Farewell to Parenthood

Spoiler:  Don't read this if you haven't watched Parenthood.

I don't want to ruin it for you because it is the best show on television right now. 

(for one more night :-(  )

Yes, this post is about the TV show. 

I have blogged about it before. 

I LOVE Parenthood, and cannot believe that it is ending. 

The hubby and I have watched this show from the beginning, falling in love 

with Victor's adoption storyline, feeling heartbreak as Max struggled in a public school, 

and happily cheering as Sarah and Hank fell in love. 

Am I too emotional invested in this show? 

Yes. 

But it is good   scratch that, GREAT television and 

is something an American family can relate too. 

Real problems, real struggles, no zombies or unimaginable disasters to 

make it over the top.

Yes, Downtown Abbey is a favorite show of mine too, but is hard to 

relate to Lady Mary Crawley when she has maids to put on her shoes 

and a lady's maid at her every beck and call. 

Unlike my life, putting on boots with strewn lego pieces in them (Ouch) and 

4 children who refuse to pick up any of their toys.  

Last night I caught up on my Parenthood episodes.  

I had not watched the last three episodes.  

When my hubby asked me if I was caught up for the finale tonight, 

I had to tell him no.  I have not been emotionally ready for it. 

Silly.  But I know what is going to happen.  

It's like a train I can't stop and it brings 

back a lot of emotions for me. 

Maybe some that I have never dealt with. 

Their father in a hospital bed sick, running out of options. 

So last night I watched the last three episodes and balled my eyes out.  

I resisted the urge to go downstairs and eat my feelings. 

I cried for these fictional people on TV that were seeing their hero (their dad) 

get sicker and sicker before their eyes. 

I sobbed like a baby when Zeke said "I can hardly wait to walk you down the aisle, "

to his daughter. 

It's been almost four years since I have lost my dad. 

It still hurts.  I can still remember everything from that last week of his life. 

The utter pain I felt, and I wasn't the one who was dying. 

This is where I say thank you to my husband and in-laws, who took care of my four little ones 

so I could be by my dad's side.  They said nothing as I ran off to the hospital to be a 

daughter to the most amazing person I know just a little longer. 

So, last night I was a puddle.  

Some people have posted selfies of them crying from the last few episodes. 

There was no way.  I was full on ugly crying here. 

The wadded up tissues on the floor beside my bed looked like a dozen people had a really bad cold. 

Thank goodness hubby wasn't in the room.  He would have laughed. 

It's a sport for the kids and him to see how long it takes me to cry in sad movies/tv shows/commercials. 

But this morning when I told him I finally watched the episodes, 

all he did was open his arms for me to hug him. 

Of course I cried some more. 

I am a crier. 

So tonight is the night. 

I will have a new box of tissues beside me. 

I may even open up a bottle of wine to ease the pain, 

because it is sad to see this story end.  

But it is only fiction, I have to tell this to myself. 

Because they really show how it really feels... to go through life. 

P.S. I get emotionally depressed when I finish a good book too....

Happy December

It's my favorite time of the year! 

We are well into December and the Holiday fun has begun. 

Our Christmas Cards are on their way to our friend's and family's homes, 

the Advent calendar is up and the kids are reading off each days fun activity, and 

Tiki the elf has made an appearance once again! 

{our advent countdown}

Tiki has been at it again, popping up everywhere in the house. 

Some days he even makes quite a mess. 

{Tiki apparently likes to play Fruit Ninja when we are asleep!} 

The Christmas decorations are all up and we have been enjoying the 

Christmas light glow at night.  We have old and new decorations. 

We added a few new ornaments this year to our tree, my favorite being this little 

camper which is a reminder of our "Home away from Home".

 This tree is new too! 

This is a replica of my Grandma Aggie's Christmas tree that she always had lit up on her

stereo cabinet, we all got one last year and what a great reminder of her it is!  

The making of Christmas gifts are well under way. 

Gigi's new skill of knitting, has her making wonderfully warm gifts for everyone on her list. 

I've got quite the pile of unfinished Christmas gifts that I've been working on too, it's a good thing 

that I have 11 more days left. 

December also means giving to others who are less fortunate. 

One of my favorite things to do with the kids is pick out gifts for toys for tots and 

our Angel Tree recipients.  

Taking the kids to the store and telling them to get gifts for other children who might not have 

any toys or aren't as lucky as they are creates some absolutely wonderful conversations about 

giving and how it is so important to help others.  

When asked during an interview what is the one trait from your parents that you would like to 

pass onto your children?  My answer without hesitation was the love of giving to others. 

