Home Improvement-- Backyard

For Valentine's Day this year, I only asked for one thing:
A usable backyard.
Yes, I am that romantic.

We knew it would take a lot of work to get it cleaned up, so we both planned to spend our upcoming Spring Break working out in the yard and getting it ready to go.

As it turned out, we hired contractors to save Bill's back.
(Best. Money. Ever. Spent.)
Bill did a ton of work on the sprinklers, and we spent most of yesterday laying the sod ourselves.... but we let the hired help do all the heavy lifting, so to speak. ;)

Here are a few slide shows that show the before, after and work-in-progress shots:

yard- view A - slideshow maker

yard view B - slideshows

yard view C - slideshows

yard view D - slideshows

Button Up Buddy

Our children have many nicknames.
And, generally, Bill is the one who creates them.

When Lexy arrived on the scene, he started calling her "My Only Daughter!" in a very exasperated voice with a hint of a Spanish accent. Really, it was a movie quote. Which, if you know Bill, should come as no surprise. (It's from "Fools Rush In")

Lexy was also dubbed "Lexy Lou" from early on.... And sometimes just "Lou".... and sometimes just 'L'. And sometimes L-Dawg.

You get the picture.

Tori was born and immediately became "My Second Daughter!" as Lexy morphed into "My First Daughter!" said with the same flare. And then came a flurry of other nicknames for Tori-- "T Bone", "Tori Toops", "Toops", "T" and "LB" (for Little Bill, or the abbreviation for pound, which she was a lot of :) ) just to name a few.

So, it did not surprise me in the least when I started hearing Bill call Liam "Button Up Buddy." I had no idea what the origin of that nickname was, but I went with it, never questioning its meaning. I thought perhaps it had something to do with his little sleepers that had to be buttoned up from his toes to his neck every time we changed his diapers (read: a lot).

I carried on calling him Button Up Buddy for probably a good month or two until one afternoon when Bill overheard me and began a little internet search. Next thing I knew, I had an iTouch in my hands that displayed the following:

Apparently, "Button Up Buddy" was really "Bud, not Buddy."
Who knew?

Bill had that title stored somewhere back in the deep dark corners of his brain from his time as a middle school teacher in south central Los Angeles.

I had been referring to Liam as "Buddy" quite a bit, so (naturally?) Bill had made the progression to "Bud, not Buddy".

I guess I should get my ears checked.


Since then, I have actually read the book--and it is really good!
(Turns out those Newbery Medal & Honors people know what they're doing.)
We now own a copy for our own little Bud, Not Buddy's personal library.

Thankful Day 22

Today I am thankful for my husband.
I am thankful for him EVERY day, but today I will tell you why. :)

He is absolutely passionate for the Lord, and his passion is contagious.

He has a fantastic sense of humor and makes me laugh. (most of the time. :))

He loves our children and yearns for them to know God.

He has such a servant's heart and is always looking for ways to help others.

He is a faithful and loyal friend, both to me and to countless others.

He is dedicated and disciplined, waking up before the sun most days to train both physically and spiritually.

He consistently provides for our family, even on days when he'd rather stay home with us.

He has a "can do" attitude in his approach to just about everything life throws his way.

He doesn't take himself too seriously, and can humbly defuse conflicts with his wisdom and wit.

He cooks; he cleans; he empties the dishwasher.

He stretches me to see things from a different perspective and encourages me to search my heart.

He knows how to fix things. And if he doesn't know how to do it, he'll figure it out.

He loves sports-- watching them and playing them.

He is enthusiastic about life and loves an adventure.

He is just the man God made for me, and I am so honored to share life with him.
(Love you, Bill!)

Faces of Summer

Wordless Wednesday: From this side of the lens

H2O Polo

Back in the water again...






Bill had the opportunity to play in a tournament up in Bakersfield, which works out wonderfully because Gigi is in Bakersfield! We had a fun time watching the games and soaking up the sun!

If only a blog could capture all the honks of support....

