The Yellow-Haired Younglings

Our wedding day.

Alex and Amanda were very young when Pete and I got married. We wanted to make them feel special and start making family memories right from the beginning, so we took them on a honeymoon!

Alex and Amanda greeting us when we returned from our honeymoon. 

We went to Tampa and enjoyed a long weekend at the Florida Aquarium and Busch Gardens.  

I loved the kids' enthusiasm as they danced down the streets and splashed in the water. Their matching rainbow dolphin outfits were the cutest. Remember, it was the 1990's and matching rainbow dolphin outfits were so in then. Pete and I even considered wearing ours that day ;-)

We played hard each day. Amanda usually conked out mid-day, but Alex was ready to go!

Alex and Amanda became big time Veggie Tales fans that weekend after we watched our first episode. They belly laughed all throughout "The Fib From Outer Space." Those little faces! Rosey-cheeked and out of breath from laughter. I started calling them Yellow-Haired Younglings that weekend - a term of endearment that has lasted longterm and been shared with younger siblings.

Alex was a huge orange juice fan during those early days. First thing in the morning, he asked for his  cup of O.J..  Amanda loved apple juice and sneaking bites out of sticks of butter from the refrigerator.

The Florida Aquarium became an instant family favorite.  We have returned there many times over the years.

The original Yellow-Haired Younglings

I love remembering these times with the kids.  We started many traditions in those early days that we continue to enjoy now.  I hope some of those traditions are carried on to our future grandchildren.  Way, way in the future grandchildren ;-). 

Hugs, 

Melissa

A Little Slice of Heaven

As Alex, our oldest child, prepares to get married in a little over a month, Pete and I are looking through so many pictures, sharing so many memories, and joyfully reminiscing...

Every Friday at noon, the smell of fresh baked pizza wafted through the air at the Montessori school that I worked at as a speech therapist. The picnic tables were packed with preschoolers and young elementary-aged students sipping on Capri-Suns and enjoying the cheesy, greasy pizza goodness. Those Friday pizza lunches were the best because I got to pause my work day and sit with the preschoolers. Such a funny crowd those kids!

My lunch time conversations with Alex always cracked me up. We mostly talked about V. R. Troopers and Power Rangers. Actually, since he was a wee lad and couldn't say his "r's" or "l's" at that time, we talked about "B. Aw Twoopaws" and "Powa Wangaws", and my heart just melted like mozzarella cheese. Pete and I were engaged by that time and I was really blessed to be able to have those special lunches with my future son. After lunch, I would go to Amanda's classroom and rub her back as she drifted off to sleep on her naptime cot with her bunny blanket in her hand and her thumb in her mouth. Oh, such sweet times and cherished memories! 

P.S. For some reason, pizza has always been a special go to family meal for us. The first date that Pete and I took Alex and Amanda on was to get pizza. That first date was a little slice of heaven! 🍕🍕🍕

We ate pizza, got stickers out of the gum ball machine, went to the mall and rode the kiddie train a hundred times (all crammed in together), and went to the Disney store. Good times!

Boppsey Twins, Bird Voices, and Bonfires

Alex and his lovely bride-to-be, Kelsey

Our oldest son, Alex, is getting married in 40 days!!!

Holy-Hotdogs-How-Did-That-Happen?!?

Just yesterday he was asking Pete to tie his shoes during the middle of our wedding ceremony. Time flies when you are tying shoes...

Stopping to tie Alex's shoe during our wedding ceremony.

Our original Yellow-Haired Younglings

Please excuse me over these next 40 days as I talk about our Alex a bit (a lot). After all, he was our original Yellow-Haired Youngling. 

I used to be a speech therapist at the preschool that Alex attended, and since I worked with some of his classmates, I met Alex before I even met Pete.

Alex and Corey

Alex and his cousin Corey were like the Boppsey Twins on the playground. Both blonde, about the same height, ENDLESS energy! They could often be found on the top level of the wooden fort in the play yard. There they sat plotting and planning their next lizard catch, new ways to freak out the girls in their class, and comparing farts to burps. They also created a whole new way of communicating up in that fort. They began to use the most obnoxious sounds, that we affectionately dubbed "The Bird Voice". It drove the teachers nuts! It drove us parents bonkers! At school, at home, during family get togethers-they used "The Bird Voice" constantly. At one point, we actually had to ban "The Bird Voice" in order to preserve our sanity. Then they just moved on to other crazy cousin antics, like flushing Hot Wheels cars down the toilet and burning holes in their clothes around the family bonfire. 

Ahhh memories...

These two...

Firestarters!

Those teeth though...#chiclets

A Rose By Any Other Name is Still a Rose

Right up front, I just want to say that this post is not meant to be devisive.  I truly believe that the opinions expressed on this blog are my very own.  No Toms, Dicks, or Harrys need be offended, these are simply my musings.  To each his own, what's good for the goose is not always good for the gander, and so on and so forth, blah, blah, blah...

I have been a parent for 18 years now.  It has been the BEST job I have ever had.  Really, there has been nothing like investing in the lives of our children, all six of them. Watching them grow and change from day to day.  Watching them meet physical, spiritual, emotional, mental, and social milestones.  Hovering over them in seasons, letting them fly in others.  Always praying for them, rooting for them, and sometimes correcting them when warranted.  Being a parent is not for the faint of heart and I have definitely NOT "arrived".  I still have much to learn and our children are some of the best teachers.

One of the most important lessons that our kids have taught me is that love has no boundaries.  You can't place labels on love.  It is such a profound concept, a precious endless commodity.  Being a parent places you in the very essence of love. Specifically, being a mother, brings love that is so intense and all-consuming that it is sometimes hard to discern where I end and where my children begin.  I believe "mother love" is an "all-in" place of the heart and soul.

