Who should paint my portrait?

Who Should Paint You: Pablo Picasso

Your an expressive soul who shows many emotions, with many subtleties Only a master painter could represent your glorious contradictions

What Artist Should Paint Your Portrait?

Violet The Dancing Queen

This is kind of dark, but it's of Violet dancing. It's so cute! She loves to dance so much. Sometimes she'll even dance when there's no music!

Happy 30 Ryan!

Happy Birthday Ryan! I can't believe that we started dating when you were only 20! We've come so far together and it's been so much fun! I love you so much. Have a great 31st journey around the sun!

Our Fun Girls

Lydia had her last day of school for this semester on Friday. She begged me to buy her some hair rollers and do her hair like a princess for her last day of school. So I bought some rollers at the dollar store and we played Beauty Salon Thursday night. She slept with them in without complaining one bit and awoke the next morning to beautiful curly locks! Don't you love her pretty pose?

Violet's new favorite thing to do is to empty out the kids' kitchen drawer and get inside and play! It's so cute! She wants to do it all the time, but she can't open the drawer by herself. She stands in front of it and points and says "Ah...Ah..." when she wants me to open it for her.

Ho Ho Ho- HA HA HA!

SYDNEY, Australia — He is an unlikely revolutionary, but this Christmas, Santa is a rebel with a claus.

He is having the last laugh on political correctness — and it's a great big fat belly laugh.

Santas across Sydney, Australia, are rebelling against attempts to ban their traditional greeting of "ho, ho, ho" in favor of "ha, ha, ha."

Recruitment firm Westaff — which supplies hundreds of Santas across the country — has told its trainees that the "ho ho ho" phrase could frighten children and could even be derogatory to women.

For the rest of the story, click here.

Painting With Lydia

Lydia and I did our first painting together last week. It was so much fun! I taught her different painting techniques all with craft paint, a paintbrush, q-tips, toothpicks, and cotton balls. She caught on so fast! First, we talked about what she wanted a picture of. When she said a castle, I told her to look in her books for ideas. She got to decide where everything would go, including the ground and sky line. She painted the sky, the grass, bushes, flowers, the tree, a lot of the details on the castle, and the princesses' shoes, some of their dresses, all of their accessories, and all but one bird in the sky!

We are working on another painting today!

Ryan's Senior Recital!

Yay! Ryan had his senior recital on Sunday and it was INCREDIBLE!!!! I was seriously one of the coolest concerts I've ever been to (and I'm not just saying that because I am so fond of him!) He has worked so hard for this. It's so great to be with him and watch his dreams come true. He is such an amazing husband, Dad, musician, friend, and so much more. During and after the recital I was grinning from ear to ear. I couldn't be more proud!

I am also so glad to have this over too, because now I have my husband back. This recital has consumed him all semester. Although he was physically near me, his mind was always on this recital. Now we can just talk about anything!

Violet Loves Her Mama!

This is such a cute video of Violet! Ryan walked in with the camera as she was supposed to be taking a nap. She obviously had other plans...

Sorry about the video being sideways at first. Ryan's still figuring out the video thing.

If I Could Make My Girls Clothes

If I could make clothing for my girls (someday I'll give it a try), these are some designs that inspire me...

Aren't they cute? I found them at

willarie.etsy.com

I've Been Bad...

Sorry I haven't posted in a while! I've been super busy. I've been working more hours at the Ibis in the mornings before Ryan goes to school and working on lots of side projects.

Here she is! She's absolutely beautiful!

Janel Had Her Baby!

Welcome to Earth little Chloe Isabella Graham! She was over 3 weeks early, but very healthy @ 6 lbs. 15oz. and 20" long. Janel and Chloe (and Warren) are doing great. Congrats Graham family! Love the name!

My City... if I were a city gal

I took the city test. Rome sounds very nice! Someday...

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city soul with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian people - could life get any better?

What City Do You Belong In?

I love watching these old videos on "youtube". This is Fats Waller singing "Ain't Misbehavin" in 1947. Don't you wish people would still perform like this? It would be hilarious! (Watch his eyebrows!)

Happy Birthday Dad!

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!October 18th is my Dad's birthday! He is so great!

Be Careful When You Choke!

