What have you been doing ALL summer....

Hamming it up with my baby girl at our neighbors house.
Taking pictures in the flowers weeds, in our backyard. Aren't they pretty?!
Graduating from elementary school.
School's out for summer...
Summer fun with friends.
Bathing suit model.
Derail came to town -

Screaming monkeys!

Fourth of July with the siblings.

and more family...

Concert in the park.






Lining up dollies???
Catching up with lifetime friends.
Birthday parties.
My soccer player in his special "All-Star Game". He is gooood!

Brian's boss & his wife took us on a wine tour for the day.

Our friends had their babies. Good thing we have fruit trees to feed them.

Alina Boo's New Do

I did it! After almost 2 1/2 years of growing her hair, my baby toddler got her 1st haircut.

I was apprehensive at first because she really has such beautiful hair, but it started looking a little scraggly at times, so I knew that it had to be done. I decided to take her to a kid's place, so that she could enjoy the experience to it's fullest extent and what a great choice that ended up being!

We get there and the beautician says "You're not cutting her beautiful hair, are YOU?!" Geez - that is not what I wanted to hear after I wasn't sure about cutting it in the first place. She then retracts that first statement, and tells me that she meant that I should not cut it short, she should only get a trim. OK, that is what I wanted anyways. Please don't make me second guess myself!!Well, let me just say that Alina was such a big girl and very cooperative - thank goodness! You know it can go either way. Phew! She sat perfectly on the squirrel, chipmunk chair (which was some strange unknown animal - take a look at the thing) and enjoyed the moment. She even calmed down a screaming little boy who was in the chair next to her. Poor kid was not having a good time, but Alina knew just how to cheer him up.
At the end of the cut, she got a sucker and a "My 1st Haircut" certificate. How cute is that?!

Now of course, she wants to get her hair cut like everyday!!

Oh, What a Night...

Late December back in '63...hehe (sorry, had to do it)!

Let me start off by saying yesterday was such an eerie day. It started off beautiful, then these crazy dark storm clouds came rolling in. On the North side, it was black and on the South, it was sunny blue skies with white fluffy clouds. Then, out of nowhere, the entire sky darkened and these huge hunks of hail came storming down on us. It was CRAZY!!


This happened twice yesterday. Meaning after the first time, the weather totally cleared up (we even went for a long walk) and then moments after we returned from our walk, the sky became really dark again. Only this second time, the hail was bigger and hitting that much harder. It was really neat. We watched all the action from inside our garage. It was such a sight.

All day I kept telling Carson that there would be a rainbow. We kept going out periodically to search for it. Yet, I just couldn't find one. But do you just ever have that strong gut feeling that it is meant to happen, and you just won't let it rest? Well, after the second storm of the day, the skies opened up and right in front of my eyes, a rainbow appeared!!!!! I was jumping and yelling for joy. I just knew it would happen! Not only did one appear, but two. Yes, there was a double rainbow - wishes do come true.

You see, it wasn't a normal day, in more than one regard. It was also Madison's anniversary. It was exactly 8 years ago yesterday that I lost my beautiful baby girl. Never an easy feat, yet this time, I could not have asked for a more spectacular day. It was the first anniversary that I felt so content and at peace. I am not a religious person, but I felt as though the heavens opened up and she gave me such a beautiful sign gift, with the rainbow, I knew in my heart one would appear that day. And it DID!!! Miracles do happen, even if they are little ones.

Where'd She GO???

No, not me. I know I have been MIA lately, but it's summertime and the end of the school year is drawing near, which means we are BUSY! I will try to post more often. Really.

Where in the world did Alina go? We are sitting outside watching the crazy storm come in and I decide to take a look on the monitor to see if Bina Boo has fallen asleep yet. Imagaine my surprise when she is not showing up on the monitor! Yes, this means I had to get off my butt and actually go into the house to see where she could have possibly gone.


Apparently, Alina still had sand on her body from playing in the sandbox just moments before she laid down to take her nap. Of course, the sand then made it's way into her sheets and she will have none of that! I can't blame her - I hate sand in the sheets!

So, the ever crafty baby girl decided to take matters into her own hands. Yep, she made a make-shift bed all by herself on the floor! What an ingenious little one we have here. I love that she was able to problem solve all on her own. It was priceless.
She is still sound asleep as I write this. Yay!

10 Years Today!!!!

Wow, I can hardly believe it, but today marks 10 YEARS of marriage for US! It seems like just yesterday we were just starting out, and now here we are celebrating a decade of marriage together (15 years together total). Makes me feel kinda old. ;o)

We sure have come a long way - 3 kids, a dog, many apartments, 2 houses and rough financial beginnings (we were very young when we started out) later - we are at such a great place in our lives. It's amazing how fast it goes and how much we have grown in such a short time span. I couldn't imagine having life any other way.

We went out to an amazing dinner on Saturday night (I had scallops with black fettucini in a saffron sauce - YUMMY!) and Brian decided to give me my gift before we went out. He couldn't wait. Now to preface this, he isn't a good gift planner/giver. He is one to buy my present day of and it's usually a vacuum or something really romantic and exciting like that. He has NEVER bought me jewelry, with the one exception of my engagement ring 11 years ago!

Well, to my surprise he put TONS of thought into my gift (I honestly didn't think we were getting each other anything). This is what he got me:

Pretty nice, huh? I use to tell him all the time that I wanted a ring like that, but he always said "No way". Then I stopped asking years ago. I was convinced it was a lost cause. He doesn't believe in spending money on jewelry. Such a guy. Then he goes to a jeweler and has this made especially for me! It has 10 diamonds to signify our 10 year anniversary and the cut/quality is the same as my engagement ring (princess cut w/ a "f" vvs1 clarity). Definitely worth the wait!! I think the best part is that he put so much thought into it and I was truly surprised. That is the best!! OK, the diamonds are pretty cool too, hehe!

Hello Kitty

Did you know that my daughter is a kitty cat?

Well, she is. Everyday she will talk to me and answer my questions with a "meow" and can speak in Meowese fluently. It is quite fascinating. If I am holding her, I get extra special kitty treats. Yep, she licks me. Thank goodness she still has that sweet little baby girl breath, or I may just get sick. For now, I can stand at least 1 lick here and there.
When she isn't being a kitty, she is having a baby. Not really sure how this one all started but it is quite hysterical. At home she actually puts a baby doll under her shirt to simulate a pregnant toddler. That just sounds wrong, but you know what I mean. If we are out she just points to her belly and tells everyone that there is a baby in there and she isn't ready to come out yet. I guess her maternal instincts are already kicking in. I guess I know who I am going to live with when I am old and feeble.

I tried to capture her pregnant, and the video kinda ran on. So, don't mind the extra footage. I don't know how to edit my camera video, so I just uploaded the whole thing.

Enjoy: