Memorial Day Hail Storm

  We had all just returned home and were cooling off when the horizontal rain began. Within minutes, it started to sound like someone was tapping their fingers on the window and I asked daddy if he thought it was hail. He opened the garage door and there it was - it looked like little gumballs bouncing on a trampoline! The kiddos were scared, yet quite curious and within moments, they all had their helmets on and were off to collect some hail before the lightening began again!


The hail was not large - dime to nickel size and only lasted 10-15minutes, but we all enjoyed the show!

Love

I took this from Daddy's FaceBook page...

"LOVE that when I told Robert and Hannah to stand next to each other so I can take a picture of the rapidly reducing height difference, they instantly stand next to each other, and take the others hand...."

Musical Beds...

I went to bed at 11:00...

At 12:00, I woke to Daddy coming to bed...

At 12:42, I woke to a 4 year old crawling in bed with me. After he settled and realized he was not getting chocolate milk, I was able to fall back asleep...

At 1:54, I woke to my almost 6 year old trying to crawl in bed with me. It was quite the ordeal when I explained that she was not able to get into my bed because her brother was already in there. She finally gave in and made a pallet on the floor. Minutes later, the aforementioned 4 year old decided he wanted out of my bed and onto the pallet. When this decision was made the almost six year old began to sob because the 4 year old touched her covers. The situation was resolved and all fell asleep...

At 3:10, the 4 year old crawled back into bed with me. However, when he crawled into bed, he messed up the covers and this required me to crawl out of bed for a 3rd time in 4 hours. After a few minutes he settled and I was able to fall back into an exhausted slumber...

At 4:40, an almost 8 year old, came into my room. He looked at my bed, tried to crawl in. When he realized this would not work, an attitude kicked in that required Daddy's intervention. He finally settled on a pallet on Daddy's side of the bed...

At 6:25 all were up and ready for the day...

One day I will miss this; until then, I will remain exhausted and enjoy these fleeting moments of their childhood...

A Picture's Value

A few weeks ago, I received a package from mama that contained some Maura memorabilia - pictures, news articles, prayer cards, and such. At first, I could not look through them as it was just too painful. The slowly, very slowly, I began to pull things out - every few days, I would pull out a new picture or news article. I would shed my tears and take my time. The package remained on my kitchen counter waiting for me to finish going through its contents....

Well, today was the day. I shed many tears this morning, and I felt like this afternoon I needed to look at that last picture. I needed to remember. As I looked at it, I began to cry - the remaining picture was the first one taken after Maura's birth...

Rachael, Phuong, and I stayed behind the curtain with Dr. Wender (a family friend and Neonatologist) while Mama, Papa, and Dr. McMillan (another family friend and Maura's God Mother) helped Maura Anne make miraculous entry into this world, late in the evening on August 13, 1991. It was a beautiful occasion - the first birth any of us siblings had attended and we were just awe struck. We rejoiced. We cried. We were in love. We watched as Maura Anne was Baptized immediately after she was born by Dr. McMillan. We observed when they brought her behind the curtain so that Dr Wender could do his exam - we all just stared at this little 4lb 10oz miracle. We made memories...

That first Meeting

Finally the time came for us to see Mama and for her to hold her brand new daughter. We all gathered around Mama and could not take our eyes off of this absolutely incredible being that just entered the world. It was beautiful...

As I looked closely at the picture, I noticed the pillow case Mama was leaning against - the pillow she had brought from home to use during labor. You cannot read the entire thing, but it says 'Mary Paul' - it is MY pillowcase painted by a dear friends mother when I was little. It is a pillow case I found shortly after we moved to FL that I have slept with every night as a reminder of my family at home...
What a special, unexpected link - one that came at a perfect time when I was feeling lonely and homesick. Now, I have a special link to Maura. One that has been there since day 1, yet we never even noticed!

Little Robert and Wesley

Birthday Party.... #1!

This is the first time that we have had a 'real' party for all of the kiddos. We rented a bounce house, bought 3 separate cakes, concocted a deal with Sno Biz to have sno cones, etc etc. We created and sent invitations to family and a handful of our intimate friends.... since this was the first real party, we did not want to overwhelm ourselves with the possible chaos of inviting a large group of people.....

The air dancers

After deciding to have the party, we chose a date - March 31. It is a Saturday between all 3 birthdays (March 2, March 22, and April 8) and it worked for our extended family. Well, we never planned on inclimate weather and as the week progressed and the chance of rain rose from 10% on Monday to 70% last night to 100% this morning, we knew that things were not looking good. When the rain first started, Hannah and I ran inside, grabbed our Rosaries and said 2 decades. By the time we were done, not only was it raining, but now it was thundering and lightening as well - UGH! Daddy and I went back and forth and finally, after seeking the counsel of an outside party, the decision was made to move it to tomorrow.....

Little Robert's Dinosaur Cake

Daddy and I made all of the phone calls and were ever so grateful when all but 4 families would not be able to join us tomorrow. The kiddos were quite bummed about this, so Daddy and I spoke for a moment and then decided to have those families over today instead.....

