Southernbelle Mommy

Christmas Trip 2011

2012-01-06T22:28:00.023-05:00

We are tired!!!!!!! For Christmas this year, we drove to Atlanta (6 hours the first evening-spent the night along the way-8 hours the second day), spent 5 nights there, drove 3 hours to South Carolina, spent 3 nights there, then drove back to Houston-spending a night along the way. So, yes, we are tired, but it was a great trip as well!

After 14 hours of driving, we were happy to see the Atlanta skyline!

I enjoyed looking at some of Mom's Christmas decorations....

The porch is my favorite part of the house; I only wish it'd been there when I was growing up!

I liked seeing the girls spending time with my grandmother....

Katie got to show Pappy her baseball cards....

Ellie got a ride up to bed...

Pappy got to host bedtime storytime...

Of course, we had to have Pappy's Mickey waffles!

Christmas Eve, we took the girls to ride the Pink Pig at Macy's...an Atlanta Christmas tradition!

This is what it used to look like and used to ride along the roof of downtown Rich's...

It is now more of a train...

We went to the Varsity for lunch...yum, yum!

We went to Christmas Eve service...

The girls got their Christmas Eve pj's...

Katie got ones with electric guitars on them!

Gracie got ones with cupcakes...

and Ellie got ballet ones!

The girls enjoyed hanging out with Grammer & Pappy...

Bigmother observed a lot...

Katie was excited as she tried to go to sleep on Christmas Eve!

Ellie wasn't so much excited as upset about having to go to sleep...

We told the girls they couldn't come into our room until 6:00. They showed up at 6:02.

waiting anxiously to be allowed downstairs...

Santa ate his snack!

Santa came!!!!!! Toy Story landfill for Katie, a Princess castle for Ellie, and a Kindle Fire for Gracie!

Gracie was so excited! I loved how she sidled up to me and whispered, "thank you!" in such a way to express her appreciation but not let on to the little ones that Santa hadn't really brought her Kindle! ;)

Bigmother & Grammer looking on at the goodies!

Santa also brought Katie organic milk...one of her favorite things the past couple of years!

Ellie liked getting some ballet clothes from Grammer & Pappy.

getting ready to head to church...

4 generations...

I enjoyed seeing this special man at church...

Breakfast brunch of country ham, grits, sausage, eggs, biscuits...

Pappy "playing" with the girls...

It was nice to lay around near the fire on a cold Christmas afternoon...

This is one of my favorite views....from my favorite chaise lounge where I like to read...

It was chilly out there!

Uncle Josh, Aunt Beth, Ann Elise, & Morgan arrived. Josh got the Tickle Monster book to read to the girls!

The big girls!

2 of the little girls!

Don't forget the littlest...

Uncle Josh reading Tickle Monster...

Nighty Night!

cuddling with Pappy...

Chris & I enjoyed a date out with Josh & Beth. Mary Mac's is a pretty yummy place to eat!

The big girls in their "boat bed" as we called it after Uncle Josh broke it! LOL

Ellie cuddling with Uncle Josh...

Bigmother didn't want me to take a picture, but I did anyway! LOL

Even big girls still like to swing!

After leaving Atlanta, we drove to South Carolina to visit with friends.

The guys felt awkward but somewhat agreed to pose for a picture...

How fun!

All of our kiddos!

Ellie sure enjoyed being spoiled!

While we were in Atlanta, we heard that one of the special elders from the church in Aiken had passed away, so we decided to attend his visitation and funeral. We were staying with Melissa's family, and they don't live in Aiken anymore, so we hadn't planned to actually go to Aiken. However, with the funeral being there, we did go there, so we made plans for a short little reunion for Gracie and her first ever BFF, Leigh Ann! How fun to see them laughing & talking together, just like they did so many years ago. They hadn't even seen each other in 2 years!

We had lots of fun friend time on this SC trip!

Katie with her first ever BFF...born 5 weeks apart & pretty much 2 peas in a pod!

On our way back through Atlanta, we met Grammer & Pappy for one last meal together...

and began the long drive back, arriving safely on Sunday afternoon.

It was good to be home...and the girls were happy to have a day to relax on Monday!

It was a blessed Christmas!

Christmas Season 2011 has begun!

2011-12-02T22:38:00.005-05:00

The Christmas season is here & decorating has begun...

Each year, the girls each get at least 2 new ornaments. 1 ornament is a specific theme for each of them. They also get an ornament that represents their year or them at this stage of their life.

Gracie's theme is stocking shaped ornaments. Her ornament to represent her year this year is a pair of "Ugg" boots!

Katie's theme ornament is gingerbread ornaments. Her ornament to represent her year this year is a robot...because of her Halloween costume!

Ellie's theme ornament is bells because we sometimes call her "Ellie Belles." Her ornaments to represent her year is a big Hello Kitty because she loves "Hollow Kittycat!"

Today, she & I went to 'Cocoa & Crafts' at church. Cute crafts & lots of fun with friends.

Trying to get these 2 to be still for a picture is quite the task!

Making her glitter snowflake...

Handprint Santa...

Candy Cane reindeer...

cutting the pieces to a memory game...

Such fun for my sweet 3 year old! After this, we went to Katie's school to read to her class. We read "Moosletoe," "Santa's Stuck," and "Snowmen at Christmas." We also took a trip to the Book Fair!

Tomorrow is Breakfast with Santa at school....

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-02T22:09:00.008-05:00

We went to New Mexico for Thanksgiving, and the girls were very excited!

They hung out with their grandparents...

They colored with cousins...

Enjoyed the weather & scenery...

played with cousins...

Ellie played with Nana, her 90 year old great-grandmother...

We visited with Chris' grandparents, both 90 years old & married almost 70 years.

They enjoyed talking to the great-grandchildren...

Katie showed off her baseball cards...

Cullen liked having Gracie read to him...

and he liked jumping on Katie...

They looked for snow...

and were excited to see some! Not much, but some!

We saw a rainbow...

Gracie comforted Katie when she was sad...

They about froze since they're not used to it being so cold..

We saw snow on the ground when leaving...

a favorite steak house in Tatum, NM (ate there on the way)

endured dust storms, lots of wind, and really cold temperatures on the way through West Texas...

ate lunch & ice cream in Brownfield (appropriately named) even though the wind was blowing sooooo hard and the wind chill was in the 30's...

stayed in Abilene on the way home and thoroughly enjoyed eating at Joe Allen's! :)

Friends visit!

2011-12-02T21:52:00.002-05:00

Melissa & Mary Beth came to visit last month..yea! It was a whirlwind trip, as usual, but fun too...as usual! I am blessed they continue to still want to come visit!

Cindy & I picked them up at the airport and we headed to Nutcracker Market, a huge Christmas craft type show. We then ate at Maggiano's Little Italy...yum!

The girls were so happy to see M & MB!

We took lots of pictures of course!

We ate breakfast here at home Saturday morning and took our time getting ready. We then headed out for pedicures and some shopping. We ate dinner here that evening.

Sunday, we went to church and then headed to Cindy's house for lunch and more shopping before heading back to church that night.

Monday, we ate lunch & shopped at Brookwood, a neat community outside of Houston. That afternoon, I did the usual mom stuff of picking up girls from school and violin lessons, before fixing dinner that evening. We then headed out to a movie.

Tuesday morning, we had time for a Starbucks visit before taking them back to the airport. :( It was a fun time together again. Another one for our memory bank! :)

Some cold days!

2011-12-02T21:17:00.004-05:00

Believe it or not, we've had some cool days, especially mornings, here in Houston lately. Not many, but at least some! This particular morning, it was around 34 (or 39?) as we began our walk to school. That's really BRRRR for us! :) I love it!

