Tuesday, July 26, 2011

First Day of School

July 26, 2011


C

{2nd Grade}



B

{3rd Grade}


One of My Back to School Traditions

is to Make a Special Treat,

or Prize

and

Write a Special "Back to School" Note,

and Have it Waiting for Them,

on Their Pillow,

when They Get Home from School That First Day.


Gives Them Something to Look Forward To,


and It Gives Me an Extra Opportunity,


to Tell Them I Think They're Pretty Special.

Monday, July 25, 2011

School Shopping Extravaganza

{1st Annual}
We Have Decided on a New Tradition.
Growing Up,
We Each Recall that Back to School Shopping was
Something Special & Exciting.
Because We Have Year Round School,
and Our Summer Break is 3 WEEKS,
I Usually Squeeze it in at Random Times During the Break-
Nothing Spectacular to Write Home 'Bout.

But this Year,

We Decided on a Change.

We Got a Hotel,

4 Miles from Home

[We Could See our Neighborhood Out the Window!]

and Close to Shopping.

The First Evening We Spent


Getting New Back Packs & Threads.


Then We Enjoyed Dinner


Outside on a Patio at a Close-by Grill,


Enjoying the Live Band,


and Cool Summer Evening.


Back at the Hotel,


We Went Swimming,


and Stayed Up Late Watching a Movie.


The Next Morning,


We Had More Swimming,


and then Headed Out


For MORE Shopping,



{New Shoes and Fun in the Dressing Room!}



We Hit Up the New Cars 2 Movie,


and More Dinner,


Before Heading for Home.


It was Fun to Give the Boys


such a


School Shopping Treat!


We Loved it!

Float-ees

The Completed Float Edition:



{At the Thing, for the Thingy, Before the BIG Thing}


{Where Apparently, I'm Awesome at Face Painting. Yes. We All have Hidden Gems}


Before the Launch of the Finished Floats


for the Big Parade,


They Gather Them All Together,


for a Float Preview,


A Free Opportunity for the Community,


to Come Check out the Floats,


and Cast Votes,


in Various Categories.


We Won


"People's Choice Award"


It was a Choice Opportunity


to Learn what Goes into Making One of These Razzle Dazzle Things,


and I'm Glad I got to Help Out!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

{Happy Anniversary}

Headed Down Town for the Evening
To Get Our Delicious Eats On Here:



Look!


They Printed a Special Menu for Us!





We Scarfed Down the


Albacore Tuna & Avocado Tartare


and


Thought the Salmon with Cucumber Tzatziki


and Steak
Were To Die For!


We Ended the Delightful Evening

Thoroughly Stuffed!

Happy Birthday!

My New 7 Yr. Old




Army Birthday Party



{Everyone Got in on the Action}



Dinner and Games


{Happy Birthday C!}

Monday, July 18, 2011

The Rest of the Story

Ok, ok!!! I have received thousands of requests since Jeralyn did the anniversary post. Please promise me if I tell the rest of the story that you will stop calling me, stop texting me and stop peeking through our windows.

So, I will admit that I had tried to politely break up with this foxy lady but she didn't quite get the hint. So, as she said I reluctantly told her to go fly a kite, err..I mean I agreed to go fly kites with her.

It was freezing cold and I had only one thing on my mind and that was trying to figure out the shortest amount of time to fly kites without seeming rude. I know that sounds awful but I had to end this somehow without hurting her feelings because she was, of course, so sweet.

So I'm sitting there thinking this and we really weren't saying hardly anything at all and then something really weird happened. All of a sudden I looked at her and something instantly changed inside me. I remember thinking, "are you stupid, this girl is amazing". It was like she had a little glow around her and from that moment on, I was completely smitten. I didn't want her to leave my side.

I didn't say anything once I felt this way at the park but I remember thinking that I wanted to take her to dinner and I wanted it to be as far away as possible so that I could feel this way for the rest of the night.

So that's it. I'm no expert blogger like my girlie girl but hopefully you can tell how in love I was with her. Now, here we are 13 years later and I realize how lucky I was to snag someone like that. She is definitely a keeper!!




