iHeartFaces….Friendships

Posted on August 9, 2011

Birthdays in the Riley household are always big, I admit it I go overboard but I love to plan a kid’s party. This year however we found ourselves down a job, Dad of 2 Peas was without employment for several months so a large party wasn’t in the cards. I was nervous and sad to tell the oldest pea that a party wasn’t going to happen. After all, I got her used to them.

Py had been talking about her birthday for months, she wanted Chuck E Cheese, no she wanted Pinkalicious again, NO let’s do a rock party again……so I asked her……”Py what do you want to do for your birthday?” to my surprise she replied “Mom I just want a sleepover with my friends”. Seriously? you got it!

All she wanted was to be with her friends and have fun so that’s what she got. They sang and danced with the Wii. They had a pillow pet fight, they decorated pillow cases with material paint to take home, they ate pizza and a homemade birthday cake (made with the as seen on tv Big Top Cupcake!) and other sugary treats. It was just me and 6 little girls laughing all night, we had such a great time.

Now, I know that I go overboard every birthday but that’s this Mom’s thing (-:

So look out 8th birthday Mommy’s planning now!

Be sure to head over to iHeartFaces.com and check out the other stories and fabulous pics!

Why doesn’t the world stop?

Posted on July 31, 2011

Why doesn’t the world stop???

When my Gram died Mother’s Day of 2010 I was completely out of sorts. I stayed with my Grandpa and brother for a week so we could get Gramps put together with the paper work that was to follow, cancelling Grams appointments and helping with whatever needed to be done. I barely ate or slept and darn near cried at the drop of a hat. When I came home to my family I couldn’t believe the world hadn’t stopped here like it did when I was with Grandpa and Ben. I had to go back to work, had to take care of my kids and I had to live …… without her. I didn’t think I could do it and there are times I don’t know how I am doing it.

Friday afternoon my friend Katrina had the difficult job of calling me and other out of towners that one of our best friends had passed away. I felt like I was hit by a brick, it was happening again. Only this time I didn’t have a week to process before heading back to reality. My daughters can’t understand why Mommy can’t stop crying or why she can’t play. So Chad has let me grieve and my oldest is trying to do the sweetest things. It’s harder for her because she knew Aunt Jodi was sick and made her several get wells cards and pictures that I was supposed to deliver when I visited her in the hospital on Saturday. I told her Aunt Jodi was getting better, because that was the truth. When I told her Aunt Jodi died, I don’t think she understood because she just stared at me.

Why doesn’t the world stop? to give us time to grieve before life has to begin again?

Pyper got up later after processing what I told her and wrote another card to Aunt Jodi but didn’t know how to deliver it. She thought about it and asked me to take it to the funeral, she wants to go but I think it will be too hard for both of us.

After I read her note I explained that as much as we want that’s just something not something that can not happen. She said to me “I know Mom” so I guess that’s just how she is feeling. So am I.

When I came home from Grandpa’s a year and a half ago I was constantly looking at Gram’s facebook page she just started it and it just sat there. My sister and I wrote on her wall how much we missed her. I looked at it every day and saw everyone else’s status’ wondering how they are going on when I can’t. Now with Jodi gone I find myself doing the same thing. Looking at Jodi’s page seeing all the people she made and impact on and then seeing normal status’ and wondering again…..why hasn’t the whole world stopped to grieve my friend? Why is so and so at the movies and why is so and so shopping? don’t they know she’s gone???

Fact is Gram kept it from us that she was so sick because she didn’t want our world to stop, she wanted us to take care of our families and go about our days and not grieve before she was gone. She wanted us to live because she knew the world goes on whether we are ready for it or not. Jodi would have wanted the same thing, just as she was she was able to live because she didn’t know what was to come. She was living her life to the fullest she was at a place where she was so happy with every aspect in her life, family, work, friends her charity work. She would want us all to live on and to take the reins when it came keeping friendships alive no matter how far away, keeping up with her Komen work and just plain living. It will be hard.

