Monday, March 31, 2008

Are you kidding me?

Bury Me Please.



Here is a video of Carson at swimming last week. You'll notice a few evil eyes I get. Obviously letting me know just how painful it is to be in swimming lessons. Stinker



Saturday, March 29, 2008

10 Years

Today is a hard day for me. I'm not really sure how to start this post so here it goes. You see today, Saturday March 29th, marks 10 years since my sister has passed away. I’m not sure why but I feel the need to write about her, must be a form of therapy I need. 10 years….how did that happen? I remember the day she passed away. I remember coming home from working at the grocery story, I came downstairs where my parents were and I knew right away something was wrong. I spent the next week and months in a state of fog. I remember searching for answers on how to make all the pain go away, how to not feel sad and sometimes how to bring her back.

In the 10 years since she has passed the pain has not gone away, its subsided greatly, but its still there. I think of her every single day. Most days I am sad that she was never at my wedding, at least in body. She never got to meet my husband who she would have loved. They would have disagreed on almost everything and Trevor would have made it his mission to convert her to his ways ;-) but I know they would have been great friends. Mostly, I’m sad that she will never meet my children. She will never hear their sweet voices call her Aunt Cari and that breaks my heart. I only hope I can tell them great stories about their Aunt, about what an amazing person she was and all the fun memories I have of her.


Like the time she took me out driving before I had my permit. (Hmm, I’m not sure my parents know this story.) She took me out in her Honda Accord to a dirt road to try and “teach” me how to drive a stick shift. I remember laughing more then learning and its one of my favorite memories of her.

I remember being able to spend the night in her dorm room when I was just 14. I thought staying in that dorm room was one of the coolest things I could ever do.


I remember countless times being drug out of her room, usually by my feet, while desperately trying to grab on to something with my hands to keep me in her room. I never won and we were usually reprimanded by one of our parents yelling form upstairs for us to BE QUIET. Those nights when our parents had gone to bed were spent doing each other’s hair, watching girl movies and talking about cute guys like Kirk Cameron or any of the New Kids on the Block. They were great nights and they have left me with great memories.


I remember her trying to convince my parents to let her take me to a New Kids on the Block concert in Minneapolis. They of course said no but they did order it for us on Pay-Per-View. It was almost as good as being there. (That's Donnie Whalberg in the picture...we were die-hard fans)



In the 10 years since she has passed I have been able to help out 2 friends caught in the same sad place in life. I had lots of people reach out a lending hand when she passed and being able to do that in return has been great therapy. To be able to tell people that it does get better, that the pain does lessen and that life does go on is so beneficial to me. One of the hardest things to deal with as time goes on is remembering what life was like with her around. Sometimes I get scared that I won’t remember her voice or what its like to have her in the same room. Maybe that’s why I needed to write this, to bring back more of those memories.



So today I remember you Cari and I thank GOD for the time we had together on this Earth. I pray that you have found peace in heaven and that someday we will meet again. I also pray that I may keep our memories close to my heart and never ever forget them. May God Bless you Always. I love you so much and I miss you every single day.


A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life. ~Isadora James

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Snow and Jelly Beans

Here are a few pictures from our Easter weekend.








Checking out the loot.
Someone preferred the jelly beans.


Still filling his mouth with jelly beans.
And yes, the shirt did come clean.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easter Blessings

Happy Easter!



Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
John 11:25-26

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Easter Eggs

Carson's fever went up last night before bed. It was at a wonderful 103.4. He didn't sleep the greatest and somewhere around 5 he was in bed with us. Which is always a fun experience. He's better today. Before nap it was at 100 even so thats an improvement. I on the other hand have a sinus infection. It feels like the whole left side of my face is going to explode. Hopefully these horse pills, I mean antibiotics, the doctor gave me will make me feel better soon. We are leaving for the weekend in the morning and I still have 3 loads of laundry to do and all our packing. Wonderful.