I love the little monkey hat I found for Ellie to wear this year. Super cute!

I love this picture of her running along...sweet 3 year old innocence & happiness.

Sweet sisters walking to school.

Ellie likes to ride her "bike" to Katie's school. (Takes a lot longer though! LOL)

I took these pictures one day. One was looking one direction and looked ominous

while the other direction was so pretty!

Katie & I enjoyed Muffins with Mom a few weeks ago. It also happened to be pajama day...if she paid. A fundraiser of some sort. Not a bad way for them to earn money. Too bad Katie came home from school not feeling well and ended up with strep throat! Didn't end up missing any school though....that was a good antibiotic!

Halloween 2011

2011-12-02T20:57:00.002-05:00

Halloween 2011 has come & gone...a long time ago! I'm way behind on blogging obviously!

Ellie had a Fall Carnival at her little preschool and was precious as a Red Raider Texas Tech cheerleader...compliments of her daddy! Guns Up!

Gracie went to a Youth Group party as a "Pajama Girl."

We enjoyed the Fall Carnival at church where Katie was a super cute robot.

Halloween Night, we all enjoyed going to Texas Children's Hospital to help do a carnival for the patients there. It is organized by some of our friends whose little boy lost his battle with Leukemia a couple of years ago. They do a great job of encouraging others who are going through a similar struggle as the one they endured and have comfort in the fact that their little boy is enjoying his time in Heaven!

Our 3 sweet girls enjoying a late dinner on Halloween!

Dewberry Farm

2011-10-30T17:30:00.003-05:00

Ellie & I enjoyed going to Dewberry Farm together with a preschool group from church a couple of weeks ago. It is a great place for kids!

Train ride with one of her favorite guys!

Not too sure what she thinks about this...

Pumpkin "picking" time!

This 'n That

2011-10-30T16:52:00.009-05:00

Gracie & I were able to help with the Impact Carnival at church last week. We had approximately 190 children from Impact come to enjoy the carnival. It was so fun to see these kids have so much fun. These are kids who mainly come from neighborhoods filled with crime & poverty. A sad situation for them, so hopefully we brought them some joy for the afternoon. Here is a picture of some of their treat bags..filled with fun!

Gracie was a "Duct Tape Warrior," and I was a "Human Vending Machine." Yeah...I didn't want to spend money on a costume, LOL.

Ellie is wanting to ride her bike these days...she does pretty well on the tricycle. Well, if you don't count steering anyway.

She needs a bit more work on her other bike. In her defense, it needs a new back tire....

We had fun hosting the Junior High devo last week. We had about 18 kids, 6-8th grade, and they were great!

These things sure are yummy! The candy corn ones weren't my favorite, but we've loved the M&M ones for years!

These little guys are cute!

Ellie....enjoying being 3 on a good weather afternoon & morning. I wonder what she's thinking...

Sisters enjoying a morning of good weather.

I love this picture of Chris with his girls.

We were excited to 'inherit' a friend's piano recently.

Gracie had a Market Day project for Social Studies a couple of weeks ago. She & a friend had to create a product and "sell" it at Market Day. They had fun working together, sold out, and she made 100 on the project....success!

Little sisters got to help, too!

Such a cute product: hand painted bags filled with candy!

My sweet girl is growing up and doing so well in Junior High!

2011 Fall Family Retreat

2011-10-30T16:10:00.008-05:00

At the beginning of the month, we were able to attend our church's Family Retreat, and it was really fun! It was great to step away from the big city and enjoy some relaxation with our church family & just our little family, too!

Sleeping in one room is like a fun sleepover for the girls...

Katie enjoyed playing with friends...

We had lots of photo ops with the girls...

We enjoyed a Family Devo together...

Ellie enjoyed time with friends...

Gracie did, too...

Chris & the big girls enjoyed the ropes course again...

Katie was so happy that she was successful this year!

Ellie enjoyed playing in the dirt...

The girls enjoyed some swimming time...

Like I said, Ellie REALLY enjoyed playing in the dirt...

our accomodations for the weekend...

me & my sweetie...

There were lots of smiles...

again...lots of dirt playing...

so blessed for our girls to have so many friends at church...

fun game playing...

little sisters looked on...

beautiful places to worship...

We look forward to doing it again next year! :)

Kemah Boardwalk

2011-10-14T16:44:00.006-05:00

A few weeks ago, our family finally made it to Kemah Boardwalk. It took us over 3 years to make it out there, but it was fun! The girls had an early release day, so we were able to get there around 3:30. The weather was great, it wasn't too far from home, and we all had fun riding rides & eating good food!

Katie & her daddy....

Gracie with me on the ferris wheel...

Have to ride the train...

It was really pretty & great weather!

fun rides...

I WISH I could have gotten a picture of Chris' face when he dropped on DROP ZONE. It was hilarious!

Our 3 sweet girls!

Pretty sunset from up high...

Have to have a funnel cake...

Zoo Trip for Ellie

2011-10-13T21:22:00.004-05:00

Ellie & I enjoyed a zoo trip with a group of preschoolers from church a few weeks ago. Going to the zoo is always lots of fun, so it was a good day!

She & Krystal, getting into trouble?? or just looking cute??

I love this sweet picture of she & Krystal skipping along...

This jaguar (?) was beautiful.

an attempt at a group picture.....

Of course, we have to ride the carousel!

She didn't want to pet the animals at first but would brush them. I think she eventually worked herself up into petting them.

It was a fun day!

Katie's work

2011-10-12T22:39:00.012-05:00

I've been loving some of the work Katie has brought home from school this year! Her teacher uses a lot of "foldables," along with rubrics, which are great because the students have-right in front of them-exactly what is expected to get a good grade! I love the foldables because it's so much more fun than a regular worksheet and the student is more likely to retain the information.

Since I'm afraid I'll end up losing some of this work....or some of it will get thrown away b/c I simply can't keep it all, I want to document it here. If you want to see it better, click on the picture to make it larger.

The Body foldable
The outside:

The inside: (some of the spelling cracks me up...we'll need to work on some of that)

details:

Map of the Indians:

Details about each one. This one isn't necessarily a foldable, but I still liked it!

"Me" Foldable:

What is a Scientist? foldable:

This isn't from school, but I found it in her journal. I asked her about it. She said it was from one of Mr. David's sermons, but "I added the good guy part." *love*

What has Katie been up to lately?

2011-10-10T19:31:00.006-05:00

Katie continues to be a bright light in our family, full of smiles & laughs & inventions. She is doing great in school and finished the 1st 6 weeks with straight A's and good behavior! She listens & pays attention to stories and will ask questions or make comments later that prove this which contributes to some of the "deepness" she has. Not everyone gets to see that side of her, but it's there. She's incredibly intelligent and amazes us often.

She loved getting to go to a Dallas Cowboy game with her daddy & Mr. Kevin a few weeks ago. (Ellie thought she was going too but she had to stay with Mommy!)

She enjoyed See You At The Pole, a time to gather around the flagpole for prayer before school starts, in September...

She loved having Daddy at school for "Bring Your Dad To School" day! This also happened to be the same day as See You At The Pole, which worked out nicely. The girl loves her daddy!

She likes sitting at the little table in her room and drawing, writing, inventing, reading, etc.

She entertains herself while waiting for Gracie to finish violin lessons (and spends fun time with her little sister!)

She has a hard time getting rid of things, as you can see by the number of stuffed animals...

She draws neat pictures which show her creative, individual side (& love for baseball!)...

She draws pictures which sometimes make us wonder what she was thinking....in this case, I think she was drawing her interpretation of "diversity"...

She shows extreme joy often...or extreme frustration...or extreme sadness...

She is such fun with a great love for life and is a great blessing to us!

