Fortunately... Unfortunately

I remember my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Spicer - who lived down the street from me, once read to us a story called "Fortunately... Unfortunately." Well - this was our Fortunate/Unfortunate Day...

Unfortunately... I woke up with a migraine headache (the kind that makes light a source of pain.)

Fortunately... I still found the energy required to wash the growing laundry pile.

Unfortunately... I tried to dry a load that was too big or too wet and the dryer ceased to function.

Fortunately... When we bought our home, someone left a clothes line in the back yard that we never took down.

Unfortunately... It KILLED my already aching head to be out in the bright sunny day hanging wet clothes.

Fortunately... It was sunny and windy (the best weather for drying clothes.)

Unfortunately... It was windy and I didn't have very many clothes pins.

Fortunately... Locksley kept a close eye on the laundry and barked whenever something fell off.

Unfortunately... Ever time I went outside to retrieve a fallen piece, Stevie thought that meant she should get to play outside for an hour.

Fortunately... This didn't kill me and now our laundry smell very fresh.

The End. (Mrs. Spicer would be very proud.)

Enough with the Free-Loading!

Well, we realized that our baby was no longer a baby anymore... and as such she needed to start earning her keep around here! So over the past couple of months we have put her to work... which has been pretty fun for all parties involved. Here is a wee photo-chronicle of her little adventures in the world of doing chores:

Boxing

Cooking

Entertaining

Laundry

Cleaning

Locksley's Comin' to Town!

Stevie though she had struck gold when Christmas morning arrived and Santa had found her (even at a remote grandparents' cabin in Ivanhoe VA!) ...

However, that jolly-old man in red was shown up the minute that Grammy & Papa's gift arrived on the scene...

At first glimpse, it was just a poorly wrapped package...

But wait, did something move?

Could it be more classic?

A puppy on Christmas morning!

It took only mere seconds for her to realize what it was before she had the crate open and kisses to share with her new "little brother!"

Honestly, we never thought we would see the day that a dog would be running around our place - especially inside! We must be truly pathetic parents to have given in to a child's desire (and she's not even old enough to beg yet!) ... But it has been worth every one of Locksley's "accidents" to see all the fun and learning Stevie has shared with her new buddy this past month.

Merry Christmas Friends & Family!

Welcome! We avoided it for quite a while, but have decided to join the blogging world. We hope it turns out to be a nice way to share a piece of ourselves with all of you.

This has been a busy year for our little family. We would like to think that in the next year or two things will slow down a little, but are learning that family life often gets more engaged as the years tick along! For now, we just relish in the peace that fleeting moments of sanity bring our way.

Alex started his graduate business degree at VCU this summer and will graduate next year around this time. He goes to school full-time in the evenings and works full-time during the day. As if that wasn’t enough, he started a new job this year (which he loves!) and was recently called to serve in the Elders Quorum Presidency. As you can imagine, this leaves him only a few precious hours each day that he saves for his girls and some sleep! We could never want for a more compassionate husband or father.

Tiff wouldn’t trade him for the world and is happy to celebrate their 5-year anniversary this month. Her days have been pretty eventful this year as well. She continues to work part-time from home, has resumed teaching music lessons and enjoys having her family “nearby” again. More than anything, she loves her daily merriment with Stevie: feeding, cleaning, reading, cleaning, playing, and more cleaning! In January, she was called to be our ward YW President - making Stevie the youngest of about a dozen girls that she loves and cares for daily. Simply put, she is a wonderful mom.

That brings us to Stevie... our awesome toddler. Some words that others often use to describe her are Tranquil, Precocious and Obedient. This year has brought a lot for her: crawling, eating solids (along with a love of bananas), walking and now talking. (She even spouted off a relatively well-formed sentence a few weeks ago, not bad for a 16 month old!) However, we would be remiss not to mention her love of music & “literature.” Stevie loves to listen to good tunes, play along and dance… and as much as she loves music… she loves books more! She loves being read to, and we often find her reading by herself in bed, church or during playtime! Like we said – she’s an awesome toddler!

Although we had our doubts, we have survived 2007 and all of its surprises. More important than anything, we are a happy family, have a place to call home and spend our time surrounded by those we love most in the world. Now it’s off to Southwestern Virginia for us to enjoy the holidays with our family.

We hope you enjoyed our little review. It’s our greatest Christmas wish that all we care so deeply for (that would be you!) will have a safe and joyous 2008. We hope you too will share with us your blogs, photos and happiness. As always… Have fun stormin’ the castle!