2009 The End

2009, the year I will always remember as crazy/bad/good/real good/unexpectedly good/mind blowing/heart wrenching/teary/happy teary/emotional/insane/confusing/beautiful.

Somehow, we survived it, that's always a good thing.

Although I do look forward to 2010, there are some times in 2009 where I never want to lose the memories. Happily, I know that those memories will forever stay in my memory bank for life. They are just too sweet to forget and I won't. :0)

I've always loved journalism, combined with photographic journalism. I am thinking that maybe this will be the year I write a book. LOL! I've always wanted too, heck I even have a title picked out already.
Maybe it'll be will only childrens hat patterns.
Maybe it will be a mix of funny/hurtful/real life/crazy drama.
I don't know, we'll see if I can sit still long enough to make it happen.

Anyway...enough of that. :0)

I want to start a new tradition this year.
Every New Years Eve or New Years Day I'll put up a recent photo of the kids and one from a year ago just to see the changes.

So, to start it off with a bang this year, we have Kody Bear..January 2008.



And here he is in the present...



Kolin, in January 2008...



Here he is today...



Kaysha, who has changed the most. She went from completely unwilling and despising the camera...



To a complete ham...hehe...



Last night my oldest called from NY. OMG, too funny.
You see, ten years ago on yesterdays date I wrote her a letter, sealed it up in an envelope, and wrote on it DO NOT OPEN TILL DEC. 30th, 2009.
Well she opened that letter last night, finally after 10 years of waiting. When she called to read it back to me {I totally forgot what I wrote}, we were hysterical laughing.
The crazy thing is, after she read what I wrote describing some of the things we did that day, I totally remember that day.
The freaky part {according to her} was reading "Your 28 and I am 47 now, I wonder if we are acting our age yet". LOL, OMG talk about funny cuz nope, I'm not.

If you ever want something fun to do, write a letter to your kid and date it not to open for 10 years. Then, the tricky part...don't lose it. :0)
I kept mine in a safe box with important papers in it. After 10 years it was still there good as new.
I know 10 years seems like a long time, but trust me...it goes by fast. Way too fast.

Have a great day everyone!!

If your going out to celebrate tonight, please be safe!!

Faith

2009 is almost over.
Will 2010 see positive changes?
Will the economy get better?
Will our troops come home?
Will a cure for cancer be found?
Will gas prices go down?
Will any more dumb a$$es get their butts whooped on airplanes?
Will Laverne and Shirley reruns ever make a come back?
Will I ever get back into daily exercising?

I have no idea what the answer to any of these questions is but I can tell you that you gotta have...



Have a great day everyone!!

Dastardly Dad's And Their Rotten Sons

On Sunday we went strolling around every imaginable store looking for a way for Kody and Kolin to burn the $50.00 they had sitting in their wallets.
Kody, of course had to have an MP3 player. Sharing Kaysha's new one since Christmas was getting to be a real pain in the butt for him.
One set of earbuds. One kid wanting to go one way, the other going another way. Well, you get it.

Here is what they looked like connected at the head...



Anyway, we went to two Wal-Marts looking for an MP3 and another airsoft gun with matching pistol and holder thing for Kolin.
While Karlio shlepped the boys around Wal-Mart, Kaysha and I ducked out for a few here and there to check out new clothes buy some Frebreeze with the added Gain scent.
This left one Dad and two sons alone.
They behaved themselves.
Till we got home.

Minutes after we got home, it got dark out signaling dinnertime in our house.

So, as I was busy preparing a frozen Stouffer's lasagna and beating myself upside the noggin' for forgetting a bag of groceries at Wal-Mart which included the Italian bread and garlic powder needed for that lasagna, Dad and 12 year old son Kolin were out on the back screened in porch doing whatever.

I pulled out my receipt, called Wal-Mart and explained my dilemma which was all great and fine. I could pick it up in the morning at my convenience.
As I about to hang up, Kolin and Dad came into the kitchen with a cute little white box. The kind of box you typically find white gold and diamond earrings in.
Did I say white gold and diamond, my bad.

"Mom, while we were at Wal-Mart we got you a surprise".

Oh wow, how sweet.
And as I opened that box real quick to find those hot a$$ earrings, I found this...



And then they found me on the floor.
Screaming, crying and questioning why I ever had rotten little boys in the first place.

Oh wait, I know why.
So their father would have someone to play/scheme with everyday.

Dude Man, I know your reading this.
You owe me big time!
I'll take it in the form of one sweet, hot lil' outfit.
You remember right? The one I showed you.
Oh yeah.......

Have a great day everyone!!

The Most Loved Gift This Year

For all of us was spending time with my parents on Christmas Eve. :0)

For Bear, it has got to be his new MP3 player {thank you to his Gramma and Poppy}. We brought him out to 5 different stores yesterday and at our last stop before I fizzled completely, we found the last MP3 in existence at Best Buy.

So this is the way Bear will look until school starts again. LOL!



That boy LOVES his music.

