IT'S THE SIMPLE THINGS...

...that make my Pepper happy!

Things like...
*apples
  and
*horses

We finally got to celebrate her birthday in a somewhat proper fashion.  When asked what she wanted for her birthday, every single time she would answer, "apples"!  Although it was disappointing that we had to celebrate 1/2 the day with one family and 1/2 the day with another, it was still a partial success.  I guess it is the small things that make comedy and memories.

Things like...

* losing out on tables at Arlington because their employees are not well trained
* losing out on riding the ponies at Arlington because their employees are not well trained
* losing most of our food at Arlington because of their employees (just kidding..it was because of the 95 degree heat that was shining directly upon us ALL AFTERNOON)

Sad to say that we have no pics from our daytime adventures, but we did have SOME fun betting the horses, eating melted chocolate, getting sunburns, watching the cousins play together, eating nothing but snacks and ice cream, going to the petting zoo and getting some cool goodie bags. 

I do have a few pics from the nighttime...

Not surprisingly, Pepper's cake did not make it back to the house in one piece.  At least we got a laugh from the fact that it now read "APPY BIRTHDAY" which would have been funnier if Nonno and Nonna were there to see it!  Get it?  Cuz the "H" is silent!  Funny Italian reference...

Just for fun and to cover up the mess, I gave her a great cake topper!

See?  It's the small things that make her happy...

We decided that since we were so late in singing to her, we might as well cover everyone else who had a birthday that had passed or that was coming up in the future.  Yeah, we sang FOUR times.  She wasn't happy that she had to share her cake.  Don't stand between this girl and her desserts!

Someone else was having a fit because his name wasn't mentioned during all the Happy Birthday's that were going around...

Just as we were about to call the day a bust, she got her wish and the PERFECT birthday present!

She did end up riding a pony, albeit 2 months late and it was a PHONY (hehe...you can make the "h" sound or leave it silent...hehe), but do you see her smile?

Like I said...it's the small things...
*

{THIS MOMENT}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. ~ Courtesy of Amanda at SouleMama

{THIS MOMENT}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. ~ Courtesy of Amanda at SouleMama

{THIS MOMENT}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. ~ Courtesy of Amanda at SouleMama

{THIS MOMENT}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. ~ Courtesy of Amanda at SouleMama

 

{THIS MOMENT}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. ~ Courtesy of Amanda at SouleMama

Enjoy your freedom and remember where it came from...

{THIS MOMENT}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. ~ Courtesy of Amanda at SouleMama

THE EAGLES HAVE LANDED!

WOW! How lucky was I to see The Eagles, Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban all in the same night and at Soldier Field, to boot?!? I was moved to tears during several songs that mean so much to me. Hey, side note...it seems like there are a lot of tears flowing lately, no? It's a good thing...I promise! WARNING...pictures aplenty ahead. I had trouble adding my videos, so look for them in a future post. I added The Eagles first, out of respect for my elders (them and my mom...hehe)

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO MY AWESOME BIL, DAVID, FOR THE TICKETS AND PARKING PRIVILEGES!

I was really close to the stage :)

HERE ARE THE EAGLES
IN ALL THEIR GLORY.

Some of the best guitar playing I've ever heard...









AND HERE ARE MY CHICKS...

They have such beautiful voices!

P.S...Thanks mom for applauding them. Your two fingers showed so much enthusiasm. Would it have been too hard to clap with all ten fingers?








AND FINALLY, KEITH URBAN...

Great voice, cute face, and loving husband who had the audience sing Happy Birthday to his wife, Nicole Kidman!

Sorry there aren't that many pics of him, as we (ahem) got there a little late.



All in all, a fantastic evening was had by all except for a few small things.

The following scents do not mix well in hot and humid Chicago weather and made me want to vomit...
*pot
*patchouli
*b.o.

Oh, and this jerk who enjoyed jumping from open seat to open seat without a real ticket for our section but mostly ending up directly behind me and my aunt whilst spitting his chewing tobacco into a cup and trying to entertain the people around him but just riling them up instead whilst spilling said cup of spit and tobacco several times over my aunt's back. Thanks buddy! Your parents would've been embarrassed by you; I know your friends were...

