The Blankenship Family

Three years ago tonight

2008-12-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

My happy and healthy Mom had dinner here with my family. It was simple and they just stopped by and ate with us. Nothing major, no photos taken.... just time spent together eating and hanging out for a bit. Then, sometime within the next 24 hours she died. That was it. She was gone forever and I had no clue it was coming. I cannot stop wishing I had known what was coming so I could have appreciated that simple dinner a little more. I miss everything about her. She was honestly my best friend and I talked to her at least a couple times every single day. To go from that to her just being gone is still hard to accept. Sometimes it seems like just yesterday, sometimes it seems like a lifetime since I heard her laugh in person. I have an audio file of her laugh I play almost every day. I could not even handle listening to it tonight. It just broke my heart. I hope there is no pain in Heaven and I hope she can see down and view the awesome things the kids say and do. I just want her back. I know that is wrong to wish for, but I cannot stop.

This picture just sums up how most people remember my Mom. Happy and laughing. She made everything more fun just by her being around. I am sad that my kids will not have her love surrounding them their whole lives. I was very lucky to be her kid.

Please go to www.memoriesforeveryone.com

2008-12-27T09:07:00.000-08:00

to see constantly updated photos of the girls.... as I have started that site, I have failed to keep updating this one.... go here and click on BLOG to see photos of the girls at Christmas and lots of other fun photos.

Thanks for checking out our site.... when I can catch up, I will put some updates here.... but that could be years, so please check us out here for now.

More new photos....

2008-06-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

Finally - some new photos....

2008-06-24T20:49:00.001-07:00

I have to let anyone reading this blog that I am way behind here because I am trying to keep up with my new work focused blog Memories for Everyone - if I fail to update this from time to time, it is because I am having to focus the little time I have there. So, you can check there to see a few photos of what is going on with us. Just know that once in a while, I will get back on top of things and post a whole bunch of photos here that no one but those who truly love our little monkeys would really care to look at!

And, I have a ton to post.... I wish I knew how to post them faster than only 5 at a time....
We have had an amazing summer so far already. Kal loves softball, and I love coaching her team the last game is tomorrow and we are all sad to see it end. We have been in a parade, to a water park, and just had lots of fun at the town festival. Father's day was quite a big deal for us with the kids making a super sized outside picnic (which we pulled in just as it started to storm) and they just loved spoiling Neil.

And, the big news is that Kalli lost her first tooth - yeah, I totally cried. She tried to get Neil to get it out by using string and a door slam... but that never worked. She finally got it out all on her own and she was TOTALLY excited. The tooth fair spoils them with $10 for that first tooth - Amazing if you ask me! I tried to get her to let me write a note to the tooth fairy asking if I could please keep the tooth for her scrapbook, but she would simply not have that!

Both the kids are amazing. So kind and so much in love with each other. I am grateful I have so many amazing photos to pull out and show them when they are teens and want to kill each other! Life is good. We are truly blessed every day we get to be their parents. I am thrilled to have so many good memories of this summer. I am starting to teach on line classes, and my first class is called One Summer. I will end up with one amazing little booklet full of summer memories from this one little summer in our lives. I cannot wait for the girls to have that one day.

Hope anyone who checks this is doing well. We love you.

Kalli, Kaya, Neil, and Kristi

(I am having a hard time uploading all the photos so I will break this into two posts)

Thank you Auntie Julie!!!

2008-06-06T11:24:00.000-07:00

We had an amazing morning thanks to some gift cards from Auntie Julie! A great trip to Target followed by an amazing time in our very own front yard. This is totally how Fridays in the summer are supposed to be!

my TWINS and a great night

2008-06-06T05:44:00.000-07:00

The girls wanted to dress EXACTLY alike for school (day care) and they made it happen. The teachers LOVED how they matched exactly. One of the teachers kept calling Kalli Kaya and it made them laugh. AND, they spent the night in Kalli's twin bed together and slept ALL NIGHT! It was awesome. They giggled for a little bit, then the drifted off to sleep and made it all night. This is how I found them in the morning. I LOVE THESE KIDS!

Summer is FINALLY here!!