I love Christmas Vacation

The scene:
Home, the first 5 minutes of his "Winter Break."
Both girls so excited to have Daddy home.
Celebrating the quiet moments.

Wishing you all many quiet moments this Holiday season....

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful man ever!

(we're kinda partial :) )

We sure know how to have a good time...

We are really hoping that we are on the tail end of our own Puke Fest 2008, which has been Live! and in Full Effect! here since Wednesday night.

Sweet little Tori was the first victim. Bill and I spent the better part of Wednesday night and wee hours of Thursday morning trying to make her comfortable-- never without a puke pail at arm's length. Watching your 16-month-old throw up has got to be the worst thing ever. She just stared at us with her big .... blue? green? hazel? (we're not sure yet) eyes pleading for us to "Make it stop!" I felt so helpless.

Thursday seemed relatively calm-- I thought maybe we had all dodged a bullet. Tori seemed much better, and of the rest of us appeared healthy. Then Thursday afternoon, Tori began puking again. If there was any humor at all in the situation, it was watching her BEG for food all day long. This is my ferocious eater, after all. And the few saltines I had given her were just not cutting it. Who knows, maybe I should have just let her eat to her heart's content. May have prevented the numerous dry heaves later in the day.

Friday rolled around and shouted "LET THE FESTIVITIES BEGIN!"
At about 11am, I realized that my stomach didn't feel quite right.... I laid down to take a nap at 3:00, and by 4:00 I was puking. Lexy woke up from her nap about that time and went outside with Bill to check on their vegetable garden, and then I heard all this scurrying around by Bill. Lexy was throwing up. Good times, people. Good times.

Thank God Bill was still healthy at this point. I really don't know what I would have done if I would have had to take care of both girls-- one of whom was PUKING-- while I felt so horrible.
I just kept saying, "I'm so sorry!" to him as he rinsed out puke pails and dealt with Lexy.

He had his hands full, to say the least. And poor Tori, who is now seemingly healthy, wasn't making life any easier. She wanted to be right at his side during all the action. And she also wanted to EAT! since it'd had been a while. Again, thank God Bill was healthy, because there was no way I could have made her dinner. He ended up putting her to bed at 6:45pm just so he wouldn't have to keep her hands out of the toilet and such anymore. (She's still asleep at 8:37am as I type. I guess she needed it.)

Of course, you guessed it, Bill started feeling sick around 10pm, and then all bets were off. Misery all around.

I pretty much bed-hopped between the couch, my bed, Lexy's bed, and the blow-up air mattress Bill had set up in the family room all night. And I use the word "night" very liberally considering that I started napping at 3pm, and never really got out of bed from that point on (except to visit the restroom myself, or hold a bucket for Lexy). Longest night of my life, hands down.

My dreams all night, which were frequent, seemed to revolve around liquids. Dehydrated, perhaps? I swear I had visions all night that looked like this:

I had my first sip of water at 4am this morning, and so far, so good.
With the exception of Bill, who is still down for the count, we all seem to be feeling better today. Although I have NO DESIRE to eat anything yet. That's always a good barometer for me.
Now, if I could just get a Haz-Mat team over here to clean up the mess. And a maid to do LOTS of laundry.

Silver linings abound:
Thank God it's the weekend!
Thank God Bill and I rotated shifts of sickness!
Thank God it was JUST the flu!
Thank God we have indoor plumbing!
Thank God we'll all be healthy by Thanksgiving! (our extended family will be especially glad about this one since we gave the gift of flu to everyone two Thanksgivings ago)
And so many more....

Here's hoping that you and your family stay healthy this season!

Pumpkins!

All family members age 3+ particitpated in the pumpkin carving this year....
(Those under the age of 3 were napping.)

Trying to capture the same pose as last year.....
(not nearly the same results due to two squirmy girls!)

We are the Aggies, the Aggies are we....

Future members of the Classes of '25 and '27.

