Single Digits

TEN years ago tonight, June 30th, I was anticipating my c-section the next morning. It was discovered that my baby was footling breech and could not be turned. I remember joking that he was a typical male, he forgot to ask for directions. While he was my 3rd baby, he was the first c-section for me. I was a bit nervous and I believe Jared could sense that. At 4 years old, he was excited about the prospect of a baby brother but he was still very much Mommy's little boy himself. He climbed up on my lap and snuggled against my big belly. Then he fell asleep in my arms:


A few days later, we were home with our new precious son, Shawn Michael. Jared adored his little brother from the very beginning:


They've always been the best of buddies, and I'm a very blessed Mom to have TWO amazing sons.

It's hard to believe that Shawn Michael turns DOUBLE DIGITS tomorrow!! He has blessed my life for a decade!!

I felt the need to capture this photo of my boy on his last night of being NINE :

I can't wait to see how he grows and changes in the upcoming year. :)

Happy, Happy 6th Birthday Kassia Rachel

My littlest Princess turned 6 today. When she woke up, there was an Ariel balloon waiting for her. I made her Minnie-Mouse pancakes, spent hours on her cake, we took her to Toy Story 3, played with a yellow lab puppy in the mall and I made her favorite dinner (crunchy tacos and fruit salad). I tried to make her day as special as possible for her. Before bed she had a big smile on her face as she was wearing her new Princess Tiana jammies, so I think I succeeded:


This photo was taken a month and a half ago. I love it for several reasons, most of all because it embodies Kassia. As her shirt states, she is my "Love Bug".

On her Birthday, I wanted to pause to reflect on the past year. Kasi went to Pre-K 3 mornings a week. She made new friends, and especially liked twin sisters Julia and Eliza. She learned to count to 100 and write her full name. She loves gymnastics and mermaids. She enjoys going to the beach, swimming and helping me plant flowers. I will always cherish the memories of this past year together. We had SO many special days...just the 2 of us. Kasi told me every single day how much she loved me. We were best buddies: riding around the block, going for walks and enjoying the bike path together. We'll always be close though, and she'll always be my littlest girl. As I look towards the next year, I know that it will bring Kindergarten and tears. The tears will be mostly mine.

I hope that Kasi will always be the happy, "sunshiny" girl that she is right now. She always wakes up smiling and brightens my days. She is a gift sent from Heaven above and I am just so incredibly grateful that she is my little girl :)

Happy, Happy Birthday to my "Sweet Pea".

Love You Forever, Mommy

Tree House

Here's the latest project at our house:

Steve built the kids a tree house. Shawn, in particular, has wanted one for a LONG time. It started with scrap wood from the swing set, and quickly evolved into a Home Depot scale project. Gotta love the cute windows, etc. Note Kassia (aka: "Jane") swinging from the vine...er...rope. Shawn's birthday party plans, which are still in the works, involve a slumber party IN the tree house. Hmm...I wonder how long they'll last out there before they come running inside in the night?

Unwritten

The Falmouth High School Class of 2010 chose Natasha Bedingfield's, "Unwritten" as their song.

See Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7k0a5hYnSI

The words are PERFECT for where these young adults are in their lives. The whole world is before them like a book yet to be written, or a masterpiece waiting to be painted. Every time I hear it from now on, I will picture the class sitting there grinning, diplomas in hand...as the music played louder and louder...they were ready to conquer the world. Wishing them all a future filled with success and many magical memories.

Here are the lyrics:

"Unwritten"

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, oh, oh

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, yeah, yeah

I Hope You Dance...

Sierra Marie graduated from High School yesterday...

It's been such a whirlwind of a weekend, I haven't had a chance to collect my thoughts yet. I'll blog about that at some point. Throughout the day today though, one song has come to my mind over and over again. It's by Martina McBride-- "I Hope You Dance". It sums up exactly what I wish for my beautiful girl:

----------------

"I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,
May you never take one single breath for granted,
GOD forbid love ever leave you empty handed,
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance....I hope you dance.

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,
Never settle for the path of least resistance,
Livin' might mean takin' chances but they're worth takin',
Lovin' might be a mistake but it's worth makin',
Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter,
When you come close to sellin' out reconsider,
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance....I hope you dance.
I hope you dance....I hope you dance.
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along,
Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone.)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

Dance....I hope you dance.
I hope you dance....I hope you dance.
I hope you dance....I hope you dance..
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along,
Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone.) "

-------------

Sierra, Always remember that the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Don't ever give up. As you spread your wings to fly, know that your Mom is always beside you every step of the way.

Love You Forever,

Mom

Ahoy Matey, There's a Pirate in My House!

She looks like this:



LONG story short, there was a snafu with the baseball uniforms in our town. They didn't get numbers on them, so the parents need to iron them on ourselves. Steve is one of the coaches, so we were given the bag of numbers to hand out. Well, actually, the bag was given to Malia at school to give to me. That's where things got sticky. I received notification that we were in the hot seat because our team didn't have the numbers on them yet. Thing is, they came home with Malia last week, then disappeared. I've been scouring the house looking for them (in between spreading 11 cu yards of mulch, cleaning, attending PTO meetings and the rest of my crazy life). Yeah, so, back to the above mentioned pirate...

After learning that our team HAS to have the numbers on by this upcoming Saturday (graduation Saturday no less)...I again scoured the house. Just when I was about to give up all hope and head out to buy more tomorrow...low and behold, I found them. Hidden with Malia's pirate hat and a notebook marked "top secret"...far under the corner coffee table...was the bag of numbers. My guess is, she was playing pirate and decided this was an important treasure worth stealing. If I wasn't so annoyed right now, I might smile about it. Instead...it will remain something that I may laugh about someday. :( *sigh* I just proceeded to iron Shawn's number on. One down, 11 to go.