My Birthday and Saint Valentine's Day two special days - always together!

Mommy & her lil' baby girl - Chewbacca

I can't believe it is February and VALENTINE'S DAY has come and gone and thus my birthday has too! I love this day/month... I love watching everyone celebrate "love" on my birthday! I love having my birthday on Valentine's Day!! I know a lot of people think it's just another day to spend money, a "Hallmark" holiday - but I propose and feel that it's a day to reflect on who we love, care about, and treasure! I mean - sure we should do that every day - but do we?

It's really fun to go to a store and see people pouring over cards, carrying flowers, or even gifts. I loved walking in to my youngest girl's school and seeing all the flowers, cards, and little gifts lining the front desk - to go to teachers. I just think it can't be wrong to celebrate those we love. I did my yearly wear some hue of pink or red until my birthday as usual. And we will be taking the yearly photos of me and the girls - as we do every year - like here in the next few days. Can't wait! I will post them when we do them!


And to everyone whom made my day so incredibly special... I thank you from the bottom of my heart. My immediate family made me feel so special all day long. My little girls are so AMAZINGLY caring and thoughtful. I can't believe how they made me feel. AND NO ARGUING! hahahah
The calls and birthday wishes from family, dear friends, and all who knew it was my birthday.
I LOVE IT! Thank you!!! It's neat sharing a special day with those I love.

Happy Valentine's Day & February

My Sweet Family & Friends!

And here's a few photos of how we celebrated... I even got to learn how to blow glass thanks to a special present from Mr Safety Man!!! Now he's got me hooked!

Girls made their own Valentine's cards - love their creativity!

Shirts I made for Boo's teachers...They're adorable!

I made little mailboxes for special msgs throughout the month!!

First time EVER glass - blowing!

I got to see what I created on my birthday!

Here it is! I am amazed! And proud! Thank you God for helping me create this paperweight. WOW.

We woke up to special marbles/paperweights made by Mr Safety Man for his three girls! WOW! Yes those are hearts in the glass!

Special time with my bunnies and lovely weather!

More special time with my kiddos!

My baby - Chewbacca

Sweet 'Silver Bells' - aka Bella

Heart shapes always show up for me. My sweet lil' angel watching over me

Mr Safety Man made me a glass heart! Now I have his heart!

He surprised me w/something he said wasn't there when he got there!

Beautiful bangle bracelet with amethyst

Little help!

Special GLUTEN FREE - flourless Chocolate cake... so delish!!!

He cracks me up - forgot candles... a bit "homemade..." Can you guess my age?!

And I even got a bit of an activity I have wanted to do! READ with my new chicken!!!

 Wonderful day! I am so glad it's getting warmer out and our Live Oak is finally getting green and it has almost stopped dropping their dead leaves. It just feels to me like everything is waking up and just smiling.

Yearly Birthday Photos!!!

What a month... Today we did our yearly photos. You see... I started this tradition when my little ones were babies... every year on or near my birthday we take photos all together... mostly me and my babies (not such babies anymore) but sometimes Mr Safety Man joins in as well...

We took so many photos this year I just do not know which ones to choose... BooBooBear is in a weird smiling stage... but hey that's her... Sweetpea... well she decided she could talk through a lot of the photos... a few I had to "DEMAND" they smile and take a good photo for my birthday's sake...

 ...but all-in-all we had a lot of fun.

 It was rather chilly this year. We took photos at a different beach this year. Now the goal is to get a book together of all the years of the birthday shots... Is it cheesy that we most of the time have matching shirts? hahaha Oh well - that's us! I will do it while I can!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONTH TO MEEEeeeeee!!!

I just love this month... and NO not only because my birthday's St. Valentine's Day... but that does play a BIG part...

