Update!!!

Just had to add this update before I went to bed, I mentioned that the fire department had us on "the list" and we were number twenty! That was yesterday morning. And considering the severe problems out their, they were kept busy, to say the least. Well at 8:48pm , true to their word those sweet firemen were knocking at our door to see how we were doing! We got the thumbs up to put the heat on and the hot water. WHOO HOO!

Water Water Everywhere!!!!!!

OH my what a watery mess my little city of Warwick is in!!! Actually the whole state is a mess and parts of MA and CT too. We have had nothing but rain all month and the rivers couldn't take any more. Head over here for crazy videos of my area. The first video is just down the street from me!!!!! Seriously you gotta see this. It hasn't flooded like this in our area for more than 100 years! Roads have caved in due to the water. People are being evacuated, the kids are home from school, our lower level is still under water even though we've been pumping for well over 24 hours straight. I've never seen anything like it.

Monday night we were still fine. We have NEVER gotten even a drop of water in our house, EVER. I always counted us extremely lucky because almost everyone else on our street at one time or another has gotten water in their basements.

Tuesday morning I woke up to the alarm clock. I noticed the floor in front of the crib was shiny. Being half a sleep I couldn't figure out what it was. I thought it was coming from the crib. No it was coming from under the crib, and along the walls on all sides of our bedroom!

As were we nestled all snug in our beds the water was pouring in!!

I can say I was definitely in a state of shock, I was way too calm. I don't even want to think about the amount of damage down there. I'm just avoiding it all together.

We called the fire department to see if they could help pump out the water. They were beyond kind but they only have one pump! LOL. They did come in and shut our heat and hot water off. We don't need an electrocution too. They said we were number twenty on the list. I wonder what number they're on now! LOL Haven't seen them since!! But Peter made his way out yesterday and caught a shipment of pumps that were just being delivered at Home Depot. He was number thirty in line!! There was another Home Depot that had 51 pumps in stock but their parking lot was flooded and they had to close!!! What a hoot!!!


All day long I just kept asking Jesus, " Where are you going with this one? " I sure hope it's a Memorial Box Monday post some day, hehehe!
Because we are in a stinkin' pickle! Everything has to be replaced downstairs. Andrews room is completely underwater , our bedroom too. When I get some pics I'll post them.

But! As bad as I think we have it. Many more have it much worse. There was a family on the news last night that had SIX feet of water in her basement. They were on their way out of the house. So sad. And scary! I mean Sunday we were at the mall, and we saw the water (river) that runs nearby to it,and it was higher than I've ever seen it. But not dangerous. And then a day later the mall is completely under. There is a video of our mall in the link I added. You have to go see. They had to send boats to Old Navy to get the customers out!

The river that is causing all the damage in my area is the Pawtuxet. It will flood at nine feet, today it is at TWENTY feet! It has finally crested and is now slowly receding.

And just to make life a little more interesting, we are without heat or hot water and Warwick's Sewage Treatment Station is ... you guessed it, under water!!

So the request went out last night , by Warwick official, PLEASE DON'T FLUSH!!! HA HA HA!!!

So we are only flushing in extreme conditions!!

Wish us luck!!!!



*thanks for praying for Aniela. please keep her in your thoughts and prayers a bit longer. thanks!

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• Rhode Island Swamped by Record Rain (nytimes.com)

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Memorial Box Monday, Home Sweet Home

So what is a Memorial Box? Well it's a special place that you put special things in. Things that remind you of a specific time in your life when you've felt the hand of God at work. To read more about Memorial Box Monday's go visit Linny at A Place called Simplicity


This story goes back to 1998. Me, Peter and Olivia were living in a small two bedroom apartment. We didn't have much money, ( did we ever? LOL) but we were happy. The biggest problem in our lives was a very mean upstairs neighbor. The apartment we lived in had no insulation so unfortunately you could hear every little move anyone else made. We all knew that so just made the best of it. We had a really nice neighbor downstairs who told us not to worry, he said we didn't make any noise.

As soon as this certain upstairs neighbor moved in things took a turn for the worst. Now being the third floor and a tiny apartment, the only people who would rent it were young "kids". They were always loud, and had parties all night. It was annoying but if we asked them to quiet down they usually did. It wasn't great but we dealt with it. As I said we didn't have a lot of money and the rent was really cheap and the apartment was in a good neighborhood and we had a nice backyard.

