Wonderful news...

I have the most wonderful news. No, I'm not pregnant. No, I didn't win the lottery. I finally mastered my mother's chicken & dumplings recipe. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal to you, well probably to anyone, but to me, the daughter who requests the same meal every time I go to visit my mother, it means I can actually fix it FOR MYSELF. If there ever was a better comfort meal than chicken & dumplings, cream corn and biscuits (and chocolate in some form for dessert) I have not discovered it. Now, fixing chicken & dumplings is not that hard, but fixing them like my mom does, with the perfect ratio of liquid to chicken to dumplings is something I have tried numerous times to achieve and have ended up with something either so thick you could turn the pot upside down and it would fall out in one congealed clump or so watery it's more like chicken noodle soup. But, hallelujah, I finally made them the right way. Let's just hope I can do it again the next time.
In other not so trivial news, I will be getting my OWN office at work. Ms. Debbie, my supervisor, got promoted to Dean's secretary and my boss wants to do a little re-organizing of duties so I will be handing over some of my 'secretarial' duties to the lady taking Debbie's place and taking on more of the budget managing duties and moving down to one of the professor's offices that are being vacated as she moves to another building. Long story short, I get my own office with a door and everything THAT I CAN CLOSE! No more constant interruptions. Maybe I'll be able to accomplish more work this way.
And, as of Monday, two of the triplets had come home (Braylen & Kynsie) and Kyan would probably be coming home in a couple days. So all of them should be home by now and doing well. I think that is just awesome because according to their due date they should not even be born yet. They weren't due until December 31st. I get to go visit and help take care of them the week after Christmas when the university closes down. I am SO excited.
In case I don't get a chance to update again before the big day, hope you and your families have a very Merry Christmas filled with lots of time to spend with family and a spirit of thankfulness for the birth of Jesus Christ, the real reason for the season.

Yayyy!!!

In case you haven't heard, I'm an aunt. Well, maybe an adopted aunt. Okay, really just a self-appointed adopted aunt of three beautiful babies (I actually haven't seen them, but I know what their parents look like so they must be beautiful). My friend/old roommate/matron of honor in mine and Anthony's wedding gave birth to triplets (two boys and a girl) late Sunday night. All are doing well. Their names are Braylen Michael, Kyan Garner, and Kensie Reese (I like all their names, especially the little girl's). All weighed over 3 lbs. and were born at 32 weeks (full-term is around 40 weeks). All three are breathing on their own. Praise God! There have been a lot of people covering them in prayer for these babies to be healthy and to be big enough and far enough along to escape most of the issues with preemies and multiples. I am ecstatic (as if you can't tell). My mom and I are heading to South Carolina next Wed. to be there for my sister's graduation from basic training so I'm hoping we can make a stop on the way down there to see the little ones for a minute or two and see how the momma is recovering. I also have to finish the three gifts I've been working on for the babies. I would tell you what they are but I don't want to ruin the surprise. I'll be sure and post a link to pictures of them once they are done and I've given them to Sunny and Brandon.

Not much to say...

Just wanted to post a few pictures of our dog, Molly, that I took while trying to use up the rest of a roll of film. Isn't she a cutie?!

I know, I know....

