Happy 50th!

In October, Ed's parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
The party (and the week together) were fabulous!

Would you believe that I didn't capture one single picture of just the happy couple!?!?!?

But I did capture:

One with all the grandchildren:

One of the little, cute grandchildren:





 

One of the gorgeous older granddaughters:

 

 

One of all the girls:

 

 

One of the ONLY grandson:

 

 

One with the ONLY daughter (and her daughter):

 

One with the daughter, joking around with her mom:

 

One with their friends:

 

One with their kids:

 

One of each of Ed's brothers and their wives:

 

 

One of Jr, III and IV:

One of us:

 

And most importantly, one of ALL of US!

 

 

 

Ed and MaryE - Congratulations again on 50 fabulous years. 

Thank you for being such a wonderful example of commitment and love!

 

 

P.S.  Ashley ---THANK YOU AGAIN and AGAIN for taking care of EVERYTHING!  We love you so much and appreciate everything!!!!!

 

P.S.S.  We had so, so, so much fun we just wanna know.....When's the next party!?!?!? 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



Proud!

A few days after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast, we were watching the Nightly News while we prepared dinner.
The pictures were brutal and devastating. The people's emotions were raw and real. It hurt my heart.

E, speaking in an empathetic tone, said to me, "Mom, that's so sad.  Those people don't have food and they don't have houses.  I'm going to have a food drive for them." It was clear that she could see the pain in those people's faces.  She made the decision to do something about it!

"Awesome, Awesome idea honey!" I exclaimed! (as my heart now hurt from the pride and joy I was experiencing!)

She immediately began to make fliers. (I thought I took pictures, but guess I missed  it.)  They said, 'help those hurt by hurricane sandy. you can give corn, green beans, tomato sauce and cans. thank you." 
It was too cute!!
So over the course of the next week, E went door-to-door asking for canned goods.  She did it ALL herself.  I pulled the wagon and walked along, but she did all the advocating and asking!  She called her grandparents and aunt and uncles.

She collected 48 cans and $25!  Pretty impressive for an 8 year old.

The Red Cross couldn't accept the donation (cheaper for them to buy in bulk than to pay to sort and store small donations....makes sense!!) , so we went to a local church (Hope Presbyterian) who was having a specific drive for those in NY and NJ.  They were so grateful and impressed.  They took her picture and are going to feature her in the weekly bulletin. 

What an amazing, caring, thoughtful, giving, little lady we have!

It has always been so important to Ed and I that our kids learn how to give back to their communities and serve God by giving to those less fortunate.  This was all of those prayers and hopes becoming a reality.  It was so cool to see our little girl be so passionate about her cause and a true reminder of the good in the world.

Thanks to everyone who donated food or money!  You helped foster E's passion for helping others and your donations truly made a difference.

First Heartiversary

Two months ago today (September 14th), we celebrated EIV's first heartiversary!

 

 What is a Heartiversary you ask?


It is a celebration of God's miracles, His blessings, and our son's perfectly mended heart (or in layman's terms.....the one year anniversary of EIV's extremely successful open heart surgery!!)

And nothing SCREAMS healthy heart more than an 8 zillion calorie Eileen's Cookie!  YUM!! YUM! YUM!!

 

And before I knew it.....their faces were in the cookie.

Anyone who KNOWS my girls are NOT SHOCKED, NOR SURPRISED and likely EXPECTED this to happen!!!!

 

 

 
























And EIV's was participating in the cookie smash whether he wanted to or not!

 

 

 

What a fun celebration of life!

 

 

As we celebrate EIV's health today, we are thankful!

Thankful for all of our family and friends who have and continue to give us love and support.

Thankful for Dr Sprague, Dr Duncan and Dr Delaney for their advocacy, expertise and care.

Thankful for Children's Hospital and all of the extraordinary care we received.

Thankful for so very, very much.

But most of all Thankful for our children, for their health and for their love.

