WiCkeD Musical in Tulsa

This was a bit of a going away celebration for me. After having our house packed and loaded, I staying in a local hotel and enlisted dear friends to babysit while I ventured off for an entire day to enjoy the comforts of my dearest girly friends and the comical, and surprisingly heartfelt musical WICKED. Its the beginning story of Glenda the Good Witch and The Wicked Witch of the West. Who amazingly had a friendship that conquers all... something we could all sing for...

The closing song offered up the words to define the friendships we shared here together. To loosely paraphrase... I am changed for the better because I have known you. If that doesn't tell the story, then nothing else ever could... I love these girls... I couldn't ask for any friendship more real. I love you girls!!

PS And they introduced me to PEI WEI... Thai food as a fast food meets fine dining experience... complete with lettuce wraps and Pad Thai. Oh my!! Its like Panera Bread minus the bread, soup, pastries and... well... it ain't the same... Thai at PEI WEI wins hands down!! Its my new fave... so where are you now Pei Wei?

Summer Days Together

While Daddy is away working his nose to the grindstone and polishing up the Campbellsville scene with Amazon.com, we are here in Kansas doing our best to pull ourselves away from the dearest friends God could bring into our lives.

I couldn't’t imagine we would be here 3 years ago, that is, here with such amazing friends and with such intense warm & fuzzies for these amigos that God has seen fit to place in our lives, and yet, pluck us clean out of it all for a place yet unknown to us all here. I hope this little reel of our summer days together will remind each of us of the joys of friendship, and a bit of the sadness that comes with being moved from the world’s best friendships… I love you dearly…

There is a sad girl here in Kansas… but she will pass from this place only by the hand of God (and her husbands)… I couldn't leave this place otherwise…

Dear April and Robert...

I don’t know of any two people I would rather see in love. These two make the best team. I know I could stand to learn a few plays from you two, whether it be as the honey bee and honey-do, with the fam, or in our circle of friends. You are amazing examples… we love you guys!!

NOW!! This picture here… I was just strolling through the stack of pictures we took... and this one stopped me in my tracks... (no pun intended.) It seems simple enough right... but, I just had to cry-- freakin waterworks here people! You two have always been here to support and help us… we will always remember your friendship as it is here… the image of you walking toward us at the very moment that it is so hard to walk away and move… from you and our friends here, and this town. Thank you from the deepest corners… of that PHAT sofa of yours… and those are some DEEP corners… (sorry I had to make light of it… I LOST it there…)

Whew!!

PS Robert I got some blackmail pics you know... and you laughed at HER cheesy a** teeth grin... whose sportin' it now... in time... you will see...

Thanks for making our life a party...

ME Scrapt

I have never ventured to create a layout of myself. I am feeling a bit sheepish for doing it. So have mercy!! But with having a baby recently, being married almost ten years (more like 8 years), and almost 30 years old (more like 28)... I have felt like our lives and our family have turned a big corner in the last year. And I do feel it is so very vital that our children know and remember us, not just when their grown and we're past our prime. But for them to look back and remember us as women, friends, and sister and daughters ourselves. Because in 20 or 30 years honey, I ain't gonna look like this no more! (If you want to enlarge the layout, click on the layout, it will open up in a new window.)

As a bonus, I got the inspiration for this layout from two sources. The Memory Makers cover layout for August 2008, and my dear friend Brook Stewart with her 'Summer Hair' layout. Thanks love!!

Well now, its a Sunday afternoon and my dear Paul has flown the coup to Kentucky to help at another Amazon.com facility. We are so proud of all the work he does, but it makes us a bit teary eyed here at home to let him venture so far from us. We love you Daddy!! Come home soon!

Thanks for visiting us here ya'll!!

Party Like a Blog Star!!

