Riley's Birthday

On his birthday we took him and 3 of his friends to Chuck E Cheese. They had an absolute blast. It was so cute to see him all "grown up" and on his own with his friends there.

On Saturday we had a party at home. Gram Z, Uncles Ray & Norb, Karen and the girls, and Aunt Sammie came over. We just had lunch, cake and presents.

Minutes before the party began Riley received a package in the mail from Aunt Krystin & Uncle Darrin and he was so excited (he loves getting mail)

After Riley opened each of his presents he exclaimed "Oh I needed this" or "I've always wanted this" as if he was asking for it for 10 years! Aunt Sammie gave him a new ice hockey stick and we all could tell what it was when it was wrapped but Riley really had no idea...he is just so funny.

Riley has the most amazing personality. He is fun, outgoing, loving, excitable and into every single sport there is.

He loves going to school (his teacher is Mrs. Piersanti) on the days when there is no school he gets angry at me like I just won't let him go or something. He has made many friends there already,

Riley's favorite color is green,

He loves pizza, mashed potatoes and ketchup on everything (including pancakes),

His favorite drink is apple juice,

He loves playing ice hockey and can't wait to start Tball this year,

He is closest to Connor who is his best friend,

He likes SpongeBob, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Diego, Imagination Movers and Drake and Josh

When Imaginations Movers are on he pulls out the Rock Band drums and plays and dances along with the show (very funny)

Goodbye

My mom (aka Grandma Ellen) passed away today. That is a really hard thing for me to have to say..

I had a hard time with her having a brain hemmorhage right from the time it happened all I could think about was that is what my Dad had 15 years ago. I was in such a panic to lose my mom the same way I lost my dad. A few weeks after my dad's brain hemmorhage he had a stroke and died on his 40th day in the hospital, but my mom wasn't going to be like him... She took a turn for the better recently and my fears were pushed aside. My dad never got to the point my mom was at; he never got to the point of talking to me but my mom did in fact earlier this afternoon my stepfather called my sister and was telling her how my mom was doing so much better that she was mad at him for not letting her have a cigarette. That changed quickly when about 9:30 pm he called me to tell me we had lost her.

They say life can change in an instant but you never really believe that until something like this happens.

Since my mom became ill last month I have thought about a lot of things that haven't crossed my mind in several years... things like Holidays when I was a child and things we did as a family, so many good and bad memories have filled my mind in the last 40 days(yes she also died on the 40th day), but the one thing that has remained constant is the love my family has always shared. Oh don't get me wrong there have been a lot of disagreements and fights along the way but I truly believe that people that don't fight really don't care about each other. Sometimes it takes an argument to make you a better person. My mom and I have done that for each other a lot in my life but each and every fight taught me something new about myself and her.

I will always regret that I didn't call my mom as much as I should have but I will always know she still loved and missed me just as much as I loved and missed her.

My mom had a very hard life. We were poor but she always found a way to get by. My mom was far from perfect but she was always there when I needed her. She was with me when I had Zack, she was almost there when I had Hayley (if only the elevator was faster.. she stepped off as I had my final push), she came to care for me in North Carolina when carrying Connor made me ill and when I had Riley she came back from Texas to help us move. She was the first person I turned to when I found out I had Cancer. Although she was across the country she was there for me every step of the way.

In addition to being there for me, my mom was an amazing Grandmother. Living so far away never mattered to her. She made the best of it and stayed in close contact with each and every one of her grandchildren. They loved her just as much and were as close as if she lived across town. This will be hard for them, they have faced many obstacales in their young lives but they are strong.

My mom was by far the strongest person I know and it is because of her that I am a Survivor. She taught me to be strong and never give up anything without a fight. It is because of her that I am a good mother. I have so many things to be grateful to her for.

I will forever be eternally grateful to the strong woman who didn't go out without a fight. I am proud to say she was my mother.

The thrill of Disney

There is really nothing more exciting than the thrill of Mickey Mouse or any other Disney Character.  I don't know what it is; I guess it really is just the magic of it all.

It's every child's dream to go to Disney World but when you just cannot Disney on Ice is sure to suffice... for now!  

 The Princesses above were Hayley's favorite (and Mom's too)

Every little and big girl wishes to be a princess if only for awhile so we can forget about our worries.

Connor was really only all about the Snow Cone Character cups... this year it was Mr. Incredible for Connor, Stitch for Riley and Cinderella's tea cup for Hayley.

As a parent there is no feeling like the one you have when you kids are having the time of their lives!  Riley was on the edge of his seat for the whole show and yelling with excitement each time a new character came out.

I may not get them to Disney World anytime soon but the feeling they gave me last night will carry me through for awhile until we can afford to take that magical journey.

Two years down only Three more to go!

Today is the 2nd Anniversary of my kidney removal!!!

It is a wonderful feeling! It has been a crazy two years but I am so glad to still be here today.

I have had more emotions than I even knew I could and there have been a few bumps in the road but we have overcome them. With the support of our family and friends I will continue to do so for three more years until we can officially say I am cancer free! Without all of their support I don't know if I could have made it.

To celebrate Sammie bought me my favorite Carvel Football Ice Cream cake and we called it my New Birthday.

Thank you to everyone who helped us make it Two years and mark your calendars for 2012 when we will have a thank you party to celebrate life!

Connor's New Pet

Connor has been asking for a pet for quite sometime; usually a cat but then a new Reptile & Fish store opened up in town in September and since then all Connor could talk about was getting a Turtle.  A turtle didn't seem like a good fit for our hectic family; they are not very hardy and they live in an open top tub (which I am sure the cats and dogs would LOVE!!) and we just do not have the room for that.
Uncle Jeff and Aunt Dawn got 2 bearded dragons for breeding last year and Loverboy (pictured) was one of their first babies.
At first we shut down the idea of another animal in the house; after all we do have 2 dogs, 2 cats and more fish than we can count (they keep having babies:)  Then when we were at Jeff's earlier this week Connor was so good with him and he really seemed to like Connor so after a lot more pleading from Connor we finally gave in to the idea.
I took Connor shopping yesterday and he spent all his Christmas money to get all he could for Loverboy.  Then we took the boys to the beach for some drift and a few additions from mom and then we added Loverboy;
Who seems very happy in his new home where he has already put Puff in her place.  We let the dogs see Loverboy and Puff went right up nose to nose and Loverboy lunged right after her, she has not gone near him since.  Cocoa is very interested and gets very excited when Loverboy is out but she doesn't get to close; she just sits near him and pants with her heart racing.  So far the cats have not noticed him and I am sure the fish don't care either way;)
In addition to his new habitat Loverboy likes to be held and run around on the floor, but he is really fast so you can't take your eyes off him.  It's easier to hold him; he just sits still on your lap or shoulder.

A chance to relax & enjoy

This year Sherry decided to stay home and not come over on Christmas Day; it is a very long drive from Randolph and we all know how nice it is to stay home after opening gifts.

Instead we decided to get together at Gram Z's today which was nice because we were able to see Aunt Judy also.

With everything that happened around Christmas we really didn't have time to enjoy it this year; but today was different.  There was no rushing around and the kids all seemed to have a good time with each other.

It was so nice to relax, open some gifts and grab a pizza with no where else to be on a beautiful winter afternoon....