No Whining.

I posted on facebook that I was grumpy,
and my sweet friend Cheryl reminded me that I had just gone on a
beautiful vacation and probably shouldn't be whining.
You are SO right, Cheryl!!!

And so to make myself happy once more
I am posting another batch of pictures for your enjoyment
(or mine)...


Justin & Joanna diving off the boat. You catch the rope underneath.


Trev's turn-around jump.
After he comes up out of the water, he will be facing the rope...


There's the rope! This was so fun.
That is the "pool" going down the middle of the boat underneath.



Human chain. At one point, ALL of us made a chain.
It was a bit slippery though.


Okay, forgive me for posting this Joanna, but I laugh every time I see it.
We played "Quelf" and enjoyed it so much, we played it 3 times on the trip.
Joanna had to do this and say, "Feels good, don't it!"
Oh the laughs.


"Quelf" again.
Justin had to be a mummy. Oh, and that's a sock puppet on my hand.
Maybe you had to be there.
But hopefully you can still enjoy the pictures.
Hilarious game.



Dinner outside on the beach.
I had DELICIOUS chicken roti.


Check out that sunset.
It relaxes me just looking at it.


Can't think of a better place to read a book.


Here is the red telephone booth.
Yes, it's out in the middle of nowhere.
Cool, huh?


Enjoyed the beach AND the companionship that day.


Justin found a coconut "football".
Who's in?


Jared was.


My hero!



Trev out there on the shore at The Baths..


Rick, Wendi, Jared, Trev, me, Justin, Joanna & Theresa.
Lunch time.


Wendi & I watching everyone go for a night swim.


More jumping!


View from the airplane as we flew out.
Isn't it amazing?


Ahhh, I feel better now.
More relaxed.
How about you?

British Virgin Islands - oh baby!

I finally have some vacation pictures to show you!
Too many, I know, so just hang tight.
These are just a SAMPLE of the fun we had.
There are so many more, but I don't want to bore you so...

Put up your feet, relax and enjoy, cause here we go!

Pusser's restaurant on Tortola. The vacation is afoot.
Justin, Jared, Trev, me, Wendi, Joanna & Theresa

Trev scuba diving with the big sting ray!


Trev & Justin hoisting the sails.
We were on a catamaran with 3 other couples
Rick captained and all the boys did the sailing.



Ah, beautiful. Ready to go.


Like this picture of my sweetie getting ready to scuba.


In the dingy going to shore. That is our catamaran in the back, the Shawna Rae.
Jared, Wendi, Theresa, Trev (dinghy captain), Shelli & Joanna



And on the other end of the dinghy...
Joanna, Justin, Rick, Jared & Wendi


Peter Island. We ate dinner here, and enjoyed the evening
swinging in the hammocks and walking in the sand.

These fishermen were so sweet to give us two lobsters.
Thanks guys!


We had a FEAST that night. Here is Justin & Jared with
the two delicious beauties.


Here is our galley area.
And...YELLOW.


Dock hotties. We got ice cream here and a few groceries.
Shelli, Wendi & Joanna


We dinghied (is that a word?) to the beach and played
on the sand till it got dark.
The boys found a coconut and played football with it (sorry no pics of that).



Does this picture need an explanation?
I think not.



Me & Joanna at The Baths.
I LOVE The Baths.


Trev takes a jump.


So cute. Sigh.


Love this picture.
I think those smiles were plastered on our faces
the entire time.
This was at The Baths. We ate lunch in the restaurant at the top
of the island, and swam in the fresh water pool up there.


The boys planning their jumps.
Some kind of contest...boys will be boys.


Theresa in the water, Shelli & Joanna jumping, and Wendi watching.
She went next.



The water was around 84, and air around 87.
Bliss.



What a great day at The Baths.


Galley Girls.
We had such an amazing time together. I love these girls.
Theresa, me, Joanna, & Wendi.


I took this picture of Jared as he was carrying the newly filled
air tanks to the dinghy.
I thought it turned out pretty good.



We found a swing!
All the girls took turns.
Here is mine.


Walking the beach with my hottie.


We snorkeled into Sandy Cay. Beautiful little island.


There was a path that wound around the island.
This is where we stopped and turned around.
It was a breathtaking place to be.


Tummies full of ice cream.


Live music & Foosball at The Last Resort.
This place was a great little find.


Wendi & Jared getting the party started.



Trev and Shelli giving it a go.


Theresa's proof that Rick can and DID dance!


Justin & Joanna enjoying themselves.



Our last day we had some scattered showers & a rainbow.
Our life buoy floated away so it was Joanna
to the rescue.
Here she is bringing it back during a warm tropical rain shower.


