Enough Pictures to Make Your Computer Freeze

Friday evening after everyone got home from work, we took pictures of Kate and Cousin Kennedy in their Easter dresses.

They had fun running in the field while we chased them like mad women with cameras hanging from our necks.

I love this picture because it is sooooo Kate!

After our little photo shoot we had Kennedy over to dye Easter eggs. It was a pretty quick process as I only bought the dye kit that involved color tablets and stickers. The girls loved it! Kate's eggs were almost dry when she decided to dip them all again, and not in the same colors that they were originally colored. My inner OCD almost got the best of me, but I decided to just relax and let her do her thing. They turned out great and we've since taken them in and out of the fridge about 27 times for her to reposition all of the stickers.

On Saturday we went to our church's Easter egg hunt, which was held at one of our member's family farm. They had a petting zoo, a hayride, and of course the egg hunt. Did I mention they had llamas?

Not. even. kidding.

Here's a picture of Kate with one of her most favorite nursery gals, Miss Halee.

Kate managed to lose her shoe midway through the hayride. We had to yell up to the driver and get him to stop so they we could search for her shoe, which happened to fall off right in the middle of a hayfield....covered in cow piles. Luckily we found her shoe (minus animal droppings) and the hayride continued. If a shoe was going to get lost, it was going to be Kate's. She's also the only one who insisted on standing the entire time.

Here she is, doing her thing.

Giving cousin Sara Gale some love

To pick up or not to pick up, that is the question.

Later that afternoon M to the Izz-A and I took Kate to see Disney In Spandex On Ice. I wasn't sure how long she would sit and watch it or if she would even enjoy it, but I had high hopes. She ended up loving it. Mickey was her favorite and she thought it was the coolest thing when he waved at her.

Did she love it or did she love it?!

The J-Lo's and Kim Kardashian's of the animal world. Can you say junk in the trizzunk?!

After the show we went to have dinner at Ben and Kristin's, along with our friends Jobeth, Clay, Reese.

On the ride home Kate's dress got a bit wet (Will they ever make a truly leak-proof diaper??) and we had to borrow some clothes from Kristin. Kate took it upon herself to borrow more than just an outfit. She wore the helmet most of the night, even when she went inside to eat.

The girl has a fashion sense like no other.



And today after church we managed to get a family Easter picture.

I hope everyone had a great Easter!

Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

by: Charles Wesley

Christ, the Lord, is risen today; Alleluia! Sons of men and Angels sing Alleluia! Raise Your Joys and Triumphs High Alleluia! Sing ye Heavens and Earth reply Alleluia!
Lives again our Glorious King Alleluia! Where O death is now thy sting Alleluia! Once He died our souls to save Alleluia! Where's the victory boasting grave Alleluia!
Love's redeeming work is done Alleluia! Fought the fight, the battle won Alleluia! Death in vain forbids Him rise Alleluia! Christ hath opened Paradise Alleluia!
Soar we now where Christ has led Alleluia! Following our exalted Head Alleluia! Made like Him, like Him we rise Alleluia! Ours the Cross, the grave the skies Alleluia!

Palm Sunday

Last week for Palm Sunday our church's nursery started our worship service by waving palm branches.

I don't know who was sportin' the bigger 'proud face', her or me.

I love that girl.

It was then that I started my labor breathing

Let it be known that one should never take on a full flight of wooden stairs in fluffy socks.


Last night as I headed downstairs to 'shut the house down' if you will, I managed to make it three-fourths of the way down before I lost complete control of my feet-to-stair traction and fell the rest of the way. It had nothing to do with the fact that I was ticked to notice that there were dishes still in the sink and everything to do with the fact that my purple fluffy bedsocks (a real word in my household) got the best of me. (The ones that say 'Hottie' on the side of them because my mom bought them for me by mistake thinking that they said 'Hollie'.)


My tailbone and forearms took the brunt of the fall. The only thing I remember is falling and then feeling the pain of the impact. After that, I got nothing.


M to the Izz-A said that I immediately started what could only be described as 'labor breathing'. Whooo whoo heeee, whooo whooo heeee!

All of this is from Matt, since I do not remember any of it past the fall itself. He carried me to the recliner and said that I told him that I felt like I was going to pass out. Cue me some Boston's "More than a Feeling" here, because that's exactly what it was, more than a feeling. I passed out. TKO'd. Basically, the stairs and I battled it out head to head and the stairs won.


Fortunately he said is was only for a few seconds. I'm fine though, just a sore tailbone and bruised forearms. Never underestimate the power of a couple of stairs. Let's just say that those two wooden slats showed me who was boss.

The pain factor on a scale of 1-10: an easy 9
The hilarity of it all: off the charts



Bottom line - 1)Just because you wear Hottie socks and pretend that they say Hollie doesn't make you graceful. 2)Labor breathing comes in handy in a plethora of situations.

Wordless Wednesday

Weekend Wrap-Up

My granny has had a sign hanging in her kitchen for as long as I can remember that reads: Good Bread, Good Meat, Good Gosh Let's Eat. I've always loved that sign and I'd say that it pretty much sums up our weekend.

We had a great weekend, not so much because of what we did, but more because of the company we kept.

Saturday night we went out to eat with one of my most favorite couples, K-Bo and Jeremy. The guys aren't that big on pictures. In fact, they'll make fun of us in a heartbeat, so here's Kerri and me, smiling with our best Bloomin' Onion satisfied smile.



Sunday after church we had 'dinner on the grounds'. Everyone in the church brought food and ate together after the morning service. We are so thankful for the church family that God has given us. Kate always has the best time running around with all of the other kids, which lends itself to a wonderfully long afternoon nap. And again I find myself wondering, "Is there any way we can work this dinner on the grounds thing out to be an every Sunday affair?"

