tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820047437302709732024-03-04T20:09:30.271-08:00this family rocksthis family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-40911030082262362992011-09-05T19:31:00.000-07:002011-09-05T19:31:47.114-07:00for mothers of boys (and mothers of girls)<div style="text-align: center;">almost all of the children in our lives that are my son's age are girls. and although he spends a majority of his time with these girls, he is somehow still all "boy." masculine in every way. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">for the first 2 1/2 years of his life i've compared him to all these other little girls, sometimes to the point of driving myself crazy wondering why i can't get him to act or do things a certain way that i see these calm, prim and proper, sweet little darlings acting. it's only recently that i've realized that to compare my son with a girl is like comparing peas to carrots. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">so i've started to do some reading and research on boys, and now i realize that my friends who only have girls and no boys, just cannot understand my world. and for good reason...they have girls! it's just that raising a girl is a whole different ball game. neither is more difficult or more important, they are just different. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">but what i am saying is not PC at all. recently i read an article about parents who are raising a "gender-less" child. they are not telling anyone the gender of their child, and are allowing this child to be completely free in choosing what to wear and what to play with. and i'm sure many are applauding this couple's choice to do so. see there is this idea that is growing in society, that we <i>force</i> a gender-identity into individuals from infancy by doing things like dressing them in blue or pink, by encouraging them to either play with dolls or play with balls and guns. but this idea has done nothing but caused confusion about what the role of a man is, and society is suffering because of it. that's why we have to take seriously our roles of raising boys--raising men. Dr. Michael Gurian said, "Every time you raise a loving, wise, and responsible man, you have created a better world for women. Women today are having to bond to half-men, with boys who were not fully raised to manhood, don't know how to bond, don't know what their responsibilities are to humanity, and don't have a strong sense of service."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">mother's (like me) of the 'typical' boy know that there is something just inherently 'boy' about him from a very young age. one time while my husband was away traveling for months at a time, when i was concerned for him always being around only his mama and little girls, he woke up one morning completely and utterly obsessed with trucks. he's aggressive, he doesn't know the meaning of gentle, he is constantly being reprimanded for being too rough with me and hurting me, and he wants nothing but to be just like his daddy. not mama, not baby sister--daddy. i did not instill this into him. (in fact i'll go ahead and admit right here that i <i>did</i> buy him a baby doll because i noticed he liked playing with them. but even when he gets the urge to play with that doll, he's still very masculine about it, if you know what i mean. basically, he pretends she's his baby sister and he takes care of her like he would his real baby sister if she were allowed to be thrown in the air and flipped and dropped and folded and so on...) he's around girly me all day long, and i even must admit that i hug and kiss him and baby him way more than i should. he can certainly be kind and sweet and precious, but he is 100% without a doubt, a boy.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">this is what Dr. James Dobson, in his book "Bringing up Boys" says about why raising boys is different than girls, and why the task must be taken so seriously:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">"...boys are more likely to get off-course when they are not guided and supervised carefully. They are inherently more volatile and less stable emotionally. They founder in chaotic, unsupervised, and undisciplined circumstances. Boys are like automobiles that need a driver at the steering wheel every moment of the journey, gently turning a half inch here and a quarter inch there. They will need this guidance for at least sixteen or eighteen years, or even longer. When left to their own devices, they tend to drift toward the center divider and into the ditch, toward misbehavior or danger....Your task as a mother, in conjunction with your husband, is to build a man out of the raw materials available in this delightful little boy, stone upon stone upon stone. Never assume for a moment that you can 'do your own thing' without serious consequences for him and his sister. I believe this task must be your highest priority for a period of time. It will not always be required of you. Before you know it, that child at your feet will become a young man who will pack his bags and take his first halting steps into the adult world. Then it will be your turn. By all expectations, you should have decades of health and vigor left to invest in whatever God calls you to do. But for now, there is a higher calling. I feel obligated to tell you this, whether my words are popular or not. <u>Raising children who have been loaned to us for a brief moment outranks every other responsibility.</u> Besides, living by that priority when kids are small will produce the greatest rewards at maturity."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">phew, what a daunting task! </div><div style="text-align: center;">so mothers of girls, you may give me that "why is your son acting that way" look as much as you want, you can judge me, you can judge my son, you can call him wild or even my means of discipline too stern. but you can also thank me later for trying my best to raise a good man for the future of your daughters! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">(and now, i have to also learn how to raise a woman! advice, please, mothers of girls?!) </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">love you you ladies, and cheers to all of us mothers trying our best! </div><div style="text-align: center;">*wink*<br />
<br />
and, just for giggles:<br />
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</div>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-30342187230056160112011-09-05T19:18:00.000-07:002011-09-05T19:18:15.561-07:00oh, just another Biebs post<div style="text-align: center;">i just had to give one more props to the Biebs. did you watch the MTV VMA's? well, our family has to watch all those award shows. it is, in fact, our livelihood.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Justin Bieber won Best Male Music Video for "You Smile", and here's his acceptance speech:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1f1f1f; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">"I just want to say thank you so much, not only to God but to <b>Jesus. </b>Because I wouldn't be here without Him. He's really blessed me. He's put me in this position. So I want to say thank you so much."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1f1f1f; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzbzvHFSh4mKbao_22PGbG0FWX2akRXahiUMaDdv3UdJ-LaiMwV4EOyVPDFqNv8JB_ws3NcKbHlD4iCZk3_bf3mWwfNxxaXT3AVlPY-NZw4KDfActA_VNQucJGqVIGsGQHRZewvQ9SBz7_/s1600/biebs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzbzvHFSh4mKbao_22PGbG0FWX2akRXahiUMaDdv3UdJ-LaiMwV4EOyVPDFqNv8JB_ws3NcKbHlD4iCZk3_bf3mWwfNxxaXT3AVlPY-NZw4KDfActA_VNQucJGqVIGsGQHRZewvQ9SBz7_/s320/biebs.jpg" width="227" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1f1f1f; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">these days, thanking "God" is so cliche. way to be specific:)</span></span></div>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-2087904371138825852011-09-01T10:54:00.000-07:002011-09-01T10:54:44.136-07:00movements...adjustments<div style="text-align: center;">my.goodness. it has been quite a while since i wrote a post. the move (ahem, the entire <i>summer</i>) turned into quite an odd season, and i only recently got internet hooked up at our new house. