Cheri's Chaos

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2009-08-02T23:02:00.002-05:00

It's so good to be back home. Seeing my girls and Jake for the first time in 3 weeks on Thursday was awesome. I cried - what else would you expect from me - Mrs. Emotional!!!!

The rest of the family finally made it home tonight. My sister-in-law, Ashley, and I cooked supper for our entire family tonight. Ryan, Ashley, and Brock moved here while we were in Minnesota! So this was our first "family meal" with everyone living in a 10 mile radius of each other. It was so fun coordinating the meal with Ashley.

What made tonight so special was how much fun we had. Not every family wants to live so close to each other, but I think God knew that we would need each other to lean on during this time. We don't plan on eating EVERY MEAL together, but it was really fun eating, laughing, and watching the kids entertain us all. Ryan & Ashley may not want to stay here too long if Brock keeps learning tricks from Addi - but it's so precious right now.

I just really love my family - and I'm so proud of my family. Today was also my parents 34th wedding anniversary!!! I'm so proud of my mom and dad - not just because they are my parents, but because of who they are to other people. They are so well respected in this community. I'm proud of my sister! She does her own thing in her own time and has no regrets at all!! And I'm so proud of Ryan and Ashley. Ryan is going to be a coach and I'm so happy that he'll get a chance to learn how here under a coach he admires and respects so much. And it's fun to have Ashley around, too! She's such a good mom and I love the way she loves my little brother. And I'm proud of Jake. He is around my family so much and he never complains! He rolls with the punches and takes part in the Bufe querkiness (not sure of the spelling here, but you get it!)

There's not much new and exciting to report - other than I have a wonderful family and it's great to have everyone back at home where they belong!!

The Next Day

2009-07-27T16:00:00.003-05:00

Wow - what a difference 36 hours makes. One, Lori is much better. Two, I'm overwhelmed at the kind words of encouragement that have been sent my direction.

First, Lori is having much less pain. They drained over 10 lbs. of fluid off her abdomen yesterday afternoon. She came back to the room in noticeably less pain. Her eyes said it all. It was such a huge relief for mom and I to see her move comfortably from the transport bed into her own hospital bed.

When this journey started in mid-March, a dear friend in Abernathy told me that this would be a roller coaster. Well, I'm not a HUGE fan of them to begin with, but I don't mind riding them. But this emotional roller coaster is worse than any amusment park ride. At least with a ride, you know it will end. And you know roughly when it will end. Not with this emotional ride. You think you've gone as low as you can go, then you have a sudden incline. Unfortunately, the incline aren't very high right now. And they haven't seemed to last very long.

Though I don't enjoy this ride right now, I'm not ready for it to end yet. This is a roller coaster ride that I want to last for years and years to come. I'm just hoping that the ride becomes more of a Mini Mine Train (Six Flags) and less of The Rattler (Fiesta Texas).

Once again, I know that our family is not the only one to endure the horror of cancer. A) there are many positive outcomes with this disease. God is still in control and still in the business of performing miracles. But B) cancer sometimes wins and how do you deal with it if your family ends up on side B? We are still praying for and believing in option A. However, even with that option, there are still many ups and downs along the path.

Throughout this, I don't want to have blinders on. I don't want to focus only on our pain and the misery or joy that we are experiencing. There are many more around me daily who are experiencing their own joys or heartaches. Just because our experience is one way, doesn't mean someone else's is the same.

I know you can't experience something like this and not let it change you. I just want it to change me for the better. I want to be more aware of what those around me are going through and feeling. I don't want to become a negative person just because things around me aren't positive right now.

As a family, even though this has been a horrible thing, we try to find the blessings in each day. Some days, it's very hard to see. But on others, they come shining through brightly. When I wrote yesterday morning, the last 24 hours had been very hard to find any blessings in. Then yesterday afternoon things started looking up. Besides the blessing of Lori feeling better came the blessing of a chance to really re-connect with friends that I hadn't talked to in years.

Praying for continued good days and blessings!

Just my thoughts

2009-07-26T11:39:00.002-05:00

I don't know if anyone reads this anymore - facebook has taken over. And really, I just haven't had time since mid-March to do anything.

Like I said, I don't know if anyone will see this or not, but it's a place for me to put down my thoughts where my mom and sister probably won't see them.

This nightmare began March 18th. There were good times in there, though, where life wasn't consumed by the face that Lori has cancer. We all thought that there would be a quick resolution to the cancer by way of a transplant. Two weeks ago, that dream was shot down. The cancer had spread to a lymph node next to the liver. The doctors are all very quick to say that it was a very small spot and that it's treatable, BUT there is no cure. Once cancer cells are in the lymph system, the outlook isn't good. They are planning to fight this as best they can, though. The plan is to control and contain the cancer and attempt to keep it from spreading.

So all that sounds doable. But once again, Lori doesn't do things the easy way. Not that she chooses to do things the hard way, that's just the way things work for Lori. We are now 13 days from surgery and back in the hospital. She's experiencing some complications from surgery. Their is a small blockage in the small intestine. My sister just can't catch a break. And she's in so much pain. I know it's hard to experience the pain, but it's awfully hard to watch her go through the pain. I just don't want her life to be spent in pain. Hopefully this will take care of the unbearable pain.

Then there's my parents. I have tried to put myself in their shoes. What if this were one of my daughters. I can't imagine. I would want to die in their place - or die with them. I couldn't do it. So I know they are hurting. There are times when they are ok - but the look in their eyes will never be the same again. I'll never forget as long as I live the look - or rather lack of one - in my mom's eyes as they wheeled her back from the pre-op area July 13th. My mother will never be "my mother" again. She is forever changed. She was going to have the awesome opportunity to save her daughter's life and that opportunity was taken from her. I don't know how you endure something like this without it changing you, but at the same time, I'm selfish when I say that I want my children to experience the fun-loving nana that they've known since they were born. I don't want to have to explain why things have changed so much.

But overall, I know that we are not the only family to have ever gone through this. My biggest question is, "How?". How do you go on? How do you keep living life so positively? How do you explain things to your young children? How do you care for your sister who's in pain? How do you comfort your parents? How? Those and many more are the questions that I don't have answers to right now - and may never has the answers for.

I also know God says He will never give us more than we can handle. But I have to admit, that I'm wondering how much more any of us can take.

Lori

2009-03-22T21:05:00.002-05:00

For the few of you still reading my blog (it's been too long since my last update)....

Lori is well - as well as she can be. She was diagnosed with Cholangial Carcinoma (Bile Duct Cancer) this week. We are very fortunate that we found it very early on. The plan is for her and my parents to go to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. It should be pretty soon; they are excited to have a young, otherwise healthy patient to test their "protocol" out on. Actually, they have a very good success rate. So we are optimistic about this.

Please keep Lori, my mom and dad, in your prayers. A website has been set up for anyone to log on to and get updates or leave messages for Lori or any of the family. www.carepages.com/loribufe You will have to register to become a member, then you can view her page.

Thanks for all the concern that has been shown and the prayers that have been offered.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T22:53:00.003-06:00

Wow - hard to believe it's 2009. Now that we don't write near as many checks thanks to debit cards, I'm sure it will be mid-July before I'm used to writing the date with '09.

We have had a wonderful Christmas vacation this year (not that other year's weren't, this one was just really good). Jake's mom and dad came in the Tuesday before Christmas and stayed until Saturday. We had a great visit with them and they got to spend their first Christmas Day with the girls.

Christmas Day was full!!! We started with Santa at home with Grandma and Grandpa Liess. Then after lunch, we went to my mom and dad's house. The Liess' joined us, so we had a full living room. This was my nephew's first Christmas and he was so cute!

