In my dreams...Paul cooks

I'm not a television fan.

Every now and then I'll watch one of those super trashy reality shows

just so that I can participate in girl talk.

The one show that I do watch is Top Chef.

It intrigues me. It inspires me.

On the first night of the season, back a couple of months ago,

I picked Paul to take the win.

And he did.

And I'm happy.

Now that the season is over there's a stack of books waiting to be read.

Maybe I'll read a book about cooking.

Booked

Frankie called me old-fashioned today.

Me. Old-fashioned.

He said I should use "technology" to keep track of my life.

Instead of using paper and pencil, I should use my phone or tablet.

I tried.

For two whole days.

I was cool and hip for 48 hours.

And I hated it.

So I'm back to being old-fashioned.

And I like it.

Puppy Love

What's a dog have to do all day?

Listen to Busta Rhymes, of course!

We sure love our little Buster boy.

Sunday

what's so amazing about flour, sugar and a little frosting

I've not a clue, really

must be some of the same stuff that goes into making Sundays

simply delicious

whole lotta love...

Friends

My little man is really good at a lot of things

he tells an awesome joke that will leave your sides hurting

he can make one heck of a pb&j

he finds every last piece of (insert doggy doo here) that Buster leaves behind

 he's an amazing writer

I could go on and on and on

but the thing I'm most proud of is who he chooses to spend time with

this kid picks great friends

friends who are kind, respectful and wonderfully silly just like him

life didn't give me a house full of kiddos that are "my own"

but the friends that both my kiddos, especially Trey, bring home

bring some seriously awesome joy to all of us

if that's not a blessing, I'm not sure what is

Not about the pancakes...

"Can we eat pancakes?"

Question of the night at the Bs was, "What CAN we eat?"

It's Friday and lent.

Why is it that a family who doesn't really eat a ton of meat, always craves steak, pepperoni pizza and chicken wings on Fridays during this season?

I'm in a peaceful place and have been praying deeply that this lent

gives us the opportunity to focus more on what lent brings rather than what it takes away.

40 days filled with an opportunity to bring ourselves closer to Jesus warms me.

Let me be a good example to my kiddos and my hubby.

Fasting and penance and alms giving can be joyous.

And so can pancakes...

My week so far...

Enough said.

I'm ready for the weekend.

Granny's Day

My granny is 95 today.

She's celebrating it with Vince, up in heaven.

Vince was my papa and she loved him very much

(so did I)

She taught me all about everything and I miss her.

I think about her almost everyday and fondly remember her spirit

which I'm happy to report is alive and well in me and my kiddos.

Especially my Mia. As my granny would say, she likes to "kabitz."

Sometimes late at night when all is quiet Mia will charm me with her kabitzing and tell me all about how wonderful the world is -

just like my granny did when I was a little girl.

Granny was beautiful.

She had gorgeous skin. Beautiful hair.

And eyes that danced when she laughed.

She shared everything.

She'd give you the last cookie.

The last gulp of her Tab soda.

Even her last quarter from her wallet so I could buy a gumball.

Among everything that made her beautiful,

it was her heart that was her treasure.

Happy Birthday. We love you.

P.S. She even shared her wedding day. She's the one on the right!

A day

My day equaled work, then volunteering, then doing my real job...

Being a mom and wife.

Blessed day but full.

Very, very full.

I'd open a bottle of wine but it's too late and tomorrow is calling.

I've got tea and it will do.

Bring it on "tomorrow."

I'm ready.

Once upon a timeline

I miss glue sticks, crayons and construction paper.

The lil one had an assignment - develop a timeline of her life.

Required elements include:

equal distance between events, interesting, neat, colorful, creative...

It's part of science. Really, how?

I love school. I do. Love it. But....

It's a holiday.

It's late.

We're still on "being seven."

Wish me luck.

There's no amount of coffee wine that can help me now...

I miss glue sticks. Oh wait, I already said that.

My Fair Sunday

Sundays. Love them.

Especially when they're spent with one

of my favorite people in the whole universe.

