Some Christmas Decorations

So I realized that a lot of my family and friends didn't get to see us this Christmas. With that being said, I thought I would share what we did for our decorations this year...I think we did pretty good, but next year will have more lights!

What is your opinion? It's o.k. you can be truthful!

Park Fun

When it is not cold outside, we usually go to a local park here in The Woodlands called Creekside. It is wonderful for the kids to play at and it is beautiful as well. Cassidy loves the playground, and you can get some wonderful nature pics. I thought I would share some from last weekend.

Christmas Fun...

This Christmas was a little different than previous years. We started our Christmas celebration a week before Christmas. My Mom raised me not to open presents early, but since we were having Christmas with my step-dad Garth and my Mom, I guess it was o.k. We celebrated early because my Mom and Garth were headed to California to be with his family for Christmas. Gammy and Poppa spoiled Cas like normal. Last Christmas she got a Fisher-Price Loving Family Dollhouse (I highly recommend), and this year, she got furniture for every room in the house. She has been playing with it constantly and can't get enough.

On Christmas Eve, we started out the day by baking some Christmas cookies. Cassidy and I love baking, and it is always an adventure. We got to goof off and play during the day. That afternoon, we went to our Church's Children's service. It was adorable. It was the live Nativity, with some of the high school kids dressed up as the animals. Cassidy loved it. She was so into the message...wouldn't you be?

After church, we decided to go and look at Christmas lights for a while. Cassidy thought that was really cool. She loved seeing all the sparkling lights, and thinks we need more on our house next year!

Once we got home, getting Cassidy snug in bed was a challenge. She was WIRED! She couldn't wait for Santa, couldn't wait for the reindeer, couldn't wait for the presents, just couldn't wait!!!! Well, finally, she fell asleep, and the house was quiet. Santa finally made his way to our house (I am sure later than he wanted).

Christmas morning was a blast. Cassidy didn't know what to do or play with first. She wanted to see her stocking, wanted to see all of the toys under the tree. Wanted us to open our gifts, wanted to open all of hers! Needless to say, that took all of about an hour total. By then it was about 8:15 a.m., and Mike and I were beat!

The rest of Christmas day was quiet at our house. Not much was going on at all. We watched some Christmas movies, and played with all of Cassidy's new toys.

Yesterday, we took out Cassidy's new Dora Big Wheel, thanks to Great-Grandmommy and Poppy. She loves it. She feels comfortable on it, and is not scared of falling off of it. She can't wait for it to get warm enough to be able to ride it again. At the last minute yesterday afternoon, I told Mike that we needed to have someone over. I called my cousins Chris and Kelly, and invited them over for dinner. We cooked homemade pizzas, and played the Wii! We had a blast.

I am off for the rest of this week! YAY! We are going to have our good friend's The Charles' Family over for New Years Eve. Can't wait! I am going to use one of my new Christmas presents, "The Big Top Cupcake Maker". Yes, I know you are jealous, and I have watched it on info commercials for a while now. Mike got it for me! I can't wait to make something in it. I will post pictures of my creation once I have them.

All the pictures are from some of our Christmas fun! I will have some more later!

Merry Christmas to all!
Until next post!

Santa Clause Video

Here is a really cool link. If you go on and put in just a little bit of info on your child, Santa will e-mail a video of himself talking directly to them...it is super cool...can't wait for Cassidy to see it. Sorry I could not get the direct link for you to click on, but just cut it and paste it into a new Internet window, and it should work. Once you have watched Cassidy's video, you should be able to make one specifically for your child! Have fun!

http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/0a58ed9b6802edd210e7d8a968c8af4b

Go Elf Yourself!

So I saw this last year and did it, and it was hysterical! You simply go to this website, upload your pictures, select your song, and they make it...It is totally free, and I have to say, so funny...check us out!

And by the way, have a very Merry Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Meeting Santa and Snow?????

So, it has been a while since I have posted, not because I haven't had anything to say, but because we have been so busy! The holidays are upon us and as usual, I am CRAZY!!! Oh well, such is life...and not to mention I really do love it.

On the 5th of December, was Cassidy's school's Lunch with Santa. I was the photographer for the event(go me!)...It was a good time, and I learned a lot. I was so tired by the end of it all, and then that Saturday night, Mike and I went into downtown Houston to go to my office Christmas party.

Anyway, back to the Lunch with Santa. I got to the school about 8:30, and didn't stop taking pictures of Santa and the kids, and all of the kid's families with Santa until after noon. It was a long day, but overall a pretty fun time. It was hard work, and I am amazed by parents who are rude, and ungrateful, but Santa knows who they are, so luckily, I don't have to worry! =-)

Well, here are the results of Cassidy's meeting Santa Clause. Last year, she wanted NOTHING to do with him.

This year, I could not get her to leave him! It was adorable.

Thankfulness

This holiday season like all others I am so thankful. The difference this year is that I am doing this blog and can pass my thankfulness on to everyone else.

I am so thankful to have a wonderful family. We are healthy, happy and so close to each other. I am thankful that God watches over me every day and gives me much needed grace and patience (that I don't always have)! I am thankful to have a wonderful daughter who everyday amazes me. I am thankful to have a home, and a place to lay my head at night. I am thankful to have God in my life. I am thankful that my husband is an amazing man, and no matter what life throughs at him, he always tries his best. I am thankful that I have a job, I am thankful that I have such wonderful friends close by. I could go on and on, but I am afraid that my blog would not hold all of my thankfulness...

I hope that this Holiday season you are able to have the same thankfulness I do, or at least you are able to have your own thankfulness. Remember life is short, and in our busy daily lives, you have to make time to share your thankfulness.

If life throws you a lemon, make lemonade. The glass is always full that way.

God bless all of my fiends, family, and those I don't know. May you have a bountiful meal physcially and be able to mentally recharge this Thanksgiving!

Until next post,

Shelley

Denver Trip

We recently got back from our wonderful trip to Denver. We had so much fun. I was able to get inexpensive tickets, so we decided to go for my sister Shannon's birthday. It was a blast.

When we got in to Denver on Thursday night, we went to my sister's house. We just relaxed and visited for a while.

Friday morning we woke up and decided to take a trip up to the mountains. We wanted Cassidy to see snow, and she got her wish. We drove up to Loveland Pass. It was absolutely beautiful. Cassidy got to build a little snowman, and got to make a snow angel as well. She liked the snow, but after about fifteen minutes was ready to go.

Friday afternoon, we just hung out and the girls played. Ami and Cassidy got along so well, and really enjoyed playing with each other.

Saturday, Shan and I went to go get pedicures for her birthday...I love birthday presents that I also get to enjoy! Thanks for wanting that Shan, it was great! We went and got a coffee as well, and had some much needed sister time.

Sunday was another day to hang out and was Shan's actual bithday. We relaxed and Shan and I played cards. (God...do I sound like an old lady!).

Anyway, it was a great trip, and much needed R&R was had.

The pictures are attached, so I hope you enjoy.


Until next post,

School Pictures

So I think that photographers suck people in, I can say that with experience as I have my photography business on the side. =-) I can tell you for a fact, that photographers would much rather work with the Mom than the Dad, simply because the Mom usually is the determining factor with pictures.

Cassidy had her four year old Fall School Pictures, and if I do say so, she ended up looking adorable! It was so hard to pick what I wanted, so I got both poses, just forced myself to only by one sheet of each. It was hard, but I did it.

Tell me what you think of them...just curious!





I will post Halloween pics this week, I promise!

Until Next Post,

Shelley

Fall Fun!

So this past week was a pretty busy one for us, and this week is going to be just as busy.

It started this past Thursday, October 29th, with Cassidy's school party. I was able to come into the office for the morning, then head over to her party at school. We had a lot of fun. They did some art, at some lunch, and heard a story. Cassidy loved the fact that I was able to make it there, and it meant the world to me as well. Her eyes lite up when I walked in the door. She wanted to show me everything that they had done to prepare for the party. It was a great time! Cassidy was super excited because her friend Brooke, and Brooke's mom Patty came to the party as well. Cassidy loves Brooke, and really enjoyed having lunch with her. Once we got done with the party and lunch, Patty and Brooke asked us to go to a movie with them. We went to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It was a really cute movie, and the girls only had to get up once to go potty. It worked out well because we were the only four people in the theater! I love going to the movies in the middle of the week. Once we finished the movie, we went on our way back towards the house. Cassidy and I were talking on the way home, and she asked if we could bake cookies. So, we stopped by the grocery store and got the ingredients. We came home and spent the afternoon, baking Halloween cookies! Then we iced them, and both got to have one! They were YUMMY!

