Happy Birthdays

We have had a fun summer full of birthdays! Mal celebrated her 4th birthday in June. Reece and Ryan turned ONE in July along with my Grandpa turning 95. And sweet Abby turned 6 today!! YIKES!! I can't believe any of them. Sweet Abby! You can't really be SIX! You are just like your mommy. Precious and calm. You will be talented like her too with all the art you love to do. I love that you are a girly girl! We spoiled you rotten as a baby-you had no choice but to love pink! You are going to be a good and faithful friend. I love how you pray so diligently for others. I can't believe you are going to first grade.
I love how Mallory is such a little stinker. She can light up a room with her giggles and can warm your heart in an instant-IF she wants to. If not - too bad - maybe another day but for some reason I just love that about her. I love the way she loves Brad. She may not want to give anyone else a hug that day but she always has one for Brad. She absolutely adores him. She has the best gymnast body already. She is pure sculpted muscle and Laura and I love that she has a beautiful chin! (Mainly b/c we don't have chins-long family trait there!) Happy Birthday Mal-Mal! MeMe Loves You and can't wait to watch you grow and do wonderful things.

Oh little Reecey and Ryan! One year already??? How quickly it has gone. You are the lights of our family. Our daily reminder that God answers prayer and that He is ever faithful. I love you two for so many reasons too. Ryan-your little temper crack me up. I love that you are a mommas boy and that you LOVE your Milk-just like your Tia Meme. Reecey, I love that you are so laid back and lighthearted. This will be such a virtue for you in the future. I love that you are both boys-you have strong men in your lives to guide your way. I love that you both wave your little hands to a spanish song none of us can really sing. I am so thankful that God blessed our whole family with you two.
Lastly, our awesome grandpa, Daddy Bill, turned 95 in July. He is incredible. I know I have posted before but he still walks everyday, has a garden, LOVES babies, and is the best back-tickler ever. He has a calm gentle spirit about him that I long to possess one day. He is my inspiration for taking care of myself so I can live a long life like he has.

Well, this should wrap up my postings for a while. Three in one night is pretty good-We have more birthdays coming up this month. Emily (another niece), Janis my motherinlaw, and myself all have birthdays in August! I am glad Allie's next baby is due in the winter-we gotta spread these birthdays out! Have a great weekend.

The BEST Vacation!

(View from the lake as we were Kayaking)

Just a quick note on our vacation! It was the BEST! I think I liked it just as much as Hawaii-which those of you that know me know I LOVE HAWAII!

We cycled, kayaked, rode the Luge and the Gondola, ate great food, learned a little french-stress the little, golfed, and got massages. It was such a great trip. I would really love to go back there again one day. The Lodge was picture perfect, the scenery was amazing, the weather was nice...ok, ok, it was all just wonderful. It turned out to be a much "needed" vacation for us too. It did us a lot of good to get out of the rat-race and relax. No major life-changing decisions were made but it did give us time to refocus on some things. If anyone is looking for a place to go that is easy, inexpensive, and beautiful-let me know-Mont Tremblant is the place to go. Here are some pics...

Village-It is so cute with cobblestone roads and bright buildings.

Top of Mont Tremblant-Gorgeous-pictures don't do it justice.

Tour de Mont Tremblant-I so haven't been on a real bike in probably 8 years! It was so fun!

And so marks a new era in our "family". We said goodbye to the Civic a couple of weeks ago. After a LONG, LONG life with Brad, he finally gave her up. After a routine (and long overdue) oil change, the service guy brought Brad out to the car as it was up on the "thing" and showed him the separated CV joints that are supposed to be replaced when they are just cracked. He also mentioned that the Master cylinder needed replacing because the brakes were bad and there was little power steering. All this adding up to roughly $1000 and the car only being worth $1000 on a good day, finally sent Brad over the edge. He finally didn't want to spend anymore money on the "Lil Tiger".

