Christmas Tea

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Today, my mom took us to a Christmas Tea at the Ritz Carlton. My cousin Meggan had heard about it from a friend and invited us to go with her and her daughter. So we got all dressed up in our Christmas outfits and went to an afternoon tea. Each of us loved it!

While we were driving there, Cutie said, "Mom, I look like a Barbie!" She was referring to her sequence dress, quite impressive to a little girl!

My girls enjoyed being by their older cousin, soaking up every minute with her. We enjoyed little sandwiches, scrumptious desserts and delightful tea, they had my favorite, while peach!

Santa came around so we caught pictures with him. Sweetie hasn't ever believed in Santa (I know future theoropy for her since we never played that game) so she sat their uninterest and Santa commented, "Hi Sweetheart, are you ignoring me?" She didn't give him the time of day! But did take a photo!

To top off the event, my mom bought all of the girls Jeoffery Bears in honor of the Tea Master, Jeoffery who hosted the tea and sang a Christmas song. This is definitely a tradition that I would love to continue and recommend to anyone! Thanks Mommy!

Christmas Elves

I love Christmas time, it's exhausting and fun all in one month! There are so many traditions that I want to pass onto my girls, so we started a new one this year, the Advent Tree. The tradition was shared at church and we decided to adopt it this year. Each day we wrote down something we could do as a family, such as drink hot cocoa and read a story, make smores, make cards, ect. So today the tree read, "Make Christmas cookies and eat 'em!" So this morning we made them, the girls rolled out the dough and stamped the cookies out. They lost interest after a few rolls and then decided to clean the house. I loved the idea! But that soon ended too and I had to clean up from their cleaning!
Tonight we had a friend and her darling girls over to frost the cookies and enjoy dinner together. My girls loved having friends over, Cutie played with her preschool friend and Sweetie loved "babysitting" as she would call it, the younger one. Once they left and we were looking at the pics, Sweetie said, "I really had fun tonight, I'm sad they had to go." Then Cutie piped in, "They are good friend, Momma!"
Some other traditions: driving around to look at Christmas lights, purchasing gifts for those in need, making a gingerbread house, and making treats for neighbors. Share your traditions in the comments!

Life Lessons

Note to self:
1. My cat is thirsty.
2. Don't drink out of a glass of water that have been sitting around unattended!

Obviously God is trying to teach me a few lessons these past months, so I thought I would share them with you so that you can learn from my pain and not have to experience them yourself. This is how I learned a lot of lessons as a kid, my brothers would get in trouble for things and I would make a mental note never to do that offense. It worked, I hardly got in trouble, thanks bros!

Through my 2 surgeries I have learned a few things, okay a lot of things: depend on others, ask for help (even strangers), lay down and relax, read books to be entertained and grow, let others do things their way like loading the dishwasher (at least they are loaded and clean), let the refrigerator/pantry be disorganized (it really doesn't matter), take extra time to love on my kids (they need it especially when life isn't normal), trust in others, rely on others, have friends drive me to grocery shop, shop at Walmart (they actually have good prices, strange folk but good prices), trust in the Dr.'s decision, trust in the nurses/Dr's integrity as you lay 1/2 naked asleep on the operating table, enjoy walking, enjoy doing the laundry and cooking after not being able to, enjoy a shower after 2 weeks of baths, enjoy walking downstairs instead of scooting on my butt or crawling upstairs, rely on friends to pick-up/drop-off my precious cargo to school, and most importantly - that no matter what you're going through, God wants your attention and wants to teach you something.

Thank you God for continuing to heal my feet. Thank you for providing the support and love of family and friends. Thank you for all the lessons, tears, pain and joy that I have overcome through your strength each day.

Thank you friends for all your help and prayers. I feel blessed to know each of you and very loved. The weeks of meals that were provided were outstanding and such an amazing outpouring of love. I owe each of you ten times over!

An especially BIG THANK YOU to my momma. She was incredible through this whole ordeal. Putting up with my crazy, structured, over-organized life, you did terrific. Last night I took her to the Michael W. Smith concert as a thank you, we had a blast. I love ya momma!

Merry Christmas!

From the Frank's

and the Fleenor's!



Check out our new career as elf dancers on my link called, New Career.

