Maybe it should read LOST and Keys.  Whatever, I thought it was clever!

Lost comes back on tonight and keeping with tradition, we are getting together with the sibs (Miles' siblings and spouses) and a couple other great friends and having a LOST! party.  We are ordering Thai and bringing some fun things to share and it is going to be a blast!  I am so excited that I am having a hard time getting anything done today!

Also to get into the island theme, I have been listening to Jimmy Buffet all day today. Maybe I'll make myself a Pina Colada! ha ha ha... maybe not!  Then I would really get NOTHING done today.  Miles would get home and find me frozen to death laying in our backyard with my swimming suit on with a good book in one hand and the Pina Colada in the other.  Oh Florida Keys, I miss you!

                                    Pictures from  the Keys... Spring 2005

 

 

 

 

This is by far one of Halleigh's favorite toys.  She has one at church that she plays with and we really thought it was cute.  So we decided that we would get her one for home.  It was to be her big Christmas gift, but after searching and searching we found out that they are not made anymore. We were devastated until we went to craigslist and low and behold we found it and in GREAT shape.  

The mailbox has envelopes that she loves to play with and a flag that goes up and down.  In the back there are holes with vegetables in them that she can plant and pick over and over again.   It has a squeaky bird above the vegetable planter.  There are three twirling birds on a pole on the  "window" ledge.  There is a squeaky doorbell and fun bendie flowers, under which there is a little tunnel.  The front door is also great, since it has a doorknob and a catch so it feels more real to Halleigh.  We find the mail all over the house and the mailbox, more often than not, is a holder for her cell phone.

So, I really enjoy baking and cooking. I feel like with a good recipe, I can make pretty much anything.  I like to look through cookbooks and read blogs about cooking... one of my favorites is here.   I also really like Costco muffins... namely the almond poppy seed muffins.  After a little research and some thinking about ingredients, I decided that I would try to duplicate the heavenly Costco muffins.  After looking through several recipes, I decided on this one, found here.   It was the first recipe that I had tried off this blog and I was really excited.  She has some really fun recipes and it seems like she and her family enjoy the results.  They were gross!   I didn't actually do this exact recipe, because in the explanation she talks about how some people like the sour cream base better, so I used her sour cream based recipe instead found here, that shouldn't have made that much of a difference in how they tasted.  I don't know what went wrong, but they were not good.

It is truly sad and also a little embarrassing that I made these to take to bible study on Thursday morning. Poor women who ate these, I know they were gross, I am sorry.  So I am looking for a new recipe for almond poppy seed muffins, if you have one, let me know.  I need to redeem myself!

 

   It seems that most of Halleigh's major milestones have been celebrated on our blogs, and so last night as I was brushing Halleigh's teeth for the first time, I yelled for Miles to get the camera so that we could save and share this memory.

I know that I should have been brushing Halleigh's teeth for several months prior to this, but I always forget, or we are in a hurry, or well, I just wasn't in the mood to fight Halleigh about brushing.  Teeth brushing just seems like an epic battle that ever parent-child relationship must endure and to tell you the truth, I just wasn't up for it yet.  I even prepared myself by readuing up about tricks to ease the trauma of brushing... one of my favorites was to pretend that you were tickling their teeth.

Well, as you can see from the pictures, I had NOTHING to worry about. She loved it, smiled and laughed the whole time, even kept opening her mouth for more even after I was done. I hope that this stays a positive thing, and that I dodge yet another epic battle because my child is wonderful.

                                                        The tools:

 

                       I think it helped that the toothpaste tasted like watermelon.

 

 Look at that, nothing but love in her eyes for the one cleaning her teeth... what more could I ask for?

 

                                  The Halleigh-gator sucking her thumb.

 

                                SO CUTE! What more is there to say?

 

Showing off her clean pearly whites... and letting me know it is past her bedtime.

Fun pictures after Halleigh's bath the other day.  Notice the alligator towel... it really makes her the Halleigh-gator.

FINALLY! I am so glad that it snowed, actually it is still snowing and it is even sticking a little. Check out the "blizzard of 08" ha ha ha  I love it!

 

                              Here is the snow collecting on the dead leaves.   

              This makes me think of Christmas, all over again... snow covered holly!

            This picture could have been taken in Montana... it looks so wintery and cold!

                            Grass and snow... two totally different seasons colliding.    

                  Again snow covered lawn. I love it, it looks so fresh and clean!         

                                              The first snowball!

                                                     Our snowman!

                                                So cute! He's so little!

                     Halleigh, Miles and the snowman... he's not going to last long inside!

   Luckily he found his spot outside on the steps... hopefully he will be there tomorrow.

