Its beggining to look a lot like Christmas....

We have been making memories left and right around at Casa DeLucca! Fun fun fun! As most reading this know Sam was laid off and it has been a fairly rough year for us and things have been rather tight financially speaking. I never had a real Christmas tree growing up but Sam's family only had real trees so every year he desperately wants one. We knew there was NO WAY for that to happen this year and then things just worked out and fell right into place! We needed to put the tree up rather early for various reasons and when we took out our old fakey tree it was sadly covered with yucky-ness (I'll spare you the details) & long story short we had $30 extra dollars we had allotted for groceries but realized that with us spending the week at mom's for Thanksgiving we could put the $$ towards other bills... did we? NOPE! We had a very wild spontaneous moment and out we went to get a real tree!! We both felt a little uneasy about it in the ride over and we went back and forth on if was the right way to spend the money (we should pay bills, spend on others, give extra in tithe, etc...) then my sweet husband announced.. "if we're gonna do it lets do it and stop worrying and if we aren't then we need to turn the car around" SO.. we did it!!! Yes our "wild" times have changed from 10 years ago but hey! We had a blast picking out the tree with Sammy it was so fun! I have to admit I am over feeling guilty and now LOVING the real tree and the smell and hope we don't have to go back to fakey ones. They aren't any more of a mess than our fake one was anyway b/c it also shed needles for some reason? Sam was just so cute bringing the tree home, he had a goofy grin the whole night and he was just like a kid while we put it up, too cute! It was worth every penny for the happiness it has brought him!

I have loved watching Sammy's excitement and anticipation of Christmas! He has FULLY embraced with his whole being that Jesus's birthday is coming and he is just about as excited as he can be. He is head over heals in love with our manger scene. I thought it was hard keeping Hannah's hands off of it... oh wow. Sammy is even worse!! I finally decided after about day 2 of having it set up that I needed to just accept that more would be broken this year (Joseph's poor hand and the Shepard's entire foot are still waiting to be glued on from an unfortunate Hannah incident last Christmas). Sam and I decided to try to encourage no touching but not let it take away from the learning and fun of it all. I can remember as a child how I would just stare at Baby Jesus in any manger scene I saw and quite often would sneak him out of the safety of Mary's lap to hold him and sneak a kiss before I would put him back when I heard my mom's footsteps (sorry Mom). I LOVE that my own son and Hannah have the same adoration and fascination as I did. I have just fully enjoyed watching them learn and be excited about the birth of our Savior, it is so amazing to experience all the wonder of Christmas through children's eyes (wow do I sound old??). Sammy tells baby Jesus "good morning" most days and typically tells him "bye bye" when he leaves the room. It is just precious. He likes to stand there and tell us who each person is and why they are there and make the animal sounds for the sheep, cattle, and donkey. It just brings US so much joy to see that he in some small way can already "get" the importance of it all. With that said I am not sure he understands why every house we go in has a giant decorated tree in it but hey.. he is only 2. =)

Merry Christmas everyone!

He picked out our tree for us, it has a giant gaping hole on the side but we didn't care we just turned it so the hole is in the back =)

He found the one!!!
Sammy laughed almost the whole ride home, he just couldn't get over the fact that daddy put a tree on top of our car!
Such a good little helper watering the tree! Thanks for the tree stand Kim!!! IT worked perfectly!

Oh wow...

have we been busy little bees!!! "Oh wow" also just happens to be one of Sammy's favorite expressions these days. I know this may seem strange to read but I am loving having a two year old!! It is just so fun. Don't get me wrong it is not without trying moments but it hasn't been half as bad as I was expecting. Granted, we are only one month in .. things could go down hill really fast but as of now he has just been so much fun. He is just sillier than ever if that was even possible and is our little narrator, talking about everything we do and to everyone we see. His imagination is growing so rapidly as his "imaginary" turtle friend is still with us but seems to change colors often as it was purple and green but the next week he said it was red. When I asked him later THE SAME day how his red turtle was doing he cracked up and laughed at me and called me "silly mommy" as if I was the silly one thinking a turtle was red??? He recently has been chattering about some horses too?? The first mention of them was after he hit his head and got a goose egg.. I am glad Leslie was with me to hear him b/c I was worried he had a concussion or something. He looked at us while we were eating and said " oh listen!! The horses are coming!!" and he was all excited??? I was seriously concerned but she assured me this was "normal" and sure enough.. he has talked about his horses a few times since?? Has anyone else heard of imaginary horses??? Is this really normal?? Ok seriously, somebody just lie and leave a comment saying your child chatters about their "happy horses" too, thanks.

