In Loving Memory of Rose

Death is something that I have had to deal with a lot in my family. As a child I had my grandfather on my father's side pass when I was very young. Then my grandmother on my mom's side. There were numerous great aunts and uncles that have passed. In more recent years, I have lost a cousin that I was very close too who died in his sleep. An uncle that died of brain cancer, an aunt that died of a heart attack and an uncle who died that had serious heart problems and very weak lungs. It's never something that is easy to deal with, but there is a great peace in knowing that your loved one has gone on to be with the Lord.

Last Wednesday, we lost my husband's grandmother. She had been in bad shape for a while and we knew it was just a matter of time. She was a wonderful woman who loved her grandsons and great grandsons more than we will know. As a young girl in middle school and high school, I remember Grandma Rose being at Jon and Justin's football games. I know this because my brother played football with them. She would do and did do whatever those boys wanted.

After Jon and I had the boys, they were the light of her life. She was in a nursing home at that point due to a stroke that paralyzed her left side. That didn't stop her from holding them or getting onto them when they got a little too wound up while we were visiting. She always was a feisty little thing. She had pictures of the kids all over the walls in her room and when we went to visit the nurses knew who they were and all about them.

I am saddened at the thought that she will not be around to meet the newest member of the family who is due in May. I know that she would be happy to finally have a little girl in the family although she used to say that she wouldn't know what to do with a girl.

Trying to explain death to a two and three year old can be a little tricky. I think they do pretty well understanding it for their age. I told them that she was in heaven with Jesus and that she doesn't have to lay in a bed anymore. I explained that she has a new body and can walk and run and do whatever she wants without being in pain. They were still confused that we didn't actually "see" Great Brum Brum Rosie while we were in Pittsburgh, but once you would explain that she was with Jesus they would talk about her being able to walk and run. They would even randomly tell people that she was with Jesus and could walk now. They will understand more when they get older, but I think that's good enough for now.

I am so glad that the boys had a chance to know their great grandmother and hope that they are old enough to keep some memories of her as they get older.

Gammy, we miss you, but know that you are in a much better place. We'll see you when the Father calls us home.

Busy Weekend

I am so excited about this weekend! It's Mindy's baby shower and I hope she gets all the good stuff that they need for girlfriend to come into this world. I can't believe she is due to come into this world in 6 weeks! I pray that they go fast, but I know they never do. This will be the longest six weeks of Mindy's life. I am so excited to meet this little girl and my heart flutters everything I think about having a niece. I'm going to have a little person to love and spoil the way Mindy and Justin love and spoil my boys.

There are lots of people coming in for the shower so it should be a fun weekend. Uncle Mike and Aunt Joyce are coming in from GA along with Aunt Nancy, Aunt Jane and Grandma Audrey from Pittsburgh. Plus, Mindy's girlfriends from Philly will be in and I haven't seen them since before my kids were born. I seriously think it has been since Mindy's wedding. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone.

Pictures will be posted sometime next week!

Messy, Bad Boys!

I think that Spring Fever has set it at our house. The kids have been out of control this week and I don't know what is going on. Sheer boredom is the only thing I can figure to explain it.

Monday was an absolute nightmare for me. It all started when I was on the computer and the kids were out at the table eating goldfish for a snack. Next thing I know I hear the sound of goldfish pouring on the floor. Most mom's know this sound. I go running out and not only had they dumped two bags out, but they were walking through it to make sure that it made a TOTAL mess!

I clean that up, put them in time out and go back to the computer and three minutes later here comes Kannon. He's trying to tell on Magnum for doing something so I walk out and find an even bigger mess! The climbed up on the counter and stood on it to get into my cupcake/cake decorations. There was an entire bottle of colored sugar dumped all over the couch and rug and magnum was eating a tube of piping gel. Now I am fuming mad because they were supposed to be in timeout in the first place and I have an even bigger mess to clean up.

The day progresses with out much mess and Jon gets home from work early. He takes the dish soap outside to wash the loader and when he brought it back in, he left it on the counter. I walk out of my bedroom, into the kitchen to find the kids pouring the dish detergent all over the kitchen floor. That's right....that is exactly what they should be doing....cleaning after making all those messes.....right? It was at least half of a bottle and that stuff doesn't like to go away. I can't even tell you how many times I have tried to wipe it all up.

So, that was Monday. Yesterday was Thursday and we were at it again. First they dumped Zayda's dog food all over the kitchen. It was probably a good two cups of dog food. But after that they decided to splash her water all over so part of the dog food that was on the floor was soaking wet too. Fun! I get that cleaned up and Kannon brings his lip gloss into me (that's right, I said lip gloss) and is crying because Magnum "used too much." I go out to see what is going on and Magnum has wiped lip gloss all over the love seat. Sticky, greasy lip gloss. After 4 attempts to clean that up, I run back to the boys room to get them ready to meet Caroline and Heather at the library only to find that they have pulled ALL of Kannon's clothes out of the drawers and threw them on the floor!

This is how my week has been. I don't know why I don't have time to get on here and write. I sure hope today isn't like the rest. I need a day of rest!

Just an update...

I haven't been on here in a long time and just need to recap our busy lives a little bit. We have had friends over and gone to parties and it's been fun, but a whirl-wind.

The kids have been sick with colds for the last two or three weeks now and that is never fun. It got worse last week when Kannon came down with Strep throat for the first time. He didn't much like getting his throat swabbed so they could test it, but after some bribing with a lolly pop he opened his mouth.

Both the boys are doing great going into their Sunday School classes at church. It's not even an issue anymore, which is an answer to prayer. Thank all of you who have been praying about this. They just walk right in before I can even get their stickers on their backs. I love it!

Last weekend we went over our neighbor's house for a kind of pot lock dinner party thing. We went to school with them, which is so random that they became our neighbors because we live out in the middle of nowhere. It was so strange because there were all these people from high school there. Of course they were all younger than me and I had a terrible time trying to remember people. Most of them know my brother. All of them have kids and they are all girls, but our boys don't mind. Actually, they are used to it because we don't really have any friends that have boys. The kids played great together and us adults had fun too. It's fun to catch up with people like that. I guess that's why I'm addicted to Facebook.

Anyway, that's been our lives the last few weeks. Didn't want to loose track and forget what has been going on.