the.wedding.

It was hard, not gonna lie to you. I had this surreal feeling come over me during the exchanging of the vows. It's strange, because weddings are usually such a happy time. Wade and I normally look at each other, smile and remember that amazing feeling when we got married. I definitely did not have that feeling wash over me.

It was quick, the girls didn't walk down the aisle throwing flowers (much to Grace's dismay, "that was the most boring wedding EVER!"), and there were only 20 people at most.

Grace and Sydney looked precious, which is more than I can say for the others. Wow, that was rude. Here are some pics to shut up my bitchiness.

The after party was a freakin madhouse, to which Wade and I only stayed about an hour. The girls had fun, but I was seriously worried that Sydney was going to trip and kill an old person. She was damn excited to be staying up so late.

Which brings us to the funniest picture of the night.

Get it girl! Eat that shitty food!

Meet the Newest Member of Our Family

This is Abigail:

And the best part:

Probably not exactly the surprise he was hoping for.

Heeheeheehee.

The 2nd Christmas

Grace continues to amaze me in her memory and/or willingness to remember my mom. For those of you that know G, are already aware of her, ahem, inability to see the big picture.... But today, 2 days before Christmas, she feels the need to tell Sydney about my mom.

"Cici is dead, " to which Sydney replies, "oh (pondering)..., sissy dead."

After a lot of, "no, cici, not sissy" talk, Grace goes on to tell her that it is okay that she is dead because she still lives in "here" and points to her chest.

*Insert me DYING*

I shit you not. I have never told her that. I'm sure someone has, but nonetheless, it is strange to hear my six year old say these words.

We then go downstairs and Grace tells me that she is going to draw a beautiful picture for Cici. For Christmas. Because it was her favorite holiday.

She's trying to kill me.

How does she remember this? It may be because we still talk about her (at least Wade, my brother and I) and she has simply heard it from our mouths. Who knows? It still breaks my heart.

And makes me proud.

Mary had a sad little lamb...

My youngest child broke my heart into several million little pieces today.

She didn't want to perform in the theater as a little lamb. She wanted to sit on my lap and watch the other children perform the worst Christmas play to date. But, nooooooooo, her "teacher" wanted her to sit with the other children and sing the songs.

But she didn't want to.

(who is that poor motherless child in the background?)

And so I am the mother and I get to make those decisions. So she sat on my lap.

And was a happy little lamb.

The end.

Home Sweet Home

You really never realize how much you take advantage of everyday conveniences, like, electricity, cable and heat. Sure, these are things that you don't get free, but, they are also things that you would never be without. Brief interlude for a little pic of the cutest snow bunny. And yes, she may be wearing the same socks that she wore Monday. Packing on the fly is hard!!








Our electricity came back on at 6 pm Wednesday night, and I was ecstatic!!!!!!!!!! We decided tostay in the hotel room one more night, because we had already paid for it and because our house was 49 degrees. Brrrrrr.... But we are definitely one of the lucky ones, so no complaining. Now we have to deal with insurance companies, which should be fun. NOT!! Here's how excited Rudolph is about talking to the insurance company AND delivering gifts:


The kids were also really excited to be back in their own beds, both marked by very little bickering our first day back. And I'll have you know I was so excited to be back that I actually did 4!! loads of laundry (Myself, people...which also included folding AND putting away), made chili in the crock pot and made blond brownies. Who's happy to have electric??!?!??









Me!! That's who! And Curly marked his excitement to be back by darting out the front door (for the billionth time in 2007), but Wade actually caught him with his bare hands, which is no small feat. Curly is a fast mo-fo. I just had to put this pic up because both Wade and Curly look cute after the above mentioned capture!



So, all is right in the Starr house. And thankfully it did not snow a bizillion inches like they thought! God owes OK some apologies here!

the view from my window

And that was our trampoline.

And, no, we are not at home. We are sitting comfortably in a hotel in downtown OKC after losing power on Sunday night. That NEVER came back on. And they think it may be upwards of a week.

And there was a tree in my dining room. And I'm not talking about a Christmas tree.