It hasn't even started to snow yet, but because there is a 60% chance of precipitation and 31 degrees out (read: frozen rain/ snow/ ice) they have already called a two-hour delay for 233 school districts, businesses, day-cares, pre-schools and churches. 

I don't know if I will ever get used to this... it makes me laugh everytime. 

YOU BIG BABIES, IT'S JUST A LITTLE SNOW! ha ha ha

I like to tell people that the high school that I student taught at in Bozeman, MT had NEVER, in it's over 100 year history, called off for a snow day.  While I student taught we were blanketed in 3+ feet of snow... still no snow day.  Man, I am far from home!

Why do bow ties wear out so much faster than normal ties?  I was putting away one of Miles' bow ties, and noticed that the edges were fraying a little.  None of his normal ties are doing that, and he has had some of them for YEARS!

This semester in Thursday Morning Women's Bible Study we are doing a topical study on forgiveness.  They announced the topic around Thanksgiving, and at first I thought, oh brother, how boring. I am not going to get anything out of this... I mean really, who do I want to need to forgive? (want to need to forgive... get it?!?) We got our workbooks last week, and the teachers gave an introduction and I left so thankful that I didn't opt out of this semester's bible study, like I had thought about doing.  I felt like I had a glimpse of freedom.

I carry it around on my back.  I don't really know what it, is. Anger, resentment, fear, loathing, this hurt that I feel, it's not fair!  I dress it up and try to hide it from others, "I'm too smart, funny, beautiful, talented, blessed to feel this way" I try to tell the world, but it's still there, simmering just beneath the surface. Occasionally (read, more often than it should) it rears its head and takes over my life. Miles, usually bearing the brunt of it.  He knew my issues going in, and he won’t leave, so I can scream and rage, and he just has to deal with it, right? WRONG! One of my favorite pieces of advice that my dad has ever told me is that the marriage relationship is like a piece of glass, not stone... it can break.  Seeing how he knows... it's good advice to keep in mind.  As, I seem to have all of the bad personality traits of both my parents. No, Miles and I are not in trouble. We are great, Miles is great, and we are learning how to be what each other needs, even now, four years into the marriage. I thought we would have it down by now. We have come along way, and we are getting the hang of dealing with stress, baggage, and forgiveness.  And no, he is not one of the ones that I need to forgive, and in all actuality, no one who reads our blogs are any of the people that I need to forgive. Ironic really, that the people that I allow to inhibit my happiness and emotional health are not even people invested in me enough to enjoy my blog.

I have been hurt by people who should have NEVER treated me the way that they did, and they are who I need to forgive and LET GO of.  Not literally let go of, because some will be in my life until the end of theirs, but maybe let go of the control over my life that I allow them to have.  I carry them around and let them continue hurting me, too scared to forget; too angry to forgive. This study advertises forgiveness, but not forgetfulness, which I need.  Forgiveness without the offenders’ participation, which I need. Forgiveness as a path, that is not instantaneous, but a journey, which I need.  I have high hopes for this study and I am going to pour myself into it, because what are my alternatives? Staying bitter and angry? I don't think so... that isn't the kind of mother and wife that I want to be.

Forgiveness... why is it so hard? 

 

Today, I was at my wits end and Halleigh was driving me crazy being uncooperative and naughty (I know it's hard to believe Halleigh being naughty, but it does happen), so I brought out the time-out chair.  Here are some pictures of Halleigh's first expericence.  She had to spend 1-minute on the chair, I told her that if she got up I would start the time over. (I don't know if she really understood exactly what I was saying, but she did stay put... this time).  She looks like she is being tortuted...

 

but before you feel too bad, a little later I had to put it up, because she thought it was fun to climb on it... not the effect I was going for. 

I happened upon this presentation while blog hopping, and it is really interesting.  At the end it suggests 10 ways for you to make a positive change. Take a look, click here.  Maybe this is a great way to find a New Year's resolution.

Here are some fun Halleigh pictures from Christmas and beyond.   

Halleigh's reaction to receiving her first toothpaste/ toothbrush combo!

 

 

A little unsure about all these presents.

 

 

Uncle Dave and Halleigh

 

Halleigh helping me open her presents. Super cure outfit!

 

Two of Halleigh's favorite gifts... her toy cell phone and the jammies Grandma Cummings made her.

 

Having fun in the bath. I can't help take pictures of her in the bath, she has so much fun and is so happy.

We are trying to teach her how to blow bubbles... this is the look that I get when I try to explain it... I don't think it is working. ha ha ha

 

Our two girls!

 

I can't believe how big Halleigh look in this picture. She is over the baby stage, and rapidly becoming a little girl!