Give Me Five: Favorite T.V. Sitcoms

Okay, I've shared my Favorite T.V. Dramas, now for some good Laughs: My all time Favorite T.V. Sitcoms!

 1. Friends

"I'll be there for you!" 

A funny group of Friends, closer than Family,

in New York City

What could be Better?!

2. Happy Days!

 "Sunday, Monday, Happy Days!" 

I know I might be dating myself here,

but I can't help it! 

I also LOVED the spin off: Joanie Loves Chachi! :) 

3. The Facts Of Life!

 "You take the good, your take the bad, 

you take them both & there you have The Facts Of Life!" 

Blair (Lisa Welchel) was always my Favorite! 

Now I follow her on Twitter & have read her Books! :) 

4. Modern Family!

(Sorry no words in their Theme Song!) :) 

Such a Funny show, 

If you're not watching it, you should be! 

You will actually LOL! :) 

 5. The Brady Bunch!

"Here's a Story of a Lovely Lady,

who was bringing up three very Lovely Girls!"

Coming from a large family myself, I couldn't help but love this one!

Jan was my Favorite, 

though for most people it was all about Marsha, Marsha, Marsha! :) 

Okay, there you are, my all time Favorite T.V. Sitcoms! And my question to you is: When you're in the mood to laugh, what do you like to watch? 

Give Me Five: Favorite T.V. Dramas

Every Life needs a little Drama! As long as that Drama comes from some really good T.V. shows! Here are some of my all time Favorites;

1. Parenthood!

The Best Show On Television!

If you are not watching Parenthood, 

(weather you are a Parent, or you have a Parent) :)

You NEED to be!

We watch it as a Family!

It is so good!

But be warned; you will cry!

2. Gilmore Girls!

Another really Great show! 

A Fast Talking Mother/Daughter Duo!

(right up my alley!) :)

I have the ENTIRE Series on DVD!

Love it! 

3. ER!

Gotta love a good Medical Drama!

(It was a toss up with St. Elsewhere, which I really liked too) 

But ER was such a good show! 

Great Actors, engrossing story lines. 

 4. Flamingo Road!

 Now, you might not remember this one, 

but it was one of my Favorites!

Think along the lines of Dynasty & Dallas, 

but a little more tropical! :) 

I wanted to be Morgan Fairchild, but have the wrong color hair! :) 

 5. Switched At Birth! 

I love that this show incorporates Sign Language 

and does it really well. 

It's one of my Girls' Favorite shows. 

Two girls switched at Birth, one of whom is deaf. 

Two families turned upside down, 

trying to make the best of a difficult situation. 

So good. 

Well, there you have it, my picks for the Best T.V. Dramas. Up next I'll talk about some of my Favorite Comedies! What are your picks when you need a little Drama in your life? 

Coming Of Age

My girls went to a friends Quinceanera. For those of you who don't live in the West, a Quinceanera is to Hispanic Girls what a Bar Mitzvah is to Jewish Boys. It's a Coming Of Age celebration! When a Hispanic Girl turns 15, it marks her journey from childhood into womanhood. They have a ceremony & a big party! When my boys were younger they were in the court of a Friend of ours Quinceanera as well. (The court is kind of like a wedding party.)

My girls along with all their friends were so excited & talked about little else for months ahead of time. They got their dresses, one was given to them by my Niece who is in College now & had worn the dress to some formal in High School & the other one we picked up at a local thrift store! They looked Beautiful!

We found their cool shoes at Burlington Coat Factory. In order to get the above picture to show off their shoes, they had to stand like this . . .

 

They talked about how they wanted to have a Quinceanera, just like when Kyle was younger & said he wished we were Jewish so he could have a Bar Mitzvah! (He's all about the Party & the Cash!) :) If I was Tweeting this I'd Hashtag: #WhitePeoplesProblems :)

I guess there's always the Debutant Ball route, but alas, we are not a part of high society! (Now that is a Bummer!) So I guess we'll stick with the Beloved Sweet 16 Party! We threw big ones for each of the boys, where we played Volleyball & Basketball in our Churches Gym & the girls have already been coming up with ideas for theirs! They turn 16 this October. Yikes!

My Sweet 16 Party was a Surprise Party at Farrells Ice Cream Parlor! I was really surprised by my Family & all my Friends that were there! It was a fun night I will never forget!

How do you, if at all, in your Family or Culture, celebrate the ending of childhood & the beginning of adult hood? And my bigger question is how can we keep our children from growing up at all?

