I know, I know!

I've been sucking at the whole blogging thing lately. I think part of it is I haven't had my camera all weekend and I like to have blogs with pictures.
The other part of it is I just haven't really felt like I had anything to say. You know how that is? Oh yes, I could talk about my weekend... but it was pretty relaxed.
I can talk about how I cleaned the ENTIRE house (go me), but that's boring.

We TRIED to take pictures of the kids. Try is the word as the kids were beyond uncooperative. Don't believe me, here are the best shots.

Um, wait, we did get Lyric some cute new Vans on Saturday:


we went to the mall with the Shulls, plus Ash and Maddy on Saturday. That was good times had by all... and I got to eat at one of my fave places, Cozymel. They have the best queso! I want it again for dinner tonight! Jon wasn't impressed and thought it was over priced so I doubt that's going to happen. But a pregnant lady can dream!

Nathan preached on Sunday morning for the first time and he did an AMAZING job! He did the cardboard testimony and it was so powerful. I sat there and balled like a baby as I kept thinking about what I would say on my cardboard...

It was just so impacting for so many people. And Nate really brought the word.
You can hear it on the podcast. Just go to www.shadygrove.org and follow the instructions to download the podcast.

Then it was... Cowboys.

Now don't get me wrong. I have nothing against the Cowboys. Coming from an avid football fan family, I actually am happy when they win as everyone is jovial and pleasant for the rest of the day.
But then seriously? Do we all need to wear our Cowboys shirts and hats with such commitment that we think the wearing of said garments will somehow influence the outcome of the game? Do we all need to huddle into the living room, screaming to the point no child can sleep peacefully in the entire house? Do we really need to completely detach ourselves from reality so as to when your wife is calling your name 600 times you just "didn't hear her"?? Hmm..
but alas, nothing can be done and football season has indeed begun. So I will do what I do every year. I will sit in the other room and read. Or play with the kids. Or maybe even take a nap. And around the end of the season I will actually care a little more and genuinely hope we can actually win a playoff game.
But until then... sigh.

Ok, well I have stuff to do people. I'm out.

Windy

Ok, we are definitely feeling Gustav's visit to the coast up here in Dallas. Yesterday and today it has been SO windy. Like walk outside and your skirt flies up and your hair comes out of its pony tail kind of windy.
However, something pleasant did happen today. The feeling of fall arrived. I'm sure it's going to leave just as quickly as it came, but for the time being I am relishing it (at least the view of it from my office window).
I walked outside and had the distinct chilly feeling add that to the fall cloud cover... it was just fantastic!
Talk to me in a few months when that's ALL I feel and I will probably be dreaming of Summer. The grass is always greener on the other side.
Speaking of green grass, only 49 more days till we are in Belgium! Yeah!
Something happened in my heart this last time my dad got back from Belgium. Both Jon and I are now ready to move the family and start a new life over there. It's funny hearing it from Jonathan because as long as I've known him, he has never really shown any interest in going back to Belgium. He always wanted to move back to Europe, but he was thinking more France or maybe Israel.
But something is changing in both of us. I know that there is a plan and a purpose and things that we need to help facilitate over there. It's kind of exciting! You never know, we just might be moving sooner rather than later!

So, what about all this drama with Rep. VP Sarah Palin?? Over the weekend there was all these rumors that her youngest son was actually her daughter Bristol's son and she was pretending that he was hers... It was nuts! Then Monday they announce that no, indeed Trig is Sarah's son, but Bristol her 17 year old daughter is pregnant. Blah, blah.
Now all the uproar is that she is not being a good mother by campaigning when she should be spending time with her family during this difficult time. My thoughts?
Yes, it's a big story. Yes this woman is running for the VP and her daughter is pregnant and she has a very young special needs child... however, if you were in her shoes, would you turn the job down? She is already a very active governor, it's not like if she wasn't running for the VP she would be at home with the kiddos. Her husband is the primary caretaker. What's wrong with that? Nothing. It's their choice. A parent is still caring for the children. If this was a male VP and his wife had just given birth to a special needs child and his daughter was pregnant, no one would be telling him he had his priorities out of whack and needs to be home taking care of the family.
It really just leads me to my real irk. Is anyone else sick and tired of hearing all the time how awful Republicans are and how saintly Obama is? Even on Fox News, which I watch mainly for the conservative spin, every time I walk by the TV (my office is next to the break room and the TV is always on Fox News), Obama is on! I'm so sick of him. I'm so sick of people thinking he is going to be this amazing God send... the man is liberal to the extreme.
Watch this video- although it is ridiculously slighted against him and is quite melodramatic at the end, the facts are true:


I just don't like the guy. I have a bad feeling about him. I don't think he's the anti-christ or anything silly like that. I just don't like him. Like many of you just don't like George Bush. Obama just rubs me the wrong way.

