'09 in a BIG nutshell

Thanks LIFE IN THE CARPOOL LANE... now I am doing a survey! :)

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?

I backed off from negativity. It worked, and with a few certain people in my life, it worked better than I could have imagined.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

My resolution was to stay in contact with more people and get on the phone more often. Facebook allowed me to stay in contact, but the phone thing is still my nemisis.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Tory gave birth to Sophia on April 7th. 2010 is going to be a huge year for babies... I can't wait!

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, thank goodness.

5. What countries/places did you visit?

Many mini-CA trips, Boston, NYC, and Rhode Island too.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

Patience.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

April 7th (Sophia's birth), October 10th (Meara's wedding), and December 15th (reason is not for blogging).

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Giving my children fun memories and experiences.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not sticking with the gym.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Kevin had two ambulance rides, one from injury and one from illness, he had a hospitalization too. The medical field is a much needed thing in this house, let's put it that way.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Plane and train tickets.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

I agree, I pass on this question.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Nobody really, well that's a lie. Hey, sometimes things are not bloggy worthy.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Preschool, and everyday bills.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Being a godmother to two adorable baby girls, Meara's wedding, and hearing that I will be having two new niece/nephews in 2010.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?

I GOT A FEELING, by Black Eyed Peas.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? Happier, or more relieved.

b) thinner or fatter? Fatter, although not by much.

c) richer or poorer? Well, Jason earns a little more each year, but probably poorer in 2009.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Exercising and traveling.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Worrying. Impatience. (me too. Glad I'm not the only one.)

20. How did you spend Christmas?

At home with the family, and in-laws too.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?

I discover new ways to love those I already love.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

OPRAH, and lately, MODERN FAMILY too.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

not at all. 2009 was a good year in the attitude adjustment department.

24. What was the best book you read?

"Green Eggs and Ham"... haaaaa, I dunno.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I can't believe I'm saying this, Taylor Swift. Juliana loves her, and I have to admit, that girl has talent.

26. What did you want and get?

CHANGE.

27. What did you want and not get?

Our own house and a new car. I need a new car, not a new house, but I'd like to own one again.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. Saw it On-Demand. Totally a good movie.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Woke up to flowers, Juliana got her ears pierced, and went out to dinner. FUN DAY! I turned 30 something.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Winning the lottery.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?

FAB-U-LOUS... if you count Target and Kohls as fabulous.

32. What kept you sane?

I'll let you know when I become sane. Haaa, kidding. I'd have to say, my friends kept me sane, a few more nights out with Jason, facebook, snapping pictures, and the few times I went to the gym too.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Nobody comes to mind.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

gay marriage, health care, and stupidity... oh wait, that's just politics.

35. Who did you miss?

Grandma. The kids talk about her like they actually knew her. I just wish she could hug them for one moment.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Tracey. We met last year, but she made a big difference for me this year.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.

My brain is fried at the moment.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

"Tonights gonna be a good good night!"

Ridin' the waves

We made it to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco yesterday. We probably could have gone to the park up the street and had just as much fun, but hey, it was a change of scenery. After about an hour, it began to rain, so we took off, and drove through the Presidio and to a Golden Gate viewing point. It was really pretty and a view I've never seen. There were surfers under the bridge too ridin' the waves. What a sight! Enjoy the photos.

A lovely lunch (or two)

I feel a little bit like I have overdone this story via e-mail and facebook, but I still want to write a bit on here about yesterday morning. Here is the VERY short version...

In the picture above is an elderly homeless man that was in the middle of the road near a freeway entrance. Juliana has always wanted to make them feel better, so yesterday we did just that. We made two meals for two people, and the man pictured above was one of the recipients. He quickly left his post in the middle of the road to go eat his yummy meal made by an 8 year old girl with a huge heart (actually I made it, but it was her idea.) As we were leaving, the other man was sharing his meal with a homeless woman on a cement island in the middle of a busy road. They were chatting, and I may assume, they were chatting about their lovely lunch. Who knows.

I am proud of Juliana. She feels really good about what she did yesterday. Now she is more jazzed about it, and unfortunately (or fortunately) thinks that she can feed the world and probably thinks she can achieve world peace too. I'll let you know when that happens! :)

By the way, if you can, check out the gift bag the man in the photo is holding. It is a light blue bag with a snowman, and red pom-poms on it. It made me giggle to see him carrying it with such pride.