Friday, I had to go into the office, as it was my day to work. Cassidy was o.k. with that, since she knew I was coming for her Fall Parade. Mike said it was the easiest day to get Cas dressed, since she got to wear her Halloween costume. Cas dressed up as a Stargazer Lilly, and looked adorable. The parents all stayed in each of their child's classrooms, and the teachers walked them through the entire school! Cassidy loved it. She was so proud to tell everyone, "I'm a Stargazer Lilly!". She thought it was great. After they finished the parade, we went into the afterschoolers room, and they did their Fall Performance. They sang an adorable song called, "Leaves are Falling". It was really cute, because we had been practicing the song all week. Cassidy did a great job. I have the movie of my camera. Hope you enjoy. Once the performance was over, I had to say good-bye and go back to work. Cassidy was not happy about that at all, and cried as I was leaving the classroom. I felt horrible the rest of the day, until I could get her. Once I was able to pick up Cassidy, everything was good!

Friday night, we decided to stay inside and carve our pumpkin. Cas and Mike had a great time cleaning out the "guts" of the pumpkin. Cas finally got used to the feeling after we got her a glove to use. Then my job started. I had found this cool stensil at the grocery store, that was a sticker you put on the pumpkin. You then carve around it. Cassidy of course picked one of the hardest pictures, a kitty cat! Well, I finally finished it, and it looked really good! I will definetly use that again next year.

Saturday morning, we all woke up, and spent the morning realaxing some. We had to run a couple of errands, but other than that, just hung out a little bit. Cassidy of course did not take a nap, but all day long we heard about how excited she was about Trick-or-Treating.

Saturday early evening, we went by our Gammy and Poppa's house with Hannah Montana...Cassidy looked adorable as Hannah, and when I referred to her as that, she would look at me and say, Mommy, I am really Cassidy, Hannah is just a costume! We spent a little bit over at Gammy and Poppa's house, and then headed on to the Charles' House. Cassidy and Brooke looked adorable! The adults dressed up as well. Our friends Mike and Patty were John and Kate, Mike was a mask man, and I had the most comfortable outfit of all...the picture will explain it better, but I was a housewife. I got to wear PJ's, a robe, and a really cute wig! We had a great time trick-or-treating, and Cas only got scared a couple of times! The girls got to ride in a wagon around the subdivision and loved it. As we left around 9:30, Cassidy lasted all of about two minutes in the car before she was out. It was a good thing I brought her pj's. She slept great!

Sunday we did much needed grocery shopping, and took Cassidy to the neighborhood park. Sunday afternoon, I started packing for our vacation to Colorado. Wow, I have a lot to do before that.

Take care and I will post pictures from our festivites soon!

Until next post,
Shelley

Some Weekend Fun

This weekend we went to a birthday party at Sweet-N-Sassy for our dear cousin Bailey-Paige who was turning 5. Here are some of the pictures...it was so cute, it was a princess party. The girls even got to ride in a limo!

Prayer

So today, I am sitting in my office looking at the things that I have to get accomplished, and I keep getting distracted. My mind wanders, and I can't seem to stay focused. The thing is that I know why, and I just need to pray about it. Tomorrow, Mike has to travel to Temple, Texas to be with his Dad as he has cancer surgery. Never in a million years did I think that one of our parents would have cancer, but Mike's dad does. If you read this post, please say a prayer, say a prayer that the doctors have a steady hand, say a prayer that Kermit is able to find a focal point, and be able to stay strong, say a prayer that Mike has a safe trip to Temple, and a safe trip home.

I will keep you updated on the status as I find out more. I know with my faith in God, and prayer, that Kermit will be o.k.
**********************************************************
UPDATE

I just heard from Mike a few moments ago, and it seems that the overall the surgery went well. There was nothing unexpected. Now it is rest and healing until the next step. If you read this, than thank you for your prayers. It is really appreciated. Have a wonderful day.

Have a wonderful day.
Until next post.

Some October Fun

So, here is some of the October happenings in our household so far. With Cassidy having been sick with the flu last week, and Mike and I both taking turns with time off, we tried to keep little Ms. Cassidy busy! I think we had a successful run at that. I bought Cassidy a super bouncy ball kit in which we made numerous bouncey balls, we had a picnic on the floor in the living room as well.

Mike and Cassidy worked some on the bird house they are building. It is looking really good. I will post those pictures when they are finished.

I bought a pumpkin, but don't want to carve it yet, so Mike and Cassidy drew a face on it. It is really cute!

We also were Boo'd by one of our neighbors. I am sure you have heard of it, but if not here is what you do. You buy some Halloween goodies, you take them to a neighbors house, and set them out where they will find them with a note, and run off. YOU DO NOT WANT THEM TO KNOW. It is a lot of fun to get the goodies, and enjoy them as well.

Last night, Mike needed a couple of pictures taken in his suit for work, so of course with me being a photographer, I got the job, I will say it doesn't pay well though =-) . Cassidy thought it was so funny, Mike just put his suit and tie on, but had shorts on the bottom. Cassidy also wanted to wear my robe, so I let her. She loves it because it is so soft. I only wear it in the dead of winter (so about two days in Houston), and so I let her wear it for a while. It was really cute.

Other than that, we found Bella's Halloween costume, that poor dog, she puts up with so much. Cassidy also got her new winter coat. It is bright and wild, just perfect for her. She can't wait to wear it when we go visit Aunt Shannon and Uncle Blayne.

Well, as the month goes on, I will post more and put more pics up. We are headed to the Pumpkin Patch later this week.



Take Care
Until next post,
Shelley

So much has happened.

Well, where to start...normally that is not a problem, but so much has happened, that I don't know where to start.

Cassidy has been sick this past week, or so the doctor's say. If you saw her right now, you would have had no idea she was diagnosed with the flu, type A, this past Monday. We have had a week of taking turns off work (between Mike and I), and keeping her at home. Her swab came back as flu type A positive. The only signs that Mike and I had were a fever, and Cas complaining of a headache. Since then, we have been on a week of Tamiflu, this morning was our last dose, and being quarintened...wow what fun! Actually, it could have been so much worse, so we consider ourselves very blessed.

With that being said, we have done quite a bit of cleaning, and using clorox wipes as if we have never cleaned the house before. We have had fresh sheets on the bed she has been sleeping in every day, and I have been doing laundry every day as well.

She actually broke her fever on Wednesday, so it was a true blessing. She is an amazing little girl that she hardly ever complained. The most she complained about was missing her friends and wanting to see people. So, today, we are going on an outing to see Gammy and Poppa.

As far as other things we have been doing, well, Cassidy and her Daddy have been making a bird house. It is looking really good, and they are going to start painting it today. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Other than that, I started out doing a lot of logic problems, why, I am crazy I guess, but as the week has progressed on, I have been watching a lot of cooking, and just relaxing. I guess it's true God gives you what you can handle. He gave us a week off with Cassidy (taking turns that is), and after the second day, Cassidy feeling normal. So Mike and I have had a lot of extra rest.

With that being said, I can't believe we are half way through October. I will post pictures soon of the latest happenings.

Until next post!

The Great Duck Race

Today at work we had a Duck Race...I know it sounds crazy, but it was a lot of fun. All of the employees had the opportunity to donate ten dollars to the United Way, and buy a duck. you then had two days to decorate your duck. You turned your duck in, and they dropped the ducks all at the same time in the water feature in front of our corporate office here in The Woodlands. It was really cute! Everyone was cheering and chanting for their duck to win. I got really tickled, there is just something funny about grown-ups yelling and calling for their ducks, and not to mention the time they took to decorate them. It was amazing! Not only was it a good cause, but you had the chance to win five-hundred dollars! Of course I didn't win, but I had a blast watching it happen. Here are some pictures of my duck and the race. We had an opportunity to find our ducks (if you could, there were 800), and you could keep it after the race. Amazingly, I found my duck right off. Now Cassidy will have a new friend in the bath!
I hope you enjoy these, just something different in my life...all for a good cause too~
Until next post!

