Two TuTu's

 Vollen is ready to wrestle.

 Vollen LOVES dressing up! He only has girlie dress up things to choose from.

 He likes to imitate his sissy too!

 They both have tutu's on.

 Having tea with daddy watching Modern Family.

Sophie

Sunday morning I had a funeral to attend. I rode with one of my other DS moms since we live really close. 

 Stephanie had asked if I could bring the scrapbook page she had made for our scrapbook so they could display it at the mortuary. It was beautiful.

 We put it in a frame and they displayed it on an easel.

 This was the program.

 Baby Sophie had gotten RSV. They took her to the doctors Tuesday and she was being treated for it. That night they put her to sleep at 11:00 pm (they being her mom and Stephanie). Her mom was staying with her because Stephanie's husband had been delpoyed around Christmas time and her mom was here helping her out. When her mom didn't hear and noises coming from Sophie when she woke up at 5:00am she went to go check on her and found her. She was already gone. They are doing an autopsy, but don't have the results back yet. They think her little body was just not strong enough to fight the RSV.

 The inside of the front page.

 They wrote a beautiful tribute to their daughter.

This was on the back.

It was so very, very sad. We had about 14 Down Syndrome moms that were able to make it out some that live pretty far away and a couple husbands that came too (super nice of them). I was proud that we had such a good showing of our support. There was no service. The baby had been cremated and there was a tiny box with a butterfly on the front. They had photos displayed around the entire room. After all the people showed up (there were a lot of people too) and the family had greeted everyone, they said a few words. The brother of the husband went first and he spoke about the baby and why she was so special to him. Then her parents got up and her mom read a paper she had written. It was super hard to understand her. She was horse, had a thick French Canadian accent and was also crying, near impossible, but really beautiful. Her dad spoke about a few of his special memories of Sophie. Then the husbands parents talked. Then Steph and Chris spoke. I honestly don't know how. A couple things that stood out for me from what Stephanie said was she was going to miss how when she went to get her up in the mornings she would pop her head up out of the crib and have a huge smile on her face. One of Sophie's favorite toys was this little play table cloth that came with this little picnic basket. She loved it and Stephanie had it and was holding it using it to wipe her tears with the entire day. The other thing that she said was that after they knew she was gone she held her for hours just kissing every part of her knowing that was the last time she would be able to ever hold her. SO sad.  Buffy put it so well on our FB page. She said we all were beyond tears and onto full out sobbing and bawling for this devastated family. So true. Chris the father was saying that if anything positive could come from this he would hope that people would stop and take time to cherish every moment of every day and not just rush from one thing to the next to the next and before you know it, the day is over. Don't let your life go by in just a fast pased routine. Cherish your loved ones every moment of every day because it could be the last. He also spoke about the 2nd to last time he saw his daughter. That morning that he was deploying he held her and breathed her in. At that moment it was just her and him and nothing else mattered, nothing. Just thinking about all of this again is making me cry. After they spoke their friends had made a video slideshow with pictures and some video from her 11 1/2 months of life. I also got sick every time I saw the little boy he is 4 (I think). They said that Sophie was HIS baby and I just get so sad thinking about him missing her. I cried so hard yesterday I had a pounding headache for hours and felt like I was going to puke. I cried again when I told Vernon about the service. I can not imagine losing a child. I can't think of a worse things to have to deal with (other than losing your husband/wife).  All the moms are going to be delivering meals to them for a few months. We all want to do whatever we can to support them and be there for them. They are both are origionally from out of town and all their family have already left (except for her mom).  

McFosters Natural Kind Cafe

Tonight we had reservations at McFosters for their benefit dinner to help save the restaurant. They got behind in their taxes $15,000 and needed to have the money by the end of this month to be able to stay in business and open. We love the restaurant and definitely want to see it stay in business.  

 Drinks were on the house with the meal. I found a new love, Moscato wine. I LOVE it. I discovered it the other night when some of the DS moms went out for wine night. I wasn't going to have anything because I only like REALLY sweet wine. The girls had me try Moscato and I fell in love! YUMMM It is do delicate and smooth, really fruity. So, I ordered that last night and Vernon did too. It was his first time having it and he really liked it too!

 Our first course was Tomato Cashew Soup. It was really flavorful and creamy. Very, very good.

 We were both interviewed by Fox42 news about saving the restaurant and why we were interested in helping out. Thank goodness they used Vernon's footage. I looked like crap after crying ALL day.

 Lil' fruit plate.

 We each got one of the selection choices for dinner. This one was the Tempe over brown rice with brussel sprouts and roasted asparagus.