I love a man with Oreo teeth.


Wow. 36 pictures. Do you think that was too many?
We did so much more than this, and a lot of it is on others' cameras.
You can bet I will be sharing a few more in the future when
I get a hold of those photos.

I'm ready.

Almost done with all the laundry.

Almost done cleaning house for Grandma & Grandpa's stay.

My bag is almost packed.

Toenails painted.

Bought the waterproof mascara yesterday.

Heading to grocery store to stock up on food.

Lots more on my list, I have until Saturday.

And then we're off!

We will be gone for a blissful 10 days.

British Virgin Islands...

(BVI 2007)

See you when I get back!!!

For the love of the girls. And veggies. And son.

I love it when I get to Costco and load up on veggies.
I loved it even more when the lady in line made fun of me
for buying a truckload of healthy food, and then found the last item
in my pile was a big box of cookies.
To which I answered, "Hey, a girl's gotta live!"
Here's a sample of the beautiful veggies I began chopping at home.
And a girl needs dip, so I made my delicious homemade ranch dip.
Too good.
I snack on these all week.

I discovered this little trick to get my little girls to eat their salad.
The lettuce used to just sit on their plates, until I decided one
night to do it this way.
Wash the romaine leaves and drizzle the dressing (or dip)
down the middle.


Pick up the whole leaf, no fork needed.
Take a good look at it, cause you know it's gonna be good.



I told you it was good.
And the little girls will eat it this way.
They LOVE it.
(Me too).



I don't know. I like taking pictures of my house.
I just put the crow and pumpkins on the mantle for Halloween.
I LOVE Halloween.
Looks fallish?




Elece & I just played in the Breast Cancer Benefit.
"For the Love of the Girls".
Don't you love it?
Just getting some fuel before the match.
Two plates of brownies ought to do it.


Got your game face on?
Oh but we do INTIMIDATE.



So my son has hair that makes me crazy.
Long.
Straight.
Long.
In his eyes.
Long.



He finally agreed to a haircut!
There is my handsome boy!
I KNEW he had beautiful eyes!
I just haven't seen them for a year or so.
Wink wink.


Happy Octobering!

Sister Writer

Check out my sister's day in the spotlight. She got to be a guest blogger!
Way to go sister writer!

ps - I feel like after reading her post I need to explain myself a little.
I KNOW that when I post on my blog I break writing rules.
One of the rules I think I break the most is starting my sentences
with the words "And" or "But".
But I do this on purpose.
I like the way it sounds. It sounds like me talking.
And I like that.

Giddy Girl

I had one of those giddy moments yesterday.
Do you have those?
Where you find yourself in a happy place and things seem so right and beautiful.
And you get the giddies?
I love that.
It was a compeletely BUSY day and I was hardly home
with errands to take care of all over the place.
I looked around me as I drove and noticed all the new fall foliage.

I rolled the windows down and enjoyed the crisp air.
Right on cue this song played on my CD player...."Tis Autumn" by Nat King Cole.
Love autumn.
Love Nat.
Even love the blooming sagebrush...what?
It is yellow - a cheerful fall color.
It was easy to forget my busyness as I took it all in.
Why do I love this time of year?
Why does the chill in the air and the turn of the leaves make my heart swell?
Why does a moment like this make me want to pick up my cell phone
and call everyone I love so they can share in the joy?
I don't know, but every year it is the same.
I inhale fall, and exhale giddy.

Tuna Fish & Rock Band...

Across from me sits my 5 year old daughter.

She is on a stool at the kitchen island.
She is oblivious to my amused glances.
I can't help myself...she is putting on quite a show.

At this stage of her young life, my little girl is obsessed with two things.
And those two things are definitely on her mind right now.
Those two things are?

Tuna fish and Rock Band.

She picks up her sandwich and pauses mid-bite...
"I think I'm in love Mom."
I'm wondering which lucky kindergarten boy she might be referring to.
"Oh yeah? With who honey?"
"With tuna fish".
I shouldn't be surprised, she asks for it every day.

She finishes off her first triangle with delight and wipes a few crumbs from her face.
She then picks up her imaginary drumsticks,
and starts right into "Hungry Like the Wolf".
That girl is dead on when it comes to singing on key.
And let me tell you, she is singing with GUSTO,
and drumming like Roger Taylor only WISHED he could.

The last note fades out as she clashes her air sticks together in true rocker fashion.
I know that audience she hears is just cheering like crazy.
It's over.
She calmly picks up the second triangle and takes a big bite.
"Oh man. I am so in love with tuna fish Mom".