He is 20

Twenty years ago my baby boy was born. God blessed us with this precious gift, choosing us to be this little boys parents. The Lord entrusted us to raise this boy for His glory. We raised him up, taught him at home and gave him as much wisdom as we could. He flew from our nest with a firm foundation to be a light to the world. Our prayers are continually with him as he lives his life. I promised myself when he was born that I would not blink. I would savor each day, each moment and enjoy every year. I blinked here and there and before we knew it he was all grown up. Now he's a man, yet, he will always be my little boy.

This year he turns 20.

We are so blessed that God gave this sweet soul to us. I wouldn't have chosen any other boy as our son. He is perfect for us. He was such an easy going child, and never gave us too much guff. He was compliant and dutiful, sweet and full of love. If I could do it all over again...I would in a heartbeat.

This is our second year without him at home.

 It stings my heart that we were not able to spend this special day with him. We pray he had an awesome day. At least I know his sweet love made his day filled with celebration. She really made it extra special for him and even kept some of our little birthday traditions. Her's to another year. Son, we pray your 20th year will be filled with blessings and much love as you continue to shine!

Happy Birthday to you!!!

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.

My Children...

My blog has been quiet here the last couple weeks due to a number of things...One specific reason is we have been spending these past days with our boy before his big move to Washington. The days flew by so fast. Just as the days since my children were born. You never really know how time passes quickly until you have children. My only advice is to cherish those days while they are still at home.

We only have one day left with him before he flies away...My heart is in my throat just thinking about it. I knew I needed to pull out my camera and snap some shots of my children together before the big day arrives. It made this Mama proud to see them together. My babies were six years apart...We will still have Freckles at home for some time....Which I am grateful for...It makes things a little easier...I only said, a little. Before you know it or shall I say,

 before I know it my little girl will fly away someday too....

I am so not ready for this empty nest thing.

 

 I'm so glad we took these sweet pictures...To remember them together as kids. Before he goes off into adulthood...and in the future he will get married and have his own little family. Though in my heart, he will always be my baby boy, they will always be my kids...no matter how old they get or where they are in life. I cherish and will cherish every moment of them.

I still can't believe my kids are going to be apart...They love each other. Freckles adores her big brother...This will be the hardest part for her....Being apart from him for long duration's. Though there are times where it seems she is utterly annoyed with him...She holds him close in her heart and treasures him more than he knows. Well I am off for now...Wednesday morning is going to be the toughest day ever...

Christmas Was Had...

We had a long first week at Gramma's House...settling in after our hectic move....My mom had to go to the emergency room as my Gramma was just getting out, so we have been taking care of two people that are practically out of commission. This Christmas came so fast and it flew by just as quickly as it came. It really is quite a blur. We tried to fit in some baking...with cookies &
 fudge and cheesecake mini's..
 
We also made our famous Latvian Perogies with Gramma...She makes it all from scratch...and puts it all together without a recipe. Trust me this year, I watched carefully so I know everything she does with her secret dough...It's embedded now... This has been a traditional food in our family for as long as I can remember. They are so yummy.
 
Freckles and I did a couple little crafty things as well. We played with wool. She made this adorable little Hedgie with a red bow on her head. Crafting with wool is quite addictive.
 I made her a little owl and a snowman...not pictured.

Maestro and Freckles were a great help to their Great Gramma for Christmas dinner. They were in the kitchen for hours preparing the feast. Thank you to my kids for having such a sweet servants heart...We couldn't have had the feast without them and that is the truth.
 
The day after Christmas was a dreary dark day...We are hanging low, trying to unwind from all the stuff going on right now. I am surely praying for a better year ahead.

I leave you with my favorite picture of the day...My sweet Freckles
Have a happy week ahead as you prepare for the coming New Year festivities.
XOXO

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