Hangin' at the Woodshop

This is it!! My first woodshop project. The picture actually doesn't do it justice ( my pictures never do) but it turned out pretty cute. I can't wait to make more. If you've ever thought about wood working, I say, go for it. It's a lot easier than I ever thought it would be. Especially if you're in the military. The military woodshop is priceless...full time expert helper at any hour!

And, just for fun:

I hung with my new friend Chelsea today and found my "shopping style" twin. She truly appreciates my wierd taste and I totally look up to hers. Can we go to New York and London together, Chelsea? So, drum roll please, today's flea market finds:

I love owls!

I saw this on the way out and HAD to go back in and buy it. Lo and behold, the guy just gave it to me for free! You should see the adorably large clip on earrings that he gave Chelsea for free. She bought them to clip on to some ballet flats! Great idea, huh!

I saw this on my last visit, a few months ago, didn't buy it and have been dreaming of it ever since. I just love baskets. Especially exotic looking ones! I thought this one would be a perfect vessel for light sabers...and we have 8!!

I don't have time to straighten out this picture but I need some stylish mommy opinions. I found this adorable satin dress that looks so much like Belles dress from Beauty and the Beast. I'm trying to decide what to do with it. You can see above, that the sleeves are ripped. The zipper in the back doesn't work either but the skirt part is BEAUTIFUL!

Originally, when I bought it (for $6) my plan was to cut the top off and make it into an adorably poofy skirt. But, as I looked at it and thought of Georgie, it occured to me that the skirt version would be more to my liking while she would probably LOVE the dress. What do you think? Skirt or dress, friends? Dress would mean only for play (or halloween), skirt would be an option for any occasion!! Or do you see something entirely different? I'm anxiously awaiting your opinions!

Tahoe '09

Our "Garff Family" vacation began with a stop in Las Vegas, home of Lukey,

Tanner,

Mimi and Pop Pops house,

baby Cooper, Mimi and Pop Pop, Mimi's pool, Uncle Jake and Aunt Ash, my Franklin cousins and tons of Daddy's awesome old toys (including Star Wars!). I didn't get too many pictures but we had a great time. Mimi took care of the kids while I recuperated and visited my cousins and after two busy days we began our ascent to Lake Tahoe!! And we were so excited!

The arrival of everyone was greatly anticipated. You can see here that as the last of the cousins arrived there were CHEERS! It was so dang cute to watch these kids cheer the arrival of Kaymie, Hannah, Julia and Bodie.

Of course seeing Daddy after a week was pleasant too...Georgie couldn't get enough of him for the first few hours.

Here is Joey and his best friend and cousin Rocky. They were able to chat and catch up a lot over the course of the trip. The best part about Tahoe is definitely just being together (okay, okay, I enjoy the massively beautiful trees, the mountains, and the crystal clear water too;)

Hey, what do you know...our cousins like Star Wars too!

And don't forget Aunt Pams AWESOME puppet show tradition! The kids were begging for this for days! And she gave them two performances! We were so glad to be able to have Aunt Pam and Jamie with us.

The Ultimate Event of our trip was attending the sealing of Lizzy to our family. It was so touching and we were so grateful to have been able to have been there for Lizzy and the entire families big day.

Afterward, Kerry treated us all to a Reno buffet, a nice and delicious buffet!

Thanks Pop Pop and Mimi!

The kids piled into one big booth and were alive with silliness. I think I enjoyed watching them have so much fun as much as I enjoyed the yummy food. Something about the jungle decor must have set them off!

No comment neccessary....except Yes, that is the floor.

So, what do we do in Tahoe? The highlight for most everyone is getting up at 7am to hit the smooth as glass, crystal clear water for some water skiing. Most everything else revolves around this activity. This year, the water happened to be smooth even in the late morning so those of us that hate the cold morning (me;) could enjoy skiing as well. This year Uncle Jake and Aunt Ash introduced us all to boat surfing. It was a hit with everyone, even the little kids.

And Isaac even got up on skiis for the first time!

This is for you Isaac:

This was kind of a big deal because he worked through sooo much fear to get out and try this several times before getting up! We were so proud of him for being so brave! I just love hearing my sister-in-law cheering so loudly for him. Isn't that cute how excited she was for her nephew! Gosh I love this family!

Isaac also did some kneeboarding.

And Georgie did too.

Georgie wasn't much for the boat for some strange reason. It took some bribing just to get her on it. You can imagine how much bribing was going on to get her out on the kneeboard! But she seemed to do fine...no tears or anything but also no desire to get out there and do it EVER again!

But that's our girl! We love anyway Gigi P!

Here's a picture from the beautiful hike we went on.

And here's one of the boys being goofy, wearing underwear on their heads. They thought they were so funny. They were;)!

On this particular trip to Tahoe we played on the beach A LOT. Mimi was a trooper in the sand. I think she buried my kids at least three times!

Isaac enjoyed building sandcastles with Hannah.

It was fun to see the different cousin personalities connect. Isaac found a "kindred spirit" in Hannah. They are both the creative, independent, intense type so they really connected. We miss you Hannah banana!

And Georgie fell in love with Cooper:

okay, we all did! Isn't he adorable!

Great kisses G!

