Sunday, November 29, 2009

"Mint to be"


Centerville's winter dance is rapidly approaching and the winter dance is a "turn about" (girls ask the boys).

Leslie was very creative in how she asked Anthony to the dance. There was no question as to how he would answer, but the anticipation of what he thought of HOW she asked was the fun part.

The theme of this year's dance is Candy Land so Les wanted to incorporate candy into how she asked. This is what she came up with.



She asked for permission to enter Anthony's house when no one was home and she decorated his entire room with mints. She cut out and painted peppermints and wrapped crinkle wrap around them to make them look like huge mints.


She scattered mints all over his room.... Anthony will have fresh breath for weeks.

Then she took red ribbon and wrapped it around the inside of his house leading up to his bedroom. It was very cute.


She and her friend Jill went over to Anthony's house together. Anthony's mom had given Les the code to get into their house... what she didn't plan on was Anthony setting the house alarm. These poor girls entered the code to the house and then the house alarm started to go off. It got louder and louder and they ended up having to call Anthony to get the security code to shut it off before the police arrived. Leslie was shaking head to toe and it took her a while to calm down. It was rather startling for the two of them.

Regardless, the decorating still was a success and Anthony was still surprised. He was busy camping out at Best Buy waiting for Black Friday. He and his friends were the first ones in line... they set up their tent on Wednesday around 1:00. They were on the news several times and a photo of them was in the paper.

Pictures of the dance to come later.....Nick's girlfriend hasn't asked yet... we will see how she does it. :)

Verizon



While shopping on Black Friday Greg and I stepped into a Verizon Wireless store.

I have been trying to talk Greg into going with Verizon for a while now. Although Virgin Mobile is a great deal, we are now in a time of our lives where our children need to be able to call us. There have been many times when our phones, for some unknown reason, would not work. We couldn't receive or send texts or there have been times when we were out of minutes so no one could call us. I felt it was time to move on to a bigger service to insure safe communication between all of us if needed.

This was a big step for us financially because it was double the cost for us monthly.

Friday we walked into this store to "ask" about their plans and phones. Little did I know we would be in there for over 2 hours. Once we entered the store Greg went into "sales" mode. I was unaware of this because I was still under the impression he did not like Verizon and there would be no way we would purchase anything that moment.

These ladies showed Greg every phone in the store. The ones he liked needed a data plan added to the monthly bill and Greg was not interested in adding to our bill. He felt it was stupid people are FORCED to purchase a data plan if they want a certain phone, I agreed. I knew exactly which phone I would like to get for myself and both kids.... the EnV3. Greg said he didn't care for that phone and wanted to see what else they had with a touch screen WITHOUT a data package.

They showed him the Chocolate, which he liked, but it was 129.00 with the rebate. He didn't want to pay that much because she was giving us the EnV3 for free so he wanted to work a deal. Greg proceeded to go into "good cop/bad cop" without informing me. Doesn't the good cop need to know if the other cop is going to be playing bad cop???

They were not coming down in price on the Chocolate but Greg continued to work it. I was a nervous wreck because I just thought he was being difficult. He found something "wrong" with EVERY phone they brought out to him.... "this hinge is too weak.... I would snap that off in a heartbeat.... I don't like the size on this one.......Yea, but this one doesn't have as good of a camera as that one".....ugggggg! All this and we hadn't even started talking about plans yet. The only decision I struggled with was red or blue for the kids...... seriously???

Isn't it supposed to be the other way around??? Aren't women the undecided ones???

After Greg saw they were not going to budge anymore on the price of the Chocolate he turns to me and says "Well, just give me the EnV3..... I'll just deal with it. I will suck it up for my family." I look at him and say "No, I am not going to go with a plan you do not like with a phone you dislike even more." He says "No, seriously, lets just do it.... I will be fine."

We continue to talk about plans and activation fees (which they said they would cover).

As we were getting ready to check out she nonchalantly mentions to us this particular store may be closing so once we get our first bill we will need to call her and then she will pay for our activation fees. Greg said "oh no.... that isn't going to fly. I can't take your word for it, this is $100.00 we are talking about.... I want this transaction completed here tonight before I leave."

She proceeds to tell us this is how they do it for all their customers and it works just fine. Greg says "I am not all your other customers and this is just good business so I would like this taken care of before I leave."