2008-06-03T19:43:00.001-07:00

School is out. The bathing suits are out and the sprinklers are whirling and the kids are pulling us into them! Kalli is practicing on her bike, and there were a few tears. Kaya hugged her and tried to make it better, and when Kalli kept crying, Kaya said "But I kissed it, it should be all better, right?" We love summer and wish we lived where the weather was nice all year long. We took SO MANY photos already. This is a small sampling (and, when Kalli went to try her new bike from Maggie, she yelled out "Hey Mom, get the camera!!" I totally have them trained!

So many photos in just a few days...

2008-06-03T19:19:00.001-07:00

I am not even sure where to start.... I could have uploaded about 100 photos, but here are just a few....

Kalli graduated from Kindergarten on Monday, and it was awesome.... I cried. She was amazing. She did a wonderful job doing a reading in front of a church full of people. She was just amazing. Afterwards, she and her good friend Trina happily rolled down the hill in their dresses - instead of stopping them, I ran for the camera. I love love love that photo of Kaya in the field. They were stunning that entire day.

We also had a blast at the races this weekend with a few of her friends. They all LOVED it and we cheered and cheered for the cars we liked. Kal and her friends usually started cheering for whoever was out in front which just cracked us up! Nothing like picking a winner!!

I love love love this photo of Kalli, Kaya, and the three Mulligan children walking hand in hand. It just makes my heart smile. I imagine looking at this photo when they are all grown up and wishing I could relive this moment. Also, just a few photos of Kalli taking good care of Kaya as always. I love this family.

Happy 40th Anniversary Mom & Dad

2008-06-01T10:10:00.001-07:00

So many wonderful things happened because 40 years ago TODAY my parents married each other. They were so young (19) and they took a leap of faith. They struggled through life on a very limited income and chose to have us three kids. They became AMAZING parents who loved us all so much. Because of the love they shared this day, we now have their amazing grandchildren. If only my Mom were still here to celebrate this wonderful day. We just sent her up a bunch of balloons with notes from us. We hope she knows how much we love her and miss her and we pray she is happy in Heaven.

Beautiful Kids in fancy dresses....

2008-05-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

It amazed me today just how much my daughters and niece LOVE to dance. They loved every aspect of my Dad's wedding - the fancy dresses, someone doing their hair, the make-up, the limo, and ESPECIALLY the dancing. Rolling on the floor, cartwheels, twirling, and simply dancing like EVERYONE was watching and they totally did not care what anyone thought? Why can we not hold that happy attitude in our hearts as grown-ups? Doing what you love, having fun, and having no care if you ruin your fancy dress, rip your tights, or people think you are a little insane! Watching their joy and feeling the support of our closest and truest friends made me feel surrounded by blessings today as my handsome Dad married Jean and took an official stand on choosing LIFE over DEATH. He did not chose to be at this place in this moment in time - but he stood as a shining example of a man who lost almost everything and decided to enjoy to the best of his ability every moment he has left on earth. I love him so much it actually hurt my heart (which is exactly what my Mom said it feels like to be a grandparent). Parts of the day were incredibly hard as people would imagine, but I wish they could feel a bit of the pride I had for my siblings, my Mom's mom, my Mom's brother and his entire family, my Mom's best friend and her family and my parent's closest friends. They were there in memory of the wonderful life we all had and to honor my amazing Mom and also to support my Dad and share in his celebration of making a choice we really need to be proud of. I pray he is safe and happy on his honeymoon. I love that man.
Shannon and I took SO MANY photos - here is just a sampling. You can go to www.kristiandneil.com/wedding and Shannon's awesome husband made it link to the 180 (out of like 1800 we took) we have posted in an album on Shutterfly.
Hug your family tightly today. As tight as you can. Because it all could change tomorrow, and your perspective could be entirely different. Enjoy every moment as it happens. So many people danced and lived in the moment on Friday at the wedding, and I am grateful they are our friends.

JOY surrounding us every day

2008-05-23T05:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some amazing fun photos of life. We love it all and are grateful for every day we are all here together and for every memory. From MisMatched socks (Kalli's trademark) to out of control bubbles in the tub to so many other every day moments, we love it all and are happy to be together every day. We love funny teeth, BIG frogs in the pond behind our house, movie night on the air mattress, photos taken at twilight, funny faces, good friends and just really everything we do every day. Enjoy every moment and take tons of photos.