I do believe my worst nightmare is coming true. No school, no babysitter, no electricity, NO SANITY!!!!!

outtakes

I was determined to get a cute pic with the girls together for a Christmas card because THAT NEVER HAPPENS!!! I've been trying with my camera phone for the last 2 months to no avail. Thankfully the lovely Camille offered her expertise and came to the house this a.m. to attempt to "catch" them both looking decent. And when I say both I mean Sydney. Grace knows that when I'm trying to take some serious pics, she's supposed to smile with all her might. But Sydney is a pain in the rump. She purposefully makes silly faces just to make me cry. And loves it. Most of the pics were awesome, but here are a few of the, ahem, less than pretty ones.

Now, obviously I'm not going to show you the good ones just yet (I'm sure everyone can hardly contain their excitement). You'll be seeing them in the darrrrling Christmas cards I just ordered form here. And if you don't think I'm going to send you one, then send me your address and I'll do it!!! You know you want one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Thank you so much Camille!)

(Thank you so much Bubby for helping put our house together for Christmas!)

Flashback Tuesday

This picture was taken last year, November 30, 2006. It's around 70 degrees today! Oh, snow, where have you gone??

Although, I do hate school snow days!

hi-ho, hi-ho, to the doctor we go...

What an amzingly horrible couple of days I've been subjected to!! Now, I'm not complaining tooooo much because I have definately had worse (read: rotavirus at 9 months!!!! WORST SICKNESS TO DATE). But, my Lord. The Sickness That Has Invaded Our House. And I'm not even talking about vomit. Which everyone knows sends me right over the edge. Grace has a "bacterial throat infection." Which means, in layman's terms, that he tested for strep. Negative. He tested for Mono. Negative. Thankfuckinggod (Because I asked what that would mean and he said 2 weeks in bed...)So, the winner is the above diagnosis. Her throat looked so bad the doctor MADE me look at it. Even after I told him I didn't like that kind of thing. But he would not take no for an answer. So I looked. And people, it was sick. It looked like an explosion of pus, swelling and red dots. Which is why I didn't wanna look in the first place!!! So she gets a z-pack which is supposed to kill every bad (and prolly good) bacteria in your entire body. If this doesn't work who knows what they will do. He was pretty sure it was all related to that damn streppppppclkjdlkjfcous, or however it's spelled. Damn those strep bacteria's. They never die. Grrrrrr.....

So, of course, I had our new fine doctor peeeek inside Sydney's ears and BAM-O! double ear infection. He said they looked awful. But he didn't make me look. And she had no fever. Still hasn't. Weird, huh? So we left that fine establishment with antibiotics for all. Which is the first time they had both been on them at the same time. Lucky again.

Fast forward to today, Tuesday. Grace was feeling 90 percent better, but because of the 105 fever yesterday, I agreed to keep her home from school. Begrudingly. Kidding. I decided to send Sydney since she never had a fever. WE WERE SO SICK OF EACH OTHER. All of us. Grace was hyper/loud/jumpy/talkative. I was sooo happy she was feeling better, but, my God The Talking. And once Sydney was home from school, the talking to me shifted to the bothering of her. I'm sure it was because she was bored. But she was pissing the 2 year old off and LOVING every minute of it. I wanted to kill them both.

And then Sydney fell off a chair and damn near knocked out her teeth. It was the shit-icing on top of the vomit cake. But, alas, she was fine. Again, it could have been much worse. Of course, she talked about her boo-boo on her cheek/chin the rest of the entire night. But, hell, I don't really blame her. She gave herself one mighty fine shiner.

Bedtime, glorious bedtime. And my head is freakin' killing me (and my throat kinda hurts too...NOOOOOOO).

Flashback Tuesday

Just perusing through the photos and came upon Grace's first birthday. A few things stuck out.



Exhibit A: My husband and daughter were in dire need of a tan---damn those Chicago winters (...notice I don't show a picture of myself).
























Exhibit B: I had a lot of freakin' time on my hands. Look at the detail on that cake!! Good times. Poor Sydney












Exhibit C: WHERE HAS MY LIFE GONE??????????????????? It's only been 6 years, can you imagine how I'm going to feel in the year 2021??

The Hens--a montage

Well, folks, this is really a shout out to my Oklahoma City girlfriends, aptly named, The Hens. One of our husbands overheard us talking one day and said we sounded like a bunch of clucking hens, thus our name. These are the ladies that I met at Grace's mother's day out a short 4? years ago. And now we are like family. Closer than family, really. There are 13 kids between the 6 of us and, no shit if they don't think they are related.

