"Once our eyes are opened, we cannot pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12



“There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.”- William Butler Yeats





Thursday, August 20, 2009

WHITE MAN WALKING!



The funniest thing has emerged from our visit to NYC.

Before I go into what has transpired, I want to remind you that my children are used to going everywhere in a car. We don’t walk in Florida. It’s just something that’s not done.

All this walking and taking trains and taxis is just plain cool for them.

On our very first day here, I wanted to make sure that the kids knew how important it was to be careful in the big city. I explained to them that not only were there thousands of people walking the streets, but that there were cars, buses and trucks coming from every which way.

When we approached our first street corner to cross, I pointed out to them that you need to look at the sign across the street from you. “If there is a red hand, that means you need to STOP. You cannot cross the street. If there is a "white man walking", then that means that you can cross the street.”

Immediately they caught on to when it was safe to cross. The only problem is that wherever we are, when the walking signal changes, Kai yells out at the top of his little lungs, “WHITE MAN WALKING!” to assure us all (bystanders included) that it’s safe to cross the street.

Now, after 5 days of listening to him proclaim his new found wisdom (at every street corner and trust me, we walk miles and miles daily) the other two little ones have caught on. There's rarely a street corner we stand on that people don't turn to look at us when they hear, "White Man Walking!" The funny thing is that now sweet hubby and I have both caught ourselves telling them it's time to cross the street when we see the "white man walking" sign light up by yelling out, "Let's go! White Man Walking!" as we quickly move them along.

Therefore, don't be surprised if you happen to be standing on a street corner in Manhattan and you hear high-pitched little voices yelling, “White Man Walking”. It's vital to remember that these little people are not saying this in the same context as “dead man walking” and they certainly are not engaging in any type of racist comments.

Instead, our sweet children are just three concerned little preschoolers advising all around them that it is now safe to cross the street.

P.S. Since some of you have asked, still no sightings of "The Man" ::sniff::

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

a picnic in the park

Our little group!

Matthew and Kai soon became good buddies.

Taken while the group was singing Happy Birthday to my girl.

Surrounded by my Bouquet of Blessings!

Our sweet Anna Grace with the beautiful Belarusian princess, Lexi.

Sixteen kiddos!!!

Sasha & Jonas hanging around.
Running free!

My baby boy, A.J. having a blast!

Piggy back rides anyone?

A perfect afternoon for a nap!

Boyd & Sara

Tracy & Michael
This guy's gonna be a heartbreaker. Belarusian prince, Aleksey.

Hmmm...could this be a look into the future?

Friends: Sara, Tracy, Me, Teresa & Becky

Teresa with one of her sweeties, Phoebe.

Becky and her beautiful China doll, Carli.

Chillin' in the shade.

The love of my life and I.

It's now Tuesday night and our time in the city that doesn't sleep is flying by. My internet continues to be limited so, I'm posting every couple of days.
Sunday was a very special day. We had a small get-together in Central Park with some wonderful bloggy friends. We layed blankets out, had a picnic, chit-chatted and watched the kiddos run free.
Unfortunately, we hit one of the hottest days of the year, so we decided to pass on going to the zoo. Instead, we gathered our stuff and walked through the park where the little ones all went on the carousel. Next, we did what most would have thought to have been the impossible dream. We rounded up all SIXTEEN (!!) kids and took a group picture. I must say that I was quite impressed with all of them. It only took saying "look at the camera" about 6 times before they were all looking....even A.J.!

Finally, we all decided to let the kids cool off a bit by letting them go into the water area of the playground! What fun they had!

We were truly blessed by being joined by these special 4 ladies and their families, even the hubbies & boyfriends came along! I know many of you tried to make it, but I understand how sometimes life gets in the way. We'll definitely have other opportunities!

Becky, Teresa, Tracy and Sara....love you guys! Thank you so much for making my trip extra special by coming to hang with the Bombardiers for a few hours. We loved it!

Note: Becky, Amanda thanks Ted & Jack for the special tour of Strawberry Fields and the Dakota apts.
Tracy, thank you for letting me "borrow" some of your GREAT pics!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Happy Birthday to my beautiful, big girl!!!

All psyched while sitting on the plane. READY TO GO!

Still my little girl, playing on the "BIG" piano at
FAO Schwarz!

Yummers! Lunch at Lombardi's Pizzeria in Little Italy.
(Thanks, Shanna!)


My "star"!

Definitely "Daddy's girl"

Waiting to go into the Hard Rock Cafe.

A blessed Mama with her two beautiful girls!

I still can't believe she's 15!

Entering the flight deck of the USS Intrepid.

Hmmm....a Navy girl?

The "GForce Encounter". My girl loves these kind of rides!

Big sister and Dad taking the boys on a helicopter ride!

Her favorite NYC spot. Having Frozen Hot Chocolate from Serendipity!

We've been in NYC since Saturday morning and having an amazing time!

Today's post I want to dedicate to my beautiful Amanda. It's almost impossible to believe that 15 years ago, God blessed me with a treasure that I desperately wanted, a little girl. I remember having 2 ultrasounds during my pregnancy and both times I was told, "It's a girl!" Yet, both times, I just refused to believe it.

At 12:02 a.m. on August 17, 1994, she entered the world. I remember the doctor saying, "You have a beautiful little girl!" and me clearly responding with, "Are you sure?" He laughed, looked down at my sweet baby girl and said, "Yep. She's still a girl!"

And so the story began.

Amanda,

I love you more than words could ever express. You're everything I've every wanted in a daughter and so much more. I'm so proud of you. I thank God every day that he chose me to be your Mom.

I hope you're enjoying your trip. I know I love making memories with you and I pray they last a lifetime.

God bless you abundantly. I love you as much as the whole wide world....and back again.

Mom



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