anna's birthday party

Anna had such a nice day for her first party. she had the dress and the hat to party!!!! the weather was a perfect 75 degrees. we had way too much food, so i think we will be having a cookout tomorrow and inviting a few church friends to help eliminate so much leftovers.

wanna come over???

Anna was pretty tired by the time she got to have her cake. she ate it with her eyes closed...that's how sleepy she was. she had MAYBE 10 minutes of shut-eye with godma.

thank you for all of you who stopped out to join us in her celebration :)

this Friday we will have our own celebration for her actual birthday at home.

The boys slept a good portion of the evening on our way to TN for a wedding. By the time we got there @ 10pm, this is what they looked like. Aaron is always happy and Danny is SOOOO ready for some trouble. I love them both!

A diamond is forever...whatever....

OK, so i finally mustered up the audacity..... took the plunge......... lost my mind.... made up my mind........ i never cried, but it hurt.....

"if i can birth 3 kids and take 4 epidurals, i can endure a few minutes of this"

NO ONE... and this is not an exaggeration.... thought that i would ever do this. as a matte of fact i only received one kind response to it. the encouragement--- Dan was going to get his 6th tat for Anna and i wanted to play, too. I considered doing it for about a year. I really thought that it couldn't be so bad. then a colleague got her first on her right shoulder and said it wasn't so bad. "what the heck.... "

i suppose the biggest thing holding me back from ever doing it wasn't how it would feel, but how i would feel about it forever? i thought "if i could only get one then it must mean everything to me"....so the process started. I felt obligated to get Dan's name since he has mine. but then I'd have to keep up with him and get the kids' names. so far i was up to 4 separate tats, or just one great big blob of ink too big to disguise.

and then it hit me..." even when i feel like i have nothing in this moment, i actually have everything i really need...forever"


location----it had to be inconspicuous enought for my professional lifestyle. But i really wanted it to be somewhat "sneaky"----just enough for anyone to ask what it is adn what it means.

Do you know what it means???

everyone i know who has tattoos say they are addictive. When my guy was done with it i said "it wasn't so bad" and he told me " you'll be back sooner than you think". It's not that i wouldn't do it again, but what can i get that would top this.......

Pre School Graduation

Danny graduated from his first year of pre school. He totally loved it and learned so much. He will be going back in the fall.

Each child had a special part in the whole production. Danny lead everyone in pledging the Christian Flag. I never heard of it until that day.

He did a great job and we are so proud of everything he has learned and accomplished this past year :)

What a girl wants....what a girl needs

...this makes me feel old. this is my little cousin Caitlyn. i take that back this is my knock out cousin Caitlyn. She just graduated and is heading off to college in a few months. I remember when she was born. I just turned 13. she was the first member to enter my extended family in about 10 years so this was a big deal.

I kid around with the notion that we pretty much like twins. we look a lot alike and act alike at the same age.

We are going to her open house in a few weeks. I had one, but the only thing i really remember getting was a Dr. Seuss book (which i LOVE and just gave to a recent graduate) and a hangover---- OK, so i was 18 and more than happy to rebel and live life a little. I didn't get anything practical for college and wouldn't even know what i would need. Now that I've been there, done that got the t-shirt...oh yeah, and the tuition bills..... i know what a girl NEEDS, but what does a college freshman WANT????

any ideas????

GRADUATION

Danny graduates from his first year at preschool tomorrow. I cant believe it! I'm not one of those sentimental cry baby moms who flash forward 13 years to HS or even farther to college graduation, but this is such a proud moment as a mom. My first baby is finishing his first year of school....and he LOVED IT!!

I don't feel old, but i am. to think that i have been in school longer than i have been out at this point of my life is simply ludicrous, but that's just a fact of life.

Statistics show that by the time my kids move on to college the tuition for a state school will already be 6 figures.... that's just not right. By the time they finish 20 years of school they will probably need a PhD to push buttons at Target or even serve fries a fast food joint.

*** snap out of it Amy****

Let's just make it through tomorrow first.....