Flower And Garden Festival 2008 Take 1

Yesterday we went to Epcot. It was supposed to be a visit to enjoy the Festival however it rained so hard we left after we ate lunch. These are a few of the pics I snapped before the rain came and didn't stop.

Creativity Abounds

We have had a very creative weekend. I have sort of grounded myself from knitting, and by grounded I mean injured myself in such a way that the splint the very nice doctor made me wear does not really allow for knitting. It also wouldn't help the sprain that I have. I have however been able to scrapbook. If you have the right tools your thumb is not as necessary as it is in knitting. As as result we have had a Scraptacular weekend. It seems Jenny and I created very smallish scrapbooking monsters a few weeks ago. We set them loose with a few 12x12 pages, hole punches, stickers, tape runners, and scrap paper. Since creativity is encouraged Jenny inquired about a Mommy and Me scrapbook class. We took the kids on Saturday and they each made their own pages. It was very fun for the girls, and trying for the mommies. It is difficult to embrace the randomness of a 5 year old scrapbooker. However we all made it through and the girls pages are perfect. Once we got home I started on a mini book, which by the way are my new favorite thing. I made two this weekend. I will try to post some pictures soon.

Set Your Tivo's

NKOTB is going to be on the Today Show on Friday Morning. OMG, I can hardly contain my excitement. I told Shawn that this is the most important thing I have recorded since I was 13 and held my tape recorder up to The New Mickey Mouse Club.

Prayers

Please keep baby Carter in your prayers. My mom said that they may have to admit him to the hospital because his biliruben levels are elevated. He has had a biliblanket for a couple of days, he looked like a glo-worm, but his levels aren't coming down. Also some prayers for my Mama she is on her way to pick up Michael. Thanks.

Startled

While this is very cool, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23818541, I was totally unprepared. Aubs and I nearly jumped out of our skin. For those of you that don't know the shuttle is moving so quickly over Central Florida that we experience dual sonic booms just prior to the landing. These booms have gotten quite a range of reactions from me. The first time I heard them I thought my Father in Law had fallen upstairs. After that I was okay and they didn't bother me for quite a while. After Columbia there was silence, that is how we knew something was wrong before we turned on the news. The first landing after Columbia brought tears to my eyes. Tonight however I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Books

I have been reading books nonstop. I am almost regretting the resumption of regular television. I just finished The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory. I have also discovered a real problem with liking a series of books or a certain Author that causes me to quickly run to the library, used bookstore, or www.abebooks.com to obtain the rest of the series. After I finished one of the Temperance Brennan books, the basis for Bones, I went back to the used book store and bought a second. After finishing that I purchased seven more books in the series at AbeBooks, an online used bookstore, for under $30 including shipping. Saturday I picked up another book by Phillipa Gregory. I am hoping to read all of these this summer and cut way back on evening TV time. I am hoping that Aubs soon realizes she can read books without someone else in the room.

Redeemed

Back in December I tried to buy my beautiful daughter some Hannah Montana tickets. They sold out in under 30 seconds or some other nearly impossible amount of time. I promised her I would try to do something equally as cool and would try to take her to the Disney Channel Games (DCG) tapings where she could see all of the Disney Stars. Last week on I noticed the Theme Park Rangers Blog had a notice for Annual Passholders to get first dibs on tickets to the DCG Concert. I put my name in without high hopes and said a little prayer that I could do something extraordinary for my baby. I had figured I wouldn't hear back for a while but this morning I found that I had been granted (Hey it was a Disney Wish) 4 tickets to see the Cheetah Girls, The Jonas Brothers, and a few surprise Disney Stars. YAY!!! The Jonas Brothers concert sold out much like Hannah Montana's so I feel like I accomplished something great.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone.

We have had a great day today. Aubs started the morning hunting for her basket, the Easter Bunny even hopped a basket to her from Nanny and Papa. We had a quick visit with Grandpa and then had a nice afternoon nap. We are ordering pizza for dinner, a bit untraditional but we thought it would be fun. Aubs and I went scootering while Shawn mowed the lawn. We were going to go bike riding but when I was getting mine out of the garage, Aubs managed to ride into a large mud puddle. She was covered from nose to toes with sand and fresh cut grass. We have also discovered that The Girl is in need of a new bike. She is getting a bit to tall to safely turn corners on the bike, hence the trip into the large puddle.

Welcome To The World

Carter Liam
Born 3:04 PM
7 lbs 8 oz.
19 inches

I hope to have a picture soon so all can see the most assured handsomeness of my new nephew.

