ICE

Tomorrow, we'll be here....

The FAH-BU-LOUS Misou got us tickets to the ICE show.



Never heard of it? Check this out....

I've wanted to take the kids for years, but I just never got around to it.

You have to get tickets weeks in advance.

Thank you Misou!! We are SOOOOOOO excited!!!

I'll let you all know how it was. If, of course, I'm not an icicle by the time we leave

NINE degrees?

Seriously????

She's done it again....

Remember when we had that concert and auction for Beth and Ciana way back in April?

You can checkout some photos Misou took of Ciana and Beth and I for the news broadcast that aired here and here.

Well, Misou was also generous enough to donate a photo shoot to the auction and my best girl Meg ended up with the winning bid.

She knew exactly what she was going to use it for....


Our beautiful Goddaughter's senior photos.

Taylor is Megan's oldest daughter - and she's stunning.

You can check them out here.....

Misou, once again you did an amazing job (and some of that scenery is so gorgeous - what? It's my back yard? Oh, well then......pshaw....)

I swear I'm not sitting around eating Bon-Bons

I really am working on some projects - REALLY!

Right now I'm working on my Gram's old, OLD, kitchen table. As is typical, it's turned into more than expected and WHY I decided to start such a project three weeks before Christmas and TWO weeks before the non-stop entertaining at our house begins, I'll never know.

We begin hosting all of the annual Christmas get togethers - both family and friends - on December 18th. We won't stop until January 2nd.

In the meantime, the girls are eating at the kitchen counters and the dogs are enjoying the large area they now have to lounge in during the day, which includes pulling the big, red cushion off the bench and onto the floor to lay on (EVERY.SINGLE.DAY), whilst ignoring the very large, very cozy dog beds lying 2 feet away.

I have 11 days (make that 11 evenings and this Saturday) to git 'er done.

I wouldn't make bets on this one....

The Henrys....

So, here, we are......

Misou, my sister-in-law (OK, so really not my sister-in-law YET, but that's what she is to me....) took our pictures a few weeks ago.

We haven't had our family pictures taken since Sydney was a year old, so it was time....

I love that we were all so comfortable with her that everyone smiled, and was happy (so long as we got done before for the Ravens played - BRIAN - *ahem*)

Forgive me, but this post is very picture heavy.

Because my husband is gorgeous.

Aand my kids are so stinking cute.

And because my husband and I have NO good pictures together.

And did I mention my family is gorgeous????

The mom and dad - we started all of this...well, this whole side of the Henry family anyway...

And lest you forgot our last name...

That's H E N R Y.

Thankyouverymuch.

A leaf Sydney found and gave to me at the park.





My gorgeous Olivia.....













I love this man - can you tell?




Me and my girls...all blue eyed.





Brian and his girls. Look at him. Is it any wonder my daughters are so beautiful??




Love is amazing....




Laughter is important too.




Sydney Alexandra - she's so beautiful.

And she doesn't even realize it.




Mommy and her girls.




How did I have a child so beautiful as my Olivia Leigh??

God is definitely amazing...











To all of our family (especially you guys - Mike & Linda and Judi & Ted) - Sorry to ruin part of your Christmas present!

But let me know which pictures are your favorites!




My favorite???

This one......





Merry Christmas everyone...

3 x 40 = 120 years of FABULOUS!

So what do three friends do to celebrate three 40th birthdays and 28 years of friendship?

They leave their husbands and kids at home and go for a three hour gourmet dinner and reflect on how much fun they've since they met as 12 year olds.

Nora and Harmony before we left

Nora, Betsy & I met in seventh grade when I was a very confused and lonely girl. We had just moved here from New England and I knew no one......

Somehow, these two became my best friends and a constant presence in my life ever since.

We've been through growing pains, driver's licenses, first loves, breakups, college, our wild years, car accidents, first apartments, deaths, marriages, doubts, pregnancies (all three of us at the same time!), births, months standing by each other's side in the NICU praying for a good outcome (there was) , lots of crying and lots of laughter.

People are often amazed that we are still so close. You'd be hard pressed to find three more different people. We represent the left, the middle and the right - in many ways - and if you met us and spent time with us, you'd be able to see exactly what I mean and where each of us falls.

There's an easy camaraderie when you've known each other for this long. There's really no pressure. We don't feel the need to talk the entire three hour dinner, but you know what? We did - ha! We laughed, we bitched, we rolled eyes, and we laughed some more.

I love these ladies and look forward to the next 28 years of friendship.


On our way to Volt

Polly Want a What?

Cassity over at PollyWantACrafter is featuring my family sign today!



How cool is that?

Be sure to check out all the cool crafts at PollyWantACrafter (I already have a TON of ideas from perusing the site).

Cassity is also the brains behind Remodelaholic. Another HUGE favorite of mine where I get even MORE ideas.

Brian is now deleting all my saved favorite websites before I get any more ideas.

MIA

Wow - has it really been 10 days since I posted? Oy!

I have lots to tell you.

And show you.

But I can't do it at work.

So it'll have to wait another day.

Sorry :(

How can you NOT smile when you look at this?

Nothing makes me happier than a big, red, rooster jug.





Except paying only $7.99 for a big, red, rooster jug.

The Henry Family Creed

Remember this?

This 16 x 24 board has kept me very busy lately.



I have always loved all the old vintage subway signs, but not enough to pay a ton of money for one. I also liked the look, but not necessarily the sayings on those old signs.

So I went a'Googling and found several website offering personalized "vintage" signs.

Since they cost a bazillion dollars a piece, I figured I could make one myself.

I skipped down to mom and dad's and, lo and behold, he had the perfect board!! Most of the signs I'd seen were 12 x 24, but 16 x 24 would totally work.

I'd make it work.

So I spray painted it black.

I particularly liked several different versions of a "Family Rules" sign.

So, Brian and I came up with a few sayings of our own, and borrowed a few sayings from the ones we'd seen.

I created a template in Microsoft Publisher and - since it was so big - had to tape all the pieces together.

Now, I had our layout, and added our name to it.

It took me a while to figure out the best way to get the template onto the board.

Finally, after searching and searching and SEARCHING, I found some white transfer paper.

Seriously, why is this so hard to find around here?

The store where I finally located it wasn't open evenings or weekends so I had to send my brother to get it for me (which reminds me, I owe him $11.00).

I taped it to the board and put the template over top.

And then I hand traced everything.

This is where the copious amounts of this came into play:

TED-I-OUS.

It probably took me about two hours to get the entire thing transferred over.
It was really fairly easy.
Just a little labor intensive.
And my neck and shoulders were killing me the next day.

Here's what I ended up with.

I am not sure what I was thinking, but I decided I could hand paint this all on.

Um, do you see how different all those fonts are?

Yeah. That was a bitch.

I used a lot of paint pens, but then didn't like how it looked.

So I ended up going back over most of it with a paintbrush and paint.

Yup, that's right.

I basically did it TWICE.

Brian spent a lot of time running to the liquor store. Copious amounts, people.

But here's what it looked like after all that painting.




I liked it.

Brian liked it.

But it just didn't feel right yet.

Out came the sandpaper and steel wool.

And here's the final product, with one coat of matte poly (which was still wet when I took this)

I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Every single saying on there is something I want my girls to remember.....
(listen to your parents - they know everything)

And to know.....
(know you are loved)

And aspire to...
(always be honest. always keep your promises)

And maybe I could learn a thing or to as well....
(have patience)

So, what do you think????

Joining Metamorphasis Monday over at Between Naps on the Porch.



I'm joining Pamela over at Be Colorful's "Motivated Monday".

She's got some serious motivation over there - check it out!!