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">moving out into our own space brought a huge, unexpected, adjustment for me and my 2 year old. he had friends to play with all day, every day, for 10 months. it didn't even occur to me the problem that it would create for later.....namely, that he now needs someone to play with <i>at all times</i>. he used to be wonderful at playing alone, but he seems to have forgotten that skill. instead, he wants me to sit and play with him all. day. long. and while i do absolutely <b><i>adore</i></b> playing with him, teaching him, watching him explore his imagination, i simply cannot do that every minute of the day. what mother can? not only do i have a house to keep up with, laundry and dishes, but i now also have another child to take care of. and let's not forget that we have to eat meals, which means i do need to spend a few minutes in the kitchen 3 times a day. these are things that little man firmly objects to. he's learned (God knows where) to say things like (imagine the sweetest voice in the world) "don't you wanna play with me?" and "I thought you wanted to play cars with me?" and just the other day, after saying my name about 29 times without me responding to him, he told me that i was "making him sad." *sigh* melts my heart.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">and then there's <i><b>my</b></i> adjustment. of going from having a best friend near me all day to talk to whenever i wanted, unable to get lonely even if i wanted to....to being in a house all day alone with two small children. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">so, communal living does come with so many advantages, but there's also many little things that are hard. like saying goodbye. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">and i haven't even gotten to the part about how i just had a baby 4 months ago. i'm going through the time that every mother of multiples goes through--learning to adjust to life with two instead of one. it was easy as pie for about 2 1/2 months. and then it hit me. </div><div style="text-align: center;">i cried. </div><div style="text-align: center;">i was ugly to my husband.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> and then i calmed down and we had a team huddle, and discussed how we were going to manage. things have been much better since then, but i still don't feel like i've found that 'normalcy.' and i'm still waiting for my creativity to show back up, and to find time to fit into my week projects, and creating and reading....and blogging.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">good gracious, does this get easier?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">i think it does, </div><div style="text-align: center;">i hope it does. </div><div style="text-align: center;">well, <b>of course</b> it does! after all, i do have friends with 4, 5, 7 children!!....(right?!)</div><div style="text-align: center;">so i am waiting. in the meantime, i'm going to try to be more deliberate about posting. maybe it will help me make some sense of things (so excuse me as i think out loud)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">here's what we do a lot of these summer days...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qScEFHjiFnk0eSYlJurvxKzBiKQMmYXuLtwSVh5hLXAvALnx6HuhoUonl4DECjQPKld2SRWGYzg6RJ82vAe_NOvo33FUiihi1pPHtdIz3eKjTFLuRpkSCX2sqbhcPD_-aBAnjRIlFoIf/s1600/IMG_0422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qScEFHjiFnk0eSYlJurvxKzBiKQMmYXuLtwSVh5hLXAvALnx6HuhoUonl4DECjQPKld2SRWGYzg6RJ82vAe_NOvo33FUiihi1pPHtdIz3eKjTFLuRpkSCX2sqbhcPD_-aBAnjRIlFoIf/s320/IMG_0422.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> learning the alphabet letters</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUGDs9tWmFPcD2OZvTE-EfuajIZACExZkSQlyb502JJxmtfodLmuQ35WUqcTHJmAnMTIJkrOyOEQADhOVjnWsehWT1jY6idNVovkqcOLVujt1bo6zd_GjpoXiaSvmMfJ94L3mFerHM2nSM/s1600/IMG_0424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUGDs9tWmFPcD2OZvTE-EfuajIZACExZkSQlyb502JJxmtfodLmuQ35WUqcTHJmAnMTIJkrOyOEQADhOVjnWsehWT1jY6idNVovkqcOLVujt1bo6zd_GjpoXiaSvmMfJ94L3mFerHM2nSM/s320/IMG_0424.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> art, art and more art</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX4DBo-7_XyehUhNtrUa_PTZr3qJEhwvfmtzeEuFR6-Cy0qZznPbguMEpUDX0MBBRwYcyIcnrJrWvI1A7YZM6dKIrJwhw4kDJRzxTh153Tf7ZaKeLp2tId0tiSm3VWjvUnRKpAoNWYpZKk/s1600/IMG_0425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX4DBo-7_XyehUhNtrUa_PTZr3qJEhwvfmtzeEuFR6-Cy0qZznPbguMEpUDX0MBBRwYcyIcnrJrWvI1A7YZM6dKIrJwhw4kDJRzxTh153Tf7ZaKeLp2tId0tiSm3VWjvUnRKpAoNWYpZKk/s320/IMG_0425.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> his first painting placing the colors in the right spot (notice the yellow sun and the blue airplane?) he's always been a bit behind in the art department, so this was a big deal:)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC4kICKbfYnsFADLjx6r7QI2HH7vvNwJIf6bC6I9h9QEaZl1V_ijC4E_Y0NIJvT1vPsu_rAsmWA7z3pgjiRxC6N9wltWjpXuf9eago6fcp1VXgDrDK-XPJUmZKxNgyK3hQ46xGstD4ajdW/s1600/IMG_0474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC4kICKbfYnsFADLjx6r7QI2HH7vvNwJIf6bC6I9h9QEaZl1V_ijC4E_Y0NIJvT1vPsu_rAsmWA7z3pgjiRxC6N9wltWjpXuf9eago6fcp1VXgDrDK-XPJUmZKxNgyK3hQ46xGstD4ajdW/s320/IMG_0474.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> sweet pea just works on getting more beautiful every day</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNm4K6ehkiCbOnbLNJk1HddmaE8Qm6qXX2snXf46tTY6Hkt-9sAvZTLu0uoHuhB5RH5hYl5_35nP82GI5iskgikdCqEoyuj_dfW1_UUxX7gr9gezF7siIWRsgnc-VnkX6k7bygZnCM6x3z/s1600/IMG_0481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNm4K6ehkiCbOnbLNJk1HddmaE8Qm6qXX2snXf46tTY6Hkt-9sAvZTLu0uoHuhB5RH5hYl5_35nP82GI5iskgikdCqEoyuj_dfW1_UUxX7gr9gezF7siIWRsgnc-VnkX6k7bygZnCM6x3z/s320/IMG_0481.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">pool days--whenever and wherever we are invited!</div><div style="text-align: center;">(otherwise you can find me inside, doing the things shown above. August is no time for a Southerner to be outdoors)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">oh, and lots of evening family walks/bike rides through our fabulous new neighborhood in the city! (more on that, to come)</div>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-6032270634937618172011-07-12T20:51:00.000-07:002011-07-12T20:55:54.769-07:00city mouseour season living with our friends (a family with 3 kids) has sadly come to an end. i cannot believe what a special time that it was, and we will forever treasure those memories of living in community.<br />
and since we have only lived alone as a couple for 6 months of our entire 4 year marriage, we have agreed that this next season will just be the four of us. just our family. we need this time to be a family.<br />
because my husband and i couldn't seem to figure out exactly what we wanted in our next living situation, we moved all of our belongings out of our house and into a storage unit. i headed to los angeles for a week and then we flew back only to stay in more hotels. one night we stayed in the downtown area of our city, and we walked the city that night, the way we have always loved to do. we walked through an area of downtown that is mostly residential, yet only a few blocks from all the sky scrapers. it is an area filled with trees and parks and adorable porches and balconies and you almost forget where you are. we realized how much we would enjoy, as a family, living in that area, and finally decided on what the 'desire of our hearts' was for our next place. something small and simple, easily manageable with our mobile lifestyle, and completely urban.<br />
so i went to atlanta for a week to stay with family while my man stayed back with the goal of finding our family a home. he did just that, and now we are moving into our new home.<br />
goodbye suburbs, hello center city!<br />
<br />
(and so because i have been essentially "homeless" for 2 weeks, i have had no internet and have not been able to blog. i aim to get back in the swing of things in a couple of weeks, after some much needed time at the beach! ahhhhhh...)<br />
<br />
the last time that we moved, 5 birds came to our porch to sleep at night for the entire last week of our living there. they would cuddle close together up in the corner and it was the strangest thing i had ever seen. since the meaning of 5 is 'grace', we took it as a sign that we were entering into a new season of grace.<br />
and did we ever.<br />
<br />
amazingly, the last month in our house this time, some birds built a nest behind the light on our porch. it was the most beautiful nest i have ever seen, made from such unique objects. very anthropologie-esq :)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>when we looked in the nest we found 5 eggs. and the week before we moved those 5 eggs hatched. i climbed a small ladder almost every day to look at those cute little babies, as the mama and daddy sat perched close by, watching me. and so we are grateful to be entering into yet another new season of grace. thanks to our Father! i SO love joel osteen, and just started getting his "word of the day" emails. i woke up this morning (moving day) and the title of the email was "Get Excited About Your Future!"<br />