This woman starts to get all flustered and nervous... she offers to write him a check, or give him 100.00 cash out of her purse. Greg says "No, no, there is no need for that. Please don't take this personally, it has nothing to do with not trusting YOU, it is just good business on my part to do it this way." Greg never raised his voice and he was polite during the entire 2 hours, he was very business like and he is good at what he does. It just makes me nervous is all; he just happened to be dealing with his wife, who never enjoys "working deals" and two other ladies who obviously shouldn't be in sales. Customers working deals made them flustered.

Greg asks her to take 100.00 off the cost of the phones...(The phones were free, but we had to pay 50.00 for each phone up front and then send in the rebate) He wanted her to charge us 100.00 for the phones tonight instead of 200.00 and that would off set the activation fees on our first bill. This was an absolute nightmare trying to get this in action. Between the four of us trying to explain how this plan would work for everyone we were all confused by the time we were done.

2 1/2 hours later we walked out of the store with 4 EnV3 phones.

We get in the van and Greg looks at me and says "Wow, we got a great deal don't you think?" I looked at him and said " I don't even want the stupid phones anymore... I don't care if I EVER use a cell phone again." He looks at me like I was crazy...."What do you mean?" he says. I said " I feel like I talked you into a plan you were not comfortable with and now you have a phone that you hate." He smiles and starts laughing at me and says "Honey, I love my phone, I was just trying to get the Chocolate for free.... I am excited about this plan... I was just trying to get the best deal we could get."

I didn't see the humor in all of it. I said rather loudly..... "Well, you could have let me in on it, I thought you were really upset and that you REALLY didn't like anything...... for TWO HOURS."

He laughed and laughed.

We had to go back to the store because they forgot to print out our rebate information. I wouldn't go in....so Greg had to. :) He walked in and I saw the two of them start talking. I thought to myself.... .oh no, here they go again. He came back out and said that she told him she and her mom sat down and talked about the deal they put together and it really did benefit everyone. No one got screwed and it was all good. He thanked them for their patience and they thanked him for our business. Jeeeesh.... can put that all behind us now?

They couldn't postpone activating our phones so we had to give the kids an early Christmas present. They loved it.






Everyone loves their new phones... especially me since I am the one who has wanted one for well over a year now. The verdict is still out on whether or not I feel they are worth the 2 hours in the Verizon store which I will never get back. :)

Moral of the story.....if you want a great deal.... take Greg shopping with you but make sure you talk about the game plan BEFORE going into the store. :)

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Thanksgiving Day 2009

Thanksgiving was a great day spent with family again this year. It is amazing how smoothly the day can go with a little planning ahead of time. This year I made sure the frig was cleaned out, dishes were all clean, dishwasher was emptied, and pies were all made the day before. Thanksgiving day clicked along like clock work. :)

Our day began with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade while the smell of turkey filled the house. There is nothing like Thanksgiving Day at home with the aroma of yummy food in the air.


Nick waiting on the food... he sat there for nearly an hour.

Guest's began to arrive at 12:00 and dinner was served a little after 1:00. We had 2 turkeys.... 1 baked and 1 smoked. (my dad smoked a turkey in his smoker and brought it with him), mashed potatoes (2 kinds... regular and red), green bean casserole, corn casserole, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, croissants, noodles, deviled eggs, 2 pumpkin pies, 2 pecan pies, pumpkin cupcakes and gravy. Yummy!

My uncle Ron and aunt Debbie were here from Minnesota. It was wonderful having them in town again. They were here earlier this month visiting and then came back this week on their way to visit my cousin Jennifer who is on her way home from Afghanistan. They didn't know they would be back in town when they were here a couple weeks ago so this was a pleasant surprise having them here for Thanksgiving. I was very young the last time I ate Thanksgiving dinner with my uncle Ron.


Dinner was followed up by football and chatting along with pie and coffee. My family headed out around 5:30 and Greg's parents arrived shortly after 6:00.


We ate more pie, drank more coffee, played Apples to Apples and watched Punkin Chunkin on the Science Channel. It was a contest to see how far you can launch a pumpkin with different contraptions. The goal was one mile. Greg looked forward to watching this show all week long.



Greg's parents left our house around 11:00. It was a solid 12 hour day with family, food and laughter. One couldn't ask for a better Thanksgiving. Hope yours was everything you had hoped it would be and more.

Happy Thanksgiving!


Sunday, November 22, 2009

Anniversary Dinner


Greg and I have been married for 18 years now and although we have not celebrated our anniversary together yet, we were blessed to celebrate our anniversary with Greg's parents Friday night. They called earlier in the week and asked if we would be available Friday night to go to dinner with them for our anniversary.