Anyway, we have been so busy with Thanksgiving, me finishing the semester up, Sam starting UPS and working at the shop in St. Augustine, and .... Leslie & Jamin came to stay with us!! So much fun!!! I have missed the bloggy world though and couldn't wait to post up some things.

First things first.. here are some pics from Thanksgiving. The above picture was placed at the VERY top of this post specifically for MY COUSINS.... PAUL, CINDY, KAREN, and SHERRY (the ring leader) who have all moved away and left us lonely here in FL. I took this picture to show you all just how sad Sammy was to be the only child at the kiddie table AND IN THE HOUSE for that matter. You see, our family holidays were always full of children's laughter and the pitter patter of little feet and oh so much joy as we were all together and thenSherrystarted her master plan of relocating our entire family up to TN. Karen & her kids soon followed and then Paul & Kristen and their boys moved up to Ga. No, they are not in TN yet but they are surely a little closer and I am sure Sherry is working on getting them up there too. Sadly we lost Debbie & Glen and the kids to Sherry's relocation plan early in Nov and then, the day after Thanksgiving Cindy- my dear sweet beloved Cindy- left and headed up to her new home. Ours is a sad sad story of a very lonely family left all alone here in Fl with no kids for poor little deserted Sammy to play with/grow up with. I think each of you mentioned in bold print above should print this picture of Sammy and hang it on your fridge as a daily reminder of what you have done, especially you Sherry.. you should blow yours up to an 8x10. ha ha!! No I tease, they all had very good reasons to move and it is great to see God working His plans out for each family in ways that only He could. They are all living nearby each other or within a couple hours from each other and are loving this new chapter in their lives but we sure did miss them on Thanksgiving and Christmas will be very different for sure! We love you all!

The grown ups chatting it up over some pumpkin pie and coffee
Cindy and Shane... oh young love, just melts your heart doesn't it?
Sammy had the best time playing with his Uncle Brennan... the wrestled and sang and even played piano!

Kisses from his Tia, so sweet!
Sam and Sarah being silly
Sammy ran and jumped in our pic at the last min, sneaky little thing!
of course there had to be some football at some point! Good follow through Shane!
Saying good bye to Cindy.... so sad!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My uncles LaVaughn and Stan
MMMMM.... it was all so yummy and yes I did unbutton my top button on my jeans after all of that food!
Silly silly!

And a few pics from our time at Pops and Esther's house... a lot of Sam's family was in for a visit so we had a good time catching up with everyone. Sammy LOVED playing with his Uncle Joey and his "new" cousins that he had yet to meet before.

He wrestled some with Gavin and then gave him big hugs after, so cute!

Family picture but we were missing Sam's parents & Sarah and Pops fell asleep so.. here is most of them, check out Sammy, he was the tallest of all on Joey's shoulders!
He told Sherry that Joey was a "happy big kid" ha ha, he was very correct on that one =)

Fun with Papi, Mimi, & Tia

Thought I would share some pics from our trip a couple of weeks ago to St. Augustine. Sammy had an absolute blast visiting Sam's family. He played his little heart out each day and loved all the silly fun!! It is such a joy to watch him make such special memories with them and I am so thankful for the sweet relationship he has with each of them. He adores his Papi and it is very clear Sammy wants to be just like him when he gets big. He watches every little thing his Papi does and then inmates it. He loves his Mimi to pieces and talks about her constantly. I got all teary when I sat with them as she read him his bedtime story. He was all snuggled up with her and she read the story about a mommy/Grammy fox who loves her little fox just they way he is and because of who he is and it was just precious. When we are away from them and he does something he will say "show Mimi Papi" and when he plays on his toy phone he "calls" them and tells them about his "twains". It just shows they are always on his mind. He even sings a little song he made up about their pets, Tinky & Roxy. It goes something like this "Tinky Roxy Tinky Roxy Roxy Tinky Tinky Roxy" ha!

