Thursday, May 4, 2011, our baby went home to meet Jesus. It is so hard to write those words..it makes it feel so very real! Right now my heart is so broken that I wonder how I can breathe! I now have 4 children, 3 in my arms, and one waiting for us in Heaven. I know that one day I will hold this baby in my arms, but at times that does little to help the hurt in my heart! I want to know what you would have been. I wish I would have gotten the chance to hold you in my arms. But for now I have to let you go with the angels, and trust that one day I will get to see you, to hold you, to love you the way I want to now. I love you so much, my dear sweet baby! I will always remember you, and I will forever be thankful for the short time you were here with us!
We were laying bed tonight when my mom came upstairs and asked us if we were sleeping. We said no and she said "I wanted to tell you that President Obama is coming on at 10:30 to make a statement." My first thought was "Oh ****, this can't be good!" We sat up and turned on the TV. My brother, who works for a US Senator on Capitol Hill called my mom a few minutes later and said "You aren't going to want to miss this...the buzz on the Hill is that We have killed Osama Bin Laden and we have his body in our possession. We don't know for sure, but that's the word!" Once again, I was glad to have a brother in the know.
10 minutes later the TV stations started to confirm what he had said, OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD! The man who 10 years ago this September caused such great heartache in our country, who single handedly started a war that has been raging for years, is dead! After all the fighting, the loss of so many troops, pain and sorrow, the terrorist of all terrorists is dead!
So, what does this mean for us? Will the war end right away? Will our boys (and girls) come home? Are we safer? Well, no, no and probably not! Afghanistan needs to be stabilized before we pull out. We will bring our troops home, but it's not going to be tomorrow! And unfortunately, we still have plenty of groups out there besides Al Queda and Bin Laden, who hate us and would like to see our downfall. But, for 10 years we have wanted to see the mastermind behind 9/11 and so many other attacks against our Embassy's over seas finally get what he deserves. He has gone home to meet his Maker, and I'm just guessing here, that Allah is not going to bless him the way he was expecting to be blessed!
A job well done to the troops who brought him down! Thank you to all the men and women who work so hard and risk their lives on a daily basis to protect our freedoms and to protect us from people like Bin Laden. Stay safe and come home soon! God Bless our Troops and God Bless the United States of America!
Today the much anticipated Royal Wedding of Prince William of Wales to Catherine Middleton took place in London. I have had a love affair with Prince William and the House of Windsor for as long as I can remember. I had such a crush on William growing up! When I was going to grow up I wanted to move to London, meet William and become his Princess! Well, that obviously didn't happen, but today he married a truly stunning and regal woman. I was up at 4 am this morning to watch the coverage from beginning to end (although, it still hasn't ended. Even as I write this all the major news organizations are still talking about it and showing recaps! I'm loving it!! lol) I laid on the couch and watched as the guests filled into Westminster Abbey. I remember all too well the funeral of Princess Diana in that amazing structure and noticed how completely different the mood was around this occasion. (I was 15 when Princess Diana died, and got up at 5 in the morning to watch her funeral. I remember crying sooo hard, especially watching the Princes walk behind her coffin on the way to the Abbey. I was a huge Diana lover, and at that time even had her hair cut! Yes, at 15! I told you I've always had a love affair with the Royal Family!) It was sad to think that she wasn't going to be there to spend this day with her son, whom she so adored! But I know she was smiling down on them and must have been bursting with pride for her son!
And while I loved watching all the guests arrive I started getting so excited when Princes William and Harry left Clarence House for their trip to the Abbey! Everything happened so quickly from there! I caught my breath as Kate stepped out of the Rolls Royce in front of the Abbey. Her dress was gorgeous! It was simple and elegant and oh so Kate! Totally her style and just perfect! One of my favorite moments was seeing Harry turn around to catch a glimpse of Kate as she was coming down the aisle and then turned to his brother and said something. I wish we knew what it was...but my bet is it was something like "Dude! You are so lucky!" lol
The detail on this dress was incredible!!! I loved the lace and the veil was beautiful too!
Photo courtesy of the Today Show
Now that's a Princess wedding dress! And here's a shock-it's modest! Her boobs aren't hanging out and it isn't strapless..definitely not an American Designer for this dress! lol
The service itself was beautiful, and again very simple. I think the thing that surprised me the most was how normal it all seemed. Just another man and woman coming together on a day to get married, but this wasn't just another man and woman. This was the future Queen and King of England! It was unreal because it didn't feel stuffy and too "British", which the Royals are often accused of being. I think it shows that maybe the future of the Royal Family is going to look very different than the present.
I thought it was interesting that she was the only one who got a ring! And it was so simple and beautiful!
I loved watching them on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. Kate's face when they walked out was priceless, and she said "Oh wow!" lol-Oh wow is right honey! Your life is forever changed! And lucky for her the British people seem to love her! I know I do! (And I'm not British, although today I wish I was!!) The first Royal Kiss was a little disappointing, but knowing how shy Prince William is and how he doesn't like PDA's I was kind of surprised we got one at all! But not to upset the crowd a few minutes later there was another kiss, this one longer and much more satisfying to the crowds gathered below! They looked totally at ease and like they were thoroughly enjoying themselves. That was great to see!
Photo courtesy of the AP (Associated Press)
Then, the big surprise a few hours later, when William and Kate drove out of Buckingham Palace in Prince Charles's Ashton Martin, top down, decorated like any newly married couples car. William was behind the wheel, and they both looked so comfortable and so radiant! The crowd went crazy! It was so fun! And I think it really showed the personality and fun side of these two!
