1st Literary Award

Our 11-year-old earned her 1st Literary Award in a competition she entered months ago. She submitted a mini version of her 1st novella. It’s the 38th year of this competition & is open worldwide.

When Phillip read us the letter aloud, she jumped with pure delight feeling the fruits of her accomplishment after having spent months writing. We are so happy for her and very proud of her!

Nifty 50!

Everyone kept asking me what Phillip was planning for my 50th. He’s arranged some pretty spectacular things for me over the years so I knew whatever it was I’d be thrilled. Our son captured the moment:

   

   
Good Lord! What could it be? Well, prior to opening this envelope, Phillip planned a weekend of delights including dinner at La Panetiere.

                     
We visited the Cloisters on the northern tip of Manhattan overlooking the Hudson to enjoy the stunning array of more than 5,000 pieces of European Medieval works of art from the 12th – 15th centuries including the famous Unicorn Tapestries. The Cloister’s Library contains over 15,000 volumes of books.

     

Later, we toured the World of Wings butterfly atrium where I had my 1st opportunity to take photos with my gorgeous new Canon from my son. For the amount of time I invest in my photography, this latest Canon with touchscreen, image sensor & built-in Wi-Fi was the p-e-r-f-e-c-t gift!! Thank you, darling!

  

 

      
And if anyone knows our family well, you’ll know why the logo above is so significant!! 🙂

As you can see, this day was magnificent with brilliant sunshine & deep blue skies. But 50 years ago, there was a blizzard and my mother arrived at the hospital with a police escort. That’s one way to make an entrance.

Mom recapped the story over dinner. Then she surprised me with a very special gift…a piece of jewelry I’ve admired for 45 years. It was given to mother by my father’s mother when I was 5.

 

 

 

I’ve worn it in the past with great delight (photo on right), but on this special night, my mother said it was now mine. Overjoyed is an understatement. It means so much to me on many levels.

      

  

So what was in the envelope in the opening pics? Let me first explain that my greatest gift ~ now & always ~ is being loved by my family & friends. Flowers & cards, emails & posts. All is appreciated. The kindness, the thoughtfulness, the time spent to make my day special. Thank you all!!

 
The above cards from my children touched my heart deeply. My son chose a card that says I make him feel understood, happy and loved. Wonderful, wonderful!! And our little one says I make her happy every day…down to even the school snack. What more could any mother want? Happy, thriving kids – this was, by far, the very best gift of all!!

         

      

              

                 

       

16 years ago, I started the Harry Potter series with our son…reading it in “real time,” that is, waiting each year for another book to be published…standing in line at midnight openings with great anticipation for 1st edition hardcovers. We saw the movies, he had the posters, the comforter set, the throw pillows, the robe, Harry’s wand, etc. He even had a Harry-esque look to him, especially when he got his glasses.

        

Fast-forward more than a decade and our little daughter & her friends are relishing in the adventures, quoting the spells, whipping up potions and donning the robe. The perfect hardcovers have moved from our son’s room to our daughters’s bookcase. Over the holiday break, we watched all 8 movies (Yes, 8. The last book was filmed in 2 parts).

My friend, Sara, took one of our daughter’s best-est friends (since the girls were infants) to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter last month. The girls are now 9 & 10, the perfect age for the story. Sara posted this video of Platform 9 3/4 on her FB page & that was it!! What more fun could our family have than to venture through the fantastical world of wizards?

Sara said Universal Studios did a magnificent re-creation, a trip not to be missed! With the entire storyline under our belts just the previous month, I could not have dreamed of a more fanciful place to go for my birthday present!! In the envelope was a newspaper-like invitation from the Daily Prophet along with tickets to the mystical world of Harry Potter and a week’s stay at the CoCo Key water resort hotel. Simply marvelous, my darling husband, I love love love it!! And so do the kids!! (Well, as you can clearly see from our little one’s reaction in the 1st photos above as we opened the envelopes together.)

     

CoCo Key water resort & hotel:

     
We finished up the weekend celebrations with my favorite movie, The Scarlet Pimpernel, with Jane Seymour & Anthony Andrews. Luscious ~ Dreamy ~ Yum!

       

 

   
So many other details went into this weekend that I would just like to say thank you to my husband, my whole family and my friends for marking this milestone with great joy.

The Bright SpotTM  – Thankfulness that my mother is feeling better, it’s on & off and for my birthday she was really “on!” Even sparkly! And thank you to all who sent wishes for a beautiful birthday weekend. So ready for this next great decade, bring it on!!

The Making of a Superhero

Is he a kite-flyer?  Is he a trampoline-flipper?  Is he a bike-fixer?  Yes, he’s Superhero Big Brother!!

 

A hurricane protector, a shoe-tier, a cookie dough-maker, a tree climber, a boo-boo fixer, an Easter egg opener, a stuck zipper fixer, a skating racer, a perfect-pumpkin-picker, a snuggly dude, a super swing-pusher, the best storyteller, the technology teacher, the family-endorsed official opener of all packaged holiday toys, and, of course, an honorary member of the stroller posse! But most importantly, the kindest big brother who nurtures and protects his baby sister.

  

  

People often ask how we got such phenomenally-bonded children. As parents, when you show love, tenderness and respect to each other and to your children, it filters through the family, growing and bonding it together with immeasurable strength.

     

   

    

 

   

And from that strength, the freedom to love and express kindness and thoughtfulness is just natural.

    

Our son was 13 when our daughter was born. He was a part of the whole pregnancy journey, from building the crib and changing table with Dad, to using the zapper at Babies-R-Us to register for the baby. The baby shower was a huge party, not just for ladies, but for all friends, young and old, male and female, and our son was center stage as the new Superhero-in-the-making!

  

  

We put him in charge of opening the gifts which he unwrapped with great zeal seeing all the items he had zapped weeks earlier. He was an integral part of every step. And the day his baby sister was born, she gave him an I-pod, so, of course, she was just the coolest!

  

  

When he held her that 1^st day, he marveled, “She can’t even lift her own head.” I looked at him wearily and smiled, “No, she depends on us for everything, and she will look to you to teach her the most amazing things.

       

  

  
She will always look at you as her Superhero for the rest of her life. We are very proud of you.”

   

The Bright SpotTM   – Our daughter just turned 9 last week. Our son turned 22. He is a Superhero in our daughter’s eyes…and ours.

Thessalonians

I read a Precious Moments book to Little Petal two or three times and then came to the page that said, “…but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.” Then I turned the page because it was late and I was moving right along.

Little Petal turned the page back and quietly said as she pointed, “Mommy, you missed that part – Thessalonians Chapter 2:Verse 7.”

I was stunned! I didn’t even know she could read or pronounce the word Thessalonian, let alone fill in the words “chapter” and “verse,” both of which weren’t there as it was printed 2:7.

She had just turned 5.

 

The Bright Spot  is our joy as parents watching our children learn and blossom and grow from our teachings. It is certainly an example of how much these little ones absorb whether we realize it or not. They look to us as role models and pick up things we least expect…

Enjoy whatever your faith is and celebrate your beliefs; your children will thrive with a strong foundation. If you read Mission: Bright Spot  above, you’ll know I come from a large multicultural, multi-religious family – my beliefs have gotten me through many heartaches and challenges.