{beautiful skin, beautiful make-up, beautiful girl}

16 days.  Yes, in 16 days India will become 12.  

She is SO excited!  (I am too!)

Tradition = wearing make-up at age 12.

There are so many things a girl should know:

WEAR suncreen daily, DON'T WEAR too much make-up, 

KEEP your skin clean, HOW to apply make-up, 

WHERE to buy make-up, DON'T share mascara,

WHICH brands are good brands, WHAT colors are best . . .

India is beautiful and has such precious, beautiful skin!

There are so many fun cosmetic brands and counters to visit.

It could be hard to decide where to take her for some girly fun . . .

. . . not for us.  We have Alicia!

Alicia is SO fun to visit with and knows EVERYTHING about skin care and make-up.  

The best thing of all - she shares her expertise!

Alicia makes a girl feel like the princess she is and REALLY listens.

We went to Alicia's today and had the best girly fun imaginable!

India has literally been counting down the hours until her "appointment".

She learned so much about cleaning her skin, 

keeping it moisturized, 

and wearing SUNSCREEN daily!

The magic of being a girl!

Alicia is beautiful and understands true beauty.

NEVER hide behind make-up.

India was happy to learn that magic tip!

India LOVED this day!  Isn't Alicia amazing?!

I'm SO grateful we had this fabulous opportunity.

Having a girl is so much fun!

Her make-up just enhanced her natural beauty.

She's glowing! (And not just because of the make-up.)

Alicia made her feel wonderful!

India is a really happy and confident girl. 

Thank you Alicia & India for helping me have such a wonderful day!

You are both BEAUTIFUL!

{things I loved about today}

I loved so many things about today.

Lunch was wonderful . . . 

a freshly juiced orange and lots of crisp spinach.

This picture makes me want to eat lunch again!

Watching India work on her crafts always makes me smile.

I love this girl!  

She is so creative and always busy doing things.

Few things can make me happier than hearing my children practice piano.  Thank you Landon!  

True music to my ears.

I LOVE listening to him play.  

I love to read to my children more than anything!  

It is truly my FAVORITE thing to do.

Keaton loves reading on his own so of course I love this!

I love Rachel no matter what.  I love having her come visit. Today, I LOVED that she helped me look for an evening gown.

Thank you Rachel!

I miss Nolan SO much.  

I loved rereading his letter today.

Receiving weekly emails is a miracle.  Technology!

I love Sir Thomas - EVERYDAY (of course).

{1 birthday boy and 3 sick kids}

February 25th is a wonderful day at our house!  

It is the day we celebrate Keaton!  

This February 25th allowed him to "become" 17.  I think keeping our traditions alive is important . . . he was really great to pose with THE birthday cake.  He probably outgrew the excitement of this picture long ago but he's a sweetie and kept with tradition.

Friends are wonderful!  Some of HIS wonderful friends arrived EARLY - as in before 6:30 a.m. early - to decorate his room.  We had already left for seminary and they did a great job.  

As a mother, good friends for my children are priceless!  Thankfully, Keaton has the BEST.

His expression says, "You've GOT to be KIDDING me!  Toilet Paper!"

 Just joking! Actually, he LOVED it and was all smiles.

HUGE thank you to Keaton's friends!  The entire day was FUN!

Rachelle is his darling cousin.  She brought green milk and cookies to seminary for him!  

I'm SO thankful they are close friends.

We LOVE these guys!  They really made Keaton's birthday special.

Mark, Michael, and Jay - along with Amy, Britten, and Rachelle made fun plans!  They invited him to IHOP and a movie.  (I really wish we had pictures of their outing.)

These guys had plans that continued all the way through Saturday night!  A BIG thank you to the Crossley's for hosting a good deal of their impromptu planning.  

Jay was the MOST excited about Keaton's choice of "cake" - homemade ice cream cake!  He decided to enact blowing out the candles before we even lit them! FUN!

The birthday boy did get his chance!

I really hope his WISH comes true!

Life has a way of taking the fun out of things at times.  Poor Landon.  He didn't get to go and do all the fun things to celebrate Keaton's birthday.  He had the flu.

He tends to run really high fever when he is sick and we battled 105 and 106 degrees frequently over the past week.  He is such a great patient.  He listened to audiobooks on his ipod when he was feeling decent.

He became close allies with that thermometer! 

How grateful I am for Sir Thomas.  He's a wonderful dad!  His help with these sick children is another priceless gift in my life.  I should mention how much I love him . . . A LOT!!!

