I wanted to share this story with you about a family I have never met but can't forget.

I know this is a long story.

Two years ago my husband, myself and the two boys were on a much needed vacation to our favorite place in Florida. While we were there we experienced a series of mishaps. Most very minor an no big deal, but things just kept happening. It started, actually, at 3pm in the afternoon the day before we left. On that day we got the news that our son was severely allergic to milk. Any milk. Ok, not a big deal, but he was 5 months old and at that age, it's pretty much a must have. This meant he needed a seriously hypoallergenic kind of formula. I had been breastfeeding him so this was just a shock all around. Especially since I was told repeatedly that breastfed babies don't have milk allergies. Uh huh. Anyway, this specific formula is very hard to find. I called practically every Walgreen's pharmacy (and a few others) for about an hour and a half before I actually found some in stock at a Walgreen about 35 minutes from my home. Whew! However, I also had to get some down in Florida. Thankfully the pharmacy called one of theirs down in Florida for us and they had enough time to order it for me so we would be supplied down there also.




We stayed at my father's place in Fort Myers Beach and used his car. First minor mishap was I went to turn the TV on and the thing started acting wacky. I was pretty sure I had broke it. Then we took his car out to an island and the thing would not start when we went to leave. UGH. We had to have a tow truck come get us. Thanks AAA! Then that night the ceiling fan literally fell out of the celling when I went to turn it on. I was pretty sure that after all of this he would never let me near anything of his again!!




The next evening we decided to go to Fort Myers Beach for dinner. It was amazing. An outdoor Greek restaurant with a fabulous Greek salad and an awe inspiring sunset. The kids were so well behaved and it felt like a true vacation. There was a really cool juggler on the beach who was juggling flaming torches. My three year old could not believe anyone could do that. It was getting later and the baby needed to eat so we headed back to my father's place.




All of us were happy, but the five month old was getting a little fussy. I had everything timed so he would eat when we got back from our dinner. On the way home, we see some commotion up ahead. Suddenly a police man jumps out of his vehicle and stops traffic. I am literally the next one to go past his car and he yells at me to turn around. I looked at him with confusion and said, "But I only have to go up to that turn RIGHT there." He said, "NO!" He then explained to me that I would have to turn around and make the trip around the island to get back into Fort Myers and into the entrance to the subdivision. I ask how low long that will take. He says forty minutes. HUH? Are you serious? Meanwhile I have hungry baby in the back seat. I explain to him that I am not from here. I have no idea how to go around the entire island on a 40 minute trip then go into the city to get myself back to the entrance that is literally 100 feet in front of me. We go back and forth about the directions and he is throwing all these roads out at me and I look like a deer in the headlights. Have no idea where he is telling me to go. Then I explain the formula situation. Told him he could call my pediatrician to verify I am not lying. He still says no. So, I go park in a parking lot and he sees this. He comes over and says it will be at least three to four hours, but I am more than welcome to wait. This is where it all changes. The officer starts to get that shaky voice, he then pulls me aside and says, "I didn't want to tell you this in front of your family but, two children just died right there and we need to keep people out of the accident scene." Then he starts to get teary eyed. I hugged him. That was my first response. I said I was sorry because I could tell this had really upset him and being that my father had been a sheriff for many years, I know these guys do get effected by what they see especially when it involves children. Then he says to me, "Go ahead and walk to the entrance and leave the car here, but I am telling you DO not, no matter what, look at the accident or let your child see it." I knew exactly what he was saying to me. He didn't want me or the kids to see the nightmare in the street. However, being that I walked RIGHT past it, I saw enough. As we were walking past the accident scene, the ambulance showed up (yes that is how close we were to witnessing the whole thing).


When we finally got home and the kids taken care of, I cried. And cried. At this point I had no details about what happened. All I could think about was the mom of these two children. My husband asked me why I was so upset and I tried to explain to him that a mom out there is experiencing her very worst nightmare and two little lives were gone (the boys who died were 6 and 1 year). Seeing the accident site made it feel so different. I wished my tears would take away some of the mom's tears. I knew that wouldn't happen but I couldn't NOT cry about it.

