Posts Tagged: children

Sweet Little You

October 21st, 2016
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Yesterday morning, one of my nieces delivered her second child and shazam, just like that our large boisterous family has grown by one more!

We expected her arrival at any time during this past week with everyone closely following the daily ups and downs of labor; starting, stopping, starting, stopping until the doctors decided that yesterday was the right time to induce and really kick her labor into high gear.

At that point, things started happening very quickly and then suddenly Baby Lilly was here!

When you are not around babies on an everyday basis, you can … Read More

Daddy’s Home

June 19th, 2016
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You learn a lot about how to navigate the ups and downs of life by watching your parents. I know I did. The people in charge of raising us, for better or worse, are the people who have the first opportunity at influencing us.  Even when we begin to think we have life figured out for ourselves, we may still think back to something that one of our parents did or said and think to ourselves, “I wonder how they did that?”  “I wonder how they knew that?”  Or  perhaps your parents weren’t so wonderful and you might be thinking, … Read More

The Stillness of Snow

January 25th, 2016
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  Photo Courtesy of ABC News   In case you haven’t heard, the Washington, DC area received at least two feet of snow over the weekend. It started as small flakes on Friday afternoon and never stopped snowing until late Saturday night. As some of the local weather forecasters said, the nation’s capital was in the crosshairs of a snow blizzard and the storm delivered enough snow to keep all of us shoveling for days. But the snow and the high winds did something else. Mother Nature forced us to slow down.  To stop our usual routine and just be.… Read More

Color Up Your Awesome World

January 11th, 2016
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It’s one thing to tell yourself that you’re not going to get stressed about the bumps and pitfalls of life and it’s an entirely another thing to actually get rid of the stress that unfortunately comes along with it. Surprisingly, millions of adults have recently re-discovered the simple and easy fun that comes from taking up something that we all did in our childhoods: color.  Maybe you have read about the popularity of coloring books designed for adults and said to yourself that such a thing as sitting around and coloring pictures would be a silly waste of time since… Read More

Waiting for The Great Pumpkin

October 30th, 2015
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  Halloween arrives this weekend and it brings back very fond memories of me and my husband taking our son out to trick or treat in different neighborhoods and watching him run from door to door with his friends, so excited and amazed to be getting free candy! I remember all of his costumes, some of which I made myself (Thomas The Tank Engine and Simba) and some that I bought at the store (Cookie Monster and Ninja Warrior). The cute, cute, cute picture above is of one of my son’s first Halloweens.  He loved his Spider Man pajamas so… Read More

Grief And Honest Conversations

October 23rd, 2015
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Just as we all grieve differently, we all heal differently. Healing is a personal search for hope; a trial and error process of looking for a new purpose; a way to feel a little more centered again as you try to make sense of what life is about for you and perhaps your children after a loved one’s death. I think it took me about eight to ten months after my husband’s death to realize that I couldn’t figure it all out on my own and I had to find help. Unfortunately, as much as family and friends try to… Read More

The Martian and Grief

October 12th, 2015
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Actor Matt Damon Plays An Astronaut In the newly released movie, The Martian My 25-year-old son went to see the new Matt Damon movie, The Martian, the other night and he was telling me that he enjoyed it a lot because it made him think about his deceased father. The Martian is a new movie about an astronaut who is mistakenly left on Mars, presumed to be dead after a fierce storm.  It’s a warm science fiction, adventure techie kind of movie that pokes fun at the geekier side of life. My son’s Dad was an award-winning journalist who covered… Read More

A Whale of A Baby

October 5th, 2015
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Baby Shower Table Scape Notice the whale as centerpiece   My Mom and I hosted a baby shower for my niece yesterday and it was healing in a fun way to pause with my other sisters and close relatives to celebrate the arrival of a new family member. I think it’s always good news when a baby is on the way; beginnings are always exciting and so full of hope! At the shower we had an advice jar where people wrote their tips on slips of paper for my helping my niece transition to motherhood.  Here are a few examples… Read More

A Letter to Hallie Biden

June 11th, 2015
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Beau Biden and his family:                                                 Wife Hallie Biden (Left) Daughter Natalie (Middle) and Son Hunter (Right).                                                 Special to The News Journal/SAQUAN STIMPSON Dearest Hallie: We have never met but my thoughts are with you this morning. Please accept my sincerest condolences upon the death of your beloved husband, Beau Biden.  His funeral this past Saturday was touching and heartbreaking and by allowing his Mass to be aired on television, you gave others the opportunity to grieve with you and also to draw strength from the open and emotional manner in which the Biden family gracefully handled the heartbreak of Beau’s… Read More