We had a wonderful dinner at O'Charlie's Friday night, but I think the company was even better than the food. It was nice to sit together and enjoy dinner and chat for a while. Greg and I find ourselves in this season of life being very busy and it is nice to carve out time to spend with those we love.

Chris and Diane purchased a darling fire place screen for us for our anniversary as well. Can't wait to get it up with all our other Christmas and winter decorations.

Not until after Thanksgiving though... gotta give Thanksgiving it's day and then we will dig into Christmas and all that it holds.

Thanks Chris and Diane for a wonderful dinner and a nice evening together. Let's do it again real soon and this time we will pick up the tab.

Mercy Me

Saturday night Greg and I took my dad to see Mercy Me in concert at Far Hills Community Church.
I searched and searched the Mercy Me website a couple months ago for concert venues close to Dayton Ohio and the closest I could find was a 4 hour drive from Dayton. I was bummed because we wanted to take my dad to see them in concert as part of his Christmas. Then a few weeks ago K-Love started advertising Mercy Me in concert at Far Hills Church with Tenth Avenue North and Jonny Diaz. I was so excited! We got online and purchased 3 tickets immediately... which I am glad we did......


I didn't know what to expect from a concert at Far Hills. All tickets were general seating so should we get there early and stand in line to get good seats? We decided to take Dad to Chipotle first (he had never been before and we wanted him to try it) and we knew we would pass the church on our way so we could see if anyone was starting to line up at the door.

We passed the church around 3:20ish and the place was empty. We drove over to Chipotle and enjoyed a nice leisurely lunch and then headed back over to the church around 4:30ish. There were about 5 people standing in line. We sat in the van for a few minutes and as people started pulling in we walked up and stood in line. We were 3rd in line at our particular door. There was one other front door and then a side door off to the side. The ladies in front of us had been there since 2:30 so we didn't feel as foolish getting there at 4:30.

It made me rather sad as a christian to witness the lack of love from some in this group, the lady in front of us included.

When she first arrived there to wait in line she sat in her chair between both front doors. Another lady and her family showed up to wait in line and she asked the lady in the chair which door she was waiting at so she could wait at the other. The lady in the chair said I will wait at the door to the left. The other lady replied Okay, I will wait at the door to the right. Well, a few minutes later the lady in the chair found out the sanctuary was a little closer to the door on the right and she had a fit. She said " That lady KNEW she would be closer to the sanctuary once the doors opened." She continued to complain the entire time about volunteers coming in and out of the building.....she would say "If they let those people in first I am going to be really upset because I was here before they were."

When the doors did finally open at 5:30 she absolutely RAN all the way around the stairs to the sanctuary, (dropped her ticket) and ended up right in front of us again while we waited for the sanctuary doors to open at 6:00. She pushed and shoved and did receive seats 2 rows in front of us but my goodness was it all worth it? She grumbled and complained and had herself worked up for nearly 2 hours.

We are all brothers and sisters in Christ who were gathering together to worship with Mercy Me. What if however we brought a friend who was on the fence with Christianity? Is this the example of Christianity we want others to witness? If this is how Christians treat one another they certainly won't want to be one. I felt in a setting like this one there should have been smiling faces, people opening doors for one another, showing God's love to each other. It did make me stop and think about myself. I may not have had the attitude this lady had last night, but there have been other times when I am sure I have been just as bad. If we carry the name of Christ people.... let's act like it. Show some love, smile a little, stop judging for a few minutes and look in the mirror.

Ok, now that I got that off my chest I will share the concert experience. The concert was AMAZING! We had great seats; 5 rows from the front. We were surrounded by friends which we did not plan at all. Many, many Southbrookers were there.

Greg was chosen (since he has been such a good boy this year) to sit next to Santa Clause. He was full of excitement as you can see.

Although, from the look of Santa in this picture, Greg may have been moved to the naughty list.


I didn't know much about Tenth Avenue North, or Jonny Diaz but they both were fantastic. I especially like Jonny Diaz. What a great, down to earth guy and I really liked his music.

I apologize for the pictures... I grabbed our small camera not thinking we could take pictures and sure enough we could. The pictures are kinda blurry and the video is not nearly as good as if I had taken our video camera. You do the best with what you have. :)






Tenth Avenue North was a young band and they rocked the house. They were very good as well.






Lastly, Mercy Me came out onto stage and the crowd went crazy. They are awesome; I could listen to them sing live for hours and hours. They are funny too; quite the entertainers.