Enjoying the Weather

So right now, the weather in Houston is awesome. Yesterday was wonderful, and today is supposed to be even better. When Cassidy and I got home last night, quite a few of our neighbors and their kids were out. Cassidy was so excited. I told her that we could go outside for a while and play as well. She immediately grabbed her Dora four wheeler and off she went. I have attached some pictures of the fun we were having.

On another note, Cassidy was super excited because she got a gift from our friend Jeremy on Monday night. He sent a Truman State Bulldogs shirt home with his Mom for Cassidy. She LOVES IT! She wore it to school yesterday as well.

Enjoy and hope you have a great day.




Until next post,
Shelley

With Cassidy's birthday party just a week and a half ago, we have been waste deep in toys. This child has more toys than she knows what to do with. Don't get me wrong, I love it, and so does she, but this girl has some stuff now. The biggest hit this year was her Polly Pockets (along with the accessories) and her Loving Family Doll House from Gammy and Poppa. Cas' Polly Pockets, Barbies, and Littlest Pet Shop all live in the Loving Family house now. She absolutely loves everything she got for her birthday.

This past weekend, Cas' got to go shopping for her birthday with Uncle Chris and Aunt Shelli. Boy was that a hit. Cas got a Polly Pocket Car, some Barbie clothes, and even another Polly Pocket. She played ALL DAY on SUNDAY with these new toys. She didn't even want to eat lunch because she was afraid she could not play. I do have to admit though, I wanted to play all day with her as well.

Thanks to everyone that made Cas' birthday special. She really appreciates it all.

Until Next Post,

Cassidy's Offical Birthday!

So I made it through the day yesterday with only crying once. I no longer have a baby, I have a little girl! Cassidy is officially four years old. I think she had a great birthday. I took a half day vacation yesterday, and went up to Cas' school in the afternoon. When I got there, all the kids were still asleep on their nappers, and were just about to wake up. I quietly walked over to Cas' and put my hand on her back. I started talking to her, and she woke up with first a confused look, and then a HUGE SMILE! She was so excited to see me. It always makes me feel so good. I showed her the cupcake cake I had brought, and she was thrilled! We sat down with her class, and all shared cupcakes.

When we were done, Cas looked at me and said, "Mommy, do you have to leave now?" I was so excited to tell her that I didn't and that it was our afternoon together. Her eyes lite up with excitement. I also told her I had a very big surprise for her. We left her school, and we headed out for our afternoon. I know it seems crazy, but I love the time I get to spend with my four year old, and a girl has to do, what a girl has to do. GET PEDICURES! Cas and I got matching toes, which she loved! Once we left the nail salon, we ran to Wal-Mart and I let her pick out a gift with some birthday money she got. We saved half though, and will put it in her savings account. =-) She picked out a Polly Pocket she wanted ,and we headed home.

When we got to the house, she was so excited to show Bella her toes.

Around 6:00 last night, Mike showed up and Cas' got so excited. When he walked in the door, she nearly tripped trying to get to him. It was so sweet. Mike even brought Cas a dozen long stem pink roses. She loved them.

On that note, this has been the year of Littlest Pet Shop and my favorite POLLY POCKETS! We got Cas' the Polly Pocket Pet Beauty Shop for her birthday this year. WOW was it a hit. Last night when we gave it to her, she couldn't wait for me to get it out of the box. Needless to say, we spent our family night playing with all of Cas' birthday presents ,and especially her Polly Pockets. It was great to see her so excited about it.

Well, I guess that is all that I have for now. I will post pictures by this weekend, from Cas' birthday party and actual birthday.

Take Care.
Until Next Post

Cassidy's 4th Birthday party

Wow how time flies...a friend of mine was just asking about Cassidy and how she was doing. They knew her birtday is coming up on Wednesday, and that she will be four years old. WOW! Four years old...makes me feel REALLY OLD! Anyway, I did make myself a promise that I might not post on the exact day, but who knows, maybe I will change my mind. This past weeekend, was a busy one.

It all began Thursday night. I made myself a challenge this year...I was going to make Cassidy's 4th birthday cake...what a challenge it was. Well to begin, I am certainly not Duff on "Ace of Cakes" and I am not the baker's on "Cake Boss" either. They do that because they are crazy! (Just kidding). But this birthday, I took on the task. Cassidy wanted a pool cake with Barbie. How hard can that be???? Well, on Thursday night, I baked what I thought would be enough cake for the pool. Three cakes, right?????? Boy was I wrong =-). Thanks to my errand boy, Mike he went back up to the store Thursday night to buy more cake. I felt horrible because it was at 9 p.m. that he volunteered to go. Finally, around 11:00 Thursday night, I finished my cake baking. Now onto the fun part, decorating...

Friday morning started out great, Cas woke up in a good mood since she didn't have school, and I didn't have work =-). Her class had a field trip to the museum, so I agreed to be a volunteer parent, so the kids would not outnumber us. We had a good time, the museum we were at had a school room, had an operating room, a grocery store...etc. The kids had a great time. They even got to do parachute time and loved it. Once we left the museum, Cas and I ran to Chick-fil-A and then back to the hosue.

Friday afternoon, Cas had her friend Lauren over...good distraction for Mom to make her birthday cake. The girls played upstairs and downstairs, inside and out. They played with the dog, and without the dog. Needless to say, they had a great time! Once Lauren left, Daddy came home to save the day. The entire time the girls were playing, I was decorating "The Cake". After frustration, and numerous candies falling off, I was about to throw in the towel. But, before I could do that, Miek saved the day! He had a steady hand, and helped me finish decorating the cake. (I have posted some pictures of the stages of the cake for you to see).

Finally, around midnight, I crawled into bed and laid my head down, then it was a waiting game to see if the cake would crumble...



Saturday morning was an early one for us. Fourtunatley we decided to have Cas' birthday at Chuck E. Cheese, because we woke up to the sound of rain...go figure. Of all days I would have rather it not rain, it did. Oh well, I guess I can't control everything =-). Cas' party started at 10:00 a.m. but we wanted to be there a little early of course. Amazingly we made it out the door on time and got to Chuck E. Cheese about 9:45 or so. I was so impressed with them. We had our own designated "Party Hostess" that made sure we had everything we needed throughout the entire party. All the kids had a great time with playing on all the rides, playing games, eating pizza, and CAKE!!! The kids loved the cake. The parents did to, which was a plus. The kids had no idea how long it took to make, but Cas showed all of her friends. She was so excited, and it made it all worth it in the end.

After the party ended at noon, we stayed a little while longer. We finally left around 2:00. Wow, I felt like I was in a time warp. We got home, and opened presents. That is the different thing that we didn't do at the party because we wanted the kids to have more time to play. Cas got a ton of stuff, and by the end was really tired of opening gifts.

Saturday evening, we had some friends of ours over for dinner with their daughter Brooke. Brooke was so excited, she was at Cas' birthday party as well, so she could not wait to see what all Cas got. I cooked a meal that normally is wonderful, but I think I was sleep deprived because it didn't taste like it had the first time I made it. Luckily the salad was good...Oh well, I hope our friends Mike and Patty come back to our house again after that.

On Sunday, it was catch up day from everything I should have done on Saturday. I mowed the yard, did laundry, and played with Cas. I forget how much fun playing with Polly Pockets and Barbies is. I know that Cas had a good time as well. Sunday afternoon, Cassidy and I ran over to Gammy and Poppa's to say hi, and she got to tell them all about her birthday.

Overall, we had a wonderful time from Thursday to Sunday. I learned a lot this weekend. I learned, that children love you no matter what their birthday cake looks like, children are so easy to please, and SLEEP is a VERY IMPORTANT factor in life!

With that, I will say goodbye for this post. Until next post.

My Sweet Angel is almost 4

So, I can't believe that I am writing this already. My little girl is turning 4! September 16th to be exact but I am afraid I will get to emotional if I try to post something about her on the 16th exactly. So here we go...I never imagined that someone so little and young could steal my heart, but four years ago, this little one did. Cassidy is and has been such an amazing part of Mike and I's life. I know that he would agree with me in saying that we are so very blessed. I am going to try to do a memory album to put up over the past four years, but for now hopefully this will do. I try to take a photo shoot of Cassidy every so often, and she agreed about two or three weeks ago. I took her to a local park, and these are the early "four year old photos" I got. I hope you enjoy looking through them!



