The Weatherford Rosses

Summer Update

2010-07-01T15:25:00.004-05:00

How in the world is it already July??? We were just wrapping up the school year yesterday it seems. This summer is going by way too fast!

Ruby has spent a lot of time at various day camps. She Went to SSTVS and wrote the funniest story about a wolf that did not have a good day, learned to cook at two different camps, did some math reasoning, made secret formulas, learned how to beat summer boredom by reading, did some bird watching and birdhouse making, improved her piano skills, studied Fairy Tales, and is about to perform her first off Broadway show about 4th of July on Friday! She is such a busy girl...if only I had 1/4 the energy she has I would be ecstatic!

Lily has changed preschools because she basically learned nothing at her previous school for the entire school year...wait, she did learn how to behave in a chaotic environment so I guess she did learn something! Not that she isn't smart, but the teachers at her old school had zero classroom management skills and so for most of the year she wasn't joining the class for circle time or story time because they didn't know ow to make her sit still....funny that this has not been even a minute problem at her new school...hmmmm. She doing much better now, but has to hurry and catch up to the others that have learned letter identification and writing already. We are trying to help her so that she can move up the next class when the school year starts. Until last week Lily had not even picked up a pencil at school except to scribble. She is having a very hard time understanding that you don't scribble the lines of the letters, but I bet she'll be the best letter tracer by the end of the summer!

I have been trying to night potty train BOTH girls this summer, and so far only Lily has been successful. She stays dry all night while poor Ruby soaks her sheets more that once and doesn't even wake up. We've tried everything, but I guess she is just too tired and sleeps too hard. We try not to make a big deal out of it, but it still bothers her, especially since Lily isn't having this problem. Ruby used to be night trained, but stopped for some reason when she was about 4 1/2 and hasn't been able to bounce back. Oh well, we will just wash sheets every day if we have too!

On a much more fun note, GiGi just bought a pontoon boat! So, we will get to spend the weekends at the lake now! The girls are so excited to go the beach and GiGi and I have had quite the frustrating time of finding swimsuits that are some kind of flattering...not very easy!

I haven't taken many pictures in a while, but I do have these from Sunday of the girls after they played in the sprinkler. Ruby was trying to be so glamorous in her towel wrap, which of course made Lily strike a pose!

New Look!

2010-06-04T13:23:00.004-05:00

Thanks to the work of Mandy's blog..which I refer to often for life and decorating insight..I have created a new look for the Weatherford Rosses! Hope you enjoy! Still not quite sure how to get this image to be at the bottom of my posts...so any insight any of you might have would be helpful...

What a Busy Spring!!

2010-06-03T15:52:00.002-05:00

We have had some kind of Spring! Busy almost every weekend and total exhaustion were the recurring themes. We did, however, do some really great stuff, like:

**celebrated Ruby's 100th day of school...at home...because she appeared to be sick...but really wasn't!

**took a road trip to Oklahoma with one of my dearest friends to visit another one of my dearest friends

**celebrated Ruby's 6th bday at Pump It Up!

**celebrated Ruby's 6th bday with our family at GiGi's house

**celebrated Ruby's 6th bday with front row tickets to the Disney on Ice..which was also Lily's 1st time to go!

**dyed Easter eggs with Grandma...a yearly tradition

**hunted Easter eggs with Grandma

**hunted Easter eggs at TVS(Ruby)

**hunted Easter eggs at Courtyard(Lily)

**hunted Easter eggs at home

**Ruby and Dad made "Earth" for her planet project

**Ruby won a GOLD medal at Field Day...just like everyone else!

**Ruby turned into a Prairie Dog for her role in "The Great Fuzz Frenzy"

*****And the most exciting thing of all is the Ms. McNutt, the TVS principal, found some magic "grader dust" and sprinkled all the Kindergartners just before dismissal on the last day of school. When they walked outside and the sun hit the magic dust.....they all became 1st GRADERS!!!!

***Here she is, our 1st GRADER!!***

Sorry for the long post...I will try to keep up since SCHOOL IS OUT FOR SUMMER!!

2010-02-16T12:46:00.001-06:00

*****Happy Heart Day!!*****

Katie Cat

2010-02-16T12:42:00.002-06:00

How terrible is it that this post follows the last?? We have, indeed, gotten a new cat. We all so missed Stella that we GiGi and I decided to get the girls a new kitten for Valentine's Day. So, we got Katie on Sunday, Feb. 7. She is a calico and is probably about 2 months old. She is adjusting to her new surroundings quite well and is beginning to be less afraid of the wild girls who absolutely love her!

Saying Goodbye to Sweet Stella

2010-01-27T08:10:00.003-06:00

Tuesday was a very hard day. I had kinda noticed that Stella had stopped eating over the weekend, not a good sign since she was such a pig. So Kyle took her in to the vet Tuesday morning. I was pretty sure something was wrong with her, but I just thought that one of the girls had hurt her while playing with her. It wasn't a good sign when the nurse told Kyle that they were going to test for Feline Leukemia.

Let me just say that all the years I was growing up we had somewhere between 5 and 7 cats, all of which were strays that my mother, the sucker, took in. We NEVER had a cat get this disease, which is apparently quite nasty. The actual vet called Kyle yesterday around 11 and said that she did indeed have Feline Leukemia. I was devastated.

Again, let me say that I did not want to get a cat. Ruby was the one who wanted a cat. I know how cats can be...clawing furniture, pooping on the floor, shedding, being very opinionated, etc., but Stella was none of these. She was a very sweet cat. She let the girls dress her up in baby clothes, she let them carry her around endlessly, when they did carry her she always had her little paws around their neck...maybe in an attempt to strangle them, but sweet nonetheless.

However, yesterday I had to do something that I NEVER thought I would do, and it was probably one of the most difficult things I have had to do. I had to call and ask the vet to put Stella down. I was absolutely hysterical on the phone. They assured me that her quality of life was going to be terrible and that she would frequently have "episodes" of getting sick and not eating and needing transfusions and pretty much hating life.

Of course, the worst part of all of this was having to tell Ruby. She LOVED this cat. I hoped to get her home and have Kyle tell her, but alas she asked me about her as we were about to leave school. Luckily, Gigi was there to explain. Ruby was devastated, to say the least. Gigi told her that Stella was in heaven with Nanny and Betty and all the other people that we have loved and lost in our family. Ruby cried and then she said, "Momma, does Stella have kitty wings?" To which I responded "Yes, Baby, she does." though my own sobs.

When we got home, Kyle put Stella in a box and gave the girls one last chance to pet her. Then we walked put under a nice shade tree and to bury her. After more tears, Ruby said, "Goodbye, Stella" and watched as Kyle covered her box with dirt. Lily, who clearly did not understand any of this said, "Why is Daddy putting her in that hole?". We put large rocks around her burial place so we would be sure to remember where she was. We enjoyed our 6 months with Stella...wow I can't believe that was all the time we had, it seemed like we always had her. After bath we read The Tenth Good Thing About Barney, a book about a boy who loses his cat, which brought more tears, mainly to me, the reader.

Ruby already wants to know when we are getting another cat. I guess she really does need that feline friendship.

Seeing Santa 2009

2009-12-12T11:16:00.002-06:00

GiGi and I took the girls to see Santa this year. They both actually talked to him and even smiled for the picture. Lily was a little unsure at first, but when I told her she had to talk to him so that he could bring her presents she almost ran through the pictures of the child in line before us! Ruby is a pro at this, so she knew exactly what to do. She had her list already memorized and recited it just as she had to us so many times: a kitty cat that purrs when you pet it (this is a FurReal cat), a cupcake maker (similar to an EasyBake oven, but puts the icing on the cupcakes), and Zhu Zhu pets (motorized toy hamsters). Lily only asked for Ariel and Eric. I don't know exactly what she expects Santa to bring her, but it had better have Ariel or Eric on it somewhere, I guess!

My Baby is 3!!!

2009-12-07T17:28:00.004-06:00

One day old
1 year old (demon baby, sorry for the red eyes!)

2 years old

3 years old

That's right, Lily turned three on Saturday. We started her celebration weekend with cupcakes at her school. Shortly after the cupcakes, Lily began throwing up. Like 9 times. It sucked! But, by Saturday morning she was well enough to go to a birthday breakfast with PaPoo and then to the Elks' Lodge for their Christmas party. That evening we went to Red Lobster with Uncle Mike and his family. I don't have any pictures of present opening or blowing out of candles, which is crappy of me, but we were all so exhausted from the vomiting. Anyway, I was able to snap a pretty cute one of her at the Christmas party on her actual birthday. I was not a very good Mom this birthday, maybe next year she will have some "real" friends and we can have a party for her at Build-a-Bear like Ruby had.

Dress-up Dilemma

2009-11-16T12:48:00.002-06:00

I have a 2 completely opposite children when it comes to dress-up. Ruby LOVES to wear these beautiful princess dresses, and by Lily's age she had Cinderella and she got Sleeping Beauty for her 3rd b-day and I thought she was going to hyperventilate! Lily, on the other hand, like to LOOK at the dresses. She cried and cried to get this Ariel dress at the store, but when we put it on, the crying was not tears of joy. Oh no, she was freaking out, crying and tugging at the dress, claiming it was hurting her. You would have thought it was sewn with razor blades in the seams. She cried and cried...until I took it off of her, then she held it up to LOOK at it and smiled!

Pumpkin Carving

2009-11-16T12:37:00.003-06:00

Well, this is a little out of order, but we did actually do something with the Pumpkin Patch pumpkins. I, being ever-so-smart, talked the girls into decorating the pumpkins, mainly because cleaning them seems pretty gross, but mostly because I don't want to have rotting, wilting pumpkins in my house. I have this fear that if we carve the pumpkin one day I will wake up and it will be disgusting and I'll have little bugs all in my house...yuck, yuck, yuck!! So, I cut some eyes, noses and mouths and the girls chose what they wanted glue-dotted to their pumpkins. If I can get my sh-- together, I have promised them that we will make the pumpkins into turkeys for Thanksgiving...we'll see...

