AIR FORCE ROTC MILITARY BALL 2010

tonight is austin's second annual military ball for the AFJROTC. it's still hard to fathom that this is my BABY BOY we're talking about here.

he and callan have so much fun together! i missed the picture of him giving her gifts and so they reenacted the moment for me LOL...not sure why but they aren't allowed to wear corsages (learned this the hard way last year) so in lieu of flowers, we went for jewelry this year :)

it was freezing (well, according to texas standards) so we went inside while she opened her gift)

and then straight back into the c-c-cold for some pictures :)

as they were getting closer to the door, austin tried to get to it before callan could...

but she beat him to it and opened it for him LOLOLOLOL the look on her face (as he was telling her that HE was supposed to open it) is PRICELESS.

once inside, it became a reunion of old friends...callan used to go to austin's school before she transferred...so there was lots of squealing from the girls who spotted her.

this picture is of amanda (in the pink dress) showing off her shoes (and socks) to tati...amanda is BRILLIANT...she wore socks so she could take her shoes off and dance...AND she also didn't want to worry about a purse so she wore shorts under her dress to keep her cell phone handy. she CRACKS ME UP.

austin having a moment of glory LOL

purty girls

austin, these are the days you will look back on and remember forever! enjoy!

Happy 16th Birthday Austin at OneTrueMedia.com

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playing catch up...jordan's birthday

so much for trying to stay caught up on my blogging. but at least my laundry is caught up. so that's good, right?

hard to believe but my sweet baby girl is 14. thankfully she's still sweet. :) she had a big birthday party with friends last year. so this year was an evening in with family. we had lots of fun.

georgie, you are loved.

dinner (and flowers from daddy)

boy cousins

little men


the funniest pic of the night LOL



my friend kari made jordan a custom snuggie :)

the boys made jordan special cards

a groovy camera case & a super cool ring

the dog thinks she's lost her mind :)

i think she's my little audrey hepburn

purty girls

a beach glass necklace & bracelet from grammy

someone's been watching too much HGTV

i must say, I LOVE HGTV. love watching a space transformed. love being inspired. love making my home more user friendly. with six of us, every single square foot counts!


when we first looked at this house, one of the things i loved about it was that each bedroom has a walk in closet. for a home built in 1970 that is something to be celebrated! but in addition to that, there was also a great big walk in closet in the hall way upstairs. and even then, i thought it would make a great art room for the kids.


creativity is in their blood...give them a stack of paper, some pencils, scissors and glue and they are in heaven. i love their creations...but hate that it has to happen in MY space LOL


bobby's sisters (aunt T and aunt melba...really terry and melinda LOL) and his mom (nanny...really catherine) sent money for the kids...we decided to use that to make over the walk in closet...to transform it into a SUPER COOL CREATIVE SPACE just for the boys.


i am sooo happy with how it turned out and sooooo happy to have my island back :)

i forgot to take a picture of before we started tearing down shelves and closet rods...here's a 'semi-before' pic:



and ta-da...the 'after' pics:

nanny, melba & t, thank you so much. this is a gift that will keep on giving. xoxo.

a christmas to remember

three and a half years ago, we pulled out of our street (a big ol' penske truck & clifford the big red van) leaving our family behind...a mix of tears and joy as we started this crazy adventure. who would have EVER guessed that there would soon be a southern migration of family? christmas eve we gathered for a traditional dinner:

crazy crazy kids:



ahhhhhhh...thank you LOL

think hudson's a little excited? hee hee

my friend sent the boys matching argyle sweaters...aidan showed up in a coordinating one. aren't they all so handsome?

after everyone left, it was time to sprinkle the food for santa's reindeer:

all decked out in new jammies, ready for a sleepover in the boys' room, dog included:

christmas is always such a special time of year. even though we were in our home last year after hurricane ike, it wasn't until christmas eve. so this was an extra special christmas since we got to celebrate the entire season here. we're so very thankful for a roof over our heads and food on the table. really, what more does one need?

despite bobby's layoff, we still felt incredibly blessed. but imagine how much MORE blessed we felt when a friend of mine asked permission to adopt our children for christmas. i cannot even begin to express to her our gratitude. her family went all out and she insists that it was equally a blessing for their family as she used it as a teaching opportunity for her children. because of their generosity, bobby and i were able to just purchase one gift per child. this was a huge relief for us.

we also received blessings from our church and other friends for the kids, not to mention the family gifts. so our children had a christmas unlike any they've ever had before. before we opened gifts we were able to talk to them about how all of this was a gift from God...a tangible sign of his love for them. what a moment.

after we opened the gifts on christmas morning, we headed over to nana & papa's for more christmas celebration:

check out carson's face when he finds out that nana & papa got the kids a trampoline (theirs was crushed during IKE):

he was so excited he wanted to kiss it...crazy kid LOL

and christmas wouldn't be christmas without the collins & kankelfritz family. we decided to skip tradition and have FELIZ NAVIDAD instead...tacos & tamales...stacey made a version of chuy's jalapeno ranch dip, chuck made some INCREDIBLE salsa and becky made tres leche cake. what a way to end the day.

we cannot begin to express our hearts of gratitude toward our friends & family for the love they have shown our family this christmas. we feel so loved and so blessed to have you in our lives.