Until next post!

Shelley

Galveston

Well, so far our Labor Day weekend has been nice. Yesterday morning, I had a photo shoot to do for a friend of mine, and then we were off to Galveston, Stewart Beach to be exact. Before the hurricane, I would have said Galveston, YUK! The water is not clear, the beach is dirty, and the people are not the best. Well boy was I wrong on all accounts. We headed down to the beach with our friends Patty and Mike, their two kids Brandon and Brooke and one of Brandon's friends. As soon as we got there we unloaded everything and the big boys got the tent set up. Then the girls were off...Brooke has no fear, where as Cassidy hardly got her hair wet...Oh she is my child! They didn't stop us though, we played in the sand for hours, and dipped in the water some as well. It was really nice. Nothing like a get away with a change of scenery and sharing that all with good friends. We went out to dinner in Galveston, and then headed back home last night. Cas didn't even stay awake long enough to get off the island.

This morning (Sunday), Mike slept in a little bit, and is now making pancakes! YUMMY!!! Gotta love them. Other than that, I think we are going to see Gammy and Poppa this afternoon, and just hang out. Tomorrow will be more of the same as well.



Until next post...

Patty and Brooke

Yesterday afternoon as I was sitting in my office, my cell phone started to ring. Normally it means either it is Cas' school calling, or Mike calling me. It wasn't. It was one of my good friends, Patty. Patty had called me and asked if Cas and I would like to go to Chick-fil-A with the girls. I told her of course, and headed out the door.

I got to Cas' school, and told her that I had a surprise for her. Whatever you do, don't ever tell a four year old (or almost four year old) that you have a surprise for them, unless you want to hear that until she gets it. We got in the car, and all I heard was, "Mommy, what's my surprise?"...Finally I decided I had been tourchered enough. I let her know we were meeting Mrs. Patty and Brooke at Chick-fil-A. Wait for it, wait for it, "Screech, YEA!!!!YEA!!!YEA!!! We are going to Chick-fil-A..." It's funny, I would never think that a child would get so excited about going to Chick-fil-A. We headed there, and got a seat.

I don't know if anyone is aware, but if you have a Chick-fil-A close by, you might check and see if they have "Fun Nights". Last night, was craft night. The girls (Patty and myself) made picture frames. I say that it is us, because after about three minutes, the girls wanted to go play. The frames turned out really cute, and the girls had a great time. Patty and I were also able to talk about different things we want to do with our girls, and get some things set up. We are going to head down to Galveston on Saturday, for the girls to play in the sand. I hope that the weather holds out because it has been great.

We finally decided it was time to leave (at 7:30) since we had been there for two hours, and headed home. When we walked in the door, Cas could not wait to tell her Daddy about the frame. She was so proud.



I love that little girl so much!

Until next post, I hope everyone has a wonderful day. I promise there will be pictures up from last night soon. I did take them. =-)

Back to School

So it is back to school for thousands of kids this morning, mine included. Except the only difference is mine always goes to school, so I am one step ahead. I wish everyone luck with their first days and getting the kids out the door.

This weekend was a nice one. Friday night, we went out to dinner to get Mexican Food at one of our favorite restaurants Ricos. We were there with about 150 of our closest friends! (NOT!) It was a little bit crazy, but it wasn't a bad wait. After dinner we came home and just vegged out. It was nice.

On Saturday morning, I woke up early and went to the gym. When I came home, I told Mike that we needed to do something fun for the three of us. So we decided to go to Creekside Pool. We had a great time, and funny, we found our 150 friends that we left at the restaurant the night before. It was very busy at the pool, but we still had a blast. I am glad we went, and it was nice to get some sun. Somehow that always makes me feel better.

When we got back from the pool, we hung out around the house which was nice. Cas got to play with her toys, and we simply got some R&R (much needed!)

Saturday night, we were thinking on what to do, and we decided to do something we haven't done in a while. We went to church. Our Church has Saturday night service, which is fairly new, so we decided to try it out. They have a play area for the kids, and we told Cas all about it. We were not sure if she would want to go or not, but she could not let go of my hand fast enough when she saw it. She took off for the inside bounce house, and just looking at all there was to do. Mike and I left her with a good feeling, and our cell phones on vibrate in case they needed to call us out of the service. The sermon was good, and we enjoyed the minister that we had never heard.

After church, we had to drag Cassidy out of the play area, in order to head out to the wonderful HOME DEPOT. Mike wanted to get a few things, so as I thought Cas was awake, I was talking to her. I turned around to see Cas sound asleep. I was glad she was sleeping, but even more glad about the fact that I had put her in her pajamas before we left the church parking lot. Smart thinking on my part, or at least I think so! Mike and I headed to pick up our Chinese food, and headed to the house to eat.

On Sunday, it was laundry day. How is it that three people can accumulate so much stuff in ONE WEEK!!!! I don't understand, but I feel like I did laundry all day. I did get the photo book almost finished from our Missouri trip, so I feel better about that as well.

Anyway, We had a great weekend, and I will post new pics from the pool soon!
Take care, until next post!

ENERGY CITIZENS

So this is near and dear to my heart being that I am in the Energy world. If you have time, go out to this website and become an Energy Citizen. It affects our future, and the future of our children. This is your voice on the Energy Industry and gives you a chance to voice your opinion. Normally I don't like to be political, so I am not going to. Go to the website, read about it, and make your own decision. I already made mine.

I have never in my life attended a rally, and never thought I would, but my company chartered buses down to the rally here in Houston, and it was really good. I am glad I went.

Here is the link...


This weekend I am planning on posting more pictures from our vacation. Hope you have been enjoying them.
Until next post

Gammy and Cassidy

So I didn't realize that my Mom had sent me some really cute pictures of Cassidy and herself in their matching outfits. Sorry, I am at the office, so there is red eye, but I had to share these! I thought they are so cute! Thanks Gammy for all that you do for us. We love you!

The Great Escape

So, last night was a "Fun" evening...NOT!!!!
As we were getting ready for bed, I turned to Mike and asked,
"Do you know where Bella is?"
He looked at me and said, "No, why?"
I responded with, "I have not seen her in a while."
Mike walked out in the backyard as I was calling her inside.
He came back to say, "The back gate is open."
I knew exaclty what that meant. We grabbed Cassidy and hoped in the car.
Cassidy, of course started crying, so between trying to calm her down, and yelling for Bella out the car window, my heart dropped. I was not sure where we were going to find her, but I was determined to. Luckily a neighbor from a back street stopped us as we were driving by because they heard me screaming for Bella.
Amazingly, she ran right up to them, and they brought her to their backyard. They said they were going to look for a number and put up signs today. Luckily, we didn't have to go the enitre night without having her.
I love this dog, but sometimes she drives me CRAZY!~

Blessings

As I sit here at my office, working, I just had to stop and count my blessings. I am amazed everyday by God's grace and strength. Wether I am struggling with something at the office, with Cassidy, or any other thing weighing on my heart and mind, I often don't stop and count my blessings.

When I started this blog, I did so to keep all of my family and friends caught up with the our lives and what is going on in them. Never did I realize how addicted to it I would become. I am not saying that is a bad thing, but I do have to take a break every now and again.

Anyway, off that tangent and back to blessings. It is amazing how God's grace works. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family in my life, and such amazing friends. I love each and every one of them. When things go wrong, or something happens that I didn't count on I often think, "OK God, why me." What I don't realize at that moment is maybe it is God's grace pointing me in a different direction for a reason. Maybe it is God's grace that he is doing it. Whether it is to be shieled from being hurt emotionally or physically. I am truely blessed.

For those of you that know me well, I am a planner, I would plan until the end of the earth if there was a calendar that they made for it. I love trying to get myself organized and plan special things for family and friends. I often have to stop myself and remind myself that it is not everyone's will to have their lives planned for them. This posting I seem to be rambling a little, or maybe a lot, but for some reason I have a lot on my mind today, besides work.

I just found out a very close friend of mine (whose name I will not mention right now, becuase I don't know if she is ready for that) has breast cancer. I have not spoken to her directly, but was told by my Mom. My heart goes out to her right now. I want her to know that I feel truely blessed to have her in my life. She is an amazing woman and I know that she can fight this. I know that it will be a difficult road ahead, but I also know that God has given her many blessings. She is loved very much by both family and friends, and we will support her through every step of the process. I pray for God's grace to keep her safe during the process.