So, I've been a bad blogger. A horrible one actually - haven't posted in almost a month. For some reason, October just seems to have flown by. As requested by one of my friends, here is a picture of Wesley in his costume. This is the only one I have so far. When I get one back with a full length shot of him I'll post one of those so you can see his whole costume, complete with blinking lights and 'muscles.' He had a blast last night. We made a few trick-or-treat stops at one of our neighbors, Wesley's babysitter's, one of our friend's houses and my in-laws (Mimi and Pops to Wesley) and spent the rest of the evening at our church where they have Fall Fest every Halloween. I wish they had these when I was a kid. Our church has a dunking booth (which our preacher is usually in - Wesley didn't get him, but we did get to see someone else dunk him), two or three of those blow-up jumping things/obstacle courses, a maze (made with cardboard boxes), lots and lots of games that you can win candy at (or get candy even if you don't win) and a photo 'booth' where you can get your picture taken and printed in front of a fall display with hay and pumpkins and stuff. I was definitely pooped by the time we got back home. Wesley was unusually hyper for the entire night (especially considering he only had a single piece of bubble gum from his candy bucket - which was a batman head - I thought it was kinda creepy, but Anthony insisted that he needed it to go with his costume). I didn't capture it on film, but the cutest thing was Wesley 'flying' around with his cape billowing behind him.
So, I'll try to be a more faithful blogger, but I can't promise anything with the holidays approaching all too fast. I am usually one of those people that has half their Christmas shopping done by now, but that's not happening this year.
Edited to add: In case you were wondering, the lady in the picture is my supervisor and the other secretary in my department, Ms. Debbie. I have known her for about 4 years and Wesley adores her so we stopped by on the way to daycare last Friday before his Halloween party to show her his costume.

Lists...

I love lists. I'm a complete organization freak (not in practice unfortunately, but at least in theory for all of you who have seen my house in the last year). I crave order and sparkling cleanliness. It is a craving that I rarely get to satisfy at home. Anywho, back to why I was posting this. I have become addicted to blog surfing. It all started with Ali Edwards' blog. Ali is big in the world of scrapbooking and one of those people that I think it would be so cool to be friends with. From hers I found sooo many more, including Tina Barriscale's. Her post yesterday was about lists. She gave a top five list titled "One reason I'm glad it's fall again. aka - the hottest men on TV." This reminded me of how much I love lists, but since my hubby might get a little jealous if I posted about other hot men (or at least I would if he posted about hot women), I will create a different, slightly more generic list (although I have to say I agree with Tina's #2).
Five Reasons I Love Autumn:
1. Rainy, cold weather = lots of naps on the weekends
2. Sweaters, sweaters and more sweaters (I think this stems from being made fun of when I was a kid for my hairy arms - I wanted to wear long sleeves year round to cover them up - altogether now, "awwwww." I'm much less sensitive to Harry and the Henderson's remarks now)
3. Hot chocolate, chili, soup and lots of other hearty things to eat/drink
4. The smell of the leaves on the ground and the cool, brisk breeze rustling the leaves.
5. No more mosquitos - they are horrible at our house for some reason.

feeling better...

So, this week is going slightly better. I'm feeling less sorry for myself and worrying more about my grandparents, two of which are in the hospital right now and a couple more that just got out of the hospital. I am trying to do a better job at work, which oddly enough makes me like work better. If I feel like I accomplish something it seems like less of a waste of time.
We found a home for Mae (the beagle). A nice lady who saw a picture I posted of her at our vet's office came to look at her last night and decided to take her home. She said their dog of over ten years passed away about six months ago. Wesley didn't get upset at all. I told him before she got there that she might take Mae and he was okay with it. Then again, he didn't like her that much. He still asks if we can have 'black Mollie' back (because she's a black lab and our other Molly is a yellow lab/golden retriever mix - in case you were wondering). So...we are finally down to one dog and one cat and one child :)
Posted a new profile picture that my hubby took of me a couple days after I 'chopped' my hair off (as my dad says) - pretty good pic for an amateur, huh? Yes, Sunny, I forgot to tell you I cut my hair. You can't tell much about it except that it's short.
I guess that's all for my rambling today.
Happy Tuesday!

Treading Water...

Ever feel like you're going nowhere...like your life is standing still? You go to work, come home, avoid housework :), go to bed, get up and do it all over again. I have felt that way lately. I'm in a rut and can't figure out which direction to go, how to make life fun again. I essentially feel like I'm treading water. I seem to have these spells every year or so. I'll have a year when everything's changing and I'm 'swimming' - I've got to stay above water. Although it's exhausting at times, I feel alive, like I'm doing something other than being 'a bump on a log' as my mom says (don't know where that saying comes from). Last year I was graduating from college, looking for a job, getting engaged, then married, buying a house and moving...so much in one year and this year, I'm...working. Anyways, that's my blurp for today...maybe next week will be better.

