February 22, 2010

I know that sounds corny, but it’s a pretty emotional day for me. Even though he is 25 years old, he’s still my little boy and I know all you moms out there know what I mean when I say that.

This seems like it was just yesterday.

(Before I say more, I made a decision today to change BigT’s blog nickname. All our other kids blog nicknames are their real nicknames. We chose BigT back when we started this blog because a neighbor had nicknamed him that, but that’s not what we call him. We call him Bry, so from now on, BigT is Bry here on BigSisLilSis.)

Our entire family has been waiting for this day, with much anticipation, for seven months now. Bry first started the process of joining the Navy way back in July of last year. He worked with a recruiter here in San Diego for several months and when she couldn’t locate a job for him, he packed up his truck, moved to Texas, met a new Recruiter on his first day there and started the process all over again.

Bry has never been real sure about which direction he wanted to take down the career path until now. Ever since he started talking about joining the Navy, he’s seemed more sure about it than anything ever before. He’s gone through a lot of red tape, gotten into the best physical shape of his life, and is more focused and motivated than I’ve ever seen him.

Even though I never really anticipated Bry being in the military, I always knew that he had a big heart and would do something great with his life. Now, he’s going to help defend our country and I couldn’t be more proud.

I’m on an emotional roller coaster today because I don’t know when he’s leaving Dallas or when he’s arriving in Great Lakes, but I’ll feel better once I talk to him tonight. He gets a 30-second phone call to let me know when he arrives, but after that I won’t be able to speak to him for eight weeks. That’s gonna be tough!

Today, I’m a really proud mom and a teary-eyed, lip quivering mess all at the same time!

Note from BigSis:

I know what you mean, LilSis, about being emotional!  I remember that cute little blond guy like it was yesterday too.  It was a rough weekend here, with Bry moving out of my place on Friday after spending 6 weeks with me, and then his send-off party on Saturday night.  I’m totally proud of him for doing such a brave thing with his life, and I’m trying not to be selfishly mopey!  To keep from going nuts with worry, I’m going to keep praying every day that God will surround him with a supernatural hedge of protection to keep him safe and well!  I hope that our BigSisLilSis friends will join me in praying for him, and all of our military!

~LilSis

January 21, 2010

Same day. A year later.

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the day we lost our Dad. But, you know what?  We don’t like that word. Lost. He’s not lost. What do you say? Passed? Passed away? Died? We don’t like any of those words.

There really isn’t one word to describe what it is that happened on this day three years ago. It’s just the day our Dad went to Heaven.

So, today, we’re quiet, in his honor.

~LilSis

December 28, 2009

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!

I’m sure that lots of you had snow on the ground for Christmas morning, but if we had stayed in California, we definitely would not have had a White Christmas. I think I mentioned earlier that HayHay was really hoping for a White Christmas, and, as the saying goes, you better be careful what you wish for because it just might come true!

A week ago, Sunday before we left for Chicago, he was doing this!

And two days later, he was doing this!

It really was beautiful though.

We wouldn’t have seen icicles like this in San Diego!

We had a great time with all the family and are so thankful that we were able to spend Christmas together this year.  It was 15 degrees when we left Chicago on Sunday so I have to say that I am glad to be back in the San Diego sunshine again, even though we do already miss everyone!

And, in case anyone was wondering, HayHay was back on the surfboard at 8:00 this morning!

~LilSis

November 21, 2009

If you haven’t already noticed, we don’t really talk about one particular subject here on BigSisLilSis. We don’t only talk about food, or fitness, or beauty products or mommy stuff’; we talk about what it is we women talk about. We talk about something different every day. With our friends. And our sisters. We talk about what’s on our minds. We may talk about anything from a great recipe, a new eye shadow color, a great anti-cellulite product, our favorite foot cream to Cats in Hats, dolphins, or even hairballs!

But today, I don’t want to talk about any of that; I just want to share with you this photo of my three favorite, sweet, handsome guys, all together. Just so you know, they’ve all shared this photo on Facebook so they don’t mind that I’m sharing it here!

The Blues Brothers

From left to right; BigT, BigGuy, and HayHay, also known as The Blues Brothers. (Photo was taken July, 2009 during BigGuy’s visit to San Diego.) This doesn’t happen often enough since the three of them now live in three different states.

