In Memory of...

My cousin, Katherine Razzolini.




She was taken to heaven a year ago today. It's hard to imagine that it has been a whole year. Debbie, Ron, Steve, Alex, Dan - We're thinking of you today.


My favorite memory of Kerry was of course a trip to the cabin! The "Bucky" weekend! It was so much fun being so scared - we spent an evening with all the boys at the Horseshoe asking the locals about Bucky. He was a fugitive that was hiding in the woods around our cabin! They ended up catching him on the golf course while my dad was playing after we left to come home!!


Some other memories:

* When Kerry was younger - she scared the crud out of me. She was a perfect combination of a butt kicker and girly girl! She could hold her own with the boys - I just watched from a distance.
* I remember watching her and the boys and she and either Steve or Alex got in a fight and I was scared silly that they'd come after me next :)
* The cat - I won't say anymore because it was a sensitive time for she and Debbie R.
* trips to the bottom of the hill - I'm still keeping your secret, Kerry!! hehehe
* Stories about Danny, Steven and Alex - she always spilled the beans on her brothers.
* I can hear her yelling at her brothers right now!!!
* Her love for the same magazines - People, US Weekly, Star, really whatever we could get our hands on at the cabin.
* Target practice at the cabin. She could shoot a gun, beat up her brothers and never ruin her nails :)
* My wedding - she looked so pretty and I remember thinking that is why they say never to look more beautiful than the bride - but she didn't ever have to try!!!
* trying to figure out our family tree
* The application to "date my daughter" sent by Baby Ron to my brother in law, Todd. He thought she was beautiful the first time he saw her and so Baby Ron sent an application via email. It still makes me laugh! I wonder if I still have it in email! Really, it is a classic. Especially when he asked if Todd had tatoos because it was ok - Kerry does too :)
* Her smile


A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam
And for a brief moment its glory and beauty belong to our world
But then it flies again
And though we wish it could have stayed...
We feel lucky to have seen it.
Author Unknown


Kerry really changed a lot of people. She will forever be in our prayers and I will forever be thankful I was able to call her family. Thank you Kerry for teaching me to enjoy life. You have changed the way I look at life. Thank you. I miss you!




There is a scholarship fund in Kerry's memory here.

Princess

On Saturday we attended a birthday party for a real princess!!

Little Lanie turned 3 and she is quite the pretty princess. She was born only 6 weeks after Colin and she's had this soft spot in my heart ever since.

I am so lucky to have 3 beautiful nieces and now a beautiful little girl cousin (in law)...

Here is the little birthday girl posing for the camera... By the way - she is such a ham!!

Yesterday

*In car driving to Church*

Mommy: Colin, no talking in Church today. You hafta be super quiet and listen.
Colin (very concerned): I can talk at Disney World though, right Mamma?
Mommy: Yes (laugh) and you can scream there too. But at Church, we are quiet.
Colin (still concerned): I can talk at the new cabin though, right Mamma?
Mommy: Yes (still laughing) - no talking at Church.

Colin had quite the day yesterday. I swear 3 is HARD. I needed a parenting class on this, not on changing diapers.

I LOVE Fall

Fall - my favorite season! It is my favorite time of year - well it is tied with Christmas! Yesterday, we got up early and went to pick apples! It was so much fun. Colin had a blast sitting on Justin's shoulders and yanking the apples. He didn't quite get it because he kept throwing them on the ground once he got it off the tree!

We spent the evening making apple dumplings! I got the recipe off the Pioneer Woman's website and they were so easy to make. They are soooo good!!!! I think she mentioned she had to throw her pan out - I used the whole can of Mt. Dew and my pan is just fine. So if you make these, I suggest just using the entire can :)

Colin the comedian

I called Nana today on my lunch break today to check on Colin.

She told me a funny little story...

Nana: Colin, it's almost time for your nap.
Colin: I don't want to take a nap.
Nana: You have to take one, you are tired.
Colin: But my room is scary.
Nana: It's not scary in there. That's Papa's old room - it isn't scary.
Colin: The room is scary, Nana. Your face is scary, man. Take it off and put on a new one.

