I am Blessed ...

... to have a friend like Angie. If you are looking for a little inspiration and something to touch your heart, check out her blog (which is a fantastic read). The link is on the right. The blog post that she references from my site is under the May posts call Mother's Day in case you haven't read it yet and are curious what she's writing in response to.

Massive Updates

We've had a crazy beginning to 2008. Thus the lack of updates until now. I finally had a moment to write. And by "had a moment," I mean I am procrastinating and avoiding the mountain of work that needs my attention. Besides two big emotional hits with losing Kath and finding out about Jim Hodge's cancer, we've had a few bumps on top of the usual chaos (Quick recap - I crashed the car, Maddie was sick, I was sick, Maddie ate something with peanuts and ended up in the ER).

Lots of great things have happened too. First and foremost, Maddie is growing into a fabulous person. Who could ask for more? I got my first practicum placement for next year. I met with Fernside to start on my dissertation project and I'm very excited to get things going. Maddie, Mark, Jason and I ran in the Flying Pig 5K. Maddie and I finished in 32 minutes - 10 minutes faster than last year. I went to a conference in Chicago to learn a therapy technique that is incredibly beneficial for kids (also partied it up a bit). Many of the other good things are captured in the blogs below.

Enjoy!

Sweet Little Dreamer

It has been a long time since I snapped a picture of my little sleeping beauty. On this night, she snuck into my room and snuggled in. She looked so sweet and lovely that I couldn't resist taking this photo.

The Babies Hooper

Evelyn and Campbell Hooper arrived this spring and are rapidly growing. Here they are at about 2 weeks-old. Mom and Dad are doing very well as you can see below when we took the girls out to lunch.

Prom ... That's right, Prom

WSU SOPP (school of professional psychology) has a semi-formal dinner and dancing thing to say good-bye to the class heading off to internship. So basically, it's a prom, complete with really bad food and drunken dancing.

Mark and I at prom avoiding the nasty dinner.

Fun in Colorado

Pics from our trip to Colorado.








Miss M walking in the mountains





My fearless snowboarder










This is Mark's son Jason and his giant cheeseburger.













Mark's oldest two - Shannon and Aaron











Miss M looking very hungry.














Mark's youngest son Devon throwing rocks off the mountain.










Maddie and Devon heading up the ski lift.

Blizzard Are So Fun!

Here are some photos from the blizzard earlier this year.









Maddie, Joe and Clare build their fort.



Little Man










I love this photo. The smile and laugh say it all.









Lindsey pleads for mercy. I have seen this face MANY times.









Getting ready to go down the hill.

Mother's Day

I am guessing if you read the title, then you know what today is. That's right, it's Mother's Day. All in all, it was a good day. Maddie planned the "perfect Mother's Day." Early in the week, she gave me a list of things that we could do. Her list included: Bike rideing, play time, baseball, jump rope. snacks, games, tea, bracelets, lunch, shopping, going to the park, flower picking, reading, contests, painting, water balloons, snuggling, tennis, jogging, chaulk, and paper airplanes - a full day as you can see.

Given that it was rainy and there are only so many hours in the day, we did as many as we could. I also received some interesting gifts, including a foam purple sun visor. It was definitely a day to make me proud to be a mom.

The last part of the day really reminded me that I am the mom of a grieving child. Most of the time, we go through our daily lives and - though we keep Kevin present and still honor what was - we focus on what is and what will be. There are those moments when I am reminded that the past is still present, particularly for my kid who so misses her dad.

We went to the movies and grab dinner with Mark, Jason and Devon. Maddie had a little bit of a breakdown. The breakdown turned into an hour-long discussion about how much she misses her dad and how angry she is about his death. It seems that Mother's Day for her is just a reminder that Father's Day is coming. It's at this point in life that I have no answers for her. I don't know what it is like to walk in her scuffed and dirty size 1 shoes. I can't fix this for her, which, as a mom, is devastating.

So why am I writing such a gloomy post on what was otherwise a happy Mother's Day? Because I just explained to my kid that sometimes writing down how you feel helps you work through it. I suppose I'm hoping that by writing this I will feel a little less helpless.

P.S. I know some of you have lost parents, particularly at an early age. Any words of advice for me or Maddie on how you made peace with the loss (or if you didn't) would be most appreciated.

P.S.S. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, particularly the first-time moms Erin and Julia. And especially to my own mom - I love you.