:) love that<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlrnOeJuiMb7RgtnAeBQMfEVnuNfUUhdsy8yTqeqtzjeGf3-3FhY9NeaGMgR_ox8sfL-ALeWkw95ZGBOMe8K4YdJhEPVfbYid5JbNpUPa-JBqQYEFIxyTKCTSkDeUvpy9Avdd3TneVRGTS/s1600/IMG_1480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlrnOeJuiMb7RgtnAeBQMfEVnuNfUUhdsy8yTqeqtzjeGf3-3FhY9NeaGMgR_ox8sfL-ALeWkw95ZGBOMe8K4YdJhEPVfbYid5JbNpUPa-JBqQYEFIxyTKCTSkDeUvpy9Avdd3TneVRGTS/s320/IMG_1480.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">tiny little eggs in their anthro pad</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiElguOUq17kspdV6MX6R1Z4JPWROYh7wAX6plN-J0SfzKzMAB3PYE-qVoIkJGRludviVF7FI0KCsga0zSqBNr1132d7dGr04OAEwvnWVPPptJp4P1TQNvjls3lCdR8mXEn382f1sY3OFeL/s1600/photo-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiElguOUq17kspdV6MX6R1Z4JPWROYh7wAX6plN-J0SfzKzMAB3PYE-qVoIkJGRludviVF7FI0KCsga0zSqBNr1132d7dGr04OAEwvnWVPPptJp4P1TQNvjls3lCdR8mXEn382f1sY3OFeL/s320/photo-1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hatched!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-49433297416199617982011-06-29T20:18:00.000-07:002011-07-12T20:56:30.279-07:00am i crazy?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0cH32n4gIFvaBXn1C1jv6g2da3QztKpFCqv2crYI08KHIEwjL82GfkGJ9R_Mv3GAap58PeFAJkRMNAnrukZnYJbNrhEpVWI2C0gzIC2p5lcwEVpbf13SsWV1t_ealzLGTdCuXh2-6agx/s1600/photo-7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0cH32n4gIFvaBXn1C1jv6g2da3QztKpFCqv2crYI08KHIEwjL82GfkGJ9R_Mv3GAap58PeFAJkRMNAnrukZnYJbNrhEpVWI2C0gzIC2p5lcwEVpbf13SsWV1t_ealzLGTdCuXh2-6agx/s320/photo-7.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>clearly i am. we traveled from the east coast to los angeles. and no, "we" does not include my husband.<br />
that's right. i toted my 2 1/2 year old and my 2 month old on two flights and one layover, <i>both</i> ways, by myself. and although my kids were well behaved (and i'm a proud mama), i am not going to lie, it is <i>hard</i> <i>work</i>...and not fun at all.<br />
not to mention the fact that there's a time change and a bit of jet lag that's involved with traveling to the other side of the country.<br />
<br />
but, it was all worth it in the end, because we got to be with our music man for a week. he worked the entire time, but waking up beside hm is all i really needed.<br />
<br />
a post to come about our time in los angeles...this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-66996611761546994382011-05-28T18:59:00.000-07:002011-05-28T18:59:42.284-07:00family night at the rock show<div style="text-align: center;">last night the band did a hometown show, and it was earlier in the evening so i got to take the kids to watch. it was my little girl's first show (and i forgot to take pictures!) and my first time taking two kids. i wore her in my moby and still got in some dance moves with my little Indie Rocker:) before the show our drummer put him on his lap and played drums with him and the crowd cheered--the proud look on his face was priceless. he told me a few months ago that he wanted to play drums first.</div><div style="text-align: center;">but lately he's been getting his mama's guitar out. because his little hands don't fit around the fret board, and our mini-Taylor is right handed and he's left handed, i think we are going to have to buy him a real one soon and let him get to work.</div><div style="text-align: center;">(besides, guitar is a lot quieter than drums. maybe drums can be his christmas present...)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-yPOhtefEiHW62tLJ8ex-X4XhcQ_Z-QTYKjQE0QDy9U0wuTndQYGQNNkQKdxemLcgh8wr-qqQtspdHuD1nwsIBax-M1v3pV183Y-A73jpO5ogxLaBKHjlk4Ck9o0ZY0Hr8o55Hq66s3b/s1600/IMG_1472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-yPOhtefEiHW62tLJ8ex-X4XhcQ_Z-QTYKjQE0QDy9U0wuTndQYGQNNkQKdxemLcgh8wr-qqQtspdHuD1nwsIBax-M1v3pV183Y-A73jpO5ogxLaBKHjlk4Ck9o0ZY0Hr8o55Hq66s3b/s320/IMG_1472.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-78896882618625256342011-05-28T18:51:00.000-07:002011-05-29T17:51:33.751-07:00i {heart} JB<div style="text-align: center;">so....i have the latest celebrity gossip on our family's favorite teen pop star</div><div style="text-align: center;">here it is:</div><div style="text-align: center;">Justin Bieber has gotten a new tattoo on his ribcage...the word "Yeshua" (Jesus) in Hebrew letters!</div><div style="text-align: center;">that's my boy JB! one of the many reasons i love that (in the words of Tina Fey) "dreamy Christmas elf"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfKsmuKYSlDVcm1yMC6LQTt6QqUW_BFD21xZCoM5j6YitIE2WEqRsviOs_DwFKj8hdVdseRrJ98PcEiEivcVO784QZdfYNUXp0WPvCbBHE7rtve3m7Z2o9et8VdhL-7K9iWONXjaTw4Cqe/s1600/Justin-Bieber-Reveals-Hebrew-Tattoo-on-Ribcage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfKsmuKYSlDVcm1yMC6LQTt6QqUW_BFD21xZCoM5j6YitIE2WEqRsviOs_DwFKj8hdVdseRrJ98PcEiEivcVO784QZdfYNUXp0WPvCbBHE7rtve3m7Z2o9et8VdhL-7K9iWONXjaTw4Cqe/s320/Justin-Bieber-Reveals-Hebrew-Tattoo-on-Ribcage.png" width="302" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-81549836414515925392011-05-26T13:10:00.000-07:002011-05-26T13:10:05.001-07:00good day sunshine<div style="text-align: center;">oh happy day--the pool is open!</div><div style="text-align: center;">so glad to be able to wear out my little tan man, while my beauty sleeps...</div><div style="text-align: center;">he has a good floatie swimsuit that he can swim by himself in, so it eliminates my anxiety about 'what if he jumps in the water while i'm nursing?' he'll have a nasty tan-line, but it's worth it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmv1Su3zMykRiVAUJlO5CVEKTHJHIemaamEDCXoK6eP6gqaBZ0UO8yS799pGolC0PfbPOS13lL65X7cE5T3o8Zn9ruBWDF5JU-fLVzDKed23_eFjfTcyCqpamsCdFJpWKIDaa9oRQvbcuS/s1600/IMG_1459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmv1Su3zMykRiVAUJlO5CVEKTHJHIemaamEDCXoK6eP6gqaBZ0UO8yS799pGolC0PfbPOS13lL65X7cE5T3o8Zn9ruBWDF5JU-fLVzDKed23_eFjfTcyCqpamsCdFJpWKIDaa9oRQvbcuS/s320/IMG_1459.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7Hq3G6lp4-qZdYM0BYFKOycLvtWhZgZalbWem1kwhMHejDuDDSjYXCZ3G4bsg2RrENNkSvjm1YLHaBE7Gy4KfWrjOcHgxQZovmV7BflMy98ruSzTlStR-bQ8nTBm9Q13keNlyWiSuMVx/s1600/IMG_1455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7Hq3G6lp4-qZdYM0BYFKOycLvtWhZgZalbWem1kwhMHejDuDDSjYXCZ3G4bsg2RrENNkSvjm1YLHaBE7Gy4KfWrjOcHgxQZovmV7BflMy98ruSzTlStR-bQ8nTBm9Q13keNlyWiSuMVx/s320/IMG_1455.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXvHlt3RRmXkZnDRGy6SAI47KIemHCV2SPuWm57RfOdHvvsRr5ogHa7UHP3D45Y3sWcUkGJ4b88N7eoFfDivTSLOZcaLMfjRf-OM6uqh5WmzCkOmql0XSs7inlIlZJdPZpmcV4J_L1k-5J/s1600/IMG_1460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXvHlt3RRmXkZnDRGy6SAI47KIemHCV2SPuWm57RfOdHvvsRr5ogHa7UHP3D45Y3sWcUkGJ4b88N7eoFfDivTSLOZcaLMfjRf-OM6uqh5WmzCkOmql0XSs7inlIlZJdPZpmcV4J_L1k-5J/s320/IMG_1460.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">it's far too hot in the south to be outside with no water near. that's why southern folk love them some water--beach, pool, lake, pond, garden hose...anything will do in this heat!</div><div style="text-align: center;">here's a perfect explanation, for your enjoyment:)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><object height="324" width="575"><param name="movie" value="http://www.vevo.com/VideoPlayer/Embedded?videoId=USAV61000014&playlist=false&autoplay=0&playerId=62FF0A5C-0D9E-4AC1-AF04-1D9E97EE3961&playerType=embedded&env=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.vevo.com/VideoPlayer/Embedded?videoId=USAV61000014&playlist=false&autoplay=0&playerId=62FF0A5C-0D9E-4AC1-AF04-1D9E97EE3961&playerType=embedded&env=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="575" height="324" bgcolor="#000000" wmode="transparent"></embed></object>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-64988904403875185102011-05-21T12:32:00.000-07:002011-05-22T18:42:24.504-07:00new addition, new season<div style="text-align: center;">ok, so here's where this blog <b><i>actually</i></b> begins. all previous posts were some that i pulled in from my other blog, which is private...so most pictures and all names have been removed. i wanted to have all the highlights of our family life of traveling over the past 2 years. this past year, however, has been the hardest. because of a miscarriage and a pregnancy following that, plus a few months when the band did radio promotions and traveled by plane instead of bus (meaning we couldn't go--too expensive), i have been not touring for an <i>entire year</i>! (besides a one week tour in florida last december) this is <b>very</b> unusual for us, and not in a good way. i learned back in <a href="http://thisfamrocks.blogspot.com/2010/02/stuck-apart.html">feb 2010</a> that it was too hard to be apart from my music man for more than 10 days...but the circumstances of this past year just made it impossible to travel. and so we have looooong awaited the birth of our daughter, our second child, because it meant that we could get back to normalcy---traveling together as a family.