2010 in Review :)

As 2010 comes to a close, I'm taking a moment to reflect on what a Magical year it was. Sure there were some struggles, but the happiness that we shared as a family far outweighed those. Below, in a nutshell, is a summary of our year. I'll spare the mention of Spring soccer, gymnastics, baseball-regular Season and All-Stars, basketball, Fall Soccer and more...which were monthly (daily) occurrences:

On January 1, Steve, Jared and Shawn did the "Run and Dunk", starting the year by jumping into the frigid ocean...crazy guys. On January 3rd was the official "Launch" and I started answering questions on the Walt Disney World Moms Panel. As of today, I've answered 1,062 questions and I look forward to another full year of spreading Pixie Dust! Also in January, Sierra turned 18 and Shawn continued to battle migraines (he finally conquered those a few months later).

In February we participated in Disney's Give a Day, Get a Disney Day program (see post: http://fivetimesblessed.blogspot.com/2010/02/give-day-get-disney-day.html) . We also went for a ski trip to Maine with our friends the Johnson's, where I saw Tedy Bruschi on the bunny hill while his son skied with my girls. On February 24- 27, I represented the Disney Moms Panel for a PR Event at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Grand Re-Imagining. There I ate dinner with Garrett Hartley of the New Orleans Saints and interviewed Tedy Bruschi, Adam Vinatieri and Shawn Johnson on the red (green) carpet. I also did the Richard Petty Driving Experience and drove a race car 112 miles per hour, 8 times around the track. It was quite a thrill!

March brought Sierra's Art Show and touring Suffolk University with her. I also enjoyed dinner with Disney Dads Chris and Bernie.

In April, I joined Disney Dad Chris to film a commercial for Disney and Chevy. He and I helped a local blogger who was driving to Disney World over April vacation with some "must-do" tips. Shawn went on a Cub Scouts camp-out with Daddy. We had an impromptu beach-side picnic dinner at Chappy (take-out pizza) in an effort to will Summer to get here.

With May flowers came another Art Show for Sierra, Kindergarten orientation for Kassia, Jared starred in Beauty and the Beast as Cogsworth, my Dad came to visit (to take Sierra to dinner for her graduation early since he couldn't make the ceremony), Sierra went to New York City, I had a kidney stone and Steve celebrated his birthday.

In June Sierra had her Senior Banquet, Jared went to Six Flags, Sierra graduated High School and attended college orientation. Lots of family members came from far and wide to watch her graduation, including Mike and Megan, my Mom, Scott, Darin, Julie, Stan, Aunt Sharon & Uncle Tom and many more. In addition, Jared received recognition for earning Honor Roll throughout Junior High. Sweet Kassia turned 6 years old the day after Jared and Shawn spent the day at the Tedy Bruschi Football Clinic at Gillette Stadium.

July brought sunshine and beach days, Shawn's 10th Birthday (and a sleepover in the newly finished Tree House with 10 of his friends), Sawyer joined our family, Marc and Josiah visited, Malia turned 8, I had dinner with Chris and Bernie and Jared went to church camp. We had a family reunion in Boothbay Maine, which was wonderful! I saw all of my cousins on my Dads side, visited with my Mimi and then enjoyed a relaxing vacation at sweet Justamere on Bear Pond. We returned home and held an Ice-Cream for Breakfast Social to fund-raise for Give Kids the World.

With August came our fun annual camping trip to Washburn Island with our wonderful friends Jordan and Kelly, a visit from my dear friend Lori and her daughter Madeleine, a 40th Anniversary party for Steve's parents, and a 40th Birthday party for a friend of ours. It was with great sadness that we said "goodbye" to Summer for another year. We sure love our beach days at Chappy.

