Laura-palooza 60

OK. At long last I have wrested control momentarily from Erin and am going to make a post on the blog. The few remaining readers we have of this blog may know by now that we recently celebrated my Mom's 60th birthday. Erin, Sarah, and I began colluding months ago to try to surprise her with a little party. Does anyone realize how hard it is to surprise someone who refuses to take a hint that she needs to make herself available to her children on her own birthday? Short of hog-tying my Mom to make sure she wasn't at choir or at work, we were able to convince her that she should allow us to take her out to dinner for her big day.

That done we set to rallying all available Hamffs to show up. We were able to have both her cousins (Mickey and Tom) show up and one sister (with an opera problem...hello, intervention). Did hilarity ensue? Did my poor mother's children make inappropriate remarks and/or gifts related to her advancing age? Is the pope catholic? The proof is in the photos below.

Cousins review ancient documents that chronicle Laura's youth. Nancy chipped them from the cave wall and brought them for all to see....coming soon to a museum of natural history near you.

Nurses-in-arms. Did you know that when nurses bare their teeth at you they are about to charge? Be especially wary of the silverback nurses.

Mom gets a new whip.

Antics like these are what nearly ruined the quiet family community of Kingsville 50 years ago.

Family photo or conga-line-in-the-making?

Today is March 11, 2009 it has been 12 years since I lost my father. I miss him so much. I don't think a day goes by that I don't think about him. I am sad that he didn't get to meet his grandchildren. I know he would have been such a great grandpa. He is greatly missed. I can't believe how fast the last 12 years have gone by. I can't believe I've missed 12 Birthdays, Christmases, and father's day without him. I hope I can show my girls who he was and help them know him as well as they can. It's times like this that make me realize what is really important in life. You really don't get a lot of time here, so make it mean something. Never put off calling someone or seeing someone in hopes you will at another time, because you truly don't know how much time you have here. I hope everyone is having a nice week. Take care of each other.

I just adore this little girl, she is so cute. We had our first really nice day. So when Maddie came home from school she wanted to go outside and play. Awhile later I went to check on her and she had curled up on the patio chair and took a little cat nap.

Maddie was not happy that I was taking her pic, so I celebrated the fact that she was annoyed. I did get some nice pics of her when she decided to smile and not be so grouchy for me. I think it was funny.

Here is Olivia's Ariel birthday cake....it turned out so well. I had my personal cake designer "aka grandma King" fly in from Chicago to decorate the cake. It took us ( I should say, my mom) forever to do this cake. I mixed the colors, but she did the decorating. I don't know what I would have done without her to help me with Olivia's birthday and Maddie's too. I love my mom so much she really is the best. I miss her a lot and we love when she comes to visit. And Grandpa King too....

Thanks, Uncle Mike and Aunt Jen for our new coats and hats!!!!

Here is a pic from Maddie's Birthday party that I forgot to post with the others.

Christmas Time 2008

Here are a few pics that I have from Christmas. I think Jake took the Christmas morning pics on his work camera. I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything. It has been a hard year for us so far. We've been fighting sickness for the last month. Jake and I have had a difficult time with us, but we are moving forward and making things right again. I'm not going to get into the details but I just want to say that I love my husband very much and he a great father too. And I know that he loves his wife and little girls more than anything. I just hope that you all pray and keep us in your thoughts.

Here is Madelyn singing We Three Kings with her class. They were so cute. She did a great job.

Here are Maddie and Olivia placing angles in the manger. Actually, it was only supposed to be the 4 year old class to do this, but for some reason Olivia was pretty much in the entire program.

Here is Olivia singing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer with her class. I'm not sure where she gets this urge to be the center of attention because she pushed her way throught the two lines of children to the front where she could have her own area to sing. She also danced, which I guess was optional since she was the only one who also danced.

Here is Olivia, who came over to stand in front of me so I could see you sing and dance. She was supposed to stay with her class but I guess she wanted to make sure I could see her. I was very funny.

Here are Madelyn and Olivia before their Christmas Program. After this picture they did a little warming up by singing Jingle Bells. They decided to warm up on their own and "sing" very loudly at the back of the church.

Here is a picture of our beautiful Christmas tree. I love this time of year, I love how my house feels around Christmas. The girls had fun decorating the tree and helping put up our few decorations.

The big news around here is that it actually snowed in Houston last Wednesday. It stuck to the tress and ground. The girls and I got to make snowballs and have some fun in the snow. The girls were so happy that it was snowing. It was a pretty sight to see. I missed snow. It was a nice surprise for me and the girls.

Madelyn got some wall stickers for her birthday, so I let her "decorate" her side of the room.
I did Olivia's side, she really couldn't reach to stick them on the wall. I guess the best way to
describe what Maddie's wall looks like is....It kinda looks like a princess threw up on the wall.....lol!

Here is another picture of one of Madelyn's towers. Looking back, I'm not sure why she only

builds structures in her underwear......I think she must take after her daddy....JK!! The girls start

out the day dressed and then for some reason, they end up like this by the end of the day.

Aren't these two pictures so cute of the girls? I told them to pose.