Oh we've had our ups and downs. I mean how could you not with such smart, interesting, outspoken, stubborn and opinionated women. But with the exception of one fall out (see monkey/dinosaur on montage), we've stuck together. We all have our own set of strengths and limitations that truly make us who we are as individuals and as a group.

So, this is for you, ladies. Thank you for filling my monotonous days with laughter and friendship. I (and the kids) love you (and your kids).

Sisters forever!!

halloween-er

Hey, I'm on time about things that matter...I finally stole some pics off my dads camera and they're cute!! This is our new neighbor, who is also in kindergarten with G. I'm prolly gonna get sued for not marking out her face--but I forgot how to do that!

Here is our adorable family, plus scary butler guy rented for the Deadman's Ball the night before, plus Lily. Who might as well be part of our family. Isn't Wade's costume awesome?? More on that later.

And here is the 2nd little-ist witch, although she acts like the biggest one. HA! Isn't she cute??

And then there's me. What am I you ask? I'm a plus size Vampiress. Oh, relax, I'm not getting insecure, I accidently bought the plus size costume. (Psst...it wasn't that big!). I looked so inspired, no?

And then there's Wade. Let's get one thing straight. This was his costume for the Halloween party the night before. He did not trampce around Crown Heights in this get-up.

Look closely...he's the snake charmer.

So inappropriate and funny as hell!!!!!!!!

HaHaHaHaHa!!!!!!!!!

flashback Tuesday

No words can express the love I have for this picture.

It all ends up in the same place

What an amazing day!!! It's funny how your day can start off so ho-hum and end up spectacular. Well, that my be a bit of an exaggeration, but it was a damn fine day!! We went to brunch with my good friend Kathryn (sans Grace-she was with Daddy Dad). The little girls were soooo good and had soooo much fun. I just want to start out by apologizing to Kathryn for Sydney teaching Hailey J. the art of dipping.

Oh, I'm sure you are thinking about ketchup or ranch. Nope. It's milk.

I do not know why, but lately Sydney has been dipping, dunking and downright soaking all her food items in milk. It really is disgusting. The only thing I can make of it is that she loves cereal with milk, and the idea from that was born. Maybe? She made Grace so sick the other day putting, no lie here, green beans and peaches in her milk and then eating/drinking it all. What? It all goes to the same place, right? It's still apart of all the major food groups. Just really wet and nasty!!

Anyway, we had a blast catching up and because of our schedules, we never get to see each other. SO FUN!!!

And THEN, my friend Meredith (here from Cali) came by with her kids (age 1 and 3). They just played and played. Of course, Grace was in charge of the trampoline rules and etiquette. So we got to catch up.

And THEN, my other friend from highschool, Kadie, came over with her little girl (11 months). She and Meredith had seen each other last night at a wedding and made plans to do this get-together. So then we got to catch up. It was an afternoon of catching up!! So.much.fun.

And THEN, my husband came home for the night.

Perfection, I tell ya.

she didn't have it for 6 years

I'm talking about STREP THROAT!!!! She's had it 2 times in one month. Ok, fine, I didn't quite finish ALL the antibiotics last time, but my God. 10 days...2 times a day... that shit is tough. No, but really the PA said it probably wasn't because of that. SO THERE!! All you haters.

I'm back to washing my hands like a mad woman. Not letting Grace breath near Sydney. It makes me nervous. I don't want the little bi-polar lady to get it. She would NOT be a good patient. Just a feeling.

Anyone wanna babysit tomorrow? C'mon, she's cute...and she wears her headbands like this? How could you say no to that?!?!?

she made it all by herself

Flashback, almost Tuesday.

Okay I know I have posted this before, a year ago to be exact, but it is sooo freakin' cute. And I can't believe this is the same child. Seriously.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

WaLk for the CuRe

Yeah, it's supposed to be "Run for the Cure," but, you know, the kids were with us. Otherwise, I definately would have run. Ha! I'm funny. But really, thank you summer for inviting us to walk. The kids were really into it and it felt great to do something so feel good for such an amazing cause. I loved it!

Don't foget to check out myspace for additional photos.