But this new one was different. I hate to say she was evil, but the hairs on the back of my neck would stand up whenever she was around. I seriously got the chills. She immediately started to complain about us. One day I shut my window, and I heard a stomp on my ceiling. No way! Did she just stomp on the ceiling because I made too much noise shutting my window? Well I went to another room and shut another window. YUP, another stomp. That's when I knew we were in big trouble. things like this started happening on a daily basis. We even went upstairs to try to remedy this problem. I mean she was above us! We had to deal with her stomping around on hard wood floors all day and night. She would have long and detailed phone conversations at 2:00am. Way too much info!!! I knew more about her than her parents probably did. So when we went up to speak to her and explained that we could hear her too, we hoped that she would realize it was the way the house was built and not just us being purposely noisy.

Nope! There was no reasoning with her. She continued to go out of her way to make noise at ridiculous hours. It's like she just hated us. Complaining to the landlord didn't help. We found out they were friends with her parents. Meanwhile Sophia was born. The first time she saw her, ( I bumped into her on my way out one day) She asked "When did you get that" THAT!!! Oh my goodness, who says things like that?

She basically made our lives a living hell for about two years. It got so bad that it started to take a toll on my health. I was a nervous wreck. I would take toys away from Olivia that made noise, I would have to hold Olivia because she was afraid of her. When I was in bed at night and would hear her car pull up outside I would get so nervous that I would get pains in my legs. Sharp , sharp pains.

Believe me we wanted to leave but just didn't have money to pay more rent anywhere else.
One day, the day that changed everything, Sophia fell. She was just learning to walk, she was 10 months old. She plopped on her butt in the kitchen. I immediately heard the neighbor yell " F***in' loser!" That did it, I snapped! I ran upstairs and unloaded on her like you wouldn't believe. I don't even remember what I said but it wasn't nice. I had , had enough. I then went and called the landlord, and unloaded on to their answering machine. Again a very colorful message was left.

Well about a month later, we got eviction papers! Yes the nice family who just wanted to live in peace were getting the boot. They gave us a made up excuse that we had too many people living in the apartment. Yeah, just the same ones for the past five years. Whatever! We were freaked out, me more than Peter who is the calmer of the two. We searched frantically for another apartment. Nothing, nothing and nothing.
I don't remember how but somehow we were directed to a mortgage broker. I just remember thinking we are wasting time. We were being declined by people who were checking our credit, and that was just to rent. We would never qualify to buy. It was a ridiculous thought. Peter didn't listen to me, probably realizing we were out of options. The people that would consider renting to us wouldn't once they heard we had two cats... and two kids!

We applied for a pre- approval and held our breaths and prayed! We heard back... APPROVED!
OK, we had three weeks to find a house, get a mortgage, and have a closing. No problem right?
Ignorance was my friend back then. Knowing what I know now about real estate as my husband is a broker I know it is almost impossible to do all that in three weeks.

We started hunting, we had a sweet agent show us houses in our price range. One night I was looking on line and saw this cute house on a pretty street. I could see it had a three season sun room and a yard. I just loved it. But for some reason I dismissed it. Probably price.

We went out with our agent again, we saw house after house after house. But none were right for us. Not that we were being picky, but they were just not right. I was loosing hope. We pulled up to another house. It looked familiar to me. It was pretty, and on a pretty street, and it had a sun room. Couldn't be... could it? Was it the house I saw on line? I didn't tell anyone about it. I didn't tell our agent . Only God knew how I loved this house. I'm in complete tears as I right this. I remember walking inside and feeling like I was home. Olivia and Sophia started laughing and playing. I can still see them running around the empty kitchen. I looked at Peter and said, "I know this house, I've seen it before."

Well the rest is history. Three weeks later we were the proud owners. Thanks to some really fancy foot work from our mortgage broker. We said adios to the neighbor from hell and lived happily ever after.
Remember those pains I said I used to get in my legs when I would hear her come home at night? It took about a year for me to relax at night. Every time I would hear a car when I was in bed I would get those pains. I would have to talk to myself and remind myself that it wasn't her.

We say now that Jesus went house hunting for us. And looking back, if she didn't push me over the edge that day and I didn't go off on her and ultimately get us evicted who knows how long we would have stayed, not believing we could own our own home. And how ironic that my hubby is now working in real estate!!

This is one of the most incredible things Jesus has done for us. It's not possible to pull that off in three weeks. It normally takes at least a month to get the mortgage approved,I've seen closings take months and months. I also have come to realize that, that was about the smallest window of opportunity for us to buy. The market was great and banks were giving mortgages to just about everyone. Jump ahead a few years and here you have the onslaught of foreclosures. Most of those people in reality couldn't afford the price of the mortgage. If we applied for a mortgage before or after that brief period we would never have been approved. I truly believe Jesus knew it was a now or never time for us and we just were not making that move on our own. So he gave us a little push. in the form of an eviction notice, LOL

One funny thing that happened right after we moved in, the listing agent came to take his For Sale signs back. He was very nice, he knocked on the door and congratulated us on our new home. Then he asked me if I was a Christian. Well I thought he asked me if I was Christine. So I said "no, I'm not". He looked at me a little funny and said "oh, I'm sorry I just thought you were because you have the symbol of the fish on your car". ( a sure sign of a Christian) I then realized I had heard him wrong." OH, a Christian! YES, YES, I'm a Christian,I thought you asked me if I was Christine"! We stood there laughing and laughing...