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">now that my sweet baby girl is here safely, we hope to get back on the road as soon as the band is back on tour.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">right now they are songwriting for a second album, and trying to write a radio single to follow up their last one for pop radio. songwriting season is a fav of mine--every time he brings home a new song for me to hear i get super excited and we dream about all it's potential....i can't explain how insanely talented my hubs is. songwriting season also means that music man gets to be home more often. he took a month off for the birth of our daughter (2 weeks before, 2 weeks after) and i am spoiled now to the max. he just left for 3 days to do some shows up north, and so i am alone with my two kids for the first time. maybe God is just being super gracious to me, but it is going so well that i am actually having fun!</div><div style="text-align: center;">now he'll be traveling to NY, LA, etc to song-write with other artists....and i am oh-so-hoping to get to travel a bit too! first he'll go to NYC next week, during our 4 year anniversary, and so we are going to see if i can get up there too. ahhh, to dream. i will try not to get my hopes up too high. </div><div style="text-align: center;">now that i'm 2 1/2 weeks in to life with 2 kids, i feel confident that i am capable of traveling with them. she is a dream and he is being so good (of course, he has his toddler moments, but for the most part, he's my angel). </div><div style="text-align: center;">maybe that seems ambitious of me, but that is the life that i am used to, and the life that we are committed to as a family.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">another change that is coming to our family is that we have to move in the next month. we have had the joy of living with our friends for the past 9 months. 4 adults + 5 kids under 6 in the house. it was such a special season that we will all cherish forever. the other family is most likely moving to europe (oh the tears) and we will be living alone again. if you can believe it, we have only lived alone for the first 6 months of our marriage. plus, when we are on tour we live in a bus with 12 people packed in....needless to say, we are looking forward to this coming season of family time. i am anxious to find out what house God has in store for us. He always blesses us immensely! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">out at the park--just the 3 of us</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid0nAaDgdYb8r49pIm8jR32KB93wjLljtbu42FCDlGRylQr2esnIaF5GBNhG4Aso_ULBZuPIyd_6me0La56LkGLkzcwbx8lEMxU1W0K25EkSli8dWweFuwyPZdWJatepHMALeDG4wSr9l0/s1600/IMG_1446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid0nAaDgdYb8r49pIm8jR32KB93wjLljtbu42FCDlGRylQr2esnIaF5GBNhG4Aso_ULBZuPIyd_6me0La56LkGLkzcwbx8lEMxU1W0K25EkSli8dWweFuwyPZdWJatepHMALeDG4wSr9l0/s320/IMG_1446.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_O8EEg7UIqY9YIATnwR45VCArHqIqtY3Kj6SOSs8Go9Blq7d-tajCKOxc-HVGQkKXycqx3eL_v0vQ8ZhJoVnR3nndYuMi3AAmqzpkg-T_xRjN1PotpgnD0UDZAh0Vbjc4dHAutQ4v3la/s1600/IMG_1442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_O8EEg7UIqY9YIATnwR45VCArHqIqtY3Kj6SOSs8Go9Blq7d-tajCKOxc-HVGQkKXycqx3eL_v0vQ8ZhJoVnR3nndYuMi3AAmqzpkg-T_xRjN1PotpgnD0UDZAh0Vbjc4dHAutQ4v3la/s320/IMG_1442.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">happy summer!</div>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-46941851084104797262011-05-09T12:34:00.000-07:002011-05-21T12:42:06.720-07:00peace like a river<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRd0Uxia8OcvdvXKvWoN-k5C8FEiWsEo3TTXUohp9VnIpXP3efojNC9wnn0OQQqFQ3JxiqmoX5RrC5BrSozT8jmMuyHoAXNTOlFs0TveNra2KB_kQRg_Vo3CwU4qZ358T-zmCGrq5D60I/s1600/IMG_9291.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRd0Uxia8OcvdvXKvWoN-k5C8FEiWsEo3TTXUohp9VnIpXP3efojNC9wnn0OQQqFQ3JxiqmoX5RrC5BrSozT8jmMuyHoAXNTOlFs0TveNra2KB_kQRg_Vo3CwU4qZ358T-zmCGrq5D60I/s320/IMG_9291.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">my sweet baby girl has just entered our lives, and i am the happiest woman in this world. </div><div style="text-align: center;">every time that i have a child i become the happiest that i've ever been in my life</div><div style="text-align: center;">my joy has just doubled</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">the birth was nothing short of miraculous and amazing. i am blessed and highly thankful. i had a water birth at a birthing center. i am still working on writing my birth story, so that will be coming soon.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">this is my angel</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnq9g1gT5SoLwJxm2vK93oFT86uNuF8mxY7W0iVKqmwnv8GqdKq0MrgGecYfbW9nfutUotvWHloqgimTlcP5ArSJnbOXUAYFIziwPxHdpXQdhgs1AV_Gfgp6idOJU2di-tgPdSpEZVCgrM/s1600/salem5days_3b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnq9g1gT5SoLwJxm2vK93oFT86uNuF8mxY7W0iVKqmwnv8GqdKq0MrgGecYfbW9nfutUotvWHloqgimTlcP5ArSJnbOXUAYFIziwPxHdpXQdhgs1AV_Gfgp6idOJU2di-tgPdSpEZVCgrM/s320/salem5days_3b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-30972625402773266862011-03-27T12:00:00.000-07:002011-05-21T12:02:08.756-07:00my baby girl shower<div style="text-align: center;">last weekend journee and beth threw me a baby shower. they made every detail a secret, so when i arrived home after church in time for the party, our house was transformed into a sweet "green" themed shower for me. the invitations were even hand-made with recycled materials (so cute!) here's some other details...</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJoIL1udaqU7hdf_luAFUPQQ1gaNEDumaHvJ95ZXdjH5iOu9dyd43R6XF_DqQXn0QMP1FVPZ5ld7YiG513IyKZzDyEFsFFAJRt9fc8cSNDpC3bLLB9Fg9AX6YAmN-HOK3gJoh680Oivw/s1600/IMG_8573.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588828134395582914" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJoIL1udaqU7hdf_luAFUPQQ1gaNEDumaHvJ95ZXdjH5iOu9dyd43R6XF_DqQXn0QMP1FVPZ5ld7YiG513IyKZzDyEFsFFAJRt9fc8cSNDpC3bLLB9Fg9AX6YAmN-HOK3gJoh680Oivw/s400/IMG_8573.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>"garden" cupcakes! peas, carrots, lettuce and radishes</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUDGXWNz-QKqlA1L1RFh-gHZW6nxrFLzcks_v1-Ay938WytlgLj3TsVcdnWslMSqOOivcdOZoLJdWWgJutdN-tiD41nUcnwL1e02g2LqPEJ8pUvlv-2RdlpwNzj_j0SyRknhnHN5md5nM/s1600/IMG_8581.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588828128805569842" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUDGXWNz-QKqlA1L1RFh-gHZW6nxrFLzcks_v1-Ay938WytlgLj3TsVcdnWslMSqOOivcdOZoLJdWWgJutdN-tiD41nUcnwL1e02g2LqPEJ8pUvlv-2RdlpwNzj_j0SyRknhnHN5md5nM/s400/IMG_8581.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>we have a juicer at home and we make fresh juice every day (can't get much healthier than juicing!), and so all the drinks were fresh juiced-- apple/carrot/cucumber, watermelon/pineapple/blueberry, and watermelon juice. so delicious!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzBvdnXHRZDGdADAy-jyIFDnUasFV2GRi306Lo-LI9a-rXwaFGK20QW48R8QtKoY-JiZDmw6B4rk7eNC-wFWlmMlNKcCWqcLxTqUujffrkEdCVxAmEaB2J1zH2BQF-ijVy_SrKFNp_bck/s1600/IMG_8577.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588828123863727890" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzBvdnXHRZDGdADAy-jyIFDnUasFV2GRi306Lo-LI9a-rXwaFGK20QW48R8QtKoY-JiZDmw6B4rk7eNC-wFWlmMlNKcCWqcLxTqUujffrkEdCVxAmEaB2J1zH2BQF-ijVy_SrKFNp_bck/s400/IMG_8577.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>fresh, homemade vegetable Borsh--YUM!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIy5NM0ZqqGizDil8-3J9w4orlbmuQxYrWwQe3P9jZRYcRCyZaLaSG2Zx0g4KIrk6Bv4rubDHlByAIfk4uYM5jplFhyccIIg75_W1pw9-kzOuv5G0H30oH2X5hT7V4L3XXRIi2Y_YYiBk/s1600/IMG_8578.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588828119068406306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIy5NM0ZqqGizDil8-3J9w4orlbmuQxYrWwQe3P9jZRYcRCyZaLaSG2Zx0g4KIrk6Bv4rubDHlByAIfk4uYM5jplFhyccIIg75_W1pw9-kzOuv5G0H30oH2X5hT7V4L3XXRIi2Y_YYiBk/s400/IMG_8578.