Happy 35th Birthday, My Sweetie!

I still love you a lot. Even after all this time. Actually, I'm pretty sure I love you more now.

This photo was taken by Shannon. When my hair was still long.

Moon

I've been crazy busy lately, but one of the highlights of my downtime has been looking through Elijah's new telescope. We got the crescent moon in focus the other night and it was incredible how clear it was. We could see each crater perfectly. What a cool experience for all of us! Can't wait to do it again (preferably when it's a bit warmer out. ;)

P.S. I found this photo at the Lunar and Planetary Institute.

My Parents Went to Egypt

and they got a little write up, along with these two pictures in the Sunday Tennessean.
Very cool. I pasted the article below.


"A Christian organization that my wife, Joan Del, and I are involved with treated us to an 11-day January junket to Egypt. We experienced the myriad obligatory and fascinating tours of 3000-4700 year-old temples and tombs extending along the Nile River. We saw not only the young King Tutankamun’s gold-encrusted sarcophagus in the Cairo Museum, but also his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, the burial site of at least 68 Egyptian Pharaohs. We even braved the steep, tiny, sweltering, seemingly interminable tunnel leading to the interment chamber underneath one of the Great Pyramids. Our four night Nile cruise from Luxor to Aswan revealed a stark contrast between the lush green river banks, 75-200 feet wide, and the ever-present Sahara Desert just on the other side. Since rainfall is limited to less than 1/5 inch per year, the Nile is Egypt’s only source of water. It made us truly appreciative of Tennessee. We now have firsthand knowledge of this ancient land’s historic and cultural treasures, but the true treasures of Egypt are the people we were introduced to, and the main reason for the trip. We will not soon forget them." - Jeff Brock, Brentwood, Tenn.

We got a kitty

Our neighbor found her. Apparently she had been wandering around for quite some time. She was very hungry and her fur was matted. But she's sweet and loves laps, and kids, and sleeping in my bed. I named her Wilma.

I am sooo tired from being at the Nashville Zoo all day....with everyone else in the whole city! But we got to see the two visiting tiger cubs (pictured.) Oh my, what cuties. I want a pet tiger.
Just kidding.
Maybe in heaven ;)

What's up?

The cold is back, so I've just been snuggling with my babies.

New

I have new jewelry in the shop, and a new model, my lovely sister, Annalise.

Countdown to the Derby

Elijah's Cubscout Pinewood Derby is this weekend, so he has been working on his car (with his father's help, of course.) Needless to say, all the boys are excited by the upcoming race. And I'm excited that they're excited.

Happy Birthday Emet!

Today he turns 3! I can't believe time has gone by so fast. We celebrated with "his Noa" (as he refers to his BFF) and today we are going to the McDonald's playground with family. I certainly relish these early birthdays, 'cause toddlers are so easy to please!

We Have Puppies!

Our American Bulldogs, Fisher and Twiggy, had babies! Just two this time, but they are as precious as ever - and so small!

The Lost Post

I was saving this picture to post over Christmas, but that was when my computer broke. Better late than never, right? This is my husband's grandmother (on the right) screen printing Christmas cards in 1952. Cool, right? I thought so.

Oh, the lights

The kids and I decorated our tree last night. Seth went outside and took pictures.

There's nothing cuter

than a little boy in an oversized Titans helmet.

Let's Play Dress Up

We like to dress up for Halloween, but I'm not the kind of person who normally buys costumes for the kids. Generally we make our outfits from whatever toys and gear we have lying around the house...and we use a lot of imagination. This year, Emet was Spiderman (easy, because we started collecting Spiderman stuff with Kaleb, then Elijah...) Elijah became Obi-Wan Kenobi by turning Kaleb's old Harry Potter Quidditch Robe inside out and donning a lightsaber, and Kaleb...well Kaleb was scary. Seth painted him up with face paint. Not my favorite look - but he was pleased.
I found a vintage skirt that I re-worked quite a bit to make the waist fit me (women must have had waists as thick as spines in the 50's - or else wore corsets...) and I became Donna Reed.

All His Own

Kaleb's birthday was earlier this month. Remember when I said we had something up our sleeve? Well, that something was Kaleb's own room! He went on a camping trip with the Boy Scouts the weekend of his birthday and when he came home the front studio had been transformed. We figured a pre-teen needed his own space...and we were right. His favorite thing to do is sit in his room and listen to music. Typical. But we were excited to give him this wonderful gift of "alone time."
Elijah, by default, also got his own room (for now.) He has decided to sleep in his tent from now on. Cozy.

Bat Cave, NC

I brought my sister and my mom with me to North Carolina. We drove the mountain highways through the quaint, picturesque towns of Bat Cave, Chimney Rock and Lake Lure. I've decided I want to move there.

Happy Birthday Kaleb!

He's turning 12 tomorrow, and since I won't be here, we're celebrating today. We have a few things up our sleeve that he doesn't know about...hee, hee...shhhh.

Those Golden Rule Days....

Today was the kids first full day back to school. I got tons of things done while they were gone...and I'm exhausted. They are too.

Image from here on flickr. Which, incidentally, is a really lovely (and geometrical) photo stream, so take a browse if you get the chance.

Abracadabra

The kids practiced all day, set up a stage, and even made fliers that they put on all the doors to announce their magic show that started precisely at 4pm. They performed some good tricks from their magic kit, and also some crazy ones ("for this trick, I'm going to ask you to close your eyes for a second...") Seth and I both got to be volunteers from the audience.
Too bad the pictures didn't turn out great. The little hams kept moving...Ahhh, good times, good times.

Happy Anniversary

We've been married 9 years today. It's gone by really fast.