Lost

I seem to have lost touch with my blog this week. Sorry for anyone looking for an update. Here is the quick run down: Aubs has a cold, I learned some new tricks in Tap class, I've read another two and a half books, worked on two more knitting projects, I am designing another, and I channeled my inner Rachael Ray. I wanted tilapia the other night and decided to try something new. I put the fish on the grill with a bit of lemon, garlic, and salt, while that was cooking I cut some grape tomatoes in half and put them in a pan with a splash of white wine and crushed red pepper and cooked them until warm. The whole process took about 10 minutes and it was delicious.

Super Good Day

Yesterday was awesome. It wasn't one specific thing just and overall exceptional day.

1. Ballet Class: This is where we start every Saturday. Aubrey was in a horrible mood last week and the teacher asked that Grumpy not return to class this week. Aubs had a much better week and when she got out of class her favorite people were there. Amanda, Gillian, and Miss Erica. Aubrey told Miss Lynne that she does not need to call Amanda Miss Amanda because she is her babysitter. They call all the teachers and assistants "Miss"

2. Target: This is a given that a trip to Target makes it a good day. We bought a baby gift and had our Starbucks. While we were in Starbucks we saw my old manager's wife and son. I hadn't seen them in 2-3 years so it was really great to catch up for a few minutes.

3. Old Navy: Aubrey had received a gift card for Christmas. She found one beautiful dress, 2 t-shirts, and a wallet all for her $25. She is a shopper in the making. I also found fabulous sandals for $9.49 and pedal pushers.

4. IKEA: I got it in my head that I only wanted the IKEA wrapping paper. It is beautiful and thick and did I mention cost effective? While there we had a lovely lunch in the cafe. We also picked up a gift for a friends birthday in June and a popsicle maker for $2.49.

5. Bad Ass Coffee Company: Kim at work has been raving about this place for a long time. I decided to give it a try yesterday on the way home. It was FABULOUS! I tried a chocolate cherry mocha. YUM. If anyone else should happen across one of these I highly recommend a stop.

6. Phone-call: While drinking Hawaiian coffee I decided to call my cousin in Hawaii. It was great to talk to Gwenn for a few minutes. They love Hawaii and we had a good laugh about our parents and sisters being snowed in.

7. Treadmill Time: I went 4 miles yesterday. I am using Hal Higdon's 15K Novice Runner training program. I finished in just under 67 minutes. This may not seem fast but when I started I was at a solid 20 minute mile. In just 3 weeks of the training program I have shaved off 3 minutes/mile. (I am also still able to move today!)

8. Family Dinner: We ordered Chinese food and had a lovely quiet dinner.

9. Reading Time: I finished my second book of the week. the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon. Jennifer lent me the book. I really liked this one. It was a bit strange and hard to follow for the first few chapters. The book is written from the point of view of and autistic young man. On Wednesday I finished Why I Wore Lipstick To My Mastectomy by Geralyn Lucas I am on a bit of a True Life/Empowering book kick. I read Jenny McCarthy's Louder Than Words: A Mother's Healing Journey Through Autism a few weeks ago. These two books are incredible stories of faith, strength, and two very ballsy women. If you are feeling down at all I recommend picking up one of these two books. You will feel like you can do anything when you are done.

I even went to bed at a decent hour so that the time change didn't kick my butt.

Pickle Soup

I have the greatest daughter ever. I stayed home today because I wasn't feeling well. Aubrey promised she would make me pickle soup. This is her special creation for when one of us is sick. She makes the soup in her blue kitchen, the reason it is pickle soup is because when she first got the kitchen that was the only type of pretend food she had to cook with. I love my girl.

New Nickname

Jenny and I went to visit our friend Johanna yesterday. She has a nearly three year old who decided I needed a new name yesterday. She insisted on calling me Ducky. It was adorable. She can say Missy just fine but definitely preferred to Boogie with Ducky. One would think that Missy is a pretty easy name to say however many a small child has come up with their own version of my name. Here is a random sampling of the many treasured names given to me by some very special people*:

1. Mimmy
2. Ninny
3. Ducky
4. Aunt Mithy**

* Andrew and Kiera I cannot wait to add your versions to this list.
** Addendum: That is from Michael, although he never really wants to tell me my name when he is talking to me. Helen I did leave off Meleeha because it was not from a small child.

