2012

I have seen that a lot of people choose a word as their focus for the year.  I am hoping to bookend 2012 with my first half and my first full marathons. I chose Run, because it is my current focus.  It also pairs nicely with my work word of the year Challenge.  I figured that not only will running encompass much of my year but that I will be reminded to run headlong into any challenges that come my way.  Also for my mother hopefully I will run back to blogging on a more consistent basis. 

Thoughts

I haven't posted in a while, I spent summer just enjoying my daughter and our time together.  I have stopped the 365 finding that it felt like a chore instead of an adventure, I did however get some amazing pictures and will love looking back on the memories they bring up. 

Aubrey is now reaching an age where all answers to questions seem to toe the line between giving her what she needs and too much information that may scare her.  This is definitely apparent this week as she has expressed her desire to learn about the events of 9/11/01. I have tried letting her lead the conversation but her inquiring mind requires information I have a hard time sharing with her.  It has also lead to theological discussions I am quite sure I wasn't able to grasp at her tender age.  She is handling all this with a grace, insight, and level of understanding I still don't possess. Unfortunately for Aubrey she knows what our Armed Services do and that allows her to understand the outright violence that happened on and as a result of this attack.  I pray that God continues to guide us as we navigate the curiosity of our child and my need to protect her from the bad in the world.  We chose to watch the Nick News Special with her last night.  Her class also watched this today. They sent us all a discussion guide that will hopefully help us as well. We chose to share a few stories of family members and how their lives were changed as well.  

Thanks for letting me ramble on and on hopefully I will be better at updating the blog. This picture is from Aubs praying for a friend.  I thought it fitting for today's post.

How To Give Your Mama A Nervous Breakdown 101

Case Study: 6/11/11 Subject: 8 year old A.B. and nearly 34 year old M.B.

M.B.: How is your room cleaning coming along?
A.B.: It is going well.
M.B.: Did you just brush your hair?
A.B.: (Sheepishly) Yes.
M.B.: I should probably come and check the progress.
A.B.: Okay.

M.B. found when she walked into the room that all that had been accomplished in 20 minutes was the making of the bed and previously mentioned brushing of the hair.  It should be noted that the other parent in this equation had been home with A.B. the other night and had thought the room was clean. (S.B. in his defense does not know the super-secret hiding spots.)

I promise the 365 will be up soon.  I have taken all but one but had somehow filled my hard drive.  That is all better now so pictures will be up soon.

Project 365: 2/2/11

Menchie's outside in February.  I just love living in Florida.  Do you notice all the fruit on top of my frozen yogurt? That is so it feels healthier.  I usually get the Dole Pineapple and Vanilla.  Yum.  Today we were celebrating Straight As again.  Since we are growing a little nerd she was also rewarded with two new books from the bookstore.  We managed to get 6 books for $18 so I can't complain.  Four were for me, they had their classic collection paperbacks for $2.97 each.  I also scored a copy of Alice in Wonderland for $1.

Project 365: 2/1/11

Part One of the Straight A reward.  Aubs wanted to go out for ice cream but Monday and Tuesday nights are dance nights around here.  She settled for Dibs and a promise of Menchie's on Wednesday.

Project 365: 1/31/11

One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell. I can't quite put my finger on what I loved about this book but I could not put it down.  I love the show Sex And The City but wasn't in love with the book.  I read 4 Blondes last year and loved it also.  I may have to give Sex And The City another try. Maybe once I get to my 52 new titles.

Project 365: 1/30/11

This is what I came home to today.  A freshly showered kiddo and some High School Musical karaoke.

Project 365: 1/29/11

The Girl in her new favorite reading spot.  In an effort to encourage her to read books at her reading level instead of the reading level of her classmates, Mr. T. formulated a plan that included Harry Potter and a presentation. She is also obsessed with Show and Tell.  My copy of Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone has been lent to another family, so she is reading my copy from Britain.  She keeps asking about the name change Philosopher's Stone and why the artwork is different.  It was a good lesson in Artist's perspective.

Project 365: 1/28/11

My schedule this week has allowed me to be home a number of the evenings.  Aubs and I had Make Your Own Pizza night.

Project 365: 1/27/11

MMMMM. Homemade turkey chili.

Project 365: 1/26/11

I actually read this last week.  I thought it might just be for the Kindle until I found it on goodreads. I got through it in one sitting.  Having many friends in the EMS field I downloaded this as a free book special.  It was quite funny and I am sure that my EMS friends would find it even more so.

