Rooms With a View

BIRTHDAY WISHES AND UPDATE ON JIM

I am very happy to inform you that my brother Jim's heart procedure went well and he is resting comfortably in the hospital tonight. He will be going home to recover tomorrow. I want to thank all of you for your prayers and your thoughts. It truly means the world to me.

Now, I have a niece who is celebrating a birthday tomorrow, Friday, February 27th! I won't tell you how old she is (35) but I will tell you that she does not look a day over 25. I will never forget when I first saw Becki. My first thought was that she was the most beautiful little monkey I had ever seen. She was my second niece, her sister being my first and by the time Becki came along I was over being jealous of her big sister. You see I had been the only girl for years and then along came Nicki, my first niece.

Anyway, Becki weighed 8lbs 13oz and was covered in dark brown hair. She was so adorable and loved to snuggle with me. She has grown into an AMAZING young woman, wife, and mother. I am so proud of her and I miss her terribly. She is exceeds in everything she has ever tackled. Her latest endeavor is cake making. If you live in the Salt Lake/Bountiful/Centerville area, and you ever need a special cake, give her a ring. Actually, just email me and I will make the contact for you. Here are the most recent photos I have of Becki and her beautiful family...

 

This is the Berube family. Tim, Elle, Becki, and Jessie.

 

Here she is kissing a dolphin in Cabo. Is she not the most beautiful young woman ever? Happy Birthday Becki! We all love you.

DIARY OF A WORM

On Monday night Vinny's school hosted a family night at their Bookfair. The school encouraged the kids to dress up as a character from their favorite book. The books Vinny reads really do not have characters that look any different than a normal young girl so she decided to go back in time to one of her favorite books, 'DIARY OF A WORM'. She did not decide what she wanted to dress up as until a couple of hours before the bookfair. Thank goodness for brown sheets.

 

The eagle next to Vinny is one of her best friends and also happens to be the school mascot. C. was helping out by walking around to promote the bookfair.

Thanks for stopping by!

PRAYERS

I would like to ask all of my readers to PLEASE keep my brother Jim in your prayers and thoughts. On Thursday, February 26th he will be undergoing a procedure to correct a hole in his heart. Apparently he has had this hole since birth and it was only discovered recently. The procedure involves a small incision in his groin and only requires one night in the hospital. I so wish I could be there for him and his beautiful wife.

This is one of my favorite photos. It was taken quite a few years ago and I used it in a mini album I made for Jim last year...

 

Thank you for keeping Jim and his wife Chrisie in your thoughts. Jim, I love you!

MY FAVORITE NEW TOY!

Do you like to sweep? I hate it! I hate it when the dust bunnies go flying around and you can never totally get all of the dirt into the dust pan. I do have a great idea for the dust bunnies. I spray Pledge on the end of the broom and that keeps the dust bunnies on the broom. There is still the problem of getting all of the dirt into the dustpan.

For my birthday I asked for one thing and one thing only. Charlie was a little surprised that I wanted this yet as the good husband that he is, he bought it for me. It is now my favorite toy! I now enjoy sweeping and believe it or not, so do the kids. Here it is...

 

And a close-up of my new Dirt Devil sweeper Vac.

 

The cool thing is that as it sweeps, it vacuums up the dirt. It even picks up cat food. I highly reccomend this little gem. Now, if they could only make one that mops.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROOMSWITHAVIEW!!!!!

Can you believe that it has been one year since I started this blog? Where has the time gone.Here are a few statistics from my first year of blogging...

Posts:            260

Visitors:       8655

Comments: 403

As you can see, the number of people reading this blog that are not leaving a comment is quite high! I would love to know who you are so please just leave me a quick note.

My husband has started a blog that is intended to record his families history. You may want to check it out; he is an amazing writer and has quite the sense of humor. Here is the link...PADDOCK CALLS 

Posts may be a little light this week. Tomorrow is Tysabri which means time for my week long headache.

I hope you all have a groovy week!

COWS AND BOOTS!

Our school district has a wonderful program called Horizons which is for those students that are considered Gifted and Talented. Vinny is in this program and she LOVES it. They meet one day a week and study Art, Science, Math, Literature, etc. With the latest budget woes that our state is facing, there is talk that the Horizons program may be eliminated. So, on Tuesday night our district held a fundraiser at all of the Chick-Fil-A stores. Chick-Fil-A is giving a portion of their sales towards the Horizons program. Can you believe that I only took one photo that night? I was too busy discussing the implications of losing the program. The one photo I did take was pretty cute. May I present to you Mitchell and his new best friend.

 

In other news see if you can guess who the foot in this next photo belongs to.

 

IF you guessed Mitchell, you are correct! For those of you that may not know Mitchell, let me fill you in. In his 12 years on this earth he has broken 4 feet, three legs, one arm, a couple of fingers, almost tore the tendon in his thumb (which you can only do with a knife), and had a few sprains. I am sure I am forgetting something. Since we moved to SC 1 1/2 years ago he hurt his thumb (the tendon), broke three bones in his right foot in December 07 and now this!