Spring Cleaning AKA Another Mystery Solved

Today I started with the Spring Cleaning. You may remember from last year the great Dishwasher Epiphany. This year I solved two mysteries. Today I took out our Easter/Spring decorations. Aubrey also has quite a few Bunnies since her first major holiday was Easter. While cleaning up today and pulling out the bunny collection I found no less than 8 pair of dirty socks under her bed. I realized that she is going into her room at the end of the day and taking them off. We have discussed a new rule of sock removing, it must be done within arms reach of the hamper. I'll let you know how that works out for me. The second mystery is what happens to all of my hair bands. We moved the couch to clean under and behind and I found 10 or so hair bands under there. I am not quite sure how they work their way from my head to the underside of the couch but at least I now know where to look.

New Word

Aubs has been learning all sorts of things lately. I am sure she is going to be quite musical as she can hear a song once and repeat parts of it almost immediately. This is something I must remember when playing the Rent soundtrack. It is rather inappropriate for a child to sing "Tango Maureen". Oops.

As she grows there seem to be less and less funny mispronunciations, however she pulled this one out today: Cruckage. What is a cruckage you ask, they are the things you use to walk when one of your feet are broken.

A sight to behold

I noticed a beautiful sunset on the drive home. I ran in the house and grabbed my camera and Aubs and I went outside and snapped a few pictures.

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby K!

Lunar Eclipse

These are a couple of my attempts at using my tripod and different aperture settings to capture the eclipse.

As Promised

Confirmation

Every parent wants to think that other people enjoy their child as much as they do. In the past week I have been fortunate enough that two very important non-family people in Aubrey's life have let us know that they too adore The Girl. We received her report card today, she is doing very well, and in the teacher's comment section was this "Aubrey is an absolute joy to teach!". Last week we were talking to her ballet teacher about which class she will go into next year. Her birthday is on the borderline for which class she can take. Miss Lynn said that they usually move them by grade she said that when they start first grade they will move up. When I told her Aubs was starting Kindergarten this year her face lit up and she gave Aubs a huge hug because she gets her for another year. Being a working mom is quite a struggle some days and I wonder if I am doing what I need to for Aubs. Weeks like this help immensely in knowing that she is becoming a child that not only our family adores but also the people around her.

*Her thumbs are turned out like that because Kristi, the Marine, told her that her hands needed to be in fists with the thumbs out along the seam of her pants when she stands at attention. After a quick chuckle Jesse, the Airman, helped her stand at attention with the proper form.

More Randomness

1. Yesterday was "Crazy Parent" day at the dance studio. They actually encourage us to bring in our cameras and document the moment. Surprisingly enough all of the parents in our group behaved themselves.

2. I love California Pizza Kitchen. I especially love the tostada pizza. Last night I tried to translate the recipe into single serving size. I had never tried to replicate something like that and was quite happy with the results. Aubrey even ate all of her dinner without a fight. We will definitely be making that again.

3. I burned my hand today and am typing one handed. If I take the ice off I want to scream in pain.

4. I hope to post pictures of yesterday soon but #3 has seriously slowed me down. I have a crazy to do list all of which requires two hands.

5. I am feeling totally inspired by my new Simple Scrapbooks.

6. This is a picture from last year's parent's day.

Random Cuteness

I have not been very good at posting lately so I thought I would make up for it with a cute picture of Aubs and an update on what is going on with the Barrieaus.

1. Aubrey is still completely obsessed with Marines. We found a book in the Library all about the Marine Corps. She was so excited that she wanted to call Jake immediately. It quickly became a lesson in time zones.

2. I have started my 15k training program. To make this easier we also bought a treadmill. While I live in the greater Orlando area we are in an area that is still being developed. The closest gym with treadmills is a good 20 minutes away. I really wanted to commit to this training routine and this was the best way to do so. Also Shawn will be able to use the treadmill if he wants.

3. Healthy Food Is Great. With my dad's health scare, Aubs' Healthy Food Unit in school, and my training we are really focused on eating right. I am working on perfecting no salt added recipes and cutting back on red meat. It is going much better that I thought it would. Being the smart girl that she is Aubrey will correct us if something we pick up is not healthy. However she is the heaviest salter in the house. I am definitely working on that, she is discovering she likes spicy foods making it much easier to cut back her salt intake.

4. Recital is approaching. Aubs and I have started learning our recital dances. She is of course picking it up much faster than I.

5. The house re-organization has started. The ultimate goal is to end up with a craft room in the back. I feel like that Sesame Street sketch where Ernie breaks the cookie jar. (It is on YouTube if you don't remember it) We started by taking Aubrey's old dressers and putting them in our closet. I have to organize the other 1/2 of my closet to put a third dresser in there from the room that will be a craft room. After that I only have a desk to find a home for. My goal is to rearrange everything while getting rid of very little furniture, especially if it is storage type furniture. You don't realize how much you use a basement until you don't have one. I will post pictures soon of our progress.

