The Ackerman/Mejias Family est. 1991

Yahoo! Project 1 DONE!

2012-01-26T12:16:00.000-05:00

As I said before, I purchased this chair at Goodwill for $10!

It was a nice enough chair, but with the hardwood floor, and the table top being a similar finish, it was just too much wood. Besides, I love painted wood.

Now this little beauty matches my other chairs and bench! I used Kilz latex primer and a can of Behr flat white paint I had left over from doing Roci's dressers. I am off to buy a can of top coat to protect the paint from getting scratched up and the project is DONE! Wow:)

You might be thinking, 'That was easy. What's the big deal?" Well, it was EASY... but the big deal comes in when I have to find project 2 for February... and project 3 for March... and project 4 for April.... ;)...

Crazy ideas!

2012-01-23T22:59:00.001-05:00

I had this crazy idea, well, it was actually a goal of mine for the new year but now I think it's crazy! Anyway, I had this crazy idea to set a goal to finish a craft or project once a month and blog about it so I could keep track. Hmmmmmm... It sounded great at the beginning of the year, but now that it is almost February, it doesn't sound so promising!
In order to get myself motivated and hold myself accountable I decided to just do it!!! Yikes. There. Now it's official. It's on the blog so that makes me committed... sort of;) No. I'll do it.

My first project will be easy. I found a chair at Goodwill for $10 and thought it would look fun painted white. I will take before and after pictures of course. That will be on my list to squeeze into my busy day tomorrow. Primer, paint and photograph the chair. Hopefully I'll have it done by book club.
Wish me luck!!!!!

I can bring home the bacon...

2012-01-20T16:28:00.001-05:00

"I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never let you forget you're a man. 'Cause I'm a woman..."

Does anyone remember that commercial? It was an ad for an 8 hour perfume called Enjoli. As an impressionable young girl, I remember telling my mom she should by it because she would have lots of energy and never get tired. Just look at the lady on TV. I was also the same girl that told my mom to call the "Money Store" (a place that gave out loans promoted by the New York Yankee, Phil Rizzuto), when I heard her complain about us not having enough money to pay the bills. I thought all you had to do was go to the store and get some money. The commercial was very popular on WPIX New York. Yes, I spent many hours in front of the TV:)

Well, I got the job I applied for. I have very mixed emotions about working. My biggest is giving up my flexibility. When you say yes to one thing, you say no to something else. In this case, I'm saying yes to potential money and no to making my own schedule. It's only part time, but I forgot to consider the summer. You know, when the girls are home. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!
I don't think I would feel as bad if all my kids were grown, but I still have two young ones who need me. The supervisor did say she would work with me, so I hope that means I can occasionally take a day here and there.
In the meantime, I am thankful because this is an opportunity to get my foot in the door somewhere. Children do grow, I know firsthand!
The bacon I bring home won't even buy what's on that plate;), but it's a start. I'm sure I'll still be doing a lot of cooking and as far as the last part of that little jingle... well, it is TV, after all...

I still love you, Bobby!

Happy New Year... and all that other jazz

2012-01-13T14:21:00.003-05:00

Hey, hey, look who's back! Seven weeks in a cast is no fun. Oh, your body does forget how to do things when you don't use it! I always thought that was weird, but now I GET it. My arm, not just my wrist, was useless for a while until I could exercise it and 'teach' it to move again.

I am stunned at how quickly time passes! I guess that's why they say you go "down hill" after 40.
I had surgery on my wrist back in September and just finished rehab the Friday before Christmas. My wrist is about 85 percent recovered. I still have trouble with push ups and some yoga moves, but I'm still working on it.
I am a firm believer that the way you bring in the New Year will set the tone for the rest of the year. I brought the New Year in, in bed. It was about 11:30 when I decided to get under the covers and just read. I was a little sad that we were not in Northampton watching the ball, but it was so nice to be still and warm. At midnight, I received about 12 texts and a couple of phone calls wishing our family a Happy New Year. Mercedes came down stairs from her room and was a little surprised to find everyone sleeping, that is of course, but me.
I had a hectic holiday season this year. Most of it is a blur. But, it was nice to end the year relaxing in bed!
New Years, for me, means new beginnings. I know that may sound weird to some, but I feel a little bit of magic in it. A fresh, clean slate to start over with. I LOVE it!
One of my resolutions is to get a job. I've been inquiring, hoping to get a clerk or secretarial job of some sort. Just part time, of course, so I can still be home to do all my mommy things. I actually started back in September and I finally landed an interview for this Tuesday for a clerk's position.
I have to say that my most favorite job in the WHOLE world has been staying home. I am my own boss and I make my own hours. I get to take a 2 hour lunch if I want to and I get to move the furniture around when I get tired of looking at it. That is pretty hard to beat, except for the fact that I don't make any money doing it. I've come to realize that I hate money, especially when I don't have any. That would be where the job thing comes in.
I have been spending the last few days thinking about things that I am truly thankful for. My toothbrush, chocolate and toilet paper hit the top 10, along with my amazing family and incredible friends that I wouldn't trade for anything. I am hoping to add a job to that list. I guess we'll find out on Tuesday!
Wow, it's good to be back!

Compassion

2011-10-26T21:01:00.001-04:00

Our perfect example of compassion

I have always believed, and have had confirmed many times through out my life, that if we are not humble, life will do it for us. Sometimes quietly, and sometimes with a great big fat kick in the backside.
I had a horrible experience recently. I saw someone who had been murdered. He was lying on the ground in a puddle of his own blood from a gunshot wound to the head; right across the street in my neighbor's driveway. I never, ever expected to see anything like that in my life and pray I never will again. This man was well known to the police for illegal activities including drugs. The man lived a few blocks away and the police had no idea why he was in my neighbor's driveway, especially since our neighbors had never seen him before.
We live in a city with a population of roughly 150,000 people. Our city has many smaller communities within it and has a rich history. Some neighborhoods are beautiful with well large, kept homes. Others, are multi-family homes that are rented with the landlords living, sometimes, outside the state; sometimes, but not often, on the same property. Still others, like mine, have a mix of both multi- and single family.
I've always been annoyed, put off and sometimes, outright offended, when people have spoken ill of my home. I'm raising my family here! I don't want my children to feel inferior or embarrassed because of where they live. We put just as much effort to find a proper home for our family as others who may have better means and can afford to live in the nicer suburbs. We've lived here 14 years and have never felt we were in danger. We have come to the defense of our beloved neighborhood and city more times than I can count against many tasteless jokes and criticism. I have always felt justified in doing so. No one has the right to pass judgement or make criticisms regarding things based on second hand information or the skewed presentation of information from the media. I've always felt that if you don't live here or have never lived here, you have no business talking. I never thought I was out of place in doing so; it was my job to 'inform.' I never thought I was being self-righteous or cocky, although looking back I have to question my intent on some of those occasions. I just wanted them to focus on the good people who live here and who appreciate the diversity and beauty that the city has to offer.
There is a small 'shrine' in my neighbor's yard with flowers and many lit candles. I realized last night that this man had people who cared about him!! He wasn't just a druggie. He was some one's son, brother, boyfriend, cousin, uncle, friend. There are people who are mourning his loss. I have no idea how he ended up on the path he was on, but I do know that kids don't usually grow up saying they want to be druggies or thugs or thieves. There's a chance that he grew up here in the same city I am raising my family, my kids. The very same ones that are now nervous about being in any part of the house alone. The same kids who now jump at any little noise, especially coming from outside...

I have been thoroughly humbled by this experience on so many levels. I no longer have a desire to defend what I don't understand. I never should have felt the need to defend this city or my street against verbal assaults and insults. I'm sure I've made people feel uncomfortable in response to my bruised pride and for that I'm so sorry. I should have been more compassionate to those who were ignorant or mean in their judgements. I was guilty of the same thing!! What hypocrisy.
I also need to remember that people who are lost in sin need my prayers, not my judgements. I want to remember the Savior's example of love and compassion. He loved. He loved the people around Him and prayed for everyone. He never defended or argued. He set an example for those around Him, and for me. May my Father in Heaven forgive me for my shortcomings and help me to continue to become more like Him.

Hurray for 3 day weekends!!

2011-10-12T23:15:00.000-04:00

Three day weekends means more kids, more fun! Now that they are in school, every moment counts even more. We made the most of our school break!!We went apple picking at Johnny Appleseed. They have dwarf trees so the kids are able to stand right in front of them to pick! The weather was ridiculously warm, but it was a fun time anyway! Corn maze, cider and doughnuts, tractor ride, pumpkin picking and home with a bag full of apples. What more can I say? Oh yeah, getting lost on the way... but without that part, we wouldn't have had the view!!

Thanks for taking the group picture Noel!!

Aunt Charlene joined us with bum leg and all.. What a trooper!

A hike to Heublin Tower on another ridiculously warm day for October, but it is Indian Summer!What a great view!Yes, the cast came too.

No warm day can be called great without Albano's Italian Ice!!!!

Mini pumpkins made at a friend's birthday party!! How stinkin' cute...

Cupcakes for Roci's fundraiser!! Thanks Mercy for decorating! I knew you'd come up with something cute! Roci ended up making $30 on 21 cupcakes!! I obviously undervalued them. I told her to sell them at .50 each =O

First days of school

2011-10-12T22:03:00.004-04:00

The girls started school on different days. We have a tradition where I take pictures on the first day. Since my sister was living with us,I have one of Aalyia with Kaleigh:)
Rocquel couldn't wait to get going and I had to make her pose. I think Mercedes thought she was off the hook... HA! HA! I guess she forgot who her mom was...
I know school started ages ago, but at least I have the pictures up, right??

I pray.

2011-09-27T18:28:00.001-04:00

I would like to share an excerpt from my son's email this week:"Dear Mom, and everyone! It was a little bit of a weird week. I guess the only thing that made it weird was this story: Elder Villalba and I were walking on a street about 3 blocks from our apartment on Wed. night. A woman in a taxi came up and said: "Someone committed or was trying to commit suicide over there!" (I didn´t understand this though). Elder Villalba said, "oh. okay we´ll go see what´s up." (Because he thought someone had already died.) We walked quickly about half a block then he started to run. I still didn´t see anything, but then I noticed a silhouette of a person hanging from a TREE next to the street! It was right in front of a member´s house! I ran and started clapping in front of the members house to get them to come out. Elder Villalba lifted the guy up so he could breath again. (he hadn´t died.) I clapped so much until someone came out. A crowed formed around the street. It was a crazy scene. The kid was about 17 years old. When he finally came to, he just screamed several times : "Why did you save me?! WHY?? I wanted to die!" Everyone in the neighborhood was all around us and then suddenly, he gained more strength, got up, and took off running down the street into the dark. Nobody knew where he went. I felt very sick after and shaken up, and decided I can´t be a doctor or police officer. Now every time we pass that street or that tree, there´s a strange memory, or feeling there. I don´t like it."As a mom, I can only say that I was horrified, on so many levels, by this news. So many emotions and questions. First, why would my son witness something like this. Two, what had pushed this poor young man not just to think about killing himself, but that he actually tried. The fact that they were able to save this poor young man.I pray that this person sees this event as a sign. That God wants him to live. I pray that he finds his purpose in life. I pray that my son and his companion won't have nightmares about this. I pray.

a funny thing happened on the way to the doctor...

2011-09-11T19:49:00.004-04:00

I finally had surgery on my wrist. I was surprisingly calm while I was being prepped for surgery. All went well. The doctor repaired torn ligaments and cut a section of tendon that was apparently spent. He decided that my radius would stay intact because the injury wasn't near the bone and didn't feel it was exacerbating the problem, which is wonderful because that was supposed to be the worst part of the surgery.
Isn't this a lovely picture my mom took?? It is in the recovery room... she told me I looked great... She lied!

As I was home recovering, Bobby had an appointment with his chiropractor down the street from our house. He had dropped Aalyia off at school, which is why he was driving; he usually walks.
During the appointment, he heard a loud sound outside. Turns out that a young man driving home from work fell asleep at the wheel and drove straight into Gage's car!!!
Bobby has been using it while Gage is in Paraguay. The car was pushed from it's spot in front of the office, into a tree, then into a truck that had been in front of the car about 15 feet away.

Gage's car is on the right... It was originally parked by the tree on the far left of the picture. Yes, it was sitting in the road. Can you imagine what would have happened to Bobby had he been in the car or getting into it???

I am so sad for Gage. He told me he felt that with the latest string of natural disasters and bad weather, he wasn't sure what would be left of Springfield. Hmmmm....
I know he'll be happy to hear his father's okay, but what a crummy thing to happen:(
We joked about selling the car before he came home (like in the RM), but of course, it was a joke. Not so funny, huh?
Something good will come out of this, God is good:)

For Sale

2011-09-04T10:56:00.004-04:00

I love furniture! It took 5 years after we moved into our home before I was able to start purchasing furniture I really wanted. My style is very eclectic. I enjoy and decorate with a little bit of everything. I have flea markets finds, yard sale stuff, and things from beautiful furniture stores;) I also love all different types of fabrics and patterns, toile being my absolute favorite:) I have to say that my most favorite pieces are ones that have been gifts or was able to pick up for free!!

I have some items below that I, sadly, must part with. Why?? Because the rooms in my home are small and I have furniture that is just too big... or too much of it in one space. I plan to put these on Craigslist, but I thought I would put them here so I could have a journal of it as well!

The first piece is a Bradington Young leather recliner. It is espresso in color and is just too big for our front room. I purchased it for Bobby at CJ Sprong for Father's Day one year and dang if that thing didn't look nearly as big in the showroom as it did when we tried to get it through the front door. It is in excellent condition and a great quality piece...

The second piece is a settee, a fancy word for sofa. It doesn't have a pedigree like the first piece, but it is still nice just the same! The color is red with hints of sage in the plaid pattern. It seats two people and is in excellent condition. I purchased this at Country Squire Furniture. Sadly, they are no longer in business.

The last piece, (for now...), is an old fashioned telephone table. I purchased this at Brimfield Antiques show and used it in my daughter's bedroom for about two years. It is painted in white flat paint and it now sits at the end of my hallway waiting for a new home.

Wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!

After 6 Years...

2011-08-28T22:16:00.002-04:00

After 6 long years, Mercedes FINALLY gets her braces off!!!!!!!!!
What a smile. We appreciate all Dr. Yanni has done for Mercedes, especially in the last couple of months... but we won't go into that;)
I am proud to say that Mercedes will flash that $12,000 smile on command. She should, she has my convertible in her mouth...

International Bridge in Paraguay

2011-08-02T01:11:00.004-04:00

This is Gage's view from his apartment!!
I look at this picture and it feels surreal. It is Gage standing in front of the International Bridge that connects Paraguay to Argentina. You may be wondering why he is holding a cut out of a lady...
Are you familiar with Flat Stanley?? Well, this is Flat Janice;) His orthodontist, Dr. Janice Yanni, is holding a contest and I'd thought it would be fun to have Gage take a picture to send back. He is a former patient of hers and she did a fabulous job with his smile.
So here is my dutiful son looking like, "Okay, mom! Here's your picture;is it okay??"
He's so sweet!!
Thanks Gage! Keep up the good work. We are so proud of you!!!!

Suffield, CT Concert

2011-07-23T12:17:00.002-04:00

As I've mentioned before, Roci is part of a group called The AT express. She's been with the group for over a year and enjoys it. I don't enjoy all the running around involved, BUT I love to watch her and her friends perform!! They have so much fun and sound great together. It has been a wonderful opportunity for her and Dan Kehoe is one of the most generous people I've ever met. He is responsible for forming the group and has been extremely supportive of them.
Todd Madison is responsible for the photos below:

Parade float

Roci performs 'Lean on Me'

A tribute to the Armed Forces. Roci represents the Marines... of course;)

If you look close, (but please! not too close!), You will see myself and my sister-in-law Joanne on that stage!! Yikes! We were picked to help sing Cher's Shoop shoop song... Oh my!