(O.K., this guy looks like he's enjoying giving the heimlich maneuver a little too much!)
We were sitting at the dinner table tonight and Violet was eating some baked apples. She loves to shove as much food as she can possibly squeeze into her mouth before she even thinks about chewing. Of course, Violet started to gag on her food. She's fine, in fact, I think she's actually getting used to dislodging food from her throat. One of these days she'll find that it's much easier to just take smaller bites and chew.
Lydia, who was feeling pretty smart because she knows how to eat properly thought she should give me some advice. I think it came out a little different from what she meant. She said very matter-of-factly
"Mommy, you should be careful when you choke, you could swallow your food."
Ha! Ryan and I couldn't stop laughing! I don't even think she knew why we were laughing. Lydia says cute things like this all the time. I just love her!

My Blog Has Changed

I've been contemplating lately whether or not to start a new blog that was more "me" and not just about family things. Then I wondered if having a blog that was just for my musings would be a little too "all about me". Then I realized that the wonderfully sweet people who read my family blog are probably the same people who would read my other one, so I've decided to just morph the two and go with it. It will take a little more work on my part, but I'm excited! I've even designed my own header- cool hu?

Hold On

Hold on to the fallen leaves

for they can never be
put back on the trees.

Gracefully fall to the ground
causing silence to contain
the sound of sweet surrender.
~Me

This is a picture out our bedroom window this morning. I made it home just in time to see fall "Leaving". Winter is already on it's way! It snowed yesterday. Lydia had to go out and play in it, and of course eat some! I think it's supposed to warm up next week, but for now we are enjoying the beauty of the fall colors topped with crisp white snow.

We're finally home!

Not that our visit to Dubuque wasn't fun, but we were gone for 12 days, of which we were sick for 2! It was very sad to leave, but Lydia was so excited to see Ryan when he met us at the airport, that she gave him a koala bear hug so tight and for so long, he even got our luggage off of the luggage conveyor belt with her attached to him! Although it was great to be there, we missed Ryan WAY TOO MUCH!

We went to see my Dad after his surgery and to help my mom out since she had to go back to work and my Dad couldn't be left alone. I am so happy to say that after many bumps in the road, my dad seems to be doing a lot better. He still has a long recovery ahead of him, but I think he's going to eventually feel better than he has in a long time!

Anyway, we did get to ride in a limo,
go for a horseback ride on my mom's horse Scout, and see my sister and her family, along with spending a lot of quality time with Mom and Dad.
(I don't have any pictures of Janel and her kids because my camera wasn't working!) We already miss everybody so much!

This is a picture of Violet with her "Papa Pocket". The kids give him a magic kiss on his cheek and then reach in his pocket for a surprise which is usually a fruit snack or a goldfish cracker. Violet is learning how to do it, but now whenever she sees Dad, she wants to just reach in his pocket. This morning when Ryan was holding her she kept hitting her chest and looking at him, and he said "Holly, do you know what this means?" And then she rubbed her hand on his chest and looked at him like "Where's your pocket?" .
Violet is doing a lot better at walking. She still prefers to crawl, but she's standing up and attempting to walk a lot more.

Oh, and while I was in Dubuque my sister-in-law Dayna gave birth to my new sweet little niece Emme Ryan Young! Dayna is a creative, fun, and sweet person, not to mention an awesome mom! Congrats Matt, Dayna and Jojo! She's a little doll!

Dad

As you may know, my Dad had open heart surgery last Wednesday. It was so hard for me not to be there, but we decided it would be best for me to go out 2 weeks after his surgery to help take care of him so that Mom can start going back to work. Unfortunately, he has run into some complications during his recovery in the hospital. Now it's just killing me that I'm not there. I love my dad so much. He has always been so kind and gentle of a man, so compassionate and helpful to others. I just want him to heal so that he can finally retire and enjoy his retirement after spending his whole life working so hard. I want my girls to really know the man that raised me and all of his wonderful qualities that I hope they will inherit someday! Please keep him in your prayers. The following post is a slide show of some times that we have shared with my dad...(If you want to hear the music, click on the sound icon below the photoshow screen.)

God Bless My Dad

My big girl started pre-school last week. Here she is showing of one of her crafts that she made at school. She is getting so big and smart. She says word like "actually" all the time.
The other night Violet said her first two word sentence- "Nigh nigh Daddy!".
This is Violet's new face. It's so funny! I wonder if she even knows she's doing it!
She's getting cuter every day!

