this girl is officially a teenager. watch out everyone.

some fun/funny things about taylor. when she was a baby she never cried. the only time she cried was when my mom held her. lol. oh yeah--she did cry when she got about a year old. if you didn't put her to bed on time she would stand by her crib and cry until you put her IN. i am not making this up. crazy.

she also said dog when she was one year old. that's it. i think she said it once or twice on the same day and then never again. for a year. not a single word. when she turned two she started speaking in sentences. thirteen years later she still only talks when necessary. ha ha

when she started preschool at 3 she never said a word there. she would get in the car and talk to me and she would talk at home but never at preschool. one day i went to pick her up and she was in the bathroom. a little boy stood beside me and asked me whose child was mine. i said taylor. he said he didn't know who that was. i said it's the cute little girl with short hair. she came out of the bathroom and saw me but not the boy next to me. she started talking to me and this boy's mouth dropped open. he looked up at me and said "SHE CAN TALK?" in utter astonishment. then when we walked off i heard him mumble "she's not that cute". LOL i still laugh at that.

now she's growing up and she is definitely her own person. case in point. two weekends ago we took her to her first junior high dance. when it was almost time to go dave asked taylor to go get ready. taylor replied that she was. now you have to know that taylor had slept in her clothes the night before, then gone to school in those clothes and was still wearing same clothes. so on the way to the dance i asked her if her friends were going to be there. i don't know--she said. okay. so we dropped her off by herself and picked her up by herself. she had a great time. i don't know of many girls who go to dances without a posse. but that's taylor. she doesn't care if what she does or wears or thinks is popular. she does what she wants.

some of her favorite things right now: johnny depp. hot cheetos. the color orange. electric guitars. top ramen. the beatles.

happy birthday taylor...love mom

lots of pictures; some words to go with...










where did the week go? monday again. lots of things going on around here. namely me getting back in shape. started my workout routine again. started lifting weights. haven't lifted weights in a very long time, circa first husband. i really like it--it gets you toned pretty darn fast. so i do that and walk. can't wait to get in shape. i have put it off for too long.

went to mesa on saturday--got a new 'do and went to a stamping up party hosted by my friend kaelene. she had it at her sisters house and beth and michelle came and it was fun to chat and relax. spent the day before the party going to the mall and checking out new sewing machines. mine is getting over the hill. i've had it twenty years. longer than i've been married to either husband! ha ha dave didn't think it was funny.

speaking of--while i was gone dave cleaned the entire house, did the laundry and grocery shopping and took the girls to the movie. how is that for incredible? and i got two bouquets of flowers as well! very sweet and i appreciated it soooo much. maybe dave will be around longer than the pfaff! ha

yesterday was good too. i took a nap after church and then made dinner and after dinner we all went outside and the girls raced each other. the dogs did too. ha and anna wore the dress i made her to church. with a little prodding. for some reason she was not wanting to wear it. she was so excited to have a green dress that i told her i would make her and then she wasn't to thrilled with it. maybe i will have to make her a more fitted one next time. if there is a next time. hmmppppf.

also there are some cards i made with my SU supplies. i loved how these turned out. just loved this combo of colors together. if anyone wants to place a SU order let me know i close out Kaelene's party this saturday. and dave and i are actually going to spend a weekend alone without kids. got someone to stay here with the girls and we are heading to tucson for the weekend. can't wait. also got haley's hair cut today. she was thrilled with it. me too. have a great week...L

introducing goth girl...





this is my almost teenager--2 more weeks and taylor will be 13. we let her start wearing makeup and when we were in cali we went to sephora and she got her make up done and all she cares about is the black liner! LOL then when we were in new mexico her and carson and i went to the MAC store and we all got our make-up done. dad even let carson start wearing makeup. we were thrilled and had a good time. it's so fun when this stage starts. all of a sudden your girls are turning into women. they got the coolest, funkiest eyeshadows too--bright turquoise and orange! ah, youth.

taylor was messing around in the kitchen with my camera today and she took these herself. she must have forgotten to delete them. oh taylor, you know better than that. momma gonna scrap those pics. i can't wait for her birthday. she is getting the present she loves and she is going to have a wicked cool party. she loves johnny depp. i mean LOVES. one day i was trying to get her to go somewhere with me and she didn't want to. so i told her JD would be going too. she knew of course that i was lying but she did say 'well he could come and bring his kids but he'd have to leave the girlfriend behind'. ha ha so i had to break the bad news to her that he is getting married june 4. so now she's planning to sneak into the wedding. which is probably going to be in france. good luck baby...L

oh the pains of going through soda withdrawals. for the 50th time. in two months. when will i learn? i have found a good substitute though. wylers light. raspberry. yummy goodness. david's aunt judy got me hooked on it when we saw her a few weeks ago. we took the kids and went up to new mexico the weekend before last. we used to go there all the time when dave's mom and dad lived there. we haven't been back since dave's parents moved to mesa and dave's mom died. so it was a really fun trip. judy and lance live right on the other side of albuquerque on a mountain. they have a beautiful home and two great big pyrenees dogs, lulu and koda. my girls were in heaven and judy and lance really took great care of them. we took the girls on the tram. a few cried before we left--guess which two? no crying pics though kaelene! after we got on and they saw how slow it went they were fine.

we also went to the zoo and had a great time. the albuquerque zoo was really good. it's funny how everyone can enjoy a zoo. it really doesn't matter what age or gender you are. who cannot get excited watching monkeys cavorting around? and we got to see pretty much all the animals. even the polar bears which were so cool to watch. all in all it was a very nice getaway and a lot of fun to get to see family. my girls don't get that enough and it was good to see them enjoy themselves there.

lots of things to do this week. i'm cleaning and reorganzing my kitchen. tired of things being all over the place and not being able to find what i need. i want to do some sewing and scrapping and getting ready for my stamping up party that kaelene is hosting for me. have a great week everyone...L