Her funeral is Thursday, I’m not ready, none of us are until then I think we may all be wondering the same thing.

Why doesn’t the world stop???

Jodi Lynn Clark

Posted on July 30, 2011

Jodi Lynn Clark

Yesterday my friend Katrina had called me to say our friend Jodi had passed away, she was only 51 a few weeks from her 52nd birthday. I am devastated as is every one who knew and loved her.

I have cried, I have screamed, I have read all her friends sweet words on her Facebook page and cried some more. As I type ….still crying …. it just doesn’t seem fair that a woman with a heart as big as the moon would be taken away by a heart attack.

Not to be a cliché when a person passes all you hear is how wonderful that person was, well with Jodi it’s true, she would do anything she could to help her friends and even strangers out. Jodi was very active in the Komen Race for the Cure. She always had a team for her aunt and worked very hard to raise money and get people to walk. She was even named chairperson this year, the race in Cleveland is September this year my friend Katrina said that they are going to do something special for Jodi I can’t wait to see it.

Jodi wasn’t just my friend she was family, she was there for me when I needed her the most. When Gram died she came to the house every day, called every night even after she had just been there. She brought Grandpa food and stopped by until she knew he was going to be ok and would still ask me if he needed anything constantly. This is just one of the million things she so unselfishly did for her friends.

When Gram died Jodi gave me a book called How To Cope When You Lose A Parent I wonder how you cope when you lose a best friend?

I want to write more but right now it will have to wait, it’s just too painful.

Pyper and her “Aunt” Jodi two red headed peas in a pod.

Jodi – we will miss you forever and love you even longer.

The Oldest Peas Seventh Year Interview………..

Posted on July 21, 2011

PYPER SINCLAIR’S SEVENTH YEAR INTERVIEW

It’s that time of year again, same questions as the last three years !

What is your favorite color? “pink” - of course it is that one never changes 0-:

What’s your favorite song right now? “Fireflies and Freak the Freak Out” - OK I could have guessed Fireflies by Owl City as it is the ONLY song she wants to sing on the Wii (Disney Sing It) over and over and over again…….

How about your favorite tv shows?? “A.N.T. Farm and iCarly” – I admit I do like these as well iCarly is still hanging in there as a favorite it’s nice to see somethings didn’t change well that and pink!

and your favorite movie? “Justin Beiber Never Say Never” (ugg **rolling my eyes**) )

what about a book? “Judy Moody and the Not So Bummer Summer” – NICE being as I bought it for you and you never read it! Not all those books you got for your birthday and actually read??

What is your best subject in school?? “Art” – I approve

OK Py, What is your favorite thing about sissy? “she’s cute” – she is cute lol

your favorite game?? “Just Dance 2″ – I like it too!

What about Pete and Puff??? “they are snuggly well Puff is anyway Pete is kind of” – yeah Pete is a loner huh? – “Yeah”

If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?? Florida Why Florida? “because its really fun because its Disney and its really fun” – nuff said

Ok Py lets get to the nitty gritty of this interview…..

If you could get rid of one food forever never to see it again what food would that be??? “Onions and Tomatos” – hmmm sure Math isn;t your favorite subject? “Mommy” just teasing you…

If you could meet someone famous who would it be? “Justin Beiber” (Phoebe seconds that) – I got nothing …

What is your favorite memory? “Grandma Ellis she used to rock me in her arms and sing me a song to fall asleep and she made me a bed on the floor” – and I hope you always remember her pickle….

Would you rather go to the doctor or the dentist? “dentist…because they give surprises balloons and toys!” – well gosh who can argue with that???

