Another baseball season comes to a close

And we had a good year!!

Alex's team won 1st place overall and he played well this year...he had the chance to play catcher and 3rd base and I think he did pretty well...he is planning to try out for the school team in the spring...good luck, Alex!! :-)

Here he is at bat at the All Star game and homerun derby.



And with coach Jim (aka dad) at awards night with his 1st place trophy! :) I am looking forward to scrapbooking these pictures!


It is just about 2 1/2 weeks until my weekend scrapbook retreat and I hope to enjoy some quality time with my favorite person in the world (ME!!) and get lots of pages done!!

Busy and fulfilling weekend

This past weekend was one of closure for our family. Mom wanted to be cremated and to have her ashes buried next to dad but also requested that the small amount of ashes remaining of Koops that she had kept in an urn in her home be put in the ground with her.

Robert was already here and then Nancy, Paul and Cole flew up for a visit so that we were able to have a small family gathering at the grave on friday. Nancy's good friend, Julianna, joined us and of course my neighbor, Nilda, who was one of mom's dearest friends and stood up for her when mom married my stepdad. It was a small gathering and after both sets of cremains were safely in the ground I chose to read from the Bible and then we all took turns having our time to say our final goodbye.

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do but on thursday I decided that it might be a good idea to use the same exact reading that mom had asked me to read at her wedding to my stepdad back in 1992 and since it spoke of LOVE I thought it would be fitting since now mom is resting and is at peace with both of her husbands. I read from the book of Corinthians...well I'm sure most of you know it...the last of it goes like this...But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Love certainly describes my mom...she loved with her whole heart and soul and always made you feel loved and special no matter what. I know that now she is resting and is with her 2 loves and soulmates. Rest in peace, mother...I miss you so very much but I know that you are in a better place and that you are happy.

There are just so many good photos that we got from this past weekend so I'll just post a few.

Aunt Nancy giving Alex a hug after getting off the plane, this was Alex's first time seeing his new baby cousin and he was pretty excited to see Cole.

Nancy's Co-Workers all chipped in and sent us a beautiful arrangement and chocolate covered strawberries from Edible arrangements, what a wonderful treat for all of us to enjoy.

Uncle Jimmy with Cole

Jesse with Cole

Uncle Robert with Cole

Alex with Cole

Robert with Cole

Me and Cole

Baseball and Butterflies

I had picked up tickets to a Mets game when I knew that my brother would be coming for a week long visit with us. On Sunday the 12th we drove to Citifield for the very first time. I have to admit I was a little sad knowing that my nephew Jason didn't get to see this amazing ballpark because he surely did love his Mets and going to games at Shea.


The new ballpark is really beautiful and of course as we are walking toward the entrance and I see the name at the top I am thinking of how I can scrapbook this first time attending a game here...should I paper piece the red half circle at the top? Is there some font I need to search up for the word citifield? Hmmmm....a scrapbooker's mind...always thinking.



I pretty much bought nosebleed seats in the 500 section for this game because I knew that I wanted to walk around and check out the new digs that will be the home of our beloved Mets for many years to come. We enjoyed the first 3 innings and then it was time for Alex and I to venture out.



Here is a picture of Alex from the bottom of our section...not bad but still pretty high up there! When we go back in August I have better seats for us so I'm looking forward to that.



After we walked around and checked out everything in this amazing new ballpark we finally made our way back to our seats...we were gone for about 3 innings but we watched the game from the screens all over the stadium and in the shops so we didn't miss any action. Alex picked out a tee shirt with his favorite player on it, David Wright.