After all the presents had been opened, there was no way you could convince me that the economy is sluggish! We had presents EVERYWHERE. And I can happily say it wasn't Jake & I that did all the shopping. We did a great job of sticking to our "budget". But both of our parents went above and beyond for our entire family - not just the girls. So yes, I enjoyed my Christmas gifts, too.

This week has been so nice to be able to chill out and not have a schedule. Jake did have to go back to work this week (he was off all last week), but has today and tomorrow plus the weekend off.

I do not like New Year's Resolutions, so I'm not going to bore anyone with the list of things that I know I will fail at. Though I know there are areas of life that can be improved upon, I really love the life I have!

New Slideshow

2008-12-13T17:23:00.003-06:00

Ok, so I finally decided it was time to update my slideshow on the sidebar. I tried to do this once back in the early fall, but couldn't get it to work with the pictures I wanted. Well, same problem this time around, only now I have access to the pictures I wanted to use back then! Oh, well. Enjoy these that are from last spring and maybe I'll figure out how to use the ones I want to that are more current.
My feeble attempts at understanding and using the world wide web...

Our Christmas Card to You

2008-12-10T09:13:00.000-06:00

I'm cheating this year - and my pocketbook is thankful!!!

Merry Christmas everyone from the Liess Family!

Time Flies

2008-11-25T08:40:00.002-06:00

Oh, my word! Where did November go?!?!?! It seems like we were just celebrating Halloween, now it's Thanksgiving and Dec. 1st is less than a week away.

November has been another busy month - though with more normal busy-ness. We have settled into a more normal routine. My schedule has let up a bit - which I'm loving. I still have all my private lessons, but I'm still done by 6:00 most evenings instead of 9:00 or later! It's great to be home in the evenings and actually cook supper. Which is good, because my favorite place to get food on the go closed in A-town. That was a sad day. No more Triple P - but that only means something to those of you who live here. No more good ice (we aren't big enough to have a SONIC like the rest of the world)!

We are ready for a break! I'm so glad that this morning was the last morning to have to get Tae up and ready for school for a few days. She needs a break so badly. We had a holiday Labor Day and have not had a day off from school since. I love the State Legislature! They are the ones who have put us in this predicament - but I'll leave the rest of that soap box for another day.

I am so ready to put my tree up. Several of you have already done so. I need to clean house before I do that! So, enjoy Thanksgiving and, for those of you that haven't decorated yet - have fun doing that, too!

Haunted House

2008-10-29T22:32:00.002-05:00

It's one thing after another here right now! We finished contest two weeks ago and I basically took last week off. Didn't do anything I didn't have to do.

Now, here we are, at Halloween. Our church is hosting the 5th quarter after the football game this week. So naturally, there's got to be something "Halloweeny" about the 5th quarter. So here we go with a haunted house. I'm tired, and I'm not even the one doing most of the work. Our poor preacher, is a haunted house guru - and a maze guru. He's done the maze this week and worked very hard to get people to help with this. It's going to be fun, but I'll be glad when it's over.

I'm ready for the holiday season. I know, some of you may be booing me! But I am. I didn't get a chance to decorate for Halloween (life was just too crazy) but I'm really getting ready for the Holidays. And this year, they are going to be even more fun with my nephew, Brock, around. And Addi is finally getting to the point that she's noticing and paying attention to what's going on. It's like she went from no talking, to completing full sentences!

Happy Halloween - I promise to put up pictures of "Sharpay" and my little lady bug this weekend!

Contest is OVER!!! Life goes on...

2008-10-22T10:48:00.002-05:00

Saturday was our big contest day. The twirlers did awesome - they made it to state for the 17th year in a row. And I have 4 girls make it to state as soloists. So the twirling portion of the day was great. Then our band also competed that evening and made straight ones. They also did a fabulous job and it was so much fun to work with them. They are great kids.

Now - the rest of life goes on! First order of business - my house :( I hate house cleaning, and then when I'm busy like I've been the two months, it really goes down the tube. Jake's done a great job keeping it livable. But now it's time to get the entire thing cleaned. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Oh, well. I will enjoy the clean house once it's done - it's just getting to that point.

In the midst of the last few weeks of craziness, Addi had her third birthday. It was a lot of fun. I'll get up some pics and post about that soon. It's just hard to believe that my babies are growing up so fast.

Stay warm - if you're in west texas. I think we're getting another taste of winter as I write!!!

WTAC

2008-10-06T23:14:00.001-05:00

OK, for the rest of the world out there that are not band geeks like me, WTAC is the West Texas Auxiliary Competition. Wow, long name. Basically it's a competition for the auxiliary's of marching band - drum majors, twirlers, flags, and drum lines. It's a fairly large competition held at Coronado every year.

Well, my girls did FABULOUS there! It was very exciting. Our prelim performance was good enough to advance to the finals where we placed first. We beat two other lines that are very good - Colorado City and Frenship High School. Yes, it was exciting for a little 2A school to beat a 4A school.

One of these days, I'm going to try and post a video of them. I'm so proud of these ladies - they have done a fabulous job this year.

Now - other things going on in life.....

my baby is about to turn 3. I'm having a hard time with it. I guess I'm just sad that my last baby is growing up. I'm not saying we're through with kids, but I'm just not sure that we're going to have another one. It may still happen in the future, but, who knows. So I'm having a hard time thinking about being through with babies. Tonight, we had to pull out more clothes from the shed. A) I get teary eyed from thinking of Taelor in those same clothes and B) I get teary eyed thinking Addi will be the last one to wear them. Isn't it funny how clothes can bring back so many memories. I think of the most random things that Taelor did when I see certain outfits. They are all good memories, but it's also sad to realize that time goes too quickly.

So, a very random post, but my life is pretty random right now!!!

Jake's Promotion!!

2008-09-25T22:23:00.002-05:00

I have to brag on Jake. He got a promotion recently and we got the first reward (paycheck) from that promotion today!

I am so proud of Jake - and I don't say it often enough. As many of you know, he was working two jobs for several years so that I could stay home with our girls. It was tough working Dillard's and a paper route. And Dillard's was a dead end job. No where to go! So when this job in A-town opened up, we knew it was going to be a good thing.

And now, after being there just over a year, he's already received a promotion. He is the Fertilizer Manager. The company is planning some really big things here.

I always knew Jake could be successful if were ever given the chance. And this job was that chance. He needed a job where he could prove himself over time and work his way up. That's what he's doing.

So, praise God that He blessed Jake with this job! And Jake, way to go. I knew you could do it!!!

Poor Tae

2008-09-13T14:55:00.002-05:00

I want to start by saying - I'm not a bad mom. My children takes baths regularly, they go to bed at a decent time, and we brush our teeth. Probably not as "religiously" as Jake would like - he does it 4-5 times a day...but still.

Well, poor Tae had 8 cavities. We found them this summer. All of a sudden (on our NM trip) she started complaining about her bottom molars hurting. Well, I looked and didn't really see anything (not that you can always see cavities) but we bought some Oragel and continued on. By the time we got to Jake's parents in Farmington, I looked in the top of her mouth to find HUGE, GAPING holes in her teeth. So we went to Jake's dentist in Farmington - he wouldn't touch her. He didn't want to get started on the large amount of cavities there. So he sent us home with pain medication and some antibiotics.

We survived the rest of our vacation, and came home to visit our dentist. He also would not touch them, so he sent us to a pediatric dentist. Well, they scheduled her for the work in Oct. Two months from the time we visited him. It was going to be a long wait. Well, they had an opening come up Sept. 11th that we were all too happy to take.