{THIS MOMENT}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. ~ Courtesy of Amanda at SouleMama

SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW

Today was a really sad day. It was Nicholas' last day of preschool and it did not go so well. He was tearful all day about his friends that will be "lost" over the summer. I tried to explain that he would find them in a few months, right back where he left them! We went out to dinner to celebrate his summer freedom and ran into some old friends of ours. They had their three beautiful kids with them and I didn't give it a second thought until I asked how old their youngest is. As my friend said "almost two", Joey reminded me that we both kept getting pregnant at the same time...didn't I remember?

Of course I remember.
Of course I remember all the time.
How could I forget what was "lost"?

Seeing their three kids and our two, how could I forget that a little one was missing from our table? Thank God that we were on our way out because I could not hold the tears back for long. The tears were coming hard and fast, just like the horrible rain storm that had just passed. And then, just as soon as it began, it ended as I turned around and saw a beautiful rainbow shining through all the clouds and rain and sadness.

And then I remembered
somewhere over the rainbow,
our other little one was at God's table
and I thought to myself,
what a wonderful world!

Sometimes it takes darkness
to see the light...

SUPER FAST!!!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY FRANCESCA!

I am so sad that you aren't my Baby Pepper anymore. You are my Toddler Pepper and it happened SUPER FAST. If you follow your insane and unrelenting love of animals, maybe one day you will become a veterinarian and become my Dr. Pepper!


We took off early in the day for Lamb's Farm. Do any of you know of it? It is a farm located in Libertyville, whose main purpose is to educate, advance and serve adults with disabilities. We have been going there to support them since I was a kid! What a great way to celebrate and show the importance of always giving back to others! Following a tradition set by my mom, where special one-on-one time spent together is a very valued birthday present, we set off to celebrate. We were hoping to avoid the sun and rain. No such luck. We still managed to overcome 90+ weather, no shade, a rain storm, manure, mud, and two very rambunctious boys and have a great time! P.s....thanks so much Nicole, for handling those two boys!

Francesca's love of any and all creatures was overflowing! Although she enjoyed the train ride, she was pouting because all she wanted to do was go back to the horses! Funny...I think there is a VERY SIMILAR picture (or two or twenty) of me pouting on a train years ago. I had been wondering where she got that frown from. :)


Reason #1 why I believe that even though I am not pushing you into it, you are a true vegetarian at heart...


And reason #2...
Yeah, when you said "eewww...yucky!!!", you took the words right out of my mouth!


Your Grandma was so happy to watch you enjoy your special day! Every single time she takes a ride in her wheelchair, you are right there by her side, holding on and slowing your pace so you can just be there with her. You two have such a great bond! Even though you are a toddler now, you will always be "her baby"!


The peacock was both of our favorites!


What birthday would be complete without a few more traditions? Of course we met Daddy and went to The Choo Choo Restaurant!


You decided to eat nothing but sugar! I wasn't happy about it, but it doesn't happen that often. You ate cake, but you aren't a cake eater! Ha ha..a quick Park Ridge reference thrown in!





After all the excitement and sugar, you were nowhere near ready for bedtime so we took off for our favorite park. For the next hour, all you did was scream "SUPER FAST", as in "push me super fast on the swing, mama!"

And I did.
And I cried.
And the last 2 years went by

SUPER FAST :(
.

{THIS MOMENT}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. ~ Courtesy of Amanda at SouleMama


P.S. Due to my new Friday ritual, Francesca's birthday will appear in tomorrow's post!

LETTING THE DAYS GO BY

I have been so out of sorts since my last post. I have also written about 10 posts that are still in the editing process and not yet to my liking, so please be patient!

Until then, here is a quote from one of my fav books. Stay with the run-on....

"The hardest thing to convey is how lovely it all is and how that loveliness seems all you need. The ghosts that haunted you in New York or Pittsburgh will haunt you anywhere you go, because they're your ghosts and the house they haunt is you. But, they become disconnected, shaken, confused for half a minute, and in that moment on a December day at four o'clock when you're walking from the bus stop to the rue Saint-Dominique and the lights are twinkling in the bateaux mouches, luring the tourists, but still...you feel as if you've only escaped your ghosts, if only because, being you, they're transfixed looking at the lights in the tree on the other bank, too, which they haven't seen before, either. It's true that you can't run away from yourself. But, we were right...you can run away."

Where would we run to?
Does it matter?
Would you miss us?

SING, SING A SONG

Sing out loud.
Sing out strong.
Sing of good things, not bad.
Sing of happy, not sad.
Sing, sing a song.

