Still here

Just a note to say I'm still here. Quite big actually at 30 weeks pregnant. Unfortunately, I failed my 1 hour glucose test and have to go in for the long and grueling 3-4 hr test tomorrow morning. :( I was really hoping to not have GD this time around. It is SO hard to manage in general, especially during the holidays. (At least for a carb lover like me!)

I'm praying for grace and wisdom and strength and JOY on the journey.

Sophie (now 4 yrs, 2 months) and Grace (22 months) are both doing good. Growing, interacting (ie...fighting) with one another and keeping Dan and I on our toes. :) They are a huge blessing and they crack us up daily.

I have done nothing decorating wise to prepare for our sweet baby GIRL coming. I'm not in denial, I'm just much more laid back about everything this time. It will be challenging to lose our office/craft room, but I'm sure it will all work out. It is SO worth it. The new baby will have her own room as of now and then in a year or so when she is older we would like to give Sophie her own room and the little ones will share.

This is usually a very busy time for us preparing for the holidays. Usually lots of Christmas decorating, party planning, etc. This year, I have had to turn down a few decorating jobs so far and as hard as it is, I know that it is the right decision for right now. I really need to lay low and spend as much time at home with my family and with my feet up as possible to keep the physical pain (a huge struggle this time around) at bay and this sweet girl cooking in the oven as long as possible!

Hope you are all enjoying your Fall and Thanksgiving season. We do have SO much to be thankful for no matter what season of life we are in right now.

God bless!

friday night random-ness

-sophie, who will be FOUR in ten days, is addicted to band-aids. she's a pretty rough and tumble kind of girl and has quite a few "boo boos" lately. she hates blood, but as long as the band-aid is on she is OK. she just came and grabbed another one and i just smiled. in fact, sometimes her fav wal-mart treat is a box of character band-aids. weird? :)

-today i had the grand idea to paint on paper on our patio instead of on the easel. this was NOT a great idea for a 19 month old! grace, sophie and mommy were covered head to to by the time it was over.

-i was in a cleaning/organizing/throwing away mood today. the target was the dreadful play room. not quite done, but accomplished a lot during grace's nap. we have been shipping quite a few toys over to baby ike lately and it feels so good to get rid of some of the clutter.

-another weird sophie quirk...she packs bags, boxes, totes, etc every day with such a random hodge podge of stuff. we get ready to go somewhere and she runs to the playroom and grabs a bunch of stuff to fill her bag...a few little people, a stuffed cow, a couple of crayons, two blocks, a syringe from her dr kit, hair stuff, make-up, some plastic food, etc, etc, etc. it drives me bonkers!! i try and organize their toys so that they can actually play with them and we have bag upon bag of stuff. i'm about to empty all the bags and i've been working on teaching her purse appropriate stuff...like her hair stuff, lip gloss, pretend money, etc. we'll see how it goes!

-i won a new hello kitty cricut cartridge on e-bay today. WOO HOO! it will be great for making stuff for soph's hello kitty party.

-i'm totally looking forward to perusing boo mama's diptacular blog carnival. dips, YUM! :)

-well, i better go. gotta get this little goose to bed. looking forward to hanging out with some of my fav photographers tomorrow as well as eating some d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s ethnic food from my uncle. :)

happy labor day weekend!

Snuggle Puppy

{Gracie B. loves to snuggle with her babies lately.}

:)

overwhelmed

right now i am overwhelmed. with finances, with my home, my garage, my van. with case management work. with my fatigue. i'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. i know that is such a cliche, but it is honestly how i feel at the moment. sometimes i wonder if i will ever have energy again. sometimes i have energy spurts, but they usually don't last very long. it makes me feel like such a stinky wife and mother.

i know that His grace is sufficient for me and that His power is made perfect in my weakness. sometimes I just don't tap into that.

we have a full week ahead including hours of meetings for me tonight and tomorrow. blah.

the other night i was at my little brother's house in fayetteville. him and some friends were having an impromptu concert. there were several college students there. kids that love God and have their whole lives ahead of them. we were all sitting on the floor in the dark room and as one of my friends was singing, tears unexpectedly pricked my eyes. i was thinking about missions and dreams and being young. not necessarily being a stay at home mom of two little ones with colored walls, a swollen belly, stacks of bills and extreme fatigue. (not that i would trade my husband or kids for the whole world.) i don't know, i just felt sad for a moment and the Lord gently reminded me that this is just a season. as all the different times of life are. the happy ones and the tough ones. even though the first few months after having sophie were so incredibly hard in so many ways, they were also some of the sweetest. i miss those times. maybe at some point i will look back at this season with fond memories. i know i will miss the stage that grace is at now. she is so precious and is learning new words and things every day. i will miss sophie's quirky little faces and funny expressions too.

i probably won't miss the heaving and the exhaustion and the early mornings and the colored walls.

it's all just a season.

now, back to work...

