the first day

the classroom is ready


the teachers are ready



the centers have been tested by a sweet little face


and all is ready
for the 24 sweet friends
who will show up in my door way this morning,
the first day of kindergarten,
with bright eyes and anxious feelings.
we have met some of them
and we have prayed for all of them
and we are excited to get to know them!

and we want you to get to know them too!

this year, we will have a class blog
:)
and i, along with my little friends, would love for you to read
and to comment on
all that we are learning in our little class

our first post should be up sometime around 3:00 this afternoon.

keep praying

please don't forget to keep miss laura lane in your prayers!!
if you need a reminder of what is going on with LL,
or want specifics to talk to God about,
please go read this.

laura lane and her parents are heading to duke today to get a second opionion, so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers today and until we know for sure!!

thanks oh so much!!

because of

i was able to spend this past saturday with my nina
to help her celebrate her birthday!
it was great to see her
and the rest of our family
and just be together....
we all had a great time together

but as you guessed....

we
were
sad
flake
couldn't
be
with
us







-----------------------------------------------

on another topic,
my bloggy friend, stephanie, over at because of love

gave me this sweet bloggy award

thanks so much stephanie!!!
it has been great getting to know you and your precious family through your sweet blog!!!

so to accept the award, i followed these rules....
The rules of the One Lovely Blog Award are: Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and her blog link. Pass the award to another blog that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the blogger to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

i'm giving this blog award to my newest bloggy friend
amethyst moon over at life, music, laughter
not only is she super funny
but she ties all her post to music
and i LOVE that!!! :)
from the first post i read....i was HOOKED!!! :)

so go check out stephanie's blog
and amethyst moon's blog
and tell them i sent you by! :)

members only

i was never cool enough to have a members only jacket
but .... boy did i always want one
(ok, not really!)
so i guess i was never cool enough to be a member

but i am proud to say, i'm now a member of an even cooler group
a group that was the brain child of one of my friends
she thinks enough is enough, she is tired of hanging out with a box of cornflakes
so she started a coalition to bring my flake back home
and because of that.....a facebook group was born.

so, if you are on facebook, you should totally join!
maybe if flake sees how many people want him to come home
he will!
:)
if not,
it makes me laugh to think how many people are tired of seeing the cornflake box!

out on the town!

as you know, LF loves to go out
and get his picture taken
he is kind of demanding
and insist on having his picture taken with everyone where ever we go!

last night, was no exception.
LF and i went to dinner with a bunch of friends

to help celebrate our friend, nicole's birthday.
(you know nicole, that is laura lane's mommy)

we had a great time spending the evening with friends
getting to see little laura lane
and about the great the great food at pf changs
and the wonderful cake from dewey's

and as you guessed, LF was most excited about his new hat!


**please keep praying for laura lane!!

sweet laura lane

last friday, when i rambled about random things, i asked you to keep my friend's daughter in your prayers.

well, today was the day that little Laura Lane went for her MRI.
i wanted you all to read the update that her mom, nicole, posted a little while ago

Hey everyone. I thought that I would have really great news but unfortunately I don't. Laura Lane has surgery scheduled for a shunt Friday August 28th BUT WAIT there's more. The doctor is 95% sure that this surgery is going to happen. But I am leaning towards a miracle to happen.

He has agreed to give us one last chance. The MRI showed that her ventricles did increase and have extra fluid but he doesn't feel as though he needs to do the surgery tomorrow. So he said that we come in the office on August 27th, have her head measured. No more tests, scans, pokes or prods. Just a head measurement. If the measurement goes off the chart she will have surgery the NEXT day. If she stays on the curve and her head stays in line with the curve the surgery WILL be CANCELED.

So as of now, we won't know anything until the 27th. After that we are out of the woods or in the operating room. Please don't stop praying. This is a very very scary time and well as we all know from the previous measurement being WRONG lets just hope and pray that everything will stay inline. For those of you like me who likes to get specific in your prayers and talks with God, her head needs to stay between 44 and 45 CM. NO BIGGER.