More pictures...

Just some random pictures to share....The first one is just one of me and Anthony goofing around - disregard my double chin :) - hate when I have one of those in a picture. The second is of my mom and my niece, Trinity. Look at those cute little fat rolls. She was saying, "Ooohh!" and making that face each time the Jack-in-the-box would pop up. Isn't she just the cutest. And, the last is a picture of Gibson and Wesley dressed up in princess shoes. Gibson is the eldest of Andrew & Haley Littleton (I have linked their blog). It was kinda funny to see Wesley in these shoes because about fifteen minutes before I took this picture he saw Gibson wearing some and said, "Eww...he's wearing girl shoes." Then, I turn around and Wesley has some on too. So, of course I had to take a picture. This will be prime material for embarassing him in front of future girlfriends (hopefully not for another twenty years). Sorry, Andrew, but I had to post it. Hope all is well with everyone.

Say bye to Mollie #1

We finally found someone willing to take one of our rugrats (one of our many dogs that is). They seemed very nice and responsible, even brought a brand-spankin'-new leash with them to take her home with. She, of course, was licking them and running around the yard like usual. I was trying to get them what they needed as fast as possible - I'm a fan of the 'rip-the-bandaid-off-fast' method. Just get it over with. So, they've asked all the questions, gotten her shot records and I'm ready to be over with it because as much as she is a pain sometimes (chewing EVERYTHING and I'm not exaggerating), I think she is a beautiful animal and very friendly. We shouldn't have gotten in the situation we were in with so many pets, but you live and you learn. Anyways, back to saying goodbye...I was thinking I had better let Wesley say goodbye, so I call him over and say, "Give Mollie a hug and say bye, she's going to live with someone else now." No sooner did the words get out of my mouth than he starts bawling, not just whining, I mean sobbing, with his body shaking when he takes in a breath. I have to unwrap his arms from around her neck, pick him up and take him in the house and hold him in there until I see them finally drive away. The guy that took her was saying, "If you don't want us to take her, we won't," and "If he doesn't stop crying and you want us to bring her back just call us." I'm thinking all the time they're chatting with Anthony and Wesley is sobbing, "Can't you see we've already made the decision, just take her and go!"
Anyways, we had a rough time with giving her up. Wesley is still a bit upset about it. I guess I should realized he would need more time to get used to the idea. I have already started preparing him for when we give Mae to someone.
He was so funny. When we were discussing it later that night he was like, "I wanted them to take the yellow and black dog." (This is a neighborhood dog that thinks he lives at our house). I said, "Honey, that's not our dog. We can't give him away." He says, "But I didn't want them to take Mollie, I want them to take that dog."
I have to say I miss her head popping up over the wall to greet me when I pull into the carport every day.

Pics of Wes...

Someone asked for some new pictures of Wesley...so here you go. These were from a week ago when we went swimming at a friend's house. Yes...my little boy is swimming BY HIMSELF and UNDER WATER nonetheless. He hasn't mastered it yet, but he's learning. Forgive me for for being a parent, but I'm really proud. I don't think I could swim underwater until I was well over ten years and I still don't like getting water up my nose.

me and meg...

Ok...so not the greatest picture of either of us, but I thought it was cute and wanted to have at least one picture of myself on here. Yes, we did take the picture ourselves :)

Our Nephew...

Anthony's older brother, Braden, recently had a son. He lives in Seattle so these pictures are the first we have seen of him. I think he looks like his dad. His name is Jace Everett Maurice Brawner. He weighed 8lbs. 6oz. and was born on August 3rd. Just thought we'd share the photos.