July

2011-07-23T11:00:00.002-04:00

By the way, before I continue, I would like to say that our potential disaster was averted. God did hear our prayers of desperation and had mercy on us! I will just say that it had something to do with being potentially unemployed. We are one of the many American families that live paycheck to paycheck:(
I believe that this was a wake up call for us to get our finances in order and take control. We have been debt free before and it is a liberating feeling. I am ready to experience that again!
God IS good.

On a lighter note, here are some picture updates for July:

Rocquel turned 12 on the 15th of July and can now attend the Young Women's program! That leaves my little Aalyia in primary. It is only a matter of time before I have her picture here:(
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Rocquel, with Bella and Isabella, make up the AT express. They are getting ready to perform at an outdoor concert in Suffield, CT. Aren't they beautiful??

Jenn Baird and her daughters joined us for the festivities,

This is at the Yellow Sofa in Northampton. They actually had a yellow sofa!! You can't really see it in this photo but it was YELLOW. Noel arranged for us, and our friend Janine from Cali, to hear Calvin Betancourt perform. I enjoyed the concert. He had a very calming voice. I, being one who can't carry a tune, am very envious of those who can!

Seriously...

2011-07-18T20:40:00.003-04:00

(I learn from my mistakes... most times. I decided to look for someone else's not-so-great picture to post on this entry. The last time I posted a not-so-flattering picture of myself it ended up being one of my most seen entries! Not so great.)

Why do I need a picture of a frustrated person?? It is how I have been feeling for a few days. You see, there is something personal I am going through and although I'm not at liberty to talk about it now, it is very stressful!!

I know that there are lessons to be learned from trials, but it is so hard to think about that during the trial and even harder for me to remain faithful and optimistic. I always feel like this will be the time that God decides not to help or comfort because He sees how often I screw up. He'll think, "oh well... too bad. Can't keep bailing you out. Tsk, tsk."
I know that fear is the total opposite of faith. I get it, but it is difficult to understand that God loves me no matter what and even bigger, that Christ's attonement works even for me. Every time I ask. Every time?? Really?? Hmmm... I'm feeling a lot like Peter when he denied Jesus. And Peter walked with Him and witnessed miracles first hand! And yet, he went on to become a powerful apostle.
To fear and doubt is to deny Christ. That is why Peter denied Him, because he was scared. And here I am doing the same thing, "Who Him?? Uhh, I don't know Him. He won't help me. I'm a screw up."

But then, I read a scripture that says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrightousness."
Or this one, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Or this biggie," For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Wow.
I think I'm feeling a little better... for the moment;) I think I'll have some yummy birthday cake that an angel friend made for me with some coconut milk ice cream that another angel friend gave me!! That will help remind me that God is full of love and mercy;)
Some prayers thrown our way would be much appreciated as well... Thanks for listening.
God IS good.

Life is just a bowl of cherries..

2011-07-11T09:41:00.007-04:00

What the heck does that saying mean anyway??? I love the E.G. Daily version of the song, but what does it mean? Soft on the outside, hard on the inside? Sweet and sour? Oddly shaped, but pretty color? I know the idiom means that life is carefree, but really, are cherries carefree?? Why not pineapples or nectarines? Just one of those things I think about that NO ONE cares about, but I can't help. In moments of poor judgement, I share them on my blog:)

I am in awe when my kids say we never do anything! Look at these pictures. Are they proof of being lazy and doing nothing?? I ask you? Really?

Roci's 12th birthday...

Aalyia's baptism

Enjoying the pool with friends on the 4th of July
participating in Melany's quince

celebrating Amanda's birthday

Strawberry picking for Family night

Visiting with family

Aalyia enjoying her birthday present... her brand new bike!
Waiting for her birthday breakfast...
Celebrating Seminary graduation... yes, that is Brother Bird

Yeagers

2011-06-30T10:45:00.009-04:00

Here is a picture of my little nephew Caleb in his soccer uniform. He asked me to take his picture. See how he is stretching his shirt so he can show it off?
I was invited to go with the Yeagers to the Westfield Children's Museum. This picture was taken was taken at Berkshire bank. We are posing in front of the safe... I must say, they had quite the stash and the bankers were very generous with giving out money... as long as you went around to the other window and deposited it back. Those tellers would get cranky if you tried to go shopping or something.
My sister turned 27 this year. I had the privilege of spending the day with her. We saw a movie, had lunch and did a little shopping. Happy Birthday favorite sister!!!!!

Tornados in Springfield?? Still unbelievable

2011-06-08T21:47:00.007-04:00

This is an example of how unpredictable life is. Control is an illusion.
Mercedes and I have been through the city documenting the damage from the tornado in order to be able to share it with Gage, and because this is a monumental event. Gage loves this city so much and I wanted him to be able to see what was happening here at home. It was easy at first to take photos of torn trees, debris, and business buildings. But then as we got to people's homes it became harder. So much so that we had to stop taking pictures. There are so many people affected by the storms. We were fortunate, or lucky, that we were not in the direct line of the tornado, although I watched through my kitchen window as it passed by my neighborhood. I hesitate to say that we were blessed to have been spared. Blessed would imply that I was worthy and someone else was not. And that my friends, is so NOT true.
I look out at my street from my porch and we have beautiful trees and old homes still in tact and preserved. Others, look out what used to be their front porch and have a view of jagged tree limbs, of what were once mature trees, that dot the skyline and piles of rubble that once were their neighbor's homes. I am thankful that my friends and family are okay. Others, have lost loved ones. It is frightening and extremely humbling.
I love how people have shown, once again, that most human beings are inherently good. People care and want to help. I have witnessed first hand people all over our community donating money, time, food and their hands to work in strangers yards to clear debris, and offer support. What a testimony to God!!!
I have decided not to post the pictures I have taken, not yet. I got the images in this post off the internet. I don't know why these feel okay for me to use and not the ones I took. There are people who feel vurnerable and are resentful of all the curious onlookers who come into their exposed neighborhoods and homes to photograph their tragedies. I'm sad to say that I'm one of those curious onlookers. But my reasons for photojournaling are to perserve a part of history because I care for Springifeld and for my son who is away for 2 years and wants to be kept abreast of any changes in the area and this is a pretty big change. The entire landscape of the affected areas has been turned upside down and that seems important to document.
I could still be asking myself why did all this happened. Instead I choose to focus on the positive and that is to be there for those who need it. I know I would want help!

Saint Paddy's Day at the Metzgers

2011-05-03T16:47:00.003-04:00

This picture was taken at Noel Metzger's home on March 17th. She started a tradition with our family several years ago because she thought Bobby deserved to celebrate part of his heritage, and now we celebrate St. Patrick's Day together!!
Isn't that sweet??!!

Another kind of countdown begins...

2011-04-14T21:10:00.005-04:00

Saying goodbye is never an easy thing, but you never said you'd stay forever...

Taylor Dane's 'Love will lead you back'

I must say this was hard. Since returning, I've felt out of sorts. I understand that this mission is important. I understand Gage is doing what God wants and he will be blessed for it. I have no doubt. At the end, he couldn't wait to get to the MTC.
What is hard is having him so far; knowing I can't jump in my car and be there for him; not being able to talk to him when I want or to hear about his day; not to be able to hold him and have him kiss my check or have him tell me thank you a dozen times a day for so many little things he acknowledges I do for him.
I miss my baby boy...I miss the young man he's become... I'll miss him fiercely everyday... I love you Gage and will pray for you every minute of the day. I trust God will be there for you and with you and am envious of that. Is that a sin? To envy God?
I don't know, but I do know that He loved me enough to send this incredible boy in my life and I know He trusted me enough to raise him and prepare him for this moment of service; to return Gage back to Him. Our children are never really ours and this was the wake up call to that fact.
Thank you Heavenly Father for loving me so perfect enough to trust me and forgive me for being so imperfect...
We've spent months counting down for Gage to leave to the MTC and since this morning I've started counting down for his return. As Miriam reminded me, 'It's only 4 General Conferences until he returns.'

and the countdown begins...

2011-03-29T15:57:00.004-04:00

These pictures were taken at Sears studios by the prompting of my visiting teacher... Thanks Kat :)

My oldest child will be leaving on April 13th to the MTC in Utah. Bobby and I are blessed to be taking him out there on the 10th of April. I will enjoy spending quality time with him before he leaves. I am so proud to call this young man my son.

Thank you to everyone who have been so supportive to our family. We wouldn't be here without you all!!!!

My Favorite things... Brandy's Challenge!

2011-03-08T16:39:00.016-05:00

Well Brandy, I'm taking your challenge!!! Here's her link to her blog in case you want to enter her contest...

http://millerandbrandi.blogspot.com/2011/03/reminder.html
or look down the right side of my blog under blog list to find hers!

1. My family...
This would have to be my favorite thing ever... my fam :)

2. Handbags...
I have a handbag fetish. I have way more than I could use in a 10 year time span, but I think it is one of the easiest accessories to change and it is so practical.

3.Clorox Toilet Bowl Wand...
How could this beat out Brimfield??? I'll tell you this is the best invention EVER!!
You don't have to store a yucky, wet wand. You put a pad in the end of the wand (which all ready has the cleaner in it), you don't even touch it, and clean your bowl and throw the pad away with the click of a button... SWEET!

4.Brimfield Antiques show...
A friend of mine introduced me to this place several years back and I've been hooked ever since! It is an outdoor show that boasts about 5,000 dealers. They have 3 shows every year in May, July and September. They say if you can't find it at Brimfield, it ain't out there!

5. Butterfingers!
This is by far one of the best candy bars of all time!!! Chocolate, peanut butter and crunch... doesn't get any better than that!

6.Paraguay...
I know this is corny, especially since I've never been there, BUT, my son will be going on his mission there in a few short weeks and I've done so much research that I feel I've all ready been there. I will be thinking much about this place over the next two years!

7. Asics Running shoes...
My husband bought me a pair last year when I started working out, and they are truly the best sneaker. I never enjoyed exercising, but these sneakers make my jog and workout much more comfortable.

8. The Day the Falls stood still by Cathy Marie Buchanan...
This book is about Niagara Falls in 1915. The author does a great job mixing facts about the town harnessing the falls to bring hydroelectric power to the area and a fictional love story about a young, sheltered girl and the town's local hero. It is very romantic both the young couple's story and the way she describes the fall's haunting power to attract and mesmerize people throughout history.

9.Living Proof hair treatment...
This is an incredible hair product for people who suffer from frizzy hair. I have to use a lot of it, but it's worth every penny. Guaranteed great hair day!

10. The movie Knight and Day...
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie! I don't know if I was just in a silly mood that day, but I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. My sister thought I was a little nuts, but I still thought it was a fun movie!!!!

Melisa's ornament exchange

2011-03-07T16:36:00.004-05:00

I wanted to post this group picture because of few of you have asked for copies and I figured this way you could just copy it off the blog instead of waiting for me ;)
In case you are wondering why I included a picture ofBarbie holding a star... One of my sister's kids thought it would be cute to hang an ornament on her. She was just sitting on the floor, in that position, waiting:) It was just too cute to pass up. I was supposed to make copies of it to attach to the "thank you for coming" cookies my sister baked, but I dropped the ball.
Barbie did attend the party... she was on the kitchen floor by the door... just waiting to be noticed. So here's to you Barbie... Merry Christmas and Merry Christmas to everyone who was able to attend!

From left to right back row:
Charlene Pellitier, Mercedes Mejias, Noel Metzger, Barbara Hale, Kertsi Cobb, Lucy Willingham, Janel Long, Joanne Rousseau.
Middle: Karen West, Jennifer Baird
Front: Becky Cousineau, Amber Jensen, Lisa Holland, Kimberly Lewis, Marcia Long, Gail Mejias, Gabrielle Mack, Leena Mack, Melisa Yeager and Mercedes Ackerman.

New Beginnings

2011-02-27T23:25:00.009-05:00

Talk about time flying. Rocquel will be moving into the Young Woman's program this year which means that she is a, well, a Young Woman :) The program has a tradition of welcoming the new girls with an evening called New Beginnings. This is where the new girls are given information on what YW's is about and what to expect. Mercedes gave a brief talk on Roci; who she is and her likes and dislikes.
I could tell Roci was nervous, but deep down she is so excited to be moving out of Primary. She's at that age where she feels like she's too old for some things and frustrated that she is still treated like a 'little kid' although there is a part of her that still craves it. I remember those feelings all too well.
Mercedes is plugging along with her Personal Progress and has almost completed the requirements in order to receive her YW medallion. Personal Progress is a series of projects and challenges that require many hours of service projects and scripture study and I'm proud to say that Mercedes has worked very hard to complete it. She has always had that innate drive to do whatever she sets her mind to.
Congratulations Rocola and I'm so happy Mercy will still be there to show you the ropes and watch over you. I am also thankful that you have these programs. I know they will make a huge difference in your lives.

Here's a group picture of the Young Women's class... they are gorgeous!

This is Sister Hatch, the YW Leader, with the Bishop and Miss Rocola

I guess the bishop decided he needed to do some bench pressing although his form is a little weak... :)

Congratulations Roci and be sure to watch your sister. She does love you!

First day

2011-02-27T23:17:00.004-05:00

Aalyia and Kaleigh moved into Senior Primary and were fortunate enough to have their teacher, Sister Hale, move up with them. This year is their baptism year and they are excited!

This is Caleb's first big day in Primary. He is beaming just like the Sunbeam he is!

Life is beautiful...

2011-02-27T22:44:00.005-05:00

May we remember to just be...

These are the moments I'm thankful for. They remind me that things are the way we perceive them. Happy or sad, we make our reality. These kids are in the moment enjoying all life has to offer them; just having fun. No regrets and no worries for the future. They are happy because they choose to be.
Thank God for these tender reminders of love, life and blessings we don't deserve but are given freely.

Time for change... I think

2011-02-10T10:53:00.004-05:00

I am not fond of change unless I'm in control of it. I need to want it, not feel like I'm being forced into it.
Recently my Sony 200 disc CD changer died. It happened Christmas day. I've had it for about 15 years and it's been my little jukebox. I called a repair shop and it will cost $50 to look at it. The money will go toward the repair... if it can be fixed. The gentleman may not even be able to get parts for it and if he does, it may not be worth the cost. I found another CD changer, 300 disc, for $200. As I stared at the box in the aisle of Best Buy, I thought back to vinyl records and 8-tracks. When cassette tapes became popular, I was hestitant. I loved my records. I love the couple of seconds right before the song comes on where it makes the static/crunchy sound. It reminded me of home and evenings of listening to the latest records with my cousins. As my friends embraced the tape cassette, I became envious. The tapes were small and easy to carry around. The best part was that you could record your own favorite music on a blank tape and have your favorites all in one place! I eventually converted. When CD's became the 'in' thing, I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to carry around some disc you had to be so careful with. My friend in high school, Tita, was one of the first in our group I remember having a CD walkman. Everyone was in awe and obsessed about the quality; how clear it was and of course, how cool it looked! It wasn't until I was married (yikes!) that I converted to CD's. That took about 7 years:) Heck, since I'm confessing, our first DVD player was given to us by the Butters' because they were upgrading and were shocked that we were still embracing our VHS tapes. That, my friends, was only a few years ago!
Now I find myself agonizing over the decision to convert to, ahem, digital. Bobby has been telling me to buy an ipod and just put all our music on it. Then we could buy a receiver, or should I say, a docking station, and that can be our new 'jukebox'. For $249, we could have 40,000 songs at our disposal.
It's small enough to fit into my hand which means we can take it anywhere we'd like.
My daughter, Mercedes and my sister, pitched in to get me an ipod shuffle for Christmas. I must say I wasn't expecting this at all. I was so grateful for their generosity. It sat on my desk for a while and just last night I took it out of the packaging to charge it. I have to download the itunes program on my computer so it can reformat my music library off Windows media player. I have been fighting this and I'm not so sure why. The shuffle is smaller than a half dollar and will store about 400 songs. That is mind boggling to me. I had Mercedes hook it up to their computer but apparently the itunes program is dated and needs to be upgraded. Why am I hesitating? I guess part of it is being able to say goodbye to my past; to acknowledge that there are better things. I guess it is also admitting that I'm getting old... YUCK.
I keep looking at my little shuffle and I know I will love it. Mostly, I think, because my daughter and sister gave it to me... and probably because it's so easy to carry around and because it will be amazing to have so many commercial free hours of music :-)
I should just embrace it and enjoy it while it's here. Even though I can't imagine what else could be invented, I'm sure there is something all ready out there waiting to take the place of this little shuffle... UGGGH!