Our Airman

A few weekends ago we went to see Jesse graduate from Air Force basic training. It was great to see him and we are very proud of him. An unexpected bonus from the trip was that I was able to work on a few more of the 30 project goals.

#6 To see places where history happened

#13 To be there for more family events

#28 To see all 50 states

New Look

I thought it was time for a bit of a new look around here. I am preparing some redecorating for the house and I thought I should start with the blog.

She Should Have Been A Cow Girl

We went to Texas for Jesse's graduation. I could not resist the urge to buy the girl a hat. She even got to ride on a long horn steer.

Nearly 12 Years Too Late.

When I was in college a lot of the friends I made while working at SeaWorld kept talking about this great musical they had seen. One of the guys loved it so much he even went and auditioned. I then pretty much forgot about it and moved to Florida, far away from my musically inclined friends and with only one theater that can handle a Broadway sized show.
Fast forward to 2005 and Rent became a feature film. I had really wanted to see it in the theater but since Aubs has been born my movie going time is usually spent watching shows of the animated variety. I missed the theatrical run as well. When the DVD came out in the spring of 2006 I picked up a copy and didn't watch it because I didn't read the label correctly and got full screen. Not usually a problem but all of the televisions in our house are widescreen. Oops.
So now I have had this DVD for two years and it was still in the wrapper. I decided that while flying to and from Ohio I should catch up on some movie watching. I was hooked. Only then did I read the articles letting the world know that Rent was about to end a 12 year Broadway run. I have been plotting a way to get to NYC before the end. I know that just isn't practical but it doesn't hurt to dream.
I was telling my coworker about my dilemma and she suggested either flying up on a Wednesday, catching the matinee, and flying back home that night or checking out the tour schedule. As fun as I thought it would be to take a day trip to NYC the better solution presented itself when I noticed that the tour is coming to Sarasota and Clearwater. YAY. I just made it.

Moving On

It has been a rough few months but I have decided it is time to move forward and stop looking back and questioning why. It is happening and that is that. I am dealing with the loss of someone I once knew and while that person is still around I cannot dwell on who they used to be. One day they may come back but for now we are all moving forward together one man down so to speak.

I had a great day today. It is amazing how sometimes just saying something out loud can be so very helpful. It sure didn't hurt that it seems my favorite band from my tween years may be back together!!! Nothing but happy memories filled my head today. Even the ones that included the person who has caused the pain didn't bring tears. Thank you to all my family and friends who have stood by me and my family during this time. I will never adequately be able to express in words what you mean to me. We will survive all of this and be stronger.

5

Dearest AubreyBeth,
Today you are five. You have had an amazing year. You started pre-K and are loving every minute of it. You have learned to read and continued to dance. I have heard the saying "A Song In Your Heart" many times, I however did not truly understand that until this year. You are always singing, writing songs, and bursting into song at any moment. You danced for the first time on stage and didn't experience and ounce of stage fright. The mothers in your class are convinced that one day your name will be one they see in lights. We have only began to realize how very smart you are and thanks to your wonderful teacher are learning ways to encourage and nurture your academic needs. I find myself afraid that we may not be able to keep up with you at the rate you are going. After you told the boys at Miss Sherry's that you are smarter than them we had a very good talk. I let you know that we should not tell people that even if you are smarter because it may hurt their feelings. You quickly responded that you know you are smart because Mrs. Pate uses you as a helper when she teaches the things you already know. Daddy gave you a new nickname this year and I think you love to be called Munchkey. It is funny to me because your Aunt Honey has a very similar nickname.

Five is gearing up to be just as fun. You will start Kindergarten this year. We will travel to Texas together, it will be both of our first times in the Lone Star State. You, Mommy, Aunt Kris, Uncle Danny, and Kait will all share a stage this year during recital. We have tons of fun planned for this year and I can't wait to share every moment with you.

I am so proud of you and the young lady you are becoming. You are a natural leader and we can see by the way the other kids at school interact with you, that you are truly loved and respected by your peer. I can think of nothing better than that. I love you so very much.

I am sure I could write to you all day but I must go pick up your Pinkalicious cupcakes and bring them to your class.

Love Always and Forever,
missy

Conversations With My Four Year Old Final Edition

Mommy: What is going to change when you are five?

Aubs: I can do chores. (Cheering erupting in my mind). When you are five you are almost grown up.

Mommy: What kind of chores can you do?

Aubs: Washing the dishes. I really want to help washing the dishes.

Mommy: Anything else? What's special about being five?

Aubs: I might get another toy.

While walking into Target the other day:

Mommy: What would you like to bring to Texas for Jesse's graduation?