Please keep her in your prayers.

Until next post,
Shelley

Friday Night Football and a Game of Hope

So I was really touched by this story I found on a friend of mine's blog. I am sitting here in my office at work and have tears in my eyes. It really makes you stop and think about your faith, what you believe, and who you believe in. I know that God put this coach into these kid's lives. Now we can only hope that these kids will realize that they are somebody.

Even though they have made mistakes, it is hope like this that might be able to turn their lives around. That is all that I am going to say about it. Just watch it for yourself and see. If you disagree, you don't have to watch it ever again, but I think you will be surprised how you feel at the end. Forget that these kids have done something wrong, and just look at them as normal high school age kids.

Pretty awesome!

Take care until next post

Finally got some pictures up

So I finally got some pictures from our Missouri vacation up. Scroll down to that entry and you will see the slideshow. I will get more from our friend's Lance and Debbie's visit as soon as I get those edited. i think I will have a few more from Missouri as well. Hope you enjoy them. Take care and have a good day.

Our friends from Glen Rose visit

I have to start of this blog saying I think I have had writer's block. It seems like either we have had a lot going on, or not enough to post. It has been almost 2 weeks which is nothing like me. I think I had to decompose from the drive home from Missouri and from starting back to work.

Mike's birthday was good. We went out with three other couples to PF Changs for dinner, and then went to a couple of places up in The Woodlands. It was nice to be around adults, and I really enjoyed their company.

This past week went well at work for me. It was busy, but I would not know what to do if it wasn't. I was very productive, and even had a training class that I attended on productivity. Hopefully that will work for me.

On Friday, our friends Lance and Debbie drove in from Glen Rose with their three kids. We had a great time. I cooked a new dish on Friday night, and then we had pizzas on Saturday night. We made homemade ice cream, and the kids swam in the blow-up pools in the backyard. We played the Wii way to late, but had a great time. We even decided on a weekend for next year to rent a room at Schlitterbahn in New Braunsfules. I am looking forward to that along with our family trip to meet my Dad, Step-mom, and sisters and brother out at Hilton Head with their familes. That should be a great time!

Anyway, other than that, it is back to getting ready for work/school for the week. Laundry, laundry, laundry! It seems to never end! Oh well, I guess I could have more kids and it would be more.

Well, I guess that is it for this post. I only took a few pictures, so as soon as I can I will get them posted.

Until Next time...

Our Summer Vacation---Missouri

So, I am now sitting in my living room, thankful to be home. Mike, Cas and I left on the 2nd of July to head towards Missouri. We went to visit my Dad, Kim(my step-mom), and my step siblings. When we headed out on the 2nd we drove to Little Rock, Arkansas. After many, "Are we there yet?"(From me), and Cassidy saying, "The movie is over, what can I watch next?", we heard the voice on GPS say, "YOU HAVE ARRIVED!" The evening of the 2nd we took it pretty slow, we ended up getting in around 8:30 that night, so we were all pretty tired. We got some rest and drove into Cape Girardeau on the 3rd.

Once we arrived in Cape, the festivities began. We got in shortly after lunch time on the 3rd, and so my Dad was off for the afternoon. It was great. We all got settled in, and we able to catch up some. On the morning of the 4th, Mike and Dad went out to Dad and Kim's golf course and helped with a golf tournament. Mike and Dad both said it was really neat because the kids that were playing in this tournament would probablly be seen later on the PGA tour. The evening of the 4th we decided to go see fireworks out at the park. We put on a TON of BUG SPRAY, and headed out. It was really nice. Cassidy has never liked many loud noises, so Poppy Dick helped solve that problem. (Thanks Dad!) You can see from the picture(s) below. Cas could hardly hear a thing! It was pretty funny.

I can't remember all the exact days for what we did, but I can tell you what we did. Guess I am getting old =-)

On Sunday, we went to church, and had a wonderful lunch. We relaxed a little as well. We even loaded up the car and headed down towards the Mighty Mississippi River. Cassidy thought it was really neat to see all the barges go by. It is a beautiful river at night. We also were able to see the new bridge that was built. The architecture is amazing.

On Monday, we loaded up the car and the five of us headed towards St. Louis. We took Cassidy to the St. Louis Zoo, and the St. Louis Children's Museum. We had a blast. We saw Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh my! Cassidy's favorite animals at the zoo were the flamingos...At The Children's Museum, Cas got to run around and see and do there as well. Once we finished there, we headed out towards dinner. We ate at an awesome Pizza place. It was Chicago style, and boy was it yummy!

On Tuesday, Dad had to work, so Mike and I got our teeth cleaned. Cassidy got to take a ride in the dental chair, and Dr. Poppy Dick Swartz checked her teeth out as well. It was nice to get that done by my dad.

Unfourtanetly, Kim's Step Dad passed away, so Dad and Kim had to head off to Nashville on Wednesday for a funeral. Thanks to Kim and Dad's friends Bill and Becky Ogborne, we did however have our dinner taken care of and got to go swimming. It was nice of them to open their house to us and do that.

On Thursday, Dad worked again, so Kim took Cassidy, Mike and I down to the library, and Cassidy took a class. It was really neat. It was all about color, and different ways of using color. Cassidy got to do shaving cream art and painted with icing (and then got to eat it). Yummy... that tasted good!

On Tuesday , Mike, Cassidy and I headed down to Caruthersville. We were able to see Ted and Sue Streete, and Donna and Henry Hayden. It was great to see them all. Ted came in from farming, and spent some good time with us. Ted and Sue are exactly as I remember. We also had a special treat. One of Ted and Sue's daughters Ginny and her daughter Katia (who was adopted from Russia) came over to see us as well. I love them all so much. We visited for a long time, and then headed back to Cape Girardeau.

We were going to leave on Thursday, and head back to Memphis, but do to the earlier week's circumstances, we decided to stay an extra day. On Thursday, while my Dad was at work, we decided to take Cas to a movie. We went and saw the movie Ice Age
2. It was a little scary for Cassidy although some parts she really enjoyed.

We left Missouri on Friday, and drove to Memphis. Once we got there, we headed straight towards the hotel. The Peabody Hotel that is. We got their early enough to see the ducks swimming in their pond in the lobby, and of course for me to spend some money in the gift shop. It was amazing. The hotel is beautiful, and the tradition was amazing. Once the show got started the ducks walked down some stairs onto the red carpet that is rolled out for them. They shook themselves off, and then headed to the elevator. They did get a little loud, and quacked quite a bit. Once the show was over, we met Kim's brother and sister-in-law. Thanks to Kim's brother and his wife, they actually let us stay in the their condo in downtown Memphis. It was beautiful, and overlooked the river. Once we got settled in, we headed back towards The Peabody Hotel. We were able to go to the roof, were they keep the ducks, and Cassidy got to see them in their home. I was amazed, they have their own fountain on the roof as well! After we left The Peabody for the 2nd time, we headed towards The Rendevous for ribs. I actually ate a pulled pork sandwich...all I have to say is Oh, my gosh! That was WONDERFUL. It was getting late, and since we had walked to the resturant, we decided to catch a carriage back. Cassidy loved the horse drawn carriage and it looked like it was out of Cinderella. We got back to the condo, and settled in for a good night's rest.

The following morning which was Saturday, we headed out early and drove towards Houston. I don't think I have ever been so happy to see the Texas state line! We headed towards Happy Farm Kennel, and picked Bella up. When we got home I franticaly ran to the store and got our groceries for the week. Now here I sit on the couch typing this blog. I did get back in time last night to mow the back yard. So the front yard is my next monster. Followed by a day of laundry =-)~ Can't wait. I hope you enjoy all the pictures. I tried to break them up, since I think this is the longest post I have ever had...

Take care, until next post!
Shelley

Creekside Pool and Getting our Nails done

So we went to Creekside Pool up in The Woodlands as it was extremely hot this weekend.

We had a BLAST! It was so much fun...here are some pictures from our visit to the pool and waterpark!

Cassidy and I also went to the nail salon to get ready for our trip. Cassidy loved it. I think I am in trouble...I am already spoiling her!
(There are two albums, one from the salon, and one from the pool)

Ready for the weekend

Although we have a TON to do to get ready for vacation, we are going to hopefully enjoy this weekend. We are going to try out a new pool up in The Woodlands, so we will see how it goes. Here are som recent pictures of my cute niece Ami Ye. We miss them so much! Other than that we are rolling into the weekened.