Quote of the week...

2011-01-27T22:56:00.002-05:00

May all your troubles be as short as your New Year's resolutions!

Seperate beds

2011-01-10T21:09:00.007-05:00

Once a upon a time a young lady got married. She was very excited to share a bed with her new hubby because that would mean cuddling... and lots of it! They would be sharing a full size bed so it would be perfect. Or so she thought.
She didn't realize that her hubby liked space and LOTS of it. He enjoyed having his own blanket as well because this young lady didn't know she was a blanket hog in her sleep. Oh, hubby would try to cuddle, but it lasted only a little while and then he would turn over to enjoy a night of noncuddling sleep. The young lady was very hurt and took it personally. She addressed the issue and hubby reassured her it wasn't anything to do with her; he just liked his space... and lots of it!
Time passed and hubby talked the young lady into a king size bed. She was very against this idea because to her, that meant no cuddling at all. How could they? The bed would be HUGE! But because she wanted him to be happy she went along with the idea and out went the cute little bed and in came in King Kong.
She felt completely lost and lonely in the sea of mattress. Hubby, on the other hand, was lovin' life. Over time, though, she grew to appreciate the space. She was a tired mother of two and needed the sleep. Something had happened to her hormones as well because she became a heat generator. She didn't like anything on her or anyone too close to her because she would sweat, alot, and that was not good.
Many years passed and the bed became old and soggy. The mattress just wasn't as comfortable as it once was and it was time to replace it. Unfortunately, they couldn't afford another king size bed so they down-sized to a queen. Hubby was very content with the new bed because, unbeknownst to the young lady, he had become a CUDDLER. However, some changes had occured over the years. The young lady now enjoyed her space and with the heat generating condition she had, she didn't want to cuddle anymore. She also became attached to a pillow that she would use for her shoulder to alleviate pain which, in turn created a 'barrier' in the bed. She wanted peace and quiet; hubby preferred to sleep with 'waves' to drown out any noise. She would be woken up by the slightest movement in the bed, while hubby, slept pretty soundly. Not only was she missing that King Kong of a bed terribly, their sleeping habits had changed so much that seperate beds were sounding very nice.
This idea freaked hubby out! 'Are you not happy?', 'Is there something I should know about?'
No, nothing like that. It just seemed that with the many years of marriage, countless hours of lost sleep,( i.e. children), and general stresses of life, the young lady was just needing something of her very own. Something she could crawl into and curl up in and enjoy all to herself. Something that she could lose herself in for a few hours every night, alone.
Hubby did some research and after much pondering decided his young lady's happiness was very important to him so he agreed.
He agreed...

It is very strange how when you think you really want something and someone decides they are going to help make it a reality, it makes you think twice...

I've been reading alot on married couples sleeping in seperate beds and couples who have seperate bedrooms. Why? First of all, I'm tired. We have a crappy bed and I can feel every little movement. Every move wakes me up. I haven't had a decent night's sleep in a LONG time. The idea of jumping into my own little space, with my own blankets, and sleeping any old way sounds so appealing to me. Second, two twin beds are alot cheaper than a king.
At least it WAS very appealing until Bobby did his research, and, after getting over the shock of it and receiving much reassurance that this wasn't the first step to divorce, and deciding he would go along with it. Now that I have the green light, I'm not so confident. I have to confess that now I'm a little worried that he'll REALLY like it. This could be temporary for me, a phase. I want it to be difficult for him because I don't want him thinking, 'Hey, we should have done this ages ago!'
I want to call the shots and be in control!

There you have it. My deep dark secrets and not so secret issues. Will it happen? I don't know. I must say that I'm pretty lucky that he is so flexible and isn't controlling. He's a pretty laid back, go-with-the-flow kind of guy. Maybe if I give it more time we will synch and finally be on the same page and how will that happen if I give him all that space...
;-)

Drum Roll.....

2011-01-06T12:23:00.002-05:00

Gage is called to serve his mission in Asuncion, Paraguay. I'm too emotional right now so I will give more info later...

His to report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday April 13, 2011. He will be preaching the gospel in Spanish!

Mission Call

2011-01-04T15:35:00.001-05:00

We have been anxiously awaiting Gage's mission call!!! I wanted to let everyone know that we should know by tomorrow!!!!! As soon as we find out, I will spread the word...

Countdown; 10,9,8...

The New Year is here...

2011-01-01T23:18:00.002-05:00

The new year is here and sadly I am not ready for it. I needed at least another week to catch up.
I wanted to be organized and ready to meet this year head on but I'm still working on 2010's to-do list :0
After much contemplating, I figured the best thing for me is to keep plugging along. No stress, no worries, right? I mean, life still continues regardless of whether you are ready or not.
So, here's to 2011 and all it has in store for me; good, bad and ugly. I guess I'll take it all :)
I pray that everyone out there will be blessed with all they need and a few wants along the way ;)

I would like to add that our family wishes Miriam a fantastic experience at BYU. She will be leaving tomorrow. She went to my sister's to have a wonderful turkey dinner with us and to visit. It wasn't until she was leaving that it hit me all at once that we wouldn't be seeing her sweet smile for awhile... and for Gage even longer. I was so sad for her and him that it took all I had not to cry. We said our good-byes and promised to write. She also promised that she would visit us in July when she comes back. My son will be long gone on his mission by then. I couldn't help but feel for him. So many, many changes that he's been through over the last few months but so many more ahead of him. As his mom I've always been fiercely protective of him. He's my only son and he is very sweet and sensitive. I want to protect him from change and the challenges that come with them but I know this will not serve him well. I am aware that it is not even possible to do so, but just the same it is difficult to watch any of my children struggle.
I understand it is part of life and will help him grow and strengthen him, but just the same, I miss those evenings when he would curl up on my lap to listen to 'Snuggle Piggy and the Magic Blanket' just one more time. I miss tucking him in bed and knowing he was safe under the same roof I was in. I miss him waking me up early with his cute grin wondering if I was going to make pancakes or if he was having cold cereal. Is it normal to long for him even though he hasn't left yet?? Too many changes, too quickly...
I wonder if my mom felt the same for me... I wonder what Miriam's mom is feeling.

Well Gage. Just know that no matter how crappy you may feel now, it does get better. This is all part of the learning process. Trust that God loves you and knows you and wants you to be happy. He is always there for you and so am I. I love you

Where does the time go?

2010-12-14T16:21:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's the end of another year. 2011 is peeking around the corner and I'm so not ready for it. It's a shame isn't it? No matter where you are in the race, the stopwatch keeps going.

I don't have a mirror above my bed but I'm pretty sure this is how I look every morning before I get out of bed. Scared, confused, holding my breath, bracing myself for what the day has planned. It doesn't matter what I have planned, life always has something else in store for me. From time to time it let's me think I have control, but in truth, I know that no matter how organized and well laid out my plans are, life always does me one better.

I need to be more like a surfer. Just ride the waves instead of frantically paddling against them. Or in my case, just sink like a dead weight because I never learned to swim.

In my efforts to make next year just a wee bit better, I've decided to focus on what my circle of influence is. Let's face it, if I'm going to be truthful my circle involves just me really. I can't really control anything around me; not my husband, kids, schedules, friends... just me. I'm thinking if I can get that down then everything else will take care of itself. Sounds a little bumper stickerish but that's the best I can do for now.

I can't really have any regrets because my life is pretty good considering where I could be right now. Everything shapes and molds us and we can take the good and run with it or wallow in the messy bits and blame everyone for our misfortunes.

Well, 2011 is coming whether I'm ready or not. It will come in like a hard and fast wave and leave before I realize what hit me and I plan on having a life preserver and enjoy the ride...

19 Years and still in love...

2010-11-23T16:49:00.003-05:00

Today Bobby and I celebrate our 19th anniversary. Considering that some people thought we wouldn't make it past our first year, I think we're doing pretty good. I don't think they realized just how stubborn we really are :)
Knowing how much I love everything old, Bobby bought me this thoughtful card. It reads, "The moment I saw you I knew we'd fall desperately in love, get married, have kids, and drive each other crazy for the rest of our lives." He adds, ' and beyond.'

He went to a place called Chocolate Works and 'hand-picked' these chocolates for me. He knows how much personal gifts mean to me so needless to say I was very happy.

He also took me to this little place called Caughlins for breakfast. I love little out-of-the-way places so this was perfect.

I love you Bobby! I don't think that there is anyone better suited for me. You have blessed my life with laughter, patience and unconditional love and for that I will be forever grateful! Thank you

Busy, busy, busy...

2010-11-04T21:50:00.009-04:00

My daughter was commenting recently about how we never do anything anymore. I beg to differ. Here are some pics on the goings on in our lives...

In the month of October alone, we accomplished all you see here,(not necessarily in the order of the pictures. My computer is funny about how it chooses to load them.) Above, we are at my sister's for her 'non' Halloween party; below is my sis-in-law Joanne and I at a scrapbook retreat up in Vermont... so fun; I got Two albums done! yahoo!
A very colorful character who was gracious enough to pose with me in New York on my hope-to-be yearly excursion! ;); He commented that he wished he'd had time to get dressed up... hmmm,

Getting ready to trick-or-treat on Halloween night~ this spot is infamous. We always take a picture at our front door. It has evolved over the years.

Roci's room make-over; the 'after'. By the way, Mercedes primed the furniture and I painted it! It came out very nice! I'm not sure about the knobs though. They irk me a little. I think they need to be painted or replaced. Not sure yet...

This is the 'before' picture which should be before the top one, but it's not!...

Evening in Excellence at church... Princesses of God. Much time and thought went into this program. It was beautiful. And Janel's talk was inspiring!I cooked the food and was happy not to burn anything!

a picture of Aalyia on our walk and visit to the Farmer's Market at Forest Park;
She purchased, with her own money, a container of blueberry yogurt, kettle corn and two cookies, one for her and one for Roci. She promised Mercedes that she would buy her one next time but would be happy to share her kettle corn!

Kaleigh's open house/Book sale; of course Abuela had to spoil everyone buy buying them a book and junk, I mean cute pointers/nose pickers/eye pokers :)

A hike to Mt. Tom and a stop for dinosaur tracks; this is where I discovered that my camera does take black and white photos!

trip to NYC for Roci's friend Tatiana's birthday; Museum of Natural History, Central Park, FAO Schwartz and a stop by the temple. Doesn't get any better than that!

Friends and family over for dinner/Dave's 40th birthday party; full house, tons of food and dessert. It doesn't get any better than this! Good food by the way; didn't burn anything here either...

Carillon Field trip at Trinity Church; Mercedes will be taking lessons now, oh you'll enjoy it. and if not, at least you can play something you may not want to play. Is that so bad??

Roci and Mercedes' performance at Red Riding Hood's Basket... sold out of course ;) ha ha

So Mercedes, do you still think we don't do much? I'm exhausted just looking at the pictures and I lived them! Guess what? the holidays are just peeking around the corner! gulp

Oh I wanted to mention that Mercedes has officially passed the GED exam!!!! Yea for her! We are very proud of her. Two down, two to go! She is also recuperating from having her wisdom teeth removed this week. I didn't take pictures of her and I'm sure she'll thank me for that some day! She is a trooper.

Living Proof

2010-10-25T23:03:00.005-04:00

I was watching a medical program called, 'The Doctors', a few months back at my sister's house while babysitting. They featured this product called, 'Frizz', (with a line through it, hence No Frizz).

I have very curly, dry hair that frizzes so easily that it would make a hygrometer jealous. I was impressed with the product demonstration and went online to find out where I could get some of this 'miracle serum'. I ended up at the mall and asked about the return policy and purchased everything in the line. I was told I could try it and return the unused product for a full refund. I figured I had nothing to lose.

From the first time I used it I was hooked! I am so impressed everytime I use it that I have a guaranteed great hair day. I found that the styling treatment, conditioner and the shampoo (for the summer), were worth the money. I ended up using the conditioner as a leave in conditioner and feel it works better than the leave-in. Plus you get more at less of the price. Unfortunately, the products are expensive so I use it once a week or when I want my hair to look amazing! I have tried thousands of dollars worth of hair products over the years. I can honestly say that this product is the only thing that has consistantly worked on my hair. I love it and decided I would share it with you. It is worth it.

The website is livingproof.com

let me know what you think if you decide to try it!

I miss you

2010-10-10T00:20:00.003-04:00

Gil and Gail, father and daughter circa 1969

I know I've posted this photo before, but it was the only one I could find on my computer. It has been 4 years since my father passed away this week and I do miss him. It took me a while to realize that was why I was having a hard time this week. It is interesting how your spirit remembers things even though you are not aware of them.

I love you Papi...

Heeeeeeeeeeeere's Roci!

2010-09-27T22:09:00.002-04:00

How cute is this kid?? She is living every little girl's dream. To have an audience all to herself where she can perform her little heart out! I pray she has fun and that all goes the way she wants it!!! We love you Roci!

An update

2010-09-18T22:59:00.003-04:00

A few things I'm behind on:

Zachary's first birthday; a hike to falls somewhere in Westfield with the Baird fam; dog sitting for the Jensons, Mr. Darcy, or better known to Caleb as Mr. Farcy. We've been so busy this summer and I haven't done a great job keeping up, but I'm trying :)

Next post will hopefully be on the play the girls were in... I'll get there!

Time out for women

2010-09-18T22:45:00.004-04:00

I heard that someone nicknamed Time out for Women, 'EFY for women". I think it's pretty close, without the dancing part.

What a wonderful opportunity for a group of women to get together and listen to beautiful musci performed by very talented artists, and amazing speakers with powerful gospel messages in a relaxed, enviroment! I am so happy that I've had more than one opportunity to attend this retreat of sorts.

Hilary Weeks is one of my favorite performers and she was hosting. She seems like she would be fun to hang out with. She sang beautiful songs written by her and shared some fun stories and common experiences we have as women. I am thankful to Deseret Books who put this production on and make it possible for us as women, members or non-members, to be able to enjoy such an edifying experience!!!

Thanks Zana for sharing your discount on the rooms, to Teresa for sitting with us and sharing the bed with me:), and to Noel for 'not' coordinating the trip. You're too funny :)

Ahhhh.... Aalyia

2010-09-03T18:39:00.004-04:00

This little girl here just gave me the biggest pick-me-up I've had in a long time. This is how it went:
We had just finished family prayer and we were giving out our customary hugs and kisses. Aalyia was sitting next to me but instead of hugging me she went over to her sister. I was taken back. Then she skipped over me again to hug her other sister.
I said, "Uh, what about me?!'
She said, "No mami, just wait a minute." Then she leaned over and whispers to me, "I didn't forget you, I'm saving you for last because'..., (this part she just barely whispers),... "because you're my favorite."
She left me speechless.
Roci caught what she said and said, "Huh, what?"
Aalyia put her hands up and said, "Just kidding, just kidding." But then she looks over her shoulder and whispers more carefully, "But not really Mami.", with her big toothless grin.
I can't tell you what that did for me.
We don't play favorites in our home. We love our children more than we ever could express to them or probably show them. We love them each for their uniqueness and individuality. We love them differently because they are so different. And now that I think of it, I guess they are each my favorite because they are so individually special. I have been known to say, "You're my favorite Gage, or Mercedes, or Roci, in the world. I guess I am Aalyia's favorite mom. Roci will role her eyes at me sometimes but I remind her that although she is loved, she doesn't HAVE to be a favorite anything. The 'favorite' just adds an exclamation point to the love.
Aalyia made me feel so special. To know that she knows me warts and all and can STILL express that was amazing.
I try so hard to be a good mom. I battle with the 'ugly me' alot. The Dr. Hyde, if you will. The one who loses her temper easily, who's too busy to play or too tired to read a story. Sometimes she comes around and I don't have the energy or desire to send her away.
And yet Aalyia reminded me of my Heavenly Father's love for me because at that moment she showed me that we are all His 'favorite' because of who we are. Thank you Lovie, I needed that more than you could know.

