My Norman Friends

About once a year Donnie and I get together with some very dear people to me - my Norman friends.

Leaving The Norman Group back in 2005 was hard for me, but it was something I had to do. It meant moving onto bigger and better things for me and my career, but it also meant leaving some really great people who had been with me through the most difficult and happy times of my life.

See, each year in lieu of Christmas gifts, we would just all get together for a big Christmas dinner and "stuff". (We used to play games, watch football games, chat - but now we just run around after our kids! However, this year we had babysitters.) Each year the pictures change a bit. They started out just us 4 girls at weddings, events, parties, etc... Now, it's all 10 of us, with kids in tow. It really has been amazing to keep these friendships through the years. I could write pages and pages about the crazy things we've done. But, I'll stop here and just share the photos...

All the kids, take 1

All the kids, take 32

The boys (L to R - Corey, Ellis and Michael Dean)

The, um, girls :) Seriously, how could my kid not be in this picture with that most adorable shirt he's got on?! (L to R - Betsy, Michael Dean, Riley and Eva)

My sweet Norman friends (Back row to front row - Big Michael Dean, Janice, Thomas, Amy, Donnie, Kristie, Karen, Carter, Courtney & Patrick)

My Sister-in-Law

Well, it's official. Tonia (Donnie's brother's wife) has been diagnosed with Large B Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and had her first chemo treatment last Friday. Just yesterday I found a website that has been set up through CaringBridge.org for her and I want to pass it along.

I don't get to talk to her, or see her, as often as I'd like but it looks like this website is a place where she visits for encouragement. There's already over 24 pages of entries in her Guestbook where friends/family/anyone really have shared prayers and encouragement. So, I encourage you to go there and check it out.

I'm sure the future holds lots of fundraising and encouraging events for Tonia and her sweet family and this will be the place to find out about those - www.caringbridge.org/visit/toniasmithicenhour.

Thanks.

It's a New Year

Time to push down the page the Christmas posts. I mean we had lots of fun, but I just couldn't take the Rudy Reindeer photo any more!

So, I typically don't do these sorts of things, but a friend from church "tagged" me in her blog. I'm supposed to list 7 things about me and 7 honorable blogs. Well, I'm only posting the things about me. It fit for her blog, but mine's a bit different. See, her blog is a very personal place where she shares/vents about a horrible loss she suffered recently. If you're curious, here it is. It's tough to read at times, so go there with caution.

Anyway, here it goes. 7 things about me...

1 - I pick most of the raisins out of my Raisin Bran.

2 - If I can't buy it at Target or Wal-Mart, chances are I won't be wearing it.

3 - When I eat skittles (or any colored candy, really) I line them up in the order of the colors of the rainbow, and eat them that way.

4 - My biggest fear is getting stuck in traffic. Brake lights make me panic.

5 - I sang at Carnegie Hall when I was in high school (and some of you reading this might have too!)

6 - When I'm listening to someone speak or watch TV or listen to the radio, I sometimes type out with my fingers what they're saying.

7 - My sister-in-law has known for about a week and a half, now, that she has cancer. Her first chemo treatment should be tomorrow. Please pray!

There ya go. I won't "tag" anyone, but please feel free to join in the fun.

Christmas Recap - A Few Weeks Late!

We had a great Christmas. It helped that I had 2 weeks off, but Donnie was also able to squeeze some time off too. We were able to be a little bit normal for a while. It really was nice.

And, here's the pics to prove it:

We visited the Great Wolf one night for Santa, storytime and a little snow. Then we met "Rudy" the reindeer.

While visiting Grandma Betty, MD found this penguin that danced and played music. He just thought that was the coolest thing!

Christmas Eve at our house...

The biggie - the train table! Thomas and his friends now have a new home, as does Michael Dean :)

Is that really my 2-year old?

Yep, that's a skateboard. He pretends to "skate" all the time. Now he's got the real thing!

Can't leave the pup out...

Our only family, Christmas picture. I never thought those would be so tough to get!

Mila's got a sore on her leg she just won't leave alone, so we had to resort to the hood. Her daddy had a good idea to get this bendable hood so she can at least sleep, her favorite past-time. And, her new Christmas toy keeps getting stuck to the velcro. Tee hee.

'Twas the Season...

...for no computer for 2 weeks!

I have been off from my paying job, now, for 2 weeks and man has it been a different life. I only got on my computer when I had to, which wasn't much. I had time to run around and do the things that normally I get like 8 minutes to do each week. I used our paid-for week of daycare to clean out closets and our garage, organize, download pictures, print pictures and about 400 other things. I could actually breathe for a few weeks.

But, that's all over tomorrow. Back to work. Back to the grind. Back to holding my breath. Welcome, 2010. (Oh, and when I can chisel out some time in my sure-to-be crazy schedule, I'll post lots of Christmas pics. You know I've got 'em!)