Thank you all again. Take this to church, prayer groups, copy and paste it to your wall, email, or whatever to get as many prayers as you can. Thank you all for loving Laura Lane. ;)

so, i ask you, please keep this precious baby in your prayers! please keep her parents in your prayers, and ask everyone you know to pray for her too!

really?!?!

i spent last night at one of the best concerts i've seen this year,
ok
it was the only concert i have seen this year,
but either way
it was GREAT!!
i had a blast, and loved each and every minute of it
but like most great moments in my life,
i learn a lot!

so while i was there
sitting in my lawn seat
(and speaking of, my ticket said that my seat was row 143 seat 476....umm, ok
and you know, i counted out blades of grass until i found that exact spot!)
i realized a few things that i probably should have known before

- some people must not have mirrors at home

- cowboy boots go with all different types of outfits

- for some reason, paying $10 to rent a chair you will not sit in during the concert is a great way to spend your money

- people enjoy public displays of affection, and might as well be kristina's neighbor

- people get really really bent out of shape when their beer is messed with, and will start a fight, even if their daughter is sitting on their shoulders....cause that is good parenting....right?!?!

-apparently you can dance like you are on a pole even to the song let her cry

-and if pole dancing isn't good enough for you, why not try for a "grinding" group dance?!?!


- people put blankets down, not to cover their sitting area, but to allow others a cleaner path to walk on

- paying $9 for a personal pizza (aka a slice of pizza) doesn't mean it will taste good

- there is no need to wait in line for a bathroom, when god put bushes on this earth

- no matter what, people are super cordial in a parking lot, and no one EVER gets out of their car to fight!


----------------------
sorry for posting twice in one day, i know, i never do that....
but i guess i had a post scheduled for today, and didn't realized it before i posted this one....
it must be lack of sleep!!
so .....
if you read this one, go read the one below this one, cause you might have the answer to my questions!! :)

traveler.....

A good traveler has no fixed plans,
and is not intent on arriving. ~Lao Tzu

LF is a good traveler through and through
he loves to go
and he could care less where he goes
that is....
as long as he gets his picture taken!!

so.....
as you know
LF and i have been traveling

we stopped to see the bfarrs
and LF was almost as excited to see them as they were to see him....

but probably not as excited as i was to see them!

and then we headed to see mason and the other m's
to help mason celebrate his first birthday!
mason and uncle LF had a blast together.

mason showed uncle LF how to open a birthday present....

mason showed uncle LF how to dance....

mason showed uncle LF who gives
some of the best hugs and kisses....

and mason showed uncle LF that getting
your hands icky sticky isn't that bad.....

after mason's birthday party, LF stayed for a short visit
while i headed to texas to see the real FLAKE!!!

:)

it was so good to see him,
but as you can imagine,

it was super hard to leave!
(but atleast i had a nice new necklace to make it a little easier!)

but,
now i'm home,
hanging out with
the most precious puppy around
and catching up on lots of blog reading!!

the wandering man

as you know, LF and i went on a little trip
to visit one of my most favorite people

LF and i met robin at her store on thursday
where LF got to meet the newest serta sheep

(and yes, we brought a little 3/8 home too!)

after robin got off work, the three of us headed to her house,
where we played phase 10

as you can tell, brad found the entire game excitingly WILD
and thought that it was time to skip LF when his turn came.


i personally felt that wasn't fair,
so i decided to let LF play with their dogs

but when i realized that the dogs wanted to eat LF,
i decided against their play date
and put LF in the chair beside me

which made me feel a lot better than the alternative,
but ..... after i found this

i felt a lot better about the fact that the dogs were drooling over LF.

over the next few days,
LF spent most of his time relaxing
and doing some sightseeing

he found some sunflowers


went to one of my favorite restaurants


did some shopping


and spent time supporting a friend

LF was really excited that robin and i were
running (aka walking) the road race
so he helped us celebrate with a cookout

and more phase 10 with friends!

on the way back home,
LF and i stopped by to see my nina
where LF got one of the best hugs a boy could ask for

and got to spend some time with one of the sweetest girls i know


ahh.....i love this woman.....and LF isn't bad either!


what could be better than time with a great friend
getting to see the best nina in the world
it could only have been better if the real flake had been on the trip with me!

i apologize for the comment absence,
but LF and i are off again to visit the b farr's
and then off to see the 3 m's

and then i'm leaving LF to spend some time with the 3 m's
while i go to see the real flake!
woo hoo!! :)

strange

who would have thought....
that the airport could make me so happy one day
and only a few days later,
make me feel so sad and empty.....
strange, huh?