Our Most Fascinating People of 2009

People in 2009 that made it so special...

My siblings, minus my brother Patrick and sister-in-law Laura. Pictured, Jason, me, Shannon, Kyle, Brandon, Stephanie, and Tegan.

Auntie Carol! Gotta love Auntie Carol... if you don't, you have something seriously wrong with you.

My Mom, of course! Always there, always loving, always a good time!

Kerri... how did I ever live this life without such a fantastic friend! xoxo

Jaime. Someone that has laughed with me, cried, and literally stuck together through thick and thin (excuse the pun Jaime). :) LOVE YOU!

Tory. Words are almost impossible to explain our friendship. I am so honored to be Anna and Sophia's Godmother, and Tory as Juliana's Godmother.

Shannon (and Sadie too). Her hugs and voice are enough to make anything better. Miss you Shannon!

The new bride, Meara. Meara is my "oldest" friend. I've known her since the day she was born. She knows nearly everything there is to know about me, her mom knows everything there is to know about my mom, and I am sure once she has adorable babies, our children will know everything there is to know about each other too. xo

Tracey. She has gotten me through a lot this year. Going over to her house for a girl session, listening, chatting, eating, and face-to-face girl time is the best medicine a girl can have. Thanks Tracey!

And not to forget Nana (Grampy and Uncle Kyle too). They make us laugh, keep us busy, and even allow for Jason and I to have some couple time. THANKS!

Random moments

Yesterday may have been crappy, but it is bugging me to leave the entry from yesterday up. So, I still have it on here to read, but it isn't at the top anymore. I have decided to put random 2009 moments as my newest entry. Here ya go......

THANK THE LORD

Doing better today (12/27), although sitting puts a strain on my neck. Odd, but true. I am going to assume that this will go away in a couple days, so I don't want to ruin our last days of 2009. I think we are going to try our outing again.

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My goodness, today has been an eye opening and life changing day. I will tell you about it as much as I can, but trust me, living it is a totally different experience. I'll try my best to tell about our afternoon.

This morning began quiet, like the day after Christmas should be. Jason slept in until 10am, I may have been up at 7am as usual, but I climbed back into my blankets at 9:30am with the kids in bed too. Jason and I laughed as the kids tried to snuggle on the bed too.

About noon, we decided that we wanted to go somewhere, but didn't know where. I put on my facebook status something like, "oh where, oh where do we go today?" Something along those lines. We got in the car about 1:30pm and were headed to Golden Gate Park for a bit of SF fresh air and fun.

As we were headed out of town close to getting on the freeway, a car nearly hit us, so Jason beeped the horn. He wasn't obnoxious, he just tapped it, and then the car beeped back at us. No big deal, right? We just chuckled a little bit, and then got on the freeway. Just as we got on the freeway, the car honked again. I realized that the car was full of teenagers, so I kind of dismissed it. Within seconds, Jason gets into another lane to get away from these people mostly to make it less fun to annoy us on the road. Then, the terrifying part happened.

The car enters the fast lane, slows down considerably to get next to us, and then jerks their car into our lane to shove us into the semi truck in the next lane. It was the most blatant act of violence and road rage that I have ever seen, much less experienced. Jason handled the car with grace, although I have noooooo idea how. Within seconds, the car that was behind them, motions to us to ask if we were okay. He was an older african-american man that looked like he was an angel. I believe he was calling 911. As I saw him on his phone, I dialed 911 on my phone. The car had sped so fast past us once they nearly killed us, so getting info on them was impossible.

The woman on the other end of 911 was fantastic. She talked me through it a bit and said to never honk at other cars these days. I think she thought I was driving, so she wanted to make sure I was calm before she hung up.

I quickly realized that the driver of that car nearly ended our lives today. I realized that their car is not just a car, but a deadly weapon. I realized very very fast, how quickly life can change. I am sure this sounds like a typical road rage thing where someone tries to be irritating on the road. Trust me readers, this was not typical whatsoever. I actually think the driver and passengers were surprised that we lived through the ordeal, which is why they took off so fast. I have to admit, I am surprised that my two precious children, wonderful husband, and myself are alive tonight. I feel like I walked into gunfire and the bullets grazed our heads and we were lucky enough to walk away. That is truly how I feel.

