Lookie What I Got!!!!

Oh man!! I am so excited!!! I have wanted an SLR camera for years now. This is the Canon EOS Rebel XT. My point and shoot has been a great camera (Thanks Loyd and Mary!), but I have longed for something more. As far as DSLR cameras go, this is pretty basic, but it is still like 1,000 times better than what I had. I can't wait to learn how to use it, and to get clearer shots of my kids. I've got several photog friends, and I'm certainly not looking to break into the business with this, but I really love taking pictures, and I'm excited to be able to take some better quality photos. So, here's a couple of shots from my first day of shooting. I'm sure I'll look back in a few months and be able to critique everything that is wrong about them, but for now I love them.

Well, I'm off to make my wishlist of lenses. Can't wait to share more pics with you all!

Another Goodbye....

So, I got a call this morning that one of my dad's best friends had passed away. David or "Yeager" as we called him, and my dad had been friends since grade school. They were next door neighbors growing up and forged a friendship that lasted for decades. My dad had an amazing circle of friends, and yet David stood out. Many of my dad's friends have been a part of my life since birth, but David was the only one who made an effort to stay in touch with me after my dad's passing. He would come over and have dinner with my family on occassion and we kept in touch through e-mail between visits. He helped me to feel connected to my dad. He would share stories with me, some that I had heard a million times, and others that I had never heard. He was an active member of AA. He was the one who told me it was okay to be mad at my dad for some of the things he had done, and yet still love him. In a way, he gave my soul permission to not feel guilty for all the crazy emotions I had about my father's death. In October, David was diagnosed with a treatable cancer and the chemo & radiation seemed to do their job. On Thursday morning he went into surgery to remove the remaining mass, and all went well. However, in the past few months his body had grown weak and he had gotten down to only 130 pounds. And despite the last 5 years of his life being free of his personal demon, alcohol, the many years of abuse had probably wreaked havoc. On Friday he went into cardiac arrest, was revived, and placed on life support. His family made the devastating decision to remove that support this morning. I am truly heartbroken about this loss, and yet thankful for the time I was able to share with him. The service is planned for Wednesday, my father's birthday. I've been strong all day, but now that everyone is in bed, I am a blubbering mess. Please send me some strength for tomorrow and keep us all in your thoughts.

Below is a picture of me with David Toigo, another friend that grew up on the same street with them, and David Yeager is the one behind me. This photo was taken the night after my dad's memorial service. I had a great time that night hanging out with those guys.

"If I don't see you again in this world. I'll meet you in the next. Don't be late." ~Jimi Hendrix

Love is in the air...

Well, the kids had a fun Valentine's Day.. Mostly...I had purchased Grace a pettiskirt a few months ago. They are the latest fashion "must have" for little girls right now. They are so stinkin' cute for pictures and perfect for little princesses. They can be quite pricey ( http://www.girlygaloreboutique.com/beameblpipei.html), but I scored one for Grace at the bargain price of $25.00. I just knew she would love it, since she likes to play dress up and is such a girly-girl. I couldn't have been more wrong. Not only does she not like it, she actually hates it. Here's the pic I took of her at school in it. She was in hysterics b/c she wanted to take it off. Shortly after this picture was taken, she changed into her jean skirt.

Saturday morning we went to a birthday party for Grace's friend Ty. It was at one of those inddor jumphouse places. The kids had a lot of fun. And I must say that Ty is the cutest little cowboy I have ever seen.

Sunday we headed headed over to Ms. Melanie's house so Wes could help move some of Ivy's belongings into storage. It was great to see Wendy and Brian who were in town from Georgia, and Melanie never fails to crack me up. The kids had fun playing in her treehouse.

Grace doing "Gig Em'"

Hunter telling her that we don't do that. We do "Hook Em'!"

So the guys finally finished loading the 26 foot U-Haul and we took a break to eat some dinner. The guys were in the backyard and Hunter and Brian were pasiing the football when......Brian's wedding ring fell off. (double click on the picture to see it larger)

No need to worry folks. The ring was found by Wendy's mom. Thanks for the effort guys! So, that was our exciting week.

White Trash Wednesday #7

Well, my dear friend Rebecca shared this picture with me that she recently snapped at a hockey game. I'm not even sure where to begin...

Okay...WTF is a Hog Hunter? Is that his cute way of saying he likes big girls? I guess his look does kind of remind me of "Dog the Bounty Hunter". Maybe he's a Dog Wannabe. And who knew you could buy a leather ponytail wrap for your mullet? I think it even has snaps on it. Pretty fancy schmancy if you ask me. And then we have the part of this picture that has the song from Sesame Street, "One of these things just doesn't belong here..." playing over and over in my head....The Park Place Motors hat. For those who don't know, Park Place is a luxury car dealership in Dallas. And lets' be honest, there is nothing about this man that screams luxury. Maybe the first 50 people through the door at the hockey game got a free hat that night.

Note::: Please feel free to e-mail me with pics for WT Wednesday.

Livin La Vida Loca

This week has been crazy, but I have some fun stuff to share with all of you. First of all, my dear friend Shirley had her baby last Wednesday. Devin Dakota was born via c-section at 1:30 in the afternoon weighing 6 pounds 12 ounces and 18 and 1/2 inches long. She is a beautiful little girl and we are all so happy that she is here.

Please keep this sweet baby girl and her family in your prayers. I don't feel comfortable at this time speaking publicly about the challenges they are facing--just know that there are some unexpected challenges that they are facing. They are a family that believes in the power of prayer, and they could certainly use any good thoughts you have to spare.

In other exciting news, Grace got into her first bar fight. Just kidding. Actually she fell out of her wagon, and her face had a meeting with the sidewalk.

I'm busy baking a ridiculous amount of cookies and brownies right now for my kids class parties (and for us too of course). Tomorrow is Valentine's Day so be sure to hug your honey and your kiddos.