my flake left again today
to go back to texas
it broke my heart to watch him walk away from me
not that i would have expected any different
but still

it made my heart hurt so much more
when this song started as soon as i started to drive away

boo for feeling sad!

so by the time i got home
i decided i was done with being sad
(as you can imagine it didn't work all that well)
i spent time finding things to keep me busy, occupied, and happy

i looking at pictures from the time we had together over the weekend
i enjoyed thinking about all the fun we had
with each other, friends, and family


but when i was done....
it was still the same....
i miss him, a lot!
:/
i guess i should be thankful that
i have this

to keep me company....

umm...
well,
i said i should be!

happy 4th

fireworks
friends
great food
fun
playing cards
seeing flake
being silly
swimming
laughing
celebrating freedom

pictures

jam tagged me in a picture tag challenge

and oh boy do i ever love the picture challenges

i was so super excited ....
but then i realized that i had not moved any of my pictures over from the my old computer to my new laptop (that my flake gave me as a going away present!)
i thought long and hard about how i could get the pictures from the old computer to this computer....
to be quite honest it seemed a little too much work for me
so i thought about not doing the challenge...
but really is that possible?
could i just pass up a picture challenge?
the answer...no!
ever since the first time i did a picture challenge
i can't get enough of them....
(not to mention the last time...that i tweaked the challenge a little bit)
i just love these picture challenges
because i love pictures
and the memories they bring back
so i just had to do it!

so i thought one more time about how to get my picture files and then i remembered...
snapfish
i went to my snapfish account and did the challenge using those folder
....smart huh?

i was even more excited that jam had two photo challenges in the same post,
so i got do to the same! :)

first folder, tenth picture

that is robin .... and norman kellum's head
i was down visiting robin a few years ago,
there was a big storm, which blew mr. kellum's head off his billboard.
robin's store is right beside the billboard and his head was in the parking lot when we got to her store the morning after the storm.
too funny!

sixth folder, sixth picture

that would be me
with a kid's football helmet on
at an ecu football game
one of my friends bet that i wouldn't wear the helmet to the game
so you know i had to wear it, and wear it with pride!

thanks jam for tagging me in this picture challenge!

i'm tagging who ever wants to take the challenge on,
just leave me a comment to let me know you are doing it,
so i can come over and look at your pictures too! :)

friends

ever since i was a little girl,
since i was five, but close to six years old,
i have had four special friends
four friends who have never let me down
four friends who can always pick me up when i need a laugh
and, thanks to modern technology,
four friends who can always be there for me with the touch of a button!

as i look back on my relationship with them,
i wonder why my parents let me be friends with them
but then i realize, they were friends with them too!

but now, as our relationship continues
i am so thankful that i know these four ladies

rose, sophia, dorothy and blanche
thank you for being a friend!
i love their stories,
their sarcasm,
their singing,
their dreams,
i just love them!!!!!

so you can imagine, yesterday, i was so excited, as i always am, when i most favorite episode came on!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE when sophia sings....

god bless that sicilian woman!

oh april

oh april was such a busy month for me!
i never realized it would keep me so busy OR that i would stay away from blogger and my bloggy friends for so long, but it did!
i had been thinking that all of you were just left wondering what was going on with me, but then i realized that april was kind enough to hack into my account and give you an update on my whereabouts!
thank goodness for the dear sweet month of april!

april was so full for me, and i'm excited for all the fun that i experienced, yet so excited that MAY is here! (and i do hope may will not need to hack into my account!)

while i was gone.......
my brother got married!

he and his beautiful wife had the first of their three weddings.
this first wedding was on easter sunday at my parents church and home.
it was an exciting time, for all of us and was totally a family affair!
paul and andreea, along with a few helping hands, prepared ALL the food for a traditional romanian easter feast. (andreea is romainian)
andreea's mother arranged all the flowers,
my father preformed the ceremony,
and everyone else helped in every possible way.....especially when it came time to eat!

i also ran(most of) my first 5k.

it was a fun training journey,
which i learned a lot....made new friends...and remembered why i enjoyed running!
so i'm looking forward to running another 5k....beating my time, and running the entire thing!
OH and i hope to keep a smile on my face....and not look like i do in the picture at the top left of this collage....i look like i was hating life!

we went camping
and for some reason, i don't have many pictures from the adventure....
but the memories i have will last for many years to come!
we left town after work on a friday afternoon, and headed up to the nicest campground i have ever stayed in, only problem....we couldn't find it!
we (flake & i, along with a group of friends) traveled up in 4 separate cars, none of us leaving at the same time, and every one of us got lost when the directions ran out!
after we finally got there, and got settled, the adventure began.
we had a blast, and i learned a few things....

