tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17043143627671519192024-03-05T23:23:23.757-06:00Outnumbered...by two Jedi Knights, the Princess of Destruction, and one China DollMandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.comBlogger547125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-71820276399726186592016-01-13T15:36:00.001-06:002016-01-13T15:36:19.913-06:00Knock knock knock!Just wanted to pop over to my overgrown, long neglected blog to see if anyone still checks in here...anyone out there? Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-79208978644833443632013-04-18T06:00:00.000-05:002013-04-18T06:00:12.218-05:00March 26<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Dear Harper, Harper-girl, Harper-lo, Lolo, Lowly, Lowly-worms, </div>
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March 26, 2013 you turned FOUR years old! What a four years it has been, Lolo. You are such a fun, spirited little girl who is CONSTANTLY keeping us on our toes. You are finally showing little glimpses of the 'big girl' you are going to be soon (ie, giving us a glimmer of hope that the last of our family's screaming-toddler years are behind us). </div>
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Harper, you are the FUNNEST little one. No matter where we are, or what we are doing, you can always find something to do. One of your favorite things to do right now is dig around in the fridge for a snack and sneak it upstairs while mommy is folding laundry. Some favorite snacks that we have found upstairs with you? Butter, a jar of grape jelly with a spoon, apples, grapes, entire containers of strawberries, packages of lunchmeat, and lunchbox filled with granola bars and food coloring. </div>
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You go to a new preschool twice a week this year, and you love it! You know how to spell your name and sign with an 'H'. You have been, thankfully, fully potty trained for a while now, and still bear a strong resemblance to your mommy and brother Dane-o. Your best friend in the world is Emerson, and you want to wear a dress every day. When you're not in your swimsuit, that is.</div>
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For your fourth birthday, we kept it pretty low-key this year. Several weeks before, when we asked you what you wanted for your birthday, you IMMEDIATELY, without hesitation, exclaimed, "Unicorn Stomp-eez!" Yup. Those As Seen On TV slippers for kids that feature animals that open their eyes when you walk in them. Ummm, okay. You were pretty excited to open your Stomp-eez:</div>
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After you blew out candles with your fellow birthday girl </div>
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(birthday Momo was at her house this year)</div>
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you opened up the new twirly dress that Daddy and Mommy got for you. </div>
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You love a good twirly dress.</div>
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After enjoying cake and present-opening, we headed out with your good friend Reed to Build-A-Bear. You picked out a pink Hello Kitty animal<br />
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And you, Reed, and Emerson had a big time stuffing and cleaning your animals at the drying station. Aidan and Dane served as Bear Assistants this year.<br />
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Happy birthday, my sweet Harper-girl!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3nkfrWrlz09F2IvNOFwronMLgq1yvfSNeO2EzIbRX5VT4T6hbbckwu8Eyvrr-buQCD0FPapbShOKQXNjXB28Qb4bPsrYX_GlA5QCLFIXXYGzpnVpLfd2PwCGKXwWhY2ul8iLz5NsBiMY6/s1600/Girls2blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3nkfrWrlz09F2IvNOFwronMLgq1yvfSNeO2EzIbRX5VT4T6hbbckwu8Eyvrr-buQCD0FPapbShOKQXNjXB28Qb4bPsrYX_GlA5QCLFIXXYGzpnVpLfd2PwCGKXwWhY2ul8iLz5NsBiMY6/s400/Girls2blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-84662342311053249172013-04-17T06:00:00.000-05:002013-04-17T06:00:12.582-05:00Spring Break<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Brandon was out of town over Spring Break (such is the glamorous life of youth ministry) and the kids and I were on our own for the whole week. After the Stomach Bug of 2013 finally left our house on Tuesday of Spring Break, we spent a day at our favorite little park. The kids (and by 'kids', I mean Harper) are finally at an age where they're a little easier to take out on my own. For the past several years our brood has been a two-man job, at least for me anyway.</div>
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This little girl enjoyed the PERFECT Spring Break weather</div>
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Oh, the popped hip. In almost every picture :)</div>
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The ever-present sister picture:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6i2vUwN2mXXMrN0RhlkSuWe1md8B5hRQ3b3sgK6F8JSQ3l7Ww6_q1lQJV2MHciAvNcoHjbBnR3_zgXE1Hfj64X2EddMzkJXKv0jTHJhuM23-Fmf347goRMDvYhKgMZkyEHcibT6dU6Ls1/s1600/GirlsBlog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6i2vUwN2mXXMrN0RhlkSuWe1md8B5hRQ3b3sgK6F8JSQ3l7Ww6_q1lQJV2MHciAvNcoHjbBnR3_zgXE1Hfj64X2EddMzkJXKv0jTHJhuM23-Fmf347goRMDvYhKgMZkyEHcibT6dU6Ls1/s400/GirlsBlog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Speaking of The Sister, I apparently have decided that she is at a very photogenic age. I have quite a few pictures of just her. On our walk around the little lake, she found something pink and SUPER sparkly on the path:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheasQwz9_l9gI9MTz3Iz1E8-dxt5_3OcEMmto1d46aAZ1ZT1V4TQOzJYWz_Hj1Co3nYFjApasTqDVnSCT-2ZXAcb5rL4FfWf9jurWQua0ammw1oYxtl826DyvrnQltRpRZ2s6Y2Jc7zKml/s1600/Lured1FB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheasQwz9_l9gI9MTz3Iz1E8-dxt5_3OcEMmto1d46aAZ1ZT1V4TQOzJYWz_Hj1Co3nYFjApasTqDVnSCT-2ZXAcb5rL4FfWf9jurWQua0ammw1oYxtl826DyvrnQltRpRZ2s6Y2Jc7zKml/s400/Lured1FB.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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She was SO excited! "Mommy! I found a super sparkly pink worm with no head!" It was the find of a lifetime.</div>
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It was a fishing lure. In unrelated news, we're in the painful process of growing out her bangs, and pictures like these make me want to trim them again and keep her hair like this forever.</div>
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Any guesses as to what motivated all four of my kiddos to sit down in the middle of our walk and stare intently?</div>
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Sleeping ducks, of course.</div>
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We did other super-fun stuff during our daddy-less Spring Break, but I was too distracted by the stale cigarette/stinky foot smell at the bowling alley to take any pictures.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-31469530458282446052013-04-16T06:00:00.000-05:002013-04-16T06:00:19.101-05:00I Heart FebruaryIn a lame attempt to get caught up on blogging (Hi, Dad!), I'm just going to, hopefully, spend this next week dumping pictures on the blog with very thoughtful explanations like "We did backyard camping in February. It was fun. It wasn't too cold. I promise Dane was there too, even though I didn't get any pictures of him. Because when you're nine years old, you're too cool to think things are super-fun even when they are, and you think mom taking pictures is lame-o."<br />
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But I have a couple of kiddos who have never met a camera they didn't like:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdKAroLE2V9HdAYd9cLWI54j5Iqp0SPdwjO1yUgLLmftdUbJhu1M_-Y5nTy2fSh40nr0JnHvX3gDbzT2XsY9EqvGKBv7hEdV2SdYHqz06cJzHmyT0Sy31n7lrrD1syvm0DF-8PW3kRcSh/s1600/Camp3blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdKAroLE2V9HdAYd9cLWI54j5Iqp0SPdwjO1yUgLLmftdUbJhu1M_-Y5nTy2fSh40nr0JnHvX3gDbzT2XsY9EqvGKBv7hEdV2SdYHqz06cJzHmyT0Sy31n7lrrD1syvm0DF-8PW3kRcSh/s400/Camp3blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2rUTM6DMSKUi51W5Tb3eYM5jO8tECEZK2aNoRzd-WJi7xEKQw9UWMuBbCw8LPAQRRXQQ4W2D2d2k17hXQ1IdH6T2NQrUVYB7u3mjznyFUVcDxnP14seFOU3VxcRrrlgRz107EZ2TvsJG/s1600/Camp5blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2rUTM6DMSKUi51W5Tb3eYM5jO8tECEZK2aNoRzd-WJi7xEKQw9UWMuBbCw8LPAQRRXQQ4W2D2d2k17hXQ1IdH6T2NQrUVYB7u3mjznyFUVcDxnP14seFOU3VxcRrrlgRz107EZ2TvsJG/s400/Camp5blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
And this girl...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYxdrPKQaJPxJo5ZnLfQm1bnhKVzBP7HEwCnNLxYMeI7Ysf3ojcVcuYuQntRCmcPSQQrWh_TU7Af-zRfoPkaqv35oUBFcip3fKeQ0ZqQ3yHdu7WbxhFFIzcrHCmAaH_fOOxTmW-gwIc1s/s1600/Camp4blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYxdrPKQaJPxJo5ZnLfQm1bnhKVzBP7HEwCnNLxYMeI7Ysf3ojcVcuYuQntRCmcPSQQrWh_TU7Af-zRfoPkaqv35oUBFcip3fKeQ0ZqQ3yHdu7WbxhFFIzcrHCmAaH_fOOxTmW-gwIc1s/s400/Camp4blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Oh, Harper-Lo.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpAsmzggOOsjVZ0d4adXDze86nkTIXS4zDTlHN3_7SDMXZuU03WB8YGmBffS8YWpe_nZ3HYfeDALGJuqb2VnmAeALN9bbUgyV2dfpLKx2rlAvwvrdPjW4ucS42hrqXc-siWN4FpdBVsWzO/s1600/Camp6blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpAsmzggOOsjVZ0d4adXDze86nkTIXS4zDTlHN3_7SDMXZuU03WB8YGmBffS8YWpe_nZ3HYfeDALGJuqb2VnmAeALN9bbUgyV2dfpLKx2rlAvwvrdPjW4ucS42hrqXc-siWN4FpdBVsWzO/s400/Camp6blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
I'm not sure where Emmy got this pose,<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbmtbtneuvMOnFuXF5QqpL_hm-YkjvZpniZAWTEEz92ei13NDoiiMIOURoMZ6wa0eVB-J-dav6qnn20ZfPadiTvcAlImgKOYQkVvJHHJGfJUA91EEtrGesCEeVhLOVs0Fct3BVPVAZ0tmE/s1600/Camp7blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbmtbtneuvMOnFuXF5QqpL_hm-YkjvZpniZAWTEEz92ei13NDoiiMIOURoMZ6wa0eVB-J-dav6qnn20ZfPadiTvcAlImgKOYQkVvJHHJGfJUA91EEtrGesCEeVhLOVs0Fct3BVPVAZ0tmE/s400/Camp7blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
but it was soon copied by her best friend in the whole wide world,<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibVIMijIZXO3MxVhWqqWkjqg5yKsiH9uuyz5XDHJrfTolLcCnP5L6GGthgWKLbNdSuCsMxObF6AXQdHIEyGLsWckBSUshcC01pWg02-nWeUHyqJo5JE5EexXMQvR6Q9zaRDqHqy9kklTFe/s1600/Camp8blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibVIMijIZXO3MxVhWqqWkjqg5yKsiH9uuyz5XDHJrfTolLcCnP5L6GGthgWKLbNdSuCsMxObF6AXQdHIEyGLsWckBSUshcC01pWg02-nWeUHyqJo5JE5EexXMQvR6Q9zaRDqHqy9kklTFe/s400/Camp8blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
And then we roasted weenies in the chimnea, before the girls and I headed inside and the boys spent the whole night sleeping in the tent and peeing by the fence.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9mCPbwVcoAgzGDcNIjg4RmQ054S6IPoUtlMoiGUtXTRiQ9JdI8Z92twHNH9xHCDRS9mlPdxRzsouyqFt1YD3NF-gOIex-_EN1W9dFksTmcgwGMYuLF_r9O5t062lkUM6EFHCjwR1CRPMU/s1600/Camp9blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9mCPbwVcoAgzGDcNIjg4RmQ054S6IPoUtlMoiGUtXTRiQ9JdI8Z92twHNH9xHCDRS9mlPdxRzsouyqFt1YD3NF-gOIex-_EN1W9dFksTmcgwGMYuLF_r9O5t062lkUM6EFHCjwR1CRPMU/s400/Camp9blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now if I can only remember what we did in March...</div>