He has so much fun being silly with his "Tia" (Aunt in Spanish) Sarah, he just started calling her that all on her own and it has stuck. She can make him giggle and laugh so hard that he toots! Sorry to be so graphic but it is just too funny! He kisses her picture that we have up in our house and talks about her when he plays soccer like she did. We say that he is going to be a little explorer like she is since he already loves science so much. He is also a lefty like his Tia!

It was a great time and wanted to share some pics.... in case there is any confusion- NO, we did not have a little car surgically attached to his hand, he just seriously has one in his hand all day and all night, he even sleeps with them! I need a girl..... =)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

What will your life story be?

Some reading this may know that our sweet Pastor's wife, Freda Crawford passed away and it has been a rough time for our church family. Ms. Freda was an incredible woman who inspired all of us to be strong in our faith and to dare to accomplish the dreams God has laid on our hearts. She and Pastor Gary had such as sweet Godly marriage that was an example of how God intended a husband and wife to love each other and to minister to others through their marriage. God only knows the number of people who have been reached because of Pastor Gary & Ms. Freda's obedience to follow His plan for their lives and marriage. It is like a ripple effect that never ends. They made the choice to start the journey of life together with God directing their path and as they helped encourage each other to grow to grow in their own faith many were touched and then those they had ministered too turn and reached others and so on.

The funeral was on Saturday and it was just an absolutely beautiful celebration of her life and of God's love for us. It was heart wrenching to hear Pastor Gary share his love letter he wrote her only a few days before she passed away and to see her beautiful grandchildren share via video how they miss her and want her back. We have prayed for Ms. Freda through her illness and now we pray each day for the family as they heal and learn how to live without her. Sammy has actually learned to say "Feeda" when we pray b/c we have been praying so much. ha! I just wish there was more we could do to ease their hurt. As I sat there on my pew during her funeral and watched the amazing video that was created to honor her and then read her "life story" in the program, I learned so much more about her than I already knew. You see, Ms. Freda was the true embodiment of a Proverbs 31 woman. She loved her Jesus with all her heart and her goal in life was to allow herself to be used by Him. She was a remarkable wife, mother, friend, & teacher and what was mentioned over and over was how she was the verse Philippians 4:13 in action "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". She did not let ANYTHING stand in her way of reaching her goals and dreams for herself and her family. She literally was His hands and feet here and let Jesus love people through her. She had encouraged me a few times when she happened upon a battle of the wills moment between me & Sammy and assured me being a young mom can be hard but it does get easier and as hard as it is to discipline now it will "stick" and work to shape his character later. At one point she even had a great talk with me about the challenges of completing a PhD while having a family and being involved in ministry. I thought of how supportive she had been of our work in Guatemala and how I had learned from her writings on her blog and then I was amazed at how I was STILL learning from her even now that she is with Jesus! Yes that is right, the video of her & Pastor Gary speaking on marriage that was played at her funeral was full of wisdom, I wish I could have taken notes on some of the great points she made.