We never ended up going to Golden Gate Park. Jason turned off at the nearest exit, put his hand on my leg for a moment, and we turned around. My neck is horribly painful right now because I happened to be looking in the backseat when the whole thing happened. The car tried for about 3 looooooooong seconds to hit us, so the car was jerking back and forth.

The afternoon was very quiet around our house. Juliana kept asking how I was doing since she knew that my neck was hurting. We all were terrified. As Jason says, we are all okay. Just pray for the next person that gets in their path, they may not end up as lucky as we are. He's right. Hug those you love. You never know if a simple honk, a simple look, a simple word, or what will set another person off. Life changes in an instant.

In the end, we are home, THANK THE LORD! I kissed my two babies goodnight at bedtime. I can not ask for much more. I guess life sometimes slaps you in the face and makes you open your eyes. This was my eye opening (and neck wrecking) day.

Magic of Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Juliana before mass on Christmas Eve. She sang in the children's choir.

Sitting with Nana on Christmas morning.

Santa brought sunglasses in the stockings, along with some yummy chocolate goodness too.

That's the magic of Christmas morning in our house. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas in your house too. Still more to come.

It will be a Merry Christmas

Since my last post, here is most of what has been happening. I'll fill in the gaps at the end of these pictures.

Took the ferry to San Francisco. This is Kevin realizing how high the Bay Bridge really is... and SO AM I!

Watching the sea lions at Pier 39. There were only these few, not the hundreds that there usually are.

Grampy, Juliana, Nana, Kevin... all of us getting on the cable car.

Juliana thought if she danced around near the ferry building that maybe she'd be given money for performing. Yup, my daughter was getting life lessons from street performers.

FEELING GOOD! Waiting for the ferry at the end of the day.

Kevin is absent from pictures at the end of the San Francisco day because he was feeling cruddy much of the afternoon. It wasn't until this morning, CHRISTMAS EVE, that he woke up covered in, well, you get the idea. Right now, just picture a 4 year old, wearing alligator pajamas, laying on bath towels, and a trash can next to him for the just-in-case moment. That is our Christmas Eve 2009. We'll see if Santa brings some healthy days to us in 2010. I hope so.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Aside from the sickies, our Christmas is going to be a great one. Juliana is singing tonight at mass in the children's choir. My mom will be here, Jason's parents are already here... it will be a Merry Christmas!

In the Christmas spirit

There is nothing better than getting ready for the holidays with doses of family, Santa, caroling, and snuggling under blankets. That is exactly what the last few days have been for us.

A bad attempt at taking a picture while together on the bay.

Santa drove by in the DARE car.

Caroling with some other Girl Scout friends.

Santa came to our house! A highlight of 2009!

He brought Hannah Montana movie and CARS in his bag.

Snuggling in her blanket. Juliana has been sick for a couple days, although got dressed about 15 minutes ago, so she seems to be doing better. Thank goodness!

I am TOTALLY in the Christmas spirit, ARE YOU????????

Dose of alone time

So much going on here with no pictures to post. This is one picture of the STINKY LAKE drama production that Juliana was in on wednesday. She is in the black and purple dress sort of behind the one in the pink boa.

In-laws are here until Christmas night. Kids are with them at the moment. They stayed overnight at their hotel, so Jason and I went out last night for dessert. We both had a chocolate dish and a dessert martini. I had a smore-tini and he had a mocha-tini. It was yummy goodness. Since we rarely drink, one was enough for us to be cut off and not feelin' so hot afterward. That's ok, we had fun together walking it off in the cool bay breeze afterward.

Who knows what the next week or so will bring. I'll fill you in since I'm sure you wake up each day wondering what asplashofsunshine is up to. :)

This n' that

We've been incredibly busy doing this, that, and more of this and that. Here are some this' and that's...

Kevin's class singing "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" at their Christmas party.

Leaving his class until January.

Juliana got her official award for her photography on sunday, Dec. 13th at a ceremony at the main library. The winners are still on display at the library.

Grandpa and Dorene came to make a gingerbread house with the kids yesterday, Dec. 14.

Should I post pics of Juliana's girl scout meeting hosted at our house tonight? Nahhh. Or maybe pics of the pediatricians office from earlier today? Nahhh. Or perhaps pictures of me dropping off art entries to the countless kids that entered? Nahhhh. But I will post pictures of STINKY LAKE tomorrow. It will officially be Juliana's first drama production. GO GIRL! Oh, and in-laws arrive tomorrow night too.