My mom.

We spent the day together.

We saw My Fair Lady.

Which, by the way, might be my new

all time most favorite shows, EVER.

I sure have a lot of favorites, don't I?

The theater man took our picture.

Now I'll be able to remember this most perfect day forever.

Isn't my mom GA OR JUS?

P.S. Tomorrow is a holiday. We are off.

That makes me happy.

Thanks to the Presidents, I have extra time to do laundry.

Amazed

Tonight a group of boys, and two sweet gals, got together to serve.

They chopped, stirred, prepared, scooped and poured.

Then they mopped, wiped, washed and folded.  

In the process they amazed the adults

who came to teach them the meaning of giving back.

Funny thing is it wasn't the adults who did the teaching.

The kiddos served 256 meals to those who would have gone without, if not for the awesome work a local "soup kitchen" does.

There was no complaining, whining, wanting or asking

Instead there was just working, giving and amazing.

Lots of hearts are filled with a bunch of joy tonight.

The kind of joy that only giving brings.

TGIF

TGIF

There are so many reasons to be happy it's the weekend

No really. SO many.

After this week, which I must say was incredibly shitty (sorry for the swear),

I am even more happy than on the usual Friday.

6 pm didn't come quickly enough.

But thank goodness it came.

I was with my sweeties when the clock coocooed six times. 

The one to my left (your right) loves weekends as much as I do. 

Happy Friday, everyone.

May your weekend be blessed.

Birthday Wishes

It was someone's birthday on Tuesday!

We celebrated tonight with one heck of a good guy.

He's an awesome dad and papa

and we're really glad he was born.

The lights on his birthday cake was almost as bright as his smile

...almost.

All Heart

We're still "valentining"

Still eating candy

Still opening valentines

Still enjoying

Still loving one another...

All because one little Valentine

happens to LOVE the day.

And we love her.

A Valentine's Knock Knock

Knock, Knock.

Whose there?

Frank.

Frank who?

Frank you for being such an awesome valentine!

Mia and I were treated to dinner made by the Franks.

Steak, lobster ravioli, asparagus

chocolate-covered strawberries.

Yum.

Those boys sure know how to treat their ladies.

And we love them for it!

P.S. Thanks to a very cool friend who shared the Frank joke!

I've used it ALL Day. 

The note.

After an ordinary day of ordinary tasks, my guy was tired.

It was a real day. As real as it gets...

There was homework which led to tears.

And some correcting that led to stair stomping and door slamming.

There was some straight talk that led to a few huffs and even a nod.

There was a hug. There was a kiss.

And there was a promise from a mom to a boy.

It went something like this.

"I will not let you fail. I will help you even when you don't want help. I will cheer you on when you succeed and punish you when you fail. 

And no matter what I will love you.

Until you are an old man, I will be here for you helping

you with whatever it is you might need."

There was a smile and a wink.

And then I found this.

It was from my tired guy who has a very bright brain and a very big heart.

And I remembered that this crazy thing we call motherhood is worth

every tear, every stomp, every door slammed and every huff.

Every hug. Every smile.

Every SINGLE wink.

Onward...I go. To help.

Me and the Girls

I'm a sucker for tradition.

I'm proud to be a part of something 110 years old

and I'm prouder to be a part of something that was

started by a young girl who believed that she and her girlfriends

could make a difference.

Spending the weekend with other Junior League women who want to continue that mission was nothing short of an incredible blessing.

I'm humbled, inspired and excited.

P.S. A huge shout out to my hubby who cleaned, shopped and

DID LAUNDRY. I love you and thank you for supporting every crazy thing I do! You are my heart's delight.

brrrr....baby it's cold

I am loving Ft.Worth.
Everything about it. Even the weather.
I have been cold for three days and there is no relief in sight

as I just heard the weatherman say tonight will be the
coldest night of the season for north Texas

I got to pull out my tights, boots,coat,scarf....
such a positive outlook I have. brrrrrr

Birthday Girl

Frankie has a cousin he shares with me.

I had to come all the way to Fort Worth to see her.