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-82275448607848767212013-03-03T10:41:00.002-06:002013-03-03T10:42:01.543-06:00In Celebration Of Texas Independence...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I hope everyone this weekend had a wonderful time celebrating Texas Independence Day! It's a huge holiday here in our neck of the woods, and we always love to celebrate as a family.</div>
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Ummm, not really. I had no idea that Saturday was Texas Independence Day (okay, I may not have known this was something that existed at all), which is exactly how we found ourselves at <a href="http://www.birthplaceoftexas.com/" target="_blank">Washington on the Brazos</a> on Friday, a mere one day before The Big Day. Did you know something super important happened at Washington on the Brazos a really long time ago? Yeah, me too. So we pulled the kids out of school early on Friday and had ourselves a little educational field trip, so they could experience all of the Living History for themselves. (More on why on earth we were here later).</div>
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We were very fortunate to have a day of PERFECT weather to enjoy with our little family, and after we parked, hit up the bathrooms and giftshop (of course), Emerson couldn't resist a photo op:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmlrrS8Q2QQWfjE9KB0WpFhiKPcO3T2Km-ehz2l7_xCZl7aPr4NJfV05OXfQFN9BKt9i3z7Scq1bVXAzaAwvvwin0iHBNAmF6eIjgD84DJIbNSeE0JDmLS7wfpykmUExPCG7SujB1CMcIA/s1600/EmmyFlagBlog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmlrrS8Q2QQWfjE9KB0WpFhiKPcO3T2Km-ehz2l7_xCZl7aPr4NJfV05OXfQFN9BKt9i3z7Scq1bVXAzaAwvvwin0iHBNAmF6eIjgD84DJIbNSeE0JDmLS7wfpykmUExPCG7SujB1CMcIA/s400/EmmyFlagBlog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnpdteZuCepmzOeegSdh1rtCujD0ajryRySxN9njXT_HPuIsb2zJkq4SpFTp2_nhVGVfcOTIh4UvpeqzCmxGB0k9Q0MgomGpToyNylFLEYeUGB9h62HYCDWfdozHyaSW565hWpyyi3kNcF/s1600/Flag2blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnpdteZuCepmzOeegSdh1rtCujD0ajryRySxN9njXT_HPuIsb2zJkq4SpFTp2_nhVGVfcOTIh4UvpeqzCmxGB0k9Q0MgomGpToyNylFLEYeUGB9h62HYCDWfdozHyaSW565hWpyyi3kNcF/s400/Flag2blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Where do little girls learn the hip-pop? Because this one has got it down PAT.</div>
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As we arrived at the park a day BEFORE Texas Independence, we noticed suspicious looking figures setting up tents and dressed in period costumes. If you were there on Saturday, you experienced huge crowds of people and booming reinactments.</div>
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If you were lucky enough to go on Friday, you got a one-on-one musket lesson from this guy:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaqIdyj7pvWYsoa_khGXM2lO8k42csYZK2CwryAg0mHp9C7gILqyQmSanU-ArtAciOSyv9tJSwMwU1_k13huqRPbOLIaIegDoU8g-UkNnAo_ZA1FQdRjuDrDGOna9gCd41-uPZGVBZ3CCL/s1600/Gun1blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaqIdyj7pvWYsoa_khGXM2lO8k42csYZK2CwryAg0mHp9C7gILqyQmSanU-ArtAciOSyv9tJSwMwU1_k13huqRPbOLIaIegDoU8g-UkNnAo_ZA1FQdRjuDrDGOna9gCd41-uPZGVBZ3CCL/s400/Gun1blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9JgdkwopOBiMOHln8HZvVv9ckgQhMFqCHb6ZHimX5Q7JLzZO_5N8G1mMyLa_YYxbQSr0akB3TOZRykU46jWRyX0LyJFHabZsJp2OAUKtRRTYxVHwxeV_akLuQ7TZox6tx6cH1dCBjRHlN/s1600/Gun2blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9JgdkwopOBiMOHln8HZvVv9ckgQhMFqCHb6ZHimX5Q7JLzZO_5N8G1mMyLa_YYxbQSr0akB3TOZRykU46jWRyX0LyJFHabZsJp2OAUKtRRTYxVHwxeV_akLuQ7TZox6tx6cH1dCBjRHlN/s400/Gun2blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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who was all set up to camp out for the entire (chilly) weekend with only his musket, tent, and buffalo skin rug.</div>
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That and his chair, which Harper quickly adopted as her own:</div>
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The sweet lady at the visitor center suggested that we drive down to <a href="http://www.birthplaceoftexas.com/Barrington.htm" target="_blank">Barrington Farm</a>, the small homestead set up as it was in the 18...somethings. So instead of taking her advice, we walked the scenic route instead.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5AF4IxvZ_CnL2g4DE8ISmmDqdsY-qYPwJIz9EZgjfVcXHrzt03VAoI1tIQGQhLitb6SXLMy3fSSKmKevJefVE8Ko5y_OFcQ8HsLxnfy730xtGCyPCkhlnESrJi6cl3-xbnYAlp-DEKEej/s1600/WalkBlog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5AF4IxvZ_CnL2g4DE8ISmmDqdsY-qYPwJIz9EZgjfVcXHrzt03VAoI1tIQGQhLitb6SXLMy3fSSKmKevJefVE8Ko5y_OFcQ8HsLxnfy730xtGCyPCkhlnESrJi6cl3-xbnYAlp-DEKEej/s400/WalkBlog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Where I provided photographic evidence of my presence on the road trip:</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2vw02uBIXhF_L735_MbnZfi1OyJ8K2S4rpf4NyMKzUpcxhe0jDS7MFOOU0F8Sngc1UIm85VwIj8ntbtCAzXjaZ2AAfnrlZp-xLfOI-N5Q-54_0XTw-vlCOjD49byAspS-8aJHHgJ7_NcQ/s1600/SignBlog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2vw02uBIXhF_L735_MbnZfi1OyJ8K2S4rpf4NyMKzUpcxhe0jDS7MFOOU0F8Sngc1UIm85VwIj8ntbtCAzXjaZ2AAfnrlZp-xLfOI-N5Q-54_0XTw-vlCOjD49byAspS-8aJHHgJ7_NcQ/s400/SignBlog.jpg" width="265" /></a><br />
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Please ignore my hair in this picture. It was windy.</div>
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Then we got a picture of this girl:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgl2ehi7zdAXw1bECJmssaStSeC8_XzklPg4ALtmEQALkqm06KREBWSvaHTL70A7-tWCsZEdBkj-YiHO4_Sh9L1XV7hXansmrol8bLf3xjoKcZBvM2TQf23D6ureS2zhdJ2Akj5bHpono/s1600/CowBlog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgl2ehi7zdAXw1bECJmssaStSeC8_XzklPg4ALtmEQALkqm06KREBWSvaHTL70A7-tWCsZEdBkj-YiHO4_Sh9L1XV7hXansmrol8bLf3xjoKcZBvM2TQf23D6ureS2zhdJ2Akj5bHpono/s400/CowBlog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Before we spied the homestead:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImIgD8axduXzmNSP_l3MBf6TNEjF4LNjprTZROYd6P0EKF4vLXE0mPnWIAzltCb7_9Z0recrstX06EKToWbfURDGJkw7Uq59kqJw9NZMaJAo2k5RgmffG5l8MiXs5iWQmFSTz5XoeZfgB/s1600/HouseBlog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImIgD8axduXzmNSP_l3MBf6TNEjF4LNjprTZROYd6P0EKF4vLXE0mPnWIAzltCb7_9Z0recrstX06EKToWbfURDGJkw7Uq59kqJw9NZMaJAo2k5RgmffG5l8MiXs5iWQmFSTz5XoeZfgB/s400/HouseBlog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Complete with a cool red cart to stand on.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBCEP3884cCfEQbssC5aHbz_m0rTc-nigwVJh8Nvd6M7IAGwuwRzsW8N40-31BTvfENnTh8_FRq2-RlONaCPtQcs5iKl_ha4VdixOKDoTDTNy1Cy-kw3UFOE_PLxalT1kXwhEb0maKiSLv/s1600/House2blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBCEP3884cCfEQbssC5aHbz_m0rTc-nigwVJh8Nvd6M7IAGwuwRzsW8N40-31BTvfENnTh8_FRq2-RlONaCPtQcs5iKl_ha4VdixOKDoTDTNy1Cy-kw3UFOE_PLxalT1kXwhEb0maKiSLv/s400/House2blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Oxen used to pull this cart. OXEN. See? I did learn something. And this house? It has a hole in the middle because when it was super hot in the summers of yore, the families would pull their chairs out into the breezeway and enjoy the sweltering 95 degree "breeze". <br />
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Another wagon I made my children take a picture with:<br />
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They were OVER pictures for mom at this point in the afternoon.<br />
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After we finished touring the homestead (Aidan learned what a 'chamber pot' is, and we're just praying he doesn't get any modern-day ideas), we dragged the kids to this building, where something was signed by a bunch of people at one point in Texas' history. <br />
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And the trees were big and pretty. Which is the real reason this building is probably here. Someone knew a little something about "curbside appeal" in the 18somethings.<br />
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Since my children are incapable of passing by a statue without climbing on it, I didn't pass up the opportunity for another photo op:<br />
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And Harper's head buried? That should have been an omen for the next several hours. Unbeknownst to us, the day was about to take a vomit-infused turn for the worse. <br />
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Let me back up a minute...the reason we had pulled the kids out of school a little early and embarked on a lovely afternoon of Texas history, was that we were headed up to cousin Laurel's 2nd birthday party in Temple on Saturday morning. Our Friday evening destination was Aunt Val and Uncle Izzy's house in Georgetown. Which I *mistakingly* thought was about an hour away from this picture-esque little 'Washington on the Brazos' detour. Georgetown-ites, it is not, in fact, an hour away. More like 2+ hours. Which means we would not get to have fun-crazy-cousin time till about 7pm. It would have been more like 6:30, except at one point in the Van Ride I Wish I Could Forget, Harper stopped fussing about being in her car seat long enough to puke. When I say 'puke', I mean "hurl a greater volume of gastric contents than I thought possible to fit inside a 3 year old ALL OVER herself, her car seat, the van, and everything in a 3 foot diameter". It was a super-fun added adventure to the road trip. <br />
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Fortunately, Brandon made a timely stop at a Shell station, where the basketball team that was standing in line at the check out was gracious enough to let my hubby cut in line to purchase his baby wipes and bottled water, while I stripped Harper down in the parking lot and just threw away the clothes she had on. Some laundry just isn't worth it. She danced in the front seat in her panties, puke-chunks in her hair, waving out the window in the parking lot of the Shell (she wasn't the least bit bothered by her gastrointestinal mishaps) while I scooped chunky bits out of the crevasses of her car seat. After we finally got back on the road, I had just about convinced myself that this was an isolated car-puke and she was fine, when Harper threw up again. About 10 minutes before we got to Georgetown. So instead of playing fun-crazy-cousins, Harper got an immediate Georgetown shower, while Brandon commenced with Operation Car Seat/Van Decon. <br />
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The kids still had an awesome time playing and rough housing and talking (till *gulp* 11pm), and then the boys were up at 4:30 in the morning. That's right. 4:30am. We only knew that because Harper was awake ALL NIGHT, fussing and talking and wanting to get up and eat something. She's not a great sleeper anyway, but throw in a stomach virus and no one but Emerson slept much at all on Friday night. Harper kept Brandon and I up, but Emerson SNORED through everything. <br />
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Saturday morning dawned, and I had decided that Harper and I would drop the others off at Laurel's Puppy Party instead of infecting the entire party of people with the lovely stomach bug. Which ended up being a good call, since Harper slept all morning, only to wake up and puke again. The others had a great time at Laurel's adorable party:<br />
