Day One in the Big Apple

I have had quite a day...flying first class, staying at the Westin Times Square, and being stopped by a NYC police officer....ahhh...now I have your attention, right!

Most of our day today was spent in Central Park. It is amazing that a park this size and this beautiful is right in the middle of the city. Here is my favorite picture from the park...We plan to do less walking tomorrow! We walked the length of Central Park from North to South. Incase you are wondering...that is crazy far!

As we finished up at Central Park, we made a stop by St. John the Divine Cathedral...pictures cannot do it justice...it is amazingly beautiful. We will have to go by again because it was too late for the doors to be open. Here's a photo of the front though...

At this point, we are WAY far from where we are staying and where we wanted to eat. There weren't many taxis around, so...

we retreat to the underground! Now, I will give you...it is Saturday evening...and not that late in the evening...so, my view may not be accurate...but the subway isn't that bad. Nobody was killed before my eyes, no muggings, no rats running across my toes as I waited for the train...all in all...not that bad.

There are even some amazing murals in the tiles on the walls...

So we arrived safely back at our hotel and asked about a nice, quiet restaurant for dinner. We walked through Times Square and were headed to a little Italian place for dinner. We turned onto 44th st. and were stopped by a NYPD officer. She was nice, just needed to know where we were going. We thought it was strange, but oh well. Dinner was wonderful...a perfect, quiet Italian place with wonderful food. When we walked out of the restaurant, there were people lined up and looking down the street with lots of cameras out and such. We decided there must be something going on when Robbie counted 20 officers in less than one city block! He asked one of the officers if someone was staying down the street and he said, "yeah, the president"! Crazy. We didn't stick around to see him!!

A Plethora of Pergolas

Many people tackle home improvement projects during the Memorial Day weekend. Why not? You have an extra day added to a weekend and that generally means plenty of productivity. However, few tackle what the men of Shadowglen (that is our neighborhood) did this past weekend! Three pergolas in three days! That was the challenge. One in our backyard, and two more for neighborhood friends.

Here are the guys during the build in our backyard...

...and, of course, during a project like this, my sink which is normally reserved for this bathing beauty...

was repurposed for these brawny builders!!Yes, as a matter of fact they are showering each other in my sink! That's not a photo you see everyday!

The result of all this sweat and muscle...

AMAZING!!! A special thanks to Rob Van Vleet for making this entire project happen...from design, to material procurement, to manual labor...what an awesome guy! Continued thanks to Tell, Ray, Dave, and Ryan...who worked eventhough they were not getting pergolas in their own yards! And we cannot forget, thank you to Chris, Kevin, and my hubby...all of whom put in lots of sweat but can now enjoy their own backyards!

10 reasons for 10 years...

Robbie and I have been married 10 years today! It is awesome!! So, I thought in honor of our big day I would give 10 reasons I love him...in no particular order...

1. He loves me too!

2. He still steals my soda when his runs out and acts like he doesn't know it was mine and just mixed it up with his own. (and plenty of other silly stuff that makes me laugh)

3. He challenges me to be a better person.

4. He takes risks to follow where God is leading eventhough I am often scared.

5. We have 3 amazing children together.

6. He loves our kids and is a fantastic father to them.

7. He provides a wonderful home and supports me staying home and homeschooling our kids.

8. He supports and encourages me!

9. When I look through our "history" together I see lots of ups and downs...but all things weave together to make our amazing life together.

10. He has never left me...and I am confident he never will. He is committed to glorifying God through our marriage and that makes one great husband!

Flip floppin' down memory lane!

Well, flip flop season has taken me down memory lane. This is a photo of Brooklyn's feet in the flip flops she wore to church yesterday...notice the toe arrangement (she put them on herself)!

And here is Will in his flip flops around the same age...

His are just wrong on one foot...but he usually wore both feet this way! I just thought it was so funny to see her putting her flip flops on the same way her older brother did!

Funny too...I got Brooklyn flip flops because it is the only affordable way to match her vast wardrobe...but now I remember why Will wore them...look at those fat little feet!! They were so thick we had trouble finding shoes to fit. So cute. Thanks for letting me share some memories!

Look what I did!

Yes...that is my own head (photographed by Jackson), and No...Mom is not here doing it for me! I just french braided my own hair! WOHOOOO!!!!

