A Birthday Celebrated ~ A Birthday Grieved..

All in a 24 hour time span..

Yesterday, my darling SweetPee turned, "FREEEEE!!!"  As sassy and tantrum-filled as this time in her life is, dang she's adorable.  Tonight we will have a small family party in which she plans to, "Open pwesents, bwhoa out candles and eat cake.. blue cake..."

God, I love that girl.

Today would've been Matt's 49th birthday.  I'm trying to push past the gloom of sadness, not dwell on memories of the last 10 birthdays we've shared and really try to focus on the joy of living.  I cannot allow myself to get swallowed up by grief and truly look forward to our little gathering tonight. 

And the Merlot.

Happy Birthday, Mama!

My beautiful Mama would've been celebrating 86 years today.  It's a time to reflect on how much she meant to me, what an amazing Mom she was (I so appreciate that now more than ever) and how much I miss her.

How lucky am I that she chose me that fateful day in July 1969? I was only one month old and told (via my non-id info) it was love at first sight.  Although the search for my birthmom continues, she is my "real" mom.  Period.

If there is cake in Heaven (and there must be, right??), I hope Mama is enjoying an extra slice and celebrating with family and friends.

I love you!

A Note To My BirthMom ~ Revisited

Two years ago I wrote this post. 

The search for her continues and she is on my mind.. especially today... 

A Note To My BirthMom

Birthday Fun & Baby Ruth's

The pool party last night was great. SweetPea stayed home with Daddy and LB and I stepped out. I can say it's the first time I ever heard of a kid's party being from 7:30pm-9:00pm and it was fantastic! The kids got to play in the pool, have snack, enjoy watching presents get opened and were zonked. Yes, it was waaay past bedtime but hey, that's what Fridays are for. A totally great idea... Thank you, Miss J, for inviting us!


Oh and yes, we did have one evacuation... Think CaddyShack...

Socialite Extraordinaire(s)

Little Buddy and SweetPea are creating a wonderful circle of friends and it's birthday season. Last weekend the party was at a BouncePlace and Little Sister showed off her moxie. I swear she is going to be a stunt woman.. zero fear. I had several heart attacks, might I add. Little Buddy ran into a pal from school (attending a different party) and had friends galore. He was definitely The Man.

Tonight we're off to a swim party.

With consistency and stability at home and all his new found companions, he seems to be finding peace. It has been some time since the last visit with the unhealthy bio family member and that has sure made a difference. Plans are in the works for a visit with the Good Bios soon and that will be a great time.

By golly, I do believe our little guy is healing.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Today Little Buddy's elementary school is celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday by wearing silly hats and bringing books from home for extra reading. He is hoping there will be cake, too.

Our boy is rocking it Irish style...


“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ~ Dr. Seuss

Happy Birthday, Darling(s)...

This is "Birthday Week" in our little home~

SweetPea has celebrated The Big

whilst this fine day DH celebrates

;o)

I love you both dearly.. Happy Birthday!!

Our Rocking Birthday Celebration..

Missy and Nantie's birthdays are the week before mine so June can be described as a happenin' month in our little village. As ya'll can imagine, our celebrations have grown over the years... this one the biggest yet. We're throwing a BBQ tomorrow for all three of us and yes, there are more people coming to it than attended our wedding. Uncle Mike and Cousin Jen (Nantie's brother and daughter) flew in from the Great NorthWest and surprised her.. it has been a rockin' week ALREADY!

Wednesday night we had our family birthday celebration...

Remember my Wii Campaign last Christmas? IT WORKED!


My family never misses a beat.. The ice cream scooper went missing a few months back.. THAT won't happen again!

Last but not least, this picture says it all..
YES, that's my brand spankin' new Inspiron 17, running W7 with a built-in web cam and all the bells and whistles. OOooooooooooooo!

Nantie, Missy (AND EVEN DH!) also opened great presents (but I didn't get a chance to ask permission to post their pics so I'm not sharing.. for now).

It was a night of family, laughter, food and fun. Oh, and more laughter. I am so blessed to have the most awesome family ev-er and overjoyed our loved ones could fly in (more arrive tomorrow!!).

God is sooo good!

:o)

As Gomer Used to Say..

Today is destine to go down as a great day. Jack and Jill's 5th birthday isn't for a few weeks but we're doing a little sumpin sumpin for them family style later today. It has been decided that, since the next few weeks are packed, this is the only time we have to do a small family gathering just for them. The whole crew is coming over at noon for pizza, ice cream, cake ...

.. and to give them their brand spankin' new bikes (and yes helmets, too).

We'll be filling up the big whale pool that DH got for Father's Day (nice of him to share, huh?) so it'll be a fun, outdoors day. If we don't have our daily thunderstorms and tornados, that is.