Ok, enough ranting. You obviously see how I will vote :)

On to something pleasant... mmm... the nice weather... OH!

Last night Jon and I went out to dinner with Abby and Brad (with kiddos in tow of course). We had such a fun night and after dinner we went over to Lincoln square, getting ice cream at the Marble Slab and walking around. It was such a nice night and it wasn't too hot. We ended up at Half Price Books and let Korbin and Lyric go crazy in the kid section. Throwing books everywhere, just having a jolly ol' time. (yes we cleaned up, I just can't guarantee everything was in its proper place).
Here are two pics of Abby and I to show how cool we are:

Good times :)

Finally, Lyric has conjunctivitis, or pink eye or whatever you want to call it. She is acting fine, she just has gook coming out of her eyes. I'm not stressing as all I care about is that she is sleeping fine and she is in a good mood. I can deal with gooky eye.
We didn't take her to the doctor, just got her over the counter drops, and they are really doing the trick. I went home at lunch and they were SO much better (she has it in both eyes).
Jonathan (who pulled his groin muscle *don't ask* and is acting like a baby) stayed home with her for most of the day and then took her to Courtney's house since Judah and Kadyn have it too. I am wondering if they got it at Church... as they both started showing symptoms the same day. Who knows! If she is gook free tomorrow we'll take her back to Christina's house.
Speaking of Christina, Aaron got a new job and I am so excited for them! More money, better benefits which hopefully means she'll be popping out a baby in the not too distant future! :)He starts next month, so yeah for the Smiths!

I really think I have nothing else of consequence to say... so I'm going to go ahead and leave you with a quote which rings true for me:

"Writing well mean never having to say, 'I guess you had to be there.'"

Good friends

So I've mentioned frequently what great friends I have. Well the past few days have just re-emphasized that for me. I just really love all of my friends!
Wednesday night Abby called me and invited me to go to the park with her and Brad. Jonathan was playing drums at church, so I quickly accepted.
I love hanging out with Abby and just chillin'. We always have more than enough to talk about and not to mention our kids are adorable :)
Here are a few pics:
Korb and Lyric on the swings (note my horrible posture)


The lovely Sophia who is one of the best/relaxed babies of all times.

And my dearest friends:


After the park we went over to the Shulls house and ordered pizza. I ate like 19 pieces I think :) We gave the kiddos a bath and then we watched Project Runway and the season finale of Final Cut. Jon met us over there after awhile and we all had a great time.

Thursday night we went over to the newlyweds Frederick house. Tiff and Ry made a FANTASTIC dinner for us. Even though I poured rock salt all over my baked potato and totally ruined it. Thankfully we were in the home of a vegetarian, where potatoes are plentiful :) I'm still sad about it though, because I had it PERFECT and I had been craving a baked potato. And she had rolled them in spices and such... BUT that's ok. We looked at honeymoon and wedding pics and just had a great night. Lyric was kind of in a bad mood for most of the night, but oh well. What do you do? They just need to hurry up and have kids since Lyric only wants to be in a good mood when there are other children around. Though she did end up getting in a good mood towards the end of the night.
Here she is at her makeshift table eating mac-n-cheese

And here she is when she discovered how much fun it was to jump off the coffee table:

Here is a short video of it:

While we were eating dessert, she totally crashed on me:

Jon and Ry

We had a great time with them and we are glad they are back from their honeymoon and are married! Yeah!