The jack-o-lantern laboratory

Lily was quite proud of her punkin!

As was Ruby!

2 girls and 2 pumpkins

Silly and not-so-spooky!

Life is Kinda Crazy with 2 Spooky Little Girls Like You...

2009-11-16T12:28:00.003-06:00

I'm a little, ok a lot, late on posting pics from Halloween. The girls had a great time trick-or-treating in a little neighborhood in Weatherford, as we have no neighbors around us. Ruby chose not to wear her FABULOUS kitty tutu costume that I got her on Etsy...p.s. if you want to save any money you may have, stay off Etsy..it's addictive! She wore the kitty tutu costume to school, however, and everyone loved it. She chose the old Cinderella standby as her costume for the evening...much like last year, and the year before, and...Lily did not get to dress up for school this year, but was a witch...yes, she chose that!! She does not like to wear dress-up clothes, though, so she was none too happy to wear the actual costume, but she had to so that she could get candy!

On our way...

This could have been last year, too...

Don't they look sweet? Looks can be deceiving...

All 4 girls..

Not liking the witch hat very much...

Practically Perfect Pumpkin Pickers

2009-10-11T19:14:00.004-05:00

After we got home from Austin we took the girls to a pumpkin patch at a church here in Weatherford. They took some time trying to find The PERFECT pumpkin and had a blast running through the pile of pumpkins everywhere. We finally found 2 perfect pumpkins!

On the hunt....

Lily made her choice!

Ruby finally made her choice...I think she inspected every pumpkin there!!

A Fall Family picture...courtesy of the pumpkin selling lady.

What a Wonderful Wedding Weekend

2009-10-11T19:00:00.003-05:00

My dear friend, Mary, got married this weekend. Her wedding was in Austin...so Kyle and I got to have a kid free night. That's right...28 hours without children...it was so QUIET!!! We left Saturday morning for Austin and came home Sunday morning....yes, I know it was a very QUICK weekend trip...but so worth it! The wedding was beautiful, but the best part was seeing all of my friends from high school. I hadn't seen some of them in almost 12 years (YIKES...how can I have already been out of school for 12 years!?!?). We talked and laughed and danced...it was the best time I've had in a long time. We got to get dressed up...yes, Kyle wore a suit...he cleans up VERY WELL, as you will see in the pics below. It was so nice to be out and not worry about getting home or how much to pay a sitter because the girls paid GiGi and PaPa with their love and many hugs and kisses!!

We do dress-up well!

Getting ready for the BIG DANCE!!

My group of great girlfriends

Presenting....a New Panty-Wearer!

2009-09-17T10:22:00.004-05:00

Yes, Lily has officially potty trained herself. She just went in there one day and started peeing in the potty. It took her a while to understand that she should also poo in the potty, but alas she has done it!!! I can see an end in sight....hopefully soon I will be able to skip the diaper row at Wal-Mart(we still need them now for nap/bed time)!

Sporting some nice Marie panties...

I guess the "nummy bear" incentive may have helped a little!

My Little Pack Rat

2009-09-17T10:15:00.005-05:00

Lily with all of her Ariels

Wearing a Flounder hat from the Disney on Ice

Lily has an intense love for Ariel, whom she calls "Ariel the Wermaid". Every time we go to the store she wants to buy a new Ariel. There are no more new Ariels to be had! I can't believe that we have bought them all....well, I guess we can, my children tend to be a little spoiled! She also has this thing about Flounder. For a while she called him "Wal-Mark"...don't know where she got that....now he is "Floumer". She is sooooo silly!

Honey, You Are My Shin(er)ing Star...

2009-08-26T19:52:00.005-05:00

As Ruby describes it, "Momma, I have a golden eye...no, wait, I mean a silver eye. Why is my eye silver, Momma?"...that would be because it is purplish-blueish-redish swollen.

Yes, Ruby got her first shiner today as a result of a head-to-eye collision during recess. A boy from one of the other Kindergarten classes pushed one of Ruby's friends, who in turn hit Ruby in the face with her head. Ruby was such a trooper, barely crying at all. I was talking with some people at work when Miss Heydenreich, the assistant in Ruby's classroom, walked by with her. Mrs. Newton, Ruby's teacher, called from the playground for me to look at her eye. Until them I had not even noticed that it was beginning to swell behind the ice pack. When Ruby moved the ice pack I spoke before I could catch myself...Oh, good God!! came out before I could stop myself, which prompted Ruby to begin whimpering. I walked with them to the nurse's office where she asked Ruby if she could still see out of her eye... thankfully she responded yes. The nurse gave her some Tylenol and let her lay down to rest. I came back to check on her about an 30 minutes later and she went back to class where all of her sweet friends had been so concerned about her. They all told her how sorry they were that she had gotten hurt. She finished the day like the BIG girl that she is, barely complaining, just going on with her day. She told many people at school about her mishap and got many high-fives for her bravery. I hope she is this brave tomorrow...it may hurt more then!

Kindergarten Here We Are!!

2009-08-26T19:26:00.007-05:00

That's right...Ruby had her first day of Kindergarten. She was so excited and went to class so easily. She went right in and unpacked her backpack, sat down and began coloring the Trojan that was at her seat. I, on the other hand, was a mess! I cried the whole way to her room and even dripped a tear on her coloring sheet. She promptly gave me that familiar MOM!! with a little snarl. It quickly brought me out of my crying and made me laugh. She is and has always been a model student. I joke sometimes that she is bipolar, that there is a school Ruby and a home Ruby. They are night and day! She is so sweet and soft spoken at school and listens to the teacher always. At home she is loud and usually obnoxious and rarely listens to anything I say! I'm glad that they get the school Ruby or they may have asked us to keep her home!! Her are some pics of her first day.

Lily and Ruby

Outside Ruby's classroom

Mrs. Newton, Ruby's teacher

At her seat and read to start her first day...I told you she was goody-two-shoes!

As If Our House Wasn't Zoo Enough...

2009-07-30T09:29:00.003-05:00

we have now acquired a cat! She showed up on our front porch last weekend and she had obviously been through some kind of scuffle. About an inch a and a half of bone was sticking out of her tail and her nose was all scraped up. This didn't seem to affect her sweetness, though. We were kind of hoping that she would just leave, but when she didn't we were sunk! She is very sweet and lets the girls carry her everywhere, however they choose to carry her! The dogs are still getting used to her, they don't really like invaders to their house.

Ruby with Stella...Ruby thinks she is her baby!

Lily with Stella...yes, she carries her like this quite often!

Stella..Ripley and Roxey are in the background smelling everywhere she has been laying

And, here is the other animal we are trying to house-break!!

LONG Overdue Update!

2009-07-13T10:19:00.003-05:00

We are still alive out here! I just can't seem to keep on a posting schedule without a real work schedule...I guess. Anyway, Mom and I went to Washington D.C for a technology conference and got to see lots of great historical sites around the town. We did not do near everything, but we did go to the Crime and Punishment Museum, which had John Dillinger's car and also Bonnie and Clyde's car. It was very interesting as we also saw lots of the first tolls used for punishment. Let's just say that I will gladly go to jail now if I do anything wrong! We toured many of the Smithsonian Museums and Mom got to see Archie Bunker's chair, which I think was the highlight of the trip for her! We also went the the Natural History Museum and Air and Space Museum, which are the focus of the Night at the Museum movie, which we saw at the IMAX while we were there! We also went to Arlington National Cemetery and saw JFK's eternal flame. Jackie was buried there also, as well as 2 infant children that I didn't even realize they had. We then traveled about 30 minutes to Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. It was absolutely magnificent! It's hard to believe that so many great things are so close together. We saw so many different license plates, too. Mom kept saying how strange that was since here in Texas we see mainly TX license plates, with a few OK and NM mixed in, but there the plates were from all over the country...kind of neat to see them all!! I got Ruby a pair of Ruby Red slippers and a great Wizard of Oz pop-up book and Lily a book about the cherry blossoms and a cherry blossom t-shirt. I got myself 3 Andy Warhol prints from the National Gallery. They are large daisies that are lots of different colors that I am going to hang in our room. I missed the girls and Kyle so much. It was funny to see all of the other parents carrying their kids and, at times, getting frustrated with them (as I sometimes do with mine!) and not having to do any of that. I think the girls are just to young right now to be on the go as much as we were there.

Bonnie and Clyde's car

Me and Mom outside the Air and Space Museum

The day after we got back I have my wisdom teeth removed, along with three other teeth - yes, that is 7 teeth in all! My teeth look pretty good at first glance, but they are terrible in the inside. I have learned my lesson about nighttime brushing and mouthwash! I still have plenty of teeth to eat with, though, so no major weight loss is in the near future!

We had our annual July 4th picnic at Pa-Poo's. You are probably saying to yourself..."Do you every celebrate a holiday anywhere else?", well, no. So this year we sweltered and I tried to eat as best I could with the gaping holes in my mouth. That evening we took the girls to see Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which they thoroughly enjoyed. I am so glad they are old enough to go to the movies, since we haven't seen many since Ruby came a long.

Now, we are just trying to stay cool. We bought a Wii so that we could get some kind of action inside and as it turns out, Ruby is a fantastic Wii bowler! Kyle has always been a good bowler and was even on a league when he was younger. After Ruby began bowling on the Wii she kind of jinxed him....apparently she may have stolen his BoJo (not to be mistaken with MOJO!)! So we have enjoyed some boxing (if I could only knock Kyle out every once in a while!!), golf, tennis and even some workout on the Wii Fit. I can already see that we will probably go broke buying new games!

2009-06-23T07:47:00.002-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!!!

Friday, June 19 was Kyle's 31st birthday. We celebrated with family at Edelweiss. We all had a great time, especially the girls when it was time for the chicken dance! On Saturday, we went to lunch with Pa-Poo for Father's Day. We had a family picnic at GiGi's on Sunday, also for Father's Day. We had a pretty busy weekend!