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Complete with Puppy Faces<br />
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and Puppy Snacks,<br />
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and two little 5-year olds who stayed in Puppy Character for the entire party.<br />
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Can't say the same for Dane and Aidan, who, by the looks of the pictures Brandon took, played football the entire party. <br />
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Except for cupcake time with Grammy and GranDoug, of course.<br />
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And the special guests at Puppy Party?<br />
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Hey, Adrienne. Can you please plan every birthday party my kids have from now on? Pretty please? Mkay, thanks.<br />
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Happy birthday, Laurel Ann!<br />
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We made it home after the party (and lunch for the non-pukers at Ade and Jeremy's house) in one piece, with just one more vomiting episode out of our littlest traveler somewhere near Plantersville. My van will never smell normal ever again. Here's hoping and praying that our bout with the stomach bug is limited to just one of the four. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-8691080082561886712013-02-13T06:00:00.000-06:002013-02-13T06:00:10.602-06:00And It Wouldn't Be a Holiday......with my side of the family without the requisite Family Photo Shoot...<br />
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Nora, Andy, Parker, and Lindy:<br />
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and Zane, John, Brandy, and Jack<br />
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My crew:<br />
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and again...<br />
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Momo and Pappy with all the kids:<br />
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Someday all these kids will be teenagers and will think it's terribly uncool to all spend the holidays together, but right now they are 9,7,5,4,3,2,1,and 4ish months old, and can't get enough cousin time!<br />
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Everyone together, and heavily photoshopped :)<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-41374036872100498212013-02-11T18:00:00.000-06:002013-02-11T18:00:02.445-06:00White Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Christmas morning at my parents' house, it started snowing and didn't stop for several hours. We weren't expecting a white Christmas, but it was AWESOME!</div>
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And my kids, yet again, were dressed a little like homeless people.<br />
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Aidan in his grey sweats,</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQKY9r81VPUu38wxqiZh0_D2SexhbVUkPMQBpMNQtt2JkJrIqq96wscgd_tGe7-o5ZF1CKqU2ISirbK5uGeq06am2fqL2pUa6JCa0gYqHJq1psnqvscUm4dL1nZWoglPXxD6gnCcuuMnE/s1600/Snow10blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQKY9r81VPUu38wxqiZh0_D2SexhbVUkPMQBpMNQtt2JkJrIqq96wscgd_tGe7-o5ZF1CKqU2ISirbK5uGeq06am2fqL2pUa6JCa0gYqHJq1psnqvscUm4dL1nZWoglPXxD6gnCcuuMnE/s400/Snow10blog.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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While little Cousin Nora looked like some sort of catalog model.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWdd6dbZNd6s3n-c_VuDudyDi69i06jH3XdbntSBLJ2bJ5w_vLeyQ_70AEt82KYp7ffLaR4jlOU2JkH59QlL6dI3_HvUxQPMCJHyJ3TfYu46dPxtmAG2USkhQnw5wTqKsEF441POEgAf6/s1600/SnowNorablog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWdd6dbZNd6s3n-c_VuDudyDi69i06jH3XdbntSBLJ2bJ5w_vLeyQ_70AEt82KYp7ffLaR4jlOU2JkH59QlL6dI3_HvUxQPMCJHyJ3TfYu46dPxtmAG2USkhQnw5wTqKsEF441POEgAf6/s400/SnowNorablog.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Seriously. The owl hat is killing me.<br />
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Brandon and I, looking cold and happy:<br />
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And then there's this:<br />
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*sigh* I have no words.<br />
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Emmy was pretty enamored with the snow. I'm pretty sure this was her first time to see snow. Dane saw snow when he was a baby, but other than that, this was the first time for any of them to play outside in it.<br />
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I thoroughly embarrassed Brandon when I posted this picture on Facebook a few weeks ago:<br />
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Sorry, honey, but it's going on a wall somewhere when I get it printed out.<br />
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Just one more Christmas Photo Dump then I am D-O-N-E till next December!</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-90394407525655201282013-02-10T15:00:00.000-06:002013-02-10T15:00:03.510-06:00Christmas Time TraditionsI am determined to blog about December and Christmas related fun happenings before I move on to more current events. I WILL get caught up, I WILL get caught up.<br />
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It's just not Christmastime without a minimally-successful attempt at assembling a gingerbread house before the whole thing caves in on itself and we let the kids eat giant pieces of gingerbread and bad icing for a mid-morning snack.<br />
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Why are my children never appropriately dressed? Harper is in her pajamas, Emerson is wearing a (sleeveless) 'church dress', Aidan's in a swearshirt, and Dane is topless with some sort of lanyard around his neck. And Brandon is in running clothes. Don't worry, he doesn't go around sleeveless in public.<br />
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She's so pretty...</div>
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Christmas this year was spent at my parents' house in the DFW area, and John and Lindy and their families spent quite a bit of time at the house over that week, too. Pappy and Momo got the PlayDoh out with the kids...<br />
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(Harper, Pappy, Nora, and Zane)<br />
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Emerson, deep in concentration with super-cool PlayDoh tools that she doesn't have at her house:<br />
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And Harper, gleefully mixing all the colors together to make grey PlayDoh:</div>
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We also did our "World Vision Chrismas-ing" at Momo and Pappy's house this year. For the past several years, we have gotten together with Santa, and decided to match whatever Santa spends on our kids at Christmas, with gifts purchased from World Vision (I think last year we actually did Heifer International.) We give the kids a wad of cash, and let them go through the catalog, choosing which animals they would buy with their money to help others around the world to make a living for themselves. Knowing that this is part of our Christmas tradition really helps us keep our focus on giving at this time of year. It also serves as a reminder to Santa to not go too far overboard on Christmas 'stuff' that soon gets forgotten, since we are matching that spending.</div>
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This year, Zane and Jack joined with us, and the cousins had fun budgeting their money for animals and 'borrowing' back and forth to stretch their money a little farther. <br />
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Christmas morning with all of the little cousins together was really fun. When we were driving up on Christmas Eve night, we let the kids unwrap one gift, a new set of pajamas for Christmas morning. And then Christmas morning, we made them all sit on the stairs together so we could have photographic proof of their new pajamas. </div>
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Jack was not thrilled with the whole "sitting on the stairs" portion of Christmas morning. And Parker's not in the picture because we didn't want her to roll down the stairs. </div>
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The Christmas morning scene:</div>
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The girls had a 'Dora and boots' Christmas, and the boys got new Nintendo DS's and Star Wars chairs. </div>
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This is pretty much what the boys did for the remainder of Christmas break:</div>
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Nora tried Emerson's new boots on for size:<br />
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And the girls sported some dress up clothes and new hair accessories:<br />
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And the annual 'Cousins on a Couch' picture, Chrismas Pajamas Edition:<br />
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Part 2 of The Procrastinator's Christmas Wrap-Up coming soon!Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-999715331864506032013-02-06T13:00:00.000-06:002013-02-06T13:00:03.135-06:00The Nine Year Old<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Dear Dane Christopher,</div>
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I know you're thinking your mother doesn't love you, because it has taken me almost two months to blog about your ninth birthday. I promise it's not true. In my defense, I haven't even gotten around to blogging about Christmas yet. You had a great ninth birthday, Dane-o. As your birthday fell on a Saturday this year, the celebration started a couple of days earlier. 'The Hobbit' came to theaters that weekend, and your daddy took you to the midnight premier late on Thursday night. Daddy and I decided to let you stay home from school that Friday as a special treat, instead of subjecting your teacher and classmates to a grumpy sleep-deprived boy the next morning. Unbeknownst to us, you had told your entire school, including your teacher, that you "were skipping school Friday because I'm going to see the Hobbit with my dad". Great. We are the parents taking our then 8-year old to see a PG13 movie at midnight on a school night. Your (awesome) teacher apparently replied to you, "The Hobbit was one of my favorite books that my dad used to read to me when I was younger" instead of reporting us to the truant officer. That Thursday night, you went to bed promptly at 8pm, getting a short nap in before your excited Daddy woke you up at 10pm to go stand in line at the movie theater. He said you stayed awake through the whole movie, and that the two of you had a great time. Welcome to being a 9 year old, Dane.<br />
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When we started planning your birthday festivities about a month before, you decided that you would rather accept a wad of cash in lieu of a party with your friends. So far, this is one of my favorite birthday traditions that we have started with you kids. You got a few small gifts from us, including a Tim Tebow jersey (the hat wasn't one of your gifts. The hat is what happened when your dad went to a garage sale)<br />
