This past Sunday we received the sad news that Lyric's Pre-K teacher, Ms. Holden, passed away earlier that morning. Although we knew she has been battling cancer, we were not aware she was so close to death. She was such a blessing to our family over this year. She provided stability and love to Lyric during major changes in Lyric's life. She was full of love for her students but knew when they needed discipline. Lyric grew so much and learned so much as her student. She not only taught her academics but being in a private Christian school, she was able to teach Lyric about the love of God and to show it to her on a daily basis.
I dreaded having to tell Lyric about her teacher but as I told her that her teacher went to be with Jesus, Lyric processed as a 5 year old and not as an adult. She initially stated that she wanted Ms. Holden back because according to Lyric, Ms. Holden never yelled. Then she became more concerned with Ms. Holden having toys in heaven. She said, "Mommy, I want Jesus to give Ms. Holden a surprise with lots of toys!" So we prayed together and asked Jesus to give Ms. Holden a surprise with lots of toys because of the wonderful teacher she had been. It is amazing what a 5 year old thinks.
Monday the school principal and counselor met with Lyric's class and they had a party to celebrate Ms. Holden being completely healed in heaven. They even had her favorite food, Chocolate cake! They also made pictures and cards about what a great teacher Ms. Holden was.
I'm so thankful Lyric was influenced by such a wonderful lady and that Lyric is able to attend a school where they can talk about God and handle situations in such a great way. The next couple of weeks will be a hard time for the school and especially for the class. Sometimes 5 years olds may not necessarily say they are sad or miss their teacher but they may act out in various ways to get the attention they need. I know that all involved will be aware and provide extra love and care to each student as they need.
This post finally catches us up. I promise to have something fun and exciting to blog about next week. Can't wait to share!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sad News
A Day with the Fishes
Since the kids didn't get to do much over their Spring Break we decided to take the kids to the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, CT on one of the cooler Saturdays. We had a great day together. The aquarium was a lot of fun. It had a ton of exhibits including sharks, otters, sea lions, penguins, and an area where the kids could even pet sting rays. There were so many hands on exhibits and areas for the kids to play. It also had an IMAX theater and we enjoyed a documentary on the Hubble space telescope. Dalton really enjoyed this as he is into space and flying.
This is a flounder exhibit. (Don't know why this is blue and underlined but I can't get it off) It was neat because the kids could climb up on the glass and look down and try to find all the hidden flounders.
They had a play area for ages 5 and under. Caught Lyric in this cute pose. This was another area we had to drag Samara away from. Don't you love those toddler moments?!
Dalton caught some fish!
And so did Lyric!
PaPa and NaNa would be so proud of their little fishermen.
It took forever to convince Samara to climb in. She is so cautious. Once she did it though she didn't want to leave. What a surprise!
I got this picture with my cell phone. Can't believe how well it turned out. What a great memory!
Leaving the aquarium. We are tired and need a nap.
I LOVE THESE KIDS!!!!
They are too cute and so much fun!
This is not a great picture but I couldn't resist posting. This truly depicts my girl right now. She loves playing dress up and she loves her purses! The bigger the better!
When the kids returned to school from Spring Break they had a sports day and wore their favorite team apparel. Of course ...Dalton and Lyric had to wear Black and Gold! Lyric is wearing my shirt and it looked like a dress.
I even put Samara in a Dodgers cheerleading outfit. She refused to put her bowl of cookie crisp down and was not in the mood for pictures. I really wouldn't be at 5:45 a.m. either. Notice Lyric's haircut? She decided she wanted shorter hair and I agreed. She hates having her hair brushed out everyday and she gets the most tangles by just sleeping. This shorter hairstyle totally fits her personality and has been much easier to manage.
The month of April has had some sunny beautiful days and some rainy cooler days. Such is spring. We took advantage of the sunny days by going to the park. The kids love the park behind where we live. They think it is fun to cross the walk over bridge that crosses a huge interstate.