Aubs: I should not bring any camo clothes. The Air Force would not like it if I dressed like a Marine while I am there.

While in Target the other day Aubrey seemed to have some trouble standing up after sitting on the floor. Her pants may have been a bit slippery or she may have just been being a bit dramatic.

Mommy: Get up. (more sliding) Get up now. (more sliding) Aubrey you must get up right now.

Aubs: (with hand raised palm towards me) Don't worry it is nothing a Marine can't handle!! (she of course stood right up)

Here is a hint...

...if you are already having trouble trying to decide which book to read next do not under any circumstances go to a used book store. Yup, I added another to the to read list. I found a book by Kathy Reichs the author whose books the television show Bones is based on. I figured since I cannot watch the show maybe the book will fill the Forensic/Crime show void.

Three In One Day

It must be some sort of Missy record. Three posts in a day. I saw Charissa's reading list and books that she recently posted and realized that I am inspired to post my "To Read List" and also to ask for opinions of which to read next.

First these two books are in process.
1. Wicked by Gregory Maguire. I have been reading this one for a while I can only read a bit at a time before I lose interest for a few weeks. It is also a bit more graphic than I thought it would be.
2. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger. This one is only still in process because I usually travel with it and leave it in my knitting bag and become distracted by another book in my collection.

Here is my list of unread books. As I have two plane trips coming up I figure I should have plenty of reading time.
1.Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. This book fulfills one of my 30 Project goals.
2. 4 Blondes by Candace Bushnell. I love Sex in the City and have read the book. I bought this one a few years ago and put it in the books I have read pile not realizing I hadn't finished. I thought with the Sex in The City movie coming out in May it should be moved into the reading list.
3. Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I have wanted to read this since seeing the movie Serendipity.
4. Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs. I have read both Running With Scissors and Dry and while I at times find it hard to believe that one person can go through all this and survive with such a sense of humor about it all, I am drawn to reading his books.
5.comeback a mother and daughters journey through hell and back By Claire and Mia Fontaine. It is one of the Target Bookmarked selections and they have yet to let me down.

Does anyone have any suggestions of where to start? Also if anyone else is interested in any of these let me know and maybe we can do a book swap.

GO JENNY GO

Jenny and her sister Jessica finished the Disney 1/2 marathon. 13.1 MILES!!!!!!

I will post some pictures soon. I just wanted the world to know how proud of them I am. I was waiting for them at the finish line. I made a sign and took my job as photographer very seriously. I tried to get a picture of all the characters (pun intended :)) that ran the race. By my best count there were a few hundred people in Mouse Ears, 50 Tinkerbells, 5 hula girls, 1 little green alien, 1 green Shrek like thing, 3 Snow Whites only two were girls, 1 Belle, 1 Cinderella, 3 male flamingos in tutus, 1 man in a beer keg hat, 7 pirates, and 1 gladiator. Gladiator is a loose interpretation he was a man in a gold luchador style mask with a cape, boot/spats, and a speedo.

I'm Back...

...at least for today. It has been a very strange week and a half since my parents left. My dad has had a bit of a health scare, and I have been feeling quite helpless being so far away. Thank goodness for SouthWest airlines. This may be a bit of a shameless plug for them but they now offer "Wanna Get Away" fares and I got tickets to go home next weekend for $98 round trip. The doctor says that as long as my dad follows orders, everything should be just fine. I would just feel better if I could see him and give him a hug.
The weekend after that I will be traveling to Texas for Jesse's Air Force Graduation. I am excited because not only do I get to see my aunts but I also get to cross another state off my list working towards #28 on my 30 list and also continuing with #13. I have recently crossed off a few more so I guess I will be posting an update soon.
I will try to update again soon.

One More Shot

My mom and dad are in town and my mom wanted to see the castle lights. Shawn bought me a tripod and this is one of the first shots I tried.

Updates

I have gotten a bit behind with the pictures. I thought I would post a few things that we have been up to the past few weeks.

Christmas Morning

I may not have had a White Christmas but our sunrise was a sight to behold.

Christmas Eve

Aubrey watched Santa on NORAD. She had a ton of fun with this and let us all know that Rudolph must be real because the internet says so.

We went to Uncle Bill's house as is our tradition every year. Aubs continued to track Santa and kept the adults up to date on Santa's location.

Aubrey read part of the "Night Before Christmas" story this year. My Daddy read it to us and Aubs' Daddy tried to read it to her this year but she wanted to read a bit to him.