This week I am gearing up to go to Washington D.C. with GiGi for an educational technology conference. This will be the first time I have been away from my girls. When GiGi and I were cheerleader sponsors a few years ago we had to go to Cheer Camp, but we only had to stay at night so I got to see the girls during the day. So, we'll see how we all do this time when I won't see them from Friday morning until Monday night!

2 Weeks in Review

2009-06-16T08:07:00.003-05:00

We have had a busy two weeks! Ruby finished her SSTVS class about opossums so she is now back at Primrose with Lily - THANK GOODNESS!! I love that girls to death, but having her up at work in my work space all the time is not much fun...she also missed her teacher way too much so I'm glad they are back together!
Ruby did get to finish last week in style as she got to get her first "manicure" (they only painted the nails, not other clipping, waxing, etc.) and she was so excited. They painted little flowers on her thumbs and even put tiny rhinestones in the middle. We are hoping this will keep her from picking her fingers and she has been doing pretty good. However, the nail polish is chipping on its own so I guess I'm going to have to get some white polish so that I can try to do this myself at home!
Lily continues to be a stinker! She, in the last two weeks, has started asking why about EVERYTHING! It's kind of cute, but after answering 6 why questions in a row we have to finally tell her to stop.
Starting this week I get to stay home with the girls on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is the only time during the year when I can take off and not miss work!! I LOVE summer!
We are gearing up for Kyle's 31st birthday this Friday. Here is a funny fact for you: Kyle and Garfield have the same birthday...exactly..Garfield's 1st comic strip came out on June 19, 1978, the day Kyle was born.
I'll have to post pictures later, Blogger is too slow right now!!!

A Little Pomp and Circumstance...

2009-06-04T18:02:00.004-05:00

..for Miss Ruby Ross from the Primrose graduating class of 2009!!! Ruby had her Pre-Kindergarten Graduation on Friday, May 29, 2009. She looked so grown up, yet still so small in her cap and gown. She got up there and song all of her graduation songs and stood so still and waited patiently to be called to get her diploma (she was the last one called). Here are some pics of her.

Ruby Gets Her Diploma

Ruby and PaPoo

Ruby and Mrs. Bridgett, Preschool teacher

Ruby and Ms. Bridges, her Pre-K teacher

It's Been a LONG TIME!

2009-05-27T15:27:00.003-05:00

I finally realized why I can't blog as often...no, not because I'm lazy...we have to let Ruby sleep in the extra bedroom/office so that she and Lily won't play all night. I can't go in there to use the computer because then she talks to me the whole time. Anyway, I actually remembered to sit down and update today at work. We have had a busy couple of weeks...Ruby got her Kindergarten t-shirt...what's that? you may ask, well, at our school the new Kindergartners get a t-shirt that they wear on all field trips and school functions and it also as their graduation year on the back, yes Ruby's says Class of 2023(I think..I'm not very good at math)! Ruby also had field day at her school, I didn't get many good pictures of her competing, but she did great. Nobody won ribbons, everyone got medals...she thought that was pretty cool! We had our annual Memorial Day picnic at Pa-Poo's(my grandfather) and it was pretty hot...so we didn't stay long. We went back home and continued the Home Makeover: Ross Edition. It really pays to have someone who does this kind of work, however it is not great for him! I made him work ALL weekend...and we still didn't finish. We got a lot done, but still have much to do. I am anxiously awaiting the mass exodus of toys from the main living part of my house! It's amazing, our house is only 2 years old, and somewhat bigger than our last house, and we've already outgrown it...thanks GiGi for all the toys! On a personal note, I attempted to "brighten" my lovely peachy-red hair color on Sunday night...and it turned out purple (actually maroon), so Kyle had to dash to Wal-Mart and get the "usual" red brightening hair color that I use. In the end, I look like my head is on fire at the scalp and the ends are still a bit dark. I am not good at taking pictures of myself, so I'll have to get Kyle to take some tonight to post. Lesson learned: Stick with the usual crap, new stuff is not always good! You'd think that by my age I would already know that, but hey, I am a constant learner!!

One of Ruby's friends took this...can you believe it?

Silly Girls!

My American Beauties!!

The Greatest Show on Earth!

2009-05-20T08:17:00.004-05:00

Ruby had her 1st Circus Day on Thursday, May 14. She went as a ballerina elephant, a great costume that I got from a good friend at my school. She participated in the animal-through-the-ring toss, pony riding, face painting, pin-the-nose-on-the-clown, bean bag toss, and tight rope walking. It was great fun! I was there as the resident tattoo applier, so everyone was inked-up!

Striking a ballerina pose!

One elephant went out to play on a spider's web one day

She had such enormous fun that she asked another elephant(really, a ballerina!) to come!

Ruby's beautiful blue butterfly face painting

Clowning around....

Pin-the-nose-on-the-clown...or at least close!!

I hope she doesn't always have a thing for the class clown...at least she'll have fun!

Hannah, Mrs. Bridges, and Ruby

On an exciting note, school is almost over!!! Where has the time gone?!?!? I am looking forward to spending some time with the girls this summer. Also, my cousin, Andrea, had her baby last week (5/12), a sweet and tiny baby girl named Cirstyn Delaney. I know she is very excited and probably completely exhausted by now!! Congrats, Andrea, Larry, Brady and Angelina!

Another Photo Follow-Up

2009-05-12T08:17:00.002-05:00

Here is the completely disorganized garage. Kyle had just finished framing the opening from the garage door and installing the French Door. Kyle is soooo happy that I made him pose for a picture!

And now...It is cleaned out and ready for its face lift!

Piper the Bunny got a new "shirt", really a harness, so that the girls can learn to "walk" her. He shirt is still a little big and she is quite eager to roam!

And finally...in honor of our 7th Anniversary, here is a photo from our 1st Dance, taken 5-11-02. Our song is "Carried Away" by George Strait. This year the suggested anniversary gifts were supposed to be copper or a desk set, so Kyle got me phone charging dock that he covered with pennies...very clever of him! I got him a new copper(really orange, but we can pretend) IPOD.

Home Makeover...In Progress

2009-05-10T19:21:00.002-05:00

We have recently begun the very time-consuming task of converting our 2-car garage into a playroom for the girls. Kyle took the garage door out and we had the same crew that bricked our house in 2007 come back to brick the opening. Kyle has sheet rocked and tape-and-bedded the seams. Yesterday and today we packed all of Kyle's "garage stuff" and purged A LOT of crap! We still have to touch up the paint and paint the concrete floors so that they are similar to our floor in the house, which is stained concrete. We have a long way to go, but we are steadily moving forward.

For Mother's Day this year Mom, Mikey and Bill(my grandfather) bought me a new tree for the front yard - an Oklahoma Redbud. It has already bloomed and now the leaves have turned green. Kyle got me some more storage cubes for my scrapbooking supplies and Ruby and Lily made me a beautiful beaded necklace!

Tomorrow Kyle and I will celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary. I can't believe it's been that long! We dated for 5 1/2 years before getting married, so we have been together a total of 12 1/2 years!! He was the only boy I really ever "dated", for more than 2 weeks, anyway. We just kind of came together one night and have never apart since. I guess I'd have to say that we were truly "made for each other". That's not to say that we don't have our differences and upsets, but in the end we always find a way to work through anything, usually because Kyle is less stubborn than me and will give in just to make me happy...and happy I am!

I'll have to post pics another day, blogger won't let me upload, @$)*(@$!

And This Big Fat Piggy Needs to Go All The Way...

2009-04-30T08:29:00.002-05:00

...Back to Mexico! Yes, I am talking about the Swine Flu. Our school is currently closed through this Friday and they are trying to decide if we will close longer. I am keeping the girls home and Mom and I went to Wal-Mart at 9:30 last night to stock up on food. I know we may sound a little crazy, but who cares. I don't want any swine flu at my house! Last night I started t0 feel a little like we were in one of those movies, you know, where some disease wipes everyone out except for a few normal people and some really bizarre monster people. I know, I know...my imagination has a tendency to run away with my mind. On the bright side, none of us is even sick(I am knocking on wood right now!), so I hope to escape this thing with trouble. In the meantime, I will try to keep the girls occupied, not as easy a job as you might think, me being a teacher and all...it is much easier to keep the kids in my class occupied when I know they will be leaving every 25 minutes, Ruby is always here wanting to change activities every 5 minutes!

Photo Follow-up

2009-04-28T19:33:00.004-05:00

The following pics are from Hannah's, Ruby's best friend, birthday party. It was at this place called Mainstay Farm. The girls had a great time playing on a huge tree house, a maze, and a really tall slide. They also got to feed some animals. Lily was so funny, as she fed the goats she would say "Here, goat".

Three girls on the hay ride

Ruby was so excited about the BIG slide

How sweet does Lily look?

Girls Spring picture 2009 (taken at school)

***************TEAR JERKER ALERT*******************
Yes, I almost cry everytime I look at this picture.....

Our little Graduate!

I can't believe she is already graduating, and it's only from Pre-K...I know that high school graduation is just around the corner :(!

Been a Busy Few Weeks...

2009-04-28T08:34:00.002-05:00

Whoa, has it been busy. I feel like our family has run non-stop since Easter. There has been a lot going on at work, which will be the case until the end of May (15/3..15 full days, 3 half days!!). The girls have been really busy, too. Ruby has had a birthday party for the past 2 weekends, from which I will get pics posted sometime...!

Yesterday was a sad day for our family. Four years ago my Nanny passed away. She was the glue that held us together, she was the one who ran everything and knew the answers to all of our family questions...let's just say she was the BEST. I miss her everyday, all day. So much has changed in our family in the past four years, some good (Lily), some bad (I cannot post here, but those of you who know me know what I'm talking about, and if you need to know you can email me personally). Everyday is a struggle of some kind that she could have fixed. After Nanny died, we were going through her papers to plan the funeral and she had already written her obituary. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to type. She had chosen the clothes she wanted to wear and the music she wanted played. One of her selections, I'll Leave This World Lovin' You, by Ricky Van Shelton, was one of "our songs". We would sing it on the way to church or when I spent the night at her house. I think it was her way of letting us all know that she loved us, even if she couldn't say it. I think it was the best song we could have played for her, but she already knew that since it was her request. In case you haven't heard it, you can hear it here:
http://www.simplyangel.com/illleavethisworld.htm

Moving on...Ruby visited my classes on Friday and I must say, she is an amazing student! I was so proud of her...she participated and even behaved, I swear she must be bipolar (school Ruby and home Ruby)! It was a proud day for me and a very exciting one for her because everyone knows her here.