Project 365: 1/25/11

This is the food item that makes me feel the most sorry for those that don't have SuperTarget.  These are their boneless buffalo wings and my goodness are they delicious.

Project 365: 1/24/11

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson.  I must say I think I will miss Lisbeth and Mikael. I have learned that I do like crime/mystery novels, this one especially.

Project 365: 1/23/11

Family Game Night.

Project 365: 1/22/11

This made me laugh so hard.  Who knew that you could hook an iPod up to an amp? Apparently Shawn knew this and thought it would be helpful for when I want to use the Bowflex to work out.

Project 365: 1/21/11

I am pretty sure this cold rain is not the kind of wet they had in mind, nor is the wind the wild.

Project 365: 1/20/11

I almost used a sick day today.  Then I thought what better way to show off my Nightmare Before Christmas Snuggie.  I figure Jack Skellington negates the uncoolness of the Snuggie.  That and my freeze baby tendencies lend themselves to giving up fashion trends for warmth.

Project 365: 1/19/11

Holy Cow, what a gorgeous day. I snapped this on the way to my car.  I love the little plane between the fronds.  I didn't even see it there until I uploaded the picture.

Project 365: 1/18/11

Opening her gifts from GiGi. I just love that she calls my grandma GiGi, it really does suit her much better than Great Grandma.

Project 365: 1/17/11

The convenient thing of having a birthday that sometimes falls on a holiday, is that your best friend that lives on the other side of the country will also have the day off.  The girls had a breakfast/lunch date via iChat.

8

Dearest Aubrey Beth,
Today you are eight years old.  I can hardly believe you are the same little baby that they handed me in the hospital.  Every now and then when you are sleeping I glimpse that once not so tiny baby.  Most of the time though I see the young woman you are becoming.  You have one of the most generous hearts I have ever seen in a child.  You are always wanting to help and would give up the shirt on your back if someone needed it. 
In the words of our New England family, you are wicked smart. You are reading at around a sixth grade level and would read all the time if we would let you.  You are continuing to dance and have started taking two classes this year.  You are super excited to get a dressing room at recital this year.   You auditioned for the school play last week and were cast in the chorus.  You will be an Oompa Loompa for your first non-dance performance.
You miss Michaela terribly, as do I, and she is still the best friend you have.  I hope you two never lose that. I am excited to see what eight brings us.
Love always and forever,
Mama.

Project 365: 1/16/11

Are we a musical family? Why do you ask?
The girls enjoyed performing multiple concerts for us.  This was not the best picture of the bunch but Keira's face was priceless.

Project 365: 1/15/11

Five of the cutest slumber party attendees I have ever seen.

Project 365: 1/14/11

Aubs and Michaela's schedules finally allowed for a nice long conversation. We sure miss our Cowans.

Project 365: 1/13/11

Birthday Shopping for the Girl.  She loves clothes and I love H&M's prices.

Project 365: 1/12/11

The Girl practicing for her audition.  They are doing Willy Wonka Kids. 

Project 365: 1/11/11

Mr. Anthony made the picture I had set up seem like it should be abandoned as soon as I saw him napping behind the desk.   This young man works very hard and deserves the opportunity to sleep whenever he can catch a nap.  I also thought I deserve to take this shot and post it since he regularly embarrasses us students on Youtube and facebook.

Project 365:1/10/11

Many Bloody Returns the first book of 2011.  This is a collection of short stories about Vampire Birthdays.  The collection is compiled by Charlaine Harris, the author of the Sookie Stackhouse or True Blood stories.  I loved some of these and was indifferent about others.  It has made me very excited for her new book that comes out in a few weeks.

Project 365: 1/9/11

Sisters of the Heart.  This was my Christmas gift from Dawn.  It could not have come at a more perfect time.  It will hopefully help me to remember that I am loved.

Project 365: 1/8/11

It was a beautiful day driving in to work.  It was 72 degrees and I was thankful to live in a state where the weather was this gorgeous on a random day in January.

Project 365: 1/7/11

Thankfully, I put the point and shoot in my handbag. I ended up working a double and would have had to miss today otherwise.  This is the Giant Ugly Ornament LED Tree that sits at the entrance to my mall.  For some reason it is the first decoration up and the last one taken down.