Years ago, Auntie MooMoo, Nantie and I declared June our birthday month (because a day just isn't long enough, right?). It's looking like the twins get to call June and July as theirs.

A Note To My Birth Mom..

40 years ago today (the very moment this post went live) I know exactly where you were. My non-id information says you requested not to see me when I arrived because you were afraid you would lose your resolve. You were a 20-something waitress that had recently relocated from the east coast and dated a customer that was charming and sweet. When you told him you were pregnant with me you never saw him again. You were already struggling to make ends meet and totally alone.

There are no words...

I can't even begin to imagine how beyond petrified you must of been. You could've found someone and gotten rid of me. No harm no foul (or so they would like you to believe). You searched your soul and chose life. My life.

There are no words...

You went to the office to relinquish your rights a few weeks after my birth and had almost talked yourself into keeping me. You struggled to make the right decision but in the end, knew deep down you could not give me the life you thought I deserved. It took you some time to compose yourself before leaving that day. It's a snapshot in time of a girl whose heart is completely broken because she so loves and wants to protect a little soul that she knew for 9 months. One she had never laid eyes on.

There are no words...

I wonder if you are out there somewhere and if I will cross your mind today. You are on mine often and I tell all who will listen you are the bravest person I have never met. I want you to know I live a blessed life, have wanted for nothing, fear the Lord and am surrounded by love and laughter. I am a wine enthusiast, snow mobiler, a NASCAR and Broncos fan, have the best friends and family ever, am a rescuer of dogs, a happily married wife and head over heels for a couple of great twins. Ironically, we're certified foster parents and our dream is to adopt. Bottom line? Life is darn good.

There are words.. I love you, too. And thank you.

My 30's In A Nutshell

A month before I turned 30 (a year after Mama passed away) I found out I was an adopted county baby.

The day I turned 30 - I was thrilled my (now ex) husband made it home (from a week long binge) to celebrate the joyous occasion.

31- I hooked back up with my old high school friend, Brenda (thank the Good Lord above). After 6 years I kicked the ex to the curb as the realization finally sunk in that I could not save him from his drug addiction. You can't save someone that doesn't want to quit.

32-Met DH

33-35 ~ Life was for once drama free and amazingly calm.. juuust right.

36 - Bought our home together.

37 - Got hitched.

38 - Tried but couldn't get pregnant.. Plan B (adoption) was set into motion and our home study to become foster to adopt parents begun. Through a series of events I reconnected with my father that I hadn't seen for 20+ years. It was beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time.

39 - Got certified with a local county and our 2 beautiful twins were placed with us. A roller coaster indeed but we wouldn't have it any other way.

This past decade was filled with big blessings, new beginnings, loads of laughter and love. I have no room to complain.. I honestly never knew how young 40 was until I was standing staring at it face to face.

Crow's feet and all..

Happy Birthday, Nantie!!!!

Happy Birthday To You
Happy Birthday To You
Happy Birthday Dear Naaannttiieee
Happy Birthday To YOU!

AND MANY MOOOORRREEEE!!!!

We love you dearly, Nantie. Thank you for joining us on this journey.. we couldn't of done it without you!!

Happy Birthday, Bren!!

Oh darlin', you really thought you were going to go under the radar on this one, didn't you? Muwahaha..

My best friend Bren is celebrating a humongo birthday today. Being the fab-u friend I am I won't come right out and say which one it is (but it rhymes with "Morty". Oh yeah, and "Snorty" too! That's actually what I'm doing out loud over how clever I am!). I can tease because I love her dearly and almost there myself (BUT NOT YET ~ AH HA!!).

I'm over-the-moon thrilled to report that she is flying in on Tuesday night and staying until Saturday (okay, maybe not after reading this post...doh!). I know she'll be here this June for my, er, 39th-Part-Deux (full of vengeance, no doubt) but not knowing if the twins will still be here by then really makes this visit extra special. I was so hoping she could meet them no matter what the outcome of the case is.

Jack and Jill have heard all about their Auntie Brenda and are excited to meet her. They recognize her in our wedding pictures and, although grappling with the idea of her living in a far off land called California, they do understand she lives within driving distance to Disneyland.

That makes her iconic.

Happy Birthday, My Sweets! See you tomorrow (hope Griz is on your tail!!).

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Dad's 78th birthday was this past Sunday. I can't express how very blessed I feel to have him back in my life. The picture was taken last month when I went out to California for a visit. We went to his favorite restaurant in Hemet (Polly's Pies) along with family (Aunt Jan and Jeri) and let him roll through the the aisles at Walmart. It's amazing how such a simple day out can mean so much. I don't care if I'm ---><--- close turning 40, I'll always be my Daddy's Girl. I love you, Dad.