Father's Day Itself

So we went to our friend Justin's house on Father's Day. At first I thought, a party on Father's Day???? I don't know, but we all had a great time. It was wonderful bar-b-que, and it was great to see friends. They had everything to eat from crawfish to meat, chips to dessert. NO ONE could go hungry!!! They had a HUGE SLIP-N-SLIDE!!! It was a blast. Below are some pictures of it. We had so much fun. Cas also had fun splashing in a baby pool too.

I think the best part of the whole day for me was they had horses. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always found horses magical...sound crazy???? Anyway, Justin has a stable and has some horses because on their property, they board animals as well. We got to get up close to the horses as they were in their stalls, and I loved getting to pet their noses. Cassidy thought they were great and did a wonderful job with them. The last thing I want is for Cas to be scared of horses, I guess since I love them so much.

Cas also got a new pool for the house, she really likes it. It is a little different than I thought it would be, but it is still really cute, and Cassidy likes it. I guess that is all that really matters.

Well, below are some pictures of the entire weekend. Take care until next post...

Happy Father's Day

So, today is Father's Day and I want to say Have a wonderful day to all the Father's out there. Mike is still sleeping, so we will wish him a Happy Father's Day on his schedule today. Cas and I woke up early today, and got it started. I got dressed, Cas is still in her P.J.'s, and we headed off to the donut store (Mike's request)! We picked up donuts and now in the background is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and we are waiting for Daddy to rise and shine. I want to say a special Happy Father's Day to Mike. You are a wonderful husband and Father. We love you very much and are very blessed to have you in our lives.

I want to write a special note to my Dad(a.k.a. Poppy Dick). Happy Father's Day Dad. I love you very much and can't wait to see you soon. Thanks for all that you do for me! I hope you have a wonderful day. We are counting down the days at our house until we come. Hope you are ready for some fun!

Other than Father's Day, we have had a fairly normal week. Cassidy has been back on a prescription again for her tonsillitis. Although, she feels great, and we have no problems to speak of. The doctor just felt as if we didn't knock it out with the first round of medication.

Cassidy got to go on a Pirate Adventure on Friday at school. She was a little leery of the Pirate, but we had a good time. They had a pretend pirate ship, and they got treasure at the end. The kids got to dress up if they wanted to as well. Since I was there, Cas wanted to sit in my lap and as far away from the pirate as possible. Friday night, our niece Jordan came home with Mike from work. She came over since every year we take her shopping for her birthday. It was in April, we were a little late this year, but we had some Mexican food Friday night.

Saturday morning we hit the mall to do a little shopping with Jordan. We met Mike's sister for lunch at Tommy Bahama, and had a nice time as well. Once Jenny
and Jordan had left, we decided to surprise Cassidy and go to a movie. We don't do that nearly enough, but Cas always has a great time. We went and saw the movie "Up". It was cute, but I would have thought it wound be a little different.
We went to Johnny Rockets for dinner, and I was a little disappointed in that as well. Mike and I first went to Johnny Rockets when we were on our Honeymoon as they had one on the ship we were on. It was actually good. We have gone a couple of times here, and it is not as good, and they don't entertain and sing like they used to. Anyway, we came home and all went to sleep early.

So that gets us back to Sunday morning...Cartoons on, and now Cassidy is hosting a "Cooking Class" for me. She has some of her play kitchen accessories downstairs, and is borrowing the beans from "Don't spill the beans game". She is so funny and very creative. She loves to help me in the kitchen, and it has made cooking more fun to me. Well, today we are going to a BBQ at a friend's house, in honor of his Father.

I guess that is all for now. Take care until next post!

Figured it out...Thankfully

OK, so withing a couple of minutes I have figured it out. I was going to loose it. Sorry for the crazy blogs...but we are good to go again!

WHAT HAVE I DONE???????

I have done something under the "layout" section in my blog, and can't see any of my posts! OMG!!!!!! I am going to cry! The wierd thing is that they are saved under my posts, but you just can't see them!!!! I have got to figure this out....

Summer fun...

So I promise I will upload pictures, but at least wanted to get what's been happening out there. So in May, Cas was sick with tonsilitis, and as I think about it that is the same time line as of when Mike had appendicidis but last year. Lord help me, I hope that this next May it is not my turn for something =-). Lately we have been trying to relax a little more and enjoy life. It seems like we always get caught up in the grind, and never "Stop to smell the flowers". So, with that being said, that is what I have been trying to do with Cas. I have come to the conclusion that it is very difficult to be a full time mom, wife and work full time as well. I try my best, but some days are better than others. Recently, Mike and I pulled out our blow-up pool for Cassidy, and she has been loving it. We have been spending a lot of time outside, and loving it. Cassidy has enjoyed laughing at the dog as she thinks she wants to be in the pool, but freaks out when she gets in. I have to admit I have been laughing at Bella too.

On Friday, Cas and I did our normal grocery shopping, her with her cart, me with mine. I always laugh because she gets so excited, I just hate it though when she hits me in the back of the heels...that is not fun! Cassidy loves the grocery store and thinks it is awesome that she gets to have her own cart. She wants to put everything in it though, and can't push it at all...

On Saturday, we went to a birthday party and they had a train. It was the coolest thing. It actually road on the street, and the kids loved it. The driver rang the bell as he drove down the street, and we got to ride around the subdivision.

On Sunday, we sunned ourselves like turtles in the pool, and ran a couple of errands. It always amazes me when we go to Wal-Mart. We never seem to get out of there without spending so much money, but we really just got what we needed, so I guess I don't feel as bad. Sunday morning, I had a photo shoot at a local park, then pictures turned out great, as the family I photographed are very photogenic.

Well, other than that, I keep trying to get us ready for vacation. We are headed to Missouri soon, and it should be a blast. We are driving, so it should be interesting. We are headed to Little Rock day one, spending the night there, then into Cape Girardeau. Can't wait! I get to see my Dad and Kim, and my step-sister Katie and her new little addition Henry Richard. From the pictures so far he is adorable. I will try to post some pictures of Henry soon!

Take care until next post!

Back on Track...

So I think I can say we are officially back on track. Things are starting to be normal again in the Black Family household. Cassidy is back to her normal bubbly self, Mike is able to get a little R&R from work, and Bella(the dog) and myself seem to be doing pretty well. This past weekend, the tempature started climbing back up into our "Normal Houston Summer" tempatures. It has been right around at least 90 degrees every day. So with that being said, we can officially become redneck and pull out our blow up swimming pool, which of course we have already done. Cassidy has gotten to swim in it most evenings in the past week and a half and has been loving it. Work is going good for me, just staying busy with invoices and accounting in the Gulf Of Mexico. Hurricane season is here, and usually that is my busiest time. It somehow seems we spend more $$$$.

Last night, Cassidy and I did have an out of the ordinary Wednesday, it was my cousin's birthday (Happy Birthday Kelly) and her husband Chris threw a "Surprise Party" for her. Cas and I headed out to Magnolia, and boy was she surprised...guess next time we should warn Kelly since she had been outside in the heat doing things all day...but it was still a lot of fun and Cassidy had a great time playing with Bailey-Page.

This weekend we are going to a birthday party for our neighbors son, and probablly will hang out in the pool as well. I am working on starting to think about getting things organized for our trip to Missouri as well. I worked on finally getting part of the attic cleaned out, of course I wait for the heat to hit, but was able to clean out a lot of Cassidy's infant stuff. It never ceases to amaze me how much stuff she ends up with. Or maybe I just need to through it away more often.

Anyway, attached are some recent pictures from things that have been going on in our world...hope you enjoy!

SO EMBARRESSED

I am sure everyone is intrigued by the name of this blog. So much has happened since I last posted. Cassidy was extremely sick with tonsilitis recently as I last posted. We are finally over that (thank goodness)! Cassidy had a good last week at school, as she had been out the entire week before. In the middle of this last week, we got the opportunity to help out our friends Patty and Mike by supporting their son Brandon's baseball team. All we had to do was eat at Chick-fil-A. It was not a hard request at that. Not to mention that Cassidy had a wonderful time with seeing her friend Brooke. They have so much fun playing together. So Friday came and I had the day off. Cassidy and I decided to get as many of our errands done as we could. I had to even go to the mall. We got the grocery shopping done, and I even got 99% of the house clean, along with doing some laundry.