When you look at the clouds what do you think of ? “Grandma Ellis” – me too

If Daddy had a boat and let you name it what would you call it? “Cinderella ! (Daddy screamed WHAT?!?) I’m kidding mommy I would name it Prince Charming for Daddy” – well that’s better than Jess from last years interview! and kind of sweet too (-:

And last but not least the famous ….What do you want to be when you grow up? “ummm…..Phoebe’s Lawyer” What is Phoebe going to need a lawyer for????? No wonder you want to run off to Canada~!

I love giving Py her yearly “interview” and she loves it too, I hope she gets a good laugh out of them when she is older. If you have littles you should do this too all us parents have to have something good to break out when they get married or graduate from something just to embarrass them LOL!

Two Peas Garden Update July 2011

Posted on July 17, 2011

STINK BUGS HAVE INVADED~!

What is a stink bug you ask? well its a brown bug that I think looks like a wooden shield, google stink bug and it will tell you all about this new pest that sprays won’t kill! My friend TJ was talking about them at lunch the other day, I told him I just saw one on my pepper plant I just kept flicking him away and he kept coming back. That is when he told me about the damage they do and the millions of eggs they lay….OK not millions but hundreds for sure. I looked that night and didn’t see the bug or eggs SHOOOO I thought and told my friends the next day. Well! two days later (Friday in fact) while outside playing with the girls and looking for growing veggies. I saw two Adults on a leaf my friend Debbie said to drown them in soapy water so I ran inside and grabbed a pickle jar with warm soapy water……on a mission to kill these pest I got one in the jar and lost the other!! OH NO! then the worst discovery…..

The eggs :

Now look at this garden:

I stayed in that back yard with my peas for 4 hours looking through each leaf and found so many eggs 1/4 of these leaves are now gone. And I was able to see a little of each veggie that we are growing I just really hope that they aren’t too affected. I was so warm out I had jeans on so I wouldn’t get all itchy when out come Py with my life line…..

How sweet is she??

SO then after I went through each leaf the girls wanted to pick some beans so we stayed out just a little longer (-:

Phoebe was the most excited I love to hear her yell “a bean I found one” !

Let big sissy help you there …

My big girl helper telling me how big the yellow summer squash is she just spotted (-;

Pyper was just not impressed with the tiny bean Phoebe picked and lectured her on how you know when a bean IS ready to be picked. LOL!

Saturday morning while looking out the window I caught a glimpse of another leaf with eggs I rolled up my jammies and ran out with another pickle jar. After I found two more leaves with eggs I spotted him the other adult bug!

I drowned him see below he is upside down and dead dead dead, I accidentally knocked the jar over BUT he was still dead and I sealed him and the egged up leaves in the jar to throw away.

Be sure to check back for more garden updates!!

Happy gardening and may stink bugs never make their way to YOUR garden!

OH ALMOST FORGOT

we found this little cutie too!

he was teeny the size of a pinky finger nail!

PS Today is Sunday and I found more eggs!!! DANG IT!

Summer Chicken Curry Salad

Posted on July 16, 2011

It’s summer time!

One of my family’s all time favorite meals……Chicken Curry Salad YUM!

This salad is so easy to make and literally takes 10 minutes.

I originally looked for a good chicken salad that we would eat (the picky eaters that we are) I found one that was simple and fast but it had onions and raisins well that wouldn’t fly……so I took the basic recipe and tweaked it.

First mayonnaise 1 cup (I like two cups for a more creamy salad)

and then a tablespoon of curry

Mix these together first so the curry doesn’t chunk up once it is together; add in already cooked grilled chicken strips these are refrigerated and bagged the recipe calls for 3 of the bags. They are in the grocery store by the pre-packaged ham and hot dogs the precooked chicken comes in cubes too if you prefer.

Add 1/2 cup almonds I like whole so I can pick them out if we have little ones eating it, now that Phoebe is older we like the slivers but the slices are good too!

Now cut your grapes in half I add a ton of grapes! but if you’re a stickler it calls for a cup (-:

Wallah very easy and so good!

and happy little ones (-:

I hope you love it like we do let me know if you do!

