Booper

August 2nd.
Many years ago this was just another day on the calendar.
 Probably a hot summer day, a day i was trying to soak up the sun at the pool, hang out with friends, run errands or enjoy a vacation but 4 years ago August 2nd changed for me.

It is the day that i lost one of my greatest friends to Breast Cancer.
Today I don't want to think about that. I don't want to think about her long, hard fight.
I want to think about her and all her greatness.

Bonnie. I called her Booper.
I met her our freshman year in college.
She was the kind of woman that lit up a room.
She was the kind of woman with a BIG personality.
She always had an opinion and was never afraid to share it.
She was strong.
She was funny.
She was a mom, a wife, a sister, a daughter and friend.
She loved being a mom...and her daughter is SO her...she is SO Bonnie, a firecracker personality.
She had a fierce loyality and love for her friends. She always made time for them and i think because of her i have become a better friend over the years (at least i hope so)
She would dance and sing and didn't care who saw her do it... she she didn't care if she sounded good or looked good.
She had a great laugh.
She was a lover of life and everyone who came in contact with her loved her.
She was one of those people who come along once in a lifetime and every year on August 2 i am reminded how blessed ive been to have had her be part of my life.

1995. The year i met Booper .Freshman yr of college

2002. My Wedding

2008. One of my all time favorite pics of Bonnie.

2008. Her BIG infectious smile.

 *note to self...scan all my pics that were on an old school camera...too many pics to surf through when i want to find something..


LOVE YOU BOOPER.

Two Days

How does life get so busy that i have not posted in almost two weeks?
I worked 5 out of 6 days and then J and i celebrated our 10th anniversary with time alone for more than an evening (gasp!)
We have not had more than a night away together since B. was born ,7.5 yrs ago.
We like to be the ones to be with our little ones, we don't get a babysitter very often, we adjust our schedules so they are usually with one of us- Most of the time they tag along BUT
this past week was different....
We went to the lake for TWO (yes, count them ONE. TWO. nights).

A lot of times when we try to get a sitter or do something special life gets in the way; family drama, someone gets sick, blah, blah...
A week ago as i was packing, working, not sleeping and dealing with family drama i was waiting...


waiting for something to happen...
waiting for the other show to drop...
waiting for our plans to backfire, explode...(i know im a glass half full kind of gal)

BUT
They didn't!
well...we left two hours later than expected, my car battery died because he (oops, i mean someone) left the dome light on but with my wonderful "mr.fix-it" husband,  we got on the road in no time.

 The battery needed to be at least 14 volts before we dropped my car off for my parents to use.. cause that would be tragic if my car battery died when my parents had to transport my kids for the weekend-eyeroll

AND we finally took a breath...

thats us taking a breath..do you like my road trip hat?

We listened to our tunes and sang on the 4 hour drive...
and ate twizzlers (cause that's what we do on road trips)..

We sat by the lake and talked...

We shopped...

ate ALOT of food..

took a nap, read a book, talked about our lives for the last 10 years and what we hope for the next 10 years.


We laughed and laughed.

We reconnected.
We also sat in silence and in comfort knowing that God's plan was to bring us together as husband and wife.

14 Reasons (valentine post...a tad late)

J.

1. You don't just laugh, you giggle

2.Bringing me home a D.C (diet coke) when you know we are out and im too tired from work to go get more.

3.You DVR shows for me (even ones i didn't ask you to tape) while im at work

4. You handle the kids (even if i didn't work the night before) every morning

5. When i was preggers with the boys, you made me breakfast, lunch and dinner for 40 weeks so i wouldn't throw up (even though i still barfed daily)

6.You make our boys laugh so hard

7.You make me laugh so hard

8. You always say "just tell me what you need, i'll do it"

9. You look good on stage holding a guitar

10.you are blunt, you are practical

11.You pay attention to my stories about my stressful, happy or sad stories at work

12. You always make my birthday, christmas and mothers day so special, like i am the only woman who should be celebrated on those days

13.You've got a mean pants man dance

14. After almost 10 years of marriage, i can still see you look at me with love in your eyes.

Brady

1. You love Titanic
2. You are bright
3. You are sensitive
4. You are funny
5. You run to me with open arms when i get home from work in the am
6.You are inqusitive
7.I love playing Legos with you
8. I love it when we do crafts together and you tell me that you love special time with me
9. You are not just a great big brother, you are a great teacher to Luke
10. You love to dance with me
11. You will still cuddle with me
12. You call your comforter "Big Blue" and bring it to ther living room each morning to wrap up in, you don't like to wake up either.
13. Big Blue Eyes
14. You are my first born, you made me a mommy.

Luke

1.You say "awww man" and tilt your head to the side
2. You love the trash truck
3. When I come home from work, i can see your little blonde head pop up in the window, i can see your mouth saying "mommy!"
4. You love to dance
5.You can hum a tune to almost any song
6. When Brady gets off of the school bus, it's so exciting to you each day...like it has never happened before.
7. You love books
8. everything you say right now is full of curiosity and really stinkin cute
9. You always say yes or ummm hmm instead of No like most toddlers
10. Energy
11. You stand like your daddy
12. you are not afraid of the vacuum or anything noisy
13. You are afraid of bubbles in the bath
14. You are my baby