If this is Bakerella...

So I've been totally negligent on my blog. And for that I'm sorry. I really do want to be better about keeping this updated, funny, and a glimpse into our life out here in Franklin TN for our family and friends that live across the country. But I just can't seem to keep it high enough on my list of 'to-do's' for it to ever be crossed off!!!

That said, I've entered a blog contest on one of my favorite blogs and want her to know that although I'm rarely here, I can be contacted this way if I should win.

And because you would probably do the same thing if you loved Bakerella as much as we do and a Wii was at stake!!!

So Happy New Year to all two of you that are reading this!

cv

Hi mom.

Hey there mom. I love that I can shout this to you from the other room for two weeks. And that Nicole doesn't have to play I spy from far away in her mind to see you. She can just come and hug you and bug you - which she is totally doing all day long! I love you - thanks for having us all here even though your house is busting at the seams. It's so good to be with family.

Forever your 'baby'-
cv

I Spy

Nicole: I spy with my little eye, something so far away that I can't  even see it.  And I love it.

Me: Well then, it would be hard for me to spy it too, if it's so far   away that we can't see it!  What is it?

Nicole:  My Grandma

Welcome Owen Joseph Gleason!!!

I'm so excited and proud I could just about burst!!

I am now the proud Auntie to Owen Joseph Gleason, born to my AMAZING sister Dayna over in Swaziland, Africa!  

Dayna and her husband are over there as missionaries for our Great God, and she just delivered her firstborn this morning.  To say that I am proud of her and impressed beyond measure would not quite be cutting it.  That woman is - well - just amazing.  I am honored to be her sister, and now honored to be Owen's aunt.  

I can't believe I'm going to have to wait 4 months to meet this little guy, when they come to the states to visit.  I'm still trying to devise a plan to get over there to meet him before that...but I'll need a passport...and a place for my kids for at least a week...and a bunch of money for the plane ticket...so I'll probably just have to be patient.  But that's not my best virtue.  

I'll be back with more another time - I'm so exhausted from being up all night praying for them and wondering how things were going halfway across the globe that I can't think straight.  At least the kids and I all have clean clothes on today. 

Congratulations Dayna & Jonathan!  I love you all so much and am so excited for you!

Auntie Crystal =)

Yum, yum, yum!!!

So, I hit the farmer's market this morning.  Oh, how I LOVE summer fruit!  Of course, the selection you get out here in Tennessee is nothing like I had in California, but the FM is as good as it gets.

I rounded up for us some fresh blackberries, awesome tomatoes and some beautiful flowers.  I would have bought some blueberries too, if the kids and I hadn't just gone to the patch to pick some ourselves the other day.  I've been eating so many of them I'm thinking I'm going to get the runs....

And is there anyone else out there but me that loses track of what day it is?  I'm not talking about Monday, Tuesday, etc...but the actual NUMBER day it is?  Since I haven't been in an office (that was 4 years ago!!!) I have the hardest time remembering/knowing what number day it is.  I almost missed the birthday today of one of my dearest friends growing up just from not knowing.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LORI!!!

Well - off to scrub the kitchen floor, which is so absolutely desperate for me to clean it I think it's creaking "scrub me, scrub me" every time I walk over it. 

enjoy your weekend-

cv

I'm back!

So...apparently I'm not very good at this blogging thing.  

I really enjoy reading other blogs - it's actually how I start my days most of the time, with a cup of coffee and a few quick checks on certain blogs while Kyle is eating breakfast (that kid is NOT kidding around when he wakes up.  He wants his milk and breakfast - NOW.  And he's up so early...that's why the coffee is necessary.).

I'm just not very good at keeping up with my own.

I think it might stem from the fact that it's hard to spend more than 2 minutes on anything with undivided attention, having two preschoolers in the house and all.  And I'm not good enough with this blogger thing to know how to work all of the tricks that most other bloggers do.  And it takes a while to upload those pictures!!!

Sorry to ramble...just felt bad that I'd been gone so long.  So now I'm back.  And I really do intend to make it a more regular thing.  

Thanks for bearing with me.  

She's 4...

Okay, so it's been a while - again - since I've been here.  It's still crazy living in transition and out of boxes & suitcases.  And it's been a crazy, up & down week.  More than I can go into right here, right now.  My heart is full and heavy at the same time - and I just don't have the mindset to begin to share where I've been the last few days in the midst of tragedy.

But, why I'm here...my little girl is not so little any more.  She's 4!!!  I almost can't believe it - it seems like it was just a few months ago that I was holding her teeny tiny little body in my arms, trying not to break her little legs as I put them into footed sleepers that were meant to fit dolls.  That less-than-5-pound little miracle is now a beautiful, smart, 'big' girl of 4.  Someone pinch me...

I've spent the last few days hugging my kids a little tighter, holding them a little longer, and dropping whatever I'm doing just to love them a little better.  I encourage you to do the same - it shouldn't take tragedy in our lives to make us realize that these are the things that matter.  

Standing in the firm grip of my God-

cv