Then Friday morning I drove over to Las Colinas to have a playdate with Embry and her son Zealan. Embry has moved to California and was in town and our kids have never met, so of course we had to introduce them! Lyric thought Zealan was so cute and gave him lots of kisses and hugs:

He is 8 months, but almost the same size as her. My daughter is a shrimp :)


Friday afternoon we just relaxed and both of us napped. I of course woke up late. Court came over and hung for a bit, but then had to get home to get ready for the Ward wedding. Ry and Tiff came over early and I was not even showered yet. Then Abby and the kids came over. So I scrambled and got ready and we all went to Lacey Ward's wedding. I loved her dress! It was so pretty!
Here are the trouble makers of the wedding:

Of course all they wanted to do all night was dance, and so they did:



Jon, Shiloh and I at the wedding:

Abby and Korb

The kids were super hungry so we all left and went to Mariano's to eat. I just love hanging out with my friends... it makes me happy to be alive. Not that many people are blessed to be surrounded by the caliber of friends that I have. We are just always there for eachother and I could not be more honored to have them in my life.

So to all my friends...

I LOVE YOU!

Happy Birthday Abby

Abby, Abby, Abby...

Isn't it crazy how much we've grown up together?
Not that we are old by any means, but when you add 20+ years of friendship into the mix, it's pretty nuts.

Although Abby and I didn't become best buds till Jr. High, we used to play together when we were still in diapers. She is a year older than me (11 months and 5 days to be exact) and a year younger than my sister, so she was the perfect age for us both... although she favored my sister at the time but has since seen the error of her ways :)

When looking back on my life, there isn't really a major event that she wasn't a part of. Going to school for the first time after being homeschooled, first parties, first crushes, first heart breaks, first time to sneak out, first time to drink alcohol... ok, we won't keep going, my mom reads this :) But seriously, Abby's always there and we basically experienced everything together, good and bad.

We lived together right after we graduated highschool (though that didn't exactly work out favorably- but we still made it- friendship intact), we were bridesmaids in eachothers weddings, attended the birth of eachother's kids... we have dinner together at least once a week, make tv show watching parties out of nothing, we both have an undying love of blonde hair, we are there for eachother through thick and thin... it's just the way we roll. :) She's the veggies and I'm the hamburger :)

Now we are both in our mid-twenties, with 2 kids under our belt and great husbands... but we still dance like crazy fools when "drop it like it's hot" comes on the radio. I don't like to go anywhere where there will be music, dancing and drinks without Abby as she is my counterpart to craziness. Always has been, always will be. I swear we will be 90 years old, our husbands will be dead and gone and Abby and I will be living in the same old folks home, talking about Alanis Morissette and drinking martinis while she highlights my hair blonde :)

If you have never been around Abby when she gets in her "mood", oh my, you are missing out on some quality time. You will never laugh like you laugh with her. I swear she is the funniest person I know. Not like, haha Chris Farley funny... more like laugh till you cry while she tells you a story of Brad sleep talking funny... When we get together, by the end of the night, I have no more eye makeup on as I cried it all off laughing.

I love my Abby and last night we went out to Bucca de Beppo's to celebrate her 26th birthday.
here are some pics:

The birthday girl and her hubby Brad


Lyric and Korbin

Abby and Morgan

Courtney and Christina

Brad, Jon and Aaron

Me and LyLy

Mom, Dad, Preston and Jodie

Little Judah!

Abby blowing out her birthday candle

At the end of dinner, all the kids got up and were dancing pretty hard core to music that wasn't playing. Who needs a radio when you have Korbin to sing! :)

Me and the birthday girl!

Happy Birthday my dearest friend! We will have many more together! One of these days we can actually go out for drinks without one of us being pregnant! :)

Post-Wedding

Well after the wedding we sent Lyric with Gigi and Poppy.

*ps, Lyric was a trooper. She functioned the entire 6 hour wedding in addition to the whole crazy day like a trooper. She ended up falling asleep on my mom around 9 and slept for about an hour while I shook my booty on the dance floor. She did really good though and I was so proud of her!*

We weren't the only ones who got a hotel room that night at the Magnolia in downtown Dallas.

Courtney and Nathan, Landon and Holly, Abby and Brad and us all stayed. We got back to the hotel and decided we were hungry. So we changed clothes and headed out walking to find some place. It was after 1am, but we found some pizza place and partook :)

Then we all went back to our rooms and met for breakfast the next morning.

Here is before bed


And the next morning


I slept till almost 10, but then I didn't go to bed till late, so I guess I didn't sleep that long.
We ended up going to get Lyric around noon ish and by 1, the entire house was asleep and we slept till 4. Isn't that lovely!