So, there started the search. And if I had let Brad do it - we would now be driving a minivan! (I kid you not-he really likes the minivan thing-this tells you literally how practical he is!) I, however, do not think there is ANY practicality to me driving a minivan right now when we have NO kids and can't even seem to decide if and when we will have them. If we have multiples - fine-it really makes life easier and my sister's minivan is very easy and nice but - not until I have a litter of children. We ended up getting a Toyota Highlander instead. I really like it - it is super easy to drive which I was a little worried about moving into an SUV. It is practical for Brad as far as reliability and gas milage. It has a third row seat so I can fit all the kids in it for Camp MeMe-whenever that is-and it is black which I like. We weren't going to buy new, but when you drive a car 12 + years-you can go new b/c you are going to drive the next car that long too. Our "not-existent-children-that-we-need-a-minivan-for" can drive it when they get old enough!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

I am officially out of my funk because we FINALLY booked our vacation! We are going to CANADA-Mont Tremblant actually and it looks beautiful! I have always been a beach resort loving-warm weather-lots of sunshine-type of vacationer...hence the reason we have been to Hawaii 3 times, Cancun, Las Vegas, and the Caribbean for our vacations since we have been married. We have always said we would go back to Hawaii for our 5 year anniversary but I rebelled on that idea when we started looking and decided I needed the taste of the mountains. Since we would be going in the heat of the summer, I thought the cooler temps sounded too great so I researched every lodge from Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Seattle, Vancouver, Michigan, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Toronto. And I finally found just what I was looking for just north of Montreal in Mont Tremblant, Canada. It is a cute little ski village and we are staying just outside the village in a cool lodge on the lake. We got a great deal (which of course makes Brad the accountant happy) and I feel like I am already starting to count down the days. They have golf which you can see on the photo and a spa and it looks so relaxing and wonderful...I can't wait!
On another note...Brad is now a member of the old man's club. He turned 30 on Friday! He celebrated by taking a guys trip with some of his college buddies. (I celebrated with a 90 minute massage) They had a great time and he even got a new nickname, Pops. We are officially together "grandparents" - MeMe and Pops! Who would've ever thought we would both end up with those names. At least Reid puts a spanish twist on things and calls me "Tia MeMe"!
We celebrated another 30th birthday tonight with some college friends...Happy Birthday Justin. We had a great time playing WhirlyBall and eating at Campisis. I am TERRIBLE offensively but made some great collisions with my bumper car so I guess I provided some adequate defense. After Brad kept scoring on the other team I just decided to start running into him the whole time. It worked great until Master Whirlyball, Jeff showed up and just squashed us all. (He has obviously played Whirlyball a few times in his life)
I finally got a new cell phone! I decided it was time when I couldn't hear the other person talking-very annoying. I love my new phone-very cute (red) and super sleek, but unfortunately it doesn't have a flashlight-the #1 feature of my other phone. I know it sounds CrAzY but I used that flashlight every single day and it will be sorely missed! I also transitioned to a flip phone-never have been a fan but we'll see how that turns out. Everyone else in my contact list will love it b/c my purse will stop calling them!
I guess that wraps it up for now. This week will be fun and busy-Monday Spin, Tuesday babysitting some of our favorite kiddos (non-related), Wednesday-Financial Peace, Thursday & Friday are nothing YET-or that I can remember right now, and Saturday is of course 2 baby showers! Oh, and hopefully Lindsey will have her baby this week, too. Whew-it is going to be a busy week!!! Have a great one!

Friday Nights and Sunday Afternoons

All our boys on the couch watching the Masters













Golf even puts the babies to sleep...







So this is what we do on Friday nights...especially when it is Masters weekend/Easter weekend. The boys sit and watch TV and all the Masters highlights and the girls are in the kitchen making bunny cakes! It was a lot of fun though. Mal was so sweet to go and share her bunny candy with the boys but then told Brad he shouldn't have any because candy causes cavities! I got such a laugh out of that one.

Here are some pictures from the Arboretum a few weeks ago too. It was a gorgeous day and everyone was there...it took us 30 minutes just to get into the parking lot. It was well worth it though - the flowers were amazing! Brad and I got a lot of landscaping ideas that day and drove straight to our favorite nursery to buy more shrubs and flowers...funny though how our yard doesn't look quite like the arboretum...






























The kids were so silly that day. Between trying to hold the boys and watching the dance-off contest, they really wore themselves out. Reid screamed all the way to the car and Mal fell asleep as we were pulling out of the parking lot. The boys were fine as usual and Abby kept cracking me up in the car afterwards at Sonic saying how "bored" she was waiting for her slush.

An Aunt's Proudest Moment...Abby Rae DDS!