As this week of Thanksgiving approaches, it seems as if we all think more about what it is we’re most thankful for.

I’m so thankful every day that somehow, someway, we managed to raise our blended family where each and every one of our kiddos considers the other a brother or a sister. No half brother, no step brother, no half sister, no step sister…just, this is my brother or this is my sister.

And these three brothers; without a doubt, they’re not just brothers, they’re Bros!

~LilSis

August 31, 2009

I know, it’s silly to play a Happy Anniversary song to yourself, right? I didn’t think I would get serenaded in bed like Wilma did, so I thought I’d play this for myself. I always loved this episode and this rendition of the song totally gets stuck in your head.

“Happy Anniversary!”

“Happy Anniversary!”

“Happy Anniversary!”

“Haaaaapppppy Anniversary!!!!

“Happy Anniversary!”

“Happy Anniversary!”

“Happy Anniversary!”

“Haaaaapppppy Anniversary!!!!

Okay..that’s enough of that. Let’s get to the point, quickly, please…

It was 18 years ago today that SirHoney and I said “I do!” I think anniversaries are really special and I’m a little bit of a freak about celebrating them on the actual date, not the weekend before or the weekend after. When it happens to fall on a Monday night, then you celebrate the anniversary on Monday night!

I’m not going to get all sappy, though, because we just did that yesterday in our post about HayHay’s 16th birthday.

Sometimes you can’t help but reflect a little on how your life has played out and how it could have turned out differently if certain situations hadn’t occurred.

I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and every thing is as it is supposed to be at this moment. If I hadn’t met SirHoney, my amazing step-daughters and stepson would not even be a part of my life, I wouldn’t have my three adorable grandsons, and HayHay would NOT even be here.

Basically, we’re happy, healthy, still in love, and grateful to have five wonderful children, who are happy and healthy, and three healthy grandsons that we totally adore.

Honestly, what more can you ask for?

~LilSis

August 30, 2009

Happy 16th Birthday, HayHay!

Is it okay to call a boy’s 16th Birthday Party a Sweet Sixteen? Probably not, huh? My little baby is 16 today and he is a sweetheart, but I guess I can’t do the whole Sweet Sixteen birthday party theme.

When I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, I got the same answer that I get every year. He doesn’t want a big party with tons of friends and doesn’t care to got out to eat somewhere expensive.  He just wants to have his closest friends over for swimming and a cookout, so that’s what we’re doing today.

I just mentioned a couple of weeks ago how it seemed like HayHay grew out of his bunk bed overnight. This may sound ridiculous, but ever once in a while when I see my handsome, six foot tall young man from a distance, I can’t believe that he’s my little baby boy.

Where did the years go?? This photo was taken when HayHay had just turned one year old and it seems like it was yesterday.

Baby HayHay

And, no, he never went on to become the next Mozart, even though he does look like a child prodigy in this photo.

My hormonal roller coaster is in tenth gear right an  I can barely even write this with a quivering chin and tears rolling down my face. (I know, it’s signs of peri-menopause! Lucky me!) But today is NOT about me, even though I am the one that gave birth to him.

Today is about HayHay! I’ll keep this short and sweet because if I start reminiscing about when he was a baby or a toddler or even how sweet he was when he was in elementary school, I’m going to be boo-hooing too hard to even type.

My little boy has grown into such a nice, handsome, sweet, polite, caring young man. He has a great sense of humor, has great friends, loves animals, has a great relationship with his brothers and sisters, makes good grades, and manages to participate on both the junior varsity and varsity HS Golf Teams and the HS Surf Team. Basically, he’s just a good kid.

We’re just really proud of our young man and wish him a Happy, Happy 16th Birthday!

Lord help me when he goes off to college!! I already know that I’m going to be a mess! It’ll be the first time in our entire married life that we haven’t had any children in the house!!

I’m going to go dry my eyes and turn this over to BigSis to see if she would like to say a few words…

Note from Aunt BigSis…

Oh, well, that’s just great!   Thanks for getting me all emotional, LilSis!  I know he’s your little boy all grown up, but he’s always been my little buddy, just like his brother Big T has always been.  I can’t believe he’s SIXTEEN!  When did this happen??  It seems like yesterday that I was holding his hand crossing the street, or babysitting him, or just having him spend the weekend with me.

