Memorial Day

While trying to find something to do last week between my appointments, Trevor saw a sign for the Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall. He really wanted the boys to see it and himself also so we drove to Fair Park in Dallas. A few facts of the wall: is a 3/5 scale of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC, it stands six feet tall at the center and covers almost 300 feet from end to end. Dates of service from 1959-1975, over 58,000 lives lost.

Just driving up and seeing it in person is moving. As I walked along scanning the names, my emotions were overwhelming. My eyes started watering, holding back the tears.

                                         

They had signs with stats of each war including the civil war. Above is the sign for Desert Storm. I was a senior in highschool when we sent troops over to Iraq. I remember the day it happened, on my birthday. There was talk of bringing back the draft. At the time, I was concerned that my boyfriend would get drafted. Little did I know my future husband was deployed to Iraq about the same time.

Above is the date of service in which they died for this group. Each wall is numbered and dated according to each persons' date of death.

Above is the name of my cousin. I never got to meet him since I was born three years later.

Stephen W Barnes

 I received a print out with his information of service and was given a pencil to rub his name on the print out.

Branch: Army

Rank: PFC

Birthdate: 8/30/49

Tour Date: 5/7/70

Casualty Date: 7/17/70

Age: 20

Home of Record: Duncanville

State: Texas

Casualty Type: Hostile, died

other explosive device

ground casualty

Country: South Vietnam

Province: Quang Ngai

As I was typing the above info, I noticed the date of death. Landon shares that date, 33 years later.

I ask that everyone please stop for a moment today to remember and be thankful.

Freedom is not free.

The Hunt!

After a great Passion Play performance at church, we headed home for Easter lunch. Bri requested pork chops and green bean casserole. When we finished stuffing ourselves, we prepared for the Easter egg hunt. Filling the eggs with sweet goodness. Something we usually do each year. This year, we got to share in the hunt with our new neighbors. The kids had a blast. Lots of pics to follow:

Rance being silly.

And the hunt begins!

Josie thoroughly checking the patio.

They searched high and low.

This is Rance's first Easter egg hunt, that he actually got to hunt. He picked it up rather quickly.

There was one more egg to find. Hidden quite well. They searched all around. Cold... colder...warmer. Now you're really warm!

Judson spotted the egg in the small tree.

The big smile on his face says it all.

Hey Jud, what's in the biggest egg?

Eating their loot.

Rance asked Emily for a little help opening the wrapper.

It was quiet for just a moment while they ate their candy.

And then Jack came out to taste test a few pieces of candy.

We really enjoyed the time we got to spend with the Driskell family.

And yes, Rance did eat all of the solid chocolate Easter Bunny in one day.

Some clips and music from the Passion Play

Snow + no school = fun day

Since school was closed for the day, we headed out to the dam with Jen and Keith to do some sledding on the knee board. Colton was the first to slide down and he went really fast. Bri was second and she said that the grass and snow was coming up in her face. Austin rode down with Colton to get a feel for the ride followed by Trevor taking Rance. Jen was a little hesitant but she and Kaitlyn had fun once they took off.

Briana gave Rance a piggy back ride and he giggled the whole time. Then I had my turn. Not very fast on that run, but it was fun.

Trevor took Rance for a 4 wheelin', mud slingin', donut makin' fun ride. I tried my hand at sledding two more times, with my last run being the fastest. Lastly, Bri showed off her snow surfing skills. We had a really great time with family and friends.

Vote March 2, 2010

Ballot Proposition #1: Photo ID

The Texas legislature should make it a priority to protect the integrity of our election process by enacting legislation that requires voters to provide valid photo identification in order to cast a ballot in any and all elections conducted in the State of Texas.
YES or NO


Ballot Proposition #2: Controlling Government Growth
Every government body in Texas should be required to limit any annual increase in its budget and spending to the combined increase of population and inflation unless it first gets voter approval to exceed the allowed annual growth or in the case of an official emergency.
YES or NO


Ballot Proposition #3: Cutting Federal Income Tax
In addition to aggressively eliminating irresponsible federal spending, Congress should empower American citizens to stimulate the economy by Congress cutting federal income taxes for all federal taxpayers, rather than spending hundreds of billions of dollars on so-called “federal economic stimulus”.
YES or NO


Ballot Proposition #4: Public Acknowledgement of God
The use of the word “God”, prayers, and the Ten Commandments should be allowed at public gatherings and public educational institutions, as well as be permitted on government buildings and property.
YES or NO


Ballot Proposition #5: Sonograms
The Texas Legislature should enact legislation requiring a sonogram to be performed and shown to each mother about to undergo medically unnecessary, elective abortion.
YES or NO

Organizing Photos

My printer is down at the moment and I am unable to finish up on some things so I would like to share some organizing tips I received from Huggies. They send me a monthly newsletter with tid bits of information. I can really relate to an overabundance of photos. Trevor purchased our first camera for our first Christmas being married. I have taken a lot of photos with my Canon EOS Rebel up until it finally gave out just a few weeks before Rance was born. I scrambled to find a replacement. I quickly decided on a Canon Power Shot digital camera and will never go back to the conventional 35mm. With the new digital camera came the easier task of storing photos. I have them readily available on my computer and safely stored on my portable hard drive from Seagate. I highly recommend this for extra security in case your computer decides to crash.

But I still have years of actual photos stored in photo paper safe containers. I am not a scrapbooker by any means so here they sit.