My parents couldn't have been more generous in their giving and I only hope that 

I am as good of example to my kids that my parents were to Nate and I.

 My son's favorite thing about the holidays is the dressing up.  

Yes, you read that right...my son. 

He couldn't wait to get his suit out this week for the school's Christmas program. 

The kids looked so amazing all dressed up in their Christmas outfits on Friday. 

I did learn that I need to do a little shopping before Christmas for dress shoes that fit, longer dress shirt, and 

a pair of tights with no holes.  

But the important thing is from these pictures you can't see any of those things.  

Just the smile on their faces! 

I hope you are enjoying the Holidays as much as we are. 

Happy December! 

Mediterranean Cruise - Wrap up

Okay, I promise this is the last post on our trip. 

I am fitting in our last day in Greece, day at sea, and then a full day in Venice before 

we headed home to the States.  

Just to warn you, my favorite spot was probably Venice.  

It was beautiful! 

I mean the other places were beautiful too, but I could have taken pictures of all the

architecture, flowering pots hanging over balconies, fountains, and churches for days.

ALL of it was amazing. 

Day 7 

Katakolon, Greece 

The word of the day when we visited Katakolon was RELAX. 

We knew our trip was coming to an end, so we all 

wanted to enjoy some time relaxing and not going on another tour. 

We hadn't gotten our feet into the blue water of the Mediterranean yet, so 

we wanted to cross that off of our list too.  

We could see the sandy beach of Katakolon from our balcony on the cruise ship so 

we knew it wasn't too far.  

 On our way to the beach we walked through a little town with small shops on both sides 

of the street.  We did a little souvenir shopping, of course, and Kathy and Mom would catch me in alley ways taking random pictures of pots on stairs. 

It's what I do.  LOL

Some of my best souvenirs from the trip will be the photos I took!

We made it to the beach.

And we made it into the Mediterranean.  It was so clear and blue.

Relaxing..... accomplished.

 Day 8 
Spent on the ship... not much to tell.
Can you believe I didn't take one picture on day 8?
Shocker!

Day 9

Venice, Italy

It rained much of the day while we were in Venice. 

There were glimpses of the sun and we took advantage of each one of them. 

But even in the rain, Venice was beautiful. 

We departed the ship and got onto a water taxi.  

Since Venice is a city built on water there are no buses or cars or bicycles within the city. 

A water taxi took us straight to our hotel. 

It was all pretty surreal.

The steps led right into the canals.  

Even the moss growing on the steps and buildings was picturesque. 

With umbrellas in hand, we tackled the streets of Venice.  

It was easy to get lost in this city.  There are no straight main streets and 

the streets themselves are no larger than 4' in width, and bridges dot the landscape everywhere. 

{Rialto Bridge}

I had four things I wanted to do in Venice after reading the guide books. 

1.  See the Rialto Bridge

2.  Visit Piazza San Marco

3.  See the Gondola boats

4.  AND eat an Italian pizza

We were able to do 3 of the 4.  We didn't get a gondola boat ride, 

but it was raining and didn't look as much fun in the rain.  

But I got a bunch of pictures! 

I also did things I didn't have on any list. 

I drank out of a fountain in a square.. even with my mother cringing and telling me I shouldn't. 

I had fun shopping for purses. 

Oh My Goodness!  The purses. 

I was in heaven in the purse shops. 

There were so many I wanted to take home... only two found their way into my luggage. 

{Piazza San Marco}

We thought maybe the line for the Basilica wouldn't be long with the rain showers, but we were wrong. 

The long line wrapped around the building.  

We instead found a nice spot to view the Basilica and people watch while sipping cappuccinos.  

Seriously, someone needed to pinch me... and then musicians started to play.  

It was like a scene out of a movie.  

All three of us had smiles on our faces all day, even when we were navigating ourselves around 

water puddles and dodging out of the way from in-coming umbrellas.

We ended the night with a Vivaldi Concert.  

Earlier in the day we had sought refuge from a downpour of rain in a church and they just 

happened to be selling tickets to a Vivaldi concert later that night. 

We had front row seats and the music was superb! 

As much fun as I was having, I was ready to be home though. 

I couldn't wait to get home to cuddle with my kids and sleep in my own bed. 

So we said good-bye to Europe and hopped on a plane home. 

And as I sit here at home, with a mountain of clean laundry waiting to be folded and an even larger 

pile waiting to be washed, sticky kitchen floors, no food in the fridge, and 

a to do list a mile long... I am happy.  

I am so happy to be home and even happier to have these memories of a wonderful trip. 

I am a woman blessed.  

Blessed to be loved, blessed to be needed, and 

blessed to live this life I have been given.  