A big thank you to Aunt Neva, Nan & GrammaZoo for keeping the Aggie tradition alive!
Lexy and Tori (and Bill!) love the new shirts. :)

Gig 'em!!

The Capitols

We are self-proclaimed nerds, so any chance to LEARN something while on vacation is like icing on the cake.

Bill has now seen all of the western Capitols in the U.S.A.
This is how it all went down....
On his drive up to Seattle, he passed through Sacramento, and due to construction, traffic was diverted two blocks away from the Capitol. Why not stop by and see who's picketing Arnold's policies today, right???

Sacramento, CA-- LOTS of security
I mean, who do you think you're gonna see, a Movie Star???

As his drive continued up I-5, he passed through Olympia, WA.... And if he's already been to one, why not go to another?

Olympia, WA-- very unique bathroom door locks.
BIG building. LOTS of pretty flowers. TONS of marble. (literally)

Then we headed down south through Salem as a family, and, killing two birds with one stone, Bill saw his third Capitol AND kept little Tori quarantined while Lexy & I hung out at The Sanders' house.

Salem, OR-- Don't let Salem residents talk you out of visiting...

Just quit burning your Capitol down, alright?

And then, our route into the Lake Tahoe area took us through Carson City, NV, and would you believe it, our opportunity to take in a FOURTH State Capitol. (Did anyone know Carson City was the capital of Nevada??!?) Now tell me, who could pass that up? :)

Carson City, NV-- The understated and simple Capitol
Why bother even TRYING to compete with buildings like The Bellagio and The Venetian?

And as an added bonus, Bill decided to make sure the plumbing worked in each of the buildings by... how does the saying go, "If it's brown, flush it down...?" :)
Yes, my husband: Leaving his mark on the world one poop at a time.

Pomp and Circumstance

My heart is swelling with pride.
We celebrated quite an accomplishment this evening (all week, really...).
Bill earned his second (2!) Masters degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the Michael D. Eisner School of Education at C.S.U.N.
That's just a fancy of way of saying that he earned his Administrative Credential, and the Masters degree that goes along with it. :)Monday night, we endured the 96 degree heat to watch him be decorated with an Honors medal at the Honors Convocation.

Having the medal placed around his neck....

Praise the Lord for the MUCH cooler weather we enjoyed tonight for his graduation, er...COMMENCEMENT ceremony. (I'm still wondering why everything is "commencement" now. Make sure you grab your COMMENCEMENT program before you take your COMMENCEMENT seat. ) The girls and I were so excited to see Daddy walk in his "pretty dress" and "golden medal", as Lexy put it.

The jubilant family....
Not the best picture, but hey... we do the best we can, right?

The President of the University made a point to recognize the graduates who held a full time job while working towards their degree, which seemed to apply to about half of the graduates. I had always known that this was a huge undertaking (obviously... I was living through it), but for some reason, it all clicked tonight. WHAT A HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT to work all day long and then still carve out time in his busy schedule to go to class, write papers, perform fieldwork, etc. Bill has worked SO HARD to earn this degree, and I know I am often selfish in celebrating the fact that our chaotic life will finally return to normal (whatever that means). But tonight, as the president spoke, I realized that me celebrating the end of it all was belittling the huge amount of work that he put into it. I am so proud of him.

Bill went through the whole process with his buddy Rich, and it was fun to see them finish together. And it was nice to share the crazy night in the audience with Chrissy, Rich's wife, and their 3 kids.
We were also blessed beyond words to have our dear friends Nate & Debra Perkins (and Annabelle and Ava) come to cheer Bill on. Wow-- Can't believe you WANTED to come to a graduation... ahem, Commencement! We CHERISH your friendship and feel so touched that you wanted to celebrate this milestone with us.

And I couldn't publish this without at least one picture of the girls....
So here's a peek into the future at the graduating class of.... 2023???

Check out the half eaten waffle sitting on the couch.... Lovely.

And a token Tori shot that has absolutely nothing to do with graduation!