September brought many "firsts" and one big "last" for me. Sierra started College, Jared started High School, Shawn began his last year of Elementary School, Malia made Team in gymnastics and Kassia started Kindergarten. Jared went to Six Flags with church and I had dinner with Chris and Bernie. September was hard because my last baby went to school. :( To make myself feel better, we went to Disney World! Ok, we were going anyway, but it DID make me feel a lot better. ;)

October began in the Happiest Place on Earth. Together with fellow Moms Panelists we presented a check for $7,500 to Give Kids the World!! Steve and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary at Disney, which topped off an 11 night trip. Pure Magic. We came home to Field Trips, a bad back injury (for me) and my Birthday and Halloween.

In November I began subbing at 4 Elementary schools, attended another Chevy Event for Disney with Chris and enjoyed Thanksgiving.

December has been another Magical month. I completed a phone interview with a blogger for the Disney Moms Panel. Then on the 10th, I headed to Disney to welcome the newest Members of the Panel and spend the weekend with some of my dearest friends. I visited with my Dad, Jared turned 15 and Scott came for Christmas. Jared and Sierra headed to Tahoe for Christmas and Andrea and Johnny visited here.

2010 had COUNTLESS other special "little" moments. I've learned through the years that it's those little moments that are the most Magical of all.

I'm looking forward with much anticipation to 2011 and all of the JOY that it will bring. I'll continue to serve on the Moms Panel, spreading Pixie Dust and Happiness. Most importantly, I'll enjoy watching my children grow and making memories with them along the way.

Happy, Happy 15th Birthday Jared :)

Perhaps it's because he has spent the last 15 years dealing with Constitutional Growth Delay. Maybe it's because I've always told him that if people measured him by the size of his heart, not his height on a chart...he'd be a giant. Could be because he is wise beyond his years and has always held his head high...despite some low blows that he's been dealt. It's likely that it is all of these things combined that make me very happy to announce that my son is officially taller than I am. See...

15 years ago I learned how a baby boy could fill my world with wonder and joy. Since that very day, Jared has been one of life's greatest blessings. His heart is genuine and his intentions always good.

The upcoming year will likely bring a part-time job, Drivers Ed, girlfriends and more. No matter what life brings, I know that he has a solid moral compass and he'll continue to make me very proud to say that he's my oldest son.

Happy, Happy Birthday Jared Chaloner. May you always know how dearly you are loved.

Frugal and Focused: When Thankfulness Leads to Action

I was a Guest Blogger at Frugal & Focused where I shared about my experience with Give Kids the World. Come check it out:

http://www.frugalandfocused.com/2010/11/focus-on-thanksgiving-giving-kids-world.html

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you :)

Missing Me

"Every Flower Blooms In It's Own Time, Just As Every Person Does."

I've been clinging to that quote this week.

Last Friday, November 5th, Kasi started having a rough time with school. I had volunteered in the morning and when it was time for her lunch, she started crying. Turns out, she cried all through lunch and didn't eat at all. At first I thought she might be coming down with something, because her tummy hurt. She just kept saying, "I miss my Mommy". It threw me a little, because Kasi had loved school up until this point. She would say, "School RULES", and was so excited to go each day. The weekend was rough, because she told me she didn't want to go to school anymore. I chatted with her and thought we were all set to face the next week. Nope. She ended up crying the majority of the morning on Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday. The only explanation she gave anyone, "I miss my Mommy". *sigh*. Thursday night she cried herself to sleep in my arms, and just kept saying over and over that she didn't want to go to school. I asked her if something is happening at school to upset her? Is someone being mean to her? She simply said, "I don't like missing you." I rearranged volunteering in Shawn and Malia's classes and made pinkie promise to her that I'd have lunch with her and we'd walk one lap of "Mileage Club" together. I walked 3. She cried when I left her on the playground. :( We survived the week. Last night, she started crying again:

"Mommy, how long is the weekend?"

"2 Days, Kassia, why?"

"It's not long enough, I miss you and I don't like missing you. I miss hanging out with you and being your buddy."

I knew it had to be more than what she is expressing on the surface, and through lots of chats she has shared that she misses me during the morning, "Language Block" at school. Mrs. G is going to make some adjustments to her "group" of kids (she didn't have a friend in her group before). I hope that makes a difference. In fact, I'm desperate for it to. It doesn't compute that she would start missing me now, 2 months into school. She was fine in September and October. The fact that the morning Language block is when it hits her makes me think something during that time frame isn't making her comfortable, which in turn makes her miss me.