Cutie is 4!!!

Cutie turned 4 last month and I have to put some photos up of her party.

Her party was at the park by our house, it was a parade party. All the kids brought their bikes/scooters and decorated them, then they had a parade! It was awesome, I have to give the credit to my mom for the wonderful idea, she did one for me when I was a kid. Where any of you there? Mary Jo?

So here are some pics of Cutie's party, enjoy!

No More Bunions!

Wow, I have been out of the blogging world for awhile due to my bunion surgeries. Yes, it was extremely painful but in a few weeks I'm going to have some beautiful feet! I had the first surgery in October on the left foot and just had the right foot done 2 weeks ago. Today I went to the Dr. because the bone that he broke wasn't growing back correctly. Well, it still isn't perfect but he said it will be just fine. I guess my foot won't be perfect just pretty!

So all of those days of ugly feet are over, well not yet, the right foot is still swollen and bruised. But soon! So no more jokes about being "Jobey Bunion, queen of the wild frontier." That started back in Jr. High! Soon I'll attach a foot photo but for now I'm going to make you wait!

Tagged - 4th and 4th

I was tagged by my neighbor Shawn, so here's the rules:

4th and 4th

1. Go to your picture files on your computer

2. Go to the 4th folder

3. Go to the 4th picture in the 4th folder

4. Post it and tell what you remember about that picture.

5. Now you do it!

So this is perfect timing! This photo is of my hunky husband pulling out our first turkey that we had baked for Thanksgiving 2 years ago. By the way, that hunky husband and I celebrated our 11th anniversary yesterday. Wow, how times fly! I'm blessed to have such an amazing husband. Even after all these years we are still crazy in love!!

Softball Studs!

On Veteran's Day the fam went to the park and we practiced softball. Here are my studs:

Teaching Them To Give Back

One of the lessons I hope to instill in my girls is to give back to others. We are blessed with so much and often we just need to open our eyes or put ourselves in a position to see other's needs. If we always stay in our suburban neighbrohoods and never go down in the city to see the needs of those hurting, we think that a tight budget is a big deal. On the other hand, when we go down where some are struggling to keep something on the table for dinner tonight, our focus changes. There is an awesome song by Brandon Heath called "Give Me Your Eyes", this song has really reminded me that we need to ask God to show us how to serve others by seeing life as God does.

Yesterday, I went with Sweetie's class to the Phoenix Rescue Mission to do a simple service project. The students packed treat bags with candy that will be handed out on Thanksgiving Day to the many homeless that come for a hot meal. What an awesome experience for these kids to partake in a project of giving back. The kids brought in candy bags and then wrote notes to pack into these bags. While we were there, many families lined up in need of food boxes. The kids saw all of these families and their hearts were filled with compassion for these hungry people. Kudos to the teacher who is helping plan these field trips to teach my Sweetie a great lesson, to give back to others.

Tis the season, think of some way for your family to give back!

Halloween 2008

Happy Halloween! We had a great time celebrating with our neighbors in front of our house at our annual Halloween Party! Here are my gals, Hannah Montana and Minnie Mouse.

NCS Homecoming

This week was homecoming at NCS, the 2nd-8th graders were invited to open the Friday night football game with a cheer. Sweetie was thrilled to be apart. Here she is cheering!

Andy, also a NCS alumni, was put to work as the bouncer to the bounce house. He was organizing the chaos and doing a great job! Good thing he didn't have to sing this weekend because he was yelling at kids all night.

Black Marker

To every mom, a permanent black marker means trouble! And it ALWAYS is!!

We had a unique opportunity, as a church, to write on the floors of the new children's building. It was exciting and a bit emotional to think how many lives will be changed and impacted from this new facility. For those non-CCVers, the kids are bursting from the current buildings or should I say tents. I started serving in the 2 year olds last year and have since graduated with Cutie to the 3s. Needless to say, the partitions that separate each classroom in the "Big Tent " are NOT sound proof so the noise level is somewhat distracting. As a teacher, I have given into the sound issue and have the kids recite our memory verse first whispering it and lastly SCREAMING it! The kids love it and other classrooms also participate in the scripture SCREAMING wars which I will miss! Obviously we need more classrooms and room to play. So as a family we went into each of our girl's classrooms and wrote the following scriptures on the floors:

In Cuties's class: "Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His children." Ephesians 5:1 My prayer is that the children that come to CCV will be strong imitators of God and impact this community and world.