What has Gracie been up to lately?

2011-10-10T17:55:00.004-05:00

Gracie is changing constantly at this stage in her life...getting a bit older & more mature everyday. We are constantly amazed at this girl God has blessed us with. She just finished her 1st 6 weeks of Junior High with straight A's, and we are very proud...for that & more!

Gracie is looking older all the time...

She makes things out of duct tape, for fun...

She cuddles & spends time with Ellie...

She decided she liked the Java Chip Frapuccino from Starbucks, but only had a few sips before she was full...

She uses the computer more & more for schoolwork...

She's enjoying being in the Youth Group and took some friends from school to a Back To School event...

She is an extraordinary, quiet, self disciplined, self motivated, easy to please, silly, sometimes 'makes us scratch our head' child, and we are blessed to have her in our family.

Moms' Prayer Breakfast

2011-10-10T15:40:00.005-05:00

I spruced up the house for Fall the other day because mom friends were coming over for one of our Moms' Prayer Breakfasts. It was great to have everyone over to eat, fellowship, and pray for our children, teachers, schools, etc. We are blessed to have each other for encouragement along this path we call "Motherhood!"

It was neat to see all the different schools represented by our group!

Ready for food...and we had plenty! :)

Ellie enjoyed having friends over!

and so did I!

Blessed to know these ladies!

What has Ellie been up to lately?

2011-10-10T15:02:00.005-05:00

Ellie is 3 and into a lot these days...

She's potty trained with very few accidents (yippee!) and is such a curly headed little joy!

She has attended Open House at her preschool....

She has thrown a few tantrums....

as the 3rd child in the family, she has taken some naps in the van....

entertained herself while waiting for Gracie to finish her violin lesson...

thought about taking some naps at home...

eaten lunch as Princess Ellie...

entertained herself while waiting for Katie after school...

helped me grocery shop...

looked cool...

practiced her ballet...

taken more naps in the van...

taken naps at home...

She is such a blessing in our family!

First days of School...3's, 2nd grade, & 6th grade

2011-09-05T15:59:00.014-05:00

The first week of Gracie & Katie's school also brought Meet the Teacher for Ellie! She is very blessed to be in Ms. S & Ms. M's class this year. There is no doubt that she will be well cared for, loved, & spoiled this year! :)

Here she is on her 1st day of "school," a week behind her sisters. She was so excited about her "Hallow Kitty Cat" lunch box & backpack.

I love looking back at pictures from years past, so here are her 1st day of school pictures from the past 2 years as well.

2010

2009

Here is a look back at my big girls on their previous 1st days of school.

2010: 5th grade & 1st grade

2009: 4th grade & Kindergarten

2008: 3rd grade

2007: 2nd grade

2006: 1st grade

2005: Kndergarten

2011: Here is the 1st day of school for this year: 6th grade & 2nd grade!

Early morning breakfast. Yes, my 2nd grader is wearing a bib. It's a necessity...even though she wasn't even allowed to have syrup!

It was a bit sad walking to school without Gracie since she'd had to leave earlier for Junior High. :(

She was excited!

After 1st day of school treat! Homemade Chocolate Chip bars!

yummy!

The 1st day (and following 2 weeks) have been successful so far! :)

Meet the Teacher-2nd grade & Locker Set Up-6th grade

2011-09-05T15:45:00.003-05:00

While Grammer was still here, Katie got to go to "Meet the Teacher" at her school for 2nd grade. Her teacher, Ms. A, seems like she will be a good fit for her!

She didn't get in the same class with her school BFF, but there's always recess!

Of course, we had to fit in a visit with Ms. S, one of our Favorites! :)

The next day, Gracie & I went up to the Junior High (!!!) to get her school supplies. It was nice to see some girls she knew while there. Made it a little less intimidating.

Later that day, Chris joined us to get her schedule, set up her locker, and walk her schedule. A problem was that they originally gave her a top locker, which wasn't going to be the most convenient, given her height!

Thankfully, they were able to change it by the next day, so she could get it all set up!

Junior High...here she comes!

Surgery & Grammer's visit

2011-09-05T15:06:00.008-05:00

August 2, Grammer, my mom, came to visit. She ended up staying for about 3 1/2 weeks. I had surgery on August 5, and she was a great help while here. Laundry, cooking, helping potty train Ellie, taking care of the girls, etc. It was all a help while I worked on recovering. I'm now about 4 1/2 weeks post surgery and well on my way to being recovered. Still not 100% but much further along than I was, thanks to the help of Mom and so many friends from the area & church.

I had surgery on Friday, August 5 and went home from the hospital on Sunday, August 7. I was in quite a bit of pain, dizzy, & nauseous when arriving home but happy to be in my own bed and able to just rest.

Mom broke out my old Strawberry Shortcake t.v. tray to serve breakfast!

A friend delivered food to the house Saturday that Mom was able to put together for dinner Sunday night and add to it a little (Mom is good at that!). We then also had food prepared for us Monday (8/8), Tuesday (8/9), Wednesday (8/10), Thursday (8/11), Friday (8/12), Sunday (8/14), Monday (8/15), & Tuesday (8/16)! What a blessing! Even since then, I had someone call & bring us dinner last Thursday (9/1) and someone has offered to bring us dinner tomorrow night. Even though I'm up & about now, driving, etc., it is nice to be thought of even now, when I'm seemingly mostly recovered because I'm still not 100%. I am very tired by the end of the day and usually in need of some pain meds.

We appreciate all of the prayers, deliveries, food, phone calls, etc. We have been truly blessed in God's care for me during surgery and after as well. Chris has done a lot of laundry lately too, which has been a huge help!

A special gift of a Kindle helped me fill up slow days of recovery.

These apples, from Edible Arrangements, were a yummy delivery. I also had some pretty flowers delivered.

Grammer discovered that Ellie will be quiet & still for long periods of time with just a little water, a little soap, and a few dishes!

She also enjoys helping with other tasks as well! (Ignore the cluttered kitchen! Pictures like this help me to envision what my kitchen will look like one day when we get rid of the white countertops, white backsplash, & white floors!)

It was so hot the whole time Mom was here, but their sweet Daddy tried to get them outside at night at least some. Isn't it so cute to see Ellie running the bases in her ballerina costume?! :)

Gracie's Birthday!

2011-09-05T14:21:00.007-05:00

July 28, our Gracie Madelyn Shanks turned 11 years old. That is hard to believe! She is such a sweet girl..mature in many ways, yet still innocent in a lot of ways. She is responsible, self motivated, self disciplined, sweet to her 3 year old sister (sometimes sweet to her 7 year old sister..LOL), kind, easy going, quiet. I think her mind turns a lot of times, thinking about things, that aren't expressed aloud. She is a jewel of a daughter. Lest I give the wrong idea though, she also takes her turn at rolling her eyes, talking back, & having lots of piles of STUFF all over her room. We love her and are extremely blessed that God chose us to be her parents.

Here is Gracie, the last picture before her 11th birthday. She loves to read!

Birthday breakfast table is ready!

Happy 11th birthday! :)

Cinnamon rolls for birthday breakfast!

A hug for a sister!

Some more Vera Bradley!

She may be 11 and like Vera Bradley, but she also enjoyed getting a new outfit for her American Girl doll.

Birthday dinner table ready!

Flowers from her daddy!

Her requested birthday dinner: Chicken 'n Dumplings with broccoli.

with ice cream sundaes for dessert!

ipod charger/music player

The next evening, a friend & I took a small group, 2 of her friends, to The Melting Pot to celebrate!

It was a fun birthday!

