Lilly and Austin: April 2010

Last Friday, April 16th, marked the one year anniversary of my Mom's death. This past year has been difficult without her. Somehow, by the grace of God, we are surviving and trying to pick up the pieces and move on. We are forced to take it one day at a time; some of those days are better than others. Our lives will never be the same without her. She is missed so dearly by so many and will forever be in our hearts. I know I am a better person for having a mother as wonderful as she was. I pray I can live up to her example. I feel that she was taken from us way too soon, but I am forever greatful for the 26 years I had with her.

I took the kids to visit her grave for the first time on Saturday. I looked down and found them sitting on the ledge of her stone. I just couldn't help but post this precious picture.

Please continue to pray for our whole family. The loss of Mom will be a life long struggle, but with the prayers and love of friends and family, we can go on.

I wish Heaven had a phone so I could hear your voice again.
I thought of you today, but that is nothing new.
I thought about you yesterday, and days before too.
I think of you in silence; I often speak your name.
All I have are memories and a picture in a frame.
Your memory is a keepsake from which I'll never part.
God has you in his arms...I have you in my heart.

We had a blast in Florida for Spring Break this year. Aunt Kathy talked me into traveling down to Orlando with Lilly, Austin, and my nieces Kenzie (11) and Shelbie (9) for their Spring Break. Dustin wasn't able to get off work, and while I'm attempting to be adventurous at this point in my life, I was not adventurous enough (or even willing) to make the 16 hour drive alone with 4 children. So I talked Dad into accompanying me on this excursion. Although I was still nervous about the drive to and from Orlando, I was so excited to go down for the visit with my Aunt Kathy, Uncle Mark and cousins Kindie and Kelsey. They've made the trip up to Indy several times in the last 2 years, but it had been probably almost 10 years since I'd been down there. I think fun was had by all! :o)

As soon as we arrived, Lilly and Austin warmed right up to everyone. (I'm sure they were glad to be out of the car! They were so great on the way down...they didn't get out of their carseats once in the 16 hour drive. We drove through the night hoping the kids would make it at least half way before having a melt down. We were very pleasantly surprised that they made it all the way through in great moods!)

Uncle Mark bonded with the kids (especially Austin) when they came to stay with us over Christmas last year. They were glad to see him again...

Since we were going to Florida, it was only natural that the kids insisted we bring their lawn chairs...

Lilly was soooo glad to be outside in the Florida sunshine...

One of the very first things we did was make a trip to Wal-Mart. Since we crammed all 4 kids, 2 adults, 3 DVD players, a small cooler, a couple bags full of snacks, 4 pillows, 3 blankets and all luggage into one vehicle, we only took what was necessary for the trip down. (When you're traveling with small children, there is so much you feel like you need to have...diapers, wipes, sippy cups, snacks, juice, milk, etc.) We needed to stock up for the week.

And yes, this is a picture of my child, in a Wal-Mart shopping cart, eating McDonald's french fries. Sometimes you resort to whatever will make the child calm while you do what you need to do. :o)

Easter Egg Hunt

Aunt Kathy signed the kids up for the annual Easter Egg Hunt at her church. Other than the family Easter Egg Hunt each year at the Alyea Farm, this was the kids' first organized hunt. They had fun...

If anyone knows Lilly, they know that she's very independent most of the time. She had no problem going and picking up all the eggs she saw laying on the ground.

Austin, on the other hand, wasn't so sure why he had to pick up the mess of eggs just laying on the ground at the playground. He quickly caught on after Uncle Mark showed him that there was candy in all the eggs...

After the hunt, we had lunch in the gym. The kids loved being showed off by Aunt Kathy to all her kids and co-workers at the church...

We went home to rest and play the rest of the afternoon. This is Austin's CHEESE face if you couldn't tell...

Lil discovered that some of the eggs even had Dora stickers in them. I'm sure she had some help from Kenzie and Shelbie on the placement of her stickers...cute nonetheless.

Park

One afternoon, we had a day at the park. The kids were a little intimidated by the playground at first, so Papaw had to join them on the slide...

Austin preferred to play under the equipment rather than on it...

Trip to the Mall

Another day, we decided to just relax and hang out at the mall with the kids. My cousin Kindie and I gave the other adults a break from the children and took them to the mall to the indoor playground.

Kenzie and Shelbie gave Austin a mohawk...

They had Dip n Dots for the first time and obviously enjoyed them...

Evenings

A couple evenings, we enjoyed some wonderful Italian Ice. I discovered my love for Jeremiah's Italian Gelati's...yummm! I think the kids loved them almost as much as I did...

We spent most evenings just hanging out and enjoying family...

Cocoa Beach

The weather was perfect for a day at the beach. The sun was warm and the breeze off the ocean was just enough to take the edge off the heat. The water was freezing, but Kenzie, Shelbie and Papaw were true non-Floridians. Their mentality was, "I don't get to come to the beach very often so I don't care how cold it is...I'm getting in!"

Lilly and Austin had never felt sand under their feet before...they HATED it at first. It didn't take long for Austin to get used to it. Lilly, on the other hand, didn't take her shoes off the entire day. It took some convincing from Aunt Kathy to let her know it was ok and even fun to play in the sand.

Austin enjoyed being on Papaw's shoulders while Papaw had his feet in the water. That was about as far as he would go. Lilly wouldn't go anywhere near the water...surprise.

Pool Fun

Lilly wouldn't go anywhere close to the pool until the last day. She would even get really upset when she saw other people jumping in the water...she spent a lot of time playing on the porch. She finally played by the pool with some containers from the kitchen. (She's quite the organizer these days...notice all the containers lined up in a neat row.)