Could she be any prettier!?!? It really makes me want to gag! lol!
I can't wait to see pictures from the reception, especially Kate's dress! I have a feeling she won't be wearing that Alexander McQueen dress to dance the night away! Above all though, I hope they have the time of their life and live up every second of it! Congratulations Prince William and Princess Kate! You are helping the world believe that fairy tales can and do come true! Never let go of the love you felt today! I can't wait to see what your life together will bring!
And just in case you didn't get up at 4 am and you somehow haven't seen any of the coverage from today, here is the Royal Wedding, in 3 minutes! Enjoy!
Even though, come November these will already be outdated, we had family pictures taken a couple of weeks ago. I have to say that these are my favorite family pictures ever!!!
Our family of 5, just months before it becomes a family of 6...wow! That is so crazy to think about! Last night at dinner things were a little crazy. Brianna looked at me and said "And you want to have another baby!" I looked at her and said "Well, Bri...there's nothing I can do about it now!" She said with the straightest face "Well, just don't have it!" lol...I just started laughing and then she said "If you keep peeing on that stick it's just going to say 'You're pregnant. You're pregnant. You're pregnant like 100 times!" By that point I was rolling...if only it was all the sticks fault that I'm so tired, slightly nauseous and just all around blah all the time right now! The funny thing is she is very excited about the baby most of the time..it just tells you how hectic things must have been for her to be so negative! lol
Overall though things are going very well. I am 9 weeks along and already starting to show. I had to go out and buy some maternity clothes the other day (since I gave all of my stuff away just a matter of months ago!!!) because my pants are already tight. And not just tight, I have a certified baby bump already! lol I have barely had any morning sickness which is a HUGE improvement over the other three who I was sick with from the time I'd wake up until I would go to bed! I am just exhausted and my house is starting to show it! Looks like really tiny baby steps are going to be how I survive this pregnancy! Well, I've been sitting on my butt long enough this morning. Time to find the energy to do something...maybe I'll go fold some clothes...I can sit on my butt to do that right!?!?!
Yes, a long title I know...but I've been gone forever!!!! I really need to get better at this blogging thing! lol A lot has happened so without further ado...here's what we've been up to.
Did you know that Fat Tuesday is also known as Pancake Tuesday? Yeah, I didn't either until this year. And I saw some of the cutest ideas to make Mardi Gras colored pancakes on the internet. So I decided to take our favorite pancake mix from our dear friend, Dionne Newton, add some of my cake decorating icing colors and make some Mardi Gras pancakes for dinner. They turned out sooo cute, and were really yummy! The kids really enjoyed them. And of course, since the next day was Ash Wednesday and we couldn't eat meat I made some goetta for daddy so he could get his meat fix in before he had to abstain!
Green, yellow and purple...traditional Mardi Gras colors.
Aren't they pretty!?!?!
Happy baby!
Pretty girl!
"Mmmmm Mommy! You're famous pancakes are really yummy!" Yes, he really did say that! lol
The next day, Ash Wednesday we attended Mass at St. Patrick's. The kids were, awful, to say the least! I wondered why we even bothered to take them for a while. But we know it's really important for kids to be in church in order to learn how to behave in church so we keep trying! They wanted to get pictures of their ashes when we got home so we took a few quick shots before bed.
St. Patrick's Day I didn't take any pictures (bad mommy!) but we did celebrate! Thursdays are dance days in this house so we go from school, to dance, home for dinner and homework, bathes and then bed. But I wanted to do something so we ate "Irish" (well, kind of!!) I made Shepherd's Pie (which is more English, but we're not big corned beef and cabbage fans around here!) and Irish soda bread. I had never made that before and was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it. I used raisins instead of currants (I'm not sure my kids would eat currants) and it took more buttermilk than the recipe said, but I liked it...a lot! And so did the kids! Makes me want to try different recipes now! I got the stuff to make Shamrock shakes (mint green milk shakes) but we ran out of time...so daddy made them with the kids the following Monday while I was at a meeting. But we did change out the Valentine's Tree for a St. Patrick's Day Tree. It turned out super cute!
On March 19th my Nana and a lot of the family came down from Indiana for her birthday! Of course, I had already scheduled and paid to attend a 12 hour crop at Brianna's school that I attend every year! So I went for a few hours, came home for a few hours to visit, and then went back to the crop until the end. I was able to finish 15 pages (7 two page spreads and 1 one page layout!) I'll post pictures of what I accomplished when I get some scanned in! But here's some of the fun we had with the family while they were visiting!
Singing Happy Birthday!
Playing the Wii...yes, my son is dressed up like a cat...sometimes there are no words! lol
Well, that about gets you up to date. Other than these things we've just been fighting off sickness, enjoying the scattered days of beautiful sunshine, and waiting (not so patiently) for spring to come and rescue us! Hope you all have been well! I'll try not to be so long between posting next time! I'll try!
Welcome to our little corner of the blogosphere! We are a Catholic family of 6 living life in the midwest. This is where I will share info on what's going on with our family! You'll hear about our faith, crafting, homemaking, menu planning and recipes, travel (especially camping) and my obsession with Pinterest, as well as cute things that kids do and say on a regular basis. So come on in, grab a cup of coffee or tea and see how the Lord keeps blessing us abundantly!
