8.30.2009

And The Winner Is....


Giveaway Winner

Giveaway Winner-2

Giveaway Winner-4

Giveaway Winner-5

Congratulations, Robin!
You can follow Robin's beautiful family at Dreaming of Tea for Two.

Giveaway-2


WonderBoy agreed to do the honors today!
(you may have to pause the music at the bottom to hear his sweet voice)


(We staged the pictures at the beginning of this post after WonderBoy drew the winner)

8.27.2009

Perfectionista 23

My little Perfectionista is 23 months old today.

It's just like her to synchronize her weight with her age!


JRR 23 Months

8.25.2009

Hip Hip Hooray and First Giveaway!


Today Dita’s Darlings is 1 year old!

A year ago, I didn’t really know what a blog was
but I knew I just had to have one so off I went to create my own.

I never imagined I’d enjoy blogging and sharing photos of our everyday lives as much as I have.

I’ve made lots of friends along the way; something I never even imagined was possible.

I've just hit 120 posts which means I've averaged about 10 a month and
your comments and emails have meant so much to me.

When I hop over to visit your blogs, I truly feel as if I’m fortunate enough
to be sharing a cup of coffee with special friends and leave feeling hugged.

I can only say “thank you” for sharing your lives, your ups and downs,
your dreams, drama, tips, thoughts, views and humor with me.

Your personalities are all as unique as your blogs.
I've learned so much about many of you this year.

Had it not been for your blogs and mine;
I never would have had the opportunity to "meet" you.

I count you among my special friends and I’ve enjoyed every minute
of being part of your lives and sharing ours with you.

To celebrate, I've decided to do my first Giveaway.

I chose two things that I use every day because, well,
I like them and I figure you would too.

They're practical yet pretty and a kind of one size fits all!
(except for Ford, perhaps, but I'm sure Aly could take
these little babies off his hands if he wins!)


Giveaway-2

Anyone can enter by just leaving a comment.

If you don’t have a blog, you still need to leave a comment but just
be sure to include your email address so I can contact you if you win.

We’ll draw the winner on Sunday.

Thank you again for welcoming me into your hearts
and making me feel so special this year!

8.24.2009

Hand in Hand: 10 Years of Forever...Together

To My Boy Wonder:

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the day our lives were inextricably

We began this journey as you placed your tiny little hand inside mine
and entrusted me with your whole life.

Blog Hands-5

I've spent the last decade playing with you, guiding you, holding you,
comforting you and loving you with these hands.

Blog Hands-2

Your once tiny hands are now the size of mine.
I still marvel at the pleasure of just holding your hand.
Blog Hands

I'm honored that you never shy away from holding my hand
and that you even reach for it when I least expect it.

I know exactly how special that is given that you're 10 years old
and holding hands with your mom isn't that cool...
but that doesn't seem to bother you!

Blog Hands-4

So, my amazing son, continue to hold my hand and let us walk through this life
being what we were meant to be...
TOGETHER.

Blog Hands-6
Happy Anniversary!
I love you.
Mama

8.20.2009

The Boys of Summer

Boys

Where've ya been, Buddy?
I've been dyin' to play with somebody who isn't wearing pink today (Papa included!).
Finally, a guy that won't run out of gas on me who can rival my energy level!

Boys

So, what should we do?
We've got this ball.
Whaddya think if...

Boys

I do a little of this...
Boys

and you could do a little of that...

Boys

and then we can run around like maniacs for hours in the 94 degree heat!

Boys

Yep, a perfect Summer afternoon!
Thanks for rescuing me from GIRLDOM!

Boys

8.15.2009

Coming of Age

My beautiful niece, Tigerlily, surprised me a few weeks ago while I was making dinner.
She's just so beautiful I couldn't help but stop dinner and grab my camera.

Tigerlily
She's good at surprising people.
She was born 6 weeks early.
This was actually quite inconvenient for me as I had planned my sister's baby shower for the following weekend figuring we'd have time to spare.

To be fair, we had all been secretly (and not so secretly) sending wishes to the Pregnancy Fairy for the better part of my sister's gestation that she'd sprinkle some labor dust on her a wee bit early and speed things along.
My sister was not enjoying her pregnancy one little bit, therefore, neither were the rest of us!
It didn't help that her husband had vowed not to drink any alcohol and to carefully watch his diet during the pregnancy to keep his wife company; he lost 40 pounds and she gained 50.
Oh, it wasn't pretty!

So, imagine my surprise that Sunday morning when my brother called frantically to tell me that he was driving our big sister to the hospital and we could expect our first niece in short order.

I rushed through work and practically flew to the hospital. (This was long before cell phones!) When I got there and was directed to the neonatal unit I realized that she had arrived already.
I vividly remember standing at the window hoping to catch a glimpse of her.
That's when my life changed forever....
a nurse held up this tiny, sweet little angel
(with the most hysterical spiked, blonde tipped, punk rock hairdo).
Tigerlily was screaming at the top of her lungs and her little 5 pound body had turned completely red with all the excitement.
She was beyond perfect.
I was in love! We all were!
That was 17 years ago.

