From a BOY to a MAN.

It seems just like yesterday, we were announcing the birth of our sweet baby boy to the world.  

Today he is 18.

From a boy to a man in the blink of an eye.

He is truly a joy and a blessing to our family.

Happy Birthday DJ.  

We love you.

FAMILY.

Spending time with the pre-teen & teenager!  Don't forget, Daisy-TheeDog.

 

LDS-Men on a Mission

Look who stopped by my house today. Aren't they the sweetest faces ever?
They're LDS elders



I caught them off guard. When I opened the door, I said, "Hello! Come on in."

Well, of course they had the hugest shock on their faces.

We joked about them not being used to being invited in a lot and being able to share their message much today. Well, we had a great time. I must have been in a good mood, Oprah was on and here I was entertaining the LDS elders.

I told them, I know about their mission and I will always be nice to them because they're always so nicely dressed and they're very polite. You know I had to show them the Family First video and the Blue Bible my husband received years ago when we lived in Monterey.

Turns out they're here for 2 years and it's been 3 months since moving to our town. They said our town reminds them of Utah. I was so curious to ask but, I decided not to ask. You know, just in case there's some scandal going on here and I'm out the loop. I just like to NOT KNOW. HaHa.

I not only invited them in, I fed them (snacks and water) it wasn't until I noticed my dear sweet husband left this on the kitchen counter from last night.





So, I'm sure these sweet young men will have a great conversation about the crazy lady they met who fed them and tried to cover the "devil's juice" on the counter at the same time. HAHA!!

In Loving Memory of Aaron Delmar Wilson. July 1971-June 1990

I am the oldest of 3 children.  I am the big sister.  Even though both of my brothers towered over me in stature, I am the big sister.

Tanyetta-the oldest

Aaron-the middle child

Daniel-the baby

The three of us. 

Me-The big sister.  The protector.  The momma bear to the both of them.

Now, there's only two of us.  I have a lump in my throat typing this.  I know that I have to get this out so that I am able to get through this weekend.  I know that writing can be a form of therapy.  It doesn't lessen the pain, it makes the pain bearable to an extent. 

It's

so

unfair

to lose the ones you love.

It hurts like hell. 

I recently chatted and reminisced with my baby brother, Daniel.   He and I reminisced on all the fun times spent with our brother Aaron.  Even though he was very young when Aaron passed away, those early years are forever etched in his heart and soul too.

It's been over 30 years and yet and still it feels like yesterday. 

It hurts like hell. 

It's so unfair.

Despite the fact that I have a blog, I really do have issues sharing too much of my personal life. I know this is one instance that sharing  a bit of my personal life just might have a healing impact on someone out there.  I really have a feeling, this post just might speak to someone. 

I have a feeling, there's someone else out there going through the pain of losing a loved one.  I don't wish this feeling on anyone.  It's not fair to lose the ones we love.  Especially the ones that were great people. 

I remember the last time I saw my brother Aaron.   I can't help but, to go over this day in my mind, over and over again.  If I knew it was going to be my last time seeing him, oh the things I would have told him, oh, the things we could have done, the places we could have gone...

I would have kidnapped him and locked him in my house and never let him out.  Well, with all situations, you never know when your time has come and you never know when it will be the last time you'll see a loved one.

Not Fair.

He stopped by my job to say hello on the Friday before Father's Day.  I will NEVER EVER forget that day.  We went to lunch and walked to Woolworth's on Broad Street where he bought me a house warming present.  

Dish Towels. 

Some raggedy "A" Dish Towels. 

The joke is only funny if he were here to tell the story.  Man, I wish he was here.

We cracked up over those towels because he said he knew how much I hated washing dishes and maybe these would encourage me to like doing them.  FAIL!  I still hate washing dishes!

LOL

He always knew how to make me laugh.   He always had a kind word for EVERYONE!  If you knew him, you knew a great great person.  I am not just saying this because he was my brother.

Trust me. 

I told him to come by my house on Sunday for dinner.  He joked that I was going to serve Frosted Flakes and bananas.   Oh please!  You know I can burn in the kitchen and he said, yeah, burn bottles (inside joke) I almost burned down the kitchen sterilizing Danyelle's bottles when she was a baby and he and Darrin never let me live that down. 

I miss his laugh.  His infectious, hearty, deep from the soul, laugh.

My lunch break was over and I had to get back to work.  He gave me the biggest hug and kiss and said he would come over after work on Sunday.

3pm came and went.

4pm came and went.

Time rolled on, I grew worried but, not to the point where I thought something was wrong.  I figured he was just running late.  You know, CP time.  He'll be here soon.

