Our Holiday Letter 2009

As I begin this letter from Janurary of last year, it starts with very sad news. We lost my sister, Laura to stage 4 Lung Cancer. It was an awful time for our family. She was diagnosed a few weeks after my daughter Abbie was born in September and was told with Chemo and Radiation, she had a good chance of living up to a year. She barely held on for four months. She died suddenly on Janurary 3rd 2009. What a way to start the new year. Then to follow, a drunk ran through my mother and father's house totalling their car and a shed and part of the wall in my mother's bedroom. Thank the Lord above that the car and shed were blocking the house, or that would have been my mother's sleeping head the drunk's car would have hit! Then a week after that, my daughter got RSV, which is a very severe respiratory infection in babies which requires a breathing machine, antibiotics, and steroids. Lucky I caught it in time and she didn't have to spend time in the hospital. By this time, I was ready to throw in the towel. We had both Nico and Abbie baptized in April and it was very beautiful. They were baptized Catholic. Nico's Godparent's are Dave's Aunt Mary and Uncle Joel and Abbie's Godparent's are Dave's Dad and Stepmom(Mom). I couldn't have asked for better people for Godparent's for my kids!
My Mom had to have another surgery in June on her neck...this makes three! Hopefully the last! Can God please give this woman a break! She really did well considering she had a large blood clot in there and scared he hell out of us! I'll tell you, that woman is a trooper!! I am hoping this will be the last of the surgeries for a long time.
My dad is still the same only , you all ready for this...HE STOPPED SMOKING!!! Isn't that the best news EVER??? I am soooo proud of him. Keep up the good work dad!
My kids are getting SOOO BIG, smart and handsome!
David will be 10 years old in March. He is smart. Mostly A's and B's. He takes Karate and Jake turned 8 in July. He got his first Quad!!! He is a very responsible rider.
Nico will be 5 in May. He is over 4 feet tall and weighs over 80lbs.He is my little tank. He is so remarkably intelligent that sometimes it scares me. He will be starting school next fall. Abbie Cadabbie will be 15 months on the 4th of December and I am here to tell you, she is a PISTOL! She has an altitude to match her cuteness! She sasses and beats the crap out of Nico and defineately rules the roost here on Cedar Ave...I taught her well! You go girl!!!!
Dave and I will celebrate our 5th weding Anniversary on Christmas Eve this year. Wow, it's hard to believe that we have been together for seven years already. It seems like yesterday we met! We are re-newing our vows on June 12, 2010. We are having an actual wedding and reception. The kids will be in the wedding, which will be great. I am hoping everyone stays healthy and put until then! It will be a joyous occasion!
My niece Ashley got married on New Years Eve last year. It was kind of last minute, because she wanted my sister to be a part of her wedding. I am glad she did, because my sister passed away three days later. Ashley and Doug will be celebrating their one year Anniversary soon.
I hope you all have a wonderful, and happy Hoiday Season and I sure hope the next year is better than the last. It has to be for me and my family. May God Bless my sister Laura, up in Heaven. We love her very much. We miss you and it will not ever be the same here without you.

Happy Holidays...

Love,
The Kieta's
Dave, Shannon,
David, Jacob, Nico, and Abbie

Black Friday Blues

I remember when my sister in law Pam and I used to gear up and go shopping on Black Friday. We would have our coffee in hand, and Tylenol, and tennis shoes. I LOVED spending days with her, she was so much fun. We were like soul sisters. We kind of drifter apart over the years. And since her and my brother have seperated, we hardly talk at all. Not because of the separation, but because we have our own crazy lives. She has taken on the role of mommy to her two younf grandsons. And I have two babies myself. Back in the olden days, we would sit on the porch until the wee hours of the morning listening to music and talking about life. I remember when I got married the first time and left for my honeymoon, we cried for three hours because we didn't know how we would survive without one another for a WHOLE WEEK! Oh, Pammy Sue... how I miss you! I will always think of you as my sister...and I will always love you like one...no matter where the path of life takes us...Zat U Santa Clause????