 

 

 

 

 

What??? You Dont???

You don't have broccoli for breakfast?

 

My 22 month does!!

He begged for it, actually.

 

 

 

8 year old favorites

Continuing the tradition of asking my children their faves near their birthdays, here's the latest rendition.  E says:


What is your favorite color:  pink

Favorite animal: puppy

Favorite food: candy

Favorite thing to do at school:  read

Favorite activity: Hanging out with mommy and daddy

BFF:  Emma S.

What do you think of your sister H right now: lazy, because she falls asleep really early

Who cooks the best:  mom and dad

Favorite TV show:  Good Luck Charlie

Favorite breakfast food: The sausage we get from Grandpa Gary

Funnest thing we've done so far this year:  San Francisco trip

Favorite pet:  Jeter

Favorite day:  Friday, because you don't have to go to school for the weekend.

Favorite people in the world: my mom, my dad, my sister and my brother

Favorite place to visit: Hawaii (even though I've never been there!)

E added these questions to the list:

Favorite thing about my mom: she's nice

Favorite thing about my dad: when I was little we always snuggled together

Favorite thing about my brother: He's so cute

Favorite thing about my sister: Funny

Favorite kind of ice cream: Bubble Gum

What's the nicest thing you've ever done: helped my friends

What scares you the most: Spiders

What annoys you:  Jeter snoring

E, you are blossoming into such a mature young lady.
We are honored and blessed to call you ours...all ours :)

Bump, Set, Spike

Bump
Set
Spike

Not in 8 year old volleyball.
Serving IS the game.

Check out our serving pro :)

A Total Blur

I want to believe that it is only October 7th!
I have to keep reminding myself that we are now nearly half way through November.
The reason I'm having such a difficult time is because the entire month of October was seriously a BLUR to my and my family!

In one month we:
-flew to Vegas for a week to celebrate Ed's parent's 50th Anniversary
-returned late on Tuesday night and taped the first session of the Hearts of Hope video on Wednesday morning
-returned to work on Thursday
-attended a work benefit dinner Thursday night
-made a cake for my nephew's first birthday party
-Saturday swimming lessons and the final volleyball game
-traveled out of town for the weekend to celebrate the birthday party
-Managed to make it to work Monday morning
-Wednesday - Hit Sgt Peffers restaurant for the end of the year soccer party; ran to my brother's to see my mom; ran to the store to pick up donuts for breakfast; Stayed up WAY TOO late making E's b-day cake
-Celebrated E's 8th birthday party on Thursday with family and friends
-Attempted to finalize the project that I've been working on for the past year on Friday (before we disseminate the content to the entire country!)
-Saturday, swimming again, groceries, last minute planning for my week-long work trip, attended the Midwest Heart Connection's Hearts of Hope banquet (got home later than I planned and guess what....still needed to pack!)
-Sunday, departed for Vegas, stayed until Wednesday, then drove to Santa Anna....then drove back to Vegas on Friday and flew home on Saturday; walked in my door at 7:38pm
-Made Halloween costumes on Sunday AFTER spending 3+ hours at the pumpkin patch; attempted to do my laundry and assess the grocery situation
-Monday - sat through training (almost all day)
-Tuesday - retirement party AND going away party at work
-Wednesday - Halloween, late night, tired babies....

WHEW........I'm exhausted all over again just recanting it. (and am pretty sure 1-3 days went unaccounted for in my list)
Needless to say, I have a lot to catch up on and just when I think that's a possibility, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here....I'm tired again.....

My 'to do' blog list is getting long.  I have great pictures and memories of the anniversary party, both birthday parties, the pumpkin patch and everything else in between.   I'm really hoping to crank some out this week/weekend.   They will be worth the wait.....

What can't wait a minute more is sleep....
Good Night All!

God Bless America

When you cast your vote today, I ask you to:

-Stop and remember how truly blessed you are to live in a FREE country! Don't take your freedom for granted

-Take a moment and pray for all the men and women who have given their lives so that YOU can vote.

