One Word

When Kim from Snug Harbor Bay posted about "one word", it really got me to thinking. I don't make New Year's resolutions. I gave it up long ago. I figure why bother making resolutions I won't stick to for more than a month....and then end up failing something I started. Nope, that's not for me!

But, I think I can handle ONE word.
But.....WHICH word?

Several came to mind. The one that stands out the most to me right now is CHERISH.

To CHERISH every second, every moment of every hour of every day of living, and life, and the people in my life. I take things for granted way too often. I want to live in the NOW, and appreciate all of the wonderful peeps in my life, and the beauty that surrounds me.

Sometimes life is a real bitch, but there is always something positive about each day. I choose to cherish that one positive thing, or people, who makes me smile, laugh, think, plan, love, and DO each day.

Apparently I live under a rock, or a seashell, LOL, cause I hadn't heard of the "one word" thing either!

The month isn't over, so you too can choose One Word for 2012!

Have you heard of One Word before?

Cherish the day!

Del

Anchored Together Forever

I mentioned a while back that I was getting a new tattoo. I can't remember if I mentioned that my family was all getting tattooed together.

We have been planning this for several years, and knew that we all wanted anchor tattoos on our right hips. The time finally came when we made it a reality! This was a Christmas gift to our kids, and ourselves...and while we had all of us together we made the appointment and got inked.

We took our designs to Fat Kats on the square. Alex and Ron did an excellent job of giving us what we wanted.

Now the AFTER!

Kandi has a pretty filigree anchor

Kyle's 8 bit anchor

Shae has a big anchor

Hubby's anchor with a moray eel

Laci's crochet hooks anchor with yarn ball

My anchor with shells

Our tats are still in the healing process, and flaking skin at this point. That is normal! We follow our care instructions to a T! When mine is finished healing I'm having some gray added to my anchor, and eventually more shells around it.

It was terribly difficult to pick a photo of the whole family because they all turned out unflattering to at least one person in the pic, and it was usually me! Excuse our exposure, and yes I have gained 25 pounds since I last posted a pic of myself! It's the sweet tea!!! I'm horribly addicted!

Anchored at the Hip

The family that gets inked together is linked together forever! I am so honored that our kids love us so much that they would want to do this with us. I love each and every one of them, and I'm proud to be their mom!

I'm already planning my next tattoo, and I can't wait!

Do you have ink?

XO
Del

The Silence Is Deafening

Oh yes, yes it is!

How I miss the chatter, laughter, and giggles of Kandi, Gwynie, and Brady. Our house just doesn't feel quite the same without them. I could be doing many things, but all I am doing is missing them. Bree and Zachy miss them too, and refused treats all day Sunday, and just moped around missing the kids.

We did have a blast while they were here!

The weather was wonderful the first few days they were here, and they were brave enough to swim in what I consider a cold pool!
And then the temps dropped and it was so cold in Florida.

But it warmed back up in time to go to LegoLand!

They really liked this Lego tourist outside of the Lego Store.

He was pretty cool!

They went to driving school, drove on the test track, and got their driver's licenses!

This is a full size car made with Lego's...very impressive!

This giant octo was pretty impressive, too!

This is one ride I didn't go on with them....but I did ride the others, and had a screaming good time!

Gwynie loves legos and has been building with them for a few years now.

She really enjoyed MiniTown.

She thought this ship wreck was awesome...

and the fisherman reeling in a mermaid! It really went up and down, too!

I don't know how you could see everything here in a day, even though it is smaller than Disney or Universal. When you wait in lines to go on rides the time goes by fast! They open at 10am and close at 5pm. Not quite enough time to squeeze it all in. We had characatures of them drawn, too, so that took some time.
They went roller skating with Aunt Shae, and sweet talked us into MyMochi 3 times. It really wasn't hard to talk us into Mochi...we love frozen yogurt!

On one of the cold days we went to see the new Chipmunks movie, Chpwrecked. It was fun, and I'm a fiend for movie theater popcorn.

Psssst....Gwynie is wearing my jacket. She's almost as tall as I am!

We also went to the mall. Brady really wasn't down with shopping for girl clothes, so I let him do the bounce thing.

He really loved this!!!!

They are so very precious! I just had to have a picture of them sleeping!

I'll be back soon with our family tattoos, and my one word for the year!

I sure did miss you all, and I'm trying to make my way around to your blogs!

XO
Del

Happy New Year!

It really is upon us, 2012 is here!
I said goodbye to the old year, with someone near and dear.
You see, New Year's Eve is special to me...
we celebrate with a birthday tree!

This is a tradition I started long ago,
to make a little girls birthday special
so she would always know
Just how much she meant to us
and so New Year's wouldn't steal her show.

My darling daughter Kandi turned 30 yesterday,
and it just wouldn't have been the same without her birthday tree!

Happy New Year!!!