Rave Review

Mitch was recently honored by the Clark County School District. He was nominated by a fellow teacher, and subsequently received, a CCSD "Rave Review". You can click on the link here, scroll down and click on the link on the homepage to see his name!

We already know you are a notch above -- we're just glad everyone else does to!

Mommy and Ella

This is hands down my favorite picture yet! I am always on the OTHER side of the camera and only have a handful of pictures of Ella and me. This was taken by Scott Randolph, photographer extraordinaire. Somehow he managed to get us both looking at the camera AND smiling!

Thanks for a beautiful photo, Scott!

This one is for Uncle Matt

Ella's first trip to Home Depot. It lasted 45 minutes longer than she would have liked, but she did love all the brigh orange.

Ten Months Old!

Remember this little girl?


She is 10 months old today!

And she is a little bit bigger now....


She just learned how to clap....



And she LOVES to dance ....



And makes lots of fun faces!





Her favorite word is "mamamamama..." and she is crawling around like a pro! The other day she stood without holding on to anything for about 3 seconds.

Happy 10 Months, Ella!

Happy Mother's Day!

This was my first Mother's Day with Ella and she decided to spend all day with mommy showing me how much she can't be without me (even for a potty break). We dedicated Ella at church in the morning, went swimming in the afternoon and then had a special dinner of ribeye steaks on the grill in the evening. Daddy did a bang up job of cooking! Aunt Michelle joined us for dinner and brought a Dairy Queen ice cream cake -- YUM! I got a very special call from my niece, Taylor in New York. She called to wish me a very special first Mother's Day with Ella.

Unfortunately, we didn't think to get any pictures of the day. Huh. Aunt Michelle got lots at the Baby Dedication, but is putting them on a CD for me! Here are some random ones from last week. The cake and Aunt Michelle pics are from Mother's Day.

For Step-Moms: Happy Mother's Day!

My Mother's Day entry gets 2 posts. Lucky day.

I received many, many well wishes this year on my "first" Mother's Day. They were all very special and so very kind! I do not in anyway wish to appear ungrateful for any of them... but I do not consider this to be my first Mother's Day. Even though this was the first year I received a card from a child and not just my hubby and sister. Even though this year I got a cake. Even though this year people went out of their way to wish me a happy day.

My first Mother's Day was May 2004. Just a few months after I married my husband, on March 6th of that same year. On that day, I became a fully fledged step-mother. On that day a little 4 year old became "mine". Not legally, mind you, but in my heart, she was now "mine" too. Even though I share her with 3 other adults, even though she doesn't have one genetic connection to me, she is still mine. She is my one and only step-daughter and I am her one and only step-mother.

Step-mother's get the raw end of the deal. Most of us only get to "mother" our step-kids a few weeks a year or every other weekend. Most of us are not called "mom" by those kids. Most of us spend nights crying when we are hurt by the same little child we love. And the majority of us never get a card, a phone call, a gift or anything from that child on Mother's Day. They have a mother, you know. And the step-mom is is not "mom".

I know you know a step-mom somewhere in your life. So go put a note on the calendar to send her a special thank you for being there for her step-children. She may not be perfect at it, but what mother is? But the step-mom has a difficult role in life and it's not easy. It may not even be rewarding. But it's important and it's tough and most step-moms do it without a word of complaint.

To all of you step-mothers out there -- thank you for all you do. Even though no one else may know, I do. Thank you.

Ella in her Fuzzis

Here she is in her "new" Fuzzi Bunz! (And a few from swimming that were still on the camera)