Halloween 2011

Audrey and Julia went to our church's trunk or treat as beautiful butterflies. They loved seeing everyone dressed up and of course, they loved the sweets!





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Five Question Friday 10.7.11

Alrighty, folks.  I'm gonna try to get back into blogging.  Answering questions is the easiest way to jump back in.  Oh, and I have to add, GO RANGERS!!!

1. What is your go to comfort food or sweet?

Chocolate!  Also Italian food, especially in the winter months.  I try not to buy chocolate because I will eat it if it's in the house.  I shouldn't do that because, inevitably, I HAVE TO HAVE chocolate.  Then I just want to cry when I can't find any around.

2. What is the most romantic place you've ever been to?

Well, I haven't been on a remote island or anything like that, but Michael does a good job taking me to nice places and making me feel special.  

3. What is your favorite thing about fall/Halloween?

Hmmm...the crisp air (85 is crisp after the summer we had!), the pumpkin spiced drinks at Starbucks, the pumpkin candles, Audrey excited about dressing up, Rangers baseball...I could go on for a long time.  This isn't true for every fall season, but for the last two, I have to say BASEBALL!

4. How would you spend 24 hours alone?

I would make the girls' costumes, organize my coupons, plan my grocery trips, and shop ALONE!  I'm such a nerd.

5. Does you husband bring you flowers? Are you the bring-me-flowers type of girl?

I am not the type of girl who desires flowers, but my husband surprises me frequently with them!  I always cry because I know that he went out of his way to, again, make me feel special.  I tell you what, he's quite a guy!  

I'm back! But for how long???

Well, it certainly has been awhile.  There's lots of reasons why my writing has come to a halt, and now that I'm out of the habit, who knows if I'll be able to pick it up again.

The biggest news I should share is that Michael has a new job!!!  He last worked for PWC on August 2 and he took a week off before beginning his new job.  We spent a few days of that week in College Station visiting family.  Now, Michael is the controller for a company called the Covenant Group in Fort Worth.  It's a good, Christian environment and he really likes what he does.  He gets to go to many Ranger games and he's going to the Cowboys game tonight.  Tough, huh?  The best part is that he won't have any more 100+ hour work weeks.  And, no, we're not moving.  (Can you tell I've been asked that question a lot?)  It takes him about 40 minutes to get to work, so it's not so bad.  Praise God for a good job and more family time!

Shamu and Splashtown

I finally got my pictures developed that were on our disposable and waterproof camera. The pictures of Shamu were not great. That makes me sad that I was so cautious with the real camera. Oh well. I'll know in the future just how high the water goes if we go again. All I know is that there was water on the floor where we were sitting and I wanted to be careful with my new camera.

If you remember, we decided to save some green and go to Splashtown on Saturday instead of swimming at Sea World. I think we made the right decision. The girls just wanted to be in the water. I stayed with Julia as she took a nap in the minivan that we rented for the trip. If we had gone to Sea World, I probably wouldn't have let Julia sleep. Sea World is just too big to try to find someone, even with cell phones. It turned out great for all.

Independence Day 2011

Nearly every 4th of July of my life has been spent with the families of friends my mom went to high school with. We cook out and swim all day. It is fun to have my girls do the same things I did while growing up.

Julia, Macie, Audrey, and Maddie

Julia and me with Annabelle and Melody. The girls are a couple of weeks apart.

Audrey swimming all by herself.

Julia really does like the water.

Five Question Friday- 7.8.11

1. Do you think cursive writing is overrated? (Schools in Indiana have now voted to take teaching cursive writing out of their curriculum.)

I can understand the argument. Everything is printed/typed. But, oh, I really think it is something that should be taught. Sheesh, I took a handwriting course in college! You know I love my husband, right? His handwriting leaves a lot to be desired. If we our romance had developed through hand-written love letters, it would have suffocated. It started through instant messaging each other. So, I guess it is true that times are changing. But I loved reading my grandpatents' love letters and seeing their remarkable handwriting. Everything about it was so beautiful.

2. Do you still use a pocket calendar or notepad or do you keep your info on your smart phone?

I may support cursive handwriting, but I do embrace technology. This phone is my everything.

3. What 3 things would you save if your house was burning down? (family & pets are already safe)

Laptop, camera, dvd's of the girls' births.

4. Country Mouse or City Mouse, err Person?

I was just thinking last night how fun and convenient city living is, but I think I'm a small town girl at heart.

5. If you could pick ANY reality show to go on, which would you pick?

What Not To Wear! Please nominate me!

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Embrace the Camera 7.7.11

I am sooooo very proud of my naturally-fearful Audrey! She has never seen fireworks, but has been awakened by them before. She gets in a scared-for-her-life state and talks about how much she is scared of fireworks. She had talked about how much she did not like them as recently as LAST WEEK. You can imagine my surprise when she wanted to see them this 4th of July!

