The Days Leading Up....

The days leading up to our son flying off into the sunset alone...were a bit heart wrenching for me. I so badly wanted to make these last days with him memorable. Yet, in the circumstances we are in at this time, with no home and little privacy, it wasn't what we dreamt of. We made the best of it, spending a weekend with good friends and taking him out a couple times alone. We prayed with him and gave him all the advice we could possibly muster. With lot's of hugs and kisses. Most of all we wanted to be sure he spent some quality time with his little sister....whom is quite distraught over his moving away. Since he has been gone, which is just about a month now....She has broken down in tears, because he is not here when we need him the most. I will admit I have have broken down as well, for a couple days...I had an anxiety attack...I could only feel my heart in my throat as it sank into the pits of my stomach.

 

 

I am sad though. so sad, my heart goes into my throat and chokes me, then it falls into my stomach where it aches me to tears. Yet, there is also so much joy, and I am so proud of the young man he has become. I am thankful to God for entrusting us with this wonderful boy...The Lord blessed us beyond measure....We did our best, raising him up, giving him a firm foundation to stand on and a faith he can always lean on. Yet, I will never forget his sweet little baby face looking up at me...He grew up too fast. I miss him so much when we are apart.

 

 

Leaving him in that airport, was truly one of the hardest things to do...Just knowing he is going his own way and he is further away then we ever anticipated. I know that he is not gone forever...He has been so sweet in fact, that he has called us every night to tell us goodnight and he loves us. The hard part for me I suppose...is the timing, him growing up so fast and being apart. It also breaks my heart to see my little girl who looks up to her big brother more than he will ever know, shedding crocodile tears over his leaving. She is still going through so much as it is with whats going on in our family, let alone her puberty. These are the times she could really use her big brother to be here...for her.

 

I am trying...trying so hard to swallow and breathe deep....With a lot of prayer and confidence, I know he is in good hands, he will be fine and he will be a wonderful servant. This is the last image I saw of him before he got on his plane.....ugggggh! Tears of sadness, tears of joy. I know he is alright...And I know I am going to have to be.
 I miss him.

Stroll With Me Through Halloween's Past....

I made this just for you dear readers.
Go ahead and save it to your files. Hope you like it.
Below I also made this print...Colorful Autumn Subway Art...
You can purchase a print in
My Shop.

Seeing my old house really brought back some memories from my previous post. So, I spent some time this weekend going through some other memories...Like my kids dressing up for Halloween. It was quite the treat to look back at how much they have grown, what we dressed them up in etc.... We went back and forth with the Halloween thing over the years. There were a few in between where we did not dress up, but would celebrate at a Church Harvest function or we would celebrate Reformation Day instead. No matter though, the years we dressed up were fun times in our home...Something they looked forward to and one memory I am sure they will cherish in their childhood memories when they are older.

Here's my boy...
A little Jack O Lantern...S
o cute right down to that little nose.

Here he is was Robin Hood.
 I made the costume for him.
Too funny.
He was two at the time....So little.
 
The year after that I made another costume...He was Noah....See the two lions? They are my Nephews. Tee hee...Noah and the two lions and a Pegasus?

Then he was a Scarecrow.
 
fast forward a couple years...I made these costumes. My son was a frog...The red thing hanging from his hat was supposed to be a tongue with bugs on it. This was our first Halloween with our baby girl so her and I became Lady Bugs....We were the only bugs my son ( The frog ) Didn't eat that night.
  
This was one of my favorite Halloween's. My son was a Skelly Man and I made my daughter's costume...She is supposed to be a flower. Can't you tell? Trick or treating in our old town neighborhood is like going back in time...The sights, the sounds of a ton of kids dressed up,
 knocking on the doors of historic houses as your feet crunch down
on streets of leaves in the coldest of nights, was a delightful memory. A bunch of old fashioned fun.
  
Of course every year we carve pumpkins...
A tradition we will always keep.
 
The next year I made their costumes again. This time we had a Knight and a chicken. I remember using the Martha Stewart directions for the chicken costume...That was a fun one. I also made my son's shield from a piece of plywood. On it,  I painted
 my husband's Italian Garbarino Family crest. We still have that.
  
Ahhh. The year of the Princess and
Neo from The Matrix...
  
Next up I made my daughter a butterfly costume and below
she was a little cheetah girl ballerina.
 
And.... one of the last years my son actually dressed up, I made him a Link costume,
 a character from a video game called Zelda.
   
Finally we have my daughters costume from last year. I made an owl costume for her. One of my favorite costumes yet. This year she will be dressing up as The Hunger Games movie character, Katniss. Who knows, this just might be the last year she will dress up for trick or treating. Thanks for coming along with me down memory lane. It was so fun to look back at these pictures with you. Have a wonderful weekend. See ya Monday. And be ready for the next installment in another home tour coming up this Wednesday.
XOXO

Spreading His Wings...

We sent our son to Washington for an eight week get away. Now, I am wondering...What the heck was I thinking when we okayed the length of time he would be gone. I know it will be really good for him to spread his wings a bit, get his thoughts together on his future and a great time to move on from things going on in his life. He is 18 now...We have planned all along to raise him in a Godly home, to believe in God and to be an independent, Godly young man who will all too soon go out on his own. The first steps we have found helpful with letting go a bit has been allowing him to spend time away from home, like going on those long mountain hikes in the Summer and Missions Trips. The past several years he has gone back home to Washington to visit friends for a long 5 weeks each time...Now we have allowed 8 weeks. whew...

And boy, do I miss him ever so much and it has only been one week. He has called us every night to chat, telling his goings on with friends, his thoughts and feelings etc... It is all good. I am so proud of him. I must admit though it hasn't been any easier for me to let him go. I totally feel like something is missing....I miss his sweet spirit and cuddles and his adorable face. The count down is on now...7 more weeks till he is home. So far he has said he is very grateful that we allowed him to go and that it was really something he has needed. I just know he will be alright and he will be able to move past all the obstacles he has been facing. It has been through much prayer, much counsel and much love & he will be better for it.
 Thank God for His love and comfort for our whole family.




This was one of the last views I had of him before getting on that plane.
 Yes, I cried.  He is spreading his wings, under the loving guidance & counsel of his parents (us) and our dearest friends, where he will also be doing some good old fashioned hard labor...So don't think he is just there sitting on his hiney having the time of his life. HA... Once he gets back we will have some good long talks about our future plans & Lord willing we will know more on where we will be living.



For now...I am just missing this face.

School Pictures....7th Grade 2012

Our home school year starts once again after Labor Day weekend. We had a little photo shoot of Freckles to commemerate her 7th grade year. It was hard to choose just a couple to share with y'all, so I picked out my favorites from the many, many snapshots we took. Hope you like them.