I have so many memories of spending precious time with HayHay: going to Schlotsky’s and sitting in our spot, him finding Baby Gaby for the first time, choosing AshyPoo to be “our” cat at the Siamese Rescue, going to Maui twice, making him pasta shells with butter and parmesan forever, smelling the Aveda Confixor in his little spiky hairdo before church each week with him carrying his little Bible.

There are so many memories, and there are new ones being made, but BOB SAGET; it has just gone too fast!  Remember how he used to write the name of the church worship leader in chalk on the driveway because he looked up to him so much?  And how cute he was at his kindergarten graduation in the little blue cap and gown?  And how adorable he looked in that tiny tux when he was the ring bearer at his cousin’s wedding?  Ok, I have to stop now.  I’m killing myself with this walk down memory lane.  It’s more bittersweet cuteness than I can stand.

HayHay Kindergarten Graduation

I agree 1000% that little HayHay has grown into an awesome young man.  I have to admit that I do miss little HayHay because my last little buddy is grown now, but I look forward to the future with big HayHay!  Happy birthday, HayHay!  You’re awesome and we love you to pieces!

HayHay: photo by Daddy in 2004

~LilSis

August 18, 2009

In less than two weeks, I’ll be celebrating my 18th wedding anniversary. I just realized that’s exactly twice as many years as I was married the first time!

That really makes me sound old. Of course, I was a young teenager right out of high school when I got married the first time.  I still don’t know why we thought that was such a great idea…

If I had grown up in the 50s, I probably never would have gotten married. “The Good Wife’s Guide” was supposedly published in a 1955 Home Economics textbook intended for high school girls to teach them how to be prepared for married life.

Apparently, this has been circulating for a while now, but I’d never seen it until a couple of weeks ago when our friend, C, gave us a copy.

Housekeeping Monthly May 13, 1955

Disclaimer:  You can check out Snopes if you want to see what they say about this article. The graphic that we were given, that was supposedly reproduced from a 1955 Housekeeping Monthly publication, has been proven to be a fabrication. The question is whether the piece quoted above really came from a home economics textbook. Snopes says that it’s undetermined.

“The Good Wife’s Guide”

• Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have be thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they get home and the prospect of a good meal is part of the warm welcome needed.

• Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you’ll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.

• Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

• Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives. Run a dust cloth over the tables.

• During the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering to his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

• Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Encourage the children to be quiet.

• Be happy to see him.

• Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.

• Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first – remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

• Don’t greet him with complaints and problems.

• Don’t complain if he’s late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through at work.

• Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or lie him down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.

• Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.

• Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.

• A good wife always knows her place.

Seriously? Wouldn’t you really like to know if this was really published in a high school textbook?

~LilSis

August 17, 2009

I love all those great ideas for decorating dorm rooms that BigSis just shared with us. It’s nice to know that there are some retailers that make it easy and affordable for us to get just about everything we need in a one-stop shopping trip. Luckily, we’ve got three years to go before we have to prepare for that big move!

Honestly, it seems like school just let out for the Summer and here we are talking about getting organized to send the kiddos back to school.  When we talk about how fast time flies, here’s a perfect example. Last year right before HayHay was about to enter his Freshman year of High School, we all of a sudden noticed that he was literally growing out of his bed.

Well, I wonder why? We bought the bunk beds when he was four years old! So, one day he’s a little four year old with brand new bunk beds and the next time I turn around, he’s a 5′8″ fourteen year old sleeping on a little twin bed. (You gotta give him credit, he never complained or even mentioned that his feet were hanging off his mattress.) I just ran across the photos that I took for my ad .

Here’s what he was sleeping in just last year.

And here was his cute little desk on the end.

I don’t even think he could sit in that little chair and fit under the desk!

After one trip to IKEA and some fresh new paint colors, here’s what the Big Boy Room looks like now.

The IKEA bed, dresser, and nightstand are all from the Hemnes collection. The bed was $299, the dresser was $299 and the nightstand was under $100.