He never showed up.

My close friends were over and thankfully they were there when I received the news.  It's all still a blur.  I have yet to really re-live that day without feeling a burn in my heart about it.

He's gone.

He never showed up.

He never called.

I made his favorite meal. 

He's on his way.

He never showed up.

My brother, my other half, my lifeline had passed away.  It was a swimming accident where he drowned and wasn't revived in time.   So yeah, when I tell people I have issues with the water and anything to do with swimming, imma need you to back up off me.  

He never showed up.

I miss you Aaron Delmar.

I miss your laugh.

I miss your gentle spirit.

I miss your kind heart.

I miss your humbleness.

I miss your hugs.

I miss you so much.

I miss you.

In loving memory of my brother,

Aaron Delmar Wilson

July 13, 1971-June 17, 1990

I love you.

Time may or may not heal all wounds, I'm not sure how I feel about that statement so, I won't cosign 100% on it, I can say that with time, I've learned to appreciate the time I did have to spend with my brother.  As short lived as it was, I was given the most beautiful and kind hearted sibling anyone could ever have.  For that, I am forever grateful.

 

Canoeing Adventures! ONLY BOYZ!

Posted by Darrin:

DJ and I went canoeing today and started out great. Half way down we hit an underwater log and flipped. No sweat, the river isn't deep until DJ stepped off the sand bar and got swept by the current. He screams HELP and tries to swim but the current pulled him away as I'm trying to get to him. I got hung up on a log but luckily he drifted right into a tree and was able to climb up. Scared the mess out of me watching him try to swim out as he was being pulled away. All of our stuff got wet, hurt my leg jumping that log, I lost my cell phone when we flipped and these are the only pictures from the trip.  All in all it was a good teaching moment afterwards. I explained that it was OK to be scared but we have to use our brains when things like that happen. 

A few of my favorite tree ornaments. Happy New Year. 2021.

 

DJ graduated from Preschool.

He's going to miss going to Miss Cathy's class.  

I remember the first day in her class, she let the students and parents know who was clearly in charge.

The boys were running around in a very stern voice she starts calling off their names, when she got to DJ's name she gave him a look only a mother with years of exerience could give, she said,

Darrin your number will be right here close to me.  Now sit on your number and face the front.

WHEW!  I jumped for joy, I knew my son was in the right hands for the following school years.

Thank you Miss Cathy for taking excellent care of our children and for setting them on the right path for Kindergarten.

You will be missed but, never forgotten.

Family fun day at the Flower Fields

Family fun day at the Flower Fields Originally uploaded by tanyettaMac

We spent our day at the Carlsbad Flower Fields. If you've never been, you should really consider visiting this place. Here's a few photos and highlights of our trip: Wagon ride through the flower fields American Flag design in the flowers (very cool) Snow Mining Make a puppet and mask Sweet Pea Maze (I didn't get a photo of the sweet pea maze. I had a sneezing fit and ran out before I could finish. *sigh*) Birds and Chickens Wizard of Oz and the Ronald McDonald Show Get a free ID page for your child (fingerprints and photos) Funnel and Strawberry Cake--Don't forget the HUGE mound of whipped cream Sunflower Seeds to start your own flowers in your backyard Rubber stamp adventure to complete your kids passport The most excellent props to take photos WOW!!!!! What a great day. If you haven't been to the flower fields, you should definitely take a trip out there. Be sure to dress in clothes and comfortable shoes that you wouldn't mind getting dirty! There's dirt everywhere!

hi.

 happy new year 2021.

Priceless gifts from your children.

My blog post:

Another flower gift from my sweet son. 

🌷🌷🌷🌷

I'm chatting on my porch with my friend and he comes up with the flower.

Awwww💗💗💗

Words and actions hold weight.

I made a mommy blunder this morning.  😩😩😩

My little girl was watching a cartoon on kids YouTube and I heard the boy call someone a sissy.

I immediately told her that's not a nice word to call your friends so turn off the video AND she starts crying. She said that's not a bad word that's her name.  

On the way, taking them to school, 

I said look we have to use nice words and the word sissy meant he was saying the boy was acting like a girl.  

Both of the kids said NO Mommy,  that's not true.  That's not what happened.  

So, to avoid them being upset before the start of their school day, I said don't worry, let's just drop it.  

I kissed and hugged and said, have a good day I'll be here to get you after school.

When I got back home, the incident was still on my heart, I felt so sad that I made her cry about the cartoon incident.