A different post

Hi all- I really just wanted to change the post because Summer was tired of loading, "Ginny the Hero," and since I do whatever Summer says, then there you go!!



Not much at the Casa De Starr's except a few interesting and fun tidbits, in no particular order:

• My husband had strep throat last week and was in bed for 6 days. No lie. As much as I would like to say he was being a baby, blah, blah, he really was sooo sick. I actually felt sorry for him. Don't get me wrong, I felt sorry for myself too. I was a single parent for the week!


• We went to OU/TX the weekend before last with the Scott's and the Steel's. It was so_much_fun that I cannot even express. So relaxing and enjoyable. I will eventually post some pics when Ashli sends me some. Fun was had and Ashli was as crass as ever!


• Our longtime housekeepers quit. These were the folks that brought their kids every week and were like siblings to Grace. She was so upset! And so was I. The cleaning was secondary to the actual relationships. But, alas, the mom despised my darling husband and decided to be done with us. Sigh.


• My dad is still annoying, but I decided to be nice to him. It's really pointless to be mad at him. It gets me nowhere and only makes me feel worse. So I am back to being nice again.
• I finally got a myspace. I feel kinda old in doing it, but it's been fun! Go over there and check it out right here.

Ginny the hero!!

There is nuttin' worth a damn to report for the Starr family right now. Oh sure, schools started and activities have begun, but it's been really uneventful around here.

Except for this:

Meet the newest member of our family: Lily B. I had to do a little intervention on her obvious neglect. And now she lives with us!! Oh my, 3 dogs. That's the limit when it comes to the law! Who would have guessed! Ginny the dog saver! While it has taken a little getting used to, the barking, loud playing and FARTING, she really is sooo happy and doesn't have to sleep outside anymore :[

As for everything else in our life....this about sums it up....

The big SD

So our trip to San Diego was amazing. The weather was a ridiculous 75 degrees, sunny and well, be-autiful! Grace had the time of her life boogie boarding in the ocean and building sand castles. Sydney was a bit more of a challenge. Her moods changed like the salt-laden winds. Whew! We all agreed that she was not allowed to go on another vacation until she was three. Everyone knows this is a tough age, but I think she's winning in the high-maintenance, bratty, demanding, diva-esque department! What can I say, we are a family of winners!!

Anyway, it was so good to see my bestest friend, Meredith and her kids and hubby. We got to go to SeaWorld, the zoo, shopping, seal-watching (a fav of Sydney's, although she calls them otters) and the BEACH!!!! We had a few problems with our hotel and service (or lack-therof), but overall the trip was awesome. Grace asked us everyday how many more days we had in California because she was "not going back to Oklahoma!" Ha! Too bad we have our roots firmly planted in a booring, land-locked, sweaty state! Oh well, guess that's why we have vacations!

Didn't I mention diva?

It's good to be back!!

Flashback Tuesday!

Bet you thought I'd never do another one of those!! But you were wrong!! I'm working on a post about our trip to San Diego last week, so until then...

Flashback Tuesday!!!!!

Yeah, this is my new thing for Tuesdays because it's fun and because I know all you people love, love, love to see my family pictures!!

So here we go. Here is a pic of Anna and Grace fourth of July 2005. Right before Sydney was born. Can y'all even believe this!?!?!?

Berfday Lovin'

Well, enough of the last post! Let's move onto more sweet, adorable news! Like Sydney's birthday party!!! She doesn't actually turn 2 until Thursday, but since my dad is going gallivanting around Alaska with his new *cough* fiance *cough* we thought we would have it early. To accommodate him. Cause I'm nice like that.

Let us now turn to the future Mr. and Mrs. Steel:Sickly cute, no?

And here is one of the singing with her sisters, Grace and Lily. Who I just found out today, actually blew out Sydney's candles. Which we have video proof of. Don't worry, Ash, Sydney will be blowing out her other sister, Stella's, birthday candle in August. Paybacks.

And finally, the one gift that I actually let her open already. Her new baby with crib. I know, I'm brilliant. The baby has a bottle filled with milk, that Sydney calls, "Nulk". I swear she has fed that baby a gallon of nulk and taken her out of her crib 10 dozen times already. So. effing. cute.

