Thursday, July 24, 2008

A greatful believer is born

Many of you know my cousin Adrianne Reynolds
was brutally murdered 3yrs ago.
When she first died, my kids would look for "signs" that she was still with us, and that she was ok. It helped them deal with what happened, and helped them to feel better. Below is a story that was in today's paper, about a "sign" that Uncle Tony, finally got.


Tony Reynolds didn’t stop talking to his daughter, Adrianne, after she was killed. He talks to her all the time.

When a family member told of having received “a sign” from the deceased teenager, Reynolds started asking Adrianne to send him a message, too.“I started reading about people who’ve had a butterfly land on their arm on the anniversary of their mother’s death or a special kind of bird that shows up at the front door on a certain day, but I need more than that,” he said. “I guess I’m a skeptic.“I told Adrianne, ‘You’ll have to hit me in the head with a brick.’”The brick didn’t come, but something else did.

Rewind to the months following Adrianne’s Jan. 21, 2005, murder in the parking lot of a Moline Taco Bell. That spring, Reynolds bought a 1966 Mustang. He’d had a 1969 model when Adrianne was just a little girl, and the two of them loved to take rides together.“She used to say, ‘Make it mad, Daddy!’” he said of her enthusiasm for speed. “She was so little back then, and I called her Lil’ Bit.”When he bought the second Mustang, Reynolds knew he had to have “Lil Bit” on the license plate to honor the passenger he lost. But it wasn’t to be. No matter how hard the helpful woman at the Secretary of State’s office tried, the plate, in all variations, already was taken.Disappointed, he gave up. But he kept asking Adrianne for that sign.

Then came the Saturday two weeks ago when Reynolds was having his usual early morning run. He took to jogging shortly after Adrianne died because he found that it cleared his head, and he could talk to her privately in the silent light/dark of morning.He was headed back home, just a half block away, when he spotted something in the street. It was an Illinois license plate.“I picked it up, and it had, ‘L-I-L,’ then a space and, ‘B’ a space and ’74,’” he said. “I thought and thought about LIL B 74. Then I looked at the alphabet, and I realized that ‘G’ is the seventh letter in the alphabet, and ‘D’ is the fourth letter.”In other words: LIL B GD“Then it hit me like a brick: I figured Lil’ Bit was telling me she’s with God.”The retelling of the story puts a lump in Reynolds’ throat.“How many millions of license plates are there in the world?” he asked. “And I find this one a half block from my house. That meant the world to me. To me, that plate says, ‘Daddy, here’s your sign.’”It is the best thing that has happened to him since he lost Adrianne.“I wanted to believe she could hear me,” he said. “I needed to know she’s all right.

“I could have won the Lottery, and it wouldn’t make me feel any better than it did to find that plate.”

Monday, July 21, 2008

Pics from this weekend.

This weekend we went downtown to celebrate our friend George's 30th Birthday.
We went to a concert for his fav. band Carbon Leaf. We had a pretty good time.
Here are a few pics of the night.
Shel

The Stage
Me and My Christopher
Me and My George
George and the Carbon Leaf Guy
George and 2 Carbon Leaf Guys

Monday July 21st

Wow, what a day so far.
All is well here in Chicago but it appears all hell broke loose in the QC this morning. I was a bit on edge as the storm approached Chicago but it died down a bit before hitting us. I read on QCONLINE today that trees and power lines and polls are down everywhere. My brother Alex has been sending Chris and I pic's from his phone. I cant believe it. I thank God that all my friends and family are safe, however I was heartbroken when I read on QCONLINE that a 4yr old boy was killed and his 9mth old sister is in critical condition. How sad that a camping trip turned so bad.

In Chicago land,
I started babysitting today.
Brandon met 2 8yr old boys (twins).
They stay with their dad every other week for a week.
They dont know any boys their age in the neighborhood and were soooo excited to meet Brandon. They were looking for a daycare center to send them to and I offered to watch them since I am home anyway. So far everything is going perfect. They are being very well behaved little boys, and everyone is getting along so well. So far today they have played pokemon, the Wii, sledding down the stairs, and now they turned the entire basment into a huge tent. They have Ashlyn's kitchen center inside it and are pretending it is a resturant inside the tent. I have not heard so much laughter in such a long time.

