Goodbye, Juliette

I went today with Gennie, Joseph, Ashton, Rebekah and Rachel to get the ultrsound that would tell us whether the new baby they are expecting would be a boy or a girl. We were a rowdy group - so much excitement in the air! Gennie announced at one point before we went in that the baby was now awake - so cool!
When Gennie had been prepped by the tech and it was our turn to go in, we all piled into the room, the lights were turned off, and the machine was set to do its job. The baby was "hiding" a bit, and it was difficult to decipher the images on the screen. But the ultrastenographer pointed out the face, the spine, the arms... and a little button nose. The button nose I could see!! Finally he turned the screen to himself to see if he could find out the gender. "Well, it's a boy!", he announced. "Congratulations!". A boy! This last baby in a line of four little ones will be a boy. Hello, Andrew... goodbye, Juliette. No more babies means no Juliette. It makes me a little sad. I wanted it to be a boy, I love that it's a boy, I am over-the-moon happy that they're having a boy! But it's a little hard to say goodbye to the little Juliette that we won't get. What a happy day, though. Now we can start thinking of him as who he is - our baby boy. Andrew. Son, brother, grandson, nephew. So hello Andew, but goodbye, Juliette...

PS... the above image is NOT our baby

PILGRIM HAT COOKIES

I made these little guys today. Time to make Visiting Teaching appointments!

Not as easy as I had thought they would be, but I got the hang of it after doing a couple.

... How ... HOW can it be the 15th of November already!???

(Extended) Family Thanksgiving

We had our WHOLE family Thanksgiving dinner this last Saturday at Lucille's Smokehouse BBQ in Cerritos. Belkis set up the whole thing and made the reservations, etc. (Thanks Belkis!). Anyway, she put us all on notice that if at least half of us weren't there within 15 minutes of the reserved time, we would lose our reservation and be put at the bottom of the list. Now, there were a whopping 21 of us, so being put at the bottom of the list would obviously be a BAD BAD thing! We have some really chronic "late-nicks" in our family, and with traffic etc. anything can happen, so Doug and I were curious as to whether or not the Paletsas clan could pull it off. We arrived first... a bit early. We sat and sat. ::::crickets chirping:::: Nothing. Then in came Humby and Brianna. Yay... !! As were greeting and hugging them, in poured a whole stinkin' mob of Paletsases!! We did it! Who woulda thunk? Haha... we may be chronically late, but threaten not to feed us, and watch the wheels kick into gear! GO family!

The worst part? I didn't take any pictures. I don't think anyone did. Big Booooo. : (

The other worst part? Holly had to work and was the only one missing.

Extra big Booooo. : ( : (

Wordful Wednesday - The Natural Art

PRELUDES - I

by: Madison Julius Cawein

There is no rhyme that is half so sweet
As the song of the wind in the rippling wheat;
There is no metre that's half so fine
As the lilt of the brook under rock and vine;
And the loveliest lyric I ever heard
Was the wildwood strain of a forest bird.--
If the wind and the brook

and the bird would teach
My heart their beautiful parts of speech,
And the natural art that they say these with,
My soul would sing of beauty and myth
In a rhyme and metre that none before
Have sung in their love, or dreamed in their lore,
And the world would be richer one poet the more.

Picture of this sunset sky taken last night,

June 30, 2009

Wordful Wednesday

This week's words come from Ashton, my six year-old grandson.

A little background:

I had gone over to my daughter's house for a "Taster's Table" evening of fondues and sauces with some of her friends. When I arrived, my son-in-law, Joseph, was getting ready to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheeze for the evening to get them out of the house.

So here's how it went...

Ashton: "Yaya, have you ever been to Chuck E. Cheeze?"

Yaya: "Yes I have! I used to take your mom and Uncle Hunter there when they were little!"

Ashton: "Was it in BLACK and WHITE??"

Hahahah........ Gennie had to explain to him that "black and white" is only for old movies and television, etc. - not for real life!

Every now and then it's fun to be able to get glimpse inside the minds of the young ones!

Yaya loves you, Ashton!

Sisters

Memories of childhood may someday fade
But never the special games that we played…
Though our tea party days have come to an end
You’re always my sister - forever my friend!
My big sister, Lynda, and I

The Best Investment You'll Ever Make

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18

and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family.

Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down.

It translates into:* $8,896.66 a year,

$741.38 a month,

$171..08 a week.

A mere $24.24 a day!

Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is :

Don't have children if you want to be 'rich.'

Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140.00?

Naming rights: First, middle and last! * Glimpses of God every day. * Giggles under the covers every night. * More love than your heart can hold. * Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs. * Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds and warm cookies. * A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate. * A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites. * Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to: * finger-paint, * carve pumpkins, * play hide-and-seek, * catch lightning bugs, * never stop believing in Santa Claus.You have an excuse to: * keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, * watch Saturday morning cartoons, * go to Disney movies and * wish on stars.You get to frame rainbows, hearts and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof * taking the training wheels off a bike * removing a splinter * filling a wading pool * coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs and * coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.You get a front row seat in history to witness the: * First step * First word * First bra * First date * First time behind the wheel

You get to be immortal.

You get another branch added to your family tree and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren.

You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications and human sexuality that no college can match..

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God.

You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever...

and love them without limits, so that one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.

That is quite a deal for the price!

Love & enjoy your children, grandchildren & great-grandchildren!!

It's the best investment you'll ever make!!!