Cookies and Cocoa

Aubreys Pre-K class had cookie and cocoa time and invited in the kids families. They sang four songs for us, and then we watched them eat the cookies. I don't think any of the adults were brave enough to break through the wall of 4 and 5 year olds to get a cookie.

Aubrey's Gift Wrapping

Aubrey perfected her gift wrapping skills this year. The only problem she ran into was when she tried to grab some tape and realized that she would have to let go of the flap. The above picture is her solution to that problem. I just love watching how her brain works.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Okay, okay this picture was not taken for New Year's but it is the only fireworks picture I have.

May you all have a happy and prosperous 2008.

Nostalgic Christmas

Many of my gifts this year bring me back to a happy place in my childhood. It was a movie Christmas for me. Shawn and Aubs bought me some current favorites, Blu-Ray Harry Potter 1-5, and some childhood classics. I have spent the past two days as time allows watching Sesame Street Old School Volume 1. I also received Volume 2, The Secret of Nimh, The Neverending Story, The Witches, and the Secret Garden.

Merry Christmas!!

Aubrey's Hand Made Christmas

Aubs is a crafter. She loves scrapbooking, making things, and wants to learn to knit. She makes me wonder if these things are really inherited. Part of why I love decorating the tree is because my parents gave me many of our ornaments when I moved out. Decorating the tree is really a time for family history telling. I have one of the ornaments that make my mom think of her dad. I have the ornaments that my mom made out of our mobiles. This year we added Aubrey's first homemade ornament. The only problem I see with this is that it is a family tradition to let you take the ornament with you, and at this point it is way to precious.

She also made a gift for Grampy. She painted an IKEA frame and put on sparkles. We have been working on an Advent Calendar as well. I couldn't find one at the store so we made a Santa's face and she has been adding a cotton ball each day so that on Christmas he will have a full beard.

Awesome News

Aubrey can read. Yup, that's right my four year old daughter can read. It started with a word here and there aided by the picture on the page. Today it progressed to words on signs we were passing and at the gas station. I bought her a I Can Read Stage 1 and she proceeded to read to me until I "Constracted" (Distracted) her by calling my mother. I guess the days of spelling secrets have officially ended.

Feeling Better

Thank you everyone for your love and support. I am feeling much better this week. It is an uphill battle and with friends and family like you I will definitely come out on top.

Rattled

Today I am feeling rattled to the core. My faith is at an all time low, it is almost nonexistent. I have lost faith in people I believed to be friends. Faith in someone that is supposed to be my family. My entire belief system is being tested and I fear I am failing horribly. I just can't believe in anything that would let all of this happen. I know that everyone says that you won't be given any more than you can handle but I am even having problems believing that right now.

Finding Joy In The Absurdity Of It All.

Christmas in Florida is a very odd time. Gwenn this post is really for you as you are about to enjoy your first tropical holiday. My air conditioning in the car is out and since it has been 80+ everyday I had take it in. I went after work to check on my car and they said that it would be tomorrow before it was ready. The lovely people at Central Florida Chrysler Jeep Dodge comped a rental for the night. My car is well past warranty so this was really above and beyond. The rental car company that has a desk at the dealership was very low on cars and had to give me a bit older model than they would usually hand out. I however managed to make do as it is a convertable. I had never driven one before and decided to put the top down on my way home since it was still 77. While driving with the top down, listening to Christmas Carols, and noticing a sign for the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party I started to laugh out loud. This got me thinking of the lengths we go to in Florida to create Christmas Cheer when many of us feel we need the snow.

- Close the blinds and turn up the AC while cooking winter favorites.
- Attempting to hang ornaments and lights on palm trees. (This is harder than one would think)
- Getting sunburned while hanging icicles on the outside of the house.
- Trucking in tons of ice and shaving it to resemble snow.
- Creating snow out of soap. Snoap lasts a bit longer than the ice so the kids can play a little longer and it is very slippery. Aubrey however is not amused and yells bubbles!
- Telling everyone that it can too snow at 32 even if you are fully aware that the only moisture in the air is what is sucked out of your hair.
- Burning Pine and Snow Angels candles so that if you concentrate hard enough you can almost feel the cold.
- Keeping a pair of shorts and a tank top next to the bed so that when at 3 AM you realize it is too hot for flannel jammies you can easily change.
- Wearing scarves over t-shirts.