"Will Nana be sad in heaven?"

2008-05-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

That is what my wise-old soul 6-year old daughter asked me tonight. She was sending a balloon up to Heaven to my Mom and she asked me if Nana would be sad in Heaven this week watching Papa Marry someone other than her (my dad is getting married on Friday - my wonderful Mom passed away in an accident two years and 5 months ago). I told her that Nana would be very grateful that Papa was not lonely anymore and she said "Yeah, I know, but I bet she will still be kind of sad." And there you have it, a taste of what this week will be like for our family.....

Today was an AMAZING day filled with love and laughter as we visited The Beckham family who is in Chicago for my Dad's wedding AND we played softball tonight with my Mom's brother and his family from Colorado there to watch us. I was told how well behaved my children were (which fills be to the brim with pride and gratitude) and a Mom told me she and other moms were in the stands tonight talking about what good, fun, happy coaches Mari and I are for our softball team. I am so happy they think that and they even asked if they could get their daughters on our team next year.

So, amidst a week of happy and challenging moments, I have found SO MUCH JOY. I was given a photo of my Mom today that I have never seen before. She looks so happy and so real in the photo. It was a very kind and thoughtful present. This next couple of days is going to be a challenge, and we will all have very different lives than any of us anticpated in my family.... but, we will still be surrounded with JOY daily, and I pray we always know to look for it.

Here are just a few JOYFUL photos that I stole from Shannon's site.

Milkshake Mix Off

2008-05-19T19:31:00.001-07:00

Auntie Shannon surprised me with a new blender that I totally needed, and we christened it tonight with a Milkshake Mix Off. It made me count my blessings... my children totally ROCK, I have such a cool best friend, I finally have a blender that chops ice, and we do lots of fun things that will become traditions that we do over and over.... How did I get so lucky?

Our New Aussie Friends

2008-05-18T04:42:00.000-07:00

We were so lucky and blessed to host two amazing women from Australia in our home. Cathy and Natalie were fun house guests who truly loved our children. It was so fun watching them dance and sing and play with them. The girls loves teaching them the happy dance and Kalli LOVED all Natalie's shoes! It was cool to see our kids learn about another country. I always want them to realize just how big and wonderful our world really is. Natalie paid our family a huge compliment when she told us she has always wanted to have kids, now she just wants to have OUR kids because they are so kind and funny and well behaved. She called them her "chicken chops" which I totally loved. We hope they enjoyed touring the US a little and arrived safely back home in Australia.

Life is busy and GOOD

2008-05-18T04:27:00.000-07:00

Here are Kalli and Kaya and our dear friends the Steinhardt kids. Sydney and Anthony were SO NICE to the girls when they watched them while the rest of us walked or ran the mini marathon. It was a great day with great friends....

It has been so fun coaching Kalli's instructional softball league. The kids are good listeners and strong little players. I love that Kalli always looks a little different and more spunky than everyone else.

We also are preparing to lose the first tooth in our family which is QUITE the big deal. We took some final photos of Kalli's mouth with all teeth in it - of course, now Kaya thinks she is losing her teeth, too. Ahhhh, we just LOVE spring and everything that comes with it.

2008-05-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

We are off to INDY to walk/run in the annual mini-marathon. Kalli's real birthday was fun with family at the mall as well we her dress fitting for Papa Vern's wedding. Her and Kaya look like living dolls in their dresses. We brought MONSTER cookies to her class. She wore mismatched socks and her Hannah Wig to school. She LOVED opening all the surprises from Mimi and Papa (Kaya loved her Pooping on the potty surprises, too!) We ended her fifth year with a birthday bake-off between her and her sissy - it was a BIG MESS but super fun, too.
I tried three times to upload photos - the the site was busy.... will post awesome photos later....
Have a great weekend. Enjoy every moment!

A wonderful day...