How to behave and why

2010-08-18T09:21:00.005-04:00

photos by mercy

...How old we are isn't what counts. The two biggest questions to ask ourselves in life, at any age, are:

Are most of the people I know glad that I am here? Am I glad that I am here, myself?

Anyone who can honestly answer "YES" to those two questions most of the time has learned to BEHAVE in this world and to live a happy life.

It doesn't matter whether you are a Chinese grandfather, an Eskimo mother or an American boy or girl going to school-

You still have to get along well with other people and have most of them like you, if you want to be happy.

from the book 'How to behave and why'

God bless you!

2010-08-09T12:05:00.008-04:00

We were having dinner at a friend's home last night and the subject of sneezing and blessing came up.
My friend said she does not bless those who sneeze and doesn't feel bad about it. She knows it stems from superstition and refuses to continue the tradition and feed into it.
I felt that it didn't matter how it started. It is polite and good manners and should be done because it shows you care, even to a stranger. Now, this was a game of devil's advocate but it got me thinking.
For me the world is such a hard place sometimes so to extend a blessing on someone, I think, helps to keep us caring and compassionate. In Puerto Rico there is a tradition that I enjoy and continue with my children. It is customary for children (young or adult) to ask their elders for their blessing. Every time you see, say your parents, you say 'Bendicion', which literally means 'Blessing', and they respond with, 'Dios te bendiga', or 'God bless you'. It is considered disrespectful not to do this. When I was young, this always made me feel very special because I was always reminded that God was with me.
Maybe that is why I like to bless those that sneeze... hmmm...
In true form, I set out to research this phenomenon and found some things about the Black Plague , (blessing people so they wouldn't lose their soul through the sneeze), and blessing to keep evil spirits from re-entering the body once they were expelled through the sneeze, or blessing because one belived that the person's heart stopped momentarily when they sneezed.
The earliest date I found was in a writing dated 150 AD where someone blessed someone sneezing several times. But I could not find any info on the exact start of this tradition.
I like being blessed when I sneeze. For me, it shows that people are being empathetic and considerate.
To bless or not to bless... what do you think?

I was just thinking...

2010-08-04T12:33:00.002-04:00

I was just thinking about how this past year has flown by for me. I can't believe it is August! I started to think about how excited I always get at the beginning of a new year. I always feel as if it gives me a 'do over'; a time to set new goals, (or, sometimes, in my case, re-setting goals :)). I get this ' this time I'll get it right' attitude:
-this year I'll manage our finances better
-this year I'll be more patient with my family
-this year I will exercise and eat better
-this year I'll catch up on my projects
-this year I will remember to send everyone birthday cards
-this year we will get out of debt
-this year I will clean and organize the basement
-this year I will only think nice things about people
-this year will be the best ever!!!

I have been doing this ritual since I was a kid. I would get so excited because I felt as if someone was waving a magic wand and at exactly midnight, at the final stroke of twelve, I was new AND I was going to be able to do what I had in mind no matter what.
Of course, at 12:05, I was already thinking about why did so-and-so wear that ugly dress and stuffing my face with a yummy piece of cake. Why do I do this? I set my expections so high and as soon as I mess up I think I'm done! Or better yet, why do I think that New Year's Eve is the only time to set goals??
As I mentioned earlier, I was thinking about how quickly this year has passed and I started to think about the goals I'd missed. How we are still in debt, and how I haven't been as patient as I could be and the thinking nice things about people ALL the time... well we won't touch that one.
Then I had a duh moment.
This whole setting resolutions things is similar to the Atonement. Whether or not people are religious, this is what we are doing. New Year's Eve is a time to put things behind us and start new. The beauty of the Atonement is that we get to do this whenever and as often as we want. God doesn't expect perfection. He doesn't even expect us to be 'like' Jesus. He wants us to do our best. That is why we are all so different. He expects us to be the best WE can be using the Savior as an example. He gives us a 'do over' every minute of the day.
So with that in mind I started going over what I HAVE done. Well:
- I lost 13 pounds this year
-I paid off one credit card
-to date I am a full tithe payer
-I don't skip meals
-I have faithfully exercised everyday
-I pray with my family daily
-For every mean thing I am aware of thinking I ask God to forgive me and I think of one nice thing. (I have been pretty good about this).
-I've been 80% on the remembering birthdays :)
So. Even though I know all this, I still find myself looking forward to the upcoming New Year's Eve. I still enjoy the tradition. But I am blessed with the knowledge that I can have "New Year's" everyday. I've already started my new list ;)...

Homesick

2010-07-24T22:26:00.003-04:00

Every time I go back to New Jersey to visit my family I get into this funk when I come back. I always feel like I'm leaving such a huge part of myself behind.

I went this past weekend to visit my cousins and even though we weren't there for long, we had such a great time. My family has a way of welcoming you and spoiling you like crazy. They exude love. It's such a powerful force. I imagine that is what Heaven must be like. That 'coming home' feeling. Being surrounded by people who love you, warts and all.

I just want to thank them for always being such amazing examples to me and for their unconditional love!! And Mary, I will be there again alot sooner than you think. Hopefully you'll have time to get 'sick of me'. :) I love you all!!!!!!!!!

Drum roll...

2010-07-15T22:25:00.003-04:00

I had my appointment with the specialist today and he agreed that the cysts I have are textbook and that I am okay! He said I do have many, but that unless they are causing me great pain or they change in texture I am fine. I can finally breathe.
That is a wonderful birthday gift!
The positive side is that I learned a lot about breast cancer and fibroid cysts, so I am thankful that I had some good doctors that were concerned and decided to err on the side of caution. I am thankful for family and friends who were so supportive and kept me in their prayers. I am thankful for the phone calls and the emails. I am thankful!

When can I breathe?

2010-07-10T13:25:00.002-04:00

A couple of months ago I discovered a lump in my breast. You could see it plainly. I didn't think much about at first because I figured it would go away; it was just related to my crazy cycle which is always off. Well, it started to get bigger so I shared the news with Bobby and he immediately told me to make an appointment for a check up. I hate to go to the doctors and I didn't want to look dumb if it turned out to be nothing and besides, Bobby found another lump on the other breast so we figured it was probably a lymph node or a milk duct that we never noticed before.

I went for my check up and the doctor looked concerned. She said I had several lumps and a few of them were 'impressive' in size. She left the room and came back and told me I needed to be seen right away. She was very concerned and didn't want to alarm me, but she said it was something she wanted done as soon as possible. It doesn't take much to get my mind racing. I am a nervous person by nature so it was difficult to keep calm. The doctor had the secretary making calls to get me in right away, but no luck. The doctor herself got on the phone as well. About 40 minutes later, they told me that because of the holiday weekend it was to difficult to get me in and that they were sorry but I was going to have to wait until Tuesday (it was Thursday July 1st), and if anything opened up before then they would call me.

It was an incredibly LONG weekend. I don't do well with not knowing and having to wait. There was no sense in alarming anyone else, so I waited.

Tuesday finally came and I went to Mercy to have my mammogram and ultrasound. They found about 50 cysts. Some were very large. The technician and doctor there were great. They told me they looked like cysts and unless they were bothering me they didn't have to do anything else. They would keep an eye on them for any changes and I was good to go. When my doctor received the news she was not happy. She wanted me to keep my appointment with a surgeon (the one I cancelled because all looked well),because a cyst could be cancerous. The only way to know for sure is to have them aspirated and then have the fluid checked. She said her concern was that there were a few that were so large and firm ( I guess most cysts have a grape-like texture.) So I had to call and reschedule. The first opening is on my birthday, Thursday.

She told me it was better to be safe and be checked than to wait on something that could be worse in the long run because nothing was done.

So now I am left to wait again. The odds are for me that there isn't anything wrong. I am thankful that my doctor is playing it safe, but that still leaves my mind to wander and wonder,

" What if?"

What if I'm the one who ends up being in that 5% bracket? It is funny to me that doctors tell their patients, "Oh, that is rare." or "The odds of that happening are small." Obviously it happens to someone. Someone out there is in that 5% bracket. What do they do when their patient is that one?

Again, I'm sure I'm fine. But I am praying for that 5% group that have to deal with the bad news... like my cousin Irma who was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and has endured 9 months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She is an amazing person and I am thankful that the odds for her are looking positive. She is home now recovering and waiting...

Me? I'll be holding my breathe until Thursday...

The 4th

2010-07-05T17:17:00.002-04:00

We have a tradition on the 4th to watch the fireworks in Springfield (weather permitting), from a median at the parking garage on Columbus Ave. We have alot of good memories from this spot.

The Yeagers, Metzgers and two of the Baird girls were able to join us this year...

The happy gang...

What a ham...

My friend Jenn took us stawberry picking at a place in Agawam and for the life of me I can't remember the name of it! I went home with some monster berries that Mercedes enjoyed... ;]

Graduates ,birthdays and ATExpress!

2010-06-10T11:19:00.006-04:00

Roci is in a girl group called ATExpress. Four girls from ages 9-11 with pretty impressive voices. Their first public appearence was on Tuesday at the Suffield Country Club. They got a standing ovation and the crowd was very encouraging. Needles to say, my Rocola loves, loves to perfrom. LOVES IT!! The blonde girl in the back is their director and she is pretty amazing with these girls. Very encouraging, and patient. I'm happy that Rocola has found her 'thing' that she enjoys doing!

As Sister Palmer would say, 'Life is so grand, isn't it?' My baby turned 7 on Tuesday. She was so excited that she woke up early Monday and said, all day, 'Tomorrow is my birthday, I'm so excited!' All day. This birthday is a very big deal to her because it will mean she only has 1 year to go before she's baptized. She's been talking about that alot, too.

She is such a sweet and sensitive girl. I learn so much from her. She's quick to apologize. She's always ready to give and receive a hug. She loves to share and make people laugh. She loves the color blue. She also thinks narwhals are weird but cool. I love you!

My brother Adrean graduated on Friday from Wastefield High School. Yes, he graduated with honors. As you can see from the picture he was so excited to be there. I felt bad for him, because I know how much he wanted to graduate with his friends from Puerto Rico. At least he got a trip to PR out of it. I hope he enjoys reconnecting with his friends... and takes time to work on his tan. He looks so pale!

Here is a pic from Seminary graduation. Gage graduated this year with perfect attendance for four years and earned his passport for three. We are so proud of all his efforts. He was one of the speakers for the graduation and I thought he was very open about what he learned. I am thankful for this program. It gives them an opportunity to learn about deep scriptural doctrine, and start off the day (5:40 am to be exact!) on a spritual note. Mercedes is going into her last year of seminary and I expect her to do great as well!

Gage is an official high school graduate. He received his diploma in the mail yesterday. Gage, we love you and expect that you will be blessed with amazing opportunites throughout your life. You are such a blessing in my life!

Happy Birthday, Gill!

2010-05-24T14:56:00.003-04:00

This picture was taken on the boardwalk in Long Branch, New Jersey back in 1986. It is a picture of my younger brother Gill, and my favorite sister, Melisa.
Gilly, as he is affectionately known to his family, was goofing around with the stroller. He was racing Melisa up and down the boardwalk and jumping in the air. I was afraid he was going to tip her over, but she was laughing up a storm. Believe it or not, this photo was taken with a 110 camera. Do you remeber those?:) I happened to turn around to check on them and saw my brother leap in the air. I asked him to do it again and snapped hoping to have caught the moment. I still look at this and get just as excited now as I was when I had the photo developed.
My little bro' just celebrated his 38th birthday. I hope he doesn't mind me sharing that bit of personal info! I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday! Thanks for this special memory...

Papers, papers everywhere!!!

2010-05-18T11:47:00.003-04:00

Recently, I had fallen behind in my recordkeeping. I finally decided to go through my stack of papers that have been collecting over the last few months and started to wonder why do I keep it and how important are they. I am good about getting rid of junk mail right away. If I don't look at it within the week, it's gone.
I have a basket in my kitchen that catches all the mail that comes in. It then makes its way up to our office at some point during the week to a small table I keep next to the computer. The day before payday, I start to look through it and see what needs to be paid that month and I use a clothes pin that is labeled, 'to be paid'. After they have been paid, I have another clothes pin labled, 'to be filed' and they sit there until I can file them. I also have a binder with 6 folders that have a pocket for each month where the paper work goes into when I get the chance to put it in which is about once a month. At the end of the year I would transfer all this paper into a box labeled with the year and stick it in my basement and be happy that all was accounted for.
I have been married for nineteen years, and can I just tell you how much paper we have in these boxes?? I went through a few boxes last year because I figured it'd be safe by now to throw away bank statements from banks that have been long taken over by other banks and receipts from highchairs sold long ago at yard sales. But then there were things I wasn't sure about. Credit card statements to accounts we still have, receipts to our refrigerator and dishwasher, car maintenence receipts and medical receipts and EOB's (Explanation of Benefits). Wow, do we have alot of those with 6 people in the fam.
I decided to share what I found because I figured I can't be the only person out there who appreciates this info, or maybe I fell asleep during Personal Finance class and missed it. Either way...
Taxes:
I thought this was the most important. I read conflicting advice and decided that forever sounded about right. So, tax returns and tax related items such as W-2's, donation receipts, property taxes, pretty much anything you need to file, you should keep all together in an 8x12 folder and keep them all in a box or file cabinet. Did you know that in the United States, the IRS has 3 years from the date you file to examine your returns for errors, and 6 years to audit for underreporting your income by 25%. There is no statute of limitations on suspected fraud.
Medical policies and receipts:
These should be kept for the life of the policy. EOB's fall under this category. One site even suggested keeping these for three years after the policy expires just in case.
Life insurance and Investment related things:
These should be kept for the life of the policy as well.
Bank statements and receipts for bills:
Advice is one year. Be sure to shred, shred, shred them. This includes credit reports, utilites, and any minor purchases without a warranty. Some advice was one month, but I know that if I throw it out, I will need it the very next day.
Any large purchases that come with warranties should be kept for the life of the product. I know this sounds obvious, but I still had paperwork to a microwave that was stolen when Bobby and I were first married. Go figure.
Remember to burn or shred anything personal with account numbers, addresses, social security numbers. We have been victims of credit card fraud and have had our personal bank account accessed. I am very good about going through my statements now and keeping my eyes open for questionable purchases. Always call if you're not sure.
And now that I have done my good deed for the day, I'm off to do some more purging! Feels good!

Mercy's 16th

2010-05-13T17:49:00.004-04:00

Mercedes' birthday fell during Stake Youth Conference this year and she was not happy about it. She did not want to attend, but being the all knowing mom I am I made her go because I knew that once she was there with her friends she would enjoy herself. Some of the kids that were attending were from out of town so they stayed at different member's homes. In order for the kids here in the area to have the same experience, they were able to stay at other people's homes as well. That way they would be able to feel like they went away and meet other kids not from around here.

Mercedes was so excited to find out she was staying at the Flower's home. She loves Laura Flowers and her sister Megan, so this made spending her birthday away a little more bearable.

Laura called me and thought that Mercedes would get a kick out of a surprise birthday party... at midnight. That way she wouldn't spend the day feeling forgotten.

I woke the girls up at around 11:30 pm and got them ready to meet Bobby in front of the Flower's house. Bobby's sister Joanne met me at home and Gage decided to skip the sleepover part of conference so he could be there for his sister. We showed up a little after midnight and surprised her. I think we pulled it off... here she is with her Aunt Joanne and cousin Jillian

Here is the ever-amazing Flower's family...

Laura told Mercedes she had to wear the hat. Only she could get her to do this... By the way, the cake was yummy!

Our kids get to pick a party or a present for the gift and she opted for a trip to New York City. I know, lucky. We stayed at Club Quarters in Rockerfeller Center in a very cute room on the 3rd floor.

We went to the Tribeca Festival and enjoyed the street festival they had. So much fun! We didn't get to see a movie there because I didn't know you had to purchase tix in advance, so maybe next year!