So when I get my Memorial Box, in it there will be a miniature For Sale sign. With a sold written across it!

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Thankful Sunday

Another oldie but goodie. The funny thing is, she is still wearing that shirt almost a year later.


Today I'm digging deep on the thankfulness. My step daughter could use prayers, a lot actually. She is in a difficult situation. Can't really go into it right now. If you all could just please keep her in mind this week.

So what am I thankful for today...

My hubby putting dirty dishes into the dishwasher, as I write this. That's freaky.

I found ten bucks in the dryer this morning!

Tacos! Always a quick and good dinner that everyone actually will eat, Emmie included. she looked so cute holding her own soft taco and stuffing her face. If I had a camera this is where I would insert a photo of that , LOL

Speaking of cameras I am thankful that we do have our old one. I just don't get that instant gratification of being able to upload them to my posts.

Thankful for the giggles I hear right now as Andrew is playing with Emmie.

And I'm thankful I took the time to post this. sometimes it takes me a while to think of something, but even the tiniest of things are worth being thankful for, especially when it's been a tough day or week or month...LOL

* please keep Aniela in your prayers.

HAPPY ME!!!

Here are the rules for the award:
1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. Name the person who gave the award to you and link to their blog (or hyperlink).
3. List 10 things that make you happy.
4. Pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blogs to let them know.

I'm super excited!! I received another award! Guys I cannot even pretend like things like this are no big deal. I STINKIN' LOVE IT!!!
Tracy over at Four wonders of Life for some reason thought I deserved this award. Truly, Tracy from the bottom of my heart ... Thank you, and thanks for your kind words.


Now for ten things things that make me happy. There are gazillions! But I'll pick my top ten,

10. Chocolate. This could easily have been higher on my list, but I don't want to look shallow.LOL

9. Shopping. Anywhere, anytime. But it has to be a bargain. The bigger the savings the bigger the adrenalin rush.

8. Music. Just about anything with meaning. I guess that leaves out a lot of today's "big" hits. I love Christian music that rocks!

7. Gardening. I love a day in the garden to get dirty. Planting and watching my flowers grow is awesome. Especially when they do really well, and the backyard just has flowers everywhere. Like the Secret Garden. Well, that's what I'd like it to look like.

6. Crickets! The best thing is a warm summer night and falling asleep to the sound of crickets.

5. Friends, both far and near. Not coming from big family and having all of Peter's family in Poland, we have a family of friends. Couldn't ask for a better "family". Cyberspace friends all included. Don't know what I would do without you all. That is the absolute honest truth.


4. A long and lazy day at the beach, followed by chowder and clam cakes on the way home, ice cream if we have room in our bellies(who am I kidding... if. HA), and babes smelling like the salt air and all asleep by the time we get home.

3.Watching my children sleep. Makes me cry tears of joy and disbelief that these little monkeys are actually mine.

2. My hubby and kids. What a bunch!!! They are all number two, I have NO FAVORITES! I know they'll be checking! I love you all... MORE!

1. Jesus!!! Gotta love Him! And I do with all my heart.


Now the pass off!

Courtney, at The Adventures of Pudge and Zippy If you've never visited this blog, go now, actually run!!! Courtney describes the every day antics of her two amazingly beautiful children with such flair! Truly a therapeutic daily visit for me. I laugh until I cry, then go back to show my hubby and kids and laugh all over again. Love them!!!

Tausha, at Let Your Troubles Roll By , A beautiful mom, with an equally beautiful family. But the show stealer is her son Sam. And if you hurry over there you're sure to get an eyeful! Warning not for the weak of stomach. Got your curiosity going yet? Let me just say, Sam is amazing!

Linny, at A Place Called Simplicity, OK, there's not enough space in cyberspace to tell you how incredible she is. Her whole family is inspiring. Her heart is overflowing with love for the orphan and her home is overflowing with children she and her husband have adopted. Her faith is unfaltering. And you can't help but fall in love with Jesus more and more just by reading her posts. Especially her Memorial Box Monday posts. Go there now and on EVERY MONDAY!!

