Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!!!

We realized tonight just how much we LOVE our new neighborhood!  As we walked around trick-or-treating, I told Gabe to "absorb" this moment.  He said, "Oh, I'm absorbing :)"  It was simply awesome!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Halloween Party-Dog School Style :-)

Dog School Halloween Party 2011

Click on the Picture above to see the whole photo album :)

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Last Friday...

Princesses on Ice!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Pumpkin Patch : )

Sunday October 16, 2011

Monday, October 17, 2011

Vermont!!

There is no place like Vermont (except possibly my hometown :)  Gabe and I had the best 4 days away and we felt as though we "ate" our way through Burlington.  It was so fun and quiet!  On the 3rd day, I looked at him and said "I love you and all, but I miss the chaos of kids and dogs!"  He agreed.  Life would be pretty uneventful for us without them.  I reflected on the fact that we only spent 6 months as a married couple before Maddie came along.  So, we don't really know marriage without kids.  I'm sure when they're grown and gone, we'll have plenty of time for just the two of us :)

Monday, October 10, 2011

Happy 5th Birthday Maddie!


Dear Madeline,
  Today is your fifth birthday and I'm completely blown away.  The time has seriously flown by and if I think about it too long, I will cry.  Now that you are 5, I want to tell you some things about yourself so that you can know who you were today. 
  You LOVE anything to do with Strawberry Shortcake.  You have amazing manners for your age.  You work very hard to be kind to others and sometimes the sweetness you show to Grace brings me to tears.  You feel all feelings very strongly, which makes me think you are passionate.  You crack me up when you belly laugh after using "potty" words at inappropriate times.  You are terrific at Tae Kwon Do and just received your black stripe belt last week.  Most of all, you are an amazing little person with a beautiful heart for God.  You often sing songs that you've made up.  They almost always have to do with Jesus.  They are beautiful.  Your whole life I've said to you, "Maddie, you are beautiful on the inside as well as on the outside."  I never really knew if you were listening.  But, a couple of days ago at bedtime while I was sitting beside your bed, you looked at me deep with your eyes that are a perfect reflection of mine.  You said to me, "Mommy, you are beautiful on the inside and on the outside.  And, I love you."  I will never forget that.

 I love you.
Love, Mommy

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Maddie's 5th Birthday Party

I'm pretty sure the pictures speak for themselves, but, basically, we had a BLAST!!!

*You can see all 106 pictures here :)

Friday, October 7, 2011

BookShelves

  I've been looking at my bookshelves a lot lately.  I found some things recently that had still not been unpacked and they fit right in.  It occurred to me just how much you can tell about someone (me, specifically) from looking at their shelves.  The very first things I noticed were how much I love color as well as pictures.  Color seems necessary.  It also feels brave.  There is sage green, fluorescent orange as well as sparkly red being represented.  Pictures are on another level.  I fell in love with taking pictures at a young age.  I'm not necessarily good at it, but I LOVE to capture moments.  My memory isn't always so great (mommy-brain) and so pictures really help me remember what I've been doing :) 
  The funny thing about my pictures on these particular shelves is that they are almost all part of my life's journey.  The majority of them, are of me and my family.  All of my parents are represented (although I wish the pic's of them were a little more current), my sisters make numerous appearances, Gabe & I are there (pre-kids) and, of course, the Girls.  As I look at the photos of times past, I'm reminded how much I love all of them and how much I know they love me.  Since I believe that one's bookshelves say a lot about a person, it's only fair for me to interpret my own, and I think mine say "Wow!  She is blessed."

Thursday, October 6, 2011

It is definitely Fall! :)

10-6-11   5:16pm
                                                      

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Georgia

September 2011

So, our family went on a trip to Georgia about a week ago. We headed down south for a dog show; more specifically The National Portuguese Water Dog Specialty. There were a lot of things about Georgia that I did not enjoy, however, I want to focus on the positive :) The following album of pictures (there were too many to narrow down) showcases the fun times we had! Gabe did a great job of showing dogs for confirmation, Sandy did an awesome job of competing with both Lois and Zora in obedience, and the girls and I did a terrific job of hanging out ;-)

When Dog Shows were not happening, we did have some down time. We took the girls to the butterfly exhibit that was on the premises of the resort we stayed in. That was fun and if you look at the pictures, you can see when one of the butterflies landed on Grace and she didn't even know! We also took a day trip to Atlanta and played at the Children's Museum. It was a blast and Gabe and I even got in on the fun ;)

This week has been busy with preparations for Maddie's 5th birthday (which is fast approaching!) The girls and I have also been cooking and baking a ton. I love the Fall just for the simple reason that it's a season that seems to be all about food. It is cold and raining here (finally!!!) and so tonight's dinner will be Butternut Squash Soup with crusty warm bread and roasted fall vegetables. Happy Weekend!