Flashbacks

So, the other day I decided to (finally) take some Christmas stuff up to the attic. You know, the stuff that was hiding when you took down Christmas decorations in January? I finally got tired of seeing it in my office closet, so I lugged it up to the attic. While I was up there (I typically do not enter the attic), I noticed several boxes marked "Books". I took a peek and found that they were all my books. Hmmm...this could be interesting, so I lugged four boxes downstairs.

I found two boxes full of books that my parents had saved from my childhood. There is a set of encyclopedias as well as many classics that I remember vividly. Whew! Maybe my memory isn't as bad as I thought!

Another box held my books from the classes I took while studying for my teacher certification.

The fourth box held books that the students in the 2nd grade class where I did my student teaching gave me to start my own classroom library. Since I "retired" after getting my certification to stay home with Emily, I never got the chance to start a classroom library. Until now! The girls have a new library of books in their room. Emily thinks I am the coolest mom ever because I pulled out Junie B. Jones and Amelia Bedelia books!

It was so much fun to look through the books at the names of the children who chose each book for my library. What was shocking was realizing that those 2nd graders are now in 8th grade!

Well, that was fun and the girls are having a great time exploring all their new books!

My Husband ROCKS!

Let me tell you how awesome my husband is...he is a fabulous father who elicits the most outrageous giggles from our daughters, he is a thoughtful and caring husband who will do everything in his power to make me happy, he is a godly man who is on an incredible journey with our Lord God, and he works very hard at his paid job with passion and integrity.

We met in January of 1998 when we started working for the same software company on the same day. We both had a background in Human Resources and were new to the crazy software industry. So, I've watched him work hard in this ever changing industry with great integrity and humility. His hard work is paying off this May when we get to spend a week enjoying a...Seriously! I get giddy just thinking about it! This will be the first time that we take a vacation alone since we became parents. We already have Grammy and PopPop lined up to spend a week spoiling their granddaughters (they rock too!) We will spend the week at the F0ur Seas0ns Res0rt Gre@t Exum@. Sure it will be with his colleagues, but I know that we will get to enjoy plenty of time alone {wink wink} and we also get to share it with our great friends Michael and Karen. This will surely kick up the time that I'm spending on the treadmill!!

Does my husband rock or what?!

A Few Photos from the Weekend

Saturday was one looooooong day! We participated in a Health Fair sponsored by our awesome chiropractor and our regional Wellness Alliance. We had a vendor table where we shared MonaVie with folks interested in the benefits of 13 servings of fruit in 4 oz. of awesome tasting juice. *That sounds like a sentence written by a marketer...oh...that would be me in the life before mommyhood! Anyhow! It was a lot of fun for us and the girls.

Hanging with Dorothy the Dinosaur and Wags the Dog.

Wags showing off his karate chop!Mia getting ready to "hi-ya the board"!

Emily gave it a try...after pushing her little sister to the front of the line to try it first! I guess she wanted to see if Mia got hurt before she gave it a try...smart girl!

With their broken boards. They were so proud of themselves!

Here's a quiz for you. What's this? "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Answer: The scream coming from my office when I heard Emily say, "Hey Mia, let's play karate."

Chuck and Michael at our table.

After we had a quick dinner with everyone, we were all ready for bed by 8 PM! I wasn't so excited about our family spending the day at a health fair, but we actually had a fantastic time!

Sunday

I understand that there was some sort of football game...Really?! We had my dearest friend from my Boston days visit. Needless to say, there was a whole lot of chatting and not a whole lot of football watching...at least for me and Monica. That girl and I had some crazy fun working and traveling together back in the day! She was instrumental in getting the information to Chuck regarding my dream engagement ring (that I now wear on my left hand with my wedding band) and she was my maid of honor when Chuck and I were married 10 years ago (in May).

Emily took this photo of us with her little camera in the hallway without much light. It didn't come out too bad!

And, now it's Monday already!

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Well...kinda sorta snow! We had a huge ice storm that kept Emily home from school yesterday. They were so disappointed that all the white stuff outside wasn't snow, but rock hard ice. Thanksfully, I had previously purchased 4 gallons of Snow in Seconds! It is so cool and the girls played in it for a long time!

Instead of sand between our toes, we have snow between our toes!It's snowing...And, here's a scrapbook page that I did with one of those priceless moments captured on...film? (remember when we used to say that?)...captured on the memory stick (doesn't quite have the same ring to it). Anyhow...it's cute! The journaling reads...This might explain why you were misbehaving at the dinner table...a few minutes after you were asked to leave the table and wait for Mommy on the bottom step, we realized that you were being unusually quiet...Aha! You fell sound asleep!

The Sleepover

Photos from Emily and Mollianne's first sleepover...

These top two pages are meant to go side-by-side because the second page has the captions for the photos on the first page.

My Girls

Here are two new pages that I created this weekend.

My dad took this photo of Emily and I love it!

And, here is Mia dancing like nobody's watching...

Last night we hosted Mollianne for the night as Emily's final birthday present. These two have been dying to have a sleepover for as long as I can remember. Last night their wish came true! I have some very adorable photos of the best friends that I will post soon.

Happy Birthday Emily!

This little girl stole our hearts the first time we layed our eyes on this photo...

It seems like just yesterday that I gazed at this little photo of my first daughter, who celebrated her 6th birthday on Tuesday.

According to Emily, it was the best day of her whole life! We surprised her with a new booster seat that she has been longing for... She also received a new 16 inch bike. We didn't give it to her until we got home from dinner and it was dark outside, so she took a few spins around the kitchen island!
Thankfully, it was warm yesterday afternoon so she and Daddy went for a ride after school...
Happy Birthday Emily! You have blessed us in ways we never dreamed. I love that you care deeply about our world, have a strong desire to learn "everything there is to know about God" and that you love to perform. I am in awe of your beauty, compassion and artistic talent.

Happy New Year!

Here's a quick recap of our New Year's Eve celebration...

More photos of our evening spent with our best friends (Erin, Bob, Mollianne and Meisey) and my parents can be found here. We had a great time sharing delicious food in abundance, great wine and wonderful conversation. The girls all made it (in good moods) until almost midnight! We suspected that things might start to go downhill before midnight, so we celebrated the New Year when the ball dropped in NYC! Aunt Sissy - We're sorry that you couldn't make here in time to join us. Maybe next year!

Happy Birthday Mia!

It's hard to believe, but there is no point denying it...my baby girl is 4 years old!

Here she is in 2004...her first Christmas with us and two days before her first birthday (obviously, I don't have those photos scrapped yet!).

And, yesterday celebrating her 4th birthday!

Happy Birthday my fabulously funny and feisty girl! I love your laugh. I love that you love to learn and are curious about everything. I am in awe of your steadfast determination when faced with a challenge. I love that you are so compassionate and sensitive to the needs of others. You are one remarkable 4 year old and I am humbled and honored to be your mommy!

Ice, Ice Baby!

Today we took Grammy and Pop Pop (and the girls, of course!) to the ICE! Exhibit at the Gaylord Texan. It was fabulous, but COLD! Here are just a few of the photos...

When we first arrived...All bundled up...
This Santa's eyes gave me the creeps, but the girls didn't seem to mind...

Here comes Mia...Emily's ready for her turn...
And, Daddy came down next, but my camera battery gave out!