Oh it was a happy day indeed :)

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Father~Daughter Dance

How precious are these girls?

all dressed up...

and ready for their first dance....

with the luckiest (and happiest) man on earth?

Thank you Allapattah Flats and your amazing PBS team for putting this Father/Daughter Dinner Dance together. My daughters and their daddy had the BEST time EVER!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Sleeping Beauty


It's

A


VERY

TOUGH

LIFE

WHEN

You

ARE

Sleeping Beauty!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Sweet Reunions

Sadie's VERY BEST FRIEND in all the world is Miss Lola Dunlap. These girls have been friends since diapers and they are INSEPARABLE. Well, that is, until one of their mamma's gets a crazy idea to go away on a vacation or something....(usually that's me!) BUT, this time it was Lola who left for a week and man on man was it rough around here! The girls called each daily ~sometimes twice~ sometimes three times. Needless to say they couldn't wait to see each other upon Lola's sweet return.

Sadie and Lola for real BFF's

Madison and Tatiana (Lola's sister)


April (Lola's mom) and I

Saturday, April 10, 2010

My Grammy

My Grammy is one one the most tender, loving and gentle people I know. I just cherish her!!!

As a kid I remember her coming to visit us and at night she would lay with me and tell me the most beautiful stories about the Bible. Her descriptions of Heaven and Jesus were so vivid that the Bible came alive whenever she would speak of it.

As a teen I remember her coming to visit and she had eyes EVERYWHERE. Anything and Everything I did she saw and TOLD. She wasn't one of those keep quiet and brush it under the rug kind of Grandmas. Oh no, she called you out on it and told the people who loved you! (Today, I am most thankful of that!)

As an adult I remember her coming to FL to live with my parents. As she ailed in her health they took care of her. Managing her doctors appointments, medicines, meals and personal care.

Sadly my Grammy suffers from a mental health issue that now requires her to have 24 hour care.

The kids and I would make a point to visit her on a weekly basis and we SO enjoyed those visits....until May of last year. :(

When my Grammy alters her meds or worse decides not to take them she gets very very cranky and she picks one family member to take it out on. For years I escaped that. I was never ever her target. Until May 2009.

I went in for my normal weekly visit and I did not bring her any joy. Only torment and grief. She thought I was doing awful things to my children (whom she loves dearly!). While I knew it was the (lack of) meds talking it still hurt very badly. I left in tears that my grandma didn't just NOT know me ~ she thought I was a bad person.

For a whole year I could not see my Grammy. My parents could, my sister could, my nieces and nephews and even my kids, but not me...

Until today.

Today for the first time in almost a year I got to visit my Grammy! It was beautiful and wonderful. She was happy and at peace. She enjoyed my company and gave me a big tight hug.

Today I saw MY GRAMMY! And oh, how I have missed her so.

My Dad, My Grammy and My Kiddos

My Dad and his Mom (my Grammy!)

Sadie and Great~Grammy

Pepe and Madison (everyone is all smiles)

My Grammy and My Boy

While my Grammy isn't in this picture you can tell I am THRILLED to be with her.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Fun With Friends

Where do you spend your last day of Spring Break? At the park ~with some of your most favorite people~of course...



Friday, April 2, 2010

New and IMPROVED Zip Line...

As if our daddy wasn't already the BEST Daddy EVER!

He went an improved our zip line so its even faster, scarier and a little more F.U.N.

Yeah, we know, he's REALLY SUPER. :~)

***remember to pause my music (at the bottom of the blog) before hitting play on the videos.