Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

These are a few pictures I have not posted before from my nieces wedding this June. LeAnne was the youngest flower girl. These pictures were taken by Michelle Hoyecki.








For more Wordless Wednesday Posts, check out 5 Minutes for Mom.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Thankful Thursday - Summer & Relationships

This Summer is coming to an end and before I know it I will be back to work so I want to take this opportunity to reflect on why I am thankful for Summer.

* Summer became my favorite season 8 years ago when I was introduced to my wonderful husband the end of June 2000.

* I am thankful every summer after that John's daughter Amanda has some or all of the summer with us. (this is the 1st summer she's not been with us - we miss her so much)

* I am thankful for the many game nights we enjoyed during our Summer's together.

* I am thankful for all the summer nights when I could give Amanda a hug, tell her good-night & I loved her.

I am thankful for all the Summer mornings when I could give Amanda a hug and tell her good morning sunshine!

I am thankful for all the summers I could watch Amanda & her daddy spend time together. I know he misses her so much during the year.

* I am thankful for the trips the 3 of us took together in the summer. The best being our
summer vacation to San Diego, California in 2005.

* I am also very thankful my job (Para-professional in an Elementary school) allows me to be off the whole summer!

* I am thankful for all the time I've been able to spend with our daughter this summer!

* I am thankful I can be a SAHM during the summer. LeAnne has changed so much this summer. She's learning a lot, and developing so much more personality.

* I am thankful I've been able to see my husband more during the summer. He's pretty cool!

* I am thankful I've been able to have a garden this Summer. The veggies from our garden taste so much better than store bought veggies. I look forward to growing a bigger garden next year.

* I am thankful for the trip we took to Central Oregon. Even though it was a night mare of a trip I am thankful we got to see our family.

* I am thankful for time. It is so nice to be able to spread house hold chores through out the week.

* I am thankful for the time I've been able to spend scrap booking. Amanda's book is up to date. LeAnne's 1st year book is almost done and I am starting to order and organize pictures for her next book. I have even done a few pages in my book.

* I am thankful for the beautiful weather we have here.

* I am thankful for the beautiful flowers blooming all around us!

* I am thankful for the birds who come to our feeders.

* I am thankful for the extra time I can spend with my mama!

* I am thankful that I've begun to work out every other day and I am sticking to it! :-)

Well on that note, LeAnne is ready for breakfast so our day begins. :-)

What are you thankful? Head on over to Iris's blog Grace Alone to share how your life is blessed.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Huh? Doing Squats? This pic makes me laugh!



Our little Diva & her neurotic side kick Bella not far behind! LOL!!



Mega Blocks concentration - When she's trying to figure something out she goes into her own little world. :-)

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Weekend Firsts & Fun

We had a pretty low key family weekend at home. John worked on getting his shop set up the way he wants it and it is looking great. LeAnne loves to hang out in the shop with daddy. She sweeps, colors on scrap wood, sits on his stool to color on his note pad, dances to his music and just explores dad's digs. She's definitely a daddy's girl and I couldn't be more thrilled! I pray their close relationship continues through out her life. Lately she's been walking around the house saying "Da Da Er are you"? or daddy er are you?. It's too cute. Check out the videos below.

Poor lil girl got her first bee sting on Sunday. I was talking on the phone to my auntie when I saw her reach for something moving in the grass, then she started to whimper, and that's when I saw the bee in the grass. She got stung on her wrist. We put ice on it and then a baking soda paste. She was more upset about us trying to make her hold still than she was about the bee sting. We watched her closely but she handled it like a trooper.

In other fun news I won my first giveaway this weekend! I won a cookbook called Toddler Cafe. It is supposed to be filled with ideas for feeding picky toddlers. Thank-you Muse Reviews!

Here are some random pix of our princess this weekend.

Our pretty princess sporting a Tinkerbell dress. I was sorting through some clothes this afternoon when I came across this dress in the box of clothes we got from cousin Emma. LeAnne thought it was pretty so we put it on and wore it all afternoon. It's a 3T so a little sloppy yet.