-Remember how powerful your voice (and vote) can be!

-Pray for each and every elected official in our country....regardless of your political affiliation......

-Ask God to continue to guide our country and officials, in making decisions that serve Him, bring peace and protection to our citizens and bring all of our citizens together

God Bless America!

Halloween Trick

Thanks Jimmy Kimmel for this idea!!

I'm NOT mean!  It's funny!!!

The Halloween treats, which are the pictures of the bag of popcorn, soda and monkey will follow shortly :)

Little Hearts.....Big Miracles!

Ed and I were given the opportunity to celebrate our little miracle during the Midwest Heart Connection's annual gala, Hearts of Hope:

Check out the video at the bottom of the page: http://midwestheartconnection.com/homepage.html

Wow!!  Every time I watch it, I keep thinking......we are so BLESSED in so many ways!  God is so GOOD!  And...my husband knocked it out of the park!!  Wasn't he SO articulate and just perfect!  Way to go honey!

We are not only so blessed, but also so very honored to share our story.
Here's to every 'heart family' out there.....praying for peace, strength and support.

Our eight-year-old beauty

October 18, 2004
2:10 PM

Our spunky, full-of-life and bursting with personality daughter entered the world with a TON of hair!

 

 

And our lives have never been the same.

E - you are amazing!  We love you and are so proud and blessed to call you ours!!

 



My Heart Runneth Over Wednesdays

my heart runneth over with.....blessings....times three.....

Just like Daddy

Taste buds just like his Daddy:

If it was possible to sustain on candy, chocolate and ice cream alone....I know two Edwards that would be pretty dang happy!

Why's it gotta be that way?

You all know how incredibly behind I am with my blogging.  Come on H's August birthday got posted in October!  September's memories have piled up on my 'to do' list and now we are 1/2 way through October, and little to no slowing down is on the horizon.

I laid in bed this morning (yes, my mind was racing...so there was no sleeping in!) thinking about how desperately I want to catch up......thinking about HOW could that actually become a reality.  Today we have swimming lessons, a producer coming to video our family for a couple hours (for a non-profit organization's annual fundraiser), a volleyball game, a almost 2 hour drive and a very special birthday party for my 1 year old nephew.  That doesn't include the normal chaos that comes along with our 1, 6 and 7 year olds nor meals, showers, last minute grocery trips, etc.

So you might be asking WHY I am spending a few minutes this morning writing on my blog and NOT getting ready for my day.  Well....because it is more important to me than over half of that other stuff.  Over half of the things that have been busying up my life over the past few months don't really matter and will not matter a year from today.  What does matter is my family and the moments and memories that surround them.  I have chosen to capture them on this blog, so therefore this blog becomes important to me.

Why is it that when life gets so so busy, it is often the important, meaningful things that get shoved to the back?  I HATE it!  (we do not use the word HATE in our home, because I do not like it! but I feel THAT strongly about this, I thought it needed the extra 'umph' of that word).
Work is busy, schedules are busy.....so what often doesn't get attended to....the special one-on-one time with my kids, the special holiday crafts and cards that I have always made with them, the killer dance parties in our kitchen,  taking shortcuts here and the easy way out there.  Lots of you are surely thinking: 'Lisa, you're a full time working mom....who's husband works at night...it's OK to choose convenience'.  Well, even though that often is the case, I don't like it!!

The things that are most important to me (not in any specific order....just the ramblings in my brain) are making memories with my kids, having a date night with my hottie husband,  making cards for every holiday to send to our family, taking pictures, printing pictures, making cakes, making homemade dinners, making decorations for my house, spending time (non-work time) with my friends, talking on the phone, being outdoors, being with my extended families, hugging and kissing my nieces and nephews, sending real thank you notes, talking to my grandparents, enjoying life etc etc etc etc.....

