Visiting with Auntie and Uncle Tim

As mentioned in the NKOTB post, Geoff's sister Kristin and her hubby Tim came in for a visit last week. It was soooo great having them here and I wish for so much more time with them. We planned the trip months ago, and it was a surprise for Geoff's birthday. They flew in Wednesday night and we showed up at Geoff's weekly show at Hornbeck's. Tim walked in first and you could just see the confusion on Geoff's face! He was sooo surprised! (and very happy to see them!)

Jerra loved having them here as well. She finally learned to say "auntie" and we are still working on Uncle Tim.

I love spending time with them! Kristin and I bonded over the New Kids and Tim just keeps me laughing! I can't wait for our next visit!

going in for the hug....

NKOTB, baby!!!!

This past weekend was extra special because Geoff's sister and brother in law came in for a birthday surprise for Geoff....I will post more on that later, but it was even EXTRA special because while she was here, we (her, I and my friend Cari) got to go to the NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK concert in houston! It was soooooo freakin' good! It was really, really good!! Those 'boys' can still move after all these years!(and they sure did age well!!) It was so fun to go back and feel 12 again! Enjoy the new blog music, I am in a NKOTB mood! Thanks Cari and Kristin for such a great night!

She's our 'big girl' now!

Well, we have passed yet another milestone in the growing up of our sweet JJ...today we put together her 'big girl bed' and she could not have been more excited! She was crawling all over us as we assembled it and played peak-a-boo with us under the covers once we had it all set up. She kept getting on and off it and saying, "mine!"

We are not moving the crib out just yet, we just want her to have time to get used to the new bed and we will make the move slowly over the next couple months, and by the time she is 2, we will take down the crib. But for now, she is loving having it in there!

Pumpkin Patch...sorta...

This weekend for my Photography business I had a bunch of mini-sessions with a self-made pumpkin patch....basically I bought a bale of hay and a bunch of pumpkins and set everything up at a local park....I had a time slot open today, so Geoff brought JJ up and we got a few shots of her....

She has a VERY short attention span when it comes to these types of photo set-ups...you would think she would be used to it, since I have been doing this to her all her life...but nope! I have about 3 minutes of good time before she has a melt down and is just done with it.

At least today, we were at a park that had ducks, so she got to feed them and that made her happy!

The Holiday dinner problem is solved!

So...this is actually pretty funny.

If any of you reading this has been lucky enough to spend any quality time with my side of the family (meaning my mom, dad and brother) you know that we have several long standing 'inside jokes,' if you will, between all of us....the "red sweater" which is a holiday must - "he hates the cans....there are cans in there!" (I could go on and on with this example....if you got it by that line, hopefully you are saying the rest of the lines in your head and laughing out loud as I currently am...) - "I only had 2" - "Aunt Sue made those for ME, don't touch them" - etc, etc....

Well, one of the MUST HAVES during our family dinners is hard boiled eggs....I am not real sure where this started or why it has continued, but it is just a must have. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner are just ruined without them....my mom actually made the mistake one year of forgetting and we never let her hear the end of it....Although, on a side note: my dad HATES those egg platters that hold the hard boiled eggs...its strange, I know....But, back to the point....

...One of the problems of always having these hard boiled eggs, is the actual peeling process of said eggs....you know what I mean: half the eggs comes off with the peel, the peel is in a million little pieces, etc, etc....It really is a pain for the one stuck with the job....

BUT - I have found the answer to our problem! Holiday dinners will forever be changed! All thanks to this little video found on you tube:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2gYHJNT3Y


All this time - who knew!?

Boca Raton...

The 3 of us got to travel to Florida last week and spend several days with my best friend since high school, Jessica, and her family...We had a great visit, even though time always seems to go by so fast and we never get to do ALL that we want....

We took Jerra to her 1st visit to the Ocean - she was not so sure about all that, I think it was very overwhelming to here at first and it took a while for her to warm up to it...but she did walk around a bit on her own, and she sat in the water with her daddy...





We also got to do something super fun - in Miami, there is a place called the "Monkey Jungle" - it's a zoo like atmosphere with a focus on monkey's. We went there during our last visit when I was pregnant and we always talked about taking JJ there one day. Jess and Marc know the owners, so we get a behind the scenes tour and we get to feed the monkeys! It was so neat and Jerra got such a laugh out of it! They were everywhere!





Jerra and DJ played all weekend, they really loved the park!





AND, of course, there was lots and lots of swimming!!!

Taking Grandma to the park...

This past weekend we took a last minute trip up to Ft Worth to visit my parents in the hopes that we could spend a day swimming...little did we know that they had had a few nights of 'colder' weather...(for those of you reading this outside of texas, that means below 90 at night!)...but that is all it took to knock the pool temp down and it was COLD. The farthest any of us got was putting our feet in and even Jerra would have nothing to do with it. SO, instead - Dad and Geoff went golfing and Jerra, Mom and I went to the park. As previously noted, JJ loves the park and having Grandma there was extra special for her!



Then we walked down the block a bit and found a little fish pond! JJ was enthralled!

143 days....

The first time I read this quote, I thought it was dangerously true. Then I really started pondering it and thought how would this apply to our own lives/careers? Let's look at it again to see how absurd it is.

* You couldn't get a job at McDonald's and become district manager after 143 days of experience.

* You couldn't become chief of surgery after 143 days of experience of being a surgeon.

* You couldn't get a job as a teacher and be the superintendent after 143 days of experience.

* You couldn't join the military and become a colonel after a 143 days of experience.

* You couldn't get a job as a reporter and become the nightly news anchor after 143 days of experience.

BUT....

* From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United State Senator, to the time he announced he was forming a Presidential exploratory committee, he logged 143 days of experience in the Senate.

* That's how many days the Senate was actually in session and working.

* After 143 days of work experience, Obama believed he was ready to be Commander In Chief, Leader of the Free World, and fill the shoes of Abraham Lincoln, FDR, JFK and Ronald Reagan. 143 days?

We all have to start somewhere. The senate is a good start, but after 143 days, that's all it is - a start.

AND, strangely, a large sector of the American public seems to feel comfortable with this and campaigning for him.

We wouldn't accept this in our own line of work, yet some are OK with this for the President of the United States of America?

Come on folks, we are not voting for the next American Idol.

At the park...

another fav pastime is the park - the slides have taken over as her fav! This trip we went with our neighbors - JJ loves Lilly. I think she looks up to her in a big-sisterly way, she is 6 after all! Whenever J sees her outside she goes - "willllllweeeeeee" It really is adorable!

yep....more swimming!

JJ and her love of water...

JJ loves water! She loves swimming, usually loves her bathtime and she has discovered the joys of water sprinklers!

The other day we were all outside when our neighbors sprinklers went off...there was no point in trying to keep her out of the spray - it would have been a losing battle...so, I just let her go - full clothed from school and all!




The funniest part, was when she suddenly turned around, walked into our garage, found her little folding chair and carried it out, so she could sit and enjoy the spray! It was so funny to watch!