They put her under while they did it all. We knew she would probably have about 3 teeth pulled from our previous visit. Well, they ended up pulling seven (yes, 7) teeth, doing root canals and caps on 3, putting 2 spacers in and doing fillings on 2 teeth. Five of the pulled teeth were baby molars, and the other two were in the front. The permenant teeth above them are pushing through, and those baby teeth weren't budging. Thankfully, all the affected teeth are baby teeth, but the poor girl just has awful genes. Yes, we need to do more brushing (we are much more religious about it now). But apparently, Jake's family has awful teeth.

Hmm...Jake knew he was getting a diabetic, allergy, asthmatic woman when he married me. I didn't have a clue my children could also have AWFUL teeth. Now, my teeth aren't straight and pretty or anything, but they are healthy.

Well, back to Tae...once she came out of the anesthetic, she's done fine. But man, she was very violent waking up. But she has done GREAT since we've been home. We stayed home from school yesterday (we didn't get the 7+ inches that Lubbock got, so we still had school) but she's done better than I would have. Only took pain meds the first day and hasn't had anything since Thursday night.

That's been our week - hope yours hasn't been as eventful as Taelor's!

My gals!!!

2008-09-08T23:16:00.000-05:00

Some of you have requested a pic from my days as a twirler - that will have to wait! For now, I wanted to post of pic of my HS girls this year. These are the ladies that I am so blessed to work with!!

Bragging Rights....

2008-09-02T22:33:00.002-05:00

And this time, it doesn't include my family!!!

Tonight was a really great night for me. Tuesdays are my night to teach my two A-town twirling lines. This year I have 5 on my Middle School Line and 6 on my High School Line. None of them will ever read this, but I just want whoever does read this to know how great my girls here are!!!

My first practice of the night was with my MS girls. We are getting ready for their "first" pep rally and football game next week. Yes, I love teaching them twirling, but I love the things that go with that a lot more. For example, we got our uniforms tonight. I can't tell you the look of awe in their faces as they pulled them out and tried them on. For these girls, this is the fanciest thing they'll ever wear until the Jr./Sr. Prom. Twirling uniforms are all about glitz and glamour. And they loved it. It was great to see them "feel" pretty. MS girls have a hard time accepting their bodies, so it was great to see them all "feel" pretty tonight. It's also amazing how effective the rest of practice was. They worked so hard.

After practice, one of the girls asked if she could interview me for an English paper. I said sure. One of the questions, though, really made me think. It was, "Why do you enjoy teaching twirling so much?" Well, my first response was that I love twirling. It's a passion of mine. But then as I thought deeper, more came out. I love teaching twirling because of the relationship that I get to have with each girl I teach. I hope and pray that in some small way, I can influence their lives. I want to show them that you can be a modest young lady (in all ways), and still be beautiful, smart, successful, and HAPPY. With twirling, modesty is sometimes a challenge. You all have probably seen twirling uniforms - it's like dancing in a bathing suit - a one piece, grant you, but still! I love teaching them how they can still be modest while performing in not much. And I hope it carries over into their every day life.

Enough with Jr. High - then my HS girls came. I have always been blessed with good HS lines. Every year is good. And I'm so proud of these girls, too. These ladies are great young people who have a lot of life going on. They are involved in many other school activities. But they are learning what it takes to be successful. Not necessarily a lot of time, but good use of the time you take.

I don't know why I feel so strongly about taking the time to brag about these girls, but I do. If you're a teacher, you know how good you feel about class after everyone participated in the discussion or you walk away feeling they really understood the concept you were trying to teach. That's how I feel tonight. We had a great practice, but there were also many great "life" moments. Yes, I'm a stay at home mom, but those are the things that keep me teaching - helping guide their lives!

1st Grade

2008-08-25T21:54:00.000-05:00

Wow! How time flies and people change!

One year ago I was an emotional wreck. My baby began her first day of kindergarten. I was so excited for her, but devastated at the same time. I couldn't believe my little Tae was old enough to start school. Last year, it was all about me and my emotions. "My" baby was growing up, "my" baby was going to school, "my" baby was.....

Now first grade is here. It wasn't near as hard this year to send her off. I'm so proud of her and the young woman she is becoming. She is so polite, respectful, and courteous. She makes friends easily. I guess this year I'm figuring out (though I've really known it all along) that it's all about "her". She loves school, she has another great teacher, she has a good class, and, really a good grade full of kids. I'm very proud of how she handles herself.

Then there's the whole looks side of it all!!! I can't believe how much more mature Tae looks. But wow, I can't get over how much Addi has grown!! She was a BABY last year.

I guess I really don't have much to say. I'm just proud of my girls and I pray that we continue to raise them to be respectful, young ladies.

Wonderful Vacation

2008-08-04T22:32:00.000-05:00

At the Albuquerque Zoo!

Bar D Ranch in Durango

Navajo Lake

Vacation was a blast!!! We really had a good time. We stayed with Jake's family all week, but got to do a LOT of things that we wanted to.

We started out in Albuquerque at Jake's Grandpa's home. This is usually where we meet up with his parents. But this time, it was just a quick stop. We got to see Jake's Grandmother Liess and it was her first time to meet Addi. Wow, was she in for a treat!!!! Then we got to do the zoo before going on to Farmington.

Once we got to Farmington, we continued the fun. Jake's mom and dad live across the street from a city park and the girls were in HEAVEN. I think they wore grandpa Bill out going to the park. We got to shop downtown Farmington, see some beautiful scenery downtown by the river, and Taelor loved seeing where grandma Cindy works.

On Wednesday, we went to Durango. I loved it. Some people aren't into the "tourism" thing, but I love it. We wanted to do the train, but it was booked. FYI - book your tickets in advance! But we did spend the day downtown and the evening at the Bar D Ranch. It's a chuckwagon dinner with entertainment after. That was a really fun thing to do with the entire family.

Then Thursday was just spent around the house. On Friday, our final day in Farmington, we went to the lake. Taelor got up early and went fishing with dad and grandpa. She even caught one! Then Addi, Cindy, and I met up with them later on. It was a great day at the lake. The weather was wonderful and the girls really had a good time on grandpa's boat.

Saturday we began our drive home. Again, we stopped in Albuquerque for the night and came on home Sunday. We were so glad to see our home and friends again. But we really had a great family vacation.

Now it's really time to get focused for school. As much as I might say I dread school starting, I really am looking forward to it. I love new beginnings and the start of school is just that. It's fresh and new and the possibilities are endless!

Enjoy the rest of your summer!!!

Vacation

2008-07-21T22:08:00.002-05:00

It has been wonderful!!! Jake has really enjoyed being back at "home" for the first time in 8 years. A lot has changed in those years.

The girls are having a wonderful time, too. Across the street is a park and they are at it all the time!!!!!

I added a new (old) friend to my blogroll. Staci was one of the first girls we met in our youth group in Oklahoma. She really didn't know what to think of Jake & I, but she and her family quickly became some of our closest friends. She's great! I'm so glad that I can keep up with her through a blog now!

I'll post vacation pics and stuff later when we get home.

Just a few pics

2008-07-16T14:04:00.001-05:00

Taelor riding on the fire truck in the 4th of July parade. (Last one on the end)

Addi riding with Jake, and yes, sucking on her finger during the parade. But she's still got the wave down!

My favorite summer pic so far. Taelor in her All-Star uniform and Addi ready to cheer for sister's team!
One of the few pics they both look sweet in!

Vacation

2008-07-16T13:54:00.002-05:00

I'm am so excited. We actually get to go on a vacation this summer! We leave tomorrow evening after Jake gets off work and will come home sometime next weekend.