Last week Abby had to dress up as a "Community Helper" for school. I was so excited to hear that she wanted to be a DENTIST! (I actually REALLY encouraged her to be a "hygienist" but I think it is a little difficult for 5 yr olds to grasp the difference...they think we are all dentists!)
Anyways, my sister bought her some scrubs and I got her geared up with supplies like a mirror and mask and lots of toothbrushes for her classmates. She looked so cute! This is all too funny to me because she basically gets wimpy at the dentist office and Dr. Sivie had to put her in a head lock to pull her tooth...but after the whole thing is over she thinks it is the coolest thing ever. Glad she wasn't traumatized!
Hope everyone had a great weekend! I'll post pictures soon-we went to the Arboretum today with the rest of the world-what a beautiful madhouse! I LOVE SPRING-TIME!! We bought lots of shrubs to fill in the rest of our backyard and our awesome landscaper, Collin, is going to come and plant them this week. We just might have Easter lunch at our house in the backyard with all the family...who knows...that is a whole other subject in itself!
Have a great week!

Yep....Looks Like I'm Hooked...

Saw this and thought it was FUNNY! Not all apply to me but several do! And yes, I can sing the Duck Tales Theme Song! WooHoo is Right and I did LOVE Oregon Trail day at school! Happy Monday!

clipped from cassiegermsheid.com 1. You’ve ever ended a sentence with the word SIKE. 3. You can sing the rap of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and can do the Carlton. 8. Two words: Hammer Pants 9. If you ever watched “Fraggle Rock”. 11. You can sing the entire theme song to “Duck Tales” (Woo ooh!) 14. You saw the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the big screen… and still know the turtles names. 15. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school. 19. L.A. Gear….need I say more? 22. You know the profound meaning of “WAX ON, WAX OFF”. 23. You wanted to be a Goonie. 24. You ever wore fluorescent clothing (some of us…head-to-toe). 26. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf. 28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets. 32. You thought She-ra (Princess of Power) and He-Man should hook up. 35. After you saw Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, you kept saying “I know you are, but what am I?” 36. You remember “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”.

Trying out "ClipMarks"

I found a new add-on to our mozilla today. It lets you just "clip" things to your blogs! Awesome! So, the first thing I saw was this quote from Prince Phillip of England...random I know...and thought I would give it a Clip! I just might have found my new easy blogging tool!

clipped from www.heartsandminds.org Change does not change tradition. It strengthens it. Change is a challenge and an opportunity; not a threat.  - Prince Phillip of England

T.M.O.M. & My Valentines

Well, this picture didn't really turn out quite as good as it is printed off but last Friday was TMOM. Texas Mission of Mercy actually and it is where dentists and hygienists donated their time to provide dentistry for those who can't afford it. We met up at the office at 5:30 (I had been up since 2 am-one of my sleepless nights) and drove down to Duncanville. There were about 30 portable dental units set up and we did "make-shift" dentistry in the college gymnasium. It certainly wasn't as primitive as doing dentistry in Honduras or Guatemala but we were limited to say the least. It was so good to help others though. They were so appreciative and kind...something that we don't always see in private practice. It was a wonderful reminder of how blessed we are and how important it is to give of your time and talents to help others. I will definitely do it next year.






As for Valentines...oh what fun! Every year our office has Tenderheart day. You may remember me posting from last year...but we invite all of our patients ages 3-12 to the Roller Rink and have a FUN skating party. Last year there was only 1 set of blue eyes that got me in skates and that was Abby. But this year I couldn't resist all 5 sets of blue eyes: Reid, Mallory, Abby, Ryan and Reece came to the party along with my mom, sisters, and Brian. I haven't had that much fun in a while. Reid got there first and IMMEDIATELY wanted skates on. When I invited her I didn't think she would want to skate but oh was I wrong. She got those skates on and was pulling me on to that rink. SHE WAS AWESOME! I can't tell you how good she did. It was amazing-she is luckily at that age I guess (2) where she isn't afraid of anything. She would skate and dance with her arms up and booty shakin' lap after lap! It was great! Abby didn't so much dig the skating. We need to get her to work on balance and bravery! She had a great time though-When asked "Who liked skating the best?" she was QUICK to jump up and down and say she did! I laughed at that b/c she "skated" MAYBE 3 minutes! I was glad she loved it though. Mal-Mal was right in the middle. If you could distract her enough not to pay attention she did great. But then she would realize no one was holding on then she would panic and get scared! She would get so excited if I told her to look back and see how far she skated-and then would fall down! SOOO cute. Next year I am going to have to get my sisters and mom out there. I had to get re-enforcements from my co-workers at one point.