I'm so exhausted after this weekend, and if I wasn't on the team tomorrow with Parra, I would be skipping church FOR SURE. But oh well. I hopefully will get into bed tonight at a decent hour.

Oh, look how pretty my bridesmaid bouquet is


I must give a special birthday love to Abby and Holly! I'll try to write a better birthday blog when my brain can think a little better :) But regardless, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

The Wedding Day

The wedding day began a little hectic. I went to get a mani/pedi and I got a trainee and it took them 2 hours to get it done... omg I was so frustrated. So then I get back and we still had a million things to do. Thankfully I have the best sister in the world and she fixed Lyric's dress and I found Kadyn's size 4 white dress shoes, it all got done. I put the baby down for a nap and I got ready.
Jon and I had decided to rent a hotel room that night and send Lyric home with my parents. It was actually the first night I have ever been away from Lyric... how crazy is that! I wasn't nervous about it, it just so happens that we take Lyric with us everywhere and we live so close to family that when we are out late, it's easy just to go get her. So ya, good times. But of course I had to get her overnight bag, my overnight bag, all the stuff we needed for the wedding, take a shower, go buy my shoes for the wedding and get us both fed and be in Dallas by 3. Oh ya, when I put Lyric down for a nap it was 1pm :)

I was getting pretty stressed, especially since Lyric woke up crying from her nap and was in the WORST mood! I was thinking, please no, please no, please no! But of course, the show must go on, so at this point it was 2:30, I drove quickly to go pick up my shoes, get my lunch and started driving to Dallas. I was feeding lyric pieces of grilled cheese in the car on the way... well we get there and as she eats, she starts getting in a better mood. I get my hair done, Lyric won't walk in her dress because it was too poofy and then I realized I didn't have any socks for her. So I run with her next door to Neiman Marcus, but they don't have any. Oh well, no socks today! I was getting really stressed at this point... everyone had already left for the ceremony site...

So then I get in the car to drive to the ceremony site and I couldn't remember exactly how to get there. So I call Jon and my phone runs out of batteries... so I'm driving around for 30 minute, with only a vague idea of where it is... I stop a few times, ask for directions, borrow some random guys cell phone... it was awful. Finally I get there, and I was about to lose it. I was so tired of my fussy daughter, I was late, sweating bullets, Lyric wasn't dressed, I didn't know if I had missed the pictures... I was just about to start balling!
However, I quickly calmed down and took a few deep breaths... my mom helped me dress Lyric and everything was ok.

So that was my hectic wedding day :)

I walked into the reception area and it was GORGEOUS! It looked like a fairy land. The room was filled with flowers and plants. It looked like a magical rain forest.


Tiffani looked absolutely beautiful!
Here is one of the center pieces
Amanda and Tabitha
All the bridesmaids and groomsmen walked in together so it looked really cool. Jon and I both held Lyric's hands and walked in together. She of course stole the show :)

Here you can see Tiff walking in with her dad in the distance

During the ceremony

>Us during the ceremony
Now Mr. and Mrs. Frederick!
Ok, here are some lovely pics of my daughter :)




Courtney and Nate
Another one of Lyric for good measure
The happy couple
Court, me and Abby
The bride's cake
The groom's cake
Dancing
The speech right before the fireworks.
The fireworks were to the Misty Edwards song, Relentless. It was pretty cool and synchronized. I didn't think to record it till the very end, but here is a short clip:

LyLy wasn't too sure about it. She just hid the whole time:

Then of course it was time to boogy. Pregnant or not, I shake it. Note that this is how Abby and I groove:

They had a lounge area with Go-Go dancers
Ry and Tiff getting down

As they ran out to the car, they ran through this:

Ok, here are some of the cool parts of the wedding:

They had a free photobooth that was set up in the back. We had so much fun taking a bunch of group shots :) This was an actual photobooth that you had to squeeze into, it was a blast! Also, the guest book was right next to it, and people print a picture and put it in the book and sign it.

During the ceremony, there was a woman with a big loom and at one point Ry and Tiff both gave her spools of thread and she wove into this blanket during the ceremony their thread to make a unity blanket.

There was a lady who during the reception was painting a portrait.

