celebrating gram lois...

on sunday night my blanchette family spent an evening celebrating my gradmother. we call her gram lois. it was a great night, being with family, sharing good food, and honoring a special lady to our family. the most precious sight of the evening for me was both of my grandmothers smiling at their great-grandson...
how lucky my kids are that they have the opportunity to be loved by and learn so much from their great grandparents, all 3 of them.

happy birthday gram lois! i love you. you have shared so much wisdom and love with me. i am so blessed to have you in my life.

jack is on the move...

and 8 months old!

no, he is not crawling, but has developed "creative" way of movin' around. let me explain, if i put him on a blanket with toys surrounding him, leave the room, i will come back and he will be off the blanket with the toys pushed out of his way. he kicks and pulls he way in whatever direction he wants to go. i have caught a few peeks at this new mode of movement, but if he sees me he stops! i am a bit sad for two reasons... 1- my baby is growing up so quickly, becoming more independent everyday. 2- the baby honeymoon is over!! once my little is mobile that means he will be into everything!!
in all reality, i am so glad that jack continues to develop and grow everyday. he continues to be such a joy and the happiest baby ever!! oh, and his 2 bottom teeth are getting bigger. (look closely to the picture at the top.) no sign of new teeth, but his a drooling mess these days, so maybe soon.

for the love...

of money!!

yes olivia's new passion and love is money!! let me explain.

about a week ago we went over to my grandparents apartment for a little visit. while we were there, my brother came over too. sean is unmarried and a hard-working cook so my grandparents still give him a little cash each time they see him. (i no longer enjoy this perk!) anyway, olivia saw this transaction take place and she wanted in! she asked for some money too! she was given a dollar. i thought she would be thrilled since we never give her more than a dime or maybe a quarter. her response was, "i think i need 3 dollars since i am 3 years old!" my grandfather thought this was hilarious and would never say no to his only great grand-daughter, so he pulled 2 more dollar bills out of his wallet. olivia thanked him and carried her money proudly around the apartment for the remainder of our visit. we left, money still tightly in hand, and when we got home she went and put the money in her new wallet that she got for christmas. the next morning we were in the car and she started singing one of her famous "olivia" songs (songs about what ever is on her mind put a familiar tune). i recognized the tune, "where is thumbkin?" but the song was new...

"i love money, i love money,
yes i do!
it is my favorite.
it helps you buy things.
i love money! i love money!"

i was mordified!! i have failed as parent! where in the world did she get this idea! these were my thoughts, then i composed myself and responded, "olivia, we have to have money to buy things like food and clothes, but the bible tells us that we should not love money. we are to love God." she looked at me, and then said, "well mommy, i think i am going to love money and God. (singing again) i love money, i love money..."

oh dear! so please don't judge us if you see us in public and olivia is proclaiming her love of money. we are working on it at home. oh and prayers would be appreciated that my sweet little girl gets over her obsession with money!

happy birthday to my daddy!

yes, my daddy had a birthday (january 2) and so that means i want to tell everyone about how great my daddy is. my mom tells me that i am a lot like my dad, maybe that is why i think he is so great! :) seriously, he has taught me so many things by his example and so today i want to share a few with my faithful blog readers and thank him for being the great guy that he is...
he is a loving dad, a faithful husband, an adoring gramps, a devoted son, a respected big brother, and he is my dad!! by his example i have learned what generosity is, to appreciate good food and great dinner conversation, how to serve those around me, that friendship is important and lasting, that family is a priority, a luxury hotel is always nice, what a husband who loves well and makes marriage important looks like, the value of working hard, a clean car is a happy car, saying little can say so much- so just be quiet sometimes, farms are fun, how to be supportive and show unconditional love always!

my dad is so proud of his family that he has special personalized wine labels made with this picture and a message from he and my mom. he loves to give gifts (especially good wine) and tell everyone about his family.

dad, thank you for being you. thank you for investing in me and supporting me in everything that i do. thank you for loving my husband and my children the special way that you do. we are all so lucky! happy birthday (a few days late)! love, steph :)

here's to a great 2008...

one of my favorite blogs to read is the howren hangout. my friend becca did this great post looking back on 2008 with a picture or two from each month. i loved it so i am stealing her idea! here are just a few of our favorite memories from our 2008...

january...

olivia having fun on the farm with gramps!!

february...

trip to amarillo to visit granny & papa. we also got to celebrate a late christmas with the amarillo bowlins.

march...

the pretty weather allowed olivia to play at the park more. she loves being outside!

april...

since i was on bed rest waiting for baby jack we had lots of visitors. my grandparents came over one day and played in the backyard with olivia. i just love this picture. i remember my grandmother playing with me and now she does the same with olivia.

may...

we became a family of 4!! sweet jack was born may 21. this is our first family of 4 picture.

june...

olivia took ballet and tap this summer. she loved it and she loved taking it with her sweet friend lilli.

july...

olivia gave up her pacifiers! we put them in balloons and they went up, up, and away! such a big girl.

august...

olivia had another "big girl" moment. she potty trained!! it was so much easier than i thought. i was so proud of her and as you can see from the picture she is pretty proud of herself.

we took nana and tagged along on a work trip with daddy. we had a great time at the lost pines resort in austin, tx. a really fun family trip and we were so glad nana came along.

september...

olivia started her 3rd year at ccdc, but her first year of real preschool!

sweet family trip for granny to meet jack and for us to have some last moments with her.

october...

my little pumpkins loved the fall. we took several trips to the arboretum and enjoyed all the fall fun in the pumpkin patch.

baylor football was a huge part of our fall. the girls enjoyed the games and especially the big red and popcorn at every game.

november...

mark and i lost one of our dearest friends, sweet hopkins. we miss her terribly but are lives are forever effected by knowing her.

i experienced another loss in november, baby emily. her loss taught me about love, friendship, and my faith. i will be forever changed by know her and her precios family.

celebrating olivia's 3rd birthday party with an owl birthday bash. it was so much fun!!

december...

visiting santa claus and talking about him was a fun part of celebrating christmas this year.

what a year it has been! we have been blessed this year, yet have had some incredible loss. the lord has been so faithful through it all. i can't wait to see what 2009 has for us!

happy 2009!

we had a terrific time celebrating the new year at the lake with our friends, the herridges. we spent time just hanging out, playing outside, playing wii bowling, playing games, and enjoying being together. i always enjoy ringing in the new year in a relaxing restful way.

good-bye 2008!

olivia on her tractor that she rides at gramp's farm. she finally got the hang of "driving" on our new year's trip.

welcome 2009!