Sweeping daddy's shop!



She's walking up & down our stairs by herself now. EEKS! Isn't this outfit too cute. Thank-you Karen M.






Thursday, August 13, 2009

Thankful Thursday - Siblings

This is my first time participating in Grace Alone's blog carnival Thankful Thursday;

Why be thankful on Thursdays? We tend to just give thanks on Thanksgiving; why not share your blessings on a weekly basis with us? You don’t have to participate every week; do it as often as you can. The road of life is hard, let us count our blessings as we travel this road…

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name”
~ Psalm 100:4 (NIV)


Click on the on Thankful Thursday to join the fun.



This week I would like to focus on my siblings. I am very thankful for my older sister (8yrs older) and my younger brother (3 1/2 yrs younger)

Growing up I remember looking up to my sister but since she was so much older than me our relationship grew stronger as I got older. I am thankful she took me under her wing and taught me a lot about horses, about independence & self reliance, and I'll never forget how she use to quiz me about the title & artist of those old country tunes. I am thankful my big sis was there to encourage me when I was very lost. I accepted Jesus as my Savior when I was 9 yrs old but didn't follow up to grow the relationship so it was my sister who led me on a journey to develop a relationship with Jesus. She showed me the hope I have in Jesus. I am thankful for her patience as I continued to lead a life full of sin. I am thankful she was there to hold me accountable, to convict me of my sins in a loving way. I am very very thankful she helped me opened the door for me to recommit my life to Jesus in October of 2001. I really GOT IT that night! It's like my eyes were really open, I saw scripture and life in a whole new light! I am very thankful for my big sister!

My little brother & I were very close growing up. We didn't fight much, well there was one summer. My little brother has a very fun loving personality. We had a lot of fun playing together in our backyard, and exploring while camping was a lot of fun together. I am thankful we had each other to share the joys and tribulations of our childhood. When my parents were going through rough times we had each other to lean on. When things got really rocky we had regular meetings our F.A.F.F. club. He always had a way of making me laugh when I was upset. Since he was my little/big brother I loved stealing his shirts to wear. Oh he'd get mad at me! He made a lot of rough family firsts (after the divorce) bearable. One of our first holidays we had a food fight at the table and I am pretty sure he started that. I loved watching him play sports. He has so much athletic ability. I've heard it said that girls will marry a guy like their dad, in my case I was looking for someone like my brother. It was an honor to have both my dad and my brother walk me down the aisle when I got married because both of them played a big role in my life. I am so excited to see my brother as a daddy!

I miss how close the three of us were during our childhood. That closeness seemed to fade some as we got older and began to life our own lives. I realize though that is just the natural way of life, it's okay and instead of dwelling on what we don't have I am THANKFUL and Cherish the moments we do have together. I love the quiet times when we can just share our lives with each other. I am thankful for the times my lil bro gets stuck in traffic because I get a phone call. We talked for almost a hour a few weeks back while he fought traffic. I am thankful for the few moments I was able to talk to my sister yesterday about our kids. I am thankful to be going to spend some time with my brother and his wife the end of this month.

These are all things I think about when I ponder LeAnne having a sibling. Someone she can grow up with, someone to share memories with, someone to lean on when us parents just don't get it, someone to play with when her parents are worn out, someone to read with, some to teach, someone to look up to her, someone to steal her toys and someone to share the chores with. :-)

What are you thankful for?

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Almost Wordless Wednesday

LeAnne wearing daddy's work boots.



Monday, August 10, 2009

Tagged for 6 Things meme

I was tagged for the 6 things meme by Lynette

The Guidelines
1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.