We met a coworker of Michael's who lives in Addison and she let us park at her house. We walked to the fire station to get a clear view of Kaboom Town. Audrey was great, even talked to random neighbor dogs, until we got to the fire station. The building itself scared her! Isabel took this picture of us. We were trying to get her happy again. Didn't work. The fireworks did brighten her mood (Phew!) but she was ready to leave about 10 minutes into the show. I guess it's just too late for her still. I am very proud of her for sitting through the whole thing. And if you ask her what her favorite part was, she'll tell you the Mickey Mouse fireworks.

Sea World

After celebrating MaMaw's birthday Thursday night in San Antonio, we stayed to do Sea World. I had planned out our two days there: rides and shows on Friday and swimming on Saturday. We got to a slow start on Friday because we visited with family during breakfast for a long time. I let go of my type-A self and decided just to go with the flow. We did get to see 2 shows on Friday, Shamu (or as Audrey says, Shampoo) and the Sea Lion one. No pictures of Shamu because I had no idea if we'd get wet, so I used my water-proof camera and I haven't developed those pictures yet. Then on Saturday, we decided to save some cash and do Splash Town instead. We visited my brother, Brett, on Saturday night too.

We lucked out with 92 degree weather, but that was still very, very hot.

I think I got sun block on the lens on the picture above.

The girls watching Elmo and gang.

Sea World was a lot of fun! There may be a post soon about Sea World and Splash Town after those pictures are developed.

MaMaw's 80th Birthday

Last Thursday, we packed up and headed to San Antonio to celebrate Michael's grandmother's 80th birthday. MaMaw has a lot of children and grandchildren and most were able to travel to the party. Even cousins from Paris and Berlin came!

MaMaw is something else, one of a kind, special. When her Sunday school class learned of her party, they created a "Flat Jean" (like a Flat Stanley) and took pictures of her all over town. It was the funniest thing I've seen in a while. People were kissing her, she was popping out of bushes, and lots of other funny things. Perfect for her and her personality.

Happy 80th, MaMaw!

Some Flat Jean pictures. (She's in black)

Audrey

Cake. Her favorite color is purple. We were encouraged to wear purple and the decorations were purple too.

Julia

Averys, Halls, and us. Burrows were not able to come.

Us

MaMaw looking at the gift we got her.

Happy 4th!

HAPPY 4TH Y'ALL!

5 Question Friday 7.1.11

1. If you had the opportunity to bungee jump, would you?

I once had the chance. I was on my first real date with this guy. This guy is my husband's cousin, but we dated before I dated my husband. Anyways, I was not wanting to look like a wuss and I was wanting to impress, so I was going to do the bungee jump. I was a little concerned because I had heart issues when I was in high school. This was in college, so I was more concerned than I would be now. I said I'd do it and the Lord stepped in and said, "Oh no you don't." It started to rain and they closed the jump. I was thrilled! I stayed safe and looked brave all at the same time!


2. Would you rather go to the movie theater or to the drive-in?

Drive-in!!! My college town had a drive-in. We'd take large groups of people and tailgate at the movies. So fun!


3. Do you have your groceries delivered?

No, but where do I sign up? My life would be a hundred times easier if someone did that for me!


4. Eyebrows: Do you wax, thread, pluck, or stay au naturel?

Pluck.


5. Would the people you went to high school with be surprised by your life today?

I don't think so. I'm kinda living my dream, so I'm not too far off from who I truly am.

Embrace the Camera 6.30.11

The picture quality is horrible, but this girl makes me laugh so much and it shows here. Audrey is such a sweet, helpful, goofy, one of a kind kid. For instance, she just came to me chanting, "Happy Poo Poo, Daddy!" ?????? Exactly. She has been so loving towards Julia lately. I love it. The jealousy that sometimes pops up is dwindling away quickly. I read a book with her tonight that talks about how wonderful little girls are and it is so true. Ok...so, I just took a picture. Gotta upload it on here for you to see. This kid is somethin else.

Those are headbands around her face.

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Standing Up Tall

She's done it! Julia finally decided to try out those feet and legs God gave her. I noticed last Thursday morning that she was really trying to pull up on me while I was helping Audrey get dressed. Then, that afternoon, she scaled the stairs at her grandparents' house, using her feet quite a bit. That night, as I was pouring her bath, she actually pulled up all by herself! Just shy of 15 months old. I tell you what, she has a mind of her own and is on her own timeline!


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First Jump!

Audrey took swim lessons all of last week. She did great and got to jump off the diving board on Friday! She loved it and has already told me that she wants to do it again. I'm so proud of her for being so brave!