Bummer......A great guy......

A quiet celebration took place within my heart last Thursday March 25. The day would have been my father's b-day. A day which I usually am sad and shed tears for him but this year was different. I still miss him more than anything but this year I decided to remember all the fun things and celebrate his day with smiles, laughs and sharing stories. A day of joy instead of sadness. What a more enjoyable day then usual and I'm sure he is happier with my decision.

On of my earliest memories that I have is our special nickname that we had for each other. A nickname that I never let anyone else call me and that was "Bummer". I have no idea how it came to be but that is what we called each other. Our special name that was not shared by anyone. 

I can remember spending my Saturdays with Bummer mowing, gardening, weeding. When we were done he would take me down to the local restaurant and buy me a milk shake. MMMM good and worth every second of help.

During certain seasons we would go Apple or blueberry picking. We would spend the whole day picking. He use to laugh and say good thing they don't weigh us going in and coming out and charge us for the extra pounds we gained.  Blueberry picking would consist of a fist for the mouth and a couple blueberries for the bucket. Before we picked an apple off the tree we would test taste it to make sure the apples on the tree met our standards. Bummer would hold the ladder and I would climb up the ladder. I was a monkey climbing fool when I was growing up. Climbing trees was second nature to me. I would reach all the nice big Apples that no one ventured to go get. Funny, now I would think twice about it. LOL 

One of the greatest gifts that my farther ever gave me was the ability to say I'm sorry. I say that because a few months before he passed there was a huge disagreement between him and myself. He ended up kicking me out of my house but a couple of days later he called me to say he was "sorry" and wanted me to come home which I did. I do remember the situation but it was the "I'm sorry Bummer" that I hold tight and close to my heart. I always tell everyone that was the greatest gift he gave me. The ability to apologize when I do wrong even if you are the parent. No one is perfect and we all owe apologizes at times.

I will always will miss him but from now on instead of a day of sorrow it will be a day of celebration for my family. A family that he never had the chance to meet.  Who knows maybe next year, we will honor his day with one of his favorite meals. Share pictures and stories. A fun day.. One step to becoming deliriously happy.
 

Walking on the Beach....A simple pleasure in life....

As I walked down the beach today with babies in tow, I was amazed as I always am at the ocean and the strong waves banging against the shore depositing gifts of shells, stones and junk on the shores.

The babies were excited to play chase with the waves, running and yelling as the waves came near them. It brings a smile to my face to think of the memories of them playing chase.  The littlest one found a great way of tuning her art ability by drawing in the sand. She instantly became addicted to it and didn't want to leave the beach and I was thankful she was not drawing on the walls again.

For a few minutes or two the baby had fun chasing the Seagulls. She ran as fast as her little legs could take her. Of course the Seagulls looked at her like you think your going to catch me sister. Please.... You can not catch me in your wildest dreams. I have wings. She soon gave up and looked at them like she was saying fine if you don't want to play with me, I have sand that will let me play.

The other babies enjoyed the walk down the beach. Excited to find all the unique shells that were on the beach. Collecting all the ones that they found to be unique. Jem found on that she thought was in the shape of a chicken leg. I think she was hungry. LOL Though she was right it could have been a chicken leg. Props to her and her imagination.

It was nice to see people (who were not being paid) walking down the beach picking up the trash and putting it in the trash reciprocals. People were walking there dogs, running, collecting shells, playing catch and having family time. The beach brings enjoyment to so many people. As a society we need to be conscious of waste and recycling so we can continue to have the enjoyment of beach and other wonderful simple pleasures that the great Earth has given us.

Ones step closer to being deliriously happy.....

Family Movie Night

One of our favorite days at our house is family movie night, which is usually on Wednesday night.  We do movie themes and make food to go along with the themes. We pick out our flicks from the vast assortment of movies that Netflix has to offer.

Though, I must say my choices are NOT the ones usually picked to watch since I love guns, bullets and blood. Yes, the movies that make me happy and nobody else likes.  Everyone else prefers the mooshie...lovey...chick flick movies ( Holding back the chunks now....Ok, I'm better.) and the kid type movies from Disney etc. We also love to watch "old" movies and TV shows such as MacGyver or Swiss Family Robinson when that was on TV....not the movie...

We all grab our pillows and blankets and a cozy spot to watch TV...It is amazing to see and hear their reactions to some of the "older" movies...I must say they have loved them. I'm happy that we have had the chance to expose them to show and things of the past...One of the best times is when we all discuss the movies. The kids always have input or really get into the characters and start talking about what they think the characters are going to do next.

We get excited when the Netflix comes in the mail. The kids carefully rip open the DVDs to see what is inside. After family movie night they put the Netflix in the mail and patiently wait for the next movies to come...It has been a great family experience to pick out movies and TV series from the past...Great memories...I must say even the big kids who no longer live here get into our family movie nights when they can...
  

One step closer to being a deliriously happy as a family....creating family memories and traditions to pass on...

  




                                                                             

No TV Days...