3. Write six random and/or revealing things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your post entry

First: I have a learning disability. The general term is dyslexia but more specifically Dyspraxia (widely pervasive motor condition characterized impairment or immaturity of the organization of movement) Even more specifically Dysgraphia (Common symptoms is poor letter formation in printing and cursive handwriting) Basically my small muscles don't cooperate. My 3rd grade teacher told me to learn to type, I use cutting tools when at all possible, and I find alternate ways/tools to do things with my small muscles. I also had difficulties learning math and had study a lot harder to get the information to sink in. I would hear it, say it and write it. I used flash cards to study a lot. I think it's important to know I consider my dyslexia to be a BLESSING, I am thankful for the teachers who taught me how to overcome, thankful for my mama's outlook & encouragement and I feel it has shaped who I am. I also believe because of my dyslexia my eyes were open to the fact that there is more than one way of doing something and everyone has something special to contribute.

Second: I am a morning person! I LOVE mornings! Mornings rock! I have not slept in past 7:30am in a long long time. During the summer when I am not working I set my alarm for 5 or 5:30am and during the school year I set my alarm for 4am. I love everything about morning! I love watching the sun rise, I love hearing the birds chirping, I love seeing our wild Turkey walk down the road and I enjoy this time to myself. I work out in the morning, I surf the web, I have quite time with God, I read a book, I scrap book or catch up on episodes of my fave shows on DVR. On the flip side I do get sleepy pretty early in the evening and I am in bed most nights by 9pm.

Third: I am happiest when our house is clean, and clutter free! Here is the kicker though...my
organizational skills could use some work. As my husband will tell you not many things in our house have a permanent home. When I put things away (especially in the kitchen) I put them where they fit instead of back into a specific place. I get frustrated of course when then I can't find what I want and my husband's response is "Is it in the freezer". He says this because there was a time I put a pen in the freezer. I try not to have junk drawers because I know I'd fill them up and my husband gets on me about cleaning up the junk corners when the piles get too big. I am a special one! :-)

Fourth: My dream car is a Ford Mustang! I either want a restored classic fastback (not sure on year) or a newer (more square not round) souped up/tricked out model. I want it to be black with some sort of cotton candy pink markings. For my 30th birthday my husband surprised my by renting a Mustang for us to drive on our weekend away. He's the coolest!! I might be old and gray before I get my Mustang but I will own one. My grand kids will be saying "look out here comes grandma"! hee hee

Fifth: Their is a much trimmer, fitter, sexier woman inside of me screaming to get out! I've struggled with my weight most of my life! It sucks! I was the happiest with my body when I lived in Kentucky. I managed a Thoroughbred breeding/sales farm and worked my buns off 6 days a week. My weight got even worse when I had my gallbladder removed. On a positive note I've been doing a low impact aerobics workout every other day for a few weeks now. I just have to keep it up, eat well and drink lots of water. I can do it!!

Sixth: I LOVE water!! I love the sound of water because it is very relaxing. I love the feel of water. I would love a hot tub someday. I was quite the fish when I was a kid. I love swimming under water. I love drinking water. I love watching the ocean waves. I love the sound of the ocean. Hey maybe I a mermaid. Ha ha! For my 30th birthday (see pic below) my husband & I took a mini vacation to the Inn at Deer Harbor on Orcas Island, which is in Washington State. We were surrounded by water and the room has a jacuzzi tub and our own private hot tub on the porch! It was heaven!!


Well there are my 6 things. Now I get to tag six of y'all. Ok here it goes:

1. The Shopping Mama
2. Eva
3. Birth Your Dreams
4. The Mom Creative
5.Organic Girl
6. Absitively Posolutely







Friday, August 7, 2009

LeAnne & Mama's new hair cuts!

LeAnne got her hair cut yesterday and I got a perm for the first time in almost 10 years. It is definitely much easier to style but its going to take some getting use to. EEKS!

I am NOT looking at the camera!



Look at those curls!


Playing with her Mega Blocks bus.





Self portrait of my new hair style - I'll try to get a better picture uploaded.

Flashback Friday

A few weeks ago I started sharing photos from my past and then I found fellow blogger was doing the same thing. If you'd like to join in the fun click on the link below and enjoy taking a trip down memory lane on Friday's.