I better get to work now. I hope to post more later at home.

2009-04-12T10:31:00.004-05:00

HOPPY EASTER!!!

Well, the Easter Bunny came...to GiGi's house because he gets scared of kids when he is trying to hide his goodies! The girls cleaned up...literally...they found every egg that bunny hid...and he hid A LOT! They even got Pinocchio! But, the best of all is that they got a real live bunny...that's right...Ruby asked the bunny when they had their pictures taken and he delivered..she must have been a very good girl (not!!)! Anyway, the bunny's name is Piper... don't ask me where Ruby came up with that.

Bluebonnets 2009

2009-04-11T14:19:00.004-05:00

Yes, I know this is illegal...but I had to have something to get Lily's attention!

We haven't taken pictures in the bluebonnets since Ruby was almost 1. I always plan to, but just about the time I have time to go, they are all gone! So, this year, on the way home from the egg hunt at Grandma Ross' house we stopped and snapped a few quick pics. Lily was not very happy because she had fallen asleep in the car, but we were able to get these three pictures for this year. Who knows...maybe we will go again before the bluebonnets disappear for this year!

Dying Eggs at Grandma's House

2009-04-11T13:57:00.004-05:00

Grandma Ross always dyes Easter eggs with the girls-which is good because I'm sure all the mess would freak me out! This year we went to her house and, between her, Daddy, Ruby & Lily, 18 eggs were dyed. The girls had a great time hunting these eggs, as well...and do you know what?!?! we got the Easter Bunny to hide the eggs 3 times! Our girls must be super special. They also got an Easter basket from Grandma with a singing toy and filled eggs. Each girl even got $2 dollars, with Ruby is already plotting to spend....she is her mother's daughter!!

Primrose Egg Hunt 2009

2009-04-11T13:47:00.003-05:00

This is going to be soooo much fun!
Momma, looooook!

I got my easter eggs!

Sweet Ruby

Grabbing up the last egg out there!

The girls had their egg hunt at Primrose on Friday. They had a blast! Just as I suspected, Lily was a pro. She ran and picked up every egg she could get her hands on...and tried to get some for other people, too! GiGi went with Ruby so I only snapped the one picture of her swooping up her last egg. They both made out like bandits--lots of stickers to be stuck everywhere(the school stuffed all the eggs with stickers so there would be no choking hazard or food allergies)!

Double Feature Weekend

2009-04-05T20:46:00.002-05:00

After pictures with the Easter Bunny, GiGi kept the girls while Kyle and I went to the movies. We saw Fast and Furious, which was great! We saw the first of this series when we were dating at the Palace Theater. While we were in the theater someone keyed my car - a new 2o00 Ram Air Trans Am. Needless to say, I was very upset. I special ordered that car before I even graduated from TCU (I already has my teaching contract at TVS, though!). I was way too expensive of a car for me, but it was my dream car. Anyway, nothing happened to Kyle's truck while we were in this movie--I guess there's nothing glamorous about keying a white GMC truck!

As for the 2nd feature this weekend, we took the girls to their first movie! We saw Monsters vs. Aliens. They were so good in the theater! Lily stayed interested until about the last 30 minutes and Ruby only whined when she needed to go potty. During the movie Lily was chewing on a straw and pointing it at the bad guys and growling--it was too cute! As we left Ruby said, "That was a really great movie, Momma"-such a big girl!

Pictures with the Easter Bunny

2009-04-04T14:50:00.002-05:00

GiGi and I took the girls to Ridgmar Mall for pictures with the Easter Bunny. Ruby was all about talking sitting on the bunny's lap because she thinks it's like sitting on Santa's lap. She even asked him for a bunny! She asked last year but the Easter Bunny must have thought she was too young. Lily, on the other hand, would have no part of sitting on his lap. I had to hold her in my lap beside the bunny, much like I did with Santa pictures. Oh well, I'm sure she will enjoy all the great Easter things the bunny brings her! She already loves to hunt eggs in the yard, so I'll bet she runs over her classmates at the egg hunt on Friday!

Ruby, Momma, and GiGi's Magical Journey...

2009-03-29T20:26:00.012-05:00

...to the Disney on Ice show, Mickey and Minnie's Magical Journey! GiGi and I took Ruby to the Disney on Ice on Friday. This was the 3rd show we've seen, but this time we were on the 3rd row! It was great!! We could actually see everyone's face and most of my pictures actually came out very clear. Ruby went dressed as Minnie and got a stuffed Minnie doll from the souvenir stand. We ate cotton candy and sang all the Disney songs we knew. At this show, Mickey and Minnie and the gang go on a world trip. They start in Africa with the Lion King, so we saw Simba, Nala, Rafiki, Timón, and Pumbaa. Then they went "under the sea" with Sebastian, Ariel, Flounder, Eric, and of course, Ursula. Next they went to Hawaii and we saw Lilo and Stitch. Ruby had not seen this movie, so we didn't know the whole story, but she still liked it--and there was Elvis music for Mom and GiGi to sing! They ended their trip in England at the Darling's house. Peter Pan and Tinkerbell took Wendy, John, and Michael to Neverland, then fought Captain Hook!

Ruby in her Minnie costume

Finale at the Disney on Ice

On Saturday, we had Ruby's family party at GiGi's house. We ate, she opened presents, and visited. Ruby got a lot of stuff!! I think her favorites are the American Girl Bitty Baby--which she named Rosemary after one of her favorite songs "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes", and her new inflatable pool--it's a pirate ship and she and Lily wanted to swim after the party Saturday afternoon..they didn't quite understand that it was way too cold! Lily had a lot fun, too. I'm sure she was scheming some way to take all of Ruby's new things as her own. She especially enjoyed a princess instrument set that Ruby got. She banged on the drum and clanged the cymbals--she's a regular one-girl-band! All in all I think Ruby had a wonderful 5th birthday...I know we all enjoyed celebrating her!

I wonder what her wish was...

Ruby and Baby Rosemary--yes, their dresses match!

Ahoy mateys...when will we get to splash around in this pool?!?!

Lily had a great time, too!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RUBY!!!

2009-03-27T09:55:00.003-05:00

Today is Ruby's 5TH BIRTHDAY!! Where has the time gone?!?! Ruby was born at 7:42 a.m. on Saturday, March 27, 2004. We had a scheduled c-section because she was frank breach, which means she was folded in half with her feet up by her face. She came out bottom first and her it took her about a day to lay flat when she was out of her swaddling! I never had any contractions and I don't think she ever "dropped", so I don't know much about any of that stuff when other women talk about it. I did have terrible swelling of my feet and my blood pressure was always a little high in the doctor's office, so I would usually have to lay there, on whatever side makes it go down (I don't remember now!) I found out about a week before her delivery that she was breach, up until then we just assumed I would go into labor and she would be delivered vaginally. I should have known that this little kink in my plans would be the beginning of her "difficult" personality! I was very upset when they did the sonogram and told me I would have to have a c-section. I had never been in the hospital before and I remember crying in my doctor's office. By the time I got back to work and told my Mom, she had me convinced that I was LUCKY. She had been through 19 hours of labor with me before they knocked her out! She still says that she was jipped because it only took us about 15 minutes! Everyone was there at her delivery, in the waiting room, of course: Mom, Mikey, Nanny, Bill, Kyle's Mom, Dad and Grandma. Ruby is the 1st great-grandchild on my side. It was one of the best days of my life. She was and absolutely BEAUTIFUL baby and is still a beautiful, big girl. I have included pictures from each year so you can see her growth. Beware, I also included one of the 5 pictures of me taken while I was pregnant. As my friend, Liz, used to say, it looks like I swallowed a torpedo!

At home, before we went to the hospital

1 day old

1 year old - her birthday was Easter weekend!

2 years old - at Mom's house

3 years old - her 1st friend bday party at McDonald's!

4 years old - at Build-a-Bear at Ridgmar Mall

5 years old - this morning, in our kitchen

Happy Birthday, RubyGirl!! I LOVE YOU!

I HATE Cloudy, Windy Weather!

2009-03-25T10:06:00.002-05:00

Because it always brings whatever makes Ruby's asthma flair up. She began coughing Monday evening, so we did her treatment before bed and she seemed to be OK. I sent the breathing machine to school with her, but she was coughing so much that after rest time she threw up all over herself--on her clothes, in her hair, and worst of all, on her blankie! Kyle had to leave work to go get her and by the time he got there she had thrown up again--this time all over the Science table in her classroom(Ruby told me this later!). She was running a fever of 100 degrees, so she couldn't go to school today. So, Ruby and Momma are playing hookie! She is starting to feel better, I think, because she wants to do all this stuff, like color, play match game, etc. I guess I'm going to be busy today keeping her occupied. That's how I know that I could never stay home all the time, I don't think I could keep the girls busy all the time. At least at school, the groups change every 20-25 minutes, so I get to start all over again before they lose interest!

Tomorrow is picture day at Primrose. Ruby will get pictures in her cap and gown for Graduation in May--I know, I am almost crying now thinking about it! They are also doing one of each of the girls alone and one together, so my Spring portraits are taken care of--with no work done by me! We are also gearing up for Ruby's 5TH birthday this Friday. It's hard to believe that it's already here, it seems like we just had her 4th birthday party the other day!

Ruby and Lily are WILD About the ZOO!

2009-03-25T09:58:00.003-05:00

We went to the Zoo on Sunday, hoping it wouldn't be as crowded since Spring Break was almost over. When we got there right after they opened it was nice. Not too many people and still breezy. The girls enjoyed seeing all the animals and Ruby even got to feed a parakeet! She was so excited about this because she has this fascination with animals that she can "put in a cage"...right now, she also wants a bunny for Easter! After we ate lunch in Texas Town, the crowd seemed to have quadrupled, so we were glad to be leaving.

