After 13 Years

photo courtesy of Jessie

(Once again, she changed the setting on my camera... arrgggh, teenagers!)

We had a weekend filled with awesomeness. Awesomeness is such an odd word. However, it describes our weekend perfectly. We had a wonderful dinner with friends on Friday. Followed by Saturday morning chores, errands, a dip in the pool, church on Sunday and a visit from our Home Teachers.

The highlight of our weekend was Saturday night. We left the house ALONE! Jess watched Jonathan for us. This is her second summer to stay home alone. However, we have never left Jonathan with her. Don't get me wrong, she will make a great babysitter. We just didn't have faith that she could babysit her brother. I find Jonathan's antics endearing. However, Jess doesn't have patience for his quirky behavior. They both decided that they wanted to try it alone. We did a trial run earlier in the day, while Fred and I bought groceries. It was a success, so we proceeded with our dinner plans.

Fred and I went to Jinbeh for dinner. It wasn't the most intimate setting. We were seated at a tiny table with 3 college students and a family of four. However, we enjoyed it. From there, we went to see The Proposal. I kept checking my phone throughout the movie. I was so paranoid that there was going to be an emergency.

The kids did pretty well together. We learned that we can't be gone after 9:00 p.m. Jonathan got nervous being home alone with Jess that late. She kept trying to send him to his bed and he was too scared to go in there.

The only other issue came earlier in the evening when someone knocked on the door. Jess knows the rules... don't open the door. However, Jonathan insisted that she needed to check the pee hole. And, no, I didn't make a typo. For some reason, Jonathan really thought it was called a pee hole. Apparently, a small argument broke out over the pee hole.

I think this has opened up a whole new world for us. We can actually go out on dates... without bringing Jonathan along (which is what we usually do). And to think, it only took 13 years!

I Give Up

How can this be comfortable? I complained to Jonathan's doctor that he wasn't sleeping at night. He sneaks in our room in the middle of the night and sleeps on the floor. I was told not to worry that he would eventually get tired of sleeping on the floor. Obviously, Jonathan is more stubborn than the average child. We ripped out the nice, soft carpet and put in hard, laminate floors. That still hasn't stopped him from sleeping on the floor. I sure hope that I don't have to go to college with him.

Word to My Cousin

Warning: This post contains ample usage of the word butt. Normally, I would use words like bottom, rear end, hiney, bootie, or my personal favorite, bee-hind (not to be confused with behind). However, I felt that these words weren't strong enough for this post.

Dear Tammy,

You are an awesome cousin. Growing up, you were my older and hipper cousin and I looked up to you. You taught me many things - like how to apply make-up. But, most importantly, you introduced me to my first love. I am speaking of Rick Springfield, of course. By the way, I am so glad that I didn't marry him like I had planned. He didn't age very well.

I received the wonderful pictures that you took at your mom's birthday. There was only one problem. It seems that one of the shots had a couple of extra things in the picture. Surely, when you were taking the picture, you must have noticed a couple of extra butt cheeks in the shot. Really, all you had to say was, "hey, can y'all please move your butt cheeks out of my picture?" I feel quite certain that we would have obliged! But, no, you shot anyway and now our butt cheeks have been immortalized in a picture of your daughter. I hope you are happy.

Because you used to take your younger cousin to the Crossroads Mall to hangout and eat bars of white chocolate, I forgive you.

Love,
Donna
aka Mrs. Rick Springfield

Elvis Sighting in Greenville, Texas

If Auntie Jan is the cool one, then my Aunt Judy is the sweet one. I have never met anyone with a more pure heart. If I had another little girl, I would name her Julia Ann in a heartbeat. (Julia is actually Judy's name.) Just so you know, I would name a little boy, Jackson. I have no intentions of having any more kids. But, if I did, I totally have their names picked out. But, I digress.

Judy was diagnosed with cancer last September. She has been bravely fighting all this time. Our family decided to honor this special lady on her 66th birthday. We gave her a surprise birthday party at her apartment complex. By the way, her apartment complex is very much like one big college dorm for men and women over the age 60. They have all the fun without the classes and late night studying.

Since Judy loves Elvis so much, we had a 50's birthday party complete with an Elvis impersonator. She was thrilled beyond belief. There were lots of tears shed, because we were so happy to be celebrating her special day.

First of all, I apologize for the poor quality of these pictures. A certain girl (about to turn 13) changed the settings on my camera. Second of all, the captions refer to the picture above.

