My Last Days: Meet Zach Sobiech

Last night Cassie and went to John Tones Christmas in the City. Neither one of us had ever heard of him but we went for a couple reasons.....We both listen to My Talk and had heard one of our favorite host Margery Punnett talking about the concert along with a VIP meet and greet before the concert at Seven in Minneapolis. Ticket were $50.00 a piece and only 20 people were going to be at the meet and greet. The other reason we we wanted to go was because it was a fund raiser for the Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Cancer Fund . If you have never heard of Zach Sobiech please take the time to watch the above video, you will be  touched by Zach....

So we spent the money and were excited to go. We had so much fun at the meet and greet. We got to have a very nice visit with Ian and Margery Punnett. We got to meet John Trones and Jim Brickman. Lastly we got to meet Zach Sobiech's parents and siblings. They came around to each of us and thanked us for coming and supporting the Fund. It was an honor to meet them and to be able to express to them how much Zach had touch each of our lives with his song Clouds.

Even though I only good 4 hours of sleep last night I am so happy that we went. We had a great time and got to meet some great people....

"Clouds" -by Zach Sobiech

Well I fell down, down, down
Into this dark and lonely hole
There was no one there to care about me anymore
And I needed a way to climb and grab a hold of the edge
You were sitting there holding a rope

And we'll go up, up, up
But I'll fly a little higher
We'll go up in the clouds because the view is a little nicer
Up here my dear
It won't be long now, it won't be long now

When I get back on land
Well I'll never get my chance
Be ready to live and it'll be ripped right out of my hands
Maybe someday we'll take a little ride
We'll go up, up, up and everything will be just fine

And we'll go up, up, up
But I'll fly a little higher

We'll go up in the clouds because the view is a little nicer
Up here my dear

It won't be long now, it won't be long now
If only I had a little bit more time
If only I had a little bit more time with you

We could go up, up, up
And take that little ride
And sit there holding hands
And everything would be just right
And maybe someday I'll see you again
We'll float up in the clouds and we'll never see the end

And we'll go up, up, up
But I'll fly a little higher
We'll go up in the clouds because the view is a little nicer
Up here my dear
It won't be long now, it won't be long now 

 

 

Remember to give the ones you love a hug today.....

Later Sharon 

 

 

Changing Traditions.....

 

I think sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season and forget what is really about.

I don't want the Holiday season to be stressful. Sometimes it gets hard to try and fit everything in and to try and see everyone. We always have Christmas with the kids, usually the weekend before or after Christmas. This year because of work schedules and commitments with the kids other families it just did not work out. So we made the decision to not get together with my parents and extended family on Christmas day. Instead we are having the kids and grandkids over for supper on Christmas day. I should also mention that I have to work until 1:00 on Christmas day so that was also making it hard. It was a very hard decision to make. It is hard to change traditions. 

I had talked to my parents about having our holiday celebration after the holidays or just have it on Thanksgiving and they were both happy with the idea. It is getting hard for them to host it as they get older and the family grows bigger. There is only a few of us that have houses that are big enough to host it now and we have been taking turns. They also realize how hard it is for the grandkids and great-grandkids to try and fit everything in with all the extended families. Christa, Jese and Oliver had six Christmas celebrations last year and by the time Christmas day came around they were exhausted.  I am glad my parents  are understanding and agree that sometimes change is needed.  Since this decision was made so late the Becker Christmas is going to go on without us this year. I will miss seeing everyone but will not miss the stress of trying to fit everything in a short time frame. Hopefully later in the year we will all be able to get together with most everyone.

We are having the Rugroden Christmas celebration this coming Saturday. On Christmas Eve we will go to church with Rick's mom and then hopefully be able to spend some of the evening by our selfs. I have to work Christmas Eve and Christmas day this year. It always sucks to have to work a holiday but that is part of the job. At least I can leave early when my co-worker comes in at 1:00. I took Dec. 26, Dec 31 and Jan. 1 off so I will have 7 days off after Christmas. It works out good since the first is a holiday I don't have to use vacation time. I love to take that week after Christmas off just to relax and stay home. I am turning into a homebody and cherish my alone time with Rick. 