Ahhhh... only in New York, this is at Canal Street

We ate at the restaurant next door to the hotel called Johnny Utah's. There was a sign on the door that said they were going to be filming an episode of the 'Cake Boss' that evening and if you went in you'd be giving consent to be filmed. I thought Melisa was going to die. Apparently, 'Cake Boss' is one of her favorite shows and she loves Buddy's cakes (he designs and makes them). The restaurant has a cowboy theme and is equipped with a mechanical bull right in the middle of a ring in the middle of the dining area and we were seated with a perfect view of the bull and all the crazy patrons who were under the impression they could stay on for the minute you needed to be considered a winner. If we did nothing else during this trip, it still would have been worth it all to see some very colorful characters on that thing!

This, however, is not the bull but the cake that Buddy created for Johnny Utah's. It was put on a spring that allowed you to move the bull back and forth like the mechanical one!

Melisa was very thankful that we humored her. Watch out for this episode because we may be on it!

this is melisa with Buddy... she looks so dreamy there doesn't she? I think she died and went to heaven;)

Time Square... 45 minutes before the car bomb was found. We had just walked away from the very spot the truck was... creepy huh?

This is Phantom. The officer made him pose with me. You see how he looks all annoyed?

Enjoying our room

and the bed

Prom

2010-05-12T11:33:00.010-04:00

Go to bottom of page and work your way up...

On their way to New Haven, CT for the Prom. They were late on account of me making Gage come back home after picking up Miriam and before heading out so I could check them out and take some pix. They were good sports about it! Thanks!

What a cute couple... notice how color coordinated they are;)

I loved how dainty the flowers were. I also love roses...

Here is Gage giving Miriam her corsage. I don't think she was expecting it; she looked surprised...
and maybe a little self-conscious with us staring and me flashing the camera around. Hey I'm entitled. I'm the MOM!

This photo has nothing to do with prom but I put it in because I love their smiles... Gage's smile cost us about $5000 in braces and dental work so he knows he has to flash those pearly whites on command...;)

mega update

2010-05-11T11:09:00.006-04:00

Geli bean's Confirmation- St. Mary's in Westfield.

I don't know where people find the time to go on FaceBook and other websites for hours at a time. What's the secret and let me in on it! I sat here at 10:35 to post a few pictures people have been requesting, and now it's 11:45 and I'm still here!!!!! I love blogs... love to stalk, I mean read them and love to post pix because my friends and family can keep updated and feel in the loop. I must say it's time consuming. Is there an easier way and would someone PLEASE share it with me????

ANYWAY, I am a little behind and since I don't know how to organize the pix (no matter how I upload them, they switch around), I decided it was more important to put them up than to stress over organizing them... Hey who laughed?? :)

Bobby and I - I am not smiling. My sister did my hair and as a result I got an instant facelift in the process...

Aislynn's quince - Congrats gorgeous girl!

My cuz Rafael, his wife Reggie and of course us

Niece Jillian joins us for (crazy running around) Spring break. She picked up this t-shirt for $3 on our shopping excursion, what a deal!

A visit to our library for a bird presentation Big Z admires a baby owl
A visit to the quad with the Baird Fam

Our friend shared tix to the Curious George show!!!

Roci meets Vance George, Chorual Conductor of the San Fransico Symphony Chorus

Superstar Athlete and niece, Kaliegh plays soccer this year

Kaleigh's not the only gifted athlete in the fam, here's nephew Ben at his first lacrosse game. He's HUGE!!!

Bobby celebrates his 46th birthday. Lookin' good!!!!!!!!!!

Life is so busy!!! I get overwhelmed sometimes with how busy we are, but we are so blessed. Life IS good! Thank you God!

My son is an Eagle Scout!

2010-04-19T21:59:00.005-04:00

What a week for Gage! First, I'd like to congratulate my son for getting his Eagle. He's worked so hard for it and had almost quit a couple of times due to circumstances beyond his control, but he persevered and it payed off! We are so proud of you. He also scored a car from his loving Abuela. I don't know who was happier about the car, him or my mom!

Gage earned 25 merit badges and completed a service project for the Springfield Rescue Mission with lots of help and support from friends and family. I won't tell you how I spent part of Monday and all day Tuesday (the day of his board of review) sewing patches that he should have received ages ago but hadn't. I also won't tell you how sore my finger and hands were by the end of the day. By the way, never use an embroidery needle to sew badges on a sash:) I'm not sure, but I think a bigger needle may have made the job a little easier...

Boy meets girl

2010-04-14T10:33:00.003-04:00

Gail 1968

Bobby 1964

It was 46 years ago today that my hubby was born here in Springfield. I tell you that this guy was born smiling! He's always been a pretty happy-go-lucky kind of guy. Fastforward to 1991 and boy meets girl. The picture above is me. Yeah, it's me. I look like I'm waiting for something. I guess it was Bobby :]
Happy Birthday honey! Thanks for being such an amazing husband and father.. and most importantly, my bestfriend! I love you.

Enjoying the weather

2010-04-06T09:56:00.003-04:00

Here are some pictures Mercedes took of the girls enjoying the amazing weather we've had!

High School Reunions

2010-03-13T21:51:00.003-05:00

I was talking to my friend the other day and she said her husband received an invitation to his 20th high school reunion. My mind raced quickly, 'When was the last time I went to my reunion?' I realized that the only reunion I have attended was my 5 year. That's right. My class of 1986 was SO amazing it thought that a 5 year was a must. I was pregnant with Gage and feeling quite large and very sick. I wanted to make such a good impression. I was not a pretty girl in high school. I was pretty scary. Frizzy short hair, very skinny, thick glasses, and painfully shy. Don't get me wrong, I had people I socialized with. I had a couple of good friends and then there were the people that I felt kept me around as a mascot. I couldn't believe how much had changed in 5 years with so many of my classmates. Married, divorced and married again. People having moved out of the area and living in Boston or New York. But then again, there were many who were still in school, not much new in their lives. And those who hadn't really left high school at all. The food was great though!
I was tempted to post one of my pictures from school so you'd know I wasn't exaggerating, but my vanity won out. Not that I think I'm hot stuff now, but I do have better hair... and glasses.
I can't look at those pictures without feeling instantly transported back in time to a place I was not very comfortable in. Not in the school I attended and definately not the person I was back then. There is a part of me that is thankful that I have not been kept abreast of the reunion schedule. But then again, there is that very curious part of me that would love to know what is going on with some of those classmates of mine. I know you're thinking, 'That's what FaceBook is for!' But I don't want to go there. I like who I am now and I think I'm okay with looking ahead and not behind. At least, that is how I'm feeling tonight:) I have been known to be a little wishy-washy in the decision making department.
My friend was telling me her husband was feeling the very same way. He had made some decisions in his past that he was not too proud of and wanted people to see him now; to be able to see the changes he's made and how happy he is now. But with that also comes the chance that you'll run into people that may not see that and bring you down. I totally know how he feels.
So, do these feelings mean that I really haven't come to terms with my past? Why do I get so anxious at the prospect of seeing these people again? Could it be the stupid mistakes I've made or the lapses in judgement I've had? Why does it matter now??
I guess in the end it doesn't matter. I have an amazing husband, four great kids, a loving family and some pretty tight friends who love me no matter what. It really can't get any better than that!

30 Day Shred or 30 days of dread???

2010-03-09T15:57:00.004-05:00

Last year sometime I noticed a few extra pounds that had somehow attached themselves to certain parts of my body. I noticed that going up and downstairs had somehow become a little harder. My pants and skirts were a little tight so I figured I needed to cut back on my Butterfinger addiction. At first it wasn't a big deal. Now, I've never really been one to workout. I had a brief time where I had lost my mind and decided to get in shape after I had had Mercedes. Putting on 45 pounds during that pregnancy was very sobering. Once the weight was off, I was done.
I've never had any real issue with my weight. I was blessed with a metabolism that allowed me to order two full dinners at restaurants, no doggie bag needed, and eat it all in one sitting. Yes, that did include an appetizer and most times a dessert. What can I say? I took full advantage of it. My friends used to ask me if I had a thyroid problem or if I had a tapeworm and if so, where could they get one. None of the above. I just had a Ferrari for a metabolism and I must say, I enjoyed it very much.
On New Year's Day, along with 8 million other Americans, I decided to set some goals. Along with 5 million others, I decided that losing 10 pounds would be a good idea. Those skirts and pants that were tight before were no longer fitting me at all. What??? I could pull them up to my thighs, but that was it. Yikes! I felt some panic. How does this happen? How do you wake up one morning and find that all your clothes shrank?
I decided I was going to take it slow. I don't like to sweat and I'm not an athletic person so I figured that I would take it easy. Work out slow. Well, after 3 weeks of 'taking it easy', I hadn't lost an ounce.
A friend of mine thought it would be fun to try Jillian Michaels', '30 Day shred'. Three levels, go at your own pace, and a friend to workout with sounded like it wouldn't be too bad.
Remember how I said I don't like to sweat? Well, this video is all about sweating. It is no joke, hard core, old school, Rocky-style, working out. At first, I thought that I would just plug along. Then I read the video cover that said "Lose up to 20 pounds!" Hello!!!! I would just have to work out two weeks and I'd be all set. I know, I'm funny huh? After the first workout, I weighed myself because I figured that the weight was just going to melt off. I expected results fast. Come on, I just spent 2o minutes killing myself. It should be that easy. Well, guess what? It wasn't. I worked out for two consecutive weeks and nothing. Not an ounce! Now I start to get scared. Am I just going to keep gaining? What is going on? I kept at it, but oh my was it hard! There were times I wanted to cry. Really! I was thankful to have someone accountable to or I would have just watched the videos and eaten my Butterfingers.
I'm not a very patient person. I expect things fast. Especially when I'm busting my hump.
I decided that I was going to continue to work out every day, no matter what. Even if it meant death, at least my husband would find something in my closet to bury me in and have it fit!
I'm happy to say, I lost 6 pounds on the 30 day shred and I earned every bit of good feeling I have for it. You really have to work that much harder when you don't have as much weight to lose, as say, 50 pounds. When your really overweight, it comes off faster in the beginning.
I have now graduated to Jillian Michaels' No more trouble zones. I still have about 3 pounds to go and then I'd like to do some sculpting. Of my muscles, of course.
I want to have a body to die for. And at the rate I'm going, I just might kill myself:) Jillian Michaels does not mess around. I think she gets a kick out of torturing people. I've never seen her show on t.v., but having used her videos, I can imagine how hard she must work those contestants. I feel bad for them. Then again, she does deliver. Wish me luck on getting in shape. In the meantime, I have a date with my video!

Ouch!

2010-02-20T22:27:00.005-05:00

I injured my wrist over a year ago tiling my bathroom, which by the way, looks great! I went on a 72 hour, have-to-finish-it-or-else spree. Apparently the repetitive movement caused my Triangular Fibrocartilageneous Cartilage Complex, (what a mouthful!), or TFC, to tear. It happened in September of '08 but I didn't see a doctor until December of '08. I was given a cortisone injection and told to come back if it still hurt. After about a week, it felt much better and I was able to move it with minimal discomfort.
Fast forward to December of '09 and the pain came back with a vengeance while I was trying to unlock my front door with the key. I went in again to see the doctor last Friday and she explained that I was going to need surgery. One part would be easy, arthroscopy and the other would require a shortening of the ulna which would not be easy or painless. She decided to give me another cortisone shot to buy me some time. She also figured if it worked for so long the first time, maybe I'd get lucky a second time.
The first shot was uncomfortable but the second one was extremely painful. I wasn't able to use my hand (right, of course), for a couple of days. I was told to wait a week and if it didn't improve, I was to make an appointment for surgery.
I almost lost my right hand due to gangrene when I was about 11 years old. A surgeon who flew in from Florida, just to see me!, held out hope that it could be saved and low and behold I still have my hand! So needless to say, I'm very attached to my hand:)
Considering all the pain and suffering going on in this world every minute, I'm very fortunate that this is nothing in the grand scheme of things. I'm blessed with good health and good medical insurance! Please take this posting as nothing more than just an update in the life that is mine!
I have been doing some research on these procedures and I will be getting a second opinion. My week is up and the pain is still there.
In the meantime, (while I procrastinate making that phone call), I thought it would be fun to post a link to some literature on the procedure and maybe get some feedback.
Here it is : www.pncl.co.uk/~belcher/information/Ulnar%20osteotomy.pdf

Driver's License... Take 1 and 2

2010-02-20T14:51:00.007-05:00

Gage has been waiting to get his license for two years. He got his permit when he was 16 and when we found out it was going to be close to $700 for Driver's Ed., we decided he could wait.
At the bottom of the page is a picture of Gage with his Pops and Madrina. He was nervous but very excited. Next pix up is the car he was going to take his road test in courtesy of his Madrina since minivans are an unacceptable vehicle for road tests. He waited in a long line, in cold weather, filling out his paperwork and anxious to get started.
The vehicle needs to be inspected and approved by the person giving the test and unfortunately the car was rejected because it did not have a hand emergency brake. Apparently in the state of Massachusetts it is mandatory for the car to have an accessible emergency hand brake which this car did not have. We had heard about it but we just weren't sure. Needless to say, Gage was just a little disappointed. He was just a couple of weeks shy of his permit expiring and was not happy to have to reschedule and find a car that would accommodate the commonwealth's unwavering commitment to keep its citizens safe.
My mom stepped up and volunteered her little PT Cruiser that just happens to have a law abiding brake. We also found out that the driving schools in the area will also be happy to rent a car to you along with a three day crash course and of course, a fee to use the car which came out to about $300. I think that the Commonwealth's unwavering support of the local driving school's business is amazing. I mean, to think that they would make sure that those driving schools not lose business is enough to make anyone cry. And people think that businesses are having a hard time staying afloat. Come on. With the government watching over them like this, who can go under?!?
Well, we rescheduled for the only date available before the expiration date (which was this Sunday), and he was able to get in for Friday.

Here he is. He looks so official.

He will be driving tonight to a dance at church with his sister and a couple of friends. I do trust him to be careful. Now he just needs to focus on paying for his part of the insurance on the van... and for gas..... and maintenance .... Oh Gage, congratulations and welcome to adulthood. Isn't it grand????

Ummm... where's the snow?

2010-02-10T16:39:00.002-05:00

I have to laugh. I have no idea how predicting the weather works nor do I care to know. I just feel bad for the meteorologists when things like today happen. All we've been hearing for 24 hours is about this big storm that is heading our way and considering the fact that we've had a mild winter, this is going to be a big deal. Schools were cancelled, daycares were closed and some people were lucky enough to get to stay home from work.
At 5:00 am the news said the storm would be here around 7:00 am. Then at 8:00 am they said it's going to start any minute now. At noon they said not be caught off guard because the snow would be here any time now. It is now 4:45 pm and I'm thinking maybe God knew how much I was dreading the snow that He put our street in a protective bubble and is keeping us safe from the frantic snowstorm that is going on around us.
Hmmm.... Maybe it's one of those slow moving storms and it will hit hard tonight while we sleep. Got to love the media and all there hype. Even with the weather.

He's 18

2010-01-23T10:08:00.002-05:00

Here is a picture of my two oldest children. I have to comment on what good sports they are. They were nice enough to pose with Santa for me.

Gage turns 18 on Tuesday and I've been thinking alot about the last 18 years and how quickly they've gone by. He is an amazing young man. He is polite, generous, courteous and extremely compassionate. I do realize how blessed I am to have such amazing kids.

Well, as I write Gage is at Springifeld Central High taking his SAT. He has been preparing for his test for the last few months and I've been praying all morning that he will do well.

He has decided to apply to STCC (a local community college) and do his first year there and then go on a 2 year mission for the church. I am so proud of how sincere he is. He has struggled with some of his studies. Not because they were too hard, but because he decided he wasn't interested in them. Now, I am a BIT of a control freak so it has been challenging not to be all over him and his studies. I figure he needs to learn responsibility, so I give him his space when it comes to school work and assignments. I'm hoping in the near future he'll appreciate the lessons I've tried to teach him.

Mercedes is technically in her senior year as well. She has kept up with Gage and has gotten two years ahead in her studies. She is more motivated at keeping up with her work. Or at least she was until the end of last year. She has slacked a little. She is also only 15. I'm in no hurry to send her off anywhere quite yet. I'm looking into summer online courses for her. Then we'll take it from there.

