bee and rose

A Grateful Heart - The Story of a Heart Hero I am so overwhelmed with gratitude to all my bloggy friends and their support of my sweet daughter's efforts with Jump Rope for Heart.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!   This video is her story and requires a warning....TISSUES may be needed!  I couldn't be more proud of her! With Love and Blessings,

Hi Family and Friends! My sweet daughter, Catherine (aka Irish Dancer Girl) is happy to announce that she will be participating in Jump Rope for the Heart  in honor of her father who passed away on December 27, 2012 .  She has created her own webpage to graciously accept donations for the American Heart Association, which happened to be her father's favorite charity. This wonderful event is helping my girl turn her grieving into blessings.  She is so excited to be helping others as a way to cherish her father's memory.  If you can spare a bit, she would be forever grateful for your kindness.   Here's a link to her webpage:   Catherine Smith's Jump Rope for the Heart Event to Honor Her Father, William Smith Thank you in advance for any support you can give.  We are slowly, but surely moving forward with our happy memories.  We miss him deeply every single day.  It makes my heart so happy to know my daughter finally sees some ...

My Darling Husband passed away on Thursday evening, December 27, 2012.  Many of you are familiar with Mr. Smith (aka Chilly, Smitty, and other assorted monikers) as I have shared our journey over the last three years.  He fought a very long and courageous battle with multiple organ failures and a diagnosis of a very rare, deadly disease called Amyloidosis.  He passed away peacefully in his sleep from a fatal heart arrhythmia.  Even though we knew that this would eventually happen, we were completely shocked that it occured this way.  He was hospitalized the day after Christmas for internal bleeding and pneumonia.  By Thursday morning, they felt they had stabilized him and with antibiotics and additional dialysis, he would be ready to go home on Friday morning.  I spent all day Thursday with him and at 4 pm went home to check on our very sick daughter.  Before I left, I hugged and kissed him...said "I love you"...he said "love you" back...

Dear Katniss Everdeen Diagonal Braid; Wow!  You've just made my life easier!  Thank you for inspiring my daughter to actually let me brush her hair without a major freak out attack.  My Cat~niss has been wearing French braids, Dutch braids and Fishbone braids for days now all thanks to you.  Cat no longer runs and hides at the sight of a comb and brush.  She actually welcomes them with open arms.  Hopefully, my dear Katniss Braid , you can convince your friend,  Irish Dance Curly Wig to do the same.  Maybe you can bring Curly Wig for a play-date soon?  That would be awesome! Dear St. Patrick's Day Parade Mini Hat; We did it!  We fooled EVERYONE at the parade! HAHA!  No one ever guessed that you were a glittery black soda can cozy and some sequin scrap!  And, by the luck of the Irish, you stayed firmly on Miss Cat's head throughout the entire parade with winds in excess of 100 mph!  (ok...so maybe a few gusts...

Saddle up, folks!  I'm back and ready to ride!  I can't believe it's been over a year since I've posted.  Time has flown by out here in the wild west. So much has happened...where to begin??? I could just say that outlaws came to my casa and wrangled me out of my voice.  There is truth in that even if it sounds like a tall tale.  In reality, I had become a proud member of the "IF YOU CAN"T SAY ANYTHING NICE, DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL" Club.  As some of you may know, my husband's previous employer had taken away his health insurance without warning (yes, it's illegal) and then did not pay him over a period of months.  I was so angry  at the damage that this did not only to my husband, but to the financial stability of our family.  Without going into the dreadful details, I'll just say it's been a challenge.  Fortunately, a new job arrived and we are slowly picking up the pieces.  However, my anger at the "outlaws" (aka previ...

See that Lego game up there?  It's not as innocent as it seems, my friends.  The tv commercial for this game is clearly harmful to grown women with teenage sons.  It has reduced me to tears on more than one occasion. How on earth can this seemingly child friendly game cause so much heartache and distress?  Allow me to weave my tale of woe for you.... A few days ago, I saw this commercial and immediately said to Irish Dancer Girl, "Your brother (aka Teen Caveboy) would love this game...He's such a Lego freak!"  She looked at me like I had just told her aliens had invaded the neighborhood.  "Uh, Mom...he doesn't play with toys anymore, remember?"  She was edging toward me slowly.  "He stopped playing with toys back when I was a little girl."  (she's 8 years old...)  The truth in her words smacked me in the heart like the Karate Kid hitting me with a five finger death punch.  Tears welled up in my eyes.  I was a blubbering fool...

Look at that awesome toe point on Irish dancer girl!  We are finally finished with what we lovingly refer to in Irish dance as "March Madness"! Whew!  As you might imagine, Irish dancers are pretty popular come March.  We've just completed our two week tour of performances all over Tucson.  We wrapped up the season yesterday with a viewing of the movie "Lord of the Dance 3D".  Here's a little peek at what we've been doing! Cat with Brandon Mull, author of the fabulous "Fablehaven" series of books! We met him after her performance at the Festival of Books! What a nice guy! (and if you haven't read this series, do it!  It's fantastic!) Parade Prep on the firetruck for the St. Patrick's Day Festival and Parade... Taking a bow at Pima College's St. Patrick's Day celebration... And here's a little video of Irish dancer girl in action!  The stage floor was super slippery, but she still managed to knock out so...