The Year of the Change

...or the Year of the Tiger, depending on what calendar you're looking at :). When I turned 28, I decided that for me, this would be the 'year of the change.' At the time, I didn't know what I would be changing, but I knew that I needed one. As I am now a little over halfway into my 28th year, I thought I would give you a progress report. Here are the changes that have taken place thus far (are you ready?!?!):

1. Our house is for sale. We have no idea where we will go if and when it sells, but I suppose that leads me to...
2. Quit being such a control freak. I am realizing that not everything requires a list, pre-planning, or a decision to be made immediately. I'm getting better at this. I think.
3. I cut bangs. Alright, this one is cheating. I change my hair all of the time.
4. I am realizing that I really need to not be as outspoken as I always have been. Now this does not mean that I'm not going to always stand by what I believe in, continue to be brutally honest, and fight for what I think is right. But it does mean that I'm going to pick my battles. Some things just aren't worth the hassle.
5. I quit Facebook. Sure did. I just decided one day that it was taking up too much time, and I didn't really care much about who was mowing their grass or picking their nose. So if you want to know what's going on with me, call me, e-mail me, or just keep reading this.

I think that's about it for now. I'm going to go keep working on things to change, because in all honesty, it's kinda fun to mix it up.

"Here Come the Mummies, y'all!!"

I will put this in writing; it will probably only happen once, so remember it. Nick was right. Mmm hmm. He was right. When he told me a few months ago that he and his dad wanted to bring Here Come the Mummies into Punta Gorda to do a show, I thought he was out of his mind. I didn't doubt that he could put on a great concert; after all, he's already put on three excellent shows. But I didn't think Punta Gorda was ready for this band. If you haven't heard of them, they are a group of phenomenal musicians, who perform a lot of great songs...some of which contain adult themes ('Attack of the Weiner Man,' anyone?!?). I had seen them on TV and on YouTube, and told Nick no way. Of course, he didn't listen, and they decided to bring them here anyway. The Boogiemen and the always-popular Greg Billings Band rounded out the bill for FunkFest 2010, that completely rocked Punta Gorda on November 6th. I stand completely corrected. It was an absolutely amazing show, entertaining from start to finish!! In fact, I actually suggested that we fly to Indianapolis for their show on New Year's!! Little B is probably the biggest (and youngest) fan they have...we can't go a day without him pleading to watch the DVD ('mummies, mommy...pleeeeease...'). Normal children request Elmo; my child requests a band whose members are named Teste Verde and The Flu, among others....Making the weekend even more of a great time were the family and friends that came down! Enjoy the photos...and if the Mummies ever come to your town, do yourself a favor and go see them. You absolutely won't regret it!

Aunt Kim, Chantil, Casey and Joelle

The Skalandis' and me

Why yes, we are wearing gloves. It was FREEZING!

Ryan and Java Mummy

Casey and Java

With Rusty and Corbin (welcome back from Afghanistan!)

Good work, Nick :)

Halloweekend (Part 3 of 3...would you like fries with that?!)

On Halloween, we started out at the Haunting on the Harbor celebration at Laishley Park. Whew! 90-degree weather, an overweight bulldog and a kid in a felt costume isn't an ideal combination! We didn't last very long, but had fun while we were there! We headed over to Jack's for an outdoor dinner (in the shade!) with lots of family and friends. Then we walked historic downtown for the boys' first real trick-or-treating experience! So I'm a little biased, but they couldn't have been any cuter! Brixon was having a great time saying 'trick-or-treat!!' And don't think I didn't see you sneaking him M & M's, Titi ;) What a great way to spend a Sunday night!!!

Looking at the 'ketone's' (skeletons) in the yard!

Awwwww.....:D

'Hi kids!'

The soda in the Happy Meal!

Couldn't quite figure this out...

She's definitely not a diet soda ;)

Halloweekend (Part 2 of 3...the adults)

Remember that part in my previous post about how Halloween is 'kind of our thing?' Well, here's where that comes in. Not everybody decides six months in advance that they're going to spend Halloween night dancing in a cardboard box that they spent 8 hours transforming into.....a pink cardboard box. I'm somewhere between 99 and 100% sure that I say this every year, but next year, I refuse to spend this much time on a costume!!! Although it was quite the hit! I kind of felt like a character at Disney World with all of the people that wanted their photos with us!! And to think we spent all of that time and energy on these costumes, and we didn't make it to one costume contest!

Just because I have a box strapped to my shoulders doesn't mean I can't dance!

Barbie goes nowhere without her cosmetic bag. Even if it's hot glued inside her box.

I don't remember seeing these ones at Toys 'R Us.

Chantil and Ryan

I'm...Ron Burgundy?!

Great Shapes Barbie and Ballerina Barbie

Kevin and Steph..."The Biggest Loser" before and after

Halloweekend (Part 1 of 3)

Mmm hmm. You read correctly; part 1 of 3. As you probably know, from previous Halloween posts, Halloween is kind of our thing. My friend Chantil and I start coming up with ideas around April or May, and start working on everything towards the end of the summer. Well, as you'll see from upcoming photos, we went even more all-out than usual this year. But it was so worth it. We made some great memories! And we have some good stories to tell (or maybe just keep to ourselves ;)

The fun started with Brixon's character parade at school on Friday. Each class dressed up as different storybook characters. We saw The Wizard of Oz, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and a few more. Brixon's class, the one-year olds, were puppies from the book Biscuit. His teacher, Ms. Kim, made them all bibs with different dogs on them, and painted their faces! I swear, this woman is some kind of saint, to have the patience to paint the faces of multiple one-year olds! But it was tooo cute! They all came out barking! Here are the photos...AND video :)