Spent the 13th Anniversary


Picking Up the Groom from the Airport,



And?


I Think I May Have Him Talked


Into Doing a Ditty


to Answer Everyone's Burning Question:


"Why?"

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Friday, July 15, 2011

The Story of Us

Tomorrow We Celebrate our 13th Wedding Anniversary.
And I Thought I'd Share the Story of How We Met.
It Goes a Little Something Like This:

We Met at College. I was a Freshman, He was the Equivalent of a Senior.
We Knew Each other Through Our Roommates. They were all Dating Each Other, to put it in Summary Form.
He had a Girlfriend, I had a Long Distance Boyfriend. However, I did Notice that He and His Girly Friend Always Seemed to be having the Laughiest, Funniest Time, and I Wondered what that Would be Like.
However, Sad times (for them)-they broke up. And as Everyone was Returning from Christmas Break, to start our Second Semester of the Year, Lo and Behold, Look who starts to Come around. I Figured it was for My roommates, but secretly Hoped it was for Me. About a week into the Semester, I start going out with his next door neighbor, and Ryan was always there, poking his head out the window to Holler Somethin' Cute and Funny at Me. We Had his apartment over for dinner one Sunday, and there was Flirting and Crushing Galore.
After that, we were pretty much together all the time.
For a Week or So, anyway. Then he broke up with me. Something about Wanting to Get Good Grades or Something Gross Like that. But I'm Not Good at Letting Things Go, or Taking a Hint, I guess you could say.
Fortunately, for Me, We had joined a Country Dance Club on Campus as partners, and We were always looking for a chance to polish our moves and lifts and They had Dances several nights a week on campus.
During the time that we were totally into each other (you know, those 2 weeks, or so), we had bought kites, but had never used them. I asked if he would like to go fly kites and he reluctantly agreed. While I was Getting Ready for this Date, I think it finally hit me, that maybe He REALLY just wasn't interested in me anymore. I told Myself that I Would Drop it after this Date. In Fact, I Says to Myself, "If he brings Me home, the Moment we are done flying kites, I Will Know."
It was FREEZING and we went out and Flew those Kites. Laughing a little, but mostly not saying anything. I Knew this was the End. We Got in the Car, and Headed for My Apartment. We Got Closer, and I Knew this was the Moment of Truth. About a Block from My Place, He says, "Do You Want to go to Dinner? Do You want to Go to [Insert Name of Town 30 Mins Away]?" That Night was our First Make Out Session. Er, I mean Kiss. And then, we were Inseparable. We Were Engaged a Couple of months Later, and Married in July of that Same Year.
We Got Engaged Just before School Ended for the Year, and then we Had to Go our Separate Ways for the Summer. Both Back to our Homes (In different States)to Earn Money. I Flew Out for 3 days, to His Home, to meet his parents and to get our Engagement Pictures Taken. He was Very Sick with Mono at the Time, so we Didn't even get to Kiss. Our Engagement was 12 Weeks. We Stayed in contact through Email (which was very slow dial up at the time, it was the latest and greatest) and precious, few phone calls.
Thirteen Years Ago Today, July 15th, we met in the Place of our Marriage- Out of State for both of us, to get our Marriage License the Day before our Wedding. I Think we were both nervous that we would get together that day, and feel like strangers. But We didn't. We were still madly in Love.
We Were Married the next Day.
And Now this is US.
Thirteen years Later with 3 Kids, A Mortgage, and a Business or Two to Keep Running.
And You can Bet I Don't BLOG About Everything. But Rest assured that We've been Up and Down, and In and Out, and Over and Under. We've Been Through Hard times and Laugh Out Loud Times. We've Fallen apart, and We've Come Together.
And? We're STILL Doing this Thing Called Marriage.

Love You, Babe.

P.S. We Still Dance in the Kitchen

and

PPS. You Should Ask Him, how come He took me out to dinner that Kite night,

I always Love his Response.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Moving Up


To Blue Belts


The Boys Had Another Belt Test.


And Yes. Those ARE Nun-chucks.


And They Know How to Swing 'Em.