I love babies I can give back

My brother and his wife announced the gender of their baby in a gathering of family. . .

. . .And Angela. 

She lived in my parents basement. 

She is AMAZING!

Angela came to all the family functions, but she is moved out not long ago. 

We miss her. Her personality is so infectious!

Each of us had to pick a cup reflecting our guess as to the gender.
I choose blue.

Then we had to pour in a mystery white packet of powder. . .
and. . .
BAM!

It's a BOY!

Yummy Cake!

It was so fun. Now all my kids want a cake with M&M's in it. 

I told them to ask their Aunt Lauren.

You know why this was my favorite gender reveal?
(and no it's not because it's the only one I've attended.)

Because they had TWO cakes!

They are the best!

This is a shot of my sister in India seeing the cake for the first time. Look how happy she is when she sees the M&Ms.

She got up SUPER early to be apart of the reveal.

Yeah for technology! I hope the guy/gal who invented Skype/Facetime is very wealthy and happy. 

My kids came prepared. They created a list of names for them to consider.

Girl Names: Rose, Sale (Sally), Sadie (Creative), Addy (Didn't see that coming), Abby, Flawr (Flower), Emma, Erin (They love me)

Boy Names: Brook, Brooks (I see a theme), Brody (No way!), Harll (Harrell), Smoke, Jack, AJ

 If you are in need of a baby name, I'm sure the kids would be happy to help you as well.

Congrats Will and Lauren and Baby Elliot! 

Start at the very begining

Name that song!

Creating a new beginning. . .

Here is Brooks's latest project, of many, he is working to complete.

Side note: Proper pronouns which end in an 's' always throw me off when I make them possessive  Neither way looks correct. Frustration.

Brooks and Brody are beginning a project together: Making this car look and run like new. . .well new as in 60 years old new.

I don't know alot about cars. Okay, I know next to nothing.

If my car doesn't crank,
I call Brooks. 
If I have a flat tire,
I call Brooks.
If a light comes on that I haven't seen before,
I call Brooks.
If the car makes a loud/weird noise,
I call Brooks.
If I run out of gas,
I don't call Brooks because he wont come get me because he says that I should remember to put gas in my car and that the gas light is a warning light not just decoration on my dash board or the start to a game called "Let's see how many miles we can drive with the gas light on."

See a theme? I don't pretend to know anything about cars. I know lots of other really useless information. I don't want to know about cars, that's one of the many reasons I married Brooks. . .so I don't have to know about cars!

My plans working.

But, in my expert opinion, they have a lot of work to do.

Brooks explained to Brody that one of his first jobs is to get rid of some of the rust. After Brooks pulled out all the insides, Brody asked him. . ."Is it done rusting yet?" Oh they have a long road ahead. It sounds like Brody gets his car wisdom from his mother.

Positive life lesson: Brody is about to learn what "manual labor" means.

This is going to make for a fun adventure!

Oh, and if you see Brooks, tell him he needs to put white wall tires on this car!! Thank you.  Your vote is greatly appreciated.

Speaking of the 50's 

The car is 60 years old which means it is from the 1950's. . .follow me.

Here are some pictures from Hot Rods and Harley's back in June. What's more fun then 1950's/1960's clothing, Hot Rods, and Harley Motorcycles? I was born in the wrong decade.

Look at all the ladies!

Me, Misty, Kayla, Tracy

While the mother sleeps. . .the children play

In my time of rest, one of my dear, dear friends and co-workers came by with not only dinner which was mighty delicious, but kidnapped my children on a whim.

The day was not my best (I hadn't actually had a good day at this point) and by her mother's intuition or her generous heart or a combination of both, my friend Mattie came by with her super hero cape on.

She rounded up my children and was out the door in mere seconds. . .I still have so much to learn from her. She didn't just take my children out to let me rest, she took my three children on an adventure they still talk about today.

They went to her house to play with all her cool toys and see her dogs, but she didn't stop there!

No, brave Mattie took my three small can-not-swim-well children to a pool. A BODY OF WATER! I'm not brave enough to take my children to a pool, but Mattie is.

Little Sadie

Do you know how much work it is to take three small children to a pool. It's a lot of work. A lot of effort. A lot of staying on your toes so everyone comes home.

Addy and Sadie

After a week of them having to be quite and all the attention focused on me, they had a day of their dreams and made new friends with Mattie's grandchildren.

Brody

Addy still talks about Mattie dogs and how much she loves them. Addy is afraid of dogs. Mattie has big dogs. Addy I believed cried at the sight of Mattie's dogs. But oh how she loves them. . .in her mind.

Mattie also brought dinner, but I felt she should be recognized independently because she brought joy not only to my heart but my children's. Surgery is hard for the patient, but when the patient is a parent we should all be like Mattie and remember the children. They are scared, worried, and out of their comfort zone. They need the opportunity to be happy and carefree. I hope to remember this lesson the next time I hear of someone with children having surgery.

Mattie didn't have to take my children. She didn't have to make a field day of it. She just did. She did it expecting nothing in return. She refuses to take no for an answer and moves swiftly so you can't refuse her generosity. She is very persuasive. . .she's from Pittsburgh! She is an amazing mother, friend, grandmother, co-worker, role model, and Christian woman. I hope you all have a Mattie in your lives. Your life will be better for it.

Me and Mattie at the company Christmas party 2011