Hopefully I will have some updates before Christmas but if not I hope you all have a wonderful, relaxing, stress free Holiday Season. 

Remember to give the ones you love a hug even if it is long distance hug and tell them you love them.

Later Sharon 

Replacement .......

So those of you that have read my blog for awhile might remember that last year for Christmas I made a doll house for my granddaughter. It was a just a kit that came with everything cut out and I just had to put it all together and paint and decorator it. It was made out of thin pressed wood and was not very sturdy. Well after having it for less then a month Eli pushed Josie into it and knocked one of the walls out. Then later on Eli and Oliver spent some time pushing out all of the windows and breaking pieces of it off. Poor Josie was very upset with them. She told them how naughty they were since the doll house was made by her Nana and it was special. Well this year I asked her if she wanted me to take the doll house and have it fixed up for her birthday. I told her that I would have Grandpa Becker help me. She was super excited.
So I enlisted my Dad's help and here on the results. We did not "fix" the old doll house but build a whole new one. I found a picture of what I wanted on the internet and printed it off and handed it to Dad. Other then the overall size of it I gave Dad no instructions. He did such a good job! Once Dad was done with his part I took over the painting, staining and decorating. Dad had also found some doll house furniture at an auction so I painted that up too. Lastly since it is Christmas time I did a little Christmas decorating too.

Other the the piece of plywood he used all the wood was recycled wood. We had given Dad our left over barn wood and he used that for all the siding and shutters etc. I had to paint the door red so it is just like the front door on my house.

                              She even gets a garden shed

I asked Josie what her favorite colors were and she said pink and purple so I painted one of the bedrooms pink for her. 

I printed off pictures of everyone in Josie's family and put them in these little frames and hung them in the house for her.

Josie is going to love it! It is heavy duty so I think those naughty two year olds will not be able to break it!

I think Josie is one lucky little girl and is going to have a keep sake that was made with much love by her Great Grandpa Becker with a little help from her Nana Sharon.

Later Sharon

"The purpose of our lives is to be happy." - Dalai Lama

 Thanksgiving morning 18 of us all went to Northfield and ran/walked  the Turkey Trot. Dad decided that after taking several years off he would do it again so I sent the invite out to everyone joined in. Linda got us all t-shirts so we all matched. It was lots of fun.

                               Nick, Cassie and Dad running into the finish line.
                                                                    and
                                         Amy, Rick and I stopping for a picture.

 

 

I was feeling crafty the other day so this is what I made. I actually saw them on Pinterest a while ago and thought they were super cute. I had Rick cut up a post for me that had sitting around for some unknown reason. He then painted them white. Of course then they sat in my basement waiting for me to finish them for two weeks. Since I had ever thing to make them at home they did not cost me anything. The fabric I used for the hats and scarfs came from an old pair of pajama pants. They are super cute and look good in front of our house.

 

 Friday was of course our favorite shopping day of the year. Christa, Amy and I headed to Mankato at 5:00 in the morning so we could be at JoAnn fabrics at the 6:00 opening. We got lots of deals. They had the fabric so cheap! I may have gotten a little more then I had intended on getting. I guess I better get sewing.  We also made it to a few more stores to get a couple bargains. I am pretty much done with my Christmas shopping. Now I just have to wait for the things I ordered on line to get here and start wrapping. 

A few years ago when my Grandparents went into the Nursing Home my Mom gave me this Nativity set that belonged to my Grandma Trenda. It is all chipped and faded and has seen it's better days but it is the Christmas decoration that I treasure the most since it was Grandma's.  Every year when I take it out I think of Grandma and this year even more since she passed away in February. I wonder how many times she took each piece out and set it up. She even has straw for the manger in a little bag. It makes me smile to think of Grandma saving that straw from year to year. Of course I am now keeping it year to year too. I hope Grandma is smiling at me from up there in heaven....

Later
Sharon