I know that a lot of families normally take a summer vacation - we haven't had a chance to. At Dillard's, Jake wasn't allowed to take time off during the summer months (they have certain days "blacked out" for vacation time). So now that he has a job with real benefits, we are leaving town.

We are going to Albuquerque and Farmington (his hometown). Yes, we'll be spending a lot of time with the in-laws, but at least it's not in A-town. Jake's poor mom, Cindy, has been in Alb. all summer long taking care of her dad. Cindy and her other two sisters stay with him 24-7-365. Cindy's turn is always in the summer since she's a teacher. So, anyway, her turn in up on Saturday, so she's going to go home and check on her home before we arrive on Sunday. We're planning on taking the girls to the zoo and maybe check out Old Town in Alb. before we go on to Farmington.

Once we're in Farmington, I think we'll take it easy. We are planning on going to Durango, but we really have no firm plans for this trip - not even a firm return date! We're just going and doing what we want to when we want to! It'll be great.

The sad part is, once we return, there's not much left of summer. I don't offiicially start back with twirling until the 11th. But there are still things that need to be done before then. So, summer is basically over - how sad.

Enjoy your remaining few days of summer - how bout this crazy July weather?!??!

A GREAT 4th

2008-07-05T10:23:00.002-05:00

Happy belated 4th to everyone! I hope yours was as good as ours was!

We started the day with our parade in town. Yes, A-town has a parade. Taelor rode a firetruck and Addi rode with Jake in his company's "gator". (I am aware of how redneck this parade is sounding...) Both looked so cute. Addi sat in dad's lap and sucked her finger the entire parade while waving at the crowd. Mom and I sat and watched and realized that parade's aren't as much fun to watch without being able to see it through a child's eye. Last year, Taelor was in the parade and Addi was with us. She was SOO EXCITED to see every float, every person, every siren. It was fun getting to see my own kids in the parade, but the rest of it didn't hold quite the same sparkle as it does when you are watching it with your kids.

Then we spent the rest of the day at mom and dad's. Our 4th has always been about spending time with family. This year, it was extra special. A) my grandparents (who are both in the 80's) felt well enough to come and B) my nephew made his first outing since being released from NICU!!!! Brock got to come visit. He is so sweet and such a trooper. It was pretty cool to watch my parents as they enjoyed having all three grandkids around for the first time. And I can't tell you how excited my dad is to have a grandson (though Addi really does have a lot of "boy" in her). It was just a very special day to have the family there and to now have the newest addition healthy enough to come visit.

The evening was concluded with a great fireworks show here in A-town. It's really a fabulous little show. And you don't have to mess with ANY traffic. We sat with several of our friends from here in town and just enjoyed each other's company as we watched the fireworks. Then, since we do live in a small town, we came home from the official fireworks show, only to watch about 12 more going on around us! Only about 4 of them were legal and being done outside the city limits. The rest were going on all around us. So, we didn't get to bed until somewhere around 1am this morning. But you know, it was all worth it. We even let Taelor stay up until midnight watching the fireworks. Back to that "watching things through the eyes of a child" thing. She really loves fireworks, and the fact that she had mom and dad to herself!

Happy 4th to everyone and I hope you all feel as blessed as I do to live where we do and have all the freedoms that we have. God bless America!!!!!!

God's Big Backyard is over (and was a huge success!!!!)

2008-06-08T21:18:00.002-05:00

Wow! What a blessing this past week was. We held our first VBS in 15 years, and it was wonderful. God was (and continues to be) so good!

Just to give you an idea, we have 15 kids in our church that are VBS age. Well, we had 123 kids that came to VBS! It was awesome. Yes, many of them have a church here in town that they go to, but many do not. We had an opportunity to show them God's love. It was just an amazing week.

Then this mornings sermon was so relevant, too. Our teenagers were our crew leaders. They guided the kids around to each "site" or class. At the beginning of the week, they tried to lead by being "bossy" to the kids. Our teens are great, but they just didn't really know how to handle kids. Then by the middle of the week, they began to sit with the kids and by the kids and it was amazing how the kids began acting. It's the same way with Christianity. We sometimes are guilty of "telling" others how to be a Christian (whether they are a Christian or not). But what we really need to do is get into the "muck" with them and become involved in their lives. Many times, the people we so desperately need to reach are the ones who don't "look" or "act" right. It does them absolutely NO good to have someone tell them how to do it. They need it modeled to them. Steve pointed out in his lesson this morning that Jesus wasn't usually in front of the crowd of people. He was IN the crowd. He didn't keep His distance.

So, VBS was incredible. Now this week is band camp, and then my summer will officially begin. What a great way to begin summer though, by having a chance to serve others!!!

More Chaos

2008-05-30T18:39:00.003-05:00

I think I can safely say that I have not been this busy in a very, very long time! I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I've sat down to blog. And believe me, it's been nearly that long since I've sat down, period!
Ryan and Ashley's baby, Brock, is doing better, but is still in NICU. They began trying to feed him this week and he's having trouble digesting it. So continue keeping Brock and his parents in your prayers.
The second weekend in May is always a big one for me. I have a chance to be a judge at a Band Festival that Abernathy hosts every year. I really enjoy getting to help with that.
The rest of May has been filled with two things - 1) getting HS students ready for State Solo & Ensemble Contest, 2) getting ready for VBS (that starts Monday!!!) and I guess there's a third, too, 3)end of school activities for Taelor.
The State Solo & Ensemble trip was fun. The day of contest is just hard. It's hot, humid and you're in dress clothes all day long. But the trip isn't really about the contest, it's about all the fun surrounding the contest!!! We had all-you-can-eat barbque at County Line on the Riverwalk the first evening we were there. Then we ate at the Republic of Texas on the Riverwalk the second night. And then the final day was spent at Schlitterbaun. Addi stayed home with my parents, so we really had a good time at the waterpark with Taelor. She loves water. Jake and I both came home red, but had a blast!
Then came Joyland. Taelor earned the trip to Joyland for reaching her Accelerated Reading goal at school. They always ask a bunch of Kindergarten mom's to go, so I did. I had NO IDEA that meant that I would have to ride some of the rides over, and over, and over, and over. Six year olds still aren't quite tall enough to ride all the rides without an adult. So that meant that I got to ride the mousetrap multiple times!!!!!!!!
This week has finished up with twirling tryouts and getting ready for VBS. VBS is going to be awesome! I am so excited. The auditorium has been transformed into a backyard and the rooms are starting to look good, too. We even turned our baptistry into a backyard swimming pool!!!!! We put a little slide on the side of it and pool toys in it. Just hope the kids don't get any bright ideas! We may send a few people into convulsions, but it's all for the kids. I'll take pics and post them once it's completely set up.
Well, this isn't anything too exciting, and if you've read it all - then bravo to you! After the next two weeks are over, summer will really begin and I'll get back to posting. Hopefully posting pics of the girls in the pool!!!!

New Bufe Baby

2008-05-07T21:48:00.002-05:00

Ryan and Ashley had their baby boy May 6th at 12:35 pm. He was 5 lbs. 2 oz. and 17.75 inches. He was born with a few complications, so he will spend about the next month in NICU. Please pray for Ryan and Ashley and Brock as they go through the next few months.
The rest of life is also crazy and stressful, too. This week is the Band Festival. Next week are concerts, the following week we will finish preparing for State Solo & Ensemble Contest followed by actually attending the State Solo & Ensemble Contest, then we come back for the last week of school. All while trying to finish getting ready for Vacation Bible School! Tonight at church we were able to get a lot of "work" done for VBS, but there is so much to do along with all the other fun end of school activities!!! I LOVE staying busy, but I will be very ready for the middle of June to get here, too.
Wish I had more energy to write, but right now, I'm longing for my bed. Two nights ago I didn't sleep well because we knew the baby was on the way, then last night, I slept on Ryan & Ashley's couch. Newlywed couches are nearly always hand me downs and flat as can be!!!!! But at least it wasn't the floor!
Off to bed!