They had about a 20 minute question and answer time where the audience could ask the band questions. They were hilarious. We had a gentleman in front of us propose to his girl friend during the question and answer time and after he was done Bart, the lead singer, said "Oh and look.... you even proposed in front of Santa Clause". Everyone turned and looked at the man sitting next to Greg and laughed and laughed. Here is a link to the Mercy Me blog if you would like to see the proposal yourself... click here. We were sitting directly behind this couple. It was a great time.

Here is a sample of a few songs they sang. The video doesn't do them justice though.



This song was not written to be a Christian song from the original artist Tom Petty, but they made us look at it from a Christian perspective.



This song was one of their encore songs... Emmanuel, God With Us. Great song!



They liked to listen to us sing too.... it was beautiful to hear everyone singing together.



They sang Word of God Speak too, but I was caught up in the song and forgot to record some of it. I did get their biggest hit I Can Only Imagine though. What a moving song.



At the end of their encore we bowed our heads in prayer.... Bart lead us in prayer as the rest of the band exited the stage. As he finished praying he started singing an old hymn.... the crowd started singing along with him and by the time we were finished singing and raised our heads he had exited the stage too. Great concert! I can't wait to see them again.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Thankfulness x 100

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of my blog AND my 100th post. I thought since it is near Thanksgiving I would celebrate my blog by listing 100 things I am thankful for.

They will not be listed in order of importance.... that is not how my mind works. If I think of it I write it... otherwise I will forget it. :)

1. I am thankful for my Heavenly Father and His gift of eternal life through his son.

2.. I am thankful for my faith. I don’t want to know where I might be in life if it were not for my faith.

3. I am thankful for Grace. Without grace I am a disgrace…( no pun intended.) Grace is difficult to accept and to give at times. Although I am unworthy, I am very thankful to be given grace on a daily basis.

4. I am not able to put into words how thankful I am for Gregory. I love him more than life itself. He has been my rock through my adult life and has given me two wonderful children and a life I thought I would only dream of. I pray everyday for a very long life together. Greg is charming, funny, sweet, sensitive and is quite the looker if I do say so myself. Greg is many things … however I am just thankful he is mine.

5. I am thankful for my kids. I feel the love you have for your child is the purest love of all. To look into the eyes of your baby is priceless and looking into those same eyes as they grow into adulthood is a privilege I hope to never take for granted. Leslie and Nick are the two most precious gifts ever given to me. I look at them every day and feel blessed to be their mother. I love them with all my heart and soul.

6. I am thankful for the gift of a Christian education given to me by my parents. School is a battlefield for many students. Being given the opportunity to study the Bible every day and to start each class with prayer was a huge for me.

7. I am thankful for my parents. I have so many fond memories of birthday parties, vacations and Holidays. Although my mom is no longer here on this earth I hear her speak to my heart everyday. My dad has been our rock. He worked his entire life to provide for us the things we needed as well as the things we didn’t. He continues to be a very special part of my life and I love him very much.

8. I am thankful for my grandparents. I was blessed to have a very close relationship with both sets of my grandparents. I have fond memories of working in Papaw Wilson’s workshop in his garage as well as riding in his van to go to church on Wednesday nights. I would sit in their yard and eat concord grapes, raspberries, mulberries and blackberries straight off the vine, bush and tree. (Yum) My Grandma and Grandpa Hoff took me fishing, out to eat, and to the Museum of Natural History countless times. My grandmother would pack picnic lunches with the best cookies anyone could ever eat when we would go fishing to Rum Creek. They took me on many walks on the railroad tracks to the creek where I would find old marbles and pet caterpillars. I spent many nights at their house and I looked forward to it each and every time. I am very blessed to have both of my grandmothers still living. The love of a grandmother is very special and I am thankful to have mine.

9.I am thankful for my extended family. I am thankful for my brother Jamie, his wife Amy and their beautiful daughter Maya and the relationship I have with them. I am thankful for my in-laws. I have heard horror stories from many people concerning their in-laws and I am happy to say I have none. They are wonderful people who have raised a wonderful son. We have many aunts, uncles and cousin’s I am thankful too.

10. I am thankful for my friends, past, future and present. Friends who share their wisdom, their mistakes, their challenges to help guide me through mine. Friends who do not tell me what I WANT to hear, but tell me what I NEED to hear. Friends who hold me accountable, friends who know when I am not myself after just saying "hello" on the phone. You know who you are and I am thankful you are in my life.

11. I am thankful for my country. I am so thankful to live in a country where I am free to not only have faith, but to practice it openly. A country where I am free to speak my heart and mind, a country where I can vote and express my thoughts and concerns as a woman, a country where I have equal rights. The list goes on and on.

