More Birthday Pictures!

Benjamin and his trains
Show us that finger puppet Alec
Looks like Luke is happy
Open wide Luke

Hudson and his Dr. Pepper
Julia bug
Randall in mid-wave

Alli is so sweet

Birthday Week!

Birthday celebrating with Papa and Mimi

I had a friend whose family celebrated Birthday Weeks, where you would get a small present each day of your birthday week. I like that idea! So with Audrey's 2nd Birthday this past week brought a lot of celebration.

To prepare Audrey for her birthday on Thursday and what comes with it we talked to her about what her birthday meant and what people would say and do. She really liked the "Happy Birthday" song, especially the part that goes "...and many more!"

We knew we wanted to get another dog for our family and what better time than an Audrey-birthday! So on Tuesday evening we went and picked up our new beagle puppy, Winston Chewhill. Also on Tuesday and Wednesday Audrey got to take Chocolate Chip cookies to Mothers' Day Out and Park Way.

So when Thursday came she was ready for her big day! In the morning we spent a couple of hours getting her pictures done with our good friend and photograher Josie (shameless plug: http://allforfunphotography.blogspot.com/). Boy those pictures are going to be really cute. Then we went to one of Audrey's favorite restaurants, Taco Beano.

That night...we had a blast with our friends at Audrey's Birthday. We had hot dogs, chips and the best ...cake and icecream. Audrey wanted to make sure we had candy too, which we had a Dora Piniata. I think fun was had by all and we want to thank all our friends for joining us in celebrating her birthday!

She's getting so big, especially in her new dress-up outfits!
On another note...Friday evening my folks came in late and we spent the rest of the weekend with them and a few friends camping. This was Audrey's first camping trip and I think it make a good impression on her. As we were driving home this morning she said, "Audrey, good Camper!"

September....time of remembrance

I want to echo what Jaime (http://rinehart4.blogspot.com/) had to say about this day, September 11th, as a day to remember. Where were you... 7 years ago? Can you believe it...it was 7 years ago? I was a sophomore in college. I was in a class that was my least favorite, AutoCad (architectural drafting). Every month we would celebrate classmates birthday's by having cake and that day, September 11th was the day we ate cake and watched a great catastrophe on the classroom projection screen.
It was so surreal to be eating cake, of all things, while there were many who were suffering.

Not to downplay the magnitude of that day but I want to also note some days in September that have had great significane to me:

My first date with Matthew...the day that started all of where I am: September 7th, 1999

Our first dog as a married couple, Joan of Barc came into our lives: September 7th, 2003

Our sweet daughter, Audrey came to us September 18th 2006.

And many more special dates/memories that I won't forget....I don't want to forget...maybe I 'll forget...why do our memories fail us.

Make a point to remember special days, people, memories because frankly all the stuff we have is nowhere near as important and special as the relationships we have/had with others.

Labor Day in Hot Springs!

Daddy's a Dead Man

As a family we got to enjoy one last Summer get-away to Hot Springs, AR with my brother and his lovely wife! We have been planning some time to get together at least one more time before they head off to New Zealand to do mission type work.

Jeremy's lining up the perfect putt

We haven't seen my brother, Jeremy and his wife, Eliza since Thanksgiving this past year...wow...has it been that long?

Hole in one, Mommy!

We decided to meet in Hot Springs because it is a fun place to go and it is halfway between where we both live. Audrey was real excited about seeing Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Eliza. At first she was not sure what to think about them but by the time we parted ways she really misses them.



Should I feed the gold fish MY gold fish?

We got to go to a children's museum, Pirate mini-golf, an outdoor garden near the lake, original bath house and lots of great eating places! On top of all that we, Matthew, Jeremy, Eliza and myself played the game "Settlers of Catan" several times into the wee hours of the morning...okay so it was late for me!
I think overall we had lots of fun although I felt like I was in the bathroom all weekend because Audrey is still potty training but doing awesome!Picture Perfect...Jeremy and Eliza

Swim Lessons and Best Buds

For the past 2 weeks Audrey and I have been taking a "Mommy and Me" class with a couple of friends through the City of Longview (http://www.ci.longview.tx.us). We had so much fun and saw steady progression.

