She's a graduate!

A year of learning, making new friends, exploring all kinds of cool stuff, and growing taller and stronger...our big girl graduated preschool. And yes folks, I shed some tears. When I put her in the car in the morning to bring her to her last day of school, when I took her to wally-world to pick out her bestie a necklace to remember her by and when she walked past us during her ceremony...tears during all of those events.
I just cannot believe that she'll be in kindergarten next year. I mean really, where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday we were just moving to Chambersburg!
Oh well, she growing up and there isn't much I can do to stop her, so instead, I'll just be uber proud!
My big girl, posing before we left.

A pic with the daddio.and one with the momma (me) :) And the ceremony begins...she would not make eye contact. She was on a mission. A mission to the stage without cracking a smile or moving her eyes away from her goal!Opening "hello's", she listening and her little friend A-man is smirking. Hehe...too cute!OH! Do you see that, we made eye contact. Still no smile. She cracks me up!Saying the pledge, and how appropriate that it's Memorial Day weekend and their ceremony was "Red, White & Blue" themed. I know I'm biased, she is my off-spring and all, but she sure looks adorable in her floppy graduation hat and double wrapped necklaces. Girls got style!Just singing. I'm pretty sure my eyelashes where stuck to my eyelid, from being wet and smashed up against the camera. I teared up through this WHOLE program. I'm a sap!Big wee one and her friend A-man. They are going to get married. I knew she had a little crush on him all year, though she never fully admitted it, she would get really angry if we asked her about it (guilty as charged!). We found out the truth though, A-man told his mom he was going to marry Big wee one....hehehe, he's a cutie! She does want to have a play-date this summer, so I'm sure this won't be the last that we see of first crush (oiy! already?!).This ABC chant/song was really cute! They are all gearing up for, "GIMME-A""C-We're CREATIVE"Did I mention that the little cutie right behind Big wee one in the red shirt is her bestie? They have on matching "best friend" necklaces that we had to get on the way to school. Every school day they brought each other a little gift (a barbie outfit from their stash, a little tiny hairbrush, a little stone or gem from a broken ring, a ribbon...anything they thought the other might like) and exchanged them. That was one of her highlights from the day, to show me what her best friend brought her that day.The official graduation moment. Big wee one really enjoyed Mrs. W and being in her class. Not a true smile, but she is looking my way :)We are so proud of you Big wee one! You've learned SO MUCH! Counting by 5's, reading, writing, and you are so creative. You exploded this year with knowledge and willingness to learn. We have loved watching you become this indepent and smart big sister. Thank you for being you, we LOVE YOU!

*yes, I know there aren't any pics of Little wee one in this post, or the last few for that matter, that child will.not.let.me.take.her.picture. I will do my best to get one of her and share it soon!*

Cause I... I will Survive.

I hope anyway. These kids are going a-wall and I am running on very little sleep...makes for really FUN days. HA! So much to catch you up on...like the one below who can ride her bike without training wheels now, and can only take a bath with her goggles on. Because, you know, she's gotta get ready for swimming and all :)
She's a dork. She get's it from me.

I do plan on updating the 'ol blog soon...in the meantime, have you checked out T. Flo's page (I've heard she's a really cool chick!) ;-)

CA-RAZY!

The last two weeks have flown by. We've been so busy, between lacrosse games, photo-shoots, work, soccer games and life in general...I cannot wait for the weekend! I plan on getting my garden ready for planting and going to the annual MOMS Club Mother's Day brunch. I also plan on watching Big wee one ride her bike...WITHOUT TRAINING WHEELS (if you are a friend on facebook, you know this already). We're getting ready for summer....YEAAAAA!!
Peace my peeps...
t.flo

Birthday Dinner

Prepared by yours truly! I keep saying, "I'm going to make this again, tonight!"...I haven't yet, but I will!! It was soooo good! You can find the recipe here, and if you check out that site, I'm also going to make the BBQ sauce. If you are a friend of mine, you might just get some (it will go well with my new grill...THANKS MOM & DAD!)

