Snow Kisses

 Okay, I admit it..I was snow bummed about being stuck in this house.  I am better....it is a miracle! Or maybe a movie night with Harry cured me!  We were the last people on the planet to see Tangled and it was good...a bit scary to me but, we liked it.  Harry is in the best phase right now! I love hanging out with him and we have the best talks!   I need to do a Harryisms blog....coming right up!
Today we made peanut butter kiss cookies!  The kids loved opening the kisses and of course eating them!

 Today Harry took full advantage of the snow with Chad! They played a much longer time and made a super cool tunnel! 

I am ready to be out on the streets again and back to "normal"! I am very grateful for the beauty of God's handy work. Harry told me today he could see God, David, Jesus, and Grandmother in Heaven.  I asked what they were doing and I have to say that is a whole other blog post.   I am also looking forward to a visit with my mom and sister.  I am missing my girls a lot lately!  We talked on three way today....too much fun!  Great way to break up the day!

Snow Days

So many clever titles to go with all the snow that has hit our area! There is my lame title!  There is something serene about being stuck at home for me. I really do like it but, at the same time...totally hittin into my big plans!  I am going all the way back to almost a month ago on this post just to get them all in!  Here is what we did when the first storm hit..snow cream!

 GK thinks she is big stuff!

 The next snow we had our friends staying with us!  They had never had snow cream....didn't take long for them to love it too!

 Then we got iced and snowed in! I had to get more creative! We pulled out all the glitter, glue, scissors, markers, paint, and anything else we could find to keep this guys away from the TV!

 You know we are going to do some baking over here!   Love this chocolate face!

 Making Valentine's for all his favorites!

 Then the MEGASTORM came! Almost two feet of snow and it was impossible to play in! It took forever to get everyone ready and Harry was done in five minutes!

 Poor Chad, he was more excited than Harry!

 Going for a little snow swim!

 This is how GK felt about it!

 All the gear it takes for two guys to go out there and Georgia Kelley and I to watch and shoot pics!

 Looks like I won't be going to Mama Mia tonight with my friends...boo hoo!  Also I was asked to talk at a Young Wives meeting that I was crazy nervous about!  It is postponed until April!  It gives me two months to figure out what I am going to talk about!  If my class Saturday is canceled..I will be distraught! I love teaching this class...I would do it for free! After looking at my phone, the snow has canceled three lunches, 2 breakfasts, 2 bible studies, 3 MDOs, and that is just what I wrote down! Do you think I should maybe slow down? I will take this snow as a blessing and move on!  It just better melt before Saturday!  I know I always have my neighbors to run to if I get too much cabin fever!

iPhone Catch Up

I know there are errors! Forgive me!
We had some welcomed house guests for a few days a couple of weeks ago. My friend has two boys and my kids loved them!! Here is the youngest one playing kitchen.





Coolest party ever at Party Cakes!! Ms Charlie turned 5!! First we decorated the apron!











Then we decorated a cookie and a cupcake! Then a cake! Harry has been telling everyone I want my party there and he is right!! Charlie knows how to throw a sweet party!!





Cousins in church!





Big girl carseat!!





Loving his care bear loot he got in the mail from SOS!!





Okay I strongly dislike Glen Beck! He rubs me the wrong way!! I had to teach a Humanities class on media and the text book flat out pointed him and a few other know it alls out as completely bias. Really there are only like five strong sources for your news that supposedly aren't bias. Maybe that is a whole other blog post. My husband is a republican and I am ??? But I love that Chad reads and researches Democratic opinion so he isn't bias!! It is my blog and I am not writing about death so there. No hate notes please. Anyway GB was on the screen at the gym minutes before I found out about GG. She didn't like him either!! Boo yaa!!





Harry loves to take pics of himself!! I like this pic of me, I think it makes me look younger. If i keep doing it maybe my face will stay that way!! Younger or crazy?? The things we do with out kids!

















Snowed in but had fun across the street!! Good times at the linams!!





Of course we are getting our bake on!! My kids love to scrap the bowl! A favorite pass time!





This pic would be much cuter if our little friend would turn around!!





We seriously played our heart out in games!! It is much easier when GK is asleep!





I loaded up the kids for a slumber party with the Hicks!! We had dinner with friends and the hubs. Chad went home and the kids and I stayed over to play the next morning.





Sweetness






Morning cartoons!





Wrestle time!! We have been snowed in for 5 days tomorrow!! Chad has been working like crazy. He leaves at 6, gets home at 6:30 and then works from 8 to midnight!! I am pretending to be working right now!! I feel bad for him but am thankful for his vacay days! He still wrestles every night!! GK has joined in too. More pics to come!





