Easter 2013



Easter would not be the same for our kid's without Cascarones (confetti eggs)  My daughter in law, Joanne, is of Mexican heritage, so this great tradition comes from her mother's background and we love it!  These real egg shells are filled with confetti and hid along with the other eggs.  When you find one.... the fun begins....  You run and crack it on someones head and sprinkle them with confetti!  We always hide a lot of these.  That way, no one is left out! 

Joanne and Mike always host Easter at their house.  They usually have her parents over and invite Amy's (my other daughter in law) parents to come as well.  So, it is a blended family affair!  



Rylee and Haylee getting their mommy with an egg!



Rylee sneaking up on Uncle Mike!



Even the "big kids" can't help themselves...

 

And no one is left out.....  Right Pop Pop????? 

And Ty, the donkey can't be left out of the fun.......

Fun was had by all.......



Haylee





Mia and her DaDa, Mike



Rylee

And, as always, there is Mason!  He always brings some comedy to all the get together's.  I always tell Mike that he got one just like him......... and Joanne always reminds him that it is his fault....  

I don't have a picture to show of it, but, I could not resist...... I snuck up and attacked my favorite grandson and let me just say that I did not make a friend...... He yelled at me saying that he didn't want his head cracked!  That was not nice, MIMI.....  He then started throwing the "crack head eggs" out of his basket as he wanted no part of them.......

That's okay, cause he still loves his MIMI...... cracked head or not! 

And so do these girls..... And Mimi loves them right back!



I am my own grandpa...... In the beginning.......

No, I am not a grandpa! But, I got a kick out of a joke that my co-worker sent me. It truly made me think of my family (although we are not quite as bad) and I thought that I would post a few chapters on my mixed up family!

After I totally confuse you, I will post the joke so you can have a good laugh! My co-workers are always trying to figure my family out. I told them to stop trying because we can't even keep it straight! Let me try and explain a little (and some of this, my co-workers have not even heard).........


Before my father met my mother, he had been married a couple of times. His first marriage to Verta May produced 3 daughters - Linda, Brenda and Judy. Upon their divorce, my father got custody of Linda and Brenda. Judy had not been born yet and my father did not even know that a baby was on the way. Their mother stayed away and eventually remarried. So, we did not know about or grow up with Judy. She came along when I was around 15 years old.


Then he married Marie and they had my brother Ronnie. Upon their divorce, he won custody of Ronnie as well.


Stay with me now...... I am just beginning. Finally, he met my mother. They were never married but stayed together for 13 years. My mother was glad to raise his children because she was told that she was unable to have children of her own. However, during the time they were together, my mother's prayers were answered and she gave birth to me (Barbara) and my younger brother, Glen.


Those years were hard on my mother but she raised all 5 of us as "her" children. No one was thought of differently in her eyes. Looking back, even though she went through pure hell with my father, there were a lot of good times as a family. And believe it or not, not all my memories of my father are bad ones. Sisters got married and had children of their own. In fact, my mother was pregnant (with Glen) at the same time that my sister, Linda, was pregnant with her first son, Greg. They delivered just 4 days apart and as my sister was leaving the hospital, my mother was being admitted.


In spite of my father, we had a close family. However, it was always thrown in my mothers face that if anything ever happened between her and my father, he would get custody of Glen and I as well. After all, he had gotten custody of all his other children before. Why wouldn't he be awarded custody of us? And deep down my mother was afraid that it just might happen. So, she stayed and stayed and stayed, taking all of the abuse that went along with it.


A couple of times my mother planned to leave him. So, she had our suitcases packed and when my father came home from a trip (he was a long distance truck driver) and got into the shower, we threw our suitcases in the trunk and took off. Both times, before we got a mile down the road, my brother Ronnie and I were crying and pleading with her to go back home because he would come and find us. We were afraid of what he would do to her. So, we would go back and sneak into the house before he ever knew that we were gone...... Looking back on it now, I really feel bad about making my mom feel guilty, but those times happened even before Glen came along. So, it was meant to be....... or we wouldn't have Glen.


When Glen was about a year old my father and mother got into a huge fight. My mother had enough, she didn't even take anything with her, she just grabbed us 3 kids and left walking down our dirt road. Before we even got out of sight, my father came down the road in his semi truck and tried to run us over. My mother threw us in a big ditch and jumped in after us. Once again, he drug us home and gave my mother a beating.