New Mexico Trip 2011

2011-07-21T20:43:00.021-05:00

We recently returned from a trip to New Mexico where we joined lots of the Shanks family to celebrate Nana & Papaw's (Chris' grandparents) 70th Wedding Anniversary, along with celebrating their 90th birthdays this year! They are such dear people. Chris reminds me of Papaw in so many ways; probably why I like him so much! He has a quirky sense of humor (like Chris) and is sweet to Nana...such a caretaker. Nana can't hear well and is a bit unsteady on her feet, but other than that, she & Papaw both seem to be doing GREAT! They take the time to talk to each of us & listen to us, wanting to know how our lives are going. The first time I met most of the extended Shanks family was when they were celebrating Grandpa's (Papaw's dad) 100th birthday! He went on to live to 102 (?) so it's perfectly reasonable to expect to have a big celebration for Nana & Papaw in another 10 years! :)

When Chris & I started dating, they were still living on Shanks Bros. Ranch, outside of Roswell, NM. I have fond memories of going to the ranch (this big city Atlanta girl!) and watching them round up the sheep, mark their ears, and brand the cattle. I even got to help a bit! Papaw was riding a horse pretty much everyday up until probably the last 5-10 years. He acts like he could probably still do it without much problem! The ranch is now being leased, which is a bit sad to know that the Shanks family isn't currently working it like they did for so many years. It's still officially owned by the Shanks for now. Time will tell what happens in the future.

When they were living on the ranch, they would come into town, to a little apartment, most weekends for church & to buy groceries. Living out on the ranch, they couldn't just run to the store anytime. It takes about an hour or more to get to the ranch because of the rough roads. Now, they are living in a nice house that is close to their church. It's a better situation for them at their age.

Lots of the family met at their house Friday night for visiting & dinner, along with even more family Saturday for visiting & more eating!

The girls with their cousins!

Ellie sitting with Nana.

I love this picture of Chris listening to Papaw.

This picture exemplifies Nana & Papaw and the way they care for their family. I love the way they are both intently listening to Katie, one of their 14 great-grandchildren.

This is one of my favorite pictures: Chris & Nana holding hands during the prayer!

Cousins eating dinner. Uncle Jerry put up some tents in the backyard which made some nice shaded areas for visiting & eating.

Ellie enjoyed having her own little table. Not that she stayed in 1 place for very long!

Love this of the girls with Nana & Papaw!

Back at the hotel......swimming cousins!

Ellie had such fun entertaining herself in the mirror at breakfast! LOL

Before going to Nana & Papaw's on Saturday, we toured Roswell and the alien souvenir shops. We were too cheap to spend money going to the museum! LOL It astounds me that so many people were in the souvenir shops and that people make their living selling this stuff! Amazing. LOL Uncle Mike bought the girls glow in the dark alien rings!

The girls with their new alien friends!

The 2 littlest cousins

Gracie showing Nana something. I loved seeing any interaction they could have with their great grandparents.

This tree was climbed over & over throughout the weekend!

The Shanks men! We are missing Howard (Chris' dad) & Ryan (a somewhat distant cousin...2nd cousin maybe? 1st cousin, once removed? He's the son of Howard's cousin.....)

our branch of the Shanks family

Papaw made me laugh many times over the weekend. When he would catch me taking his picture, he would do something funny...but rarely smiled with his mouth open. He said it was because of his teeth...he is missing some! He doesn't want to buy the plate for his bottom teeth (he has the top plate) because it costs too much. I mean really, who can blame him? He'll be 90 in August! LOL

Here are all of the grandchildren except 3. One is deceased, one was there for the weekend but not at picture time, and one couldn't make it. Also shown are all of the great-grandchildren except 3 who couldn't make it.

Our little family after church on Sunday.

Nana & Papaw at lunch. At one point, a wadded up piece of straw paper went flying across the table at Ellie. Yep...it was from Papaw! :)

Gramps & Gramme

The great grandchildren climbing all over Nana & Papaw.

After church & lunch on Sunday, we headed out of Roswell towards Capitan. Mike & Erin's family came, too. The flatness of the first part of the drive always strikes me.

We stopped in Lincoln, NM on the way to Capitan and visited the Billy the Kid museum & other sites. Lincoln is where he spent part of his time....doing not so great things, of course!

The flatness of Roswell soon gives way to the mountains! Katie said she can tell when we're getting closer to Capitan because she sees the mountains.

Capitan, NM...straight ahead! Don't you see the skyscrapers? LOL (Population: ummm, maybe 1300?)

We were pleased to have cool temperatures while in Capitan for a few days. The days would get a bit warm but the mornings & evenings were so nice. We sat out on the front porch a lot. The girls were cold! LOL

This is the view from Chris' parents' yard.

We have to visit Ruidoso while there. Lots of cute shops to visit. Of course, the sea level Texans were struggling a bit at the 7000 ft. elevation!

Ellie & Cullen, visiting while shopping.

Monday night, we had family pictures taken. We, along with Mike's (Chris' brother) family, did this for Chris' parents for their 45th anniversary. We also took them out to dinner afterwards. We can't wait to see all of the pictures! Mike & Erin's family left Tuesday morning.

Drive from Capitan to Ruidoso.

Gramme offered to watch the girls if Chris & I wanted to go somewhere Tuesday morning/afternoon. After he helped pick up some hay & plant some grass, we decided to head back over to Ruidoso. We drove around some, looking at the shops, ate lunch, & enjoyed some ice cream. It was a nice little break with my handsome man! Love him! The girls enjoyed a trip to Capitan's new Family Dollar (although Katie was disappointed that not everything was only $1!) and to the Smokey Bear museum & park.

That evening, we went to one of our favorite Ruidoso places, Flying J Chuckwagon Supper & Show. It's just a really neat place to go. They have little shops & activities for the kids, along with a gunfight comedy show. Then, you get to have this awesome chuckwagon type meal...brisket, beans, applesauce, spice cake, & biscuit....all served on a tin plate, with lemonade & tea served in a tin cup. After dinner, the Flying J Wranglers sing cowboy songs. It's a neat experience. The owners are Christians too which is neat, with a prayer even before the meal.

Our little cowgirls!

The girls, trying their hand at shooting.

gunfight show

Yummy!!!!!

the girls, with one of the singers

We left early Wednesday morning for the 13 1/2 hour drive back to Houston. Loooong day. We saw these big guys on the side of the road. After debate, one of our friends who works for the US Forest Service confirmed that these are elk. They're pretty big, but the ones we saw the night before were even bigger...I promise they seemed as big as a horse! Scary to think about hitting one of those things with your vehicle in the dark!

The sky was beautiful so early in the morning....(ignore the dirty windshield!)

On the way home, Chris got to enjoy a few bites of one of the famed (to him!) Allsup's burritos. Yum, yum??

recent Shanks happenings....

2011-07-08T00:27:00.005-05:00

Ellie enjoyed Teddy Bear Tea at church a couple of weeks ago, and Katie got to come as a 'helper' since it's for preschoolers. Of course, she's still young enough that she enjoyed it, too.

Ellie enjoyed wearing the jewelry & pretty hat that just happened to match her dress.

Katie wasn't so much into the pretty hat though and leaned more towards this look during playtime! LOL

She sure did enjoy cookie time.

It was sweet to watch my 2 littlest girls enjoy the day! Gracie was at Six Flags with the youth group, so she was enjoying doing that.

My sweet girls on the 4th of July...well, really on the 3rd of July!

On the real 4th of July, we headed out to do some shopping in a nearby area of Houston and ate dinner at Pappasitos! Haha....real American! LOL

My goofy, silly girl!

We ended the day with fireworks at La Centerra, a shopping area really close to our house. It was fun, BUT we sat a little too close and ended up with lots of ash fallout..Gracie even got some in her eye. AND, the traffic was a bit ridiculous...we chose the wrong place to park. BUT, you know, lessons learned. It was still fun!