The class was 30 minutes long and consisted of 3-4 songs, which included much splashing and dunking, practice time and shallow water play time. I think Audrey's favorite time was the singing and splashing time. We really enjoyed getting to take the class with our friends Luke and Ryan along with some new friends. Audrey seemed to be a great inspiration for our boy friends. Luke only blowed bubbles to show Audrey and Ryan really loved doing "Motor Boat" with Audrey. To tell you the truth...I think she could have cared less. I hope you enjoy these great pictures.

Trying to do Scrapblog...

Hey...to all of you who saw my blog in a shamble...please ignore what you saw. I have been playing around with Scrapbloging. I was working on it earlier this afternoon, wasn't sure what I did wrong, left it and went shopping and to eat pizza. Then when I got back home I realized how fast people check blogs by 2 comments posted on my lousy attempt at Scrapbloging. So hopefully now it looks mucho better. Let me know what you think...I'm asking for it *smile* *wink* and *all that good stuff*.

God-Mother Got Hitched

Congratulations to our sweet Amanda! We met Amanda right after we got married. She is Audrey's unofficial Godmoma. On Saturday we got to go to her wedding in Waco. It was beautiful, well-planned and a little hot. She took some time out at her wedding to come over and say hi to Audrey, how sweet. We are looking forward to getting to know her new hubby better and hanging out as couples. God Bless your future...have fun in the Bahamas!

Family Fun on Fourth

(My Aunt Cheri, Aunt Kathy and Mom)

What an awesome 4th of July we had! It has been a couple of years since we have had such a great Independence Day. We felt truly wanted this year because we received several invites from friends to hang out.
For some time we have had plans to go to my Aunt Cheri's house in Aledo. We wanted to have a mini-family reunion. When I was younger we lived in the same town, all of my family (aunts, uncles, grandparents). As kids grew, people moved away and it has been several years since I have gotten to be around everyone.
We drove over to Aledo on Thursday evening. The next day I was in charge of breakfast and we had Sopapilla Cheescake. We had a relaxing day which entailed going to the big Firework wharehouse and buying a lot of firecrackers and reading a lot on the couch.


The main meal was around 4ish and we enjoyed a nice dip in the swimming pool before and after the yummy food. I had picked blackberries a couple of days before and was able to make a pretty awesome Blackberry Cobbler, if I do say so myself.


(Uncle Steve, Uncle Joel, Mom, Aunt Cheri, Aunt Kathy)

Then that evening we all went out in my Aunt and Uncle's front yard and set off all the fireworks we had purchased. Audrey was not a big fan of the fireworks but maybe next year she will enjoy them better.
Fireworks outside!

The best part of the day was that my mother's oldest brother, Uncle Steve and his two sons came to celebrate with us. I have seen him and his family about 5 times in my whole life. So it was an answer to many prayers the great visit we had with his family.

Berry Blessings!

What a fun morning Audrey and I had today. We got to go Blackberry picking at Martin's Berry Patch. We invited Grammy and Alli to go with us. So the four of us rode out there (past Hallsville) to go pickin'.

Grammy and I told Alli and Audrey to take their red baskets and go find the "Black" berries and not to pick the "RED" ones. Alli had done this before and she was real good, Audrey however was more interested in holding the red baskets.

We found that the biggest, and juiciest berries were in the middle of the vine under the leaves' shade. After picking for about an hour the two little ones got tired and hot and were not having so much fun any more (the two big kids were tired of messing with the two little ones : )

Grammy and Alli totaled in at 3 1/2 lbs. worth of blackberries and Audrey and myself had 3 lbs.

We got done at just the right time to head off to get a bite to eat before the lunch crowds. Grammy was kind and generous to treat Audrey and I this morning with the berries and lunch.

To tell you the truth...it is at the end of the month for us and things are tight, so I wasn't exactly sure how we were going to swing things but we are truly thankful for our Berry Blessings and how God provides even for our wants!

Mazal tov!

Audrey and her PaPa

Okay...so this weekend we went to a Messianic Jewish wedding. My brother-n-law got married this weekend and our whole family was asked to be in the wedding...how fun!

