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So adorable…


Annie ticket!
Originally uploaded by ..Sally..

Tonight Matt and Francis headed to the theater to see Annie. Thanks to our old neighbors in Oak Park we inadvertently ended up with their DVD movie and it has turned into a favorite for Francis. She has all the songs memorized backwards and forwards. One of her favorite afternoon activities is to have me play the soundtrack loud in the van while parked in the garage. She fills a mop bucket and scrubs our driveway – no joke. Add to that crazy scene, she’ll tell me to yell at her to “scrub harder” (like Mrs. Hannigan yells). I’m sure our neighbors are talking! As luck would have it, we found out about a month ago that it was coming to town for a two day show and we scooped up two tickets.

Well, tonight was the big night. Francis could not have been more adorable and more excited about going. She decided to wear her “fancy dress” which is actually a Dorothy costume that her Aunt Denise made years ago for her cousin Jacki. 😉 Francis said that it looked like an Annie dress. And she couldn’t stop smiling through dinner and talking about every scene. Why is Matt the lucky parent who gets to join her? Well, we told her we bought two tickets and she could chose who she wanted to take… she thought very seriously and then responded “Mommy, I can’t take you because you’re two people – you and baby- and we only have two tickets. So, I’d better take Daddy.” Smart girl. Let’s hope the freeloader in my tummy makes an appearance soon – today is my due date afterall.

April 3, 2009 - 4:01 am

America - Hahaha…that is one of the funniest and cutest things I have read in a long time! I don't have a favorite part..it is all fantastic!

April 14, 2009 - 5:37 am

Katie - Took me right back to my own Annie days… scrubbing the basement floors and wearing out the vinyl on the original cast recording. Can't wait to bond with Francis in person about our mutual obsession. xoxo

Look what I made! :)


Last night I hung out with a friend and we made skirts for our girls. It felt so good to make something. Amidst all the moving and with baby #3 on the way, I haven’t been inspired to pull out all of “my stuff” and create. I think I still might make a coordinating shirt, but who knows… today is my official due date so I might be out of time before I realize it.:)

Update: I made the shirt. You can see her wearing it here.

April 6, 2009 - 7:54 pm

Rachel - I LOVE everything about these photos — the model,the outfit, the eye of the photographer, and the photographer herself. Miss you guys.

Happiest Kids at the cemetery

Francis told Sally that she wanted to go see Grandpa Joe’s grave yesterday, so they went out to Llano Cemetery on the windiest day of the year and brought flowers. The wind didn’t keep them from chasing each other around and otherwise ignoring any protocol of solemnity. That’s how I would want it if it were my grave.

April 1, 2009 - 1:27 pm

deanna dean - too cute! I love it!

April 14, 2009 - 5:32 am

Katie - Amen… that's how to do it!

Blizzard Watch

Got this email today – March 26:

The NWS Amarillo has issued a “Blizzard Watch” for Friday. The weather event should start Thursday evening as rain, transitioning to snow around midnight. Conditions will continue to worsen with blizzard conditions on Friday morning (4 AM to 10 AM) with winds expected to be 30-40, gusting to 50 mph out of the north. Winds will remain in the 20-25, gusting to 30 mph range during the day, diminishing Friday evening. Temperatures will hover between 24-29 degrees all day. Snow is expected to end Saturday morning around 7 AM.

NWS is predicting 7″+ accumulation in Amarillo with 12″+ accumulations in Dumas.

Recovery should be relatively quick with temperatures expected to reach around 44 on Saturday and a high of 68 on Sunday.

Given the forecast, the EOC will be activated on Friday morning by 6 AM. AFD will have a command team at fire admin at the same time. Personnel are invited to arrive earlier and please be safe!

Also, the NWS Amarillo will be conducting a conference call at 1:30 p.m. today to provide an update on the forecast. We will have the briefing up in the EOC or you can monitor from your individual locations. I will send the information out when I receive it.

The Grotto

A few weeks before we left Chicago, we visited Notre Dame for one last time as midwesterners. We spent a little while at the grotto — a replica of the grotto at Lourdes. It’s a special place, and I spent a lot of evenings there asking for guidance and peace in one form or another. Francis and I found one open space for a candle, and I asked her what we should pray about. At first, she was silent, so I asked her what was most important to her.

“The new baby,” she said, and then lit the candle. We had told her about the baby a few days earlier, but we weren’t sure she understood. We were touched to discover that she not only understood, but placed it at the top of the list. Sally’s pregnancy wasn’t public knowledge at the time, so we didn’t blog it then.

Just a couple more weeks. . .
March 25, 2009 - 3:15 pm

Jennifer - precious girl…….can't wait to see that new sweet baby and my niece and nephew too!