That is the shortest version I could come up with for this very long story. I always wished I could reach out to the mom of these little boys. I don't know what I would have said or done, I just wished I could do something. I think of her and her family from time to time and hope that she is doing as well as could be expected. Yesterday I thought of her again and looked up some information. I came across this article about the accident and the sentencing of the man who was driving the vehicle that struck this family that night. I was surprised at how much time he got in prison, but understand the reasoning behind it.

Jordy Martinez and Jesus Martinez, I hope wherever you are, you have found peace and love.

Maria Del Rosario Bustamante, I don't know you, but you have been in my thoughts since that night and still are.

Here's the article:

http://www.injury-lawyer-florida.com/2009/01/fort_myers_man_sentenced_to_15.html

Falling in Love with Scrapbooking Again!

It's been a while since I have been feeling inspired to scrapbook. Lately I get my stuff together and nothing comes to me. I have made a few cards for people but no pages. I think sometimes we just need a break.

During my scrapbooking hiatus, I kept thinking about why I didn't feel the urge to scrapbook. Finally I realized what it was. My old way of scrapbooking just doesn't appeal to me anymore. Many times I would make a page just to make something. Now I have stacks of pages that are basically decorated photos. Please, don't get me wrong, I am not knocking anyone else's scrapbooking. I am still a firm believer in people creating the way it works for them. I am just so glad I have found a way that works better for me now and makes me feel more fullfilled as a scrapbooker.

I think taking a break from the online scrapbooking community has helped me find this new way of scrapbooking (although I do miss the conversations and laughs!). I think being online and seeing other's work all the time was overload for me. I never did find a style that "fit" me because I was always overwhelmed by all the ideas I saw and wanted to work into my pages.

Also, before this I could tell you exactly what was the newest product and latest trend. If I saw a piece of paper I could tell you the company who makes it and the line it is from. Not today. Please understand part of this is because the nifty little pay cut from my husband's company (see a couple posts below) and part of it is because I just don't care about the latest and greatest anymore. It's freeing. I am using more found items and non-scrapbooking stuff than ever before. I am using actual items from restaurants we visit, tags from things, and other memento from our lives.

I am documenting our lives with real items from our lives! I think this has made my scrapbooking more meaningful to me, more inspiring and yes, less expensive. Each page I create now is a real story from our lives. Each page is a story that started with that little voice in my head saying, "Oh, I gotta write that down so I remember it." I don't ever feel behind anymore, or like I have to run out and buy something. Everything I need to create a page is right here in my ridiculously over stashed scrapbook room (ugh! the money I spent)! LOL! I am determined to use up what I have, BTW!

Budgets, Happiness, and Kindergarten!

As many people around the world worry about the global economy, we are also. This http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-tues_pay_cuts0217feb17,0,3374713.story is my husband's company. He was one of the people affected by this temporary pay cut. So, we have decided to see how much we can stick in the bank despite the temporary pay cut rather than flush money down the toilet for things we really don't need. In many ways, this has become something that I am thankful for. In other ways, it is frustrating. Last week I put my mind to cutting the grocery bill as much as possible. I was able to cut the cost by $40 for one week. Percentage wise, it was about 40% of our grocery bill. When I realized I had saved that much, I was a little frustrated I had not been doing it all along. Just think of the vacations we could have gone on (my husband and I love to travel)! I have been doing all the cooking also. We use to be rather reliant on going out for a few meals a week. I am proud to say that in the last 21 days we have only eaten out 2 times and both times we did it on a budget. Thank you Steak and Shake!!! P.S. Steak and Shake has "Kids Eat Free on Weekends". It was very inexpensive for us to eat there! I'd be lying if I didn't say that being frugal takes a lot of planning and a lot more time, but honestly, I have been feeling happier lately. It feels like we have returned to a more simple time in our lives. Did I mention that right now we basically have no TV?? I have one TV that is working but the antenna is not very good. It seems silly to me to have TV we pay for when I can watch all the shows I want from my computer when it is convenient for me. It's only been about five days with no TV though, so ask me about in about a month. I might not say the same thing!