Opening Ceremonies

2008-04-18T21:36:00.000-05:00

Tonight was the Opening Ceremony for the Baseball Association in Abernathy. It involved EVERYONE. From t-ball to machine pitch, to baseball and softball of every age division!! I think it was basically organized chaos! They introduced each team and then had team pictures taken.

This is our first time playing. She could have played the last two years, but I wasn't ready for anyone to tell me when I had to be where and for how long!! So she's just now doing t-ball. Next year she'll be in softball - quite a leap. I am glad we waited, though. She actually knows how the game is supposed to be played and what to do!!!

I guess this is year one of (hopefully) 13 busy years. That's why I love small schools. Kids can do anything and everything they want to. It sure makes you learn how to manage your time!

I'll update with more action shots as the season progresses...

Birthday Fun

2008-04-16T23:13:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I'm a little behind - but cut me some slack. We've had a busier than normal week.

First, I subbed three days last week. I've subbed before, but never in High School. I loved it. I have to brag on my town for a moment. Yes it's small and some don't like "knowing" everyone, but it was really neat to get to spend time with these kids. Abernathy has great kids. And yes, we've had our "winners", but overall we have really good kids here who really do try to do the right things. I get to spend time with the band kids fairly often, but this allowed me to meet some kids that I knew who they were, but hadn't really talked to before. I really did enjoy it.

But, needless to say, after doing that for three days plus teaching private lessons in the evenings, I was exhausted!!! I am so blessed to be able to stay home with my daughter and do work that I LOVE in the evening. There is no way I could work all day and teach private lessons as well.

Saturday was our friend, John's, 3rd birthday. They had a bounce house set up and the girls had a great time. Poor boy, he was the only boy at his party. All the friends were girls. But at this age, they don't care. All the kids loved it. Taelor wants one for her birthday, but you can't have a outdoor bounce house in December!!!

This week has been a little back to the norm. Just catching up on lack of sleep last week. I guess what was hard about last week was getting up early enough to take Addi to my grandparents house (20 minutes one way) and get back in time to get Taelor to school and get myself to class ontime. But I'm very thankful for the free child care! Other than catching up on rest, and laundry, things are pretty much normal. Except that I am having to CLEAN my house. Not just pick it up, either. Actually clean it. We are hosting our Bunco group on Saturday, so we've been cleaning every spare minute.

One more thought and I'll close. Yesterday, "Tuesday Folder's" were sent home from school. Each week Tae's teacher sends home a newsletter of what's going on. Well, the last thing on the newsletter said, "Only 6 1/2 more weeks of Kindergarten!!!!!" I cried. It was hard enough letting Taelor go to school; now her first YEAR is nearly over. It has flown by. And the sad part is, I know each year will fly by faster. I'm so thankful that she is growing up to be a wonderful young lady, but she's growing up :(

Craziness Continues

2008-04-05T22:15:00.003-05:00

Life is normal at our house! Crazy!! I think that's the only way we know how to operate. Though I must say, that I've learned to cram most of our activities into the week so that we have the weekends off. And for about the last month, we have. It's been great. Just hangin' out at home.

Taelor had her first t-ball practice this week. She loved it. She's got a good little group of kids on her team. Have no idea how good they are at t-ball, but they are good kids! I think we've still got about two weeks before we start playing.

Also this week was the Kindergarten Rodeo. The Kindergarten class has been studying Texas and cowboys. So to finish off this unit, they went to one of the kids home's in the country. They got to practice running the barrels and poles (with stick horses of course), got to pet a real horse, got to take a picture on a saddle, had the opportunity to attempt roping, and got to brand each other!! They had real branding irons that the kids dipped into water then flour and chased each other trying to brand each other's bottoms. They also had each group divided into different "brands". Taelor's group with the Triangle P's. It was a fun morning.

Tomorrow we are having our annual Easter Egg hunt at the Riley Ranch. We do it every year at church, but Easter was too early this year to do it before hand - it would've been very cold. So we've got that tomorrow. The kids always love it. We go to an elderly ladies "country home" (5 miles outside of town) on their ranch. It's a tiny little house that barely has running water and plumbing, but the kids LOVE IT. We usually have a campfire and just sit around enjoying each other's company.

This is kind of a boring post, but I really wanted to get something up just because! And by the way, my bracket is now a total, complete loss. I had UNC winning the whole thing :(

Big Weekend

2008-03-30T21:56:00.000-05:00

It's been an exciting weekend around the Liess House! As you can see, Addi is the new chef of our home. She LOVES cooking with me. Though, since my last post about her cooking, I have learned how to handle that side of her better. I now let her help me while I'm in there, so that she manages to stay out of the kitchen when I'm not there!!!! She imitates EVERYTHING I DO. She's a sponge, absorbing everything around her.

Taelor also got to go fishing with Jake at the local park. And she caught her first fish! She was so excited. I'm glad that she got to spend some time with dad. Mom's not into fishing, so it was great father/daughter time.

Then this evening, Taelor lost her first tooth! Then, we got home from small group and found out whose team she is on for t-ball! She is so excited right now, I don't know that she'll fall asleep before midnight! She is in bed, but so many exciting things happened tonight that she's on cloud 15 right now!

I am very excited about all these things, but it has really taken me aback as well. My baby is growing up!!! Have you heard the Trace Atkins song, "You're Gonna Miss This"? That has really become my song lately. Even though life may be chaos, the house may not be perfectly clean, etc., my family is growing up and one of these days I'll look back and miss the fact that the girls aren't babies anymore. Now, my heels aren't dug into the ground resisting change, my emotions are just a right under the surface about it all. In fact, they've spilled out from my eyes a few times this evening. Dumb, I know, but I'm the emotional one!!!

I don't usually give advice on this thing, but tonight I am. Whatever is going on with your life, be sure to take the time to enjoy it. Because one of these days, you'll look up and time has passed and you're gonna miss what used to be!

Easter and the start of more Chaos

2008-03-24T23:10:00.000-05:00

These are the rest of the pictures that I wanted to post last night of Easter, but am just now getting on here!

The first four from last night were of the girls Easter morning when they saw their Easter baskets. In our family, the Easter Bunny leaves something in each of the girls Easter baskets. This year, Taelor got some sidewalk chalk tools and Addi got some t-ball stuff. Taelor starts t-ball this year and has already gotten all that gear. Addi tries to swing the metal bat and can do it, but it scares EVERYONE. So the Easter Bunny got her a foam one! Then they both got bubble guns that are awesome.

Then here are the "dressed-up" pictures of the family. I look pregnant in this picture, but let me assure you that I AM NOT! HaHa!

Today was a frustrating day; I really hope tomorrow is better. Nothing that anyone could really control, just several "misunderstandings" this evening. I am pretty good at "rolling with the punches" as long as it's nothing of "super importance" to me. Tonight's things were "super important" to me and therefore I get frustrated when they don't work out. Oh, well.

Spring is upon us! I am so ready for summer - ready to sleep in and enjoy the pool and my girls. But there are one million and two things that have to happen between now and summer! With twirling, football season and from spring break until the end of school are always very busy - chaotic really! This time of year involves getting the girls ready to try-out for the twirling line next year (tryouts are in May) and getting the ones who made it to state ready. This year, all that involves 9 solos (3 are for State competition) and 1 line (also for State competition). And all these girls are also involved in: academic UIL, one-act play, tennis, golf, softball, track, work, and yes, they go to school during the day, too!!! I'm really amazed at everything they do. I did it all when I was in school, but at that time we simply didn't offer all the sports that we do now (sounds like I'm really old!).