Sydney had a blast, loved the suckers and thanks to everyone that came a partook(is that a word?) in the festivities. While it was mildly awkward to have our "new" family members attend, I was pretty much able stay away by quickly moving from room to room. Thankfully my brother did all the dirty work!!! Good job Bubby!!

All I gots to say is WOW

Well, let's just start this out with the latest news:

Let's take a closer look:

Excuse me while I go and puke.

4 months ago today, anyone, anyone, Bueller?!?!?

no wonder she had bacterial pneumonia

This is no shizz. The other day at a Mexican restaurant I looked behind me to see what Sydney was doing (y'all know, she was being quiet) and to my utter dismay she was sticking her fingers in this poor woman's plumbers butt crack. I swear to Gawd I nearly spit my food out and crapped my pants all at the same time. Craziest part, the woman DID NOTHING. Let's hope it was just because she was embarrased!

to camp or not to camp

ok, no, not that kind of camp! You know I will not be out there in the wilds without the conveniences of modern life, whoa nelly!







What I am referring to is summer camp. My 6 year old is obsessed. She has been going to a theatre camp at OCU since the last week of June (well, actually she started last summer). This camp is from Monday to Friday 9-4. 9-4!! That's longer than a school day. But she.loves.it. This past Friday was her little performance and she had about a dozen lines. This was the most she has ever had and she was totally into it. She was telling everyone the right place to stand, motioning people on stage when it was their turn, and of course, reminding all the absentminded of their forgotten lines. And trust me, she knew all the lines. I leaned over to Wade and mentioned that maybe we should get her into the directing of plays! Anyway, yesterday evening I reminded her that she was going to take a week off next week and could resume the following week, and boy oh boy did the waterworks come forth. She just boo hooed, "But I love theatre camp!" Grace tell me why you love it so much? "Because I get to play with kids, learn my lines, make my costumes, play games, have a snack and have lunch, it's so fun." But Grace, daddy was going to take you to White Water one day next week and we were just gonna hang out, you know, me and you. "But no mommy, we have plenty of time to hang out after camp." Wow. I swear I am at a loss. Now, some of you may be wondering why I am even bringing this up. She loves camp, so SEND HER! And I hear ya. But there is this little part of my that feels guilt. Most of those children are there because there parents work full-time and they need an all day alternative. Not me. She could be hanging out with her FAMILY, her other playmates but she doesn't want to. Then there is the other part of me that thinks, well, really, what is so special about hanging with me/Raye/Diddy all day. She'll be playing in the gym day care room, watching t.v. with her Raye Raye while Diddy sleeps and running errands with me! I mean there really is no question to be answered here. I will send her as long as she wants to go. In all actuality, I am very thankful that she loves this camp, and am thankful to be able to provide her with it, but gee, guess I'm just a big 'ole fat bore!!! (click this pic to enlarge the happiness!!)




Just wondering what your thoughts were on this matter?!?!?

the face of pneumonia

a hellish (sun)day!

*UPDATE*

Well, Mr. Consierate finally showed up at 2:15, apologizing profusely for his tardiness. Funny enough, he brought her back at 3:15 saying that he was going to hit a few golf balls. Mkay. And if my day wasn't painful enough, one of my husband's best buddies in from Chicago, came over tonight with his 8 year old son and 55 year old mother. I have a lot of experience with this particular woman and she is the most annoying woman in town. Guess who got to sit and talk to her for 2 hours while the kids played with the dad's? You know it!



Whew! I am already ready for this day to be over. Both kids woke up before I even had a chance to brew coffee. This is not too unusual, but they had both been sleeping a little later since our vacation. Not anymore!! Grace really wanted to go on a walk sometime today and the only time I could forsee this was before 9. We went yesterday about 10 and it was already 80 degrees. So we had some cereal and took off. I decided to take Curly with us since Grace likes to push the stroller, I can manhandle the dog through the streets. Besides a little pulling of the leash and barking at squirrels, he did pretty well. I thought it would be good for him, you know, blow off some steam, get a little exercise. So you'll be suprised to know that when I came home from church, he had chewed half my house up. Curly hasn't chewed things in a long time. He had chewed up crayons, a styrofoam cup, a sippy cup, one of Grace's flip-flops (that she loves, of course). Why?!??! No really, I am asking all you freakin' dog lovers. Why would my dog thank me by chewing up all my shit?!?!?!? So.Pissed.