So I've been meaning to find the time to write about my cousin Kristen's visit last week. She came out for 2 nights last week. It was so wonderful to have her here. She is my age, so of course she was my favorite cousin growing up. We have a lot of fun memories together. Although she lived about 2 hours away, we did get to see each other at least once a year and when we did, it was always fun! She is also a singer/songwriter (and she's amazing!) . We had a lot of fun catching up and getting to know our "adult selves" as we drove up to Bear Lake and Tony Grove on Tues. then we had a blast staying up till 2am singing and playing guitar that night. I love the people in life that you can go a while without keeping in touch very well (unfortunately) but then when you reconnect, it's like you've never missed a beat. I have not been very good at keeping in touch with people that I really care about, and now I am reminded how important it really is. When you rekindle spirits, it can be so refreshing! Thanks Kristen!

Full Circle

(This Blog entry is something that I wrote after going to Vegas in Sept of 2004.)

I was almost afraid to look into her eyes. I have been told throughout my life how important it is to look someone in the eyes when they are talking to me. But when I looked at her, I had the feeling she could see straight through me. I shifted on the vinyl bar stool she told me to sit on and watched her grab my finger in her left oiled fist and firmly slide to the tip of my weak uncalloused hand. “You have husband?” she asked in a rich Japanese voice. I looked up from the pressure on my fingers. “Yes,” I smiled. “I teach you this massage, and you do on him,” she firmly convinced me.

When I imagined my first time in Las Vegas, I didn’t see myself relaxing in a small shop on the strip learning priceless life-lessons from a Japanese woman I could only half-understand.

“You rub blood down through fingertip. Circulate blood. This here,” she pointed at the palm of my hand and made a circle, “this digestion, intestines. Relax. You have child?” “Yes, a seventeen month old girl.” She stopped squishing my intestines and smiled up at me, “You tell her she good girl all the time. That way she always think she good girl and she will not disappoint you.” She tightly pulled on each finger one by one and said. “That very important. You say to them, don’t be so stupid, they think they stupid and then act stupid. They believe they are what you tell them.” She held my hand and stretched it back , “hold for five,” and forward, “hold for five.”

“You get tired when you drive at night, you pinch eyebrows. Pressure points.” She squeezed the middle of my brow and worked her way to the ends. “You see better?’ She asked as I noticed my view get brighter and more crisp. “I think so” I said. She got up from her stool. “Put foot up here” she pointed. ‘What?” I asked. She slapped the chair. “Foot, yes, up!” she commanded. “Ok” I shyly lifted my foot to the top of the chair. I instantly thought, “Will she notice where my fake tan didn’t blend around the parameter of my foot?”

“You’re feet cold. Never let feet get cold!” She rubbed my foot quickly hand over hand bringing it back from the dead. “You watch! You do for husband! Always to heart. Always! You see blood go up, up, up to heart. Circulation.”

When she finished, I stood up having an overwhelming feeling of profound knowledge. I felt the newfound wisdom circulating itself through my body. I wondered if I had just been on a journey out of time. I felt like I had just encountered an angel. I realized that this petite Asian grandmother was really teaching me how to fish. You know the tale. “Give a man a fish, he’ll eat for one meal, teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” I then realized that if the man learned to fish, and practiced until he was good at it, he would not only eat for a lifetime, but feed others as well and teach them how to eat for a lifetime.” Everything comes full circle. Even our blood.

Cool Fun

Last week there was a fire on the mountains near our house which caused a power outage that the power company estimated would take days to repair. So, we went to town and bought dry ice and an LED lantern. Late that night they were able to repair the wires and we had dry ice left over. We decided to brew a potion on the floor in our kitchen. It was so "cool" ! Lydia had a blast chopping at it and stirring it.

OUCH!

(Sorry about the font size, I keep trying to go in and change it...)