Of course, when I show up with the camera they start cracking jokes about "making the blog."

Yep, he might have been sick but he was still making wisecracks.

Congratulations guys . . . YOU made it!

 Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE being a mother?  I'm especially grateful I'm his mother.

My teenagers are sweet . . . even when they're sick.

Landon finally decided that he'd had enough.  He was weak.  He was aching.  He might have even been delusional and he was definitely tired of being sick.  He was lying on the couch for a change of scenery when he stood up and announced, "I QUIT!  I'm tired of being sick so I just quit."

I LOVE that attitude . . . and it's working.

Happily, Landon is recovering from his week long illness.

Apparently misery really does love company.  Landon was still a bit sick when Sunday morning arrived and India awoke with fever and felt terrible.  Poor little girl.  

"Lucky" girl managed to get some sleep and then enjoy some computer time.  Being sick really isn't ever lucky but she has a way of making it appear better than it is.  India is the kind of girl that can do that.

Keaton's birthday weekend was officially and completely over on Sunday morning.  Like India, he also awoke with fever and felt terrible.

He never lost his sense of humor!  He had me laughing when he said, "Well, I guess I'm glad I got sick too so I could make the blog."  

Being a mother is the best decision I've ever made . . . of course that is AFTER saying, "YES!" to Sir Thomas so I could have a chance at HAPPILY EVER AFTER.  

It isn't always happily ever after but then again . . . it isn't THE END.

{get-away}

Sometimes a girl just needs to get-away.  It's not my kids.  They're wonderful!  It's not my life.  I love it!  But sometimes I still feel the need to run away from home and pretend there are no schedules, no expectations and I'm still alive.

Last weekend was it - our little get-away!  Sir Thomas was wonderful to help me escape.  We took the ferry to Galveston and it wouldn't have been complete if we hadn't fed the birds.

It was SO foggy!  We've never seen such fog in the afternoon.  Fortunately, technology allows us to brighten our pictures to ensure our memories are particularly rosy. 

 I'm still amazed at the difference in the landscape post Hurricane Ike.  

Believe it or not, behind those boats and through the fog . . . the waves were crashing on the shore.

It was particularly thoughtful of "Ike" to deposit a few boats on shore for photo ops.  The cost of removing the boats is $$$ high $$$ so the owners typically leave them for a few years until the government condemns them as abandoned.  The boats then belong to the government who gets to pay for the clean-up.  So . . . if you want pictures with random boats you should go now!

Fog at 3:00 p.m.?  It actually made for romantic walks on the beach.  The view up close is really good, don't you think?  Sir Thomas is much better to look at than miles of beach and surf.

I've never been one to carve my name in a tree.  Terrible idea!  Drawing in the sand . . . that's totally different!

The temperature dropped and the breeze was blowing.  I was wishing we had a personal photographer.  It would've been so nice to have great pictures of us together.

The following picture is for Keaton!  He LOVES Jack-in-the-Box.  Although it was only across the street it was tough to see through the fog.  We knew Keaton would've been able to spot it!  I should mention: 

1.) Today is his birthday so I'll be blogging again soon  

2.)  Although he LOVES Jack-in-the-Box, he doesn't eat there very often since he's figured out it's not healthy.

From Galveston, we drove to Kemah.  I love Kemah.  Sadly, everyone else has discovered our little secret and so it gets rather crowded.  

Good marketing, I assume.

  The fountains are the best!  It was cold.  I was wet.  

It was FUN!

This is my favorite necklace right now.  I think it says everything!  

{Except, Melissa hearts Thomas too.}

We ate at the Aquarium.  Yummy.  The atmosphere is a bit loud but we particularly enjoy watching the fish.  We were disappointed that Lefty no longer has a residence at the Aquarium.  He was a sea turtle and we felt like he was our friend.  He had lost his left flipper in an industrial accident and was being rehabilitated.   Originally the "experts" working for the government said he couldn't survive on his own.  They changed their minds.  Being an endangered species,  Lefty was released.  Good luck, Lefty!

It's fun to be a kid!  Sir Thomas enjoys playing in the fountains even more than I do.  I'm so glad he's teaching me how to play.  I've never been very good at that.

The rest of our little get-away was wonderful!  I'm so thankful for an amazing husband.  

He loves me.  I love him. 

That makes me one happy girl.

It also made me a girl that was ready to go home to my sweet kids.