Layout #2

Not to shabby since it's only February 3rd and I already have 2 layouts. They are not my best work but hey you have to start somewhere....

A challenge for myself.....

It seems like the last several months I have fallen waaayyy behind in my scrapbooking. Even though I scrap exclusively digital now it stills seems to be hard to find the time to just relax and get to scrappin'. I think it is because when I think of it I get overwhelmed about the amount of pics I have. After reading Stacy's blog about her challenge for herself I decided to make my own. For the month of February I want to make 15 pages using both older and newer pics. Hopefully just taking baby steps this way will not only allow me to do something I really enjoy but also get me motivated to get the gazillion pictures I have organized.

So onto to layout #1. I know you have all seen this picture but I couldn't resist using it when I found this particular kit.

Giddy Up scrap kit by Joni Gray......www.jonigray.blogspot.com

Happy Monday!!!!

A fun Saturday night...

Saturday night we were able to get together with our friends to continue our tradition of eating in the "Pope Room" at a local Italian restaurant. Unofficially it was a belated celebration of Paul's birthday, officially it was just a gathering of good food and good friends!!

The Group Shot....sorry for the quality the staff person taking it got a little too far away and I could adjust it to look real good.
Valerie and crew, Kiesha and crew, our crew, Erin and crew (minus Mollianne who was enjoying a night with Gran and Pa)

Me and my sweetie!!

Kiesha has been wanting to meet "my posse" so I figured no time like the present. She, Mekenzie, and Mekarlie joined us for the evening and I do believe they were all very much entertained.

Avery was very intrigued by Meisey's helmet and when she saw it sitting in the bag she immediately picked it up tried to put it on herself!

The beauty of having our own little area at the restaurant is the kids are not necessarily confined to their chairs. We allow them to get up and walk around the tables and they love exploring.
Avery has found her a little seat while K-man and Aubriana check out the columns.

K-man decided that the party in the next room looked more appealing then all of us so he just made his way right through the opening to their table. Luckily they had 4-5 kids in their group so they were very understanding of the intrusion.

Stylish little Aubriana could not get enough of wearing her mommies sunglasses.

Here is a better group shot but we are missing Gary and the kids (the kids had made a break down the hallway!)

After our dinner we all ventured over to Erin's for dessert, drinks, and a little Wii. We continued to have a lot of laughs, a little dog food eating (we won't mention who), and some rockin' out on the Guitar Hero band. Unfortunately (or fortunately for some) we all neglected to take pictures of that event. Suffice it to say that we can rock when we want to!!

Christie, Anton, and Quint were unable to join us for dinner but they did come over for some socializing!

At some point in the evening we all started talking about the Sit N Spin in the corner and I decided I just had to try it out and see if this ole girl can still spin.
Avery trying to help mommy turn this thing around.

Avery decided the round platform at the top was a perfect place for her to sit! We did actually manage to get a couple of rotations going.

Mekenzie shows us all how it's done with Avery cheering her on!

Thanks guys for a great night!! It is always an experience when we get together isn't it?

We are blessed with a great group of friends.

Thanks for checking in with us!

Like father, like daughter!!

The next couple of pictures just go to show you that regardless of biological ties our children really do take after us!!

Here is Paul, circa 1971, going to the refrigerator to take his own bottle out when he felt his mother was not moving fast enough


And here is the scene at our house tonight, with our own daughter


And here is Avery's new favorite place to sit in the house:


The joys of parenthood!!!

Well, here we go.........

Sorry for the delay in updates.

Let's just say: A VISIT TO THE PARK + A PLAYDATE + A WORK DINNER + BASKETBALL GAMES + A SICK LITTLE GIRL + ICY WEATHER CAUSING ME TO STAY AT THE HOSPITAL = NOT MUCH TIME FOR BLOGGING!!!

So we will just back the memory train up about 10 days and start from there. If you wonder why I post about things in the past it's because this blog serves as a journal of our daily lives for me. I have spent alot of time recently reading posts from the very beginning of the blog and am amazed by the little details of life that I have forgotten. Who would have ever thought I would keep a journal for the whole world to see?

