the greatest of these

I've been trying to figure out what to write all day long. The traditional "my dad's battle with cancer ended this morning" seems so commonplace for those who have ever dealt with this disease. It has been a quick three months, and I will miss him more than even I knew at the time, if that is possible and understandable.

I've always loved quotes. When I was little I used to read them from the back of our huge dictionary just for fun! Now I can google them. I found this great one by Dr. Seuss of all people,

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

I am able to smile at some of the wonderful memories I have growing up with my dad. Not extraordinary vacations or spectacular adventures, but the everyday things we did together as father and daughter.
When I was really little, we did the airplane thing, where he would put his feet on my stomach and lift me into the air, flying me all around. He taught me how to wrestle and always let me "pin" him. We went innertubing down the James River when I was about four ( I sat on his stomach!)....he even let me drive his Cougar at the age of maybe two. As I grew, he taught me how to ride my bike and hit a ball with my big red bat. We spent a lot of time at the pool and I would hold his neck as we swam underwater the length of the pool.

At the beach, I was never afraid to go out in the ocean with him. We would tread water far out looking for a good wave, even once when it was raining. I vividly remember the rain falling was colder than the warm ocean.
One winter, after a deep snowfall, I held his hand as we walked a few miles to the store just to get some milk.
He stayed up late with me the night before science projects were due, of course fussing about why I hadn't done them earlier.
We watched shows together like MacGyver, Star Trek, Family Ties, Cheers, the A Team, Roseanne, the Scarecrow and Mrs.King and Perfect Strangers ...remember those?
We played cards, of course, but also liked to play this game called Mystery Mansion.
He was a wonderful father that taught me a lot.


Here's another quote I found:
"The best things said come last. People will talk for hours saying nothing much and then linger at the door with words that come with a rush from the heart."

This one is by Alan Alda, the actor from M*A*S*H....I always thought my dad looked like him for some reason...but a little cuter. My dad did tell me he loved me during this whole ordeal, many times. I told him, too. We didn't say it a lot growing up...it could have been we never said it. As a child, I saw the actions of love, but not the words...as an adult I heard the words, but not the actions. Love is really all you care about in the end. Did he know I loved him? Did I know he loved me? I hope the answer is yes to both of those.

The following Bible verses are traditionally used in weddings, but as I read through it, I thought that this was the love my father showed to me.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and 13
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (NIV)

saying goodbye

Sorry there's been no posts. My dad was rushed to the hospital this weekend in excruciating pain from gall stones...basically his systems are starting to shut down. He is now on morphine and sleeps, unable to communicate, although I did get to see and talk with him just a bit before the constant drip was put in. I've gotten to sit with him and hold his hand for a few hours each day. It is very hard to say goodbye.

on time

So we got another lesson in God's timing tonight. After dinner, I thought it might be fun to ride up to Chick Fil A to get the kid size ice cream cones...those are Isabela and Joaquin's favorite treats (and yes...I guess I like them, too). We NEVER leave the house after dinner, so this was extra special. I almost left in my little stretch nightgown that I can now fit into, but thought, "What if I break down on the road...I wouldn't want to be walking home in this" so I threw something on. But keep in mind this is supposed to be a quick trip to the drive thru and back home.

We order our cones and there's about five cars in front of us when Joaquin starts yelling about having to go to the bathroom REALLY bad. Well, I'm certainly not going to park and carry in Diego and three ice cream cones just so he can go to the bathroom. I say all kinds of things like, "Well, if you can't hold it, we're not coming out for ice cream anymore" and nonsense like that. It works for awhile while we're still sitting in the drive thru line, but then he decides he just can't wait. So I'm trying to figure out how to do this.

What I come up with is ...I'll hold two ice cream cones and let Isabela hold hers and she'll take Joaquin into the bathroom while I wait in the car with Diego. Of course, there's no parking near the door, so they have to cross the parking lot, so I get out to make sure they get across safely...then stand on the side of the van licking two cones that are melting, waiting for them to come back.

So they come back and we're off, quietly riding home, happily licking our ice cream cones. But when we get to our street corner, there is a firetruck, police, ambulance and many onlookers to a huge crash where both cars look totaled. We weren't allowed down our street at first and had to go past and make a U turn. But it hit me as we were pulling in the driveway that that could have been us! If we hadn't stopped to use the bathroom, we could have been at the intersection when someone ran the stop sign.

I apologized to Joaquin for fussing at him about the bathroom and tried to explain the idea of God's timing to the kids. I think they got it a little. They both listened intently while I told the story to Juan Pablo over the phone, and then Isabela asked me to tell her again.

This is just another reminder that even the little annoyances of life are part of the plan...although, that "don't go out after dinner rule" might just be a good idea for now.

funny side links

I don't know how many of you check out any of the side links, but the one called A Family Runs Through It is really funny and is usually good for an outloud laugh. If you need to laugh, read his post called Foot in Mouth.

Just so you know, I don't know any of those people...I just like their blogs.

a great find!

I happened upon this great dresser at Goodwill today...only $25 dollars! I'm thinking we'll put our arts and craft supplies in here. I'd post a picture of the "new" big room. but it is an absolute disaster. This is the only clean surface in there!

elvis has left the building

Diego is four months old now, so we are trying a new hairdo....it's called brushing. I guess there will be no more Elvis or Shoney's big boy jokes!






He did great at his checkup and even giggled through three of the four shots....the last one though he was like, "Okay, this isn't funny anymore."

what we've been up to

We've been taking it easy since our Yorktown trip. I've rearranged the big room....love it now! We've been to the pool alot and I'm back to taking Zumba classes! Fun! And we've been hanging out with friends.

Here's our friend Samantha with Diego...she just loves babies and couldn't wait to hold him!


