my gram millie...

is no longer a lunch date or phone call away, and that breaks my heart when i really think about how deeply i will miss her always being here for me.  but i was privileged and so blessed to have had so many years with her and now she is with jesus and that is really something to celebrate.  we shared a very close and special relationship.  i will never forget the many ways she influenced who i am today-- love friends like family, treat yourself to a new outfit from time to time, stand up for what your are passionate about, and be generous with your life, love, resources, and talents.  tuesday morning she passed away and tomorrow we will celebrate her life at her memorial service.

i love you gram!!

On October 25, 2011 we lost a strong, fun, feisty, and loved member of our close family. Mildred “Millie” Terrabassi passed away to congestive heart disease after 95 years of caring for every one of us. “I am so blessed to have been loved so truly and so deeply.” These simple words by her granddaughter, Stephanie, encompass how Millie lived each and every day of her life. The love she showed to each individual person in her life brought warmth to the hearts of everyone who knew her. 

Mildred Terrabassi was born August 29, 1916 in Kingston, Nova Scotia. From an early age, however, if you called her by her given name she would quickly correct you. “The name is Millie,” she would say. She made her opinions clear and was not ashamed to tell you, and show you, the things she cared mostly deeply about: her family, her faith, beautiful clothes, crunchy Cheetos, peanut M&Ms, giving generous gifts, toasted sandwiches, and fashion advise. 

Millie’s love for her family went beyond the typical family relationship. Every member of her family felt profoundly special to her. After a common family get together,  each person would leave with a token of how important they were to her life. Her son in-law, Mike, would walk away smelling of White Diamonds perfume and feeling like he was the best “white” pizza maker in the world, the way she lavished over it. Her granddaughter, Stephanie, would walk away with the feeling she had just spent time with her best friend, someone who had been by her side and loved every important moment in her life. Her great-grandson, Jack, would leave with red lipstick all over his smiling face and a lollipop in hand that he found tucked away in Gram Millie’s purse… saved just for him. Her great-granddaughter, Olivia, would leave feeling like the most beautiful girl in the world, because that is what she was told by Gram Millie every day. She would have the prettiest dress tucked under her arm and a matching bow already in her hair. Her grandson, Sean, would leave knowing it wouldn’t be long before Millie called his phone, wanting to know how his day went. Even though he just left her, she wanted to keep up with every aspect of his life. Her daughter, Nancy, would leave knowing the strength her mother showed everyone else was passed down especially to her, a legacy she will always cherish.

Millie leaves her loved ones behind to join her husband, Terry, of 67 years and her son, Bobby, in God’s kingdom. While missed greatly, she will never be forgotten as the memories, the unconditional love, the lipstick stains, and the scent of her perfume will linger for a lifetime. 

state fair highlights...

our trips to the state fair are becoming some what predicable, but they are still so much fun!!  this year we went with b & pop (we missed the fifers-- sniff, sniff) and headed down to the fair grounds one afternoon right after we picked up o from school.  the weather was perfect, the crowds were small, and the corny dogs were delicious.  here are the highlights from our trip to "the great state fair of texas" (that is what olivia calls it!!)

o's first choice at the midway- generic dumbo ride.  she loved it just as much as she did in disneyworld.  :)

next up-- o and j in the miller lite bumper cars.  this pic was before the ride really began.   once it started they were both giggling and laughing the entire time.

the guys rode the log ride- jack, mark, and pop.  olivia is not a fan so b, olivia, and i just watched and took pictures.  :)

finally time to eat!!  pop and o enjoying their corny dogs soon followed by the best cinnamon roll ever!!  later a fried moon pie for mark and a carmel apple for me.  i am pretty sure the kids ate something else too, i can't remember.

no trip to the fair is complete without a picture in front of big tex.  say "howdy!!"

our car-loving jack could not get enough of the car show.  o loved climbing in and out of the cars too.  what is it about being a kid and pretending to drive that is soooo much fun?

then off to owen's farm to feed the animals.  always a highlight for the kids.  i just hate the smell and feel so dirty when we are done.  :) 

and of course we had to go on trip to the "little hands farm." the kids worked hard on the farm-- picking fruit, milking the cow, feeding the animals, and planting some seeds.  

after all that we headed back to the kiddie midway to spend the rest of our coupons on a few more rides  then we waved good-bye to the big ferris wheel, said "see ya next year!" to big tex and headed home.  

celebrating baby w...

my best friend stacie is expecting her first little baby girl in early december.  i could not be more excited to meet this sweet little one and watch stacie become the most wonderful mommy ever!!  this past weekend several of her close friends hosted a baby shower in her honor.  since stac is a teacher and her mom is one of the most talented educators i have ever known, we thought a book themed baby shower would be a perfect way to celebrate baby and mommy-to-be.  i was lucky enough to host the party at my house, but each of these ladies played a HUGE role in making the shower a success...

allison, cathrine, me, stacie, erin, kandy, and kristy

here are some of the little details from this special afternoon...