So back to the story...if any of you have ever gone to The Woodlands Mall, you know how big it is. I decided on Thursday that I would pick up Cas after school, and that we could run to the mall because I wanted to get some make-up and Cas a couple of new outfits for summer. So we go into the mall, and start our shopping. I had Cas in the stroller(thank goodness!) We walked all over the mall, getting all that we needed. I finally realized that it was getting late (around 7:00 p.m.), and we should start heading home...but there was one problem...where was the car? I looked everywhere, and I mean everywhere...could NOT FIND IT ANYWHERE! I was so mad at myself by this time, I decided to stop the mounted patrol. The lady was really nice, and Cassidy loved the fact that her horse named Mikey would do tricks. He definetly kept Cassidy entertained. They had the survillence cameras searching, and a patrol car with lights. Oh the joy! Well, after about 25 minutes more, they were able to locate the car. The only problem was that the car was exactly opposite of where Cas and I were. Explains why I could not find the car...anyway, we finally got in the car and made it home. WOW! I HATE THE MALL!!!!!

On another note, we have had a wonderful weekend. Friday night we got Mexican food, and then just came home and relaxed. On Saturday, we had AT&T Uverse installed, and had Jason's Deli. Today, we went to a new church, to try it out, and have spent some of the day out in our pool. I have never felt so Jeff Foxworthy (you might be a redneck), although, we at least had the pool in the backyard. Other than that, we have been pretty quiet. I guess we just needed some R&R. Well, I have posted some pictures from the pool today, and a few other recent pictures.

Until next post...

Last week started and ended CRAZY...

So i have to start this blog off by apologizing. It seems like it has been FOREVER since I have had a moments rest in the past week, or at least since this time last weekend. Last Sunday night, Cas spent the night at Gammy's so Mike and I could have a night out. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed getting to spend some quality time together. It's amazing...even after eight years of marriage, I still get butterflies in my stomach when Mike gives me that sweet look. I love my husband so much...with that being said, we got to have two date nights last week and they were wonderful. But, on Monday Cas started to turn south. My Mom told me that she had some congestion the night before, so I figured it was the usual stuff. I gave Cas a breathing treatment, and it didn't seem to help to much, but just enough. I got up on Tuesday, and went into the office, Mike did his normal thing and got Cas off to school before he went to work as well. About 8:00 Tuesday morning, I got the dreaded call.
"Mrs. Black? This is Ms. Mendoza from Cassidy's school..."
"Yes," I replied
"Cas just came up to the front desk and her temperature is 102.1"
"OK, I will come get her."
It was a mad dash from that point. I almost ran out of my office trying to get out the door fast enough to get to my poor precious baby...I calmed down as I was driving long enough to call the doctor's office. When I called they asked me to bring her in. I picked up Cas in a panic and hurried off across town about 40 minutes.
Luckily, Cas goes to the same doctor as I do, it is not a pediatrician, just a MD, Family doctor. The office wasn't too busy, so Dr. Kumar told us to come on in. When we got there, they took us right back and checked out Cas. Her fever was still high. They gave her some meds, and it seemed to come down a bit. The strep test came back negative, so then we got the news...
"TONSILLITIS!" YIKES! Last I heard that word, I was a junior or senior in high school, and I had to have mine removed.
Well, at least we knew what we were fighting now. We got the lovely pink amoxicillin, and came home. I got Cas comfie and settled in for a long week. I was finally able to go back to work, thanks to my wonderful husband. Cassidy broke her fever finally on Thursday, and we have had a fairly nice weekend. We haven't gone out to much, as I have wanted her to still get as much rest as possible.

Anyway, Mike helped out as much as he could. There were only two problems, this past week, Joint Commission was supposed to come to his clinic (which they ended up not coming so he took Friday off), and MIKE still HAS HIS TONSILS! I knew from experience that if Mike got it as an adult, it would be ten times worse. So, I was Nurse Black this past week.

With a lot of prayer, and a lot of medicine and rest, Cas is all back to normal. So that explains why I hadn't posted in a while. I have a couple of pics that I will try to put up soon.
Take care until next time.

Memorial Day Weekend

So this has been a nice long weekend for Cas and I so far. It was my Friday off, so Cas and I spent a lot of time running around on Friday doing errands. We went to the grocery store, DSW (to return something), met a truck to pick up my "Cajun Microwave"(I explain more about that later), and went to Target to finish up on some baby shopping for a couple of baby gifts. I feel like we ran around all day.

Cas was a huge help as she always is, and even let us get all of that done. I am hosting a baby shower for a girl at work, and so that is what the baby gift was for. Also my step-sister who lives in Missouri (Katie) and her husband (Adam) are expecting their first on June 22nd. So I did a little shopping for them as well. I can't wait to meet the little one as we will be there over the fourth of July. No pressure on Katie, but I hope she has had that baby by then!!!

OK, so off the tangent and back to the "Cajun Microwave". I went to OTC(Offshore Technology Conference) and actually dropped my business card into the cajun microwave, and my name was drawn...Go figure the one time I win something I will not use. The best way to describe it is as a smoker. I have put the link for the one that I got on this post, so if you are interested, you can go check it out. I am not keeping it as Mike and I would not use it enough, but I have already sold it to my cousin...I know Scott will enjoy it. Here's the link if you are interested in seeing it. I hope the link was embed right... http://www.cajunmicrowaves.com

So Mike just measured Cassidy and she is 39 and a half inches tall, and 34 pounds. My little one is growing up...=-( Actually even though I am a little sad she is, I am so excited. The older she gets, the more fun it is...

Saturday morning started out fun for me...(Just kidding)...I decided to go to the gym, mow the yard, and then clean the house...sounds great huh! I know secretly you are jelous as you read this. Cassidy as always was a big help, and Mike helped as well. Nothing like a nice clean house...

There are a couple of pictures of Cassidy in our clothes laundry baskets...she has loved this since she was a little girl. If they are empty, she will drag them out to the living room, tump them over and now can get them back up. She will sit in them for hours. I wonder if she will do this when she is sixteen...

FROGGY PURSE!!!!! So I know it seems crazy that I am excited about a Froggy Purse, but I bought it for Cassidy about a year ago. I will admit it, it was a bribe. We did the wrong thing and let Cas sleep with us for a while when she was younger. Sometimes I think it was more for me than anyone. I guess working full time, I loved having that closeness to Cassidy. Anyway, I bought a froggy purse for Cassidy and told her when she started sleeping in her bed full time she would get it. We still have had a couple of nights where she gets up in the night and wants to come downstairs, but she starts out in her bed! So I have to say how proud I am of Cas. Good job Big Girl!

Mike and I had a date night last night because of our wonderful babysitter and friend Kathy. We went out to dinner at PF Changs and ate way to much, and then went to see Night at the Museum II. It was good, but definetly wasn't as funny as the first one...I was a little dissapointed. Anyway, thanks to Gammy, we are having an afternoon and entire night alone. Poppa and Gammy are letting Cas come over a little later and spend the night. They are so wonderful! Thanks Mom and Garth. We love you!

For a three and a half year old, Cas is very imaginative. I don't know where she gets that (WINK!) Just a little bit ago, I was upstairs in the study, listening to Cassidy and Mike's conversation...
Cas: "Daddy, what flavor would you like?"
Mike:"Of what?"
Cas: "Lollipops"
Mike: "What are my choices?"
Cas:"Well...there's Winter Watermelon, Artic Apple, Polar Pappaya, Burbur Banana, and Chilly Cherry. So which one do you want?"

Mike responded back with his answer, I didn't hear the rest of what it was...anyway, I am always amazed.

Cassidy got a new electric toothbrush...Barbie...(I know my Mom will love that!) She loves brushing her teeth. I am excited about that as I can tell she is getting older and can do more on her own. I have posted some pictures of Cas and her new toothbrush...(Only a dentist's daughter)

This morning Cas helped Daddy with making Cinamon Rolls, she always has a good time with that. She also somewhat helped me with organizing some DVD cases. (I was really trying to get them upstairs, but she decide to lay them all out and try to jump across them).

Here are some pictures that I have taken recently, mostly this week, and this weekend...Enjoy!

