A Look Back.

The f l o w e r c h a i n Year in Review:

~{january}~
*a lost camera*
*a cute baby picture *
*a dedication to my honey*
*a painting*

~{february}~
*first Children's Book of the Week (and it's still my favorite)*
*Audrey cowgirled up.*
*the circle of blogs*

~{march}~
*we met Mr. Romney*
*Audrey had a ranch party*
*t-ball!*
*Miles has heart trouble*
*Rodeo*

~{april}~
*Audrey's going to private school*
*we learn what a proboscis is*
*Parker gets Pa for his birthday*
*Miles accompanies me to the museum*
*the kids and I went to AZ*
*Neal guest blogs!*

~{may}~
*the pools open*
*so does Bellefleur*
*I talk about my favorite Moms*

~{june}~
*musical beds & a sick family*
*Disneyland*
*California fun*

~{july}~
*Hawaii*
*Louisiana*
*a baseball game*

~{august}~
*baby turns one*
*my mom & dad celebrate 35*
*Neal started a blog!(which needs updating, baby.)*

~{september}~
*Audrey gets glasses*
*I talked about our wedding day*
*we took a trip to the Hill Country*

~{october}~
*Parker goes off the high dive*
*a day in the life*
*I start the encyclopedia posts*
*Halloween is better than last year.*

~{november}~
*Parker learns to read.*
*Neal and I celebrate 9 years.*
*More encyclopedia.*
*Audrey grows up too fast.*

~{december}~
*Neal and I got a weekend away.*
*Pa came back.*
*Daddy Jeff & Issy came for a visit.*
*I turned 30 and my blog turned 2.*

Happy New Year!

Grateful Sunday

This week, I'm grateful for:

• the most relaxing week at home that we've had in a long time. No airports, no road trips (which unfortunately means no family visits), no illnesses, and no additional expenses. Our phone has rung I think 3 times, so we've had lots of quality family time and so much fun with the kids. Like Neal said the other day, "I think we make a good little family." Me, too.
• our energy boost on Thursday, when we took down ALL of the Christmas stuff. I singlehandedly hauled the tree outside and bagged it up. Very satisfying. I love my completely empty mantle. It's such a welcome relief from Christmas decor clutter.
  
• beautiful Texas winters. We've spent most of the past few days hanging out on the driveway or on the sidewalk watching the world go by.
• the chorister's idea today to skip "Ring Out Wild Bells." That song really gets to me for some reason.
• 3 more days of pajama-wearing, no-getting-in-the-car, Neal being home, breakfast at 9:30, peace & quiet.
  

What We're Doing All Day

Playing with our toys.

do you see the teeny Miles in that last picture? :)

Have a great week!

Merry Christmas to you!

Yes, we are the "blob of gray" family, but you know,
the whole last name on the blog thing still freaks me out a little.
I'll be back soon. Oh, and I miss maui. :(

image compilation by Natalie*

Carousel

We took a long-anticipated trip to the Kemah Boardwalk (mostly for Parker, who's been dying to go!). We had fun on some rides, a quick dinner, a little candy shopping and enjoying the evening sea breezes.

She looks like she's holding on tight, about to take off.

Afternoon at the ranch

Audrey takes horseback riding lessons once a week at a local ranch. A few of you have asked about it. She takes Western riding lessons and has been for a few months. She's been taking lessons off and on since she was 5 and attended a week-long "horse camp" during Spring Break. Obviously, she's into it. Today, she did a bit of loping (one step up from trotting, on her way to a gallop) and seems to have overcome her nervousness when the horse picks up speed. Today she said, "I wonder when I can start jumping."

She can ride so naturally and has the best time. One day we hope to get her a horse. And then I'm sure we'll never see her. That would be her absolute dream.

Here she is dreaming about it. Meanwhile, I dream of having her hair.

ropin'


The boys always have fun, too, and we always end up bringing home several "cool sticks," and a few pocketfuls of pecans. Today we even found a pencil. I know, fun, huh. :)

two.

i just realized that my precious little flowerchain blog turned 2 last week.
some ~blog administrator~ i am, i totally forgot.

this is from my first post, and i still feel the same way . . .

i hope this little blog can help you get through your days just as encouragement from my sisters in the world helps me get through mine. i've called it flowerchain because making flower necklaces, crowns, and all manner of other accessories with weed flowers on the playground in my youth holds such fond memories for me. my little audrey and I have had several chances to make these same little treasures and I cherish those little moments as treasures themselves. flower chains remind me of all things lovely and simple, and those are the best kinds of things.

happy birthday bloggy blog!

incredibly pretty 'flowerchain' image found here
why yes, i am tempted to change my header image. is it legal is the question.