No one tells you how hard being a parent is. I don't think anyone can really tell you how hard it is. When they are little, they keep you running and moving. For the most part they listen and you know where they are. Then they become teenagers and all of a sudden it's a different kind of hard. They have opinions and they let you know them. You can't physically pick them up and put them in time out or make them go with you. You have to develop this unimaginable level of patience and reasoning. The bribes get bigger too. I never believed in bribing. I was old school and thought kids should do what's expected and that's that. That is when I had 2 children who were quiet and obedient. Now I have four and realize that kids come with their very one personalities and respond in their own personal ways!
I wouldn't trade any of it! I have grown in ways I never thought possible. My children help keep me focused and always striving to do better. They inspire me and I hope they feel the same... maybe some day!

Guys Movie Night

2010-01-22T10:42:00.004-05:00

Bobby hosted a movie night at our house... actually it was in our basement. A good friend of ours gave us his big screen TV. He upgraded to a flat screen and we inherited his old one. It is an old school TV. It's big, I mean big. The only place I would have an electronic device that large would be the basement!
My hubby was very excited with the creation of the 'Man Cave' and I have to say the family has been enjoying it as well.
We thought it would be fun to do this every other month, but I don't know if anyone will come back. You see, the basement is not finished so it really is a cave and just as cold! I heard there were a few people that evening feeling the chill. These pictures were taken when everyone had arrived. Everyone is smiling. Now, picture everyone huddled under blankets after the movie starts and you'll get a clear picture of the rest of the evening. I asked someone who was there if Bobby had turned on the space heater and they said, "What??! You guys had a space heater??!!" I thought that was kind of funny. The guys were nice enough to say they had fun! Hope they come back...

Look at this face!!!!!

2010-01-06T09:13:00.004-05:00

Look at this face!!!! Is he precious or what???:)
This is my youngest nephew Zachary Yeager. I have been waiting for my sister to send out birth announcements. After all, he is FOUR months old. I don't think it's happening, so as the oldest, I took the liberty of posting the picture.

This is 'Big Z' on Christmas Eve. Minus the drool on the chin and on the shirt, he is a Gap baby for sure!

My brother-in-law Eli doesn't like any nicknames for his kids so please don't share the 'Big Z' thing! ;)

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T20:08:00.004-05:00

I've always believed that the way you bring in the New Year sets the tone for the following year. This year Bobby and I were invited to chaperon a New Year's Eve party for the youth at our church. I was excited to help at first, but I have to admit that with the running around I did during the holiday rush, I started to wonder if I would have the energy.
I am so happy I helped out because I had a wonderful time! It was nice to have a wholesome, safe activity for the youth to participate in. There was music, dancing and a room set up for games and socializing. I won't talk about all the food there was either... (there was tons:)
It was a great way to bring in the New Year. I was sad that Mercedes was sick so she couldn't be there. She slept through the New Year hoopla so I'm hoping this year will be mellow for her (wink!)
For me, it was a chance to show my rusty, outdated moves and to release some serious pent up energy. I am anticipating a rocking 2010!!!!!
Hanging with the peeps... these girls know how to have fun

3...2...1... Happy New Year!!!

Celebrating an early Christmas Eve with our favorite Westside Family...

Christmas Eve at home

Helping Gage with his Eagle Scout project for the Springfield Rescue Mission was a great way to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Check out WGGB.com/Fox 61 and look for Gage. He was on the news Christmas Day for his project. He was able to collect items for over 50 gift bags for the mission and many donations for the shelter. Everyone was so gracious and thankful. We are also thankful. So many people donated selflessly and were willing to help out with anything that was needed! In the end it wasn't about the Eagle Scout project, it was about helping people and letting them know we care.

I know sometimes people think that during the holidays people want to help others to make themselves feel better, but I have to say that the holidays are the most important times to reach out and let people know that they are being thought of amidst all the holiday chaos. Many people are alone or lonely and any sign of caring speaks volumes.

This picture is a sample of the many, many people who made the project possible.

This picture was taken at the Springfield Symphony Hall. I took the chitlins to see the Nutcracker. We went with Nicholas and Noel Metzger and had a great time.

I am looking forward to an amazing year. I love the tradition of setting resolutions. I set one that lasted two days. That's right, two whole days :) But that's okay. I have a slew of resolutions to work on. One by one, one day at a time. I'll keep you posted and let you know how it works out! I'm going for a one week record and work my way up! Happy New Year! this one is going to be BIG!!!

Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T10:01:00.002-05:00

It is 10:00 am and I thought I'd be up around 7:00 am to finish last minute things. I am still in my pajamas and trying very hard not to freak. We are supposed to be at my in-laws at 11:30 am and I'm not ready! Aalyia has a 102 temp this morning and looks beat up. Roci wanted me to help her finish her christmas gift for someone and I thought she had finished it already.
We are supposed to take a van full of items to the church for Gage's Eagle Scout project in order to assemble gift bags for the Rescue Mission tomorrow. Oh, did I mention a TV crew will be meeting us to interview Gage at 3:00pm?
I wanted the week before Christmas to be relaxing. I got my Christmas cards out the day before Thanksgiving. I started shopping back in October. I got my baking done last week and delivered. I even pared down my list so I wouldn't have 60 people to deliver to! ( Sixteen was the limit!)
We are entertaining about 26 people at 5:00 this evening at my home. I haven't even finished cleaning:) Did I mention I could use a shower??
So, here it is on the eve of the memory of the Savior's birth and I'm worried about what?
I asked Roci this morning what her favorite thing about Christmas was and she said she couldn't tell me it was presents and spending time with her family because I'd get mad. We had a talk about the atonement and about Jesus being born and she said she knew it was important and she was thankful for His sacrifice. I thought at that moment, 'Am I focusing on what is important???'
So, I am taking a deep breath and counting my blessings. I am so thankful for my Savior. I am thankful that I have a testimony of Him and that I know Him. I am thankful that 12 years ago, my son's simple question of 'Is there a Heaven?', and 'Will you always be my mom?', prompted my husband and I to ask questions and look for 'something', to look for truth. I am thankful to have learned and still be learning of the purpose of life. I am thankful for my family and friends and all the material things God has blessed me with that I am so not worthy to have. But, I do know that Jesus has made it possible. In return, I will work on being a good person and share my knowledge of the truth of Him.
Now, I am ready to go through the rest of the day and weekend focusing on my Savior and, I'm sure, having moments where I will regress and freak out about running out of drinks and why my kids don't seem to listen when their friends are over. But then, I will remember to turn my thoughts back to where they belong this season (and every day!), and thank my Father in Heaven for my amazing life. God bless you all and have a Merry Christams!

A visit with Leah

2009-12-15T07:04:00.002-05:00

I have a friend from college named Joanne who is amazing! I am so grateful that we have formed a bond that has endured throughout the years! She is a great-aunt to a young girl named Alyiah (nickname, Leah) who is from Florida. Ever since my girls have been introduced to her, they have become the best of buddies.

Anytime Leah is visiting from Florida she asks to see my girls. Her parents drove out from Florida to be here for the birth of Sophia Riley, who happens to be Leah's new cousin. Well, as babies will do, Sophia took her time coming so Leah was left with some free time on her hands.

Joanne thought it would be fun to take the girls out to Yankee candle and treat them to some fun and food.

Roci and Aalyia have always wanted to make a hand wax mold so, of course, Joanne said sure!

This is my Aalyia's little hand. Isn't it small??

Here is Roci having hers taken off.

After the candle dipping, we went to Santa's workshop and closed the store there. We arrived around 5:00 pm so it gave us about an hour to tour the place and it was just enough time for the girls to enjoy playing around!

We went to Chandler's Tavern for dinner. The girls were very excited that Santa was having dinner at the Tavern and wanted to have their picture taken with him. Well, Santa was having dinner with 'select' customers that evening whom I'm sure paid a lot of money to have him all to themselves, but the girls would not be dissuaded. They stood behind his chair (while he was still visiting with the customers!), and patiently waited for him to finish so they could get their picture! Leah's mom, Elise, was the one who went with them and took the photo. She is brave because I know I didn't have it in me to be that courageous! Santa was very sweet and visited with the girls for a few minutes.

We had such a great time visiting with Joanne and her family. They were all so sweet. I felt bad for Emily, Joanne's niece, because she was the one expecting Sophia and she looked like she was ready :) Thanks Joanne for being such a gracious hostess! You've made some fun memories...

Salem Cross Inn

2009-12-10T07:10:00.003-05:00

Yup! That thar is Prime rib!!!!
Bobby's company Christmas dinner was hosted at Salem Cross Inn in W. Brookfield, MA. It is a 600 acre inn that has theme dinners and is known for their Apple Pie (and incredible whipped cream!) The company flipped the bill for half so we thought this would be the only way to afford taking the whole family.

When you arrive at the inn, they send you to a waiting area in the basement where you have appetizers and take a sleigh ride. You are also served a spiced cider (which was way yummy), and you are able to help prepare the meal you will eat. The girls were able to help peel apples and watch this amazing lady assemble the giant pies. I didn't get a picture of the rolling pin, but it was BIG. If any wife hit her husband on the head with it, he'd be dead on the spot.

It was snowing out so the sleigh ride was on! It was a wet snow, so I opted to stay in by the warm fire while Bobby and the girls got soaked. But, Mercedes was willing to run out and get this picture for me!

Here is the nice lady putting one of the pies together. Did you see the pan to the right with the five hundred pounds of apples in it???

After the prime rib is done, they bring out this huge black kettle to make fish chowder. The audience was able to participate by stirring the pot and throwing in the ingredients. They had like 5 or 6 different fish!

Roci wanted to stir but found out very quickly how hot is was in that fire pit! I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was busy eating.

The inn hosts a murder mystery dinner and we are hoping to get a group together to go maybe next summer or fall!

Aalyia is growing up...

2009-12-02T08:46:00.003-05:00

Here is a picture of my baby girl. Can you see her red eyes?? Those were caused by her mama.

She's had a lose tooth forever. When she first showed it to me I told her NOT to wiggle it. Why?? Because she's my baby, my youngest. It's bitter-sweet for me. Though I have NO desire to have another baby, I do want to enjoy my lasts; last first loose tooth, last learn to read, ride a bike, etc.

Well, Aalyia is a good listener and she did not wiggle her tooth. Her adult tooth was tired of waiting and decided to come up behind it. I know, I'm selfish. Anyway, I told her she needed to start wiggling it like crazy so her new tooth could come in straight.

SO, she started wiggling the little bugger and it wasn't really budging. Her sisters were giving her advice on how to get it out. 'Use a toothbrush and knock it out.' (that would be Mercedes),

'Let Mom pull it out.' I thought that one was a good idea. I've had lots of practice. Now, Aalyia is my most sensitive one. I don't mean she cries easily, she just really feels things deeply. She was uncontrollably sobbing at Merecedes' quincenera because she was so happy for her. She cries at sad parts in movies. She cried when Zachary was born. So, with her I try to remind myself to tread lightly because I'm not very patient. I decided to let her take her time. She was afraid of it hurting. Contrary to popular belief, I don't like to inflict pain. (Ask Bobby about his sunburn.)

After a few weeks, she started to complain about it hurting. I told her that since it is coming apart at the root that it would be sharp and would cut into her gum so it was going to feel sore.

On Sunday evening, I finally coaxed her into letting me start to wiggle it for her. She made me promise I wouldn't pull on it, just wiggle. I told her we could get some Coldstone ice cream if it came out. Well, we sat for about 2 hours chatting, wiggling, chatting, wiggling etc. We loosened it alot, but it wasn't coming out. Finally, I knew she'd had enough so I told her that we could continue on Monday and she should get some rest and, of course, I would still take her to get ice cream when it fell out. Well, Roci convinced her to give her a shot and she actually got it moving well. Aalyia came running to me and told me that she thought it was ready because Roci had helped her. Of course, I ask to see and I wiggled it and it was so loose that I just decided to pull it . Out it came and so did the tears! She told me it hurt. It was bleeding and Roci starts to yell, " Oh my gosh Mom! Look at all the blood!!' Aalyia had a panic look on her face and I tried to distract her by showing her the tooth. "Look honey! Look how tiny it is! Yea! Now it won't bother you anymore!' She tried to smile and wipe her tears as she cried.

Oh, how that broke my heart. I don't know if I'm a bad parent but when some of my kids cry it's like, 'Suck it up', and when others cry you want to just shrivel up inside.

Here is her before picture. She's so happy!

Now the tooth is out and she has it in a little zip lock baggie to show everyone. Now that the trauma is over, she is so thrilled! And she is patiently waiting to go to Coldstone Creamery after lunch today!

Something to be thankful for...

2009-11-17T18:49:00.004-05:00

I received a frantic phone call around 9:00 am Saturday morning from my brother. The conversation went something like this:

Adrean: "Someone needs to get down here right now, someone hit our car." (Yelling)
Me: " Adrean??"

Adrean: " I said someone needs to get the **** here because someone hit us. Melisa and Eli aren't answering their phones. Why don't they answer." (more intense)

Me : " Are you downstairs??" ( I was very confused.)

Adrean: " NO! We are on Parker Street and some maniac flew over the median and we got hit... it's pretty bad."

Me: " Uhhh..... I will be right there. Where exactly are you?"(trying not to panic)

Adrean: "We're hard to miss. We are in the middle of Parker St. near Boston Rd. and Walgreens. (a little more calmly)

Me: " I'm on my way ( I can hear a man's voice and he sounds like he's arguing)

It took me seconds to dress and run out the door. My sister called me just a couple of minutes later telling me she was on her way there. I told her I'd meet her there and hung up. She called me back just a minute later to tell me the road was blocked and that the accident was pretty bad. She said that there were several police cars and many officers. There were also three ambulances and they were putting mom in one and she wasn't responding to the paramedics. She told me to park at the Circut City and I could just walk into the street.

All sorts of things rushed through my mind. I thought about how many times I make my kids give me a hug and kiss when they leave because, 'I could get hit by a bus, you know. It happens', or ' It's not far-fetched for me to have a heart attack and drop dead, I am over 40 you know'. I also try to keep that in mind when I'm upset with my husband for being a husband and he wants a hug and I won't give him one because I'm upset and, of course, I'm right and want to be acknowledged.

I also thought about the last time I spoke with my mom and how I was preoccupied cleaning something and not giving her my full attention. I couldn't even remember the last time I spoke with my brother. I thought about how much I miss my father and nephew and the last time I heard my mother-in-law laugh. She had a great laugh. I thought about spending this holiday as an adult orphan.

Then, I got very angry. Angry because why does it take a tragedy to wake us out of our routines and remind us how short life is? Why is it that we have these tragedies and sometimes they are only enough to wake us for a short time, only to have us fall back into our patterns.

I used to think I wouldn't be able to live if something happened to one of my children, and my sister has taught me that as much as you want to give up, life goes on and there are so many people who love you and still need you here.

My sister-in-law and husband showed me how important siblings are when you lose a parent and how comforting it is to have that connection together and be there for each other. My family showed me that no matter what issues you may have with each other that when you lose your father, we are here for each other.

So how can these painful lessons be pushed to the back of our minds only to have them crash on us in a moment of ugly reality???

I can't tell you how grateful I am that I did not lose my mom and my brother in this accident. Had my mom been just a little further ahead in the road, just inches, she could have been killed. The SUV smashed into the front driver's side and was sitting on the hood of the car. That's a little too close for comfort.

I still don't understand why some people survive some things and others don't. I don't believe God causes these things to happen. I do know, though, that He is here for us as long as we seek Him and ask for His presence in our lives. He comforts, loves, and is merciful. and for that I am thankful....

Our favorite Westside Fam

2009-11-15T21:20:00.004-05:00

I would like to introduce my niece Jillian (above) and nephew Ben (below). Jillian enjoys playing soccer for West Springfield. Her team took 2 trophies at the end of the season; one for 1st place champs and the other for 1st place in the league. I knew those LONG legs would be good for something other than dancing! Way to go!
Ben's team, the Wolverines, did not win their last game against Agawam, although I hear they didn't go down without a fight!!! I must say he looks very striking in his uniform! Good job Ben and good luck next year!
I want them to know how proud I am of them and how blessed they are to have parents that are so dedicated. You don't know how lucky you guys are... then again, maybe you do;)

Ghosts of Halloween past....

