New Year Fun

Jo-Lynne did this really fun meme that I thought I would join in just to summarize my 2008 - blog style.
I did change it up a little by listing the title of the first post of each month. Jo-Lynne did the first line of each post of each month. Like she said, it's good to be queen of your own blog, though! So, without furthur ado...

January
Back To Reality: We just got back from Disney. Wow - this really seems like yesterday. It was a FANTASTIC way to start the new year. I think we are planning to do it again next year.

February
One Vote 08: I did not think, at this point, that I would see history unfold the way it did in this year's presidential election. While it did not go the way I voted, I feel honored to be a part of a generation to see that "glass ceiling" of race broken in the office of President of the United States. I think that the way the election played out is a clear indication of a need for some change in our country.

March
Going Postal: For me, this marks one of my most significant moments of 2008. It was a crucial point in learning not to carry my friend's and family's troubles around. I learned that I can not fix these people I love or carry their hurt around with me. What I can do for them is pray, love and ultimately let go.

April
Happy Birthday My Little Man!: April 1 is my son's birthday. He is the truest of blessings.

May
My Modeling Career: This picture really just explains itself.

June
We Pray For The Children: If I am still blogging and not talking about the injustices of this world and it's children - somebody please let me know. We need to be aware - all the time aware. I hope to continue sharing what I can.

July
A Day at The Beach: Ahhhh. This is absolutely, without a doubt, by far...one of my most favorite times of each year. Time away with my family at the beach. I can take my mind there right now and find peace.

August
A New Dress, Hot Stones and Sangria: My birthday! This marks the beginning of my month of finding a dress for my high school reunion that was at the end of August. Lots of stress over something that was really not that big of a deal. That is absolutely the way life is, though. I just remembered that one of you asked for the Sangria recipe after this post - we actually just bought the pre-mixed bottles at the store and added sliced oranges, peaches, limes, cherries - really good.

September
Hello Out there...: This marked the beginning of some real changes in our family. A shifting of some priorities and making sure our focus was on the right things in our life. It's been good. Really good and probably some of the best changes we have ever made.

October
Clothing and Toy Swap: This is something I love being a part of at our church. My friend, Julianne leads this up twice a year. It is a labor of love for her and an incredible joy to be a part of. To watch families in our church and community give what they don't need, take what the do and all for free is a very good thing indeed. It's recycling and helping your community at it's best. If you are looking for a great local project to do at your church - this is it.

November
Brainiac: I am not sure why I tell publicly all the stupid things I do. I actually makes me feel better to laugh out loud at them. You also make me feel soooo much better with your comments.

December
Time Sure Flies: Oh, this started the holiday time. Time away from the blog which was one of my priority shifts back in September. It's just the thing that has to give when my family needs me. November and December are crazy for us with 2 birthdays and the holidays. Hubby is always trying to finish the year up strong with our business, too - so it's good for me to be more present in the home and less in cyberspace. It also marks the beginning of upgrades in our house! I hope to be posting more of that this year.

Wow - it certainly does fly, time that is.
I am thankful for each and every one of you that stop by my blog and leave comments. I hope it continues to be an encouraging place for you. I know you encourage me. I hope your 2009 is stuffed with blessings!

Sweet Christmas Past

One of my all-time favorite pictures of my kids at Christmas time - taken in 2004. It was Bubby's first Christmas and B just could not keep her little 4 year old hands off of him.
He ate it up and still does.

To check out more fun photos, go here!

or here












7 DAYS PEOPLE!!!!

Should Have Been a Cowgirl

So, in my effort to get my room more couple focused, I am placing photos of the just the two of us in the room.

This photo was taken about 15 years ago! We were in our early 20's. It has been on my vanity or dresser since the day I got it developed. We lived in Dallas and used to get all gussied up in our best "cowboy" attire to go out to a country bar called Denim and Diamonds. Hubby's brother worked there and we just had so much fun together trying to dance the Two Step.

Look at my hat! I actually still have that hat. Not sure why, but it does live in the very back corner of my closet. I don't have the heart to give it away and who knows, maybe it will come in handy for a cowgirl costume one day. I still have the real lizard skin black cowboy boots, too. They don't fit but I still keep them.

I read somewhere that you should to have current photos in your bedroom so as not to look back on the old ones and focus on what your relationship was like then vs. what it is now.

I disagree. I like having both. I liked what it was then and I like even better what it is now. So, I do have both types of photos in our room. Sometimes what "they" say - just doesn't apply to everyone.

Want to see more fun flashback photos? Check out Sincerely Fro' Me To You at We are THAT Family.

Loves Books, Will Travel with them

This was my sweet B when she was almost 2. It was taken over 5 years ago!

It just amazes me how fast time flies.

Everyone said it would.
It does, indeed.

She heads back to school on Monday. She loves school and is excited. (me, too - snif snif)

She used to take this backpack, stuff it with books and carry them everywhere with her to "read" when she had a minute.

She still does this. Except now it is just one book. Whatever chapter book she is in at the moment.