MDO Quotes, Rescue Mission, and Blackberries

The girls did enjoy their first day at Mother's Day Out. I didn't accomplish as much as I would have liked to, but I did get some rest. That's ok, because SLEEP is a very important commodity in my world lately. :)


Apparently the boys greatly out-numbered the girls at MDO today. Grace was the only girl in her one year old class and Sophie mentioned all the boys a few times. She said "she likes boys!" :)

When I got them in the van to run errands I started asking Sophie all about it....Did you have fun? "Yes." Did you eat your lunch? "Yes?" Did you make a craft? "Yes." Did you learn anything? Pause for her to think about it... "Probably. " Smile from momma. :) Then I asked her about the potty. Did you use the potty? "Yep, I even poopied once." Really? Who wiped you? "Some grandma." :)

After a few errands and Grace had fallen asleep, Sophie begged to "watch a movie" on the couch. I finally consented and suggested one of Mommy's movies...The A & E version of "Pride and Prejudice." I lured her in with talk of pretty dresses, balls and horseback, but I really figured that it would put her right to sleep. Sure enough it did. It put us both to sleep! :)

I think their day was a success!

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Tomorrow I am joining my Mom, Sister (and my sweet nephew Ike), and Grandma on a "Rescue Mission" to help my sister Britt finish getting settled into her now home. She bought the cutest house and she needs a little help with finishing her un-packing and decorating. She also needs some hugs and laughs and prayers from her fam. I am looking forward to our time together...and of course I am looking forward to eating out in Rogers. YUM!

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Last, but certainly not least...I am happy to report that I am the proud owner of my second Blackberry Curve. My dear sweet original phone died a slow death drowning in a mug of coffee earlier this summer. I've been surviving on a little flip phone for the last month. My sweet, sweet friend, Alicia upgraded to an i-phone and gave me a great deal on her Blackberry and a few accessories. I am so very thankful! I can text again! The stinky part is that I lost all my numbers, so I will slowly get those added back in, but I am a happy camper!

********************
Well, Dan is out doing his nightly archery practice in the garage. I better finish packing for tomorrow and hit the sack!

'Night!

Mother's Day Out!

The girls started Mother's Day Out today at a local church. This is our first time ever to leave them somewhere other than with family or friends or our church nursery. I think it went well. They looked so cute with their bags/backpacks and lunch boxes. Sophie helped Grace and was very mature about the whole thing. My only concern today is the dreary/stormy weather and that a few of the kiddos were sad and crying when their mama's left. I think Grace will be ok if the crying doesn't scare her. Hopefully they will both make friends and be a blessing to their teachers.

{Sophie, Age 3 and 11/12ths}

{ Grace, Age 19 months}

{Sweet Sisters.}

I'm pleased with the $4 each outfits that we put together yesterday. I bought two gently used Children's Place skirts from a friend and I scored the tops at Wal-Mart for $2 each last night. The bows that I made for their Christmas outfits matched perfectly. Yay! I love cute and inexpensive, coordinating outfits! :)

{Come On, Sis! Let's Go!}

This mother won't be out too much today even though I am really craving Papa's! I have some cleaning to do today and I have some good Poppyseed Chicken leftovers. So today we are having Mother's Day Home Alone!

I have lots to do to get ready to be out of town for the next couple of days, but first I think I might close my eyes for a few minutes. :)

Ten on Tuesday: The Numbers of Summer Edition

(1) 16 - 17. As in weeks pregnant. It is going pretty well. Last week was pretty rough and I keep thinking that I will be over the yucky sick stage s-o-o-n...but the breakthrough has yet to come. Extreme exhaustion is probably my number one issue. Sometimes I feel like I need to prop my eyes open with matches like Mr. Bean in Mr. Bean's Holiday. :) The little kicks I get from time to time make it all worth it!

