Another Day in the Life...

This weekend was Fabulous!!! Cliff, Tori and myself went out to dinner on Friday night and went to see Bridesmaids! The movie was absolutely a riot! Definantely not just a chick flick. Tori tried her hardest to pretend she wasn't finding the crude humor entertaining until, the girls got food posioning. Even she died laughing!!

Saturday the three of us went to the farmers market, one of our favorite things to do together. I made Cliff "haggle" a good price for a maple tree with the seller and we didn't even go back to get it!?!! Oh well!  It was fun anyway.

Madi stayed with Rachel on Friday night and went swimming all afternoon with her on Sunday which is right up her ally.

Sunday night we made a wonderful dinner with all the fresh veggies and fruit from the market. It was a wonderful end to a vey relaxing weekend. If only they could all be this way!


My little Chipper Doodle




My Sweet Old Girl, Cowgirl



A Little Catch Up.....

   So since it's been so long since I've posted, I think we'll do a quick recap in pictures!




Happy Easter!!



Madi's pretty eggs



Caroline and Madi at Bravo in Greensboro





Madi ready for her Spring Social



Rachel and her boyfriend Jake!!

Madi and Rachel ready to dance the night away!!



Jeshua and Madi...what a cute couple.



Good Friends!



Happy Mother's Day




Madi placing Nana's stepping stone from her and Tori.



Happy 17th Birthday!!



Sweet Tori and her Nana!




Beautiful Birthday Cake from Edible Art



Papa being himself after a wonderful dinner at Sullivan's for Tori's 17th!!

Dance Mania has Begun!!

It has been awhile since my last post, I know. Too many things going on at on time to even try to get to the blog. A real brief synopsis would be: 1. Tori withdrew from school, 2. Tori totalled 1 car and wrecked another in less than 6 weeks! 3. Granma had another stroke 4. And last but not least, we found out we owe the equivalent of a new car to the IRS for taxes this year!! 5. Oh, all most forgot, and Tori started her own fund to Ms. Mary - Jude! Yeah!!!!!

This weekend we were in Smithfield for Madi's first competition this year. It was at JCC and we had a beautiful facility to use. It was really nice. This was the CDM competition and Madi's debut of her new solo. I was so nervous for her I could hardley stand it. She was WONDERFUL!!! She got gold this year (one higher than last!!) and let me tell you, that girl was moving it. On Saturday the groups performed and won straight gold for all four dances. Everyone thought they were forsure going to receive a Platinum, and they should have, however Miller Street was there and if the group had a 16, it was gonna get a platinum. Whatever. Our girls rocked it. Rock Star was amazing and Madi popped and locked so hard I thought she threw her back out!! It was a blast.

Way to go Mariah, you really know how to make the girls work it!!

Lions and Tigers ...Oh My!!

On Saturday the girls and I went to the Conservators Center in Mebane for the annual tree toss. What a wonderful time we had! We were so close to the animals, you really get a feel for their power and strength being in such proximity to them. They were wonderful. The sounds heard from their movements was a little unnerving at times. You definitely have a better understanding by the time you leave how small and powerless humans really are in the grand scheme of things.

The girls and I can't wait to go back on a day that isn't quite as muddy!! I would love to adopt one of tigers, however, we'll have to see how Cliff feels about that!!

This free scrapbooking design personalized with Smilebox

Happy 17th Anniversary!!!!

Cliff and I celebrating our 17th anniversary!!! He surprised me with a delivery of 17 roses at work on Friday. What a wonderful husband I have. I couldn't imagine life without him!!



How Beautiful!!



Christmas Morning

Christmas was wonderful this year! Santa was very, very good to the girls and we enjoyed spending the day with Nana and Papa and the four puppies.

Tori was home on break from ECU for a few weeks and it was nice to have everyone together again for more than just the weekend.



Merry Christmas!!





Nana & Papa &Maggie



Chipper & Koty



My precious old girl!!




Me and my babies!!

 Next year however, I am planning to go away for Christmas like we did a few years ago. I am hoping everything works out, and we can go to Disney for Christmas again. Everything just seems so magical there at this time of the year!! Everyone wold love to go again, so hopefully it works out.

Christmas Parade and Dance Party!!

Every year the dance studio is in the Sanford Christmas Parade. This year was the first time it was at night since we've been going. It definitely added some extra excitement trying to watch all the little girls running around in the dark with big floats lining up!! It was a success anyway and Cliff, being the awesome dance Dad he is, walked the entire route to make sure his baby was safe!

This year the dance Christmas party was bigger than ever!! The secret Santa gifts were fabulous and there was a ton of wonderful food for all to enjoy! The girls also had a blast dancing the evening away to all their favorite music!! Kudos to Ms. Tori on this one!!

Christmas Picture Fun!!

So this morning we decided to go to the Picture People in the mall to get Christmas pictures made with the three dogs and the kids. Can you say, "Zoloft...please...!"

It was actually fun and everyone behaved very well.