For more fun old photos and stories visit We are THAT Family.

It Was His Dancing

I am sure the intention of Sincerely 'Fro Me To You was to post photos of ourselves from way back when. To poke fun at our old hair, our old dresses and all that fun stuff. But it is so much more fun to post old photos of Hubby. I was the one taking the picture and it does grace a family photo album. I just saw it and couldn't resist.

This one is from his brother's wedding 11 years ago. Although, it could have been taken yesterday. It would be the same thing.

Before you say you can't believe I am posting a picture of Hubby like this, let me assure you.

He loves it.
He always asks when I am taking pictures if I got one of "just him."
He is a ham, loves photos of himself and is not embarrased by this - AT ALL.
And I got his permission to post it, of course. He is happy to provide others with a good laugh.

When I asked his permission, he said with a smile, "Now that's a good shot!"

As a matter of fact, I wish he was just a little bit embarrassed sometimes. He has the most uncanny ability to not give the slightest care to what people think about him. He cracks the craziest of jokes in the silliest of voices and acts like a loon much of the time. In the meantime the rest of us (more specifically, my daughter and I ,as my son thinks everything he does is hysterical) are left in his wake just shaking our heads.

On our first date we went to a dance club and he told me he made up all his own dance moves. Um-kay. Let's just say it's a good thing his blond hair and blue eyes won me over first.

He provides a lot of fun for our family and yes, he still makes up all his own dance moves.

For more fun flashback photos hop over to We are THAT Family.

Someday He Will Hate This Photo

This was exactly one year ago today.

It was dress up time in the play room. They do this about once a week. We have a TON of dress up clothes and they love it. His sister can really get him in some get-ups.

Although, now he is getting a little more determined not to wear the tutus and more of the superhero outfits.

I am sure he will look back on this one day and be mad that I posted it.

Oh, and I might feel bad if it wasn't so darn cute.

For more fun photos visit We are THAT Family.

Shook and Swayed

This was the scene 2 years ago from our balcony the day after we checked into our beach house. Actually, it got much worse than that, but I was too afraid to go outside to take another photo. Ominous is the best word to describe it.

That night as my entire family slept, I was up watching the TV for the warning to take cover. The entire house shook. I mean - it shook, swayed and moved in ways I never thought a house could move. It scared the daylights out of me.

Did I mention the rest of the family slept right through it?

The TV was announcing tornado warnings in the counties all around us. It never did actually hit where we are more than a severe thunderstorm. The next day, we were laying on the beach in the bright sunshine and much cooler weather. It was divine really.

That same week at the beach I had actually developed a case of shingles and my kids both spiked fevers while we were there. It was a week of much laying around the house actually and not as much time on the beach as we had hoped.

Sometimes, though it is nice to just lie around without a thing to do. Hubby read 3 Janet Evanovich books that the owners kept in the house - that is how little we had to worry about. He secretly loved these books, by the way. But don't tell him I told you so. shhh.

We are headed back to the very same place next week and I am hopeful we will not have similar weather.

It was late August last time which is smack dab in the middle of hurricane season. We are safe from that this year at least. No sign of sickness. We're just prayin' it's all good this year.

Really they are not praying but doing their best Ohm moments to become one with the ocean so they can boogie board like no other. This was last year.

For more great flashback fun, head over to We are THAT Family.

Silliness

If I could only load up all the pictures of this kid dressing up in his various costumes.

Yesterday, it was as a ninja.

All. Day.

A ninja.

Everywhere we went.

My daughter dresses up, too in typical ballet and princess outfits. But it is really my son who can pull together a disquise with just a box and some rubber gloves.

Anyway, these are a couple of my favorites from the last couple years.

He provides a lot of laughs around this place.

For more fun flashback photos and stories, check out We are THAT Family.

Adventure Awaits

When first met my hubby, he had just returned from an exchange trip to Mexico. A year before that, he was a rotary exchange student in South Africa. Recently, we had one of his host families visit us. Remember, I wanted to keep them here forever?

Anyway, Kristen over at We are THAT Family inspired me to talk about my hubby today in honor of Dad's Day coming up.

One of the most attractive things about my future hubby was his sense of adventure. Aside from that incredible blond hair.

I was completely enthralled by his stories of these countries he spent time in. Intrigued by the fact that he would leave his family and friends at the young age 17 to travel to a foreign country by himself.

When he proposed to me, he asked me to travel the world with him as his wife. That is a story for another time, though. But seriously, who wouldn't say yes to that!?!

Since I have been married, the adventures have been many. We have traveled a lot. Not so much the world, but there will be a time for that. Even if we never do, the adventure of raising a family together is so much better.

As a dad and husband, he provides the fun in this family. He is fun. He makes me laugh. He makes the kids laugh. Actually, he makes everyone laugh. While I complain a lot that he embarrasses me, I really do enjoy his crazy sense of humor.

He is not afraid to try new things and is always open to going somewhere new. He almost never says no to me or the kids if we want to try something new.

I love sharing in this adventure we call life with him and I can't wait to see what lies ahead!