I have thought a lot since then about her life story and the legacy she left and I can say without a doubt, I want to be like Ms. Freda when I grow up. I want to leave a legacy of love, faith, and service to others above my own comforts. I want this world to be a better place because I was here and most of all, my deepest desire is for many to come to know my sweet Jesus personally as I allow Him to use me and touch people through me. What will your life story be? Are you doing all you can at at this moment in your life, regardless or your past & your age to do all you can do to leave a legacy here on earth? It is important that we realize and see the opportunities we have in the every day to encourage and love others. I think it is easy to put a goal of "I want to do __________one day" or "I want to eventually be strong and bold in my faith" or "I want to be more involved in __________" and then go on with life thinking that we are working toward these goals but yet not really move much in those directions. Intangible goals such as these seem so far off in the distance and involve many baby steps to get there so it is easy to lose sight of them and get lost in the everyday. If you are not already, I urge you to take those baby steps each day and begin working today to improve whatever aspect of "you" you've been waiting on. Ms. Freda was quoted with saying " we do the best we can with who we are at a given time". I am convinced the most important things in life are relationships, that's what its all about. We need to make the most of TODAY as we are never promised another tomorrow and we need to love others well. For some, this may be the only way they see and feel Jesus.

"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love" 1 Corinthians 13:13

Click here to read about Ms. Freda

Making Memories at Keaton Beach!

Mom and Richard invited us to Keaton Beach where for a fun day trip. It is a sleepy little beach town where they were staying in their camper and we loved it! It was just truly a perfect day and only wish it could have lasted longer. The ride there will be forever etched in my memory b/c this was when Sammy's new imaginary turtle came to join our family. Sammy & I had just recovered from getting seriously lost and me having a minor freak out (not one of my finer moments). If you have ever wondered where "ten buck two" really is... well Sammy and I found it. We were stuck behind this giant truck pulling a giant boat so I couldn't see around it. I was frustrated beyond belief b/c I knew we were lost and there were no street signs and I couldn't get cell service. As soon as the slowest driver in Florida turned left and was out of my way I sped up (you know b/c that always helps things?) only to quickly realize had we gone a few feet further we would have literally ended up in a river!! No wonder they were going so slow, the road literally ended with no warning and bam... River front right there!! I have to laugh a God's sense of humor. I actually laughed out loud as I could almost hear him chuckling telling me not to get so bent out of shape over nothing. I am sure all those old fishermen were talking about that crazy mom in the too little car who was in too big of a hurry to get nowhere. Oh well. Live and learn, right?

We had just got back on track and my sweet child, probably in some attempt to self soothe from the aforementioned incident exclaimed with a shreik... "MOMMY!!!!!! TUW-TA!!!" I had no clue so I looked in the rear view to see his eyebrows raised as high as his little forehead would allow and a big "o" shaped mouth as he held out his open cupped hands up to me as if he was presenting me a piece of gold. I was so confused!!! I asked him what he was talking about and he repeated "Tuw-ta (turtle)Mammy's (Sammy's) manos (hands in spanish)!!" I seriously will not forget that moment for it was too cute. Priceless. He had a pretend / imaginary turtle sitting right there in his hands and he was a shocked as I was. I asked him what color the turtle was and he said "puw-pul (purple) and geen" and he said it was tickling his hands as he laughed and giggled saying with his turtle. I was amazed, it really seemed as if he was being tickled! He then hugged it and kissed it and he fed it some cheesy ducky crackers and they had a grand time together in the back seat. I thought this was a one time thing but after a solid two weeks it seems the turtle is here to stay! I think we should name the turtle Keaton, after our day trip at the beach, but seems the name turtle is sticking just fine for the moment.

Our time at the beach was so relaxing. Their camper was just perfect and Sammy loved to play inside of it. He even sat and watched a dvd while I gave him his breathing treatment!! I was impressed! Their lot was right at the seashore and the water was just the prettiest blue, so serene and gorgeous. Sammy enjoyed playing with the rocks and he really liked "helping" his grandaddy fish. He kept his little tongue out to the side of his mouth and worked so hard to hold the big pole and then the big net, not such an easy task with a little car in your hand that you just can't fathom letting go of. We took a little walk down to the park and he had a blast playing and sliding with my mom. We had a funny moment when a yellow race car came driving down the road, there were NO cars on the road so I loved that of all the cars possible this guy came by us as Sammy was driving in his own little yellow car (had to get a pic of that!). He LOVED playing in the sand with his shovel and he really loved seeing Grandaddy's big ol' flounder he caught. Sammy touched it (ewww gross... I did a good job of inhibiting my gross repsonse while my little one touched its teeth and it's... eye, ok just gagged a little typing that). My mom treated him to a creamcicle ice pop and he even tried to share it with the fake pelicans at the ice cream shop. He became a big fan of pelicans b/c of this trip as at one point there were I think 11 floating right in front of the camper. It's funny b/c when I ask him about what new kind of bird he saw in the ocean he always says they were peacocks! When we asked him what his favorite part of the day was I could not believe his answer. "AddyAddy's (what he calls Richard, we don't know why) Pickup truck fun!" So yep! He liked riding with the windows down in Richard's truck the best, something we could do anytime we visit them in Orange Park!! Ha!