Patti, at To Love Endlessly , faithful, beautiful , and a constant support to me. Also the mom to Marissa, who is the cutest and smartest , little sweet you've ever seen. And who just happens to have a thing for Splenda! HMMM, you'll have to go over there and search for that adorable post.

Maggie Mae, at Take a Walk on the Happy Side, Here you will laugh until your sides hurt, cry, and fall in love with not one but two of the most adorable little men in the world. I could go as far to say they are the cutest twin boys I have ever met. Not knowing any other twin boys I am not playing favorites. hehe.
Their mom is one of the BEST writers out there and always has a boatload of information. Definitely one of my favorite places to visit.

The Water in The Toilet Goes Round And Round...

Completely fascinated! This is her first encounter of the toilet bowl. You should have seen her face when she saw what it could do!





She had to go in for a better view!


* no she did not touch or drink any water.


Oh yeah! By the look on her face it was all worth it!

And no tour of the bathroom is complete without sitting in the sink.
Actually, Peter had gotten her all nakey for the bubble, he was playing with her and telling her what a cute bum bum she has , you know all the typical Daddy in love stuff. All of a sudden he holds her out at arms length and says"She's peeing "! I was at the tub with Andrew and completely hysterical. I said, " put her in the sink". And of course, " Keep her there while I get my camera"!

The look on her face is priceless. I really don't think she was amused at all!

She Did It Again!

It seems that whenever I bring Emilia out in to public she changes someone, reaches out to them , makes them smile or in the case yesterday brought tears to the eyes of a stranger.

Emmie had an eye doctor appointment. While we were waiting our turn a women sat next to us. There was one chair between her and Em. Of course she strikes up a conversation with Emmie. And Emmie sucks it up, producing all her silly faces and smiles. The woman's husband came to sit down and she quickly took the empty seat next to Em so her husband didn't get to sit next to the baby. She wanted that seat for herself. We laughed and chatted for maybe another minute or two and then they called Emmie's name.

The woman was so disappointed that Emmie had to leave. Meeting over, and another happy stranger, thanks to Em.

That's what I thought anyway.

After Emmie's appointment we were making her next one and I was scoping out the place for the ladies room. After we were done I made a bee line for it. Well, our waiting room friend was standing right outside the restrooms.

I called to her and said, "What luck , now you get to see Em again! She barely said a word, just held out her arms to hold Emmie. She said, " may the Lord bless you and watch over you every day of your life". And then kissed her. OK, I'm tearing up at this point and trying not to stand there crying.

She held her a little longer, asked me her name, and then started tearing up herself. Oh, no I thought if she starts to cry I'm going to loose it too.

She said to Em, "now why are you making me cry? I know, because I always wanted children and I don't have any". She was an older women, well past child bearing years.

At that point neither one of us could talk, she handed Emmie back to me, and again no words were needed. We just looked at each other for a moment. She turned to go and I touched her shoulder.
I immediately jumped into the restroom and had a good shoulder shaking cry.

I am utterly amazed at how this child touches people. I'm sure this woman doesn't go around randomly holding strangers babies, and telling them such personal thoughts. But somehow Emilia brings things out in people. As I know all our extra special ones do. I've read your posts about how your little ones have touched others. What is it? Can people just feel the goodness? Can they somehow detect that they are holding pure love?
It amazes me every time it happens. It's like Jesus himself is using these little ones as instruments. That all these accidental meetings with strangers are not "accidental" at all.

I couldn't be more proud to be entrusted with such a child. It takes my breath away.

Before You New Me

Since I don't have my camera and any pictures I have taken recently are on our old camera which I can't download, I thought I would take a trip back in time. I love looking at photos. Let you all get to know us before we came to blogland.

2001, Long before Emilia was even a thought. I'm pregnant with Bella in this picture.Sophia and Olivia were such babies. I can't believe this was nine years ago. I remember it so well, it could have just happened.


2002, Miss Bella was the new baby in the house. Sophia taking her new position as the middle child. And in 2002, my hubby had black hair!




2007, there's a boy in the mix, and a little more gray in Peter's hair. hehehe. I remember this day. It was awesome. We went to Jamestown RI. We are at Watson's Farm. It's a beautiful place, right on the water, and still a working farm.

*Miss Em had PT today, she learned how to climb stairs, and the couch. It seems she is catching on pretty quickly. That should add some fun to our days!

17 Months!!

Next month I can officially say Miss Em is one and a half years old! Not quite sure I like the sound of that. She's growing too fast. Faster than the other kids, it seems. She continues to delight and amaze us daily. She is becoming her own little person with a colorful personality.
Emilia has come to the conclusion, that she won't do anything she doesn't feel like doing. I laugh every week because she will, "talk" for her PT, "walk" for her OT, and "play" for her ST. It's calculated and deliberate I swear !