 This one was the Macadamia Nut Crusted Cod over the brown rice with brussel sprouts and asparagus. The cod was both of our favorites. That rice. Holy moley. That rice was EXCELLENT. They had mixed a bunch of stuff with it (other vegetables and beans, etc...) it was so good. It was my favorite thing on the plate. I also loved the brussel sprouts and asparagus. They were both cooked perfectly and flavorful. Yumm Yumm

 The owner came out and spoke to the restaurant, thanking us all for being there supporting them and he explained the reason for the financial troubles and also where they were at with saving it. He said that him and his wife live on 5th street down by the airport and this summer there was a terrible hail storm that dumped large hail for 15 minutes straight and just tore their garden to pieces. Everything was ruined. So, that is where so much of their food came from, so they had to buy it and that was way expensive and that is how it started. He said they were about halfway to their goal and they also were able to get some loan extensions and now have till summer to get the money. So, it looked promising.

 He actually went to school with my dad.

 Chocolate Souffle. I didn't care for it at first, but the more bites I took the better it got.

Vernon's tv debut!

Norwex Party

 I hosted a Norwex party yesterday. Its products that are "green" and safe to use around kids because there are NO chemicals. My friend Julie and her friend Chanda came all the way down from Minnesota to present the products. They are co-consultants up there and wanted to bring the products down here. I have a bunch of the products and I absolutely love them. My absolute favorites are my Enviro Cloths and my Purple Polish cloth. They get my glass dining table SPOTLESS with just water! After the kids eat my table looks horrendous and I wipe it off with water and the cloth and wipe the water away with the polishing cloth and it is spotless and no streaks. They are fabulous. The cloths are antibacterial and have silver in them so they remove all the bacteria and don't let it grow on the cloth either. They never smell funky or mildewy or musty. NEVER



Jenni and Renee were so excited about the products that they are going to co-host a party in April. And my mom wanted to do one for her teachers and friends. They are going to do it the same day at different times and Julie and Chanda are going to come down again! Isn't that great!!!



 I did a horrible job of taking pictures at my party. I didn't even get all the guests. : (

 I even got my oven cleaned. This is the before picture. I forgot to take one of the after.

 Jen got her shoes shined with the polishing paste. It worked really good.

Sophie got to see her friend Addi!

There is still time if you would like to order anything. My favorite cloth set that I mentioned earlier (the Enviro Cloth and the Polishing Cloth) are $30.99 together! Let me know asap if you would like to order anything. I am closing the party on Wednesday and need all orders by tomorrow!!!

E-mail me if you want a pdf of the catalog!

Cutie

Just being cute

First Birthday Party

For Ronan's 1st Birthday Party we did Row Row Row Your Boat theme because we call him Ro Ro.
Popcorn "Fish Food"

Shrimp cocktail in an ice bowl with dill frozen in it. And the cocktail sauce is in an ice bowl with frozen lemons in it. "Deep SEA Shrimp"

Fresh fruit in a WATERmelon boat.

My Asian salad "SEAweed" it was a definite hit. EVERYONE loved it!

Gummy worms for "Bait"

Blue Jello with fishies in it.

Quinoa salad mexican style is the "Captain's Special"

My hummus dip with katamala olives in it with crackers. They made wonderful 'Boat Snacks"

Tunafish sandwiches cut in fish shapes. Mitch said these tuna sandwiches were better than his mom's (probably because they were cut out in a fun shape : ). So cute!

Goldfishie crackers

My Boating Beverage. It was a little dark, but delicious. More deep sea blue!

My row boat shaped brownies with ores. Yummm

Chocolate cake row boats with ores. The kids thought these were so fun!

My mom made all the ores for me. LOT of work. Thanks mom!

The Birthday Boy with Grandma Jane. Vernon's dad was unable to attend. : ( He had gotten pneumonia. He has good and bad days. We sure missed him, but not as much as he missed being there with us.

Trying his row boat cake.

He didnt get too messy.

Buster having a blast enjoying his cake.

How cute is he??? And those feet!

He likes his food!

Great Grandpa and Grandpa Russ

So his jeans are rolled up because he is supposed to be fishin' on his boat!

My friend Renee's husband and daughter Taylor.

Cousin Jessica and Scarlett

He just about touched the flame. Yikes!

He wanted to keep touching the candle.

I had to hold him down.

Buster trying to finish the rest of his cake.

Great grandma and Dane

They liked the deep sea punch.

Soph and cousin Joni

Jenni with her Godson.

The kids eating.

The grandmas

Coco and Nick

She had way too many brownie boats.

He loves him some popcorn!

We had a coloring contest. It was fun for the kids and kept them quiet at least for a little bit.