Check out our pics from the day~ Thanks for having us Mom & Richard,
we love you!!

(if you put your cursor over the small pics it will enlarge them for you)

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Wanted to post up the rest of Sammy's bday pics~ thank you again to all who helped us celebrate his life and the blessing that he is to us!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I can't believe that my little baby is two years old! I seriously has all gone by just so fast. I thankfully can still see a little bit of the "baby" left in him when he sleeps but for the most part all signs of baby are gone and he is just a "real" little boy now. So big! He brings us SO much joy each and every day and we thank God daily for how he has blessed our lives with Sammy. We sometimes ask ourselves how we had ANY fun at all before he was here, which prob sounds silly but he just makes everything we do so much more enjoyable. As I've mentioned before we will print the blog at the end of each year so I included the below for Sammy.. prob pretty boring to rest of you so may want to stop reading here

For Sammy:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LITTLE LOVEY!!!

At two years old you really are my little sunshine, just like we sing together. You are so sweet and silly and you light up a room. You have such passion for life and all you do, I hope you never loose that sparkle in your eye. You find just so much joy in the littlest things and are always laughing and giggling. You love to say "Hi-yo (hello)" to everyone we see in the store and while we are out. You love music and you dance to any type of music you hear. You love to read and have started finishing the sentences with me in your favorite stories. You love Mr. Magee, your pumpkin book, 1ooo word book, your collection of Buiscit the dog stories, the cat in the hat, Sammy the Seal, and most of all your toddler Bible from Grandaddy. Your favorite story is "Mamel" (Samuel) and you get VERY upset if we don't read that story first each night. In fact, you insist on finding the story yourself (which can take some time) and cheer for yourself once you see the page of Samuel and his mommy and you then say hi to Eli on his page. You love cars and trucks and you look for "bumps" and "roads" everywhere we go. These range from bumps made from the creases in my jeans when I am lounging to seams in the fabric of chairs when we are out. You just love to roll your cars over bunps and to line them up in rows. You beg us to drive our big car over "2 bumps" in front of our mall and giggle with glee when we do. You identify almost every kind of car & truck you see and funny but you always argue with me that cement trucks (mixers) have milk in them.

You like to tickle us and you have started asking us to play different games you think of, I often hear "race cras (cars) mommy?" or "chase mommy". You are very independent and prefer to do things by yourself when possible asking for "mammy's (Sammy's) turn" or, when you really don't want to do something like eat your spinach you say "mommy's turn". =) Your latest challenge is spitting, you picked that one up from school and when you are mad you spit in the cutest way possible. It is so very hard for me to stay stern with you but I do my best b/c it is important for you to learn to regulate your behavior and to obey rules. You get VERY happy when you obey and you declare "yay, obey!" then promptly ask "candy, mommy?" and try to squeeze some candy out of us. Very sneaky little one! Your teachers at school call you their little lover b/c you give everyone in your class a lot of hugs during the day. You love to hug and kiss your stuffed animals and many other things and you often place your animals hands like they are praying and you say "jesus amo" (love Jesus) which always melts my heart. I love our sweet praise time together when just you and I rock out to some hymns and have great praise and worship with our Savior. You put your little hands in the air and sing and dance and I know you are truly praising your sweet Jesus. You love to pray and talk to Jesus and have started naming people and things to thank Him for. You are very cuddly and you still ask for "up" to cuddle with me, and I treasure each of those moments. I have vowed to never stop hugging you first, as silly as that sounds, and I don't let go until you do. You love to play outside and look for lizzards, bugs, worms, and birdies. One of your new favorite pages in your word book is the bug page much to my dismay as it grosses me out.

