Spring

Springtime brought us some great weather and it produced some great times and adventures. Jack had a day off school one day and we headed to the beach. It was not a super warm day but we all sure enjoyed being in the sun, the sand and listening to the waves.

 

Our garden started to bloom and we were able harvest some tomatoes, spring pea shoots, lettuce, radishes and bananas! The Bougainvillea bloomed and it was a sight to see.

Jack was kept busy with school and baseball. 

After the second grade school play "The Principal and the Pea"

Jack participated in the second grade Economic Mall.

The kids were to develop a product to that they would make, market and sell. 

Jack decided that he wanted to make googly eyed monsters and marketed them for $1.

We had to make 40 monsters so we had to do five a day. Jack cut out the shapes and put them together and I helped glue on the pom poms. It was a lot of work but it was great to see Jack's creativity shine. 

The day of the mall the parents were able to come and shop.

We were given fake money and got to walk around and hear the sales pitch of each child to determine what services we wanted. Jack was so cute sitting at his little shop.

I love his sign. Especially the $5 with 4 dollars off to advertise the price was a $1

Another baseball season. This time he was on the Mets team. Jack played catcher a lot this season. 

Jason again was an assistant coach. 

Valentines Day and a Visit from Ranell

For Valentine's Day we had a visit from Aunt Nelly.

I love when Nelly comes to town. I get to do girl stuff like shopping and sushi dates!

We got tickets to a show downtown Orlando at a new theater.

Mom and watched Jack and were able to have a night out on the town before the show.

We went to Jake's restaurant Boca and we had a wonderful meal.

That same weekend we were able to enjoy the nice weather and headed to the orange grove where we had some fun picking oranges and riding in the cart making memories.

 

 Valentines day Breakfast.It's always a favorite of mine.

   

At the Start of 2015

A new year brought new experiences.

Jack started piano from Miss Becky 

 My good friend Ami and I started taking a online bread class.

We made a lot of different kinds of bread. It was great to be able to be creative and learn a new skill. It was also something that made the boys very happy. 

Plus it was fun to spend my Thursday mornings with Ami in her kitchen!

Jack got to participate in first space derby!

Boy was it an introduction. We let Jack decorate and do his rocket. When we got to the activity we quickly found out that we were the underdogs. As some of the shuttle were kind of extravagant and the dads's were more involved and a little pushy than the boys. Jackson's rocket didn't go very far and he got super upset. It was a hard lesson and and eye opener for all of us. I was happy that he got over it quickly and we left with some smiles and he still has his rocket displayed on his shelf.

We said goodbye to Sheldon. It was such a sad time and we still miss and talk about him.

December 2015

  

We decorated our tree and got our house ready for our second Christmas in the same home! That's a record! We've been somewhere different every year. It was nice to be settled and decorating was a whole lot easier because I had done it before.

Jack's traditional Christmastime PJ's. Ornament from Nana and Pepi representing Jack's year. My lungs can't take the dust so extreme precautions were taken! We get pretty serious.

On the 6th I turned 7!

Mom made all those gingerbread men and I helped decorate so we could deliver them to the Bone Marrow Unit.

 How wonderful that was to deliver those cookies with Jackson and Jason beside me. 

We've all come so far and have been so blessed.

This picture represents one of the sweetest moments with Jack.

After we dropped off the cookies we went out to lunch to celebrate.

As we were eating we explaining all the happened and all that I went through to still be here. Jack just started sobbing. He snuggled really close and expressed his love and appreciation that I was still here. Talk about one of those moments that we will not forget.

We also celebrated with a trip to Universal and to Hogwarts and then a crab dinner with the whole family including the reason why I am here, My amazing brother and donor Jake!

Oh and this happened!

We have a cub scout! What?!?

 As usual, December was full of parties and celebrations that kept us pretty busy.

On our way to Jason's work Christmas Party.

Christmas Eve
We had out traditional Christmas Eve dinner with all the excitement and magic.

Christmas Day
This year was a Harry Potter/Lego Christmas for Jackson. 
Santa surprised him with a Crookshanks. 

  

Of course there was a Lego set to work on all day.

Jack wasted no time getting down to busniess.

Along with Crookshanks, Jackson got a broom, a golden snitch , joke products from the Wesley joke shop and I made and gave him a Harry Potter blanket. 
It was a very Harry Christmas!

We had brunch at Mom and Dad's with Granddad and Uncle Jim. 

There was a lot of kissing to Jack's dismay, under the mistletoe.

We got some quality presents from each other.

My favorite was the mug Jack made for me in his ceramic class.

 New Year's Eve

We stayed home and watched  Jack cook in the James Beard Kitchen via webcam. It was so exciting watching him perform his magic while in New York. We did let off a few fireworks and just had a low key night at home together. That's the way we like it.