Heartbreaking....

As I read THIS news tonight, I felt like I had been sucker-punched. It doesn't matter if they are celebrities or not. I can't even begin to imagine anything worse in the entire world than losing a child. Sadly, the Travolta family is dealing with this tragedy tonight.

Please take a moment and say a prayer for them as their year begins with such complete and utter sadness.

CHEERS TO THE NEW YEAR!

A "Let's Celebrate Family" GIVEAWAY!

There is so much we have to be thankful for and the more I think back on 2008 as we close off the year, the more I think it's time that families continue to unite. Family values are so very important, especially to our children and it's something that our society is losing quickly.

In the crazy and frazzled world we live in, where time is crunched and parents are struggling with finances and the economy, kids many times get lost in the shuffle.

My heart believes we need to spend more. Not more money, but more quality time with our kids. It's as easy as doing little things such as eating dinner around the table as a family, having a "family fun night" once a week where you choose a family movie, make popcorn and sit in PJs on the family room floor, maybe camping-out in the backyard, or having a half-hour of reading time as a family where everyone chooses their favorite books and sits and reads to themselves or to each other as a family. You can have a game night playing board games anything from Trivial Pursuit to Candyland or creating yummy and simple snacks that are fun and silly.

I'm sure many of you already do these type of activities. But to make it a bit easier, I thought I would GIVE AWAY something that would help come up with ideas.

So, in celebration of my site hitting 100,000 visits (since I opened it June 10, 2007), of us ringing in a New Year and most importantly, in celebration of families, I am giving away ::drum roll::

(2) - ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTIONS TO

FAMILY FUN MAGAZINE!

In order to enter, all you have to do is leave me a comment sharing an idea of a fun activity you do with your kiddos! Easy as that. You're still waiting for a little one? No problem! Leave a comment about what fun activity you have planned for him or her. Kids grown? Don't worry. You can pass along the magazine as a gift to someone with young 'uns or you can keep it for ideas to do with the grandkids! And of course, this is a great time for my loyal lurkers to come out and say, "Hi!" When the drawing is over, I will then make a future post with all those great ideas to share with everyone else. Sound good?

The drawing will be held on Saturday morning, January 10 and no more comments will be received after midnight on the 9th! So don't put off entering!

I know you'll love the magazine and you have a double the chances of winning since there will be TWO winners!!! (Remember to leave me an email address if you don't have a blog so that I can reach you if you win.)

TO ALL MY WONDERFUL BLOGGY FRIENDS AND FAMILY:

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I See What You're Saying!

Before you watch the video below, I think it needs a bit of an explanation. You see, I've had the little button above on my sidebar for weeks now. I came across it when a few of my bloggy friends participated in this carnival a while back. I loved the idea that Linda at A 2nd Cup of Coffee had created. I thought, "Hey! That was so much fun watching! I wanna do it!" But, as always the weeks dwindled down to days and as Christmas approached and the craziness engulfed me, time ran out. Just a couple of days ago I decided I wasn't going to participate because I had nothing clever to do and certainly wasn't in the frame of mind to come up with something.

Fast forward to Christmas evening. Sweet husband said to me after the night was almost over, "I have one more gift for you but I need to assemble it. So I'll do it tomorrow." Again, craziness ensued and I forgot about the gift.

Last night, he came home from work, we had dinner and he said, "Don't come out of the room until I tell you. I'm getting your gift together." I had totally forgotten. Finally, about an hour later, he appears. He takes me by the hand and says, "Stand here." as I positioned myself on the marker (a shoe) he had placed in our living room for me to stand at. I also noticed there were two video cameras in the room. One to record him directly as he was speaking to me, the other to record the entire scene. I felt a bit strange, but then again, living with my husband I should know that nothing is strange. The man amazes me.

To fully understand why he had done this I need to explain just a bit more. Shortly after Thanksgiving, I had seen on a friend's blog how she and her hubby had a tradition of exchanging love letters for Christmas (Thank you, Sara!) Sweet husband and I have been trying to save money so I had brought up to him about only exchanging love letters for Christmas instead of gifts. He agreed. Well, as I was shopping, I realized that I couldn't do that. It didn't feel right. Although I loved the idea of exchanging letters. So, we agreed on giving gifts and the love letter issue was dropped.

Going back to tonight, sweet husband's gift was just that, my Love Letter....on video! I had no idea he was putting this together and of course, he had no idea of the blog carnival since he's really not into the blogging world unless I drag him there. So, after having decided not to participate in I See What You're Saying, my mind was quickly changed and I thought I would share with the world what an amazingly, creative and loving husband I have! Here's my love letter from him. It may be a bit cheesy for some, but to me it reminds me of the millions of reasons why I love this man so! Have fun!

By the way, two things you may not know. My favorite all-time movie is When Harry Met Sally and I always seem to burn Texas Toast. Ugh!

(PLEASE REMEMBER TO SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM AND PAUSE THE PLAYLIST BEFORE WATCHING THE VIDEO!)



I hope you enjoyed that! I sure did! Thank you, baby!

PLEASE CHECK BACK SOON! THERE'S GONNA BE A DOUBLE NEW YEAR'S GIVEAWAY CELEBRATING 100,000 VISITS TO MY SITE!

Makin' Christmas Memories

This was so much fun!

Of course, the traditional Christmas Eve pig roast!

Santa likes "Black & White" cookies with his milk!

There's nothing like having all my babies home together!!!
Seeing this picture makes my heart swell.

All of my treasures, including my beautiful, soon to be daughter-in-law, Gloria.

Definitely A Bouquet of Blessings.


My sister, better known by our little ones as Ayi, started a new tradition, reading Happy Birthday Jesus to them before bedtime on Christmas Eve.

The little ones all listening intently.


Their giggles filled the house!

My big boy and big girl!

Amanda with her buddy and 2nd big brother, Adam.

My stunning older baby girl! Oh, how I love this girl!
(NOTE: Disregard the squooshed nose. I love her smile in this picture!)

Christmas would not be complete without my man, the one who keeps it all together!




Santa has arrived! Now we just wait for the little footsteps to discover the goodies.


"Look, Mama! Santa ate the cookies and drank the milk!"


A wonderful morning filled with love.

Definitely a big hit!

Of course, after all that excitement, Batman had to take a milk break!

I really have to say that this is one of the best Christmas' I've had in a while. I absolutely loved having all my kids home. Everyone got along great, we laughed lots and the air was just filled with everything that Christmas brings, love and joy. Sweet hubby made a delicious breakfast for everyone and the rest of the day was spent just hanging out in pj's just having fun. Sadly, Tito and Gloria had to head back to Miami early since he worked that evening, but I am very happy that he made the trip up, even if it was just for a day.

I have to admit that as I watched the joy and heard the laughter coming from my husband and my six beautiful children, I'd frequently stop myself and quietly whisper, "Thank you, Lord!"