the food table-yummy! all our food coordinated with a children's book.    jamberry cheese dip, chicka chicka boom chicken salad, the very hungry caterpillar fruit salad, tops&bottoms veggie tray and salad, and we didn't forget dessert- pecan bars and pinkalicious cupcakes.

fancy nancy beverage table (beverage is the fancy word for drinks) :) and my favorite detail- the bookmark and book garland.  we had this strung in several places throughout the house.

here is a close up of the garland.  we gave the bookmarks as favors to all our guests.  

each of the guests wrote their wishes for baby w and we made them into a little keepsake book.  i loved reading everyone's wishes.  they were sweet, creative, and some were hilarious.  :)

everyone was very generous and gave stacie such wonderful, heartfelt, and practical gifts to help her prepare for baby w's arrival.  

and each guest also brought a book in place of a card to build baby w's home library.  we hope that she will enjoy these books for years to come.

it was such an honor for me to apart of this special day for stacie.  she has been a loyal and faithful friend for more than 10 years- attending more showers for me than i can count.  :)  i hope that she felt loved, supported, and celebrated.  now we wait... and pray for baby w to make her way into the world.

happy baby shower stac!!  i hope you are preparing little waddell for how much her auntie steph loves her and will want to hold her.  love you sweet friend!!

go team lyon!!

in case you were wondering... the soccer season is going great!!  o is loving her soccer friends, has scored a few goals, and looks ADORABLE in her game day uniform.  here are a few pictures from the first couple of games.  go team lyon!!!

 olivia, liza, and kingsley- sweet friends!

 getting a little pep talk and game plan from coach john. 

 love this one of olivia and ava encouraging each other with a "5."

 action shot of o kicking the ball.  good form, right?

and this is the priceless look of o coming off the field after scoring her first goal- proud and a little embarrassed with all her cheering fans.  :)

jack @ the gym...

now that olivia is in school and her activity (soccer) is in the evening, it has freed up some time during the day for jack to have some fun when he is not at preschool.  the sad truth is, olivia and her interests have been our priority for the at least the last year or two, so now it's time for jack.  sure jack and i did little gym when he was teeny, but it has been a while since he took a class.  he just turned 3 and we (our family) are not ready for the commitment that comes with team sports,(weekly practices and games AND equipment) soooo gymnastics it is!!  sure it is not the most manly of sports, and mark gave me "that look" when i suggested it, but it is once a week, for one hour, in an climate controlled building, AND my/his friends are there too!!  we went to a trail class today to see if he was going to like it... and he LOVED it!!

 stretching and doing a great job listening to his coach.

all smiles and very proud of himself at the end of the class, about to get TWO stamps for a job well done!

the class was great.  his teacher was very sweet and encouraging.  jack has already told olivia all about his class and is asking me when he gets to go back.  yay!!  :)  sooo, monday mornings you'll find jack @ the gym.  

jack's first day of preschool...

was great!!  sadly, i don't have many pictures to document the morning... jack is not into pictures at all right now.

 this was what he did when i asked him to pose for a picture before leaving for school. :(

 with a little bit of bribery... i got this!! :)

 then we found his hook and he proudly hung up his backpack, and decided his napmat needed to go on the ground.  

and finally it was time for him to go into his class.  he was greeted by his sweet teacher, ms. wilson and she told him to find his name and put his lunchbox in its special spot.  he gave me a quick wave good-bye and then was off to follow ms. wilson's instructions.

before i knew it the hours had passed and it was time to pick him up.  he came running to the door with a big grin on his face and couldn't wait to tell me about all the fun he had.  that made me smile!  once again, i am so thankful for loving teachers and a smooth transition to the start of another school year.  jack is going to have a wonderful year as a REAL preschooler.

jack's turn...

for the back to school activities to begin!  he has been asking everyday since o started kindergarten when he gets to start school.  i am as pleased as he is to say that TUESDAY is his first day.  i have loved spending time with him these last two weeks, but it will be good for both of us to have two days a week where we get a little time apart. :) and school is so great for him- structure, socialization, art, music, gross-motor, etc.  today we went to meet his teachers and explore his new classroom before the official first day.

it was a little strange to walk into this familiar place and only have ONE preschooler holding my hand, having only ONE classroom to visit, and ONE set of teachers to meet and greet.  each day it hits me in a different way, i have a KINDERGARTENER and a PRESCHOOLER.  i am now split between two schools- two worlds- elementary (the real world) and preschool.  :)

he has two very sweet teachers- ms. wilson and ms. taylor.  kk had these two ladies as her 3 year old preschool teachers and LOVED them.  jack thinks it is really fun that he and kk will have had the same teachers. :)  he was very shy and timid at first, hiding behind my legs and squeezing my hand.   soon enough he was feeling comfortable and started playing and looking around his new classroom!!  he only let me take one picture...

i'm hoping for one with his teachers the first day of school, but not setting my expectations too high. :)

we are looking forward to a great year- jack's first year in preschool!  (it's officially called preschool now, not mothers-day-out.)