No - there's a variety of reasons... love, the "symbol of love - a heart, the fact that where I live - February starts to become warmer than it has been for the last few weeks... (THANK GOODNESS... I HATE TO BE COLD). I start to see new things come to life around me... just in time for my birthday. It is the month where I think about the past year, think about the new year, and thank God for all my blessings. I guess it is my "New Year" so-to-speak. Perhaps that is why I haven't formalized any new year's resolutions - I was waiting for FEBRUARY!

I adore that I get to celebrate and share my birthday with a beautiful emotion like LOVE. I try to define myself by love - loving my family, friends, trying to love myself (that hasn't been working lately). Loving life as much as I can right now.. It is such a HUGE part of who I am. I define myself through this little holiday (even though it's kinda "Hallmark-y" now).at

I love the fact that my mom calls me on my birthday every year and says to me "you are the most special and best Valentine in the world a mom could ask for...". Aaaaaa - it just is special. ;) Melts your heart doesn't it?

Well it's been a busy, busy, busy few weeks. I have SO many photos to upload... but for now I leave you with a few beautiful love quotes... after all... it is almost

SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Must, bid the Morn awake!
Sad Winter now declines,
Each bird doth choose a mate;
This day's Saint Valentine's.
For that good bishop's sake
Get up and let us see
What beauty it shall be
That Fortune us assigns.
~Michael Drayton

Loving is not just looking at each other, it's looking in the same direction.  ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand, and Stars, 1939

Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination. ~ Voltaire 

A New Year, A New Decade, and a New 10th Birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SWEET KYK!!

I pray for this year to be the best ever...

I cannot believe that this year has gone by so soon! I cannot fathom that this year is over! It was wayyy too fast and filled with so many things! I think the top on my list - is getting myself healthy - to be a better me, a healthier (in all aspects - physically with my back especially) ME! I look fwd to really working on maintaining this healthy relationship with my body... wish me luck!

The Marriners brought the new year in with some of our fabulous friends - it was so fun to be with our close friends. They are our extended family when our family is so far away. Besides some wonderful toasts to such wonderful friends, delicious food, & crazy singing,... we each told where we were at the turn of the century 10 years ago! WOW we all had such great stories!


I shot my hand up... this was a NOOOooooooo BRAINER!! I was NINE months... FULLY pregnant - I mean she tried to come right before Christmas - so I was ready to BUST! It looked like I swallowed a BIG basketball! We counted down the new year with my parents and my SOoooooo silly dear Mr Safety Man - escaped out in to the garage at the stroke of midnight and shut off the power... It was HYSTERICAL! My dad says to us... "Well I guess that's that - I'll toast to THAT!" And then my oh-so-funny hubby flipped back on the power. It was a lot of fun being with my parents - for this "momentous" turn of the century... I kept singing "We're gonna PARTAY like it's 1999!!" (a Prince song - for those of you who aren't as cool as I)!

We were hoping that our little bundle of joy would come right then... well she wasn't due till the beginning of February. But she came soon after the new year commenced.

Hours after Ky's birth... HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BABY GIRL!

So much has changed in these last ten years. I've grown in so many ways. My dear Safety-Man has grown! Our family has grown! Our lives have changed exponentially. Ten years ago we had been in our house for about 10 months - our own house with lots of used and mixed-matched, old furniture and we have come so far in this house... it is now our home- with lots of love, sweat, blood, tears, but mostly hardwork and love. I was still working for my company in Orlando but was mostly working from home due to being SO PREGNANT! AND the biggest change for me... I WAS PREGNANT! Hello!?! If that is not the biggest change in a young, married couples lives what is?! Our married lives were about to change for the best.

Our oldest daughter blessed us and arrived on January 4th, 2000 at 10:08pm. My water broke (sorry for the tmi) at noon. Kyky was bound and determined to come that day. She was early...by three weeks. My contractions would not cease... I couldn't believe my dr wanted me to come in to "make sure" my water had broken. Heeheehee well joke was on her as I got on the table - sure enough it "broke again" only on her shoes! heheehhehe!! (A small victory for the slam to my dignity...)!