In Your Spring-y Bonnet...

2009-03-22T19:49:00.003-05:00

With all the flowers on it,

You'll be the cutest girlies

In the Spring Bonnet Parade!

Friday was the Spring Bonnet Parade at Primrose. All the classes made hats with flowers on them and paraded in the parking lot. Ruby, of course, was a ham! Lily was quite cute herself, but she couldn't keep her hat on very well!!

GO CHUCK E.

2009-03-22T19:36:00.003-05:00

..Cheese, that is! Ruby had a field trip to Chuck E. Cheese on Thursday. GiGi and I went with her and helped her spend her tokens...not an easy thing for a 4-year-old to do. We earned a whopping 139 tickets and Ruby chose a ring, bracelet, activity book, and a Tootsie-pop---Whoohoo!! At least she was excited...GiGi and I are not big fans of the Chuck E. Cheese, but her being there without one of us made me very nervous...Oh, the sacrifices we must make to be good parents!

The Girls Went Green for St. Patty's Day 2009!

2009-03-19T21:04:00.002-05:00

Yes, Ruby got ANOTHER out-of-uniform day for St. Patty's Day! She was so excited to wear green and when we got home she demanded a change of clothes so that she wouldn't get and "yucky food" on her "pretty St. Patrick's Day shirt" (which is really just a green shirt!). Lily was quite stunning herself in a green with white polka dot dress. Maybe we'll get some of that infamous Irish luck....

Apparently Lily Can Dress Herself...

2009-03-19T20:24:00.003-05:00

...and quite masterfully, I might add! If you can't tell, she has her pjs on, which is what she was wearing when I put her in bed. She was holding this dance leotard of Ruby's that has bike short type legs on it, but I thought she would just hold it...I was wrong. What I didn't realize was that her love for "Sickarelly" would prompt her to put this dance thing on over her pjs! Mind you, she has not tried, even once, to dress herself before this event. I came in to check on the girls and there she was, grinning from ear to ear saying, "Sickarelly, Sickarelly..". I let her keep this on long enough for Kyle to see her after his shower and them he made her take it off. You would have thought we were taking away her most prized possession. All we heard after he closed the door was , "Sickarelly, my Sickarelly..", only this time it didn't sound very sweet!!

We LOVE to wear our pjs to school!!

2009-03-15T18:38:00.002-05:00

Lily, I have a secret for you....

My Cheesy girls!

Yes, it was pj day at Primrose last Friday. I had to go get the girls new pjs because they usually wear gowns here at home and I didn't think that would be a good idea for school!! It has been forever since I posted anything...I know, what is the matter with me?!?! We have been so busy and, I swear, the nasty weather just wore me out. I know that we needed the rain, but did it have to get cold, too?? Anyway, it looks like the weather is changing just in time for Spring Break and, boy, do I need it! I think that kids, especially kids in school, get the worst case of Spring Fever just before Spring Break....or maybe it's that my good friend Kirsten, the librarian at our school, planned such a magnificent Seuss week for us that everyone was just too wound up. Either way, I glad that we got the week off. Mom and I have many shopping excursions planned for the week and I will get to go on Ruby's field trip this Thursday. They are going to Chuck E. Cheese, which makes me a little nervous, so I am glad to be able to go. If you didn't know this about me, I am probably one of the most paranoid moms around. I am always afraid that something will happen to the girls. Whenever we go out I make sure that I can see them at all times. You are probably saying to yourselves, "I do that, too", but there are so many people now who let their kids run wild in a store or restaurant and I find myself looking around and thinking, "Where are your parents and why aren't they worried about where you are?"

My Lily has really started to talk, all of a sudden. They told me at her school that she talks non-stop! This really shocked me, because she doesn't say much at home, or hasn't until this week, anyway. She is talking in complete sentences and asking questions that we can actually understand. It is really the most amazing thing to watch a child learn to talk. It seems like one day they are babbling and you are trying to figure out what they want and the next they just come right out and say it! And it's also great to have new ways to say things...we will never say certain words the correct way again because the funny ways that the girls say them are much better! For example:

reglo - regular (Ruby)

Sickarelly - Cinderella (Lily)

Jeet - Jeep (Ruby)

muck - milk(Lily)

I bub you, too, Momma - I love you, too, Momma(Lily)

How 'Bout a YEEHAW.....

2009-03-03T19:42:00.003-06:00

...for these 2 Cowgirls! Today was Western Day, in celebration of Texas Independence Day on Monday. They held off Texas' celebration because it was Seuss' b-day, so today Ruby's class got to come OUT OF UNIFORM (for the 2nd time this year--yes, I am irritated about that!) and wear cowgirl(not cowboy, because as Ruby says, "It's cowgirl, Momma, not cowboy. I'm not even a boy!")clothes and had a special cowgirl lunch of hotdogs and beans. I wasn't sure if Lily's class was celebrating or not, so she wore this bandanna dress--either she was a little cowgirlish or just wearing bandanna print, worked either way! Then, this afternoon they called and said Lily was running a fever. She has not seemed very feverish to me this evening, but still no school for her tomorrow. She will be spending the day with Daddy, as I already had plans to go to a Foreign Language networking conference in Dallas tomorrow. I'll bet they are going to have a FUN day!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

2009-03-03T19:38:00.002-06:00

Yes, Monday was Dr. Seuss' birthday. We celebrated at TVS, and Ruby celebrated at Primrose. They asked for guest readers, so I went and read to Ruby's class. They were SOOOO well behaved and listened very attentively as I, and 2 other mothers, read. Later in the day Primrose was visited by the Cat in the Hat and they had cupcakes and made Cat in the Hat hats.

Muah, muah, muah (kiss, kiss, kiss)...

2009-02-25T19:26:00.002-06:00

...is the sweet little sound I hear across the room. Let me explain--we always put Lily in bed a few minutes before Ruby so that she can wind down a little. So, when I put Ruby in bed and give her the million hugs and kisses its seems to take to satisfy here, Lily lays quietly in her bed going, muah, muah, muah, muah...(kissing the air...I guess muah isn't really what it sounds like, but the best I can come up with!). She keeps doing that until to her bed and give her millions of kisses, too. She is just about the sweetest thing I've ever known. Don't get me wrong, Ruby has always been MY girl, but Lily is so loving and sweet. She also does this mmm, mmm, mmm when she hugs. I guess I must have done it while hugging her one time and it had stuck. It reminds me of my Nanny, she used to always do that when she hugged me...kind of a coincidence since Lily is named after her.

They Wear Their Sunglasses at Night...

2009-02-23T20:35:00.003-06:00

(yes, I am alluding to that "wonderful" 80s song by Corey Hart!) Yes, my girls love them some sunglasses(I know you're laughing at my ghetto talk attempt!)! But, thank goodness it's Easter basket stuffing time because I gota whopping 8 pairs of sunglasses. Yes, that is 8 saving the day moments for Mommy....when Lily cries, "my gasses, my gasses"...or when Ruby says, "Those are my glasses, Lily!!!"...or when Lily says, "my gasses gone, Momma"...this could go on forever, and it usually does. But, no longer....cheap Easter sunglasses to the rescue!!! I guess that's why we Mom's are often referred to as superheroes...or maybe just supergeniuses!!

What a 3-day weekend...

2009-02-22T19:49:00.003-06:00

...for us, that is! The girls' school was closed on Friday(oh, darn), so we got to stay home...for a little while. Lily had a drs. appt., nothing major just some allergy discussion, then we had brunch with GiGi at Denny's. After we came home, Daddy came home, he can't stand it when his girls are home and he's at work! We lazed around on Saturday until GiGi and I went shopping. We got some great deals on school clothes for Ruby. I swear, the child won't have to wear the same thing twice if I'm not careful! I have a love for smocked dresses and have found some wonderful deals on ebay, so she has about 7 now, all different and for different season, but we are by no means finished! Today, Sunday, we did the usual, laundry, Target, Taco Bueno. I got an email from one of my very best friends, Louise. She retired form my school this past summer and I am missing her terribly. I wrote to her the other day and was telling her how Lily finally has enough hair for a small ponytail on top of her head. I told her that we can tell when Lily has had a bad day at school because when we pick her up she looks like a rooster--she has taken her ponytail out and her hair is sticking up everywhere. So...Louise, here's a rooster picture for you! Love You!

***********Lily, the rooster!***********

No, Mommy, I Not...

2009-02-18T08:29:00.002-06:00

...is Lily's new phrase!! Anytime we ask her to do something that she DOES NOT want to do, she says, "No, Mommy, I NOT!". It is so funny. She is usually smiling as she says this, which means she knows what a little stinker she is being! Sometimes, this is followed by "Walk away, Mommy, walk away", a phrase I'm sure she hears often at school when she is into something she shouldn't be(when talking to me it means "leave me alone, Mommy"). Lil'bug makes us laugh every day....Meanwhile, Ruby is also getting pretty smart. After school on Monday she was telling me that they had cherry pie for snack. I thought that this was a little strange, but this morning on the way to school she finally explained. "Momma, we had cherry pie because he (pointing to a picture of George Washington in her Weekly Reader that I had just handed her from the floor of the backseat) chopped down the cherry tree! Finally....I see the logic, if only she had explained that earlier. She is such a silly girl, smart, but silly!

My Funny Valentines!

2009-02-15T10:28:00.002-06:00

We had a pretty uneventful Valentine's Day because we don't go out for this holiday...it is just too crowded everywhere. The girls had their parties at school on Friday and I had to work on Saturday. Thankfully, Kyle snapped some pictures of them in their cute v-day outfits before he took them shopping and the eat!

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-11T08:03:00.003-06:00

Mailing her letter...I wonder who it's for...

Boy, does she know how to pose...took her long enough to learn!!

Ruby's Post Office field trip

Ready for Brady and Angelina's Birthday Party!

Daddy and the girls

Priceless...but kind of expensive!!

