Lily's first plane ride! She was so excited and kept wanting to make sure she did everything right. When she got to her seat I heard her say to the flight attendant, "Excuse me....." very sweetly. "Do I need to put this up there?". When she got her answer she softly said, "Ok, thank you:)"

Kentucky Derby Party

We have never been horse fans. I knew pretty little about horse races except to have heard of Secretariat, but who hasn't.

But, Lily has loved horses her whole life. She has been collecting them for many years, has several beautiful books about horses, and this year started horseback riding lessons! She is in love.

So last week I was watching the TODAY show and they talked about the Kentucky Derby coming up that weekend. I was inspired! We should have a Kentucky Derby party.

To GOOGLE I went. Most of the parties were for adults and involved mint juleps. But we were able to come up with our own ingredients for a fun fun fun Kentucky Derby party!! Big hats, included!!

Go, Lily, Go

Lily, Emma, and Sarah Beth went on a bike ride today.  They were so excited and headed off in the direction of Mrs. Gwen's house.  Lily was really motivated!  :)

When they headed home they were paying close attention and soon it started to rain....hard.  I didn't realize it was raining until Emma came bursting in the door....soaking wet.  She had left Sarah Beth and Lily in an effort to get home quickly.  She thought they yelled for her, but she wasn't sure and she wasn't stopping!  We waited and watched for her sisters and then started calling to see where they were.  Soon we saw them come into view out at Maplewood Drive.  Sarah Beth got inside first and was totally soaked.  She said Lily kept stopping and crying for Mama.  :(  Then Lily came in and was drenched.  She came to me for a hug and I told her how proud I was that she kept going and that she did it!!!  Now go get a bath.

After her bath, Lily came in for a hug and whispered that she had told herself while they were riding that she could do this.  "Actually, I told myself, I won't be a wimp!", she said.

No wimps in this house!  haha.

71 and counting................

Ok, today it has been a year exactly since I had lap-band surgery.  I have officially lost 71 pounds!!  I am so thankful that I was able to have this surgery and that it is working for me.  I have changed so many aspects of my eating as a result.  It has been a wonderful blessing to me.  Recently I have started tracking what I eat on an app on my phone and I think it will help me get the next 24 pounds off.

We have had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season around here.  It was so great to be able to talk to Taylor on Skype and to have the other kids all home.  I sure love my family.  We have such a good time together and they are all so supportive of each other.  Boy that sure does warm my heart to see.  THAT is the very best Christmas gift I could ever receive.

Just needed to express my gratitude real quick.  Maybe I'll post some more soon!!

Andrea