In Memory of Kim Piccone...

My heart goes out to the Piccone family tonight. I "met" a woman named Kim, through an Internet friend of mine, in August. I was told that she had Breast Cancer and needed my prayers. We added her to our prayers every day and she became a part of our life.

I prayed that God would grant her a miracle and cure her of this HORRIBLE disease. She has three kids, 10, 8 and 4. Kim lost her battle yesterday morning. She was only 38 years old.

I never met her or even knew her, but I have been so saddened by her passing. She was only 1 year older than me and her 2 youngest are the same ages as my kids. It hit me straight in the gut. And my heart is breaking for her precious children and for her husband, all of whom have to live without this woman.

I feel so sad - it's amazing how your heart can welcome a complete stranger and break when they are gone. I may not have known you Kim, but I will always remember you. And my family will continue to pray for yours.

I find comfort in knowing that you are resting in peace in the loving arms of our Father and that you have no more pain.

Try to make some changes....

Ok, so I see all these fancy blogs out there and I think - wow, I'd like to make mine fancy.

So I do some research and find a gorgeous Sunflower Template. I set it up and it looks wonderful and I'm so excited. However, in the process - I wipe out all my HTML code and my widgets (yeah, WHAT?)!!! So I basically screwed it up.

SOMEHOW I managed to get back to my original template and add a picture (woohoo - but lost my title). But it still isn't exactly what I want. *sigh*

Anyone have any tips (Heather, Candy - my techie friends....)...please.... :)

WOW!!!

I had a lot to catch up on!!! PHEW!!!

So there are 5 "installments" today. If you are interested and have time, scroll down - the first one is an update on Syd's finger "We're on the home stretch".

Thanks for checking in on us - and don't forget to leave comments. You don't have to have an account, you can check anonymous and leave a comment and sign your name. It's nice to know that people check in! Click on "Comments" at the end of each post!

Thanks!! :)

Mom and Mason Night Out!!!

As most of you know - my son is an ALL SPORTS fanatic!! He is a mirror image of my brother (scary - KIDDING!) He lives it - whatever he can get.

My brother and (soon-to-be) sister in law :) introduced him to Hershey Bears Hockey last time they were here and he's been dying to get back. So when a friend of ours offered us tickets for Saturday night - I JUMPED on them!! We were both very excited. I love to watch sports too and love to watch them with Mason because he gets just as crazy as I do!!! : )

So Sydney had a sleepover with Nanny (and had a ball - complete with makeup and smelly lotions, etc!!! Heehee - she certainly didn't miss me!!) :) Mason and I hit the hockey game and had a great time!!! Too bad they lost 6-0!!! :( But we still had fun!

The bummer of the whole thing is that Hershey has a really fun cheer that they do whenever they score a goal and Mason and I practiced it all the way to the stadium. We didn't even get to do it once!!! :( So ya know what - we did it in the parking lot when we left - really loud!! And we got quite a kick out of ourselves!!! LOL!!!!

We did it up right - Mason got a shirt and a Hershey Bears Claw!!! He was SOOO cute and I loved having time alone with him!!!

Here he is before the game with Cocoa the Bear!! :)



B-E-A-R-S, bears, bears, bears....AAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!


Ok, isn't it amazing how MUCH we look alike? Even down to having the same smile (with the tongue forward!!) Heehee - I got such a kick out of that when I saw the picture!!! :)


GO BEARS!!!!!


Focusing intently on the game with an occasional burst of "COME ON BEARS!!!!" :)


We had a great time!!!! :)

Basement cleanup!!!

So we have a finished basement but it's not a daylight basement so it can be pretty blah down there and we don't spend all that much time down there. It's an AWESOME place - fully finished, but just not utilized to it's full potential!! Welllllll....

My mom (Rah Rah to the kids) got a nice new computer from my dad's cousin. So she and my dad decided to give her old computer to my kids!!! YAY!!! My kids were over the moon!!! So it was enough to prompt us to do a basement cleanup project. Now my scrapbook area has always been there and the furniture has always been there - we just weren't using it and things were starting to gather. You know "Oh just put it in the basement for now!!!"

Well now it will hopefully be used more often because I set up the computer right next to my scrapbook table and so we can be down there together. I also redid the other side for Mason to play his "sports". When I tell you this child is addicted to sports - I do not lie! He ALWAYS has a ball in his hands. He kept getting in trouble for tossing it around upstairs. So I made an area where he can safely play. He was very happy!!!

And the kids are THRILLED with the computer. It's not hooked up to the Internet (and never will be) and it's perfect for them!!! :) THANKS MOM - It's a HIT!!! :)

So in this picture, you can see my scrapbook area behind the computer. All the pictures on the walls are art work the kids have done over the years. We used to use this room a lot and I'm glad we're getting back to it. We put a lot of work into it a couple years ago!!!!



One happy little boy!






And his happy little sister! :)


Here's Mason's new "football arena". The two couches are his end zones. They are old couches so he's allowed to "hit them" so to speak!! :) Plus, when he's on the computer or not downstairs, Syd has a little area to play too!


Then he's using this little patch as his "hockey arena"!! LOL! He has a little stick and puck and he sets up goals with his toys. He LOVES it!!! All the boxes and bags (and treadmill *ahem*) on the right are what we moved out of the way!!

Take note of the LOVELY red floor - compliments of the original owner. It even has a built in shuffleboard court. When we moved in the whole room was red. Red paneling, red poles - GAK!!! We put in a new ceiling, new paneling and painted!!! The floor has to stay the way it is for now - but that's ok! :)

I think it will be a great setup and maybe I'll get some more scrapbooking done this way!! YAY!!!! WIN-WIN!!! :)

HAPPY (belated) TURKEY DAY!!!

Daddy was on his annual hunting trip so it was just me and the kids this year! We went to my parents house mid morning and stayed most of the day. It was nice to have time with them and nice to have them here this year. Definitely topped our list of "what we are thankful for"!! :)

Then we went to Rex's Aunt Eva's house for dinner. All his aunts and uncles and cousins, etc from his mom's side gather there and we always have a good time.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!!

Thought I'd get a couple of us together in our "autumn" colors!!! :) (With the help of the self timer on the first one and the kids on the ones with me in it! They did pretty well!!! They LOVE to be the photographer!! :) )

I love how this turned out!!





My two cuties!!! (Mason's top right tooth is very loose and that's why it looks like it's not in "place"!)

CONGRATULATIONS ILSE!!!!

My friend Ilse graduated from Villanova University with her Masters in Nursing and a concentration in Anesthestia!!!! She's now a Nurse Anethetist!! (sp) WOW!!!! It's been a long journey (started when she was 18) and she's done it all while having six kids!!! She's my hero!!!

Way to go Ilse!! I'm so proud of you!!!!! :)

Here she is with her hubby Dane, and her oldest two, Dominic and Mikayla!



Two old friends - we've been friends since we were 10!!!!! Life has been good to us! We grew up together in VA, she got married and moved to PA. I moved to CT with my family and then met Rex and moved to PA. She and I now live 8 minutes from each other. Wild huh? :)