play

Finally~~we got to play outside with the dogs! The weather was amazing today. I was so anxious to get home to them so we could run around and do the fetch thing! As you can see--they both enjoyed themselves to the fullest. Pepper takes his fetching very serious.


Are they not the cutest things ever? I just love them to pieces. They are such old souls.
Abby's favorite sport is shaking her ears so hard and fast that her brain rattles.
The sun went down before they tired out. I think Pepper would play all night long if he could. Abby is content to do whatever we do.
They are both exhausted now...snoring on the couch...too tired to even eat dinner! Tommy and I took a long, long walk today after work~ so we will all sleep well tonight. What a wonderful day...

Chris...

Happy birthday to Chris, too! Tommy's big brother turned the big 3-1 on Saturday. wooo-hooooo! He will celebrate his birthday in Vegas this week. Have fun guys!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is the day my wonderful father was born! Thank God you were born, dad, and thank God you are mine.
On Friday night, Tommy and I traveled up to Northern Kentucky to surprise dad for his birthday. (Janae helped us coordinate!) Plans were changed a bit when we found our original location to have an hour and a half wait. We quickly switched places and got a table in record time. Dad was making a call at a hospital and was running late (natch!) so Janae, Tommy, and I sat and had a drink and visited while we waited. Dad thought he was meeting Janae and another couple from the boat--so imagine his surprise when he walked in an saw us! And balloons! And a cake! It was fun to see him surprised. We had a great dinner. We had lots of catching up to do.
Dad, since my camera was acting wierd (grrrrrrrrr!!) and I don't have any pictures of your birthday dinner..I'm including this one...

because I simply can't wait until Spring when we can start the boating season all over again. It has always been my favorite place to be with you. I look forward to lots of celebrating this summer on Dock Holiday.
Happy, Happy birthday to you dad! Tommy and I love you and hope you have a great day (with very few calls!)

she gets it from me...

abby loves to sit on the couch, in front of the space heater, and watch king of queens. smart dog.

The birth order prediction....

You Are Likely an Only Child

At your darkest moments, you feel frustrated. At work and school, you do best when you're organizing. When you love someone, you tend to worry about them. In friendship, you are emotional and sympathetic. Your ideal careers are: radio announcer, finance, teaching, ministry, and management. You will leave your mark on the world with organizational leadership, maybe as the author of self-help books.

The Birth Order Predictor

They were right on! (Well....I was an only child until lil' Jus was born...)

just another reason why I love teaching..

one of my kiddos asked if he could open presents today! He thought it was Presents Day! And you know what...I think Presents Day would be a grand idea!

Happy PRESIDENTS day!

beautiful.

As I was teaching Literacy this morning....these roses were delivered to my classroom. It was a surprise because Tommy and I agreed to wait until Saturday to celebrate. They were so beautiful! All the kids wanted to smell them and touch them. (Of course, their little noses must make contact with the rose for them to be able to actually smell the fragrance!)
One of my little boys said, "Man, you better remember to say thanks for those!" I had to smile because I frequently remind myself of that!
Lots to be thankful for....
~Tommy...my valentine.
~My wonderful parents.
~2 amazing dogs.
~a super smart, strong brother.
~a job that I love.
~Ice cream that is low fat but doesn't taste low fat.
~my camera.
~The sun that peeked through the clouds today. (I'm already dreaming of Buffet and the lake.)
~US magazine that keeps me entertained.
~Black and white photos.
~Green tea from Panera.
~TV shows that make me belly laugh.
~Quotes like this one that make me smile...When you love someone, all of your saved -up wishes start coming out.
- Elizabeth Bowen -

dad..come home...

I miss your faithful comments on my blog! I hope you and Janae are having fun in Reno. We'll be praying for your safe arrival home. I called Grandma to check on Rylee last night....all is well. See you soon...we love you both.

glow.

They say that some pregnant women glow....after seeing Brandy this past weekend...I believe that to be true. She was the epitome of the pregnant glow!
It was good to see everyone again. We always have lots of catching up to do. And, as always, lots of old memories to revisit. So much has changed since the 5th floor of Telford, yet each time I meet up with these girls...I am reminded of just how much fun we always had together. We're forever laughing so hard! I love it!
Anywhooso very happy for Brandy, Jerad, and baby irvine. (Bran, if you are reading this--post a comment and tell what you are naming her...I didn't know if you wanted me to announce it!) If this baby is half as cute as her mama...she'll be in good shape!
The cafe where we had lunch was delish...Ann and Amanda are always the perfect hostesses! It was such a fun afternoon...

She's relentless.

I can't even explain how mad I was when I came home to another mess made by Abby. I truly thought she had learned her lesson. Yeah, not so much. Today, she took it to the next level while I was at work. She chewed up a Biolage bottle, an empty gel tube, a toilet paper roll, and some other unidentified piece of trash! She immediately went to her ultra-secret hiding spot when she heard me come through the door. I ventured upstairs to remove my feet from the knives that I wore to work today only to be met with shredded plastic....and lots of it. After an entire clean up/removal session...she felt very confident that I had forgiven her. And....she was right. She is relentless....but I can never seem to resist this face ~ especially when it is in such close proximity to mine.

a sweet surprise for me.

