Easter Fun

So next year Sheridan should be the queen of Easter egg hunts and find every hidden egg because she had four this year to practice and perfect her skills. One at daycare, one at preschool, one at the Rabb's house, and one at my mom's house. If only there were hunts for manners, listening and following directions, we'd be golden!

I obviously don't have pictures from the festivities at daycare or preschool because I wasn't there. And oh yeah. I don't have any from the fabulous Easter party at the Rabb's house (complete with the Easter bunny, a clown making animals and shapes out of balloons, and the cutest (and most delicious) cookies decorated as bunnies, eggs, carrots, and chicks, and over 700 hidden Easter eggs) because Sheridan was temporarily possessed by the devil and spent most of the time throwing herself on the ground showing everyone her signature temper tantrum and I didn't want to risk it during the few pleasant moments that we did have by trying to take pictures. Those moments happened to be the ones that involved searching for the sugar-filled eggs. I guess it takes a lot of energy to throw ALL THOSE FITS and she knew she needed to recharge if she was going to keep up at that pace for the rest of the day. Lucky me, she brought her 'A' game and cleaned house! And I don't have any of the pictures from the egg hunt at my mom's house because my mom took the pictures and she still probably hasn't figured out how to download them to her computer, much less email them to me. So here are a few pictures from Easter morning and dinner at my mom's house that I do have.....

3 things...

Those of you who know (or know of) my Graminy know that there are a few things that are VERY important to her. First and foremost on the list is going to college. She's already talking about my sister's unborn child's college education. Seriously. And she's even more pleased if you attend the "college of knowledge" (as my dad calls it) which is of course, in my family, Texas A&M. The rest, in no particular order, include: being a Republican and an Episcopalian, clipping coupons from the paper, and saving every last penny unless you are buying a Cadillac or an expensive suit, because then it's alright to splurge on certain things. Lately I've done a few things that would make her very proud and I need to take a moment and document this because I've got tattoos (well, just one actually) to make up for. And most likely, a few other things from my college years that I just won't recap (like the one time I took a semester off and made up stories about classes I was taking when she came to visit...which my mom still doesn't think she's ready for) because I've probably hidden them from her for her own good. Back to the positive.....

1. I contributed to my Roth IRA.

2. I contributed to Sheridan's college fund.

3. I have attended church 3 out of the 4 Sundays so far this month. And yes, Easter was one of them.

However, since I belong to the Methodist church now...GASP.....I feel like a bonus gesture is necessary to stay in her good graces and remain in my highly sought after position of Favorite Grandchild. So, I'm doing a little spring cleaning and will be making a nice donation to a local thrift store. Because oh yeah, that's another thing she's fond of since she pretty much runs her church's thrift store. Actually, I take that back. But only because I have something better I can donate to. I'm going to give all of my treasures to Mimi for her garage sale to raise money for her endeavor of Saving the Ta-Ta's! These girls need some state-of-the-art gear to walk 60 miles people and I think my grandmother would approve of splurging a little for such an occasion!

Cameron needs his head examined.....

Cameron's car is 10 years old and has a billion miles on it but it's paid for and we love that about it. However, with the high mileage comes repairs and it's inevitable that a newer car is in our not so distance future. There's a list of several cars and SUVs and trucks that I think would be great for Cameron to get as his next vehicle. This is what Cameron thinks would be great to get.....

Seriously?? Out of ALL of the cars out there, THAT is the one he wants????? What? You don't know what kind of car that is? Don't worry, neither did I! It's an HHR and Chevrolet makes them. It looks like something out of a Dick Tracy movie. We would look like we belong to some organized crime, mafia group and would have to pack heat if we drove around in that. He might as well have said he wanted a minivan. Neither of them are at the top of my list. Correction: they aren’t even on my list.

He claims that he likes this car because it gets great gas mileage and this has become very important to him lately. Me? Not so much. I like my gas guzzling SUV just fine. In fact, I think we need a bigger one….with a 3rd row. If he wants a full efficient car, I think he should just cut holes in the bottom of his Jeep and kick it Fred Flintstone style.

Perhaps we need a vehicle with a 3rd row......

Thankfully, we don't travel with our dogs very often.

When did my kid become easier to take care of than my dogs???

When I didn't have to drive to Lampasas "on the way" to Dallas to drop her off at the ranch with my in-laws so I wouldn't have to spend $150 boarding her at Dog Boys.

Note: For those of you who are geographically challenged, Lampasas is NOT on the way to Dallas. It's about a 2 hour detour in the opposite direction. Two extra hours of nonstop Dora, Dora, Dora the Explorer in a very small, confined space......

Good Times

Saturday night we went to Jasper's in the Domain with Tara, Steve, Mimi and Will to celebrate Steve's birthday. Good food, good drinks, good friends...it doesn't get much better than that!