(2) 14- The number of books I have read this summer. I just finished number eight of the Love Comes Softly Series today and I'm a little bit sad. What a great series...it almost makes me wish we lived back in the olden days.

(3) 7 - The number of years I have been blessed to be married to Daniel. We celebrated our anniversary this month and took a few days off from life here and rested, relaxed, laughed, ATE, shopped, read, vegged, ATE and laughed some more. We had a great time together and we really appreciate all those who pitched in an helped with the girlies. :)

{Dan & I before dinner one night.}

(4) 3- The number of nights away from momma that it took Gracie to wean from nursing. She did great!! And I am happy to report that that she now sleeps all night long and takes one morning nap and sometimes a late afternoon nap too. YAY! She still wakes up at the crack of dawn, but at least we are sleeping all night.



(5) 2- The approximate number of un-soiled (by markers, crayons or pen) surfaces in our home! Ok, this is an exaggeration, but it is out of control! All markers have been confiscated!!



(6) 7- The approximate number of times I could eat Mexican food every week! Especially Papa P's! My cravings are INTENSE! (My friend Alicia and I have been ate the the last two Wednesdays and how I wish that could go on and on!)



(7) 27- The number of days until Sophie's FOURTH birthday! I can't believe she is going to be four. She has been looking forward to this since the day she turned three. :) Four is by far her fav number and right now PINK is by far her fav color. She reminds me every day that she wants the pink plate, the pink bowl and the pink cup! (I think Grace is more partial to purple like her mama!)



(8) 6- The number of mice we have caught in the in our home in the last week and a half. Is that not crazy, gross, disgusting, scary, etc, etc!! Sophie likes the hunt and has inspected some caught by her daddy. She thinks it would be fun to squish their eyeballs out!



(9) 3- The number of yummy snack foods that Dan and I made tonight. Spinach dip, Zesty Cucumbers and Toffee Crack. I guess we were hungry when we made the wal-mart list. Yum! Like I said, my cravings are pretty intense! :)



(10) 100's - The number of times I am overwhelmed, over-joyed, full of thanksgiving, full of love, frustrated, broken and out of control and then back again each day. Life is sometimes pretty crazy and if I have learned anything during this season it has been that we don't have it all together. Nobody does. And I've learned how valuable each and every person and part of the Body of Christ is. We are all on the road of life seeking the Lord and how to please Him and relating to one another. Sometimes we grind against one another and sometimes we walk side by side in harmony, but either way we are helping one another become the people we are to be. My life is crazy sometimes, but I am thankful for it and for those the Lord has put in it every day!



I've missed blogging. I'm hoping to be back in the saddle again soon!

In Honor of Grace's 1.5 yr Birthday- Gracie's Winter ONEderland

***I realize I'm a day late and a dollar short on this post. I had picture problems! :)***

In all my slacker-bloggy-ness I failed to post pictures of Gracie's 1st Birthday Party back in January. It's amazing that SIX months have gone by!

But, in honor of her Half Birthday- eighteen months old and Kelly's Korner Children's Birthday Parties carnival I decided to go back and make a post of it.

{My little fishy girl in July}

Gracie is such a delight and I am loving the stage she is in now. She is saying new words every day. My favorite right now is "hot." Outside is "hot," food is "hot." (She says it very staccato like.) I also love it when she says, "noddy- for naughty", "uh-oh" and "eye" as she points to her eyes and nose and mouth. :)

{Grace in her PJammers}

I loved planning Grace's Winter ONEderland. It's crazy thinking about how COLD it was the day of her party in the midst of the extreme heat of this summer.

{The Invite- made at scrapblog.com}

{A view of several of the tables}

I was able to take advantage of lots of after Christmas/Winter sales. We used pastel colors, lots of glitter and sparkles!

{The Cake Table}

{I believe in BIG 1st Birthday cakes. My sweet, sweet friend Jerusha made this for Grace and I added some fun snow-flakes, etc cut with my Cricut}

{The food bar…we had three yummy types of soup, bread, crackers and all the fixins.}

{For drinks we offered tea, water and a Hot Chocolate Bar}

{The Favors- I saved MANY of Grace's baby food jars and we made little jars of Snowman Soup…hot chocolate & marshmellows filled these.}

{The Brewer Snow-family}

{The Real Brewer Family}

{She wasn't walking yet…but she sure tried!}

{Sweet sisters at the gift table.}

{Gracie was blessed with some fun toys and lots of sweet winter and spring clothes.}

{This melts my heart. She just beamed when she realized everyone was singing to her!}

{The Cake- she dug right in!}

{YUM- I love this girl!}

Happy Half Birthday Miss Gracie B.!!!
**************************************************************************
Right now I'm getting into Birthday mode for my Sweet Sophie. She will be FOUR in September. She is very excited about her Hello Kitty Birthday Party. (Here is a link to the post from her 3rd Birthday party.)