2009-11-05T15:56:00.005-05:00

I came across this picture the other day and decided it to use it as a screen saver on my desktop. I smiled and put it on not really thinking much about it at first.
I have now seen this picture more times than I can count in the last few weeks and just today I was overwhelmed with feelings of home.
I grew up in Long Branch, New Jersey and have missed it since we moved here back in '82. Long Branch is where I call home. I grew up minutes from a beautiful beach and an amazing boardwalk where people from all over would flock to on the weekends for sun, fishing and entertainment.
Long Branch was home to gorgeous mansions on Ocean Avenue in the late 1800's. In the 70's, it was home to a boardwalk with runway games, roller coasters, carousel, bumper cars, storefronts, restaurants,a fishing pier, an outdoor roller rink that over looked the ocean and a saltwater pool with water slides! Cotton candy, saltwater taffy, rock candy, and all the junk food you could want! Stores that sold all the latest clothing styles ie; anything disco or disco like. It was also home to the Haunted Mansion. It was a huge, black house with windows covered in black paint. There were actors who walked the many themed rooms in the mansion just waiting to scare the pants off anyone who dared walk through its doors. It was scary and so much fun! I never missed a chance to go in when relatives and friends wanted to go, even if it meant that a lot of the time I left crying and had trouble sleeping for days after my visits. But I could not miss. You can imagine that around Halloween time the line to get into the mansion could be over 2 hours! But people waited. Every so often, the interior of the house received makeovers. So you never new what you were walking into or who was hiding where.
This day , in the photo, happened to be a Halloween where my uncles were visting from Massachusetts and we went to the boardwalk and waited to get in. My mom decided afterward that it would be fun to have a party at home so , along with my cousins and my little brother, we decorated our livingroom and came up with costumes to celebrate the occasion.
I was a clown along with my cousin Mary. My brother Gill, was a hunchback. My uncle Willson was the Incredible Hulk ( I won't tell you how much green paint was used on him!) My mom took one of here favorite jumpsuits (remember it's the 70's), tied the arms with lace and put some pipecleaners on her head and was transformed into a butterfly. My father had a thing for Elvis so that explains the gold dinner jacket and the frilly shirt that really needs to be buttoned up just a bit. I don't remember any other costumes that night or how many people were there, but I do remember my parents having such a great time! I can still hear them laughing! My mom showed us the bump and my father showed us his version of the 'freak', spanish-style of course. Actually, all of his dances had a spanish flare to them. Now that I think about it, I think it was always the same dance with a different name to it.

It is amazing to me how many memories you can recall from one photo. The picture above the fireplace is long gone, but the frame hangs in my room with a mirror in it. My father gave it to me before he moved to Puerto Rico. I recall many nights in front of that fireplace roasting marshmallows, popping popcorn and keeping warm. I remember hauling wood to burn and that awesome smell that has yet to be duplicated in a candle! I remember the fish that died in the tank over the fireplace because it was a little too warm for them! I remember the pair of cheetahs my mom made from molds and then hand painted. I remember many weekends dancing to the latest 45's my mom would pick up at the record store in town with all our cousins.
I would give almost anything to be able to travel back in time and just watch that night on the sidelines. Thanks for listening and letting me share a little personal history.

Impromptu Halloween party...

2009-10-28T16:03:00.003-04:00

I dedcided to have a Halloween Party for the little ones because my teens were having one at my sisters' and I offered to babysit for my neice and nephew. Apparently I have a way with young children. I was told that by my teens. My ideas for their party were not embraced but were good enough for preschoolers. So, along with my wounded pride, I went and planned a very simple and last minute party at home. They had so much fun. Heck, Bobby and I had a blast with them!
We played Bingo, decorated cupcakes, had wormy pasta for dinner, bobbed for apples and played pass the apple. I really appreciate having had the chance to plan and hang out with them. You can't put a price on memories like these!

Are you wondering why Caleb is upside down??? Is Bobby bathing him?,teaching him a lesson?
No, silly. He's teaching him to swim.
Roci, is that the stem??? Does that count?

Oh, another stem grabber...

Playing Pass the apple... this was a hoot! I have it on video and boy were they funny!!!!!!

Hey, no funny business... honest

Oh, Caleb did get his apple!

Decorating cupcakes

My mom took them to her company Halloween Party.

Echo Hill is really Yucky hill

2009-10-28T15:31:00.002-04:00

I know that sounds harsh, but we went apple and pumpkin picking at Echo Hill last year and they did not have a good crop of apples. I threw out the four bags we picked. The pumpkins were okay.
So, why did we go back? Well, they have a tractor ride that is fun and their cider doughnuts and cider are very yummy. They also have a cute gift shop. I also love starting traditions. With my sister living so close, I thought going to a new place would be cool. (We used to go to Atkins Farm.)
Fast forward a year and we decided to try Echo Hill again.
Let's just say that the doughnuts were yummy, the cider nice and hot and the tractor ride was fun. Oh, the weather was nice to. Please don't ask about the apples or about the pumpkin 'patch'.

We did get to visit with Sparky from the fire department and of course we had fun visiting. I mean, come on. Who wouldn't have fun with us....

ahhhh..... new york

2009-10-14T13:25:00.005-04:00

My friend Jen invited me to join her and her sister Sara on a trip to New York. This is truly one of my favorite places to visit.
It was Sara's first trip to the Big Apple. Her husband got us a room one block over from Time Square! It was a nice room. For those of you who know how picky I am about my hotel rooms, you know this had to be real nice for me to say so!
We arrived Friday night, checked in to the hotel and went straight to Time Sqaure. It is most impressive at night I think. We saw that TKTS was open and I was surprised by that! We decided to get tickets for a show that night since we had the time and went to see The Fantasticks. ( Tickets at 6:45 pm were limited.)
I have seen quite a few Broadway shows in some of the most amazing theatres so I was stunned when we walked up to the Jerry Orbach Theatre and saw how small it was. Not just small, but on the 6th floor! When we got to our seats, I couldn't get over how small the theatre was. It was about the size of the Majestic in West Springfield and set up the same way. The 'orchestra' was a piano and a harp. I broke into a laughing fit and I could not stop. I was so surprised and a bit disappointed for Sara because it was her first time there and I felt she was being cheated of the full theatre experience.
I think she thought I was a little disturb because I could not stop laughing. I have to say though, that the show was wonderful and after the first few minutes my anxiety melted away. The music was great and because the stage was in the audience, we got a nice closeup look at the actors. I am ashamed to say that I did 'judge the book by the cover'. The show was great and recommend it!
We went sight seeing in Time Square and got back to the room after midnight.
The next morning we went to the pier to catch the Circle Line to the Statue of Liberty. We were just going to tour the harbor since there are no tickets available to the statue until December. It was kind of pricey, so we decided to go to Battery Park. We walked a while until we realized that it was much farther than it looked on the map! On our way to the subway, we walked down NY's finest streets! I know it was one of the finest because it held the sanitation department and the street was decorated with clothing and a variety of fine bottles. We were the only ones on the street so I figured it was very elite. We took the subway to the park and caught a fun trip on the harbor and saw the Brooklyn Bridge, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

We then went to Canal Street to experience all the fine shopping it has to offer. You didn't have to worry about looking around because the vendors came straight to you and rattled off a list of all the wonderful handbags you could have; Coach, Louis Vuitton, Prada. Every few feet they were in stores, on the streets. Miles and miles of vendors. It was overwhelming.
We decided to eat at a chinese restaurant at... well, chinatown. Do you see the ducks in the window? I'd always wondered if they served them with the head on and they do!

it was a little windyAfter Canal Street, we took the subway again to Central Park. We rode with this not-so-cute guy in a polka-dot speedo with $1 bills tucked in the band. He really thought he was something else. I think that he is competing with the Naked Cowboy, which we did not get to see on this trp.

We went to Fifth Avenue to do some shopping and to St. Patrick's Cathederal and to Magnolia Bakery, which is my favorite place now, for some yummy treats. We went to dinner at a place called Azteca because my favorite Puerto Rican place closed. I was sad, but the fajitas at Azteca were yummy.

Jenn learned a painful lesson on this trip. Sometimes you have to sacrifice style for comfort. She wore sandals (I know), to walk around for the time we were there and boy did she pay the price! She had so many blisters that I cringed every time she took a step. She was a trooper, though. She did not complain ONCE. I can't say I would have been as nice.

I am grateful for the invite! It was a much needed break from reality!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kaleigh's Kindergarten open house

2009-10-14T13:08:00.002-04:00

Warner School on Boston Road

Kaleigh invited us to attend her open house. She was so excited to show off her new school.

Her teachers had nothing but nice things to say about her. She's very helpful in class and attentive. Her teacher, Mrs. Gardocki, said she's always organizing and arranging things in class. Melisa said it must be her way of burning off nervous energy because she is always moving around.

I was very proud of her. She has her picture on a board in the hallway labeled 'superstar'.

She loves school and I'm sure she will continue to impress her teachers. How can you not be impressed with little Kaleigh?? :)

How did you take those photos?

2009-09-29T19:17:00.004-04:00

My sis in law told me today that she went on our blog to check up on us because she knows how busy we get and she wanted an update. She figured we must have been extra busy lately because the blog wasn't recently updated.
Well, here it is.
My friend Noel thought it would be fun to go to Forest Park Zoo. It is a super small zoo, but they do have some exotic animals. Always important is that the kids enjoy it so much.
So below, we have some type of primate:

Here the kids are facinated because the leopard is eating baby ducks. They sounded very crunchy,
An armadillo who needs his blankey washed,
Caleb is posing with a nasty snake,
Melisa is showing Caleb how fun it is to feed the animals... he is sliding it under his mouth,

Zach.....ary is taking a nap,
Noel is also showing her son Holden how much fun it is to feed the goats. Yes, she is wrestling Holden there a little,
Melisa attemps to wrestle Aalyia as well but, Aalyia outsmarted her and threw her cracker at the alpaca. Yes, the alpaca has stepped back and Aalyia feels she has done her part. It's not her fault if the alpaca doesn't know how to dive,
Group photo,
Here is Bobby going for the last swim with the chitlins' before closing the pool. It was a sad summer because it didn't really get used until late July, August.

I can't believe I put two of the same photos here!!!! That's okay, Bobby likes the attention,

Last but not least, is little Zach......ary. He's about 10 pounds now. How cute!!!!!!!!!!! We are loving him up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So there is our update. Oh by the way, I forgot to share that all these photos were taken with my new digital camera that my amazing hubby bought for me! Finally! I am digital.

Gluttoney at the Ackerman house

2009-09-15T11:45:00.008-04:00

Mercedes favorite food in the whole world is breakfast. Anything breakfast. Anytime, anywhere. French toast and bacon are on the top of the list.
A few years ago we had the missionaries over for dinner and I decided to make french toast because it would go a long way. Elders Walker and Bueler were over and we commented on how Mercedes eats many slices in one shot. We are not talking about the sad, thin slices of sandwich bread. We are talking Texas toast. Thick and big. The elders challenged her to an informal contest. Mercedes ate 9 slices with toppings, bacon and eggs. They were very impressed. She was tied at 9.
Fast forward to today and Mercedes can still eat. Elder Mower and Kreutzer were over for dinner a few weeks ago and we again had French toast. Mercedes was at Six Flags that night with her aunt and cousin so she missed Elder Mower breaking her record at 10 with hashbrowns, bacon, scrambled eggs,and toppings. Oh, and about a gallon of orange juice. Well, Mercedes was impressed but she didn't take the news laying down. I told her she had to reclaim her title and we set up a French toast challenge for the 12th. My sister and her family joined us that evening along with the Flowers.
The following pictures chronicle the evening. I'm sorry the pictures are out of order, but it is hard to organize them once they are here... unless there's a way I'm not familiar with(I'm sure there is.)

I thought it would be fun to offer a prize, shake things up a bit since we had such an interest. We got a $20 gift card to Golden Corral as the grand prize. Even the little ones got in on the fun. Aalyia and Kaleigh tied at 4 slices each. They beat out Laura Flowers at a whopping 2 slices. Brice was done at 5, Bobby at 6, Roci at 7! The top 3 runner ups were Eli and Mercedes at 11, Elder Mower at 12 and Elder Kreutzer at an unbelievable 15! Mind you there were roasted potatoes, quiche, thick bacon, stawberries and drinks that everyone had to eat as well. No one threw up, though Eli was close when he tried for 12.
The video was much more entertaining, but it's not digital. Sorry. Who would have thought you could have so much fun with food??? By the way, I made 95 slices of French toast for this contest. Elder Kreutzer ate a whole loaf himself.
My sister made four quiches. We had 2 packages of thick sliced bacon, 2 quarts of strawberries and 5.5 lbs. of potatoes. Holy cow.

Feeling dumb

2009-09-05T09:11:00.003-04:00

I went on a date with my hubby last night to see 'All about Steve'. It was funny. Rental funny.( That's how I rate my movies. Whether they are worth the $10 or if they would have been better enjoyed at home for a $1 or better yet for free from the library.)I put my phone on vibrate during the movie and forgot to take it off. No big deal right? Wrong!
Never have your phone on vibrate when you are watching someone's house. My friend asked me to check on her house while they are out of town. 'No problem', I say, 'I can watch your house for you!'
Apparently, my friend's alarm went off at 4:00am. Her FIRE alarm. So there I am snoozing away, clueless to the fact that ADT has been trying to reach me and so has she!
The first thing I do every morning before getting out of bed is check the weather on my phone. You can imagine my shock when I see missed phone calls and missed messages on my phone. As I'm scrolling through them I start to panic. Oh great, I think, some friend I am.
I jump out of bed and dress very quickly debating on whether to call her before or after I get back from checking her house. I mean, man, talk about feeling dumb!!!!
"OH no problem, I can watch your house for you!"
So, I race out of the house and by then I've mustered the courage to call her and explain what happen. She tells me that she gave the fire department the code for her house so they could get in through her garage and they've checked it out and it was a false alarm. She said she did appreciate that I was going over to check and if I could reset everything while I'm there. She did also say she was happy that I was able to sleep since it was a false alarm. Hmmm...
In the meantime I'm thinking, what a loser I am. What if it hadn't been a false alarm? What if she hadn't been able to let them in the house? What if they had to smash the front door or windows to get in? Of course, none of that happened but I like to torture myself with the what if's. Growing up, that's what we focused on. Not the good outcome, but the horrid images of what COULD have gone wrong. We'd spend days and weeks, 'What if...?'It was like an olympic event.
SO! That was my Saturday morning. Wondering if I am as good of a friend as I'd like to think I am. "Oh don't worry, you can count on me, I'll watch your house, NO PROBLEM!"

Yeager update...

2009-08-31T09:37:00.003-04:00

I called my sister this morning to see how the kids are adjusting to their new baby brother.
Things sounded very chaotic in the background with Caleb being the loudest. My sister sounded tense to say the least.
I asked how things were going and she said they were crazy. I asked if Caleb warmed up to his brother Zachary and she said that he's been saying that the baby wants his mommy and that his mommy is lost. I thought that was funny. So he's in denial. Poor kid is confused.
When Mercedes was born and she had been home a few days, Gage asked me when we were taking her back to the hospital. I was stunned because he seemed to be enjoying her.
Good luck finding the baby's mom Caleb... she's closer than you think...

Matos Family Reunion...and Zachary finally leaves CCN!

2009-08-29T22:47:00.006-04:00

I have some photos from the Matos Family Reunion... our very first. I must say wasn't looking forward to going at first, but I had a great time! I was very nervous that I wouldn't remember anyone or worse, no one would remember me! It turned out to be a great time and Bobby and the kids enjoyed themselves.
Bobby doesn't willingly give up sleep, but he did for this event!
I am thankful for Tia Neli for her willingness to organize this and for her family's willingness to support her and help out where needed! Also, thank you to cousin Millie from Cali who researched and put together our family tree. Can't wait for the pix:)
Oh, the best part of the day is that Zachary was released from CCN and gets to be with Melisa and Eli in the room... FINALLY! thank you God :)

Zachary Owen Yeager

2009-08-29T22:01:00.005-04:00

He is finally here!He was born on August 28th at 6:36 am. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 1.1 oz. and 22 1/2 inches long!!