Nana tells me this story and is laughing wondering where her "honey boy" came up with that one and he is dying laughing as she recites his words.. He was saying "ha, Nana I said your face was scary"

Needless to say, I let the two of them have their giggle fest and I hung up. I really miss my little guy while I am at work but I'm glad he has such a dedicated team of grandparents to dote on his every sentence (and help potty train him). Really, between GG, Grandpa, Nana, Grandma and Grandpa Rick all in town, we have one spoiled little boy. He's so lucky.

Here are some funny Colin-isms -

* When he knows he is in some trouble, he'll end a sentence with dude or man because it makes us laugh.
* When he is in trouble, he starts singing the "ABCD's" for me because I break down - he really does have a beautiful voice. I'm trying to tell him breaking into song won't help his cause, but he's no dummy :)
* Grandma Diane says "Who loves ya baby" and he yells "Gwamma"
* If we say "O-H" he knows to follow it with "I-O" - a true buckeye.
* When I ask him to do something he doesn't want to do (everything) - he always says "don't say that word, momma"
* Blocks (fruit snacks - they are all blocks thanks to the Lego looking ones)
* cheese toast (grilled cheese)
* Toast (waffles)
* Panpakes (pancakes)
* samich (sandwich)

We were driving in the car about a week ago and he said some terrible words his cousin Megan taught him (shut up).. Justin was very stern and told him that was not nice and not to say it again. Colin, in the sweetest tone ever, says "ok dadda, I say it nice - shut up, please." - Our parenting needs help - we just laughed but he hasn't said it since!

I'm good

I'm guest blogging...

I'm guest blogging for my sister while she is on vacation. You can read about it here.

Catching up...

Colin started soccer on Saturday mornings. He LOVES it! It is indoor and we have to watch from behind the glass - but seriously, our kid is a stud. The "team" won't play any games, basically they just learn each position and ball control. Last week the team played freeze tag and Colin ran toward the doors, Justin ran over to him and Colin said he wanted to go home because he didn't come to soccer to play tag! hehe - he cracks us up! Since we are kinda far away when we go inside to take pictures, we don't have many that showed our little soccer boy up close. This was the best I could do!

I just wanted to include this picture - every single night this summer, Colin plays in the mulch with all of his diggers. He pulls his tractor and trailer up the walk to the porch and gets his "tools" out to dig, build, play...

Today, Colin and I went outside to paint! I set up a box on the patio and put his little paints in an egg carton! He had so much fun and keeps looking out the back door admiring his masterpiece!

I can add pictures!!!

So a few weeks ago we took Colin to the zoo. We had a blast riding rides, visiting animals and all walking hand in hand!

Sorry about the sun shine!

Here we come

Florida.... ready or not, here we come!

We just booked our family vacation. I know we go to Orlando every year, I know we stay at the same resort every year and I know we do the same things every year - but really, we can't help ourselves.

We LOVE Disney World. Nana and Papa moved to Florida when I was in 4th grade. I went to visit them every year over spring break until they moved to Ohio. It was the best! I got to see my great uncle and great aunt and a few distant cousins while I was there too. Papa would cut my morning waffle in little pieces, making sure syrup and butter were on every bite, even when I was 17. They took me shopping, we ate at Chili's (Ch-Ch-Chili's), made up crazy songs, played cards, rode bikes, and went to every park around! My favorite childhood memories are at Disney with Nana and Papa.

Really, this trip reminds me of my Papa and I look forward to going every year because it is as close to him as I can get... I still see him sitting on the bench at the exit of Space Mountain, drinking his coffee and beaming as if he just rode with me! He always asked "Did you like it, Mitsubishi" (we always were jealous that we couldn't talk in different languages so we called each other Mitsubishi while we were at Disney).

Well now that I'm crying, I'm going to Disney... again.



And even though Nana can't get on the internet and Papa already knows this from heaven - I just wanted to say thank you for putting up with me for 7 days every year and never complaining - not even once. You took me everywhere I wanted to go, ate whatever I asked for, and did it with a smile. Even though I gave you an "aching back" and feet - you always begged me to come back.