And about church you ask. DD picked us up, as he always does and we go to church. On the way, I ask him if maybe he'd like to take Grace this afternoon for a few hours since she hasn't seen him in a week. You know, Mr. freakin' social. Sure, love to. Great!! I'll feed them and bring her by around 12:30 and then come by when Sydney wakes up. Great!!

Cut to the end of church, DD is talking to AF, discussing something that appears to involve some thinking. He walks up to me, "okay, great, yeah, just bring her by around 1, actually let me call you when I get home." He walks off. Ummmmm....."DD, are you leaving?" I am so confused at this point. "yes." "Okayyyyy, and how are we getting home?" Ding. The memory light bulb goes off. "oh, hang on, I'll be right back." He comes back minutes later. Mimi and Paco can take us. So what, you ask is sooo important that we have to lug the carseat to another car to ge a ride home 10 minutes away. Give me f*cking break. I walk up to AF's daughter, "wow, my dad forgot that he had to take us home and has arranged someone else to take us." She (who really is so sweet) says, " Oh, I just assumed you would come with us." My reply, "which is?" She says, "brunch." Oh yea, that would be nice. God forbid he take his daughter and granddaughters with him. This is the same man that when I asked him if he was going to the wine dinner tonight at DF he replied, "yea, I guess so. I was hoping to have a night off." Yea right. F*CKING LIAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I feel better now. Not really, but whatever. So. It is now 2pm and Grace is sitting here waiting for him to come and get her!! Still waiting!!! Sydney is upstairs, not sleeping. She has been playing/whining for an hour. I cannot even remember the last time she didn't take a nap.

Aarg. This day sucks.

Happy Gay Day!!

nutshell version

Well, peeps, so much has happened since my last post. I know, I suck in the new posting arena. Let's see: Grace decided that she didn't want to talk to me about the fact that she had gum in her hair and chose to cut her hair AGAIN!! She is so destined to be a hairstylist. Which would be cool cause then she could be on that show Shear Genius, oh wait, I would rather her be on the show So You Think You Can Dance. My new obsession. God, Wade has got to be so embarrassed by me! Anyway! I decided to not be mad and told her that we would have to get a summer cut and she was all, "GREAT!!" So, hmmm, no punishment or consequence there. And here is a pic of the VERY short cut:








We went on our annual trip this summer, this time to San Antonio. Most of you out there are maybe wondering why we would go to such a destination and I am here to tell you that it is the bomb. It's only an hour 15 minute flight, no time change, plenty of sunshine, pools and SEAWORLD!! We really wanted to go to San Diego to see Mere and fam, but this really worked out better for this summer. It was paradise I tell you. I could have stayed several more days! Both kids were so good, although Grace was completely against the camp the hotel offered, which was fine since Sydney was too young to go. I finally got out the fact that she was shy meeting new friends. Huh??!? I noticed that she was not as chatty with the other kids as in vacations past. Hope that phase passes quickly. I can remember meeting lots of kids when my family went on vacation. I do think I was older though. While Grace was amazing on the trip, I noticed a little extra eye-rolling and heavy sighing. Hmmm....not too sure what that's all about. I do not like bratty behavior! I'll have to keep my eye on that one! Anyway, fun was had by all including super-daddy! The kids are going through some serious daddy withdrawal this week. Every 5 seconds Sydney asks, "where's daddy?" So cute!!







Her first pedicure, get em started early,bitches! Am I really that surprised that she acting bratty?!? Duh!



















Syd got a beautiful braid like sissy and here she is admiring the woman's work. Hah!
























Syd and her daiquiri, chillin' at the "beach".





















Grace lost her 6th tooth! Whew! She's keeping that tooth fairy b-u-s-y!!!!! I know, who really cares except me and Wade.



Today is my mom's birthday. June 18th. You wanna know how my dad celebrated that! He took Grace to his girlfriend's house for a party, didn't pay attention to what she was doing and, OOPS, there was a teeny-tiny accident involving my daughter's knees and a moving treadmill. Nice. The child is lucky she still has a face. Shizzzz.....



Grace told me today that she is postive you are getting cake in heaven. Happy birthday, mommy.