To think that we went a whole year without any serious injuries. Last night he was running in our rec room and as he tells it, he tripped over a lady bug. I was more concerned with the blood on my carpet from his nose which is what he landed on. He said that his foot really hurt and I said to just sleep on it and we will see how it feels tomorrow. He woke up and said that it really hurt so I wrapped it in an Ace Bandage, got out the crutches and sent him on to school. At around 11:00 I received a text message begging me to pick him up.

I took him in to see his orthopedic doctor this afternoon where he should have his own room and it turns out it is not broken. In fact, the bones that he broke last year are healed better than the doctor expected. Unfortunately, the news is not all good. He has what the doctor called a "severe ligament sprain". What makes it severe is that the ligaments felt lose or something like that. That means that a few of the ligaments were close to being torn from the bone. So, he now has this lovely boot that actually inflates to keep his foot stable. He has to wear the boot for at least 2 weeks. Not too bad unless you are playing Oz in your school play next week and you just got a new basketball hoop.

VALENTINES, CRAFTS AND BASKETBALL

I know I already showed the wonderful Barber Shop Quartet that showered me with love on Valentines Day. I thought I would show you a few more images from our day.

Charlie opening his present from his lovely wife.

 

I have made or purchased a few keepsake boxes over the past 20 years. He keeps cards, artwork done by the kids, and other memories. He mentioned a while ago that he needed a new one and I remembered the day before Valentines day. So, this was quick craft and I love it. So does he. Here is a close-up...

 

Here is a side view of the box.

 

Vinny also got a little crafty for her dad...

 

Here is a close-up...

 

I am so proud of her and the awesome job she did with this beautiful frame.

Patrick gave me a beautiful white frame and Mitchell gave me a gift card to Michael's. Sorry, no photos. Here is what Vinny gave me...

 

This is a Willow Tree and I collect them. This one is called the "Angel of the Heart".I gave each of the kids a bag of candy. Vinny received two webkinz, Patrick got a I-Tunes card, and here is what Mitchell got...

 

He has been wanting a basketball hoop since we moved here. We had one in Salt Lake and he really enjoyed using it. Now, this is not just for him, it is for the whole family. Here are a few more photos...

 

I gave the kids gummy eyes! I found them at Target and the packaging said "I have eyes for you". I could not resist.

 

The kids were their bags of goodies.

Last but not least, here is a video of Mitchell making his 20 shots in a row. I came in a little late and I apologize for how dark it is.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

VALIDATION

This is so cool and if it does not make you smile then I am not sure what can. It is a little long but well worth it! Enjoy.

BEST VALENTINES DAY EVER!

On Friday, Charlie told me that on Saturday, I could not leave the house between 12-5. I figured that he was having roses delivered. Imagine my surprise at 12:30 this is what I saw come into the backyard.

Yes, a Barber Shop Quartet to sing to me. Here is the video that Mitchell captured.

I did not cry for this song so they decided to sing one more to see if they could get the tears flowing. It worked. Before they left they asked the kids if they would like to join them for a song. Mitchell and Vinny's friend Abby went for it. They also brought me a rose and a card. It was the most amazing Valentines Day I have ever had.

ANGELS

Charlie sent this to me and I thought you all might enjoy it. Happy Friday!

Have you ever wondered what kids think about angels? Read on for some unexpected answers.

I only know the names of two angels. Hark and Harold. --Gregory, 5

Everybody's got it all wrong. Angels don't wear halos anymore. I forget why, but scientists are working on it.   --Olive, 9
 
It's not easy to become an angel! First, you die. Then you go to heaven, and then there's still the flight training to go through. And then you got to agree to wear those angel clothes. --Matthew, 9

Angels work for God and watch over kids when God has to go do something else.
--Mitchell, 7
 
My guardian angel helps me with math, but he's not much good for science.
--Henry, 8
 
Angels don't eat, but they drink milk from Holy Cows. --Jack, 6
 
Angels talk all the way while they're flying you up to heaven. The main subject is where you went wrong before you got dead. --Daniel, 9
 
When an angel gets mad, he takes a deep breath and counts to ten. And when he lets out his breath, somewhere there's a tornado. --Reagan, 10
 
Angels have a lot to do and they keep very busy. If you lose a tooth, an angel comes in through your window and leaves money under your pillow. Then when it gets cold, angels go north for the winter. --Sara, 6
 
Angels live in cloud houses made by God and his son, who's a very good carpenter. --Jared, 8
 
All angels are girls because they gotta wear dresses and boys didn't go for it.
--Antonio, 9
 
My angel is my grandma who died last year. She got a big head start on helping me while she was still down here on earth. --Katelynn, 9
 
Some of the angels are in charge of helping heal sick animals and pets. And if they don't make the animals get better, they help the child get over it.
--Vicki, 8

What I don't get about angels is why, when someone is in love, they shoot arrows at them. --Sarah, 7