Then we'll look forward to January 2010 when we celebrate my 28th Birthday, Grace's 2nd Birthday, my nephew Ike's 1st Birthday and our new baby's BIRTH!

More on that to come… :)

Under Construction

I think part of my recent aversion to blogging is that I couldn't stand to look at the pink snowflakes any longer! {Well, that and a very full month and a newly mobile child etc, etc. :)}

BUT, I do miss blogging and commenting and I feel the need to report on all the hilarious stuff that the girls are doing lately too.

Hopefully the new and improved Cowlicks and Curls will be up and running soon!

As for now, the kitchen and living room are clean, everyone is in bed and I need to get there too!

my perspective has changed...

i am still alive. my town is reeling from the tornado that ravaged it 2 weeks ago tonight. i'm one of the 1500 plus volunteers here trying to clean up. been forever changed. i'm so thankful for my life. for the lives of those in my family. i'm thankful for my home for my car. i'm thankful for the "stuff" that fills my home. (although right now, that "stuff"...primarily laundry is about to take over my home. will i ever get it all done?) i am so grateful to be a part of this community. sure...we are a little country here. sure, we don't have the most up to the minute news sources or technology. sure, walmart is like "it" here.... but after all of this there is not another place i would want to be right now. i have seen these precious people love on one another, and work their tails off. they haven't waited around for the gov't (although we are still hoping they might show up), they haven't looted or rioted. they have gotten to work and they/we still are. mena will never be the same. there is just no way. BUT, i do believe that it will be better. i know i will. i will always be proud of my home town. i will always love the people and i will always serve the God Who has redeemed us and Who is working in this situation and bringing good things out of it.

well, now i broke the ice. hopefully i can get caught up here eventually.

right now, i am doing most of my "blogging" on the Mena Disaster Relief Information Blog here. hopefully we will have some word from FEMA soon so that we will know which direction to go.

the girls are doing good. grace moves very quickly! sophie cracks me up daily. we got a pretty good report from the dr. this week on grace's ears... she still has some fluid, but it is no longer infected. Thank YOU, Lord! we were SO over taking antibiotics and all the yucky side effects of those. her dr. does have some concerns about some bumps on her chest/arm (that have been there since birth/we came home from Childrens). Grace has an appt with a Pediatric Dermatologist at ACH this summer. we aren't worried, but we do want it to be seen.

dan is good too. he is officially a "red neck" since he got some major sun last week working on clearing debis/chainsaw/tarp work. he has helped me a lot with the girls since i have have lots to work on. he also preached last sunday at a little church in wickes. he did a great job (what i heard at least). i spent most of my time wrangling a 15 month old who really wanted to be on stage with daddy or behind the piano with the pianist. :)

we're looking forward to celebrating "easter on six mile" this weekend. easter was really different this year. but worshipping amongst the rubble and then delivering about 1300 meals in our community was awesome.

He is the GOD of this city. He is the hope of these people and yes, better things are yet to come....

What A Difference One Year Makes...

I was browsing through some pictures tonight and found these from last year...


Sophie with Muncle Jon this week last year. Look at those chubby cheeks and short hair!

Sophie with Aunt Sarah Jo & Aunt Jac doing some "Walk Away The Pounds!" She has grown INCHES since this time last year! (Incidentally, Soph joined me for some Walk Away The Pounds this week and she kept up great for about a quarter of a mile. Then she said, "I'm hungry!", ate a banana and plopped down in the couch!) :)

Sophie (with her hair straightened) NOW. She looks SO grown up!

And SO tall!

Miss Gracie B. one year ago... all sweet and sleepy and snuggle in Aunt Nera's lap.

Grace in her favorite (and Mommy's too) swing!

And look at my walkin' girl NOW! I love her look of determination!

This girl melts my heart every day!



