Songs in my Head: Anniversary Countdown

In less than a month Travis and I will be celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary. So in honor of our 10th, I am posting a song a week that reminds me of our relationship (in total cheeseball fashion, of course).

As anyone who is married knows, marriage is not all rainbows and roses. When you're staring into your spouse's eyes saying your vows it is hard to imagine the"for worse" part. But the "for worse" part will come (in hindsight it may turn out to be a small speedbump instead of a pothole). Travis and I are no different and have experienced speedbumps and potholes. But no matter what we have always stood by each other.



Stand By Me By: Ben E. King

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me, stand by me-e, yeah

Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

Darlin', darlin', stand by me-e, stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

Some of What I've Been Doing the Last 48 Hours

We've had a great Labor Day weekend so far. My brother Kurt and family are here from Indiana. They got here Friday afternoon and we have been having a great time. My twin Lisa and family, and little sis Bonnie and family were all here today. It's only a couple times a year that we are all able to be together and we had so much fun.

Saturday we went to Karen's lake cabin for the day. Unfortunately I forgot my camera. (Can you imagine the horror?) Tragic. Especially since I went water skiing for the first time in years and got up on the first try. Travis and Karen were the only ones to have faith in me. I am not very athletic...but I used to water ski all the time as a kid. It was a blast. Zella and Madeline went tubing for the first time and loved it. We had a fun, relaxing day.

I made up for it forgetting my camera yesterday by taking lots of pictures today. We went to the park and had a seafood boil. My dad is a great cook and he really outdid himself today!

Karen, niece Gabby & baby Lily.

Claire (Bonnie's daughter) riding the merry-go-round.

Lisa snuggling with baby Lily.

Christa (Kurt's wife) and Karen cheesing it up.

Jay (Bonnie's husband) and my sweet baby Vi.

My nieces having fun.

Baby Violet enjoyed her sweet potatoes a little too much I think.

Some of the family chowing down.

It was incredibly good! Crab legs, shrimp, fish, mussels, chicken, potato, corn on the cob.

Is your mouth watering yet? My dad should be a chef.

I have more pictures to share but this post is already long and I need to get things ready for the parade in the morning. I hope you are having a great weekend!

Fun Fact Friday Without the Facts

I can tell you that I am writing this Fun Fact Friday post under duress. I am battling another sinus infection (which actually feels more like a migraine right now). AGAIN. I jokingly told Travis there would be no fun fact Friday post this week and he told me I had to do it for my audience. Very funny.

I was planning on dazzling you with some facts but my head hurts too bad. So instead please enjoy this photo of some lovely flowers in our backyard.**


**I actually tried to upload a video of Travis jumping in the bouncy house at the fair, but blogger has other ideas and it won't load. That would have been funnier. I'm all out of funny today, folks.

Have a great weekend!
Lori

Madeline Goes to Preschool: Part Two

Did you miss the post with all the adorable pictures of Madeline on her first day of preschool?

Okay. Now that you're all caught up...

What did Zella, Violet and I do while Madeline was gone?

Zella and Violet took naps and I actually had an hour of alone time!!!!! (I don't think that has happened since Violet was born). Because I've already had three people e-mail to ask, I'll have you know I spent 30 minutes watching a TV show I had recorded, and 30 minutes cleaning. But hey, I enjoyed the cleaning because the house was quiet and I got a lot done.

When Zella woke up we made chocolate chip cookies for an after school snack. Zella's favorite part was licking the beaters. We missed Madeline but will find fun things to do while she is at school.

Mama and Zella.

Zella was such a big helper!

Her favorite part.

Miss Violet, watching the fun from her high chair.

Madeline Goes to Preschool

Miss Madeline had her first day of 4-year-old preschool on Monday. She went to preschool last year (two days a week) so this year was a little easier during drop off. My sister Karen watched Zella and Violet for me so I could take Madeline to school. She is in the afternoon session (12:15 - 3:15 Monday, Wednesday, Friday). We took pictures in front of her tree before we left.

She kept yelling "pink flowers" so it was hard to get one of her smiling.

Showing off her backpack.

"Sisters Forever!" (Yes, they were actually yelling that.)

Zella said to Madeline, "I'm going to miss you!"

My three best girls.