She is not easily impressed with toys... still. But faces amaze her. Music makes her dance for joy, and books keep her entertained. Singing Old MC Donald while signing puts her in stitches, she thinks she is the absolute coolest when she stands up and swings her arms back and forth, and her favorite place to be is on the floor rolling around with her brother and sisters.

My favorite place for her to be is in my arms.

Thankful Sunday

got cream cheese?



I'm rushing this morning but if I waited to do my Thankful Sunday post it would probably be Monday.
so here goes!

I'm thankful for Spring!!! I saw with my own eyes the temp measuring 75 degrees yesterday!

Thankful that I got our car cleaned out yesterday. It was getting to the point were I seriously could have found some wild life living under all the "stuff" that accumulated over the winter.

Sophia is going to States today! So thankful that she qualified.

Thankful that we got together with some dear friends last night.

Thankful that Aniela called the other night and sounded happy! she's out in CA pursuing her dream, which seems to be acting instead of dancing at the moment. She is in an acting class and the teacher is a really well known one and she's doing remarkably well.

Thankful that because Sophia is going to States today I had to be up at the crack of dawn this morning... literally, and as I type this I am watching the miracle of the sun rise.God thought of such beauty to start our day and most days it comes and goes without any one noticing.

Thankful for special people in my life who without ever actually meeting me can detect that I'm slightly out of sorts. Carol and Heather I'm okay... will e- mail when things slow down! I love you!

And Happy World Down syndrome Day!!!!! I'm thankful I get to celebrate this day!!! What are you all up to on this special day? I think we'll go to the park, or what I'd really like to do... clean up the yard. I'm thinking the kids won't think that's such a great way to celebrate.

Whatever you do today have a great and blessed day!

Instant Connection

The last few day as been ... let's just say a little more than stressful, for reasons not worth my effort to write about.

Last night Peter, Emmie, Andrew and I stopped by the grocery store. After walking up and down the isles while Andrew asked ,"are we done" and how many more things do you have to get"? my patience was dwindling. I was tired both physically and mentally and new my night wasn't over yet.

We stopped by the Redbox to get a movie on the way out. I sat on the bench with Emmie for a quick snuggle and waited for Peter and Andrew to finish . This women walked by , and stopped dead in her tracks. At first I just figured she was going to comment on Em, as she was smiling and being her charming self. And I was right, she engaged in a quick conversation with Emmie. Then looked at me and said, "I have a son". To anyone else, that would have left them hanging. I have a son who? They would be waiting for her to complete her sentence. But to me it wasn't a grammatical error, it was a very complete and fully understood statement.

"How old is he", was my response. She didn't look much older than me so I was expecting her to say around five or six. She said" he's twenty nine. And the best thing that ever happened to us he is our angel".
"So is Emmie, she's everything we always wanted" I replied.

And with that we said goodbye, and went our separate ways. But I went on to talk about her, and I know when she got home, she talked about Emmie.


That "brief" encounter was so much more than that. It was a gift from God, at the exact moment I needed a little "something". A little reminder , a little pick me up, whatever you want to call it. A moment shared between two mothers who speak the same language and know a love like so many will never experience or understand.

Prayer of St. Patrick

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through the confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the Judgment Day.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of demons,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

Saint Patrick's prayer, popularly known as "Saint Patrick's Breast-Plate" (or "Lorica"), is believed to have been composed by him in preparation for this victory over paganism.

Have a happy and blessed St. Patrick's day!

*The new header photo is actually last years Easter picture. I had to change for spring, and without a camera I couldn't get a new photo, (sniff sniff). but I love this picture of her so in a pinch it will do.

Where's Emmie?

What s inside this box?

It's a baby!
She's busting out!


Olivia put her project backboards around Miss Em. Emmie is always up for some fun. She is such a good sport.

And these are some of the last pictures taken before my camera died. Not good. we have too many special things coming up to be without a camera. Hope I can somehow get another or fix this one. Plus blogging just isn't the same without pictures.

Thankful Sunday

Andrew working up a sweat at the Pasta dinner last night




The weeks are just flying!!! Signs of spring are everywhere and old man winter is loosing the battle yet again.

Image via Wikipedia

This week I am thankful for Peter's lightening quick recovery from kidney stones. Yesterday morning as most of you know , Peter took a ride to the ER with kidney stones, he was fine in just a few hours and last night we were able to all go to our church's annual Pasta Dinner. Amazing!Thanks again for your prayers.