Did you know that Kody can listen to a song two times {not just new ones but old, old ones as well} and have every word memorized? It's true. His Dr's are amazed and baffled that here he is, with nada in the short memory dept. and he has that ability. He never had it before his last big surgery in 2004. We had to give up a bit of him that day, but what we got back in return {his life} is priceless. :0)

Now let me tell you what I love about that photo.

The hat!!!!

OK, not just because I am a hat lover but that hat I had originally bought for Kolin. Well, it was chilly out yesterday and since Kody has a big noggin and wanted to go outside I told him to try on Kolin's hat and wear it.
I never, ever have luck with hats and Kody.
But...what do you know? That hat fits perfectly!
Not only is it warm and cool looking but...
It does NOT squish his shunt!!!

Which, I know sounds crazy, but is a very, very important thing to shunt peep's like ourselves.

So, if you are a shunt peep or just a peep who loves hats and likes that one, you can get it at Target, in the men's dept. for $14.99.

BTW, Karlio went back and bought the last one at our target for Kolin yesterday cuz his hat ended up on Bear's head all day.
Good Dad for going out and getting it.
My bad for thinking for some crazy reason I only paid $2.99 for it.
My embarrassment when he called me from Target to say my three dollar hat was actually fifteen and so that's where all the $$ went last week.

Oops.

Have a great day everyone!!

Christmas Cherry Cheesecake

I am not a baker, seriously...that is what bakery's are here for right? :0)

However, I got to tell you...I do love making a NY style cheesecake every now and again. It is so simple, and sooooo good.

This was our Christmas dessert...



If you look in our fridge, behind the cauliflower/broccoli medley, next to a container of leftover chili and on top of something else healthy, you can find the last two slices hiding there.
But, please don't tell my kidlets, cuz I hid it there for me and the ole' man. :0)



If you'd like to give this a try yourself, here's the link to the recipe I used...

Cherry Cheesecake

Enjoy and have a totally awesome day!!

PS3 And The Kid

So, do you all think Kolin {and Kody and Kaysha} likes what Santa left under the tree just a little? LOL!



He wasn't up 30 seconds this morning when he was all over that thing...





And I am sure that as soon as he figures out the whole on-line playing he'll be looking for peep's from all over to hang with...



Dang technology has come a long way since Nintendo and the original Mario Bros.
No wait...what about "Pong"?
Yes, I am showing my age here. hehe...

Have a great day everyone!!

I am going to indulge in a pedi. this morning.

Merry Christmas

From all of us, to all of our friends and family...

We wish you all a Very Merry Christmas!!



Love, Kim, Karl, and all the "K's"

Gingerbread

If your trying to diet, ours is for sure not the house you want to be visiting this week. :0)











In a short while, we are headed out to my parents house for a huge Italian style Christmas Eve dinner which means lots of seafood and lots of pasta.
Traditionally we are supposed to wait till midnight for the seafood but we kind of had to alter that rule, the more young uns' that came into the picture. :0)

Have a very Happy Christmas Eve everyone!!

Mall Madness

Going out to face the mall/Target/Wally World madness and wanted to stop by quick and wish everyone a "Good Morning"!



TTYL!!

The MRI That Was....n't

Sorry about yesterday, between the one lane turnpike, the hospital, the Dr's, the airport and the flight delays it was one heck of a crazy day.
At the end of the day though, everything turned out just fine.

Anyway, Kody's MRI prescription that I had been carrying around since October was filled out wrong. He was scheduled for a "Flash MRI without Contrast".
Basically it means the MRI lasts a whole 3 minutes instead of the normal one hour.
This MRI picture told us pretty much nothing.

So, we had to reschedule for January 11th at 7 AM. Follow up with his Dr. at 10 AM. Breakfast in-between. :0)

The kids gingerbread house came out so cute. I'll put some pictures up today or tomorrow.

Meanwhile, here's one of the Bear that we took when we went up to the Villages on Sunday.



Definitely still not diggin' those toy soldiers. LOL!

Have a great day!!

Kody's MRI

I almost forgot, or maybe I did mention it and just don't remember.
Anyway, Bear's MRI is scheduled for 10 AM tomorrow morning.

Just one this afternoon for fun.



Yes, this really is our bed. :0)

TTYL!!

Rockin' Around The Ornament Tree

Part three...sorry about yesterday, busy, busy day but I have a very good feeling that the kids are going to be in Christmas Heaven when they find out what "Santa" got them this year. Whew...

Of all our ornaments through the years, the handmade ones get to me the most. They make me get all teary looking back to when the kids,

1. were shorter then me.
2. had smaller hands then mine.
3. smelled like Elmer's School Glue.
4. could only reach the bottom half of the tree.
5. brought home little paper bags sacks with their creations in it.
6. tried to have enough willpower to hide those creations till Christmas.
7. always gave them to me the day after they brought them home.
8. were in elementary school, before they became tweens & teens.
9. all of the above.

Little bitty Kody with his first Mohawk, back when he was about 7 or 8, I think?



Teeny Weeny Kolin at 5 years old and in Kindergarten, OMG how I miss him being so tiny and sweet (that's a sparkly shoe on the left. How I love sparkly things and how I do love shoes!! LOL!!}....