2008-04-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

Today we had Kalli's 6th birthday party at the mall with just a few friends. It was INCREDIBLE and so much fun. It was a Hannah Montana party at Libby Lu in the mall, and all the girls put on rock star outfits, a wig of their choice, make-up, nails, and lots of glitter. There was dancing in the mall followed by a ride on the merry-go-round and ice cream at Maggie Moos. Libby Lu gave the kids amazing gift bags that included a webkin (which you know the kids went nuts over). It was just the girls having REAL girly fun. I was so proud and excited to simply BE THERE and watch it happen. I took over 300 photos (yes, I realize that is a problem) and most of them take my breath away. Even little Kaya picked a stunning Sharpay (from High School Musical) wig and LOVED IT - she stole the show because she was so little with all the big kids. When they danced in the mall, everyone stopped to look at how cute they all were. It was awesome. One of those days you just feel blessed to be a part of. Happy 6th birthday party day Kal (she really turns 6 on Thursday which means Hannah plates and napkins with PINK Monster cookies for the class). My life changed forever to the good the day I became a mom.

Happy Belated Easter Photos

2008-04-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

The Rotary Easter Egg hunt was really cold, but we had a good time anyway!

We had an incredible time at my brother's for Easter - just a happy, peaceful weekend and the kids were SO EXCITED that the Easter Bunny delivered all their Easter surprised to Uncle Matt's place, and she also left the best note under our room door. Very cool. We spent the night at a hotel with an indoor pool, and the kids LOVED it!

Kalli loved standing by her AGE in the pool, and so did little Kaya!

We colored eggs, hunted for baskets and eggs, ate well, and simply enjoyed spending time together. Rahul is the BEST cook and we all ate a little too much, but it was TOTALLY worth the extra Weight Watchers points.

Roller blading and field trips are fun!

2008-03-15T15:03:00.000-07:00

It has been decent weather here (by midwest standards anyway) and the girls have enjoyed roller blading outside. Busia went on a field trip with Kalli's class to the fire department and played games with Kaya. Basically, we are just enjoying each day as it comes. And we are grateful for every one of them, too.

Auntie Shannon & Sunshine

2008-03-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

We were so sad to say good-bye today to Aunt Shannon whose weekend plans totally changed, and she never once complained. She is one-in-a-million. I can only hope my girls have such a true friend one day. She thought it was odd and funny that we toss all of Kaya's blankets in the freezer before we put them on her at night... just one of that kid's MANY funny and odd habits!

AND, it was FINALLY nice enough to let the kids play outside. Only for a few minutes because they were freezing, but at least they got out the sidewalk chalk and rode some bikes before running back into the warmth of our home.

One last note - we buried our good friends Mom today. They have been such wonderful friends to our family since our Mom passed away. Please think of them in your prayers because they are left behind now that Grammie Anna is in Heaven with my Mom.

Aunt Shannon Visits Us

2008-03-09T00:03:00.000-08:00

Kaya loved playing with Aunt Shannon's Laptop and Photo Booth. Both girls simply loved spending some time with her!! Shannon LOVED watching high school musical one AND two OVER AND OVER AND OVER. The weekend was not what we had planned due to a change that had to happen, but it was nice anyway.

Kaya Turns 3

2008-02-29T18:00:00.000-08:00

Here are just a few of the 378 photos I took today at Kaya's WiLd OrAnGe 3rd birthday party today at the Jumping place where the kids jumped, made a stuffed animal (she made a tree frog and named it ORANGE), and then ate LOTS of orange VERY sweet stuff..... Almost everyone wore ORANGE to the party (even though I did not tell them to, and it made Kaya SOOOOOO happy!!)

In Memory...

2005-12-30T10:47:00.000-08:00

Sheila Ann Sikora
July 23, 1948 - December 30, 2005

Things we will always remember...
Her smile.
Her funny stories.

What we will always admire...
The way she loved our dad since she was 16.
How she gave 100% into being our Mom.
The way she selflessly took care of Busia.
The way she loved her grandchildren so much
she thought her heart would burst.

What we will miss most...
Her laughter.

All of us will miss her each and every moment of the rest of our lives.
But we will all be eternally grateful for teh wonderful time we
were able to spend with our Wife, our Mom,
our Daughter, our Nana, and our Friend.