In Sweetie's class: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and will all your soul and with all your strength." Deuteronomy 6:5 I pray that these children love God with all that is in them. I am glad that we have a church that Sweetie loves to go to and always wants to bring friends.

So each of us had a permanent black marker and BIG surprise, Andy and I got distracted talking to friends out in the entrance of the building. My attention is grabbed when I hear Sweetie correcting her sister so I look down to find Cutie using her PERMANENT marker on the cement sidewalk! She didn't see the difference of writing on the building's floor, which would be eventually covered with carpet, and the outside sidewalk! Who's kid is that? What kind of parent isn't watching them and why didn't they take the marker away earlier? All of the questions lead to...ME!!!!!!

We got BOOed!

I love fall because it is the beginning of fun festivities. We arrived home tonight and noticed something on the front porch bench. So the girls ran to see what it was, Belle was suspicious and wondered if we had gotten booed. To their delight there was a beautiful basket filled with tons of fun treats and goodies with a sign that read "You've been booooed! The girls poured over the basket, even though it was very late! It felt like Christmas to them! So we opened everything and both girls went to bed with Halloween flashlights and glow bracelets. So much fun!!! As I was praying with Cutie, she wanted to pray that we would get more baskets! She also said, "I think that basket came from a neighbor, someone who really cares for us!" It's good to feel loved, thank you for whoever blessed us with a basket brimming over! Now we get to go out and pay it forward! The funny part was that we had just gotten home from going to Party City to buy Halloween supplies for our Halloween party on the 31st. I know, I'm a little early, Andy was picking on me about that tonight. He was joking around and said, "My wife, the planner, you probably already have my birthday present bought (his birthday is in January) for 2010!" The reason I went tonight was because I went to the foot Dr. today for a pre-surgery appointment to have my bunions removed from my feet. The Dr. will call me Monday to let me know the surgery date, either October 8th or 15th. I will have my left foot operated on first and will be off my feet for 1 week and healing for another 5 weeks! Then I will have the other foot done. So in my defense, I will have to really plan ahead for the holidays. Since I am already confessing my planning compulsion, I will admit I already have my stockings done for Christmas! I know, no comments on that! :)

It's Friday!

It's the 3rd week of school and we are all adjusted to the strict schedule, which actually give Andy and I our alone time at night which is wonderful! Both girls are loving their classes and doing very well. It is hard to fit all of life in at times but we are juggling quite well. Sweetie loves her teacher and is excited about school, YEAH! She is reading every night and I can't believe how well she is doing. I don't remember doing half the things she does in 2nd grade, life is so much more advanced! Cutie now asks if she can go to school each day, she loves taking her snack and playing with her little friends. She is practicing using scissors and I just figured out that I need to get her Lefty scissors, poor thing has been struggling to use Right Man scissors!

We started having a small group in our home on Thursday nights. We have really enjoyed meeting awesome people in our neighborhood. I love having people in my home, I also love keeping the house clean. Now I have an excuse to be neurotically clean! Now I am cleaning for a purpose and not just cleaning to clean!

Today I took Cutie to the Oasis gym for a play date with some other friends. We had a blast! For some reason, I thought that I was a kid and had as much fun as the little ones! Cutie was very timid and wanted me to do everything with her, so I did! The best was jumping off the raised mats into the pit filled with foam squares. I forgot my physics from high school and when Cutie and I jumped off together, my rate of falling was at a much faster rate than hers! As a result, she had her arm yanked down and fell wrong, jamming her earring into her head. OOPS! Sorry! Two rules still stand: "Big kids hurt little kids!" and "Good friends are always there to pull you out of the pit!"