Grateful Sunday

This week, I'm grateful for:

• the opportunity to NOT set my alarm for 6:40 for the next couple of weeks. Even though Miles wakes up at approx 6:19 most days, I'd rather wake up to him than that blasted beeping sound.
• Neal's dad and Gail, who came to see us, made us feel loved, gave our kids incredible early Christmas presents (see above ball pit for Miles), and just helped us have a great time.
• Neal NOT having a Saturday job. It is so unbelievably nice to have him around on the weekends.
• the miracle it was to find just the right gift for Neal's dad, a very hard-to-shop-for person.
  
• my piano, because it's really fun to develop a talent when you're a grown-up.
• Miles, the sweetest, silliest baby I've ever seen. He's got enough personality for 3 babies and we love it! Plus, his obsession for all things spherical is really, really cute. And no, that is not blood on his shirt. It's M&M juice. :)
  

Brrr

Our temperatures have finally dipped below sixty degrees, so I'm feeling a little chilled. No more air conditioner! That's what I want for Christmas. Anyway, blah blah, here is a little compilation of Real Simple interviews, à la Natalie at La Vie en Rose.

1. Name one thing you are sure of.
I am sure that I will be with my family forever.

2. Describe one holiday tradition that you've started in your family. We have a few little ones: taking the kids with us to deliver gifts/food to needy families in our community; getting together with several other families for BBQ, Christmas light-viewing from a trailer covered in hay bales, and hot chocolate; opening one gift on Christmas eve (instead of opening all of them like Neal's family did!); filling little wooden mangers with pieces of hay for each good deed.

3. What is the most useless invention? Do mosquitoes count as an invention? Because my kids and I often wonder why they were created. They serve NO purpose, as we all know. They don't even make honey or anything.

4. Complete the following list of Christmas favorites - song, film and treat. Alright, you can have two favorites in each category.
Song: "With Wondering Awe" & "Silent Night"
Film: Hands down, "Mr. Krueger's Christmas". Second place, "A Christmas Story".
Treat: Gingerbread men (or any other cookie with frosting and decorations on it) and Bûche de Noël from La Madeleine.

5. If the Christmas Genie were to grant you three wishes, what would you wish for? (stipulations: endless wishes and world peace are not options - and at least one of your three has to be something completely selfish - for you and only you.)
1. A really, really ideal job for Neal.
2. A new car for Neal, too.
3. I don't want any "things" really, since we'll be moving soon, it would just be more to pack! But I would love for my house to sell in good time. (That counts as selfish, since I don't want to have to keep it show-worthy for months and months!)

6. The best decision I ever made was...
marrying that boy from Texas (ok, Louisiana.)

7. Describe the most nontraditional Christmas you have celebrated.
Over the Christmas holiday in 1999, my parents took us (all of their kids & spouses at the time) on a Mediterranean Cruise. We traveled to Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Santorini, Rhodes, & Crete. The cruise began in Istanbul, and this is where we celebrated Christmas. We were staying at the Four Seasons Istanbul, an incredibly gorgeous hotel between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. You can see both magnificent structures from the roof. In that Turkey is mostly a Muslim country, there weren't a whole lot of Christmassy things going on. The hotel was very tastefully decorated, though, perhaps just for us! I believe we spent the day sightseeing. And thinking to ourselves, "Wow, this does not feel like Christmas." And trying not to sell Stephanie for chickens.

And just for randomness' sake, I'm including pages from the "scrapbook" I made of that wonderful cruise. This is as close to a scrapbook as I've ever created. Don't knock it. I have very simple taste. And no money.

A picture of the courtyard of the hotel, and the little pocket map they give you when you check in. So you don't get lost after you go rug-bargaining and super-hot apple tea drinking.

Ok, a totally lame caption for this page, but seriously, the Hagia Sophia is indescribable. That's my ticket to get in, all of us milling around outside, and a photo I took of some of the once covered up wall paintings. Super pretty and way cool, indeed.

Have a great weekend! I'm ending my week early.
We have company coming and I have cleaning to do.

Private School Perks

There are lots of perks to having Audrey in a private, church-owned school this year. Number one being that Christmas and God aren't bad words. She memorizes a Bible verse each week, goes to a chapel service several times a week, has a devotional in class each morning, etc. And of course, at Christmas time, regular schooling and Christian stories and principles go hand in hand even more. A stark contrast to the muffled mentions of "holidays" and "winter" breaks in the public schools. There are good and bad aspects to both, of course, but since we are Christians, we love this aspect of Audrey's education. (Parker's, too, actually. His preschool Christmas celebration is actually called a "Baby Jesus Party". The little children bring wrapped gifts to donate and have a little donation ceremony in the chapel. It's lovely.)

