Halloween

I admit it - I'm a bad mom! It took me a while to decide whether or not I wanted to post pictures of Halloween because I knew it would scream "bad mom" at me. I took pictures of Nia & Kodah..... but not Ian. Awful-I know!!!!!!!

Mother/Daughter Day 2009

For Christmas last year Nia wanted to go on a Mother/Daughter day. She wanted to do lots of things like massages, manicure & pedicure, hair & makeup done, shopping, get coffee, and other girly things. I knew this was going to cost us lots so I kept putting it off until we had enough money. (Although the amount of money we spent still makes me sick to my stomach.)

Realizing the other day that if we wait very much longer to have "our" day, it could be a LONG wait due to the baby coming. So.. we finally went.

We headed to the mall. First, I got my nails done and Nia got a pedicure. She wanted that rather than getting her nails done and the pedicure was her favorite thing.


Then to Glamour Shots. Although this was lots of fun it was very expensive. We WON'T be doing this ever again. I think we will just have to find a cheap photographer and do our own hair & makeup. In fact, my sister loves to take pictures and we will be close enough next time to use her.

They airbrushed the foundation on which really freaked Nia out.

Almost through....

Onto the hair... and after the stylist was finished curling all her hair, Nia told her she didn't like it so the stylist brushed it all out. She looked so cute with curls everywhere, but it ended up looking great.

Okay, she got finished and grabbed my camera. She thought I looked funny!

After that, we got our pictures taken and then went to the
Cheesecake Factory for supper and dessert.

This is her expressing how unbelievably good it was. That is Oreo Cheesecake.
After the yummy cheesecake, we went back to the mall to view our photos and order. Nia was not interested in this long process so she grabbed my camera again and took pictures of everything. I think I deleted around 20 pictures of photos on the wall at Glamour Shots. And another 10 of random people walking through the mall. Here are a few she took of herself.

This girl did my makeover and then helped us pick out our pictures.
Nia wanted to remember everything about this day.

Overall we had a FABULOUS day.

My Dad

God gave me a great dad!

A man of his word, a hard worker, generous, giving, not a complainer, a very patient teacher, selfless, and wise. A great man of character.
I am so proud he's my dad.

This is a pic of my dad's mom and dad and sister. Obviously he is on the far left. And yes, my granny does smile, I just caught her in a moment.

Here he is playing with the kids

This a pic of the vanity he built me 2 years ago.
And now I'm moving and will have to leave it behind.

Is he REALLY sleeping?


Here he is fixing my deck

And again, on the roof of my house fixing something

that we didn't even know needed fixing.


Happy Father's Day DAD! Love you!

Happy Father's Day Romeo

We celebrated Father's Day today! First, we gave daddy one gift - cologne - to start the day off.

Then to Abuelo's for lunch - YUMMY!

Then to the mall for a cap and then home for a nap. After supper we had watermelon and then hid daddy's gifts for the presents scavenger hunt (something started a few years back because I didn't want to wrap any gifts for a birthday, so I just hid them and gave clues as to their whereabouts).

We had a very fun father's day this year. Romeo had given me some suggestions of things he wanted but I wanted to do something different this year. Thursday we went to the Dollar Tree and I gave the kids $5 each to get whatever they wanted for dad. And let me tell you, they had a blast. I was laughing so hard down every aisle because of some of the things they wanted to get dad. I continually had to remind them that this is for dad, not them.

Okay, so now it is time to find the gifts and see what great surprises lie in store for dad.

first... under fax machine was a homemade envelope and card with a song Nia had made up. She sang it to him after he opened the card. She worked so hard on the song. It was so cute.


Then for the next clue and present - Ian's. Under the table. And the contents of Ian's present for dad were: a shiny silver balloon, a sponge bob paddle ball toy, a package of orange tic-tacs, and a clear jar full of white rocks. Ian was so proud and daddy was such a great sport. Hooray!!!


He had a hard time figuring out the next clue.


After Nia gave him this clue: where I sleep... huh... that's a hard one, we went to her room for the next present. During the week I had asked the kids questions about their dad, how tall is he, how old is he, what is his favorite dessert, and so on and so on, about 16 questions. Then I printed them on photo paper and put them in a frame along with some "daddy" pictures. He loved it.


Then for the last clue & gift.. Nia's, which was out in the truck. The contents of Nia's gift were: a balloon that said, "World's Greatest Dad", a ceramic dog, a blue candle, seashells, & a magnifying glass. Again, he was such a great sport! She had a great time shopping for him.


You are a GREAT daddy! We love you!

Great Wolf Lodge

This year for our family vacation, we went to Grapevine, TX. We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge that has a water park inside the hotel. It was my mom & dad, my sister and her family (Hadley, Becky, Madisyn, Maci & Tucker) and us. My brother and his family didn't get to come - we missed them lots. We had a great time. I didn't take many pictures due to all the water so here are just a few things we did.

story time at night

took silly pictures
(I know you are all wondering what happened to my sister's eye.
I won't steal her story so go here to find out)

painted t-shirts, piggy banks, made bracelets and such at Cub Club

and played LOTS at the waterpark!!!!!!!

Why I LOVE My Mom

In no particular order:

1. She is always up to spending time with me! Whether it be playing cards, going garage saleing, shopping, talking on the phone.... She just isn't ever TOO busy for me!


2. She's REAL! She locks keys in the car, can't remember what she's already told me, forgets what she called to tell me, always has to go to the bathroom while we're on the phone .... (is that too much info?) Oh, and she burns things - like the potatoes in this picture.



3. She is VERY loving, compassionate, caring, giving, understanding, forgiving, tender-hearted and on and on and on!


4. She is Super Funny! I can remember so many times laughing so hard with my mom. On the way home from Lubbock, dancing with her, waving at people we didn't know, just weird stuff that you don't normally think moms do. MINE DID and I thought it was so cool. I remember a few girls in my class told me that it would be cool to have my mom as their mom. Even still, we laugh and cry together lots.


5. And Finally....

The best of all.. She loves Jesus Christ and is dedicated, committed, and passionate about living her life the way that He wants her too. This was very evident while growing up and I can't thank her enough for the devotion she showed me to her Savior. Not only is she my mom but she is my sister in Christ!

I LOVE YOU MOM

Easter 2009 - Family Pictures - 25 wks pregnant

We had a great Easter this year. We decided not to go the Texas where family is because we were just there for Spring Break. So it was just us.

Saturday night we made "Easter Story Cookies" (I can email you the recipe if you would like) thanks to Megan. Each ingredient means something about the death and resurrection of Christ. This morning we took them out of the oven and each of us ate one. They were hollow! which signifies the empty tomb. I was amazed.

Before church we took this cute pic...

After church we took some more pictures...

Then hunted Easter eggs inside the house due to the rain.