Cherish the moments with loved ones

My mom was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure stage 4 June 2012 and it has been a year of up and downs for her. She had a pacemaker placed in July and she just never felt the same.

She was admitted in the hospital March 22nd 2013 and just kept getting worse test after test and trying new medications. We lost my mom and best friend to a long 2 months of fighting for her life on May 11th 2013. 

Deep down I know she was ready to go be with the Lord, cause her life just wasn't the same once they placed the pacemaker in and she couldn't do and eat things she wanted to. When I stayed at the hospital with her April 19th 2013, her and I talked and she told me she was ready to go home, not to her house but to be with God. That was then I knew she had lost her fight to keep living. That was very hard for me to take in, but at that time she had been through a lot that month. I told her, "Mom if you are ready then I will get through it." 

It has been very hard for me to deal with and explaining this to my 4 yr old son Jake who was very close to her. My daughter 2 years old Cate didn't really understand just knew Meme was sick. But we are all getting stronger each day. We write messages to Meme and send them attached to balloon. Read books on how to deal with it and talk about all the fun times we were blessed to have with her. Even thought I wish it was more!!

Getting ready to let the messages up to heaven. We had people write thoughts at the viewing and attached them to balloons.

Balloons up, up, and away.

Below are just some of our favorite memories together, cause we were very blessed to have a lot.

If we weren't together then the kids were skyping or on the phone with Meme, love technology.

In the last 4 years since my son was born we had many, many, many trips back and forth from Fl(where meme lived) to Va(were we live).

So my message to you is to cherish all the moments you have with your loved ones and ALWAYS take pictures so you can look back on these moments and NEVER forget them.

So this is why I have been away from blogging the last several weeks and will try to get back in the swing of things within the next month or so. Thanks to everyone for your support.

Spring Time 75 things to do with kids

We love doing fun things outside, in nice weather so we are really looking forward to spring weather soon. Below I put together 75 things you can do with your kids for spring that cost next to nothing. What better way then to spend time with you kids and not have to spend a lot of money.

Happy Spring!!!

1. Boat races down the creek

2. Have a picnic

3. Fly a kite

4. Build a fort with blankets

5. Lay and watch the cloud, find different shapes or pictures

6. Tour a local fire station

7. Wash the car or make your own carwash

8. Go bird watching

9. Visit the library
10. Ice excavation

11. Feed the ducks

12. Have a tea party

13. Paint a pet rock

14. Camp in the back yard
15. Make homemade lemonade stand

16. Start a garden

17. Visit the local Zoo

18. Catch fireflies

19. Pick flowers

20. Visit a local farmers market

21. Go on a nature walk

22. Make your own fizzing sidewalk paint

23. Go to a near by airport watch planes take off and land

24. Bake your favorite treats

25. Make your own lava lamp

26. Blow bubbles

27. Make a picture book

28. Go to a local museum

29. Make your own scented slime

30. Play cards

31. Make sand castles

32. Play hopscotch

33. Have a slumber party

34. Make your own learning game

by: Mamas Like Me

35. Take a bus tour around the area

36. Play tag

37. Go fishing

38. Visit a local craft store for make and take
39. Explore with kool-aid play

40. Have a dance party with the kids favorite music

41. Play dress-up

42. Make picture collages cutting picture from old magazines

43. Make your own marble run

44. Grow flower with your kids

by: Golden Gleam

45. Tell Jokes
46. Make fun hand art
47. Make Ice Art
48. Make volcano's have science day
49. Wash toys in big sink
50. Make your own felt board for fun play
51. Make ice cream playdough
52. Make cards for family and friends
53. Build a sensory themed play
54. Make your own waterwall
55. Have a barbecue
56. Visit a local farm
57. Throw pennies in a fountain
58. Go boat watching
59. Bring homemade crafts to a local nursing home
60. Make your own movie car and have movie night

by: Not just a housewife

61. Decorate flower pots and plant flowers
62. Have a pretend party, kids serve the adults
63. Have water balloon tosses
64. Make your own Moon Sand
65. Build a pretend campfire

by: Filth Wizardry

66. Puddle stomping
67. Ride bikes
68. Play kickball
69. Build your own Teepee
70. Skip rocks at the lake
71. Read your favorite books
72. Make an ice volcano 
73. Visit the local pet store
74. Play putt putt golf
75.  Make your own bird feeders