Where was she keeping him? He has very dark hair like Nathan, but as you can see, he's all Yeager!

Melisa's prego pix

2009-08-23T21:24:00.004-04:00

My sister just shared these beautiful maternity pictures of her and her fam. They were taken by our family photographer Joe Metzger...

OOOOHHHHHH!!!!!!! #!%#@?/!&=

2009-08-14T18:09:00.003-04:00

I decided to blog for a few minutes while the girls were in the pool. I don't know about anyone else, but it does take me a while to blog. I have to look up the pictures, and I can only pull a few at a time, sometimes they get mixed up and I have to move them around. In short, it's not quick.
I told myself only a half an hour. I was reviewing and getting ready to save the post when my wonderful hubby comes in and just shuts the computer off. That's right. He just walks over and shuts it down. Why? Well, he wasn't aware, I guess, of the fact that I was on it. even though the tower is sitting right next to me and the keyboard ! He says he came over to turn it on. Out of habit, he walked in and just hit the button.
As much as I enjoy reading other blogs, this is a chore for me. Not a horrible one, but a chore just the same. I enjoy the end result and the comments not so much the process. Kind of like cleaning. I love the end result not so much the process.
Needless to say, it took all I had not to break down and cry or throw something at him. All of you know what an amazing guy Bobby is. I am very blessed to have him. Really. But sometimes that guy thing gets in the way. You know what I mean?? He's a guy.
I finshed my post. And I will use this moment to get me some sympathy and Coldstone...

Cape Cod, Marconi and Nauset Beaches and Museum

2009-08-14T16:53:00.009-04:00

It has been a busy week!!!! We went to the Cape on Monday with the Baird fam and on Tuesday we went to Misquamicut beach with my sister, our niece Jillian and Gage's friend Miriam. Wednesday was Holden's b-day at Six Flags so we were there for a few hours. I did a Twilight Zone marathon that afternoon and evening with Mercedes and Bobby.
Thursday, Bobby took the kids to the museum for a show while I went to lunch with Melisa and Erica Racine. That was a nice visit and break from the chitlins. We were supposed to go to NYC today, but we are tuckered out!:0 Bobby is so thrilled to be on vacation. He has planned for us to go to Exit 7 on Saturday to see 'Into the Woods'. (It's the same production group that did Le Mis last year.)
I hope he's enjoying himself. We are enjoying having him home (and mobile!!!)

It's the Monopoly guy!!!

at the springfield museum

Misquamicut Beach RI

Gage and Miriam Baird

Roci and Jillian

Nauset Beach Cape Cod
Jen Dermody, Jen Baird

The Little Mermaid

Marconi Beach at sunset

High Meadows and the Naked Cowboy

2009-08-03T20:58:00.009-04:00

Bobby had his company picnic at High Meadows this year and we were able to invite our friends and family for the same price as employees. We got our motley crew together and headed off for a rainy day picnic.
Inspite of the rain, it was alot of fun! The favorite activity was the rock wall. There were also pony rides, face painting, cotton candy, popcorn, an ice cream truck,balloons, golf, swimming, and all the food you could eat. And did we eat!! All included in the price!!!

Oh by the way, the picture of Roci with the Naked Cowboy in New York was the only picture we got in NY when we went with the Baird family in July because Mercedes accidentally deleted all our pictures of the Bronx Zoo and Time Square!!! Don't ask. We were all so devestated.... Doesn't Roci look so excited to have this strange man playing with her hair??? I thought this would be a good spot for this pic...

Ending the fourth with a bang...

2009-07-07T13:22:00.011-04:00

We FINALLY got our pool up and running. We kept waiting for the rain to stop and the weather to warm up, but it's not happening!
I wish I had thought of taking pictures of it so you could really appreciate how great it looks now. It was a slimy swamp. It was so gross and smelly. Apparently, our pool cover was really a giant mesh cover. It kept the leaves and twigs out, but everything else went in. Bobby did an amazing job with Gage and Mercedes, both willing and able to help and take direction.
I never wanted a pool because it's one more thing to take care of. The maintenance is not too hard, but opening and closing are time consuming; especially when the cover doesn't do its job.
But, in the end it is worth it because of the kids. They are having so much fun. I'm happy that they can swim and aren't afraid of the water. Even Caleb loves the pool! His favorite part is jumping into the water from the stairs. Of course Mami has to be there to catch him, but he's so cute!!

I was looking forward to a quiet day, but decided it would be more fun to have people around. Saturday morning my friend Lynn invited us to watch the E. Longmedow parade. I must say it was long..., cute but long:) It was nice to visit with my college friend Joanne and her family that morning. We got home around 1:00pm and I hit the kitchen to get ready for our impromptu cook out. Totally last minute. but sometimes that works out best! We had my mom and my brother, my sister and her fam, and of course Kevin. Gage had to go to work :( This was the first year we wouldn't be together for the fireworks.
You know, we pushed Gage to get a job, which he should have one, but you don't realize that is going to cut into your family time. We all missed him!!! But this is part of life I guess. Part of that depressing aging process... The part where we sit around and talk of 'remember the days when...' My friend Lynn said to me today that a friend of hers from work told her how sad he was that this summer is so rainy. He said 'It's not fair that it's been so rainy because we only have like 30 summers left.' Lynn asked what he meant. He said ' Well, we aren't getting any younger and the way I see it we really only have about 30 summers left that we will be able to enjoy with relatively decent health. I don't think it's fair that the few summers I have left should be wasted with crappy weather!' How depressing is that?
ANYWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My sister made pasta salad and deviled eggs (yum) and some awsome crusty bread. I'm still waiting for the recipe:)
SO! The kids swam and we ate and visited. For desert we had a cute patriotic cake Bobby bought and of course Coldstone! Courtesy of Kevin!

We went to the fireworks in Springfield to our traditional spot (we missed you Metzger fam!!!) We were nice and close and the display was good this year. They had smiley faces and a great finale. We also saw a dog that was colored red, white and blue with stars. He was so cute. The owner said she used food coloring and used stickers as a template for the stars. The kids enjoyed that!
When we left, we were on Main St. in traffic. Someone was celebrating a little too much because she was driving about 50 miles and hour and slammed into the back of Kevin's truck.(He drove us to the fireworks.) She had slammed on her brakes a few seconds before impact so it could have been much worse. Thank goodness for the trailer hitch and the fact that we were in a truck and the lady's car was a Maxima. Needless to say, her car was ripped up (air bags went off), front end was gone, and Kevin's car sustained some damage to the bumper with the trailer hitch taking the brunt of the impact. Unfortunately, Mercedes was not buckled so she was thrown forward and jerked back on impact. Hopefully she will now listen to us about the importance of buckling up. Bobby was wearing his seatbelt on the shoulder that he just had surgery on, so when the seatbelt locked he screamed out in pain. The person driving in front of us happened to be a paramedic so he came over to tend to Bobby. Roci and Aalyia were in the 3rd row seats so they were jerked around (they were buckled though). We are all sore. Roci even sustained bruising on her ankle because of the way she was sitting. We are waiting to hear the results of the xrays on that.She may have a hairline fracture. Mercedes neck and back hurt. So does the back of her head where she hit it on the headrest. She cries out when she sneezes or coughs because she says it hurts so much. We ended the day with a bang (Ughhhh...) but very grateful for the fact we are all alive.
I also want to thank my sister and her hubby for being able to pick Gage up from work while we were waiting for the police to show up that night. We were on our way home so I could get my car and pick him up from work. That would have been a long wait for him!

Unfinished things...

2009-06-09T23:20:00.006-04:00

I was getting ready for bed and was going through my mental to-do list and had a shocking revelation at how many things I don't finish or am 'going to' finish and never get through. The more I thought about it, the more impressive my list became and of course I started to get anxious. My husband likes to remind me of how important it is to write things down so I'm not mulling things over and over in my head! So I figured I'd list a few here, they won't be in any particular order, to share the insanity that is my brain...
1. the blanket I started 2 or 3 years ago...
2. Aalyia's scrapbook
3. early colonial history curriculum (looks great)
4. crotched backpack
5. Baby blanket
6. two skirts I bought material for...
7. the landscaping
8. our fireplace room (still needs mouldings)...
9. a number of boring or what I thought were boring books... still would like to get through them just to say I did... sick, I know
10. a number of recipes I've been meaning to make
11. framing pictures
12. painting two dressers... it sounded good at the time
13. detailing our van
14. going to D.C., our two hour speed tour doesn't count I guess
15. fixing Gage's jacket
16. fixing Bob's pants
17. fixing my sweater
18. weeding the garden
19. moving the peonies
20. painting the back of the house... again!
21. returning the videos I borrowed from a friend... haven't forgotten an no, I haven't seen any of them yet :(
22. oh, rug that I was learning to knit... sorry Melisa
23. finish cleaning out the attic
24. put in kitchen floor (we are currently living with the sub-sub floor. no typo
25. long list of people to contact via letters and phone calls
26. sew the buttons on two dresses and three sweaters (we don't need the sweaters now and we won't need the summer dresses in the winter so hence, you can see why they haven't gotten done..)
27. paint kitchen (if I paint the kitchen I can live with the ugly cabinets, but I don't want to keep the cabinets so why go through the work , hmmm...)
28. clean the kitchen cabinets now that we have made a HUGE dent in what was once our food storage...
29. oh no! roci's birthday again!????!
30. Work on a vanity for Mercedes
31. and the list goes on
This is just a sample of what goes on in my mind at any given moment along with the many other thoughts like 'What should I make for dinner?' and 'I have to water the plants' and 'Oh crap, I forgot to put the laundry in the dryer'...

No, I really did forget to put the laundry in the dryer... gotta go

city girl...

2009-06-09T22:44:00.003-04:00

I found this 'blinky' and thought it was cute and very me... oh by the way, what do you think of the new layout?? Mercedes thought my blog was boring. I told her I liked the simplicity of it (part of that is due to my lack of technical savviness {is that a word??} anyway, I decided to look around and found this background. I hope that my effort is appreciated... hmmm

Aalyia's Birthday!!!

2009-06-09T18:34:00.002-04:00

Aalyia wanted to have her birthday celebration at Six Flags, which was nice for us because we had season passes(which everyone worked to pay for!), and free passes for her buddies! We couldn't have had better weather.
Melisa baked some beautiful cupcakes ( which are on my camera... yes film!) which we had before we went into the park. It was a good thing because it was so warm that when we got back to the car for lunch the leftover cupcakes were melted.
Aalyia was given a very large sticker with her name on it and she received a special ticket for a generous ice cream cone and a free game in which she won a cute tweety bird!
She felt very special when they sang Happy Birthday on the Pandemonium. I also bought super hero capes for them because I knew they would look so cute... and I was right!
I can't beleive she is 6!!!!! Happy birthday sweetie!

The super hero crew: Caleb,Matthew, Kaleigh, Aalyia, Holden, Marie, Gavin, Roci,Nicholas and Moroni (Bobby is standing in for him!)

Happy Birthday!

Seminary Graduation

2009-06-09T18:10:00.004-04:00

group pic!

Our bishop and his lovely wife serving ice cream for the refreshment!

Gage and Mercedes attend a class at 5:40 am every morning to learn more in depth about the scriptures. It is called seminary and this is Gage's third year and Mercedes' second year. The plaques that they are holding in the picture, along with Miriam (HI!), was earned by doing an extra program called the Passport. This is above and beyond attending class every morning. They have to memorize 25 scriptures and read everyday. This year they studied the New Testament. They also received accolades for 100% attendance. Way to go! We are so proud of you... and Gage will be graduating next year!

With seminary, I have seen their testimonies grow and their love for Heavenly Father blossom. I am so thankful for this program! I also have to thank Rita Bartholomew for taking them every morning in order for me not to have to wake up Roci and Aalyia like I had to the last two years!!!!

Gage's first dddate...

2009-05-27T23:12:00.005-04:00

CHECK US OUT!!!!!!!

How cute!!!!
robot sculpture at the show
Miriam being polite

Ugh! My son is old enough to date. I don't know how I feel about that. I guess it depends on which day you talk to me. Sometimes I feel great about it. You know, it's the next phase of life and all that. But then there are my dark days where I am just watching life race past me and I'm in the middle standing still. At 11:38 pm I guess I'm feeling overwhelmed. That's funny, because the other day I was feeling good about it. It's not who he is dating because she is a very sweet girl (her name is Miriam.) I guess it just comes down to the age thing. Or more specific, My age thing... my aging.
Okay. so let's start over.
Gage went out on his first official date with his "girl"friend Miriam. They met last year at a church function and haven't stopped talking since.
Gage took Miriam to an art show in Northampton and then they went into downtown Noho and had dinner and did some window shopping. I myself love Northampton. While they did their thing, Mercedes and I hung out as well.

Gage won't get his license until January of '10 so I was the chauffeur. I was more than happy to do it. I know how excited he was and I also know how much he appreciates what we do for him which makes it easier to do things for him. It also gave me some mom and daughter time with my Mercedes!

Post-OP... yuck

2009-05-27T22:00:00.008-04:00

Lucky Melisa! She happened to be over when Bobby needed his bandages changed and of course I recruited her help. I found out that she was much more gentle than I and she notified me that if Eli ever needed something like this done, she figured I would be just as gentle with her husband. Maybe it has to do with the fear factor. The swelling you see in his bicep and left pec is actually saline that was left after surgery and his body will absorb over time. It looked like a water balloon!
I want to thank those who have been here to support us and please continue the prayers for Bobby's speedy recovery!
By the way, the initials on his shoulder are not from the nurse who was flirting with him (until she found out I was his wife), they belong to the surgeon!

Bob's surgery

2009-05-27T21:23:00.007-04:00

Well, Bobby had his surgery on May 8th. I think it was so cool that they gave us pictures. Modern technology is amazing!
The pictures here show the tendon (starting at the top left and going from left to right.) You can see in the second pic a very small tear in the rotator cuff. The third picture shows the complete tear underneath. The stuff that looks like feathers is the torn tendon.
The second set of pics shows the doctor scraping bone spurs and shaving the bone down because of arthritis. The third pic shows a clamp taking hold of the torn tendon to bring it to the other part of the tendon so it can be sewn and anchored through the muscle and into the shoulder bone. Two screws were used to anchor it.
The last page shows the masterpiece completed.
Bobby has been in incredible pain. The doctor was initially disappointed because the tendon is usually attached to a tendon on the upper part of the shoulder, but in Bobby's case, the tendon was too short so it had to be sewn into part of the muscle which isn't as secure and takes longer to heal.
He went for his check up last Monday and the doctor was more optimistic. Bobby is now able to do some small exercises and is very excited to start physical therapy.
I have no doubt he'll recover fully. He's a believer in hard work and positive thinking!

the red is the bone that has been scraped

It's a Yeager!

2009-05-16T08:52:00.002-04:00

Here is a 3D image of my sister's baby boy!!! Is he cute or what????

Finally

2009-05-15T18:39:00.003-04:00

Ok, we have over 600 pictures for the Quincenera! I decided to make a slideshow so I could showcase as many pics as possible. It was a pain in the tutu!!!!!! There are only so many pictures it will hold before it freezes up. Of course, I find this out after spending three hours on the first slide show!
I couldn't put as many pictures as I wanted, so this was the best I could do. Oh, this took me two hours. I'm loving the blog, but still hating technology...
By the way Joe, thanks for the pictures we LOVE them!!!!

Mercedes Quincenera

2009-05-14T16:19:00.003-04:00

Well, I finally have the pictures!!!!! I am going to post a couple of pictures now and make a slide show later. I only have like 2 minutes so the rest will have to wait!!!

More pictures...

2009-05-14T15:37:00.004-04:00

My Grandmothers' 80th birthday!

2009-05-14T15:23:00.002-04:00

Back in March, we went to celebrate my grandmother's birthday in Westfield. She turned 80 and I must say she looks good!