I showed Colin pictures of Mickey and Disney World last night. Seriously, the little guy was up until almost 11 talking about it in his bed! I am going to rent some Disney movies tonight to get him in the mood!

I know I could be a personal tour guide at the park, but does anyone have any secrets they can share? We are doing the breakfast at the castle the day we go to Disney - but so far that's our only plan!

Not sure...

I'm not sure why I can't post pictures..

I've tried for days to put new pictures up on my blog and I do not have the link to add photos. I'm not sure what is going on here. If anyone has a clue, let me know!

TWINS!!!

We have twins. Colin is the proud parent of "Sharky" and "John Deere" - his goldfish. He is so excited! He wakes up and says "Good morning, I'm Colin." He pulls his little chair to the counter to see them and freaks out when he asks if we fed them.... Oh no, I hope Justin did.. oops. I have this fear of not feeding babies and animals. I had nightmares when I was pregnant that I would forget to feed the baby (Colin) and it was because I always forgot to feed Vegas. I analyzed my own dreams and figured out that one!!!

Anyway, I was away on my shopping trip (the longest day ever... But it was a lot of fun. My wonderful momma got me a beautiful new coach purse for my birthday - it's not until next month - she told me I had to open an empty box and act surprised - I love that woman)... Ok so back to my fabulous story, I was shopping and Justin said they were going to get fish. He spent the day with his mom (Diane, did you say "buy it" when he wanted two? haha) and I came home to a BIG fish tank on my kitchen counter. I'm not too thrilled since it's too heavy to move. But Colin loves these fish and so I pretend I think they are beautiful. I think I'll appreciate them more when they are out of my kitchen.

I'd attach pictures of Sharky and John Deere, but they are gold fish and we all know what they look like.

Too funny

So I am supposed to be driving to IKEA and the outlet mall. It's 9:06am and we were supposed to leave at 8am. The reason I'm still here you ask? My mom. She just got out of the shower... haha. Oh and how do you go shopping without your purse? Good question, I'll let you know. I left it sitting on my island because I was in a rush to be here by 8am...

So that brings me to my blog. I was looking through my dad's pictures on his lap top and found a few that I thought were too funny not to post! I now know what goes on here on Wednesdays when I'm at work..



My mom said Colin wants Grandpa to hold him in the morning but my dad wants to read the paper, so he puts him on his shoulders so they both are happy...



I just liked this one of Colin in dad and mom's pool
- Deb's finally ready - time: 9:19am... not bad :)

Thank you, Fireman Sam

Before I start, I thought I'd tell you a little something about my little guy. He loves Fireman Sam the cartoon. We pass a Fire station every day and he always yells "do you see that, mama?"

So my sister made some cupcakes during the afternoon for our hometown heroes! We packed up our families and headed for a visit right after dinner.

Wow!!! That is about all Colin can say to sum up the visit. The firemen slid down the pole, let him "drive" the fire engine and even hunk the horn. The men were beyond sweet. I hope they know how much we appreciate them.

I swear I have hundreds of pictures of the evening. BUT I'm running out the door for a day at IKEA and the outlet mall (in the rain, with Nana and my mother)... If you've ever been shopping with the two of them, you'll understand why I can't make a decision - and why I buy stuff, bring it home to see it in "natural lighting" and then I end up returning it - oh wish me luck!



The picture above is Colin staring up at the flag. It is one of my favorites from yesterday.

Land of the Free - Home of the Brave

It's hard to forget 9/11/01.

I was babysitting. I had a little baby on my lap when my cell phone rang. My friend Ashley told me to turn on the Today show. As I changed the channel, I saw the second plane hit.

I called my family and Papa answered the phone. He didn't even know anything happened and he immediately turned on the tv. When Mallory (the mother) returned home she was in shock. I remember running across the street and Papa was pacing in the garage. You could see the look of fear in his eyes.

I went to the restaurant where I used to work because Justin was managing the place that morning. Ashley and I sat in a booth and stared at the tv for the entire day. I was so proud when Justin got rid of a table of women that were so glad they got out of work for the day.