When Mimi sent us the pictures from the evening, she was kind enough to point out how gracefully we are aging. If I didn't agree with her, I wouldn't be posting these pictures for comparison. Further proof that Oil of Olay firming night cream ROCKS! But back to the pictures. Here's one of all of us on our night out before Tara and Steve moved to DC.

Before 30....young and free

After 30...with a few kids...

And these little treasures are brought to you by two bottles of 14 Hands wine and whatever Steve was drinking. Wish I could remember what face we were trying to make and why.....

Tara and I had issues getting past all the laughing.....

20 weeks and growing

My sister is expecting a baby on July 29th and today they found out if they are giving me a niece or a nephew! I always thought they would have all boys...so did she for that matter. Rough and tough and messy little boys for my little sister who is a girly girl and likes things neat, clean and perfect. Makes sense right? I am also convinced that her children will be the little hellions and mine will not. I know I completely and 100% deserve them and she does not, but life's just funny like that. And I'm not going to lie, I think it would be highly entertaining to watch her with a rebellious child when she was the perfect one growing up that NEVER (or rarely) got in trouble and simply did not do the things I did. The thoughts never even crossed her mind. But the jury is still out on that...what we do know is.....

It's a GIRL!!!!

And here is quite possibly the cutest pregnant person I have ever seen! And I must admit, it didn't hit me until Sarah sent me these pictures that my little sister is HAVING A BABY! She told me she was pregnant before Christmas and 17 weeks later it finally hit me that she was in fact pregnant! My little sister people! I just recently accepted the fact that she was old enough to get married 4 years ago! At least I have four more months to let this reality sink in. Until then, I'll just be high on excitement and buy something (or lots of somethings) pink!

17 weeks

19 weeks

Go Ahead. ID Me and Make My Day! Or not....

The other night Cameron sounded like he had been smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day for 50+ years. The coughing was out of control. So being the good, little wife that I am (and maybe I was slightly motivated by how annoying that cough was every two seconds) I went to Walgreens for some Robitussin CF and as a bonus to curing my husband's cough for 6 hours and a good nights sleep, got the pleasure of this conversation......

Julie: Placing the cough medicine (and a few other essentials...Burt's
Bees Lip Shimmer and cherry Chapstick) at the register, "Hello."

Cashier: Scanning the cough medicine, "You are over 18, right?"

Julie: Puzzled by the question and its relevance, "Uh....yeah." A few seconds later light bulb moment: oh yeah, kids these days like to get drunk off of cough syrup. Crazy kids. What will they think of next? I'm sure Sheridan will be first in line with a few ideas of her own. Proceed with swiping my debit card and completing the transaction.

Cashier: "Just be glad I don't ID this late at night."

Now usually I find it completely flattering when someone asks for my ID and I have to contain myself from tackling them with kisses. But dear readers, this was NOT one of those times! The cocky, threatening, unbelieving tone in his voice made me pretty sure that it wasn't meant as a compliment (not even a backhanded one) and few thoughts crossed my mind:

1. Why is he still talking about IDs? Let it go already.
2. Apparently I'm not the "young one" if he thinks 8:30pm is late. Maybe his boss should let him off early so he doesn't miss curfew.
3. Hmmm....or maybe that Oil of Olay firming night cream really is working! Excellent.

And this response almost came flying out of my mouth:
"Kid, I could buy a case of beer to chase this cough medicine down with if I wanted to, so go ahead, ask for my ID. I double dog dare you."

Fortunately for him though, he caught me at the right time of the month where I'm not completely possessed by the devil and have a little control over my actions and what I say and I let him have his moment. Because apparently he needed it and well, I'm just a giving person. No, we all know better than that. That's not why. I was worried Cameron might have coughed up a lung and I had to get home quickly......right after I dropped off Sheridan's swing at Tara's mom's house and visited for an hour.

Sheridan's 2 year portraits

Ok, so maybe they're more like her 26 month portraits instead of exactly right on at 24 months. But hey, I'm getting better! True to form, Sheridan was quite challenging during this session and wore us ALL out! Let me paint you a little picture of why we were exhausted. Allison's behind the camera, I'm right next to her acting like a fool (dancing, jumping up and down, singing, etc.) trying to get Sheridan to look at the camera and smile, and my mom is chasing Sheridan around the studio and bringing her back to the backdrop. Repeat these steps 87 times and that's a shoot with my kid. Good times. Now you know why I felt like I could divulge in a little pizza Friday night....I EARNED IT! But true to form, Allison captured so many amazing images! I was excited that I got to edit the portrait session and put to practice my Photoshop skills. :) To see all of the images from the session, you can use the following access information:

http://www.fpphoto.com/
Click on 'Client Login'
Event: Sheridan - 2 year
Password: sherbear