We live in an area surrounded by colleges and universities. That makes it a very transitional area. Since we moved here six and a half years ago, we’ve had lots of friends move away. This time it was a wonderful family, who we are all sad to see leave. I admit I cried my eyes out as we stood on the doorstep watching their car pull away.

Fortunately, for us (unfortunately, for them!), they had to turn around and come back after only a few hours of driving because their AC died. So, we were able to spend another morning with them. The kids always have so much fun together and they really get along well.  The family will be moving to England, and as we watched them pull away, Punky kept saying, “I want to go to England! I want to go to England!” He was so sad to see his buddy move away.

We’re going to miss these kiddos!

The little guy on the right is our godson, which means he’ll always be close to our hearts.

I guess we’ll just have to make a trip to England!

• If I think at night, I’ll need coffee tomorrow, I should follow through and drink some.  I made a pot this morning, but didn’t get around to drinking some until just now.  My energy level was at a low by about 1pm, so in the future, I should drink my coffee before it got cold.
• My friend, Trish, and her son are coming stay with on Friday and Saturday, and it hadn’t occurred to me that I should clean my house today so that I can just enjoy her company on Friday.  Then on Saturday, another friend who has moved away, is coming to town, and I am hosting a gathering for some ladies and children so that we can all spend some time with her.  Should be a fun weekend!

• Our grass has been growing like crazy, and then I realized that we need to mow it this week- we usually pay someone.  Oops… I guess we’ll do it this weekend.  And, for the record, I like clovers and all the bunnies who come to our yard to eat them.  I will not be spraying them, thank you very much.
• We need to put some type of baby gate at the top of our staircase.  Recently, Spunky has been sneaking downstairs in the morning and rummaging through things in the kitchen.  Sometimes it is my purse, other times it has been candy, but this morning it was a disaster! Spunky climbed up to the counter, pulled out the marshmallows, sprinkles, and pumpkin pie spice and mixed it all together with some popcorn I had popped last night.  Punky thought it was delicious, but all I could see was the mess his little sister had made.  Fortunately, Punky started cleaning up all the pumpkin pie spice for me while I wiped off Spunky.  He is seriously the most helpful child!

the boy played with guns

while the girls talked

they rode tricycles and bicycles

pulled a wagon and walked

they posed on a swing

for a picture or two

good times were had by all

especially me and you!

Mel, it was so nice to see you again.
We are incredibly saddened by your loss and pray for you daily.
I hope our next visits won’t be so far apart.

Punky dancing with his buddy, Shannon.

Spunky dancing with the love of her life (and his pregnant wife):

This weekend, she said to me,
“I love Jason, and I love tigers. Jason is like a tiger!”

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Bunky was playing with one of these and his hands were covered in green!

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At the second wedding, Punky decided to play in a pond during the reception,
and we ended up taking him home in a Marriot towel.

It seems like every month or two, I become very busy and have a hard time keeping up with this whole blogging thing.  I schedule a bunch of posts on a day when I have some free time, but I rarely write about our lives.

Our lives have been busy.

Right now, I am typing on my *new to me* laptop: a refurbished Acer Aspire One.  You may remember my darling hubby bought me one about a year and a half ago.  Unfortuantely, Punky knocked it to the ground and shattered it.  My hubby tried to fix it, but could not (that’s when you know that something is really broken). Since then, I’ve had several different computers that my hubby has given to me, but I’ve always missed having a laptop.  Then, just last week, my hubby found this netbook on sale for $219!  Now I have a cute, little laptop, which I am still getting used to, but love.

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I’m beginning to worry that Bunky has a cold again.

I know he is slowly cutting a tooth, but he seems much fussier than normal (and he is pretty fussy on a daily basis).  He has also been coughing and pulling at his ears.

Bunky can now clap.  He says “dada”, “mama”, a version of his brother’s name, and he has said both “yea” and “bye” once.  He is finally sleeping better through the night, but he does still wake up.  He doesn’t eat much food yet, but is beginning to enjoy apples, bananas and little bits of table food.  He is very strong-willed and spits food out and refuses the spoon if he does not like something.