Lydia had her first BIG boo-boo on Friday night. We told Lydia that we were going to go our for ice cream and she got so excited that she started running across the dining room and she tripped and fell right into the door frame to the kitchen. Blood immediatley started pouring from her head, in which case I freaked out. I thought that if she didn't get immediate medical attention, she could get brain damage or something. Ryan was very calm and calmed Lydia down right away while I was determined to get her to the hospital, I packed Violet in the car and was ready to go in about 30 seconds. Ryan convinced me that we needed to stop the bleeding and assess the situation while remaining calm. That was hard for me to do! I had already assessed the situation when I saw the blood! We took her to the emergency room and she had to have 3 staples in her head. The cut was all the way to her skull, but she showed no signs of trauma (thank God!). She was so brave and didn't even cry at the hospital. She just played games on my cell phone the whole time. Oh, and afterwards, we had ice cream!

What a cute **GIRL** we have!

So, shortly after the post about Violet getting her ears pierced, Ryan informed me that he didn't want to do it. I really wasn't leaning more one way than the other, so I was fine with that. Then, when we were at the airport, two people commented about what a cute boy "he" was. (And she was wearing a headband!) Then, my aunt Norma came to visit us at my parents' house in Iowa and she said "What's his name again?" That's when Ryan and I started talking about getting her ears pierced again.

My mom and I went to the mall and I thought I'd just see how much it would be and what the earrings looked like. I couldn't resist! I knew she would look so cute with them.She was very brave and didn't even cry after the first one. Then, after the second, she did cry, but she was quickly distracted with a blue slurpy! They have healed very well and they are symmetrical (thank God!).

I'll be writing more about our vacation soon! It was great!

Happy 4th!

Check this out! It's the coolest version of the Star Spangled Banner I've ever heard/seen!

Star Spangled Banner
|Funny Jokes at JibJab

This is Violet with one of her Baby Einstein flash cards. She was being so cute. She just got done eating sweet potatoes (naked) and was a mess! She is so fun and she smiles all the time. I love her so much!

Lydia has become quite the little dare-devil lately. This is a picture I took of her jumping off the top of her sliding board on her swing set. Cool effects hu?

Finally. I found a swim suit!

Aha! Finally, after looking for the last month, I have finally found a swimming suit! I was trying not to be too picky, I just needed one to get me by for the summer. I looked EVERYWHERE and could not find one that would cover my belly and my butt! I was even willing to wear an ugly one if I could only find one. Every size small tankini at Old Navy didn't have a small bottom skirt or shorts, or even matching board shorts to go with it. Ross and TJ MAXX only had skimpy little things and everywhere else that had modest swim wear only had it in size 8 and up, or at other places (Poco Loco and Dillard's) the cute ones were about $100.

Thank you Isaac Mizrahi , designer for Target for this cute little swim suit and thank you Target for having the whole ensamble on clearance for $26! I received it in the mail last Thursday and had to take it in by hand a little on the bottoms, but it's way worth it!

To Pierce or Not to Pierce...?

So, of course I think I have the most beautiful little baby girl in the world. Hair or no hair, I look into those sparkly blue eyes and see my precious little beauty of a girl. Too bad other people just don't see what I see. Violet can be dressed in pink from head to toe and people will still ask me what "his" name is! I didn't have to worry about this with Lydia at this age. She had so much hair, I could put little piggy tails or barrettes on top of her head.

We were at the mall a few weeks ago and I had two different people say what a cute little boy Violet is. I know I shouldn't let it bother me, but I quickly ran to Claire's and bought a bunch of little headbands for her to wear that had to match about everything she has. I thought this was a great idea and it wasn't to expensive. Too bad she doesn't keep them on for more than a few minutes at a time!

I don't know how I feel about piercing her ears. Peyton's look really cute and Tegan has never had a problem with them. She did get them done a lot earlier though. Maybe Violet will pull on them now that she's older. Then there's the question of "Well, then will we have to pierce Lydia's ears?" I asked Lydia if she wanted to get hers done and she said "not until I'm 5!". Also, as for her not being able to make the decision herself, she could always just take them out if she didn't want them any more.

As far as the pain issue, Tegan also said that babies don't have as much feeling in their ear lobes as we do. I decide to test this out a little bit. I know it sounds cruel, but I just (very) lightly pinched Violet's ear lobe with my fingernails to see if she'd respond. No response. So, I pinched a little harder to see if she'd at least look at me like "What are you doing, Mom?" No response. Maybe she doesn't have much feeling there. I read some comments about it online and someone said they only cry for a little bit, if at all, and that it's a lot less painful then immunizations.

So, any opinions whether I should do it or not? The picture does look pretty cute!