Milestones for the new generation....

This ain't Dr. Spock's milestones! My kids have reached all of the normal marks....crawling, walking, running, talking. As far as height and weight go, they have always had the odds stacked against them. You see, I was a chubby child and my husband's family is notorious for "their lack of height." (they are not short....they just aren't tall)
The new milestones I am talking about are the ones that most parents DON'T want to talk about. At least not outside the realm of other parents. Gabriel and Rollie have learned how to use everything imaginable as a gun! Everyone would like to consider themselves a perfect parent who does all the right things, but it can be a little embarrassing when your little angel picks up a (insert any inanimate object here) and pretends to shoot (insert the name of anyone they encounter) and proceeds to tell them that they are going to shoot their face off! That is just AWESOME! My girls were never like that so this has been an interesting avenue for us. I also love how they love to take things apart without the knowledge of putting it back together! Gabriel's new favorite thing is to turn everything into a chainsaw! That is all well and good until he tries to saw little brother in half without his permission! Which brings me to my next milestone....fighting! My sweet, cuddly, angelic little baby boy has turned a corner....he is now training to become a World Wrestling Federation wrestler! I guess after being sawed in half one too many times for your liking you have to learn how to defend yourself! He was always the sweet innocent one but has now become the one who is constantly being tattled on for being mean. He has become quite good at the hair pulling and the all-too-uncomfortable punch to the back. (that is big brother's favorite) For the past couple of days the 2 boys have developed a new favorite game....spread out blankets (for what I am guessing is a wrestling mat) and go to town walloping one another. I guess they need to get that energy out somehow (and I don't see either one of them becoming a concert pianist or a world famous painter) so I usually let it go until the crying starts. Now if I could just get them to learn how to refold all of the blankets and put them away.....(hey a mother can dream)
Other than being caught and explaining the whole S-E-X thing to your kids, (which is a whole other story entirely) my absolute favorite milestone that a child can reach is when they learn how to cuss! Oh, the memories! Gabriel's favorite new word is the F-word....and I am not talking farfignugen! He will be playing away and he will call little brother an F'er! NICE! My husband and I were talking one day and he said it and we both stopped in our tracks. When I asked him, "what did you say?" He said it again with perfect annunciation....I guess we all need to be good at something -- Gabriel's is the art of language! It is even better when they say these words in public....in front of people....who hear them -- good times!!
I know that there are more great milestones to come....I have 2 brothers and I was witness to many acts of "brotherly love" (which usually involved the big brother pounding the little brother) and I have heard some great stories of "brotherly love" shared between my husband and his little brother -- I truly cannot wait! (I also have 2 sisters with whom I shared a little "sisterly love" from time to time....just ask my little sister) I think all brothers and sisters share this loving bond...."That which love makes the bones grow stronger" -- the new credo for all siblings everywhere! Until next time....

Christmas already??

You may have noticed the new background...(yes I know it is Christmas-y) but it could have been worse. I could have chosen the one with Santa Claus on it (which was pretty cute) or the reindeer but I chose to go conservative and picked the wreaths because I figured that if you REALLY stretched your imagination that maybe, just maybe, Thanksgiving could fall under this page too! (Isn't a wreath good for any occasion??)

I am a girl that loves the holidays...Christmas and Halloween being the top 2. I wasn't on the ball to put up a Halloween page and there is just no time to do a Thanksgiving one. As for Christmas, that holiday seems to be getting longer and longer every year! I am pretty sure that I saw a few Christmas displays in July!!!! If only I was one of those super organized people that can shop for gifts a whole year in advance....imagine the money I could save and the lack of stress. I am sure if I did that I would end up like Clark Griswold....always hiding the gifts and then finding gifts from previous years! I could just start stocking up a vast array of gifts when everything goes for 99% off the day after Christmas, wrap them and then just pull out a gift when needed. That way it will truly be a surprise for all! Although, Grandma might not enjoy getting the size 6 boys underwear and I doubt Grandpa would enjoy a pair of toddler snow boots. Maybe I will just start giving away beautifully wrapped empty cardboard boxes. Haven't you ever heard people say, "Little kids end up liking the boxes better than the toys that come in them anyways!" Imagine all of the $$ of I could have saved if I had thought of this sooner! It could also be a great character builder....teach your children early that they don't always get what they want and how to make lemonade out of lemons! LOL!!!! Or I could just give a one year memberships to the Jelly of The Month Club....that is the gift that keeps on giving the whole year!

I am the 4th of 5 kids. As I was growing up (back in the stone age) I don't remember there being ad after ad after ad for all of the crap that they are trying to sell these days. I also don't remember watching that much T.V. when I was a kid. As a mother I have learned how to listen politely and smile while they ramble on about the bajillion things that they want for Christmas and try to filter out the one or two things that they ask about all year. So far their lists are short but I am sure that once the T.V. ads hit full stride I will have to put on my game smile (and ears) and get ready for battle.