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and a book for all of your football cards,<br />
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then planned and plotted how exactly to spend your $100 in cold hard cash. Your purchases? Two football video games and this t-shirt:<br />
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This is SO a t-shirt your dad would have bought...<br />
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We took you to JAX for burgers for your birthday lunch, and you spent a couple of hours playing football at a friend's birthday party. Ugly birthday cake was consumed for at least three meals that weekend. <br />
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At nine-years old, Dane, we love getting glimpses of the young man you are growing into. You are still obsessed with football, and can rattle off statistics of players who retired before you were born. A great day for you includes backyard football with the neighbor boys on this field that your daddy put together (unbeknownst to me) one day while I was at work:<br />
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You love video games, and would play them 24/7 if that pesky "school" didn't get in the way. You are only allowed to play them on weekends, so during the weeks you busy yourself with football and reading. In fact, you read so much during the school day that they have allowed you three library books at a time, but you can only go to the library once a day. Aidan Cooper is still your best friend in the whole world, whether you admit to it or not.<br />
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At some point in this last year, you decided to grow your hair long "like daddy", and it is driving your mother crazy right now. It is VERY long, and I can't exactly convince you to cut it since your Daddy's hair cascades down his back like Jessica Simpson's. You're at this magical age when your Daddy is your hero, and I couldn't convince you to be different than him if I tried. <br />
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So Happy, Happy (belated, yes) Birthday, Dane Christopher! We love you so much and are so proud of you!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat repeat; border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" /></a><br />
<br />Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-3735651404240380142013-02-02T07:30:00.000-06:002013-02-02T07:30:02.349-06:00Latest Thanksgiving Post EverLast year, around November or so, the country as a whole celebrated Thanksgiving. And now that I only vaguely remember it, and have only a handful of pictures from the weekend (none of which I took, I didn't take a SINGLE picture the whole time), it's as good a time as any to blog about it. And let's face it, anytime I get to hold a sweet snuggly baby for a few days is a good holiday in my book.<br />
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The highlight of Emerson's Thanksgiving weekend was the abundance of aunts available for hairstyling. <br />
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Aunt Val had this cool curling iron/hairbrush thing that spun around as you are curling your hair, and it raced to the top of Emerson's Christmas list. Fortunately, she forgot about the cool hair thing (good thing, because it was out of Santa's price range) about a week later.<br />
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Emerson wasn't the only one who enjoyed hair styling over Thanksgiving. <br />
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I never thought I would see the day when my daughters would fix their daddy's ponytail with their toy curling iron.<br />
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Food was cooked and eaten, football games were watched, friends visited. Val and I got out and Black Friday shopped at 5am Friday morning like AMERICANS DO. Not, like crazy people, at 5pm on Thanksgiving day. I refuse to support that practice. I will not Christmas shop on Thanksgiving day. Too much overlapping of the holidays. And while we're on the topic of Holiday Overlap, we do Thanksmas with Brandon's family the day after Thanksgiving, and exchange Christmas gifts with them then. <br />
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Also known as "The Day Aidan Got the Yellow Shirt that He Has Worn 30 Times Since". <br />
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And the matching hat that the Friday morning shoppers found and couldn't resist getting for the A-man.<br />
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(This might be a girl hat, please don't tell him.)<br />
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We had lots of fun cousin-time, taking adventure walks and enjoying sunny days playing football in the backyard, and, of course, playing Angry Birds<br />
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and Harper learned how to play piano while we were there.<br />
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Well, she played ON the piano, anyway.<br />
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We had a great time with family celebrating Thanksgiving!<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-34790756021642760302013-01-31T17:00:00.000-06:002013-01-31T17:00:07.705-06:00We Went There In JanuaryThis has been a doozy of a month. I just looked at my January calender, and shook my head, wondering how we fit all that stuff in. Brandon did two weddings, former youth students who got married. I was once (twice) again thankful that I got married 13 years ago, in the days before Pinterest, back when you could just have a nice, boring wedding where 400 of your closest friends signed the sign-in book, and ate cake and punch in the church reception hall before throwing birdseed on you as you ran to the rental car. Those were simpler times. Now everything is very cute and creative, with ice cream sundae bars and gourmet mini-cupcakes and themed guest favors. For one of the evening weddings, the bar served Bloody Marys, Screwdrivers, and Mimosas before dinner. Interesting choices, right? Then the dinner started, and on the buffet? Pancakes, bacon, eggs, buscuits and gravy with fresh fruit. Breakfast for dinner at a wedding? GENIUS.<br />
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For the second wedding, Brandon and I ditched the kids on unsuspecting friends and flew to Illinois for the weekend, spending a lovely three days in a hotel sans children, with friends. It was heaven. At this wedding, instead of a sign-in book, the guests wrote notes to the couple and put them in cute, color coordinating envelopes for the bride and groom to open later. And the ring bearer rode into the room in a remote-controlled silver convertable to deliver the rings to the groom. <br />
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Umm, yeah, same as my wedding. Or not. Look! Us at the rehearsal dinner! <br />
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And at the wedding! Look! It's us in a room full of grown-ups! Don't we look well rested?<br />
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The weekend after that, Brandon had a retreat with our high school students, so I loaded up the kids and headed to Austin to see my GG for the weekend. My parents came down and met us there, because Harper requires adult supervision because creativity+destructiveness+GG's house would not have gone well with just me and the four kids. My parents got there ahead of me, and relocated some of GG's more breakable odds and ends into the closed-off dining room. Since the beginning of time, GG's dining room is set up complete with tablecloth, high-backed chairs, centerpiece, chandilier, and multiple shiny tea sets on display at all times, with a large china cabinet and one of those giant "family Bibles". Basically, a room Harper needs to be no where near at all times. Fortunately, the room has a door and can be closed off and go largely unnoticed. <br />
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Unless you're Harper. Harper took one look inside the dining room, and was rendered speechless. When she found her words again, it was only to talk about the "Beautiful Room". She was pretty sure she had entered a princess castle. She wanted to play in the Beautiful Room, and sit at the table, and drink from the beautiful cups, and pour tea from the beautiful tea sets. Sunday lunch was a highlight for Harper, she got to eat lunch at the beautiful table, with a beautiful (china) plate, and eat her corn with the Magic Spoon (a little gold spoon from one of the tea sets). She was in heaven, and we all got a kick out of someone appreciating the Beautiful Room so much. We spent some much needed time with GG, and I set her up with an Amazon account so she can shop to her heart's content without having to drive in traffic.<br />
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We had a great time on our little Austin visit with GG and the dog. I have a few more posts to cover Thanksgiving and December (you know, the busiest months of the year), and then I should be caught up by March :)</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat repeat; border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-608235108950657822013-01-30T09:19:00.000-06:002013-01-30T09:19:38.970-06:00It Happened in January......so I must not be referring to "blogging". I sat down today at Ye Olde Blog of Yore and realized I haven't even blogged about THANKSGIVING. So, ummm, I'm a bit behind. But I wanted to jot down a few January tidbits, just in case it's March before I get caught up on the last two months.<br />
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Harper has outdone herself these last few weeks. We have a semi-strict "No Food Upstairs" rule at the Outnumbered House, because I don't want to be Outnumbered by ants, and Harper has become very adept at breaking that rule lately. I have found her camped out upstairs with the entire contents of our refridgerator. Cherry tomatoes, lettuce heads, apples, bananas, a jar of grape jelly with a spoon, a tub of fake butter with a spoon (yes, that's right), yogurt, a sleeve of Saltines, and an entire lunch box full of granola bars. And most recently, a container of powdered sugar. I PROMISE we feed this child. She's just a snacker who apparently feels too restricted while eating at the kitchen table.<br />
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Every Sunday morning, Brandon heads to church about an hour before I do. Something about it being his "job". So I have the enviable task, each Sunday morning, of getting all four kids presentable looking, fed, and out the door on time to go to church. This past Sunday, I achieved all of this, only to pull into the parking lot, unload all children, and notice Aidan walking across the parking lot holding his shorts up with one hand, and a long piece of black elastic with the other hand. Okay, moms. You know those kid shorts that they make for skinny kids, with the elastic and buttons on the inside of the waistband so you can adjust the waist to make them tighter, so they don't fall off of hip-less, butt-less little boys? Well, did you know that with just the right amount of focus and determination, that a certain hip-less, butt-less little seven-year old can pull the entire length of elastic out of his shorts during the eight minute car ride to church? It would be too easy to do at home, where you could just change shorts before you left the house. What is the challenge in that? So I did what any resourceful mom would do, I squatted down in the hallway, and laced that piece of elastic through Aidan's beltloops, knotting it in the front before sending him off to class. Must remember to tell children "please don't disassemble your shorts on the way to church this morning". Silly mommy.<br />