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>homemade whole wheat rolls</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzj1nCQfoz2BvzYpSXZtp979HthczC4Ypl-wdlnqR6b0tLQkyoTCcnaA1ww3G-spKVSQFZvMll8qv4qXlR4lE4dElwpF9i0oyzXgAJSIrvZ6lJ5T5pYNiz7op0cZ8lELsbCE_LeqZYBCE/s1600/IMG_8579.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588828113488908226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzj1nCQfoz2BvzYpSXZtp979HthczC4Ypl-wdlnqR6b0tLQkyoTCcnaA1ww3G-spKVSQFZvMll8qv4qXlR4lE4dElwpF9i0oyzXgAJSIrvZ6lJ5T5pYNiz7op0cZ8lELsbCE_LeqZYBCE/s400/IMG_8579.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>lovely flowers</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-kcPYn3NBhyphenhyphenqjVnLzw1bKSyCutHs5qR-I4xN-2jY902KroYEs8w21uYACDdtORf2JchnapsXV9szlVzaaie-40Cw3QddYsKVFcIjMIaelGxGtWfrIlnyRIpqWfb58cFGQbJHy_W1p3bU/s1600/IMG_8580.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588828851905713074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-kcPYn3NBhyphenhyphenqjVnLzw1bKSyCutHs5qR-I4xN-2jY902KroYEs8w21uYACDdtORf2JchnapsXV9szlVzaaie-40Cw3QddYsKVFcIjMIaelGxGtWfrIlnyRIpqWfb58cFGQbJHy_W1p3bU/s400/IMG_8580.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>a garland i will most surely use for all of this baby girl's birthdays (made with the left-over fabric scraps that were used for the invitations)</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSHYHUXri3h1BnUmXsUB7F4RRMgrNGQ34hdHNOKPsiasft2KzNzxD22RJnXBegd_N8Q9TPioailMjSn3giA9-jCsH3VAighVwtAixeiMVNhyeBLvJftRWZOk_5cxVfjiaaLzx3Rq9uRN4/s1600/IMG_8583.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588828840955573010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSHYHUXri3h1BnUmXsUB7F4RRMgrNGQ34hdHNOKPsiasft2KzNzxD22RJnXBegd_N8Q9TPioailMjSn3giA9-jCsH3VAighVwtAixeiMVNhyeBLvJftRWZOk_5cxVfjiaaLzx3Rq9uRN4/s400/IMG_8583.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 267px;" /></a><br />
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it was a blessing, and and i am thankful for the sweet women that i have in my life here. someone commented after the shower that i just have the nicest group of friends:)<br />
and i feel like i have just about everything that i need for this baby now. i even had my first dream about birthing her the other night and she was so beautiful, so now, i just can't wait to hold her for real!<br />
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</div>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-9802175123512141062011-03-27T11:59:00.000-07:002011-05-21T11:59:55.713-07:00plastic yuckinessthe sneaking suspicion that plastic might not be very good for us has only just begun. we all try to buy BPA free now, right? well now they are saying you should also search for EPA free. and now studies are confirming that ALL plastics (including our beloved BPA-free plastics) leak hormones that mimic estrogen. the list of harmful chemicals in this substance that we've sadly grown far too dependent on, probably goes on and on....<div></div><div>so in our household we've thrown away ALL of our plastic kids plates, bowls and cups and replaced them with stainless steel (glass and ceramic are too fragile to trust with little hands). we bought every kid this set</div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJiaYAsOwR7rKxvnbE8n-UQstn4ATmW7ZiVHDFUC7yZvJwIIrmfX48qVaJ9E7c9l3LPgT4BK1zcnT5NqDg0LY-O9In_7nSvDjzxwDb2VzmXHeTfgifcOorzY51aLCQ3bY5M3l8bc4IuVs/s1600/stainless+steel.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJiaYAsOwR7rKxvnbE8n-UQstn4ATmW7ZiVHDFUC7yZvJwIIrmfX48qVaJ9E7c9l3LPgT4BK1zcnT5NqDg0LY-O9In_7nSvDjzxwDb2VzmXHeTfgifcOorzY51aLCQ3bY5M3l8bc4IuVs/s400/stainless+steel.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584790723083829074" /></a><br />
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and so, i'm the first to admit, this is only the first, tiniest step. i would love to make our lives as plastic free as possible. and yes, i'm still guzzling my 80-100 oz of water a day from my plastic Camelbak. but i do plan to purchase Camelbak's stainless steel version as soon as i can! (yes, for all you Camelbak fans out there, i saw one at the store the other day!) <div>but the first steps i wanted to take where with my precious little love. the mother in me wants to protect my children as best as i can....i feel much better already:)</div>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-30874481819451954602011-03-10T11:58:00.000-08:002011-05-21T11:58:39.288-07:00some day i would love to....<div style="text-align: center;">this is so inspiring! i would love to be able to make this my reality...</div><div><object height="324" width="576"><param name="movie" value="http://d.yimg.com/nl/cbe/vitality/player.swf"><param name="flashVars" value="startScreenCarouselUI=hide&vid=24454760&shareUrl=http%3A//vitality.yahoo.com/video-second-act-the-johnson-family-24454760&"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed width="576" height="324" allowfullscreen="true" src="http://d.yimg.com/nl/cbe/vitality/player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="startScreenCarouselUI=hide&vid=24454760&shareUrl=http%3A//vitality.yahoo.com/video-second-act-the-johnson-family-24454760&"></embed></object></div>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-43374257864858876002011-03-06T11:53:00.000-08:002011-05-21T11:56:37.459-07:00dad makes fun happenthat's what a picture frame in our household says, and boy is it true! our music man came home last weekend and this weekend as well, and when he is home, we cherish our time together as a family!<br />
<div></div><div>last friday we took him to the movie theatre for the first time. and what movie would it be besides Justin Bieber: Never Say Never!!? yes, this little family does in fact have Bieber Fever. i have to admit i was the last one to catch on--music man gave it to little man when he gave him a Justin Bieber doll for Christmas and started watching youtube videos of him before he was famous. and eventually, little man gave it to me. and now, even at my age, if i met him in person i might go into a screaming/crying fit and pass out....haha, but seriously this kid is SO incredibly talented, and comes from a very strong Christian background (his mom goes to church with some friends of ours in Atlanta and she requested a meeting with music man, so he got to sit down and talk with her one time), and so i am totally rooting for this kid--for him to succeed and for him to succeed with all his morals and values in tact. i used to think he might just be famous for a minute, but after seeing the movie and reading a vanity fair article on him, i decided he might just surprise us, like justin timberlake and usher both did....</div><div>so our son is totally obsessed with him. i have to listen to his music (ok so yes i sortof enjoy it) all day while he dances and sings, and he'll even start pretending he IS Justin Bieber....he'll fall down and say "Justin Bieber fell down!" or he'll talk about the 'Justin Bieber coat' that he's wearing or the 'justin bieber shoes' that he's wearing....it's a hoot.</div><div><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhSEmTHkBc-kUAscsYBlAtVqy3RN7ouGIZEHy4_kCEmqRHKKQJIaOTc7HymDZOPIoLm7lDhATwnY5v2f21Yy1yBcK-6Q-C1HC5I1fE0MVNEnR7xRufWyOfVN_Ak1AweIag586GtMPkIs/s1600/P2250722.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581127139526703538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhSEmTHkBc-kUAscsYBlAtVqy3RN7ouGIZEHy4_kCEmqRHKKQJIaOTc7HymDZOPIoLm7lDhATwnY5v2f21Yy1yBcK-6Q-C1HC5I1fE0MVNEnR7xRufWyOfVN_Ak1AweIag586GtMPkIs/s400/P2250722.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 225px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72h0UJ7VNZmUj4HxYmDOnIN-rPMGrHpUDqdiP5Vpw4_-Iokngf72cuNrIc4h-1LBMNePF3RYiKkoudGXvBr81arh6S0xWusXamWoSaoRwF6S75K2WcrXJEwqzrntdMmFn2CyPzxiA-Lw/s1600/P2250720.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581127138469550386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72h0UJ7VNZmUj4HxYmDOnIN-rPMGrHpUDqdiP5Vpw4_-Iokngf72cuNrIc4h-1LBMNePF3RYiKkoudGXvBr81arh6S0xWusXamWoSaoRwF6S75K2WcrXJEwqzrntdMmFn2CyPzxiA-Lw/s400/P2250720.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 225px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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the next night we all went to eat sushi-our favorite meal. they kid-rigged his chopsticks for him, and it worked--he ate with chopsticks for the first time<br />
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after that, we made a last-minute decision to go to a professional hockey game! i figured there wouldn't be anyone there, but it was packed! who knew?!<br />
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</div>this weekend...it has rained the entire time, plus mama is sooooo tired! we managed to get him to an indoor play place yesterday. <br />