Tigerlily
In addition to certain physical familial resemblances she and I share (feet, hands, other various and sundry body parts!),
Tigerlily and I have always had our own secret language.
We're two of a kind for sure.
She thinks I'm crazy (she's so darned smart, that kid...I can't fool HER!)
From early on she knew I'd let her break all her mother's rules
when I was around...
which was all the time.
I'd let her eat in the bathtub, stay up way too late, not brush her teeth the minute she woke up (before her OJ, like my sister did...yuck!), eat lots of goodies,
let her hair go wild and
talk to her like a grown up or in pretend foreign languages.
We'd do crafts together, bake or just be silly.
My sister, (who's a fantastic mom, by the way) never really got in touch with her "crafty" side so she'd have a list of things for Tigerlily and me to do together.

My sister swears that Tigerlily is my daughter. She tells me all the time..."she's YOU!"
To this day you can often hear my sister calling Tigerlily by my name
(especially when Tigerlily is being sarcastic with her mother or gives her the infamous eyebrow!)
This makes Tigerlily and me crack up which makes my sister exasperated at first
and hysterical a second later as she hugs us both in futility.

Tigerlily

In addition to her obvious physical beauty
(those eyes just kill me...they're the perfect combination of her beautiful Mom's shape and her ridiculously handsome Dad's color);
she's a seriously gifted student with a wicked sense of humor that keeps me in stitches.

Tigerlily

Unlike me at her age, though, Tigerlily has a certain calm to her personality and a confidence in herself that enables her to walk at ease with young, old and her peers alike without losing her identity and her solid core values.

She is kind, caring, thoughtful, responsible, forward thinking, goal-oriented and truly wise beyond her years.
Yes, an old soul for sure.
I often tell my sister that she got off easy because Tigerlily didn't need to be raised at all....we all just got to sit back and enjoy watching her blossom
into the amazing young woman she has become.
She has made her parents (and all of us) so proud over the years.
She is a treasure and I adore her.

As I watched her buckle up and drive off in her shiny new car that day I couldn't help but wonder how the little girl who had been my shadow for so long could actually
be old enough to drive a car.
Senior year of high school is upon her.
Twinkling out there on the horizon is an incredible, limitless future.

Tigerlily

A year from now we'll be waving goodbye to Tigerlily as she heads off to college.
Oh, my poor sister is going to be a basket case.
Actually, we'll BOTH be basket cases, unless I can convince my little partner in crime to pack me in her suitcase and bring me with her!

8.13.2009

Beauty Queen

See JR?
IMG_0823
Yep, there he is.
He's tickled pink that he just got his lottery tickets.
On our way home the other day he was desperate to stop for some tickets.
Then we came upon this very macho liquor store/bar along the route so he ran in to get them
'cause the jackpot was climbin' and ya gotta be in it to win it, right?
IMG_0824
Hey, what's that I see there?
IMG_0825
Could it be?
Naa, it couldn't be.
He didn't.
Oh boy, he did......
IMG_0831

It is so hard to hold the camera still when you realize that
your husband just went out in public
with your daughter's new pretty pink bow in his hair.


IMG_0830

I laughed for an hour.

At least it matched his shirt!

Apparently someone's been watching way too many episodes of Toddl*rs & Ti*aras!

*Sweetie Pie likes to take her hair clips/bows out of her hair at least 100 times a day
JR has this habit of puting them in his hair so they don't get lost...perhaps he'll use his shirt from now on.

8.06.2009

Perfect Pool Day


Sweetie Pool Orange
Sweetie Pie really likes the water.
She says "pool" anytime she sees her bathing suit, or anyones' bathing suit for that matter.

Sweetie Pool Orange II
She's got the walk down, complete with a little shake.
She can hardly wait to get her shoes off.
She marches right on over to the edge of the pool,
with arms outstretched, and attaches herself to her own personal float

Sweetie & JR Pool Orange
We thought we had a better idea to give her more independence and freedom
in the water even though we'd be right by her side.

Sweetie Pool Blue
Turns out she wasn't into our idea one little bit and wasn't having any of it as she
promptly reattached to her Knight in Shining Armor.

Sweetie & JR
I don't blame her...that's my favorite spot to be too!

8.04.2009

Flattery Will Get You...

WonderBoy



Conversation overheard last night in the other room

JR to WonderBoy: Because you didn’t listen to me before your mother got home from work and you didn’t take your shower, no game privileges tonight! (meaning X*Box)


WonderBoy to JR: But PAPA, I’m going to take my shower now, c’mon.

JR to WonderBoy: Nope, you do this all the time so now you’re just going to have to do without the game tonight.

WonderBoy to JR: Nope, that’s just not happenin’ (as he begins walking into the kitchen)

JR to the empty space where WonderBoy was standing seconds ago: Oh, no….don’t you go ask Mom because I said NO and that’s that.

WonderBoy to Me: (appearing in the kitchen sportin’ big, sad puppy dog eyes and attempting to put his arms around me) Mammmmmaaaa, I really, really wanna play my game tonight and Papa won’t let me.

Me to WonderBoy: I know, Honey, but Papa said no and I can’t do anything about that now because he already said no and I can't overrule him.

WonderBoy to Me: Yes you can, Mom, you far out rank him. You’re like a 5 Star General.

Me to WonderBoy: That’s right, Honey, so glad you realize that….now go have fun with your game.


WonderBoy II