Flying

Last night, Juliana earned her wings to junior girl scouts. Some call the promotion "bridging", some call it "flying", so we did both. The girls walked over some jellyfish n' crabs, while flapping their wings. It was seriously adorable.

In other news... well, I got nothin'. Unless you count the flight with medical insurance and Juliana's doctors to pay her treatments, so we aren't stuck with the thousands of dollars. Sucks I tell ya, sucks. Ummm, let's see what else is going on. Just winding down the school year with a ton of activities. That's all folks.

What families do!

I really need one of those new cameras that show the image on the front of the camera. This coulda been a cute pic. Haaaa, oh well!

Friday after school, I met my mom in our area, and she took Juliana to spend the night with Uncle Patrick, Auntie Laura, and Cristian. Fuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnn!

Saturday, we met them about an hour away at "Nana Marie"'s house. We had a blast! Cristian took his first steps there, and did a great job. I'm sure he's running right about now. During the visit, my brother said to me, "Wow, we've seen you guys for 3 straight weekends. This is what REAL families do." That's right, we've finally gotten to the point of being a real family. We're a little confused on what that really means since it's new to us in our 30+ years on this earth, but we'll take it.

Blah blah

I noticed that it's been a while since I posted. It's kinda because a ton of things are going on, they just are not necessarily picture worthy.

We've done a lot of together time, including walks (which the pic below was taken). I'm also embarking on my first big DVD montage project for a wedding in Chicago this summer. I've been doing the DVD's quite a bit for family, friends, etc, but never for a perfect stranger who saw my work from a friend of a friend. This perfect stranger is now who I refer to as, "Client #1". Also, I'm super duper busy with my CASA case. I'll just end it with that.

I'm doing a ton of school stuff too. It is amazing to me that Kindergarten and 3rd grade are coming to an end.

I'm also working on a montage for Kevin's Kindergarten graduation. I love the picture above. Kevin has said to me a million times, "Ughhh, I bwoke de tuhh-tle wule again" (I broke the turtle rule again). As you can see, the turtle rule is "Walk in the classroom". He's not very good at doing things slowly, except learning how to pronounce "r"s, but we'll get there.

Juliana is gone for her turn for the overnight with Uncle Patrick. Kevin had his turn in January, now it's Juliana's turn. So, I am fully anticipating her wanting ice cream for dinner when she returns. Ohhhh, I can not wait for overnights with Cristian and Diego down the road. PAYBACK! (Yes, Diego will be baby #2's name.)

Fun???

I often sit back and wonder if my kiddos are really having a fun childhood. You know, I think of those times after a knock-out, drag-out brush your teeth session, or an ughhh-I-really-hate-bringing-lunch-to-you-again-at-school-today-but-school-forces-me-to argument... you know what I mean, right? Orrrrr perhaps you have no idea.

Then, I see pictures like these and hope that we really are giving our kids fun life experiences. I guess it's the path of life to have the good and not-so-good all in the same bowl o' cherries.

Stop noticing that most of these pictures were taken more than a year ago. I hope we had some fun times in 2010 and 2011 so far. I better check..... see ya.

As it should be

Mother's Day was just as it should be. We went to my mom's house, along with my brother, sis-in-law, and of course, my nephew Cristian. My mom was so happy!

A sneak peek into our day...

Juliana followed Cristian EVERYWHERE! Then again, he followed her too.

One attempt at a grandkids picture. We did get a good one, but it's more fun to post the bad ones.

Uncle Patrick being goofy with Juliana.

To all Mom's out there

The women who made me the mother I am...

My mom and my godmother. My godmother still plays such an important role in my life, my children actually call her Grand Liz.

This is the first Mother's Day without Granny. The kids definitely miss their GG and so do I!

Grandma. So, this picture was taken in the 1950's. It shows off her smile and her zest for life. Gosh, I miss Grandma so so much. She would have loved being with Juliana and Kevin.

Again, my Mom! We're going to spend the day with her, as well as, my brother, sis-in-law, and nephew Cristian. My mom deserves a day with her 2 children and 3 grandchildren. After all, it is the first Mother's Day without her own mom to bring flowers to or talk to.

Happy Mother's Day to every mother out there that adores her children. We may not always make the right choices, we do fail, but in the end, good mothers do the best they know how. I hope my two munchkins will be able to enjoy their own children one day, and I can see the joy in their children's lives like they bring to me.

Tomorrow I meet the mother of my foster youth. I brought supplies for her beautiful child to create a Mother's Day gift for her. While she may not meet some standards for being a mom, her children still want to see the sun rise with their mother. To me, that alone qualifies as being a mother. Again, we fail, and for some people, it just takes longer to make the right choices and to pick up the pieces.

B'day Time!

It's birthday time! Today we are celebrating HIM... nope, he's not God, but I'm pretty sure there are two people in this world that are convinced he puts out the sun each morning and the moon each night. This is the man that...

stayed up many many many many nights in the hospitals trying to make it all better.

This is the man that...

Love his doggy (almost) as much as his children, well, and wife too.

This is the man that...

brings live lobsters for his children to pet. (Then he proceeds to torture the children by putting them in the bathtub.)

This is the man that...

Sits on rocks to watch military plans fly overhead.

This is the man that...

Protects this children from JAWS!

Happy birthday to you! Gosh, we love you!