Mom taught me to do Brooklyn's back in November. Yes, I can remember that my mother taught me to braid my daughter's hair at my father's 60th birthday party....and I still have trouble remembering where I put my cell phone! Anyway, I started practicing on hers and Mom said soon I would be able to do my own. This was seriously my first try on my own hair! Crazy!! It was way easier than I thought it would be. It isn't perfect, I know...but it will certainly help keep hair out of my face in this summer...especially on our DR trip and on relaxing days at the pool. I know it is a simple thing, but I am way excited I can braid my own hair!

Proof that even 2 year olds listen in Sunday school!

I could not resist getting this on video. Brooklyn has just started going to an "older toddlers" class at our church. They take them to a worship time and the teachers sing to them. I keep telling our Kidstuff volunteers to keep up the good work...they are certainly listening!

The boys did not sing as much...but B is always singing. Such a sweet sound!

Duel to the Death...of a Lightsaber!

Will's friend Daniel came over for the afternoon. I love seeing my kids play with their friends. It is so different than "sibling" play...and just cute to see the bonds they form with friends. Daniel is a way cool kid...and is getting into Star Wars like Will...so they spent much of their time in lightsaber battle.

The thing is...any good Jedi knows...this battle could never really happen. Those are two Jedi blades...and Jedi do not battle each other, they battle side by side...except in that one circumstance, but one could argue Anakin Skywalker was already on the "dark side" at that point. (for the Star Wars challenged...Anakin becomes Darth Vader). So I look less geeky...I had to google how to spell Anakin!

So, what happens when two well-meaning Jedi engage in a little "friendly battle"......

Not good...really, not good! However, Will was SOOO into this battle, he just switched sabers and kept going! Intense!!

There...that's more like a real Star Wars scene (except the shorts, t-shirts, and no "space age" backgrounds). Earlier today the boys were detailing to me the colors of all the lightsabers. I asked about Count Dooku (yeah, I googled that one too). Jackson responded..."Mom, sith blades are always red"!! Nice. Got it! Ahhh, I am yet a padawan learner with much to discover. (translation...not a mommy Jedi yet)!

P.S...for those concerned about the severed saber...it is successfully out of surgery and working properly again. However, if "flicked" too hard, the end will fly out adding a nice projectile to the scene!

A Happy Mother's Day

When I got to church, Will had this flower for me. It was actually a corsage, but I am not coordinated enough to pin one on, so I "Macgyver'd" it with a hair tie and put it on my bracelet. Today, every time Will held my hand, he would move around to the one with the flower...he was very proud to give me something I enjoyed so much.

When I got to my seat in church, there was.......the only "Longhorn" I could ever love! Thank you Brooklyn!

This candle was waiting in the seat of Robbie's truck when we all went to lunch. Jackson was so excited because he got me something I could enjoy for a long time. I love my practical boy...he got it just right for me...the scent is perfect and I love to burn my candles.

We had a nice lunch at Galaxy Cafe. (my pick, of course) and I gave myself permission to eat exactly what I wanted...sweet potato fries, macaroni and cheese, and a cookie. It was all so yummy!

As we were driving back to where my van was parked, I spotted where they opened the Title Nine store in Austin. (yes, I know title 9 used to be an education act in TX where boys and girls must get equal treatment in athletics. OK, was I the only one dorky enough to think of this when I saw the name of this store?) Anyway, I said...."Oooh...they opened the Title Nine store" and that was enough to get my sweet hubby to stop! I drool over their catalog (on days when I am not strong enough to just pitch it in the recycle bin) and love their clothing. However, they do not have bargain girl prices (did I mention I just gave a talk this Saturday on bargain shopping and how I DO NOT pay retail). I did try once to leave empty handed, but Robbie wasn't buying my "didn't find anything" excuse! I ended up with this dress... Pardon the expression...not trying to look smug in my awesome dress...just being photographed by someone a foot shorter than me!

Finally, we were all out in the backyard and Jackson disappeared inside for a bit. I thought he was just needing a bathroom break, but he came in and did this... (those are cards from a spelling game he has called Quiddler).

I hope you all have someone in your life that makes you feel as special as my family made me feel today! Thank you Robbie, Jackson, Will, and Brooklyn for making me feel very appreciated.

Who says girls are more expensive?

