Random pictures

WOW...we have some cute kids. I have been snapping random photos of the girls, whenever I think about it lately. We got a new digital camera not too long ago, and it takes great pictures. For the longest time, Jaicie has been the funniest person to take pictures of. If you say smile and hold up a camera, she poses, just about the same pose everytime....Always...It is really cute.




Well, Today Felicity started doing it too. It was really cute, so I thought I would share. I also wanted to share some other cute pictures...




Felicity got a hold of one of her sisters toys. It was a little hello kitty stamp...She had some fun with it! Apparently, A LOT of fun with it! It was cute nonetheless!


We went to run some errands one day. I got home and the girls were both asleep in their car seats. I woke them both up and brought them inside...I brought some groceries in and came in to find them both curled up back asleep on the couch. Apparently they were REALLY tired!


The girls love rainbows. with the new door on our house, we get lots of rainbows on the floor. Jaicie was playing and we saw a rainbow on her head. I told her about it and she wanted to see a picture. Here it is. It turned out pretty cute I think!

Those are just some of our fun pictures. All in all, things are going really well. We are really happy with out new house and love the freedom it is giving us and love the space. It has an attic and it has been really nice to have a yard. We have an extra bedroom and tomorrow when Jaidi's dad comes, there is even a room for him to sleep in. It is really nice and we love it. Justin starts back in school in about a week and a half, and we will be enjoying the last little bit of our free time before the next 3 years start. Jaidi is enjoying being back at home and not working. She missed it a lot more than she realized. Jaicie starts school on August 27th. She is starting Pre-school and is more excited than I can protray. Felicity is just loving life, and for her it is really good. She is not going to enjoy time when she has to say goodbye to here sister every morning...It will be a sad time for her :( We will make our time together during the day though a lot of fun. If you have suggestions, please let me know! :) Hope everyone is doing well!

Harry Potter

This morning...yes this morning, early...exactly 2:00 am actually...Justin and I finished reading the 7th and final installment of Harry Potter---The deathly Hallows was a great book. Don't worry no spoilers here.

It was a bittersweet finishing...Justin and I didn't really get into Harry Potter until around the time Jaicie was born. We saw the first movie and decided to read the books. Jaicie is 4 now...Yes, 4...We have only been in the web spun by the harry potter books for 4 years now. Finishing the book, after waiting what 2 years since we finished book 6...We have been waiting so long, and now the wait is over and we are done...we the whole series. Now the wait begins for the movies. 6 in 2008 and 7 in 2010. It just seems amazing that we have only been apart of the web since 2003...and it consumed us.

As we were reading the books, I came to the realization for the first time, that Harry was born in 1980. I was utterly amazed...I was born in 1980, It just surprised me...I am not sure why. But I don't remember ever knowing that before.

Rowling ended the book the only way possible. To do it any other way I feel would have been an injustice to all involved and engrossed in the book. Rowling amazes me. As an author, she has managed to take a book series and spin a web that catches kids of every age. As we stood in line a couple of weeks back to watch the midnight showing of OOTP, we saw people of every age. I was kind of appalled at the fact that there were parents their with their 2 and 3 year old children. Although the beginning of the books are fine for young children, I do not feel that book 5 was appropriate for the youngs ones. However there were people from so many ages. My in-laws love the books. My 4 your old loves the first 3 movies. She doesn't get to watch move until she is older. Just in my own family I see such a great age span of people who loved this book. She captured kids with the young ages at the beginning and managed to catch everyone else by her absolutely brilliant writing. She is an amazing writer and I hope that one day I will be able to experience the excitement again of reading a book the Rowling has written. Though I don't know of any other series like this that has quite the following that HP has had, I feel the Rowling herself has made such a name for herself that people will buy her books, simply because her name is on them. Rowling is indeed an amazing author. She has mastered the art of fantasy writing (I think that is the genre the book would fall into) She has mastered the art of creating a character who would stand the test of time. Waiting for each book brought greater anticipation for what was coming. We helped bring a person or two into the web she spun, but we only have them the introduction, Rowling spun them in.

Well Done Rowling. I am happy to say that your book was amazing and the entire series will sit on my shelfs and be read again and again. We will likely have two complete sets...hard bound and soft bound in the future. Our children will read them, and hopefully so will our grandchildren. I commend Rowling for her amazing talent and her wonderful abilities.

If you haven't read the books yet, I HIGHLY recommend them. They are captivating. You will read the first book and not be able to stop. Take the time to read them. It is wonderful.

Fundraiser

I just realized that I hadn't updated everyone on the fundraiser a couple weeks back! It was great!

Our event here in Lubbock was a success. I am sad to say we didn't raise a ton of money, but nearly $2000 will help a bit. We ended up with 12 people shaving their heads. 1 of these 12 was a female. Her mother works at bodyworks and as they were driving past they saw the sign and decided to stop and see what it was all about. This girl, decided on the spot that she wanted to shave her head to help such a wonderful cause. She sat down and let the barber do her thing. The news station showed up just as they were about to start, so they paused and let them make it over. She is starting high school in August, so this sacrifice for her is very great. She was so excited to be able to join the cause. Everyone that participated was overwhlemed with joy to help out. I was so happy with the turn out, especially for the first time having it in Lubbock. Since then we have had a few stories both on the tv and in the newspaper. I have included a couple of links for the articles.

http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/070107/loc_070107062.shtml There is a link here for a slideshow the the AJ put together. I would take a look at it, it was done very well. The speaker is mostly my husband Justin.

http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/070707/edi_070707013.shtml (the bottom story on this page is about me. I was overjoyed when I heard it. I feel flattered that they commended me.)

There were also a total of 4 tv clips done. I have not been able to get digital copies of them yet, but they were on KLBK (.com) and KCBD (.com)...Both have websites and I was able to watch a clip on one of them the night of the event.

There are a few things I will do differently next year...
1. Shorter event timing...5 hours was too long, it would have been better to keep it at 3.
2. Hold it in the mall parking lot--Bodyworks members do not take money to the gym with them, it didn't occur to me. Bodyworks says that we can still use their equipment if we do it elsewhere.
3. Maybe a little earlier in the month.
4. Start looking for sponsors and donations earlier, such as food, supplies, copies, so forth. I didn't know that most office supply stores require 6-8 weeks advance request, and through corporate not your local store.
5. Be more aggressive getting the word out.

I loved doing this event and I definetly want to do it again next year.

Jaicie's Birthday

WOW...My little girl turned 4 today. We had her first ever birthday party where she actually invited her friends. It was an adventure, but so much fun! We had about 10 kids here, from church and when I worked at Bodyworks mostly. As everyone was arriving, the kids all played in the girls bedroom. Then after they had all arrived, we took them out and they played in the back yard in our newly bought swimming pool.They loved it. They played in it for about 45 minutes and had a ball! Afterwards everyone came inside and got dressed and then we ate cake. then we opened presents! It was so much fun and such an adventure. I hadn't thrown a birthday party before...not for kids especially. it was fun and I think it went really well. The kids all seemed happy and to enjoy themselves. It really was a lot of fun. We took lots of pictures and about 18 minutes worth of video tape. Anyway, it was a fun day. Happy Birthday to Jaicie! I can't believe that she is 4 already! 4 years ago, i was lying in a hospital bed in labor with an epidural that actually worked, not even trying to push...now, i am mother to a 4 year old and a 2 year old. My how time flies!