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Hide the silverware when we come over, friends, or Harper might try to steal it. We went to Academy the other day for running clothes (ugh, I hate running), and Harper took her little Dora backpack in with her that she got for Christmas (another holiday I have yet to blog about). When we go to check out, I see out of the corner of my eye a certain little girl carefully selecting candy from the shelf, then calmly sticking the candy in her backpack. The cashier smiled at Harper, as I'm telling her, "Harper, I see you. We don't take things from the store and stick them in your backpack!" I sheepishly took the bag, setting it on the counter and retrieved the candy from the bag...and then proceeded to pull out a pink tutu and two pink leotards, all with price tags dangling from them. Maybe they'll let her eat grape jelly from the spoon in her prison cell someday.<br />
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Dane brought home a poem he wrote in school a couple of weeks ago. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have:<br />
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"Friendship is Like a Warm Mug of Hot Chocolate" by Dane</div>
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Friendship is awesomeness.</div>
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Friendship tastes like a slice of hot pepperoni pizza.</div>
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Friendship smells like a warm jungle afternoon.</div>
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Friendship sounds like friendly laughing.</div>
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Friendship feels like a soft babies head.</div>
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Friendship looks like a person helping someone else when they fall.</div>
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Friendship is awesomeness.</div>
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Dane's got some stinky friends if their friendship smells like a warm jungle afternoon.<br />
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We also had a busy month of weddings, visiting GG, and high school retreats. Stay tuned! Catch-up in progress!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-33117203042561540192012-12-16T19:42:00.000-06:002012-12-17T07:54:37.677-06:00My Pathetic Attempt at Kid PicturesA couple of weeks ago, one unseasonalby warm (okay, hot and sweaty) afternoon in November, I dressed the kids in planned, coordinating, fall outfits and dragged everyone to the park in hopes of getting a decent picture for a Christmas card. Last year featured Brandon and me as Santa and a (scantilly clad) Mrs. Claus pulled in a sleigh by four familiar-looking reindeer, with detailed illustrations and heads cut out from pictures. So this year, creative control is mine. I just want ONE YEAR with a normal-ish Christmas card. Just ONE YEAR. <br />
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Someday I'll tell a little story about the Christmas Cards of Mandy's Past. It's a sordid tale of denim jumpers and 80s perms.<br />
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I was given about 30 minutes of picture taking with semi-cooperative children and a semi-cooperative camera, and came away with 114 pictures. <br />
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9 of them were in focus.<br />
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9.<br />
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3 of those actually featured all 4 of my children.<br />
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Brilliant. But look how in focus those pretty red trees are in the background?<br />
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Please, please someone take the camera out of my hands and never give it back to me.<br />
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The other six featured these cuties, <br />
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and my boys up in a tree:<br />
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So if you're holding your breath waiting on the annual Christmas card from our house, you may be waiting A. While.<br />
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<br />Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-66110334243575754872012-12-14T09:54:00.000-06:002012-12-14T09:55:01.574-06:00The Frequent Wedding GoersThe weekend before Thanksgiving (deep breath, I'm only 1 MONTH behind on blogging now!) our little family headed up to the Dallas area for a wedding. Little known fact, we have become Frequent Wedding Goers. And Brandon has become Frequent Wedding Officiant. He even had to get a new suit a couple of months ago thanks to all the "running" and "not eating crappy food" he's been doing lately (his suit size has gone from a 50L to a 43L in 10 months). <br />
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Where was I? Wedding in Dallas. Remember Tommy? <a href="http://outnumberedmandy.blogspot.com/2008/04/hubby.html">This Tommy</a>? His oldest sister got married last month, and Brandon had the privledge of preforming their ceremony. The kiddos hung out with my parents over the weekend (fort building and pizza making won out over "hey Aidan, want to come to a wedding with us". Can't imagine why) while Brandon and I caught up with old friends and squeezed in a James Bond movie. Daniel Craig needs to play James Bond forever. And he needs to be James Bond in every movie he makes. The End.<br />
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Look! It's Brandon and Mandy at a wedding! Every picture we have together lately features Brandon in his suit, and me in one of the two dresses I own.<br />
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And Brandon and I with Rhonda and Tommy, friends we have had for about *cough* 20 years. Except that surely we are not old enough to have friends for 20 YEARS. OLD PEOPLE talk about having friends for 20 years. Not us.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGP9HDt_bnXAla4hyEKHz9C129tGA6cQnb456F3lxHc1zxI0SabubBZijkEFrnUEvef5WbQPIFoVr8kvw2SUYkoXQPj90nqu-uyK1QBEh0wROlTmRjGshAf7-OQg0bnQca3VGUTIC59nUC/s1600/wedding2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGP9HDt_bnXAla4hyEKHz9C129tGA6cQnb456F3lxHc1zxI0SabubBZijkEFrnUEvef5WbQPIFoVr8kvw2SUYkoXQPj90nqu-uyK1QBEh0wROlTmRjGshAf7-OQg0bnQca3VGUTIC59nUC/s400/wedding2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
A great time was had by all, and we rushed home just in time to pack, cook, and load up for Thanksgiving at Grammy and GranDoug's house!Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-48209258954454236222012-12-12T16:00:00.000-06:002013-02-12T18:20:53.831-06:00Free Zoo DayNovember 6, 2012 started out as just an ordinary day. I had worked a night shift the night before, so I came home and slept till noon or so. I purposely avoided any and all news/facebook/internet so I wouldn't hear all about election day. Then the day took a turn for the better. <br />
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Because it was Free Zoo Day. On the first Tuesday of every month, the zoo (normally $15 a head) has free admission after 2pm.<br />
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So Brandon left work a few hours early, and we scooped the kids out of school a little early (YES WE DID) and headed down to enjoy a few hours of free zoo. And it was perfection. The weather was perfect, it wasn't too crowded, and it got dark about 3 hours after we got there. Just the right amount of time for us to enjoy the zoo, without the kids getting super tired and cranky. <br />
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We saw the elephants, <br />
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Monkeyed around...<br />
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Illegally fed the giraffes<br />
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(Houston zoo needs to take a page out of the <a href="http://outnumberedmandy.blogspot.com/2010/09/its-different-world.html">Chinese Zoo Giraffe Feeding Policy</a>, they FREAKED OUT when they realized all of the people were just feeding the giraffes leaves from the surrounding trees.<br />
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And I did not zoom on this picture. I really was that close. The giraffe almost ate my camera.</div>
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And pet a few goats.<br />
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After the zoo, we realized we were downtown at rush hour with tired and hungry zoo goers. So we did what anyone who hates sitting in traffic did: headed over to House of Pies. Fortunately for us, it was also 'House of Happily Splitting Milkshakes Into Lidded Cups for Children Who Have Not Yet Developed an Appreciation for Pie'. It's probably best that the little diner with 30+ options of pie-by-the-slice, open 24 hours a day, is far, far away from my house.<br />
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So, despite the fact that November 6, 2012 is a day whose implications I will hear about from my father for the next four years, it was a great day for my little family.Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-42461094202913177812012-12-11T16:15:00.000-06:002013-02-12T17:51:10.518-06:00Gritty Goddess<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Every January, I make the same New Year's Resolution as most of the country: this is going to be the year that I get healthier and make lifestyle changes so that I don't die of a heart attack when I'm 50 and/or end up an old lady taking 22 different medications a day in a vain attempt to correct all of the damage I did to my body during the first 3/4 of my life. 12 years as an ER nurse has taught me a lot about how I want to grow old. </div>
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This past year, I decided to take a slightly different approach. The health of your physical body is a gift from God. Along with the other blessings in our life, our physical well being is a gift of itself. Ask anyone who spends life from a wheelchair. This year, I made New Year's Resolutions about stewardship. I became determined to be a better steward of the physical health I have been blessed with. Brandon and I started eating a LOT better, and spent the first half of this year changing a lot of our eating habits all at once. Gone were the sodas, sweets, snacks, fast food, and basically anything we enjoyed eating, replaced instead with LOTS of fresh fruits and vegetables and protein. Over the last few months, we have settled into more practical eating habits, but we are still eating heathier than we used to. </div>