Surprised by Magic

We spend quite a bit of time at Walt Disney World. It is one of my favorite places and I am very lucky that we have passes and I can go whenever I want. We have spent our anniversary there every year. We also spent the three days after our wedding in one of the hotels. During the 9 Christmas seasons I have spent here there was one thing that I had never seen, the Mickey's Holiday Parade. Yesterday we planned to go to see the castle lights, a new attraction this year, but online and the guide maps said that the regular parade was to go on. Having seen this parade many times we opted to go shopping to miss the parade crowd. While visiting with a cast member named Liz, who truly exemplified what a Disney employee should be, she mentioned that the music was wrong for the regular parade and they must have sent out the Holiday Parade. At that I ran outside and confirmed that once again Disney had managed to make me feel like a small child, the one that knows nothing but the magic of Christmas. I am posting a few pictures of our day. I hope you like the pictures.

Seven

Dearest Shawn,
I know you read this so I thought I would surprise you with a letter. Tomorrow we will celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary. With everything that has been happening lately I wanted to let you and the world know how thankful I am for you. We met as I was going through one of the toughest things I have ever dealt with. Soon after we started dating you had to deal with the biggest loss a son can go through. That was such a bittersweet moment in our story, that is the moment I knew I could never leave your side again.
On some level it was pretty much love at first sight for me, it just took a while for everything to work out. Did you know that once after hearing you say that you liked red hair I went home and dyed my hair? I was definitely smitten. Nine years later here we are. We have spent seven of those years married, and nearly five as parents. We have made it through some rough stuff and the most amazing moments of my life. I am so happy to have you by my side and am looking forward to many more years as your wife.

Love Always and Forever,
Missy

Seven Thanks:
To Mom and Dad, thank you for loving Shawn unconditionally.
To Aubrey, thank you for making us parents.
To Granny, Poppy, and Grampy, thank you for treating me as if I was always a part of your wonderful family.
To Dad B., thank you for being the father-in-law most people wish they could have.
To all my Siblings, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins thank you for accepting Shawn without a second thought.
To Bill, thank you for being our Best Man a job you have continued with long past our wedding ceremony.
To Shawn, thank you for loving and accepting me and my family for who we are, this means so much more today.

I love you, Daddy.

This picture is not from my happiest day but I did learn a very important lesson that day. Our family is strong and loves and supports each other and we will get through this.*

* We are all healthy just facing some tough stuff.

Conversations With My Four Year Old Christmas Edition

Aubrey has been about to explode with the anticipation that comes along with Christmas and a birthday that falls a few weeks later. When she sees something she tells us to put it on the Birthday or Christmas list. About a week ago she changed from lists to the following:

Me: Aubrey, what would you like for Christmas?

Aubs: Everyfing. (th in the middle of the word tends to sound more like f at the moment)

She asks to put money in the Salvation Army buckets every time we walk by and I am happy to oblige. I thought this would be a good way to start very simple conversations about charity.

Me: Since you want everything for Christmas and you already have quite a bit, what do you think of giving some toys to little boys and girls who don't have any?

Aubs: Like Lily and Joss?

Me: What?

Aubs: Lily and Joss are little so they don't have as many toys.

Me: No, I mean kids who don't have any toys.

Aubs: Well, I still want to get them presents. How about Kiera, Aunt Kristen said she needs toys.

Me: We will get toys for Kiera. I mean for kids whose Mommies and Daddies may not be able to get them toys.

Aubs just kind of stared at me at this point and I decided I needed another approach.

Me: We could give the toys to the Marines.

Aubs: Oh, yes! The Marines. We could give toys to the Marines. Why do the Marines need toys?

Me: They collect them to give to the kids who need them.

Aubs: But I thought we were giving them to the Marines.

I give up.

Sorry and Belated Thanksgiving Wishes.

Once again I am behind on blogging. Here is the rundown of what has happened in the last ten days.

- The day after Ikea opened I woke up and realized that the cold I had for three days had become much, much worse. I actually headed to the doctor's office hoping they could help me catch my breath. It turns out that since I had not gone to the doctor when it was just a slight cold it had turned into a full blown case of the itises. Sinusitis, Bronchitis, and ear infectionitis. (I know not and itis but I was on a roll.) Ten days of antibiotics later and I am still a bit stuffy with a slight cough but definitely way better than I was.

- Aubrey discovered how to make hand turkeys. She made them with frosting, markers, crayons, and any other writing untensil she could find. The markers were the biggest problem and I called my mother to see how to remove markers from my daughter's fingers. She laughed at me and told me to call my aunt.

- We spent last weekend resting.

- I had Jury Duty. I had heard how it is just a lot of sitting around and then they may call you to a panel but you usually don't get picked. I was pulled withing the first 30 minutes and actually picked to be a juror. It was a very interesting case and I was picked as foreperson.

- Carly is the manager at one of my favorite stores and they needed help for the Black Friday weekend. Her store opened at midnight so I worked the overnight with her. I had a ton of fun and will be going back tomorrow.