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Spunky has started doing a lot of imaginative play.

She will take two toys and have them talk to one another. Usually the conversation goes something like this: “I love you!” “I love you!” I caught her doing that with two large airplanes the other day.

Spunky has also started drawing people.  She does a great job!

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Punky has been saying a lot of really creative things recently.

Here is how he described the workings of a CD player:

Inside this thing, there are little people.  Out come their voices.  If you break this and open it up, you’ll see the people.  Five blue people.  There are some houses.  Two houses they can live in and two beds that they can sleep in.  One other house has steps so people can go down and they have one bed for two people.  They don’t actually eat because the store is locked and the road is closed, too.  If it opens up, they can go there and eat. And there’s a playground in there.  And that’s the truth.

I asked him how he knew all of that, and he said, “I got that question all the way up to my head.”

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My hubby and I have been doing a low GL (glycemic load) diet for the past two and a half weeks.  At our two week weigh-in, I had lost six pounds and my hubby has lost 5 1/2.

We cannot eat anything processed or anything with sugars and carbs.  We eat a lot of veggies, fruits, dairy, meat and poultry.  Protein is really important.

If you are looking to lose some weight, I think it is a great, healthy, balanced way to do just that.  Send me an email or leave a comment if you are interested in knowing more.

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My hubby, Bunky and I were going to take an impromtu trip to Europe (with his job) while the big kids stayed with my parents, but that trip has been postponed until after the World Cup.  Hopefully, we’ll still be able to go.  We were going to travel through Italy, Switzerland, Frace and then up to London.  With the timing, we would have been able to see the Shroud of Turin, which won’t be on display again until 2025, so my hubby is disappointed that we aren’t leaving next week.

Hopefully we’ll be able to go mid-summer.

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The big kids are WILD today, so I think it is time for them to run outside until lunch.  Bunky is finally happy and content for the first time today.  Now I am going to stop typing and finish the laundry (ick!).

Have a great day!

In a short period of time, our family has been constantly sick, my mom is dealing with her cancer and constant testing, my friend, who had been trying to conceive for nearly two years, miscarried her baby, my Nonna struggles in a nursing home, my other friends found out that their future plans are being delayed indefinitely, another friend delivered a stillborn full-term baby girl, my husband’s Aunt Joy passed away after a short battle with brain cancer, several people that we love have been trying for years and cannot conceive, my in-laws are going through a hard time at their church, a friend’s step-mother was diagnosed with cancer, and the wedding of our friends that was supposed to be this weekend had to be cancelled due to immigration issues and the groom is now detained, separated from his fiance AND his young daughter, on the weekend that was to be his wedding.

On top of this, now that our family has been exposed to a “highly contagious” virus, we have to cancel our trip back home.  My mom’s side of the family, all four of her brothers and their families, were getting together.  One of my aunts has brain cancer and I have an uncle who is very ill.  I so wanted to be there because this may be the last time that everyone is together as a family, and now we can’t go.  We can’t expose these two family members, who are in compromised physical states, to this stupid virus.

I am angry.  I am sad.  I am disappointed.  I am confused.  I am frustrated.

I just wish things weren’t like this.

stillborn daughter, Francesca Rose, yesterday evening.

Please pray for my friend and her dear family!

Our Pascha Basket and Kulich

Easter Outfits from Grammy & Papa

The kiddos and Sarah & Jason

Our Paschal Feast and Red Eggs

Baskets

Easter Egg Hunt

Our godson and one of my favorite little girls

Our swingin’ girl and our runnin’ boy

Entry into Jerusalem, 12th Century Mosaic

By raising Lazarus from the dead before Your passion,
You did confirm the universal Resurrection, O Christ God!
Like the children with the palms of victory,
We cry out to You, O Vanquisher of death;
Hosanna in the Highest!
Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord!

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Today we had the joy of baptizing ten people at our parish!

My husband and I are now the godparents of a wonderful little boy, the son of our friends and younger brother of one of Punky’s buddies.
His patron saint is St. George.

One of the baptisms and our little godson with his family