*take socks for flake....so he doesn't have to wear mine when he gets cold at night....

(and yes he has one on inside out!)

*when we go tubing, I WILL GET WET! despite what flake tries to convince me of.....i now know that there is NO possible way to not get drenched!!!!! or loose your sun glasses....or stay warm in mountain water in the middle of april!

*when the camp host warns you to put ALL coolers away at night....into the cars....so the bear who has never come this far into the campsite, but who does live around these parts will not get into your things.....he means.....PUT YOUR COOLER AWAY!
even if flake seems to think there isn't anything in it, and because it is a metal cooler, the bear wouldn't want to get in it any way....

WRONG!
it is hard to see, but those are his "finger" prints on the bottom right hand corner
the bear was able to get into our cooler....and let me tell you bears are picky!
in the cooler was a random assortment of things....beer, woodchuck, jelly, 2 half gallon lemonades, cheese (in one of those plastic cases), and pringles (the little 100 calorie serving containers).
the only thing that wasn't just bothered, but actually missing was the cheese...and the container...
thank goodness that one of the little kids who went camping with us, found the cheese case in the woods!

so, you can imagine, how fun and exciting the month was....
lets just hope for may to be the same! :)
except for the whole bloggy hiatus!

friendship and awards

this weekend,

the rambler was sweet enough to give me the friendship award!

i love that! :)

i love friends, even more than i love awards!

so.....

to all of you who are sweet enough to read my blog....

here is the friendship award for you!

ahh .... awards....

goodness don't they just make me happy!
:)
i sure do love seeing other blogs that have awards
i sure do love seeing my bloggy friends receive awards
i sure do love the ideas behind the awards
i sure do love receiving awards

so when i got my very first award, i was beside myself with excitement
so much so,
that i knew in that moment....
that i needed to start making my own awards .....
to gift to my bloggy friends
that way, my bloggy friends would know that not only do i love their blogs....
but they would know i really do care about what they say
enough....to make them a thank you! :)

the l.o.v. awards....

(in the order that photobucket put them in the code)

the "your blog makes me smile, a smile worthy of a frame" award goes to....

brooke for all the stories and pictures of those precious babies!

the "cute as a button blog" award goes to....

randi for being so darn cute!

the "a+ blog" award goes to....

missy for persistence....she's only been blogging for a short while...but her post are fun and exciting!

the "proud to be a blog stalker" award goes to....

allison cause ....she is totally proud to be a stalker...like me!

the "cloud 9 blog!" award goes to.....

the rambler for always making my thoughts wonder with your rambles!

the "you're so crafty" award goes to....

jenn cause she always comes up with cute things to do with her kiddos....and her friends

the "i can't stop hopping over to your blog!" award goes to....

j.a.m. for keeping me coming back for more!

the "thanks for the laugh" award goes to...

leah for always making me laugh .... (seriously, i'm still laughing about this post)

the "love" award goes to....

baby steps for making me fall more in love with my precious nephew through each post!

(..... hint hint!)

the "your blog makes me think" award goes to....

mrs. goodneedle (my m.i.l.) for always writing things that are though provoking....and reminding me daily...that life is good!

the "like omg i love your blog" award goes to....

danielle cause for real....i love your blog!

the "prince charming didn't look this good" award goes to....

aly for always having the perfect picture to help tell your story

the "i am stuck on your blog!" award goes to....

all of you!
and every one that i follow

cause seriously...

i'm totally stuck on all of your blogs!!

now....here are the rules....for the l.o.v. awards

take them....

and....share them

please take the one you were gifted

and any that you really just want!

:)

and try to come up with your own awards!

it was totally fun!

AND don't forget to take the friendship award! :)