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Monday, August 31, 2009

Because Two People Fell In Love

7 years ago, I married my best friend!
Happy Anniversary, Tim!
I Love You Forever!
Libby

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Thursday, August 27, 2009

Do You Have One?



What little boy want to be a Superhero at some point in their life? Thanks to superflykidz my boys proudly sport their own superhero capes and masks! Do you have a Superhero in your life? I can say that I have TWO!

The other night, they decided that it was time to make their transformation from Jack & Mason to "Super Jack" and "Uper Mason" and Tim and I just loved to watching them. They were running around the house, flexing their {little} muscles, growling to make themselves look tough, saving their stuffed animals from peril with their ability to leap small piles of legos in a single bound! Ready to save the world...............make it a better place! They got themselves totally riled up right before bedtime, but how could I stop them........ they'll always be MY superheroes!


You better believe that these pictures will resurface on the night of their rehearsal dinners! How could they NOT!?!?


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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Wordless Wednesday

Three out of her seven!

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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

17 Years Ago Today......

17 years ago today I was getting ready for my first date with Tim. We went to see Eric Clapton in concert at what was then Riverport Amphitheater. It was a HOT August evening, and I remember that the air conditioner at my Mom's house had gone out and I was trying to get ready for a "date" in the sweltering heat. Not what I wanted as it was my first "date" in a LONG LONG TIME and I was nervous as all get out!

The night was wonderful! We sat on the lawn and enjoyed the tunes of a music legend who I was not all that familiar with but still loved his work. At the end of the night, we were walking back to the car in a sea of automobiles in the parking lot only to realize that Tim had forgotten where he had parked! {Ooof!} To make matters worse, he drove a Grey Pontiac Grand AM (a VERY COMMON car) so it made it even harder to pick out! We walked around and around the parking lot for AN HOUR! Long enough that we saw the same person (yes, Amy L. that was YOU!) twice in that hour as they drove out with the masses of people.

Eventually we found the car! And, the wonderful man had packed a whole cooler full of snacks, fruit and beer! I was THOROUGHLY impressed to say the least and it made his little mis-hap a forgotten issue.

Well......that night was the start of something wonderful! Was it love at first sight? Nope! It took me a bit to get past the balding, 30 year old man with the mustache on his face (yes, I was pretty superficial at the age of 23) but once I saw past what I PERCEIVED as stopping blocks, I realized what an amazing person Tim was.

Tim is Tim. He's not at all smoke and mirrors. What you see is what you get! He's a genuine as they come. He is my best friend, my confidant, my soul-mate and my rock! He has been with me through good times and bad. We have weathered many of storms to gether and come out on the other side of them better and stronger than we were before. And best of all, I can call him my husband and the father of my children.

17 years ago, I had my first date with my best friend! A night that I will NEVER forget as long as I live!

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Saturday, August 22, 2009

Get To Know ME A Little Better!

1. What is your occupation right now? Branch Manager for Manpower Inc. I've been in the Staffing Industry since 1994.
2. What color are your socks right now? I'm not wearing socks and rarely do in the Summer
3. What are you listening to right now? My Ipod - it's a mix of music
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Peanut Butter and chocolate snack bar
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Nope, Tim tried to teach me but gave up
6. Last person you talked to on the phone? An Associate of ours
7. One thing you are wearing right now? Black scoop neck top
8. How old are you today? 40
9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Baseball (Go Cards!)
10. What is your favorite drink? Iced tea w/ Lemon or wine spritzers
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? I have to do something to hide the gray!
12. Favorite food? Mexican
13. What is the last movie you watched? Taken
14. Favorite day of the year? Tie between Christmas and Halloween
15. How do you vent anger? Yell
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? Hmmmm....I don't remember specifically
17. What is your favorite season? Fall
18. Cherries or Blueberries? Really neither - I like Raspberries though
19. Living arrangements? Home with Tim, Jack, Mason & a fish
20. When was the last time you cried? Can't remember - probably after my surgery in Feburary and I was miserable
21. What is on the floor of your closet? Laundry basket and my shoes
22. What did you do last night? Fixed dinner, sat and filled out the boys registration for the school year and relaxed while Tim worked in the old kitchen and the boys played WELL on the computer together for over an hour!
23. What are you most afraid of? Losing one of my children or my husband
24. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Plain with Cheese
25. Favorite dog breed? Lab or Dauchaund
26. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
27. How many states have you lived in? 2
28. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds!
29. What is your favorite flower? Roses or Gardenias
30. What is you favorite ice cream flavor? Mint Chocolate Chip

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Thursday, August 20, 2009

Vacation Play By Play

We rolled out of our driveway at 1:07 AM on Saturday 8/8 and headed north for the wonderfully quaint little town of Ludington Michigan. Our chauffeur, aka Tim, took great care of us as Jack, Mason and I snoozed away for about 6 hours out of the 9 hour drive.

We arrived under the cover of a cloudy, rainy sky. Unloaded the car and watched the boys as their excitement built. "We want to go to the beach, Mommy!" The waves were big, the skies were grey, but that didn't stop them. They headed down with their Moots (my Mom) to check it out. Fully clothed, they got braver and braver with the waves and clothes got wetter and wetter. Little did my Mom know that the waves would soon take her and she ended up neck deep in the water. Made for a great laugh for us all - and didn't phase Jack in the least.