Thankful for Olivia ans Sophia holding down the fort so well! Emilia even tested them with a stinky diaper, but Olivia changed her and lived to tell about it!! lol

Eternally thankful to my friend Melinda who flew in like an angel and helped out yesterday.

Thankful that, that beast of a car is up and running again! We are back to two!

And who isn't thankful for the extra sunlight we will be enjoying thanks to Daylight Savings Time!!

And paper towel. I couldn't live without it!!!

Yup, sometimes it's really about those silly small things.

And I'm thankful for all those silent prayers that get answered. You know those things that you just think about, but maybe don't think are worthy of a prayer . Like yesterday for example. I was nervous about driving to the ER. Peter went in the rescue. I was wondering where do I park ,do I have enough money on me to even pay for parking , how am I going to find Peter...and on and on.
When I got there I found easy and free street parking, which is a miracle around any hospital , but there are three major hospitals in this massive compound. Street parking is never available. As I was wondering where to go, I spotted the rescue that took Peter in, and the guys were just leaving. I motioned to them and they told me which door to go in. Everything was so "easy". I know God arranged it like that but I would never have thought to ask. I was to busy praying that Peter was OK.

I'm thankful that God always knows what's on our minds and what we need or want. and like a good father He is always there to help, even when we "forget" to ask.

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Update!!

Kidney Stones!!! Poor Peter.

First thank you my friends for praying. This must have been the quickest case of kidney stones in the world...ever! I know it was because of your immediate prayers. Peter woke up at six this morning in major pain. I called 911 and off we went. I followed in my car, leaving the two oldest in charge at home.

As soon as he arrived at the ER they gave him something for the pain. Don't remember the name but they said it was more powerful than morphine. I didn't know there was anything more powerful.

Seriously once the pain was under control he was basically fine. They did a cat scan and determined that the stone was already in his bladder. We were out of there by eleven thirty.
Amazing!!!

Meanwhile while back at the ranch my friend Melinda saw Sophia's post and called to see what she could do. Bella really needed to be at ballet this morning so Angel Melinda took her. Huge thanks!!!!!

And Angel Melinda also brought some goodies back with her after ballet class. I was wondering what the kids were going to eat, but that was taken care of. THANK YOU!!!!

And to my two oldest girls! You seriously rose to the occasion! Thank you for taking such good care of Emmie and Andrew. Love you!!

Please Pray ERGENT!!!

Today I'm (Sophia) posting for my mom because she is in the emergency room with my dad. Please pray for him.

Spring Has Sprung

Right on the top of her sweet head!

How To Eat Spaghetti

Oh no Mom 's got her camera out again.




Very funny mom. Now help me out here. These things are slippery, and I'm hungry!

I can't get these things in to my mouth! Is this a joke!



Mom, put the camera down and help me out here.

Finally... now how do I get the rest of it in my mouth. On second thought could I just have a grilled cheese, please!

Let's Try This Again

As I guess everyone has heard that The NDSS has started the voting all over. If you vote for me I'll vote for you , again! Emilia is still #68. Here is the link , Thanks!!

Thankful Sunday

What a beautiful Sunday Morning it is here. I hope the rest of you have gorgeous weather too. As I type this it is brilliantly sunny and 50 degrees!



I am thankful that I got to sleep in this morning, an obvious rarity. When I got up with Emmie at 9:30!!! the kids were already outside playing.

Sophia was sick on Wednesday with that stinkie stomach bug. I'm so so so thankful that it went through her in just hours and none of us got it. That has never happened. Not to mention just about an hour before she got sick her and Em were wrestling on the floor together.

Lately Emilia has been moving her hands in odd ways. After watching her do this for several days I think she is trying to sign. We have been signing more and more words to her and I think in her way she is mimicking us. I am very thankful that she is starting to make the connection.
She will also tap her hands to her chest when I ask / sign, beautiful baby.

I am very thankful that yesterday we had the honor of viewing the statue of The Blessed Mother. the statue is from Portugal where in 1917 Mary appeared to three young children. if you're not familiar with the story of Fatima you can read it here. Any hoo, one of the children described Mary as she looked when they saw her and two statues were made. One remains in Portugal and the other travels.

Her face was so beautiful.