- We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Shawn's father and sister. We are very thankful for our family.

- We started some holiday shopping today. We procured some more lights for the house, Aubs' Christmas outfit, a few gifts, and some new Christmas movies. Shawn has never seen The Santa Clause.

Today Was All About Me.

I took a day off of work today to go to the grand opening of Ikea. My manager and I have been planning this since we found out they were coming to the area. It was my first trip to Ikea and well worth the wait. I have grand plans swimming in my head for the future of my house. I just need to figure out which room is first. Ikea's grand openings are unlike anything I have ever seen. The employees cheered as we walked inside, that was not unusual to me as we did that at FAO every morning. What was neat was the golden envelopes they handed out to the first 2500 people. I had decided that I would not be a recipient of one of these because I thought there were a lot more people in line. I did not rush to the store but still managed to arrive just before the log sawing. My golden envelope contained a voucher for a 4 piece cookware set. I also bought a new duvet for my bed, I am really into bright colors and needed to get rid of the pastels I had in there before. Thank you Kim and Mark for sharing in my very first Ikea experience.

Happy Birthday USMC

Conversations With My Four Year Old

Aubrey has been on fire lately, she has been disclosing all sorts of wonderful information.

Aubrey about comedy:
A: Two drums in a truck.
M: What?
A: Two drums in a truck. It is a joke it is funny.
M: I don't quite get it.
A: Ok, ok here is another joke. What does Spongebob say to Patrick?
M: No clue.
A: UHHHH. Why because they are friends. (laughing hysterically)

I then told her Michaela's cow joke to try to give an example of jokes and punchlines. The response was:
A: Why did the skeleton say boo?
M: Why?
A: To scare you. (more laughing)
M: We may need to keep working on this one.


Aubrey about Marines:
A: Did you know that it is mean to call a Marine a Sholdier? (Soldier)
M: Hmm?
A: Sometimes people are mean and call Marines Sholdiers. It just isn't nice.

Aubrey about Music:
A: Can I play your kapiano? (Piano)
M: No. (It is bedtime, I wouldn't usually squash an interest in music)
A: Well you know I am taking a music class in school and Mrs. Pate says I should practice. She said that we are almost big kids and should start doing big kid things.

Monday Musings

First, I want to apologize. I will catch up with tons of pictures this weekend.

Second, please send lots of happy thoughts towards the ladies in my office. We are going to start training for a half marathon in May. We are all of varying degrees of athletic skill. I am privately struggling to rid the house of candy with Aubrey not noticing and myself not eating it. Since we have seven months I am first attacking my eating habits. I figure if I try to do them both together I may get discouraged.

Third, today was one of the most bizarre drives home I have ever had. I passed an armadillo waving people into a new restaurant. Half a mile later I passed the "Bad Ass Coffee Ass" waving people into the coffee shop. Here is a question I came up with: Aren't air mattresses made to be deflated, folded, and easily moved? If your answer is yes then please explain to me why I saw a car driving down the street with two of them inflated tied to the roof.

10/22 to 10/28/07

On Monday Aubrey decided to learn how to snap. By Friday she had taught herself how and has not stopped snapping since.

Tuesday was Aubrey's first Picture Day. I will post those pictures as soon as I receive them.

Friday I took a Hot Yoga class with Carly and Jenny. I loved it, but I still can't move my arms above parallel with the ground. Next week we are planning on stepping back to beginner for a few weeks.

Yesterday Aubs and I had a regular Saturday and Shawn had a Band Competition. His percussion line got some great comments so that was good for him. For those of you who don't know Shawn is teaching the percussion line at the local High School.

Today we went and got Aubs' first haircut. For a long time she had been opposed to having a haircut so we let her go at her own pace and decide when she would get it. The stylist applauded us on that decision. This may have had something to do with the child a few before Aubs who just kept screaming and kicking. The pictures above are from the before and after. Disney really makes the first cut an event complete with Pixie Dust, Certificate, and Mickey Ears that say "First Haircut" on the back. The most surprising thing about that it is only cost $14, they don't charge anymore for the "First" package.

10/21/07

Last Sunday I got to see my Mom preach in her own church for the first time. Aubrey and Papa spent some time gathering some Fall leaves.

10/20/07

Rock And Roll Hall of Fame was the destination of the day. Aubrey wanted to wear her Marine Corp gear so that everyone could see how much she loves Jake. I also discovered that Aubrey has learned to climb trees. It is also a proven fact that the earth may open up and swallow my daughter and nephew if they should ever both look directly at the camera at the exact same moment.