Wednesday or is it Thursday?

Boy today feels like Thursday for some reason. Anyways, I am carless at least until Friday. Fun times! Last night I took the Honda and ran to the store to get some milk and a few other things for in the kitchen. While at the store I got my grandma an Easter Lily. My dad has slacked off the past few years on getting her a lily and a poinsetta so I took over that job. She was tickled pink when I dropped her lily off.

Arianna has another therapist appointment this morning at 8:30 am. Her PT yesterday was thrilled with all of the tricks Arianna was doing for her. Sitting up and crawling on her hands and knees. Even pulling herself up on the ottoman. She is making good progress.

My tackling of this house is eeehhh going alright. I really need to do the hustle.... do do do da do do do... anyways hehehe! I got my stashes sorted yesterday at least. Almost everytime I go to the store I may pick up something for Brycen or Arianna being a toy, book, or a piece of clothing. I hang on to them if I bought them big enough for Birthdays or X-mas. The stash for Easter is done and looking good. Both kids are done for their Birthdays. Arianna's in May and Brycen's is in July. I even have a pretty decent start on X-mas. Not too bad for buying a little here and a little there. It seems like each year I get started a little earlier and earlier. Lets hope that my two dont go through a major growth any time soon. Haha!

Well I need to get going here. I jumped back onto the exercise band wagon again after about a month and a half off. No more excuses. I have a lake trip scheduled in July and I want a decent chunk of this weight off. I'm off to do some cardio!

Tahoe getting fixed.

Josh called a little bit ago saying that the part for the Tahoe will be in tomorrow morning and that the gentleman who will be fixing it will pick it up tomorrow. So I will be without a vehicle for a few days. Hopefully nothing goes wrong. *fingers crossed* Thank goodness that the fix will be cheap because we were already looking into trading it in. Well I was yesterday but that is besides the point. We still have two more years of paying on it so we will run it until the wheels fall off.

Just stuff.

Arianna has her PT appointment this morning at 8 am. We had to cancel last week due to my MIL's funeral. Arianna is doing so good. Sitting up on her own, crawling on her hands and knees and pulling herself up. Yay!

Josh got some prices on the front differential for the Tahoe and it wasn't any where nearly as bad as we thought it would cost. He just went ahead and ordered the part and one of the guys at the shop will install it for cheap. Now I just have to watch how much I drive it until it gets fixed. We don't want the oil level in the differential to get to low or to run out of oil completely because it will burn up the gears inside. Then it will cost over a grand to fix. Right now it has a continuous slow leak of oil and obviously when the vehicle is warmed up the oil leaks even more. Will just have to play it by ear this week for my running around and playdates.

I can't believe we have snow this April 7th! It's not the first time having snow in April but it has been a long time. I think I just might go out to the garage and bring some pellets in for our pellet stove. Sounds like a good day to snuggle up by a fire and watch some movies with my lovies!

Monday, Monday...

Today we had a playdate at the local mall but Brycen still has a little bit of a cough. I feel that the croup went into full blown allergies. Fun times! Arianna's and his eyes are all yucky when they get up in the morning. Oh yeah allergy season is the greatest time of all! I received three beautiful bulb gardens when my MIL passed and they are in full bloom. Gorgeous but my kids probably don't think they are so gorgeous.

On my agenda for today is to clean, clean, clean and more clean along with some laundry thrown into the mix. We have been company just about every day or every other day so things need to be in tip top shape.

My weekend went well. I had my charity auction for the local Blind Association and it went very well. The items totalled 212 and the auction itself went an hour and a half passed when I thought it would end and ran an hour over schedule. Everything sold and the Blind Association was very pleased with the amount of money we raised. We surpassed their goal! Yay! I received so many compliments and even an applause at the end of the sale. That always makes me feel good.

Oh what a beautiful day yesterday was. We spent most of the day outside and did some yard work. I weeded my flower garden and trimmed some shrubs. Josh moved a tree that was planted too close to the garage. We took a little walk and his aunt and uncle came over to visit with us and the kids. JL stopped over for a little bit and had a couple of beers. It was a very nice and relaxing day!

Today looks so beautiful outside but looks can be deceiving. There is a cold front coming in so it is very windy outside but that sunshine is abundant today. I hope everyone has a great day leading into an even better week.

Leading into the weekend.

Last night was nice. Arianna's appoinment ended up getting canceled due to the therapist not feeling well so we got everyone ready to get out of the house. It was so warm and the sunshine felt so good. We took everyone up to the cemetery. It was hard seeing the spot where she is at. Geibel's have the ground looking very nice. The palms are all woven over the grave site with flowers decorating it. The footspray is at her feet and the lid spray at the top. Very classy looking instead of seeing dirt. We took the kids for a walk around the cemetery. Looking at grave monuments and trying to see how old some of the people were. This is something Josh and I have always done. Even when we go on a weekend trip somewhere and we see an old cemetery we would stop and walk around. Clean off a few graves and just be a peace. During our walk we were coming up on Josh's grandparents graves along with some others in the family when I looked over towards where Elaine is. The sun was coming through the clouds and beams of rays stretched over the whole cemetery. Just beautiful! I started to tear up and looked at Josh. We embraced and knew that this was her turn to go to Heaven.