Fun times people, fun times!

I am so happy for Ryan and Tiff. The wedding was the most amazingly cool wedding I've ever been to. It was over the top, but in a good way. The food was great, man I wish I was able to take of that top shelf open bar and strawberry mojito's, but oh well! :) I would rather not have a baby with brain damage :)

They are going on an incredible honeymoon to South Africa and Ireland. They will be shark diving, going on a safari, going to all the cool breweries and just having an amazing 3 week vacation! 

I talked with them a minute this morning and my parent's went to the airport and brought Ryan his iPod that he forgot... they look SO happy and I can't wait to hear all the stories from their awesome trip.

RyTy Rehearsal Dinner

The RyTy wedding festivities began on Thursday with the Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner. Lyric was looking super cute that evening with a new dress her Aunt CoCo got her. 

Tiff was pretty relaxed, which I have no idea how she was after seeing everything that went into the wedding... anyways, here is LyLy:

The cute Vandeput family
The boys minus Preston
Thad, Andrew and Ryan

Tiffani's brother and sister Henry and Abigail

The rehearsal went very quickly, which kind of made me nervous, but we were all quickly on our way to the rehearsal dinner which was at Eddie Deens in downtown Dallas, which is a definte country themed place! :) We ate barbecue and the food was DELICIOUS!

The Shulls and Vandeputs

Here are Abby, me and Court:

Lyric ready for some grub!
Dad and Landon
Courtney and Holly
After dinner we had a time of prayer over Ry and Tiff. Here is her dad praying a blessing over them, it was so sweet. Then we had some toasts where I read her my blog I wrote about her.

Courtney didn't bring any of her kids, which made me a bit nervous as her kids always entertain Lyric, but THANKFULLY Abby brought Korbin, so they played all night together
Then I saw this stuffed bear at the back that I thought Lyric would think was so awesome, but she thought it was going to eat her. She wouldn't get near it. That night she woke up screaming and so I think maybe she had a bad dream about the bear.
All in all it was a great night, though I was anxious to get into bed as I still had a billion things to get done before I had to be at the hotel to get my hair done... 

RyTy-888

I'm writing this today because I don't think I'm going to have time to write it tomorrow.

One of my bestest friends is getting married tomorrow and that would be Ms. Tiffani Mauldin :)

We met in, I think 1999, when she 'stole' my boyfriend... you would think that would make us instant enemies, which of course it did for a time- well more in my mind than hers- but after awhile the fates kept forcing us together, and we gave into the insanity and became fast friends.

I think it's her head in the clouds approach to my feet planted firmly on the ground that makes us a good match for each other. I just love her, there is no other way to put it.

We've been through a lot together... horrible, gut-wrenching break-ups, falling in love, freezing our butts off on a mountain for 6 months in the middle of no where, trips, holidays, family crisis, extreme life changes, babies, weddings, wounds, times of being on top of the world, times of being so low we can't breathe, times where we knew we needed to step in and say something, times when we knew it was better just to love... it's all there, in the genetic make up of our friendship...

I think I'm one of the few people who really gets Tiffani as she really gets me. It also helps that she is marrying the male version of me, which I think just lends itself back to the belief that she wishes she was marrying me, but we won't get into that :)

She is so ok with me just being emotional at times and I am so ok with sitting there listening to her reason everything out.

It's a unique match, and I can tell you, there is no other friendship out there like ours. It's one of those life long friendships that weaves itself so deeply into your core that there is no possible way to extract yourself without losing parts of who you are.

She is a part of my family. My parents view her as one of their daughters, she is always included for family dinners, events and more and has been so long before she met Ryan.

So now she is getting married to a guy that is like a brother to me... our families (The Benjamins and Fredericks) are close friends and have been so for 30 years. So it's like we are becoming sister-in-laws.

Tomorrow night, August 8, 2008 (888) she is getting married... it's going to be the ceremony she has always dreamed about.

I'll be there with her every step of the way, trying to a calming force in her life on that very crazy and emotional day. I'll try to protect her from unnecessary decisions and drama, letting her try to put the day in slow motion so she can remember the sights and smells and the overall feeling of excitement and anticipation.

So it's customary to give advice to the bride to be, and although you know a lot about the inner workings of marriage, here are a few things I've learned.

