A Star Studded GNO

Okay... way behind on pictures... gotta catch up on friend birthdays, Nancy's birthday, and more. First here is a Girl's Night Out that honored the Oscars! It was another Houseparty.com event. Holly won the party and I helped her put it on. We had fun food to go with the top nominated movies. And we had our beautiful friends who could be movie stars themselves!

Upon entering the venue (Holly's basement) we had the red carpet (okay, my red velvet table runner) that led to the photo area. Here they are with their golden statues!

Top left clockwise - Trina (Crown was on loan from Sotheby's), Andrea (in sparkly gold to match her statue), Julie (excited to have won Best Song), Holly (okay, I do think she must have won for Best Actress), Margaret (humble isn't' she), Christina (she was just honored to be nominated) and in the middle is the surprised Chantal.

Looking forward to next year!



Aren't we quite a bunch?

Catching Up!

A few photos I found on Shawn's camera...

Nicolas had a scrappy good time at John's birthday party two weeks ago. Forgot to post these pictures. It was a pirate theme and John's family went all out! They had such great activities, costumes for the kids, the cake. It was pirate 100%. She didn't miss one detail. Here Nicolas puts an eye patch on the pirate (aka "Pin the Tail on the Donkey").


Nicolas draws his new pirate name (Peg Leg Nicolas) and gets on his gear... hat, eye patch and red sash for his waste. Then he heads off to find all his friends and have a "argh" good time.

The cake I made for Lanette's wedding shower. What a beautiful shower at Shawn's mom's house, Nancy. I was honored to be able to make her cake. It had a brooch on it that was from Lanette's mom, Vera. First time messing with covering a cake with fondant. Not perfect but everyone seemed happy.

Nicolas poses with his new stuffed animal, Pandy, and Hopper from school. His very sweet teachers at school let him take Hopper home this past week to help bring him comfort after his cat died. They send him home with someone each week and they "live" with the family. So Hopper goes back tomorrow.

We'll Miss You, Pandy

As many of you know, we lost our sweet Pandy cat this week after just about 18 years of being part of our family. Thirteen of those years she was our "baby" and the center of our attention. Alas five years ago she had to relinquish that title to Nicolas as we brought him home. It was something we feared since Pandy didn't take too kindly to children. They scared her and she either ran from them or hissed. But to our amazement she took an interest in Nicolas when he came home. She would run to us if she ever heard him crying. She never once hissed or bit at him. She did, of course, keep her distance when she wanted which was a lot of the time. Yet she remained a fixture in his life. And so as she passed away this week it has been a hard week for all of us but especially for Nicolas and me.

Nicolas had a hard time wrapping his mind around the idea that her body was still, empty. He cried a lot... and I with him. Then he would calm and play but in random times asked me with tear filled eyes "why did Pandy have to die? I don't want her to die!"

We talked about heaven, Jesus and the love Pandy has there now that she can see again (she went blind about a week ago), full tummy, no more knots in her long fur and room to play. He worried that if we buried her that he couldn't touch her or see her again. I had to fix that!

Then that night I made him a photo album with all the photos of her that I could fine. I wanted him to be able to see her whenever he wanted. The next day on our drive to school he looked at all those photos and laughed, asked questions, and wiped away his tears for a while. He took it to school and his wonderful teacher, Miss Amy, let him show it to the class and share it. She also let him carry it around as they went from subject to subject until he finally was comfortable to put it in his backpack. While he was at school I ran from store to store and searched for.. Pandy! Not a real one, mind you. At Hallmark I found them! Two Webkinz Pandy cats. One was bigger (perfect for Nicolas) and one was sparkly (perfect for Lexi). God's works in mysterious ways!That helped to solve the problem of what they would do when they missed petting Pandy. They have both carried their cats everywhere, play with them and won't go to sleep without them.

Nicolas also has found comfort in knowing Pandy is playing in heaven with his Grandma's cat, with Uncle Tim's Pookie and with Chloe's cat. Nice how a child finds comfort thinking others are "not alone".

Now, we had to wait for the ground to thaw to bury her. Saturday we did just that... well, okay, attempted to. But after a little time of trying to dig, we made a phone call and found out that we could take her to be cremated. That is our choice. And a choice that I think will be much better. Nicolas was having stress over the idea that we were going to put his beloved cat's body in the ground and put dirt on it! That seemed so wrong to his five year old imaginative mind! I understood. And it seems that taking and leaving her at the vet also helped Lexi to grasp more that Pandy wasn't coming back. Her nearly 3 year old mind started to wrap itself around the idea she was really gone and what that meant.

So once again... we cried. We cried together as we walked out of Hawthorne Animal Hospital and got into our car with a piece of us left behind. An emptiness at home to return to. Something missing!

As we drove away I tried to be strong and remind my two crying children that if they remembered the good time, remembered her in happy ways then she will be alive forever in their hearts. And that is when my dear Lexi stopped crying... got very excited... VERY excited and said:

"Mommy, Oh Mommy, I feel her. I feel her right here!!!!"

