Time to recharge

This is exactly what I'm doing this weekend.......

 

All the while feeling like this about my sweet husband......

Watch out!

 Just a few more days until I'm all over this cutie like white on rice.....

 

 

And this beauty .....

 

And Raymond (the cute one on the left) .....

And these party animals ........

Family yearbooks

I am finally caught up on our family yearbooks!! Woot woot! :) 

 

 

I mentioned in a post earlier that this blog has become a digital scrapbook for our family.  While I would love to take the creative credit, I actually got the idea from my dental hygienist in Texas.  She kept an electronic record of her family's daily life and I totally stole the idea. :)  The funny thing about the blog is that Jim is super impressed at my tech-savvy skills.  Little does he know that it's a plug-and-play-even-an-idiot-could-figure-it-out blog.  Hahaha! 

 

The first year of the blog coincided with our move to the arctic tundra called Minnesota.  (I say that because it's March and we got another 3 inches of snow last night.)  The first edition of the family yearbook was a measly 40+ pages.  The second year, the book grew to 60+ pages.  Last year's book was a whopping 96 pages!!  And.....my first blog post of 2013 was in April.  Eeks......I had a lot to say last year! :)

Each yearbook - created on www.blurb.com - takes about four hours to make.  That's a long time to sit in front of the computer but it's definitely worth it.  Revisiting the posts often takes me back to a rough time - Mom's death, Garrett's return to Texas, etc.  By the end of the session, I'm exhausted more from the emotional connection than the computer work. 

I received the latest edition of our yearbook yesterday in the mail.  I'm not ashamed to say that I squealed like a little girl while dancing a jig around my kitchen.  :)  The best thing about the books is that copies can be ordered.  One of these days, I will print a batch for each of the kiddos.  Gotta love technology!!

Lazy days

Weekends tend to be pretty lazy around our house.......even for our furry friends! 

 

Sugar has gotten to where she follows Jim around the house waiting for him to land in one spot.  As soon as he does, she's curled up on his chest.  She has absolutely no time for Delanie and I (mere mortals). 

 

Delanie often scoops Sugar up to cuddle but Sugar protests the entire time.  Does anyone see the irony in this???  I have to force Delanie to cuddle with me!! :)

 

Even Bailey gets in on the napping.  She has claimed the chair in the living room.  As you can see, she fits perfectly.  :)

 

I took the picture below about three minutes after the one at the top of this post.  Jim cracks me up......he can fall asleep anywhere at any time.  He started snoring a few minutes later so I gently shook him to wake him up.  The first thing out of his mouth was, "I wasn't snoring!  I was awake!!"  He doesn't look awake to me.  :) 

 

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Paradise

Delanie and I spent all day in paradise yesterday!

 

Crafts Direct is located in Waite Park, MN just outside Saint Cloud.  We were happy to make the 45 minute trek north after hearing about what an awesome place this was.  We were definitely not disappointed!  We shopped until we dropped in more than 40,000 square feet of any crafter's paradise!  It was twice as big as a combination of Hobby Lobby, Michaels and Archivers.  With the damage to my wallet after this visit, it might be several months before we can head up north again.  :)

 

As we pulled off the highway into Waite Park, this sweet water tower greeted us with a smile (above).  That's my favorite baseball cap (below).  It's a regular fixture on my weekend errand runs.  It's eleven years old - I bought it at Disney World - and I will wear it until it falls apart.  :) 

 

The night before our adventure, Delanie only slept about three or four hours.  She was a trooper and woke up early to go with me........only to conk out on the way home! :) 

 

Evidence of the damage to my pocketbook.....

 

The best part of spending the day with my sweet kiddo was when we were loading the car up to head home.  In the middle of the parking lot, she pulled me into a tight hug and said, "Thanks Mom!  I had a great day."  I only expected the hug to last a few seconds (if I was lucky!) but she held on tight.  I started teasing her about hugging her mother in public and she said, "You better savor the moment.  This doesn't happen very often!"  And*snap* just like that my teenager reappeared.  :)

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Jimbo!

 

Happy birthday to the love of my life (above) and my best friend (below)!!  :)

Again ???

I can't believe I did it again!!

 

 

I was taking the garbage out this morning and I slipped on the ice and busted my behind!  Again!  This is the second time in the last two weeks.  And it's seriously getting old. 

 

My neighbors must think I'm a lunatic.  I fell at just the right time -- Moms were dropping their kids off at the bus stop and there were tons of cars on the road.  I started screaming obscenities (yes, me.....I'm sure you're not suprised!) while sprawled out on the ground.  Hopefully none of it will end up on You Tube. 

 

You have to look closely to see the damage.  Am I whining yet??  Though the scratches may be tiny, they hurt like a son-of-a-b***!  I don't know how I do it but I land on my knee every time.  Thank goodness for cheerleader knees......nothing is going to break these suckers. 

Luckily, what hurt most of all is my pride.  I'm sure I have mentioned about a thousand times how much I love the Winter up here.  After this morning and the stupid ice, I'm ready for a little Spring. 

Bailey's Business

Bailey hasn't quite mastered doing her business in the snow.  She really tries but the snow is so deep  -- up to two to three feet!  We keep an area clear for her on the side of the house but sometimes it's just too difficult for her short little legs.  Lately, if you don't stand outside and watch her, she will do the deed right on the porch instead of jumping down onto the snow.  Sneaky little sucker!! :)

Photo credit:  Delanie Albaugh (this kid has an eye for photos!)

Freaky....

 

Want to hear something freaky???

My dad sold the house he and Mom lived in (another story.....another post).  The day he was packing things into his U-Haul, he had Charlene and two day laborers helping him.  Charlene, Dad and worker #1 were packing up the master bedroom.  Worker #2 was packing up one of the back bedrooms.

Worker #2 was walking through the house and calls out, "Hey......some lady just walked into the backyard."  Thinking the "lady" is my dad's realtor, Charlene comes out of the master bedroom to talk to her. 

Charlene goes into the backyard, through every room in the house and into the front yard calling out "hellloooo......anybody here?"  She doesn't find anyone so she walks back into the house and asked the worker what the lady looked like.

He said, "I don't know.....tall and blonde."  Then he looks at the blanket draped over the couch with all of us kids in the bluebonnets (above).  He points to me in the picture and says, "That's her.  She was just here."  Charlene says, "That's impossible.  That's my sister, Charlotte, and she lives in Minnesota."  The worker replies, "I'm telling you.......I just saw her walk into the backyard."

OK, so I've been told my entire life that I look EXACTLY like my mother.  I'll admit....there were times (hello teenage years!) when I would roll my eyes and blow it off.  The truth is that we really did look alike and I now consider it the best compliment ever!

Since I was nowhere near Texas when the worker saw "the lady", who do you think it was?  Freaky.......right?!