Missing you..

...today especially! 

Boy, 3 years?  Can it really be!  I think it's hitting hard this year because...

I can almost see him here...

following Trent and Drew aroud,
getting into stuff and making messes like his big brothers,
talking, asking lots of questions,
smiling,
carrying around his favorite blanket and stuffed animal,
laughing,
playing with Thomas the Train,
dancing around,
messing up the pieces on the board as his older brothers play Candy Land,

tearing into all his Christmas presents and jumping up and down with delight.

It's the little things that I'm grieving today, not experiencing WITH him.

...today especially...

I Cackled at this Gaggle!!!

I was surprised this morning when I looked out the window!

S-N-O-W!

The pond has frozen over - though I'm sure not very thick since it was not frozen yesterday.  But this morning the geese were STROLLING over to the bank.

Thanksgiving...

We traveled to "Misery" as named by the GPS Missouri to spend Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family.  My grandparents live there and it was great to see some other extended family.  What a godly heritage!  I'm so thankful for them.  I found them both asleep in their recliners in front of the tv one evening with their hands like this...

My mom and 2 of my brothers

Busy cookin'

The boys enjoyed playing with my cousin and 2nd cousin.  They went fishing, hiking, and of course did some Wii-ing!!

I enjoyed taking some pictures of my aunt, uncle, and cousin.  The weather was beautiful, sunny, and warm!

...B-L-I-T-Z!!...

On the way home we stopped to see the St. Louis Arch.  We wanted to go up, but the lines were just way to long!!

On the road again...

Wild for Turkeys!

Trent and Drew went to my friend's house and all the kids got to work! They made some pretty Thankful Turkeys! {Thanks for being so creative with my kids, J!! Her post is here.}

Are you Ready for some...

...BASKETBALL??

The boys have been asking to see Mike play b-ball, so we headed out Monday night to watch.  Trent really got a kick out of changing the numbers on the scoreboard.  The boys were excited to see some friends and they were the best cheer squad I've ever heard.  They got so into it.

"Oh...oh...oh...NO!"  Excitement...Dissappointment...can't you just see it on their faces :o)

Music Concert

Trent's grade had a music concert.   It was cute, and he was so excited for us to hear him sing.  He wouldn't sing anything for us before the concert, but I could hear him singing it in his room or just when he thought we weren't listening.  His teacher told us she was so proud of him.  She said she could hear him and that he really "sang his heart out!"

Trent's class performed on the pouy-sticks.  After the concert we broused some of his artwork.  He painted a city and made a pinched clay bowl.  Man, he's growing up.

Noah's Hope

This was the first time I organized and prepared for ladies from Wallen to make the memory books.  My friend Carol moved down to Florida and she was such a big help organizing and making a tutorial for us to follow.  {It worked GREAT!  Thanks so much, Carol.}  It was a great success.  We kept everyone busy and I think the ladies enjoyed working together to make such a cherished gift for grieving moms.  Thank you ladies for helping me!!  Your time and willingness to help is a special gift to me too.

HALLOWEEN

Well, our costume choices were EASY this year.  The boys wanted to be the same thing as last year.
So, again, Drew was spiderman...although this year he actually wore the face mask! Progress!  Trent dressed up as his father's favoirte team and his mother actually let is happen...again...what?  GO BUCKEYES!!

Here's the familiar duo... from October 2008.

LEAVES

The boys and I went out to rake the few leaves that fell into our yard from our neighbors tree...

The boys really wanted to jump in them...unfortunately we had to settle for this...

When they got bored, they both headed in to change into their "basketball clothes."  I laughed so hard when they came outside!!...Just take it all in...I guess they expected their feet to get cold...But I love the cape!

We Remember You...

We Do Not Need A Special Day

By Connie Dyer

We do not need a special day

To bring you to our minds,

The days we do not think of you
Are very hard to find.

Each morning when we awake
We know that you are gone,
And no one knows the heartache
As we try to carry on.

Our hearts still ache with sadness
And secret tears still flow,
What it meant to lose you
No one will ever know

Our thoughts are always with you
Your place no one can fill,
In life we loved you dearly
In death we love you still

There will always be heartache

And often a silent tear,

But always a precious memory

Of the days when you were here.

If tears could build a staircase

And heartaches make a lane

We’d walk the path to Heaven

And bring you back home again.

We hold you close, within our hearts

And there you will remain,
To walk with us throughout our lives
Until we meet again.

Our family chain is broken now
And nothing seems the same
But as God calls us one by one
The chain will link again

Today was Joanna's actual due date.

We will never forget...

My heart hurts for the little girl that is not with us. 

My arms ache to hold her while she sleeps.

My mind tells me I should be awake at night with my baby, sleep deprived. 

I long to sing her lullabys, kiss her chubby cheeks, and tickle her little toes. 

We sure miss you Joanna Claire!

We find comfort knowing you'll just have heaven before we do...

These candle's were lit in honor and memory of both my babies, Noah and Joanna, and many other babies whose families live in the area.  We lit these earlier this month, participating in the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrace Day. 

We Remember You

In the rising of the sun

And in it’s going down,

In the blowing of the wind

And in the chill of winter,

In the opening of buds

And in the rebirth of spring,

We will remember you.

In the blueness of the sky

And in the warmth of summer,

In the rustling of leaves

And in the beauty of autumn,

In the beginning of the year

And when it ends,

We will remember you.

When we are weary

And in need of strength,

When we are lost and sick at heart,

When we have joys we yearn to share,

We will remember you.

For long as we live, you too shall live,

For you are a part of us,

And we will always remember.

Alabama

I'm gonna send you over to Jen's blog.  She posted a slideshow of pictures from our visit with the Palmers and the night of the Sav-a-Life Banquet.

Here are a few of my pictures...

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Jen and I arrived in Alabama last night.  The trip was uneventful for the most part.  We were delayed a bit in Fort Wayne as there was a ground delay in Detroit.  Then when we got to Detroit, we couldn't deplane because the ramp was broken.  It took a while for us to get off too, because we had to wait for a representitive to escort us since we were on a "live" tarmack.  Believe it or not it happened again when we got to Alabama...bizzare! Anyway, the fall foliage was spectacular!!  We saw lots of patches of "forrest" full of reds, oranges, yellows, and greens...simply beautiful!  I'll try to get some pictures on our way home.  Jen was laughing at me because the at the beginning of our flight to Alabama the captian came on and was giving all the stats of our flight and I THOUGHT he said that "we will be experiencing some turbulence" and Jen started laughing at me because he REALLY said, "Our flight will be an hour and thirty two minutes."  It was pretty funny...

Goodnight for now and I'll keep you posted.