Last night, the first through fifth graders at Audrey's school put on "The Joy of Jesus," a little Christmas pageant. They asked the children to dress as international Christmas children. I had the idea of transforming Audrey's Cleopatra costume into a Swedish St. Lucia dress, a la my American Girl doll, Kirsten. (Warning to all crafty/sewing readers, do not look closely at the sleeves on Audrey's dress! The dress was a very weird shape to start with and sleeves are very unfortunately, not my forte. Plus, they're only temporary, hence the elastic sleeve opening.)

So here she is, in all her Scandinavian-ness.

Parker had nicer clothes on all day and then changed last minute into his activewear. Battle not worth fighting.
(Note to self: do a blog post about Parker and his activewear.)
While I was putting a little bit of make-up (!) on Audrey and fixing her braids, she said, "I didn't know I was going to look THIS fancy for the play!"

Well, baby girl, I didn't know you were gonna look THIS much like your beautiful Aunt Charlotte. :)

Check out her blog to read about the "Adornament Tree" in her classroom. She's very excited about it. Also, she asked me to tell all fellow bloggers who link to her blog that you need to change the title of her blog in your link list. It's now called "Unicorns in the Mist."

P-S-Y-C-O

I'm finally getting around to writing one of those "Seven Weird Things About Me" posts. I've seen them all around, of course, but Angela did officially tag me for it, so there.

Ok, let's take a look-see into me . . .

1. I have a very strange aptitude for numerical memorization.
Need to know Neal's Continental OnePass number? Perhaps you are interested in our health insurance identification number, or the precise address where you may need to send claims. The license plate number of our family's 1984 Suburban? Or is it a random phone number from our church directory? My phone number from when I was seven? Or my best friend Rachel Kim's phone number from when she was seven. I have it all stored away and pretty readily available in this little brain of mine.
But I have to add 9 + 6 on my fingers.

2. I am obsessed with cleaning out my ears.
Q-tips are my drug of choice, I'm afraid. And yes, I know how bad it is to have squeaky clean ears, but I honestly can not keep myself from cleaning my ears at least once a day. I have given myself extremely painful infections in years past because of this habit. Sometimes, when I'm going on vacation, I'll purposely NOT bring q-tips just so I can attempt to kick my addiction. It never works. Hotels always have them, and I know where my mom keeps hers, too.

3. Sometimes, instead of having a song stuck in my head, I'll get a word stuck in there.
Yesterday, it was FIDUCIARY.

4. I am also addicted to Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm.
I first started wearing if after picking it up at Whole Foods several years ago. Now it's available almost everywhere, and I have about 5 tubes. I must wear it to bed every night, even though I live in what some would consider a swampy rain forest of a place. And unfortunately, Neal really hates the smell of peppermint. Luckily for me, he tolerates it now.

5. I usually accidentally sing one octave higher than the actual written notes of a song.
Neal (Mr. Perfect Pitch himself) pointed this out to me once, and I guess I have no ear at all. I don't usually notice.

6. I do, in fact, have the world's most ticklish feet.
I honestly can not have anything touch my feet. When I'm sleeping and I feel Neal moving closer, I instinctively move the bottom half of my legs as far away from him as possible. Just so he doesn't accidentally brush his feet against mine. You wanna make me really, really mad, really, really quickly? Tickle my feet. Just see if I don't kick you where it counts.

7. I have hyperextendable elbows.
This one runs in my family. My mom and Elliott also have this weird ability, I think. I believe my elbows are "double jointed," if there even is such a thing. Basically, I can put my hand flat on a table and turn my arm around 360 degrees without moving or lifting my hand. Then it's really freaky when I bend my elbow and it looks like my arm is broken. It was a big hit in 8th grade science class, where one boy (a very cute boy, unfortunately), told me I could be in "The Exorcist."

Ok, you may now comment and tell me what a freak I am. Then you do this, if you haven't yet!

Parker's Perfect Day

When my dad came back for one glorious Wednesday last week, he indulged Parker and spent the entire day with him and only him (ok, somebody else tagged along, too).

Pa and Parker got haircuts, then Subway for lunch, came home and watched a few Ben 10 episodes, played Pa's Nintendo DS a little bit, tossed the baseball around, went for a little walk around the neighborhood, and did a lot of hugging. And all this, before Audrey even got home from school. It was the sweetest thing and I, for one, was so grateful to my dad for being the best grandpa ever. It made Parker's day.

Oh how I love that face.

Intense concentration for my little dude, who knocked a few out of the park, I must say.