Project 365: 1/6/11

I let Aubs give me a makeover today.  She asked that I close my eyes for the picture so everyone could really see her eye makeup job.  She is also the guest photographer for today.

Project 365: 1/5/11

Our new collection of Butterbeer glasses.  They have a commemorative glass for special events.  Shawn managed to collect six of them.  Being the Harry Potter fan that I am I jokingly said "We should use these as our new glasses" Shawn agreed so here they are.

Project 365: 1/4/11

Shawn with the Harry Potter Frog Choir.  Oh, how I love the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Shawn's company party was here this year.  We had it all to ourselves.  They set the food out to look like the tables in the Great Hall.  There was also hard cider aflowing.  That may or may not be what prompted me to exclaim "A Jacka** Hair" when asked what the core of Shawn's wand was.  This may seem mean but was said with love and is a joke that goes back to our first date and an unfortunate balloon artist.

Project 365: 1/3/11

We attended Shawn's annual Owner's Conference at the Buena Vista Palace.  It is a lovely facility and gets bonus points for being within walking distance of Downtown Disney. I really liked the way the sun made the building seem to glow.  I am quickly realizing why photographers refer to that hour before sunset as Golden Hour.  I love it.

Project 365: 1/2/11

I have been feeling a little down about my weight after the holidays and cruise.  I have gained a few pounds and after all the work I put in to lose it, I was feeling defeated.  However, tonight Aubs asked if she could try on my shirt because it looked like it may fit her.  I wore this on our Mexico day of the cruise.  I figure if my shirt can fit a seven year old, I can't be doing that bad.  Who knew a kiddo playing dress up could be so good for the psyche?

Update: How did I not notice this was my 700th post?

1/1/11 Project 365

I have decided to join Marie in the Project 365 challenge.  I made it through December, since it supposedly only takes 21 days to make a habit I should be set.  We'll see.  I would also like to read 52 new titles this year.  I am going to incorporate them into Project 365 so I have  a good record of when I finished each book.  Last year I used goodreads and I kept forgetting to update the finished date.  I did read around 46  new books as well as re-reading some old favorites.  I am starting with the final book in the Stieg Larrson Millenium Trilogy.  I am about a chapter in and just as hooked as I was with the first two. The bookmark was a lovely gift from my girl.

12/31/10 December Photo-A-Day

I can't believe I took and posted all 31 photos.  I also have a ton of bonus shots from the cruise and holidays.  This is what I woke up to today.  Aubs and Shawn were playing PS3 Modracers and had downloaded the OSU race.  I believe this shot is as they are on the way into the Shoe.

12/30/10 December Photo-A-Day

I cannot believe I am posting this.  I thought it was hilarious.  I thought the best way to take a self portrait and show off my new flat iron would be to set the camera to auto.  This was obviously a bad choice since I forgot that also means the flash can unexpectedly turn on.

12/29/10 December Photo-A-Day

My three girlies.  I love my daughter and my nieces.  It is so lovely having them on this side of town again.  I can go and borrow them whenever I want.  Aubs is obviously very sad they are so close.

12/28/10 December Photo-A-Day

Girls Night In! We had a slumber party with Kait and Keira.  It was a lovely evening filled with laughter and dancing.

12/27/10 December Photo-A-Day

Last load of laundry.  This is all I have left from the trip and surrounding days.  Please ignore the folded baskets of laundry in the background.  At least they are folded.

12/26/10 December Photo-A-Day

Holiday Dinner sliders served with green beans and mashed potatoes.  We had an amazing Christmas dinner of steak and baked potatoes.  Shawn still was in the mood for a turkey dinner.  I was feeling wiped out from the week so I came up with these.  They are turkey sliders topped with cheddar cheese and cranberry sauce.  Aubs loved them.

12/25/10 December Photo-A-Day

Santa brought the Michael Jackson Experience: Special Edition with glove.   She is currently insisting on wearing her Fedora to play Smooth Criminal.

12/24/10

Who knew that having a husband that is a percussionist would come in so handy while trying to hide gifts?  This also marked the first year that we had all presents wrapped before the middle of the night on Christmas Day.

12/23/10 December Photo-A-Day

Supposed to be wrapping gifts.  I was otherwise detained. (Work schedule shifted again.  No worries it is all for a good cause.  Baby Sya was welcomed into the world.)

12/22/10 December Photo-A-Day

 Since Aubs lives far away from snow my parents started her a snowman collection.