Okay, here it is. LaNita has finally put up a post. No, pigs aren't flying....and no, H*ll didn't freeze over. Yes, I did just finally get up off my tush and do it.

Starting with the top and moving down in no particular order are some of the fun folks I work with at Wal-Mart. Not all of them were happy to have their picture taken, so I apologize for any bluriness in the photos.

This is Sue; she works in the back and processes all of the packages that come through via UPS or FedEx. she's super nice and calls everyone sugar.

This here was a stroke of luck. I had no idea that all of them were in here at the same time. Starting from the left is AM Lorenzo, Casey, Personel manager Sally, and Ebony. They do work hard, don't they?

Door Greeter Malinda is next and she is probably Dallas's favorite person. He always insists on stopping to give her a hug, and of course get a sticker.

Alice in HBA, relaxing in the break-room, playing a game on her brand new iphone.

Melissa is my next-door neighbor over in the deli. She is always willing to come over and "see" what cake we're working on, although she usually manages to walk away with a little bit of frosting having magically made it onto her fingers.

The handsome fella is Mike in produce on our other side. He wears this sweatshirt and hat every single day and his favorite pastime is to leave rubber snakes in the bakery for us to find.

This is also Mike in produce. Usually specified by being called Big Mike, being as he's...you guessed it, Big!Jennifer was kinda stressed when i caught her, she isn't usually this grumpy looking. But she has a wicked sense of humor; unfortunately we don't get to see all that often anymore because she was moved from deli to manager, and her new duties keep her pretty busy.


The rest of these are of some of my cakes. I meant to take more, but everytime I thought about it, I'd already written a name on it, and I didn't want any problems with that kinda thing.
So here's the several pictures of some of my work. Next time I'll get a good cake in, one that is more than borders and writing.

On a more familial note, Josh is still working his business, enjoying all the challenges that it brings, and glorying in the expansions we've managed in the last month or so. Dallas is growing up, if not out, and we're seeing more sock at the end of his pants than we used to. He's also learning at his father's knee. I mean it literally, as Josh is using some of his spare time to teach Dallas to drive. Yes, Josh is actually in control of the pedals, but Dallas can now successfully steer from Aunt Sarah's house to ours, with Josh only applying the gas and the brake. Complete and correct turns are executed with verbal explanations of which way he is turning and how far there is to go, both during the day and at night. Not long now, and he'll be legal to do it, too.

Mmmm, well, dinner calls my name, and my Bug is anxious to play outside afterwards,

Pic of the Day

The perfect end to any day: chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk. (Tastes especially good when hubby went to bed before you even started making them, and you get them all to yourself [mischievous snicker].)

Toddler Ingenuity

They could do anything if they had the right size chairs!

The flowers that bloom in the spring!

The heavenly scent of roses has been wafting past my front door for a week at least, and only now have I finally shared them!

Don't Bother me...I'm Eating!

Caught with the Cleaner

Hearing a clatter in the kitchen, I peaked in and found Dallas rifling through my cleaning supplies. Fortunately, none of them contained any bleach.

...Just the Cowboy in me

Here they are: all of Dallas' cowboy blankets. G'ma Reid's arrived a few days ago, and I had to take a picture of them together. The red one is denim on the other side, and was made by his Great-great Aunt Linda. The light blue with boots and cacti was made by his Great-Grandma Danes. And the Boots Quilt was by G'ma Reid. Dallas loves hauling blankets around, and especially likes to have them draped over his head so he can run around like a ghost and "scare" people:)

Pic of the Day

Oops! I forgot to post a pic of this when I took it. This is our deck, we made it out of the boards Chris and Laurie took off of their deck when they resurfaced it. Laurie thought we might want to use them, instead of throwing them away, and I jumped on it. I have been very pleased with myself the last few weeks, being able to sit at my own deck, on my own chairs. Now all I need to do is wash it down...

Pic of the Day

While I was folding laundry on the bed, Dallas investigated the open dryer. He's never tried it before, but he really enjoyed climbing in and out over and over again.

Pic of the Day

The normal babble had been coming from Dallas' room to wake me up. On this occasion, as you can see, he was not in his crib. He was not very concerned about where he was, but he made it clear he wanted down. I made sure I got a pic of it first. And then promptly rearranged his bedroom.

Pic of the Day

Dallas was so cute, and I couldn't resist the setting.

Pic of the Day #7

Dallas' room. Looks pretty normal, right? Bed, dresser/changing table/window...But, until today, the window did not have curtains. That's right!! I finally finished them! Mom left me the fabric when she came to take care of me after Dallas was born, and now we finally have a window, just for him, that I can cover it with. You can't see it, because I didn't take the greatest picture, but the top is made of loops instead of the traditional hide-the-entire-ugly-bar, and the loops match the pretty red trim that can just barely be seen at the bottom of the curtains. Is it terribly obvious that I'm proud of this?:p I'm putting my sewing machine to good use (now that I've unpacked it from the box) and I have grand intentions of making lots more stuff...we'll see how it goes.