And just in case someone might have a misconception about Catholics worshiping statues, that's not true. We do not worship anyone but Jesus. Yes our churches are filled with statues of saints and sometimes icons, but we do not worship them.
It's kind of like pictures we all have in our homes of loved ones we want to remember and look at. You might walk by a photo of your mom who has passed away, and stop to look at her face, and remember a time you had with her. Statues are just there to remind us that , hey, they were all here at one time too. They had problems and issues , but they trusted in Jesus. They have already been here and done that and are now in heaven. They are great roll models. The prayers we say to saints... we are only asking for their intersession, we do not believe that they alone answer our prayers. No one not even the Mother of God has the power to answer our prayers. Just as we all send out prayer requests to friends and family, when we are in need, the saints too are just friends, to help us out when we need a hand or an extra prayer. I'm only writing this because one time we were at a feast celebrating Mary and there were some teenagers walking behind us . I over heard them say we were all pagans. If I wasn't with my kids I would probably have flipped out on these kids. I was stunned and saddened that he would actually think such a thing.

And today a very special Little Girl and her very special family are having a Birthday party!
Yes Princess Zoey is FINALLY getting a long awaited and deserved Birthday party. For that I am most thankful! I hope their home is bursting at the seams with family, friends, laughter and complete joy.

Everyone enjoy there Sunday. Take it slow today and just be thankful !

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Mother/ Son/Night

Tonight was the Annual Mother/ Son night at our school. We went bowling. Andrew has been pumped about this all week. Every day he has been asking me how many more days. I love this age , it takes so little to please him.

We had a couple of stops before the big event. Poor kid it must have felt like an eternity. As you can see from the look on his face when we finally got there he was delighted. I love his ability to be as goofy as possible. Of course the best part about bowling isn't really the bowling but the games. Since we have sworn off electronics at home, he really looses all control when he gets to play video games. Seriously this kid was practically foaming at the mouth.



He could care less if he was about six inches to short to play this game. Just scoot all the way down in the seat so you can reach the petals. You can't see where you're going like this , but when you're going a buck fifty that may be a good thing.

There was a moment tonight when I flashed ahead to his college years. They dimmed the lights on the bowling lanes and blasted the music. My son turns around and yells at the top of his lungs, THIS PARTY ROCKS! The next image I got in my mind was Andrew smashing a beer can on his forehead. Immediate note to self: local college, no dorm , absolutely no fraternity.

We came home with left over cupcakes and spiderman rings. As I was washing my face, The Little Man came to the door and told me he loved me. What else can I ask for on mother / son night...

So What Exactly Did I mean by That

Anyone who read my last post regarding my Beautiful Blogger Award knows I had to list seven interesting things about myself. Number seven was," I always knew I would have a baby with Ds".
What does that mean? Beats me. I've had this post floating around in my head for a long time, but never really knew how to write it. And maybe I was waiting long enough to strengthen our
"Bloggers Bond" so you all wouldn't think I was certifiable. Whatever the reason I can't shake the feeling to write about it, so I guess I'll just wing it. And who knows, maybe you all had the same feeling too.

Since I was very young. Even before I was married, I had a feeling that "something" was up.
but I couldn't put my finger on it. I always wanted a big family and I always wanted to adopt. Of course I always wanted to give birth to children too. A lot of wants, I know.

I was overwhelmed as a child to take care of the "unwanted". Be it animals, strays were always crossing my path, children, I needed to make unhappy children smile. I couldn't stand seeing someone alone at recess. Even adults as I got older, people in need seemed to gravitate towards me.

When I was younger and would see a child or even an adult , anyone really with a disability or in a wheelchair I would immediately ask God to cure them. I remember thinking if I had one wish it would be that they could walk, or talk or have no pain.
I was drawn to them. I could never figure out why. And I could never figure out why I was always the one who felt the urge to be the "nice guy". Sometimes I just didn't want to find another kitten or baby bird or sacrifice being made fun of because I was talking to the kid no one else would.

As I got older and married and we decided it was time to start a family I didn't feel any real anxiety about having a baby. Only the normal excitement. I held my breath at my u/s appointment thinking" Please God I can't handle anything but a healthy baby". But we all say that.

I had a text book pregnancy and went on with life. Then along came Sophia and Bella and Andrew, all healthy , all easy pregnancies. The thought that something was "up" kind of took a back seat. I got a little bit cocky I guess. Baby after baby being born with the greatest of ease. I even got pregnant exactly when I wanted to. No waiting , no stressing.

We had finally gotten the boy and I thought as did Peter that we were done. I shook off that "feeling" as just a vivid imagination. I mean nothing happened, my kids were all fine.So, I waited for that "done" feeling that my friends all had. The feeling you get when you know you don't want anymore kids, when holding someone else's baby is good enough, when you couldn't imagine dealing with feedings and diapers all over again. I waited and waited but it never came.