Like the cabin in Utah, Tahoe is also like coming home. There are so many memories there. I think, for the Garff family, a spirit of Love is in the air we breathe at Incline Village. It is obvious that it is filled with Garff memories. In a family home evening one night, Rocky and Michelle talked about the legacy of Tahoe and the legacy of Wayne and Jeanette Garff. I wish I had it on video because it really made us all feel grateful to be in this family. Thanks Wayne and Jeanette! I think we'll be talking about you for generations to come! And thanks to all the cousins that continue to make being part of the family so amazing!

We miss you guys already!

Here's to Tahoe 2010!

There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire,

which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which

kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.

-Washington Irving

please follow the link for some inspiration

The Milkman

The other day we had Joey's friend, Dustin, over for dinner. He's in town for a short time doing some pilot training. After spending some time chatting after dinner while the kids were running around the table, Dustin asked Joey and I, "So where did she get that blonde hair from?" Joey and I thought for a second and began to spit out our usual answer, which usually includes a rundown of our blonde genetics. Before we could get much out, Georgie answered, "From the milkman."

Needless to say, we laughed for quite a while. I know I've given that answer before but not very often...and I definitely wasn't aware that Georgie was listening. But they hear everything, don't they! I guess of all the, "from Mimi, Gaga, Bryant, Aunt Kathy, " etc. answers, she liked the milkman one the best. So do I, Georgie, so do I!

still a sucess

Kindergarten still seams to be going well for our little Isaac. He comes home looking like he's just climbed a mountain! He's completely beat from all that thinking. It was hard to get him going at 7 am this morning...he attempted playing hooky but I'm sharp;) I caught on to that one! This all day school business is tough. The poor little guy has no idea what he is in for. But neither did I. I miss him. I miss him more than I ever thought I would. And when I picked Georgie up from Lisa's today she cried her little eyes our for at least 10 minutes. She just kept saying over and over again, "I don't want to go home." I think it's safe to say that she misses him too. Home is not the same without him. We feel lonely. I didn't realize what a LIFE he was to my life!!...what a presence. But I'll get used to it. And I know that this is good for him. He needs to be busy and he needs to be with another teacher {other than me}. And at the same time, I'm getting to know Georgie on her own. She's a different little girl when Isaac is not around. She talks to me as if we were the same age...meaning as if she's 29, not that I'm a fellow 3 year old. It's hilarious. So, life goes on and my hope is that it just keeps getting better, or at least keeps making me better. So here's to change! Taking it one day at a time.

Isaac starts KINDERGARTEN!!

The day all started with the sound of an early alarm clock. It seems that this is to be part of our daily routine now for the next 13 years, at least. I could cry about that almost as much as sending my first off to kindergarten! The first words out of his mouth were, "I don't want to go to school, Mommy, I'm scared." He had said something to this effect off and on since the beginning of summer so I wasn't completely surprised. I just listened and proceeded to encourage him to get dressed. He repeated the phrase again a few times but never resisted getting ready. We listened to Smile, Smile, Smile by Dan Zanes a few times and talked about how it fit the day ahead. He smiled.

He requested that we walk him in and again repeated that he was scared. This time I told him that he needed to go to school because there might be some other kids there that are lonely or scared and he needed to help them. He also needed to help his teacher by being a good example for his class He was quick to correct me. "Mom, that's not why I NEED to go to school. We don't go to school to help, Mom, we go to school to LEARN," he articulated VERY clearly in an exasperated tone. I just laughed.

Not long after getting to the school, we saw the consistent bright thought for him about Sunset elementary...Maile would be there! He greeted her with a hug, just like we'd talked about in our role playing game during Family Night last night.

Here's a shot of his classroom and teacher, at his left.

She seems like she's going to be GREAT! Mrs. Madl is her name!

Even though this picture is quite fuzzy I simply had to post it because it tells a very cute and sentimental story. This morning, after Isaac was all dressed and had expressed some reluctance to go to school, I kissed the inside of his palm. I told him that it would be there all day and that if he felt sad or lonely he could squeeze his hand three times {our secret hand holding code for "I love you"} and I would be there for him. He could squeeze his hand against his cheek and feel me kiss it or wrap it around his chest for a mommy squeeze. He grinned from ear to ear about this idea...it was working! Later, on our drive to school he asked me to kiss the other palm. I did and then told him that he could put both his hands on his cheeks for a huggy kiss from Mom! I'd somewhat forgotten all about this once he got into class and I went to wave goodbye and go. Just as I left I came back for a sneak peek to see how he was doing. I saw him sitting there, like a little lost lamb, with two palms pushing into each side of his face. At this point the tears really seemed to start knocking! But I was saved by a thought of panic!!.."get a picture!" By the time I pulled the camera to eye level he'd already pulled his hands down. I got his attention and showed him with my hands what I wanted him to do. He gave it to me, instantly, with a confident, sincere smile. I love you Isaac boy! I am so excited for the great life ahead of you! And I can't wait to smile, smile, smile when I see your face this afternoon...at 2:55! We'll post a re-cap of your day then!

"Private Date" with Isaac

To celebrate his last full day as a preschooler Isaac and I spent some quality one on one time together. I let him plan our day...over and over again;)

We started out with a plan to hit up the park, head for the library, get lunch on base and then go to the swimming pool. When it became clear to him that he wanted to go to McDonalds for lunch he decided that he would rather play on the playground than go to the pool. So we spent the day, traipsing around Altus in our swimsuits...just for fun!

Thanks, Isaac, for spending the day with me. It was great to soak you up, just you, for a full 6 hours! xoxox, Mom