1 Year.

"What would you think of me now,

so lucky, so strong, so proud?

I never said thank you for that,

now I'll never have a chance.

May angels lead you in...

... And if you were with me tonight,

I'd sing to you just one more time,

A song for a heart so big,

God wouldn't let it live

May angels lead you in..."

Thanks Jimmy.

Miss you terribly, Dad.

When "Happy Hour" Isn't Quite As "Happy" Anymore...

I know I'm a bit like "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" with the back and forth of the on-and-off the Diet Coke biz. But I've been having migraines and my doc put me on an funky antibiotic that makes it so I can't taste any carbonation. Zip. Pretty much takes all the fun of my daily fix. So, with that said, my love affair is on the fritz for a while. Now it's just water with lime for the time being...

Starting Them Young...

Yes, I was quite concerned at her 5 year check-up that she was in the 30th percentile. We're hoping to trim her down on these bad boys. You should see her BEFORE picture! Kidding. (not about the 30th percentile part.) Swiggles is by far my teensiest child. Anyhoo, she walked in the house the other day from the neighbor's downing a weight loss shake. I would kill for her little triceps.

Pizzeria Stapley

The backyard pizza oven is finished and we invited several neighbors over to be our guinea pigs to test it out. We had 25 happy cutomers!

"Does A Bear Sh!t In The Woods?!"

(Inside joke, inside joke. I happened to think Tommy was taking his pretty little time proposing... I have my mother's potty mouth.)

And yes, Tomatillo. I'd say it again and again. Happy 14. Can't wait to get our Anniversary on tonight, sans Chitlins.

Love you Forever Donald.

My Easter Basket Runneth Over..

We decided to drive up to California to my Uncle Heber's ranch for Easter. As always, we had a spectacular time.

On a good day, you can see the ocean from the highest point of the ranch.

I'm finding out the hard way that horizontal stripes do NOT do a body good.

I seriously don't know where these children came from. I love having my picture taken. No joke. They're a bunch of little you-know-what's when it comes to photo sesh's. For reals.

Picnicking at the river...

getting the razor stuck in the river...

It's not uncommon to see these little fellars running along the driveway.

Bestest Cousin Buddies.

Sophie, our built-in babysitter/entertainer...

Catchin' snakes, "Saving everyone's lives!" (as these stinkers quoted). It's a good thing I had my looong lens. I flippin' hate snakes!

... And more snakes.

A Little Chuckle...

So I have these Luna Bars lying around the house, and if you'll notice, they're a little girly. Tag came in and asked if it was ok if he could have one and I said, "Yeah, of course. Why?" He said, "Cause, they're for Women. They're not gonna make me grow boobs or anything, are they??"

(If that were the case, I would surely have to put a padlock on the cupboards and hide them from Tommy. He always says he wishes he could grow a pair -- of boobies, that is).

Happy Birthday Dad.

It's your birthday today Dad! You would have been 65. I would give anything to call you and wish you the happiest birthday and sing to you with my amazing singing voice {wink}. I miss you telling me each year that all you want for your birthday are socks and "for us to all just get along." I wish you could tell me all the goodies Mom was going to make on your big day. I loved talking 'food with you. I wish we could talk about what a knucklehead Tommy is sometimes.

I wish I would've just listened to you and waited to have Swayze on your birthday, like you wanted, so we could celebrate together each year. I'll blame my stubborness on Mom (since you're the birthday boy today, I'll cut you some slack and play nice).

Hopefully Ben is throwing you a tacky Obama birthday party with lots of gay rainbow flags (that was uncalled for, I know).

I just miss you so much.

XOXO's,

Your Favorite.

"But I'm The Birthday Girl!"

Swiggles turned 5 today. My baby is 5!! We had a great birthday weekend. Thank goodness the Heavens opened up and decided to stop raining, just in time for her party. And what would a Stapley birthday be without a waffle party to cap things off? Any reason to celebrate...

Silly Cousins.

Spin Art

A little "Graham Cracker" love.

It's a good thing Zsa Zsa (I mean, Ava) brought her fur coat along. It was a chilly day for snow cones.

The Posse. I think someone may have spiked the snow cone machine with Jungle Juice. We had some wild chitlins. (notice the little boy behind Swayze's middle finger ;)

... and boys smooching boys ...

Love these faces!!

After All, This IS Why We Have Kids, Right??

I remember saying to my parents, "The only reason why you had kids was to make us your slaves!" Fast forward a few years later...

Turns out, my parents actually WERE a little smarter than they looked {wink, wink}.

Where else can I get free manual labor?

"Swiggles, will you be a Dear and fetch me a Diet Coke?"

(my fingers are getting a little tired from typing).