Finally have a chance to breathe...

Doing work you love is hard, but when you love it as much as I do, it seems mostly effortless.  The only down side is that it takes up much of your time and life seems to fly by so very fast. Take for instance, my blog.  My diary to my family, today and tomorrow, and to the world (not that the whole world is interested, but that it is open to everyone in it who is curious enough to look)

 Summer is officially over, so there are a few things I want to jot down so I will not forget they ever happened.  This Summer, I had some changes in my life; one was to say good bye to my accompanist, Maddie, who went to Notre Dame University to bigger and better things than playing at our sweet little chapel in the woods....

(My apologies for the sideways movie clips, I just could not for the life of me, figure out how to change it.  If you know, you could leave me a comment or  link to see how! :) Thanks)

Here is one of our last pictures together.  She was a very, very sweet young lady, who did a great job providing music for our Masses every week. 

Another change in my life was that of work.  I am still dedicated to my wonderful Precious Metal position, but am beginning to feel a shift in the industry in the area of gold buying parties.  To create an excitement to my hostesses, I brought on It Works, Global on board as a sister business to create a stir, and it has.  I have been buying gold and silver and wrapping bodies all summer long. 

 

I have also cut 9 inches off my hair....

 

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Enjoyed the kids in Children's Day, VBS, and on Open Mic Night.....

 

Of course there was our annual trip to the Shore and Casino Pier, then we spent some time at Tabor Lake....

Other highlights include the Baptism of Sonny where we got to see some old friends....

and finally, the beginning of school to get things back into order....

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I am still singing weekly at Mass and a Funeral or 2 every month as well as Weddings now and again.  I had a special treat when I got to see my Catholic Elementary School Principal, Sr. Ascenza, who I love very much. It wasn't the best picture, but you can see how happy we are to see each other. :)

 

Overall, it was a great Summer and I am happy that fall is here to bring on new adventures in our loud, crazy life!

Loudly yours.

Alicia

So lucky

Today I have been pondering how lucky I am to have a job that gives me the flexibility I need to be a Mom of 7 kids, that gives me the option to build other businesses and continue to follow my desires.

For instance, singing. It is a passion for me.  I think I would die inside if I lost the gift of singing.  I am lucky to have the ability to almost drop everything and sing at a Funeral Mass or Service. I have the privilege of singing every Sunday and get paid for it, something I have and would do for free.  I love that I get to pursue my deepest desire to continue developing my voice.  

I am grateful to my hubby who puts up with my singing career and is always there to be with the kids as I am unleashed to jog my vocal chords.  Same goes with my many business ventures.  From makeup to water units, to travel, to gold to my awesome wraps,  he is there for me and the return has been good, but it could not have been without his help, that is for sure. :)

I still have a bug in me that wants to go forward, though.  I want to have that chance to sing on Broadway, to record a legit CD that gets onto the charts, to travel all over the world, have a home in Ecuador and at the shore...I guess that is what keeps me going, searching for the perfect situation that will get me the things I dream of.  I just got a message from an Ambassador Executive from It Works.  I read of her success and I pray to be on the receiving line, right along with her in about a year from now.  I am putting it out there, as a prayer to God that He gets his Universe in motion to have those dreams come to be.

Loudly yours,
Alicia
 

First Day of Kindergarten for Bella

Dear Bella,

Today is the first day of Kindergarten.  I just know you are going to do great!  I wanted to write you this letter so you can look back on it and get a glimpse of what it was like on the morning of your first day of Kindergarten.  

I woke you up around 5:30 am to get you ready.  I sat on your bed and reminded you that today was your very first day of Kindergarten!  

 I also tried to wake up your Sisters with a very impromptu version of One Thing (by One Direction...the latest boy band CRAZE) 

It went like this: Get up , get up, get up, get out of your bed, be-cause you have school to-day....Get up , get up, get up, get out of your bed, or you'll miss the school bus...whoa o-o-o-o-o-, whoa -o-o-o-o-o, but then your Sister, Rachael sat up in bed and yelled at me that I was being annoying, so I had to stop.  She made it hard for me to think of other lyrics with her yelling.  That's ok, mission accomplished anyway...got you girls up from bed.   

Vincent met you in the hallway and we all went downstairs for breakfast. Justin fell asleep on the couch and got up to tell you good morning and how beautiful you were.  

I gave you a quick bath before breakfast and you used your new princess bath towel that Grandma and Grandpa gave you for your birthday. It is pink with a crown at the top of the hood.  

You got dressed and tried to button your shirt, but it was a little hard, so I helped you.  

 You ate your cereal, a generic Lucky Charms and got your uniform wet with milk. You cried, but it was ok, because I wanted to take it off anyway because it was really too small for you anyway.  We are going to wash that jumper and give it to your friend, Gracie, since she needs a smaller one anyways.  

I made lunch for you all, then Daddy took you to the bus stop after you all brushed your teeth.  