Catching up for this week

OK...so this week has been a ZOO! I think it is about time I check myself in somewhere. Talk about feeling the grind. It all started with last Friday. Mike is usually home by about 6:00. He called and said that they had a patient at the clinic, and he was going to be a little bit late...I told him that would not be a problem as I wasn't home. I was at BABIES-R-US. Now don't get me wrong, Babies-R-Us is fun, but when you are trying to put together a baby shower, and are in charge of buying all the gifts (from donations at work), it gets to be a little bit crazy. So anyway, I had my little helper (Cassdidy), and she was telling me what she thought about getting certain things. Although she thinks the baby should only have "toys" I reassured her that my friend Stephanie needs more than that. With much conviencing, we bought the stuff Cas though was "boring." Afterwards, I looked at my watch and realized that I had spent about two and a half hours in there! So, Cas and I grabbed a bite to eat and headed home. On Saturday, I ran errands which is always fun, when you really don't want to go, and then on Saturday night Chris, Kelly and the kids came over. We had a good time and the kids got to play. We give all of them a bath and then crashed out. On Sunday, we hung out as it rained most of the day.

That rolled us into this week...work has be constent, which is good, but also bad. I feel like every time I think I am getting ahead, I end up being a bit behind. I did however attend a very interesting class at lunch this week about Hurricane Response and the Guld of Mexico. I know, I know to some of you that don't deal with the Oil and Gas industry, that sounds boring, but I loved it. It directly affects my job as all of my foremen and crews are about 150 miles out floating on a spar in the Gulf of Mexico.

I also helped a friend of mine Danita out. Her wonderful son Jeremy is graduating from Klein Oak this year. She had some pictures professionally taken, but it ended up being a big mess. I told her as part of Jeremy's graduation present, I would take some pictures, and in return be able to use them on www.noellephoto.com (my photography website). She agreed, and I started snapping. Anyway, it is always hard to do a photo shoot in the middle of the week, with a three and a half year old at home.

This weekend, with it being Memorial Day, we are going to be in Houston! YAY! We might be blowing up the pool and putting it in the backyard. (WOW! With that last sentence, I feel like a redneck!) Mike and I are going to have a date night as of now on Saturday night. Our wonderful friend and babysitter Kathy is going to come over and watch Cas. I don't know what Mike and I will do, so you will have to check out the next post to find out... I think we might go over to Gammy and Poppa's for dinner as well maybe Sunday night. We will see.

OK, so enough rambling...I will upload pictures when I get home since today is my last day of the week.
Until next post.
Shelely

Weekend Happenings

So we had a nice weekend. Cassidy got a new water sprinkler, we made ice cream, Cas and I had our first mother daughter trip to get our toes painted at the salon. Cassidy loved it. She got to sit in a bear chair, and the water changed colors! She thought it was great. During the day on Saturday, Cas founds some magazines in a bag, and decided she wanted to read on our bed. We have no sheets, as they were in the wash, but she looked so grown up. I had to run and get my camera. On Saturday night, Chris, Kelly and the kids came over. We let the girls play for a while why we caught up. It was really nice. Not much else went on this weekend. Cassidy did get a new water sprinkler for the yard, but it ended up raining. Cassidy also got a new lap desk for the car ride to Missouri this summer. She LOVES that! Anyway, take care for this post, and enjoy the pictures!

Mother's Day Weekend Pictures

OK, so these are the pictures from the post of Mother's Day weekened 2009. I am still trying to figure this out...enjoy!

Mother's Day Weekend

So this has been a wonderful Mother's Day Weekend. I have been spoiled, and it still is going on. Friday I spent the day with my wonderful sweet daughter. It was really nice to spend the day with her. I did do a photo shoot on Friday, but Cassidy came with me and was a big helper. On Friday night, we went to an Astros game with some friends of ours, and the five of us had a great time. We even got to see the Friday night Fireworks at Minute Maid when the game was over. Cas loved that part. Saturday morning, I took Cassidy to the donut shop, and let Mike relax for a while. The donut shop has only happened about three times in Cassidy's life, so she gets so excited every time. Once we got back, Saturday mid day, Mike and Cassidy went to the garden center and picked out some spring flowers for us to plant. They did a wonderful job picking out the flowers, and it gave me a chance to do some editing from my Friday photo shoot. Once they got back, we planted a few flowers, the yard looks great now. Yesterday afternoon, we went to a BBQ for a while, but left before the drinking really began. Love seeing our friends, but hate Cassidy around a lot of people that are drinking. We got home early enough to play a little bit on the Wii, and then went to bed early as well. We all got much needed sleep. This morning in honor of Mother's Day, Mike and Cassidy let me sleep in and brought me homemade pancakes in bed. What a treat! My little munchkin got me flowers and a singing card. She is such a cutie pie! Well, I think we are going to maybe go to Academy, and then just hang out for the rest of the day. It's a little overcast today, so maybe we will get the blowup pool out. Who knows. Here are some pics from our weekend. Until next time!

Happy Birthday Dad, OTC and sliding into Friday

Dad, Shannon and I

Above is my sister Shannon and my Dad

Above is Dad and I

Above, Dad, Cas and I

So to start, I have to say Happy Early Birthday to my dad! His birthday is on the 9th, but he will be out on Kentucky Lake. So in honor of you Dad, I have posted some pictures from our Hilton Head, South Carolina trip back in 2007. Can't wait until next year! I am looking forward to the beach again! I love you and Miss you Dad, have a wonderful birthday!

So, today is Thursday (my Friday) and I am ready for the weekend. Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend OTC otherwise known as the Offshore Technology Conference down in Reliant Stadium/Arena. It is always an awesome experience to see any new gadgets they have, and meet with the vendors one on one. It's always amazing to be standing on the floor of Reliant Stadium with booths all set up. It doesn't look the same as when in the stands, but now I would know how it feels to be on the field. I was able to climb into a "survival capsule" which is used if they have to leave a platform in an emergency. YIKES! I do have to say I could only handle it for a short while. They get hot!

Other than OTC, we have a fun weekend ahead. Tomorrow night we have the Astros games with some friends at Minute Maid park, and then we have a BBQ and get together on Saturday with some friends. I hope Cas has fun at both. I should have some pictures once the weekend is done.

Take care until next post!

Dinner with friends, Making homemade ice cream, Gardening and a Diaper Cake!

WOW! What a wonderful but busy weekend. On Friday Mike got home late, but we did make some homemade ice cream in my new gift. I got a Cusinart Ice Cream Maker as my five year gift from work. We got to pick out our gifts ourselves...I am so excited. Not to mention it made GREAT ice cream. On Friday night, and Saturday mid day, we got some much needed housework done. On Saturday morning, the yard work began as well. I mowed the yard, Mike edged, and we did some much needed weeding. Cassidy loved helping her Daddy with trimming bushes. On Saturday afternoon, I got to go have a special treat and get my toes done. I would take a picture, but that would be strange. On Saturday night our friends came over for dinner and the kids played and had a great time. This morning, I got a very special treat, Mike made Cassidy and I french toast. YUMMY! Today I finished off my diaper cake that I am making for a friends shower as well. I hope she likes it. So I guess we had a busy but fun weekend after all. Here are some pics. Hope you like them! Until next post, take care!

Precious little Ami Ye and Aunt Shannon

I know it is amazing that these are not of Cassidy, but yes there is another little one that is in our family's life that is so amazing and important. Our niece Ami Ye. Shannon and Blayne (my sister and brother-in-law) brought Ami home to Denver from China, and she is a true blessing. We get to see her on our web camera about once a week, and I love watching her grow. I do wish we lived closer, as Ami and Cassidy could play.

So other than my little one, Ami has stolen my heart. i have to brag on my sister and brother-in-law, but mostly my sister. Blayne and Shannon are raising a truly amazing little girl. Shannon is an amazing Mom. I can only hope that I am half of the Mom she is. I am so blessed to think that one day be called "Aunt Shelley" by this little one!

OK, so a couple of the pictures are from Missouri. Mike, Cassidy and I are driving there in July. I know I am crazy but I am really actually excited about the drive. We will see how I feel as I get closer though =-). By then, I will be really excited about seeing Dad and Kim (Poppy Dick and Mimi Kim), but not so excited about seeing the highway...

Anyway, here are some more pictures...