A Great Tragedy

I got a phone call this morning from David which wouldn't be unusual except that I talked to him yesterday and we usually try to stretch the money I put on the account by spacing out the phone calls.
As soon as he came on the line, I knew something was wrong. I could hear the tears in his voice and could barely understand what he was saying.  He called because of a news story he saw last night.  A man was beaten and left for dead over a dispute over a parking spot.  Read the news story here. 
The man who was attacked, Chad McDonald, was David's boss for 3 years.  Apparently, Fernando Aristy, regularly parked his car in a no parking zone in front of the warehouse where Chad worked.  There were signs stating that it was a no parking zone but Aristy parked there anyway.  He was repeatedly warned to move his car by Chad but would park there anyway.  Eventually, Chad called and had the car towed.  Aristy then came back with two friends and attacked Chad and then left him lying on the ground.  He was transported to the hospital where he later died from his injuries. 
Information on Fernando Aristy can be found here.
Chad leaves behind a large extended family in addition to his wife of ten years and their two sons ages 15 and 11.  The 11 year old will be 12 on Friday.
One of the worst parts of this tragedy is that Aristy has had a warrant out for him since September of 2009 when he was released from prison and failed to show up for his probation meeting.  He should have been back in jail for that but authorities hadn't found him so he was still out to commit this crime. 
Chad didn't have any life insurance so the loss of his income will greatly impact his family.  There is a benefit scheduled for November 6 at 8pm at the Lynnway Sports Center in Lynn, MA.  I am planning to attend and hope that a lot of others will as well. 
Chad was a great guy.  Hardworking and easy going.  Always had a smile for everyone.  He was a terriffic father.  He was always great with Davis when he and I would go by the warehouses to see David while he worked.  He will be missed. 

School Pictures

This is Davis' first year in daycare and they took school pictures, which I didn't expect.  It was a nice surprise though.  For some reason, no matter what I do, he always smiles more for people outside the family who are taking his picture.  With me, he can be acting goofy and smiling away but as soon as he sees the camera, he starts turning away and pretending to be shy.  If it weren't so frustrating, it would be funny.  Okay, it is funny but it's frustrating too.
Anyway, now I have a dilemma. They took 4 pictures and I like them all. I can't decide which one(s) I want to get 8x10s of.  I'm getting wallets of all of them, but I'm not sure which to get 8x10s of.  So here they are...Let me know what you think.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Sharing a Wonderful Blog

I just stumbled upon a wonderful blog.  I found the link on my Facebook news feed today and I'm so glad I followed it.  Single Dad Laughing is a well written, deeply thought provoking blog with a lot of humor thrown into the mix.  
The entry that brought me to the blog was, You just broke your child, Congratulations. It was an amazing entry and definitely should be a must read for every parent.  This post is written about dads but I think it pertains to moms as well. 
I know I'm not perfect as a parent and I never expect to be, but I know that I'm doing my best and my son knows I love him.  I spend time with him every day no matter what.  I know I'm extremely lucky to have found a man who is a loving and involved father and I'm grateful every day for that.  Even though David is away from us for now, he manages to show his love to Davis is a million ways.  And I know that when he is home again, he will be as involved and loving as he can be. 
If you haven't already, you should definitely go check out Single Dad Laughing, he's an amazing writer.

Toddler Talk Thursdays: GAMES

First off, I'd like to thank the Toddler Talk Moms for highlighting my blog this week!  It really made my day.

Now, this week's topic is games. Davis LOVES games of all kinds. 

He started off with things like peek-a-boo and what we liked to call "I'm gonna squash Daddy"

Which later progressed to "I'm gonna use Daddy as a jungle gym"

Yes, he was watching wrestling with us in that video, he's always loved it.

He has always been a sports fan, lately his favorites are soccer and baseball. 

I've recently started doing a lot of flash cards with him which he loves. They're not really a game, but he thinks they're fun so I think it counts.  We have seasons, animals, letters, numbers and sight words flash cards.  He's not quite ready for the sight words yet, I just show him the picture and then the word so he connects that the word goes with the picture. 

I'm really excited that he's getting to the point where he's about ready for actual board games now.  I plan to get him one or two for Christmas this year, I just don't know which ones would be best to start with.  I'm making my own memory/matching game with pictures from his coloring books.  We'll be trying that one out this weekend, I can't wait to see how it goes. 

Recipe Lion - 23 Spooky Halloween Recipe Ideas

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Visit Recipe Lion to get yours today.

Toddler Talk Thursdays: Halloween

This week's topic is HALLOWEEN!  I love Halloween, I've always enjoyed it but I think what really cemented it as my favorite holiday was living in Salem, MA for 8+ years.  We moved there when I was in the 7th grade and lived there through high school.  I didn't really experience much of the Haunted Happenings madness until after high school. 

We actually lived in Salem for Davis' first Halloween when he was 6 months old which was great.  They have so many great family friendly activities.  David is also a big fan of Halloween so we both had a lot of fun taking Davis to things like their kids costume contest and the Haunted Happenings Parade. 

First Halloween 6 months old.

He made an adorable dragon.

Last year we lived in Lynn which is just a town over from Salem so we were able to participate in a lot of the Salem activities again. I also took him out trick or treating with my friend Jayna and her two daughters, Charlotte (then 3)  and Aaliyah (then 2 months).

Baby Dracula at 18 months.

This year, I wish we could do more of the awesome activities in Salem again but we live about 45 minutes away now and traffic getting into and out of Salem is insane.  We'll just have to make our own fun.   I still haven't decided what he'll be going as but I'm sure he'll have some input this year.  Maybe one of the Toy Story characters since he loves them so much.

Monday Blog Hops

Time for the Monday Minute with Cristy.

1. What's your biggest pet peeve?
I have a lot of pet peeves, unfortunately.  One of my biggest though is being asked to repeat information over and over again.  It happens a lot at home because there are 2 teenage boys, a tween boy and a 20 year old girl living here.  They constantly ask me a question and fail to actually listen to the answer. Or they interrupt me halfway through the answer.  I've learned to just stop talking to them when they do that and say, "I'm done."  After a few minutes they'll usually ask me the question again, but they'll actually listen this time.

2. Describe your first kiss.
My first kiss was when I was about 10 or so and I don't even remember it all that well, it honestly wasn't that good.  I've had way better kisses with my fiance.

3. Describe the drunkest night of your life (or at least, the drunkest night you can remember,)
That'd be the night  I went  with my fiance to his friend, Mike's house for the first time.  He has this "tradition" that the first time anyone visits his house, they do shots.  So we did shots of Jim Beam.....and I drank a Smirnoff Ice.....and a margarita.  Not a good idea to mix it all, especially since I hadn't eaten much that day.  I was holding my own though until it was time to leave.  His friends insisted on walking us out the front and I puked on his porch steps.  Thankfully they were concrete and easily washed.  Ugh.  We went home and I fell straight to sleep.  Thankfully I was fine in the morning though. 

4. What's the last movie you saw and what did you think of it?
The last movie I saw in theaters was Toy Story 3.  It was awesome!  Davis loved it, it was his second trip to the movie theater.  He hadn't seen the first two movies, but he loved the third so much that I went out and bought the first two that week and he's obsessed now.  

5. Do you prefer taking a bath or a shower?
Shower.  The only time I take baths is when I'm sick.....or when my sweetie decides I need to relax and runs one for me. I'm just too lazy to take all the toys out of the tub and run myself a bath. LOL