Mardi Gras Parade

As president of RCMC I received an email a few months ago asking our club to participate in a Mardi Gras Parade at a retirement community. I was all for the idea! It was on a Friday so most RCMC members had to be at work.



Four of us participated, and my husband tagged along with his B4C Camaro. {I even put an RCMC flag on his antenna when he wasn't looking}

I was so very happy that I was able to participate in the parade. Not everyone at the retirement community is capable of driving themselves or even taking the bus. So for them to be able to go to a special event/parade is nearly impossible.

We bought Mardi Gras beads to toss out, then we were given more of them twice after we arrived as well as whole boxes of mini moon pies to toss to the crowds. We lined up and then, I moved my daughters car-seat from the back to the front just for the parade. {it was on private grounds and we were doing about 5mph} My husband did the same with our son in his car.

Baby girl absolutely loved tossing the beads, and moon pies to the crowd. She was upset once we reached the end of the parade route, because she ran out of people to throw beads/moon pies to well before she ran out of the beads/moon pies! I was moved to tears over the fact that there were several elderly ladies lined up along the road, sitting in their wheel chairs draped in white sheets because it was a bit chilly out. One little old lady had even fallen asleep in her wheel chair. Bless her heart! It meant so much to me to be a part of something like this, it clearly brought joy to the residents at the community. People who normally don't have the opportunity to participate in such festivities.

The reflection on the bottom left corner is from my windshield.

We had a lovely day, it was beautiful and  sunny, and we spent it together as a family making other people happy. I hope that they make this an annual event & invite us back again!

I took a close up of the beads hanging from my rear-view window. I think it looks pretty neat.

Day 13 {This week}

• Sunday - I spent the entire day at home being lazy with my family. We watched Fast Five, and it was just as good as seeing it the first time.
• Monday - I did a ton of laundry. After my Hubby came home from work we all went to Costco. I got a bunch of stuff we needed. Afterwards the babies and I went out to eat at O'Charley's with some friends. Then we went to Target and I bought one of baby girl's Christmas gifts.
• Tuesday - I stayed at home all day procrastinating even though I had a billion things to do. I did manage to get a few things done at home though. I even caught up on blogging. 
• Wednesday -  Someone knocked at the door in the morning. I opened it to see our neighbor and her daughter. They said ''We have bad news'' I stood there looking at them in shock and said ''What's wrong?'' They didn't say anything they just stared at me. I realized exactly what was wrong. I said ''NO!!'' and they both started crying,I started crying. Their two month old baby girl ''Amaya Faith'' had passed away. She was doing so well,they were even saying she would be home at the end of the month. This was a shock to everyone. Her mom had went for her nightly visit, she changed her diaper and it had blood in it. She got the nurse right away, the nurse took the baby to the doctor on call. He immediately sent her for x-rays. It showed that she had air in her belly. At midnight they took her in for emergency surgery. She had a hole in her intestines due to a bacterial infection. Normally they would be able to repair it. Hers was so bad that there was nothing they could do. They took her off of her machines, and let her family hold her until she passed. She left this world at 4:53 am November 9th, 2011.  This family has become more than just friends, they have become like family to us. The rest of my plans have been cancelled for the week. I can't believe I will be attending a funeral for a two month old baby girl. I never in my life thought this would ever happen. It's heartbreaking. I know that God has a plan for everyone, sometimes it's just hard to understand that plan. This is the third baby they have lost, it just doesn't seem fair. I don't question his plan, I just wish I could understand a little better.
• On a lighter note it was Visitor's Day at ASD. Which meant that I got to take my little girl to her dance class and stay and watch everything she  has been learning. It was nice to be able to go, it was the only time yesterday that I wasn't constantly thinking of the baby. I am so proud of my baby girl. I was reminded yesterday of just how precious life is, and I held my kids even closer.
• Thursday - 
• Friday -
• Saturday -