We finally picked our first vegetable from our garden! A cucumber...it was yummy. We should have some tomatoes soon, too.


This was not grown in our garden, but there's nothing better than shucking corn on the front porch! I love that word, SHUCK. I think I'm going to start saying it more often.


So I couldn't figure out how to keep the kids outside for longer periods of time...until I realized that water would do the trick. We've held off getting a little wading pool because it will mess up the little grass that we have...so here's what I came up with:



Although I didn't know he was going to turn into a contortionist....I asked him to stop doing this:


And Isabela sewed this hairbow mostly by herself, with a little instruction from Martha Stewart, and guidance from me. It was done in ultrasuede in the magazine, and meant to add decoration to a pillow, but we used fleece and thought it might look good as a hairbow.

yorktown club

We've finally joined the Yorktown club! That seems to be "the" place to be this summer.


This is an upside down shot.


Diego's first nap on the beach.


The kids have no idea there are jellyfish in the water...




...or pirates!


Down and dirty in the sand.


So here's the first jellyfish they had ever seen. There were tons of them in the water....I didn't really see any floating put people were picking them out left and right. This one actually fell apart into pieces before he could throw it over the barrier. I've never seen one do that. The kids are really interested in jellyfish now, so we'll have to do some research on them.


This was everyone's first time to Ben & Jerry's...no one was thrilled like we were our first time at Rita's.


This beautiful butterfly was very busy getting nectar and had no fear of us.


A walk along the boardwalk.


Isabela, Diego, and I took a break in the shade on the grass...


...then climbed a tree...


...while the other boys built a wall to stop the water.


The trolley ride was a lot of fun. This is the first statue ever commissioned in the US (I think?) We'll definitely have to come here again for a history lesson!


Here are the kids acting like Gen. George Washington and French Admiral de Grasse.


I couldn't believe they still had energy at the end of the day to roll down the hills and run around playing tag.

you did WHAT!!

Even Diego is shocked!


First, let me say, no kids were hurt in the filming of this picture.

But, yes, Juan Pablo ran over Isabela's bike yesterday, and it somehow got all stuck up under his car. He was on his way to work, and we were on our way to dance class. He tried pulling it out, taking off the pedals, lifting the car (with his hands!)....until finally, I suggested, "why don't you just jack it up?" And that is how you get a stuck bike out from under your car.

tired of the pool?

Not these kids! Even when we don't go to the pool, they make their own in the big room.


It has a slide...


And a high dive!

not forgotten

Last night, we helped our church pack bags to send over to soldiers in Iraq. I've never seen Isabela so excited! If there's anything she likes to do, it's follow a list. I wish I could have gotten a picture of her. She would come around the circle and say, "Ta da!" I filled another one! That's her new word, "ta da!" Everyone walked around a horseshoe of chairs, filled with boxes of snacks, toiletries, pens, tablets, etc., and put one or two of each into ziploc bags, according to the list. She got so proficient at it, she could do two bags at once. Joaquin filled about three bags, but spent most of the time sitting on a stack of chairs "taking a break". In total, about 30 people filled 200 bags to send over. I have to admit, I spent the whole time holding a sweet sleeping baby.

girls' night out!

My friend Kim and I got to go out for her birthday Friday night, just us two....minus her four kids and my three kids! We had a great relaxing time talking and painting pottery....although don't go near closing time....I started stressing because they were getting ready to close and I hadn't finished yet. Then we headed over to Rita's for ice cream. It's been a long time since we'd done anything like that, but I have to say, Diego is such a good baby, I think we could do it more often!

moooo!

We'll do anything for free food, even dress up like cows! We actually made those cow hats in the car before playing at the park with our friends. With construction paper, tape, scissors, and glue...you can make anything. Aren't those signs cute on those boys? Just like the commercials!

been to Richmond?

Can you believe I've lived in Richmond most of my life and never been to Brown's Island? Now I had been to the turning basin of the canal, but that's about it, I never walked along until it met up near the river. Juan Pablo and I could not believe we had never been down there before. Yesterday we took the kids, and it was a lot of fun! You'll definitely want to click on some of the pictures to enlarge them...and also listen to the song in a separate window for the full effect!


It's also a great history lesson. There's lots of information to read and learn about along the way.


Here we are along the canal. The water rushes in right here and is fun to watch.


One of the kids favorite songs is "Erie Canal" so it was great to be able to see a real one. You can hear the song here.


It was amazing that this serene beautiful walkway is tucked right into the big city!


There are lots of bridges to cross....


...and to see....


...and there's the governor's mansion!


Nourishment! Now it was pretty sunny yesterday and did get a little hot. You must have water and snacks with you, and be prepared for some whining from the kids...but push through it...and you will enjoy it at the end!


This was all Joaquin needed to see! Those people are swing off that rope into the river. If I had said, "You can jump off the bridge and go try it," he'd have done it. He cried that we couldn't go down there and try it. But we will definitely go back when we are ready to do that. He also worried the rope wouldn't be there any more. I said, "Now who's going to climb up there and untie it?"


My favorite picture of the day...little Marilyn Monroe! There was a nice breeze up there!


The end of the line.


From far away, Joaquin thought we were going to have to jump to get across this bridge.




This bridge is beautiful and has great sayings going across the planks along the way.


"But why can't we swing TODAY, Dad?"


At the foot of the cross. I had never seen this beautiful statue before!


The wooshing canal.


This lock model wasn't working but was still fun to play with.


Definitely, you have to come down here and walk along one day. We were looking for this climbing wall where people practice belaying and stuff right along the river...but we couldn't find it. It is a little nerve racking, too, with all the bridges and opportunities to fall off into water, but it was very exciting for the kids! A must do when you are in Richmond.