The Perfect Valentine Candy!

Ainsley and her Daddy gave me the best Valentine's present. Any guesses? Not diamonds, not flowers, but yes a Whitman's Sampler!! It has taken me several years to get Daniel to understand that the ONLY Valentine candy to purchase is a Whitman's Sampler. A specific Whitman's sampler at that. It has to be the one in the yellow rectangle box b/c it has the map on the inside. I need the map to know which candy is in each spot. I don't like to be surprised by a mouth full of orange filling or a bite of coffee flavored gunk. I like to know which candy will make me very happy and which one will not. If it is something I know I will not eat it is free for the taking, but otherwise that box of chocolate is mine (unless Ainsley wants some).


It only took me 2 days to empty this box! That is why I only ask for it once a year.


See how informative the map it. Not only does it have the description, but the picture matches the tray! I know I am obsessed with it.


Gigi and Papa gave Ainsley this darling outfit for Valentine's Day.


Mimi and PawPaw gave her a cute pink frog with hearts all over it, but she would not hold on to it long enough to get a picture.

Oversized...

Ainsley likes to take anything that is not hers, so she tried on Papa's vest and all my purses. She is especially fond of this big red purse, so it has become her purse. It was not worth the fight to take it away.

Ainsley's new motto: The bigger the better!!

Mama carries a HUGE purse, so why shouldn't I?

FYI: Mama does not wear her purse on her head, so I don't know where she got this from?

1st Snip, Snip

If you did not figure out from the title, Ainsley got her 1st hair cut Saturday. It was a tiny trim just to help her hair grow faster and fuller. Ms. Lisa did a great job and Ainsley was the perfect client. We even got a cute certificate for verification of the 1st hair cut!


This was Ainsley relaxing before we made the trip to town. Remote, sippy cup of milk and a paci -- could life get any better?


As soon as the cape was on Ainsley had to get her feet and hands uncovered, then she was fine.


It was just a trim, but it made everything nice and even.

29

Today I have entered the last of my 20's! I feel no different, but it is really weird to think about. Of course I knew I would be 30 one day, not today, but one day. It is hard to believe I have even been on this earth for 29 years. So much has flown by...some friends have been lost, some have been regained and many new ones have been made, school has come and gone, I have been out of my parents house and married for 6 years and I have carried and delivered my very own child to raise. It is really unbelievable how quickly it has all happened and as a teenager I thought I would never be able to "control" my own life. My parents were married 10 years before they had me, so when "bad" things would happen I would wish I had been born anywhere else in that 10 year period prior to 1980 b/c then I would not be going through whatever that particular trouble was, but now I could not imagine being anywhere else in time. We have all dealt with things that were tough on us in one way or another and they have made each of us stonger, no matter if we have been here 29 years or 89 years. As our preacher spoke Sunday I was really listening to him explain why things happen in our lives. Things that I have never been able to understand. Why would God let us suffer the loss of a child or a parent, the pain of divorce or the destruction of a friendship or anything else that hurts us. He said it was so we could give our testimony to others to help them through the same situations. We have to lean on God at all times and trust in him. He will give us no more than we can handle, even though it seems unbearable. We may not know the reason for our pain anytime soon, but one day it will be clear. I thank God for the wonderful life he has given me. I hope I can take what he has taught me, share it with my daughter and make the next 29 years even better than the last.

Big Feet!

I guess Ainsley decided that her shoes were getting too small and that her Daddy's shoes were a lot roomier. She just picked up Daniel's shoes from the den, threw them on the floor in the kitchen and stuck her feet in. Luckily, I was able to grab my camera before she took them off.

New Year, New Direction

Some of you know this, but most of you don't. Daniel put in his two weeks notice to Sherwin-Williams this past Monday. He has worked for them for the past 12 years. They have been a wonderful company and he has learned a lot from all the people he has worked with. Daniel started working there in high school and kept working there through college. He assumed he would leave when he graduated from MSU, but instead became an Assistant Manager, then Manager, then Sales Rep. Daniel and our brother-in-law, Kerry, are forming a company named Col-Tin Construction. They will be sub-contractors, arranging their crews to do commercial finishing work.

I know you may think this is crazy in this economy, but they have done their homework and things are falling into place. For us, this is the right time in our lives to take this leap of faith. I have known that Daniel wanted to be his own boss for a long, long time. If we don't try this now, while we are young, we will probably never do it and then we will always wonder if it would have worked. I never want to look back and regret that Daniel did not try to achieve his dream. We are really excited and really nervous too. Please add us to your prayer list and just ask God to take care of us and lead us in the right direction.

Ainsley's 1 Year Photos

Ainsley had her 1 year photo session back in December. If you want to see some of her pictures click here http://houckportraits.com/
1. click on Blog at the top of the page
2. scroll down for Ainsley's portrait then click her portrait
3. when the next page comes up click on the brown box that says click here
4. on the next page you will put in your name and e-mail address, pick yes or no for their emails, click the type of Internet set up you are using
5. then you are in! You can view a slide show or 2 pages of thumbnails. We also took some really fun pictures that looked like she was in the snow, but they got left off the site. I really wish you could see those too. Maybe they will be added later.