Serendipity Blog Party!! Oh YEE-AH! Okay so some are off having block parties this summer, well some others of us are having a BLOG party!! Head over to Serendipity Scrapbooks to get in on the party challenges or check out the links on my sidebar to catch up on some of the Serendipity girls and other news on the boards at Serendipity. There's plenty of eye candy in the gallery to check out and some great girls to chat with... and the best news of all... this party is going on the whole month of July!! Oh YEE-AH!! See ya there!

Keep out of the heat... come party like a BLOG star!!

Hire a Party Planner!

Okay it was rash of me to plan for a party just two weeks after Mark was born. But yet, I wanted Hannah to have her time to shine. And shine she did... right out there with the blazing sun! The kids made their own pizzas, we had games and water balloons, and of course presents and cake. Here you can see some of our favorite moments from the party.

Sara Kate and her specialty... meat!!

Toss 'em up kiddos!!

Her wish... to eat cake!!

The present she longed for... LEGOS!!

Grandma's grand idea... a new bicycle for the big girl!! Thanks Grandma!!

NOTE TO SELF: Next time... hire a party planner and coordinator, SO I CAN TAKE MORE D*%$@* PICTURES!

Baby Shower surprises

Well we all know that baby showers offer a hilarious array of games, along with a few tears for the truly touching sentiments. Many people have enjoyed the diaper game of guess that chocolate bar... and this time Tami was sure to give a big dose of the diaper doo. Some of the great comments made during this game... "I don't think this baby digested any of this food first", or how about "I think this baby needs to go back to the hospital", and my favorite..."I think this baby needs a colonoscopy." And the looks were just as hilarious. I was sure to get a few shots of these when the girls weren't looking... thanks Susan, thanks Lori!! We had a great game of Memory to match those pregnancy terms. But the best part was the candy bar prize that went along with the match. Try to match 'breast milk' and you receive Mounds, or Milky Way. But how about the non-lactating women, then here's some Milk Duds. The laughs were not found short here!!
I wanted to share a gift that had a special touch. My dear friend Deanna can quilt anyone under the table, and she totes four children by her side to boot. Deanna stitched a baby blue blanket with Mark's name on it, as well as, quilting a baby quilt and matching pillow in my favorite colors, sage green and brown. She found some amazing patterns for this quilt... Deanna you truly are a gem. thank you! The baby shower brought a slew of baby boy clothes with bats and balls, dinos and giraffes, and all the bath and car accessories in between. Along with personally stamped onsies with trucks, tractors and crossbones to boot!! Thank you so much girls!!
Lori and Tami really made the day for baby Mark and I. This was such a treat to be surrounded by the girls I love and adore. If I ever have need for a girl's time out... these girls are my picks!!

Teresa, baby Calli and Susan doing the doo!!

Lori savoring her own senses! Not sure I want to know what that is, right Lori!

Deanna's stitched "Mark" blanket.

Deanna's quilting genius.

It was a perfect evening with some of the greatest friends around... thanks Lori and Tami for making it happen. Love you girls!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's day was a simple one. How about yours? I made heart shaped muffins the night before, so when we got up we were primped and primed for breakfast. We had blueberry cheesecake muffins, chocolate chip, chocolate with chocolate chips and banana nut muffins. It was starched heaven! We had one of the girls friends over this morning so the girls colored some valentines-- and they watched Wizard of Oz. I didn't remember how magical that movie really was. The girls loved it! I enjoy the opportunity to have these memories of holidays with my girls at home. It is truly a reward to see them grow and learn each day.

Good morning! This is the Valentine they picked for Grandma.
Never a dull moment with that smile around... then she spilled chocolate milk all over her shirt... so she sported a tie-dye effect today!
This was Hannah's butterfly... she is really drawn to animals, particularly drawing and creating them.
This was a tasty moment for me... can you guess what flavor I love?
This was a priceless moment to see the girls with their friend Chloe watching Wizard of Oz. This was when Dorothy walked out of the (black and white) house into the colorful Oz.
I enjoy sharing these moments with you. When I graduate from college next month I will be looking forward to posting our scrapbook pages here as well. We hope your holiday is a lovely one!