So, that is the story of what sister or brother is from what mother........ I will give you time to let that sink in! Stay tuned for part 2.....

Long Lost Cousins

Tonight when I got home from work, the phone was ringing. I ran in to pick it up and this person said; "Is this Barbara?"

To make a long story short, it was my cousin, Alvie, from Jacksonville. It is funny how when we were growing up, we were super close. More like brother and sister during those times. He and his family even lived with us on a couple of occasions when we were young. I spent time during the summer at his house. But, then family feuds and stupidity got in between our families and before you know it; 35 years have come and gone.

We talked for awhile and I told him that I would have to call him back as Gary and I had purchased movie tickets and were running late. However, I am eagerly awaiting to hear all about his life and about his brothers.

My cousin Billy and I are the same age and Alvie is one year older. My other cousins, Joe and Johnny were older than us, so I didn't play so much with them, but remember being close to them as well and have nothing but fond memories. Actually, I exchanged letters with Johnny for quite awhile, before his death. During the early years, when our parents were still getting along, we had a lot of good times and made many family memories.

After the movie, I started pulling out all of my mother's pictures and looking back, so many years ago...........

So, thanks, Alvie, Billy and Joe for looking me up! I know that we are all "older" now, but, we need to get together and make up for all the lost time. I love you, all.

Mother's Day 2009

Today is Mother Day, so here I am with two of my favorite men...... my sons!

Before I was a Mom
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put him down. I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do test...or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never got gloriously happy over a simple little grin. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew that I would love being a Mom.......

We celebrated by being together as a family at Mike and Joanne's for some swimming and a cookout.




I know everybody says that they have the best mom- so I won’t venture to say I had the best mom in the whole world - but, I will say that in the whole world, I had the best Mom for me! It’s so amazing to me how mothers shape our lives. Everything they say and do, from our earliest years - teaches us something about ourselves, our world and who we are and what we are going to be as we grow. My mom was no exception. From making my bed properly, washing clothes, baking bread, cooking or to having a good sense of humor, she’s taught me more than I’ll ever probably realize. She certainly taught me what it was like to love and be loved. And she taught me how to be the mom that I was to my two boys...........

Thanks mom and I will forever miss you!



Enjoy some pictures from our day........

The "little mama" had fun with her sister and cousin. Rylee, they are so lucky to have you to show them both the ways of the world!

On this day, as I watch my two daughter-in-laws interact with their children, both of my boys did a wonderful job in choosing partners for themselves and mothers for their children.





Both Joanne and Amy each have their own traits that make them special. However, they are each loving, kind, generous, funny and are both the kind of women that I hoped my boys would end up with. I am proud to have them in my life and consider them both the daughters that I never had. I love you Joanne and Amy!

Looking back on my childhood

As most of you know, I was never really close to my real father until the end of his life. Growing up, I was never physically abused by him. However, my older brother and my mother were. Many a nights as a child, I would have to make the mad dash to our neighbors house. Screaming at the top of my lungs for someone to help my mother. It only took a couple of minutes for me to make that run, but, for a child in trouble, it seemed like an eternity! And each time before I took that run, my father would yell for me to stay put. Thankfully, for my mother, I was brave enough go for help. And looking back on it now, what seemed like an eternity for me, must have been pure hell for my mother, as she was the one being beaten and choked.

In those days, the police did not get involved with domestic problems. And when looking back, I think that for the most part, many believed that the woman must have deserved the beating. Thank God for our neighbor, he would come running and could talk my dad into stopping. What did my mom really do to deserve those beatings?? She worked (when he told her not to) while he was off truck driving. If he came home early and found her working he would make her pay. She did what she had to do to put food on our table and clothes on our backs. Back then, we had an angel, by the name of Kitty, helping our family. Kitty was the manager of the truck stop and she would allow my mother to work in the restaurant when my father was driving and be off when he was home.

To make a long story short, my mother, who had every right to hate my father told me to take care of him because he had lived a life of hatred and had already paid for what he did. As she lay dying, I knew that if she could forgive him, then I too could be that kind of person. You see, she knew that cancer was taking over him and that he would need someone to care for him.