Friends

This weekend was a very special weekend. We went down to Dallas to visit friends and go to the Chicago concert together. It was a blast! We all met in college and have kept up thru email off and on since graduation. We have seen each other rarely in the past few years since children, living in different states, and life happened. I don't even remember the last time all eight of us were together at one time. Now it is not just eight, but seventeen! We all have two kids each, for the exception of one couple who has three. It has really fun to see all the kids together and marvel how life changes. We had a wonderful time visiting and catching up. It is a great thing to have friends that you've known a long time and just pick up where you left off. The saying, "Friends are family you choose for yourself" is completely true!

My Love Affair with the iPod

I am very blessed. My family loves me so much that they showered me with lovely gifts for Mother's Day. The girls each made me something at school that I will treasure for a long time, and my husband bought me an iPod classic, holding LOTS of stuff! I've got 16 full length movies, as well as home movies, pictures, all of my music, my address book, and my calendar on there, and I even have loads of room left on it. I absolutely love it! I found a really cool skin to put on it to protect and decorate it too. A few years ago we bought the first season of the Pretender on DVD and never watched it. Allen put them on the iPod and we both have been hooked on it, so much that we found the rest of the TV series and bought them too, just to watch on the pod. I finished all of them last night after over a week of sneaking an episode here and there. I use it every day. It is really cool to have entertainment in your pocket, ready to go when you want it. It's the gift that keeps on giving. Thank you Allen!

Happy Birthday Lauren!

On Memorial Day we celebrated 5 years of Lauren. It was neat because when she was born it was Memorial Day too, and all of those memories of her birth were a little more vivid. Uncle Stan and Aunt Shannon came over for the afternoon to hang out with us. Lauren wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, and sprinkles, of course! Grandpa Don and Grandma Paulette came over to eat cake and sing with us for Lauren. She loved having her family all around her. We got her a pink chair that she can tote around if she pleases for her birthday, and she loves it. Here she is sitting in it for her birthday picture. Yea Five!!

Summer is here!!

This is our first weekend of summer! The girls and I got out of school on Wednesday (me, Thursday) and we have been enjoying our time off. We went and saw the new Indiana Jones movie at the Warren theater (way cool!), slept in, played outside, had family over, slept in (I repeat it because it's important!) and planned our Birthday feast for Lauren. Ali and Joscelyn were here this weekend, and Joscelyn experienced her first bubbles. She was excited! Here they are outside.
We have a few dogs next door, one being a great dane. They can be quite loud when they bark. As Allen said, Anna was expressing her feelings about the next door backyard dwellers...

Have an awesome summer! Go outside! Sleep in!! Read books! Enjoy!!

Our Hostas

When Anna was about one and we had been in our house about a year, Allen and I decided to re-landscape our front flower bed. It was huge and unruly! We cut it's size to about half and planted wonderful perennials so we wouldn't have to keep planting every year. We found some beautiful hostas and put them right in front of the girls' window. Over the years we've lost two because the water spicket was right there. One still doesn't grow as well as it could, but the other two are huge! They are absolutely beautiful when they are full grown, and we look forward to watching their progress. Last year we said we should take pictures everyday to see how fast they grow. We remembered this year! So, without further adieu, here is the hosta remix.