Sunday evening we attended a going away party for Matt's cousin John and his family. John recently got a job with the border patrol and will be moving to New Mexico. John is one of those guys that will do anything to help someone. He's worked extremely hard over the past year to earn his new position and I know it'll be a great move for him. At the party we got to spend time with friends and family we don't see on a daily basis.

Matt, John, and Adam (Matt's bro)

Kate and Kennedy

M to the Izz-A's mom, Kennedy, Abbi, Adam, Kate, and me

Cheesin' it up with Granny Mac (She may be one tough cookie but you've never seen her smile so big as when she's with her grandsons. She thinks they hung the moon...and we haven't told her any different!)

The party was held at a friend of the family's (I didn't know them) and it was such a beautiful location, right on the water. The only thing about beautiful trees and landscaping is that sometimes it oversteps its boundaries and leaves you with a little going away present. On the ride home I felt something crawling on my arm and looked down to find what I thought was a small spider. However, upon further extremely quick observation, I realized that it was actually the biggest tick I've ever seen! I of course freaked out and Matt got it off of me as quickly as he could, which is never quick enough. I proceeded to itch and scratch myself all the way home. I went to bed and dreamed amazing tick dreams. Don't get me wrong, I love nature...through a window.

And this last picture, although a little unclear, I'm posting to show you one of the unwanted side effects of spending too much time with Daddy.

Grab it girl!

Ghost of Easter Past

Thank you to everyone for all of your thoughts and prayers for my family during the loss of my grandmother. I am so grateful.

After my last Wordless Wednesday post I knew I'd have some explaining to do. The picture is a bit deceiving. M to the Izz-A did in fact throw Kate up into the air, and while it was higher than I would have liked, it is not as high as it looks. My cousin Ben snapped the pic and because the tree limbs start pretty low on that particular tree, it makes is look as if she's extremely high. Or at least that's the story I keep telling myself. As you can tell, I'm trying to convince myself just as much as I'm trying to convince all of you.

With Easter around the corner, I thought it would be fun to revisit a few Easters photos from way back when. (Fun for you all, not so much me....you'll see why.)

I've always loved Easter. Til this day, I still think of coloring Easter eggs every time I smell vinegar. The eggs, the hunt, the Easter dress, and that annoying fake grass in the bottom of my basket, I love it all. But I have to tell you, when it came to the Easter egg hunt at Grandma's house, most everyone stayed out of my way. I was all business and didn't like losing, although I did... a lot. Not only did I want to win by finding the most eggs, but I also wanted to find the prize egg, which was always one of those egg-shaped containers that Grandma's Leggs Pantyhose (shade: Suntan) came in. Why did people ever think that buying suntan colored pantyhose really made them look like they had a tan?? Did they think that everyone would think that their legs had somehow gotten tanned and that their ivory arms missed the rays? Or that the big seam running across their toes while hanging out of her strappy heels didn't provide a clue?)

Let's take a look at a few Easter photos from the good ole days...the days when Aussie Scrunch Spray ruled and posing came easy.


We'll start out easy (on me). I'm the babe in my mom's arms.

No doubt my dad is the winner in this pic. The perm and the 'stache...well, they speak for themselves. Props to my mom for making her daughters wear their Easter hats, which I think was a requirement for Easter Sunday services back then, and for labeling this photo...with a snippet of notebook paper and tape. And that of course is Sal Gal in the front. The only one who appears to be truly happy. It must be those perfectly straight, blunt cut bangs.

Next is brown on brown. I'd say that 80% of my childhood pictures are brown-tinged. This is me with Sal Gal. As you can see, I had already busted into my chocolate bunny, before the sun came up I'm sure.

Ahhh yes, now we're getting somewhere. Here I am with Big Al....and a lion's mane worth of hair. Last night's bangs obviously still intact, fly backs still flying.




And here I am on a mission. A mission to be the Easter egg hunt champ. Unfortunately I didn't win this particular year and I can only assume it was because my hair weighed more than my body, which totally messed with my speed.

Wow. Really? The toe point, the bangs...and I very well could have benefited from wearing suntan colored pantyhose, over my entire body!

This particular year I chose the nautical/sailor girl look. And I can almost guarantee that I had a brushed out perm in this pic. I think I had a brushed out perm throughout most of my childhood. I'd get a perm and then hate it, and try to brush it out. Needless to say I was unsuccessful in my attempts. And although I used to make fun of Sal Gal and her friends for laying their hair across the ironing board and ironing each other's hair, I'm thinking I should have slapped my head on that board and let them go to town. Thank goodness I couldn't get this pic to zoom in more than this.

I remember taking this picture. Again, with the hair. Why?! This particular year I gave the nautical look to Sal Gal and went for a more flower girl look, hat and all. But I think Big Al wins this one with those bangs (or lack of) . I distinctly remember that she cut them herself. And if you've ever done this, you know there is absolutely nothing you can do to make them look any better. My mom was horrified. Out of three of us, if anyone was going to cut their own bangs, it was Big Al. The same Big Al that while at church one Sunday, walked through the church doors and because the doors closed so quickly it caught the sleeve of her dress in it. Well, instead of opening the door to release her sleeve, she just jerked her arm really hard and ripped off part of her dress and kept walking. Yep, that's Ali in a nutshell.

To post this last pic I had to lay all pride aside. Can you say awkward phase?

I mean, I understand the Easter bunny leaving you Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies. But did he have to leave me his teeth?!! I'd like to give a shout-out to Dr. Geiger and associates for their time and dedication to my grill during the early nineties. Holla!

Here's to hoping that this year's family Easter photo is missing flybacks, bunny teeth, and unibrows.

Wordless Wednesday

Easter Egg Hunt 2008