Cutie's Preschool

Well, I made it through Cutie's first day of preschool. She is attending the cutest preschool named Happy Apple, with a name like that who wouldn't like it! She is still a little unsure about this preschool thing. Her idea, and possibly mine, is to never go to school and always stay with mom. In all honesty, I would be fine with that plan. I have already started training her as my real estate apprentice. She has a keen eye for property evaluation and has learned to used the lock box quit well. So if she fails at preschool, she has a job with me! :) I asked her if she had fun, she said no. I asked if she liked going to preschool, she said no. She obviously is picking up on her sister's school negativity. It was only Sweetie's second day of school and she woke up complaining that her throat hurts bad and needed to stay home! Gosh, they must think I'm an incredible mom since they would rather stay home or maybe they just want to watch TV!
All in all, it was a good morning. I went to Paradise Bakery with my Suicide Prevention Specialist friend E and couped each other through the 2 1/2 hours. I'm ALIVE!

Slumber PARTY!

What I will do for my children!

Sweetie is turning 7 and wanted to have a slumber party.  I said, okay but only 3 friends plus her sister.  So we made pizzas, did make-overs, played Wii, watched a move, did face masks and went swimming.  Wow, was I exhausted!!!  I put the girls down at 11pm and they were asleep by 1pm!!!!  YIKES, I didn't realize that would happen!  The next day, my girls and I took a long nap!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!!

7 is like heaven! Happy Birthday Sweetie!

AHHHH, back into the swing of things! When the alarm went off early this morning, it was actually refreshing (check back with me in a week or so and I'll tell you if I'm still refreshed!). A plan, a schedule, normalcy is really what we all need.

This summer has been a blast, lots of trips, play days, sleeping in and movies but it's over! I'm very grateful that I have all those memories and photos to remember Summer of 2008.

Seven years ago today, I gave birth to Sweetie. She was all we had hoped and dreamed of. As I look back at the years, they have gone by so quickly and today of all days I am dropping her off at the first day of 2nd grade! We are so proud of her growth spiritually, physically and mentally. She, like all children, is a masterpiece in progress. I know that God uses her each day and is preparing her to be a special warrior princess for Him! Happy Birthday Princess!

Wedding Bells

A few weeks ago, one of our dear friend's daughter and another friend's son got married and they asked Andy to sing and MC the reception. The wedding was beautiful and done with such class. Knowing the amazing couple made the wedding even more special. We stayed on the East side of town and enjoyed seeing many great friends.

Sweetie was so excited to see her long lost friend E, so they hung out the entire night. E is 2 years younger than Sweetie but they have the same identical personality, so they got along great - 2 Miss Independents! Sweetie's favorite part was being able to roam around during the reception and eat all the desserts she and E wanted and she loved being apart of the bouquet toss.

My favorite part was seeing God's hand over this couple and knowing that He has great plans for them. I also loved being surrounded by friends that felt like family, it was nice to be at home on the East side of town. Plus, I also got to see my long lost friend, E's mommy! :) It was a fabulous night!

Cabin Fever!

Lake Pleasant-Not so pleasant!

We were invited out to the lake with some friends Friday night and we had a blast.  I haven't been to the lake very often so I didn't realize how much fun we could have on the lake!  At first I was a little timid about the girls falling off or something but once we all started swimming around in the lake I realized how much the life jackets kept you afloat!  I did have to keep reminding myself not to think about what I was swimming in, if you think about it, it is pretty gross!  I came home and took a shower and bath to cleanse myself from the fish poop water.  The most amazing part was riding the inner tube with Andy, I haven't screamed and laughed like that in a LONG time!  What a blast!!  Then C and I went and the guys were trying to fling us off the inner tube, like warriors we stayed on! :)  When it was the guys turn, C was driving and flipped her husband off the tube, it was hilarious!  

Towards the north there was a pretty dark storm forming.   K said we better start heading in, but we were having too much fun!  The kids wanted another ride on the tube and we kept playing.  Finally, as the storm got closer we headed in.  As we approached the dock, the wind was really bad.  Now we see almost everyone getting off the lake, so it started getting crowded at the boat ramp and the water was terribly choppy.  I felt like we were in the movie, A Perfect Storm.  I was dropped off at the dock with the 4 kids, at this point I started praying because it was a bit scary!  The kids were a little freaked and we all wanted to get the boat loaded and get out of there.  Obviously, they did but from now on we'll trust K when he says it's time to get off the lake!  Another lesson, Lake Pleasant can be not so pleasant!