She pointed to her heart.

God Bless the Love of a Child!

And yes it is nice to not have hairballs to clean up, fur on everything, food dishes out, litterbox to clean... but last night when I had a comforting bowl of ice cream I went to set my empty bowl on the ground for Pandy to lick clean as she was always waiting to do... and I cried. Those small moments that we take for granted...! She won't be there to warm my spot in bed before I move her to "her" spot in bed at my feet. She won't be there to beg for tuna the next time we open a can. She won't trip me as I go down the stairs because she wants to get there faster.

We'll miss you girl!

Baby Edie Anna

We welcomed our new beautiful neice, Edie Anna, into the world on Wednesday, February 4th. She was 8 1/2 lbs and 19 1/2 inches. She has a tuft of red hair like her brother. So cute!


Look! She is smiling already!

and so is big brother, Kai!

Can't wait to hold her and love on her this weekend! Will post better pictures then. We couldn't wait to do it that night. We so, so wanted to. But alas the jealousy of her little cousins prevailed. Not jealous that we were going to hold her but jealous that they couldn't see her. Bless their hearts they wanted to love on their new baby cousin too!

What a beautiful smile!

Thankfully the dentist office calls the day before to remind us of appointments! I guess with the last one being 6 months ago in 2008 I did not have a calendar to write it on and forgot. But boy were they excited!

Nicolas was not able to get x-rays last time because he has a wild tongue that kept pushing the plates out of his mouth. So funny! Today he did super! We had one moment where they plate was not comfortable (are they ever) and his eyes filled with tears but he held them in and stayed strong and amazed even the strongest hearts!

Brother and sister loving every minute of doing things together!

By the way, where were all these great choices when I was a kid. They got to choose toothpaste flavors. I can't remember them all... cookie dough, chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, and more! Lexi, of course, wanted chocolate and Nicolas went after cookie dough.

Nicolas let them in to examine things. They were worried because we have been letting him brush his own teeth already. So here was our test! Did we pass? Did he pass? YES! He has been doing a great job. They said to go ahead and do as we are now and brush the backs after he is finished and we need to step it up on that flossing... why do we struggle with that?

What a difference 6 months makes! Go back to that photo on the blog and you will see a crying girl being held by her mommy. Today, smiles and big alligator mouth! But alas she has been loving her paci too much. We only use it at night but apparently she has a strong suction and it is effecting her front teeth. One month until she turns 3 and the paci fairie comes for a visit. I was having my doubts that we really needed to do it so soon since she is so happy right now.... but this has ended those doubts! And she agreed. She is mailing them to the dentist too.

What a Day....

Our day started bouncy and happy! Lexi went and got a haircut. Jen cut her hair and then decided to try curling it. Lexi sat so wonderfuly as she used that curling iron and made all these little curls. She literally bounced out of the salon. She came home and Grandma came over to play for a little while while I tried to recoup the house before it was condemned. Lexi loved her curls and loved playing with Grandma.

Then on the way to bed she saw my laundry... and helped herself. How funny!

Then our day took a turn. I put Lexi to bed for her nap. I came down to be told that my mom had found our cat of 18 years, Pandy, not moving in the kids toy closet. She had passed away. It was a rough day. Nicolas took it the hardest I think. He cried a lot. He struggled with the concept of a body being here and the soul in heaven. He got angry. He stayed sad. Then when you think things are going better he suddenly stops playing and asks why Pandy had to die.

He drew a special photo that he wanted hung in his room.

He drew Pandy in the middle with a red heart. Then me on the left with two hearts and petting her head. Then he is petting her "butt" and also has two hearts. There are crosses for heaven and God watching over her. We cried and cried. But look how happy Pandy is! She isn't blind anymore, or old or tired. Then I made a photo album with every photo of Pandy I could find. Nicolas carried it around for the following day at school. When they went to bed the next night I gave each of them a Webkins that looks like our cat. They are now both carrying that around. I think the photos and the stuffed animals have helped Nicolas a lot! We miss you sweet girl!

Then we were lucky to welcome a new spirit into our world! No new cat here! Something better. Our new niece, Edie Anna, was born after all of us waiting an extra 10 days for her! She is so beautiful. I am waiting for the photos from Shawn so I can post them soon.

Good Morning!

This morning there was a little sweet voice on the stairs as I was getting dressed. I came around the corner and found Lexi doing one of her new favorite things. She was playing "house" on the steps. Not sure what it is but she loves to put her babies to bed on the stairs. Then, I asked her what she was doing as she was walking away from them with the purse in her hand... "Going to tennis." was her answer. I asked her if I could get my camera and came up to find her posed with purse ready. You can even barely see the lines of the combs that are sitting there on the step posed in ready to comb any hair willing to let her.

When I smiled huge at this sweet sight she said... "mommy, you have a pretty smile." Well, I know where I get that from!!!

What a good way to start my morning!