I love this time of year!!! Yes, it's busy, and yes, it's easy to get frustrated. But I love being able to be around my twirling girls on a more consistent basis. They are helping me get ready for the time when my girls are teenagers! And I really love twirling (yes, I know I'm weird).

2008-03-23T22:40:00.000-05:00

Donations Accepted

2008-03-20T11:39:00.002-05:00

Ok, I am now accepting donations to purchase any and every child safety gadget available. Taelor, no problem - basic cabinet locks and outlet plugs - we're good to go. Addi - no such luck!

So far this week, she can carry a fold-up chair (which is stored in the laundry room) to anywhere in the house that she needs to climb upon, unfold it, use it, then return it to the correct place! She has tried to fix scrambled eggs (seven I might add). And she did it correctly - no shells in the skillet (which she had to get out of the cabinet) and even got out the wire whisk to mix them with. She has emptied my moisturizer (which was in the "medicine cabinet", there's no medicine in there, but it's up high - once again she had to climb) and managed to put the remote control in a candle. On top of the entertainment center!!!!!! I cannot afford to buy enough door things to keep her out of every room in the house, buy sturdier cabinet locks, buy stove things to keep her from turning it on (she hasn't tried that yet, but give her time) and a lock for every bi-fold door in this house. Standard things like plugs, she leaves alone!!! So I am now accepting any monetary donations to Addi-proof my house!

On another note - Spring Break has really been good with Taelor. She has really been good to help with Addi. She does a great job of letting me know when Addi is starting to get into something that she shouldn't. And right now, it's not tattle-telling (she does that very well at school and with her friends) it's simply, "Addi's getting into something that she's not supposed to!" Taelor has really just saved my sanity this week.

Taelor is with a friend today, so someone might check on me to make sure Addi hasn't tied me up and taken the house over!

Spring Break

2008-03-16T18:14:00.002-05:00

Aww...yes..I'm ready for Spring Break! Not that I actually need the break - I just really enjoy having Taelor home for a few days at a time. That's the part of me that still wants her to be my "little" girl, not my "grown-up, in-schoool" girl!
We don't have any big plans for the week - other than cleaning. My mom's birthday is right after Easter so we are combining the two and doing everything here.
For those that really know me, house cleaning is not my gift. I would rather cut my toe off than clean house. My mom keeps telling me, "Just pick it up as you go along." HA!!! Does she have a two-year old running loose through her house - NO. I tried that all day yesterday. I kept the dishes done after EVERY meal (we ate at home all three meals yesterday), swept the kitchen floor after anyone opened the back door (we live across the street from a field - the dirt blows even when there's no wind), and in general just tried to "pick up" throughout the day. OH MY WORD! I was exhausted last night! To me, it's just much easier to have one or two MAJOR house cleaning days and be done with it. But that's just me. Maybe it will get easier - who knows.
Hope everyone has a great week! Hopefully I'll have time to post before another week goes by!

Come on, Snow!!

2008-03-05T21:33:00.002-06:00

"If you don't like the weather, hang around a little while. It'll change!"
How many times have I heard that said about West Texas? Well, it's so true!! Sunday was short sleeves and flip flops. Monday was winter coats. Yesterday wasshort sleeves, today was long sleeves, tonight, winter coats again. I don't mind the cold, really. But don't get my hopes up about snow and possible school delays! That just jinxes the whole thing! I would just really love a foot of snow on the ground in the morning. My husband probably wouldn't, but I sure would.
I think I'm just getting spring fever. Time change is this weekend, Easter is right around the corner. Those things usually mean spring is here. But both of those events are sooooo early this year, that we'll probably need to wear our long-sleeve Christmas dresses for Easter.
Speaking of that, has anyone got their kids Easter outfits yet? It's kind of sneaking up on me. Guess we'll do that during Spring Break.
Not much to really write about. Just my random thoughts in my head. Be glad you don't live there (inside my head!).

New Look

2008-02-22T21:44:00.002-06:00

I'm so excited. Melody did this to my blog!!! It looks so wonderful - thanks Melody.
I'm really glad some people have this gift. It's not mine. I know enough about computers to get me into trouble.
I'm just excited because it looks so nice and professional!!!!

Late V-Day

2008-02-21T20:43:00.000-06:00

Ok, I'm just now getting around to posting our Valentine's Day pics!

The top one is from Taelor's "Tea Party" at school. The kids got to dress up in their parents clothes and had a tea for Valentine's Day. It was precious! The boys in their dad's sports coats were so handsome. They even drew beards and mustache's on their little faces.

The next two pics are from our Sweetheart Banquet at church. Taelor is with her grandmother Mary. And the bottom one is of their table. We had 48 kids and grandparents. That doesn't even include the parents! This was just an awesome evening. We all know how hard it is to "mix" generations at church. So this was a terrific way of doing that. The older ones had the most genuine smiles on their faces and really loved being doted on by the young people. You can't really tell in this photo, but this included all the youth from age 3 up to our Seniors in High School. I'm really excited about the great relationships that are beginning to be formed because of this.

Chaos

2008-02-20T21:55:00.002-06:00

I was working on some things on my blog tonight and started thinking about the title of my blog. At the time that I started this blog - chaos really was my life. And in some ways, my life is still chaos, but in a different way.
When I started this, I was babysitting 3 boys 3 days a week. I thoroughly loved it, but it was a huge challenge. My house was a constant wreck and every evening I was exhausted.
Now I'm no longer babysitting, but life is still busy. Only now it seems to be in a much more positive way. I'm able to work on more things at church, do centers at Taelor's school, and keep my house clean (well, at least picked up!). And when I teach in the evenings, I'm energized and excited to be teaching. It was hard to get up the energy to go teach twirling after being a ref all day long!!
Life is still chaos. The chaos has just changed is all. And most important, I'm at peace with the chaos that's in my life right now.

Just Life in General

2008-02-12T22:52:00.002-06:00

Ok, first, I removed my AdSense thing from Google. It was not advertising things that I was comfortable with - bikini clad girls? Maybe my Kappa pics from the weekend were too racy or something - I don't know!!!! But if you were offended by anything advertised there - it's not my fault!!!!!!!
Life is crazy right now. Not in a bad way. It just is! We had a Sweetheart Banquet at church to kick off our "adopt-a-grandparent" thing at church. It was great, but Sunday was tiring. And that was after our "Kappa" reunion Friday night and breakfast Saturday morning! Then Monday was Taelor's first day back at school in a week. You get out of the habit so quickly!!!!
Wednesday and Thursday, I will be subbing at school. I'm excited about that. I'm getting to sub in the band hall, which basically means I have to work one class (high school) while the assistant teaches the rest of the day. But that means that I have to get up at 5:30 in order to get Addi ready and to my grandparent's home in Hale Center, back to get Taelor, and to school by (hopefully) 7:45am. Then I'm babysitting Friday. So nothing is going on this week!!! And like I said, it's all good, just busy.
Sometime this week I'll post some pics from the Sweetheart Banquet. Our teens did a FABULOUS job of decorating and the parents all pitched in to cook a GREAT meal. It was really a good time and great opportunity for different generations to come together. Any of you involved in church in any way know how hard it is to get the different generations to come together. So this was great on so many levels.

Last one - I promise!