On our way home from the cemetery Josh's one aunt called and wanted to come over to see the kids. We were almost home so we said "sure". It's been nice having company just stop over, especially to see the kids. Aunt S. came over and played with the kids in the back yard for a little but until it started to get chilly. We retreated back into the house and Aunt S. continued on her walk around the farm.

Today I have to meet up with the Blind Association at Boscovs. I wanted to go over how they have the room set up and to drop off my equipment. My mom is going to watch the kids for me which is nice. I just told her that I have an appointment. Well I do. :o)

It is almost 7 am here and I have some work to get done before I start to get the kids up. I hope that everyone has a good weekend and if you are in the area please stop by the Boscov's auditorium between 10 am and 2 pm on Saturday. Lots of very nice items that were donated for the charity auction.

Tahoe disaster!

Yesterday I took the Tahoe to the dealer to get inspected. I normally wouldn't deal with these people but we get free inspections for the life of the vehicle since it was purchased there. Since we get free inspections they always pick the car appart. Try to find something wrong so they can get some sort of money out of the deal. Well the break sensors was the issue this time at the cost of $250. No way so I took my car and went home. Josh took the wheels off and cleaned the sensors so all is well. Well maybe...but not really! He had the car on the jack and was getting ready to put the jack stands under the vehicle when the it fell off of the jack. Not good! When the Tahoe came down the jack cracked the housing for the 4 wheel drive. Ouch! It is leaking oil from the housing and must be fixed. Hopefully we can fix it cheaply but no matter what it won't be too cheap. This time we can't fix this ourselves due to the fact that the axels have to be taken off to get to the part and the part may cost $3,000 to fix. Definitely don't have that extra chunk laying around.

This morning I took the Tahoe back in and got my sticker on the car. They noticed the oil leaking under the car but didn't investigate it. Whew!

What a beautiful day outside! Too bad the kids sleep all afternoon for me but they have all evening to enjoy the nice weather. Arianna has a therapist appointment at 4:30 and that usually runs about an hour. After eating some dinner I was thinking about taking everyone up to the cemetery for a walk and to visit my MIL's grave. That all is on hold until Josh takes a look at the vehicle to see if I can even drive it. *sighs* Not sure what to do this weekend with my auction on Saturday. Just play it by ear.

I'm off to straighten up a bit before the therapist gets here and get Ari up from her nappy.

A Tribute!

My MIL's viewing started Saturday night. The kids were watched by my aunt which made it easier so they could be put to bed. JL's niece got married that day so it was extra difficult on him. It was nice that JL's brother didn't attend the wedding reception so that he could be with JL. My MIL was laid out in the largest room in the funeral home and there was spurts of people that came to pay there respects. The line reached the whole length of the viewing room.

Her casket was a copper color with copper handles. Everything looked beautiful with the red roses and baby's breath the family pieces were in. Two large irns, a lid spray from JL and a foot spray from Josh and I. Arianna and Brycen had a simple two rose panel spray inside the casket. My MIL looked very beautiful in her red plaid blazer with multiple earth tones. Black beaded earrings accented her ears with a matching necklace laid across her chest. She looked really good.

Josh and I attended church at 8 am Sunday morning with the kids. All was good but the little peanut was being a pain in the bum. Such a squirmer! After church we went to the funeral home so that the kids could see their grandma. Things went much better than I thought they would have. Josh carried Arianna and I had Brycen's little hand as we approached the casket. We knelt next to the casket and Brycen was ok. I placed his hand on grandma's arm and we talked to grandma. Told her about his new Cookie Monster shoes and about him peeing in the potty. I told him that grandma is with Jesus in Heaven and he said that she was "sleeping". He gave her a few kisses on her forehead and told her that he loved her. Arianna was more interested in the lining of the casket so the view of her grandma didn't really phase her. As we walked out of the room I stopped half way and I said to Brycen, " how about we blow kisses to grandma" , so we did. I told him to say "love you grandma" and he did in a soft voice. I said, "Brycen say love you grandma a little louder", and that sweet voice got a little louder. Then I said, "Brycen say love you grandma louder so she can hear you", and we both said it even louder. We turned around and walked out the room. It was one of the sweetest things I have witnessed!

Sunday's viewings were 2-4 pm and 7-9 pm. The first viewing was the busiest! A constant line that went on way past the viewing room. Josh's cousin went out to the hall to take a peek of the line and it zig zagged all through each of the viewing rooms in the funeral home and made it's way outside to the sidewalk. The first I heard was that someone was in line for 50 minutes and it slowly increased to a little over a hour and a half in line. So many hugs and hand shakes were received by all even JL's family who formed their own receiving line on the other side of the room opposite my MIL's family.