The next day, we met some friends at the pool to beat the Houston heat! Always a good idea! I look forward to the day when Katie & Ellie are both proficient swimmers and I can sit and read a book, knowing that they can swim and there is a lifeguard watching as well. For now, it's kind of a hassle, but I'm thankful for these days since I don't want them to grow up toooooo quickly. I'm also really thankful for splash pads! LOL

Here's a picture of my sleeping Ellie. We had a sweet girl from church babysit today, and Ellie refused to nap for her..crying, crying. I felt bad for the babysitter and was worried that maybe Ellie was sick and that was why she was upset because usually she naps really well. I rushed home, thinking she was going to be pitiful, only to have her run to me, very happily yelling for Mommy! About 10 minutes after they left, I put her down and she went right to sleep. Little Stinker! LOL

Family Day in Galveston

2011-06-25T20:01:00.008-05:00

Today, we decided to spend the day down in Galveston. We like living close enough to get to the beach in about an hour & a half. Granted, it's not a really pretty beach, but it has sand & the ocean, so it meets the need for a short beach trip. Our girls will think it's a real treat if we ever get back to Gulf Shores, AL or a Florida beach!

This proved to be a great style for wrangling Ellie's hair for the wind & water!

Ellie had been wanting to go to the beach & play with a shovel for awhile now, so she got to work!

I hadn't thought to put Katie's hair back, but I did think to bring the comb & some ponytail holders with us, so I put her hair up in quick, funny looking pigtails. I happen to love this picture of my sweet girl!

My handsome man...takin' it easy!

Ellie had gotten bubbles from her friend Krystal for her birthday, and they were put to good use at the beach!

in the water!

jumpin' the waves

It was very windy which made for good kite flying.

Lots of sun makes for some sleepy girls.....and daddies!

hungry & thirsty girls, too!

Of course, someone always has to be buried in the sand!

Galveston is certainly not known for having beautiful beaches, BUT today was probably the worst we've ever seen. Seaweed everywhere!!! BUT, we still had a good time. We'll just look forward to going back when there's less, which is what we're used to seeing there.

We always enjoy eating when we're in Galveston. We ate at a place called Fish Tales, which we ate at the last time we were there.

My cool big girl!

It was a fun day, and we got back home in time to get the girls bathed & relax in front of the t.v. before bed. :)

Happy 3rd Birthday, Ellie Hollyn!

2011-06-24T20:46:00.011-05:00

Today is our sweet Ellie's 3rd birthday. Ellie Belles, Ellie Roo, Ellie Bellie.....all names she'll answer to.

Here are some special facts about our special girl:
*She is a girly little girl who brings much joy to our family.
*She loves her daddy.
*She loves her blankie.
*She loves playing with Katie & has a 2nd mother of sorts in Gracie, whom she loves.
*She loves Bible Class.
*Her favorite friend is Jack.
*She has a special relationship with some men at church who spoil her!
*She likes watching "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Come Inside, Fun Inside." (she says this whole thing as the title.)
*She has the cutest little smile with her beaver, or 'Tow Mater' teeth. :)
*She loves singing the ABC song...her own special version.
*She loves singing along with the radio in the car, which means a few words per song, which is usually tuned to the local Christian station. The other day we sang one of the songs at my parents' church, and she said, "That song my car." :)
*She loves 'pop turts' & bars for breakfast and loves milk.
*She likes to play in the backyard.
*She is in a phase of wiping off our kisses which is a huge game for her.
*She has such pretty curly hair!
*Her favorite color is PINK!

There is so much more I could say. She is a JOY with some spunk!!!!! I tell her I'm so glad God decided we needed an Ellie in our family!!!!

Last night, we had a little celebration for her with some of her sweet little friends from church. Below are some pictures of her pinkalicious, princess castle cake party!

It was nice for the kids to be able to play outside.

Sweet gifts from sweet friends.

Cake & ice cream time!

I think each of the dads were glad the others were there...they could have Man Time! :)

This picture wasn't easy to get, and isn't the best picture, but at least they're all in it!

How nice for Gracie that one of Ellie's little friends has a big sister to be a friend to Gracie. Same goes for Katie too, but the picture I got of Katie & Emily didn't turn out well.

Today is Ellie's actual birthday, so she had some family gift time this morning after her pink doughnut breakfast.

She loves Audrey, her new Bitty Baby.

Gracie picked out a gift for Ellie that she bought with her own money. Katie gave her a gift too...which turned out to be some toys she doesn't play with anymore. LOL It was very sweet!

Here are some pictures of our very sweet, very cute, very loved little 3 year old girl. We love her!

Playing Peek-A-Boo!

This afternoon, we went to lunch & then went to see Cars 2. Gracie & Katie really liked it, Ellie fell asleep, and Chris & I liked the 1st one much better.

I love this picture Gracie drew of Ellie!

Her lunch consisted of refried beans & french fries & a little rainbow sherbet...happy birthday! :)

Movie time!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Ellie!

Memorial Day weekend in Nashville

2011-06-05T15:01:00.010-05:00

The Thursday before Memorial Day, we left after school to drive towards Nashville! We have spent Memorial Day weekend there several times, visiting with my brother & his family, as well as my parents & grandmother. We took the girls out of school for Friday, so we could get the head start on Thursday.

The girls enjoyed staying in a hotel along the way.

Arkansas rest stop....

Together at last! Sonic before Ann Elise's softball game.

Waiting for the game to start.

Katie, bonding with Bigmother

Gracie, bonding with Grammer & Bigmother

Morgan & Katie...trouble! LOL

I love this picture of Bigmother bonding with Ellie.

Nashville is so pretty!

me & Bigmother!

Saturday, we went to the zoo.

Ann Elise is 22 months younger than Gracie, but well on her way to being much taller than her!

We were excited to see our friends, Will & Jenni. We were friends with them when we all lived in Aiken, and they now live in Nashville.

Ice Cream break!

Katie with her Pappy.

fun playground at the zoo

Bigmother with 5 of her great-grandchildren

tired after the zoo

We had Ann Elise's birthday party that evening. Katie was happy with that cake & ice cream!

Morgan's icing matched her outfit!

Ellie with Hayes, the son of my cousin, Brent.

My cousin, Brent, with Hayes & Rachelle

My cousin, Justin, with Kelsey!

Ellie was a bit nervous here.....

because she knew the Tickle Monster was on his way!

Fashion Show/Talent Show time!

Pictures after church

Pappy...'resting his eyes'

watching the River while waiting for dinner

Wii dancing....

Time for bed???

We left Monday morning at 5:15 for the 13 hour drive back home!

It was a long weekend but well worth it!

Friendship School Got Buggy!

2011-06-05T14:46:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago, Ellie had her Friendship School End of the Year program. It was precious, of course! :) I don't have the best pictures, but here are a few anyway!

I think this is the "Hippo Song." "He made the mountains up so high...."

The sweet 2 year old class with Mrs. Caroline & Mrs. Teresa.

My sweet 2 year 'graduate.'

Read, Deed, Run

2011-06-04T23:06:00.004-05:00

This year, Gracie was involved in a great after school program called "Read, Deed, Run." Mrs. Shah, her 3rd grade teacher, was the lead sponsor for it.

The culminating goal was that in the time span allowed (basically late August - late May) they would read 26 books (or 2600 pages), do 26 good deeds, and run 26 miles, with a culminating 1 mile run at the end. They would do half of the deeds and run half of the miles on Tuesdays when they stayed after school. The other half, and all of the reading, they were responsible for doing on their own. It was a great program in that it encouraged reading, service to others, and exercise.