Those flowers are from my bestie in tejas...soooo pretty and sunny and fresh :)

10 on Tuesday: Another Year Older

Yup...the BIG 3-0 is headed my way! Tomorrow, I will wake up ready to start a new decade of my life. Am I nervous you ask? Anxious? Worried??

No, not nervous...anxious, not really...worried, a bit. I mean not worried, WORRIED, but worried, that my body is going to change. Sure that's silly you think, but I don't want wrinkles and I already have to photoshop my crow's feet out of my pictures and I've been feeling so unhealthy lately! I need to incorporate some excercise into my daily routine, I just can't seem to find the time to do it. Ok, enough complaining about feeling, BLAH!! Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm going to relish in my last few hours of my 20's.

Let's review the last year of T. Flo's 20's :)

1. I work for the Downtown Business Council of Chambersburg and LOVE it! I love working with the folks that I work with, making the connections I make and putting myself out there for the better of the community. Work is good...really busy at times, not so much at other times, but great!
2. This past year, my dad opened his winery and in the beginning I didn't want any parts of it. I didn't think we could work well together (my dad and I), and I didn't want to put any stresses on him or me. Well, that went the total opposite. I actually don't mind working with my dad at all. I think I had to prove to him (in the beginning) that I do actually know what I'm talking about, I do know a lot of people that can point him in the right direction, and that as long as he could deal with my sometimes crazy time-schedule we would be ok. And we are! I do all of his PR work for him, set up parties and events, and do all of the graphic design work for the labels and advertising. I love public speaking and don't mind putting myself out there for the wine shop. I think he appreciates that. I also think I probably drive him crazy with my time-schedule, but he understands that I am only one person wearing a lot of different hats (at times).
3. My girls have changed so much this past year! Big wee one is so silly and caring, and I've really seen her blossom this year. She makes me smile all the time and she's such a great big sister! Little wee one, has always been the sweet and silly one, but the later half of the year she busted out a new 3.5 year old sassy attitude. It can get a little ridiculous at times, and her "wanting" me all the time is outrageous, but I do remember Big wee one going through the same.exact.thing. I'm sure she'll grow out of it soon. Right?? :-/
4. I took a road trip to TX with just the girls and survived! They were actually so good in the car, especially since I couldn't get the DVD player to work (most of the time). Remember those days traveling back in the day without a DVD player?! I do...I survived and so did they :) It was the ULTIMATE girl bonding trip! For rizzle!
5. This year, my marriage went through some trials and tribulations and I'm happy to report to the haters that they can hate on. We will conquer! Marriage is hard and communication is KEY. So, to Paul...sorry dude, you have to deal with my Tina-isms for the REST.OF.YO.LIFE.
6. This year I've discovered who my true friends are and how supportive family can and cannot be. I've weeded out those that I don't want in my life and tried to keep the negativity at bay. I can't deal with negativity, really I can't. I need to be happy and when I'm having a hard day, I need to be alone.
7. I took my love of photography and BLEW it UP! As in, I took it to the next level and couldn't be more excited about the road it's driving on. I was thrilled to go to an amazing workshop recently and am hoping to attend another one this summer. I've learned so much and have been so blessed to have wonderful clients that are not only amazing, but BEAUTIFUL.
8. I've gone from blonde to brown and I like it!
9. My love for cooking is still going strong. I would like to start a recipe club and have said it a couple of times, I just need to actually do it. I planted a garden last summer and plan on doing it again this summer. I loved having the fresh veggies right outside my door for the picking :)
10. This year, and the rest of the 30's I plan on following my dreams and letting my heart lead the way. I'm going to work on my "filter" more, but not let it limit me as a person. I'm going to keep surrounding myself with great family and friends and my crazy husband and keep laughing.

See you on the flip-side 3-0...hit me with your best shot...FIRE AWAY!