Friday Photo Flashback

I have an adorable picture of my lil bro and I playing in the snow in November of 1985 that I was going to scan for today but when I try to scan I get this error message, (The scan cannot be performed because another program or computer is using the network device) so until I can have my awesome husband help me figure out what's going here is one of my favorite photos of our first furbaby, Gracie.

This is Gracie & her feline friend Orion in 2004. Orion was our neighbors cat and these two use to play a lot. It was fun to watch!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Thankful Thursday

Good Morning!! It's Thursday and oh boy do I have lots to be thankful for and little time to share so here I Goooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!

* We have new Internet service! Yep I'm an Internet junkie & I must work on practicing time management because I got a lot done when I wasn't worried about finding time to spend on the crack top.

* It's amazing to be home with my family!! I don't think I will be leaving home without them any time soon!

* LeAnne is still taking naps & going to bed very very well!! It's out of this world awesome!

* I drug my buns down to our basement at 5:15am to work out! I feel GREAT now but oh man no one is ever, ever allowed down their while I am working out because it's a scary sight. I am thankful I got moving, got my heart rate up, got sweating and my day is off to a good start. NOW the hard part for me is staying consistent. I want to shed pounds, and get in shape. This will help me have more energy, and feel better about myself. I would also love more than anything to go to my OB/GYN apt next spring having lost weight, have my PCOS under control because my body is processing the sugars better and I'd be thrilled if I could ovulate, & get pg on my own when we take that step.

* Oh so thankful for my new hair style. It's been almost 10 years since I've had it curly so it will take some getting use to but I like that it's much easier to do and looks decent all day long. I hope to get it colored in the fall. I need more blond highlights! Blonds ROCK!

* I'll be forever thankful for the miracle that I am a mama! It's an honor, and a privilege I am aware not all women get to experience. My infertility journey opened my eyes! I pray for those who are still struggling I pray for strength, those who's dreams will never come true I pray for peace, for those on the road to adoption I pray the road will be short and smooth and for those children waiting to be adopted I pray your forever parents will find you SOON.

* Thankful God is providing for our family! We have what we need and we are thriving. Sure they is a lot more we want, a lot more we want to do and places we'd like to go. No doubt our new financial reality is hard to get use to but we have to remember we are BLESSED beyond measure. I won't deny its upsetting when we can't afford to do something, I won't deny I stress out often about money, and I question if we can afford to add to our family. We have ALL we need! Our family would appreciate your prayers for wisdom, guidance and most of all that we would use God's money responsibly.

* I am so THANKFUL Stellan is home and responding well to his new oral medications! Please take a moment to praise God for Stellan's health! Click on link to read an update & see an adorable picture of Stellan!

* On that note I am thankful for my our families health! Sure we have our aches, and occasional sicknesses but all in all we are blessed with good health.

* Oh so happy & thankful cooler temperatures are heading our direction for a short while. I love summer for a lot of reasons but definitely look forward to temperature's in the 70's and 80's.

* So thankful for my summer vacation! I LOVE being home with LeAnne! I love seeing my husband more because I am home. I love getting caught up on scrap books! I love not being exhausted all the time. I love TIME with LeAnne! I could get use to being a SAHM.

*So thankful for the awesome care my mama & John provided for LeAnne while I was gone for a week. They did leave out the fact that she crashed into my mom's bookshelf head first 15 minutes after I left! Poor girl had quite the bump on her head.

*Thankful Abby is doing well. Praise God! She still has a long journey ahead of her so please keep praying! (I'll link to her parents blog later, it can't get to it right now)

* Very thankful and excited my garden has done so well this year! We are starting to get lots of tomatoes, and hoping our cucumbers take off too!

I am thankful for TONS more but I have a toddler who needs breakfast so gotta run! What are you thankful for? Please feel free to link me to your blog or leave a comment. I still need to get the McLinky thing figured out. Have a blessed day!!!

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Thanks for the watermelon Uncle Stan!!

Thanks for the big piece of watermelon Uncle Stan! I loved every bite of it!!