We got to see 2 homeruns by the METS and were excited to see the Big Apple go up!! Alex really is excited in this picture...trust me. ;-)


It was about the 7th inning and we were watching the game when all of a sudden a large brown butterfly with white spots came fluttering up to our section, it was the most amazing sight because I felt something when I saw that butterfly. Alex watched it flutter in front of me and then it went over and fluttered in front of my brother and flew away and Alex said, "Mom, how the heck did that butterfly get all the way up here...we are so high up??" and I told him in that instant that I realized it was his grandma and he looked at me strange. Mom used to always tell me whenever she saw a butterfly she knew it was her beloved "Koop" coming to let her know he was still with her and in fact the last few times we saw a butterfly before mom went into the hospital she just said, "Hi Koop..." and nothing more. I really had been waiting for a sign...it has been 7 weeks since mom has gone to heaven and I didn't really feel her still with me but at the game I felt that this was a sign from her when this butterfly came and flew right in front of me and then went over to my brother...I think mom was telling me that she was happy that my brother was here with his family and that we took him to see his Mets play. I was so happy after that...and then the Mets won the game...so who could ask for a better day?


I hope that Robert can come and see the Mets play again and again with us...every time he visits when it is baseball season.

Shark Tournament

On Saturday we went out to the Hamptons to see how Jack was doing in the Mako shark tournament. We were at the Marina waiting...and waiting.....




And waiting.....

Finally Alex saw Uncle Jack coming back but he said that the shark they got didn't qualify so they were heading back to his house so we got in the car and drove over there to check it out.



We saw one huge shark that someone else caught that we later found out was 380 pounds!! This is a thresher shark, though...so it didn't qualify for the prize from what I was told because it was a MAKO tourney. Still an amazing huge fish to see in person, let me tell you...I was in awe!



Here is a picture of Alex checking out the shark that Uncle Jack brought in.


We ate dinner at Friendly's after our time out there and had a good meal and then came home to relax and settle in for the night...sunday would be our day to travel to Citifield for the Mets/Reds game.

My weekly update

Well....sort of. I guess I have only been updating once a week so I'll call this a weekly update. First of all Happy 4th of July to everyone! Jim, Alex and I headed to the beach for the fireworks and it was my first time ever going to the Jones Beach Spectacular, we had a great time and even though we had to wait an hour until we were able to get out of the parking lot afterward it was well worth it to me.





Our baseball team finished off the season in first place and each of the boys will be getting a trophy at awards night on the 24th. Jim picked Alex as one of his All stars so he will be playing in that game on the 18th, as well. Sadly our season ended with an upset loss to the 4th place team but we didn't have our star pitcher so that hurt us big time. I think the Klondike bars I brought out to the field made the boys feel better, though.

As usual Jim went out and bought medals for each of the boys and we got a group shot with everyone. Robert (who helped Jim coach this year) is holding our MVP who received the "Golden Glove" award from Jim. Don't know who Jim will get to coach with him next year since a lot of the boys turn 13 in the spring so they have to move up to the junior division for 13-15 year olds whereas Alex gets to play one more year in the midgets with an August birthday. Robert even asked the guys who run the league if he can manage a Juniors team next year so he will move up with coach Tom whose son, Matty, will move up. Jim will get a whole new crop of young ones to replace all his older boys...so next season might be a rough one but we'll see what happens.

So busy this time of year...

...we have baseball, library programs, reading to be done and scrappin'!! Here is a 2 page layout I did last night at my monthly class, I used some pictures of Alex and I at the beach near mom's house, these were taken by mom so I'm happy to have them, we were at the beach in August of 2007 when Alex and I decided to surprise mom with a visit that she didn't expect. That was such a fun day for us.




Alex enjoyed his very first program as a "teen" at the library on monday and he made these awesome candy sparklers! I love how the sun is hitting the confetti and making it shine in the photos!






In case anyone is wondering about Pookie, I thought I would post a photo I took of her today...she seems to be doing fine and adapting to our way of life, she stays in the crate while I'm out at work for 4-5 hours and she seems just fine when I get home. I think she is just getting used to our routine...she can always tell when I am getting ready for work and in fact when I come downstairs and she sees me get my little bag that I take to work with me she goes right in the crate and waits for me to give her the treat and shut the door.


I know she must miss mom but I think she's going to be just fine.


I miss mom and I catch myself thinking about her and wanting to show her something or tell her something like when Alex's report card came in the mail on tuesday and he finished out the year with a 96.88 average I wanted to run into mom's room and show it to her but then I remembered that she wasn't there. I suppose in time that will pass but I guess the fact that she lived here with us and was such a huge part of my day to day life it will take me some time.