The gift

I can’t stop thinking about this.  Since it happened today, it’s been on my mind.  

This afternoon, my cousins Emily and Lindsey threw a beautiful bridal shower for Shannon.  Emily is Aunt Linda’s daughter in-law and her husband, my cousin Kevin, has always been incredibly close to Sha.  Aunt Linda is also Shannon’s godmother.  The shower was lovely - delicious food, beautiful decor and wonderful company!  We all had fun celebrating Shannon’s upcoming marriage.  

Shannon started opening gifts.... there were a lot!  I noticed a particular gift right away as it wasn’t wrapped.  It was a beverage tub with an insulating cover monogrammed with ‘The Reynolds” and filled with towels.  I even took a picture of it.  Shannon opened her gifts, and then came to the tub.  As she picked it up, Emily’s voice rang out over the commotion.  She told Shannon that gift was from Aunt Linda.  Shannon paused and looked up.  We were all confused. Emily explained that a few years ago, she was shopping with Aunt Linda.  I don’t remember all the specifics, but Aunt Linda saw the tub and decided to get one for for Shannon as a gift when she got married.  A year and a half after she died, Shannon received this gift.  The Klare’s remembered it, had it monogrammed and Uncle Jerry filled it with towels from Shannon’s registry.  Tears started flowing.  And then... a song started to play.  Music had been playing the entire shower in the background, basically unnoticed.  But as Shannon was opening the gift from Aunt Linda, a special song that means so much to our family started to play.  “What a Wonderful World”.  No one put the song on.  It just started to randomly play.  But it wasn’t random.  It was Aunt Linda, letting us know that she was with us.  I truly believe that.  

Sleep well

I snuggle with the kids every night til they fall asleep.  When Pat’s not working, he and I each take a kid (and bedtime is so much easier!).  Our kids do not like to sleep alone.  And I can’t really blame them since I feel more or less the same.  Life is so short and I truly try to cherish this time with my babies.  

Sleep well my sweets.  I love you more than anything. 

Spring Soccer

We hesitated in signing Evelyn up for spring soccer because the weather can be so iffy, but in the end, we decided we go for it.  We requested the same coach, Coach Kathy, and we were all thrilled when that’s what happened!  Evelyn had her first practice yesterday.  The league actually cancelled it due to poor field conditions.    The recent rain storms have been intense and everything is flooded and muddy.  But Coach Kathy said that as long as everyone was on board, the practice would be moved to the Evening Street school playground where there is lots of pavement space.  I wondered how practice would be, since Evelyn hasn’t seen any of these girls since October.  Most of them go to school together so I worried that Evelyn might feel left out.  That fear was 100% unfounded.  The girls all got along amazingly well and had a great practice.  Coach Kathy was fantastic as always and made sure the girls had fun while also practicing some soccer skills.  We’re all a bit bummed that her first game is already cancelled due to poor field conditions, 25 degree predicted temps and possible snow?!  Come on Mother Nature!  

Here’s to a great Spring Season!  ⚽️

P.S- Mitch went down the fireman pole on the playground ALL BY HIMSELF.

P.P.S.- those kids are so much tougher than us!  It was chilly, but 5 minutes in, most of them had taken off their coats while we parents shivered in our parkas.  

P.P.P.S- it’s currently snowing on April.  Gotta love unpredictable Ohio!

Finding the Words

I’m having a hard time blogging right now.  When your world is rocked, it’s hard to find the words sometimes I guess.  I’m scared for my mom, yet I have faith and hope.  I won’t give up.  Life can be hard, but we are strong.  My mom shows me that every day.  She is the absolute strongest person I know.  She rarely complains and she thinks of her kids and loved ones before All else. She’s my hero.  

My mom and I have had our battles.  It’s been brutal at times.  It’s honestly hard to think about sometimes without feeling intense regret for lost tempers and wasted time.  But despite it all, today we are closer than ever.  So I chose to put aside that regret and focus on the here and now.  It’s not forgotten- it never could be.  I think about it when I argue with Evelyn.  It’s surreal because now I’m on the other side.  I’m the mom.  And my daughter has my temper. I don’t know how my mom did it because to be honest, sometimes it’s really hard.  Evelyn is passionate.  She loves passionately.  She’s got the softest, sweetest heart.  But that passion carries over into swift mood swings and knee jerk reactions.  She exhibits mine (and her father’s) best and worst characteristics.  We see ourselves reflected in her. And Mitchell too for that matter.  It’s eye-opening.   

I’m not even sure why I’m writing this.  It’s just thoughts in my head that needed to come out.  My mom once said to me that she thought that she’d made a lot of mistakes as a parent. Don’t we all ?!?!?  I sure hope so because I make mistakes daily.  But my mom... my parents...Pat’s parents... were the best parents that they could be.  I know Pat would say the same.  We do our best to live up to them as parents to our own kids. How many people can say that?  Blessed doesn’t even begin to describe how we feel.   

The picture below is Kiki’s Korner.  Evelyn and Asa helped her decide what kind of chair to get.  It’s a special place in their house where they can snuggle and forget their troubles.  Avi was so excited when it came and he couldn’t wait to sit on it.  Evelyn and Mitch are so thrilled!!  We love you Kiki!

Resemblance

Pat and I often think that the kids take after one of us in particular at certain times.  I think that Evelyn looks just like Pat.  Yet, when she visits me at work, everyone thinks she is a mini-me.  I really do not see it.  She can sometimes act like me, but she is a total Daddy’s girl.  Not only do they look alike, they also connect on a level that I just don’t get and I love it!  When Mitch was born, he was so chill and calm.  I thought for sure he’d be cool and collected like Pat.  However, while he’s sweet and charming like his daddy, but he looks like me and he’s got my temper.  

Regardless of what they look like or who they act like, we love them to bits and feel incredibly blessed to be their parents!

Below are pics of us all around 3 years old.  What do you think???

Dr. Suess Days

Mitch and Evie have sure had fun celebrating Dr. Suess at school!

Happy Birthday Pops!

Last Sunday was a pretty special day for our family…. Pops’ birthday!!

We were excited to be able to go to Kentucky to celebrate on Saturday.  My mom made one of my dad’s favorite meals – Swiss Steak with red gravy!  Red gravy is not, as Chip believed, just ketchup (haha!).  It’s actually a tomato based sauce with spices.  It was so good that even picky Mitch ate it and asked for seconds!  We watched UK basketball, drank Bourbon slushes and watched the kids run around like nuts.  At one point, I stood there with my sweet niece in my arms and just surveyed the chaos, offering up a little prayer of thanks to God that we could all be together.  Well, almost all of us.  Adam wasn’t there because he’s been working his butt off to make sure Boomtown Biscuits is ready to open this week.  We missed him A LOT!  But we are all excited to see the restaurant!  The pictures look amazing! 

 I hope my Dad had a good birthday.  He deserves it!  We love him so much and appreciate all that he does for us.  He’s a great dad and a fantastic Pops to the kids.  We love you Pops!