She Would Have Been 60

"We are the captains of our own ship sailing the sea of life, but in times of a stormy weather, you will discover true friends when they don't hesitate to be a lighthouse."
I'm sure some of you remember that 2 years ago, my friend Lilian died. It was such a shock and one of the worst days I can remember.  When her son called, I knew it was bad news. I can still remember his voice telling me that she had died, and me not wanting to believe it.  I still don't want to believe it , thinking that one of these days I'll pick up the phone and I'll hear "Hi Debs, it's me!"  It could have been any time of day or night.  If she couldn't sleep, she called me at all hours.  If she couldn't reach me, during the day, she called my mom to see if everything was ok.  On 9/11 she called to make sure my niece from Long Island was ok and my daughter-in-law working in DC was ok.  It made me feel so good that she was thinking of us.

A few years ago my son was in London for his job.  He stopped by to visit her and she was elated.  He had stayed with her years before while playing in a soccer tournament and that is how we became friends.  You didn't have to be around  her long in order to become a friend.  After a few minutes you felt like you had known her for years.

My youngest son also stayed with her during his tournament .  We were so glad to see eachother and catch up.  These are some pictures of her at that tournament.

Here she is with the boys that stayed at her home.  My son, Troy is the one with the blond hair.

She is posing with my son Jake, who was the first to stay with her.  She totally loved him.  My husband is in the pictures also.  She was so upset to learn that he had cancer, but died before she knew his surgery was successful.

Lilian  loved her granddaughter, Lauren.  She always said that they were so much alike.

On her visit here, the two soccer teams had a birthday party for her.  She was so surprised.

We always had so much fun together.  You can tell by her face in this picture that she was a real bird!  We moved my son to another town and she was right there helping.  It was so hot and we were beat!!

Her 60th birthday would have been on August 21st.  Sure wish she was still her with us to celebrate.

Love you Lil and will always miss you.

Happy 4th Birthday !

"By chance we have become family, first in our hearts, and finally in breath and being."
Happy 4th Birthday to my beautiful little "Dumpling".  This is the first birthday that I have missed and so wish that we could be together.  When you come back to Pennsylvania, I promise we will have the Princess Party that we were talking about. Everyone is so anxious to see  you!

Here are a few pictures to show  you how much you have changed in four years!

This was when we were in China.  You were 9 months old and already beautiful.

Birthday number 1.  You weren't too sure about the icing at first, but the more you tasted, the more you wanted.

Birthday # 2 along with your brother's first birthday.

You are such a good BIG sister.

Your Nemo cake for birthday #3.

Celebrating with Mommy.

We would always go for walks when I came to visit, which was every Tuesday.

You have always loved animals, even Winnie who is 13.

It was so hard saying goodbye to everyone when you moved to Abu Dhabi.

But, it was so much fun visiting you in Abu Dhabi and being able to take you to school.

When your Daddy hurt his back this spring, you came to the USA to be with him.  Your cousins enjoyed having you here and can't wait for you to come back.

Looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks.  Love you and miss you so much.

Happy 4th Birthday "Dumpling!"

My Enchilada Is 3

"Love is why I came here in the first place."

My Enchilada is 3 on Tuesday!  Happy Birthday handsome boy.  I wish so much that I could be there to celebrate with you.  Hopefully, you will be coming to Pennsylvania soon and we can celebrate then.  Love you and miss you SO MUCH!!!!

You are growing too fast buddy.  This is a picture from your first birthday party along with your sister's second.

This was your second birthday party at Pop and Mam's house.  Do you remember your Cars cake?

I know you don't remember this picture.  It was the very first time I held you.

Have a great day and I hope to see pictures of birthday #3!

Our Vacation

" Vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in."
We again went to Stone Harbor, NJ  (near Cape May) for our vacation.  It's a very clean beach and also family oriented.  No boardwalks and just some quaint litle shops.  We went to a restaurant called "The Lobster House" and it was delicious.  We ordered take-out and then ate on their seaside deck.  Camryn loved it, except she was worried about the birds.  On the beach, the sea gulls would dive down and try to take your food.  We kept Camryn very well protected when she had a snack.  There was no way those birds were gonna mess with my baby!

She loved everything about the beach and would just run and run.

She was our source of entertainment.  We watched her for hours, just playing.

She kept her Mommy and Daddy very busy.

She loved eating her lunch on the beach.  When it was time for her nap,  PopPop and I would go along back to the house. After Mommy or Daddy would bathe her, to get rid of all that sand, she would go for her nap.  Most days, so did we.   The beach is best in the morning.

I have a few more really good pictures for another post.

Free Haircuts

"Making mistakes means you are learning faster."
Well, my precious Dumpling made a big mistake this week.  She and her brother got up very early one day.  They are supposed to stay in their rooms until Mommy and Daddy get up, which is very eary also, but they decided to go downstairs.  While they were downstairs, they found their scissors and decided to cut each others hair!  I can only imagine the conversation when they were caught.  Lesson learned on both parts.

The new haircut she gave herself.

The new version either given by Mommy or Daddy.

Cut to the scalp.  It could have been much worse.

Buzz job  compliments of Daddy.

The salon of choice was the Enchiladas tent in his bedroom.

Acutally, I think it's kind of funny.  But then I would, cause I'm the MamMam.

I'm sure they learned their lesson and won't ever do it again.!

Never Tell Them

"As long as we live, there is never enough singing."


A few months ago when the kids were around the table at lunch, they were all singing and having a good time.  They were loud and so giggly.  When they saw the camera it all stopped.  Why do kids do that?!