History

Today is the 68th anniversary of D-Day, the day Allied troups turned the tide of WWII. I saw this picture on CNN's website this morning and couldn't imagine the thoughts that were running through the soldiers minds as they prepared to storm the beaches of France that day.

 

  



The picture also reminded me of my trip to France in 2003. While studying abroad, I was able to visit some of the D-Day beachs and visit an extraordinary museum dedicated to WWII. Just outside Caen, the museum has an amazing silent video with footage from D-Day, as well as a beautiful memorial. It is one of the few museums I've visited that touched me to the core.

How men and women have the courage to be sent into battle, I will never know. But I am so grateful to all of them, past and present, for risking their lives to save others. They say history repeats itself; I hope they are wrong.

Appreciation

When I began to prepare for this post, I wanted to pick one person to focus my appreciation on, but I quickly realized that there is no way I could just show appreciation for a single person. So instead, I've narrowed it down to four:

-My Husband
First and foremost, I appreciate that Trinity accepts me for who I am! No matter how annoyed or frustrated he might get with me, he's never walked out the door. I know that I can rely on him for anything, and he is an amazing partner to share my life! He is also an amazing dad and has been so helpful in sharing the load of parenthood. I know that as Grace gets older, she'll realize that he is the cool parent, so I'm trying to accept that earlier rather than later.

Grace and Daddy - May 2012

-My Mom
She's the only one who's known me completely for my entire life. She set a tremendous example of how to be a good mother, and she also taught me to be a hard worker and to follow my dreams. My mom also introduced me to books, so my love of reading is attributable to her insistence that I read, read, read. I find her in myself quite often these days, and I am so blessed to have her as a strong role model.

Grace and Mimi - October 2011

-My brother and SIL

I have been very blessed to have a close relationship with Steven throughout our life. I'll never forget how hard it was to say goodbye to him the day I left for college. I wasn't sure if we'd ever live in the same city again, and although we don't live in the same city now, I am very grateful that we live in the same metroplex and make it a point to see each other as often as possible. And of course I can't appreciate my brother without including my sister-in-law, Megan. They have been such a blessing! I mean, they gave me an excuse to go to Europe in 2009, and they have done so much for us since Grace's arrival in 2010. They have showered us with gifts to cloth and entertain her, contributed to her college savings fund, and babysat and watched her overnight so that Trinity and I could have some alone time.

Grace, Uncle Steven and Aunt Megan - January 2011

-My daughter's teachers

Leaving Grace at daycare is one of the hardest tasks for me to do during the day. Even though I know the social interation is good for her, it is still hard for me on certain days. Thankfully, her school has made it so much easier because I can put complete trust in her teachers. I can tell that each and every one of the teachers loves Gracie, and several of them have admitted that she is spoiled by all their attention!

Grace and Miss Sylvia - July 2011

Summer

Nothing says summer to me more than tank tops, flowing dresses and family vacations! Over Memorial Day weekend, we ventured to Fredericksburg with five other couples for our second annual Fredericksburg weekend! Last year, we went with the Reynolds', Keffers and Pendarvis', so this year we decided to invite two other couples: the Horsleys and Cook-O'Briens. We had so much fun! So much fun, in fact, that I was too busy to take pictures (I took a whopping five). Thankfully the other couples were snap happy, so I'm going to have to steal some of their pictures!

Over the weekend, we visited three wineries (Messina Hof, Grape Creek, and Becker), shopped Main Street, ate tons of good food, had plenty of pie from Fredericksburg Pie Company, and generally enjoyed everyone's company. Some of us even made a stop by the LBJ Ranch for a historic tour of the Texas White House.

We rented two beautiful houses and spent evenings on the porch.  After the kids were in bed, we sat on the porch to talk and drink beer and wine. One night we even made s'mores. No better way to spend a summer night!

 Erin is missing because she is busy shopping in her favorite kitchen store!

Grace loved riding the horse on Main Street



We were sad to say goodbye to everyone on Monday and are already looking forward to next Memorial Day! There is nothing better than a long weekend with dear friends to ring in the summer!

Ingredients

32 pounds of love, a handful of stubbornness, and a pinch of sass. A little bit of me and a lot of Trinity. Mix it all together, and what have you got?

GRACIE!

It's hard to believe that she'll be two in four months, but then I look at how much she has grown in the last year and it doesn't seem so unbelievable! Saying her ABCs, counting to ten and singing several nursery rhythms are Grace's newest accomplishments.

At daycare, they have begun to transition her to the preschool class because they can tell she is getting restless in her toddler class. I'm not sure if that is where her interest in the potty began, but she is asking to sit on the potty almost every day. So far she hasn't figured out what she's supposed to do on the potty, but we keep encouraging her and letting her sit on it whenever she wants.

We can tell the toddler years are upon on us when she doesn't get her way. Thankfully her tantrums are short lived, as we walk away and ignore them.

Gracie still loves to eat, and her humming during mealtime has returned. We usually ask her if she likes dinner, and she usually responds with a resounding, "Yeah!" The other night, we made something for the first time, and she looked at me and said, "Momma, I like it!" before we could even ask her! Trinity and I just giggled.

We are constantly impressed by her ability to speak in sentences. I lost track of her words list months ago, and she continually surprises me with her pronunciation and memory of words. There are still times that we have no idea what she is saying, but those situations are becoming less frequent.

It has definitely been a joy to see Grace grow these last few months! She is at a fun age, but I dread the day I realize she is a big girl!

Project

Sad that I almost failed the photo a day project for June on the second day! I had a totally different idea for a blog today but never got around to writing it. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.

Discovery

A few mornings ago, I walked into Grace's room expecting her to be up and waiting for someone to rescue her from her crib. Instead I discovered this!

How exciting that our sweet girl is learning to sleep in!

Photo a Day

A friend of mine has been participating in a photo a day blog for several months now, so in an effort to blog more often, I'm going to try to keep up for the month of June! Below are the categories. Wish me luck!