Kaysha at the same age, same grade as Kolin but not the same state. We were living in Putnam Valley, NY at the time. (notice, winter clothes on her and short sleeves on the boys, hehe}...



Every year at the Camp Boggy Creek Holiday Bash, they have lots of tables set up for crafts. Many of those tables are where the kids can make ornaments. Every year without fail, Kolin will take a few minutes out from throwing wet sponges at elves faces, dunking camp counselors in a water tank, eating everything in site, and running every obstacle course 7000 times to sit down and make me a new ornament.
This was from two years ago...



Kody made this the Christmas after his crainiotomy. Although he still wasn't able to officially be back in school, his class did not want him to miss out. So he went back for an hour or so and because he coordination was still not right, his teacher and classmates all gathered around him and made sure the nose was glued where it should be and so on. He was so proud of that reindeer and because that boy has zero willpower, he gave it to me that afternoon as soon as we got in the car.

That lil' boy next to it is Kolin, at the age of 4 and in preschool. He had a mad crush on his preschool teacher, it was so cute. :0)



When Kody Bear was a baby, he was addicted to his pacifiers. I mean, three at one time. And, he would only accept one brand, one style binkie at all times. He had them hidden all over the house, it was crazy. LOL!
Anyway, one year when we figured he was out of control, unstoppable we told him that if he hung his pacifiers on the Christmas tree, Santa would take them and leave him presents instead.
Like a miracle, it worked!!

We kept them and still hang a few on the tree every year. :0)



Two year later we did the same thing to Kolin who would not give up his sippy cups for any reason. For Santa though, he would...



Of all the ornaments I have collected, this one will always be my favorite. I bought it for myself after we found out about Kody's brain tumor. It was the only one there on the shelf, and although I promised myself I would only look that day at ornaments and not buy, because I was only going to do grocery shopping, I knew I had to have it.

This ornament always gets put up first, front and center by me, it's a little hard to read, but it has my favorite word in the world on it, "HOPE"....



I could show you probably 100 more family ornaments, but we'll save some for next year too.

Last night we took the kids out light looking and a trip down Christmas Tree Lane, which is a big thing in Leesburg, FL. You stay in your car, lights off and drive slowly through a retirement community who does Christmas BIG! M&M Claus are there with candy canes, a bazillion lights, toy shops, reindeer flying, happy people, music. It's great, it really is and we've been going every year since we've been here.

Also today, we're taking the kids {when Karlio gets home from work} out the the Village Square for a few more Christmas photos and a quick stop at Sam's Club for a Gingerbread House kit. I thought it would be a pretty cool project for us all.

Pictures coming soon.

Have a great day everyone!!

Strolling Down Ornament Lane Take Two

Sentimental? Yep, that's me in one word.
If my kids have made it, drawn it or puked on it at one time, I'll probably keep it {washed of course!} packed in a box up in the attic.
I can't help it, that's a what kinda Mom I turned out to be. The keeper of all things kids.

Although we truly love and will always be true to our home teams...

NY Yankees...ahem...need I say more?



J...E...T...S..Jets, Jets Jets! Man I do love me a good Jets game in the semi cold weather. Tailgating, over priced pretzels and fighting exiting traffic. Fun times!



We also love our ornaments we get as gifts. Here's this years favorite, a snowflake from "The Preschool Penpals", who are an incredible adorable bunch of 3 and 4 year olds who live near the gold arches. No, not the McD's ones, I'm talking awesome St. Louis, MO here....



Here's one of Kody's from when he was pretty small. That boy had a sweet tooth you would not believe. truth be told, he still does. I am forever finding and laundering candy wrappers stuck in his jeans pockets. :0)



Kolin's from the year he learned how to read. He loved "Good-Night Moon" and we went through three copies of it {yes, I still have them, LOL!}...



I still adore the old vintage childhood ones. I can still remember HUGE Christmas' in every detail. It was very cool having a Mom who worked in a toy store. hehe...



This one could be any one of my boys. But this one actually belongs to Kody "Sk8er" Bear...



Because we have always loved sitting around a fire, playing the ABC game and toasting up some marshmallows for our smores...



Last one for today, tomorrow I'll finish up. :0)

When Kody was little he was a "Buzz Lightyear/Toy Story" fanatic.
OMG it was adorable. He had the whole Buzz Lightyear costume from MGM Studios, the Buzz PJ's, Buzz toys, everything you could imagine.
One day when Buzz started wearing off Kody, Kolin decided he was Buzz and literally jumped off of everything trying to fly.
We went through 4 or 5 copies of Toy Story 1 and 2 because they'd watch it several times a day.

This is one of those ornaments that I love and I can close my eyes and look back and remember my two youngest as little boys who dreamed of being Buzz.



My little boys who grew up now dream of being, Kody: a heavy metal star/heavy metal DJ and Kolin: A SWAT team member who breaks up hostage situations on his skateboard.

My how fast they grow. :0)

Have a great day everyone!!

Today is "Day One" of Christmas shopping for me.
Don't ask.