Grateful Sunday

This week, I'm grateful for:

• job prospects, scary and confusing and prayer-worthy as they are.
• one more week before Christmas vacation starts. For everyone! I'm also grateful for this one last year that Neal gets the "student" vacation.
• hurricane season: OVER.
• the chance I got to be a fancy pants piano player at a charity home tour this weekend. I felt kind of like the guy at Nordstrom that I always wanted to be instead of working in Brass Plum. I even had my name on a little sign on the piano. The really, really nice piano.
• friends and family who shared my birthday with me!
• my neighbor down the street, who's conveniently expecting her first baby, just in time for me to get rid of baby stuff.
  
• that little red-haired baby up there, even though he had a fussy, drool- and booger-filled Sunday.
  

cake . . .

. . . and a clean baby. Two of my favorite things.

Such a good day.

What a fabulous birthday I've had. It was pretty much a normal day, except with a few extras added in.

First the sun was shining all day.
Second, *Mr. Romney gave an incredible speech.
Third came the news that little Stella's getting bigger.
Fourth, my incredible box o' love.
Fifth, a lovely lunch with some friends. A few choice gifts and a Target gift card don't hurt either.
Sixth, dinner at Benihana. The kids were great. (Parker quote: Mama, when are they going to cook the food right in our faces?) We even got a fried rice beating heart AND an onion volcano.
Seventh, I forgot to make myself a cake. Or, rather, I didn't have time to make myself a cake. But tomorrow is another day, and cake will happen. Believe me, I don't skip cake.
Eighth, I had several nice emails and phone calls wishing me well. Including one from Neal's dad and Gail, who called to say they are coming to visit very soon.
Ninth, I actually have NO laundry to fold tonight.
Tenth, I got a big, yummy, totally unprovoked kiss from my baby before bedtime.

And lastly, I'm totally okay with turning thirty. I'm happy, healthy, I have a husband who doesn't care that I buy too many shoes, kids to die for, and family and friends who mean the world to me.

Life is so good. What a great day.

*(you can read Romney's speech here, or watch it here, in case you missed it.)

I have no words.

Many of you were in on the most wonderful gift Natalie sent to me for my thirtieth birthday today. She put together a box full of letters from the 30 people whom I love most in the world. A letter from every person and a dozen or so pictures. Not just cards, but a full-fledged pledges of love and birthday wishes. (And two cds.) Well, I finally found a quiet moment to open it around 10 o'clock this morning. I sat on the floor boohooing over all the incredible notes and love-filled memories you all have shared with me. Thank goodness for the letters from the likes of Keith and Mike, Jack's little "peace out," and the drawings from all the kids. I needed some smiles and giggles in the midst of beautiful notes like those from Julianne, Stephanie, Neal, my grandma, and my mom and my dad. And pretty much all the rest of them. You all have touched me so tremendously. I hope I can pull myself together for lunch with my friends.

This pretty box will stay just as it is for years to come. As soon as nosy Neal* reads all of them, the box will be someplace where I can always come on days filled with discouragement and doubt. Thanks to all of you, and especially to Natalie, for her extraordinary effort and her undying devotion to our friendship.

*(I hope you don't mind, Neal's always been into reading other peoples' mail. Plus he's the other half of me.)

Now, on to the rest of my birthday!! I'll post updates later. :)

Pa, Reprised

Parker & his Pa last October

Lucky for Parker, who is obsessed with hugging my dad, he's coming back to Texas for one more day. It just so happens that our favorite Presidential candidate is giving an important speech not far from here. Hooray!

(Check out Parker's blog to see just how much he loves to see Pa.)

Trees

We went a-huntin' for a Christmas tree at the local tree lot last night. We were THIS close to getting a flocked tree, but just couldn't do the extra thirty bucks. Next year, we're all over it. Neal even assures me that they're less messy than the unflocked trees (because the needles are pretty much glued on to the branches).
Miles was very helpful. The other kids just ran around gathering fallen branches and pretending they were birds.

We found the perfect tree pretty quickly. In fact, it was the first one we saw. Kind of like my wedding dress experience.

Thanks for your help, little dude. I really really really love you. and your lips.


oo! i found last year's tree hunting post. hooray for blog histories!

Life is Good.

There's nothin' like lunch on the trampoline.

Grateful Sunday

Today, I'm grateful for:

• a free upgrade at our hotel Friday night. According to the front desk girl, we were "the lucky ones." We ended up in a fancy shmancy suite on the top floor. The kind of floor you have to have a special key to get to. We even had a dining room. And a lovely time. So I'm also grateful for my mom and dad, who willingly took care of our kids for the night and morning.
• Miles, who was apparently "happy as a clam" for my mom and dad. Hooray.
• gingerbread cookies with frosting and red hots.
• Neal, for being wonderful.
• the thirtieth year of my life, which begins this week. And the lovely box of something that Natalie sent for me to open on Thursday. It's a good thing I have incredible will power. It's not even taped shut or anything. :)