And Here It Is...

Okay, so it took me a little longer than I planned to post TBell's "after" picture. But, here it is!





She is still very excited about the style. I am getting used to her with shorter hair, although I do really miss her long locks! At least they went to a good cause. (Sorry for the darkness of the photos; I am not sure what is wrong!)

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the big event in Pirate's life: he got "spenders" from Grammy! He is more excited that a person should be about suspenders, but at least he's cute enough to pull it off right now. It's only a matter of time, though, before he turns into Urkel!



PS - Please excuse the very messy floor you can see in the picture of Pirate. I am simply not a very neat person!

A Wedding Story

My grandmother got married on New Years Eve. (Yes, I am aware of the many jokes this statement can generate!) I took the kids on a road trip (along with one sister and her two kids in my car) while Paco stayed at home. (He could not get the day off to go...don't get me started!) While I have proven many times that I am not a great photographer, I am very disappointed this time to not have many great pictures to post. I am putting two here, but I think my sister has some better ones on her blog.


This is the happy couple, along with most of the great grandchildren on our side of the family. The groom has a young great granddaughter and, at the time of the picture, one arriving any time.


This is TBell and my father. I just love this picture.

I have a great picture of my niece, but should probably get permission before I post it. Sadly, it is WAY too early for me to call and ask. (You may note the time this is posted...I have been up for a couple of hours and can't seem to get back to sleep. Ugh!)

Hair Today

TBell had her hair cut last Saturday for Locks of Love. Her hair was down to the small of her back and is now just past her chin! Princess also had this done when she was in Kindergarten, but it was much harder for me this time. (She does look cute now, although all of you have to wait because I just realized I don't have the "after" picture yet!) However, much more importantly, TBell is very excited to have donated her hair and she also loves the cut now. She listed a few people in her class who have all had their hair cut, so it was clearly time for her to have hers done! I like the idea of donating for obvious reasons. But, this time was even more important to me because we have a very close family friend who is in a battle with cancer and I think this was a way for a very young TBell to feel like she is helping.







I suppose it isn't really nice of me to post these pictures without a final one, but at least now you'll come back for more!

'Nothing that's Necessary is Impossible'

That is a quote from a book I recently finished. It kind of made me stop and realize that I had very often, as of late, been feeling sorry for myself and had been thinking that perhaps I didn't want to keep working my current schedule. Never mind that it works for our family and the kids are settled and happy. I was miserable and mean. However, after reading that sentence and thinking about it for a while, I realized that my schedule isn't impossible and shouldn't make me unhappy. It's necessary and therefore doable.

In dinner news, my sister gave me and my kids a mix to make our own hot pretzels. So tonight, we had a "ballpark meal" that consisted of hot dogs, pretzels dipped in cheese and caramel popcorn. Definitely not the healthiest meal, but it was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time. I will post ordering info for the hot pretzels as soon as I figure out what Paco did with the bag; they were GREAT! I was a little apprehensive about them, but they were really easy to make - even the kids were able to do it. And, the taste was wonderful. I highly recommend them.