2009-02-08T21:02:00.002-06:00

Movie Tickets - $17.50
Dinner - $26.00
Babysitter - $30.00
Getting to go to the movies, have dinner, and know that the girls are at home having fun with the babysitter - PRICELESS!
Yes...we finally got to have a grown-up evening out. A teacher at school's daughter, Lindsie, came and babysat on Saturday and Kyle & I and Mom & Mikey went to the movies and out to eat. I don't think that we had been to the movies since before Ruby was born. I can literally count the number of times that we've had sitter since Ruby was born on one hand. We saw He's Just Not That Into You, which was great! It was so funny to watch 30-something people dating and all the drama that the girls were having with men. I personally have little experience with this, except during high school when everyone has drama. Kyle kept asking me if women are really like they are in this movie...I don't know...but maybe if guys do what they say they are going to do then women will have less drama...on all occasions!! It was so fun...going to the movies was great, but while we waited for our food, I began to miss the girls. I was ready to get home! Lindsie said they were perfect, which I already knew because they only misbehave for us. The evening cost us a fortune, but was worth every penny.

This afternoon we went to a birthday for my cousin, Andrea's, twins. They are 2! It's hard to believe, I guess since we don't see them very often the time gets away from me. It was nice to see all of her family and the girls had a great time. I got no pictures, though, Kyle and I were too busy wrangling the girls!

Tomorrow I'm going for my 4th laser treatment for my scalp psoriasis. I also bought this copper infused brush today at Wal-Mart. It is supposed to help with dry, itchy scalp, so maybe it will help me some...it better, it cost $11!!!

25 Things You May Not Know About Me...

2009-02-05T08:45:00.003-06:00

We'll see if I can do this...I got this idea from the Dorsey Gang on 96.3 that I listen to on the way to work. They were talking about this because Rebecca was tagged on her FaceBook page...since I don't have one, I'm doing it here...
1. I am probably the most sentimental person I know, but don't express it very well.
2. I am a very dependent independent person. I could take care of myself, if I had to, but I don't want to because I want all of my people around all the time.
3. I probably think about sex more that most men. I know, TMI, but there you have it.
4. I LOVE wrapping paper. In fact, I collect it. I buy it, almost always, from Hallmark (on sale, because even though I love it I won't pay top dollar for it) and then choose carefully who gets a present wrapped with it. This past Christmas I used the last of the Christmas paper I bought 5 years ago...I was very sad to see it go, but when you only wrap 2 presents per year with a roll, it lasts forever. I think if some show like Clean Sweep came to my house, the wrapping paper would be the first thing to go--over my dead body!! Yes, I LOVE gift bags, too.
5. I like slutty rap music...see #3.
6. I can hold a grudge FOREVER...and if I start holding one, it is very difficult for me to make a turn-around.
7. I don't like tomatoes...but I like almost everything made with them. Let me clarify, I don't like pink tomatoes...you know what I'm talking about, the mealy, slimy things that most fast food places put on burgers...I'll eat any home grown, red, ripe tomato, by itself, with salt and pepper, but not on a sandwich.
8. I am scared to walk through my house at night.
9. I never go into a room without turning some kind of light on.
10. I cannot go to sleep uncovered(with the covers!).
11. I like chocolate, but I don't like chocolate cake or icing.
12. I have a tattoo(yikes, I know), just above my left hip, on the stomach area(when it was done it was in my bikini untanned/burned area, but I don't wear swimsuits anymore). It is the Sacred Heart from the Romeo and Juliet movie. Going to see that movie was the first date Kyle and I went on.
13. I won't drink milk on or after the date printed on the bottle. I'll throw the whole thing away, if I have to.
14. I don't like leftovers..but I eat them occasionally.
15. I can memorize license plates numbers, phone numbers, actually most any numbers set, very easily.
16. I am a bit obsessive. If I like something, I use scrapbooking as an example, I want as much of that things as I can have. I buy scrapbooking stuff for things that haven't even happened yet, then I force my kids to do that thing so that I have a reason to use whatever I bought.
17. I HATE for people to read things that I have written. I hate peer review or signing group cards because I'm always afraid that people will read my words and think they sound stupid.
18. I HATE for store clerks to help me.
19. I RARELY go places alone.
20. I am very paranoid. I am always afraid that someone is going to snatch me or my kids(because, yes, we are SOOO desirable)...see #19.
21. When I eat, I always save my favorite thing on the plate to eat last.
22. I eat around a sandwich, rather than across it. I save the middle for last.
23. I shave my legs every day. I hate leg stubble.
24. I LOVE to read, but I only read books by 1-2 authors at a time. I read all of their books, then find a new author...see #16.
25. If I like something I will almost always buy it, even if I don't have the money for it(which almost always). I'll have Mom buy it and pay her back, put off paying a bill...whatever I have to do..

Boy, that was easier that I thought. I could probably have done more...like...
26. I don't leave well...I cry very easily.
27. I make Kyle cut my toenails.
28. Even though I have a lot of friends at work, I have none outside of work. It is very hard for me to make friends because I don't talk to new people very well. I'm always afraid that they will think I'm weird. All the people at work are stuck dealing with me!!
29. I HATE FEET. I don't like the look of them, for them to touch me or my things, for mine to be touched...I know makes #27 really weird..
30. I did not like being pregnant. Don't get me wrong...it had it's benefits (#3), but I don't like for people to look at or touch me, and if you don't already know, being pregnant is like being a bullseye for both of those. I LOVE my girls, and was glad to be pregnant to have them, but not really my cup of tea!

OK, I'm stopping now, but I am tagging anyone who reads this. If you don't have a blog, you can email your 25(or more if you want) to rossa@trinityvalleyschool.org. I can't wait to find out more about YOU(it will also let me know who is really reading this out there!)!!

Also---I got my magnificent camera on Tuesday. They had one at the Sears at Hulen Mall all this time...ugh...and finally found it when I got a little irate on the phone on Tuesday. Anyway, I have it and my dear friend, Marcy Roten (the art teacher at my school--and a great photographer, like professional, I might add) has shown me how to use it, so I'm watch out girls, the camera is coming for YOU!!

KINDERGARTEN, HERE RUBY COMES!!

2009-02-02T09:31:00.002-06:00

That's right...Ruby has been accepted into Kindergarten! She will be in the graduating class of 2022!!! We are, of course, so excited. Ruby, however, has thought all along that she would be going to Kindergarten, so she took the news very lightly.

Also, today is my grandfather, Bill's, birthday. He is 78! I wonder if he saw HIS shadow this morning...I want Spring to hurry up and get here!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

2009-02-01T21:35:00.003-06:00

Yes, that title is an allusion to the Super Bowl, which we do not watch. Our Sunday started out like always--grocery store, laundry, nap. The girls went out before lunch for a Sunday drive(see above pictures) in their cars. Yes, they have 2...how spoiled are they?!?! It was during the girls' naptime, that it all changed...I'm sure most of you moms out there have become attuned to your, what I call, "vomit cough"...Well, I have..it's funny how that particular cough can rip you from a deep sleep faster that any siren. I swear, if the tornado sirens made that sound, every household would know to take cover! Kyle and I were trying to nap when that dreadful sound came over the monitor. I yelled at Kyle that Lily was throwing up and we both raced over to see her bed covered and her crying. As I have mentioned before, she does not like to have dirty hands(unless she is stuffing her face!!), so she has holding her hands out/up in the air and crying. Kyle had to clean her up because I cannot do vomit smells(sorry if this makes you gag!). While Kyle stripped the bed, I gave her a bath. She did pretty good after that and we are now crossing our fingers that we will have a vomit-less night so that she can go to school tomorrow. How awful are we?? I teach and am so mad when parents send their kids to me sick, but hear I sit hoping that I can send Lily to her teachers...oh, the hypocrisy! Anyways, we took our usual Sunday trip to Target and Taco Bueno and came home to watch Big Love. DO any of you watch Big Love? It is on HBO--about a polygamist family in Utah--if that kind of thing bothers you, I would not recommend it, but even though my Nanny was Mormon and I used to go to church with her as a child, I find that secret, far removed from everyday Mormon religion, side of of their beliefs very interesting. I also realize that a lot of the show is very dramatized and I would never have recommended this show to Nanny.

Tomorrow I go for my 2nd laser treatment for psoriasis. Yes, I suffer from the heartbreak of psoriasis. I always wondered why the Blue Star ointment commercials called it a heartbreak, but now I know. I have been plagued with psoriasis for about 3 1/2 years, since shortly after Nanny died. I am certain that it is stress induced and have tried EVERY topical solution known to any doctors around here to treat it. I have used tar shampoos, steroid foams, I have even paid $125 for some hideous shampoo concocted by an apothecary that ravaged my hair...none worked. I am hoping that the laser therapy will clear the breakout on my scalp so that I can try to maintain it. Yes, it is on my scalp, on the back, down by my shoulders. Whenever I scratch, which is frequently, it looks like a blizzard has covered my shoulders. So, needless to say, I haven't worn may dark or bright colors for quite some time.

Lily

2009-02-01T21:31:00.002-06:00

Sorry, y'all, but I am a scrapbooker at heart and I just had to add this last page of Lily. We were on our way out to eat and she just looked so cute in her sassy leopard pants and carrying her purse that I had to take her picture. I didn't think that I would like digital scrapbooking, but it's actually pretty great... I can see if I like something and them take it off if I don't without ruining the whole page!!

Glamour Girl!

2009-01-30T07:52:00.002-06:00

Lily is going through her Glamour Girl/pack-rat stage. She absolutely cannot be without her gasses, as she calls them! Whenever she loses them, which she does frequently , she walks around saying, "My gasses, where they are?", and if the glasses ever get taken away, like for bed or a diaper change, you would think that we were taking away an arm...she completely loses it! She also must have a purse at all times. In that purse she has her phone and, as you can see, she is all ready to go..has her keys, too! She got this particular purse from Uncle David and it seems to be working well for her, as she can fit all of her accessories, and even a book, into it. Thankfully, this purse is actually hers, not one that belonged to Ruby, so there is no fighting over it! And, luckily for me and this picture, she has her glasses on right-side up, because usually she puts them on upside down and refuses to put them right...although it's pretty cute.