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Apparently, someone a few years ago decided exercise was healthy. I want to shoot that person. So I, who for years said I would only run if a big dog was chasing me, decided to slowly start a running program. At the end of July I began a Couch-to-5k running program, designed to take non-runners and have them running a 5k by the end of 9 weeks. Well. Five months later, I have finally finished that 9-week running program. And last month, some friends and I ran (okay, fine, we walked most of it) my first 5k!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEoCwVvgqkURfgmv2gyoDNfZwJZiV8uRP2xi2Xo2D-F9QSjxa6hc2cVP7h2tsNhQ3nnN7W5-JPydOJC4MQ7S1305ATLyy1oCS1pRYvTFFvr0pTwMwB4el-wnJzVG2RugSpVHUgW6_3Zi19/s1600/GG1edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEoCwVvgqkURfgmv2gyoDNfZwJZiV8uRP2xi2Xo2D-F9QSjxa6hc2cVP7h2tsNhQ3nnN7W5-JPydOJC4MQ7S1305ATLyy1oCS1pRYvTFFvr0pTwMwB4el-wnJzVG2RugSpVHUgW6_3Zi19/s400/GG1edit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The Gritty Goddess was so much fun! It was in Galveston on a Saturday morning, so the girls and I decided we needed a prep-day for what was sure to be a very taxing run, so we got there Friday evening and stayed at a lovely hotel after enjoying Mexican food and mommy beverages the night before. Which is what all the serious runners do, fill up on heavy junk food the night before the run, right?<br />
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The run was un-timed, and very casual. At some point, it was decided that we would walk most of the run, because with obstacles every quarter mile, it was difficult to get in a good rhythm to run. Or something like that. And it's hard to take cute pictures when you're running. Like this one at Mile 1:<br />
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Don't we look cute? We were so tired and needing refreshment by this point, so we were very happy to see the "recharge station" passing out water and chocolate chip cookies. In the middle of the race. Right next to the ocean and these comfy chairs:<br />
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If I had to design a run, there would absolutely be a nice man passing out cookies right in the middle of it.<br />
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Mile 2:<br />
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And taking a little time-out:<br />
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Did I mention the obstacles? Throughout the run, we made time to climb over, under, and through lots of things, (one of our "obstacles" was walking through part of the Lazy River at Schlitterbahn...a bit chilly in November) and even slid down a tube into a vat of mud. Very gritty indeed.<br />
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I don't know how many times I have washed these tennis shoes, but I still have sand between my toes after I run. Cannot get it out.<br />
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The final "obstacle":<br />
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And...finished! In an impressively slow time due to all the walking and picture-taking. </div>
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And while I did all of my "couch-to-5k" training, Brandon has an actual marathon in his sights for 2013. Ummm, I'll just stick to the 5ks, thanks. And I can ever be expected to run a whole 5 kilometers without a prep day with the girls at a hotel beforehand ;)</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-92213897210469486502012-12-10T20:03:00.000-06:002012-12-10T20:03:56.593-06:00Up From the GraveAll bloggy evidence to the contrary, we are alive and well at the Outnumbered house this holiday season. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGCrPLEf93haooKG4qBL-jsEqUdRl_enf6TjLCBpWkxaPBmxzkEE_FjCzf9h6xpLPmSLseVMKmbtZnVHHADWidnqmRSGa1-OvpjXfiMXP_dyo4ms8QNY9I8sPmIDn0l9LYdW07ePBjgS_T/s1600/AidanHarperBlog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGCrPLEf93haooKG4qBL-jsEqUdRl_enf6TjLCBpWkxaPBmxzkEE_FjCzf9h6xpLPmSLseVMKmbtZnVHHADWidnqmRSGa1-OvpjXfiMXP_dyo4ms8QNY9I8sPmIDn0l9LYdW07ePBjgS_T/s400/AidanHarperBlog.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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The month of November found me running (yes, running), traveling, administering breathing treatments, eating Mexican food, a little more traveling, seeing family, working, reading lots of books, Christmas shopping, and spending time with my five favorite people. But not blogging. I'm going to (try) to spend this next week throwing a few posts on my long-forgotten corner of the interweb. Hope your Christmas season thus far is merry and bright.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-18471012189720106402012-11-03T21:18:00.000-05:002013-02-12T17:49:46.242-06:00Happy, Happy, Happy Halloween...from Si and Phil of Duck Dynasty...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AsCB-a5BMCHOa2ZpTZvX4Ma8ehqJ-A6qPWieq1nYi1d5dW0TRDIBTFJXtSNYG2R_dtezVNUWa9iMVNLsAwfSShFI1zgUb4xhBNVKDq_5N8v4X9DO0utj4l9fhUXee26lHXvYmqZ55wVk/s1600/Si&PhilFB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AsCB-a5BMCHOa2ZpTZvX4Ma8ehqJ-A6qPWieq1nYi1d5dW0TRDIBTFJXtSNYG2R_dtezVNUWa9iMVNLsAwfSShFI1zgUb4xhBNVKDq_5N8v4X9DO0utj4l9fhUXee26lHXvYmqZ55wVk/s400/Si&PhilFB.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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(If you have never seen that show, watch it. Now.)</div>
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And Happy Halloween from Jerry Rice, Minnie Mouse, Lady Ladybug, and Ronnie Lott!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkuLPSUNbwfLU6rr6Qocpb4vpoKY-9VeIDNAlDf_HkXkAHPw3kSYYL6dsVyYpGtLN6BIjCV85OHsb0h8p_ei4ZH2DFr-Wq4BhPHJcU66jgEp-OGqdpREIFrUYmLgGi9VyGnOcwmhVbUVBW/s1600/HalloweenFB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkuLPSUNbwfLU6rr6Qocpb4vpoKY-9VeIDNAlDf_HkXkAHPw3kSYYL6dsVyYpGtLN6BIjCV85OHsb0h8p_ei4ZH2DFr-Wq4BhPHJcU66jgEp-OGqdpREIFrUYmLgGi9VyGnOcwmhVbUVBW/s400/HalloweenFB.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-50997695853552917612012-10-28T20:53:00.000-05:002013-02-12T17:47:52.304-06:00Wedding WeekendSometimes I need a weekend to recover from my weekend. Or in this case, and entire week. Last weekend, my family descended into my neck of the woods, to celebrate my cousin getting married in town. Sheets were washed. Babysitters were booked. Groceries were bought. We rehearsal-dinnered at Pappadeaux on Friday night (child-free steak dinner with family? Yes, please!), then Saturday morning I FINALLY got to meet baby Parker.<br />
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And I didn't put her down until sometime after lunch on Sunday. And then only because she had to leave to go back home. I am so thankful that our siblings keep having cute babies for me to hold. Saturday got underway with a requesite Cousin Picture at the park.<br />
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Some cousins were more excited about the picture than others.<br />
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And I'm slightly frightened that Aidan is now a "big cousin" and finds himself in charge of baby-wrangling.<br />
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How prolific are our families? Harper has 6 cousins YOUNGER than her.<br />
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Lindy, Andy and the girls:<br />
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We played at the park for a few minutes after pictures, then I attempted to get a cute picture of just my four.<br />
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There's always one who wants to do exactly her own thing...</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipG8wlZyH5JwShQqqNz3LKEg8AJiI80hGw5_qCyh1BpK2KNDuYWBsxwPc1Bqh3D7zfB2w827Qum4hNwHofoBOKo3XTrnX5cJXN3N0SKNFA3M0Mp5AVsAl26oel0WyOwCYTn_r0cISW6YfJ/s1600/Dock3blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipG8wlZyH5JwShQqqNz3LKEg8AJiI80hGw5_qCyh1BpK2KNDuYWBsxwPc1Bqh3D7zfB2w827Qum4hNwHofoBOKo3XTrnX5cJXN3N0SKNFA3M0Mp5AVsAl26oel0WyOwCYTn_r0cISW6YfJ/s400/Dock3blog.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
After pictures, we changed clothes and headed out to the snowcone stand before going to my aunt and uncle's house for munchies and chatting. Yes, we stopped and got snowcones on the way becuase my precious stand closes on Halloween so we are seizing the day, so to speak. Making every moment count, if you will. Supporting our local snowcone economy. And then we stopped by my aunt and uncle's house. After several hours of the chatting and grazing, my aunt loaded me up with a bag of lefovers (including about 30 hot dogs and a gallon-size bag of rolls) we headed home to get cleaned up for the wedding, and left two unsuspecting babysitters with seven kids for the evening. <br />
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The wedding iteself was beautiful, at one of those pretty outside-venue locations a mere 10 minutes from my house that I didn't even know existed. Perfect weather, good music, baby-holding, giant trees with those twinkly lights, and good company made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening. And Brandon wore a suit without us having to go to a funeral. And look how pretty the six of us look all dressed up. <br />
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Please excuse my awkward jazz hands. </div>
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GG, Brandy, and John...</div>
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Me and my cousin Gretchen...</div>
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Me and Brandon...</div>
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We may have run out of gas on the way home, nothing a cooperative babysitter with a garage-gas can can't handle. :)</div>
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Sunday morning we eventually got ourselves out of the house in time to meet Pappy for donuts before church. We celebrated Pappy's birthday by letting him buy us all donuts and then sticking him at the kids' table.<br />
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After church, the birthday celebration continued back at my house, with the girls blowing out candles on Pappy's half-eaten chocolate pie.<br />
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My brother and mom got the munchies and had to sample the chocolate pie before we got donuts. Are you sensing a theme here? Snowcones before munchies. Pie before donuts. My people are fans of eating sweets at inappropriate times. We are not deterred if it happens to be someone else's birthday pie. We WILL eat it before breakfast. <br />
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Eventually everyone got in their cars and went back home on Sunday, and Brandon and I (okay, maybe just me) curled up on the couch and stared at a football game for a few minutes and (unsuccessfully) tried to not eat leftover chocolate birthday pie for dinner. Congratulations, Josh and Meredith! Thanks for getting married so I could see my family!<br />
