Dolls For World Peace

My grandmother participated in the program "Dolls For World Peace" at her assisted living facility. You can read information about the program on Facebook.

My grandmother made dolls for the less fortunate and for each one of her great-grandchildren...

When Briana received her doll, I took a picture of Briana with the doll and sent it to my grandmother. My grandmother then gave the picture to the assisted living center to put in their display...

Bubbie loved seeing Briana on the wall in the center's hallway. She would kiss her hand and then touch Bri's picture each morning as she headed to breakfast.

I'm glad Bri has something so special from her Bubbie. She also has the fabric my grandmother sent that is in her 100 good wishes quilt.

I know Bri will cherish her soft doll always...

Bubbie's 90th Birthday Tribute

I did a tribute for my Grandma Betty on her 90th birthday, and even though my Grandma Yetta passed two days before her 90th, I think a birthday tribute is still in order.

 She was a beautiful young woman - she raised 4 children with my Grandpa George (my dad is in the middle)...

Grandma loved all of her grandchildren. She liked to take us on outings. Here are me, my sister and my cousins at the Orange Bowl parade...

When we were little, she used to take me and my sister to "ladies luncheons" - we had lunch at the Burdine's department store restaurant and then we were allowed to pick out a treat (usually a piece of clothing). We also did a lot of swimming at the pool in her condo complex every summer when we lived in Florida.

She always made amazing dinners for the family on Passover, Rosh Hashanah and Hanukkah. My favorite foods being chicken soup and meatballs.

My grandmother and grandfather loved each other very much. It was very difficult for her to lose my grandfather at such a young age...

But she kept on living. She lived a very full and wonderful life after his passing.

She came to Georgia to see me get married in 1997...

 And with so many cousins, I was able to see her at several weddings.

Here she is dancing the Hora at my cousin Michelle's wedding in 2001...

Grandma and me at my cousin Brian's wedding in 2003...

Grandma was so excited when Doug and I adopted Briana in 2007. She cried the happiest tears when we received Briana's referral.

She jumped on a plane three months after Bri came home to meet her new great granddaughter...

And we visited her in FL six months after that...

She had a wonderful 85th birthday party in 2009, but unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to FL for that occasion...

Her physical health started to decline a few years before she passed and she went to live in a very nice assisted living home. And about a year before her passing, she started experiencing some confusion as well. But, she still managed to flash her million dollar smile...

I am very sad (and upset with myself) that I did not go to see her at least one more time before she passed away. Life sometimes gets away from you, and you think to yourself, "I have plenty of time" and "I'll do it soon." Unfortunately, I didn't - time ran out for me. I wish I had made the time.

I love and miss you Grandma - Happy Birthday.

Rest In Peace Bubbie

My grandmother (my father's mother) passed away on the evening on May 20th - she would have been 90 years old on May 22nd. Her health had been slowly declining over the past couple of years, but she got very sick at the beginning of this year and then got even sicker at the end of April.

In less than one year, I have now lost both of my grandmothers.

My grandmother's funeral was on Friday, and the rabbi who performed her funeral service said that someone passing on or very near the day of his/her birth is the mark of a sage. And it also marks a life that was well lived and is complete. My grandmother is definitely a true sage.

I lost my grandfather on June 3, 1990 - when he was 66 years old and I was 16 years old. He and my grandmother were apart for almost 24 years. She never found another love. Her heart was always with my grandfather...

They are finally together again.

My grandma Yetta was the mother of 4, grandmother of 9 and great grandmother of 12. She loved being a grandma, but she absolutely loved being "Bubbie" to her 12 great grandchildren.

My grandmother lived in Ft. Lauderdale, so it was a bit more difficult for me to see her than my other grandmother (who lived in GA). It had been several years since I had seen her in person, but we kept in close contact through cards, gifts, lots of pictures and a phone call here and there. My intention was to visit her this year - when Briana got out of school. Sadly, I did not make it in time. I am so very, very sad about that.

I wasn't about to miss her funeral, so I flew down to FL with my sister and my parents to say a final goodbye to her.

The 23rd Psalm was read at her funeral in Hebrew and in English...

I will truly miss her.

Rest In Peace Grandma.

(My grandma died during the last week of 2nd grade for Briana - I was able to attend a couple of her school functions but Doug filled in for me for the rest while I was out of town. I will blog about her last week of school soon.)

Last Week Of 2nd Grade

Just writing that makes my heart hurt a bit. How is B almost done with 2nd grade? It doesn't seem possible.