The weather wavered from clouds and passing rain showers to sun for the most of Sunday and Monday and finally gave way to beautiful sunshine and blue skies on Monday afternoon to give us beautiful weather for the remainder of our trip.

We had a few firsts on this trip; both the boys learned how to fish and both caught their FIRST FISH in the lagoon. Watching them brought back so many memories of my childhood and summer days spent sitting on the edge of the very same lagoon for HOUR AFTER HOUR fishing with my friends Curt and Patrick. I loved seeing my boys doing the exact same thing. Jack caught on very quickly and was soon casting out his own bait and reeling it in like a pro. The only problem was that the fish in the lagoon were like piranhas and as soon as a turkey dog, marshmallow bit or earthworm would enter the water via your hook - they attacked, and 80% of the time outsmarted us!


A few trips were taken to the harbor/marina playground. A beautiful green space created by the City of Ludington, it has a wonderful playscape for the children and is also surrounded by bronze sculptures depicting Ludington's history and is flanked on the sides by the boats of the locals and vacationers who live for their time on the water.


LOTS of time was spent on the beach and in the water. The boys are not "water rats" like most children their age, but as time went on, they became more and more comfortable. It was great to watch them have fun - and hours in the lake meant nice long naps in the afternoons!


One of our adventures that we took was a visit to the Amber Elk Ranch, something that we enjoyed so much last year we had to do it again this year. The boys loved seeing the elk up close and feeding them as well. This year, our visit was a month later than last year, and unfortunately, the male elk were getting ready to shed their velvet from their antlers and head into the mating season. As I explained to the boys "The elk were crabby and we couldn't pet them like last year" but we were able to feed the females and see the calves that were born earlier this spring.


Other things that we did were walk out to the Ludington Lighthouse to watch the Car ferry, the Badger, arrive from it's trip across the Lake from Mantiwoc, WI and our oh so ever popular trip to House Of Flavors Ice Cream Shop for an ice cream cone.



Wow! We had a busy week and a wonderful vacation! It was relaxing but full of all sorts of other stuff that would bore you to death if I kept going, so I'm going to stop here; other than sharing with you a few more "Heaven on Earth" - until next year!




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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Monday, August 17, 2009

Michigan Sneek Peek

Okay, so I took over 400 pictures (that's minus the ones I deleted after each day) so it's going to take me a bit to weed through them and post a run down of our vacation. But in the mean time, here's a sneek peek of our week.....

Our "standard pose" - had to do it!

Some nice lady took our picture - the only family picture we took

And Mommy's infront of the camera for a change too! (Thanks Honey!)

Lunch at the Coffee Shop - waiting patiently for our food

Jack Henry's FIRST FISH! The fish LOVED our Turkey Dogs!

Jack at the Coffee Shop for lunch

Mason enjoying the beach

Mason's FIRST FISH!

Enjoying a stroll on the beach. Don't I look "regal"? {Ha Ha Ha}

They had so much fun kicking the waves!

Beautiful sunsets are not unusual in Ludington, MI!


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Sunday, August 16, 2009

Reality

The problem with vacation is the coming home.....it's the coming back to reality that sucks is so hard.

Up in Michigan where we were, it feels like you are away from everything, it is it's own little cosmos. I lose track of the world when I'm up there. I don't watch the news, I don't read the newspaper - sometimes I don't even remember what day of the week it is. And time......who cares about what time it is (other than the fact that we now have children and have to kind of pay attention to that to keep SOME SORT of semblance of their schedule). The only thing that really helps me keep track of the time is the coming and going of the carferry across the lake and the big giant clock that has sat in the window of the cottage called Blarney Castle as long as I can remember.

It's the ultimate when it comes to vacation - not a care in the world - other than to decide what time to head to the beach and when to call it a day. Now it's back to the real world - back to life and back to reality. A true slap in the face when you've been soaking up this for the past week! Oh well....at least I have it to look forward to next Summer!







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Friday, August 7, 2009

Here We Come!


I'm so ready for a week of nothing but relaxing and enjoying watching the boys play on the beach and wiggling my toes in the sand! See ya after vacation!

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Thursday, August 6, 2009

My Outside World

Some shots of my "outside world" (aka our backyard) - I have really been enjoying sitting outside enjoying the amazing weather that we've been having this summer. Most of the time by August, everything is BROWN and DRY - not this year!







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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

{Kind Of} Wordless Wednesday

Something he's dreamed of doing with the boys - so fun to watch them!

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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Backyard Baseball

Evenings and weekends, our driveway becomes a baseball field for the boys. Jack draws the bases with sidewalk chalk and Daddy is their pitcher. Mommy sits on the sidelines and plays "coach". Mason's really starting to show his natural ability and Jack's really developing well. An organized team of some sort will definately be in order this fall for sure.



He's watched enough MLB that he says "This is how the baseball players stand when they're on base, Mom!"


He may be Yadi's replacement someday!


Having fun - what more can a two little boys want?





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