2008-02-09T13:42:00.000-06:00

If you look closely, you can probably tell which girl belongs to whom. Addi left) is Chris & Amy's, Hallie (center) is Scott & Brooke's, and Taelor (right) is mine & Jake's. I remember being Taelor's age and coming to Kappa breakfast with my mom. We are getting old!!!!!

More Kappa Pics

2008-02-09T13:39:00.000-06:00

Told you it would take more than one post to get all these on here!

Kappa Reunion

2008-02-09T13:37:00.000-06:00

Last night was great. I think everyone there had a great time. It was so good to get to see some that I see on a regular basis and reconnect with some that I haven't seen since college.

Here are some of the pics from last night. I'm not sure if they're all going to post, so it may take more than one to get them all up.

Many thanks to Larissa for putting this all together and opening her home up to us. She did a fantastic job and looks AWESOME!!!

I am making myself a pledge to keep in touch with people more this year. It's awful in this day and time of email, blogs, instant communication, that I don't do a better job of this. Most of us spent at least 3 or more years together during a very pivotal time in our lives. Everyone holds a special place from those times in my heart.

Enough emotional rambling. Hope everyone has a great Homecoming/Follies weekend.
Hope to see you before Homecoming 2009!!!!

Test

2008-02-05T13:44:00.000-06:00

Ok, my blog was malfunctioning last week. So I'm trying this again. That's why there are two posts involving the Babes with Batons!!! I posted the first one, but when I went to view my blog, it wasn't there. So I posted another one. It still took days for it to show up, but a friend was able to view it immediately! So anyway, sorry that there are two nearly identical posts.
I am enjoying this blogging world. I keep finding more people on other people's blogs from my past. And it's so nice to be able to read and catch up with what's been happening in their world the last few years.
Taelor is home sick today, so I'm really hoping that she gets better and no one else gets it before Homecoming this weekend. If all goes well, I'll be at Larissa's Friday night and we'll all be at the breakfast Saturday morning.

The Babes Perform

2008-01-30T11:18:00.000-06:00

The "Babes with Batons" performed last night. It was so good!!! The little girls did a great job!!! So did my Jr. High and HS Lines. We ended up with 51 girls that took part in the camp. Taelor is the one with the big pink bow in her hair (you have to dress the part!). She's got a natural ability for twirling and it's a little scary. She's never actually "taken a lesson" from me other than at camp. She does watch me teach, however, and it's amazing what she's picked up just from watching lessons.
The rest of the family is doing well. Addi is enjoying have me all to herself while Taelor is at school and I can really say that not babysitting anymore has been a blessing. I've really enjoyed getting to do more with Addi and help more at Taelor's class. And, I'm a more pleasant person when Jake gets home from work, too.

Babes Perform

2008-01-29T22:04:00.000-06:00

Tonight was our twirling camp performance. Most of these pictures are just of Taelor (big pink bow in her hair), but we ended up with 51 at camp. It was a lot of fun and the crowd loved it. The girls did a great job. This year, the song was Hannah Montana's "Best of Both Worlds" so they had a blast!! They do better when it's a song they know (and also happen to love).
Now that this is over, I'm ready to fall into bed for seeevvverrralll hours!!!! I hope to not wake up for a while. Jake's nice enough he's going to let me sleep in tomorrow morning and get Taelor ready for school.
Not much else has been happening in our world - it's kind of nice!!!

Babes with Batons

2008-01-23T22:44:00.000-06:00

Camp has begun. It's been a good first two days - but I'm exhausted. It's like being a jazzercise instructor. I probably should figure out how to do it every day! It's a lot of fun, but I am tired. We've got 51 campers this year and we've had a lot of fun with them. They are performing to Hannah Montana's "Best of Both Worlds". The girls are wild for Hannah Montana anything. I think the only thing better would have been a song from High School Musical!!!!

Falling in Love

2008-01-17T10:28:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I'm not really "falling in love" with anybody; just with a new hobby!!!

I started learning how to sew last year when I decided to redo Taelor's room. It was very easy; cut sqaure pieces of fabric and sew straight edges together. The seams were even frayed so that you couldn't see whether the seams were straight or not! So that started my sewing.

Then I had to learn how to sew flags for my twirlers flag batons. That was a necessesity that had to get done and since I'm the sponsor, I got to do it.

So I got brave and did another quilt for Addi this year since we moved the two of them into the same room together. Her's also turned out very cute.

Now to my current obsession - updating my house!!! I loved my comforter - black microsuede with tan on the reverse side. But the pillow shams that came with it were so boring and just plain ugly. So I decided after Christmas to take some X-mas money and update my room. I really had no idea what I was doing, but I gave it a try and here's what I've accomplished so far. I did all the pillows on the bed - the shams, the throw pillows, the body pillow cases that are covered up.

Now, just to clarify - the beautiful quilt hanging on the wall was NOT MY PROJECT!!! My mom has taken up quilting and this was the one she made for me. I'm not that gifted yet and frankly, I want more immediate gratification. I think this one took a year to do!

My next project was the curtains. I've never really liked the curtains in my room, but I hate buying them. So I just kept what I had!
This is what I changed to!! I love it. And they were very simple to do.

I still have a few more pillows to make for my bed - some red to tie the red in the wall in with my bed. But those will have to wait for the weekend.

My next sewing project will be in my living room. Time for new pillows and curtains in there!!

New Beginnings

2008-01-14T21:19:00.000-06:00

I'm so excited. I have been teaching piano for about 2 1/2 years now and really enjoy it. But all of my student's have been taking from someone else and have come to me after their teacher has moved. So I always get to pick up somewhere in the middle with their lessons. Tomorrow I start teaching my first true beginner. I haven't met her yet, but her mom sounded great on the phone and is very excited for her daughter to start. She's in 1st grade. I'm thrilled because I get to start from the very beginning and kind of "re-teach" myself some things but also train her to do things the way I want them done. Sounds selfish, but when you teach private lessons, you have your own way of teaching. When you start with someone at the very beginning, you pick out what's important to you fundamentally and really focus on that; you get a chance to help them develop their practice schedules, the intensity with which they approach it, and just learn your way of doing things. Probably doesn't make much sence, but it does to me. So I'm very excited about it.
Also tonight I met with my HS twirling line for the 1st time since football season. It's always fun to work with them a) because they are great twirlers b) because most of the time it's fun and c) I enjoy being part of their lives. And tonight was our 1st practice in 2 months. So I've missed them. And it's just like starting over after having a long break - more new beginnings.

More Pictures (and bragging time)

2008-01-09T10:55:00.000-06:00

I've put up a new slideshow. We put up bunk beds for the girls, and since this is Addi's first big girl bed, we had to take pictures!! On a side note - I made the quilts for their beds. Taelor's was my first sewing project last year for her 5th birthday. It was so much fun, I made one for Addi this year. It was so easy!
The rest of the pictures are of the wedding and the events surrounding the big event. I have to say that my girls looked so cute for the wedding! So look if you have time!

Back to School!!!

2008-01-08T10:16:00.000-06:00

Taelor went back to school this morning. I really enjoyed Christmas Break and for the most part, enjoyed having her back at home. There were times when she really antagonized Addi, but there were also times when just her and I got to do things. I've had the chance this fall to spend so much time with Addi by herself, but not Taelor. So spending time with her was nice.
But life is back to chaos again! It's only the 1st day back and I don't know why I was worried about not having enough to do without babysitting!!!! And I guess I'm still keeping kids on occassion, but not on a set schedule. Yesterday I kept a teacher's kid (the teacher's had to go back yesterday) and today and tomorrow I'm going to keep little one while his mother studies for her realtor test. And then there's All-Region Band this month and my "Babes with Batons" twirling camp for the elementary kids. Last year, we had 72 girls. So I won't be sitting around pining for something to do. Life is busy, but I love it that way! I like having things to do!