Here are some pictures from the culminating run from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Gracie & one of her sweet running buddies

with Mrs. Shah...we love her!

Here she comes!!!!

Ms. M was one of the teachers who helped after school on Tuesdays, so she came to the culminating run to offer her encouragement. Katie was happy to see her, and Ellie was too. She just loves Ms. M!

snack time after the run

getting her award for finishing

most of the group. It was made up of only 4th & 5th graders.

Mrs. Shah, Ms. D, and Ms. W...the fabulous sponsors!

When we got home, Chris wanted to take a picture with the big girls. Guess who else wanted HER picture taken?! :)

Last Day of School 2011 & Softball party

2011-06-02T21:30:00.004-05:00

Today was the last day of 1st & 5th grades! Here are some photos that captured the day!

The girls as they head off!

Gracie's last time to walk to school down this sidewalk. We love living close enough to walk to school. Next year, it won't be like this for Gracie. Although we don't live too far from the Junior High, it is along a main street and under a very main highway, so we won't be walking.

As I was walking to get them this afternoon, Gracie's class happened to be outside at the park for their last recess, so I was able to snap a picture of them with their sweet teacher! She was such a great match for Gracie! God knew what He was doing when he chose her for Gracie's teacher!

After school, some of the moms brought popsicles for the kids, which were actually enjoyed by not JUST the kids. It was sooooo hot! I think most of the kids had more than 1!

This isn't a good picture, but if you look close you can see the teachers standing at the buses, blowing bubbles as the buses honk & drive away for the last day of school.

Katie being.....Katie!

Tonight, we had the end of the season party for softball. It's been a good season!

Katie, getting her trophy from her daddy. I'll have to take a picture of her with the trophy later and add it.

The girls, surrounding the cake!

We had a great cake, made by a sweet girl from church who does a great job with them!

Awards, Recognitions, Celebrations, & Graduations

2011-06-02T13:58:00.005-05:00

The last week or so, I've been able to attend Katie's 1st grade awards ceremony as well as Gracie's 5th Grade Graduation & Awards assembly. It is hard to believe that my little girl has graduated from elementary school and is now headed to JUNIOR HIGH!!!!!

This girl....what can I say? She makes us SO proud!!!!! Chris & I sometimes just shake our heads and somewhat marvel at "where she came from!" She is just amazing, and we feel so blessed to have her as our daughter!

At her awards assembly, we were all surprised with the news that she received the D.A.R. Award! She told me a few weeks ago that Mrs. V was asking her some questions because she was nominating her for an award, but she didn't know what award it was and never heard anything else about it. It was this award! I guess the Daughters of the American Revolution award 1 student from 5-11th grades this award each year, and Gracie was the recipient for the 5th grade for this year! Mrs. V said she didn't even know she'd won until her name was announced. Gracie was shocked, and we were so pleased!

The graduation program described it like this: "Given by the Daughters of American Revolution for one outstanding student for the qualities of honor, service, courage, leadership, and patriotism." It was also neat for me to be able to tell Gracie that another girl from the youth group at church, an 8th grader, had also won this award at her school.

Gracie also received certificates for being involved with the broadcast team, Read Deed & Run, Spelling Bee, Poetry Festival, Student Council. She also received certificates for Gold Honor Roll (all A's all year), all A's from 1st-5th grade (I had to call her SC school to have them fax her records since I couldn't find the report cards!), President's Education Awards, and of course....she completed 5th grade! After all that, it cracked me up that she was anxious to look at her report card today!!!!! LOL We are also so proud of her for being commended on the Reading TAKS, Math TAKS, & Science TAKS. Actually, she made a 100 on all 3 of the tests! Wow.....so, so proud! :) She is ready to head into Junior High and her Pre-AP & GT classes! :) It may seem braggy to write out all of that, but this is my family's journal, and I want to remember it all. Also, when the girls read all of this one day, I want them to feel how proud we are of them.

At the conclusion of the assembly, the entire 5th grade sang us a song about the different things they'd done throughout their time in elementary school, and a slideshow was played showing pictures from the year. "May the good Lord be with you down every road you roam." Those were the first lyrics from the song, "Forever Young," that played during part of the slideshow. May it be true!

We don't routinely pay the girls for their grades, but we felt strongly that making all A's throughout elementary school was very deserving of a special treat! So.....after she chose what she wanted, last night I presented her with a Vera Bradley purse & wallet! She was very happy! After finding out about the 100 on all 3 TAKS & the special D.A.R. Citizenship Award, we are trying to think of something else as well. One of the best things is that she doesn't expect a 'prize,' which makes it all the more fun to give them! :)

Then there's Katie! :) We are equally proud of our 7 year old little ray of sunshine. Katie is as loud & energetic as Gracie is quiet & meek. She has done a fabulous job in 1st grade and had such fun! She made all A's this year as well and had no discipline problems...at school. That kind of made us scratch our heads a bit based on her behavior at home (LOL) but she did great! Ms. M was a fantastic teacher for Katie and truly made her feel very special!

Check out Katie's plans for the future! (Click to make it bigger.)

We love our JOY FILLED Katie!!!!!!!! She brings happiness to our lives!

Katie & sweet Ellie who came to support her.

We are so blessed to have all 3 of our girls!

Open House 2011

2011-05-20T21:02:00.037-05:00

Last night was Open House for Gracie & Katie. Gracie's last elementary school Open House. It's hard to believe, but it's true!
The girls had fun getting their yearbook signed (we only buy 1, so Katie got autographs in a notebook, and we'll put it in the yearbook later.)

Snapshots of the evening, Gracie & friends:

Katie & her friends:

Katie was excited for me to see the little game on her desk. I had to guess which picture was her, based on the clues she left me.

Sweet Ms. M has been such a good fit for Katie this year! She appreciates & respects Katie for the great little kid that she is! :)

cute bulletin board

I love taking pictures of the girls' work. It's pretty much inevitable that at some point, some of this will get lost, so hopefully this will help me to remember it.

Gracie wrote a sweet poem, along with a really great illustration to go with it. (Click on the picture to make it larger.)

Cute bulletin board outside Gracie's classroom. Each student decorated a fish to represent themselves. Here is a picture of Gracie's fish. It's a fuzzy picture, but she had it decorated it with music notes and words like "peace," "love," & "leadership."

More yearbook signing:

waiting to see what Mrs. V will write:

Mrs. V has really been a great teacher for Gracie this year! I have enjoyed getting to know her through emails, etc. She has always responded to any concern or request quickly & nicely and says such nice things about Gracie. I think she has done a good job of getting her ready to transition into Junior High! (I love how in the background of this picture Ellie is "signing" someone's yearbook! LOL)

More yearbook signing:

waiting to see what Ms. K will write. 1st year teacher, Ms. K, has been a sweet "switch teacher" for Gracie this year. Unfortunately, the budget cuts seem to indicate she won't be back next year, but we'll be praying she gets re-hired. She said they are starting to re-hire some of the teachers who have been let go, so prayerfully she will be one of them!

I love living in a neighborhood with a large park area right next to the school, an area close enough to walk to. I like seeing other parents walking their children to school and chatting with the other moms & dads and the crossing guard in the mornings & afternoons. We were able to walk to school for Open House, which is a good thing because there are lots of cars looking for places to park! The school pre-sold Chick Fil A for a dinner and the park had many families having picnics and children playing. I love the general atmosphere of the neighborhood school.

Here are some more work samples we got at Open House. I love looking through their art portfolios!

This picture is fuzzy, but it's an Asian village and really cute!

I love this one, too. The fruit bowl is made out of recycled paper...it looks like maybe newspaper or magazine paper. Very cute.

