and they're off...

the 2008-2009 school year has officially begun, and quiet in my house has officially resumed. here are some pics from monday morning.

poor lex and austin had to leave before the sun was up. no picture of uncle mark, but i can assure you he was looking very spiffy in his highlander kilt that is required of all first year teachers :)

here's to a fabulous school year filled with lots of good grades and great friendships!

AIR FORCE ROTC GRADUATION

after two hotter-than-hot weeks of rotc basic training, austin graduated and is now officially AIRMAN CADET LEE.

the cadets were broken into groups at the beginning of training. they call those groups 'flights.' his flight was ranked number one throughout the training and they received special recognition at graduation for their performance. yeah austin!

after the graduation, his flight gathered for a quick word from their commander.






and then, i couldn't resist the next pic...love the look on austin's face...he loves me, he really loves me (even if i do make him do goofy things for my own amusement LOL)


he wasn't allowed to have ANY kind of soft drinks for the two weeks so we promised him a big ol' coke after graduation. we have a very sweet lady named GEORGIA who works at our corner store and she regularly tells me what a good boy austin is (he's my 'runner' if we need a gallon of milk, etc.)

and so, here is georgia, equally proud of austin (it takes a village, right?)

we're so proud of you austin!

i've been tagged

by my sweet friend HEATHER ( http://paisley-place.blogspot.com/ )

8 Things I am Passionate About:

my relationship with God
my husband
my children
my extended family
my friendships
my church
my home
my pets...oh wait, i don't have any! do embryotic squirrels count?

8 Books I Have Read and Enjoyed:

pilgrim's progress (my fave)
the autobiography of hudson taylor
the dreamgiver
what's so amazing about grace?
you are special (i cried the first time i read this)
twilight
new moon
eclipse


8 Words/Phrases I Say Often:

hello? (that's me answering my non-stop ringing phone)
put your shoes in the basket
did you brush your teeth?
who wants pancakes? LOL
i love you
turn that down!
hurry up!!!!!!
i need a drink :) (referring to diet dr. pepper, of course)

8 Things I Want to do Before I Die... (In no particular order):

watch my kids grow up & get married
be a grandma
visit the countries of my heritage
(scotland, ireland, england, holland, germany, wales)
write a book
get a tummy tuck (totally not kidding here)
get re-married (same guy, i just want to do it again)
own another vw...this time make it a convertible
go to africa again

8 Things I Learned This Past Year:

GOD IS FAITHFUL beyond comprehension
martin luther king was a republican (thanks rush!)
my hair turns blue & green if not colored by a professional LOL
one true, trusted friend is better than a million casual acquaintances
you should pay attention to your gas gauge
when in texas, you should always taste-test the salsa first before taking a giant bite
i am stronger (by God's grace) than i could ever have imagined
i learned the #9 trick with my fingers for quick math...if you don't know what i'm talking about, it's hard to explain but it's AWESOME and i can't believe i've lived 41 years without knowing this! thanks lexi!

People I want to Tag:

jana
sharla
melanie
angela powers
angela ('gateer)

vintage momma

i love jewelry! * i love getting mail! * i love surprises!


so imagine my joy when yesterday, i got a surprise package in the mail that contained some of the prettiest jewelry for jordan and me!


my beautiful friend sharla exudes creativity. seriously! she has started selling her custom designs on etsy.com & has some gorgeous pieces for FAB prices!


http://www.vintagemomma.etsy.com/


you need to hurry though! i was on the phone telling my friend stacey about her jewelry. i hadn't yet copied and pasted the picture of one of the rings she made for me. by the time i sat down to type this out, stacey had purchased the ring & now i can't share it with you LOL


AND AND AND for every piece purchased, sharla is donating 10% of the sale. you can find out more in sharla's profile.

now, what are you still doing here? go check it out!

unexpected visitors have dropped by

literally!

yesterday, we discovered two little creatures in our yard. not sure how on earth they could have survived a fall from the tree that we found them under...

but they were alive and squeaking and we weren't quite sure what to do.

after a few phone calls last night, thinking we were dealing with possum, we had decided to put them back outside and hope that the mother would return.

we couldn't do it. we kept them in their box and made some more phone calls this morning. after emailing some photos, we discovered that they are baby squirrels.

i have never heard of the term squirrel rehabilitator. but now, i've spoken with several, all of them very sweet & helpful. we were told to wrap up a bottle filled with hot water and put it in the box...and then cut up some t-shirts (these are some stylin' baby squirrels in their pink gap logo shirt LOL). then we were to carefully attach the box to the tree so that mama could come back...but i couldn't figure out how to do that and so we went for the next closest tree that actually had reachable limbs and i wedged the box in place and then we waited.

i wish i could say that mama squirrel came back...

but it started to sprinkle...then more rain...and then downpours...

and so we brought them back inside & made some more phone calls.

the story ends at the animal hospital up the road. we dropped the babies off this afternoon and hopefully they will be able to recover, though we've been told it's not probable :(

bobby can put on a tough front, but he confessed that he was up all night worrying about the little ones. he drives me crazy, but i love that man!

time flies when you're having fun!

big day here at casa de lee! austin has officially completed week one of ROTC BASIC TRAINING and was required to wear his uniform today (minus the jacket...nice of them considering it's a million degrees outside LOL). as i took his picture outside before he left, i was once again struck by just how QUICKLY time has passed.

seems like yesterday, he looked like this:

but not today. today, he looks like this:

a shot of the whole group, out by the flag poles, waiting to be critiqued:

and while we're at it, what happened to my baby girl?????

a pic from what feels like yesterday:

and a pic from this morning...

headed out to watch her cousin alexis' first volleyball scrimmage:

we have been blessed. they are GOOD kids.

they bring us so much joy & laughter.

today, along with the joy and laughter came a few tears.

i couldn't help myself.

a night on the town

jenn, mark, bobby & i got a chance to go out for a bit...leaving all little people behind (that includes austin and alexis, who are technically not little considering they are both taller than me LOL).

we went to market street and had dinner at a little mexican restaurant that served your food faster than you could say OLE'

it was very yummy and mark loved it because they had a free ice cream cone machine.

if you're bored, you can play "FIND THE ICE CREAM CONE" in the pics below!

6 + 4 =

F.U.N.

one week ago, we watched with joy as a bright yellow suv came pulling around the corner into our neighborhood!

we are beyond excited that aunt jennjer, uncle mark, alexis & aidan are going to be joining us in the lone star state!

mark & alexis will be living with us indefinitely. jennifer & aidan have a house to sell back home, but we are praying that it will happen QUICKLY.

in the meantime, we are making the most of every moment while we're all together.

a dear friend of mine blessed us with the BEST day...lots of sunshine, lots of water and lots of laughter when the ten of us visited SPLASHTOWN. we created lots of memories and enjoyed every second.