• Boys will be boys. They never really grow up and help Ryan find the things that keep him feeling like a boy and encourage (in moderation) him to do those things. It makes for a happier hubby
• At their center, guys just want to protect and provide for the ones they love. Don't undermine that and allow him to feel like he is doing that. Never be afraid to play the part of a woman in need, guys eat that up :)
• Pick your battles. Remember that your words are the most powerful weapons in his life. They have the power to make him feel like a king and the power to make him feel like a failure.
• Make intimate times with your husband a priority
• Find out the one major thing that makes him feel more relaxed at home, whether that is the living room picked up, laundry put away, no dishes in the sink, your bedroom always picked up, his favorite snack in the cupboard, whatever it is, try to always have that one thing done
• Just love him. Your husband is never perfect. He will say things to you that are not always right, but just always remember that you love him. That you made a commitment to him forever. Love, for the most part is a choice, so always choose him.
• Finally, keep your relationship with the Lord fresh and renewed and you'll find that keeping your marriage alive and healthy just naturally happens.

Tomorrow is going to be a great day and I couldn't be happier for my Tiff.

I love you girl.

















PS. They made it into the Dallas Morning News, click HERE for the article

Happy Birthday Christina!

Yesterday was Christina Smith's 29th birthday!
To celebrate a few of us, who were available last minute, decided to go to Outback to have a fun dinner. I was SO ok with that because a bloomin' onion sounded SO good to me last night.
Christina got a new camera from Aaron and Jon and I got her a memory card and a super cute camera case. She got some starbucks goodness and a haircut from Abby :)
All in all, it was a great night.
Here are a few pics:

Christina with her new camera


Some of the group


Lyric is teething, so not feeling well. So she basically sat on my lap the whole time


Which got kind of annoying


Korbin


Christina blowing out the candle


Trying to get the girls together for a group pic


The ladies


Me and the birthday girl


Good times :)

First of Many

I know, I know. I have been a horrible blogger as of late.
I can't help it! Would you like to take a look at my weekly calendar? it's nuts. I'm doing something like every night of every week.
Though I can't complain all that much because this weekend, I had my first of many long weekends. Yes that's right. My work schedule changed to 30 hours a week and now I don't work Fridays.
How amazing is that! It was so nice to fall asleep on Thursday and know that Friday morning your alarm wouldn't go off (though your 1 year old alarm and your baby dancing on your bladder would). Jon woke up when he heard the baby, I guess out of routine and got her up and fed her breakfast and I didn't wake up till after 9.
I then proceeded to do a boat load of laundry, which has hence found itself on the floor of the guest bedroom.
I also didn't get our house cleaned... and to many of you that doesn't seem that big of a deal, but we are now into the 3rd week without the floors/bathrooms being cleaned... it was not ok. But once again, we were busy all weekend.
Friday the Frederick's flew in from Cyprus to help prepare for Ryan and Tiff's wedding. We also celebrated Norm's birthday that night too.
Here are a few pics:


Praying over the birthday boy :)


Ashlyn Rose


Dad singing with the birthday pudding


Norm orchestrating his praise (please note he is not 55, but 51, however my mom could only find 2 fives)


Judah is now 6 months old, he is getting SO big!


Ry and Lyly


Maddy showing her braid


Landon, Austin and Hannah


Lynn and my mom


Court (looking oh so busty), Christina and moi!


Then on Saturday I finally cashed in on my Mother's Day present, and I got a "I survived the 1st trimester" pregnancy massage. OMG, it was glorious. I did not want it to end. I still have enough left on my gift card to get another massage, so I'm thinking I will wait till November then have a "I survived my 2nd trimester" massage. I get relaxed just thinking about it. sigh.
After that, we quickly had to leave for Ryan and Tiff's house in Dallas where they were moving in. When we got into Dallas, we discovered that 75 was shut down. So it took us forever to get to their house. Lyric was getting bored, so we stayed entertained by making silly faces.




She is getting so big!