I'm looking forward to many more sunny days in the park. Schools here do not let out for summer break until the end of June so 2 more months of school left.
Back to Easter....
We were so tired from our trip and had so much going on Easter Sunday that we told the kids they could color their Easter eggs later in the week. The week after Easter was the kids Spring Break so they had the week off with daddy. They had trips to the park and the zoo planned but little did we know that coloring Easter eggs was about all that would take place that week.
Tuesday night Dustin and I became very ill with the stomach flu that all our friends had the week before. We got no sleep all night long. I tried to tough it up and go to work on Wednesday because I was involved in some training. I did not make it through the entire day and left work early. I ended up fainting on the subway. Not my idea of a great experience. I am thankful that I was not hurt and nothing was stolen. I don't however want to revisit that feeling of knowing I'm about to pass out and not knowing where to go or how to reach anyone. Dustin picked me up from the train station and we both immediately crawled into bed and slept the day away. It's all a blur now but the kids survived. I think Dalton played a part in that! It was one of those days when I definitely wished I was closer to family.
It took us almost a week to feel like normal again. We scrapped any trips to the park or the zoo. We did however let the kids color their Easter eggs that following Saturday. 
Samara didn't know what to think about it. She really wanted to drink the colored water or eat the eggs. She really didn't like it when she realized the color was all over her hands and she couldn't get it off with a napkin. Yes, she took after me in one way and does not like to be dirty!
Our final products!
Daddy's Girl!
I often find Samara here.......
sitting in her daddy's lap reading a book. She loves books and for some reason favors her daddy reading them to her. She will sit and read with him so patiently.
Whenever Samara gets out of the bath tub and I am trying to dry her off I have to keep a hand on her or off she runs and I find her...............
sitting in daddy's lap naked and laughing at me.
Daddy's lap is her safe place when she doesn't want to get dressed, go to bed, or when she wants to get away from Dalton and Lyric.
It's also a good place to just chill out!
EASTER!!!
We had a great Easter Sunday! I love this time of year and for once it was completely beautiful outside and warm! I also love that we focus so much on Jesus. It is a great time to really spend time teaching the kids and talking to them. We always sit down as a family and use the resurrection eggs to tell the story of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. Thank you Aunt Tammy for this special gift you gave us several years ago. The kids get so excited to pull out the eggs and Samara even joined in the fun.
I was in charge of Children's Church since Roberta was still away getting married! We had an easter egg hunt (NYC style!) That is always something to try and pull off. I have absolutely no pictures but it was lots of fun.
We spent Sunday afternoon at our Pastor's house. We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs! It was delicious. The kids had a blast playing with bubbles and anything else they could get into. Overall it was a wonderful day!
Where has the month gone??
I am sooo behind! But...I do have reasons. First our computer crashed, then we all got sick, and finally our home phone and internet service went out. So that was our month in a nutshell! No, not really! We did so much more! So I'm going to try and catch up with the next several posts because I know I'm going to have something very exciting to post next week!
We started off the month of April by going on a trip to Syracuse. Our state youth convention is the Thursday thru Saturday before Easter every year in Syracuse. Our friends and youth pastors thought they had better things to do, like go to Hawaii to see family and officiate their sisters wedding! (Congratulations Nelson and Roberta!!!) So Dustin and I, our kids, 5 other sponsors, and our youth group traveled to Syracuse for a fun filled weekend.
We went bowling, swimming, shopping, ate and ate some more, attended some amazing services, and had a fun time together. 4 of the youth gave their lives to Jesus for the first time! What a great way to spend the Easter weekend! I'm thankful for all the great sponsors we had.
It was a very successful trip....all except for the stomach virus that attacked a couple of our sponsors. Our family escaped it during the trip but we weren't so lucky later on.
To say we were tired when we arrived home Saturday night would be an understatement. Unfortunately there was not much time for rest. Sunday morning was Easter and there was much to celebrate!