Our new family adventure...no TV days. Yes, I call it an adventure and the kids would call it pure torture, cruel and unusual punishment, my mom/sister is being mean. You know the drill when you impose rules on the babies that they are not in favor of.

The babies want to know how we could be so mean as to take away the TV. We did this because the kids were not playing games, reading books, playing outside or using their imagination as much as we wanted them to so we took away the one thing that occupied a major part of their day the TV.

It has been nice to see them dust off the big dust bunnies and knock down cobwebs to find the games, toys, books etc. that in some cases have never even opened up and finding new adventures that they didn't even know existed. Now they haven't been thrilled about it just yet... No jumping for joy or cheers for no TV day, they are still too upset about losing a day of TV which they do get back at 7pm. Right now they spend the day counting down the hours until seven. Yes, with each hour that passes I hear 6, 5, 4, 3 etc. hours left until I can watch TV...silly babies have not given any thought that I could and will add another day or two to the no TV days...nice to know I have the ability to enrich and disrupt their little lives with just two little words...4 letters and a space....No TV....the power of mom...oops! Sorry about the power trip I'm going on...

I'm now creating little musicians, whiz kids, writers, readers, make-up artists....Oh the possibilities with having them have no TV time is working out great. They are learning to do things outside their normal routine. The one little tiny itty-bitty problem is that they FIGHT more or should I say they bug each other more.

For a final note.... I have not saved any money on my electric bill which I thought was going to be a bonus...joke was on me.

Time...

Wow! Hard to believe it is 2010 already...where has time gone is always the question?????

Time waits for no one...time does not wait for you to reach your goals and then proceed.

Though it would be so nice if we could say, "Time stand still a minute or two while I to get this done." I would be saying that all day long. Time stop! Time go! Time stop! Time go!
Yep, I could become addicted to those words so would everyone else. The utter chaos it would cause..

I have had a couple of people tell me this year 'What have you lost but time..not a big thing.' I'm looking at them thinking 'amazing, time is not a big thing.' Time is a major component of your day, success, life and it's not important? What planet are you from?? A second lost is a second you will not get back. We definitely had different view points on time. Not to say I haven't wasted time, but time has become a "precious commodity" that I'm becoming more respectful of and enjoying more of.

Time is always in perpetual movement. Make this the year that you organize your schedule/time so you get the most out of your day to accomplish your work and personal goals.


Lost, yesterday, somewhere between Sunrise and Sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever. ~Horace Mann

One step closer to creating a life of being deliriously happy...

My Christmas Eve Tradition That Is A Must Every Year....

First off I would like you to leave a comment about your Christmas tradition or favorite memory of the Holiday Season.....

A family tradition that was started in my family long before I was on this Earth was going to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve....

I remember Christmas Eve.....I use to spend most of the day listening to Christmas music and keeping an eye on the gifts being put under the tree..... spying for the packages with my name on them...waiting for a time when no one was in room with me....when the opportunity arose I would shake the gifts to see if I could figure out what was in them....and of course looking at the size of the gift...typical kid.....

I was put to bed early evening and was awaken around 11 pm or so....I got ready along with the rest of the family and we would walk to our church which was up the block from us....It usually was a beautiful night.....with a blanket of snow on the ground and new snow falling....the air would be cold and crisp...nothing said Christmas more then that...

The first thing we would see when we arrived at church was the beautiful life size (or so it seemed) Manger scene...We would enter church, the choir would be singing songs and church would be packed....after Mass we would start our journey back to the house...singing Christmas carols at times...

When we got home my dad, mom and who ever else would make a big breakfast with eggs, bratwurst, cinnamon rolls, bacon, toast and sweets...after our bellies were full it would be off to bed so Santa could come...I would still got up at the crack of dawn to open gifts...

To me Christmas is not Christmas without going to Midnight Mass....my kids go with me at times...but we never have breakfast like I did...but maybe someday...between the Mass, the Carols, and the generosity of the season that is what Christmas is all about...

One step closer to being deliriously happy....

Snowball Fights...

Nothing more invigorating then the thrill of a snowball fight. As we all know to have one we need some good packing snow and peeps or kids that have a good sense of humor.

Snowball fights are one of my favorite all time memories of the snow or I should say memories with the kids in the snow. My kids are usually my best and only targets for my snowballs...they are not safe in the car, house, or a parking lot of a business. I never miss an opportunity to touch them with some cold snow nor do they miss an opportunity to get me back....

The minute I walk outside and see the fresh falling packing snow the fight is on...the opportunity to conquer the quest of getting them with the cold snow is underway...we give chase around the car and yard...nothing or no one is safe from snowballs flying in the air....Yes, I have been known to toss a snowball in the car and on occasion in the house when they are running for cover...

As my one daughter says it is a weird freezing cold experience with unending amount of laughing and people are looking at us strangely...thinking we have lost your mind....wondering what we think is so fun...throwing cold snow at each other...

I cannot wait to have a snowball fight this year since we live in NC now the fights are not as frequent but the memories are just as great!!!

One step to being deliriously happy...