TAG! You're IT

Here goes...
A- Available or Taken? Taken
B- Best Friend? Lisa
C- Cake or Pie? Cake
D- Drink of Choice? Alcohol~frozen mudslide Non-alcohol~ tea (iced or hot)
E- Essential item you use everyday? toothpaste and deodorant
F- Favorite Color? pink
G- Gummy Bears or Worms? neither
H- Hometown? Braintree
I- Indulgence? sweets; pastries
J- January or February? February
K- Kids and Names? Mary, Quinn, Gabriella, Eli, Nikolas for now until Baby arrives
L- Life is incomplete without? my kids
M- Marriage Date? Nov. 20
N- Number of Siblings: 1
O- Oranges or apples? apples in the fall; oranges anytime
P- Phobias or fears? fire and drowning
Q- Favorite quote? Everything happens for a reason and when the time is right, we'll understand
R- Reason to Smile? my kids and old dear friends who make me laugh
S- Season? Spring; new beginnings
T- Tag 3 or 4 people? Dawn, Steph and BrennaKate
U- Unknown fact about me? I once co-owned a small business making party favors, cakes and candies
V- Vegetable you don't like? onions
W- Worst Habit? biting my lip or my nails when I'm really stressed
X- X-rays? teeth, knees, hip and arm and a CAT scan if you want to include it
Y- Your favorite food? good old fashioned comfort foods; I should have been a farm girl LOL
Z- Zodiac: Virgo 50/50 accuracy

Post-Christmas Post...

It's so hard to believe that another Christmas has passed. Just two days ago, as the kids slept and D. and I played elves assembling toys and such, I couldn't believe that Christmas had come again. Maybe I was just too busy this year to notice,but it sure seemed like it came out of nowhere. Wasn't it just yesterday that we moved into this house? And what about entertaining my visiting nieces who helped plan a baby shower? The oldest child graduated high school and the next two started a new school year. And the biggest surprise came in the form of an announcement that our family is growing yet again. So much has happened in the last few months and now here we are ready to greet the Baby New Year once again. If I take the time to reflect, I know that the year since Christmas 2005 has been filled with trials and blessings and endless memories big and small. Doesn't the old adage say that 'time flies when you're having fun?' Well, I guess the year hasn't been lost afterall. The year ahead will bring us the joy and blessings of a new baby and hopefully additional positive changes as well.
I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas and that your 2007 will be filled with hope, good health, good fortunate and endless blessings, large and small. Just make sure to notice the small ones when they come because one day you may find that they are the biggest blessings of all.

From our family to yours, Happy Holidays!

Fit For A Princess....

Cinderella...the next generation! It's no secret to some of you that I'm just a teensy bit obsessed with things Cinderella. Why? Who knows,but I haven't outgrown the fairytale. And it's no secret that the highlight of my first Disney World trip last year (yes even at my age) was seeing MY "house" and meeting the very nice young lady that I "allow" to portray me for thousands of visitors every day. :::::grin::::: Well, imagine my joy when sorting through a box of saved baby clothes yesterday when I came across this sweater. It had been given to Princess G by her own Fairy Godmother when she was a baby and I saved it all these years. I never knew another princess would get to wear it before her own. Now Princess K will get to wear it. I came across the tiara online. Is it too perfect or what? Hmm...I better call the photographer now to set up her first photo shoot.

Nothing In Life is Free....Or Is It???

A year or so ago I discovered The Freecycle Network(tm) - Changing the world, one gift at a time. For those who aren't in the know, check it out. We're a family of donors be it money, clothing, toys, whatever. Freecyle is the same concept except that instead of giving to an anonymous group (usually for fundraising which has its own merit), you post a message to your local group and folks who are interested will reply. It's up to you who gets your item(s). As little as we have this year in finances or material possessions, our family has gained immeasurably by knowing that we are sharing with others who are in need for whatever the reason. Give a gift to yourself as well as others and sign up! You won't regret it.
P.S. I must say that through Freecycle I've also made a dear friend who I would not likely have met otherwise. And what price can anyone put on friendship? :-) Cheers Dawn!

Look Dawn...I did it!

Look Who's Got Happy Feet!

Today a Secret Santa package arrived for the Pickle from my sweet online friend Shannon. He was SO thrilled to see "MumMum" aka Mumble Happy Feet. For those who don't know, the character of Mumble is hearing impaired; how fitting for our family. Pickle hasn't seen the movie yet,but we've played his bit from the Build-A-Bear website and the sound clips of the soundtrack from Amazon literally dozens of times for him and he's over-joyed every time. Needless to say, Santa knows how much Pickle would love the soundtrack for Christmas and will take care of it. And considering that Pickle doesn't talk, if I had a nickle for every time he said, "MumMum" after opening the package tonight, I could retire! :-)

Lemonade in Holland
We all know that expression, "If life hands you lemons..." And just because we wish for limes instead, we have to take what we're given even if a Margarita does sound more appealing than lemonade sometimes.
Lately, my family and a few of my friends as well have been handed some lemons for our children. Wait, we didn't ask for lemondade. Our kids didn't ask for lemonade. However, as their parents, it's our job to make the best lemonade that we know how to make. My hat is off to all of you, who like us, do your best every day and some day our children will all be wearing blue ribbons!
Like being given a fruit you didn't ask for, you also find that you're taking a trip you didn't plan for. Once you arrive and the shock wears off, hopefully you learn that your destination, like the lemonade is worth everything you gave up.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by Emily Perl Kingsley.
c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Good Luck Dawn!

I just want to take a moment to wish you well tomorrow. I know everything will go smoothly for you. Rest up m'dear. Lots of hugs and good wishes coming your way from the Rockies!