I found this amusing when I dressed Brooklyn yesterday.

For Christmas in 2007, her Mimi gave her a few outfits that were just stinkin' cute! One was a dress that said "LIL SIS" on the front in rinestones! So sassy!! Here is a photo of Brooklyn wearing that dress...she is 15 months old in this picture.

Here she is wearing it in September of 2008...she is almost 2 in this photo...or for the really technical, she is 22 months.

And this is her yesterday in the same dress/top....B is a few days away from being 2.5 years old

I love that last picture...she totally posed it when she saw me get out the camera!!

Around the same time as the LIL SIS dress, Mimi also gave Brooklyn this beautiful dress....resulting in one of my all-time fav. pictures of B... she is 1 yr. 8 months in this photo...and that is THE bunny she is holding. Long live the bunny...please...we only have 2 of them!

And here she is today in the same dress. Again, she is almost 2.5 now...

The capris in this photo and the pink shorts in the other recent photo both came in the handed down stash of my niece's clothing! Thank you Angie and Abbie for being so willing to share. I couldn't believe how well these aqua blue capris matched the dress/top. SOOOO adorable...and we didn't have to spend a penny to keep these outfits going for over a year each!

So, there are 2 examples of how having a girl proved thrifty...but I am afraid the money saved has probably gone to bows and shoes! However, when I buy or make new outfits I am now thinking of how they can be used from year to year this same way. So do not be surprised when this year's dresses turn into next year's tops!

Wanna' see me wear something crazy??

Hi readers! So, last night we had another meeting for our Dominican Republic trip....we are getting really excited! One of the things we talked about was clothing. They mentioned we might want to bring things we were ready to get rid of anyway and leave most of our clothing behind. There are certainly people there who can use our items, and we would have a lighter load coming home.

Well, if you know me...I keep a pretty cleaned out closet. I am sure I will have a few items to shed by then, but not an entire week worth (I am especially short on shorts...pun-ny, huh!). Then I started thinking it would be fun to get rid of someone else's clothing for them! Think...your clothes would travel to another country and bless someone...that is pretty cool. So, here's my deal with you...if you give it to me, I will wear it (proudly), I will have my photograph made in whatever it may be (complete with awesome Dominican scenery)....and will post it on the blog! Here's your chance to dress me as crazy as you want!

OK, a few rules though...

• it has to fit me...we will already have a language barrier and I do not want to have to explain why my shorts fell down/ripped while playing soccer!! I wear a M/8/10 in most things. It would be ok if tshirts were a little bigger...but you get the general idea.
• I can use any shorts or t-shirts/tank tops, but no skirts, jeans, corduroy pants, etc.! HAAAA!!! Can you see me sweating it out in cords! That's funny.
• No "agenda" stuff...politics, bad slogans, etc.
• Please don't dress me too much like your grandma!

My goal is to take only 2 outfits (the one to travel there and the one to come home) that will actually travel back to the US. We will be gone 11 days. Oh...shoes are applicable too...flip flops or closed toed, only taking one of each and I wear a 6.5-7.

I will let my travel group and those we are working with at Makarios vote on their favorites and when we get home, the winner will get a prize! I will post when my DR wardrobe is complete or until the end of June...whichever comes first!

A Girly Tradition

I don't know how or why it started, but my Mom and I "get ready" together. I go to her bathroom and we put on makeup, curl hair (for me that is...apply water) and such. It has just always been that way. Now that I have a baby girl, we do the same thing. She takes baths in my tub and sits in my sink while I put on makeup and fix our hair. It is fun to be girly together. I am sure my Mom started this tradition with me as a bonding experience....honestly, I do it because that way I can get ready AND keep up with Brooklyn. Seriously. If you are currently laughing it is either because you have tried to keep up with her or because you have no idea and should volunteer to babysit her so you can have a little empathy!


When my parents were here for Will's birthday, Brooklyn decided to go be "girly" with her Nana. Nana comes with some accessories Mommy just doesn't have....like hot rollers! The only fun styling tool Mommy has is a spray bottle. That was once cool, but the hot rollers with their wildly colored clips were just too enticing. I am not sure if Brooklyn asked for her hair to be rolled...but if she did...kudos to my Mom for not giving in to that request! Here's a little glimpse of how my girl gets her "do" stylin' in just the right way!