I was of no help, but I did play house nanny (my sister and all her kids were there). We played hide and go seek and let me tell you. Lyric is the worst hider ever. She follows me and stands right in front of me smiling saying "mama" and pointing. I would be like, "go away" and she would just laugh. She totally kept giving my awesome hiding places away.
They also have a cute swing in the back that Lyric had fun on:



Sunday I actually got out in the sun for a bit. But I realized why I'm so white this summer. it's because I hate to be hot! And you can't go outside without getting hot.
We did find a way to ensure that my daughter does not drown in the pool. We put a floatie swim bathing suit on, with floaties. She resembles that kid from "A Christmas Story", you know the little brother Randy that has to wear that snow get up and he can't move or put his arms down? Ya, that's Lyric, but she has the summer version. But she doesn't go under and she can float around the pool without me holding her (or being in a floatie) which is what she wants because she thinks she's 6 and can swim by herself.

Anyways, this weekend was so nice. I can't wait to have a repeat this weekend! Working 30 hours is rockin' my world! :)

4th of July

First off, I have to apologize. There are barely any pictures. Actually only 3.
I know, absolutely awful of me. I am having this picture issue, where I normally am a picture taking fool, I have been the opposite! I haven't even taken a recent belly shot and my stomach is even pooching now. Yes, I know, quite unbearable.

The day started off like any other day. First off, when you work Fridays, and then you don't have to work a Friday, it feels like heaven, not on that Friday, but on that Saturday.
So Friday started out normal. I woke up early and FORCED Jonathan to get up and we all went to eat breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Then I decided that Lyric and my nieces/nephew needed 4th of July shirts to wear, so that started us on a hunt all over the mall, which turned up nothing, because by the 4th, all the 4th of July shirts are gone.
So then we went to Target and managed to find some, though they didn't look very festive.
Here are a pictures of Lyric and Kadyn's shirts:

And here are pic of Ash and Maddy's

and then a pic of all 4 of the girls. Note that my daughter never smiles as good as her cousins:

We went over to my parent's house for the day and just swam and laid out. I couldn't stay out too long, or my headache would start back up. So I am still pasty white, an issue that more than one people pointed out that day.
But it's not my fault, it just looks like that compared to the crispy baked tans of my nieces and sister. Hey, if I was a stay at home mom, I would have a tan, I can guarantee you that!

We grilled out and spent the day just having a good time with friends and family. We had a big group, which is always nice and lively.

Do you realize that this is the first 4th in 2 years that it hasn't rained during the day? I know this because we've had rained out barbecues for 2 years running, so it was nice to actually be able to spend time outside this year.

Then later we all decided to watch the fireworks over the racetrack. But this year, they had to move them back because of the new Air Hogs stadium, and they were so far from where we were that you couldn't even hear the booms/bangs/or whistles. I've decided that fireworks are not interesting to watch unless you can hear them explode.

So maybe next year we'll do something different, or at least get closer.

The only good thing is we didn't have any panicky kids who freak at the fireworks, so that was nice.

Well that was our 4th. Pretty uneventful, but oh so fun as usual.

Later people!

RyTy Shower

So on Saturday we had the first major event of the Mauldin-Frederick wedding.
The wedding shower and Tiff's Bachelorette Party.
Fun times!
The shower was beautiful and elegant from the Breadwinner's catering to the mamosa's, it was just lovely. Everyone brought great gifts and Ry and Tiff were so blessed.
Here are a few pics:
The beautiful girls of the party:


My princess (note Ashlyn's sad face because Courtney was making them stay put and Ash wanted to mingle):


Mr. Mauldin giving a speech


Opening Presents










And of course the stud at the party was my nephew Judah (with the Dunns)


Then the "Bridesmaids" and Pseudo-Bridesmaids went out to eat at Ferrings and had a DELICIOUS meal that was Tiffani's treat. OMG it was delicious! I'm now obsessed with lobster nachos! :) I had the lamb and it was amazing... we had a blast! :)



Then we went back to Tiff's dad's house to open presents













Then we went to Uptown Pub and had the best time singing at the top of our lungs to our favorite songs! :)


Abby was on a roll that night and I laughed more last night than I can remember for awhile. I mean, I had no more makeup on because I cried it off I was laughing so hard! I have more hilarious pics of Abby doing her "so you think you can dance" hair flip moves and a great booty dance, but we won't embarrass her :)

The only bad thing was the shoes I was wearing MURDERED my feet and I got big ol'blisters and even a bruise across my toes from the straps. OUCH! (You can't really see the true damage, but trust me, they still hurt!)


