Joseph

I posted back in Jan of 2008 about my sister having a baby after not knowing she was pregnant. My nephew is now 17 months old and what a little ham!! I took these two pictures of him when I was in Louisiana last month.

Adjustments

I have been walking again for the past week with friends. We are doing about 3 miles a day and I have to say it feels so good to be working out! Our street makes a circle that measures about .6 miles. The kids are having a blast riding their bikes while the adults walk. Lauren even decided she was ready to learn to ride a two wheel bike!! The picture above is Mike helping Matthew make adjustments to his bike as he has neglected it a bit lately. Below is Lauren practicing riding in the yard. I just love the look of determination on her face. The last one is Jacob doing "Superman" on his bike!

Jacob

The kids were fixing their bikes and riding them around the yard today. Every time I would aim the camera at Jacob, he would give me a cheesy grin. :) I told him to just keep talking! LOL

My Scouts

This picture was taken on July 19, right before Mike and Matthew headed off to camp for a week!! :)

My Baby

This picture was taken at my Dad's house a week ago. She often complains that she doesn't want to be the baby of the family. I am having a hard time grasping the concept that my baby is 8 years old and about to go the the third grade!! No matter how old she is, she will always be my baby girl!

New Tattoo

I know I've been absent for a while. After my trip to Louisiana in April, I got quiet. I had alot on my plate and my mind. Then, in May, I got an iPhone and wasn't using my laptop as much. I am going to try to get back to posting a pic a day. I would like to go back and date some pics as post from that time, so if you see anything new pop up in the end of April to today time frame, I am backdating some post.

Above is a picture of my tattoo I got while in Louisiana last week. It is still healing and quite itchy! I can't wait for the healing to be done! :)

Tennessee

My Mother-in-law recently moved to Tennessee. She bought a beautiful piece of property in the rolling hills. There are cows and such across the street from her. Her neighbor took us on a ride across the street to see what her property looked like from that vantage point. This photo is the view of the hills and fields across the street from her house. It was beautiful and breathtaking!

Pee Wee Basketball

Both Jacob and Lauren are playing pee wee basketball this year. Jacob runs around the court with the biggest grin on his face. He is great at blocking and really enjoys getting in front of the other players.

Reeling It In

Lauren was reeling in her first catch of the day. My Dad is looking on, waiting to help her. Madison couldn't wait for her turn!!

Release

This is a shot of Lauren taking her catch back to the water to be released.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

The girls had a blast posing with this statue in New Orleans!!

Beautiful

This is my sister, Lusiana,her daughter and Anjel and her fiancee, Donnie. This was taken Saturday, April 11, during our trip to New Orleans.

One Missing

This picture was taken Easter Sunday. We were missing my sister, Lusiana, as she was not at the house at the time the picture was taken. Pictured here is Troy, Me, Holli, Elliott and Mom.

Kissy Fish

Wendy snapped this picture of Madison and Lynzi kissing licking a fish Lynzi caught!

Jax

This picture was taken in front of Jackson Brewery in New Orleans on Saturday. The girls had a the best time prancing around Jackson Square in their feathers!

Been Gone

I have been lax in posting. We left DC on the 1st of April. We ran into a few issues when the valet at the hotel discovered that our rental car had been stolen!
Once home, I had a few trainings to go to for work that put me out of town again. Last Thursday, Wendy, the Kids, and I headed down to Louisiana to spend Easter with my family. Friday we had a fish fry at my Mom's. We then headed to my Dad's to fish in his pond and eat some delicious crawfish etouffee. Saturday we spent the day walking around Jackson Square and Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Sunday we hung out at Mom's. Yesterday was a 12 hour drive home and today was back to reality.
Today's picture was taken on Friday. I am sitting next to my Dad's wife, Farrah. I love to tell her that she is my step-mom as she is a couple of years younger than me. I learned while talking to her that she does read this blog, so Farrah, I just wanted to say HI!!!!

DC, part 2

Here is a picture of me in front of the Capital Building, taken by Wendy. Also, once of the cherry blossoms. They weren't all in bloom, but it was cool to see them. The other picture is the National Gallery of Art, West Wing. It was very cool to walk through and see all the paintings. It was especially cool to see a Da Vinci painting in person!!!

Our Capital

I am in DC right now with a friend. We spent Friday walking around the National Mall. I really wanted to take some pictures and I was bummed that I didn't bring both my lenses with me that day! I did have my 55-200 with me and I got some decent shots. We went back yesterday and I took my 18-55 to get the other shots that I couldn't get on Friday. I have yet to upload those. Here are some of my favorites from Friday:

Nice Hair

We went to the Discovery Center for Scout Night last week. Mike took this picture of me with my hair looking so fabulous!! Be sure to click the picture to see the full size!

Teeth

This was taken the same day as the March 11th picture. In this one, I like how the icicles look like teeth!

One Third of a Lifetime

Tomorrow, March 18, marks 11 years that I have been married to my soul mate. For 1/3 of my life, I have been able to share with a man who continues to make sacrifices and shows me that he loves me unconditionally. It hasn't been entirely easy and I think that makes me love him even more. Because we have both looked at what we stand to lose. I hope the next 11 years and more will be filled with as much love as the last 11 have been. I love you, Mike!

Younglings

Today's picture features the guests from Lauren's birthday party. You can see the awesome jedi robes I made as party favors! Everyone brought their own lightsabers and was given a robe upon arrival! It was a great party.

It's Friday on Sunday

I didn't post of Friday because I was a conference a the lake. SO, here are Friday's photos, taken today! I present to you... Lauren, age EIGHT!!!!!

New Kitties

Here are the three cats we adopted. When we talked about getting a new cat after Mary passes away, the kids were all so excited. I got crazy and decided they could each have a new cat! Here is Lauren with Chrystle, Jacob with Sophie and Matthew with Melanie.

Reflections

I took this picture at Dog Bluff on March 3. We had about 6 inches of snow the weekend before, and this what was left that day. I love the way the icicles reflect in the water. The bridge passes to the right of the picture. I just had to stop and try to capture the beauty.

Eating the Alien

Here is Lauren eating the Jabba the Hut cake topped my neighbor made for her cake. He is made of rice krispies covered with fondant. She did an amazing job on him!!

Party Animals

We celebrated Lauren's birthday with a party on Sunday. One of the favors she had chosen was these silly glasses with the nose. We all had fun trying them on. Of course, someone else grabbed my camera and took my picture! We had a great time. I'll be putting up pics of the 8 year old soon!! :)

Four, Five, Six and Seven

This morning, as Lauren was getting ready for school, she said to me "Mom, don't take my eight year old picture yet. I think I still look like I did when I was seven."

Here she is at 4, 5, 6 and 7 years old.


October 25, 2005


November 4, 2006


July 4, 2007


March 23, 2008

One and Two and Three

This is Lauren in Sept of 2002. Lauren was 1.5 years old here. She was trying Daddy's boots on for size!


This one was taken on Nov 19, 2003. Lauren was 2.5 years old here.


This one was taken in October of 2004. She was 3.5 here.

13 Months...

Here is Lauren at 13 months old. This picture was taken shortly after we moved to Missouri.

The Week of Happy

Lauren came to snuggle with me this morning before school. She asked me what color happy was. I told her that to me, happy is yellow. She said that she thought happy was pink.
Lauren will be EIGHT years old on Thursday. As a tribute, I am going to post pictures of her this week. Today's picture was taken seconds after she came into this world!
.... and Yes, Ros.. IT's A GIRL!!!!!...