Pic of the Day #6

I have been dreadfully remiss in my duty to keep my beloved family informed of my little boy's antics and health. I beg forgiveness from you all with an update following.

Dallas has taken a liking to Funny Color Foam Soap, and refuses to take a bath without it. I've bought quite a store of it now, and this time he's covered, as you can see, in "Orange you Glad" foam.

With the return of warm days, Dallas has enjoyed his shorts and bare feet, and runs all over the yard playing with his dump trucks and tennis balls.
Just yesterday, while Josh and I worked on building a wall, Dallas climbed on top of the riding lawn mower and the tractor. His fearlessness scares me something aweful every time he displays it.

Here, then, is the conclusion to a rather long Pic of the Day entry.

Pic of the Day #5

By all rights, I shoud have posted this yesterday, but Dallas wouldn't let me touch it. While I was getting ready for Stake Conference (doing my hair, actually), Dallas picked up the iron. I'm not sure you can see it, but he burned from underneath his thumb all the way up his fore finger. It's all blistered over, and today he let me touch his hand so that I could see if it needed any extra attention. It appears to be healing well, though, despite the fact that he's been trying to chew on that particular finger since yesterday.

Pic of the Day #4

Apologies to all for not posting a picture every day. We've had the sickies here, and it's all I can do to get food cooked and jeans enough for Josh to wear.

I have not taken a pic from inside my house, because it's trashed from everything else. Instead, I chose to capture the puddle just off the deck. It's been raining for several hours, it's just above freezing, and this looked like a mini-disaster, which is kinda how I felt after this long week.

Pic of the Day #3

Once upon a time, there was a brand-new pair of khakis. They were happy and clean, and went to exciting places like Olive Garden, and Church, and Family Dinners. Then one day, the busy man who wore the khakis, took them to work. The End.

Josh came home today looking like this. He told me he'd had to work in the fuel tank of an airplane all day, thus bringing about the ultimate ruining of this once-good-looking pair of pants.

Dallas got a hair cut!!! I spiked it this morning, and here he is, looking all kinds of handsome:)

Pic of the day #1

Okay, this is embarrassing. There I was making breakfast, and when I went to put away the butter, it slipped and landed in the waffle batter!! AHHH!!! Why do these things happen to me?

WOW, I have not written in so long, I have no idea what to start with now.

I suppose we can start with how excited we've been to watch Dallas work on his motor skills. He runs and plays, and now he can even climb. He has recently discovered that the couch is within his reach, therefore nothing is safe.

We went out for a long evening on Halloween, walking a single square mile, perhaps, with another couple and their little girl. Dallas ended up getting so much candy I had to seperate the chocolate out into a seperate jar in order for the gummies and smarties and such fit into one gallon jug! He likes to pick out his own candy after dinner, but he usually ends up choosing a sucker, and promptly gets it all in his hair. However, bathing prevails, and I always manage to tuck him in bed with soft hair and no sticky fingers.

Josh and I have already done most of our Christmas shopping, and I can't wait for Christmas morning before Dallas wakes up and we get to set up all the new toys for him to play with. I promise to have the camera ready to take pictures of his face when the lights come up.

Dallas is at that wonderful stage when he offers everything of his to you, and expects you not to take away something that is very clearly Daddy's (like the flashdrive, or permenant markers, or the remote). His favorite thing to offer is his breakfast; every morning when he is about 3/4 the way done, he holds out a portion of whatever he's eating to me. Now I always say "no, you eat it", but he still does it every day. One of his favorite things to eat is waffles, he loves them; he'll eat pancakes, and every now and then I can convince him to have hash browns, but he prefers waffles above all else.

Buggin also loves the outdoors, and would play on our patio all day, but as the weather is turning cooler, I can't let him leave our door open all the time. But we do go out to any of the parks nearby, and he plays on the swings, and has leaned the joys of going down the slide head first. Unfortunately, the last time we went out, Dallas tripped over his shoes and scraped his lip; he only cried for a couple of minutes, but the scrape has been the recipient of many comments ranging from "poor baby" to "how did he get a cold sore?", very frustrating. He seems not to notice it, however, and goes about tearing up the house without a single thought to his "battle wound".

We had another little scare with Dallas only last night. He was feeling a little warm so I took his temperature and found it was 99. I wasn't particularely worried because he is cutting a tooth in the back, and I know it isn't uncommon for kids to run a fever while cutting. But then I took it a couple hours later after a bath and dinner, and he was up to 101.2. At this point I was worried and called Josh, who came straight home, having the only vehicle. So we sat up most of the night worrying about Dallas' fever, and it broke this morning at around 5 0'clock. I learned a very important lesson from it all: Josh may be a horrible patient when he's sick, but he is even more difficult when he's worrying about Dallas.

Hello All!!

I haven't been that great about keeping this up, mostly because my digital camera is missing.....anyway, I did manage to take some pictures before it dissappeared, and I wanted to share them all with you!!

Love you all,

LaNita