I remember the American pride that followed for months. Every car had a flag on the bumper, homes across America were decorated in red, white and blue. Drive through your neighborhood today and tell me how many flags are hanging (well tomorrow - the flag comes with instructions to hang it today)... You get my point. I still fly my American flag 6 days a week (we're Buckeye fans - Saturdays the American flag takes a break in the name of football)... But you get my point.

I'm not trying to start controversy, I'm just really proud to be an American. Today, remember the men and women who are fighting for us, will fight for us and already spent time fighting for us. We are very lucky to live in the land of the free. God Bless America.

TAG... You're it

These are so fun (ok not really but I'm trying to be an upbeat poster)

I am: tired of ugly looking cupcakes - just made some and they look TERRIBLE - but my muffins look yummy
I need: sleep
I know: how grateful I am for my family
I want: to grow old with my husband and hold my grandkids in 25 years.
I have: a wonderful little boy.
I dislike: fish
I miss: my family and friends... and chicken finger subs
I fear: losing someone close to me
I feel: lonely -- J is working 2 hours away and it is hard when he is working
I hear: the tv
I smell: cupcakes and muffins I just made
I cry: way too often
I usually: clean up my kitchen after baking... but I'll leave that as a surprise for my man when he gets home from work in the morning!!!
I search: the internet for nothing - and waste HOURS doing it...
I wonder: if the garbage men will take my recycling since I didn't separate it... I'm a loser.
I regret: no regrets
I love: my husband, son and entire family, yummy food, fall, fall, fall
I care: about everything - almost to a fault
I always: wake up in a good mood
I worry: about my childhood friends going off to war...again
I am not: great at follow-through and remembering stuff
I remember: my Papa's laugh and smile
I believe: I will see Papa again someday
I dance: in the car to Colin's bible cd
I sing: totally off key
I don't always: cook dinner
I argue: when I am passionate about something
I write: to do lists and never complete them
I win: if J isn't playing :)
I lose: if J is playing
I wish: on stars
I listen: to hear C sing while he is playing.. especially twinkle winkle and who built the ark
I don't understand: why people can be intentionally mean.
I can usually be found: in Target.
I am scared: of being home alone - should really be over that one, but I'm not.
I need: to do turbo jam. I kinda miss the "freestyle" haha.. that's for you, Lisa.
I forget: everything.
I am happy: when my husband is home safe after the LONG drive home from work, just looking at my little boy, getting a call when I'm super bored, watching the leaves change colors, when my house is super spotless and I didn't lift a finger (this would be another hint headed J's way), really most things make me happy - except a toddler that thinks it is a great idea to change his own diaper - at nap time - when I'm sleeping on the couch -

I tag:
Lisa and Mary - my bloggin idols

A birthday party

Our little guy turned 3 on August 12th. We celebrated his special day with a dinner at his favorite Greek Restaurant! GG, Grandpa, Aunt Lisa, Uncle John, Megan and Nana joined us for some yummy pita-grilled cheese (actually the Greek burger is fabulous)...

We celebrated with a birthday bash the weekend after his birthday. Family, friends, and neighbors joined us at my parent's pool for a racing party, Lightening McQueen style!

Here are his gift bags and a picture of the bubbles inside. The kids weren't left with just bubbles but I was so excited when I found these at Walgreens!!



Ok.. honestly, I didn't take very many pictures... Hard to believe when my husband affectionately calls me Kodak - but I finally got to enjoy a birthday party and I spent my time watching Colin have some fun.

It is hard to believe that three years ago I had a teeny, tiny little baby. It's amazing how one person can change your life so much. I am so thankful for this perfect *brilliant* little being!

Colin

We are back in the blogging world!! I hope this time I will keep up with our little family journal... Please leave comments and don't wait until I stop posting to tell me you want more!! Colin is now 3 years old! Sorry about the not so cute picture but I was testing it out. He is still loving trains, tractors and "Cars" the movie. He is so full of energy and spunk! We seriously can't get enough of him. I hope you enjoy our little journal of day to day happenings.