Calling All Recruits...

...to fashionista school!

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Yes, here is Audra dressing Claire. Claire was not a willing participant, but Audra thought it was wonderful- a child prodegy to use as her muse in her very own house!

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Actually, Claire has been trying to dress herself for the past couple of weeks. What genes did these girls get?!? Not mine, that's for sure!

Straight No Chaser

Last Saturday night Ben and I had the BEST time. We finally celebrated my Birthday together. Ben took me to one of my favorite restaurants- The Cheesecake Factory. We took the light rail downtown, which was fun. Then, surprisingly, we ended up in a zombie-land. Unbeknownst to us, there was a zombiewalk that same night- and it was a little cool, but also a lot creepy. Nevertheless, we had a great time.
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Here we are at the Cheesecake Factory having some DELICIOUS food. Best of all, we ordered separate cheesecakes so I got to order a cheesecake with nuts in it- YUM!

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-Then, we went to a Straight No Chaser concert. It was SOOOOOO much fun!!! Seriously, if you can go to a concert of theirs, you should go! They are an acapella group- the one that sang the really cool 12 Days of Christmas song that I posted about last Christmas. Their concert was as fun as that song- we had such a GREAT time! I can't say enough about how wonderful it was.

Japanese Steak House

On Thursday night we went to the Japanese Steak House in good old FW (think Beni-Hana, where the chefs prepare the food at your table). It was, of course, a big hit with the kids! Claire, who is traditionally horrible at restaurants, was at least partially mesmerized by the show and by all the clapping being done for all the people in the restaurant who were having Birthdays- which happened to be quite a few.

Grandma was finally able to get Claire to eat something- Ben and I failed miserably in our attempts.

Audra enjoyed using her chopsticks, and did a pretty good job of it, too!

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-Now we are back and adjusting to normal life. It's always hard for me to come back here after visiting my family and friends. I'm usually pretty grumpy for first couple of days and poor Ben has to put up with me. It was such a fantastic trip- I think I could have stayed at least another month. I loved seeing the girls playing with their cousins and having great fun with Grandma and Grandpa High and visiting with friends. It's always a treat to go home- thanks for putting us up and having such fun with us mom and dad! We love you!!!

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Here's a funny story to end with. On our ride home from this restaurant, Aud and I had this conversation:

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A: I have to go potty!

Me: You are going to have to hold it, honey.

A: Hold it in my panties?

Me: Umm...no.

I LOVE Friends!

I have the BEST friends! Seriously, I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends. Years ago I was admonished by a church leader to always be sure to make good friends throughout my life. I thought it was strange, because I have always had such awesome freinds. As I have gotten older, my friends are just better and better! Now I have friends from when I was as young as 2nd grade, and new friends who I know I will cherish forever. How lucky is that?
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The past couple of weeks I have been able to spend some time with some of the friends I have known and loved the longest- and gotten to know their kids as well. How crazy is that?!? One minute we are in Ms. McNeily's (is that even her name?) English class reading Shakespeare, and the next we are MOTHERS! Wow. Life is good.
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This first picture is of me and my girls, plus Danielle (who I've known since 7th grade) and her boys, and Heather (also have known her since 7th grade) and her little baby girl. We were roommates our freshman year of college as well. Oh, the memories!

















Here we are at a cupcake shop- Danielle took me there for my Birthday. I got the chocolate mint cupcake and it was UMM UMM GOOD!

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-Here we are at the zoo with Danielle and her boys, and a friend from college, Susie, and her son James. I haven't seen Susie since before I was married and we went and saw the greatest movie: Napoleon Dynamite in theatres.

Here is what Nathan and Audra looked like the last time we took them to the zoo together:

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Here they are now:

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I LOVE this picture of Austin and Claire!

It was pretty cute at one point as James and Audra started holding hands. Gotta love little kids!

The elephant at the zoo was dancing- or so it seemed- so Audra and James got down and danced with them.

I am so glad that we are able to stay in touch after all these years. I truly count that as one of the greatest blessings of my life- so thank you, once again, for all of the great times my dear friends!

Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday we went with my family to the Pumpkin Patch, and honestly- we could have stayed there the entire day!! It was raining cats and dogs, but in this town- who cares? You go anyway! And so we did, and we had the greatest time.

They had a HUGE pit of corn for the kids to play in. Honestly, they could have stayed here the whole day. They LOVED this! Plus, it was in a barn so it was dry- a bonus!

Even though it was rainy, this was the best day. The kids had such a wonderful time- and it was a great place for photo ops- obviously! Audra is having the time of her life being with her cousins, and my heart melts seeing her with them. I didn't know my cousins hardly at all growing up, and that is one of the hardest things for me about living so far away. I am glad that we can visit- and they can visit us, however, and every time we do she instantly falls in love with all of her cousins and they have the best time together!

My Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me!!!

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Yesterday was my Birthday, and it was a wonderful day! My mom took me and my sisters out to dinner last night, and it was fantastic. Since I am not with my Beloved, he has promised a special date on my return to town- which I am very excited about.

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In thinking of my Birthday, I am SO excited to be me! I LOVE my life! That might seem funny to say, but I was talking to a friend the other day about how so many people seem so unhappy with their lives. Depression abounds, and truly the "hearts of men are failing them" in this day and age.

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But I think of my life, and I am so happy! About a year ago I was lamenting about the fun times I had in college and how now our lives revolved around nap schedules and what TV shows come on after bedtime, and Ben said, "our lives are pretty routine and relatively boring, but I'm happy. Are you happy?"

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That question really caused me to think. Am I happy with this new stage of life? Then, Audra literally puked all over me. You can't make this up, folks! But, as she puked on me, all I wanted to do was hold on to her and make her feel better, and I thought, "being covered in puke and holding my hurting daughter is so much better than sitting at a Cafe staring up at the Eifel Tower."

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And, that's really how I feel. My life is boring. My life is repetitive. My life is not full of great accomplishments or best selling novels.

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But it is mine. And I am surrounded by a husband who is my best friend, biggest cheerleader, and sexiest man alive all rolled into one. My girls make me laugh and cry and laugh again. I have the greatest friends anyone could ask for, and an extended family who loves and cares for me and my Ben and my girls.

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A Birthday is a good time to remember what is truly important in life. And this year, I am grateful to be so in love with my life- even if that does sound cheesy and a little funny!

Sand Castles

The sand castle World Championship is "in town" so my mom, sister, and I trekked with the kiddos to see these stunning structures. It was pretty cool to see these beautiful talents on display. Unfortunately, the girls just wanted to play in the sand- not observe their beauty. Oh, well.

Here is Audra tickling Claire- they sure do love each other!