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</div><div>today we went to church and then lounged at home all day (ahhhh). and we get one more day with daddy tomorrow, so who knows what kind of fun we'll get into!</div>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-76025336769669443702011-02-27T11:51:00.000-08:002011-05-22T18:40:04.315-07:00boys and their trucks...<div style="text-align: center;">one day, at a very young age, little man woke up obsessed with trucks. <i>obsessed</i>. i had done nothing at all to spark his interest in them, and i had never talked to him about them before. i am, after all, a girl, and i didn't care to 'make' him love trucks. is there something that is just instilled into the dna of boys that causes this? i mean, to watch gender differences at such an early age, is astounding. sure, he loves to put on the girls' pink shoes in the house, and if he had it his way his rainboots would have been pink instead of camo. he doesn't know the gender 'rules' about colors yet. i'm not talking about those gender differences. i'm talking about the fact that he is obsessed with cars and trucks and dinosaurs, not with dressing up, dolls or strawberry shortcake or ballerinas.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;">this is him just yesterday at our favorite park, working the "excavator"...</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJ9rRi5EUIh8jh7aoRSP5eWrW3iIlJFSEZ09K-NG5-MpN2E-VrxBAQe15u6upPotVD89xdx4xIBQOJAfVJvJwxJLB7ZLXoG28eRznD-2y6KNCDxUnrHswlLxo415-npBA4L0cU7ZtoTc/s1600/IMG_1281.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578577679697500194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJ9rRi5EUIh8jh7aoRSP5eWrW3iIlJFSEZ09K-NG5-MpN2E-VrxBAQe15u6upPotVD89xdx4xIBQOJAfVJvJwxJLB7ZLXoG28eRznD-2y6KNCDxUnrHswlLxo415-npBA4L0cU7ZtoTc/s400/IMG_1281.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5taGoPrbgYVVTkAuQxqpNX9QCELlBAlUhh04zEAd7eh6h6WkdLd5_ZJW2Iui4W56z7RcZZSa_6Qti6uxEk16EhI1lgOo-n884NoOGQ6-pJGyEUjsgCHxIcSU6tg5tjhc68yFV5JxXOyU/s1600/IMG_1284.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578577664549400482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5taGoPrbgYVVTkAuQxqpNX9QCELlBAlUhh04zEAd7eh6h6WkdLd5_ZJW2Iui4W56z7RcZZSa_6Qti6uxEk16EhI1lgOo-n884NoOGQ6-pJGyEUjsgCHxIcSU6tg5tjhc68yFV5JxXOyU/s400/IMG_1284.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">today i took him to a parking lot where a company parks their huge work trucks, walking distance from my house. this was seriously a big deal.</div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_3CUXbzmGFeYUeoah1UbepcxbyCSvUMqGHC3_qpSd6cED5oGiOJ_5yY2nj2I_8RKFxwpZiYmrXhiP7X0v6m_Q7uzWWsYBxY1UKB3m9Hohf7MLW3D05V4Z6kWxo0IqzOloBimakW_qoYc/s1600/IMG_1305.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578580240260946018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_3CUXbzmGFeYUeoah1UbepcxbyCSvUMqGHC3_qpSd6cED5oGiOJ_5yY2nj2I_8RKFxwpZiYmrXhiP7X0v6m_Q7uzWWsYBxY1UKB3m9Hohf7MLW3D05V4Z6kWxo0IqzOloBimakW_qoYc/s400/IMG_1305.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67b5hjkE7nidqePqas3yEddl7IzalkIRG-HvYVcc4YnP1cNKX_GIOtC2mTuksXIHysVlMC-iSXiKSOcO3Qr_091CZUapDmOmonHe92MgiGcBL5M2pv32st4ZPDdhoL-UpxD5amkLrZKA/s1600/IMG_1306.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578579685153926450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67b5hjkE7nidqePqas3yEddl7IzalkIRG-HvYVcc4YnP1cNKX_GIOtC2mTuksXIHysVlMC-iSXiKSOcO3Qr_091CZUapDmOmonHe92MgiGcBL5M2pv32st4ZPDdhoL-UpxD5amkLrZKA/s400/IMG_1306.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">before we left, he hugged the bucket of the excavator and said, "bye bye excavator! i love you!"</div><div style="text-align: center;">yes, really.</div>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-66629778674676404412011-02-22T11:50:00.000-08:002011-05-21T11:51:00.834-07:00playdough fun<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTrRS4RIPOLd4_Ib6f03K_gG0p6wtNUhGLGWiZuN3hgnXWYpawecMh1mDgmKgtainKDrtY7TFE4JBXpWyi49hSgViWP2UN_bSdmQsLdm7HvkRrytfN8gg1sMgDdUadte2-YdY2yHQ1meQ/s1600/IMG_1264.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576711205918829746" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTrRS4RIPOLd4_Ib6f03K_gG0p6wtNUhGLGWiZuN3hgnXWYpawecMh1mDgmKgtainKDrtY7TFE4JBXpWyi49hSgViWP2UN_bSdmQsLdm7HvkRrytfN8gg1sMgDdUadte2-YdY2yHQ1meQ/s400/IMG_1264.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgPkY40_3YXSjxsZ9IgHjEVw6baQmrWtqz1ku55k-8oZT5av3zlZ_VKAXx336HplQ-UGjgdpKYyAupnp6V6vUgyHWXT2TqMJfIiCUyl227DuOZuRfHu34yGylma5lFZQ0MTqdtOKxpGQ/s1600/IMG_1270.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576711201927099234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgPkY40_3YXSjxsZ9IgHjEVw6baQmrWtqz1ku55k-8oZT5av3zlZ_VKAXx336HplQ-UGjgdpKYyAupnp6V6vUgyHWXT2TqMJfIiCUyl227DuOZuRfHu34yGylma5lFZQ0MTqdtOKxpGQ/s400/IMG_1270.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3z1b_DbRCiyqKan_om3p2xCTHtTN_0GRcBVCZqqGtsb9JYW5Q-uO1OjRUmnZvf5XA1RhiNnk66d9uad6YfF0np4PPzw1YcF_tV11MUJpTuzsxIlqVYeMOc6VhwVMnOFCez_jQZhyphenhyphenihbo/s1600/IMG_1272.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576711201038772258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3z1b_DbRCiyqKan_om3p2xCTHtTN_0GRcBVCZqqGtsb9JYW5Q-uO1OjRUmnZvf5XA1RhiNnk66d9uad6YfF0np4PPzw1YcF_tV11MUJpTuzsxIlqVYeMOc6VhwVMnOFCez_jQZhyphenhyphenihbo/s400/IMG_1272.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-32704811086750460682011-02-18T11:49:00.000-08:002011-05-21T11:50:06.136-07:00warmnesstoday is the kind of day that i skipped class for in college. in honor of the warm weather, and the early spring that is soon-to-come, here are some little musical wonderfuls that just make me feel like spring<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Suyjm_gi6GU" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8QOxKCKC09A" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-85799379788891621152011-02-15T11:48:00.000-08:002011-05-21T11:49:07.481-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">the other half of my heart wasn't with me physically on valentine's day, but i did come home to this display of roses and a-ma-zing chocolates....<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl_xCc4ZDJ0dpcQadXToB9McrhAWcaboZAHDVawM5MmtZpX0R_SZaaVB7Dpve-8Kw_pxN44DYOTSQpw9nQKpPh33rgRxtaofzGPW7uJNIRNetXaoheEBhSBbpCKtbC480HtxAJJWH27SA/s1600/IMG_1252.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575237306700661794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl_xCc4ZDJ0dpcQadXToB9McrhAWcaboZAHDVawM5MmtZpX0R_SZaaVB7Dpve-8Kw_pxN44DYOTSQpw9nQKpPh33rgRxtaofzGPW7uJNIRNetXaoheEBhSBbpCKtbC480HtxAJJWH27SA/s400/IMG_1252.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">a rose for my nightstand</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvHG0f_l82IatZ2CRqZ5nnZ7YGMgKPmV4dDwdIpLbMIq56_nyjYZaKrJcRGcZiBOIHA1Be4ZEBO48tymBm9oaOf8drpYUmju6IhFomwB7Vqafxo-O_JBCfMMZqjLHCZQ3WwRjw9Jssbc/s1600/IMG_1249.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575237300468429426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvHG0f_l82IatZ2CRqZ5nnZ7YGMgKPmV4dDwdIpLbMIq56_nyjYZaKrJcRGcZiBOIHA1Be4ZEBO48tymBm9oaOf8drpYUmju6IhFomwB7Vqafxo-O_JBCfMMZqjLHCZQ3WwRjw9Jssbc/s400/IMG_1249.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">it will take me months to eat the amount of gourmet chocolate in this box...</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGO197fWrl95yPmR6Sm1hMSXd-pf4LSqp_fGemDQ5q0RvFa6iC8aYIV3Ir7nqn6ZC5mlpEdZyMHCZzaS3oA9AZMsESOzPFShEUnuAHzyxh0fkAatzTr2DKjbDFd848dNnJGymxMP7XgPE/s1600/IMG_1248.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575237302882646962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGO197fWrl95yPmR6Sm1hMSXd-pf4LSqp_fGemDQ5q0RvFa6iC8aYIV3Ir7nqn6ZC5mlpEdZyMHCZzaS3oA9AZMsESOzPFShEUnuAHzyxh0fkAatzTr2DKjbDFd848dNnJGymxMP7XgPE/s400/IMG_1248.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">of course my ideal valentine's day would be spent <i>with</i> him, but we got to go on a date last week before he left. and this was incredibly sweet and thoughtful of him. i felt loved:)</div></div>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-38295573097414653932011-02-02T11:46:00.000-08:002011-05-21T11:47:41.287-07:00my drummer boy<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEOJjHQugcw2fPK8QTJeGgsEV1NjjravRDA7QGIH5i-sUiVkFU3YJE664h67ZvEa0uhtlo1gZC9W4ACFVT1cudz5kp1jfRhiatITL_AaCdp3SGJRSTFvf1oqYlkNRJALPCk7YLroveTmU/s1600/IMG_1194.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569132899924517922" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEOJjHQugcw2fPK8QTJeGgsEV1NjjravRDA7QGIH5i-sUiVkFU3YJE664h67ZvEa0uhtlo1gZC9W4ACFVT1cudz5kp1jfRhiatITL_AaCdp3SGJRSTFvf1oqYlkNRJALPCk7YLroveTmU/s400/IMG_1194.