Avery was tagged!

Who knew that I'd have to share blogspace with my 2-year-old daughter?!?!
This morning, dear Avery was "tagged" by her buddy Adam (via his mom, my buddy Trish).

So, here goes.

3 Things that scare me: Lizzie, the evil min pin, when I try to take food from her and she growls at me; a mouse (she answered this one herself! lol); we can't think of a third one (guess she's not a very "scared" kid!)

3 People that make me laugh: My brother; my daddy; my grandma

3 Things that I love: My Bear; my juicey cup; SHOES

3 Things that I hate: Having my hair washed; pooping on the potty; going to bed at night

3 Things that I don’t understand: Why sleep is necessary; why it matters which foot I put my shoes on; why my brother doesn't like to share his toys with me

3 Things on my floor: Clothes that I pulled out of my dresser; my Little People toys; books

3 Things I am doing right now: Driving my mother crazy; fighting with my brother; watching Nickelodeon

3 Things I can do: Count to ten; pee in the potty all day; dress myself

3 Things I can’t do: Undo my carseat buckle; sit still for more than 5 minutes; match my clothes

3 Ways to describe my personality: Friendly; talkative; happy, for the most part!

3 Things I think you should listen to: Honkytonkbadonkadonk; Kidz Bop; the Elmo song

3 Things that I think you should never listen to: Mommy yelling at me when I'm bad; that evil min pin barking when I'm trying to sleep; anyone telling me "No!"

3 Absolute favorite foods: Chicken nuggets; green beans; Ramen noodles

3 Things I liked to learn: How to talk; how to climb out of the car by myself; how to swing

3 Beverages I drink regularly: Apple juice; Kool Aid; Bug Juice

3 Shows I watch: Wonder Pets; Lazy Town; Sponge Bob

3 Kids Avery Tags: Brianna, Holden, Parker

...in other words

I decided to try something new here.
My blog has recently turned into a "picture blog," which I love sharing with family and friends, but I'd like to try to write more on here... you know, those random, meaningless thoughts that bounce around in my head from time to time.

So, I found this Tuesday meme called ...in other words, and I figured I'd give it a shot. Basically, every Tuesday, a new quote is posted... I'll post it here on my blog and you'll be lucky enough to find out what it inspires in me. I've always been a quote-a-holic, so this seems like it'll be right up my alley. Click on the link above and join me, if you're so inclined!

Without further ado, today's quote is:

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh. -- W. H. Auden

First of all, I found it very coincidental that my friend Maria had just posted an entry on her blog yesterday about sharing laughs with her husband. Neat, huh?

After I got over that, this quote immediately made me think of three members of my family: my mom, my grandma, and my brother. The four of us have always shared something... we refer to it as a "sense of the ridiculous."

It doesn't happen very often, but when all of us, or even two or three out of four of us, get together, you can bet that at some point we will erupt into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, over something ridiculous... and probably NOT the slightest bit funny to anyone else.

Others who have joined our family, by marriage or other association, either come to appreciate our sense of the ridiculous, or they're completely baffled by it. For example: my sister-in-law Heather has been around long enough (13 years now, I think!) that she seems to "get us" and she has no problem laughing along with us; my dear husband, who has been around for 6+ years still seems a little "lost" when he's in our company... he usually just grins and bears it; my mom's ex-husband, Brian---totally clueless... he used to tell my mom that he felt intimidated when we all got together and talked so fast and erupted into laughter over nothing in particular. Poor guy.

I could list some examples that always stand out in my memory and still cause me to laugh when I think about them today... but, chances are, you wouldn't "get it." Just in case any of my ridiculous crew are reading this, though, I'll mention a few: the Southern States incident (my all-time fave), my 4th grade band concert, and the day we went outlet shopping.

Suffice it to say that I 100% agree with this week's quote. I think that every family/group of friends/married couple, etc. has their own version of our sense of the ridiculous. When I am among Nick's family, I can tell that they, too, share their own kind of humor... I'm not sure I "get it" all of the time, but I appreciate that they do. My dad is one of the funniest people I've ever known. And when we're with his siblings, it's always a laugh-fest; one that other families probably wouldn't "get," either.

So, to all of my loved ones out there... ridiculous or not, thanks for making me laugh!

Celebrating 80 Years

My dear Gram turned 80 last Saturday.

Our family celebrated by getting together at a nice restaurant in town for a semi-surprise dinner for her. Those in attendance were my Gram and her husband Cliff, my mom, Nick, me and our kids, and my sister-in-law and her three girls.

I was the official photographer for the event and got loads of fab pics of the family.

See for yourself:

Gram and Cliff

Gram and meGram and her gift from Mom--a portrait of her five great-grandchildren.

Avery and Grandma

Sarah, my brother's oldest daughter, and GramAvery (she liked the cake!)

Damon and Rachel, my brother's second daughter.

Heather, my sister-in-law, and Gram

Uncle Nick and Samantha, my brother's latest addition.

An Overdue Post

Once again, I've fallen behind on posting on my beloved blog...

I don't have much of an excuse, except that things have been kinda crazy around here with Nick home. However, he started a new job today, so life should return to semi-normal and I can resume my sick obsession with all things Internet.

So, anyway, here are some recent pics that I've been withholding... Enjoy!

First, a pic of my kids and my brother's three girls. We took them all to the mall last weekend to have a group picture professionally taken. After the photo session, I took this candid shot of them playing, and it was my favorite of the day!

Here's Damon enjoying his new slide/pool/swingset in our backyard:

And, Avery cleaning it:

I'll end with a pic of Avery in my favorite state... sound asleep! Isn't she sweet???

Post-Vacation Post

We're back and almost fully recovered from our Vacation Week.

We spent seven WONDERFUL days in Kill Devil Hills, NC at a gorgeous beach house that Nick's mom rented for all of us for the week.

Below are a few pics from last week. I have oodles more and will probably make a few more posts at a later date.

Vacation is a great thing, but coming home is downright depressing!! Lucky for us, Nick's mom has already re-booked the house for next July, so I'm already counting down the days 'til July of 2007!!

Thanks for everything, Chris. The week meant more to us than you know! Can't wait to do it again.

Family Photo

Our goal for the week was to get a "group shot" of all of us... well, it almost happened.

Here's a pic of our whole group, minus Nick's mom, who was taking the picture.

From left to right: AJ and Amber (Nick's brother and his fiancee), Avery, Nick, Me, and Damon.

And where are we standing, you ask?? One day we drove to Corolla, NC... a little town on the WAY North end of the Barrier Islands, where you can drive out on the beach. It was a rainy, cold day, but we had a good time nonetheless. As soon as we got there, Nick and AJ started digging in the sand. I asked Nick, "What exactly are you doing??" His response: "Digging a big *bleep*ing hole!" And dig they did. Here are some photos of the fools digging:

Right before the tide came in and soaked us, we all managed to climb in the hole and get a group shot.

Next year, we'll have a camera with a timer OR a third person available to take a REAL group shot, Grandma included.

4th of July

We spent a very memorable Fourth of July in the Outer Banks of North Carolina this year.

Everyone walked out to the beach, where we saw two huge fireworks displays put on by the towns to the North and South of us... we didn't know which way to turn our heads!!

Then, after the "big shows" were over, several groups of people put on "private" fireworks displays on the beach, including my husband, brother-in-law, and their cousins. I thought for sure someone was going to lose a hand or a foot, or something important... but they did a great job!

Here are some pics of Damon and his sparklers... Grandma Chris helped him light them on the beach and he was in heaven!!