Sisters... tears and laughter as Judy realizes that she has been surprised. Auntie Jan, Mom and Judy.

Judy is enjoying the pink scarf that Elvis placed around her neck.

Uncle Joe's mother, Leona, and my Grandma. They are so cute clapping their hands and getting into the Elvis music.

Grandma getting a scarf and some love from Elvis.

Elvis singing to Judy.

Hunka Hunka Burning Love

Grandma getting up close and personal with Elvis.

Grandma, Judy, Elvis, Mom and Auntie Jan.

Judy had a great day! She was on cloud nine. The only thing that would have made her happier would have been if Elvis himself had been there. We love you, Judy. Happy Birthday!

The Cool One…

When I think of the three most influential women in my life, I think of my mother and my two grandmothers. Number four would be my Auntie Jan. I have been blessed with the coolest of Aunts. I have always looked up to her. I always told my friends about her and I continue to do so today. When I grew up, I wanted to be just like her. I took a couple of legal classes in college thinking that I might follow in her footsteps. All it took was a semester of Legal Research for me to decide that I don’t really want to follow in ALL of her footsteps.

I think Auntie Jan is a beautiful person (inside and out) and I take great pleasure when I am compared to her in any way. She has one of the best laughs and is always the life of the party. As a young girl, I tried to emulate her. It never worked, though. I think we all know that I will NEVER be the life of the party. :-)

I hope I remember this story correctly. Jeff, I’m sorry if I completely mess it up. When my little brother was in college, Auntie Jan picked up him and a buddy at the airport. The buddy started hitting on Auntie Jan (or at least that is what Jeff perceived). Jeff said that he elbowed the guy and said “Dude, back-off! That’s my Auntie Jan.” The fact that my 32 year old brother still calls her Auntie Jan is a testament to the love her nieces and nephews have for her!

Not only is she my cool aunt, but she is now my kids’ cool aunt. She loves life and you can’t help but pick up on that when you are around her.

We love you Auntie Jan!

Very cool photo is courtesy of Uncle Joe.

Aunt Angel

This morning Jonathan was telling a very long, drawn out story about something that happened at Kids R Kids yesterday. I really don't remember what he was telling... just that it was a very long story. I guess he picked up on the fact that my eyes were glazing over and I really wasn't paying attention. He stopped in the middle of the story and said, "You should call Aunt Angel on the phone for me and I'll tell HER this story." I told him that Aunt Angel was very busy getting her girls out the door. Maybe he could call her another time.

A couple of weeks ago, Jonathan had quizzed me on how he was related to the Garstka's. I told him that he wasn't. He was very perplexed by this and demanded to know why we call them Aunt Angel and Uncle Dave. I explained that Jessie started calling them that, because they have always been like an aunt and uncle to her. That was all it took to convince him, because he loves him some Aunt Angel.

Lookin' for Sleep

This is Jonathan... right now at 9:22 p.m. It is my hope that he will sleep like this for the rest of the night. Keep your fingers crossed for me. He woke up at 2:00 a.m. last night. When we told him that he couldn't sleep on our floor, wailing occurred. Fred and I took turns taking him back to his bed. I prayed with him 3 times. Gave him 5 hugs. Read 2 stories from The Friend. He said that he was too scared to sleep by himself, because his friend, Patrick, told him some really disturbing things. He never told me what those disturbing things were, but there were many tears during the night. At 4:00 a.m. he finally fell asleep on the couch. Jonathan woke up refreshed at 6:00 a.m. Both parents woke up exhausted! Needless to say, Fred and I would like a full night's sleep tonight!

Dear Grandma,

Thank you much for the plant. It looks lovely in my home. You are so sweet for thinking of me.

I can't wait to see you... it won't be long.

Love you,
Donna

Grady and Jonathan

I am behind on this one! Back in June, my dad and Jonathan went to one of those kids' workshops at Lowes. Jonathan had lots of fun. He enjoys anything that involves a hammer and nails!

Fortenberry Family Fun

We hope everyone had a wonderful fourth of July. We had a nice busy weekend. Fred had to work on Friday, so I had planned Fortenberry Family Fun Day with the kids. We were excited when Nouveau let us off early on Thursday.

I came home and proclaimed that Fortenberry Family Fun Day was going to have an early kick-off. We went down to the Frisco Athletic Center and proceeded to swim until they kicked us out at 7:00 p.m.