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 346px;" /></a>where does he get all his 'cool' moves? well, maybe i do know the answer to that question...this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-12915296179313629452011-02-01T11:43:00.000-08:002011-05-21T11:45:20.390-07:00meeting my 3rd niece<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0HWph83CZDVEZp_s5fHvGtwQl0UYEL5bwKfvO_h4u9TkjppxzlDH-QTaF0uFWtS3pyN5jPzJO45wHnr0HhF8U8to9UKkjOuB1t-nOz4chu0iwhR2Ii5-V1DpgZj-WL5iFMWHGlQnz3I/s1600/IMG_1219.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568712306070290178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0HWph83CZDVEZp_s5fHvGtwQl0UYEL5bwKfvO_h4u9TkjppxzlDH-QTaF0uFWtS3pyN5jPzJO45wHnr0HhF8U8to9UKkjOuB1t-nOz4chu0iwhR2Ii5-V1DpgZj-WL5iFMWHGlQnz3I/s400/IMG_1219.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>i just had the joy of spending 5 wonderful days in charleston with my two darling nieces. most of my time was spent playing in a wonderful world of 2 year olds--little man and his cousin had so much fun together and i bonded with her even more. she's my little buddy! and of course i caught a snuggle from the sweet little baby miss whenever i could. my sister is doing so well and just trying to get some much needed sleep. on sunday it must have been 65 degrees! the warmth was welcomed with a bicycle ride on the beach with my brother, our kiddos behind us in baby seats. it was terribly sad to leave such a scene of sweetness, but i'm hoping to make one last trip there in the spring before baby girl gets here.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpsfq_zSlIyHUf2SPPHSZUtlhqLDfvgbhZJC2OtGRTPMxjpBbRelOU1koqDU3Bj1wHx2IJaPw0k5eOOrQXW6mB27IjhN4P-dmqVjTXZasJvQHu-KSilxDHm1fQtwqWbWPBqfjlFPIFt8s/s1600/IMG_1243.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568714427330344418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpsfq_zSlIyHUf2SPPHSZUtlhqLDfvgbhZJC2OtGRTPMxjpBbRelOU1koqDU3Bj1wHx2IJaPw0k5eOOrQXW6mB27IjhN4P-dmqVjTXZasJvQHu-KSilxDHm1fQtwqWbWPBqfjlFPIFt8s/s400/IMG_1243.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 391px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhhDmBCiXOh4bwBqkBV888aOiJXq_YK7Lt8Ujo-HOnzCAxHkvgf6JQ-0K8SiZnhpJKze0Yy1l81u0MBfN5iSIEevTAXdSBXiaRVk57kNSK2Pky0P8GIqF_bLlDCheb1ow9JmjoCd_vT0E/s1600/IMG_1240.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568714418254028770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhhDmBCiXOh4bwBqkBV888aOiJXq_YK7Lt8Ujo-HOnzCAxHkvgf6JQ-0K8SiZnhpJKze0Yy1l81u0MBfN5iSIEevTAXdSBXiaRVk57kNSK2Pky0P8GIqF_bLlDCheb1ow9JmjoCd_vT0E/s400/IMG_1240.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-14546833887213190902011-01-11T11:40:00.000-08:002011-05-21T11:42:37.448-07:00here in kansas citywell, this month is a big month for us, but it requires nothing of us but <i>waiting</i>. and so music man has a lot of time off. (that's right, time OFF for once!) but instead of spending that time off at home relaxing, chilling, and getting the rest he deserves after all this time, he's found other opportunities for work and is spending most of his time in kansas city. so we are with him here, as challenging as it is. being the traveling family that we are, i've learned that sometimes it's worth it to give up my own comforts of <i>home</i> and a daily routine in order to give music man the joy of having us near him. and the beauty of his work is that it allows us to be near him all day. if we are together, then we are able to see him at any moment of the day that we choose.<br />
<div>and so we are here, staying with another (very wonderful) family, while music man and the dad of that family work in his basement studio during the day. </div><div>there are 4 other kids here (ages 14, 10, 5, 2). the two youngest are both mixed. the dad is black and white and the mom is white. the 2 year old and my son are <i>quite</i> a sight together. they have the same hair except hers is blonde and she has blue eyes. someone asked us the other day when we were all out if they were twins. (needless to say, i am trying to get as many hair tips as i can, from them as well as another family here we are friends with who have mixed kids. taking care of little man's hair everyday, as of late, has become the most dreaded part of the day for me)</div><div>so far our time here has been very family focused. the snow left us home-bound for a few days. plus, i am without a car in general. and so the usual independent, get-out-and-go <i>me</i> is forced to quiet down and just....be. </div><div></div><div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjzrvWIi5MpdOZuIRhfZmUxWe5kKZlM3h2ZsLjGjy76sRmROKNIQdxtSDJNxt-P4vYyrs1w_kKzgmdcVRyxIutNH5DIKqyY8_p2Rl0VRSajU2Ac3ZrLHsz1JUbok-Ft_AeyMp0GQnLNP8/s1600/IMG_1157.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562840061900175618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjzrvWIi5MpdOZuIRhfZmUxWe5kKZlM3h2ZsLjGjy76sRmROKNIQdxtSDJNxt-P4vYyrs1w_kKzgmdcVRyxIutNH5DIKqyY8_p2Rl0VRSajU2Ac3ZrLHsz1JUbok-Ft_AeyMp0GQnLNP8/s400/IMG_1157.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3DLiDfA9XLDmXxx0fC_9rph2A8yXeE0XOQKYDg_cHTD_mAOYttgj7XPKyySDi33vmVxSfB7IzJKZDQRqvy6ywvGsRAFrSU5qmz1cxBhLoDtsgwc7yXSlIWNLSl_3GnO9eFAM4nI2Gzs/s1600/IMG_1158.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562840057838699410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3DLiDfA9XLDmXxx0fC_9rph2A8yXeE0XOQKYDg_cHTD_mAOYttgj7XPKyySDi33vmVxSfB7IzJKZDQRqvy6ywvGsRAFrSU5qmz1cxBhLoDtsgwc7yXSlIWNLSl_3GnO9eFAM4nI2Gzs/s400/IMG_1158.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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</div>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-53852886178688478542010-12-25T11:37:00.000-08:002011-05-21T11:39:13.568-07:00christmas 2010<div>christmas eve this year we invited friends over for munchies and drinks before heading to midnight Mass at the local Cathedral. my Catholic church is much more liberal and laid-back, so it was fun to experience Mass in such a formal setting. my hubs has always gone to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve since he was a teenager, and this was my first time. it was also my first time celebrating the entire Advent season the Catholic way and I have to say that I feel like this was the first year that I truly experienced Christmas. the waiting and anticipating of the birth of our Savior all month, and then, as the clock struck midnight, to celebrate that He is here, our Savior, our Light of the World--at last. oh the feeling was indescribable and beautiful. and it still lingers, since Advent lasts well into the New Year....i cannot wait to celebrate Advent for years to come with all my children, teaching them about the birth of Christ, and all that happened throughout Jewish history leading up to it.</div><div></div><div>and christmas morning was just magical this year as well. presents were not placed under the tree until the children were nestled all snug in their beds on Christmas Eve. and so, Christmas morning, 4 children awoke to find presents overflowing from the bottom of the tree, packed stockings, and special things already out from Santa. It was really all about the kids this year, and i remembered again the Christmases of my childhood and felt excited to create such special memories for my little man all of these upcoming years. it has never been so fun! especially since this was his first year really understanding (to a degree) what was going on. Santa filled his stocking with work trucks, and one of his big presents was a tricycle. He learned to peddle around the house in just a few quick minutes. he is also learning to (finally!) smile for the camera. he is such a big boy now!</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfa9ieqLUcKGa3oGB5yO1OFPQrYjDkpfLP8iW5hG7HJu2WcdNxDDkiAOji-dczD8ITehvi92tv2Lkig-tairl9jxTY1Xd7Q2tHVn-eDC8viME4pekcKA7lqFUhMRpZRjNQgRNsSpdpI9w/s1600/IMG_8558.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558174480309246642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfa9ieqLUcKGa3oGB5yO1OFPQrYjDkpfLP8iW5hG7HJu2WcdNxDDkiAOji-dczD8ITehvi92tv2Lkig-tairl9jxTY1Xd7Q2tHVn-eDC8viME4pekcKA7lqFUhMRpZRjNQgRNsSpdpI9w/s400/IMG_8558.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 267px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJzvTMnjCLcU9CBy3pGvXJ_moignsxdE9_4iz_BEmn1YcQ2SM88SqDOnoGbi4KjKkxoLxCOrG3-acX1JUJ23z7CBq7thzxc_RqkaWCQacidnQv9Qj5hXbFRZ6MVVxkONzRhU6Xs4HJUko/s1600/IMG_8557.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558174475477280434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJzvTMnjCLcU9CBy3pGvXJ_moignsxdE9_4iz_BEmn1YcQ2SM88SqDOnoGbi4KjKkxoLxCOrG3-acX1JUJ23z7CBq7thzxc_RqkaWCQacidnQv9Qj5hXbFRZ6MVVxkONzRhU6Xs4HJUko/s400/IMG_8557.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-2438521552250422512010-12-05T11:34:00.000-08:002011-05-21T11:36:20.512-07:00thanksgivingwe spent thanksgiving in charlotte with friends. we had 4 or 5 deep fried turkeys, and we all brought sides and deserts. sooooo yummy:) ate too much, don't we all?<br />