You are such a big helper around our house. You always help me with laundry and cleaning. When I am in the kitchen you love to clean the cabinents with a wet paper towel and to use your "boom" to sweep the floor. You like to help give Kobe his food and water and you love to throw things away for us. This became a slight problem when we realized all of the things that had gone missing were a result of your "helping" but that problem was easily resolved with door knob saftey items. There is no doubt that you are a little boy as you laugh hysterically when you burp or toot (ugh?) and tell me if they were big or little burps or toots and so far have yet to say exuse me without being prompted but we are working on that one. Your teachers say you are a great helper in your class. You have adjusted well to preschool. You got off to a shaky start we had to come get you early the first day b/c nap time was hard for you and then after only a few weeks of school just when you were opening up you contracted H1N1 and were a very sick little boy for almost 3 weeks. You spent a night in the hospital and were so very brave with the needles. Your teachers say you are very shy and quiet in class (we were shocked) and that you like to observe everything going on and typically don't join in the songs. I think you are just taking it all in and making sense out of it all. At home you talk about your friends and tell me who you were nice and kind to when we pick you up. I don't know how much of this is true as you are having some trouble with pinching and being rough but we are working on this each day. You ALWAYS mention Kyra, the two of you are still very close. You have learned to sing your ABCs and to count to 18 in English and Spanish and have began recognizing letters and short words. Your counting is so funny b/c you intermix your English and Spanish so it is rarely is all in one language, in fact you have never said the number 8 in English, only en espanol. You speak to us in sentences now and I laugh daily at the things you say, you are absolutely hilarious.

I thank you for the unspeakable joy you bring to me an to all those who love you. You are a very special little boy with a sweet heart and a contagious giggle. Each day I pray the Lord will bless our relationship and give me wisdom as I love you and teach you while you grow. I pray that you will come to accept Him as your Savior early on and that you will grow in faith and seek His will for your life. You are a precious gift that He has entrusted your Daddy & me with and we promise to always do our best job as your parents. We love you with all our hearts!!!

Sammy is 2!!!

Sammy's cupcake creation.. we gave him one of each and he stacked the marshmellow eyeballs!

Well I can't believe it but our little pumpkin turned 2 on Nov 3 at 9:13am. Strange as it is there were 2 other kids in his class with his same bday and so Hannah helped me make mini cupcakes to take to his class on Monday and then we decided to keep him home from school on Tuesday his actual bday. We had so much fun!!! I decided about a week or so before hand that it would be fun to invite his little buddies in Gville to meet us at the park to play and my AMAZING friend Molly made the absolute cutest cupcakes in the whole world for the kiddos to eat. They were Elmo, Oscar, and Cookie Monster!! I was just amazed at her skill and they were so yummy! I will say I learned a valuable lesson......... ALWAYS consider time changes when planning a bday celebration!! It never dawned on me that there was a time change right before his bday so I planned for all of us to get together at 5pm. Well just as soon as we all got together and the kids started playing it started getting dark. Near the end we were almost in pitch black and some mommies were using the lights from their phones for the kids to see the table to finish their cupcakes. OOPS! I hope this is the extent of my bday party errors. We all remember the pinata incident from Hannah's 6th bday. =)

Here are few pics and some videos from that morning. We had a present for him and had wrapped it in car wrapping paper and when I brought it down he was MORE than excited to open his car paper. Too funny.

Thank you to all who came out and celebrated our little guy with us!

He wore his bday hat from school every night at dinner, he was VERY proud of it
here he is having a two year old moment (pouting) with chocolate on his face and his buddy "Nica"