We have six children. Some were birthed from my womb.  Some were not birthed from my womb.  All were birthed in my heart.  All have had my heart from day one.  All have had my "mother love" heart and soul.  All have been called my children. My sons and daughters.  My cherished gifts from God. All have called me "Mom", "Mommy", "Mama", "Mother", "Madre".  None have called me, "Step Mom" or "Step Mother".  It's that simple.  Just like adopted children do not refer to their parents as "Adopted Mom" or "Adopted Dad".  As a sister of brothers, who were adopted, I have always known my brothers as my brothers.  As a daughter of a dad who didn't father me, I have always called my dad, "Dad". And the dad who fathered me was, "Dad" too. Both have always had my whole heart.

And I don't call my mother-in-law, "Mother-in-Law", she's "Mom" to me.  I have two loving, moms, actually I have many "mother figures" in my life.  You can never have too much "mother love", in my opinion.

Our six children are all brothers and sisters.  There's never been "half brother" this or "half sister" that.  They are wholly loved by each other.  This is truth in our family.

So, I know there are social niceties that dictate social gatherings and often introductions come with labels, but in our family, love has these labels:  Dad, Mom, Son, Daughter, Brother, Sister...Family.

Hugs,

Melissa

Negative Nelly or Nancy or Ned.

1. Yoga intimidates me because, well, gas and also contorting into positions that promote the expelling of gas and all of that coupled with deep inhaling and exhaling.  Inhaling...exhaling...inhaling...gas. Nope.

2.  I'd rather scrub a toilet than ice skate. You can't break a bone or lacerate yourself when you fall in the toilet. Yes, I said "when" not "if". Don't ask...

3.  I don't do dark places.  My sister and I helped create that little phobia in our tween years as we watched horror movie marathons all summer long.  Thank you Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers, and Jason (whatever-your-last-name-is) for contributing to my unnatural fear of that dark space under my bed.

4.  Onions are evil little food ruiners.  Leeks, shallots and chives are equally as guilty. Funyuns, that Bloomin Onion thing, and onion rings are foods from Hades. I once dated a guy who ate red onions ALL THE TIME!!!! Then, to add insult to injury, he would chew Big Red gum to freshen his breath.  Because nothing is more attractive and aromatic than the fresh smell of onions and cinnamon. Mmmm...so fresh.

5.  My feet are tactilely defensive.  Even when my feet touch each other, it's so wrong.  My feet can not, I repeat, can not be dirty, or dry, or sandy, or touched. And for the record, I won't touch your feet.    I have a reoccurring nightmare in which I am Kung Foo fighting my way out of a nail salon with six ninja nail techs chasing after my feet with their pumice stones.

6.  Hats off to those of you who can wear hats.  Hats do not work for me since I have enough hair for ten people.  Hats always look like they are going to launch off my head at any minute.  T-minus 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 LIFT OFF! We have lift off of another failed attempt to contain a mane that needs its own zip code.

7.  I just can't justify a power nap.  If I'm going to take a nap, it is going to be a darn good one.  None of this 15 minute crap.  Nope.  Bring on the 2 hour deal with full on drool and snore.   I'm not playing.

8.  Board games.  I've tried and I just can't.  Really, I am over feeling inadequate about this.

9.  I make berry smoothies to stay healthy and all that I get is freaking seeds in my teeth.  Then, for the rest of the day, I gouge my tongue on my teeth trying to dislodge seeds. It's exhausting and my tongue hurts.

10.  Lipstick on my teeth.  Constantly happens. My tongue is always running defense.  I feel like a model in a Pearl Drops Toothpaste ad (If you are old enough to get that reference, then high five sister or brother).

Hugs,

Melissa

Now That's Tacky!

Creepiest picture ever!

For me, it's all about the day in and day out stuff in life.  You know, like when your 10 year old daughter very sweetly reminds you that her school uniform pants have "that hole in the knee" from her dramatic playground wipeout last week, and now it's 8:57 PM the night before school and you are up to your eyeballs in after dinner dishes and trying to remember the lyrics to "Owner of a Lonely Heart" for you insistent six year old who must be serenaded to sleep every.single.night and YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO SEW OR CARRY A TUNE!!!

But wait!!! Just wait!!!! You suddenly (by the grace of God) remember that the blessed "nectar of the craft world" is sitting in your utility drawer just waiting to be put on the front lines of your hole-y war. You reach into that drawer that hasn't been cleaned out since Reagan was in office, and you grab that bottle of gooey-goodness and squeeze, squeeze, bang on the top, squeeze again, curse the maker of the gosh-darn, micro-tiny, ever-clogged nozzle opening, and get the brilliantly desperate idea (isn't there a saying that goes, "Desperation is the mother of invention?") to use a wooden skewer to unclog that sucker.

And then, with a snippety snip of the ole kitchen shears, you proceed to perform nothing short of a miraculous transformation from pants to shorts.  And to further prove your awesomeness as a resourceful mom (ahem, you could insert lazy or crazy here) you take that unclogged glue bottle and you glue the hem of those pants like nobody's business!  Finally, you sit back and look at your masterpiece and marvel at the miracle that is Arlene's Tacky Glue.

Because that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I roll!  Just don't ever ask me sing the correct lyrics to  "Owner of a Lonely Heart" because that ain't happening ;-)

Hugs,

Melissa

The Cafe is Glad!

And now, in order to get your week off to an amazing start, here is a thought provoking poem from a Japanese shopping bag. 

Hugs,

Melissa