Little Slide Show

Some pics I played around with...Click on the little arrow in the center if it doesn't start...

Florida Vacation

I'm finally getting around to posting about our vacation. Mom, Zoie and I were very lucky to be able to spend a relaxing week on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale at the end of May. With hindsight being 20/20 as they say, I'm so glad we were able to take this trip as we might not get to go on another trip like this for some time. While it was pretty hot in Florida, it was still awesome! We really just hung around the pool, hotel & beach...and we did take a one day excursion to visit a place called Butterfly World, which was awesome. Zoie loved all of it! She kept wanting to go to the beach and swim in the ocean & pool. In the evenings when we would walk to restaurants, she loved hearing all the different kinds of music playing from the different places! She would laugh and dance...she also loved flying on the planes there and back. It also rained the last day we were there...in all the trips I've taken, this was the first rain storm I can remember anywhere and it was there & gone in no time, but it left an impact! Here are some collages I made because I took SO many photos (I know, that's a shock)!!

And It's Back to the Drawing Board!

So, remember back in October when I mentioned that I had gotten this great new job that allowed me to work from home and to work with the software that I like? Well, on June 2, my position with that company was terminated effective immediately - workforce reduction due to the horrible economy.

I am doing surprisingly well, with my main concern being for Zoie. But we are blessed that we have a roof over our heads (via Mom!) and things could be much worse. I'm definitely not the only one that is in this situation as more and more people are finding themselves without work. I'm trying to stay positive about the whole thing...I really believe things happen for a reason!! I have faith that God will take care of us...and we're praying for all those affected by similar situations as well as the victims of the recent severe storms/tornados around here.

There will still be the cute pics of Zoie on here when I can as well as the exciting saga of my job hunting experiences...I know, you can hardly wait! LOL

Stay tuned.......

Bicycles and Summer Play

One day down the street we noticed a little girl's bike out by the curb for the trash folks to pick up so I went and got it. We gave it a good check up and it just appeared to need a good cleaning up and some basic maintenance, which it got thanks to Pop-pop Jim. Some other neighbors had a spare set of training wheels they let us have and I found a toddler bike helmet on Freecyle...and here is the result:


We've also been enjoying time outside in general and I just thought I'd post a few pics of us (or Zoie, rather) playing...

~The String Beans!~

If you've never heard of them or aren't from Nebraska you might think they're just another veggie...but these String Beans are a local musical group who write and sing children's music. They're really a lot of fun and are great with the kids...our local public libraries had them play in different locations to kick off the summer reading program so I took Zoie to a couple of the events. The first one was on Sunday (6/1/08) and Lindsay went with us. Zoie really got into the music and loved dancing around with the other kids.


The very next day they had another show at another library and we also attended that one but this time Grandma joined us. The 'Beans' usually have space right in front of where they play to let kids dance and they give 1 or 2 kids a poster after each song for being such great dancers. Well, this night, Zoie had the honor of winning a poster for being the best sound check dancer! She was very excited! And, not only did she get a poster...so did Grandma!! One of the guys was goofing with mom during a song so he gave her a poster...leave it to Lucy! :) Afterwards they both got their posters signed by the guys.


More about the String Beans:
http://www.thestringbeans.net/
and see one of their videos at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib6df6MeZCI or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttPE_l2Y5LU&NR=1

Old Friends, New Kids

When I had Zoie, I was living in Texas...five weeks before Zoie was born, my friend, Amy, also had a baby girl and then moved from Nebraska to Colorado...and back here in Nebraska, my other friend, Wendy, would soon be finding out that she, too, was going to join the ranks of motherhood. We were all so excited to be having children around the same time - but here we all were in 3 different states!! Not what we imagined once we all (sorta) settled down and embarked on our journeys of domesticity! Well, as we all know, I ended up moving back to Nebraska when Zoie was about 6 months old...just in time to be here when Wendy had lil' PCJ a month before Zoie turned 1. So, Ms. Amy was the one holdout (not on purpose, of course)...well, no longer! She and her husband and daughter moved back to Lincoln and we all finally got together with our kids! It was a little surreal, but truly awesome. I have a few other friends around my age who either just had children before I had Zoie or shortly after. And here I was worried that none of my friends would have kids around Zoie's age! Life can be pretty cool sometimes!


From L to R: Heather w/ Zoie, Wendy w/ Marty & Amy w/ Sawyer


Sawyer, PCJ (Marty) and Zoie in Marty's cool wagon...

Pomp & Circumstance...and SNOW?!?!

Our family had yet another milestone reached...the first of the next generation, Mitchell, has graduated from high school!! Wahh!!! Mom was at my brother's for a few days prior to help get things ready then Zoie & I came along the Thursday before and then things really got rolling - decorating, cooking, stressing out...all the good stuff that comes with these kinds of events! Ha! And, yes, in true Nebraska fashion - there was SNOW flurries the day of his graduation in May! That is one way to have a memorable occasion made even more so!

We're all so very proud of Mitchell...he earned and received I think like 10 or 11 scholarships! I know he'll be a success at whatever he does...he's a very driven young man with an excellent work ethic and he's also an all-around good guy!

Here he is receiving an award at the Jr-Sr High School assembly...

This is the table he made out of car & other parts that he won an award on...

Zoie got all tuckered out over the excitement!

My 3 very handsome nephews!!