Here is Huggies.com's 7 easy steps to organizing your family photos:

• 
  
  More than a Year's Worth? You're not alone! First, round up all your photos from wherever they may be hiding – junk drawer, paperwork piles, bedside table, car, handbag... Then label the envelopes with an approximate date. Consult your old calendars to remember when these events occurred. 
• Banish the Bad and the Blurry. Three good photos of an event are better than a dozen mediocre ones. Quickly shuffle through the prints and discard the bad ones: unfocused, under-lit or unflattering. Something distracting in the background, or "sprouting" out of the subject's head? If you're a scrapbooker, that's a perfect candidate for cropping. For tips on making more of your photos keepers, visit kodak dot com.
• Uses for Duplicates.Uses for Duplicates. If you have double prints or virtual duplicates, give them away to friends and family. Or, using an inexpensive album, give a young child her own photos – no worries when they get bent, torn and sticky! Create charming refrigerator magnets by cutting out fun images, laminating them at your local FedEx Kinkos (fedex dot com).
• Who IS This?! It's hard to believe you won't remember some of these events and people in a decade – but it happens! Add quick IDs to the back of photos with a photo pen or pencil. Mark along the edge, not in the middle. Have a visit with an older relative to help fill in some of the blanks on family photos you’ve "inherited."
• Arrange in Albums. When buying photo albums, look for the words "archival" and "acid free" – you want your memories to last! Decide how you want to organize your photos: chronological is logical, but you may prefer to group photos by family members or events. A separate, small album that holds 20 to 40 photos is ideal for briefcases and handbags, or to toss in a suitcase when you travel. Update it frequently to reflect what's been keeping your family busy lately.
• Positive Solutions for Negatives. File your negatives in separate envelopes in a photo storage box, and mark each envelope with the general subjects and the album in which the photos appear. No more squinting at negatives trying to decipher the image!
• Doing Digitals. If you've gone digital, download images from your camera and order prints regularly. Quickly click through your files and delete those that aren't wonderful. Rename them, and add the date as well. Organize them into files the same way you'd arrange albums. Burn hundreds of photos onto a disk – these make great gifts, and take up virtually no room in a safe deposit box should anything happen to your computer.

Hope you find this somewhat helpful as I have on my journey to get more organized.

Elmo cupcakes

I got to try out my new Kitchenaid Mixer and right now I say it is awesome. I used it to make Rance's cupcakes for his party and it was easy mixing up the cake batter. The fondant on the other hand was a lot harder than I had expected.

I purchased premade fondant from Walmart in a block size. It came in white so I needed some Wilton's coloring to knead in. It turned into a real workout for my arms and hands. The coloring ended up staining my hands a bit. My friend Kim suggested kneading the mix inside of a ziplock bag to avoid staining. Hmm, why didn't I think of that?

It's also pretty tough to roll out.

Who needs a cookie cutter, just improvise.

The cupcakes needed icing for the fondant to 'stick'. I used a marker cap to cut out the eyes and mouth. I had a ready to use tube of orange icing for the nose.

Everyone thought they turned out really cute. The kids gave their approval by eating them up.

I have a new respect for bakers, especially when making anything with fondant. I wasn't too crazy about the flavor but you can add pretty much any flavoring to it. I tried vanilla but I guess it wasn't quite enough fo my tastes.

Rance was pleased and that's what mattered most to me.

Rance and Friends...lotsa pics!

This is rather late but I wanted to post some pics from Rance's birthday earlier this month. We all had fun, especially the kiddos.

Ethan

Kaitlyn

Ally

Eating hotdogs!

Opening some really great gifts.

Cutie-pa-tootie.

Elmo cupcake, what's left of it.

Kaitlyn liked the icing.

Say 'cheeeese'.

Playing in his new tent.

Trying to hide from the camera.

I can't believe he is already 3. Too soon I will be walking him to kindergarten, trying to fight back the tears.

Happy Birthday miracle baby.

Fini!

Did I ever mention at one time I wanted to learn French? Besides the point. What I really want to say is...it's finished. Done. No more. Well, maybe not 'no more.' But my long awaited desk is done. Phone line is in. Computer installed. And organizing has begun. Unfortunately, the CPU won't fit with the chords attached so it has to sit on top.

Below are two shots of how I put in fake drawers. The front looks like 3 seperate drawers but it's the inside that opens. I installed a magnetic push-in release on the panel. It pops open to reveal extra storage without seeing a knob or hinges. Would you have guessed if I hadn't told ya?

It's not perfect, but it's perfect for me.

On a sad note, Rance told me this morning I had to put my 'pooter' back. It was in our catch-all room since we moved here, which is right by the boys room. I guess he will have to play more in the livingroom.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Rance is 3!!!!

Someone's in the Christmas Spirit

Rance helping Bri hang ornaments.

He is really enjoying the Christmas Holiday. It seems like 3 is that magic age where they believe whole heartedly. Makes me happy and sad at the same time. This year has gone by so fast.

MckMama give away!

You gotta check this out!  MckMama is giving away an HP touch screen computer. All you gotta do is comment for a chance to win. What do ya have to lose? So, just click on the link and head on over and visit.

That's a long time to go w/o a bath...

...or in my case, a shower, toilet, and overall the whole bathroom.  The shower is done! Woohoo! After a few trips to Tyler and more demo and fixes and remeasuring, and trying to make time for unexpected installers, the shower is DONE!  This almost 10 month project is on the downhill slide. Let's see now, all that is left is to retexture and paint the walls, tile the floor, reinstall the toilet, and paint and distress the cabinet. Wait, now that I have typed it all out, it seems like I'm still climbing up that home improvement hill. Oh well, it keeps me busy.