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I Know

I know she is in Heaven with Jesus and that is just great! GREAT!  Thank you for reminding me! As a Christian I should find this awfully comforting and I know it would be awful if she wasn't a woman of God. I know she is in Heaven but, I had peace knowing she was here! She was here and in some ways she was my conscious, my recipe book, my Google, my loyal life coach and a phone call away, even without a cell. I want her here....if only for a few more days.  I need here here to repeat the stories that she had told me for the umpteenth time at Thanksgiving because, I forgot them! I tried telling them to Harry and I forgot....she told them so much better. I am just so mad I can't stand it!  I remember a lot of the memories but, I forgot some too.  What is wrong with my brain? She could recite paragraphs of lines from her fourth grade play at 91 and I can't even remember a simple story she told me at 31! Maybe the Diet Coke is getting into my brain???
Life goes on and the world turns and we deal.  I am dealing, I knew this would be hard...but I am still sad...there is an emptiness inside. Don't judge me.
When I was little and wanted to fake cry...I knew all I had to think about was "what if Grandmother died"! Isn't that sick?? I did though...I knew when I was little that the worst thing that could happen to me was having my grandmother die!  Sick...but true at the time.
I think being snowed in is making it worse...I need to get busy and back to normal.
A few things that make it better are some things she told me at Christmas.
She looked at me the day we left her house and said, "Amanda, seeing your family makes me more happy than anything else in the world." I know that wasn't completely true but, I do know she loved my family.  She wrote Chad one of the kindest notes a person could get at Christmas and demanded to hold Georgia Kelley any chance she could.  She also told us to take her picture with GK a few times! We had the most bonding moment discussing how much we love each other and how amazing our relationship had been.  We realized that Chad and I had went to visit her six times that year. That is a lot for us, we live so far.  I am beyond thankful for times at Christmas.  I don't really know what Christmas Eve is like without Grandmother there or without being at her Christmas tree.
I wanted so badly to call her this morning! Chad made her gravy....didn't turn out so well. These are days I would call her! I made chocolate gravy....she would be so proud I cooked for Chad! HA!  She told Mom at Thanksgiving she felt at peace knowing I was okay.  This meaning it was okay for her to leave because I was in good hands.  She was right but, I miss her.
I hope my blog can go back to normal but for now you are therapy. 
My prayer tonight is people who lose loved ones that impacted their lives.

Carrying One Another's Burdens

I believe in this Bible verse. I believe that you can take someone else's pain. I believe this because the I cried the least on Friday and Saturday. This was the time when friend's were praying and thinking of us. This was also the time I spent with family who was going through the same thing. Here are a few pics. We obviously didn't take pics during the sad times.
All ten of the cousins with their spouses, minus Sammy's hubs.

 This is my mom's best friend, Margo! She is amazing. She drove four hours, got a hotel room and sat during the whole visitation, ate dinner with us, then went to the funeral.  My mom was beyond happy to have her.  We all cried when we saw her...such a good friend thing to do.  Loyalty!

 This picture makes me cry! This is Joyce Anderson, she and Grandmother have been best friends four 60 years! They helped raise each other's kids and she babysat me! When I was little, I was close to her mother, Granny!  She lives across the street from Grandmother.  I saw her standing her, took this picture and went to ask her what she needed.  She said in a shaky voice, "Amanda, I just don't know what to do."  She is a widow and she and Grandmother talked every day.  I know she is so sad and devastated.  It broke my heart to know how lonely she will be.  Her family would sing carols to us every Xmas Eve growing up...they are part of our family!

 Tessa was a trooper telling ghost stories with the kids in the back!

 In grandmother's yard before we went over the church building.

 I am wearing a red jacket because, Grandmother LOVED red jackets.

 My precious Jamie! Oh she was my rock through this! I miss her so much, I am tearing up right now thinking of how much I miss her! Oh, I love her so!  Best cousin award!

 These are the four sisters and Madeline, grandmother's youngest sister.  She and Maudie are the only ones left of the five siblings! I love Madeline and always thought she was the most fun great aunt!

 The siblings with husbands.  Grandmother loved these men like her own children.  They loved her like their own mothers.  There has to be a correlation. 

 Dad's parents came! I cried hugging them...it was the first tears of the morning! It meant so much to us to have them there supporting us! Aunt Ria came too! Once again, they will never know how much it meant to us to have them at Grandmother's funeral.  It is beyond words.

 Pallbearers.

 Chad's parent's drove all the way over for the funeral too! I cannot tell you how big of a deal it was to see them there.  Not only are they part of our foundation, they were calmings in a storm.  I didn't expect them to come nor did I imagine they would take a whole Saturday to spend in a car for my grandmother whom they had only met once.. They did say they knew her through my stories of her. I guess I talk about her quite a bit...it is hard not to! Sandy brought some reading material for the family and it was such a help later in the weekend.  I cannot thank these darling in laws enough. I have super in laws! I love them to pieces.  Another cry while I write this! Sandy helped Kim watch the kids during the funeral, they went to the grave site, then gave us dinner on Monday night.  She has said the most comforting words and I have repeated them to other family members.  I am so blessed to have her as my MIL and friend.  Having in laws like this make me love Chad even more....I wonder if that makes sense??

 Mom and the Georgia(talk about a big hit)

 More family pics at dinner!

 Dad with his girls!

My favorite part of the weekend was after the funeral, before we went to the grave site.  It was just immediate family in the church with Grandmother and some of us spoke. It was my first time to speak at the podium of church;)   It was so sad because we are so bonded by this woman. My family is so close and connected with love because of our matriarch who is now with the True Foundation. I love my family so much and am ready to be on the road to acceptance.