The Littlest Peas 1st Trip to Cosi

Posted on May 31, 2011

The first time we went to Cosi with my in laws I took the oldest Peas thinking that the littlest pea would be stuck in a stroller and miserable all day so she stayed home with Daddy…….. little did I know they practically have a whole floor just for those little people 5 years and under!

So we had to come back with Phoebe and our friends Brandy and Dave and their boys THEN come to find out it was Dad of 2 Peas first visit too so we had lot to look at and do for both of these two!

When you first walk in you are immediately greeted with “cool stuff” as the oldest pea would put it. A harp without strings but plays when you touch it because of lasers!

Then we wandered on over to the heart beat thingamagig Py liked this one a lot Phoebe was still a little confused LOL!

Once our friends arrived we headed up to the little’s floor, unfortunately Pyper was too old so she and Chad played a X-Box Kinects in a little room away from the big kids. And trust me when we say this the staff makes sure the big kids don’t mix in we had Py comes out of the little room to watch rat races they were putting on and this one staff member stared her down like she was about to rob a bank!

Once we were in there Phoebe was a little overwhelmed yeah, she just stood there taking it in not knowing what to do first. There was so much!

I finally got her to go back to the water part where she had to don a rain coat and looked so dang cute !

What to do what to do. I have never seen Phoebe so shy about playing!

After a good 30 minutes I got her to look at other stuff, she liked this ball race but once a little guy tried to play with her she took off!

When she gets shy she makes this face that is so funny, kind of like she just got caught doing something embarrassing she did it a lot when the other kids tried to play with her. She is with other kids everyday so not sure why she was so shy but she was!

So we went over to the other side of the floor the medical heath part, she put a band aid on a baby doll….

watched a video on the eye doctor…..

and talked to animals (-:

By this time she was ready to catch up with sissy and Dad, so we grabbed our friends and moved along.

We found Chad and Pyper in the “Progress” section across the way…..it was AWESOME the last time we were there Py and I went back in time to 1898 and now they added 1962!

Chad showed Py how to use the 18oo’s hoops…..

and do I even mention that Peas hair I love her piggie tails (-:

Chad showed both the peas the telegram office with a talking bird!

Birds was kinda frightening dare I say Alfred Hitcocky?

Chad loved the old camera Pyper was posing of course and I missed it OOPS

Then we scurried over to the 1960′s! Phoebe loved this little ride that used to be outside the grocery stores, it was kind of hard to tell what it was a helicopter? a UFO? it didn’t matter she loved it no matter what it was!

Pyper loved the phone booth, I used to go up the street from out house all the time to call boys on a payphone and here my little one had no clue what it was she didn’t even know what the cord was for…..I am getting SO old!

Phoebe was walking with Chad from window to window she was just taking it all in. Here’s a few shots of the 60′s so cool and notice the Sinclair Gas Station this is Pyper last name the thought it was so cool (-:

See Pyper looking at the bike up there? she wanted to ride it we would have never caught her.

After seeing her middle name in lights we lost her again….PYPER! where did that child go??

OH BOY of course she would find the tv studio she always says she wants to be famous!

There she is!

Daddy’s turn he read the teleprompter with breaking news of Kennedy’s Assassination

Pyper was the camera man Phoebe, Xander and Zach were the crew Phoebe was a little freaked out by the tv so she never went behind the desk

Now hoopla hoops! nothing like the 1800′s hoop they just rolled down the street!

Next up the Gadgets so much to tinker with~! Dave even signed Py and Zach up for a class while Brandy and I took the littles to their own thing Brandy has that pic…hmmm you reading this Brandy I need that picture LOL

again Pyper took off Phoebe played with Daddy and I lost the Maas family, this Mom of 2 Peas clearly was not keeping up~!

OK there she is on the pulley having so much fun~!

Phoebe was getting hungry so after discovering their inner engineer we headed to the cafeteria…..I love the burger and fries, but they have everything there and it is all so good.