We went to kindergarten orientation last week! I have one five year old who is very excited to go to school! I can't believe it is almost time for him to start school. I remember when G was about 4 months old and I took him out for a walk one afternoon. He and I were strolling along when I saw a women outside with her little bitty baby. I asked her how old her baby was and it turns out she was born in the same month as G was. I distinctly remember saying to the mom "They will be in kindergarten together." When I was at the orientation I turned around and saw that mom and her little girl. I could not believe that much time had past since I said that to her.

My most recent passion has been photography. I have been following along with a new blog called http://sarahbowen.typepad.com/photography/ last week she asked us to find some pictures we were inspired by and go take a picture to recreate whatever it was that inspired us. Here are a few pictures I took:

This was my second photo outing shooting fully in manual. I had resisted for so long because I could not make sense of it. One day I walked out the door and decided that I was going to put the camera in the manual mode and figure it out. After that outing it finally all started to make sense. I am still very wet behind the ears as the saying goes but I am going to keep working and learning about photography and hopefully I will get good at it someday!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

It turns out, it is easy being "Green"

2009 is underway and one of my goals for this year was to learn more ways to be eco-friendly. The first thing I did was a little research and I came across this book Easy Green Living: The Ultimate Guide to Simple, Eco-Friendly Choices for You and Your Home (Paperback)by Renee Loux. It has been such a great source of information for my husband and myself. I think the thing that surprises me the most about this whole journey to greener living is that many times, it is cheaper! For example. Using baking soda with a couple of other ingredients is WAY cheaper than the Comet I use to use. I was also surprised that the baking soda (see recipe below) kept things cleaner and I had less residue than I did with the Comet and other products I had used in the past. Here is my first and most favorite discovery so far on this journey to greener living. Credit for this recipe goes to the Renee Loux. Thank Renee for such a great and easy source of green ideas!!

Recipe for cleaning almost everything:

3/4 cup baking soda

3 to 4 tablespoons eco-friendly organic liquid detergent

15-20 drops tea tree oil

Mix until it has the consistency of frosting. I promise you will love this!

Torture de Santa!

I wasn't sure if this was fun or torture for the boys. We told them before we left that we were going to see Santa. I thought the announcement would be followed with cheers and excitement to tell Santa what they hoped to get for Christmas. Instead they were both quite certain they did not want to see Santa. Grant was "nervous" he said because he was afraid he was not on Santa's good list. I re-assured him that I was positive he would be on the good list. Cole was unsure how he felt but willing to go along with it. That is until he saw Santa in person. Then the lower lip came out and he said "I no ant ooo O" which means "I am not gonna sit on that man's lap, no way no how." I explained to him that he would probably get a candy cane from Santa if he talked to him. Suddenly Cole was very excited to meet the man in the red hat. When it was Cole's turn he said to Santa "I ant a andy ane" translated to "I want a candy cane" Santa said he didn't have any, but he would be sure to bring some on Christmas. Cole had a complete melt down. Can you see how red his eyes are in the picture?

Cloudy with a chance of glitter rain!

This weekend I worked on making an ornament (and holiday cards, plus a hat for my two year old). It was a creative weekend for me. I haven't had one of those in a long time. I was in the mood this weekend, for sure! So I cleaned up my area and got to work.

Back to the ornament. I had a picture in my head of how I wanted it to turn out. All the pieces were sitting there calling to me to create this image I had in my head. For the first time in a long time, the image in my head is exactly how this ornament turned out.

All in all, it was a great weekend. Everyone was healthy (finally) and we didn't have a hectic schedule. We put the Christmas tree up and we also had to say good-bye to one of my favorite ornaments. My four year old dropped it on the floor and it broke. It was my favorite because he picked it out when he was two years old. He was mesmerized by this ornament and had to have it. How he didn't break it when he was two, will remain a mystery! I am now keeping pictures of the ornament remains. I think I will start a book called "Another one bites the dust" and compile all the pictures!

Have a great week! OH, the Girl Next Door Collection goes on sale tonight at Scrap in Style. I've seen the sneaks. LOVE IT!