Mi Familia

I have so many things to be grateful for. This is the time of year where we reflect on those things. I am grateful everyday for these things. Since it is that time of Season however, I take a little extra time to ponder and praise God for the wonderful gifts He has given my family. It has been a rough road if you have been a reader for some time, you know my story. This last year and 1/2 have been quite eventful in many ways...Some bad and some very wonderful. This last 9 month have been hard for me since the passing of my beloved Gramma. I have been struggling with depression and fighting my way out of it. I can tell I am slowly coming back....Though it is taking some time. The other hard thing I deal with is the distance between our son and our family since he had moved to Washington. I am very proud of him for making it out on his own and working a full time job, getting his first apartment with his best friend from childhood...But it is the distance that is hard. It has been 9 months since I last saw him at my Gramma's funeral. The good thing is he is very close to us and we talk or text often. It just rips my heart out to know I can't just give him a hug or stop by or have him over for dinner....It is the distance. It was a blessing that he was able to fly out for my hubby's ordination service. He was able to get a couple days off work. This Momma was so thrilled and blessed beyond measure to finally hold him again and give him Mama kisses. His little sister cried when he came up to the door to greet her...and the tears were worse when he had to go home. She loves her big brother and misses him dearly. The visit was short...Too short for my liking, but it was sweet. We stayed up with him till after 2AM the first night just talking and hanging out with him and Mr. Darling's Mom who also flew in for the occasion. 

My heart was full...Just having us all here under one roof. I sat in the middle of my two babies and held them close for a while. It was just what I needed... Mi Familia!!!! I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to fly him here to be with us to share a very important milestone for our family. It was so nice to have meals together, to visit with each other, to laugh together and capture a few images through the lens, just for memories. My family...Mi Familia!!!  

They mean the world to me! I am so blessed.

It is unfortunate that we will not be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas together with our son, But, looking forward to making a trip up his way for vacation in the Summer. Another long 8 months or so before we are all together again as a family. I am already counting the days. 

Her 13th Year

My precious girl is celebrating her 13th year today. I can't believe she's a teenager now. The time has passed...I promised myself I wouldn't blink, but I did...She is growing up into a fine young lady. We decided to take some pictures of her last day being 12 and welcoming in her 13th year. We wanted them to reflect her...So we went with books. She is an avid reader and loves to collect books....It was fitting for my sweet girl.

 

 

We have been collecting these beautiful leather bound classics from Barnes And Nobel. I also added a few which she will get later as one of her gifts. The covers and illustrations are fantastic. 

 

 

 

 

 

We also gave her a bunch of flowers. The sunflower bouquet was given to her by her daddy. He brought them home just as we were taking these pictures.

 

 

And let's not forget the birthday crown I made, so she can wear it every birthday.
We have a fun filled day per her request. Birthday presents,French crepes for breakfast,
 a trip to the book store, a movie and Red Robin for dinner.
She's gonna love it.
Happy Birthday to our beautiful daughter, Freckles...
We love you.

Together Again...

It has been six months since our boy flew from our nest. For a Mama who wasn't quite ready for the move...It has been very hard to separate. I just don't know where the time went. It was stolen away by time. He was just my little boy not that long ago...and to move hundreds of miles away...broke my heart. He is such a great guy though... I think we did something right with him. He calls regularly or send texts and keeps us updated on his life and to see how we are of course. Our visit with him was short but sweet. Seeing him after all those months was just a delight. I loved seeing how he goes about his independent life. He goes to work with an awesome attitude, he's well loved by his friends and peers/coworkers...He works hard...He goes to church on his own,
 he's trustworthy, outgoing and has a lot of ambition. This Mama is proud.

 

 

For the first couple of days we stayed at some friend's beautiful house from our old church home... Every morning we had breakfast and a beautiful view. Then we spent the remainder of the week with our son and our dearest family friends. It was great just hanging out...visiting. My son had a couple days off during the week which we spent together. Will share more on that later. I was also blessed to spend some time with Jonathan...I call him my second son. It has been fun watching him grow up into a fine young man. He went out of his way to visit and hang out with us...which was so neat. He had breakfast with us one morning, bought us pizza for lunch one afternoon and even had some really nice pictures taken just him and I. Plus more pictures of my kids, us together etc... that I will also share later.

I love these kids....

 

 

It was also a blessing to spend time with my very dearest friend Susan. She has taken my boy under her wing...and in turn adopted my son as her second son. I just love it. She is a wonderful woman. I treasure her friendship and thankful to God for her. Another moment I will treasure
 is just being together again. 

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...

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