Anyway, back to the post. We took Avery to a local park to take advantage of the 70 degree weather and I must say our girl is a SLIDER, she just loves them. We started out on the little ones but that did not appease her very long before she wanted to move onto bigger and better things. She is funny in that the first time on any size slide she wants you to either accompany her down or hold her hand. After the first one or two times she is good to go all on her own!

Her first slide at the park. The smallest one there and the one she did the least amount of times!

I just love this picture of daddy and Avery sliding side-by-side! She was really enjoying herself!

I got in on a little playground action too on this spinning thing. You just shift your weight to one side and away you go spinning around and around!

This was one of the bigger covered slides and Daddy climbed to the top of the structure and rode down with her the first time. After that she climbed all the way to the top by herself, but then she didn't want to come down :)

Paul trying to coax her down the slide.

She finally gathered her courage and down she came!! She is getting to be such a big girl!

While at the park she rode her new tricycle that Kiesha bought her for Christmas. She loves all the bells and whistles on it and I love the long handle and steering capability!

We were also so glad to enjoy a playdate with several other little ones at the Wiggly Playcenter. It was so fun getting all these kids together and fun for the grown-ups to sit and chat a bit too!

I could not believe we actually got a group shot where everyone was looking at the camera!
K-man, Avery, Meisey, Aubriana, Miah, and Quint. Our own little United Nations!

Once again we had alot of slide action but this time Avery was sharing her love of slides with all her friends.

Aubriana going down the slide on her tummy. It really is the safest way!

K-Man went down that way too and after one time he was like a little steam engine climbing all the way back up to the top to do it over and over!

Quint actually slid both ways and had a blast too!

Miah had been to the playcenter before and she served as the other kids "tour guide" leading them all up to the top and showing how it is done!

I promise she really is having a good time....after she would get to the bottom she would look at me and clap and insist I gave her applause too!

Darling little Meisey was just a bit too small for the slides....don't worry girl you will be able to join in before you know it!

Avery making her way to the top!

Just to prove we didn't spend ALL of our time at the slides I through in a picture of Avery on the carousel horse!

After our playdate Avery and I ventured off for dinner with some of my coworkers. It was a great meal of good food and good conversation among friends.

The gang!! Notice who is the head of the table with a mouthful of food? Yep, that's my kid!!

Me and Avery with my partner in crime, Keysla!

Damini, Alaina, and Keysla making a toast to a wonderful 2009!!

So that takes us up to last Saturday which was a day of basketball! Kelby had a tournament that day and of course we had to go cheer him on!

Our little fashion diva modeling her new boots, poncho that grandma crocheted, and her new purse from Aunt Kathy! She is definitely a girly girl!

And this is how she spends her time at the basketball games: walking up and down the steps to entertain everyone. Here she is getting a helping hand from Uncle Chris.

Kelby is #3. Here he is getting ready to steal the ball from his opponent..

Executing a perfect pass to his teammate.

If only I could dribble like him.

At the second game Avery started feeling a little warm to me and started winding down a bit. I wasn't sure at the time if she was getting sick of just ready for her nap.
I finally figured out that if my little girl could sleep through all the commotion of the game there might just be something else going on.

Later that evening she developed a high fever, cough, and congestion. We spent the rest of last weekend in the house nursing her. She is usually such a ball of energy that to see her just want to lay around on Paul or me was really a different experience for us. I wound up taking her to the pediatrician on Monday where she tested negative for the flu (PTL) but there was definitely a rattle in her chest and some sort of infection going on. We were prescribed a couple of different meds and given instructions to just watch her closely.

Tuesday we had a major ice storm move through North Texas. All you Northerners would probably just laugh yourselves silly if you saw how people down here reacted to any sort of winter weather advisory. Due to the nature of my job (hospitals don't close for bad weather) and the distance I have to drive (an hour with no traffic or bad weather) Paul and I made the decision that since Avery appeared to be feeling a little better and he was off work to care for her that I would just sleep at the hospital between shifts to avoid all the craziness out on the streets. I have to admit that I am lucky to have that option and believe it or not I was able to get some good rest.

So that's where I have been the last week or so and hopefully explains the first paragraph of this post about why my blogging may have fallen behind a bit.

Thanks so much for checking in on us and continuing to read about the rambling of my life :)