then we drove to sunset beach for one day. i've lost the cord to my camera, so i only have pics from my phone:( i did get to see my dear cousin stephanie, which is always a treat for me! we spent the morning playing in the sand on the beach before it turned really cold. the rest of the day was spent by the fire in a house on the marsh.<br />
this year i was thankful for having music man home for 10 whole days, that i have a beautiful (i just know it) and healthy girl growing bigger and stronger in my belly every day, and a happy, sweet-as-can-be little boy that i get to spend every hour of the day with, and getting to share a home with wonderful friends whom i enjoy immensely. these can certainly be hard times in more ways than one, but the blessings outweigh all of it. i try to be present every moment and cherish it all, because the days are long, but the years are short, and i want to experience these years to the fullest!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPzK-jiCt6ZD5Syd-4q1-Guhy4cgQtoVa8N8XXPNKamKiY50sPDzwlyzUdkrKyzgaM8rfrplMdvMZYVuwzihtIXbDtXMKN-FeakL_9-vEXhNyMZ7rOoaleejPTvshC0SB9xHwb2JoFHRY/s1600/IMG_1030.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547257542480619250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPzK-jiCt6ZD5Syd-4q1-Guhy4cgQtoVa8N8XXPNKamKiY50sPDzwlyzUdkrKyzgaM8rfrplMdvMZYVuwzihtIXbDtXMKN-FeakL_9-vEXhNyMZ7rOoaleejPTvshC0SB9xHwb2JoFHRY/s400/IMG_1030.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiED29jONVBTGJFkS2cpClsTGjWnaFpsN76lNhOqPlaKWg08lA3sR6RRyWn5xNOL471shjPnwAedNgJVbAl6iX30iY4Wws7LrHAr7Rcl2bH2MCdz0lcYNFNA0Zf7QamcIz4KiQGzgPC6Ag/s1600/IMG_1026.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547257539413921266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiED29jONVBTGJFkS2cpClsTGjWnaFpsN76lNhOqPlaKWg08lA3sR6RRyWn5xNOL471shjPnwAedNgJVbAl6iX30iY4Wws7LrHAr7Rcl2bH2MCdz0lcYNFNA0Zf7QamcIz4KiQGzgPC6Ag/s400/IMG_1026.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ1DLKpy8Qe9VdMu8ZsQbtD4K94KVUMAcSyHl0TZ_SbbVDXJmeIOqbvx5f6C8JNwZWsWHsn83TQGszkfQ9juwBZsNryVhjnYcb5M-rQfFKgKUMWbmLeNIXLhnRm9pw2HxliAEIhyphenhyphenhSONI/s1600/IMG_1032.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547257538355992146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ1DLKpy8Qe9VdMu8ZsQbtD4K94KVUMAcSyHl0TZ_SbbVDXJmeIOqbvx5f6C8JNwZWsWHsn83TQGszkfQ9juwBZsNryVhjnYcb5M-rQfFKgKUMWbmLeNIXLhnRm9pw2HxliAEIhyphenhyphenhSONI/s400/IMG_1032.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-49119664632433528872010-11-23T11:32:00.000-08:002011-05-21T11:33:30.930-07:00our baby girl<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b>I am having a baby</b></span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b>GIRL</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b>oh my goodness, how i did not think i would be saying that. i don't know how we got so 100% positive that we were having a boy, when there was no way to know, and we had a 50/50 chance either way, but we sure were positive.</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b>now we are still getting used to the idea--no, the </b></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b>reality,</b></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b> of this beautiful little girl soon coming into all of our lives. i can hardly wait to see her face, to hold her hand. to watch my husband turn to absolute mush, and my son blossom into the big, loving, protective brother that he was born to be.</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b>this little miracle is about to turn our lives upside down, in </b></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b>such</b></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b> a good way.</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b>in fact, this next 5 months might just </b></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b>much</b></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b> too long to wait.</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff99ff;"><b>she is still very small (17 weeks), but here are some pictures of the video that we got to watch of her.</b></span></div><div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYnQ4gywOd0T0BewKHAYRRh94FF6XbfEOl-GFk4N5PEklq-kfvMN208EyfheIlZv1ANYlQOXOrPKdVPyNVkAgUi1_hXIqgxoJGRcKbKMzBGXw24Ro5nJ5k83LedMneUtWAT3aKuHoXLT4/s1600/IMAGES_39.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542749355749873266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYnQ4gywOd0T0BewKHAYRRh94FF6XbfEOl-GFk4N5PEklq-kfvMN208EyfheIlZv1ANYlQOXOrPKdVPyNVkAgUi1_hXIqgxoJGRcKbKMzBGXw24Ro5nJ5k83LedMneUtWAT3aKuHoXLT4/s400/IMAGES_39.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLFqpmzksABk7CRgJ-Qh6c5ceusua4LCPfhUbYWrqnJbMbEgGeD6UoUStoJwm6eTh6bXq8Ei8GvbH_3NpCopT2znc2wmvwcumLiYG-yaMNliyHZcdNZJ86jPp8xlnFDe61LtoQvxdKUzo/s1600/IMAGES_38.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542749354670720498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLFqpmzksABk7CRgJ-Qh6c5ceusua4LCPfhUbYWrqnJbMbEgGeD6UoUStoJwm6eTh6bXq8Ei8GvbH_3NpCopT2znc2wmvwcumLiYG-yaMNliyHZcdNZJ86jPp8xlnFDe61LtoQvxdKUzo/s400/IMAGES_38.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhD-g6LPMKI_GtYLUJvqG24S8zM2U0e8dSqGYUXxMGXCuj1qe-vRjla2HKeNoKWQV769Y4LUKpRFa9DxV9WUCk6ugAtN3f-SOrh5hQSvbjmcFi8GnVhhC99UOxKN5J4YcY8telQ16X9Fs/s1600/IMAGES_17.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542749348100996722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhD-g6LPMKI_GtYLUJvqG24S8zM2U0e8dSqGYUXxMGXCuj1qe-vRjla2HKeNoKWQV769Y4LUKpRFa9DxV9WUCk6ugAtN3f-SOrh5hQSvbjmcFi8GnVhhC99UOxKN5J4YcY8telQ16X9Fs/s400/IMAGES_17.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia3vwTL441z3vBqrpsToV_P-BuIhr3PGfjV_STGSaCH9dv3Oxz-KBf32-sOUC_sJrkDqwnojjLehxqlLyj75p0FTx1zx1TV6SURftWj2XlPcNdL9uZeM-vaIp7XSWIHAnZHRKq0Rw5-7Y/s1600/IMAGES_40.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542749345004263426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia3vwTL441z3vBqrpsToV_P-BuIhr3PGfjV_STGSaCH9dv3Oxz-KBf32-sOUC_sJrkDqwnojjLehxqlLyj75p0FTx1zx1TV6SURftWj2XlPcNdL9uZeM-vaIp7XSWIHAnZHRKq0Rw5-7Y/s400/IMAGES_40.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifObIKkqoZRzBPgsb_CHxBR9yWo_gdVOINAnv003UO0BGgECB3BBmzjwfJi5hSBTIruG8oqn47HsVzqp9r3rFy4gpzbdiXqmahJvd7tVA0vrR0DqnhTqLR1CKxw0a35caZJQNKNbzkAJE/s1600/IMAGES_41.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542749338097272930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifObIKkqoZRzBPgsb_CHxBR9yWo_gdVOINAnv003UO0BGgECB3BBmzjwfJi5hSBTIruG8oqn47HsVzqp9r3rFy4gpzbdiXqmahJvd7tVA0vrR0DqnhTqLR1CKxw0a35caZJQNKNbzkAJE/s400/IMAGES_41.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></div>this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082004743730270973.post-71092575498629715472010-11-04T11:30:00.000-07:002011-05-21T11:31:34.768-07:00hear me roar<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrika0SY0nbb-YK45o7JK_7nzcYqArME4W5LURIn-JcLxkDxIHo5s1xnPmZOnC26vNK0Anqp3kc0HrA_c1fOM5tht-JzjZLG68stcWDZBxkGQ2wB9DLtz5Gf4TKMn4IFAw2wOZf_i5cIU/s1600/IMG_0908.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535862633409422082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrika0SY0nbb-YK45o7JK_7nzcYqArME4W5LURIn-JcLxkDxIHo5s1xnPmZOnC26vNK0Anqp3kc0HrA_c1fOM5tht-JzjZLG68stcWDZBxkGQ2wB9DLtz5Gf4TKMn4IFAw2wOZf_i5cIU/s400/IMG_0908.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 391px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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"since when have you been so in to Halloween?" my mother asked me<br />
"um, since i had an adorable kid to dress up!"<br />
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i flew out to the west coast for the last week of the october tour. i was in LA, San Fran, Portland and Seattle. halloween was spent in seattle. we went to the residential area of capitol hill and went trick or treating. little man said "trick or treat!" at every door, totally oblivious that <span style="font-style: italic;">candy</span> was going into his Chipotle chip bag from dinner. because it is all for mama and daddy :) cheers to the man or woman that invented trick or treating!this family rockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00156203999276609497noreply@blogger.com0