Father's Day 2015

What a wonderful, relaxed day it has been today. Craig had a lie-in then we made him breakfast (skinheads on a raft), then we hit the pool for FOUR HOURS. It was great. Tonight we are watching Jurassic Park and then we'll probably have a drinkie on the porch. Perfect.

Craig is such a great dad, he really is. He's kind and funny and got such a good heart. When I read the quote "Don't marry a man unless you would be proud to have a son exactly like him" I think it could have been written just for him. I would seriously be more than happy if both our boys turn out exactly like him.

Enjoying last year's present - his recliner

This year: cast iron dutch oven and scratch cards (won nowt)

Lovely glass from Leanne, made his day.

Panorama shot made Daniel look a bit funky

Carpe diem

This past month has had more that it's fair share of sad moments. My work friend Pablo lost his teenage son and another work friend Mark died from brain cancer. Then my dad's aneurysm has grown a little so he's having scans and seeing specialists. And this week I found out that someone I care about in England, David,  has had surgery to remove bowel cancer and he's not doing so well.
I'm typically a positive, happy person but blimey enough is enough!

Then at Mark's memorial last night they gave out these cards and I thought YES!  I love this message, so thought I'd share it on here.

Summer Pictures by Erika

These pictures were taken by my friend & neighbor Erika. She had her 2 boys and my boys for a full week on her own. I hope I can be as fun and not completely lose my mind when it's my turn at the end of this month.  And yes, Daniel is giving the bird.

Jack's WWE Quilt

I finally finished Jack's WWE quilt. I started it last Autumn so dragged my feet a bit on this one but like anything else in life, I get bursts of energy and then bursts of meh!  I love the fabrics, the red polka-dot binding and the pillow case I bought on Ebay. John Cena is definitely one of Jack's favorite wrestlers. So anyway, here's some pictures....
Next I'm making Daniel a "Red Stone" quilt (it's a Minecraft thing).

Triple H & John Cena (from pillowcase)

Used the back of the pillow case on the flannel back of the quilt

Bigger than it looks here. It's 58' x 66"

May-June 1 Second-a-Day

June 15 from Pam on Vimeo.

First Day of Summer Camp

Today is the first day of the boys' summer camp. One of them was apprehensive and it wasn't the one I thought it would be.  Daniel took it all in his stride and Jack was nervous, but that's maybe because he's getting over being ill.  I can't wait to pick them up, to hear all about it.

Weekly schedule is awesome

Rafting & Sickness

Craig went white water rafting with Brit friends this weekend on the New River in West Virginia. This is his ninth time and it never gets old - he always loves it. Here's a picture & video....

At home, Jack was sick as a dog all weekend. I think he swallowed bad water at the pool last Thursday night because he's not been able to keep food or water down since. He perked up a bit Saturday afternoon so I took him to a park to see his friend David. It was a bizarre experience - a really bad storm came and I ended up with kids in my car I didn't know and had to figure out how to get them all home. And then Jack got sick again so we sped home and didn't leave the house again for the rest of the weekend.

Jack & David

Poor Daniel was housebound for the weekend too

Sick boy

I'm a bit fed up about it all as I missed a friend's 30th birthday party on Friday, a colleague's retirement party on Saturday and a birthday party today that would have been fun. I'm trying really hard not to be an arse about it. Really hard. 

Pictures for my Wall

My friend is so damn talented. I now have pictures of both boys to get enlarged and put up on the wall. I chose number 1 to get enlarged.

1- A hint of what he'll look like as a teenager?

2 - Cheeky Monkey

3 - Our Boy

Life Celebration & Some More Sadness

Pic taken by one of his friends and posted on his public memorial page. 

The life celebration/memorial for Colin was done so well last Thursday. Hundreds of people came, brought food and made collages of him. His soccer coach had written a poem for him and his woodwork was on display. People hung sheets that they had previously been flying on their porches with his name and soccer number on. I got to speak briefly to Pablo but he and his wife pretty much hung back and let the ceremony be led by other people. My heart aches for them so much.
The principal of his school told a very moving story about losing his own brother at a young age to HIV-aids and feeling lost for a long time, but then realizing that time spent had been a gift and to stop asking why. He told the story a lot more eloquently than I am here. I was also shocked at how amazing, how eloquent Colin's friends were. These teenagers stood at the mic and told stories and shared memories. They were so mature and so loving. What a great group of kids. I wish I'd have known Colin as he sounded like a great kid too. He loved to travel and treated each day as a big adventure. It is comforting to know that his parents are surrounded by such a great community.

Today I woke to a message from a my dept. chair telling me that one of our work friends lost his battle with brain cancer this morning. We were all expecting it, but that doesn't make it any less sad. I was his teaching assistant in 2001 and he always chatted with me about my boys and his grandsons. He was such a nice man and too young to die.

So all in all it's been a sad week in my department. I've been very fortunate in life not to have experienced too much tragedy, so having so much sorrow in just a few short days has been hard.

Sorrow for my Friend

On Thursday Craig and I are going to a "celebration of life" memorial for a 17 year old boy, Colin,  who died yesterday.  He was the son of my work friend and it's been a SHIT day at work today as we all cried and none of us slept last night. How do you cope after losing a child? How on earth  are our friends dealing with it? How can we help? We can't of course. There's no helping at the loss of a child.

Colin was a great soccer player (he played in the state championships), a fantastic student and had lots of friends. He was 17 &  just graduated high school. It would have been his 18th birthday today. Yesterday he went with his dog and 2 friends to a quarry near his house, fell 90 ft and died. If you want to know him, here's his website:
Colin's Photography Page

Today I've been really depressed and cried a lot,  which is not like me. Even though I know his dad very well I didn't know Colin, but I can't shake this sadness, this deep sorrow that he's gone.  I can't stop thinking of his parents, Pablo & Celeste, and how they feel.  Jesus, how they must feel.