Happy Turkey Day

Gobble-Gobble...
It's Thanksgiving already! My husband is hunting and I have the house pretty much decorated for the Holidays. We have yet to go out and chop down the tree. Maybe the weekend after next. I don't want to do it too soon for two reasons:
1. I don't want it to rot too soon.
2. Abbie...Need I say more?
This is our first Thanksgiving without Laurie. But she HATED Thanksgiving. She never got to donner on time, or anthing else for that matter! She was defineately never stressed herself out getting anywhere. But don't we all wish we could be like that?

My brother was supposed to be released from jail for the Holiday. Nobody has heard anything from him. I truly hope he straightens his life out. For my sweet mother's sake. For the love of God, my mother has been praying for 40 some years that he straighten's up! It is so sad to waatch your family fall apart over drugs and alcohol, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it.

I went to my Rheumatologist yesterday and he is doing some extensive testing. More blood work and xrays. Hopefully I will have a diagnosis when I go back in Janurary.
I am so sick and tired of being in constant pain.

I hope everyone has a delightful Holiday and does not eat too much turkey and pie! What am I thankful for?
My healthy family and that I DO NOT HAVE TO COOK DINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mangia! Mangia!!!!!!!!!!!

Let the festivities begin...

Well, yesterday was the first day for alot of things!
1. First day of West Virginia rifle hunting.
2. First day I started decorating for Christmas.
3. First time ever my son actually tried to eat Buck meat! Bleh! He ate a slim jim Dave had made from the doe he shot a few weeks ago. YUCK!!!
4. First time I actualy threw sets of lights away when I plugged them in and the didn't work. Usually I make Dave fix them fo hours, only to have to take them back offin a week and put new ones on again anyway. So, plug them in, don't work. THROW THEM OUT!!! By new!
So, I got a good bit done last night, but Abbie was being so clingy, I couldn't work the way I wanted to. So hopefully today, I will get a little more done. BAhhumbug!

Oh Christmas Tree...

As the Holidays come creeping up on me, really fast, as they always do. I go and agree to have a Tupperware party on Sunday. Amisdst the craziness of everything ELSE I have to do, clean the house in particular for the decorating of the Christmas Tree, we have decided to start a NEW family tradition this year. We are going to bundle the kids up, venture out and chop down a 9 foot, Blue spruce tree. I am sue it will be worth it, but I am afraid my littlest munchkin won't leave it alone. She is only 15 months old! A perfect age to ransack all my decor. Which is why I am usually decorated by now, but this year I am waiting a few weeks longer. It's a few weeks less stress, RIGHT? I am sure the tree will be beautiful when it is done, but the question of the day is, How long will it stay that way? I remember when Nico was her age. My tree only had decorations on it from halfway up. It was the most hiddeous looking tree you would ever lay eyes on. We will see hoe it goes...like everything else, wish me luck!

Off to see the wizzard...

Well, today is the day...
We are FINALLY getting the kids their H1N1 vaccinations!! HOORAYYY! I honestly didn't think we were ever going to get them. I was so worried about it, I couldn't sleep. Everynight you hear of more and more kids dying of this disease. It is awful. Nico will get the mist,and Abbie will get the injection. Then I believe in 21 days, they have to get another one. FUN!
I can't understand why they let things get so out of control before they actually do anything about them. Shut the schools down until it get's under control. I am a firm believer in keeping the disease isolated. Oh well, who the hell am I guess, just someone who worked in healthcare for 20 some years...
Wish us luck!

Everyday is more sad news

Seems to me that everday is more sad news reguarding this horrible H1N1 outbreak. It's become a huge epidemic around here. Now they have confirmed two definite deaths, a 31 yr old and a five month old. It is so rampid it's not even funny. My kids still are not vaccinated because no one has the shots available yet. You literally have to drive to Pittsburgh to get them. Being that both kids have to get two of them 21 days apart, that makes it a little difficult! I won't take the kids anywhere because it scares me too bad. I will be a happy camper when this is all over. Please, let it be soon!