They're hitched!

2008-01-05T23:42:00.001-06:00

Well, I have a new sister! Ryan & Ashley got married tonight! She was gorgeous and the ceremony was beautiful. Everything was very nice. Both of the girls were in the wedding and much to my surprise, Addi actually walked down the aisle. We were surprised that she even did that. Once she got to the front, she sat down with us, but I was proud of her for making her way to the stage. She actually took Ashley's spot front and center, then saw Jake and went to sit with our family! This was Taelor's 2nd time to be a flower girl and she did a great job.
I'll post some more pics of the wedding tomorrow. But for now, it's off to bed. It's much easier being on the groom's side of the family than the bride's, but there is still a lot to be cleaned up after it's all over. I now feel sorry for my parents after I got married. We had a TON of decorations for our wedding, reception too. Sorry mom and dad!!!

Life is full of changes

2008-01-02T13:22:00.001-06:00

Ok, so this may not be the earth shattering news that it sounded like in my last post, but it's still big news in my life. I am no longer babysitting. Jake is thrilled about it and I'm coming around to being excited, too. I'll miss the income that it helped provide, but I guess we'll figure out how to make things work like everyone else does!
It's going to be strange not having "anything" to do during the day now. I'll still be teaching twirling and piano in the evenings, so I'm still working. But it's going to take some getting used to not having to chase children around during the day and keeping stuff from getting destroyed!!! There will still be plenty of things to "do", I know that, but it will just be different.

Several Random Thoughts

2008-01-01T01:34:00.000-06:00

Ok, I saw this on Chrissy's blog and gave it a try for fun! It really was fun and who knows how accurate it is. I'm sure it depends on which pictures you pick to upload. But it was fun to see who the computer thinks the girls look more like - me or Jake. I think as Addi gets older she looks more like me. But I've always thought Taelor looked a LOT more like me than she did Jake, but the computer thought otherwise. But it was still fun. You should try it!
Christmas has come and gone! Now we are getting ready for a wedding. My brother is getting married on Saturday. Ashley is precious and we're so excited to have her as part of our family. I love Jake and I love being part of his family, but I have to admit that I'm a little jealous that she'll get to have the "Bufe" name the rest of her life. I don't know how to explain it. I guess I'm just very proud to be a Bufe. In a lot of things I do (twirling, band, anything with school) when people find out I'm a Bufe they are always so impressed. It doesn't usually get me anywhere (although occassionally it does), but people just know what the Bufe name stands for. I'm just proud that people have such respect for my mom and dad and want to live up to the standards that they have set.
I'll post some Christmas pictures as soon as I figure out how to download them from my new camera. I set it up with the software and just assumed that it would be as simple as the other camera was. Well, it's not. At least not yet. All it's going to take is reading the book, but that takes time and I'm too busy telling Taelor not to antagonize Addi!!! Or telling Addi to quit hurting Taelor's feelings! It's time for school to start again.
I have more news to share, but it'll have to wait until later (no, I'm NOT pregnant!). And we're not moving, just news about my life and what is now going to be a lot different.
Happy New Year everyone!

Taelor's Meter

2008-01-01T01:32:00.001-06:00

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Geneology

Addi's Meter

2008-01-01T01:27:00.001-06:00

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family search

Christmas Greetings 2007

2007-12-17T09:50:00.001-06:00

I have found another great way to use this blog! To wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Since I'm not sure where everyone lives, this is much easier than tracking down addresses and sending Christmas Cards. So here's a little bit of a run down of our year.

Addi is our little mess. She keeps all of us on our toes. Things that Taelor never even tried to attempt, Addi has!! Like climbing on top of her dresser, stuffing a bath towel down the toilet, and taking every opportunity she has to terrorize something/one else. She is so full of life and goes non-stop. We love her, though, because she's as precious as she is wild. She will cuddle up in your lap and love on you - it's great!

Taelor started school this year and it's amazing how quickly they learn. She never did pre-school of any sort since I stay at home, so this really was her first year of school. She loves it. She has met many new friends and really enjoys her class and teacher. She is no longer my little baby, but turning into a young lady.

Jake started a new job in the summer. Many of you used to see him at Dillard's on occasion. Well, I am so glad that he is no longer working there!! It was a good job, but had zero flexibility and was really wearing him out. That and the paper route. But he was able to quit both of those and start a new job here in Abernathy. He works for Helena Chemical Co. It's a great job. He's outside and doesn't have to dress up! It's been really good having him home in the evenings and the weekends. We've actually been able to go to Albuquerque a few times to see his family. This has been such a positive change.

And I am still staying at home keeping kids three days a week. Even though I stay home, I've enjoyed keeping kids and it's good for my kids to learn how to share. Besides child care, I also teach twirling and piano in the evenings. I stay plenty busy, but love nearly every minute of it.

Hope that all of you have had a good 2007 and we hope to say "Hello" in person to each of you in 2008!!!

Visit with Santa Claus at northpole.com

2007-12-07T21:34:00.000-06:00

Visit with Santa Claus at northpole.com
Any of you with young children should check out this site. Taelor has lots of fun playing the games and I enjoy all the recipes. There are so many, it's a little overwhelming! Lots of great ideas; enjoy!!!

The Joy of Christmas Pictures

2007-12-06T22:08:00.000-06:00

Ok, you can tell by looking at these that this evening was totally calm and uneventful! Yeah, right. This was a chore! I mentioned yesterday that Addi was a mess, well here's part of the proof.
Taelor is quite the little subject when it comes to taking pictures. She'll pose and give you the cheesy grin. But Addi has no use for being still. It's not taking pictures that she doesn't like, it's the being still part that isn't her.
I think we managed to get 2 decent photos out of 15 or so. Fifteen was all we could take before we had a total meltdown.

Getting the hang of it

2007-12-05T21:48:00.000-06:00

Wow, only 1 day as a blogger and I see how this can get addicting!!! It's going to be fun - sorry Larissa & Chrissy that it took me so long to take the plunge.

Today was Taelor's 6th birthday. We really didn't do anything for her today. We had a party with Jake's family over Thanksgiving, a party with her school friends last Friday and a party with my family on Sunday. I'm so tired of parties right now. But she had fun.
I can't believe that 6 years have already passed! I think back to living in Vancouver and being so far from everyone. Thank goodness my parents came or it wouldn't have been as joyous. Because of a few minor complications with my diabetes when she was born, it was about 4 hours before I got a chance to see her, and I'll never forget holding her for the first time. Both of my girls are special and precious to me, but there's something about holding your first child for the first time. Motherhood does get easier (for a time - teen years can hold off, though), but it's not something I ever think I'll completely get the "hang of".

Some day I'll take the time to write about Addi, but she's such a live wire it'll take me days to get that post done!!!

Slowly, but surely

2007-12-05T08:29:00.000-06:00

Ok, I am new to this whole blog thing! I have really enjoyed reading Chrissy & Larissa's blogs and I know that they really enjoy blogging. So I'm going to give this thing a try. It's very odd to be typing words for anyone and everyone to read whenever they want, but also a fun way to share what's going on with so many friends at once.
Please be patient as I get this thing set up. I don't know if I technologically smart enough to do this!!! Hopefully the entire thing will be up and running by the end of the Christmas Holidays.
I hope that this provides a way to reconnect with some college buddies and friends that I only get to see once a year at Master Follies/Homecoming. It's really sad that our lives become so busy that we don't get a chance to say hello to people that mean so much to us.
So, slowly but surely, I'm coming into the blogging lifestyle!!!