Hannah's Cinderella Cake (decorations will be added tomorrow)

So, after these decisions were made, Daddy made the trek to Publix to pick up the 3 birthday cakes for the birthday boys and girl. As he was turning into the driveway at 1:50 (party was to begin at 2), the sun began to peek through the clouds. By 2:45, it was out in all of its glory, so Daddy and 2 other daddies went out with brooms and towels and cleaned the bounce house so that the kiddos could play. And that they did until just before 4 (When the party was to end!). So, I guess that we could have still had the party today since our prayers were answered, but in the end I am glad that we did it this way.... It was much more intimate and a way to test the waters for tomorrow!

Wesley's Monster Truck Cake - He wanted to use his for our Mini-Party today!

Praise God, all of them, Robert, Hannah, and Wesley had a great time. I am so glad that those few families were able to join us today because the kiddos were so very upset about not having any party today.

Wesley testing out the bounce house on Friday!

Mommy and Hannah

Hollis, Robert, Lucas

Big Wesley, Robert, Lucas

Enjoying the bounce house!

Hannah and Robert having a great time!

Big Wesley and Robert

Wesley going.....

....going.....

.....gone!

Cake time!

"Happy Birthday to ya'll! Happy Birthday to ya'll! Happy Birthday Robert, Hannah, and Wesley! Happy Birthday to ya'll!"

It took *multiple* attempts to light the candles thanks to a few anxious kiddos!

We had to sing 3 separate times so that each kiddos could have a turn blowing out the candles!

The cake was good :-)

Aside from the bounce house, the presents were a huge hit! Thank you to all for pampering my kiddos!

SO much fun was had by all!

Robert received airplanes and Hannah a kitty cat that purrs! Wesley was given puzzles! Thank you Mrs. Gretchen, Mr. Troy, Hollis, and Hayes!

Robert trying to break into his transformer - Thank you Mrs. Marsha, Mr. Tim, Wesley and Cooper!

Hannah and Robert playing and Big Wesley swing high as the sky while I get super sweet snuggles from Baby Emerson - Thank you, Mrs. Julia, Mr. Andrew, Xavier, and Felix for coming and sharing your sweet one with Mama Mary!

A huge thank you to all that came out and celebrated with us today. It was so much fun to celebrate each one of our children. To let them know just how very important and special they are.  We love you all!

Martin Luther King, Jr Day

What a fabulous day we had today. Daddy had the day off, so it was extra enjoyable! We started the day off with a small breakfast and school work. Once that was done, the kiddos helped me make breakfast #2 - bacon and eggs to be delivered to daddy in bed! After cleaning up from that, we all decided to make chocolate chip cookies - and they were YUMMO! Before long, it was time for lunch and nap. While the little ones were napping, daddy and Little Robert went to run an errand. When they returned home, they had 4 new fish (named A, B, C, and D) with them, bringing the grand total to 7!

You can not see them, but they are all in there

Once A, B, C, and D were settled into their new home, Daddy and Little Robert left for the neighborhood park to play some baseball!

 

 

Once the little ones woke, we decided to go for a scavenger hunt. We were looking for "Giraffes and Elephants and Eagles and Caterpillars and Butterflies" - basically, just about everything! We did not find those, but we did find the neighborhood ducks and tried to feed them, but all we had were pretzels, and we found out that ducks do not like them! However, we did enjoy chasing and catching them :-)

 

 

 

We came home from our hunt and played, cleaned, cooked dinner, and prepared for bed. All of the kiddos were out in no time, so I think it is safe to say that they enjoyed themselves!

My 3 Stooges

We decided to try something tonight - a sleepover with all 3 of The Little Stooges on the floor in a homemade pallet. It lasted 5 minutes and here is why. . .

A quick breakdown of what you just saw:

• The older two had slept in the same bed, but never with Wesley. They were excited to have their baby with them and wanted to help him enjoy it.
• Wesley has always slept in a confined area or with/on me, so he was experiencing a new freedom. 
• We are all becoming more excited with each passing day about our upcoming adventures in MS. . . 
• Oh, and they had ice cream for dessert, which = lots of sugar!!

As a mom, I love watching my children interact with each other. I enjoy watching their personal relationships grow, and tonight was a great opportunity. . .

At first it was only going to be the older two in bed together, but when Wesley saw this, he began to cry, so daddy and I decided to see try it out, to see if he could sleep on the floor with the older two. I was actually hopeful, very hopeful.Daddy, however knew it was doomed from the start, even telling them that they only had 5 minutes. We said our goodbyes, reminded them of the rules - stay in bed and no talking - and left. But as soon as we left the room, the giggles began, and I knew that Daddy, once again, was right! Even though it was aggravating because all I wanted them to do was lay down, it was so pleasing to see them having such a great time. . .

They are now all in their own beds where I hope LaLa Land will quickly ensue as I am one tired mama! But even though I am utterly exhausted, I am beyond grateful for these 3 kiddos who teach me so much on a daily basis about love, trust, faith, fun, family, and living each day to its fullest. I could not ask for anything better than these precious ones - I am one very luck lady. . .