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<br />Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-37188041770790197032012-10-23T17:00:00.000-05:002013-02-12T17:45:00.378-06:00Pretty Princess Tinkerbell Fairy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Some days it's hard being the littlest sister. Last year, Harper watched longingly through a window every week as Emerson took her princess dance class, dressing up like Belle and Cinderella and dancing around to princess music in a class full of little pottytrained, 3-4 year old princesses. It's really hard to be a two-year old on those days. </div>
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Well. After a couple of missed sessions, these past few weeks it was finally Harper's turn at the eagerly anticipated princess dance classes. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdDu8GaPPQd2s3fqxHp80aiwz_c1ds3TvILygpjZzkUsYigJre_sQSlUj_s3DVPGbfe0iAjB2lx4yiQjLjy4BGxDVOIC5LYlnHvd6PLs1-hEpb7GEEBrJIT7uTF7jWENqYPs-qB2iDXrt/s1600/Dance1blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdDu8GaPPQd2s3fqxHp80aiwz_c1ds3TvILygpjZzkUsYigJre_sQSlUj_s3DVPGbfe0iAjB2lx4yiQjLjy4BGxDVOIC5LYlnHvd6PLs1-hEpb7GEEBrJIT7uTF7jWENqYPs-qB2iDXrt/s400/Dance1blog.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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With only three little girls in the class, it seemed the perfect introduction for miss Harper girl, who has been talking about princess dance class for approximately one year. </div>
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And every week, she would get to prance around in a Tinkerbell costume. </div>
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All sounds good in theory...</div>
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In reality? She spent about 55 minutes a week wandering around a dance studio, picking at the paint on the walls, checking herself out in the mirror, and every now and then, busting out a pretty princess dance move. </div>
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And then she would come home, dress up in dance clothes, and talk about how much she LOVED pretty-princess dance class, and showing us toe-taps and sashays and twirls.</div>
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Some point during week three I decided that her teacher was the most patient woman on earth. </div>
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We weren't able to make it to the much-anticipated dance recital this past Saturday (more on our weekend later), so we were treated to a little dress recital this past Wednesday during Harper's final turn as Tinkerbell.</div>
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Note to self: Sure am glad I didn't kill a whole Saturday afternoon watching her do this.</div>
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Because the 'Hands Over Ears' move was not something they had rehearsed.</div>
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Neither was the 'Lift the Dress Up' move</div>
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Or the 'Eat the Foam Flower You're Supposed to be Standing On' move, which was my personal favorite.</div>
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Nonetheless, Harper LOVED her few short weeks as Beautiful Dancing Tinkerbell. </div>
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We're just not telling her that she will have to wait a few more princesses before she may be ready for dance class again :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0_llfQA1PEk6prtbRFKm39JUpThiNo9zJkpTvUCAU06WOfdsZLSXXPH5XkvSUEEyQNrAPI47-wbQu_F4fRbBy4G2HK2VlMdJJfbdtVRnWWNTdQ389qog2ffgYKuWKTAaKMAIJ04-4-Yb/s1600/Dance7blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0_llfQA1PEk6prtbRFKm39JUpThiNo9zJkpTvUCAU06WOfdsZLSXXPH5XkvSUEEyQNrAPI47-wbQu_F4fRbBy4G2HK2VlMdJJfbdtVRnWWNTdQ389qog2ffgYKuWKTAaKMAIJ04-4-Yb/s400/Dance7blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-88978612580876434542012-10-22T20:10:00.000-05:002013-02-12T17:33:02.068-06:00Guatemala, continued<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
(I'm still playing blog-catch up. I just keep getting further behind! Still blogging about a trip I took LAST MONTH to Guatemala...)</div>
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Our little traveling group was in Guatemala over the weekend, so on Saturday we played tourist for a little bit and traveled to Antigua to do a little shopping. We stopped off at a lookout point to catch a view of the beautiful city. </div>
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The volcano in the background is usually covered in clouds, but we caught a brief glimpse of the top. </div>
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The volcano behind us in this picture near Antigua spewed ash and dust all over the place about a week before we went, but it was clear and beautiful on our Saturday.</div>
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We spent a few hours in Antigua, shopped for soccer jerseys, scarves, purses, and just supported the local economy in general.</div>
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On Sunday we checked out the local market in the morning, a three-story parking garage that on the weekends transforms into a market place selling everything from raw organ meats to lingerie. Sort of an open-air Guatemalan Wal-Mart, if you will.</div>
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Sunday afternoon we loaded up and headed out to church, where I realized I have even less 'clap while singing' ability than I do when the songs are in English. It's sad how little rhythm I have. Sad. </div>
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During "sermon time", our little group headed outside to help with the kids' lessons. </div>
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For the past year, the kids at our church have been raising money to help build a shelter for the kids church here in Guatemala. We enjoyed the "open air" portion of church while the storm clouds rolled in. </div>
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This time of year it rains many afternoons here, and children's church frequently gets rained out. </div>
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I'm sure one particular motorcycle owner will be very happy when the kids have their own building to color in.</div>
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Monday morning we packed up and headed on home, already counting the weeks till our next trip to visit our new friends in Guatemala!</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-24551119418379666272012-10-18T21:38:00.000-05:002013-02-12T17:31:40.447-06:00So I Went to Guatemala...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm not sure if I mentioned it here or not, but last month I had the opportunity, along with three other ladies from church, to go to Guatemala for a few days. Our church has connections with a couple of missionaries in a village in Guatemala, who each run schools in a village. Julie, Vicki, Gina, and I (and baby Julia)went to spend time encouraging these missionaries, and visiting the schools. Our quilting ministry at church quilted 52 quilts for us to take and gift to the teachers and staff of these schools, as sort of a "thank you for all of the hard work you do everyday" sort of thing. </div>
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Um, it was the funnest trip ever. I mean, it was horribly hard and taxing and with great sacrifice I boarded that plane to Guatemala. Not exactly. I went on a four night trip with three good friends, where we spent time hugging children and eating and talking and shopping and talking and laughing and giving people presents and going to church and (hopefully) encouraging and eating and talking. GREAT SACRIFICE. Clearly I was born for mission trips. :)</div>
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Families at our church sponser about 100 children at one of the schools, contributing monthly towards the cost of tuition and supplies. This is my little Alex that we sponser:</div>
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He's still talking about the huggy white lady.</div>
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And wondering what the heck this logo is on his new teddy bear.</div>
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One of the schools has a marching band consisting of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, and wouldn't you know, it was picture day on the morning we visited. </div>
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I had visions of my father and memories of many picture days, as I watched the staff assemble the kids in their bright and shiny uniforms.</div>
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I have no idea who this kid is, but I almost brought him home with me. Seriously. If for no other reason than to watch him squirt yogurt through that gap in his teeth. </div>
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Never mind. I don't know any kids who squirt yogurt through the gap in their teeth.</div>
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We brought with us pictures of kids from our church to pass out to the kids in Guatemala, and they LOVED them. At one point, we turned around and the girls were swapping cards like trading cards. It was pretty fun.</div>
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I desperately wish we had a copy of this poster on the wall to use in the ER to help us diagnose illnesses.</div>
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Excuse me, sir. I see you are lying on a bed with a blanket over your lap. You must have la hepatitis. </div>
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Passing out the quilts to the hard working teachers and staff at the school was very rewarding. <br />
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The Sunday before we left, our church prayed over the quilts, and prayed for their recipients. <br />
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The boys LOVED their "guy quilts". Some of the quilts were less flowery and girly, so we gave them to the guys, who promptly turned them into Super-hero capes. Because some things transcend cultures.<br />
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This is Gina with Lori, who runs one of the schools we were visiting. Gina first went on a mission trip with Lori in the early 1980s, and it was a sweet, sweet reunion for them.<br />
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At the second school we visited, we were escorted classroom-to-classroom, and had a chance to hug every single student at the school that day.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBHPm9g2nIhG-Bd1nIqWEkyQPtnHRnbgWAZg884332ZOg8UPC7n1sWy94JS_A5-2IDB5Tqox3Sb_H7owbv5l08cNscBub8BBTKqflF38zrW2QM78EDibeeRRDHf4MuGw3EI8LUMsBx8yhH/s1600/RCSchool13FB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBHPm9g2nIhG-Bd1nIqWEkyQPtnHRnbgWAZg884332ZOg8UPC7n1sWy94JS_A5-2IDB5Tqox3Sb_H7owbv5l08cNscBub8BBTKqflF38zrW2QM78EDibeeRRDHf4MuGw3EI8LUMsBx8yhH/s400/RCSchool13FB.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And again, we got to pass out quilts to all of the teachers and watch them swap with each other for their favorites :)</div>