One of the bridesmaids and 2 of the groomsmen

Now the only wedding I have been in was my own and I am very particular about having a plan and knowing where everything/everyone should go...not my sis-n-law. She is a fly by the seat of her skirt kind of gal, which can be fun if it doesn't matter what you think...and it didn't.

It was supposed to be an outdoor wedding but it rained : ( so we were forced indoors.

Bridesmaid, My Mother-n-Law and my parents

In the brideroom we pushed, prodded and poked ourselves into our respective getups. We used tape, safety pins and everything we could get our hands on (*smile and wink*)

Audrey got to be led out to the front by a sweet pre-teen (that was her part in the wedding? I am not sure why). Then the bridesmaids, myself included, swayed down the aisle along with the jewish music and clapped occasionally when the beat was right. I am not versed in Jewish weddings or Messianic Jewish weddings but I think Mazal tov is something to be said loudly and often.

Matthew and a childhood friend enjoy singing together.

Overall we all had a great time seeing family, eating and dancing. Audrey's favorite part of the night was the "Chicken Song, Dance" as she likes to say.

Surprise!

I think he has a slight glow of surprise.

Thank you to everyone who could join us for Matthew's 28th Birthday Party at Pizza King. We had a blast. The pizza was great, the company was awesome and Matthew was totally surprised.

Matthew in his element.

When I asked Matthew what he wanted for his birthday he said he would be fine with nothing. I saw the nothingness as a challenge to go all out. So, I planned a Surprise Party at his favorite place to eat. Little did I know that when you ask friends out for fun and pizza they will take you up on it. I thought we might have at the most 10 people...no...we ended up with 32 to be exact. Matthew feels truly blessed this year by all of your well-wishings. Thanks a bunches.

Emily's Graduation!

We are so proud of Emy'!

Mom looks on with Matthew and Uncle B.

A couple of weeks ago my baby sister graduated from High School! I am so proud of her and all that she has accomplished. It has been neat to watch her grow up and blossom. We went down to Waco to watch her graduate and had a great time.

Swimmin' with Friends

On Monday Audrey got to have a play date with Luke while his mommy went to the doctor. They had a lot of fun playing and trying to share...that is still a new thing for Audrey.

Then when Merrisa came back we had lunch. The kids were encouraged to eat all their food so that they could get some cookies!

The best part was the blow-up pool that Audrey and Luke got to cool off in. Luke is a pro and showed Audrey how you take it easy! Both of us mommies enjoyed cooling our tootsies in the water and eating cookies as well.

The Splits=Scraped Knee

Okay so this week has been hard getting back into the swing of things after being on vacation. Each day this week has been crazy for both me and Matthew but especially for Matthew. I have been doing some major cleaning along with a lot of catch up with my work.

So I have been doubling up on working out so that I will get back into the swing of things...right : ) ! Well yesterday I got up bright and early, thanks to my personal alarm clock, Audrey. I went to my Yoga class which normally is not too strenuous for me but I was sweating buckets. Then I ran home to shower and change so that we could go to Story Time at the library. As I was running late, as usual, I scooped up Audrey off our deck and headed to the car to put her in. Well my intentions were good but as I stepped onto the grass my foot kept going and took me on a ride to the splits. The grass must have been damp and I did not realize it. It was in slow motion; the pain, the sliding and the splits. When Audrey and I finally reached the ground, she bursted out in tears even though she was fine. Me, on the other hand wanted to cry and grab my knee in pain. My leg had scrapped along the gravel as I was trying to break our fall.

I don't remember the last time I had done the splits or scraped my knee ; ( ! You would think that after doing Yoga I could do the splits but my tragic decent reminded me of how unflexible I still am. I am however enjoying the sympathy and bandaids that I get for having a scrapped knee. No skirts/shorts for a while I guess. I can't shave around my hurt knee...it hurts too much. Okay no more crying/whinning.