A tale of the incredible shrinking family....

It seems to me that every year our family gets smaller and smaller at Christmas time. Either some one passes, or some one gets a divorce, or goes somewhere else for dinner. I am thinking back to the good ol' days when Mom started the tradition of everyone gathering at our house at Christmas Eve for a BIG dinner. After dinner, we would all help clean up, then exchange gifts, then mingle and listen to Christmas songs. By the time everyone finally went home, it was midnight. Mom, Dad and I spent weeks preparing for this event. Mom did all the cooking and baking, and dad and I decorated in and out! Granted, there was always fighting and bickering, but it was priceless. My sister would always come over and help Mom bake. I remember the year my dad was laid off work, and we didn't have a whole lot of money, she baked one thousand nut-rolls for some lady in Florida and had them shipped there. She was amazing. Still is! There are so many memories of Christmas's that I could sit here for hours reminicing,(and probably bore you to death). But now, since my Grandparents, and sister and brother-in-law passed, and my brother and one niece will not be here this year, they are both in jail and will be together!!??? My other niece is married and has her new family to tend to. My sister-in-law (who has always been like a sister to me) divorced my brother after way too many years of abuse and alcohol and drug use, will not be here either. It's so sad to think that just four years ago, my family was all together sitting around my dining room table on Christmas Eve saying "Grace" before a wonderful meal. This year, it's just me, my mom, dad and my little brood. I guess that's what they mean by when they say, "You start your own traditions". Because it's a something I never want to forget and something I want to carry over to my son and daughter. So Mom, I promise: Every Christmas Eve, no matter what, I will put dinner on my table for my family, in dedication of you and all those years you gave to us... Thank you for thise wonder ful memories... I love you! Shannon

Not already!!!!!!!!

Are you kidding me???? The flu???? I have been hit with the influenza flu bug on Friday the 13th!!! I am probably the biggest germophobe ever! There are signs in my house that say please wash your hands to help keep the H1N1 out of our home and away from our kids! I wash the buggy down when I go to Wal Mart and myself! When I walk throught the door, I scrub my hands. Where the HELL did I get the flu??? Hey, just so my kids don't get it, I will take it ten times. Wel, I feel much, much better today and I have my house that fell down around me. So, I need to get caught up on that. So, my fellow readers...talk at ya later!

Never forget how lucky we are...

It's funny, the other night, my parents came over so my husband and I could go out for awhile. I needed to get out and away from the kids. I was going crazy. I felt like the walls were closing in on me. We went to dinner at a local Chinese restaraunt. As we were sitting there eating, a family of four came in and sat down beside us. They had two small boys. One was severely handicapped and in a wheelchair. He was so pitiful looking in broke my heart. I could barely take another bite of food. I felt so horrible for wanting to get away from my perfect, healthy, beautiful,smart kids! What's wrong with me? Dae assures me that it's perfectly normal for parent's to feel like that from time to time. Mind you, I go from two kids Mon- Thurs to four kids Fri-Sat-Sun. I NEVER-EVER get a break! Not that I want one. But sometimes I get envious of the neighbor's when I see them all decked out going for a night out on the town. But I would much rather spend the evening with the kids screaming and running around the house, messing everything up begging me to make them something to eat...ANYDAY! Thank you God for my children! Please continue to keep them happy and healthy. Which is and always has been my nuber one priority!

Housewives of OC !!!!

Tomorrow is the Premiere for my favorite show... Housewives of Orange County!!!! Yes!!!! Oh, I am as shallow as the show. I LOVE that show, don't quite know why, just love it! It's fake, stupid, bitchy, you name it, but I love it! I started watching it in the first season when my son was napping one day on a Saturday. They had a marathon. I watched it ALL DAY! I got hooked! I always said I am going to start a series called the Housewives of PA or C'Ville! Anyone who wants to sign up... call me!