We got the Quick Silver comforter, sheet set, pillow cases, shams and two pillows at Bed, Bath and Beyond all in one “Bed in a Bag” for under $200.00. They may not have the exact set right now, but I know they have some awesome deals going on for bedding.

Finally, drawers big enough to hold big boy clothes.

Yes, the Led Zeppelin wall covering is a ‘hand me down’ from BigT.

But, I love that he still loves his Rugrat pillowcase! 

I’m not crazy about posters being hung all over the room with thumbtacks, but HayHay managed to do this himself without asking and I’ve decided that I need to choose my battles.

We never did totally finish his room, so that’s one of our projects for this week. We’re going to head back to IKEA to try to find shelves for his trophies and some sort of storage unit for all his sports memorabilia and his collection of hats. And, if I find some reasonably priced frames, maybe I can convince him that his surf posters would look better if they were framed.

While at IKEA, I’m going to try to focus on buying just what we need to finish up his room, but in looking through the new 2010 catalog, I’m going to be tempted to browse through the home organization section and the office workspace area.

There’s something about getting the kids ready to go back to school that makes me want to reorganized all the cabinets and drawers in preparation for the school books that have to stay at the house and all the new school supplies. I love shopping for school supplies! I probably haven’t mentioned it lately, but I do have an office supply fetish. (I could get lost in Staples for hours.)

If I find any amazing bargains or any fun, new items, I’ll be back later this week to share them with you.

~LilSis

August 16, 2009

It’s here already…back to school!  Where did the summer go?  Regardless of where it went or how fast it flew by, the time is here to get our act together for the fall.  For lots of folks, that means getting your dorm room set up and organized.  Thankfully, there are lots of resources available to help!  Since time for online ordering may be running short for some of you, we’re focusing on retailers with “real” stores as well as web sites.

Bed Bath & Beyond has a “Shop for College” section online.  It includes a super-helpful checklist for equipping the space, and a College Practical Solutions section with solutions to common problems, like too little clothing storage or too little light.  There is even a Decorating Ideas feature.

How about this Grover Beach theme for a young guy?

Grover Beach

Ok, well, maybe it is a little over the top and packed with stuff, but you don’t have to buy all of it.  All of the items pictured in the example are listed below the photos of it, with prices and the option to add them to your shopping cart as you see fit.  Pretty cool!

For a young woman, I think their Juliet room is a little wild and fun!

Juliet

Target Paisley Comforter

Not to be outdone, Target has a whole line of stylish dorm room decor items, including bedding, bath items, furniture and accessories.  I’m crazy about this brown and blue paisley comforter ($14.99) and can see a whole room built around it very easily.

Target also has some pages put together to help you.  You can click on the Contemporary Total Dorm, for example, and see photos and prices of everything they think you will need.  I’m not sure if the 32″ Vizeo HDTV they show is essential or not, but maybe it is for some students!  You can also view their suggested items for the Classic Total Dorm, The Trendy Total Dorm, the Dorm Lounge and different girls’ and guys’ dorms styles.  Lots of fun stuff.

JC Penney also has their own Dorm Life section with useful resources: a checklist, tips on finding your own style, living in a small space, and doing what you need to do on a small budget.  They have lots of affordable options for furnishing and decor.  I love that their seating section is comprised of one faux fur butterfly chair and ten bean bag chairs!  It doesn’t get any more dorm-ish than that!

We hope we’ve given you have a few ideas for decor to get you started.  We’ll be back all this week with more back-to-school info, including some organizing tips!

~BigSis

August 1, 2009

Happy Birthday, SisMama!

SURPRISE!

Yes, we have another birthday in the family today! I just arrived in Dallas yesterday to surprise SisMama for her big day. BigSis & I have been conspiring about the weekend for a couple of weeks now and BigSis’ boss is generously letting us stay at his home on Possum Kingdom Lake for the weekend! We don’t have much of an agenda planned for the weekend other than a lot of boating, eating, and relaxing! We should try to allow for some exercise, but it’s not top priority on this trip.

We’re so excited and are hoping that SisMama will be too! (How much fun would it be to get that kind of reaction from someone when you surprise them?)

We aren’t sure if we will have any internet connection while at the lake, so you may not hear from us for a couple of days!  Have a great weekend!

~LilSis