I hope you had a good day at school!  I am sure you will, as Mrs M is a great teacher!

 

Much Love,

Mommy

Children's Day Unraveled Part 3

This day starts early!  The kids are usually up and excited! Today is officially their day. ALL DAY.
7 am:
The Flag is honored by the local Girl Scouts with a flag raising to officially begin Children's Day, followed by the firing of the cannon to let Mt Tabor know that they day has begun.
Immediately following, the volunteers for the Midway begin the long process of putting together the Midway as the others leave for breakfast.  One by one, neighbors emerge from thier
homes to make the magic of Children's Day happen.
8:15 am:
Athletic Event Registration begins at 8:15 am until 9 am, when the games begin!
9am :
Everyone gets a participation ribbon and placement ribbons are awarded to the athletes after each event.
Awards are then given for overall athletic and sportsmanship at the Midway during the awards ceremony for both the
athletic events, the house decorating event and the floats.

12:15 pm:
CD Parade Line up at the Post Office.  Registration and Check in happens here for all those who have taken the
time to create their float.  Floats are accompanied by decorated bicycles, baby carriages and costumes. This year, my
kids got together and made their own float with a borrowed float bed and some advice from the Dad of their friend.
They won first place! :)
1:00 pm:
The Parade begins!  Participants have a grueling path to take as the parade route is very hilly in some spots.  I usually
enjoy taking a seat, right in front of my house to watch the parade.  I personally had enough of the hills during the 5k.
The floats vary from small to amazingly huge! This year, we saw Godzilla, Men in Black, an amazing Indian Elephant,
Angry Birds,  a luchador ring, to name a few.  It was fun to watch as it is every year.





1:30 pm:
The Midway fun begins!  There are pony rides, raffles, games, food, music and the Children's Day Art Show.  There is
even free ice cream for the kids who participate in the parade, donated by the Mount Tabor Historical Society!
There are a lot of free activities for the kids, like bubbles, balloon launching, chalk, puzzles, corn sifting, jump rope,
and the like.  There are midway games you can play by purchasing tickets, including the strong man anvil game,
and other games of skill. There is a food stand operated by and to benefit the volunteer Mt Tabor Fire Department.

4:30 pm The midway closes down for the day and everyone goes home for dinner.  Some packing away of the Midway begins.
7 pm:
Assembly for the Evening Parade. All those who placed as a winner in their category march yet again and are joined by extremely loud local Firefighters who love to blast their sirens.  (This is when I usually retreat to the house) WAY too loud for even me!! (If you can believe that)
7:15 pm:
The parade is fun and is usually accompanied by some fun water hose war that usually goes on, right on my corner. For years, there has been a water fight between a certain group of  people ( I am guessing friend and relatives of the fire fighters) who try to have a water fight with the fire fighters. It is quite comical.  I will have to take pictures next year.

7:45 pm:
Lowering of the Colors
The Mt Tabor Fire Department has a ceremony with the Pastor of the Methodist Church in town, who blesses our activities for the day.
7:50 pm:
The Francis X Wentworth Sr. Memorial Concert
This concert is given every year by the Wentworth Family.  One of the largest families in Mt Tabor history,  JG Wentworth being one of the Wentworth clan, together with his family, donate money toward our annual concert. (You may recognize JG from his commercials "I want my money and I want it NOW!"  It is a gift from their family to the town of Mt Tabor.  This year, we were visited by "The Zombies" and friends. It was  a great concert, followed by awesome fireworks (the best I have seen this year) and neighborly fun, including free glow stick necklaces for all!
This year's Children's Day was a great success.
Loudly yours,
Alicia
ps- We have been accused of being a little too quiet in our exposure of Children's Day as we limit our weekend to Mt Tabor residents and their guests.  Some might think it true, but you must admit, the whole weekend is provided by donations, dedication, sweat and time by our town's neighbors,  plus,  we don't have a lot of space to house all of the surrounding towns, so we have and will remain on the quiet side about inviting others to join us. I know it kind of stinks, but it is what it is. :)

It's a Shore Thing....

We took time out of our busy week to go to the shore and play at the
water park and boardwalk rides. We met up with some cousins and the kids all had a blast!   We started at the water park and ended at the
board walk.  Breakwater Beach is a fun place to get wet with the family.
It added a new ride this year that is actually split into two and reminds me of Great Wolf  Lodge, my other favorite place to vacation. We did not get to take pictures since we do not have waterproof cameras and my phone was dying.  Ugh.... we did get some shots at the Casino Pier...

 Waiting on line at the roller coaster...

 Riding the bumper cars with my boy, Zeets.... 
(almost got whiplash...guess he didn't read the signs not to bump head first!)

Okay, so I am going to cheat a little today.  Here is a post from my darling SIL who beautifully covered our day:
http://amysreallife.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/under-the-boardwalk

Loudly yours,

Alicia