After the viewing everyone met up at my MIL's sister's home. The house was packed with so many people and there was a great feast. Food was sent by so many generous people who wanted to do something for the family during this difficult time. Everyone sat around had a drink or two and chatted with one another until it was time to head back to the funeral home.

The evening viewing wasn't as busy as the earlier one but many of us wished it was. There was a little down time in between people but not much. The line was constant from the back of the room. The down time gave us too much time to think and look around. Emotions were being to show on our tired faces.

With the amount of lines that were written on in the sign in book along with the fact that many of those came in couples or in families we estimated that more than 500 people visited this wonderful woman. She touched so many lives. So many kind words were said to everyone about this woman. One lady said that my MIL was one of the best counselors in Western Pennsylvania. Another said that Elaine (MIL) helped her through some of her darkest times and made her want to live after suffering a brain aneurysm. There was people there who were friends of JL's who knew and some didn't know Elaine but they wanted to finally meet this woman and to support their friend. Elaine was very active in the community and so many of those people that she helped or worked with were in attendance. It was just amazing the vast number of people who wanted to see their friend just one more time.

Monday was the most difficult day for all of us who loved and cared for my MIL. My mom sat with the kids so that they could sleep in. Josh and I got to the funeral home about 8:15 am and stood in the hallway with our family and JL's family. When it was time to go into the viewing room Josh and I lead everyone into the room. We approached the casket and I held her hand. I just couldn't hold my emotions in any more. Tears streamed down my face as I looked at this beautiful woman who had more compassion and strength than anyone I have ever met. I placed two wallet sized photos of Arianna and Brycen in her hand so that she will always have them with her. Josh and I kissed her forehead and then sat down. The family started to pay their respects in pairs placing a photo of her and her siblings and even a card inside the casket. When no one was going up to the casket Josh and I went back up. We just couldn't get enough and had to be close to her again. More kisses were given and we retreated back to our seats. Then it was time when the funeral director came in and told us that now was the time to pay our last respects to this wonderful woman. Garth Brooks song "The Dance" was playing and everyone's tears started to fall as they walked up to the casket. Josh and I let everyone else go before us so that we were towards the end of the line. Then it was our turn. Our turn to take in the beauty of this woman one last time. The last time to lay our eyes on this person until we meet again many many years from now in Heaven. It was so very hard. I wrapped my arm around her waist as Josh held her hand as he did when she took her last breath. I didn't want to leave her go! We both told her that we loved her and gave her one last kiss again. I touched her face one last time and we walked out of the room. JL was the last one to be with her.

We all made it to our cars and the limo. Two of Josh's aunts who helped take care of Elaine, JL and his parents and Josh and I were in the limo. Paul bearers were some of Elaine's nephews, a brother in law, JL's brother in law, and JL's oldest son. The procession went only two blocks up the street to St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church. A church that Elaine was a life member of and a place that gave her strength.

The church was packed! There was more people in attendance than there is at 8 am mass and there are quite a bit who attend then. Everything was beautiful! The songs, the readings, and the Eulogy given by Elaine's sister and best friend. Father H. gave a wonderful annalogy of Elaine. He told us a story about a young man being asked if he knew who a Saint was and he said those people in church who the sun shines through. Meaning the paintings on the stained glass windows. Father said that Elaine was a living Saint with the way she lived her life and that her life was like the stained glass. Shined all sorts of colors and that it did!

The procession from the church to the cemetery was the whole way down North Main Street hill. Just kept going! The ceremony was performed in the mausoleum instead of grave side. When we got out of the limo the wind picked up and many birds flew in unison right over us. It was such a beautiful sight! Josh and I along with JL and her one sister were the closest to the casket and everyone packed into this tiny room. A beautiful song was being played as we all entered the room. Many of us placed our hands on the casket as Father said some final words. Then it was time for us to leave. Leave this wonderful woman behind! I kissed the top of the casket and embraced Josh. Everyone was crying and holding tight to one another. I could see how hard this was on Josh. Tears were rolling down his face even though he was trying hard to hold them back. We received two of the red roses that were a part of the family pieces and I will press them in a book for the kids when they get older.

Once we all got to our cars we rushed home to pick up Arianna and Brycen. My mom had them all dressed up and ready to go to the luncheon. There was about 100 people for the luncheon and everyone was eager to see the kids.

This whole weekend was very overwhelming for Josh and I. Every part of Elaine's death was sad yet beautiful. Just over the top beautiful! From the moments in her home after she passed, to the fact that she had her son by her side to the amount of flowers and food that came in, to the amount of people who showed up to cast their eyes one more time on this beautiful woman's face. She touch our lives and this weekend showed she touched so many many more than we could ever have imagined! This weekend was a wonderful tribute to such a loving, caring, and thoughtful woman!

Until we meet again Elaine watch and protect my family, especially Arianna and Brycen! We love you very much!