Katie has been excitedly telling us about her report on the Red Eyed Tree Frog, so I was happy to see the final product! Click on the picture to make it bigger if you'd like to read it.

Last week, I set out a shirt for Katie to wear that had a whale on it. She was excited about it because they were studying oceans in class, and it'd go along with that! :) Here is the cute Ocean Unit she studied.

Katie's art porfolio:

I love this one that Katie did. The trunk is recycled material like the fruit bowl on Gracie's picture.

I LOVE this one...it's her foot! :)

sweet little birdies

Birthday & Mother's Day

2011-05-08T22:06:00.011-05:00

Poor Ellie has been telling me Happy Birthday today even though it's not my birthday...it's Mother's Day. LAST week was my birthday, so she is just confused with all the celebrating we've been doing. LOL

My birthday was Tuesday, the 3rd. My celebration began Monday, when I had lunch with Cindy....

....and dessert at Ooh La La, of course!

The next morning, my actual birthday, began with the girls preparing breakfast for me.

Katie gave me a present....

filled with some special items....presented a la Katie style!

Gracie wrote me a very sweet poem and made me a cute pipe cleaner figurine of me sweeping. :) (You can click on the picture to make it larger....not sure why some of these have loaded in the wrong direction.)

Ellie & I went to Ladies Bible Class, and I was able to enjoy lunch with some ladies afterwards.

We enjoyed dinner that night at Taste of Texas!

I was so happy to receive a Mother's bracelet from Chris & the girls! I was so sad (still am) that the original one I had was stolen when we were broken into, so I was beyond thrilled to get a new one.

I also received some sweet gifts from some friends & money from family. It was a good birthday!

Saturday, Chris served me breakfast in bed to start off Mother's Day weekend. I love his omelettes!

My sweet girls after Katie's softball game.

(I have no idea why these pictures loaded in the wrong direction. Some of them aren't in the wrong direction on my computer...until I load them on here. argh!)

Katie made me this flower coupon for Mother's Day. She made it at school. Very sweet. (Again, so sorry the picture is upside down! You can click on the picture to make it larger.)

She also made me this sweet book.

Ellie made me this sweet flower in Bible Class this morning.

She made this sweet card at Friendship School....love it!

Katie gave me this card this morning, along with this special vacuum cleaner invention. :)

Gracie gave me this sweet card, along with the pretty picture on canvas she painted.

I got a gift card to Mardel's, along with a very pretty bracelet Gracie picked out for me with the verse about "Her children will rise & call her blessed." Very sweet.

Chris & the girls cooked me lunch after church, which was great, especially since I got to relax during the cooking & clean up! :)

My birthday & Mother's Day were great!

Sisterchicks in New York City...Day 5

2011-05-08T12:04:00.011-05:00

Day 5

Monday, April 18, 2011

Who would think that a trip so long in the planning could already be over? Today was our last day in New York City. Well, for THIS trip anyway. We'll hopefully be back again!

We started out the morning getting packed up and having the hotel store our luggage until we were ready to head to the airport. We stopped at Starbucksand then headed to Magnolia Bakery. Yum! I got a Lemon Cupcake, which to be honest, was just so-so and a Dream Bar which was really good (similar to a Hello Dolly if you know what that is). Cindy won the prize with the cinnamon sugar muffin she got. It was delicious! The bakery was so vintage & cute which made it even more fun to visit.

This was our view as we ate, near Rockefeller Center. We shared with the little birdies just a bit. Those birds certainly picked the right place to reside.

We went back to Trump Tower to visit the gift shop and stopped by FAO Schwarz. The soldier doorman was very friendly and oh so used to having his picture taken.

We headed to the Water Taxi which turned out to be one of our favorite things about the trip. Over an hour of traveling over the water, viewing Lady Liberty, Ellis Island, the Brooklyn Bridge, and The Manhattan Bridge. It was a great tour with a great crewman who took many pictures for us (for which we tipped!)

After the tour, we ended up near Wall Street.

We made our way back to Little Italy for one more cannoli. *love* We loved listening to this man ask us, "What can I get ya, Doll?" in his Italian accent.

...and to hear this guy tell us they cost, "2 Dolla" was something we don't hear too often in Texas! One of the funniest things was when the older guy asked where we were from. I said we were from Texas. He said, very loudly, "Oh! You're from BUSH Country! You're a Republican!" It was really funny!

The view from one of our cab rides.

This was a trip Melissa & I dreamed of years ago after reading several of the Sisterchick books by Robin Jones Gunn. We were both so happy to see it come to a reality!

We stopped for lunch at Food Emporium, which was a grocery store near our hotel. We got things and ate right there in the store. We sat there eating, looking out the window, watching the seemingly homeless girl...with a dog...and a cell phone...wondering how all of those things go together. Lots of people to be prayed for in NYC...as everywhere of course.

Melissa & Mary Beth had an earlier flight than us, so they headed out to La Guardia via cab.

Cindy was the queen of the Subway map, and she figured out a way for us get to JFK via Subway ($10 total vs. $56 total for the cab!) so we decided we'd try the adventure. It worked out well.

We were tired & bummed that Mary Beth & Melissa were gone but glad we had each other for the trip back to Houston.

We are all so blessed to have had this trip and thankful to God for giving us the gift of each other. I'm thankful for my husband who lovingly & happily sent me on my way and happily took over Dad AND Mom roles, and did so with love & no grudges towards me. It is truly a blessing to have a husband who understands & supports my need for this time with my friends. He is a gift from God. I'm thankful for my girls and pray they will grow up with close, God loving girlfriends they can enjoy time with as well. I am thankful to have a family I was happy to come home to! I missed them greatly and reunion was sweet!

Sisterchicks in New York City....Day 4

2011-05-06T19:12:00.018-05:00

Day 4

Sunday, April 17, 2011

We started out Sunday morning having a short worship service, with communion, in our hotel room. We then went to St. Patrick's to attend Mass. None of us are Catholic, but we were all curious as to what a Mass service would be like, so we went. The cathedral is simply beautiful!

After Mass, we walked over to Rockefeller Center, which is just pretty COOL! It was so neat to see the ice skating rink that I see so often on t.v., although I do have to say that it seems much smaller in person. I'd love to see the Christmas tree all lit up!

St. Patrick's & Rockefeller Center weren't far from our hotel, and we walked by Radio City Music Hall on the way.....

......even though it wasn't far, all that walking was making some of our feet hurt! LOL

You may notice MB has an NBC bag in her hand. The NBC Experience Store was really neat. I was able to get Chris' souvenirs there....stuff from The Office...perfect!

We ate lunch at a place called "The Shake Shack." After that, we headed down to see the Statue of Liberty.

Due to our reservation at The Plaza, we didn't have time to do a tour that afternoon, so we decided we would come back the next day to do the Water Taxi. The tour that takes you out to the island was about a 3-4 hour wait (no, thank you!) then you would wait in line for things once you GOT to the island. We did the Water Taxi which turned out to be fabulous, but I'll talk about that in Day 5!

At some point, Cindy went to find the 'High Line,' which was something Cade was really wanting her to see. Melissa, MB, & I headed towards Columbus Circle & Central Park. Melissa encouraged MB & I to do a pedi-cab through Central Park since we hadn't done that before. She had done it before, so she went & did some shopping.

Central Park was beautiful, and our pedi-cab driver was entertaining, although perhaps not completely factual. Whatever...it was fun!

We all rushed to the hotel to change clothes to get ready for tea at The Plaza! We were very excited, and it did not disappoint. It was beautiful, elegant, delicious, and something every girl should experience at some point in their life.

After having tea, we headed back to Rockefeller Center to get tickets to go to the Top 'o the Rock. That was also a neat experience with beautiful views!