Wasn't I just registering her for kindergarten yesterday?

I thought I wasn't going to make it when I sent Briana through the doors of the "big bad elementary school" three years ago. And here we are. Now she is almost done with 2nd grade. Time keeps marching on - and we are surviving. :)

Miss Popularity (Friends, Friends and More Friends!)

(*Warning - lots of pictures ahead! LOL!)

We have been pretty busy lately in the social aspect of Briana's life lately. We were supposed to "do all things school" last week (like field day and spring fling), but because of rain, everything (except for school itself) was postponed until this week - the last week of school.

 Monday evening, we said goodbye to some dear friends of ours. The W family is moving to Texas and we are so sad so see them go. Sad for us, but so happy for them in their new journey. Bri and I met J and E at Chick Fil A for one last get together.

Briana and E are such good friends - I'm going to miss seeing these sweet girls together...

J has been one of my closest school/neighborhood mom friends and I am going to miss her so much. I know that we will always stay in touch. *Tear*

Tuesday afternoon, the school spring fling was postponed due to supposed oncoming bad weather that never materialized. Sigh. So, Bri's friend T and her mom M invited Bri and I to join them at local entertainment center for bowling, laser tag and dinner instead! We ended up having so much fun!

Bri and T are such good friends. They always have a great time together...

Bowling was kids against moms. The kids won - both of them breaking 100 and they were so happy about it (hey - they did have bumpers though)! ;)

The bumper cars are so cool...

This was Briana's first time trying out laser tag. (There was hardly anyone there that evening, so the girls had the room to themselves and they let us moms go in and watch!)...

Of course video games were a must...

We all had a great time! Tuesday night is the time to be there - we pretty much had the place to ourselves. A big thanks to T and M for inviting us!

Doug was out of town on business last week (Tues-Thurs), so we did have a couple of low key days (Wed and Thurs). Thank goodness we did have some down time because we had to gear up for Friday and Saturday!

Friday evening, Bri attended her good friend Imerie's 8th birthday party. It was Party #1 of 3 in which Bri accepted an invitation - all taking place on the same weekend! May is a popular time for parties! It was at a local aquatic center. The birthday girl was beaming...

The girls entered the party room first for cupcakes and presents...

Aren't these the cutest? My friend V outdid herself...

Super cute photo opp...

Then it was time to move on to swimming...

All the kids jumped in and started having a blast immediately...

The lazy river was a huge hit...

And I am so proud of my girl - she was not allowed to get on the big water slide wearing goggles. She ended up swimming for most of the party without goggles. My gal hates getting water in her eyes, so this was a huge step for her! She finally realized it isn't so horrible swimming and going underwater with no goggles...

Miss ML...

The girls started to play piggyback in the water. Giggles all around...

Hugs in the locker room area. Bri was kind of over me taking pictures (heh)...

Party #2 was at Catch Air on Saturday morning. This party was for her classmate/friend M and she turned 8. SpongeBob was the theme. Catch Air is so awesome for kids.

Here is Bri with the birthday girl and some friends from her class...

This place is a kid's dream...

Every birthday child gets his/her own dance party...

M's visitor was SpongeBob of course...

Who doesn't love bubbles?

Lots of giggles came from this rotating circle...

More giggles...

SpongeBob photo opp...

Bri was sad to have to leave the party, but she knew her friend K was waiting for her at the next party and she really wanted to see her - time for Party #3.

Bri and Miss K - she turned 4!!! (These girls are as close as sisters)...

K's party was an old fashion house party - swinging, sliding, ball tossing, pizza eating, laughing, hide & seeking and lots of running! The weather was cool and beautiful (it had rained all morning and luckily it stopped in time!).

Love Miss K's face in this pic...

The party guests left after a couple of hours, but Doug, Bri and I hung out a little bit longer. Bri and K decided to decompress a bit on the iPad...

Today is Sunday. I planned on staying around the house today. Well it's been raining and dreary all day, so Doug, Bri and I went out to see "Legends Of Oz" instead. Briana "has been dying" (her words) to see it since she saw a preview for it several months ago. She absolutely loved it. She said it was worth the wait.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, all the school activities are now this upcoming week (some originally planned and some pushed to this week). Talk about waiting until the 11th hour! I am going to enjoy the few last moments of "alone" time I can get before Briana is out of school for two+ months! I do have several camps scheduled for her, but the first camp doesn't start for two weeks.

Wish me luck!! ;)