Speedstar pics

Hey guys, I thought I would post a few pics of the car we finished a few months ago. It has been filmed for the show Rides and photographed by two major magazines. We have three more shows to take it to this year( Pigeon Forge, Kansas City, and Las Vegas) before it will be sold at the Barrett-Jackson auto auction in Scottsdale,AZ next January. Unless of course it sells before then. Betcha can't guess what the asking price is. (not you mindy)

More pics

I guess since I have a pic of our new dog I should put pictures of our other two as well so they won't get jealous. The beagle is Mae and she's about four months old and the black lab is Mollie (I know, that's the name of our new dog, too) and she's a little over a year. The spots on her nose are where she apparently got into a wasp's nest and they weren't very friendly with her. By the way, we are trying to find new homes for them if anyone would like to take one of these beautiful, friendly companions home with you :)

Megan's senior pics

Here are a couple of my favorites that I took this weekend of my sister, Megan. She only had formal shots done last summer for her senior pictures so my mom wanted me to take some casual shots of her. I am slowly adjusting to the fact that she will be in the army. I was messaging a friend today and came to the realization that maybe the reason all this is so hard for me to accept is because she's an adult now, making adult decisions. I remember her being little and me protecting her... teaching her.... yes, even bossing her around. The best way to explain what I'm feeling is that it's almost like what I'm going through with Wes... I am proud of who he is becoming and loving every stage he goes through, but a big part of me is sad each time he leaves a stage behind because I know he'll never be an infant or a toddler or a little boy again. I have a hard time letting go... of people, of moments, and I guess of my sister's childhood. Deciding to serve your country is such an adult thing to do. I am in awe of her courage and am proud that my sister is going to be defending my freedom. I guess I feel like the tables have turned. I've always been the older sister, the more mature one, and now I'm looking up to her. Anyways...this was just supposed to be a post to show off her pictures...

Birthday ticker...mission accomplished.

Yay! I got it. Thanks Brando. Can't believe my baby is starting kindergarten next year. Although he insists that he's ready for 'big school' and doesn't want to go to Pre-k (at daycare) anymore, I still feel like he's my little baby. Being a parent has to be the most amazing experience....seeing this helpless little human grow and change and become his own person...what a blessing!

Wes's birthday ticker

I'm trying to add a birthday ticker for Wesley from snugglepie.com. Can anyone help me?

Megan

I can't believe my baby sister (okay, she's not much of a baby sister anymore - she's 18 - but, I remember when she was a baby) is going to be in the Army. I know she'll have the opportunity to travel and she'll learn responsibility and discipline, but it just seems like she has signed her life away to someone else for the next six years. I'm going to miss her and I know Wesley will miss seeing her when we visit my mom. I'm kinda bummed about it.

Happy Birthday to me...

Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday dear Meeeee, Happy Birthday to Me. In case you didn't get that, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! So far it has been very nice. My boss even left me a birthday card on my desk this morning. I love birthdays.

I love trash

This is for you, Brando....Oh, I love trash, anything dingy or dirty....that's all I know, but tune in tomorrow for the Cookie Monster song.

You know, I was once Oscar the Grouch for Halloween.

Yet another pet..we're up to 3 dogs, a cat, and two boys

Here is the newest member of our family, Molly. She's a four year old golden retriever/labrador mix and so sweet. She doesn't try to jump on you or lick you to death like our other lab and she's fixed so we don't have to worry about any puppies. (Sorry about the pic but she wouldn't stand still long enough to get a good one)

welcome to our blog...

Hi...I'm new to all this blog stuff, but I thought it would be a fun way to post pictures for friends and family (thank you to Brando & Sunny for introducing me). Just to explain our title....Anthony's passion is cars-hot rods, rat rods, sports cars, matchbox cars-basically any kind of car, and I love photography-Hasselblad is a brand of camera that I dream of owning one day. Guess I should have added one of Wes's interests but one day it might be Spiderman and the next it might be Woody & Buzz Lightyear or maybe cars - Anthony is brainwashing him. His newest thing is to point and yell "Mustang" each time he spots one and I must say he is quite skilled at seeing them about five miles away.