Friday, Fortenberry Family Fun Day got off to a rocky start. Someone didn't get up early enough. One of the dogs made a break for it and ran down the street with Jessie and I chasing behind. Once we finally departed, we were all grouchy. Trying to reclaim the day, I announced that we were going to have fun on Fortenberry Family Fun Day. One of my children (I won't name names) requested that I stop saying Fortenberry Family Fun Day. Sadly, I obliged. The kids and I hit the dollar movies, had lunch and did some school clothes shopping. Then we headed back home where we found Daddy had gotten off work early. We changed into our swimsuits and headed back to the pool for more Fortenberry Family Fun.

On Thursday, Jonathan missed his snack time at Kids R Kids. He bought this ginormous chocolate muffin at the pool.

Here he is ready to swim on Friday's Fortenberry Family Fun Day.

Saturday brought a celebration that was a long time in coming. We finally celebrated Father's Day with Fred and my Dad. We grilled steaks and played the Wii. Since we watched fireworks the week before, we felt that we could just be lazy and enjoy the day.

Dad and Jonathan Wii boxing.

Fred and Jonathan boxing. Jonathan won all three rounds (I fought him as well).

Dad and Jonathan.

After church on Sunday, we had the Simmons' family over for lunch. This time we grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. We enjoyed a delicious Paula Deene Banana Pudding that Kristin made. I am still working off that banana pudding! The adults played card games with little Kylie. The rest of the kids flocked to the electronics.

Jonathan and Kylie Wii boxing - his winning streak came to an end. He was defeated by a five year old girl. It hurt his pride. He promptly came back and beat her the next round. However, I don't think he will get over being beaten by a girl!

Jessie and her cousin, Kaitlin - this is the only picture I got of Jessie all weekend. For some reason, she thinks that I post all pictures on this blog.

Kaitlin - isn't she a cutie?

Chris

We had a wonderful weekend. It was a nice break after working so hard on the floors. We all needed some Fortenberry Family Fun.

Pictures of Heaven - 100th Post

Can you believe it? This is my 100th Post! I am excited because I like nice round numbers. It is always a great day for me when my total of Facebook friends hits an even number. I just like nice even numbers.

I had a great post planned for my 100th post, but I haven't finished composing yet. So, instead you get my refrigerator art. I promise... it is blogworthy... to me, at least.

In primary last year, the kids were asked to draw a picture of what they thought Heaven would look like. I was so touched by both my kids' pictures that I have kept them on our refrigerator all this time. However, the time has come to retire the pictures. I can't keep everything, right? Since, I'm trying to pare down all of my treasures, I thought that I would take a picture of these fine pieces of art.

Jessie's artwork depicts a beautiful gold fountain.

Jonathan's artwork features Jesus and some interesting trees. I loved his picture of Jesus. I will admit that the trees are a little scary.

Thank you for indulging me as I immortalize Jessie and Jonathan's drawings of Heaven.

Why didn't I think of that?

Jonathan and I were working on some of his Bear requirements for cub scouts. He was supposed to ask me questions about my job. Specifically, he was supposed to find out how I gather facts and distribute them in my job. I explained to him that I do a lot of internet research. Sometimes I research statistics on the eyewear market. Sometimes I research possible eyewear brands. Sometimes I research eyewear brands that we already carry. And, I sometimes get to research famous people. Jonathan thought about that for a split second and said "Oh, you mean like Paul Revere and SpongeBob?" We have the license for SpongeBob Eyewear, so I totally get where he was coming from there. However, Paul Revere Eyewear??? It could be a big seller, who knows?

If I Had Only...

If I had only kept the weight off, my profile would look like this!

But, I didn't keep the weight off. I would like to say that it just wasn't meant to be. However, that would be a lie. I kept it off for a long time and then I just started eating and eating and eating (you get the point). Thankfully, I caught myself before I gained everything back. I threw out all of my big girl clothes. So, I had come to a crossroad. Either get new clothes or lose the weight.

Here I am at Weight Watchers trying to lose the weight all over again. I am having lots of trouble finding motivation this time. Last week was an ugly weigh in. Part of that was because I forgot it was weigh in day and drank water. That is such a no-no. 1 liter of water consumed just before weigh-in will show up on the scale. The bigger issue was that I took a week long break from Weight Watchers while I was working the floors. I mean really... there are no breaks in Weight Watchers. I should know better.

I am happy to report that I lost 2.8 pounds this week. Whoo-hoo!

If I lose 13.8 more pounds, I will look this again! For the love of Pete, why is weight loss so hard?