Mama and Maddie.

Walking in the doors.

Her locker. She was too excited to pose...had to look around.

Madeline and her teacher Mrs. Sue.

When I left she was cutting with fancy scissors. This year she didn't ask me to stay. She was already having too much fun!

Travis picked her up and then took her to the coffee shop. She was pretty excited. She came running when she got home but didn't tell me much about her day.

Me: Madeline, what did you do in school today?

Her: I don't remember.

Me: (laughing)

Her: I'm not kidding. I really don't remember.

Her favorite part was handing out snacks (we made fresh blueberry muffins) and recess. They also read a book about a puppy going to school but she made a point to tell me it was only pretend and puppies aren't actually allowed in school.

She is so grown up and we are very proud of her!

Stay tuned for pics of what Zella and I did while Madeline was in school.

(Did I really just say "stay tuned"? Seriously? Anyway, STAY TUNED because you won't want to miss it. Or maybe you will. Whatever.)

Songs in my Head: Anniversary Countdown

In a couple months Travis and I will be celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary. So in honor of our 10th, I am posting a song a week that reminds me of our relationship (in total cheeseball fashion, of course).

When Travis asked me to be a truck driver with him I thought he was crazy. I was positive there was no way I would give up a life I loved to go out on the road. I knew the reasons why being a truck driver would allow us to reach out goals, I just didn't want to do it.

But when it came right down to it, I love Travis. And wherever he was, our family was. So it turns out I WILL follow him wherever he goes. And you know what? I'm glad we were truck drivers because now I get to live a life even better than what I dreamed about. Staying at home with my kids? CHECK. Living near family? CHECK. Being married to my guy? CHECKITY CHECK CHECK CHECK.

I WILL FOLLOW HIM (Little Peggy March)

I will follow Him, follow Him wherever He may go,
And near Him, I always will be,
For nothing can keep me away, He is my destiny.

I will follow Him, ever since He touched my heart I knew,
There isn't an ocean too deep,
A mountain so high, it can keep,
Keep me away, away from His love.

I love Him, I love Him, I love Him,
And where He goes, I'll follow, I'll follow, I'll follow.

I will follow Him, follow Him wherever He may go,
There isn't an ocean too deep,
A mountain so high, it can keep,
Keep me away...

I will follow Him (follow Him),
Follow Him wherever He may go,
There isn't an ocean too deep,
A mountain so high, it can keep,
Keep me away, away from His love...

I love Him (Oh yes, I love Him)
I'll follow (I'm gonna follow)
True love (He'll always be my true, true love)
Forever (Now until forever)
I love Him, I love Him, I love Him,
And where He goes, I'll follow, I'll follow, I'll follow,
He'll always be my true love, my true love, my true love,
From now until forever, forever, forever...

There isn't an ocean too deep,
A mountain so high, it can keep,
Keep me away, away from His love.

Fun Fact Friday

*Travis and I bought this house three years ago this week. It was the ugliest living room and dining room I had ever seen. Seriously! It is amazing what new flooring and some paint can do!

*When I was a kid I was such a bookworm that I got in trouble multiple times for reading in school. Isn't that weird? Who gets in trouble for reading?

*Travis and his friends used to hunt before and after school. They would leave their guns in their trunk while in school. That is #1, a little red neck (oh, honey, just embrace it!) and #2 would not happen at schools today.

*One of my pet peeves is when people spell the word weird wrong. It is not spelled wierd. I know the rule is "I before E except after C", but this is an exception, people.

*Having said that, my grammar is terrible these days. I know i used to proofread for a living, but man it's been a long time. So I'll overlook misspelled words, if you overlook improper comma placement (among other things).

*When Travis and I lived in the loft we had birds. Beautiful pink birds that loved to sing to me. They actually didn't like Travis much (probably because he cleaned their cages). I was sad to get rid of them, but once Madeline started crawling around it was too hard to keep up with the mess. She wouldn't stop trying to eat the bird seed they threw out of their cage. I would love to have them again someday.

Wow. That was really exciting stuff, huh? I should call this RANDOM fact Friday. ;)

Have a great weekend!

What Can I Say?

She gives good pout! And she has obviously been practicing a long time...

Madeline, 5 months

Madeline, 4 years