Kokopelli

Hi to all my loyal fans who have been giving me a hard time about not posting EVERYDAY (*ahem*).
Matthew and I have been in Santa Fe, NM for 7 days, 6 nights, celebrating our 5th year anniversary and my birthday. My parents were sweet enough to take Audrey and they have been loving every minute.
(On the "High Road" to Taos)


It has been so great not having to be anywhere, go to bed at a certain time or wake up at a certain time. We have eaten wherever we wanted to and whenever!
On the first day we arrived we checked into our hotel and took a 3 HOUR NAP, we haven't done that in years! The rest of the week has been a blurr of fun intermixed with head-colds. We have not allowed our stuffy noses to keep us from having fun.

(Buying Turquoise Earrings on the Plaza)
We have...shopped on the Plaza, had some pink margaritas, gone to 3 museums, brunched at a chocolatier/bakery, shopped, took a road trip on the High Road to Taos, shopped at the outlet mall, had my ears pierced, watched 2 theater movies, ate a whole lot of Mexican food, visited the Taos Pueblos (the oldest continuously inhabited community), went to 2 historic Catholic Churches and Shopped some more!

(Matthew in Front of Basilica de St. Francisco)
We have missed Audrey so, so much! We are looking forward to getting home and getting back to our normal, responsible selves.

(By the way: Kokopelli is a Southwestern American Indian icon that represents music and fertility and is everywhere you look in Santa Fe!)

Easter Eggstravaganza!

(Audrey at Daffodil Gardens, 18 mos.)

Easter had such a big effect on Audrey that...

1. Every time she sees an egg of any sort she says: "Ap-en" (open)


2. If you show her a picture of a Rabbit she will say: "Bunny...Hop, Hop".


3. From the moment she wakes up she says: "Dan-dy, Dan-dy, Dan-dy" (candy)


4. She does not have a preference to any sort of candy...it's all good!



(Jelly-Beans, yum, yum)


The week before Easter we went to the Daffodil Gardens in Gladewater, TX to have Audrey's picture taken in her Easter Dress. We had a basket full of empty plastic eggs except for one. That egg had 4-5 jelly beans in it and Audrey found it right away. A lot of the pictures of her are of her in mid-chew.


(Ah, this looks like some great sand)

From then on she knew what to do with a plastic egg! We were invited to a Mom-kid Easter play-date on the Thursday before Easter. All the kids/moms had a blast playing outside. They had sidewalk chalk, bubbles, a swing-set and a sand box all ready to play on. So at this Easter hunt, Audrey knew what the eggs were for but she was content to stop at the first egg and Ap-en it.


(Ap-en?!)

Then on Easter Audrey got a big basket full of "Dan-dy" and outside toys (bubbles/chalk). I let her have 1 piece of candy before breakfast and before I knew it she was trying to eat the chocolate easter egg with the foil wrapper on it still.


Later on that day we went to our friends house, the Woodens, for an awesome lunch and Easter fun. We ended up joining their neighbors, the Rineharts, for a awesome egg hunt. I wasn't going to let Audrey participate because she already had so much Dan-dy but Ms. Christy would not have any of that. She was of the mind that "All girls need more candy!"
(Dan-dy?)

The next day Audrey and several others were real cranky from their sugar crash. We had a blast.

That's Life...

Christmas 2007 at our house

Hi to all who have been checking this blog but seeing no new postings! What can I say..."I Forgot"! To tell you the truth I have been so busy that I forgot about my blog. I got on Facebook and that was fulfilling my internet fix for a while.

The holidays came and went with a blur and I can't say that they will be memorable. I took a 10 day trip through Texas to see some old friends and family (not that they were all old). I decided that I needed to go back and remember different parts of my growing up years. I had not been back to Lubbock since my grandmother, Gran passed away. Since her passing the house that she and my grandfather had lived in for all my life was sold; another grandmother (Chick) of mine had moved away and passed on; family grew up and apart. I know one thing... that I don't want that amount of time to pass before reconnecting with those people again.

So much for looking back...

Our Family Picture!

Currently we are looking at several changes in our not so distant future. We are debating buying a house, Matthew going out on his own and me getting a part time Interior Design job. Not in that particular order but somewhere all jumbled up. We are ready to take root somewhere, especially now that we have Audrey and want more kids.

Audrey update: I am walking/running everywhere I go. I love bubbles, balloons, storytime and going outside. I am very much a typical redhead with a temper that mommy and daddy don't know what to do with. I know over 30 words and like to sing.