I love when the unexpected happens. I love that my day started out really bad, which was an overflow from yesterday. I guess since I don't sleep, I couldn't sleep it off! Do you know what I loved the most about today? Somehow and quite unexpectedly, music found it's way into almost every moment of my afternoon and evening and turned things around! It was always the right tune, even though I was mostly OUT OF TUNE!

I sang out loud and
I sang out strong and
I sang out with my family and
They took aspirin :)

SPRING SOUP

We got another delicious delivery from
Irv & Shelly's
and we are putting it to good use!

One of our favorites is the Harmony Valley soup mix.

It is basically a bag of fresh, local, organic root veggies, consisting of carrots (orange, yellow and red!), turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, celeriac and sunchokes. It has two recipes on the back. One is for roasting them and the other is for Golden Soup. You saute onion and garlic (which you can also get from Irv & Shelly's) with oil and then add root veggies. Add some vegetable stock (we use organic veggie bouillon from Whole Foods) and cook about 30 min. Cool and then puree. You can add some cream or half and half, but we prefer it dairy free.

The result? The most delicious, creamy (even without the cream) soup! The bag costs $7.99 and by the time you add the other ingredients, your cost is about $10-$12 total for 8-10 servings of soup. What a great deal for a great soup! It also freezes really well!

P.S...One of the other things we ordered was some cabbage. Did you know that only one ounce of cabbage a day greatly improves your digestive system and reduces your risk of cancer? It can VERY EASILY be added to green smoothies made in the Vita-mix!

"As for the sulforaphane that’s found in cabbage, it reduces your risk of cancer by increasing your body's production of enzymes that fight cell-damaging free radicals. Stanford University research indicates that sulforaphane increases your levels of these cancer-fighting enzymes more than any other phytonutrient." courtesy of Rodale.com.

MY PRECIOUS PEPPER

My dear, sweet little Pepper had a seizure. It was not a febrile seizure caused by a fever, but one of unknown origin. I don't know how to explain the extent of heart-stopping emotions that occur when your child is limp and seemingly lifeless and then convulsing in your arms. I can almost not tolerate repeating the story, yet I have done it so many times. The shake and ache in my arms will forever be there as a reminder of the memory of holding her through the second hardest time in her life.

I will never be able to say enough thank you's to those who prayed and continue to pray for her and for my family. The power of the prayers that came from the Saint Joseph's Novena was amazing! It was almost as heavy on my heart as my sorrow was. It is so unbelievable to feel unsure and protected, all at the same time. We are so blessed to have so many people that worry about us.

Her diagnosis remains as "generalized seizure disorder" until further testing is done, but I am confident that she is a very strong girl and we will stand strong in the face of the unknown. I am hopeful that my grandma's doctor was right in saying that "every child is allowed one free seizure in life".

I will teach her to laugh

in the face of danger...

...or will she teach me?

HAPPY SPRING

Happy First Day of Spring!

The flowers are coming and the first gnome and fairy house has been built!

Brendan did a great job helping me as Monkey and Pepper took a needed nap.

Here is to the hope that your table is as blessed as the fairy's table...

THE LOUDEST FAMILY MEMBER

No, I am not speaking of Monkey. I have been secretly saving for many things. It paid off. We have a new family member, which sleeps in our kitchen. Watch out when it wakes up, because it is LOUD!!! It has more power than any tool that we have purchased thus far and it is so multi-functional! Of course, you may now drool over our new......

VITAMIX!!!

...and all the delicious things we have already made inside! This thing is the end all, be all of blenders and it was well worth the wait!

Here is video proof that the very first "mud smoothie" was thoroughly enjoyed!

A POEM OF REASON

I love getting flowers

For no reason

Or for a reason

Which can not be remembered

But which was valid

Either way

I love lilies

But not all-white ones

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY NICHOLAS!

Monkey had been asking to visit the "King's Castle" for over a year now, every single time we drove past it. We tucked one of his favorite books under his arm and set off to celebrate his 4th birthday at Medieval Times in Schaumburg! Read my review here on Tripadvisor! I had hopes of finishing his knight costume, but it required waaaaay more work than I originally planned for. It may be done in time for the Renaissance Faire, which is a mere 3 months away!

He finally got his wish and became a knight!

He also got to visit another fun place!

There is nothing like a cheesy recorded happy birthday song, a cupcake and cheap plastic train whistle from The Choo Choo Restaurant to make your day!