12. I am thankful for the many men and women who have died to give us the freedom we have today. I pray for the families who have an empty place at the table this Thanksgiving; their price for freedom is much higher than mine.

13. I am thankful for my health and the health of my family.

14. I am thankful for our church. Southbrook has taught me so much as a Christian.. I used to feel you needed to act a certain way, dress a certain way, look a certain way and BE a certain person in order to be a REAL Christian. Southbrook has helped me accept who I am in Christ and has helped me see my faith as a journey with hills and valleys. God loves me regardless of where I am in my journey.

15. I am thankful for my love of animals. To some this may be an odd thing to be thankful for; however animals bring great joy to my life. I smile each time I see a squirrel scamper across the lawn and as it pauses to look at me. I love to watch and listen to birds as they converse with one another. I love to watch bunnies nibble clover in our yard. This would explain the many feathered and furry friends who take residence inside our home.

16. I am thankful for my love of nature. There is nothing like a walk in the woods for me. The peacefulness and serenity of it all takes away all the dirt and grime of the world. I love to hear the wind rustling in the leaves of a tree, the distant call of a bird, the sound of a babbling stream or a surprise glimpse of a deer in a meadow. I see God in it all and for that I am thankful.

17. I am thankful for my love of people. I need relationships and I need people.

18. I am thankful for our jobs. In this economy it is a blessing to still have a job.

19. I am thankful for our home; many do not have a roof over their head much less than own their own home. We are truly blessed.

20. I am thankful to live in a community where our kids are encouraged to be educated, responsible and moral citizens.

21. I am thankful for all the experiences I have had in my life… both good and bad. They have made me who I am today.

22. I am thankful for chocolate…..what woman isn’t?

23. I am thankful for food. Wish I didn’t like it as much.

24. I am thankful for warmth…. I loooooove to sit in the sun to feel its warmth, or sit under an electric blanket or next to a fire.

25. I am thankful for gum. I usually always have a piece in my mouth.

26. I am thankful for lip balm…always have it, always will.

27. I am thankful for toilet paper…. Wouldn’t want to use my hand like in China... or is it Japan? Either way,... ewww.

28. I am thankful for good smells… like before or after a good rain, or the smell of a baby, or the smell of Thanksgiving dinner cooking.

29. I am thankful for candles. Candles make me feel good… not sure it is because of the smell or because of the gentle light they produce.

30. I am thankful for lotion. I know it is weird, but I like to use lotion and I do everyday.

31. I am thankful for vacations.

32. I am thankful for snow days.

33. I am thankful for flushing toilets…. Out houses and I would NOT get along… especially in the winter.

34. I am thankful for electricity… I love candles, but not if I am trying to read.

35. I am thankful for washing machines and dryers. My grandma has shared stories of how she used to do laundry…. Ummm, no thanks.

36. I am thankful for disposable diapers. My grandma has shared stories of how she had to wash many, many cloth diapers of my dad’s each day.

37. I am thankful for our cars. I love horses, and although I enjoy riding them…. Our vacations would be pretty rough without a car.

38. Speaking of Florida… .I am thankful for any beach, anywhere.

39. I am thankful for my oven…. Especially during the Holidays.

40. I am thankful for my hair… not that I LIKE my hair, but I have learned as I get older that some women lose their hair....and I couldn’t pull that look off.

41. I am thankful for laughter in our home…. Especially if it is coming from both of our children… that means they are getting along.

42. I am thankful for my bed. We just purchased new flannel sheets, new pillows, memory foam topper and a duel control electric blank. I am lucky to get out of it every day.

43. Speaking of getting out of bed…. I am thankful I can stand and walk each morning.

44. I am thankful I can see.

45. Thankful I can hear.

46. Thankful I can breathe easily.

47. I am thankful for my computer.

48. I am thankful for my internet access. (when it works....#%*$ Vista!)

49. I am thankful for my DVR… I know this sounds petty, but we are new to this and I think it is the best thing since sliced bread.

