It's been almost a year.......

Wow, time has definitely gotten away from me and I have totally neglected this blog. I swear the older you get, the faster time moves. When the kids were little I never thought they would grow up and just a month ago celebrated the wedding of our second daughter!! Yep the kids are definitely grown up. Antonio, the baby just turned 15......my baby. And my first born, yeah, he will turn 30 in two months. Oy vay, I am getting old:) We had a great end to 2013. Angela and Nehemiah were able to be with us for almost 8 weeks. They were here for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and of course Jen's wedding. I was concerned that it would take Nehemiah a bit to warm up to us, but Angela is doing an amazing job helping him to know who his American family is that he jumped right into my arms and never looked back. I pray for the day they don't have to travel from South Korea to visit and I can see him them more often. We had a blast on Jen's wedding cruise. She was a gorgeous bride and the wedding/reception was everything we could have asked for. The food was AMAZING! The cruise was what we all needed to decompress afterwards. So the two girls are married, now there are just 4 boys left. Everything else is going well. Life in Georgia is good. I am still homeschooling Tony and enjoying that. Each year we give him the option to go to public school, but so far he has chosen homeschool. I can't believe my baby is in his freshman year of high school! sniff, sniff. I will try to update this blog more often now that life has slowed down a little bit.

In case you were wondering..............

And Just Like That..........

I can remember growing up in NJ and living for the summer. Summers meant going to my most favorite spot in the whole wide world--the ocean!!!!! Every year during the winter we would head to Ocean Beach and select the perfect rental home to spend our beloved vacation time in. You always had to make sure the house was big enough to sleep the family/friends that inevitably came to visit. I can remember packing up the car with everything but the kitchen sink. I always got new sand toys and toy cars to play with in the sand. My days consisted of waking, getting ready for the beach, walking to the beach, playing in the ocean, returning home for lunch, returning to the beach, returning home for dinner and finally going to the boardwalk for our nightly entertainment. I should add in that another highlight of being at the beach was the ice cream man that walked around on the beach with a cooler strapped around his neck. Ahhhhh, now that was a treat!! Oh, I can still vividly remember the boardwalk at night and all the rides and treats I would partake in. You haven't had real salt water taffy until you've had it fresh made on the boardwalk. And just like that, those memories will really now only live on in my mind. When I saw this picture of the boardwalk I loved compared with the boardwalk that is there today, I cried. One storm, one tidal surge, one place of memories--gone. Just like that.

It's been awhile..........

Wow, a little thing called life has gotten in the way and I do not know where the time has gone. Summer is coming to a close and it feels like it just started. Our first summer back in the south was hot, hot, hot! Luckily we joined a swim and tennis club which helped us stay cool on those really hot, humid days. The boys enjoyed the diving board and just being able to relax at the pool. I of course LOVED being in the sun, but even this sun worshipping mama had to spend a lot of time in the pool during those really hot days. It was just too hot to lay out on the lounge. We were able to get two trips in to Florida and one trip, sans kids, to Hilton Head/Savannah. In July Jen got engaged. These 4AM start times sure are no fun and I go back and forth asking to move to a different department. On one hand I like getting off at noon, but on the other hand I am ALWAYS exhausted. Overnites was much easier. The problem with the 4AM start time is that you are just in the middle of your REM sleep and you have to get up. I guess time will tell. We have finally been able to turn off the AC. Now mind you, it is still in the 80's, but the humidity has broke and that is a huge help. We also have a whole house attic fan (LOVE) that pulls the air through the house and keeps it cool. Well, that's about all for now. We are alive and well for the most part.........will try to update more often.

Tears

A little boy asked his mother, “Why are you crying?” “Because I’m a woman,” she told him. “I don’t understand,” he said. His Mom just hugged him and said, “And you never will.” Later the little boy asked his father, “Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?” “All women cry for no reason,” was all his dad could say. The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry. Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the phone, he asked, “God, why do women cry so easily?” God said, “When I made the woman she had to be special. I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle enough to give comfort. I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children. I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining. I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly. I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart. I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly. And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed.” “You see my son,” said God, “the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart - the place where love resides.” Author: Unknown

Sad

There is no way to hide it.......I am very sad right now. Losing Martha has been hard......very hard. I don't understand why she had to go so soon. I lost it last night........I cried for two hours straight. I come home from work and immediately look to her room like this is all a bad dream and I will see her waiting for me to go outside. Oh, she could be such a pain in the ass, but what I wouldn't give now to have that pain back again. Martha, I am so, so, sorry you got so sick. The doctor assured us we were making the right decision because you were in a lot of pain. Your daddy was by your side as you drew your last breath. We loved you Martha and wish you were here. Tony is having a tough time without you here, too. I hope Millie and Daisy and Ollie and Clyde and Sheba and Dino are running through the fields with you. I hope you got a chance to meet your sister Lilly, too. You are healed now Martha and free to run. We will never forget our Miss Martha May.

Priceless

I received a phone call yesterday from Jeff. He was calling to tell me that he had signed the two of us up to do a volunteer event today. I asked what we would be doing and he said, "I don't know, it is an Easter event at an elementary school." My first thought was, "I hope it rains." It has been a long, difficult week and the thought of giving my time to benefit somebody else was nothing I was looking to do. When I went to bed it was pouring. When I woke up at 6, it had stopped raining. Still not really feeling like going, I thought of telling him I was going to stay home. I heard him jump into the shower and started viewing this as an opportunity to have some one on one time with my son. We pulled up to the school and I was amazed. The event was a city wide park and recreation event designed for children up to age 7. Lots of peope everywhere and even cops directing traffic. We eventually found where we needed to be and got our assingnment. I was so thankful when we were NOT assigned to do face painting. Our assignment was the 6-7 year old egg hunt. We reported to our field and helped lay down about 2000 eggs. We were soon alone in the field and left to "guard" it until the race began. We answered many questions during that time. About 30 minutes before the race started a mom approached me and asked if she would be allowed on the field with her autistic son. My first reaction, having autistic children myself was to say yes, but then I remembered the director specifically telling us "NO PARENTS". I explained to the mom that I totally understood where she was coming from, but I would have to ask. She told me she would be back in 10 minutes. I sent Jeff to ask the director and the answer was "of course she can!" Jeff came back with a smile on his face and I didn't even have to ask what the answer was. The mom returned and I gave her two thumbs up. The smile on her face was priceless. The hunt began and I quickly scanned the field for that mom and son. I located them and the smiles on their faces were once again priceless. After only 5 minutes all 2000 eggs had been picked up. Our next assignment was to help give out prizes at the prize booth. I was thrilled to see my autistic buddy had found an egg that earned him a prize. While they were walking away, the mom turned to me and and now she gave me two thumbs up. I know the smile on my face as well as the smile on my heart was priceless. On our way home I thanked Jeff for signing me up. I need to get out and do more of this. I probably will never see that mom and son again, but the site of them and their smiles will be etched in my mind and heart forever.