TGIT-Thank Goodness It's Thursday...

2009-01-29T09:38:00.003-06:00

...and we get to go back to work. Yes, I'm glad to be back at work. I love days off, but I don't like being confined to my house. I love Kyle and the girls, don't get me wrong, but we all need our routines. Lily took a nap late, like and hour and a half late (yes, she was grouchy), and Ruby took no nap at all (yes, she was whiny). I ended up with a headache because I didn't get my caffeine fix early enough because the power was off for about 2 hours during the morning. We did venture out for lunch at Denny's and a quick shopping trip at Belk's. If you have a Belk near you, you should definitely go there. GiGi got a tablecloth, turtleneck sweater and 2 dresses, and a pants/shirt outfit for Ruby for $35!! The dresses were originally $21 each...what a savings! Of course, all of this is for Ruby to wear next year to Kindergarten...we are trying to stock up now while everything is on sale so I won't go too broke...we are all such clothes horses!!

ICE DAY BABY..

2009-01-27T17:20:00.002-06:00

WE LOVE OUR ICE DAYS, BABY!!...yes, that is supposed to go with that famous bass line..you know it...I'm sure Vanilla Ice is cursing me right now...Anyway, one of the many fantastic perks of working at a school--ice days! Yes, we all trekked to school, knowing all along that we would never make the entire day and at 10:45 we got the news--kids dismissed at 12:10. GiGi and I left at around 11:30 because it was already 28 degrees in Weatherford. I picked the girls up from school and came back to TVS to get GiGi and westward we went. The roads weren't too bad, but our windshield wipers didn't work very well and we could only see through about a 1 inch clear strip on the windshield-no stress there! We walked in the door and it was then that I realized that I left Ruby's nebulizer at school (@#$&@*$#--yes, this is an insert of many expletives). It would be just our luck that Ruby would go into complete asthma ickiness if the nebulizer wasn't retrieved, so Kyle had to brave the elements and go ALL THE WAY BACK to the girls school to pick it up(while I napped!!)...that's 30 miles of driving ONE WAY....way to go Momma!! It took him about 2 hours, but the nebulizer is here; we'll just see if our little Drama Queen needs it or not...better safe than sorry, I guess. Still no idea if school will be called tomorrow. I hope so, otherwise we will have a nasty drive if it rains any more (insert rain dance here!!). At our house, we will be praying for rain!

Oh my gosh, it's been a week...

2009-01-26T21:25:00.002-06:00

...since my last post. We had a whirlwind of a week. after Grandma Glashoff passed away on Monday, we quickly began planning our week for the funeral. David, Kyle's older brother, came in from Ohio to stay with us and attend the services. We went to the visitation on Thursday and the funeral on Friday. It was so nice, but also very sad. Isn't it funny how every funeral reminds you of all the others. It's almost like you can't be sad for the the person at a particular funeral because you always remember the others. For me, every funeral before my Nanny's made me think of how awful it would be if it were hers, now every one since reminds of hers and how much I miss her. If you'd like to see the obituary for Grandma Glashoff, click on this link http://www.legacy.com/dfw/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=123118320

We are finally back to our weekly routine this week. Get this...I ordered my camera and it is now back ordered. Then, last Sunday Ruby put my little green Fuji camera in my lap and it slipped about 8 inches to the floor and cracked the display screen. So now, I am currently without camera and not very happy...I hope my new one comes soon!! Kyle did snap this picture of Ruby wearing her Barbie dress-up dress and holding the matching Barbie the Uncle David bought her. I wonder how he knew we needed this...and she even sings...Thanks Uncle David!!!!

Sad News

2009-01-19T20:09:00.004-06:00

Not Valentine's Day yet, but still two of the loves of my life!!

Well, we had an alright weekend. On Friday, I bought a new camera, a Nikon D60!! I am so excited..I get to pick it up on Thursday.

We did, however, receive some sad news this afternoon...Kyle's grandmother passed away. She had not been doing well and had congestive heart failure..she passed peacefully, in her sleep. We went with Kyle's mom, Sunni, to the rehabilitation center where she had been staying this afternoon to collect her belongings and get her transported to the funeral home. I know that Kyle and his family are very sad, and I am sad because it reminded me of Nanny's passing. I still miss her every day and seeing Kyle's grandma sent so many sad memories flooding back. We will find out tomorrow when the funeral will be...sad times all around.

I think she's well...

2009-01-15T21:27:00.002-06:00

Ruby woke up this morning feeling kinda warm--temperature of 99.9. I had to be at work today so I gave her a dose of Tylenol and sent her on to school. I know, as a teacher I hate it when parents send their kids to school sick, but I couldn't find one thing wrong with her. She said her ears hurt, but later they didn't(and also no fussing during cleaning after bath), she coughed for a little while, then stopped(not the usual MO-we usually have to do breathing treatments for a week to stop coughing). So, I bribed her. I told her that if I didn't have to pick her up from school sick, we would go to the Disney on Ice for her birthday(3-27). I watched the phone all day, no call. When I picked her up this afternoon she said, "Momma, Miss Jana didn't have to call you so now we get to go the Disney on Ice!!". I'll be purchasing those tickets soon, and it will be the best money I've spent in a while! We usually have pizza with PaPoo(my grandfather) once a week and tonight was it. After dinner, Kyle and I got to go to the grocery store alone--woohoo--so I could get the fixins for a Root Beer float! Not my usual dessert, but I think a watched 2 shows this week that talked about root beer floats and I couldn't shake the craving. So, I ate/drank my float while I watched Grissom's last CSI...kinda like losing an old friend, but am hoping the show will still be great. I'm off to do my brain training(Kyle got a Nintendo DS for Christmas and I bought him Brain Age-we are both addicted, naturally I am younger..). I hope I do better than yesterday...I think I was 35, up from 27. I guess sitting around all day with a sick 4 year old ages anyone!!

The Dreaded Call...

2009-01-14T16:23:00.003-06:00

It was Tuesday afternoon and Mom and I were 3 minutes from the Primrose School, when I got the dreaded call. I always know someone is sick when I see that number on my phone--I wondered which one it was this time. Being a teacher, it is always hard to find out at 5 p.m. that you will be out the next day..subs usually want more notice...especially for Spanish!! Well, it seems that Ruby drew the short stick because Jana was telling me that she had a fever...great, I think, another day out of school...I say that I'm almost there, secretly hoping she isn't filling out one of those lovely forms. We walk into the school like 2 minutes later and I see Ruby coming down the hall, looking pretty pitiful. I grab Lil' quickly...still no form...and come to get Ruby...then comes the form. I sign away the next day and wonder just how sick she really is. It happens, quite often, that my girls run a fever at school, then the car ride home miraculously cures them! We make it about 5 miles when Ruby shrieks--I'm gonna throw up--GiGi floors it and we pull into the gas station where we are meeting Daddy and PaPa(as per Ruby's request). The poor child has to throw up, freezing, with all of 377 watching her. I think--great, a night of vomiting--my favorite! We go home and, to my surprise, Ruby doesn't get sick again, but falls asleep before 7 and seems very hot. I take the temp under her arm, because the stupid ear thermometer is never right--why do we still have it?!?!-and it says 101.7...I add the extra degree for the underarm reading and start panicking because suddenly we are close to 103 degrees. She slept in the c hair in our room, very soundly, and woke up surprisingly chipper. She quickly fell back into the fevery, whiny, state that she has been in for the rest of the day. I think she is still running fever, so I wonder what I will do tomorrow...

SUCCESS!!

2009-01-12T19:55:00.002-06:00

Our day started off better than usual..when Daddy turned on the light this morning, Ruby did not fuss...she sat up on bed and said, "Momma, today is the day I'm going to visit Kindergarten", while shaking her hands in the air(her way of showing great excitement!!). She got to were reglo(regular in Ruby language) clothes, no the usual Primrose uniform. We headed off to school and waited for the visit to start. She was all smiles when she left to go to the classrooms, and when she returned. I got her boot art project that she did in class and can tell that she did exactly what she was supposed to do. If you don't know, at TVS there is a play date that all Kindergarten applicants must attend. They visit all three classes and do different activities in each room This visit helps to assess if a child is ready for Kindergarten. Being a teacher of Kindergarten students, I usually do the teacher observations of these play dates. This time I couldn't observe because my child was in the group, so it was very nerve-racking to know what she needed to do, but not knowing if she was. But, I can tell by her description of the day that it was a SUCCESS! Ruby is so ready for Kindergarten...she tells me almost every day, "Momma, I'm getting closer to Kindergarten", with the biggest smile on her face. Ruby Girl, I am so proud of you today and always--you are my super-smart, sweet girl!!

Chili Lily..and a lovely Sunday afternoon

2009-01-11T18:33:00.005-06:00

Yes, this is my adorable baby girl covered in chili. Ruby chose chips and chili for lunch and since it is so messy, both girls had to eat shirtless. Lily is not a big fan of messy hands, but is less of a fan of cleaning up. In the next picture I took(not shown here), she was crying while Daddy cleaned her up!

After rest time, the girls went for a "a little drive", as Ruby said, in their Princess car that they got from Santa. Ruby thinks that all the GOOD toys are hers, so we have to constantly remind her that this was for the both of them. She even let Lily drive--while she controlled the speed! Ruby has her big Kindergarten visit tomorrow. She is SO excited..I think she has told me about it like 10 times today..I'll let you know tomorrow how she did...

Cowgirl Up!!

2009-01-11T18:29:00.002-06:00

Look at my little cowgirls!! Ruby absolutely loves boots..she has had these Princess boots since last year and somehow still seems to fit into them whenever she wants. Lily is wearing Ruby's first pair of boots - hot pink--so flashy! When we first asked her if she wanted to put the boots on, she said "no way", one of her new phrases, but in the end I think she liked them!

Wake up call

2009-01-10T10:40:00.004-06:00

...it's 7 a.m. and we are sleepy ever so peacefully, when I hear a small knock at the door. Not sure what in the world could be disrupting my slumber, I jump out of bed and chase the culprits through the house, grabbing my camera along the way so I can snap some evidence photos of the culprits...here's what I got...