Call me stupid

I finally did it! I finally figured out how to put a picture on my profile after about a year and a half of blogging. Am I a dumb-a$$ or what? And the only picture I could find is an old one that we look like a bunch of hill-rats that haven't took a bath in a week. Good Lord, we really do need to start taking more pictures of ourselves, or I need to start taking better care of myself. Both? Hey, when you have a houseful of kids, who the hell cares if your hair is in place? My husband says I look beautiful no matter what...God help him! I love that man!!!

The End of the Cursing

Well another milestone down. This time...MOM! I have to stop swearing...for good this time. Yeah, here and there Dave and I use our little cuss words in everyday sentences. "I'm gonna kick yer ass!" ,"What the hell?", "OH Sh#&!",and a few other little flubber's here and there that are sometime's "cute" when the kiddo's repeat. Well, today I was getting Abbie out of bed this morning and realized that my dear husband was messing around with the monitor (which really makes me mad), and she was screaming for a long period of time before I heard her. I must have used the F-word (not realizing it at the time), in a screaming brawl to my husband who wasn't even in the house, and when I came downstairs, My 4 1/2 year old repeated me WORD FOR WORD! YIKES! No more of that word! It really doesn't sound good coming out of a 4 year old's mouth, so I can imagine what it must sound like coming out of a 40 year old's! BLEH!

In Honor of my Husband

I know I don't often give my husband enough credit for anything he does...but he really is the greatest thing, EVER! He has to be the smartest person I have ever met. He recently went back to school to try to better our lives. If he isn't stressed out enough at home with four kids, and at work doing 15 peoples jobs everyday, he takes on school too. Granted it will take a few years, but it will be well worth it. He works so hard to do well, and does such a good job. He excels at everything he does, wether it's plumbing or nursing. I just wanted him to know how much I love and respect him and appreciate everything he is doing for our family. If I could only show him...

July at Christmas????

You know how they say Christmas in July? Well, today was July in the middle of November. Today was supposed to be the day Dave and I re-newed our vows for our 5th wedding Anniversary. We decided to postpone it for alot of reasons. It would have been a beautiful day, (had we done this today). The temperature reached almost 70 degrees. Wow. I took Nico outside for a bit and we went to dinner and to the mall to get my little shoe-less princess a new pair of shoes. I almost fell on the floor when they measured her foot and told me she was a size 6! She is 14 months old and a size 6 shoe and wears 3 and 4T clothes. My kids are MONSTERS! Nico is 4 1/2 and weighs 84lbs and wears a size 2 shoe and 10-12 in clothes. His brothers, who are 4 and five years older than him, wear the same size. God bless them and me!
Tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer, weather-wise. It's my father-in-law's 60th surprise birthday party. I hope he enjoys it. He is a wonderful man. They don't make them like him anymore. I can't think of a time we needed him that he wasn't there. Especially when we moved the last time. The poor guy would come over right after work, move furniture until bedtime and come back the next day to do it again. He never makes you feel like your asking for too much or he is in a hurry. I hope you enjoy your day Dad...we love you!!! Shannon

Today marks ten months

Today marks ten months my sister's been gone. I can't believe it's coming up to a year so quickly. It's seems like yesterday we found out she had the Cancer. It's hard to believe I can't pick up the phone and call her. I won't see her at Christmas this year. Every year at Christmas, she comes early and munches on all the food. Hen it comes time to eat dinner, she was full! I remember when we were younger, I would beg her not to come to dinner wearing her embrassing set-up. She had a Santa hat, flashing earrings, and a sweat shirt that said, "Santa, I want it all!" I would give anything to see that again. One thing I tell my kids and my husband, "Don't take your family for granted, for one day, you'll wake up to find, they won't be with us anymore!"