What came was that old "feeling" again. The urge for another baby and the feeling that something would be "wrong" were overwhelming. What do I do? What is God telling me? At first I thought He was telling me to be happy with the healthy kids I had. But why did I still have an aching for another one? Well we forged ahead and decided to try for another, and I kept these crazy feelings to myself. Seriously who would believe me if I said I think God wants me to have another baby and I also think there is going to be something wrong with him/ her! Wacko!!!

Well we tried for a year and a half. That's a long time! I was about to give up. I just couldn't take the roller coaster ride anymore. I battled back and forth with the decision. Maybe I misunderstood God. Maybe he didn't want me to have another baby. I was driving myself nuts.
Meanwhile I had come to the conclusion that if I had this baby he/ she would most definitely have Ds, that I was sure of ,and I didn't want a baby with Ds. I can't explain how I knew that except that God told me, and I didn't particularly want to hear that.
And all I could think was that He had been training me for this my whole life. Everything kind of fell into place, and I was terrified. Why me? But even knowing all this I still wanted another baby. The logical part of me way saying " just dismiss those crazy thoughts, you can easily have another healthy baby. Down syndrome won't happen to you. I tried very hard to listen to that part of my brain.
I convinced myself I was over reacting.


January of 2008 I told God now or never. I want this baby no matter what but I'm not going to try anymore after this month. January 2008, I was pregnant with Emilia.

The second I found out I just knew our lives were in for a drastic change. I didn't tell anyone,except for Peter of course that I was pregnant for almost four months. I just knew something was wrong. When I couldn't hide my pregnancy any longer we told the kids and gave them the thumbs up to spread the word. Just a few days later I went for my level two u/s. I was an absolute wreck that morning. I just knew what was coming. I knew it like I know my own name.

The technician came in and did her thing, then in came the doctor followed by you know who... the "wonderful" genetic counselor. No words needed but he said them anyway. echogenic bowel...soft marker... Down syndrome.

I wanted to scream I KNOW, I KNOW, SHUT UP!!!!! I KNEW BEFORE YOU DID! I'VE KNOWN FOREVER!!! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!!!

I don't even know how I made it through that stupid talk with the counselor or the ride home . I just remember frantically trying to figure out how to turn back time. I'm not even kidding. For a few completely insane moments I distinctly remember thinking there must be a way to go back.

But go back to what? If this is Gods will then I could go back to the garden of Eden, and still end up right where I am now.

Knowing all this did not in any way help me to accept my situation. I was mad. And scared, and filled with despair.
It wasn't until Emilia's birth that I finally accepted Gods will and felt at peace. If you're new to my blog you can read about that here.

Of course hind sight is twenty- twenty, and I could have saved myself a lot of grief is I just accepted Gods will and had faith. But I think... no, I know things happened the way they did because that's how I needed them to happen. My faith is 100 times stronger now.

God does have a flair for the dramatic and I've learned to just follow His lead.

Thank You!!

OK, Kelly over at My Little" Son shine" nominated me for the Beautiful Blogger award. Thanks Kelly. I'm over the top happy that we "met". Go check out Kelly and her very beautiful family.


The rules to this award are:
1. Thank the person who nominated me for this award.
2. Copy the award & place it on my blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated me for this award.
4. Share 7 interesting things about myself.
5. Nominate 7 bloggers.


Well this is what I've got as 7 interesting things about me.

1. I can recite every line from It's a Wonderful Life. It drives everyone crazy and I was banned from doing it anymore.

2. I hide candy.

3. I'm an only child and when I was little I used to imagine I had a twin and we were separated at birth, but no one knew, not even my mother. Are you laughing? OK that's bordering on pathetic but in an interesting way.

4. I learned how to garden from spending summer days with my grandmother. I can still hear her voice when I'm in my garden, telling me what to do.

5. I saw the Rolling Stones in Philadelphia in 198o something. It was their first stop on their USA tour. Opening show, we were so close we could feel the heat from the ring of flames that they had blast up during the show. Caught the same show back home in RI. It was Awesome!

6. I always wanted to be a ballerina and dance with Mikael Baryshnikov.

7. I always new I'd have a child with Ds. Now that needs a post of explanation. Maybe someday.


Now for 7 new beautiful bloggers. Not my favorite part of this gig. Too many to choose from. Here we go, in no particular order.

1. Kele, Giles Family of 5
2. Dorothy, Gifts
3. Sara, Extra Smiles... Extra Giggles ... Extra Love
4. Denise, Sweet Ella Grace
5. Heather, Little Wonders
6. Lacey, Jaxsons Fight
7.Tina, My Precious Saira

After Bath Fun

I asked the girls to take Emilia after her bubble and keep her warm while I clean up the bathroom. These are the results. Sophia grabbed the camera and Olivia grabbed the baby.






They kept her happy and warm!