I'm lucky.

I got to grow my brain all day with Junior League girls

And I grew my heart tonight with the kindest birthday girl, EVER!

She makes the world a better place just by being her.

Happy Birthday, Cousin Janet.

You are loved.

No Room in the Inn

11:30 p.m.

Three girls walk into their hotel.

11:35 p.m.

Three girls walk out of their hotel.

No room. Overbooked.

"Go down the street, you'll find a room there," says the sweet lady at the Hilton.

So a taxi took us.

And we all saved a bit of money, the room became free.

It's all about the perspective...

Now for an awesome weekend in good ol' Texas.

Noise

Someone,  I won't reveal who by name, practiced his clarinet tonight.

It was a happy noise coming from the bedroom upstairs

and I didn't even have to fudge numbers on a practice log.

Two good nights...in a row!

A good day

Today Frankie got some great news! It was a good day.

So I stopped and got him a little bite of this....

God is so good to us for so many reasons

carrot cake and jobs included!

Girl's Night

I love these girls.

They got to hang out together tonight.

The sixth grade strings kiddos were invited to Highland High to

spend the evening with the junior and senior high students.

A MA ZING!

They played their little hearts out with the "bigger kids"

and made their mamas proud.

super bowl. super day. super family.

this is the b family

(just a small part of the very large B family!)

this family is mine.

it's seen good. it's seen bad.

it's loved. it's lossed. it's loved again.

today was a day of super - ness

fun. football. family.

FOOD.

kids playing with an uncle.

moms cooking

dads grilling

laughing. cheering. jeering.

even a little swearing (at the tv of course)

some were happy. others disappointed.

in the end it was super.

because in every bit of ordinary, every moment of "nothing big"

it was filled with something extraordinary, something huge

it was filled with the blessings of the people i get to call mine.

Stuck

Guess who we found sitting on the desk after

being left at home in charge of things?

Buster the cat dog.

Poor little guy thought it might be a worth a look around

but couldn't seem to make the leap down...

Managed to make quite a mess.

Somepuppy is in the doghouse.



"Eye" only have eyes for you

I took little man to the eye doctor today.

He's been saying he can't see the smartboard at school.

I haven't a clue what a smartboard is?

What happened to chalk?

Were chalkboards deemed dumb?

I digress.

He was right. He can't see the smart or dumb board.

He looks like his dad. Talks like his dad. Laughs like his dad.

He sees like his mom.

He picked some "kick-butt" glasses (those are his words).

The ones that cost more than any other pair in stock.

He looks like his dad. Talks like his dad. Laughs like his dad.

He spends money like his mom.

I digress...again.

He's handsome and looks perfectly adorable

in the glasses he chose....all by himself.

The eye doc was sweet and told Trey he only needed to wear his glasses during class or when he's watching a movie or tv.

He said, "you'll be able to see what the teacher writes on the chalkboard."

I laughed. Frankie sighed and gave him his million dollar grin.

The tale of two mugs

Frank wanted a masculine coffee mug.

A big one.

One that looked like "a guy."

We went mug hunting and came up empty handed.

Alone shopping at the supermarket

I found the heart mug.

I realize it's not manly, but it was rather big.

I thought, I'll tell him to remember I love him everytime

he enjoys his cup of joe.

You know, kinda valentinish. A bit on the sweet side.

Alone picking up his latte

He too found a mug.

It has number on it. I say kinda boring.

He says it was just what he's looking for.

Guess who has a new mug?

And so now everytime I drink from it

I'll remember just how much I love him.

Cold #2

You know those people who say, "I'm never sick?"

I used to be one of them.

I was honest. I can't say that anymore, honestly.

So to all those people who come to the office hacking and sniffing I say, "STAY HOME!" To that lady at Safeway last night in her pajamas who looked pathetically ill with a big red nose
breathing all over the dairy case,

I say, "YOU SUCK!" (sorry I try to keep this kid friendly but I'm mad)

I feel gross. Look yucky. Sound ridiculous.

Sniff.