DOVE FAMILY

Today, August 30, 2012 would have been dad's 64th birthday.  It's a very sad and emotional day for me today.  It's probably also a mixture of the stress due to the move, the packing and our new schedules. Unfortunately due to schedule conflicts I won't be able to see my mom, brother or sister tonight and Dave has to work tonight.  I will just hold my babies (Matthew & Julia) and tell them stories about their "Lolo"  As I have mentioned in previous posts, each person deals with loss, grief in many different ways.    Although I may cry and feel empty, I will also celebrate his life by sharing thoughts about my dad with all of you. For those who have never met my dad, you would have liked (LOVED) him!

He was stubborn (Very Much So....)
He had rules and we followed them (Except...I did try to break a few rules and I did get caught)
He was tough and very strict (Now looking back and also being a parent myself- it's all out of love and trying to protect your children and family)
He had a beautiful smile.
He was honest.
He was trusting.
He taught us how to save money and the importance of saving.
He loved to sing and had a beautiful voice.
He believed in the Lord and taught us about the bible and the importance of our beliefs and religion.
He loved us all even when we did something wrong (especially me)
He taught us the importance of family.
He loved my mom most of all.

I learned so many things from both my parents and although it took me a LONG LONG LONG time, I did finally grow up and I learned:

How to be honest.  When I was younger, I only thought about myself.  I would lie and steal to get my way.  I learned that life is not about that.  Once my parents could forgive me, I had to learn how to forgive myself and start being honest not only with myself but with others.

How to forgive.  Many of us will never forget the wrongs that we have done, others have done to us or forget moments that wished never happened.  My parents taught me that although we may not forget, we have to forgive to help our heart not feel so heavy so we can move on and live our lives.

How to love. I was a horrible teenager, but I think its because I never really loved myself.  I loved myself in a selfish way, but it mattered too much what other people thought about me.  Before I really loved someone, I had to learn how to love myself, how to appreciate what I had and how to be proud of myself.

Family.  All of this circles back to family.  We are a tight family.  Coming from another country, we grew up having only one another.  The importance of family is something both mom and dad instilled in us and what we teach our own family and children today.  No matter our differences, our beliefs, our way of life, family always circles back to one another. We help one another and no matter the problem we would always help one another and be there for each other.  Our parents always taught us to be there for each other because we are family.

In today's crazy schedules of work, sports, school and life, its important that we stop and appreciate the life that the Lord has given us.  Be thankful for our family, friends and for each day that we have.

Waiting for the school bus!

Here we go!

Bye Buddy!  I Love you!  Hey....don't forget mommy!  I love you!

And he is off...I was waving frantically. I hope he found a seat next to his new friends.  I hope he could see me waving.  I stood there until I couldn't see the bus anymore.

We are so stressed out and TIRED.  When Dave mentioned that he scored FREE tickets to the Redskins game- there was no doubt that he and Matthew were going to go.  Trust me- Dave needed this and so did Matthew.  Both boys were excited to see RG III as the Redskins new quarterback!   Each day and night has been spent packing and cleaning that it was good for them to get out for an afternoon.  Julia and I did a little packing, but we took advantage of a free afternoon and laid around, watched TV, a movie and relaxed.  We are exhausted so we took this afternoon as a "off" day to just lay around and relax.

I enrolled Matthew in his new elementary school. It made more sense to have him start at his new school than transfer him 2 weeks into school.  We went to Sneak A Peak At Your Seat at Severna Park Elementary School where we took a tour of the school, met lots of administrator and teachers!  Most importantly, we met his 1st grade teacher, brought his supplies in and he checked out his new classroom and locker!

We just love going down to Chesapeake beach and walking around that little town.  Now, if I lived there I may not like it as much because I see it all the time and my appreciation may be taken for granted.  However, it's only a short 30 minute ride for us and the kids love walking around the boardwalk, getting ice cream, people watching and best of all....its gorgeous down there!

We finally moved Julia out of her toddler bed to a twin bed.  We had an extra frame so we purchased this beautiful white suede tufted headboard and the mattress/box spring.  I took her to the store and had her pick out her very own big girl bedding set.  We went into the kids bedding area first and she saw some very girly sets that had flowers, birds, lady bugs...very cute.  Surprisingly she wasn't thrilled with them so she walked down the next aisle and to my surprise it was the "college" bedding set.  I told her that maybe we should go back to the little girl section and she said "NO".  She immediately found the set she wanted- bright hot pink with ruffles on the comforter.  It came with a matching ruffled pillow sham and pink & white polka dot sheet set.  I told her that it may be "too old" for her and that we should go back to the little girl section and she threw a fit and said she wanted that one. I tried the old trick of putting the flowery bed set and the hot pink set next to each other and maybe it would change her mind but no- she insisted on the hot pink ruffled set.

We got home, put it all together and I am so glad she picked out the hot pink set.  It looks gorgeous with the tufted headboard and the little girl sets wouldn't do this bed any justice.  It was made for her.  Just look below...

Trying out her new bed with her big brother watching.

Acting like silly monkeys.

Sound asleep in her new bed.  This bed, the headboard and the set was made for her.  It's perfect.

Alex on the moon bounce!

Girls playing mini golf

Go Matthew!  Potato Sack races!

Haha!  Matthew racing his friend Evan!

I can't tell you how many times Alex went in the moon bounce!

Auntie Debbie & Julia having fun!

 Our dear friends Joe & Amber had an awesome camping birthday party for their son Phoenix.  Matthew has never spent the night at anyone else's house other than Dave's mom's house.  This was not a typical overnight party- this was in a cabin, in the woods...CAMPING!  We bought a sleeping bag for Matthew and we talked about all the fun things he would do while he was there overnight and we even told him that we were only a few minutes away just in case he needed us!    It was hard for me to leave him overnight at a campground in the woods, but he was there with our friends that would take care of him.  Plus I knew it was something that he should experience and wanted to do.


They had so much fun celebrating Phoenix birthday, going swimming, searching for bugs, eating s'mores by the fire and just hanging out with the boys.  Thank you Joe & Amber for such a fun time- although Matthew cried just a bit at night for Dave, this is something he will never forget!

This is the cool cabin where the boys slept!

Happy Birthday Phoenix!

Checking out the birthday presents!

Some time after Julia's 4th birthday we decided that we were going to put the house back on the market again.  I wasn't as hesitant as I was last year.  Our house was on the market for 5 months and it didn't sell last year but I also was not ready for it to be on the market last year.  I just couldn't let the house go.  So, Dave sat me down and he had a talk with me.  He said that we have to try to sell it again and just "see what happens"

Our house went on the market at 1pm on  Monday afternoon, we had 9 showings between Monday afternoon to Wednesday morning and received our first contract Wednesday night.  We approved the contract Thursday and our house was sold in 4 days.

I had no time to react.  I had no time to think and I had no time to change my mind or be sad about moving.  This was it.  We sold our house.  I then realized that we have to find a house- QUICK!

Let the house hunting begin...