God loved the flowers and invented soil. Man loved the flowers and invented vases. ~Variation by Jaques Deval.

CLOSE.

Two of my favorite things....

~the tiny birthmark on Abby's paw.

~Tommy's hands.


Have I mentioned that I love my new camera?? Thanks, babe.

Smiling...from ear to ear....

I am super excited to announce that Tommy got me the Canon Digital Rebel. I have dreamed of owning this camera for quite some time now....and Friday, Tommy made that dream come true! (He's good at that!) I am just beside myself. I have taken 1000 pictures of anything and everything this weekend....just playing around with it. I have so much to learn. There are so many settings, options, menus..... It is a far cry from the little point-and-shoot that I am used to. Stay tuned for the plethora of photos that are sure to follow!

24

The old blog has been seriously neglected as of late. I need to get back into the swing of things. I have to dedicate this post to the main reason for my lack of productivity in recent days. Tommy and I are hopelessly addicted to the show 24. We have rented all seasons from Blockbuster and we are now completely caught up. It comes on every Monday night and it is pure hysteria here at our house in the hours leading up to it. It is beyond good! And lucky for us....tomorrow is Monday!

I have been so waiting for this stuff......

SNNNNNNOOOOOOOWWWWWWW! And even better....a ONE HOUR DELAY!!!!!!!! Now, don't get me wrong....I am a warm weather girl~~ but if it is going to be winter...I enjoy snow! I think it is beautiful, magical, and most importantly, it brings with it the promise (or the possibility, rather) of a WHOLE day off work for me. I swear, I think I get more excited for a day off now than I did when I was a student!
You have to love these photos....the first one is of the snow flakes I took out of our back door....and it looks as if my little camera caught a glimpse of a planet, too! And the next one....our house all sprinkled with snow...I just love it. And then.....Pepper with snowflakes on top. A quick trip to bathroom resulted in some major snow dandruff for him! Lastly, a very late and snowy drive to work! Too bad it didn't last long enough for anything fun!

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, bless you, love you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in the quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it might not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth or bury my face in the pillow or stretch myself taut or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return. ~Mary Jean Iron

Loved this quote when I saw it today (Ali's blog)

A very normal day here at our house. Working. Eating dinner. Watching TV. The perpetual process of cleaning up (Who makes all of the messes around here?). And now, when it is far too late for me to be awake on a "school night," sitting here holding a sweet dog with healing (hopefully) ears, listening to the peck peck peck of my husband's typing, wondering what he is doing and for which job, and falling asleep all at the same time. I must not forget to thank God for this normal day of mine. Though it was very ordinary...I need only to glance around the room to see that it was blessed.

Happy Two Thousand Six !

Hard to believe that a new year has started. I liked the old year! ...hoping that 06 brings all the happiness that 05 did. I surely can't complain.
I think it best if I don't set myself up for failure by listing a bunch of "resolutions" that probably won't last till the end of January~much less the end of 2006! I'll just keep on keepin' on...trying to be the best me that I can be. Afterall, that's really all you can do, right. I would like to concentrate on growing in several areas (none of which include physical size) this year...namely...giving back. I want to do more to help others...to help give others hope! I keep waiting for the opportunity to fall into my lap while I am sitting on the couch watching King Of Queens instead of going out and finding it! That needs to change this year! I will work on it!
<---- This is Abby on New Years Eve! She was exhausted from the wild party we had here at our house. Kidding! We had a very low key celebration with Justin and Libby. We had a few cocktails, ate appetizers, played Imaginiff...., and watched the festivities on television. I quite enjoyed it! While I do love to go out and have fun...my home is where I prefer to be. Especially when it is filled with people I love. Anywho...I couldn't resist taking a picture when I looked over at midnight to find Abby in Tommy's chair, eyes shut, fully concentrating on her own resolutions. If I had to guess...I'd say she will try to give up snacking on dirty underwear this year. I could be wrong though....
Happy 06 to all of our family and friends...may this year be even better than the one before!

Never seen ya happier, lil' brother!

Look at that smile! One cannot hide true happiness ~ that is for sure! He is so very happy and we are so very happy for him! Libby is a great addition to our family! We are looking forward to many more memories with the two of them!

The most special Christmas tree....

You will think I am not telling the truth when I tell you this.....but......this is my first Christmas tree! When I was a newborn, my parents bought this tree for Christmas and then planted it in our front yard. From the pictures of it when it was in our living room...it started out at about 3 1/2 feet tall. As you can see, the tree is now HUGE! I was struck by the enormity of it when I was home for the holidays this year! I guess it will always be the most special Christmas tree to my family and me. Who would have thought that it would grow to this size?

After the mayhem!

Hours and hours of wrapping result in lots of trash! But it's so much fun! I got Tommy clothes, shoes, slippers, etc. His big gift was a TV for our bedroom. He got me boots, perfume, and....a LAPTOP! Wooo-hoooo! The dogs got more stuffed animals to destroy-- which is exactly what they asked for. All the gifts were great...but the true gift lies in our everyday lives. So many gifts....