I'll let you know later in the week if they all continue to get along so well.
Shel

Friday, July 18, 2008

Favorite Foto Friday

Well, The girl that does the FFF is on vacation, so I dont know what today's FFF is.
So I will make my own.
Today's FFF is Swimming/Beach fun.
ENJOY
Shel



Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Ashlyn

Hey everyone,
Just wanted to let you all know whats going on with Ashlyn.
We took her to the Dr. on Monday with some pretty severe abdominal pain.
The Dr. admitted her with possible appendicitis. Luckily she didnt have appendicitis and did NOT have to have surgery, but something is going on in that tummy. She def. has her energy back, but if you press on her tummy on the low right side, it still causes her pain. It also still causes her pain to go "potty".
The Dr. is a bit concerned that she is straining so hard to "potty" even though its soft, and that its causing her such pain. He is sending her to a intestine Dr. to take a look at her and see whats going on.
The hospital stay was a bit crazy, but we are doing well now.
We waited in the waiting room for 3 hrs, and her Dr. is LIVID! He had her room set up before we left his office and there was no reason for us to have waited that long. Add to it, she had possible appendicitis and those 3 hrs could have turned really ugly really quick, also add to that he ordered tests STAT. He had me write a letter to the CEO of the hospital and has already started looking into what happened and why. Lets just say Im glad I am not on his bad side !!! Aside from all that, the nurses were wonderful with Ashlyn. They spoiled her rotten. The lady's in CAT scan gave her a pink purse, and a book of paper dolls. The nurses that gave her an IV gave her about 100 stickers ( they had to poke her 5 times UGH) Then her room nurse gave her a Cinderella dress, and a Sleeping Beauty dress. I guess Disney donates to the pediatric unit. When we were finally able to leave, Ashlyn wore her cinderella dress, and her pink purse, and waved to everyone as she was leaving.

I will keep you updated when we see the tummy Dr.
Lots of Love,
Shel

Friday, July 11, 2008

Favorite Foto Friday - FFF

Today's FFF is HOORAY for the Red, White, and Blue!
Ashlyn and Gma Carol at the parade
waiting for the parade with friends
My guitar lovin boy with his flag
Katey and Mad
cousins at the fireworks


Thanks again to everyone for making this 4th of July so wonderful
Shel

Thursday, July 10, 2008

HOLY CRAP !!

Katey has been queen of pranks lately.
She loves to jump out and scare Brandon, who hates to be scared.
Yesterday she stood outside his door, yelled for him to come here, then screamed when he opened the door. Then not 5 mins later, she climbed the walls and was perched above the door frame of his bedroom (she's kinda like a spider or something) She yelled for him to come then screams from above him.. this scared the crap out of him and sent him running and screaming down the stairs... half of which he forgot to step on. But even Brandon thought it was funny once his heart started beating again.

WELL.........
Today was my day, and she got me good.
She has this life size cut out of Johnny Depp, as Jack Sparrow (pirates)
This is in her room, and if the door is left open, often startles me when I walk past.
Well, today she thought it would be great fun to put him in the bathroom and shut the door.
I finally walked in and didnt expect a full grown man to be standing there looking at me, and I screamed (and dropped a few F bombs) and almost kicked his ass. My heart seriously skipped a beat, and my adrenalyn was pumping. Katey and Brandon just cracked up laughing so hard and couldn't even talk. And yes, when I finally calmed down, I thought it was pretty funny too.

Good one Katey, you got me.
Mom (Shel)

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Signs or "SIGNS"

First I'd like to start off by thanking RIRY, if it wasnt for you this weekend wouldnt have been so much fun. I'd also like to thank the Saki Bomb, and thanks for introducing us to this wonderful treat. I'd like to not thank the center, but thank the dot instead because without the dot we would not win the game. And further more, you know who you are "suck it".

For those of you who understand this... thanks for a great weekend.
For those of you who dont, here are a few pics of our weekend.
We had a blast
Shel
Fireworks group pic
Kathryn and Mad

Ashlyn and Gma Carol

Brandon and Noah (TOUGH)

The men

Parade group shot

Ashlyn, Nathan, and Lily

The girls making rock castles

Saki bombs


Acceptance speeches (is this on?)


The women

pretend jail
Sissy and Ashlyn with her new bike
Ashlyn with her new bike


Thursday, July 3, 2008

4th of July weekend

Hey guys,
Im really excited we are coming home for the 4th of July.
We are going to the parade with friends, going to fireworks, gonna have Ashlyn's bday party on Sat, hang out with friends, and come home some time on Sunday.

It will be nice to have something to do than sitting home being bored.
I love having plans !!!

Yesterday I took the kids downtown. We met Chris and George for lunch then I took the kids to Millinnium park to play in the water towers and have ice cream. Then we met dad and rode the train home together. It was a great day, and I got about 2 miles of good walking in. GO ME!

Shel