Mediteranean Cruise - Part Deux

Part Deux -- You are excited aren't you?  

I know I am.  

Day 2 

This is where we get our first glimpse of Greece.  

Before this trip, I can honestly say I didn't know much about Greece.  

Now having spent our majority of port stops in cities of Greece, I have a great appreciation 

for the beauty of Greece.  

In the mornings, I, a morning person, had lots of time to read, journal, and workout.  Yes, I 

put in over 12 miles on the treadmill upon the cruise ship.  

The mornings when the sun was just coming up were breathtaking and I really didn't want to miss them.  

Our second port on the trip was Corfu, Greece.  

After the day before taking a guided tour, we decided (since we were experts now) we would 

just play it by ear and explore Corfu on our own.  

We got off the ship and walked a little bit into town.  

In the town square, we happened upon some men giving tours by horse and buggy. 

So we decided to take a surrey tour around the town.  The surrey navigated the labyrinth of streets and showed us the sights in a half hour.    

 We felt just the right amount of educated and relaxed.  

On our way back to the ship we stopped at a little outdoor cafe to enjoy 

milkshakes and again free wifi.  

I wish I could say I completely unplugged for 10 days, and that was the case on the ship, but 

I did send emails back and forth to the kids and Nate whenever I could.  

Getting those short three word emails:  I miss you....melted my heart.   

 I do have to put a disclaimer in my blog posts.  

In the five years I have been a mom, and maybe longer, I have never 

done my hair and put makeup on as much as I did this trip.  No Lie. 

I am so used to running around getting my children ready and their hair made up that 

I literally have no time to ever spend on myself.  (I keep a bag of makeup in the car just for such occasions when I forget to put makeup on before church!)

I even had time to braid Kathy's hair one night.  

I would like to say that maybe this is a new change and I will be all done up in the mornings from now on..... but I hate to lie.
I did really appreciated the time I had to be me.   Not mommy me or wife me.
I know sometimes I did not know what to do because I've never had this much "me" time, but
I understand the importance of it and how not to lose our identity, for it can easily be lost.  

 {All ready for Formal Night on the Ship}

 There were many nights when I would pop up from our dinner table and have to excuse myself so I could hurry outside to take a picture of the sunset before it went down.  Every night we had dinner with fellow guests/staff of the JESUS film.    

It was fascinating listening to stories of people travels and how many of them have lived outside of the States, everywhere from Uzbekistan to Tunisia. 

Day 3 

Well would you look at that, I fit two stops into one blog post.  I can edit... a little. 

Our third port was Santorini, Greece.  

When I saw Santorini and the Village of Oia, that is the picture of Greece that I had in my head. 

Whitewashed buildings with blue domed roofs and the bluest water you ever did see! 

We took a shore excursion on this island, it took us to a local winery and the Villages of Oia and Fira.  

This was the day I was not feeling well.  

As we traveled to the island of Santorini, we had rough waters of the Mediterranean to contend with. 

I am actually feeling the swaying of the ship as I write this blog.  (hopefully this feeling goes away soon)  My body was not so good in the rough waters and before we took the tour I was curled up in a ball on the bed.  When we took the tender boat to the port, I was so happy to be on land! 

{looking a little green}

This whole set of islands is made from a volcano and the volcanic landscape is stunning.  

The "mountain" that the villages of Santorini are on is made up of different layers of volcanic rock, one of which is pumice.  It was cool to see pumice in its natural state in the landscape.  Buildings were set right a top of it. 

From the village of Fira, there are three options on how to get down to the boat.  

1.  Walk.  Yep walk down this zig zagging trail to the water.  

2.  Donkey.  Take a donkey down the zig zagging trail to the water. 

Or option 3.  Cable Car.  

If you remember I was sick this day, so option 1 and 2 weren't really viable options for me, so we took the cable car 4 minutes to the port.  

The views were amazing.  

I use the word amazing alot.... but really how else can you describe it?

On the tender boat back to the cruise ship, a friend of ours gave me a smell of an 

Ancient Chinese cure to motion sickness, and by golly I felt pretty good the rest of the trip. 

After I got a little sleep.
After almost ever day we were bone tired.
We talked about going to the pool, but by the time we got back to our room, all we really wanted was to take a shower and sleep before dinner.

Bored yet?
More to come.
But it is 7 am and my kids are still not awake.
How can it be?
Before I left, the kids had spent the entire summer vacation waking up the
crack of dawn to start the day.
Daddy's sleeping in must have rubbed off on them while I was gone.  LOL
Time for coffee number two for the day for mommy and to wake some kids up.