She KICKED...

the ball and LIKED it!! This past week, Big wee one had her first soccer game and practice. We were lucky to even get the game in, since there were storms before the game, while we waited in the car and then it started back up again right after the game. I was praying that the weather would clear out for the 20 minutes of game time that we needed, especially since the game had already been cancelled once for bad weather.
Big wee one was definitely timid for the first 5 minutes or so. She's not one of those kids that can just walk up and be fine, she needs to be guided a bit. I walked her up to her coaches (she was crying) and introduced her and said she needed a few minutes to adjust and then...she was fine! (phewwww!!)
In the picture below, she was excitedly telling her coaches what she wanted to name the team. They all got to help pick the team name, and we had talked about it at dinner earlier in the week. Being as girly as she is, and knowing that she is the only girl on the team (of 5 players total), I started throwing boyish team names at her and she really liked the name, "T-Rex's"...so they are the Purple T-Rex's.

They play 6 minute quarters, 3 players at a time for each team and she got to be one of the first to play. *Insert nervous, anxious, excited Mommy here* Praying that she doesn't run off crying, or that she just stands there (which she did until we yelled RUN and then she did), or that she gets hurt and ruins her idea of a good time.

Luckily, after the initial stand there with a "What's everyone doing?" look on her face she went for it! *Instert beaming "that's my girl" Mommy here* I couldn't believe how well she did! She's never played an organize sport before, and had never practiced with her team, but she did awesome! She actually kicked the ball and blocked and ran after it and put herself out there!

This is the stance that Little wee one took while watching her big sister!

She had two assists and only one bump in the nose that she fought off the tears for. I did my best to avoid eye contact at that time, if she saw me she'd cry (you mom's know how that goes!)...her coach asked her if she was ok, and she just rubbed her nose and said yes. (another phewwww!!)

Super star Big wee one ended up with 2 assists and some great plays! Paul and I were sooooo proud of her and just beamed. We took the girls for pizza at a yummy local joint after the game to celebrate! She's excited to play again, and I'm excited that she loves it so much!

Life {in general}

As been insanely crazy lately. Paul is gone every evening till about 7 pm with practice and later when he has games (which is 2-3 times a week). I don't mind, it gives me a little extra time to work on this or edit these, but those sessions end up going until midnight.

I was thrilled last Saturday to hit the local college with a friend and do some playing with our cameras...I love this image that I got:

After we talked photoshop for awhile, I picked up the wee ones and we hit the road to visit some of our favorite friends! The girls had a blast and the boys drove Little wee one crazy...felt like old times (hehe!)The moms even got to go have mexican by ourselves!! It was a great visit, but a scary ride home...dark mountain roads SCARE me, and for some reason Big wee one would fall asleep and then wake up crying, and then go to sleep, I think she was uncomfortable.

Soon, some of our weeknights will also be filled with this Big wee one being a soccer SUPA STAR! She is SO excited!!

She's been practicing and telling us how fast she is and how "awesome" she's going to be. I don't know if I'll be able to stand how stinking cute she is in that uniform that is tooooo big, her shorts can't even stay up. When she saw the uniform she said, "OOOOOooooo, PURPLE IS MY 2nd FAVORITE COLOR!!" *melting* She's also the only girl on the team!

It's great that the weather is so beautiful, but it makes my allergy sufferers, really suffer! Little wee one has had days where she can barely open her severly swollen eyes, her whole body is itchy (she says), and she can't stop sneezing. I took her to the dr. yesterday and we are now mixing a nice cocktail of meds to help soothe her miserable allergies...poor thing. I just about cried (and I'm tearing up now), when I had to wake her up yesterday and her eyes couldn't open! She was telling me (while pointing to her eye), "this eye doesn't want to open Mommy"...I know you can't understand how sweet and pathetic that sounded, but believe me it was so sweeeeet and soooo pathetic, I just curled her up and my lap and rubbed her back! Poor, sweet thing.

To sum things up, life is good. My big 3-0 is coming up and I am excited for what the 30s will bring me...I've gotta feelin' (ooooohhhhoooooo, sing with me!!) that 30 will be a good year.

xo-T.flo