Why does it have to be that way when life gets busy....it's those things that can and do get pushed to the side.  It's crap, I tell you!  I won't say no to those things, so therefore life gets even busier!  I just want to slow down; I just want to have time, more time.......
Of course, this post could go on and on...but guess what....I've gotta run off to the next bit of life......

A very belated birthday

There is no need to close your eyes....

 

Because it is NO BIG SURPRISE that I am so behind with my blogging....

 

You all recall that H turned 6 in August.

Here's a brief snapshot of her birthday:

 

 

Birthday Breakfast of Champions!

 

 

We also celebrated that evening at Papa's Lodge.

 

 

 



 



 Only one more birthday post to come.....

Just in time for E's birthday!



My Heart Runneth Over Wednesdays....

My heart runneth over with.......

Vacation begins on Saturday!

Honestly, it needed to begin today!

Favorites of my 6 year old

A sweet friend gave me this great idea (thanks S!!) to do with the kids around their birthdays.
I think it is a fabulous way to see how they change from year to year.
I'm a little belated since H's birthday was in August, but that seems to be the story of my life right now.  So consider this your notice that our Halloween pictures will likely be posted in December and Christmas fun in March :)

So here it goes....
Imagine H and I sitting at my kitchen table, serious reporter style, with my Q&A!

What is your favorite color:  blue

Favorite animal:  zebra

Favorite food: cookies (all kinds, but Eileen's are yummy!)

Favorite thing to do at school:  color

Favorite activity:  Coloring with mom

BFF:  Shelby (this was the first time I've ever heard this name!  Guess she is in her class.....just never happens to mention her :)

What do you think of your sister E right now:  She's kind of mean  (this made me laugh!  These girls fight like cats right now!)

Who cooks the best:  mom.....no....I mean dad....no I meant mom...actually mom and dad both cook the best  (sweet...she didn't want to hurt my feelings!)

Favorite TV show:  iCarly

Favorite breakfast food:  cereal

Funnest thing we've done so far this year:  Trip to San Francisco on the airplane

Favorite pet:  a hamster and a puppy (sorry Charlie and Jeter :( )

Favorite day:  I have two mom....Saturday and Sunday because we don't have school

Favorite people in the world:  mom, dad, doctor (Random!), emma, jeter, charlie, edward, chloe, riley and kendall

Favorite place to visit: swimming pool and papa's lake


I can't wait to look back at these from year to year. 
Her personality just shines through these answers.

H ~ as we always tell you....regardless of what your favorites are, YOU are our FAVORITE youngest daughter.  We love you!!

My Heart Runneth Over Wednesdays...

My heart runneth over with....sadness and pride.

Last month, our girls started another school year.
We now officially have a 1st and 2nd grader.

 

 

 

 



It certainly doesn't even seem possible.

Where did another year go? 

How is it possible for a summer to go so fast?

How can our little girls be so grown up already?

We have come a long, long way since 2:10pm on 10/18/04 and 7:48am on 8/11/06.

How can it all be such a blur?

 

Look at how beautiful they are:

 

 

 

We are so proud of you both!

E, you are bursting with personality, confident, brilliant, nurturing and beautiful.

H, you are so innocent, carefree, gentle, intelligent, thoughtful and stunning.

We love you more than the world!

 

Have a stellar year!  We are bursting with excitement and anticipation of what the year will hold!

You both ROCK!

 



 

 



Eeewwww! Memories........

Last week I went out to start the grill and almost touched this!!!!

 

Melissa and Katie.....I needed you. 

I needed you and your styrofoam box and beet salad! 

(I still don't know WHO actually orders a beet salad! ha ha!)



I, on the other hand, don't give a crap about the educational value of this dear mantis and swept it OFF my grill as fast as I could!
OK...actually, I'm lying.....I made Ed sweep it off the grill :)

It's amazing what memories a preying mantis brings!
Love you ladies!

Noodles

 

 

 

 

By the looks of it, I'm guessing he really liked the noodles!!