I've lost TOO much sleep these past 8 nights. I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with solutions to what could be going on with my girlie. I know 4 things:

1) She has always been shy and super attached to me. I called her "Velcro" when she was a baby for a reason, she is Mommy's Girl through and through. We were both blessed that we had the first 6 years of her life together...no daycare...just Mommy. It makes sense that she misses me...and it's not nearly as much as I miss her.

2) I miss her smile. It absolutely breaks my heart to know she is crying at school every day. Knowing that she sobs on her way to lunch and is so upset that she can't eat...kills me. :( I hate, hate, hate knowing that she is sad. I hate more that I can't seem to fix it. I know it HAS to be more than missing me, she's just not articulating that yet. :(

3) I WILL get to the bottom of this. Mrs. G is fantastic and is working with me on this. We'll try different solutions and we'll figure this out. Somehow. We have to, because my heart can't take this much longer. She has been teary for 5 school days and has now cried herself to sleep 2 nights. It's not "drama" either. These are genuine, super-sad little girl tears. Every Mommy prides herself on being able to comfort her children...to "fix" whatever is wrong. It kills me that I can't seem to fix this.

4) I know that "Every Flower Blooms In It's Own Time, Just As Every Person Does." Kassia is her own unique person and her feelings are very valid. She will blossom when she is good and ready. In the meantime, she requires some extra attention and love.

These photos taken a few weeks ago, make me smile and I need that right now. Fact is, I need to see my Kasi Girl smile.

"Moms Night Out"

As previously blogged, Tuesday, November 9th was "Annie's Traverse Travels: Moms Night Out". I drove an hour and ten minutes to Hingham, and Chris drove an hour and twenty. It was sort of "meet in the middle"...but not. ;)

Laura had shipped me boxes of "door prizes" which all had the Moms Panel Logo on them. There were "post-it" type note cubes, notebooks, magnets and more. The weather was rotten (lots of rain), so I think that played a role in how many people showed up. There were several though who clearly were on a mission to gain more Disney knowledge. One was leaving in 2 days for a whirlwind trip. We chatted with her and convinced her to head to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. I'm anxious to know if she enjoyed it as much as we felt she would. Another person is leaving this upcoming Thursday. Her little one is a big Toy Story fan, so we gave her tips on all the best Toy Story "must-see's". One lady sought my input regarding the Disney Dining Plan, so I gave her lots of thoughts on it (we get the plan on most trips). I loved being able to give her examples of actual prices for buffets so she could make the comparison and see how it would save her $.

All in all it was a fun night. It's always wonderful to chat Disney and being able to hang with my bud Chris made it that much better. We enjoyed reconnecting with Annie from Annie's Traverse Travels ( http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1679441223643&set=a.1275768572079.2043285.1165917380#!/anniestraversetravels ) and look forward to helping out at more Chevrolet events in the future if the opportunity arises.

BOSTON AREA EVENT!

Tonight I'll be representing the Walt Disney World Moms Panel with Disney Dad Chris. We'll be answering all your Disney World Vacation planning questions, handing out door-prizes and having lots of FUN!

Come join us!!

Passing along info from: Annie at StowedStuff.Blogspot.com


Time: Tuesday, November 9 · 6:30pm - 9:00pm


Location: Best Chevrolet
128 Derby Street
Hingham, MA.


Hors d'oeuvres, a chance to test drive the Chevrolet Traverse! And of course - be registered for a chance to win the trip to see Oprah live!
-valet parking
-safety check for your car to prepare for New England weather!
-Disney Mom experts to answer any and all questions about your next trip to WDW!
-Brad Paisley at Mohegan raffle
-Celtics tix raffle!
-Bruins tix raffle!
-Spa finder gift cards for all attendees!

So don't miss it!

Five Times Blessed

Ever wonder what the title of my blog means? This sums it up:



Yeah, I'm a pretty blessed Mom :)