Check out more flashback fun at We Are THAT Family!

Happy Fathers Day!

The Incredible Family

Recently, we pulled out the movie, The Incredibles to watch one rainy day.


Sometime back in the Fall of 2005, my kids watched that movie for the first time. After watching, they decided we should all - the whole family- dress up as The Incredibles for Halloween that year. Our dog, Buddy, would go as Jack Jack was their plan.



I do not dress up for Halloween. I wear orange. Or a pumpkin shirt. That is pretty much as far as I like to go with being in the spirit of the night of Hallows.



I have gone to a costume party once or twice and I must say it was painful for me. I hate to dress up in a costume. Not sure why.



But because I want my kids to have good memories of me and not ones that are of a no fun mom, I agreed.



I looked high and low for costumes. I did actually find some - for a million dollars. So, since I am not a big fan of the costumes anyway, I decided not to purchase those.

Lo and behold, Halloween came and went and we never did find costumes - even for the kids that were affordable. I guess it was just too late after the movie came out to find Incredibles attire.

I know you have read up until this point just hoping to see that family photo with me dressed up like ElastiGirl. Alas, there is no photo.

They were a little disappointed, but we quickly found something they could go as that made them happy. Thoughts of filling up a 5 pound bag of candy seems to appease a lot of things.



Then in June of the following year, I found these pjs.
June -7 months after Halloween.
The kids loved them, though and fun dressing up in them. If one wore them, so did the other. They had to wear them together.
I love this photo because it reminds me of that.




For more fun flashback photos visit We are THAT Family.

Tiny Dancer

Last night I went to a dress rehearsal for B. It lasted 5 hours! Well, it lasted a lot longer than that, but her dance numbers were only included in 5 hours of it. We did have a dinner break where we wolfed down some Italian food in about 30 minutes. Yummy, though and quite the task to make sure she did not get any sauce on her white skirt. Luckily, she is an Alfredo girl!

This is our 4th recital coming up this weekend. She has really started to blossom as a dancer and it is so rewarding as a mom to watch. She absolutely nailed her ballet number! She is strong and focused. Her jazz number was so cute and you could tell she was having fun. This is her first year in jazz.

4 years ago, I put her in a 3 year old dance class. I placed her pudgy little toddler feet in a pair of pink ballet shoes which I have safely packed away now.

I relished in finding her dance outfits.

Her fine little blond hair would not even stay up in the "required" bun for class.


She immediately loved it.

She was hooked.

Me too.

How could I not love watching my princess - dance like a princess?

So, this photo is of her in her first ballet class. Her favorite teacher and director of the dance school is the one touching her shoulder with the wand. Thank you to her. She is one of the sweetest women I have ever met. She treats each girl like a star.

I will update later this weekend about the recital. Welcome family that is traveling in to watch our girl and break a leg, sweetie!

Check out more flashback photo fun at We are THAT Family.
Go Here!

Sincerely 'Fro me to You - Prom 1988

Oh, I even used my scalloped scissors to scrapbook this photo!

In 1988 it was my Senior Prom. I spent many weeks preparing. When you are a Senior in high school, Prom is the biggest event ever. Nothing is more important and nothing could stand in between me and the local tanning beds. Beds - plural because I went to one every single day, sometimes two in a day. And that was against the tanning bed rules. There is a reason for this - a little thing called skin cancer. Oh sure, I heard the story of the girl frying up her insides by spending too much time in tanning beds, but when you are 17 and the prom is coming, who really cares?!?!?!

I got the dress in Kansas City. I don't know if you remember I have mentioned before that I lived in a small town. My friends and I went to the big city to find our dresses so they would be different than everyone else's. Well, after I found this dress, wouldn't you know it was in the window (but in hot pink) of a local boutique in town. When another one of my friends asked if I would mind her purchasing it even though it was like mine, I threw a real live teenage hissy fit. No way! Matching dresses even if they were in different colors at the Senior Prom? The horror.

The hair and make up? I think they speak for themselves. It was the 80's.

Those guys flanking me on each side are not my dates. Just my protectors from my dates. My brothers. The one on my left is getting married in June.

Well, that's it. I think my hubby purchasing me a scanner was a dangerous thing. The photos, I can pull out!

For more great photos from the past check out Sincerely Fro' Me to You at We are THAT Family.

My Mom

This is one of my all time favorite pictures with my mom.

May 1997.

As you can see, it is my wedding day.

My mom was supposed to be helping me get ready. Here I am putting my a long wearing lipstick on her, so we could have beautiful lips all day!

She was so quiet that day. Not unhappy, just quiet. She wrote me a beautiful letter that I still have and will cherish always. I absolutely love the way she is looking at me, but didn't understand it until I had my own daughter. That is one of the beautiful things about becoming a mom - you understand your own mom so much better. It's like the biggest A-Ha moment!

For more fun flashback photos go to We are THAT Family, Sincerly Fro' Me to You.

Also, check out the fun and AWESOME Mother's Day contest over at 5 Minutes for Mom. Hop on over there and vote for your favorite photo!