Apparently Barbie Diamond Princess and Alice in Wonderland found their way to our room through our dark, spooky house, just like they always do at such an early hour, on their search for some breakfast!

Yea, It's Friday!!

2009-01-09T19:54:00.002-06:00

...And at 7:30 p.m. both of my lovely girls were fast asleep in bed! What a day...Ruby was a roll with the crabiness this afternoon. She is going through this phase right now where, I think maybe, her bladder isn't big enough for her body(I know that sounds weird) and she gets very urgent about having to go to the bathroom. She had an accident at school the other day and it was just because she didn't get to the bathroom fast enough. We have also had to start putting her in a pull-up for bed. Knowing all of this, however, Mom and I still forgot to make sure she didn't need to go before we left school(in Fort Worth), so she whined all that way to home(to Weatherford, about 30 minutes), and was getting quite hysterical towards the end. Just so I don't sound so mean, this is not the only thing she was whining about...maybe she woke up on the wrong side of her rest cot! Anyway, we put them in bed right after dinner, when some more whining started, and Kyle is gone right now to get us something to eat. For those of you who don't know, we usually eat out or at GiGi and PaPa's...not because I can't cook(at least that's what I tell myself), but because it is just easier for both of our households. Oh..I think Kyle is back..off to eat my fried chicken..like I could do it better that KFC, I don't think so!!

Bathing Beauty!

2009-01-08T20:44:00.002-06:00

Here is a picture of my already bathed beauty! Didn't get to snap one of Lil' because she hates getting out of the bathtub and always cries. We had to do bath early tonight because we had to go visit Kyle's grandma at the rehabilitation facility where she is staying. She is about to be 95 and is not doing very well. Any good thoughts you might have would be very helpful. So, the girls got to hang out with GiGi and PaPa(I know we shouldn't torture those sweet girls, but somehow they made it) and go to McDonald's for dinner. At least they had a fun night! I can already feel the Friday....5 days until MLK 3-day weekend!

Is it Friday yet??

2009-01-07T20:23:00.003-06:00

I don't really know what to call this post, so that title will just have to do, since if fits so well...Today was not great. I didn't, and still don't, feel very good today. I wonder of you can get sick just by reading about someone else who is sick. If that's the case, Kirsten, I'm comin' to getcha!! To top that off, I wore these really great new shoes - gray and black "snakeskin" Nine West pumps-yes, the super high, very pointy variety - and they KILLED my feet. I know, I know...you're thinking why in the world would you wear that kind of shoe to walk as much as you do in a day, but they are just too cute not to wear! We wrapped up the day with a trip to Montana's, a restaurant not the state, although hmmm..., with GiGi and PaPa and we got a visit from the Drama Queen(Ruby)-I don't mean this is a good way, either. She feel to pieces because Lily drew on her paper, but thankfully Kyle was able to take her outside and somehow get her attention and calm her down and we finished the dinner uneventfully. My girls are the best!!--but, they could be a little better if they stopped whining, which sadly happens to be my biggest pet peeve-just my luck, huh? Like I said, is it Friday yet?!?!

Back to the grind...

2009-01-06T18:51:00.002-06:00

Well, all the kids came back today. It was a crazy day, as they always are after a break-what am I saying, after a weekend!! My teacher friends, I know we feel each other's pain...dealing with 180 or 240 kids a day is very rewarding, but VERY tiring. Anyways, the kids were great and most were excited to see me(I think), just out of their routine. My girls, on the same note, are a bit out of control. Lily is having a grabby day, taking things away from Ruby(this is a complete opposite of what is usually going on), and I'm pretty sure that Ruby is exhausted also. We are counting down the days until Ruby comes to TVS for her class visit(part of the Kindergarten admissions process). I know she will be fine academically, but she is very clingy at the wrong times and I am hoping that this day will not be a clingy day. I'm also a little hacked today because I just got our Reliant Energy bill and it has gone up $120 since last month, and the only thing that we can think of that we have done differently is raise the heat 1 degree. So, I guess I'll be trying to call Oncor to get the meter tested or something...I hate those stupid automated things that answer when you call any big company now..it's like they know you are irritated just dialing the number so they try to put off talking to you as long as possible..but don't they know that you just get angrier by the minute?!?! Well, that's my gripe for today..I'm letting it go until tomorrow..

Princesses in training

2009-01-05T20:37:00.003-06:00

Here they are...the dress-up Queen and her Princess in training! I don't know how Ruby gets Lily to put on these dresses, but somehow she does-and dresses her. In case you can't tell, Ruby is Cinderella(no surprise!) and Lily is Ariel(although modified in the back so she won't look too slutty!). Ruby is holding one of our dogs, Roxey, whom she loves dearly. It's a wonder that dog does not tear her up because Ruby carries her around like a baby and even swings her around in that air, dancing and singing to her(at, least Roxey only weighs about 3 pounds!). Didn't much care for the ice and rain today, but it sounds like it will be warm again soon..so much for winter! I just hope no one at our house gets sick-knock on wood..

Just laundry day-nothing exciting!

2009-01-04T20:18:00.004-06:00

Today was pretty uneventful..but I did get quite a bit of scrapbooking done. At least I'm up to mid December, since I still have to start the 2009 book. I did snap this supercute picture of the girls right before they went to GiGi and PaPa's. They are got these hats from a relative(too convoluded to explain the relation!) that knitted them and this was their first chance to wear them because it has been like Summer since Christmas(that sounds wierd!). Lily was really happy about the hat, even though it doesn't look like it in the picture..she loves hats. Every time we have to take one off of her she gets so mad and screams "my hat, my hat". I have to go back to work tomorrow-2 weeks went by really fast, but I guess it's better than what most people get this time of year. I think that Mom and I have shopped at every possible store during the break...it's a wonder I have any money left! We are major clothes shoppers and it finally got to the point that we would go in a store and not look at clothes because we already have so many that we will only get to wear maybe twice this season. We have already started the countdown to the next holiday (MLK day, 10 work days), not that we don't love our jobs, but who doesn't love a vacation day more?!?

Meet the Girls!!

2009-01-03T08:42:00.003-06:00

Here's Ruby! She is a very energetic and lively girl. She loves to read, play dress-up(Cinderella is her favorite!), draw, play with PaPa, and boss Lily around(isn't that what bg sisters do??). She has been "mine" since she was born(probably a mistake on my part) since I thought I wasn't having any more kids. Even on her worst days(and yes, there are many at this age!), she can always make me smile!

Lily is such a sweet girl! It seems like we have always had her, she may as well be 4..She is so much fun. She is just starting to talk and loves to play with anything that is Ruby's(isn't that what little sisters do??). Her sweet, little smile can light up a room. She also has a very mischevious side and has this sneaky look she gets when she knows she shouldn't be doing something. She is so funny! Lily is a Daddy's Girl, I think, but could also be a PaPa's Girl, it just depends!

Christmas 2008

2009-01-03T08:22:00.003-06:00

What a great Christmas season we had! It all started with the tree assembly on Thanksgiving. Then, we visited Santa and Ruby told him 5 things that she wanted: a new Princess car, a Giselle dress(from Enchanted), a dollhouse, Dora Saves the Snow Princess, and some books - a pretty tall order for Santa, but he came through! We went to a great party at the Elks' Lodge with Grandma(Kyle's Mom) and saw Santa there, too. All of these sightings reminded Ruby and Lily that Santa was always watching!! We spent Christmas Eve with Kyle's family and, what do you know, Ruby got her Dora Saves the Snow Princess..I guess Aunt Marna talked to Santa to make sure that Ruby got that one! Lily got a Fancy Nancy dress-up dress and a giant Mr. Potatoe Head set, just to name a few. On Christmas morning the most wonderful thing happened...We heard Santa outside and so I ran to wake Ruby up and she got to see Santa bring her Princess car in the back door(because we don't have a chimney!)...it was so exciting and I was able to snap a quick picture of hime before he was gone! The Princess car was a big hit with both girls(it is big enough so that they both fit) along with the many other girfts from Momma and Daddy. Then it was off to GiGi and PaPa's, where many more toys were waiting...like the dollhouse! I guess Santa can't deliver everything to one house! We all got lots fo great things from GiGi and PaPa - I got some cartridges for my CriCut, a new comforter set, clothes, shoes, some Grinch figurines for my collection, and a lot more; Kyle got a Nintendo DS, some clothes, a new circular saw for work, new shoes, etc...; and Ruby and Lily got a lot more toys to fill up their room! We had lunch a PaPoo's(my grandfather, the girls' great-grandfather) as we have done my entire life. The only person missing was Nanny. We have tried to carry on her Christmas traditions as best we can since we lost her in 2005. I always miss her the most at Christmas...Everyone got lots more stuff there, since the rest of our family is all there. Uncle David, Aunt Chris, and Michael sent the girls gift cards to Build-a-Bear, so we went and made new friends - Ruby got a blue sparkly bear that she named Ruby and Lily got a zebra that we named Stripes. I don't think another toy could fit in their room, not do I think there is a Scooby-Doo movie out there that we didn't unwrap! I didn't think that the girls have been good enough this year to get all of these great things, but I guess the Big Guy was always looking when they were being good...

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-01T07:48:00.003-06:00

We celebrated New Year's as we always do - at home! Mom and I made some snacks and drinks and the girls got to play with, then tear up, some party hats and horns. I think a good time was had by all!

Amy & Kyle

Ruby, PaPa, & Lily

Mom (GiGi)

Ruby & Lily

How it all started...

2008-12-31T23:52:00.012-06:00

So, here we are on New Year's Eve 1996. I was a senior in high school and Kyle had graduated in '96. I hosted a party at my house and Kyle came as a guest of one of my friends. We had met before, but only for a few minutes. After this first meeting I asked one of my friends about him, this same friend is the one that told Kyle on that fateful New Year's Eve night that I liked him. We ended up together at that party and have been together since.

Here we are 12 years later....Where has the time gone??