I looked for the video in the history and sure enough the little girl's name was Sissy. 😩😩😩😩

I just want to hug my babies.  I feel so bad that I got on them about it.  So guess where we are going when I pick them up from school:😍😍😍😍

Their favorite yogurt shop! No limit FroYo!

Moral of the story.  Mommy's aren't always right.  We make mistakes and should always admit our faults AND ask for forgiveness from our children. 😍😍

Teaching little ones to make coffee!

She's a PRO with making coffee!

I don't even have to supervise but, you know I'm still right there in the background peeking😍

Yes!  We still use an "old school" coffee maker. 😄

For the LOVE of Reading!

Our sweet baby girl LOVES to read and she LOVES to READ to her family.

Today's books were
Goldilocks and Just one Bear

and

All about Caribou

Ways to make money!

Too funny!!  

Ok I have to tell you guys what happened! 

My little girl, took the snacks out the pantry and sold them to our neighborhood block.

She sold each pack for $1!  (We live on a small street so I just watched from the porch and she went with the neighborhood little girl door to door.)

Her tactic? She said you just have to say please and show a cute face😳😎

Needless to say she made over $8 !!!

Awwwwwww

Oh Yuk! Jetted Bathtub Cleaner

My review: 

Oh Yuk! Cleaning solution for jetted tubs:

A+++ all the way.

I seriously recommend this product.

Note:  you will only get two thorough cleanings from the 16 oz. bottle.  Each cleaning requires 8 oz. of solution to a full tub.

OR you can use 7 oz. twice AND 2 oz. ONCE for the final maintenance type of cleaning.

Overall, two thumbs up and worth the money!

Materials needed:

1. Exhaust fan or any type of air ventilation 

2. Timer

3.  Waterproof gloves

4. Old Toothbrush  & Q-tips ( to clean out the jetted tubing area) 

5. Paper towels or microfiber cloth (to wipe out excess leftover grime)

6.  Water bottle filled with plain water (used to spray out the tub and wipe out clean once you've completed the cleaning  process) 

Beginning to ending timeframe :

15-30 minutes  or maximum --One hour.

Depending on distractions 😎 

Key point: Follow the directions on the bottle and you'll be just fine!

Good luck and have fun!

My advice: don't get a jetted tub.  😎 

Are you an introvert living in and extroverted body?

http://introversioneffect.com/2014/07/22/18-struggles-of-having-an-outgoing-personality-but-actually-being-introverted/

First Week of School- My Littles are so cute.

Age 6

Grade 1

Age 10

Grade 5

Happy Anniversary! 20 years 😍😍

Family & Friends!

Thank you for the wonderful messages for our Wedding Anniversary! 😍

Love, Darrin & Kim.

Running memories...

So, one year ago I ran this race like a crazy lady.  

Running.  Oh, yes...It was a love-hate relationship.  

I kept at it for awhile, at least once or twice a week, and then, one day, I just stopped.  😐. I should really get back into running. I really enjoyed it.  

Today is the anniversary of that race.  Thanks Time Hop for the reminder 😍

Snacks!

How fights start with your kids.

Put an extra tomato in one of their snack packs.

*sigh*

Reading and Writing with your children.

Gracen, age 5. Loves to read and write.  Her newest adventure, writing love notes to mom & dad.  

She wrote us the following note and asked us to write back to her.  Too cute!

Question:  Do you enjoy exchanging letters with your children?  Please share.

Scavenger Hunt Party

Fun Times at the weekend scavenger hunt party with classmates !

First official bank account.

Dear Family & Friends,

I have my own bank account now.

Thank you for all of the money you've sent to me for birthdays and other celebrations.

My mom let me keep $56 to spend at toys R us this weekend coming up.  I am very happy.  I want to have a lot of money one day.

Love, DJ.

Very First Library Card

It's official.  Her very own library card.  She was so happy because "she didn't have to use her brother's card to check out books ever again" haha.  Too cute.  #librarycards #books #milestones

Dear Tooth Fairy,

Yesterday, January 9, 2015, was a MAJOR milestone for Gracen.

Her wiggly tooth came out and we looked all over for it and couldn't find it.  We all were sad because it was her FIRST tooth.  

She was more worried about the tooth fairy leaving money and we came up with an idea.  

Let's write the tooth fairy a letter.  She dictated while I wrote in her own words, and, here's what she wanted the tooth fairy to know:

Her first tooth loss.  Jan 9, 2015.

Score! She's happy!

 I'm curious when she will lose her top ones.  That will be funny! 😍

Question:  How old were your child(ren) when they lost their first tooth?  Were you able to save the tooth?  Please, share the stories.  Thank You.