Well, they both do! They have changed and grown so much in the last year. I have too. I've been stretched and I have been blessed.

I have endured months, and I do mean MONTHS of waking up in the night over and over, 1000's of diaper changes, many sore muscles from lifting car seats and kiddos and more crazy messes than I care to remember! I've also enjoyed hundreds of slobbery kisses and snuggles and stories, and playing and laughter and blessings because of these little love-bugs!

This year has brought many changes to the people who grace these pictures. We now have TWO more babies to love! Nera has Arianna and Jaclyn has baby Ike. Jon is in College and by golly he is going to give meat another try! Woo Hoo! :)

Mammy with her four grand-babies!


Sometimes change is GOOD!

However... this...this NEVER changes! :)

It's Me again Margret!

i'm still here. still living and loving and cooking and cleaning.... and parenting and nursing (!) and organizing and garage selling and crafting and praying and parenting and dating (my husband) and exercising (that's a new one!) and still trying to learn to balance my life and my time.

the last couple of weeks have been full and sweet. my family was here two weeks ago. we visited a lot and laughed and tried to get out kids to cooperate and take pictures! actually they will be back next week when THEY MOVE MY MOM & STEP DAD HERE! wow! that's a biggie. i haven't lived in the same town as my mom since i was in the fifth grade. we are excited to have her close by and anticipating some (good) adjustments in our relationship at the same time. she will be living with in walking distance from me so i know we will get to see her often. :)

last week we had a garage sale and i am so glad that it is done! it was good though and i got my garage cleaned in the process and that makes me very happy! i am slowly but surely making my way through each room and organizing. a couple of months ago i was SO overwhelmed by my disorganized house that i was ready to move away and leave it all behind. thankfully, things are lookin up! i still have tub upon tub of sweet little girls clothes (and shoes and blankets, ect) that i'm really not ready to part with yet. one day... :)

mom (lisa) & i went to an aerobics class one night last week and we are definitely going back tomorrow. i am NOT a coordinated person, but i was actually able to keep up and i am inspired to keep the weight loss train rolling! nursing (and chasing kiddos) have helped me a lot, but now i need to start demonstrating some self-control in the "sweets" department and start toning up!

this week i am also starting the "Captivating" Bible study. i am really looking forward to being involved in this group and praying for the Lord to minister to my heart in the process. this period of lent is always a tender and pivotal time for me. this year I have my favorite lent devotional (The Christ of Easter by Calvin Miller- it is so, so good) and daniel and i are joining our church in praying for 40 days for our nation and the world. it has been very good so far and it has brought praying for the lost to the forefront of our minds and hearts again. i struggled a lot about what to "give up" for lent this year. i thought that blogging and facebook was probably the thing. i did this about three years ago and it was very good for me. i believe that this time though that a total internet fast is maybe not what i need as much as some guidelines to help me balance my time on the internet all the time. i may take a few weeks or days off, but i know that also doing some other practical things like moving the laptop from the living room will really help me in this. Lord, please keep speaking to me and making me more like You!

well, i guess that about sums it up for me! the girls are doing great. grace is taking lots of steps here and there! she doesn't just take off down the hall, but she is getting more and more brave. she is an absolute delight and daniel and i are loving the fun stage that she is in! so, so sweet! (well, except for during diaper changes!)

sophie is doing good too! i can see a light... :) we are having some really good days lately. we still have some tricky times and she definitely still needs a nap, but we are loving this stage too. her vocabulary is getting so big and she has the funniest expressions and faces (a lot like her daddy!), she loves to help me in the kitchen, and the thing she gets in trouble the most for is pushing her sister. :( She loves to type her name on the computer and the other day she wrote her name on our white board!!!! i was SO thrilled by this! she's a little s-t-u-b-b-o-r-n (like her momma) so she doesn't do too much "on demand," but we will keep working on it together. :)

ok, i was supposed to be in bed by 10 and i still need to clean the kitchen. (sigh!) i have been loving this spring weather and getting outside with my dirt-loving kiddos and my johnny cash loving husband (a new love for dan)! God bless and good night!

jennifer

(ps- i know that i need to change my background and update my blog list! hopefully i can soon!)

(pps- i have lots more pics to upload, but it isn't working for me tonight!)

Nap time is a go!