The most precious part of the party though was when Ryan and Reece wanted to skate...YES...the boys skated. When Laura told me they wanted to skate, I said..."No way-I can't hold them and skate...Are you CrAzY!?" She said, "No, Look!" Another mom had her baby in the stroller and was skating with her other kids. SOOOO, off we went (in the DOUBLE stroller mind you) and skated away. The boys were so confused-mainly by all the noise. Ryan fell asleep and Reece enjoyed Reid skating beside us!
It was quite a fun night! I am going to take the girls to Skating Lessons at the next Camp MeMe. You can go to Thunderbird and take lessons for $10 for one hour and then get 2 more free hours of skating! Sounds so fun to me-everyone should know how to roller skate!!
The picture with the 3 girls and me...Reid actually fell off that wall seconds later...totally fine and on her skates but it was hilarious-she just slipped right off!

Oh, and good news...I GOT MY HAIR DONE TODAY!!! ahhh, so great! My hair actually touched my shoulder blades! I have NEVER had hair that long EVER!!!

Can a Girl get a Haircut 'round here?

Ok, so I see that I don't have any sports fans reading my blog or no one else thinks that God won the Superbowl this year...ok, I accept my randomness! Fun things have not been happening around here...
Last week, I spent the week fighting a sinus infection. I cancelled a hair appointment due to the nastiness of my nose and I certainly didn't want my stylist to get sick. So, after a Z-pack and lots of rest, I was feeling great and rescheduled my hair for Thursday afternoon at 3 pm. Couldn't wait!
So, Thursday rolls around and I finish work around 2 o'clock. I mentioned to a co-worker, "Man, my stomach hurts!" I just figured that it was because I hadn't had any lunch. I left work and by the time I got home, there was something seriously wrong with my stomach. By 2:30 I was throwing up and I will spare you the rest of the details but needless to say, I had to cancel my hair appointment AGAIN. I felt so bad about cancelling twice-but can you imagine how the highlights would have turned out if I had to run out in the middle of the process? Yikes. So, for anyone who sees me over the next week or so...forgive the frizzy ends and dark roots-I've tried to get it done! I am scared to make another appointment now-what am I going to get next??

God Won SuperBowl XLI

Way to go Colts! Now, most of you know I am by NO MEANS a big sports fan and my husband drives me crazy with all of his sports nonsense. However, last night was a good sports night. Like many women, it's all about the backstories for me. If I hear a "feel-good" story about a coach or a player in any sport, my curiosity is heightened and I tend to pay attention. And so it is with the Colts. I actually have always liked the Colts, not because of Peyton Manning, but because of Hunter Smith their punter. I grew up going to Iron Springs Christian Camp with him and he is really an awesome guy. Even in high school, he gave up playing in the All-American game to come to camp and be a counselor. At Notre Dame he started a bible study that began with 2 people and then grew in his 4 years there into a huge success. Don't get me wrong, I am not his best friend by any means, I have just always wanted his team to do well since he is such a good guy.

But last night I was blown away by Tony Dungy's winning remarks! If you didn't hear it, find it on the internet and listen to his whole speech. There has been so much talk about having 2 African-American coaches in the SuperBowl this year and he said that yes, that was a wonderful thing for our country to have 2 AA coaches there but most importantly he was most proud of having 2 CHRISTIAN coaches at the SuperBowl and the Lord gave him this oportunity. It was such a great speech! He said that the Lord gives you hardships and brings you out in His time and gave God all the credit and glory! It was awesome and so in my highly professional sports opinion...God won SuperBowl XLI!!

What a Beautiful Day!I came home early from work today due to a sinus infection and laid down on the couch to rest. The next thing I know, I hear this rain type sound and open the shutters and to my utter shock it is pouring down SNOW! It was so beautiful. The flakes were huge and it is still coming down. So, I have had an extremely lazy afternoon laying on the couch, under the electric blanket on HIGH, and watching the snow-not even the TV! (Really the only thing on was "Special Reports-Bitter Snow Blast!" oh brother!) What an afternoon.
See, and again, this is why I want a digital camera...Instead of taking pictures of how pretty the snow is all I do is "google" snowflakes and post silly pictures of them! How Cave-Man-Age is that!!!