Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Okay before you say anything I didn't take any photos right before when her hair was still long. I had to have the stylist cut it without(Lilly) seeing how much was coming off. If you haven't seen her hair it was down to her rear-end and in pretty ragged shape. This is the first time she has ever had her hair cut in a salon. I have trimmed it over the years but decided it was time to have someone do it right.
I was pleased with the outcome, as is Lilly. She was so excited to have it shorter she kept swinging her hair around just to feel that it was lighter. Also she was excited about the fact that she wouldn't have to sleep in braids every night just to keep the tangles at bay. So it was a great mother daughter day!!!

This is really all that matters.....

I wasn't supposed to know about the news of layoffs. Verizon is again going to be laying off thousands of employees. I suppose if I didn't know about it till it was over,it wouldn't make it any easier, especially if the news is the same. People everywhere are going through this and all I know how to do is pray about it. So here it is, I am asking for prayers about this, and in return I will gladly pray for something for you. I have learned God is greater than any problem we have. Also pray that we are able to still take this vacation we have planned. It was nothing huge but,Lilly will be devastated to know that she will not be going to see Zara her China sister. I don't think I will be able to tell her....I hope I don't have to.

You can't protect your kids all the time....

The other day I was watching the Today Show and they were showing pictures of Haiti. The video clip was of a mother and daughter. They were both crying because the injuries to the girl were so bad they were going to have to amputate the girls leg. I was so into the emotional part of it I didn't hear Lilly come down the stairs.

Lilly had just woke up and walked in the living room as I was watching this clip. I didn't have time to change the channel or anything. So the next thing I know Lilly has all kinds of questions. Momma why are they crying? Momma how come they don't have a house? Why are they hurt? These and many more came from my tender, 4 yr. olds mouth. Where to begin?

Well I explained the best that I could. I tried not to make it sound so scary. I reassured her that Daddy and I would protect her and take care of her always. I gave her lots of hugs and kisses and thought all was well.

Lilly and I were both upstairs getting ready to read books before bed. Lilly was picking toys up and putting things away. While she was busy I found this piece of paper on the floor. I opened it up and looked at it. Lilly had drawn this stick figure but it had no arms. Not really thinking, I said uh-oh you forgot her arms. Lilly looked at me and said no I didn't. I questioned where her arms were. Lilly looked at me very serious and said "they got cut off because of the earthquake." I froze, what do you say to something like that?

My baby is growing up so fast. I realized then and there, that harder questions and topics are coming. I need to be more prepared. But like I said, you can't protect your kids all the time. Just be sure to always hug them and let the last words you say to them be I love you!

Valentine's Day Fun!



It just so happens Lilly grew quite a bit since last Valentine's Day. So...we just had to make a new outfit for this year! It had to be simple and easy as I have lots of other projects going on. So this is what I came up with. I love the Damask fabrics and just seemed like a good thing to use for Valentine's Day without being to cute. Wow! Did she get some awesome complements today while at the hospital. Everyone seemed to notice her and commented on cute she looked. So ultimately I call this new outfit a success!

Lilly how long is your hair?


It's this long Momma!!! I have been telling her that we need to get it cut. I trimmed it myself a few times since she has been home from China. We have never gone to a salon to have it cut. I have told her many times that if we don't get it cut that we will have to cut it really short. Her remark? Daddy will cry! I don't know how much we will have to have cut to have it in good shape again. Let's just say Lilly is not looking forward to it. We have assured her that it will grow back. I have even showed her pictures of her China sisters all of which have shorter hair than she has, but to no avail. I love her hair being long but right now it is in need of some serious cutting.We will see what happens.

If you know anything about Lilly she knows what she likes and doesn't like. Pants are okay as long as they are knit pants. Anything other than that puts her in a serious bad mood!! Jeans especially! I have tried cute jeans with glitter, jewels, and embroidered things and she still won't wear them. And so I just gave up. But when the weather dictates your clothing choices as it has lately,pants the warmer the better are priority. I am pleased to say that she actually likes these hot pink cordoroy pants. It is a good thing, because whether she liked them or not she was going to wear them. Our temps here in Texas have been way,way below normal. Today when the boys left for school it was 16! The windchills a bone chilling 3 degrees. Yes, you read that right! So anyhow I am happily displaying a photo of my girl in pants other than knit pants!

I finally got a header designed that I like. It took me a couple of days to find just the right elements to match the new background. I love the dressy look of the black and red. It is going to be great for Valentine's day. Then I found this picture of Lilly and goes in perfect. I love,love,love doing digital photo scrapping!

Wow! This weather is really crazy! We had snow three times before 2009 ended. One of the most wonderful was the white Christmas we had. The weather man said not to expect to see that again in our lifetime in this part of Texas. Now today we were awoke by the phone ringing to tell us school had been canceled. We are assuming that it was just because of the cold temps. The temps were in the 20's all day with the wind chills in the teens. We has a small glazing of ice but nothing really bad. So I am still scratching my head as to why they called off school. By next week we will be back up in the 50's again.

Lilly is so excited about our trip. We are going out to California. Lilly has been begging to see her sisters again. One in specific too, Zara. The two of them really love being together. We didn't do a family vacation last year. But decided we ALL needed to get away. So thanks to all the traveling Scott has done we will be able to take a nice vacation. I knew all that traveling would be good for something and it is! Lilly gets up everyday and asks if she is going to see Zara today. We need to get that paper chain up and going. We are ALL excited about going on vacation, because we need it.

Princess room for our Princess Lilly!

New year and a new room for our Princess. Lilly's room that we added for her while waiting became to small. It was fine for a while but she really needed more room. So we decided it was time to move her upstairs to a bigger room.

This was a hard decision for us. As most of you know we have been trying to sell our house without much luck. We just didn't want to give our house away, so we are going to wait till the housing market really gets back on track and try again. Maybe next time we will be able to sell it and make money and not lose money. We are fortunate that we don't have to sell it right now. So the decision to repaint Ryan's old room was made.

We took Lilly to Home Depot and she picked out the colors. It didn't take long she looked and said pink and purple. Scott and I were both shocked she didn't pick out blue, as she says that is her favorite color. Lilly wanted pink,purple and lots of sparkles and jewels with princesses. I am not sure we got all those things in there but she is happy. I even scored a Disney Princess valance that is pink and purple with flowers for $2.49 at Khol's. The only thing we need now is a bigger bed for her. After we get her a bigger bed Daddy is going to build her a canopy with a crown on it for over her bed. What more could a princess want?

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Make a Smilebox scrapbook