We went to an Easter Party today and the kids had a blast hunting for eggs. And they both ate a nutritious lunch of Doritos and jelly beans.

Is that better then the pickle diet?

Hey, you try and get them to eat surrounded by 20 other children on the floor. It ain't happening!

Yesterday we dyed our eggs. I'm embarrassed to admit that I had to call my mom and ask her how to boil my eggs. It's not something I do very often, actually probably once a year! But I felt a little better today when I was talking to my friend Andrea and she had to look it up on Google.

What would we do without our friend Google or our moms?

Guess we wouldn't be dying eggs!

Luckily grandma gave me some good instructions and everything was right with the world.



Declan was sporting some of his better bed head yesterday.



And a fun prayer I found yesterday called...

The Jelly Bean Prayer
Little jelly beans
Tell a story true.
A tale of our Father's love
That's just for me and you.
GREEN is for the new spring grass.
YELLOW is for the sun above.
ORANGE is for the soft earth where
People sat hearing of His love.
PURPLE'S for the robe he wore,
RED is for that precious wine.
BLACK is for the sins He washed
From your soul and mine.
BLUE is for the sadness of
His friends and family,
and WHITE is for the glory of the Day
He rose for you and me.
Now that you've heard the story
You know what each color means.
The story of our Father's love
As told by jelly beans.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Say What

Carson went to take a nap this afternoon with a 102 temperature. I hope its nothing and the nap takes care of it.

Meanwhile, here are few funny Carson moments from the past few days.

Carson has been sporting a runny nose for a few days. Well the other day while I was at work he was throwing a fit and crying. He came over to Trevor and said,

"Daddy my nose is coming out of my eyes."

The other day I went to get him out of his seat in the car and he was resting his head on his hands so I asked if he was tired. His response,

"No, I just thinkin."

The other night (while I was at work) Carson and Daddy were watching hockey. Carson wanted Trevor to play hockey with him. Well Trevor was so zoned out on the tv he didn't notice (or hear) his son trying to get his attention. Trevor was standing behind our ottoman so Carson climbed up on the ottoman with his hockey stick in hand and starting poking Trevor with it until he noticed him. Which knowing my husband probably took a few pokes. Sad part is Carson zones out in front of the tv just like his daddy!

Monday, March 17, 2008

We Want Spring!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


This morning we woke up to this......

And while its pretty and all, we are so sick of this %#*@!%&^*&^#$% snow it's not even funny. Well, its probably mostly me because my husband is happier then a clam with this crap. And the best part is we are supposed to get ANOTHER 4 to 6 inches tonight. Just bury me and bring me back when its warm.

Carson has been a little stinker lately about looking at the camera. He runs as soon as I pull it out. Or he wants to look at himself on the back of the camera. So, I've been trying to get creative in my picture taking. In the first picture I bribed them both with jelly beans. And as you can see.....it worked. Guess I should stock up on some jelly beans.

If you wrap them up in a towel as tight as possible then they can't escape. No guarantee that they will look at the camera but at least they are both in the picture.

Yesterday before this snow crap arrived we took a walk through the park and over to a bridge that is in our backyard. It was a pretty neat bridge and Carson was enthralled with it. Plus we got to try out our new monster rain boots. As you'll notice I stayed behind to get the pictures so they couldn't see me.








Brace yourself. We actually got some things done around the house this weekend. Check out our progress.



Monday, March 10, 2008

Carson

Carson has said some pretty cute things lately. Here are a few of the good ones.

Last week when we were in Florida we used Mrs. GPS to guide us a few places. Every time she would say, "In one-quarter mile, turn right." Carson would yell from the back...

"I don't wanna turn wight I wanna go weft."

Or

"I don't wanna turn weft I wanna go wight."