Don't even get me started on the decorating. I used to live in a fairly good sized house with ample wall space for my MANY (did I mention many?) decorations. Now I live in a slightly smaller house (more like cracker box--but we love it) and have tried, for the past 2 years, to fit said decorations (or as my husband calls it....crap) into it! Ask him sometime how much he LOVES to put up the outside lights!!! I am sure that he could just gush about it for hours! I know that he can't wait to do it again this year because he has already mentioned it for the past 3 weekends..... or it could just be that he would rather hang them with a slight breeze blowing (yes 70 MPH is considered slight around here) instead of in a blizzard with gale force winds! Either way he knows that I will make him do it so he might as well make it easy on himself! It could be worse....we could still live in the other house -- here is a picture of it so you understand what I mean! (now imagine what the inside looked like :-) Until next time....

A Tribute To My Uncle...

Monday, October 27th, 2008 was a very sad day for our family. We lost my Uncle Darrel to cancer. As you know, I usually try to fill my posts with humor and even in sadness there is humor to be found. I would like to dedicate this post to everyone everywhere that was ever touched by Darrel in some way and especially his family.

You know the part of the funeral when the pastor asks if there is anyone who would like to say a few words? Well, like everyone else there, I sat there staring at my hands wishing that someone would say something but mostly wishing that I had the courage to say something. Had I gotten the courage this is what I would have said.....

"This body lying here before us is not Darrel. This is only his earthly vessel that transported his soul through his journey here on earth. His earthly vessel, like all good vehicles, eventually broke down and could not be repaired. He became so tired that even his love for his family wasn't enough to keep him with us. It was the love that he felt from the ones who passed on before him that finally allowed him to relent and let go. Even though his physical self is not here for us to touch that does not mean that he is not here spiritually. Have you ever found a penny on the sidewalk or somewhere random and thought, "I wonder why no one else has picked this up?" The reason they haven't is because it was put there for you. It is a fun way for a loved one to let you know that they are with you. The day of the funeral we had to stop and put gas in the car. When I got out, there on the ground was a penny. I picked it up and knew in my heart that it was from Darrel. For those of you that attended the funeral, you heard Dawn's touching story about knowing the exact minute that her dad had passed. When she told that story all I could do was sit there in amazement. Afterwards, I told her how much that story hit home. At the same time that she was jolted awake by her dad's passing I was having a dream about him and his dad. (my grandpa) I dreamt that I went to visit him in the hospital and they were in the same room separated by a curtain. I felt it to be more urgent to talk to Darrel first so I went to his side. As we sat and talked his frail body transformed back into the Darrel that I have always known. I then got up and went to talk to Grandpa and all he did was smile and wink at me and then I woke up. I knew right then that he was safe and surrounded by love."

When I was young, Darrel, to me, was always the uncle that looked just like my dad and seemed to love to wear slacks. He was the uncle that lived in Buffalo, WY, was married to Aunt Janice and was the dad to Brett, Dawn and Craig. We almost always stayed at their house on the way to visit in South Dakota. When I was older, he used to come to our house almost every Tuesday to visit with mom and dad. (he was always in town that day for his work) I will be the first to admit that my younger sister and I always made sure that we were busy on those nights because they would sit around and "reminisce the old days" and, as teenagers, we really didn't understand or care at the time. Until you are older and/or have kids of your own, you don't really understand a lot of things. I find that the older I get the more important family is to me. When I was younger I never really thought about death. I just figured that everyone close to me would be alive forever. In realization, no one does live forever in the physical world but be assured that we will all see each other again someday.

I did say that even in sadness there is humor to be found, so I would like to share one of my funniest memories of him. This was a story that I heard him tell a long time ago so if you know details that I don't, please forgive me if it is not exact. He said that one night he and Janice were in bed sleeping. He had heard a noise so he got up to check it out. It turns out it was a cat that they had. He came back to bed and turned out the light. Not long after that he heard another ruckus and the next thing he knew that cat came tearing up the bed and running right across his face. He started cussing and turned the light on. He felt something on his face and he soon discovered that the cat had a touch of diarrhea and had drug his tail right across his face! I'm sure Janice had a good laugh that night! As I said, some of the details may not be the same but this is a story that makes me laugh EVERY time I tell it or think about it!!!!

I, for one, TRULY believe that there is life after death and that our loved ones are always communicating with us. As I sit here writing this, my oldest daughter Emily came up to talk to me. I had been thinking about Darrel and Janice's house in Buffalo and I happened to look down at Emily's shirt and noticed the name Buffalo on it! This is a shirt that she wears often (which means I wash it often) and I had never noticed that before! There are always signs.....just be open to seeing them and you will.

Rest in Peace Darrel Dean LaVoy. Keep sending me signs until we meet again....