So the whole day was a success! Congrats to RyTy- it won't be long now and it will be 08-08-08!

Girl Power

Okay, if you haven't seen SATC the Movie, and you were a fan of the series, drop EVERYTHING you are doing right now and run to the theater with a group of your cloest girls. A word of warning only to those who have 1. never seen the show or 2. only watched it on TBS. It is rated R for a reason and stays very true to the HBO series.
But it sure makes you love the fact that you have girl friends. I mean don't get me wrong, husbands/boyfriends are great and not to be replaced, but there is something about the bond women share throughout the years. It's beautiful, it's complicated, it's emotional, it's real love.
I have been privileged to have a few of these relationships throughout my life and every day relish in the love between all my besties.
I know many women talk about the cattiness of women, how we back stab, but those women weren't bonded. The women that I'm friends with today, we've all been through a lot. Each of us brings a unique aspect and viewpoint that the other doesn't have. Each of our backgrounds are different, our love lives distinctly different... yet we all come together and share and learn from eachother.
My friends and I have evolved out of the "dating sphere" of girl talks and entered into an entirely new realm of motherhood, being a wife, a working mom, a partner, a lover and more. If it wasn't for my friends, I don't know where I would be. I could never count the number of fears they've calmed, fights they've helped me work through, depression they've helped me rise out of and more. I know that they make me a better sister/wife/mother and of course friend.
We may not be like our favorites from SATC, as we don't have the designer shoes to prove it, but one thing we do have is our love for eachother and our desire to see the others exceed past their wildest dreams. We are so lucky to have eachother. I love you girls!
Well enough of the loves fest!
Friday night we had a delightful (if not slightly rushed) evening with the girls.
Abby, Courtney, Christina and I met up with Mabrie, Mercedes, Kathleen, Mary and Micah to see the SATC movie.
The only requirement of the night was cute shoes:

Being that the evening started after work, and the movie began at 7pm in uptown Dallas, you can imagine the rush we were all in to get there. Only to find that we were only allowed enough time to get one drink (mine of the non-alcohol persuasion) and some chip and dips before we skidaddled to the theater.
Here we are at the restaurant:

My sister Courtney and I:

Abby and Christina


In true Christina fashion she was drinking her drink too slowly and the movie deadline was fast approaching, so Abby had to help her drain it:


Then at the theater


Abby and Court drinking their Cosmos


It was so great to see my Mabes! I love that lady!
Group Shot:


The crazy thing is we also sat right next to Britten and Courtney Mills and Bethany Obert! They were our great friends like when we were all in homeschool drama together during elementary school. So it was like almost all generations of our lives, we were just missing either a Jennifer/Stephanie/Katie in the mix and it would have been like our entire lives of best friends to date. SO crazy, but great to see them all!

SO that was our fantastic night! We sped off after the movie to drop off Abby/Christina so we could skidaddle to the airport to pick up my parents!! Yippee! They are home!

Well that's all I have for now, but I just wanted to talk about how much fun we had Friday.
Though we did miss you Tiffani :)

Flowers!

My wonderful friend Jenae (who works at a lovely flower shop in Dallas) surprised me tonight when she dropped by with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for me for Mother's Day!




Anyways, I just wanted to give her props and tell her how much I love her... I love you Jenae! I think you are awesome! Jenae is a fantastic photographer, and if you want to check out her work, www.racheljenae.com

Cinco de Mayo

Well since Abby is half Mexican, we thought it fitting to have a Cinco de Mayo party on Monday night and all get together and drink margaritas, eat fajitas and then balance her 1/2 white side by watching the Bachelor.

We had a great night and Abby got a new kitten for Mother's Day. I'm obsessed with him and I want one just like him!


Jon likes him too, but he is pretty strict about just wanting one animal at a time, but I think that's stupid! He is trying to talk me into getting rid of Jedi for a kitten... ya right.


Lyric loved the kitten too. See everyone agrees! Jon needs to get me one for Mother's Day! Lyric likes the idea of that!


Playing outside






Lyric was all done eating her cookie and ready to get out


My niece Maddy is normally scared to death of cats, but she fell in love with Ollie


The entire night, all the kids just wanted to play with the kitten


It was really loud, but we all managed to watch the Bachelor and had a great night. We really need to do it more often! I love dinner parties.