Carson has been into reenacting scenes from the movie Cars. I shouldn't even use the word scenes because really, its just one. And we've repeated it no less then 400 times in the last week. Ugh! So last week I was lying on the floor playing Cars with him. I was half into it because I was pondering what I could say to get him to stop playing this. All of a sudden he leaned down close to my face and said...

"Mama, are you wistening to me?"

Yes, Yes of course I am son.


Then last night when he was trying to get Daddy to play the SAME scene. He said to daddy.

"Come on daddy just for a few minutes."

(Because we've been telling him we would play it for a few minutes every time he asks)


Today we went on a tour of the local pet store. Carson was thrilled to see the fish, dogs, birds and hamsters. When we were driving away he said from the backseat...

"Mama, that was fun, we come again so I can show daddy all da animals."




I have a few pictures from the weekend but I'm sick. And you can ask my husband, I'm a baby when I am even slightly sick. So I am headed up to rest for the remainder of this naptime. Hopefully whatever this is just goes away soon. I'll post the pictures tomorrow.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Look Who's Talking

You'll have to excuse the talking with your mouth full portion of this video. We'll work on that one. When he cooperates in answering questions you have to act fast and grab the camera! Here is just a small sample of the words Declan has picked up just in the last few weeks.





We miss Florida! It doesn't help that the "high" tonight is supposed to be 12 below or something ridiculous like that. When we got home on Monday night Carson didn't want to wear his pants or long sleeves. So he stood in the parking lot wearing shorts, Crocs and his winter coat while daddy put the seats in. When he finally climbed in the car he was so excited to see his hat and mittens. He shouted, "Look mama my hat!" as he quickly tried to shove it on his head. Like Father, Like Son I guess.

I also celebrated my birthday earlier this week. And with that I have decided to venture into reading the Bible in a year. Hopefully, with some prayer and patience, I can finish on my birthday next year. So far so good. I hope this spiritual journey brings me to a deeper level of faith and makes me a better wife, mother, daughter and friend. Please keep me in your prayers.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Goodbye Sunshine

Today was our last full day in Florida. It was gorgeous. We went to church, blew some bubbles, fed the ducks and went to a Greek Festival where we chowed down on some yummy gyros and Greek salads. The boys are soaking in the tub trying to get all their dirt off and there was lots today!

Tomorrow we leave early in the morning to drive up to Orlando for our flight. So it's going to be a long day for us. Hopefully they will both be ready for a nap when we get on the plane. Luckily, its a direct flight so no getting on and off planes. Tuesday we return to normalcy. That should be interesting. The boys have eaten pretzels, popcorn, pickles and pudding for almost every meal. Guess they liked things that started with the letter P. It should be an interesting week of getting back into routine.

We've had a blast down here and enjoyed some fabulous weather. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for all the fun. Here are some pictures from our last day.

Relaxing after a long day in the sun.

Watching the ducks before church.


Carson loved to wash all the sand off our shoes and toys.

Helping brother feed the ducks.




Catching Bubbles


Saturday, March 1, 2008

Twins Fans and Beach Bums

Last night we made it to the Twins home opener against the Red Sox. They lost BUT it was grapefruit night so we walked away with 6 free grapefruits. I told Carson he could have whatever he wanted for dinner and he chose popcorn and peanuts. I think he had fun except he kept saying it was a basketball game then a hockey game so we have to work on the baseball part.

Last night as I was trying to get him to go to bed at 11pm! I whispered, "I love you little man."

Carson replied...

"I love you little momma."


I think it's official.....you can call us Beach Bums now.





Emptying the ocean with grandma.


I found a starfish in the water too. It was alive so we snapped a quick picture before I threw it back. (It's a $500 fine if we take it!). Another lady there found a huge seashell that was alive and she brought it over for the boys to see before she took it back. They thought that was pretty neat.

Declan is going to be my bug boy. He was trying to chase and pick up a huge grasshopper. Carson won't touch them with a ten foot pull but Declan loves them. Someday he'll be bringing them home to me. Lovely.