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(I have a few more pictures from our trip, but it will have to wait till later. I am tired of blogging tonight...)</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-39955927799362789052012-10-16T17:00:00.000-05:002013-02-12T17:30:36.909-06:00Tough MudderA few months ago, a friend of Brandon's asked him if he was interested in running a Tough Mudder with him.<br />
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What on earth is a Tough Mudder? 10-12 miles, outside, through mud and a couple dozen obstacles involving water, mud, electricity, climbing, and jumping. <br />
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Sounds fun, right? <br />
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Yeah, doesn't sound like fun to me either. <br />
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But to Brandon? Hey, Brandon, here's a run on a course with challenges designed by British special forces, was described by an army doctor I know as "the hardest thing I've ever done, way harder than anything I ever had to do for the army", and you have to sign something called a "death waiver" before they'll let you participate. Who makes you sign the death waiver? The team of <b>5 lawyers</b> that work full time at Tough Mudder HQ.<br />
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Yes, yes this sounds like a smart thing to do. At one point a month or so ago, Brandon went to the orthopedic doctor because his knee was acting up, and I actually remember thinking, "It would be nice if the doctor recommended a little orthoscopic knee surgery maybe to clean out some torn cartilage. Nothing requiring major rehab, just a minor surgery to knock the training off course just enough that Brandon wouldn't be able to do the Tough Mudder. That way he doesn't have to do the electricity thing with all the water and the death waiver." Yup. I <i>wished knee surgery</i> on my husband so he wouldn't run in this stupid race.<br />
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Instead, that stupid orthopedic doctor told Brandon that his knee would be fine, and to come in before the race for a cortisone shot so it wouldn't bother him during the run. <br />
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Thankyouverymuch, ortho doc. Maybe you didn't understand the gist of the plan, here. <br />
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Turns out, I had nothing to worry about.<br />
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Brandon and three friends headed out early on a Saturday morning, and posed for a nice clean pre-race picture. And Brandon was wearing some of those teeny tiny shorts favored by bicyclists and triathletes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTECNfkSVxSFxB6Gc7DGLJxdujYEWTe4egOmoP4-nESNt8gUItr87ivVlrF_nTCYnilqUfChqT_7YS5JWZMtOOPZijegiPsFzClxOi6eiUtFzrHH611GSooD29oZepesqfJvE8Ao9fMYx/s1600/Mudder8blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTECNfkSVxSFxB6Gc7DGLJxdujYEWTe4egOmoP4-nESNt8gUItr87ivVlrF_nTCYnilqUfChqT_7YS5JWZMtOOPZijegiPsFzClxOi6eiUtFzrHH611GSooD29oZepesqfJvE8Ao9fMYx/s400/Mudder8blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Then they (and a bunch of other crazy people, including Aunt Val and Uncle Izzy)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxDwK9tWvzKAKedWR0BqQ_LvYwG0VOKqkRTAUa3_rEBIvGnGPREO6fsvhP5lyiuryTqBzNrsM_hh4qHTgN3v22_jR7bKY5FiFs_jX1uiUR8nmDQiy1kclUA2C85vuweOshxZ8YdJ6eUdT/s1600/Mudder1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxDwK9tWvzKAKedWR0BqQ_LvYwG0VOKqkRTAUa3_rEBIvGnGPREO6fsvhP5lyiuryTqBzNrsM_hh4qHTgN3v22_jR7bKY5FiFs_jX1uiUR8nmDQiy1kclUA2C85vuweOshxZ8YdJ6eUdT/s400/Mudder1.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
did a lot of this<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRDiul8IR7LuIE612H5i6HR11uZkpM3w6PiITx2e4kAX5ZuftyT4rtX6dfi9dYjorK-WoaXcE5GB0F0qkNIi6Okr0Wvdcau2HCb_RKh_DrH7TApaE3YUG-doMsWgsG7jn8wz_bo9zc5KUY/s1600/Mudder2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRDiul8IR7LuIE612H5i6HR11uZkpM3w6PiITx2e4kAX5ZuftyT4rtX6dfi9dYjorK-WoaXcE5GB0F0qkNIi6Okr0Wvdcau2HCb_RKh_DrH7TApaE3YUG-doMsWgsG7jn8wz_bo9zc5KUY/s400/Mudder2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
and then this<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRkF6Qp1uxWOUr8uYv_qcJJzZA1k4OPsGCaw70SVbTZYE-v2F93a2rAWChC8EZc3AJwXBWdkIVfi3OiwCLIUfDgq8l27sb828GtPssHVBc4wh7dqDpdaucuNJQYd1LieOLXlT6V39_nVs/s1600/Mudder3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRkF6Qp1uxWOUr8uYv_qcJJzZA1k4OPsGCaw70SVbTZYE-v2F93a2rAWChC8EZc3AJwXBWdkIVfi3OiwCLIUfDgq8l27sb828GtPssHVBc4wh7dqDpdaucuNJQYd1LieOLXlT6V39_nVs/s400/Mudder3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
till they were very tired and disgusting<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5AB5eKBuZJTdStyvw_NBp0OWEpRofFAEiJXBOBkU_pDSW5GtgNr7R7tRo_V4meUe0oLMPE7rEvOyb45e7f5RzM-Y1JFYN5Pwn1404_vQLZoF_5Khwovoa9klqQYq3T1be45AwhnjchGAb/s1600/Mudder4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5AB5eKBuZJTdStyvw_NBp0OWEpRofFAEiJXBOBkU_pDSW5GtgNr7R7tRo_V4meUe0oLMPE7rEvOyb45e7f5RzM-Y1JFYN5Pwn1404_vQLZoF_5Khwovoa9klqQYq3T1be45AwhnjchGAb/s400/Mudder4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
then they posed for more pictures after climbing over a giant pile of hay<br />
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until they finished (after Brandon DITCHED the rest of his team about 2/3 of the way through) all tired and yucky and muddy, but wearing cool orange sweatbands.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEfbHIv7NExMxDEl99-IVFPcmy37t2b2B2lBxHpY9y3z5AE37DlPCDiVSWDFTu5sx2B_jArgY14rwVB8Uig4pBOKplMNbx8zPpMzlpZI8rElR9QYSt-W7GNyDihYVHzcinT-WRSgXk1H7X/s1600/Mudder7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEfbHIv7NExMxDEl99-IVFPcmy37t2b2B2lBxHpY9y3z5AE37DlPCDiVSWDFTu5sx2B_jArgY14rwVB8Uig4pBOKplMNbx8zPpMzlpZI8rElR9QYSt-W7GNyDihYVHzcinT-WRSgXk1H7X/s400/Mudder7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Thankfully, all four crazies came back safe and sound and in one piece. Until next year, Tough Mudder!</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0%; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-16043690206974910072012-10-15T07:00:00.000-05:002013-02-12T17:29:23.434-06:00Baby Parker<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
A couple of weeks after Labor Day, this happened:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJzA8b0uC6nZ5Lu564SlAkaZ1_35WjBXcdDyffFTnIVdxwb8AiitiukGnUgRp11gvi4iUW_iAoDM8kW7eVgiPoDpCx9UFhwwxTyxB8QXYc9PA-QVrK0u955C73jFb3WJhxdi5cK1ChVuS/s1600/Parker4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJzA8b0uC6nZ5Lu564SlAkaZ1_35WjBXcdDyffFTnIVdxwb8AiitiukGnUgRp11gvi4iUW_iAoDM8kW7eVgiPoDpCx9UFhwwxTyxB8QXYc9PA-QVrK0u955C73jFb3WJhxdi5cK1ChVuS/s400/Parker4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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My baby seester Lindy and her husband Andy had another leetle girl (for those keeping track, this is four new nieces in 19 months. It's called a TV in the bedroom, people.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70cOzs2-qB6gUZpM2ht9ahiqmphz_5e7egJKGoCCEEnUH3uJqagginrv0Qf9h301cTzQw6qGX96Kh7LKG4vQ-At644VTzyILyZTYlvEirmDC4hzNtmi8j5aGoI5rQTCXZwesrxRwbUdZ0/s1600/Parker3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70cOzs2-qB6gUZpM2ht9ahiqmphz_5e7egJKGoCCEEnUH3uJqagginrv0Qf9h301cTzQw6qGX96Kh7LKG4vQ-At644VTzyILyZTYlvEirmDC4hzNtmi8j5aGoI5rQTCXZwesrxRwbUdZ0/s400/Parker3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And yes, this is what she looks like mere seconds after having a baby. Of course. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizpki0XgNvNH0QtSOyeBUZDFYNey-B9MXchlmXjAsrKMjYTWSV56KY0bc61uTBDEF6gNxCzYt-kH989NP71AuMOAk-eynZGWCzpD9sgyEMtKI26WQUYI58R4aG4007M4dh-0yq7MG1k9Ad/s1600/Parker1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizpki0XgNvNH0QtSOyeBUZDFYNey-B9MXchlmXjAsrKMjYTWSV56KY0bc61uTBDEF6gNxCzYt-kH989NP71AuMOAk-eynZGWCzpD9sgyEMtKI26WQUYI58R4aG4007M4dh-0yq7MG1k9Ad/s400/Parker1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Baby Parker Jean could not be more perfect, and I cannot wait to FINALLY meet her in just 5 short days.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5cXo6_WwkSqZF2lpN7ahlfbcrrlh1CZI9ZknBvZC0xCY-hM-gdZdNG2x98mmmarr26k1nS-KLDjMPSbS8LAACvQ91AZgC7tCHKRXiJ_dLJKP83LWAiERIUiEw5pG7vyCndZ6hhTe6Bds/s1600/Parker2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5cXo6_WwkSqZF2lpN7ahlfbcrrlh1CZI9ZknBvZC0xCY-hM-gdZdNG2x98mmmarr26k1nS-KLDjMPSbS8LAACvQ91AZgC7tCHKRXiJ_dLJKP83LWAiERIUiEw5pG7vyCndZ6hhTe6Bds/s400/Parker2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
And I can't wait to spend a little time with Parker's big sister, for that matter, either!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDq6DEdI2otV2DNwNrHmU7xooWxJ-2GFUzL473sd_EcKymDnPgwWCvHZHdOiF-K0cU1WSyjHE9B5KlcX9RunWiCE4PMZtVeqnX8Vqq2RT3KpOnz4Nh2XTWNcJyi5aO71AW_3VaWaOvojBj/s1600/Sisters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDq6DEdI2otV2DNwNrHmU7xooWxJ-2GFUzL473sd_EcKymDnPgwWCvHZHdOiF-K0cU1WSyjHE9B5KlcX9RunWiCE4PMZtVeqnX8Vqq2RT3KpOnz4Nh2XTWNcJyi5aO71AW_3VaWaOvojBj/s400/Sisters.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/54/ABA731E791D516B60E454F5A9CE781BE.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1704314362767151919.post-36464278872319655662012-10-13T07:00:00.000-05:002013-02-12T17:02:00.041-06:00The Labor Day Curse<i>**I'm about 10 years behind on blogging, so I (hopefully) will be posting a bunch over the next week or so in a lame attempt to catch up...</i><br />
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Last year on Labor Day, Dane and Aidan accompanied their Pappy to a very special photo shoot with some of their favorite football players.<br />
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#8 would later go on to break his foot, ending his 2011 season.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0EPrVdTt3mscXD72sVvkVIRWcol3qrHMt-wModjSEl-3oHL3N5CYwO3T9nQtzuxEi0eyAHq-wXkwxdPdBVQii7a3JLcnn1UtbQK4SJdiATf8b01KYHLKzxHCoV7Xa8OXxBLzKoxKfLdK8/s1600/Texans1e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0EPrVdTt3mscXD72sVvkVIRWcol3qrHMt-wModjSEl-3oHL3N5CYwO3T9nQtzuxEi0eyAHq-wXkwxdPdBVQii7a3JLcnn1UtbQK4SJdiATf8b01KYHLKzxHCoV7Xa8OXxBLzKoxKfLdK8/s400/Texans1e.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
#80 would later go on to pull his hamstring, ending his 2011 season.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ-7u21YkVOngszb28xQ0qnqudh1YB99yXaPsGbv7hhHtiYGQG4Zt7rKoRTB9_-cYqmmmNIe84x5Hv2CG0zuqnUQvDEwgkmaLngQXK9v7QOPljM-qZqiQDjAuPFxf5hIu9s0SnHNnm5Rzb/s1600/Texans3e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ-7u21YkVOngszb28xQ0qnqudh1YB99yXaPsGbv7hhHtiYGQG4Zt7rKoRTB9_-cYqmmmNIe84x5Hv2CG0zuqnUQvDEwgkmaLngQXK9v7QOPljM-qZqiQDjAuPFxf5hIu9s0SnHNnm5Rzb/s400/Texans3e.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
This year on Labor Day, this star linebacker, lead tackler for the team, signed my sweet boy's cast. He was the envy of his third grade class for the following weeks.<br />
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And last Sunday? #56 tore a ligament in his knee, ending his 2012 season.<br />
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I would like to apologize to all Texans fans for the past couple of seasons. Apparently, my boys are involved in a little-known curse, and next year they will try to find a tackling dummy to solicit autographs from.Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535440479102259005noreply@blogger.com1