Labor Day Weekend

We had a very nice weekend in Marco Island and Ft. Myers hanging out on the beach and visiting friends, old and new.  This was a very nice ending to an exhausting summer. I hope not to ever have a summer like this ever again. I am usually optimistic and usually say "it could have been worse"; and yes, it could have been, but I can't even imagine. We all had so much work it was hard to even breathe. But it is thankfully over and we celebrated with a much needed break.
This was the first time that the big kids did not go with us so reality was hitting me hard! Yes, they are grown up and have independent lives. : (  They had other plans, so Danny watched the home front and Michelle was out of town with friends.
So, for Ed, Leah and I  the highlights included lots and lots of beach time, spent times with friends and met a bloggy friend, Trish, and her family in person for the first time. What fun that was! The three most precious little girls and their wonderful family, Mom, Dad, and big brother, made for the perfect ending to our trip before the drive home.

Loving the beach!

But I wanna go this way. Daddy

Cuteness!

Leah loves her new friends Hannah, Hailey and Taylor

BIG Catch-Up Post

You will be happy to learn that I have loaded the pictures to the computer without the help of my big kids!  This is very exciting, but I am still trying to figure out how to load only a couple at a time. But that is for a different post. Today we will cover our summer!
Leah Says:

We went to the park a lot and I made Daddy do all kinds of stuff! I went to swimming lessons all summer long with my friends David, Alan and Brian. I really liked swimming and waved to Mommy when I spotted her watching me through a window! I also visited the Miami Children's Museum.  Then we went to Orlando; there we went to Medieval Times. That was so much fun! I cheered for our knight the entire show. And guess what? I think he won because of the cheers from my family! Then off to Disney! I finally got to ride Dumbo with my Mommy! She has been looking forward to this for a long time but the line was always too long or broken. I guess since it was pouring there was only a 30 minute line! After Dumbo I danced through the entire It's A Small World ride. I took a picture with Mulan! She is the first "Character" I allow anywhere near me without complete terror. Maybe next time I will come close to Cinderelly, as I call her. Then I dressed up like Minnie.

When we came back from Disney it was time for Hannah's birthday party. She had monkeys! I wouldn't touch one those. Although they are Hanna's favorite animal, she almost didn't touch one either! Hannah's birthday always marks the last week before school starts again!

 

Then I went back to school! Now I am in the 3 year-old class. Look what Mommy made me for lunch!

He is 23 Today......Where has the time gone?

Twenty-three years ago today has to have been the most exciting day of my life. I had my first child and only son. I had to be induced so I was nervous (more like petrified) but Danny was the most wanted, planned and anticipated baby of the century. First grandchild, great-grandchild, nephew, well you get the picture. I was in labor for 11 hours and then Dr. Leon exclaimed, "Its a Boy", and placed the most perfect little person in my arms. When they took him from me to clean him up, my husband disappeared. He glued himself to his new baby and forgot about me! Needless to say our world centered around this perfect little person. What a great baby he was. He ate well, slept well and made parenting him very easy and fun. Ed took a month off of work to be home with us and it was great. We both lived with a camera around our necks and got pictures of "everything", including middle of the night feedings.

Fast forward to today. I can't say everyday was a walk in the park, we did go through the teen years where everything I said he disagreed with, but we are very lucky parents as that was the worst of it.  Danny is sensitive, brilliant, extremely well spoken,  always sees the best in people and  is always willing to help others. Needless to say we are very proud parents.

Happy Birthday, Monkey!