50. I am thankful for the beauty in the changing leaves.

51. I am thankful for apples in the fall.

52. I am thankful for green grass (green is my favorite color)

53. I am thankful for sunny days.

54. I am thankful for rainy days ( gotta water the green grass)

55. I am thankful for my bubble baths.

56. I am thankful for antibiotics…. Especially “z” packs.

57. I am thankful for music. Music is the dimmer switch to my mood. I love it.

58. I am thankful for fire pits. Many fun nights spent around a fire pit.

59. I am thankful for birthdays… not mine, but others.

60. I am thankful for toothbrushes and tooth paste.

61. I am thankful for bologna sandwiches with potato chips on them. (not very nutritional but yummy)

62. I am thankful for trees…. especially Christmas trees.

63. I am thankful for sunflowers…. They make me smile.

64. I am thankful for good books.

65. I am thankful for good, romantic movies.

66. I am thankful for marriages…. especially mine.

67. I am thankful for cleaning products. (I know, I know… but I love new cleaning products)

68. I am thankful for Air Conditioning in the summer.

69. I am thankful I don’t like to shop much…. I think Greg is even more thankful.

70. I am thankful for massages…. Oh how I am thankful for massages.

71. I am thankful for all fruits.

72. I am thankful for people who do all the dirty jobs Mike Rowe has on his show “Dirty Jobs”….someone has to do them and I am glad it is not me.

73. I am thankful for teachers… without teachers none of us could read.

74. I am thankful for anything that brings friends and family together.

75. I am thankful for loons…..they sound wonderful while sitting around a Canadian lake.

76. I am thankful for volunteers… people who give of themselves to make a difference.

77. I am thankful for Downey Wrinkle Releaser.

78. I am thankful for cameras, pictures and photography.

79. I am thankful for home movies.

80. I am thankful for Nick’s smile that lights up a room.

81. I am thankful for Leslie’s hugs, especially the ones where she plows you over.

82. I am thankful for warm chocolate chip cookies.

83. I am thankful for the look Murphy gives me when he wants to be snuggled (which he is giving me right now)

84. I am thankful for kisses…. Baby kisses, puppy kisses, family kisses and romantic kisses. (more thankful for them before and after flu season)

85. I am thankful for days when the sun rays shine down from the sky as if God is reaching down from Heaven.

86. I am thankful for lazy weekends.

87. I am thankful for out of town guests.

88. I am thankful for unexpected guests.

89. I am thankful for lunch with friends.

90. I am thankful for date nights with Greg.

91. I am thankful for family movie nights with pizza.

92. I am thankful for the look in Greg’s eyes when he tells me he loves me... eyes don't lie.

93. I am thankful for rainbows and promises.

94. I am thankful for the Thumby my dad bought me of my mother’s thumb print. (wearing it right now)

95. I am thankful for the silence after a newly fallen snow.

96. I am thankful for warm, fuzzy blankets and thick socks.

97. I am thankful for smell of spring in the air after a long winter.

98. I am thankful for so many wonderful memories.

99. I am thankful for my pets. They bring joy to me (most days) and a lot of companionship too.

100. I am thankful I have so much to be thankful for that this list was a breeze to create.

Thanksgiving will soon be upon us..... what will YOU be thankful for?


Saturday, November 14, 2009

Princess Tea Party



Our niece Maya turned 5 on November 12th and she celebrated Saturday with a Princess Tea Party. Most November's here in Ohio old man winter is knocking at the door, however this November has been beautiful. The weather Saturday was sunny and nearly 70 degrees. Perfect day for a tea party.

Maya began planning her birthday party months ago and she reminded us many, many times to be sure to wear our "prettiest" clothes.

Greg and Maya have a fun relationship, he tells her jokes and has teased her since she was born; they laugh and laugh together. Greg promised her he would wear his tux and nothing was going to stop him that day... plus....Leslie had an excuse to wear her prom dress again.


It was fun watching the excitement with each gift she opened. I can't believe she is 5 already.




Happy Birthday sweet Maya.... we loved your tea party. Thanks for inviting us.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Halloween...kinda.

Leslie didn't trick or treat this year, but she did dress up during spirit week so I still got my costume picture. :)


Nick went back and forth as to wether he was going to go out trick or treating or hand out candy and scare people. He LOVES to scare people. He has a friend who is younger join him for the evening so he decided to do a little of both. They boys trick or treated for a bit and then had fun hiding and jumping out at the older kids.


He looks like a zombie referee to me.



Doby didn't dress up but we are nearing the time of year where he likes to chew all his feathers off. So, I thought I would take some pictures of him while he is still pretty. He isn't sick.... it is a hormonal thing. He should be in the jungle mating this time of year but instead he is in Centerville. ...poor baby.


I must say I miss the days of pumpkin carving and costumes. There is nothing quite like experiencing the excitment of a young child on the night of trick or treat. My niece Maya sat in front of her oven clock for hours waiting for the time to come to trick or treat.


I am thankful to have memories of so many fun Halloweens.