Believe it or not, after being at the Top, we were headed to eat again! LOL We had heard wonderful things about Serendipity and their frozen hot chocolate. Well...the frozen hot chocolate was pretty yummy, and it WAS a good thing we had reservations, but in general, we were underwhelmed. The appetizers we ordered were just okay. Our waiter was pretty nice, but the other staff was quite rude. Oh well. I would try it again, but it certainly wasn't in our Top Ten.

Day 4 complete....one more day to go! Such good memories......

Sisterchicks in New York City....Day 3

2011-05-06T09:45:00.010-05:00

Day 3
Saturday, April 16, 2011

We started out Saturday with no alarms set and enjoying breakfast in the hotel. It was nice to start the day a little slower than the previous 2 days had been.

We spent some time at Ground Zero. I don't think I could do justice to how you feel when you visit this area. It's just unreal to try to imagine the horror, fear, disbelief, & sadness that the people in the area must have felt on September 11, 2001. I know the feelings I had hundreds of miles away.

There is a lot of construction in the area, as they are building a memorial and also building another building. We visited the church across the street: St. Paul's Chapel. It is literally directly across the street, and they say not one piece of the stained glass was broken throughout the whole ordeal. Amazing. The church building served as a place for rescue workers to come & sleep and receive food throughout the recovery process. We were blessed to happen upon a volunteer rescue worker who was being interviewed for a documentary. It was amazing to stand & listen to him tell his story and see him get choked up from reliving the details.

It was quite cold on Saturday...windy...rainy...lovely. :) We found a Starbucks, hoping to use the restroom. Well, we did, but we waited forEVER as there was only 1. When you gotta go, you gotta go! :)

After leaving Starbucks, I was able to check something off of my bucket list. I bought a hot dog from a New York City hot dog vendor!!!!!!!!

We visited Toys R Us (was that Saturday??) which is HUGE and was VERY crowded. Neat to see...especially the ferris wheel in the middle of the store, but I think we were all about ready to leave by the time we did!

We went to American Girl!!!!!!!! This was on my MUST DO list, as Gracie loves her Molly doll (even now at age 10) and I really wanted to get something for her. I ended up getting matching pajamas for her & Molly. Very cute!

We visited Tiffany's. So pretty.

Trump Tower. Quite impressive. We asked the elevator guard if Mr. Trump was in and if we could talk to him to let him know what the 'normal' people in America think, but sadly, he wasn't in. LOL

Like I mentioned before, Saturday was COLD, WINDY, & RAINY! Our sweet friend, Melissa, told us that our dinner place wasn't really that far away. So, we started walking. Wow. We have different interpretations of very far away. LOLOLOLOLOL We were soaked by the time we got there but couldn't do much more than laugh about it at that point. After 13 blocks in the rain, thunder, & lightning, what else could we do?! LOL

I had to take a picture of the St. Regis. Remember from Annie? "I'm Lily St. Regis. Named for the hotel."

Our dinner that night at Tony diNapoli's was AMAZING. It was family style Italian and so yummy. The Italian atmosphere and accents were so fun to be around. This is one I'd like to go back to as there were many things I'd like to try.

This picture was taken about 2 minutes after our fabulous Tiramisu was set in front of us. Oh my. Delicious!

3rd day complete. :)

Sisterchicks in New York City....Day 2

2011-05-05T22:17:00.018-05:00

NYC Day 2
Friday, April 19, 2011

Friday morning started out early with us going to see Regis & Kelly! Well, okay, Regis wasn't there, but we survived. :) Kelly was funny & so, so pretty (although a bit too skinny in my opinion). We had a few criticisms of her, but you know, no one's perfect. I'm glad we were able to experience being in the live audience for this show.

I consider myself to have a pretty good memory, but I must admit, we did so much while in NY that some of the details have already escaped me. I'll try to do my best with recalling the details.

We decided to eat lunch at Ellen's Stardust Diner. We got in the back of a really long line outside the restaurant. We asked a girl in front of us if this was the line to get inside, and she indicated yes, although I wasn't sure she really understood. One of us finally decided to walk up to the door, about the same time that one of us asked someone else. It was then that we discovered that THIS was the line for a tour. The restaurant had no waiting inside! Glad we didn't stand there too long!

We'd heard that Ellen's was a fun place to go because aspiring Broadway actors & actresses are waiters & waitresses and perform in between serving. It was a fun place to be!

In the afternoon, Mary Beth & I decided to ride the 'Sky Ride' (not so much of a great idea, but it gave us a loooooong time to talk while in line! LOL) We also rode up to the top of the Empire State Building. Once up there, the view was breathtaking!

Cindy ended up going to the top also, but she didn't do the Sky Ride, so she was in a different line. She met up with Melissa later, who declined to go to the top. She'd done it a few years ago and isn't so fond of heights. She spent some time in Macy's! Mary Beth & I actually never went in there. It'll be on the list for next time. :)

Friday night was the time we'd ALL been waiting for: WICKED!!!!!!!!!! We were very excited to get dressed up and go to Broadway! We ate dinner beforehand at a place called, 'Fig & Olive.'

Cheese board:

appetizer...what was it called...crostini? I think that's what it was. You could choose different topping for them.

There are NO words to describe how AMAZING Wicked was. Truly incredible and an experience I'm so glad I had.

Our pretty toes. ;)

Yeah.....it's fun dressing up, but going BACK to Juniors and getting cheesecake to take back to the hotel room and eat in our pajamas is more my style! :)

A couple of random pictures from Friday:

1st day & 2nd day written..........more to come...........

Sisterchicks in New York City....Day 1

2011-04-30T14:02:00.043-05:00

Here's the beginning of my posts about New York City!

I am overwhelmed thinking about trying to record each & every detail, and know I will leave out way too many, but I will try to do the trip justice.

And so we begin:

Thursday, April 14, 2011:

I met Cindy around 4:30 in the parking lot of a (closed) Starbucks and picked her up, then we headed to the airport. Our flight was around 7:00 a.m. We were tired but excited to begin our NYC adventure.

Melissa & Mary Beth arrived in NY about 8:30 ET, with Cindy & I arriving about 11:30. We went straight to the hotel in a cab (interesting adventure) and they met us in the lobby. Screams & hugs for all!

We got our stuff in our hotel room then we headed out to Little Italy to find Lombardi's for a late lunch. We began learning how to navigate the subway system which is really a lot of fun if you know what you're doing.

We enjoyed our 1st meal in NYC at Lombardi's. Since it was a late lunch, the pizzas were large, and we had a dinner reservation later, we opted to share 1 which worked out well throughout our trip..sharing meals. (Leaves more room for desserts later!) :)

Times Square is a fun place to explore....

China Town....did a little "shopping" while there. ;) It is a neat area to explore, lots of interesting people & things to see.

Little Italy....yum....cannolis!

The flowers & trees in NY were so beautiful! I think this was near Washington Square & Greenwich Village?? I'd like to go back to this area.

Our dinner reservations that night were at MESA GRILL, Bobby Flay's restaurant. I found it to be very yummy! There are pictures of pretty much every food we ate the whole time we were there, but I think one of the BEST things we had there was the Mushroom Quesadilla. It was so FULL of flavor. I'm not a huge "eat a mushroom" kind of a person, but it was soooo good, and it had the fried egg on top. Yum! This is a NM tradition that had to grow on me over time...putting fried eggs on tops of enchiladas, etc.....but it has, and this was really good.

M&M's World in Times Square is so neat!

The Disney Store was huge & neat.

The Hershey store...really cool!

Times Square at night is something else....anytime really!

Junior's......you must try it. I'm just sayin'.......

So, that pretty much sums up Day 1. This seems sadly lacking, but it is what it is for now. Day 2 coming.......