Writings of an Almost Nine Year Old

I’ve sent the girls in to clean their bedroom… AGAIN.  How they manage to destroy a bedroom so quickly is beyond the realm of my understanding.
To motivate them a bit, I assign each girl one task at a time… K2 pick up and put away all the clothing, clean and dirty.  K3 collect and organize [...]

Mom’s Final Resting Place

This is the grave for our Angel, Zany. Mom’s remains are in the pretty rose box and we will be burying her here with Zany. We will be picking out a small bronze nameplate for Mom to place at the base of Zany’s headstone.
Mom wanted to be laid to rest here with her [...]

Little Bits of Sunshine

I love these shoes… can you blame me?

Hubs and K-Man picked them out for me… they are my Mothers Day gift and I will be sporting them at my Mama’s service… she would have gotten a kick out of them.   Don’t worry… the rest of my ensemble is sober black.
Is it silly that [...]

Celebration of Life

We will be having a Celebration of Life for Mom (Cheryl Barclay) on Saturday, May 9th at 1:00PM.  It will be held at Bible Center Fellowship (Market and Lancaster).
If you want to assist with food for our gathering afterward, please contact myself, Sally, Dorene or Gina and we will get your information to our kitchen [...]

Helping Children Grieve

Last night things got a little rough around the Polka Dot Household… I had my first real meltdown since Mom passed.  My younger girls were in bed, but the 8 yo’s (Kyler and Kaylee) were still up wandering around.  I ended up curled in a fetal position on my husbands lap on the floor in [...]

Mom’s Obituary

I wrote the Obituary for my Mother last night… it will run in the Statesman Journal tomorrow (April 23rd).
Cheryl Lynn Standish Speer Barclay
June 6, 1957-April 21, 2009
Cheryl fought a long, hard, and courageous battle with ALS which ended while she slept in her childhood home with her family watching over her on April 21, 2009.
She [...]

Photos of Mom

… Yes, I’m petty and white-ed (is that really a word?) out my ex. Mama is laughing with me right now. This was taken 8.5 years ago, when my oldest daughter and Mama’s first granddaughter was baptized. The little girls? Those are Teengirl and sister Eden… they are 16 and [...]

Saying Good Bye

I was awoken at 5:30 this morning to the news that my beloved Mother had ended her 3 1/2 year battle with ALS.
Today was spent making arrangments, visiting family, shelling out lots of cash and crying a lot.  The sun was shining and I couldn’t help but think, what a beautiful day this was that [...]