B's day... I wonder

Today is Baby B's birthday! I wonder what she would have been doing at 13 years old if she was still on this earth. Unfortunately, she was never able to see a blue sky, or even one of her VERY few birthday cakes. She was born blind amongst countless other obstacles. A few things she did do without a struggle was wiggle in my arms when I played Celine Dion, and crawl into my heart forever. Gosh, I miss her. Happy 13th birthday sweetheart!

I wonder what you'd be doing today if you had the chance. I wonder how many more hearts you'd crawl into. I wonder if you'd still listen to Celine or just think she was a has been. I wonder if you'd ever be able to say I LOVE YOU. I wonder about who and what you could have become if you only had the chance. I wonder if you remember me. I'll always remember you. Peace cutie pie.

CLICK HERE FOR MY STORY WITH BABY B

Answers?

UPDATE:

Kevin's pediatrician upgraded his condition as "oramotor disorder". It is a notch above the diagnosis last year which was "oral aversions". Last year, I think she was thinking that he'd be fine with age. This year, she notices that it is much more than that. Luckily he is growing, but slowly. He is 35 lbs, whereas most 4 year, 3 month boys are are an average of 42 lbs. His height is in the 90th percentile, so that is a good sign. Kevin starts therapy ASAP!

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Today may be a big day for my little man. He is finally going to the doctor to explore his health issues. We are extremely confused as to what he is going through each time he puts food into his mouth, and when he even thinks about food. In the last couple months, he has also been getting random stomach pains. They come at different times, but each time is the same. He stops dead in his tracks, doubles over, and screams. They happen EVERY day, sometimes a few times a day. Within a couple seconds of the pain, he is fine and moves on.

There are a couple other issues that I will not go into on the blog, but just pray that we get some answers. It is quite obvious that proper nutrition is lacking in him. It is very hard as his mommy to accept that I can't just make it all better just by hiding foods, or coming up with new recipes.

On a MUCH brighter note, my brother and sister-in-law are expecting! They found out yesterday that the baby has a healthy heartbeat. She is 10 weeks and the baby is due July 8, 2010. In March, they had a devastating loss at 9 weeks. I have known for about 5 weeks about this baby, but did not want to say anything until the ultrasound. Soooo happy for them!

A bit CHEESY

(pic not taken today. just a cute one, that's all.)

This story is too darn cute not to share. Here it is...

Kevin is a bit under the weather today. He's snotty, coughing, congested, you know how it goes. About an hour ago, I was looking in the fridge and he comes running over.

I asked him, "What do you feel like eating for lunch?"

"Uhhhhhhhhh, there's cheese in here Mommy. Can we go to the store to get some mackin?"

"Some what?"

"Mackin."

"Buddy, I don't understand what you mean. What is mackin?"

"Silly Mommy, you know what mackin is!"

"No buddy, I have no idea what mackin is. Tell me."

"It comes in a blue box with K-R-A-F-T (he spelled it out) on top."

"Ohhhhh, you mean you want Mac N' Cheese!"

"YES MOMMY! (pause) What is mackin made from?"

That's our CHEESY story for the day.

THIS IS COOOOOLD

OOOOOKKKKK PEOPLE, THIS IS COLD....

(taken in our Michigan backyard)

(taken on Juliana's 2nd birthday in our MA backyard.)

Cold is NOT 29 degrees, with a high of 48. Well, maybe it is cold, but come on, please don't dress your children like eskimos. Also, it is really irritating to hear you complain about the cold. Stop complaining, so I can stop complaining about you! :)

Birthday girl

Birthday photos.

Kerri called to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She was sooooo happy to talk to her at school. Thanks Kerri! MISS YOU SO MUCH! xoxo

Talking to Nana and Grampy in Massachusetts on SKYPE.

The C-A-K-E! It would probably be considered a wreck on CAKE WRECKS, but that's ok.

Hannah's biggest fan, what can I say!

Singing to the card from Auntie Shannon. The card sings CELEBRATION when it is opened. I had to take it away because she wanted it under her pillow. OH NO WAY! :)

ROCKIN' OUT with her new Hannah headset ($1.99 party favor) that she swears is made of gold!

PIggy-tails n' all

I kept wondering where my piggy-tailed little girl was, and I guess I found her. Unfortunately, she is no longer that teeny tiny, she is 8 years old today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEANUT, BABY DOLL, NUTTY... love you to the moon and back!