Today is Violet's 2nd Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to my little Violet Rose! You are my last baby and I have cherished every moment of your life, from the time I found out you were in my tummy until this very day! You are my "Mini-Me" in so many ways and I know as you grow older, you will hear this a lot and probably grow tired of the comment, but know that this is what makes you special. You bring your father and I such joy each day (as do your brother and sisters). It's so fun to see how excited you get about your day. You look at everything with such joy and we love watching you explore your world with excitement.

The love you have for your bother and sister is heartwarming and contagious. I love it when you hug your sister as if she has been gone forever, when she may have only been in dance class for 20 minutes. I love that you are proud of her when you see her performing or through the window at her dance classes. You always cheer her on with such passion, clapping your hands and squeeling with delight. I know your brother loves that you love him so much, that you can't stand to have him out of your sight. It's so adorable to watch you run to him each time he comes through the front door, with your open arms and "Joe! Joe!" He loves your hugs and kisses too!

Violet, we are so happy that you are 2 years old today! While that may be a typical "Terrible Two" stage in most toddler's lives, it may not be for you! You have your little moments, but for 95% of the time you are the giver, lover, caretaker of this family. You are the smiley face on our family crest!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR VIOLET!

Change, Hope, Community... Yes We Can!

The new President of the United States was sworn in yesterday. YEAH!!!! What a beautiful ceremony and induction. Having only been alive a little over 41 years, of all the Presidential Inaugurations I have seen, this is the one I will remember. I am still reliving the moments in my head today. I am so proud to be an American and to have been able to witness true, peaceful Democracy in a country of bother(sister)hood.

It was so awesome to see all the multitudes of people attending the Inauguration. What a beautiful day and beautiful sight! So I chose this picture for my blog post, because of how much it touched me so much. What a day to remember! I was fortunate enough to see it as it happened.

I have to put this one little tid bit into my blog. Of all the guests that performed or spoke at the Inauguration, I LOVED Rev. Lowery! Was he not the cutest little old guy you ever saw! What color and humor he put into a fun rhyme at the end of his speech. Something that children everywhere could understand and remember for their years to come! It was great to see President Obama smile and chuckle at this speaker too! Reverend Lowery: Amen! Amen! Amen!

My funny husband has been asking me every hour since the "Swearing-In"; "Has the Economy changed yet?" I am sure many are expecting instant Miracles of this new President. I am more realistic than that. It's going to take more than just a New President to change the economy. I do wish President Obama the best of luck in his new job! He has a tough road ahead of him and I have faith that he is up to the challenges before him.

Congratulations President Barack Hussein Obama!

God Bless America!

Staying Connected in the After Life?

I am getting a chuckle out of this story I found on John Tesh's site. Oh, yes! I am a krazy Tesh Fan! Mostly because his stories like this one make me smile!

So, will I be going to my grave one day with a Cell Phone, PDA or iPod? Maybe? I will need some way to update my status on Facebook, LOL! :-)

New Year, New Changes... I hope!

Happy New Year 2009! We woke up in California today to a warm sunny day with birds chirping and kids outside playing... it was great! My husband decided to mow and thatch the lawn and give it a fresh new start to the year. I spent my day cleaning blinds, windows, floors and room out to make space for a classroom set up in our home. That's all.

I am very excited to start my son's new year off with having at home doing independent studies. My husband and I spent our last two weeks of his vacation time researching, purchasing and planning our son's High School curriculum. Now to implementation phase!

January and February will be Lilly's last months at Pre-school, she would like to focus more on Dance Classes and trade places with her sister Violet at home. We are cool with that. So Violet will take Lilly's place at pre-school in March. Lilly want's to take Hip-hop, tap and ballet classes.

Violet is learning to put her words into sentences now and is proud of herself each time she does it. We are too! Being the youngest, she has learned to make sure the others know she is there and that she can't be pushed around. She really loves her sister and looks up to her. We have some adorable pictures of her hugging Lilly every chance she gets.

Chris has been enjoying his time off and being the Principal of our new home school. But, secretly I think he desires to get back on the road and to work again, just to get a break from the kraziness of our family life.

I continue to focus on being as good of a stay-at-home mom as I can, while trying to earn a little extra money creating websites and internet marketing tools for my clients. My work with the local community pantry has also taken some new turns for the coming year, as they need more of my help these days and I really get a satisfaction out of giving my time to them.

My other hope for the new year is to figure out what to do with the house we are in, sell it, rent it.... I don't know, but this is the year for us to just get of here and move on with our goals, hopes and dreams!