I think we finally have a good naptime routine here and it is making me SO HAPPY! It has worked 3 out of 4 days this week and a few last week so I'm thinking we are headed into a habit. I just keep Grace up a little longer, the girls and I start lunch at about 11:30, we have daddy's lunch all ready to go when he gets here. We visit some and dad eats then Dan lays down with Sophie in our room (he always gets a little nap at lunch anyway) and I nurse Grace and get her down. Then, then..... THEN I have about two hours (more or less) to myself! To clean, to read, to pay bills, to blog.

Honestly it has made our mornings better, our afternoons better, our evenings better... our house cleaner and that makes for a happy mommy, a happy daddy and happy kiddos!

Ok, time to make the most of this time and finish getting this house ready for company! We are so excited to have my mom, Junie, and my Aunt Debi here this weekend. Aunt Debi is coming to meet Mr. Ike and to photograph him and the rest of the fam. We are super excited! Sophie has been counting the hours to see Junie!

Have a great day!

My Princess

Sophie is LOVING her dance class! The week before last, Mrs. Viviana deemed that next week would be 'Princess" day and that the girls needed to dress appropriately. She had her son dressed in a suit and he opened the door for the girls. It was sweet, but I can say for Sophie that the best part was the cupcake after class! :)

My princess, last week.

There were a few girls out last week with sickness, so Mrs. Viviana wanted to give them the opportunity to have a Princess party too. So... we had a repeat party this week. Sophie didn't mind!


My princess this week. :)

MISS CHEEESE!!

The princesses danced together and it was TOO cute! So was the free-styler dancing. They all get into it so much and they all have their own style and moves that are adorable!

Sophie really was a princess yesterday. We had a great day. (I sure document the difficult ones enough, I need to remember the good days too!) She was kind, obedient and a lot of fun to be with. After nap time we made sugar cookies from scratch. Obviously she had a fun time with the sprinkles! They were yummy and they didn't last too long!

I love you my princess, Sophie! (Whether we have a good day or not!)

Valentine's Day 2008 Recap! (In Pictures)

I know I am behind, but I still want to document our Valentine's Day Celebration. We had a fun weekend filled with family, friends and l-o-v-e!

A little l-o-v-e decorating
A little l-0-v-e crafting for the girls. I found this tutu-shirt here (love her blog!) and I knew it was just the thing to get the sewing machine back out for! I finished them on Thursday night and the girls were tickled with them. They both looked super cute when they wore them on Friday. :)

Also, a little l-o-v-e candy making! I found these here and they were pretty easy to make (with Sophie & Dan's help) and they were pretty yummy. We made about 40 this year. Last week I bought a large set of V-Day sprinkles so hopefully I can make lots more next year.

We started celebrating by heading to a little get together Friday morning at my friend, Jerusha's house. We all had a good time visiting, playing, eating, and making cute crafts for the Daddy's.

Cheesy Gracie!

In the afternoon, the girls and I delivered all of our Valentines to our friends and family. We spent a while at the airport visiting with lots of loved ones including Mr. Ike. This is when my camera bailed on me. :(

In the evening we had the pleasure of having dinner and desert over at MiMi and Papa Don's house. The Neufelds were in from Kansas and we had a great time visiting with them! It was Muncle Baby's birthday, but unfortunately he wasn't feeling good, but we still got to hang out with Aunt Suzy! It was a wild and fun night. (As usual when all 6 of the kiddos are together!:)

Sweet Cousins... Sophie & Holiday

The boys... Justice & Fisher

So... this brings us to Saturday, Valentine's Day! We enjoyed a relaxing day at home. Dan let me sleep in a bit and brought us home some yummy donuts. I ran some errands, we gave each other our gifts and cards.

It was a great day...until we got about an hour out from going to our church's progressive dinner! It got pretty hairy there for a little while and we finally arrived at the church in a bit of a huff! Thankfully, it all worked out and we had a wonderful time with our friends as we traveled from house to house eating and eating and eating and laughing! :)

Here we are enjoying from Fettuccine Alfredo at Spinelli's

Here are our sweet and funny friends, Brandy & Chris.

And our sweet friends, Mandy & Andy who now have a brand new baby boy, Andrew!

As always, I wish I had taken more (and better) pics! We really did have a sweet celebration this year. It was definitely made sweeter by the sweet little treats for the girls by their thoughtful grandparents and great-grandparents. We are about through all the candy! Yay! It is time for a candy fast around here! :)