Thanks for stopping by to see what fun stuff we are doing. Be sure to come follow us on

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Creative things to do with your pumpkins

We went to a Fall Festival this weekend and I loved all the fun ways that Butler's Orchard decorated their pumpkins without cutting them, so I decide to take pictures and share.

Love Halloween and all the fun creative things you get to see people come up with.

So creative to use the pumpkin to decorate and not even carve them.

If you are in the area this is a MUST go to Orchard. FUN, FUN, FUN. Located in Maryland.

Thanks for stopping by to see what fun stuff we are doing. If you like what you see please come and follow us over on FB and Pinterest, would love to have you. Also, please feel free to share the fun things you are doing with us.

Homemade Strawberry Pie

We went strawberry picking again and all my son talked about was coming home and making a homemade strawberry pie. Well I have never done this before, couldn't tell him that. We all know that kids think Mom, knows/has done it all.....right, well not this time.

So I got on the computer and googled homemade strawberry pie's. Read some recipes and then made up my own little version, have to say it turned out pretty good....Daddy ate ALOT of it. So had to be good then...haha.

Materials:
Strawberries
Strawberry jello mix
Cornstarch
Pie crust....we used Pillsbury pie dough
Pot to heat the sauce in
Small baggie(to smash the strawberries in)
1/2 cup of sugar
1st cut up the strawberries, place in the baggie and smash them up, then get 1 cup of water, jello mix, and smashed strawberries, mix all 3 together in the pot. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes and then add 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cornstarch in and stir, til you get like a syrup mix, you might have to add alittle more cornstarch to thicken it.

Then pour syrup mix into pie crust, add some whole strawberries with stems cut off. Place in oven on 350 degrees til crust is brown and let it cool and serve.

Cutting strawberries

Smashing strawberries

Adding whole strawberries in pie crust

Pouring strawberry syrup mix into pie crust to cook.

Cutting pie crust

Strawberry pie ready to bake

J had a great time making the strawberry pie. This is a great hands on project for the kids. Lots of fun teaching could be added in.

DIY Summer Icecream cookie sandwich

We had a HOT weekend here and J wanted to bake, man the thought of turning the oven on when it's so HOT outside. But I did it anyways so we could make a fun treat.

Baked cookies, then add the sprinkles we used kool-aid mixed with sugar fun and different. After the cookies cooled down we got the ice cream and spread it on one cookie and then placed the other cookie on top.

There you have it cookie ice cream sandwich. Easy and the kids will love to help and also eat them.

If you like to bake with your kids be sure to check out some of our other treats we have made.

Strawberries and banana ice cream

July 4th cheesecake

Thanks for stopping by to see what fun stuff we are doing. If you like what you see please come and follow us over on FB and Pinterest, would love to have you. Also, please feel free to share the fun things you are doing with us.

Mother's Day Pirate Adventure

We have been reading some Pirate books and my son loves the boat in the books, so I saw this Pirate Boat Adventure advertisement and looked into it. Great idea geared all around kids.

The kids can get painted tattoo's and dress up before they get on the boat. Then, once the boat sails they tell the kids a story and the kids have to help look around to find the treasure in the water. Looking for the "X".
Once they find the "X" then they stop and pull the treasure box out of the water and the kids get a bag full of treasure.

The kids liked it. Think it is geared for alittle older kids like 5 and older. But was a neat adventure.

C getting her tattoo.....J wanted nothing to do with that.

Look there is th "X"

Going to read the message in the bottle

We found the treasure

J was happy with his treasure