March Sadness

This time of year, a lot of people are talking about March Madness & filling in their brackets, etc. and that can be a lot of fun. But, I have a little different perspective right now. As March came last year my kids had 3 living Grandparents, as March comes to an end this year they are down to only 1. My heart breaks for them. They have always been close to their Grandparents. I never really knew my Grandparents & have always been so thankful that my kids had theirs!

It's been such a hard year after loosing my Mom, and now My Father In Law of over 25 years, Bob Forbis, has joined both my Parents in Heaven. I'm so glad he is no longer in pain. He had been for much too long. And he is up out of that wheel chair, that had been a part of him for probably as long as my kids can remember. (They did love to play in it though when they were little.) :) He was always a lot of fun & always good for a laugh. He will truly be missed by all who knew him.

Then & Now:

A Boy & his Dad!

Us! 

Kyle!

Zach!

Erica & Lexi!

Thanks for so many great memories filled with Laughter. You will be missed. We Love you. 

 

Arizona Aloha Festival 2013

One of my absolute Favorite things about Spring is the Arizona Aloha Festival! It is the Largest Hula Festival outside of Hawaii, and it's right here in the middle of the Arizona desert!

My girls & I used to Dance Hula & we have actually danced in the Aloha Festival! (Great Memories!) And we have gone every year since then to see our friends & Hula Sista's dance.

And every year we always say how much we miss Hula! It is so Beautiful! And it is on my Bucket List to someday get to actually Hula in Hawaii! :) (The above picture is of two of my favorite Hula dancers; Denese & Debbie!)

The Festival is always a Saturday & Sunday in March, at Tempe Beach Park & this year it was cold & storming on Saturday, so no one hardly came out, but on Sunday it was warm & sunny and more crowded than I have ever seen it!

Erica, Lexi & Kyle Hanging Loose in front of a canoe! There are Hawaiian food booths & of course Hawaiian Shaved Ice, (which we have to have EVERY year!) There is all kinds of Vendors & Activities. You can take a Ukulele lesson, (someday I will buy my Husband a Ukulele!) make a lei, hear stories of the Hawaiian culture, & much more.

The girls & I tried our hand at something called Hot Hula Fitness! It was fun! And Erica was directly in eye shot of the instructor & she kept saying "Good Job, girl in the white shirt, you got it!" (which of course embarrassed Erica & made us laugh!) :)

And there is a lot of shopping! Over the years we've bought everything from T-shirts to luggage, from accessories like shark teeth necklaces & flowers for our hair, to pareo's (which is a Hawaiian sarong to use as swimsuit cover-ups!) This year the girls wanted rings. Lexi chose Dolphins & Erica a Treble Clef! Sterling Silver.

And I bought Steering Wheel Covers, Grey for John's car, Green for Kyles & Pink for my car for $5.00 a piece! Score! You can spend a LOT, or a little. But there is always a lot to see!

Smile! Instead of fighting the traffic we like to ride the Light Rail! It's convenient & you meet all kinds of interesting people! And you can usually tell by the way people are dressed who's going to the Aloha Festival! :)

The Festival is always a highlight of our year. Next year will be the 20th Anniversary of the Arizona Aloha Festival! And of course we will be there! Hope you will be too! Until then we will continue to Live Aloha!

My First Time Guest Blogging!

A good Friend of mine, Chet DeRouen asked me to
Guest Blog on his site, Why Am I Gay? 

He has been very Brave & Courageous, yet Vulnerable,

as he Honestly shares his life & struggles.

He asked me, as a Mom, as a Christian, as a Pastor's Wife,

to share how I raise my Children to be Loving &
Accepting of others who are different than they are. 

Weather that be being Gay, or of other races, Handicapped, etc. 

I was very Honored that first of all that he thought
I had raised my kids this way! :) 

And secondly that He would Trust me enough to give me Voice on his site. 

Again, let me say how Brave he is! :) 

I've been overwhelmed by the response I've gotten on Facebook.

To be honest with you I was prepared for all the Haters
to sink their teeth into me, 

but thankfully that didn't happen! (not yet anyway!) :) 

So read it if you dare! 

Just click on the Title of the Post here:
Raising Kids Towards Love & Acceptance

And leave some Love & Laughter from our site to his. 

One Year Without A Mom

One year ago my Mother went away.

My world is not the same without her in it.

I miss her every day.

I want to talk and I want her to hear.

I want my kids to have her in their lives.

Their future spouses and kids will never know her.

How can that be?

It's just not right.

One year. 

Is a year too long.

One year without a Mom.