Flashback Friday - my recent happenings

Today I am going to Flashback to some recent times.  Stuff I have done over the last couple of months that I have not had the time to post about.  I hope you all enjoy!  If not.  It's okay....I will. 

More face painting at our local pizza joint.

Butterfly face paint with a little mermaid balloon.

Layla with her PaPa on Labor Day weekend.

Layla having a tea party with her big pink Care Bear!

The sky in all its glory!

Layla excited to see her friend, Grady, at the Pink Floyd Performance.

Smoking hot guy exercising in the park...

Layla getting excited to see the performance begin...

Layla and Grady "napping" while the concert continues...

That is my mom and my grandmother, Honey.  We celebrated her 90th birthday earlier this month with a surprise party.  It was splendid!  More on that later...tons of pics!

That above?  The latest and greatest high-rise development my company constructed.  Isn't it a beauty? 

One Park Place.

At Discovery Green to partake in some hula-hoop action.

They were out of big people hoops, but little bit was able to join in.

She did good too.

But, then she got mad at me for taking too many pictures.

See?  She is running away yelling, "Stop taking pictures of me!!!!"

Um, no.  Sorry.

Say hello to the Little Mermaid, Ariel, at her School's Fall Festival.

And her friends!

This is the confused look that ensued when she saw her friend, Kayla, as Princess Ariel, of the wedding variety.  Because, afterall...Layla was THE Little Mermaid.  Look at her 'tude?!?!

Isn't Woody a cutie?  Layla was beyond excited to see her ex-classmate, Adeeva, there to celebrate with her old friends.  She ran up to her squealing with excitement!  Hugs followed.  Awwww....

Ariel with Daddy

Ariel with a very pale and tired looking mommy.  Forgive me.

And I have NO excuse because this is prior to the food poisoning.

Me and my baby girl the day after food poisoning?

What gives?  I think I may look better than the above?  Ha.

And that brings us to today!  This is my rendition of Alice in Wonderland 2010.  Her socks have Alice and some mushrooms on them. 

There is Sammie.  Our dog.  Trying to bite our legs, once.again.

And in class.  Is that a stoned hippie behind her? 

Nope.  That would be MY costume for the weekend. 

Ya'll have a SPOOK-tacular Halloween! 

Pink and Green Thursday - Forever Family

For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity.

~ William Penn


 

 
Unfortunately, it seems, that there had been a lot of loss all around me.  For far too long, I might add. 

It seemed to begin when we lost Richard's mother unexpectedly on New Years Day 2009.  From there, I lost my uncle, my cousin, friends and like-family friends time after time.  I have come to realize this is the hard part of "growing up."  And those of us left behind are the ones with the real pain.  And emptiness.  Our loved ones that passed on - in my opinion - are living a renewed, rewarding existance with My God.  Your God.  Our God.  That is what I choose to believe. 

Many of you know that my dear friend, Nicole, lost her mother recently.  And Summer B just had to say good-bye to her sweet Daddy Butch yesterday.  And our blogging community lost our sweet Bumpkin earlier in the summer.  And one of my favorite blog friends shared with me that she lost both her mother and her little brother within months of eachother when she was basically, a kid.  I cannot fathom the magnitude of her loss.

But, the people that we turn to for comfort are the same people we have just lost and mourned for. 

OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!  And this has inspired my P&G Thursday post for today....

FOREVER FAMILY 

Because even though their physical bodies are not here in our Earthly existance anymore, I have faith that they are still with us.  Guiding us.  Loving us.  Protecting us.

In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing.

~ Robert Ingersoll

 

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

~ Kahlil Gibran

 

To live in hearts we leave behind

Is not to die.

~ Thomas Campbell

 

While we are mourning the loss of our friend, others are rejoicing to meet him behind the veil.

~ John Taylor 

 

He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man.

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery 

 

Oh heart, if one should say to you that the soul perishes like the body, answer that the flower withers, but the seed remains.

~ Kahlil Gibran

{images via we heart it and beauty in everything}