We went directly to the hospital at that point. Normal contractions look like little turtle shells across the read-out tape. Nope not mine... mine looked like the Rocky Mountain cliffs! There was no relief, no end to the pain, and I just couldn't relax... (PLUS I couldn't remember ANY of the Lamaze we had learned in all those weeks of classes with my favorite OB nurse Sue)! I asked for an epidural - only the anethesiologist had 2 emergency epidurals he had to do - so I got "bumped". I did, however, get a shot to fall asleep -but immediately upon waking, they were just as bad. If I didn't progress - I would have to do a c-section. The baby's heart rate did drop. Finally the epidural came. Not a pleasant experience - but I will spare the tmi there!

Luckily I progressed and was able to relax. They backed off the epidural so I could feel and start pushing. Our baby was born at 10:08pm. The NICU nurses were there. It was all so surreal. I got to hold Kyky for seconds... and the first thing I noticed was her color wasn't right. It actually matched my nail color - a grey/purplish color. Then she was urgently whisked away. My DEAR Safety-Man was a saint that evening. I had to do "things" after she came - and he knew what was happening with our baby. My first, dear sweet baby was not breathing. She was quiet. Too quiet. In fact my baby had the cord wrapped around her neck several times. She had been without oxygen. I asked her Apghar score... and no one would answer me. It turned out it was a ZERO then. My darling hubby- stepped in between me and my Ky getting resuscitated. He held my hand and glanced backward to watch his daughter. She wouldn't cry. I had NO idea what was happening the entire time - which was a huge blessing. He shielded me from that pain. I kept asking him to move and he kept telling me how proud he was of me. What a wonderful man. They worked on my baby girl (but I didn't know it) for quite awhile. I remember hearing at one point - one nurse say "she won't cry. She needs to cry" and another nurse shushing her.

And finally... I heard it. I heard the most beautiful sound in the whole world. My daughter crying.

It was the sweetest, most blessed, most angelic sound I had ever heard.

My Kyky was born and my Kyrakin has been the most beautiful child one could ever ask for. She is lovely, smart, intelligent, beautiful, sweet, caring, loving. She truly was the BEST pregnancy, the BEST baby, the BEST little girl. I mean she amazes us every day...

And now my Ky has turned TEN! TEN!!! She continues to be such a wonder to us. We have our great days and of course our struggles. She is very independent yet she wants to be a little girl too! She wants to grow up - yet still needs us greatly. It is an interesting journey. A glorious journey. An exciting story that is unfolding.

Happy Birthday sweet girl! We love you

And now look at this gorgeous girl... This was taken on the eve of her birthday. She had this EXTRAVAGANZA of a party...her friends all came dressed-up to the hilt. They all got to walk the red carpet... and my-o-my did she look TOO old that night!! We're not ready for her to grow up too fast... not quite yet. One year at a time is fine by us!

Musings on a wonderful decade...a momentous decade - beautiful moments!

HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY Little Boo! 7/27/02

I just cannot believe she's 7! It went by so fast. I held her tiny little form when she was born and wondered at the miracle placed on me. How could I be so lucky and blessed? She was strong and continues to be strong. She is a fighter, a leader, independent, and mine.

Why does time soar along so fast? I held her tightly, caressing her and loving her tiny little form. Loving how she fit in my arms. I blinked. She changed. She is no longer my tiny baby - but she is so big & strong, beautiful, growing and changing so fast. I am afraid to blink again. I am afraid I will miss something of this small, little wonder. I am afraid that she will blossom and change so fast that my heart will not grow with her.

how little you were...

Ahhh time is a funny thing. But time does give us blessings of watching the wonder of the world through their eyes. And seeing all the miracles of their becoming "themselves". So special. So sacred.

My baby... my tiny little Boo... seven. When did it happen?

Happy birthday sweet Boo Boo Bear... Happy Birthday to my baby, always.

Musings on how time can just go by so fast...